#I thought I answered this yesterday. Clearly I did not lol

[new-revenant]

Red Robin was having a night, he was kidnapped by cultists and was currently tied to a chair trying to escape his bindings when he hears a voice. "Sup." Red Robin looks over to see a seventeen year old Danny Fenton zip tied to a pipe, he had a bloody lip indicating he had been hit in the face. Red Robin now had to get himself and this random civilian out of here. Danny meanwhile was regretting letting his guard down while visiting Jazz at college. This was the second time this month he was captured to be used as a cult sacrifice

Love when Danny is a magnet for cultists, honestly one of my favorite tropes. Red Robin isn’t in his hero fit, so now he’s just Tim Drake, the controlling shareholder(not CEO! fanfics lied to you and he actually holds more power than a CEO, as major shareholders typically do. Lucius Fox is the CEO)of Wayne Enterprises. So Danny’s stuck with some rich guy who he only knows of because of Tucker. But Danny does pity the guy, cultists are the worst. They both are surprised about how calm the other is, coming to wildly different conclusions as to why they are so calm.

Don’t know what would happen next, maybe they team up to get out all the while trying to hide their skills/powers. Hijinks ensue.

[whateverisbeautiful]

♥️Reveling in Richonne - TOWL

#25: The Irresistible (1.03)

gif cred: @figmentof

Now this moment features another top-ranked Richonne kiss and the word of the day when talking about this Richonne scene behind a tree is 'CHEMISTRY' ❤️‍🔥...

We get to see Michonne inside a helicopter for the first time which is cool as she flies with Rick, Pearl, and others to the Cascadia base. Pearl, who just seems fully bought into the CRM ways, is trying to make Michonne feel like she should be so honored to be a part of this since she’s only a consignee.

Rick is sitting quietly in the helicopter and I’m sure he feels like he’s just been having some terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days every day that Michonne has been mad at him. Even tho first and foremost she’s mad at the situation they’re both in. But him a little too lol. 

gif cred: @nerd4music

Michonne again being an A with perceptive questions says, “There’s nothing out here. What’s it protecting?” And Pearl answers, “The security of the Civic Republic, expanded resources, intel operations along the West Coast, the future.”

Then when they arrive at their destination, Michonne is slaying in the CRM soldier uniform. 🔥 Like she serves in every outfit. 👏🏽

Pearl passionately goes over the mission with Rick by her side and again I love Michonne’s stance in this - she looks like she’s the one they should be taking orders from. 😋

Rick looks over at Pearl and Michonne looks directly at Rick. I love how she’s not even trying to be super subtle staring at him like 🤨.

gif cred: @perryabbott

Michonne was giving full wife stare-downs and clearly had lots of thoughts going through her head as she expressively blinked and looked away.

As she says later, she saw Rick here standing at attention as a soldier to this army and she knows this isn’t him and that he’s imprisoned here.

I also notice Rick doesn’t really look at Michonne in this scene and it’s probably a smart move. Because if he had looked at her those fellow soldiers would be like - now why is Grimes looking at Consignee Bethune like he wants to consume her more than the delts do?? 🤔

gif cred: @andy-clutterbuck

Pearl is trying her best to seem like an alpha leader but she's dtm and not really selling it. She talks about the importance of what they’re about to do and the stakes saying that if they’re unsuccessful the plan gets set back and then she yells, “Do we allow the plan to get set back!?”

Rick and the soldiers respond, “No ma’am” and Michonne has me cracking up at her response to Rick saying “no ma’am.” 😂 She’s looking directly at Rick like now I know you lying lol.

gif cred: @perryabbott

But honestly, while I know there was some interpreting this as her getting the ick from Rick, I think this look has a lot more to do with her disdain toward the CRM. I feel like she’s thinking something along the lines of 'CRM, you did a real number on my baby and I promise you I’m going to undo it.'

And again similar to Rick in previous scenes, Michonne is not subtle with these stares at him lol. But I love it. She’s looking at him like 'Mr. RJ’s Dad if we don’t get up out of here by tomorrow it’s gonna be an issue because I’ve had it with this place and I’m ready for us to go home yesterday.' #DirectQuoteFromHerMind. 😌

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t note that Rick looks fine yet again in this scene lol. ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

gif cred: @andy-clutterbuck

Rick asks, “Who has the ball, ma’am?” and Pearl says with overconfidence, “I do.” And again Michonne’s whole stance and look is serving, honey. Goddess through and through. 👑

Pearl goes on to address Michonne, and Thorne's energy is just giving forced. She wants Michonne to be intimidated so bad but it ain’t happening. And Michonne is ready to match Pearl’s energy right down to their facial expressions.

Pearl tells Michonne to stay in formation and handle cleanup and no-kills off the line. Michonne just nods and Pearl tells Michonne not to panic if she gets lost because she can just hit the PRB and a helicopter will come get her. And even before seeing the upcoming scene, I was like why do I have a feeling Michonne will be the only one not panicking on this excursion lol. 🙂

gif cred: @perryabbott

So then they cut to them in the middle of the walker takedown and Michonne is about to walk forward and help (and it low-key feels like she starts walking forward cuz Rick is ahead and those magnets are always going to be pulling her in his direction. 🧲). But Pearl tells Michonne to stay back for no-kills.

gif cred: @perryabbott

I was like Pearl, this is basically like you’re keeping an all-star on the bench by keeping Michonne back. Like Michonne and Rick could probably handle all of this just the two of them. But Pearl is adamant and about as stubborn as that R-DIM that won’t budge.

Speaking of - Pearl is struggling to get this R-DIM moving, y’all. I honestly could not take much more secondhand embarrassment for the lady. 🫣 Rick tries to offer a solution but Pearl turns it down and says they should’ve given the last spot to a soldier instead of Michonne. Wrong again, Pearl. 

So Michonne watches, looking all determined, and she knows she can handle this so like a true Get Things Done Grimes she gets it done. 👌🏽

gif cred: @taiturner

Michonne starts pushing the R-DIM forward and Pearl tells her to stand down almost strictly because I’m sure she’s going to be embarrassed if Michonne pulls this off. But Michonne is already off to the races as she pushes the R-DIM.

And Michonne seems to feel like she’s back in her element doing this. See, It's not the R-DIM, It's not the Pearl, It's just that Chonne's that girl. 🎶💁🏽‍♀️

Then when it gets a bit harder to push she looks over and sees Rick by her side coming to help and y’all they’re just the best. 🥹

I love that Rick sees her doing this and joins and says, “Let’s go,” helping her rather than reprimanding her. He knows she’s breaking protocol but when it comes to following Pearl’s orders or following Michonne’s lead, well, his wife is his choice every time.

And seeing Richonne back in action taking down walkers was a lovely sight. It was giving TWD 7.09 when they were in cars mowing down that horde of walkers in sync.

All these years later and they are still that well-oiled machine even during a rough spot in the relationship. And if Michonne felt like she was in her element before, they both really feel in their element taking this on together. It’s the way it should be. 😌

So they get the R-DIM to where it needs to be and Rick turns it on. he tells Michonne, “Come on” as Rick reaches for her hand so they can run for safety. I love that he wants to hold her hand as he leads them somewhere safe and that she does take his hand. 🥰

I feel like amid their fight, they both were longing for some indicator that they’re still in this together and this handhold felt like that. Of course, Richonne + hands are always a great moment. 😌

And then next, TOWL gives us my favorite moment in episode 3.

The R-DIM alarm rings and then Rick and Michonne make it to what many have rightfully deemed the boneless tree. 😋 And I love the little detail of Rick making sure Michonne was able to take cover behind the tree before him. And that they hold hands the whole way. Just the cutest. 🥰

gif cred: @nat111love

The R-DIM sets off an explosion and Michonne and Rick immediately take cover in each other's arms and again I’m beyond here for it. I love that they both just instinctually grab each other. No matter how upset they are, they’ll always love and protect each other. 

gif cred: @nat111love

So they have this moment all up close and personal and because it is a scientific fact that these two are magnets & that adrenaline rushes are always particularly arousing for them, there was no way Rick and Michonne were going to be that much in each other's personal space and not do what they do next.

Like you think those magnets within them care that there are CRM soldiers nearby? No.🤭🧲

gif cred: @nat111love

So still holding onto each other, they have this moment of looking intimately into each other's eyes, once again communicating without words, and y’all the best way to describe the way they look at each other is ‘longing’ - like that deep longing for each other in every way was written loud and clear on both their faces. 

gif cred: @nat111love

Rick looks at her, then right at her lips, then back in her eyes and within a second he leans in and they’re right back to making out. I’m too here for it and I love this kiss. ❤️‍🔥 This was definitely their hungriest kiss thus far.

gif cred: @nat111love

I love how Rick sorta lifts up from the ground like he’s floating on air when he first kisses her. He really does kiss her like he’s still living in a dream.

I love how passionate they always are when they kiss. Even with Rick feeling like he needs to send her away, he cannot resist showing how he really feels as they kiss - and what he really feels is that he wants to be with her entirely and in every way. 

I feel like they both needed this moment of reconnection so much after being at odds. This kiss communicated clearly that before they’re mad, they’re madly in love.

gif cred: @nat111love

And then the second half of this kiss is when I was looking at Richonne like...oh y’all would go all the way right now if you could. 👀

Like I think one of the only things that stopped them from having this escalate was just the fact that those CRM uniforms are so layered lol. Because it wasn’t the fact that CRM soldiers were within walking distance. Richonne didn’t give a damn about that. I’m telling you it was just the layers of clothing and gear holding them back. 😂

gif cred: @nat111love

But being for real, these two really are wild because they weren’t even trying to align with the bark of that boneless tree to at least shield themselves a little better during this kiss. But hey, when they’re in their Richonne bubble like this, everything else goes out the window, so it makes sense.

But yeah the second half of that steamy kiss had them hot and bothered the way they were both moaning in sync and grabbing each other as close as they could. When Michonne pulled his hair Rick looked like he was about ready to get on top of her right then and there.

(Side note: What’s cute too is I noticed in their season 6 canon kiss that the first time Michonne ever puts her hands in Rick’s curls she’s almost hesitant to do it at first and then she just goes for it. And now it’s her favorite thing. 😊)

It’s been years and years since either of them has been physically intimate and this kiss right here lets you know they’re both very eager for opening that door up with each other again. Like it needs to happen expeditiously at this point cuz they’re ready. 

gif cred: @fishalthor

I love that something that’s always been true is Rick and Michonne are irresistible to each other. And truly no one does ravenous passion like Richonne. ❤️‍🔥

So I just adore this kiss for being a passionate moment of the two making their desire and love for each other so evident after not really talking much this ep. I almost forgot that in this episode Michonne hadn’t actually uttered a word to Rick until this scene. And her first words to him are perfectly delivered. 🤩

As they manage to pull away from the kiss, still completely unconcerned about being caught, they have this great passionate moment where they just stare right into each other's eyes and it truly feels like Rick is being hypnotized by Michonne as she smiles at him. #Enchanted😍

gif cred: @nat111love

I love the way Michonne smiles right after the kiss and I really love that Rick is always so helplessly mesmerized by her. He knows he’s going to have to push her away soon but at this moment he can’t even peel his eyes away. Because I really think in moments when he gets lost in her that's when he finds himself. 👌🏽

And (jumping a bit ahead) that’s why it’s crazy he'll even attempt to claim that everything they had is broken because anytime they get close enough, it sure does look like everything they have is perfectly intact.

Like these two stayed operating like a madly in love married couple even during the near eight years apart from each other. Even during that time, they were still more loyally married than some married couples who see each other every day.

And Michonne knows from that kiss that her Rick is still in there. The man who kissed her is the Rick who wants with everything in him to break out of this place and go home with her.

gif cred: @figmentof

So she smiles and all encouragingly and seductively whispers, “Come on.” So good and perfectly delivered. 👏🏽😊 And yet again we see the utterly enchanting effect Michonne has on Rick as he looks at her.

gif cred: @nat111love

Rick seems dizzy and breathless from this whole exchange as he faintly says, “They’ll find us. They will.” It’s clear he’s still so overcome with fear and a lot of that is because he knows how hopeful he used to be about breaking free from this place but every time he tried to escape they found him.

Like this isn’t the guy from the TWD series finale who got caught by the CRM and smiled. This is the guy whose been so beaten down by this place that he believes there’s nowhere he can run anymore. 😥

gif cred: @nat111love

Michonne is still hopeful tho as she reassures him, “We’ll make it so they can’t.” It's super sweet to see them holding each other close and swaying in sync while they talk. And I love that Michonne believes in them so much that she’s like even if we don’t have all the answers yet, you and I are capable of figuring it out along the way home.

Plus, if Michonne thinks they can escape and not get caught then that's good enough reason to believe they can because she’s always right. It's just gospel. 💁🏽‍♀️ The way I see it, the only way the CRM would find them is if they keep having these loud moanversations near the public lol, otherwise the two of them can pull off any escape plan they make together. 😋

gif cred: @nat111love

But Rick is not willing to risk it and try to break away right now so he hesitantly says, “Not like this.” I know one of his least favorite things is having to turn down Michonne’s request and as he looks at her you can see it in his whole demeanor that he hates having to essentially tell her no.

Even the way he says it, it’s him trying to say no without having to outright say it, suggesting maybe there’s another way to escape just 'not like this,' even tho deep down he believes there's no way out for him.

gif cred: @nat111love

Michonne is super saddened by this. She knows this fear-based response isn’t like her Rick.

And then I love that they do their signature forehead touch, even tho it’s a sad one. 🥲 This moment further emphasized that even when feeling defeated and disappointed, they still want to be connected. 

And y’all, to me Rick and Michonne doing this forehead touch out in the open was actually more wild than the kiss lol.🤭

Because if they were caught kissing they'd still have some major explaining to do but they could maybe play it off like they just really have the hots for each other after meeting in those woods. But this forehead touch says no these two have history and have a deeply committed relationship rooted in serious love.

gif cred: @nat111love

So if Richonne had been caught like this their jig would have been up cuz they would have had those CRM soldiers looking over like...

I always feel so sad when I see Michonne looking in Rick’s eyes during this moment and searching for her Rick who seems to fade in and out ever since she’s reunited with him. Like the back and forth between Sergeant Major Grimes and the fleeting moments with her Rick has got to be hard on her.

But I love the way she lightly nudges his nose cuz again it’s just giving magnets and idk that intimate movement just always feels like such a soulmates thing to me. 🥹 Like she's trying to reach the Rick that's buried inside cuz she knows he's in there somewhere.

gif cred: @nat111love

Rick looks at Michonne and from his expression, it's clear that while it deeply saddens him, he will put himself through the pain of parting from her if it means getting her back home safely to their daughter.

I think too in this moment as they lean their heads together Michonne is realizing just how much she’s going to have to fight to get them both home on her own since Rick isn’t ready to take the risk and break out yet.

Similar to what Rick had been doing up to this point, Michonne is now gonna have to take matters into her own hands for the sake of her family...and oh, she’ll do exactly that in these final moments of episode 3. 😅

gif cred: @nat111love

But as far as this enthralling scene 'behind' the tree, this was another one of those scenes where they were knocking the epic love story they promised out of the park. 🙌🏽 Their chemistry is truly elite. 😍 And I adore this kiss and this romantic moment that was just brimming with emotion and irresistible passion between Richonne. 

Throughout this episode, Michonne had been trying to keep her crazy at bay but now as the episode concludes and Rick proceeds to pull a crazy card of his own, she's gonna have to unleash that unhinged side of herself. And the final moments of episode 3 remind us exactly why they say Richonne has some 'crazy love.' 😝👌🏽

[woncherie]

hello!! it took me a bit more than a week to post part 2 of my fic, im so glad i got so many nice comments on my previous part :(( yall made me so happy omg i hope you enjoy this part too.

part 1 / part 2 / part 3

warnings: afab!reader, no pronouns used, bully!scara, bullying, sub!scara, reader makes him a sub lol, nsfw, finger sucking, spit play, thigh riding, degradation, blackmail, ass play. (please tell me if I missed something)

wc: 4.4k

what have i done? you were currently turning and tossing yourself around your bed, trying to proceeds yesterdays events, burying your head into your pillow. what have i done?? you always wanted to press a pillow onto your head until you couldnt breath anymore, why not do it now? This would definitely be a better opportunity than go to your lectures right now and get yourself killed by a certain violet haired man.

how did you even get this confident? you tried to blame everything to the alcohol you drank yesterday, your head hurting in approval. sober you would've never done that this smoothly.

you were a bit proud of yourself though. you showed him who the boss was, even if it was just for a night. maybe, just maybe, he will leave you alone now?

curiosity took over you and you grabbed your phone, opening your gallery quickly, being greeted with a very special photo you took the night before.

scaramouche right before you on the screen, eyes teary, mouth wide open with your spit on his tongue, waiting patiently like a good boy. you could clearly see the bulge he had in his pants, grinding steadily against your leg. you can still feel the way he grinded himself on your thigh, and just thinking about the night before made your mouth water and pussy clench. for fucks sake. he really was gorgeous like this.

your timer went off again, reminding you that you should be leaving your bed and getting ready, and the urge to just turn it off completely was very high, but you decided to fight these feelings and stand up slowly instead. you cant hide forever. at some point you will have to meet him again. you aint no pussy.

your head was still hurting like a bitch, but you tried to ignore it. you took a quick shower to get rid of the remaining alcohol and cigarette smell you had on your body and hair, stepping out of the shower and drying your hair properly before changing into you clothes.

after a few minutes you heard your doorbell ring, so you walked up to the door and opened it for a certain blonde guy who stood in your doorframe.

"morning." albedo said in his typical monotonous voice, carrying two small bags with breakfast for the both of you to eat on your way to uni.

"you are absolutely saving my ass."

"my specialty" he answered, handing you your sandwich after you put on your shoes and closed the door behind yourself. you could see that he also wasn't feeling too well right now, still hungover from the day before. but you werent feeling one ounce better.

on your way to uni, you kept thinking about the night before. you have absolutely no idea how you ended up like this. this definitely wasnt your first sexual experience, and you do get your fair share of fun every now and then, but you have never been this controlling over anybody, but fuck, did it feel amazing.

"are you feeling alright?" you heard albedo ask next to you, looking at you through his glasses. he must've noticed that you were sunk in thoughts. "huh? yeah. was just thinking about the party yesterday, my head hurts like a bitch. how did i even get home?"

the intelligent man next to you smiled a bit against his cup of coffee. "apparently yanfei brought us home, we certainly did drink a lot yesterday. she really is a responsible person. need to thank h..."

you werent really listening to him anymore. its not that you couldnt, your mind was just racing right now. does he know what happened? you asked yourself. scaramouche and you werent really in a private area yesterday. did anyone see us?

"wow, y/n, you really seem to be lost in thoughts. care to share?"

you instantly moved your head to him, looking at him with wide eyes before coughing a bit and shaking your head. "im sorry, im just.. really tired, thats all."

"Well, at least we dont have many lectures today. you can go back home quickly and nap some more." he worried about you. albedo always cared about you, just like you cared about him. it was a really nice friendship you two had, but you just didnt feel like telling him anything. he would beat your ass once you told him what you did.

after a few minutes of a silent walk, you arrived at the campus. you threw your empty wrappers away and headed straight to the lecture hall, your heart beating faster and faster with every step you took. fuck. he's gonna kill you.

you opened the door to the lecture hall, letting albedo enter first before following him into the room. it was quite full already, and your eyes immediately scanned the crowd. you easily spotted childe, columbina and dottore, their unusual and fancy clothes catching your eyes quickly. but no scaramouche yet.

you sat down with albedo somewhere in the back of the hall, hiding from the view of others. well, that was your goal at least. you expected a furious little man to storm into the room and peel your skin of alive of your body, but.. he never came?

you heard the girls in the row in front of you talk and couldnt help but listen to their conversation.

"Scara is not here yet.."

"Yeah of course. did you see how he hit the bottle yesterday? couldnt stop drinking, especially at the end."

"he seemed a bit anxious, im worried.."

"nah. probably just couldnt tolerate the weed properly."

The first girl really seemed to be concerned about him, and you couldnt help but suppress a gag at her attitude. just wanted to get into his pants. oh if she knew.

at some point the professor came into the hall and started the lecture without scaramouche joining the class, and you sighed in relieve. you were save, at least for now.

☆

You didnt have a lot of lectures today, so you went back home rather quickly that day. albedo joined you once again, and you two walked into your apartment, immediately throwing yourself onto your bed. it wasnt just your head hurting like a bitch, albedo also felt really exhausted, so no one was surprised when you both just fell asleep right then and there.

after a few hours you opened your eyes again, a snoring blonde still sleeping next to you and your head still woozy from the nap you took. you noticed how your stomach grumbled and stood up slowly, going into the small kitchen that your 25 m² apartment had to wash your face.

you didnt wake albedo up yet, letting him sleep his hangover away. instead, you started making some food for the both of you. you didnt have a lot of food in your fridge. of course not, you are a busy student in their last year, all you survive off is noodles and toast.

you really were hungry, and a normal sandwich wouldnt make anyone of you two feel satisfied, so you decided to make some pasta with tomato sauce. simple and easy.

while cooking, your thoughts wandered once again to the night before, but before you could form any proper thoughts, your phone lighted up. you dried your hands and took a look at it. a new message from.. unknown number?

+76 628 ×××××××: delete the picture.

...oh. it wasn't hard to guess who this message is from. your stomach dropped a bit and you gulped, your heart beating a tiny bit faster.

you: where do you have my number from?

its not a perfect reply to him, but at least you had a few minutes time to collect yourself and not be this nervous anymore. he's not here right now. he can't do anything to you. you are save. you saved his number into your phone.

scaramouche: ask me something more difficult next time.

scaramouche: delete. this. picture.

you licked your lips, stirring the food on the stove before it might burn, collecting your thoughts. he's not here right now. you can do whatever you want.

you took another look at the picture you took of him, smirking, unable to control or suppress it.

you: no.

it didn't take him long to answer, probably being active on his phone to reply to you as fast as possible.

scaramouche: im gonna fucking end you myself.

at this point you were used to his threats. wasn't the first time, nor will it be the last time it'll happen. every time you fucked up a lab report, a presentation or anything college related that might affect him negatively, you got tripped, your property destroyed and a few insults thrown at you. it was nothing new.

you: *attached image*

you: oh look how adorable you look. wish you'd always be this much of a good boy for me. my spit suits you.

you heard a few broken and hurtful moans at the other end of the room, so you looked up from your phone. albedo woke up and streched himself, scratching his stomach and rubbing his eyes open.

"..morn'ng" he mumbled, and you put your phone back into your back pocket. "its not quite morning, albedo." you answered while he tried to get used to the light that shined in your room. he took a look outside of your window and saw how dark it was. "what time is it?"

"7:16 pm" you answered while you set the table for the both of you. "made some food."

you could feel your phone vibrate in your pocket and you bit your lip from the inside in response. it was scaramouche again, but you couldnt check your phone now. albedo would ask, and you didnt feel like telling him anything.

"thank you, really sweet of you." albedo said before excusing himself into the small bathroom you had. your apartment really was small, but that was all you could afford with your part time job.

the second albedo closed the door you had your phone in your hand again, checking the message you got.

scaramouche: ...

scaramouche: dont do this now..

scaramouche: delete the pic. fucking bitch

you giggled a bit at his reply, quickly typing in your reply.

you: i really love coffee, do you know that? why dont you bring me one tomorrow and ill think about it.

scaramouche: you cant be forreal now.

you didnt answer him anymore, putting your phone away and finish setting the table before putting some food into albedos and your plate, right before he came back from the bathroom. you hoped he didnt notice your more-than-usual happy mood, nor the slightly red blush in your face.

"washed ur hands?" you asked.

"no, ew." he answered jokingly, finally awake again. you just laughed at his reply before you both sat down and ate together.

☆

the next day you were even excited to go to uni. you felt completely different than the day before. there is absolutely no way scaramouche will do anything to annoy you, too afraid of you to post the picture.

last night, you thought a bit. would you really post a picture of scaramouche on your lap, horny and full of your spit? probably not. you wouldnt have the balls to post it. but scaring him? oh yes. you like this. you let him believe you would do it. maybe he will stop bullying you now in uni? that would be too good to be true.

you ate your breakfast on the way to uni. albedo left later the night before, and you agreed with him to meet up on campus right before the lecture started.

"hey!" you could hear someone say behind you rather aggressively, and you looked behind you before slowly standing still. of course it was your favourite indigo haired man.

you could tell by the look on his face that he'd be everywhere else than here, in front of you, with a fucking coffee in his hand that he might throw all over your face and hair (like it happened quite a few times already.)

but instead of humiliating you, he passed you the coffee while biting his lip furiously, trying not to burst out in a tide of various creative insults.

"well that was easy." you said mockingly, looking down on the cup he handed you. it was warm and looked good. you opened the lid of the paper cup, checking the content.

cappuccino and... spit.

"thanks for that i guess." you chuckle and looked at him again, his face completely red from embarrassment and shame. how did he fall so low to bring you coffee?

"you know what to do now." he demanded, but you only shaked your head. "dont feel like it. you are being really nice to me. i guess ill keep the picture for a few more weeks."

you started walking away slowly, heading to uni, but scaramouche didnt let you go this easily, following you like a desperate man. he knew you wouldnt delete his fucking downfall of a photo just like that.

"i said, delete. the. picture. you will fucking regret this." he threatened you again, but you acted unbothered and took a sip of the cup. you could feel scaramouche cringe next to you, weirded out by you drinking the mixture in the paper cup. "you were humping my leg like a bitch in heat, im not grossed out by a bit of your spit."

"DONT SAY THIS out loud" he yelled at you at the beginning but then lowered his voice, noticing how people around the both of you are looking over. "please." he then said defeated. "just tell me what you want and ill fucking give it to you. why do you wanna ruin my reputation this badly?"

you couldnt help but roll your eyes and continue walking. after all these months and years of him humiliating and bullying you, he dares to ask you for something like that? how bold.

"just write the next lap report for our project like a good boy and the picture will be save with me." the violett haired man next to you blushed at the weird compliment you gave him but tried to hide his face in his jacket. cute.

☆

getting close to campus, scaramouche stopped following you like a lost kid and instead turned into another street. he really didnt feel like being seen on campus with you.

when you arrived, you already saw albedo standing near the building, and you smiled at him while walking to him. you threw the coffee away before hugging him. "morning."

"morning. didnt like your drink?" he pointed out the drink you threw away while still being half full.

"yeah, the barista fucked it up i guess." you lied while heading into the lecture room. poor albedo, you've been so insincere to him the past few days. you did feel bad, but you already knew about the lecture he will give you once he'll find out.

the room was only half as full as yesterday, todays course only taking in half as many students as yesterdays. but of course a special bully is still sitting in the crowd. you could feel the eyes of him following you on your way to the back rows, but you tried to ignore him.

scaramouche was sitting in the middle of his friend group at the front of the hall, everyone but him happily talking and laughing. he just sat there and sulked angrily, scribbling on his tablet.

you sat down with albedo next to yanfei, and she smiled and started some small talk with the both of you (you didnt actually listen to what she said) until the professor came and started his lecture.

"hey, y/n?" albedo asked you in a low voice, trying to not bother anyone around them during the lecture.

"yeah?"

"wanna head to the library later today? i have a few things to study for and protocolls to prepare"

you looked at the professor but nodded at albedo, thinking it was a good idea. you'd probably still do the lab protocols that you just told scaramouche to do, unsure if he will do them himself. you didnt feel like failing classes just because he didnt hand in the work you both were supposed to do. "sounds like a plan."

☆

you were currently heads deep reading into a few books which laid on the table, albedo sitting in front of you with the exact same book, trying to answer the questions on the reports. "..identity test and purity test of lidocaine hydrochloride?"

you were both searching for the answers in the books that laid all over the wide library table, but no answers. you sighed defeatedly, not even trying to be silent.

it was pretty late at night, 10:37 pm the watch on the wall told you, and you still werent done yet. it felt like you two were the only people in here, everyone else already left. if you two wouldve been more productive, you'd be done by now too, but instead you decided to spend extra time in the cafeteria to talk about anything and everything.

you rubbed your eyes before closing the book, standing up and stretching yourself while your blonde best friend followed you with his eyes. "im trying to find a better book. ill be back in a few minutes."

he nodded and you headed to the tons shelves, getting lost in different publications and works by different authors. you needed to walk quite a while to arrive at the section you needed, putting the old book back into the rack, your eyes scanning the book spines, trying to find a better one.

but between the publications and books, of course, you saw a special pair of indigo eyes and hair on the other side of the shelves. you couldnt think straight, and before you realized it yourself, you headed to the section where your favourite bully was standing.

a book in his hand, eyes buried deep into the book before he looked up with them, seeing your face and rolling his eyes immediately. "how the fuck are you everywhere?" scaramouche asked you.

"i should be asking you this." you answered and leaned against the shelf. "first time that i see you in here. what are you doing?"

scaramouche closed the book and put it back where he got it from. "writing my lab report. last time you told me to do it, didnt you?"

wow. you were surprised that he actually was doing his share in the project. and that he just said a whole sentence without cussing you out. you felt proud of him.

"thank you, i guess." you say, scratching your head, but scaramouche immediately turned back to you and grabbed your arm, pressing you into the shelf with full force.

"if you really feel thankful, maybe think about deleting the picture from two days ago, you fucking bitch." he spat in your face.

oh wow. welcome back, old scaramouche.

a special thought appeared in your head, and you looked at him with a small grin plastered on your lips. he just looked at you confused.

"the fuck is so funny about this?" he spat again, and your grin started growing on your face. "dont feel like it.", you answered, "but i can maybe thank you differently." you moved your leg between his, lifting it to meet his crotch softly.

scaramouche gasped quickly, probably from shock, and he let your hand go. it was an easy opportunity to shove him away from you, now you being the one to press him against the reck of books, caging him in with your hands.

you could easily see the pure flustered shock on his face, eyes wide open and face tinted in red, and you enjoyed it.

"not so bold now, are you?" you asked him, getting closer to his neck and pressing a few light kisses on them. you could feel him inhale in shock, holding his breath in and biting his lip as you attacked his neck with bites and kisses. "we can continue off from where we stopped last time?"

scaramouche felt like he was on fire, body moving on his own once again. he used your thigh to get himself off, getting hard embarrassingly quick. "see, you seem to like it?" you whispered in his ear, but all he could do was bite his lips and trying to stay silent.

yes, the library wasnt full, but it wasnt completely empty either. he didnt want anyones attention on the two of you, so he tried his best to stay silent.

you didnt appreciate this behaviour though, and pinched his ass from behind, a gasp leaving his mouth louder than he intended to.

you let go off him for a second, grabbing his small waist to turn him around, his chest pressing against the books and yours against his back. he looked back at you with wide eyes, visibly shocked. "what are u-" he started his sentence, but your hand on his boner made him lose his train of thoughts.

you opened his pants and slid in with your right hand, playing with the hem of his boxers. "st..stop this, not here.." he mumbled aroused, his pleas not sounding too serious. he didnt wanna stop now, he started to feel incredibly good again. how are you doing that to him?

your hand grabbed his dick, pumping it twice in his pants and scaramouche let his head fall back in his neck, a silent moan leaving his lips. fuck, your hands were cold, but they felt so good on his body.

but how can he believe you would get him off this easily? you giggled silently while watching him enjoy himself before taking your hand back again and kneeling behind him.

he started to get really frustrated with your behaviour and tried to glare back to you, but when he saw you on your knees behind him, face right near his ass, his eyes widened in shock (once again.)

"what are you doing?" he asked you. you didnt answer him though. all you did was pull his pants and boxers down, here, right in the middle of a library between a thousands of books.

the cold air hitting his skin made him shudder, his face turning left and right, trying to check if anyone was close. if anyone would catch you two in here, he'd absolutely go apeshit.

"ever got your asshole licked, scara?" you asked him, and your direct way of asking him made his whole face flush red. "what the fuck are you on again??" he asked, but you didnt answer once again.

you spat in your hand and moved it back to his dick, stroking him a few times to get him more obedient again. his eyes closed in shame and lust as he rutted into your hand, biting down on his hand to stay silent.

you, once again, let go of him, but this time you decided to play with his backside, massaging his ass and getting him more riled up. after a few seconds you used one of your wet fingers to get close to his hole, circling it with spit to get it wet. the moan scaramouche let out in that moment was godlike.

fuck, you wanted to hear more of that. more of his angelic voice. you can't deny that his means and whimpers do something to you, your panties getting a bit wet, heart beating faster.

you couldnt control yourself anymore and grabbed his waist, pulling him close to your face and holding him in place while you devoured him right then and there, tongue circling his hole, moving up and down close to his balls.

scaramouche felt weird, scaramouche felt good. he never felt something like this, his body never felt this good. you didnt even need to hold him down anymore, he was drunk on the pleasure, shoving his cute ass right into your face, chasing the pleasure.

he tried to stabilize himself on the shelf with his hands, head falling back into his neck and tears pooling in his eyes, so close to spilling. usually he was the one pleasuring others, and being on the receiving side this time makes him feel so small and incredibly good. he can't think of a day where he felt like this with another person pleasuring him.

he couldnt help but choke onto air, not a single word coming out of his mouth other than silent whines, tears and mewls of pleasure, so close to cumming.

at some point you switched to your fingers, a spit covered one circling his hole before slowly pushing in, and scaramouche became putty in your hands.

you took your phone from your pocket and opened your camera in one swift motion, but this time you gave the tall man in front of you some time to react.

"say cheese.." you said, and scaramouche turned his head back to you, cheeks red and wet from his tears, lip swollen, tongue out and eyes big. but he didnt care, fuck he really didnt care right now. all he needed was this pleasure that you gave him, so he just looked in the camera with angry eyes which made him look just so much more adorable. just take those stupid pics. he thought.

"y/n?" you heard a familiar voice call out your name.

oh. you completely forgot that you werent alone in the library, albedos voice somewhere near you and scaramouche. you both immediately jumped up, you on your feet and scaramouche crouching, pulling his pants up, both of your eyes wide in shock and fear.

scaramouche knew that if anyone would see you two here it wouldve been easy to guess what you did, so he pulled his pants up rather poorly and jumped away from the other side of the aisle to the other direction from where albedo came from.

fucking hell. he got blue balled once again.

"im here." you said after fixing your clothes, taking any book from the shelves and opening any page, trying to look busy as albedo walked into the aisle. it was so hard for you to contain your smirk after what you just did, but you tried your best. "i was just wondering what took you so long." he asked, fixing his glasses on his nose. "i already have the solution, we're done for today."

"oh god thank you."

"wanna get some food?"

"yes please, i was just getting tired of being here." you said and put the book away, scaramouche a few aisle away from you, listening to your conversation, hiding his face in his hands.

how did you wrap him around your finger once again?

☆☆☆

NYAHAHAHA hello i hope you liked part 2!! i feel like i did a bad job overall but whatever take it as it is <3 im sorry it took so long.. part 3 maybe?? yes or no??

[writingreadinglurkingandsmirking]

But I Shine So Bright - Rafe Cameron x Reader

Dear Reader Duology: Part 1, Part 2

Summary: You wake up hungover from the previous night’s party, and are struck with the realization of the conversation you’d had with Rafe prior. You decide that, yes, you should actually have that conversation with him sober like he’d suggested. So, that’s what you two do. Word Count: 5.1k+ TWs/CWs: Adult/profane language, she/her pronouns used for reader, brief descriptions of a hangover, OOC Rafe in that he's only a little crazy and is actually willing to admit he was wrong, unrealistically fast relationship re-establishment, Rafe still wants to kill that guy lol, bad example of a healthy relationship but hi this is Rafe be so for real here, Rafe obviously has pretty privilege Note: Yeah so I just decided to do the part 2 lmao so here she is. And now it has me thinking Thoughts about doing more Dear Reader inspired fics for OBX babes...like a Dear Reader duology collection sounds like a fun little project hehehe

Waking up was more painful than you’d anticipated. When you’d gone out, you never intended to get that drunk. Decidedly, you’d drank more than you had in a long while. A stupid choice all around, but especially stupid considering you didn’t have the built-in protection of…him anymore. Your girlfriends had dutifully tried to slow you down, but you didn’t listen to them.

Fuck’s sake, even his friends had tried to stop you. To be fair, they’d been more successful. Yes, the first memory you woke up to was Topper and Kelce, your ex-boyfriend’s best friends, stopping you from doing a fucking keg stand. And that was just something special considering you knew damn well that you’d been wearing a skirt with nothing underneath. So clearly your night had been just full of good choices.

“God,” you groaned, rolling over on your side. Your eyes landed on a water bottle on the side of your bed. You blinked once, twice, a third time, and then lurched up into a sitting position. “Shit.” While the sudden movement made you nauseous for a moment, you managed to resist the urge to vomit. You scrambled for your phone. It was noon already. Fuck. You saw that a group chat with your friends had blown up and you had a slew of other texts.

Where the hell did you go?

Why did Topper come tell us that fucking RAFE took you home??

Hello?? Girl what the hell are you thinking?

You better call us and tell us that you’re safe.

Dude you better not fucking sleep with him I swear to God I am SO serious.

Be like Dua Lipa and remember the new rules bitch.

Be safe I swear to GOD bestie I’ll fuck you up if you get hurt.

If you fuck him you better not let him hit raw.

BYE don’t let him hit AT ALL.

“Shit,” you hissed.

You’d thought you’d had a dream that Rafe had been the one taking care of you. A pleasant dream minus the blubbering you’d been doing. But no. It turns out you actually had been blubbering on him. On the ex who left you for no reason and with no discernible guilt outwardly shown. This just had to be a joke. It had to be. The pit in your stomach wasn’t from the aggressive hangover, it was literally just the dread that had an iron grip on you. Looking down at your phone again, you saw a text from Kelce of all fucking people too.

Lmao I know you’re gonna be hurting this morning but let me or Top know if Rafe did anything stupid yesterday and we’ll beat the shit out of him fr.

You couldn’t help but let out a high-pitched, borderline hysterical laugh at the very idea. You run a hand down your face, grateful that Rafe had forced you to take the makeup off the night before. You felt sick and awful and still somehow better than you had before. It was pathetic somehow, on some level, that spending even an hour with Rafe had the ability to make you feel so much better and so much worse all at once. So, with trembling hands, you made a move to answer.

First, to your friends.

Not yall acting like you don’t have my location. I got home safe. Nothing happened fuck off.

You then immediately silenced the group chat so you wouldn’t have to deal with it. You looked at Kelce’s and cringed, letting your fingers move.

Yeah definitely got a hellish hungover. Thanks for keeping me from doing a keg stand like a dumbass last night btw? Idk what the fuck that was about. And nah, Rafe didn’t do anything. Even if he did you wouldn’t win that fight, Kelce, be so fr lol.

The response from him came quickly.

Ah, she lives. Well, you didn’t choke on your vomit so that’s good. And hurtful, I could definitely beat him.

You rolled your eyes.

Yeah, maybe if he were tied to a chair bro. But fr, thank you for helping me out. Thank Top too for me btw.

The response took longer this time. And was punctuated by an immediate follow-up.

Course. I’ll let him know. You’re still our friend. We weren’t gonna let you get that messed up.

You should talk to your boy though. Let him know you’re good. Pretty sure he’s worried about you.

You bit your lip. Instead of replying, you instead closed that text thread and looked back to the rest of your messages. But, you were thrown for a loop when you saw Rafe’s name appearing at the top, texting you just now. You weren’t proud of it, but you had to throw yourself from your bed and empty your stomach. You blamed the hangover, but you also knew that the anxiety of facing him after the night before was nerve-wracking enough to be the culprit alone.

Once you finally cleaned yourself up, you felt a bit more human again. Only then did you return to your phone. You stared at it for a few minutes before even daring to pick it up. Then, you stared at your background - still a picture of you and Rafe, one where his smile was so big from a laugh that it crinkled the corners of his eyes and you had buried your face in his neck while also laughing. You hated that you hadn’t changed it yet, but every single time you tried to, you couldn’t bring yourself to do it. You put the phone down again.

Sighing, you reached over and grabbed the water bottle he had left you. Then you noticed he’d also left out some meds for you to take. Not letting yourself think about it or the way it turned your stomach, you took the pills and drank the water completely before letting yourself even think about your phone again. At least that was the lie you spun yourself, ignoring the way that the stupid piece of technology wove through every thought and every damn breath you took.

In an effort to pretend like that wasn’t true, you walked down to your kitchen and got a Liquid I.V. knowing damn well that Rafe would be telling you to if he were here. And, yeah, even now, the little things he did to show he cared still stuck to your bones. You hated it. Or, at least you hated that he wasn’t actually here. Some days it was hard to tell which was true and which was the lie. You wanted him, you didn’t, you wanted him, you didn’t. You definitely did—that was the truth and you knew it.

Steeling yourself, you eventually went back upstairs and picked your phone back up. Clicking Rafe’s name, you were fully prepared to ignore whatever the message was like you knew you should if you were going to get over him. But somehow, you could feel the familiar love and affection punching you in the gut.

Take the pills I left. Drink some liquid iv or whatever if you have it. Don’t forget to eat.

You inhaled shakily, thinking if you should even respond or not, worrying at your lip and tapping your fingers anxiously against your knee. But, as you did, another text came through from him.

Lmk if you need anything.

Short, sweet, and to the point.

You, your brain supplied unhelpfully. I just fucking need you.

You thought about the night before. About the words he said. About the stark honesty in his voice that you hadn’t heard in months from him. You thought about the simple promise he made. He said that you could talk about it when you were sober if you still wanted to. Did you want to? Yes. So, before you could talk yourself out of it, you clicked his contact to call him and brought the phone to your ear.

“You okay?” were the words that Rafe greeted you with. Not hello. Just concern.

“I…yeah. I’m fine,” you said when your brain finally caught up with you again. “I…thanks for getting me home. You know, and everything else too,” You paused for a moment, finishing with, “You really didn’t have to do all that.”

“Of course I did,” Rafe said, sounding surprisingly serious. “I’d never leave you like that. Ever.”

“I’m sorry I was such a mess,” you said, reflexively apologizing. “And sorry I was like…pawing at you like some animal.”

Rafe let out a dry sort of chuckle that betrayed he was at least slightly amused by some of your antics the night prior. It made your heart flutter, which just felt utterly ridiculous. He made a noncommittal noise. “I just wanted to make sure you, you know, were good.”

“No. Seriously, I can’t imagine how much worse that would’ve gotten without you there. So really, uh, thanks. I was…not thinking last night obviously,” you said. There was a pregnant pause over the phone and you realized how that sounded. “I mean I, like, really don’t drink that much!” You were rushing to clarify, anxious to make sure that Rafe knew you didn’t mean your conversation with him. “I seriously don’t even know how much I drank. I’m lucky I didn’t, like, die in my sleep.”

“I’ve seen you worse,” he said flatly. “You’d have been fine.”

“That’s when I had you, though,” you pointed out before you could stop yourself. You heard Rafe inhale sharply, saying your name but you cut him off. “Did you mean what you said?”

Rafe paused. “What?” he asked cautiously.

“That we can actually talk,” you clarified.

“Are you not too hungover for this?” Rafe asked, sounding tired already.

“No,” you said bluntly. “I want to talk to you.” You huffed out a sigh. “Rafe, I need to talk to you.”

You heard him let out a sigh of his own. “Yeah,” he said. “I know.”

“I want to do it in person,” you said, willing to push your luck here. “I don’t want to do this on the phone. I want to see your face so I know if you’re lying to me.”

Rafe gave a similar sort of dry chuckle to before. “Have never lied to you, Princess, but sure. Fine. Today?” he asked shortly.

“Yes,” you agreed. “Today. I think waiting two months was long enough.” Rafe didn’t rise to the bait, which you were partially glad for and partially disappointed by. “How about we meet at the country club at like…six?”

“You want to do this in front of people?” Rafe asked, surprised.

“No. We’ll go down to the beach. Just easier to meet there,” you said vaguely.

The reality was the country club gave you a way to chicken out last minute that the beach didn’t. At the country club, you could hide in a bathroom. On the beach, unless you were planning on drowning yourself or burying yourself in the sand you were stuck with him.

“Okay, Gorgeous,” he said lazily, the nickname slipping easily from his tongue. “Do you want me to pick you up or…”

“I’m good,” you denied. “I’ll get there.”

“See you later then,” he said.

“Okay. See you,” you said, hurriedly hanging up before you said something stupid like I love you or just tell me now why you left me.

You spent the next few hours panicking about what you’d just done, torn between hating yourself for making that choice and being relieved that it was finally happening. You gave all of your friends in your group chat a short version of your plan. You were met with a mixture of approval and disapproval from everyone—mostly born of a desire to make sure that you were alright. They offered to come and do recon so you’d have an easy out, but you denied the need. Then, they offered to come and slash his truck tires, which you declined just like you had the first hundred times they’d offered over the past two months. After that, they settled and just insisted that you text them an update later to let them know what was going on. It was easy enough to agree to.

You make your way to the country club a little bit before six and were shocked to see Rafe already waiting there. He was sitting at the bar, knee bouncing with anxiety, tapping at an empty glass in front of him. His eyes met yours, and just for a moment, you froze in place. Slowly, you drifted over to his side and were pleasantly surprised to see that he appeared entirely sober.

“Hey,” he greeted when you found words hard to formulate.

“Hi, Rafe,” you replied after a few breaths.

He looked you up and down, an undercurrent of amusement passing through his eyes. “I’d ask if you want a drink but I have a feeling that you’d rather swallow a bucket of sand right now,” he said.

You nodded, grimacing. “Pretty much,” you confirmed. You glanced towards the door. “Wanna…go?”

God, how could this be so fucking awkward? you asked yourself. This was the man you fell in love with and knew like the back of your hand and still somehow this was wildly uncomfortable like you didn’t know each other at all.

Rafe nodded slowly, rising to his feet. He gestured for you to go first, eyes habitually roaming around the room. They landed on the guy who had been touching you the night before at the party, gross hand on your leg as if he had any form of claim to you. Rafe felt his blood boiling for a moment and had to resist the urge to go and pummel the guy’s face in. It was hard for him, at least until the guy looked over, noticing Rafe. Immediately, the creep paled to a near-ghostly white shade. Satisfied by the obvious fear, Rafe offered the guy a condescending smile, with a harsh edge to it, teeth set. He put his hand on the small of your back as you walked, guiding you forward and opening the door for you as he went. As he passed through, his eyes did not separate from the guy’s until you had exited. The message was clear, even though you hadn’t even noticed the interaction at all.

She is Rafe Cameron’s, she is not available.

As you started to walk down to the beach, almost immediately, Rafe began to feel guilty for thinking that. He’d already done enough to hurt you in his eyes. But, then again, he couldn’t deny the part of him that desperately did want a second chance to reach that famous happy end. The kind that he knew only you could give him. The kind that only came with you beside him. No, he couldn’t ignore that part of him. It made up most of him. And he knew that it made up most of you too. And that was the part that made him loathe himself all the more.

On and on down the beach the pair of you walked, alternating between a few feet and barely a few inches between you. The silence continued on until you realized you didn’t even know how to approach this conversation. You sighed, stopping in your trek, evidently having decided you were far enough from other people to have this conversation now. 

“I don’t know how to even start this,” you admitted quietly. “I miss you. I meant that. I meant everything I said last night except that I hate you. I don’t. I wish I could, sometimes. But I don’t. I love you. And…and last night you said that you loved me too, still.”

“I do,” he said, shrugging, then setting his jaw to shut himself up.

“Then why are we doing this? When we love each other and we both want to be together? Why?” you asked, the words simple but desperate.

“You’re better off without me,” Rafe said, staring at the horizon, refusing to look at you.

“I’m not,” you denied. “And you’re not better without me either. Don’t think I haven’t noticed that either.” He’d been spending an egregious amount of his time high or wasted since your break up and it was impossible not to notice. Rafe glanced down at you and then back out over the water. The sky above you was morphing from its crystalline blue to the golden hues that promised night was coming soon. “I think we’re past lying to ourselves about that, don’t you? Or at least we should be.”

“I know that I’m not. But you are,” he reiterated. “I’m…an absolute fuck up. And I am only going to drag you down. That is all that I will ever be good for. You may not get that now. But you will.” He sighed and looked over at you. “I’m trying to do the right thing here, Princess.”

“Well look at that, wrong as usual,” you muttered, shaking your head. “You’re not any of that! You’re not a fuck up. You’re not going to drag me down. You are…” You gesticulated wildly, trying to have your brain magically summon the words to describe how you felt. You settled for shaking your head and gesturing around you. “You’re like a…like a fucking beacon or something.”

Rafe snorted. “Fuck me, if you think I’m some sort of guiding light you’ve lost it, Princess,” he said sharply. “I’m literally the opposite of that. I don’t…I don’t help people. I just hurt them.” He gestured towards you. “Look at my family. Look at my friends. Dragged them all down. And…I mean, just look at you. How could you think that I’m anything good anymore?” He shook his head. “No, just…no. I’m not.”

You groaned. “Stop talking about yourself like you’re some hideous monster that has to hide in the dark,” you insisted, voice growing louder. “You’re not. You’re just a man! That’s it! A fucking stupid man, who I love more than anything…who I hate to see tearing himself apart like he does. An absolutely idiotic man who I miss so much it hurts to wake up in the morning.” You deflated, shoulders slumping, and this time you were the one looking out over the water while Rafe stared intently at you. “I’m not better off without you.” From the corner of your eye, you saw Rafe’s hand run over the bottom half of his face while he shook his head. You saw him bring his hand towards his lips and your head whipped over to look at him. “Don’t bite your damn nails, when was the last time you washed your hands? You’ve touched doors and railings! This is a public beach!”

It was like a bubble of tension cracked at that and Rafe laughed. Honest to God laughed. Laughed like you hadn’t heard in months from him. Laughed in a way that made your heart flutter and your lips turn up. The laugh kept going like he couldn’t stop it, and before you knew it you were chuckling yourself, which morphed into a hysterical laugh. You swatted at his arm in the midst of your laugh, but he caught your hand and held it. After a few moments longer, you both stared at each other, calming down. His easy smile and the crinkle of his eyes disappeared, replaced by a frown and concern.

“You…you should really find another guiding light if that’s what you’re looking for. A real beacon. Someone you can count on,” he said.

“Rafe,” you said seriously, taking a step closer to him. “Look at me.” He sighed but met your eyes. You squeezed your still-joined hands and he looked down as if he’d forgotten you were even touching. “You kept me from making myself look like an idiot last night. You got me home when I actively was trying to make it difficult. You held me until I fell asleep. You owed me nothing and you did that. I didn’t even have to ask you to, fuck I didn’t even want you to be there, but you knew what was good for me. And you left out water and pills and then texted me in the morning.” You let out a short, weak laugh. “I don’t think that I can count on someone else more than you.” He looked at you as if to say your name without having to actually speak it and you rolled your eyes. “Tell me something. How often do you get second chances in life?”

Rafe looked away, tongue running over his cheek, and then he looked back. “More than I deserve,” he said shortly.

Again, you rolled your eyes. “Stop being a self-sacrificial bitch for a second,” you said. He looked at you, scandalized and you had to resist the urge to laugh, soldiering on with your point. “Tell me, without the shit, how often you get second chances in life for something that you really want?” 

“I don’t,” Rafe said after a moment.

“And yet here I am. And I know that you still want to be together. And I am trying to give us a second chance. Why are you trying to refuse it?” you demanded.

“Because you actually are a fucking beacon of light,” he snapped, hand flexing like he was about to squeeze yours but stopped himself. “And I don’t want to…to fucking ruin that. I would never forgive myself if I ruined you. If I…made that fucking light go out? No, I’d never forgive myself. And I don’t want to risk you like that. Ever. And considering I’m this fucking black hole of bullshit…that is definitely risking it.”

His words resonated as if they were a tuning fork that struck and vibrated at the exact frequency of your very soul. He sighed and let go of your hand. In your shock, you let him. He moved away a few steps and paced back and forth. This time, when he brought his nails to his lips, you didn’t speak for a moment. You saw the glint of tears in his eyes and you didn’t know if they were from frustration or from sadness—both most likely.

Your brain caught up with you after a few moments of just staring at him. You walked forward and took his hand away from his mouth, moving your hands to rest behind his neck, forcing him to stop moving. Reflexively, his hands landed on your hips, holding you rather firmly to ground himself. You played with the ends of his hair, waiting for him to measure his breath once more and meet your eyes with his own.

“You’re not a black hole, idiot,” you said fondly. “You are not an irredeemable monster. You’re just scared.”

Rafe’s jaw clenched and he looked away, then back again. “I’m not fucking scared. But if I were, Princess? It’d be for good reason,” he said. “I have a lot to lose if I keep fucking up.”

“Everyone does,” you pointed out. You moved one hand to cup his cheek. “For now, if you think that I’m some mythical fucking beacon of light, then let me do it for both of us…be it.” He shook his head, blinking away tears he didn’t want to fall. “Rafe…I can handle you being stupid. I can handle your fuck ups. I have this long. What I can’t handle is losing you.” He was silent and you shrugged. “Look at me and tell me that if I walked away right now and started dating someone else you’d be okay with that.”

His eyes snapped back to you, visibly disturbed and angry. “Fuck no,” he admitted, practically spitting the words out.

“Exactly,” you said softly. His hands moved slowly to wrap around your waist more, no longer just resting on your waist. “I know that there are things we have to work on. Believe me. But we make sense. We work together. Let’s try again, Rafe.” You took a deep, shaky breath. “If you tell me you don’t love me. If you don’t want this…I’ll walk away. I won’t bring this up…won’t bother you again.”

“No,” Rafe said immediately, more firmly than even the last time. “I do love you, of course I fucking do. And yes I want you.” His voice almost immediately became choked up. “I want us. I just…”

“Are the words you’re looking for ‘am scared?’” you suggested.

“No,” he denied, using what was obviously his new favorite word once more. “Not scared. Just…hesitant to risk hurting you.”

You gave him a flat look. “Rafe, is loving me worth the risk of me hurting you?” you asked.

“Yes,” he said. “I don’t care if you hurt me.”

“So then why can I not feel the same way about you?” you demanded. “It’s worth the risk. So let’s take it.”

“You’re more important than me,” he murmured, leaning your foreheads together, initiating the touch he obviously desperately craved.

The noise that escaped you was somewhere between a scoff and a snort. “That’s the dumbest thing you have ever said to me,” you declared. “And you told me that for two years you didn’t believe that dinosaurs were real.”

Rafe laughed, weak but true and a sweet sound to your ears. As he did so, he pulled back just enough that your eyes were able to meet. “I was a child,” he defended, a tiny smile on his lips.

“You were twelve,” you corrected. “You started high school not believing that dinosaurs existed. You had to take an earth science class to realize that fossils were real.”

Turning his head, Rafe moved one of his hands to your face, holding your cheek, just like you were doing to him. “Can I kiss you to stop you from making fun of me again?” he asked softly, eyes darting down to your lips and then back up. “Or is it too soon to tell you to shut up without being an ass?”

You smirked. “Don’t worry. I know you’re an ass,” you said, leaning forward.

He met you halfway, your lips brushing together. The kiss was soft at first, sweet and featherlight as if trying to ascertain if it was really happening. That didn’t last for very long though. Quickly, Rafe’s grip on you tightened and he pulled you closer and deepened the kiss. You happily let him take the lead, letting your hands travel to the back of his neck again, longing to just sink into his embrace. When you broke apart, you both were breathing unevenly, looking at each other with vulnerable gazes.

“I missed you,” you said, voice strangely shy considering who you were talking to and how well you knew him—not to mention the fact that his tongue had been practically down your throat moments earlier.

“I love you,” Rafe said. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to your forehead that lingered, then tipped your chin up to meet his gaze, his other hand keeping you pressed firmly to his body. “You gonna be my girl again, Gorgeous?”

Even though you rolled your eyes, your smile gave you away. “I never really stopped, did I?” you posed.

He hummed, half-frown on his face, and shrugged. “Dunno,” he admitted.

“I didn’t,” you said, wanting to wipe away the insecurity from him in one assurance even though you knew you couldn’t. “I never stopped. And, for the record, I love you too. Even though you’re a jackass.” You paused. “And a little bit on the stupid side.”

Rafe’s lips cracked back into a smile that grew into something far more relaxed. “Well that’s good to know,” he murmured. 

“You just have pretty privilege is all,” you murmured quietly, voice serious despite the words being joking. You looked at him as though you feared he might disappear. 

He stroked your cheek, wiping away a stray tear you hadn’t realized fell, and then reluctantly pulled away from you, forcing his hands into his pockets to keep from touching you. “We have a lot to talk about.”

“We do,” you confirmed. You offered him your hand. “Wanna go get something to eat and actually, you know, do that?”

Immediately, his hand was out of his pocket, and his fingers were laced with yours. “Yeah, Princess, I do,” he agreed. “Let’s go before it gets dark.”

“How could it get dark when I shine so bright as our beacon?” you asked, teasing, grabbing his arm with your free hand and squeezing it in a half-hug.

“Jesus Christ you’re lucky that you’re so damn easy to love,” Rafe said laughing. He pulled you closer, letting go of your hand in favor of throwing his arm over your shoulder. He pressed a kiss to your temple, lips lingering, his voice going serious this time. “I love you.”

“I know you do,” you assured him. “I love you too.” He nodded, still not moving away yet. “Come on, Cameron. Let’s get a move on here. You’ll be thrilled to know that I didn’t listen to you and drink or eat much of anything today, so I am desperately in need of water or something.”

Rafe groaned. “Of course you didn’t,” he said dryly. “Come on, can’t let my girl stay dehydrated or hungry.”

With that, he started pulling you back up the beach towards the country club. And, in the back of your mind, even with the lingering uncertainty and unsaid words, you felt better than you had in what felt like an eternity. You stared at Rafe’s face—your Rafe, your stupid, sweet, annoying, perfect boyfriend—as the golden hour’s light hit him. The angelic glow that it cast on his infuriatingly perfect face was always breathtaking. But, something about him at this moment, after being so vulnerable and honest, struck you differently. You took your phone out and snapped a picture of him before he could notice or refuse and smiled down at it, ignoring the delayed groan when Rafe realized you’d already captured it.

“Come on, Gorgeous,” he complained.

“Sorry, I just had to capture the day Rafe Cameron admitted he was wrong. It’s a historical event,” you said, grinning, sending the picture to your friend before turning the phone off wanting to focus only on him.

He rolled his eyes at the jab, but you were pleased to see the way that his lips twitched up in an amused smile. The sight lightened your heart and made your lips stretch into a wider version of your own smile you’d already been sporting. And in the slowly fading light of day, there were only two things that you were certain of.

Rafe didn’t give himself nearly enough credit.

You weren’t going to make the same mistake as him.

Taglist: @joselyn001 @caughtinthetides @proactivetypaperson @abbybarnesstuff @hotch-meeeeeuppppp @fangirlfree @antagonize-me-motherfucker

[darcyfangirlsfrequently]

Reaction to episode 1 of season 2 of CME

Spoilers below the cut

The way the episode started with those cops that we don't know and then Emily's "I have" introducing her??? Amazing. Chills.

The way she just waltzed in and slowly and calmly detailed things about the killing that the cops didn't know yet was BEAUTIFUL

Penelope's birthday!!! (Still sad I didn't get to watch this yesterday ON my birthday, but whatever)

Ooh okay I thought that that snippet of Luke and Penelope was from BEFORE the start of the party but clearly it's after if everyone is already there

JJ and Tara being "mad" and Luke for whatever he just did and him being all cheeky and braggy WARMS MY HEART I MISSED THESE PEOPLE AND I LOVE THEM

"What is wrong with you?" "What is wrong with me? *gestures to Penelope* what about her?" I LOVE THEM

"I might have what I said tattooed to my body" "oh i dare you" "how dare you dare me?" the flirting is STRONG with these two

The banter!! The jokes!! I love this scene so much!!

QUEEF LESSONS??????? WHAT THE F U C K?

Penelope actually calling Luke by his name will never NOT make me smile

Oh no. A soft little moment with Penelope and Dave? I might cry

"This was good. You seem good." "I am. *kisses her cheek*" yep i'm crying

Tara and Penelope being concerned for their dad Rossi

Luke checking on his dad Rossi

Me 🤝 Penelope getting texts from our exes on our birthdays

"Put it away" I like how he's more direct with her now. Calls her out when she's wrong.

PENELOPE SHUT YOUR MOUTH WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT TO HIM

"I said I didn't wanna know, you were right the first time" yes luke stand your ground!

Luke looking SO ANNOYED when she asks him to dissect things with her JEALOUS LUKE MY BELOVED (if this were a romcom movie this would be where Luke just grabs her face and kisses her) (@lklvz i know what we're discussing at a later date)

"Oh god I'm doing it. Why am I doing that?" YES PENELOPE. STOP THAT LINE OF THINKING.

"I am moving on. Eyes on the prize." her saying that TO LUKE is driving me crazy. Yes, Penelope move on. Eyes on the prize. THE PRIZE IS RIGHT NEXT TO YOU.

Their eye contact and semi-wordless communication and everything ahhhhhhhh Garvez is so real

I wanted them to have a cute little moment where they reach for the same thing and their hands touch

Luke, from a different room: Put it away!! I LOVE THE WAY HE KNOWS HER???

Tara and JJ were there the entire time??????? they just let them be alone???? they're trying to jumpstart their ship with forced proximity

"You're HOT" JENNIFER JAREAU?????? The Jara shippers are going feral and the Jemily shippers are unsure about whether to cry or cheer, and my Temily self is weeping

"A hot mess is the term that you are searching for." Tara Lewis I am in love with you.

Tara talking about her gf 🥰 (Emily)

"Definitely not a book" i am GAGGED

Emily texting Tara "12:30. My office." Temily is real.

"we need to talk" emily i think the word you're looking for is make out

Is "we need to talk" temily code for "lets go smoke on the roof???" love that

Tara and Emily teaming up, Tara being the only person to know what's up with Emily, all of this is so good for my heart.

PAWS OFF THEIR CASES, REBECCA

how did rebecca's hair change that much in "two weeks" lol

oh she just handed off the file to Voit. Lovely. Not that I'm surprised.

"good book, I hope" HE WILL NOT LET IT GO

PHIL COULSONNNN

Elias showing off his acting skills. He is good.

"What the hell is Gold Star?" Luke I am hoping you're lying

Temily pitching a case like the wives they are

Rossi THROWING A GLASS AT A WALL

REBECCA. GO. AWAY.

Rebecca Wilson you are one of the worst people i have ever met

Rossi and Emily fighting feels so weird to me

Bertoli's wife being killed to punish him and hurt him through survivor's guilt reminds me of Luke and Phil

aaaand bertoli shot himself. can't say i'm surprised.

LUKE BEING SMART AND KNOWING THINGS AND GETTING ANSWERS LIKE THE BEST BOY HE IS (and Penelope being low-key impressed)

it was LUKE'S idea to get Tyler's help????

Emily asking if Penelope has any objections and then Penelope LOOKING AT LUKE

why do i have a weird get feeling i'm gonna like tyler this season. or maybe at least just hate him less.

Penelope not that you should be trying to impress tyler, but if you ask Luke if you look good, well, yes is the answer.

"my cats are my boyfriend" something tells me Penelope listens to "Karma" by Taylor Swift

Luke's overly fake voice greeting tyler I LOVE HIM

Luke baby i know you hate the mans guts but YOU INVITED HIM IN (this scene is hilarious tho)

*to penelope* "I'm happy to see you again." *to luke* "you, not so much" I'M CACKLING

"What, me? Oh you are missing out." I LOVE HIM THIS IS GONNA BE SO GOOD

Her thanking Luke for sticking up in that conversation. Garvez. Is. So. Real.

Rebecca is so hot and cold with Tara I hate it.

JJ you know all about being forced to confess something while being held against your will, don't you

the way Garvez are being put together in EVERY. SCENE.

Yes Penelope! Yell at him!

EMILY SAYING FUCK

Putting Tyler and Luke side by side in a frame only makes me more sure that they're making them similar on purpose. Almost the same outfit, badge in the same spot, similar hair style and facial features

"Who wants first crack at him? *points at Tyler* and not you." the comedy is back and i am loving it

[kyojurismo]

— STAY BACK !

# sanemi shinazugawa

tags : gn!reader, angst, mention of blood, death, crying, tengen makes an appearance bc if i don’t include him i can’t function properly, 1.2k words, the first half is proofread while the other not so um lol.

a/n : i told you yesterday i was in angsty mood, so here is the whole piece hehe. hope you enjoy (and don’t come at me ofc) <3

you have known sanemi shinazugawa for two years now. you admired him, as he became the wind hashira, but it also made you feel intimidated by him. you noticed that he somehow became even more hotheaded, getting angry easily. but that didn’t changed your feelings for him.

masachika explained to you, time ago, that sanemi lost his whole family due to a demon, and you couldn’t blame his hatred towards them.

“shinazugawa-san!” you ran to him, able to catch up to him. “we’re assigned to the same mission,” you smiled at him. “there’s nothing to be happy about, if i’m here too that means that the demon could be one of the twelve kizuki.”

his answer made your smile falter, as you caught up what he truly meant. your rank, as that of your companions, was too low and he had to tag along to make sure that said demon would get eliminated.

“uh…” you sighed deeply and tried to ease up the tension. “i’m glad you’re here! i’m sure we will do an amazing work, just like the old times,” you nodded to yourself. sanemi glanced at you and scoffed. “i don’t even remember your name,” he spat and started walking faster, surpassing you.

you slowed down and felt a strange feeling in your chest, his words were as sharp as a knife. why did he treated you so coldly?

─────────────────────

“shinazugawa will love these,” you murmured as you held the ohagi close to your chest. you knew they were his favourite, so you were positive that could help you develop a good relationship with him.

you were lucky to spot him talking with another pillar, so you slowly walked towards him and bowed respectfully. you knew the guy he was speaking to, it was the sound hashira.

“g-good evening shinazugawa-san, uzui-san,” you greeted respectfully, your cheeks heated up a bit when you noticed both of them staring at you. uzui offered you a kind smile, shinazugawa on the other hand stared at you with the usual coldness in his eyes.

“what do you want?” he spat, clearly annoyed. uzui hit his shoulder, silently scolding him for his rudeness. sanemi simply rolled his eyes.

“i uh… i came to give you these,” you offered him the ohagi you made for him, gulping down your nervousness. he stared at them for a moment before taking them, his expression the same. “good… i’ll probably feed them to the dogs,” he added, not even looking at your face.

well that hurt. you tried to hide your disappointment, simply bowing and offering another smile. uzui glanced down at you sympathetically, before turning to sanemi.

“the fuck was that, man?” he scolded him once you were out of earshot. “mind your fucking business,” he muttered, staring down at the plate. “you didn’t even say thank you, and what bullshit was that?” tengen was disappointed with his behaviour.

“that’s what i have to do, alright?!” he spat, angrily, before walking away. tengen watched him leave, wondering what his friend was talking about.

─────────────────────

you gave up on gifting sanemi stuff, stopped cooking for him, stopped approaching him. well, you did tried one last time.

“i noticed your haori was damaged during the last battle, so i–” sanemi abruptly interrupted you and snatched his haori from your hands, his annoyance clear. “stop it, dammit! you’re so annoying. always around me like a damn fly, give up already! i don’t like your presence, i hate having you around.”

at first you didn’t noticed the tears rolling down your cheeks, but sanemi sure did. “i-i just thought that–” he interrupted you once again, making you flinch back. “i don’t need your kindness or any shit like that. you’re here to kill demons, no? then focus on that, dumbass!” his eyes were full of hatred, he was staring at you with such disgust you wanted to disappear completely.

you left the room without saying anything else, it would only make it even more embarrassing for you.

sanemi sighed and gripped the sheets with his fist, looking down at the haori you fixed for him. he then turned to look out of the window, lying down on the bed. “i don’t deserve it,” he whispered to himself.

─────────────────────

as time passed, you and sanemi happened to be sent on the same missions often. but it didn’t bothered you as long as there were other slayers too.

you actually encountered a demon of the twelve kizuki, and you learned that sanemi was right. you rank was in fact too low.

you fought till the very end, before he had to take matters into his hands. you fell on your knees as sanemi appeared in front of you, you felt exhausted and breathless, you simply stared at him fighting.

the battle ended rather quickly, as he took advantage of his marechi blood. you watched in awe as the demon quickly disintegrated not too far as sanemi cleaned his katana. he turned to you and his eyes widened.

“shit– don’t move alright?!” he was quickly in front of you, making you gasp. “is there a prob–” you started coughing, spitting blood. oh.

you started feeling a growing pain coming from your stomach as you noticed in horror there was a large wound, and too much blood was gushing out of it.

“shi-shina–” sanemi interrupted you, clearly worried and nervous. “just shut up, okay? try to uh– do you know how to– fuck!” sanemi’s mind was filled with numerous thoughts all at once, making him even more stressed about the whole situation.

he caught you in his arms before you could hit the ground, getting stained with your blood. you felt so bad for it, it was all your fault after all.

“i-i’m so sorry…” you whispered, feeling more and more tired. your vision starting to blur. “the kakushi will be there soon… just hold on!” his hand cupped your cheek, trying to keep you awake. “i’m sorry for upsetting you so much… i just wanted to…” you were speaking no sense to him, as he tried to cover the wound with his haori, as if trying to stop the bleeding even though it was useless. “stop talking!” he wasn’t mad at you, he was mad at himself.

“i wanted you to feel loved,” you were able to whisper, silently pleading for his eyes to look at you. you wanted to look at them for the last time. “it’s okay…” you tried to comfort him. sanemi turned to your face and you saw tears streaming down his face. “it’s okay, ‘nemi…” sanemi watched the life leave your body, your now empty eyes stared back at his face.

“i can’t lose you too, please! i’m begging the gods, please don’t take them away from me!” he screamed into the night, desperately holding you to his chest. “i am the monster! take me, take my life instead!!” tears fell on your blood stained face, as sanemi shakes both from anger and sorrow.

he failed once again. he couldn’t protect something very dear to him. he tried so bad to push you away so you wouldn’t get hurt, he didn’t wanted you around because everyone who got too close to him ended up dead. but it happened again.

“forgive me…” he cried as his forehead rested on yours, his eyes squeezed shut as he trembled, still holding you. “please, forgive me.”

reblogs & comments are super appreciated! thank you for taking your time reading it, i hope you enjoyed it. have a good day / night <3

[toomanystoriessolittletime]

Counting Stars

Summary: Mel gets used to the life in Jackson. And her two new roommates.

Pairing: Joel Miller x Melanie Summer

Wordcount: 2.4k

Rating: T

Warnings: Soulmate AU, Angst, Pregnancy, talk about forced pregnancies, talk about childbirth, mention of child death, mentions of human experiments, character death, slowish burn, a ✨moment✨, changing POV's

A/N: I started writing this chapter four times and this is the version I hate the least lol

follow @toomanystoriessolittletime-fics to get notified for updates

Counting Stars Masterlist

✨two✨

Mel was living in a house. With a porch. And a small garden. 

She had a fully stocked kitchen. 

Her own bed. 

A bathroom with warm water. 

And she had two roommates. 

It had been two weeks since she had been cleared to stay in Jackson after arriving with Joel and the girl whose name she had learned was Ellie. 

When she arrived in Jackson with them she had been given the choice to stay with someone she hadn’t met before until new houses would be finished, or live with Joel and Ellie. 

Before she could have answered Joel had asked her quietly to stay with them. She didn’t question it, deep down thankful he had offered, not wanting to stay with someone she had never met before. 

Jackson was like entering the twilight zone after so many years of running and surviving. 

If she did not know that outside of these high and strictly guarded walls cordyceps had taken over the world, she would almost believe nothing changed. The first night she spent switching the light on and off until she fell asleep. Exhausted from the previous days, maybe years. 

Sleep felt different now that no one was there to watch her. 

It did not stop the nightmares though. She woke up drenched in sweat in the middle of the night, with the knowing feeling like somebody was watching her. 

But no one was there. 

The Fireflies had kept her like a prisoner and Mel couldn’t even remember how it was to make her own choices. Yesterday she had eaten almost a whole bowl of potato salad that had been in the fridge, one of the many welcome presents the townspeople had gifted to their newest residents, like a cavewoman just because she could. 

She felt rather sick for the rest of the day but the point was, she could (and would) do whatever she wanted, and she did not really know how to handle it. 

And then there was Joel.

Even though they lived together, they did not see each other much. He had been taken advantage of pretty quickly, going on patrol and when he wasn’t there, he was helping around town to build houses or fix things. 

She had learned that he was a carpenter before.

Ellie had told her so. Ellie, who has spent most of her time with Mel since they got here. 

The girl clearly was going through something, zoning off through conversations and being in her thoughts throughout the day when she wasn’t talking a hundred miles per hour. She also was struggling with her relationship with Joel.

He had lied to her when Ellie asked about what exactly had happened in the hospital. Even though he was completely right doing it, saving Ellie before the Fireflies got the chance to kill her. 

Marlene really had done quite the job on the girl. In her talks to Ellie Mel noticed that she genuinely believed the Fireflies could have found a cure because of her immunity. And she was angry Joel took that from her for whatever reason. 

If Mel could talk to Ellie and explain what the Fireflies really had been up to… But she hadn’t even talked to Joel about it. And she didn’t know if she would ever be ready to talk about it. 

Mel only had to take one look at Joel to know that it was because he loved the girl. 

So, living with these two was quite… intense. And most of the time quiet once they were in the same room. 

And Mel could not handle quiet. Because her own thoughts would get too loud. 

So she kept busy. 

Cleaning the house, even though her back was killing her. Attempting to cook dinner (mostly with average success), always keeping a plate for Joel in the fridge because he mostly wasn’t home by dinner time.

She read books. 

She took a bubble bath in the middle of the day with home made soap Joel brought home one day just because she could. 

Today she had a doctor’s appointment to check on her and her baby. She’d even get a sonogram picture to take home to pin at the fridge, like her mother did with the paintings she made for her before….

“Ellie?” Mel called upstairs to where the girls room was at the moment. She wanted to move to the garage but hadn’t asked Joel yet. Not because she wanted his blessing, but because she needed his help to build the place but was simply too proud (or stubborn) to ask. 

Ellie also was weirdly fascinated by Mel’s pregnancy. 

It was quite adorable actually. 

Tommy, who she met as Joel’s brother on the day they arrived,  had brought over some books the day after, intended for Mel to read. Yet Ellie had been the one to read all of the book in a matter of days, making for some weird conversations when Mel and her were making cookie dough and she wanted to taste some of it. 

Ellie literally knocked it out of her hands before asking her if she didn’t know she wasn’t supposed to eat anything that contained raw egg. 

Mel didn’t. 

Ellie’s protectiveness about Mel’s unborn child was why she asked the girl if she wanted to come with her to the first real doctor's appointment with her. 

She wasn’t interested until Mel told her that they might be able to see the baby.

Ellie almost fell down the stairs, stopping just in front of Mel. 

“Ready?” Mel asked. Ellie nodded. 

It was like Joel knew she was there when he turned his head and found Mel and Ellie walking down the road towards the center of Jackson. 

He hadn’t talked much to Mel since they got here.

He hadn’t talked much at all since they got here. 

There were so many things on his mind, the easier way for him was to keep busy and bottle all of his feelings inside and try to make sense of it. 

Like he had been for twenty years.

“You’re starring,” Joel’s hand whipped around, finding his brother grinning at him. 

Joel only grunted before he focused back on his task, pointedly ignoring his little brother. 

“You talked to her yet?” he asked. 

“Who?” Joel asked, still not looking at him as he grabbed his hammer. 

“Your soulmate,” Tommy hummed and Joel narrowed his eyes before he looked up. 

“What? You think I did not see the scar on her temple?” he asked. 

“Could be any scar,” Joel pointed out. 

“Sure. What about your Butterfly Tattoo on her shoulder?” Tommy asked.

“When did you see that?” Joel asked suspiciously while Tommy’s grin only got wider. 

Joel had seen it earlier this week, his chest tightening at the sight for a number of reasons. 

Yes, he had seen some of his scars on her body, his eyes seemingly finding another one whenever he saw Mel. But the Tattoo…

When Sarah had turned eleven her wish was for Joel to get a Tattoo. 

And because there was nothing in this world Joel wouldn’t do to make his girl happy, he let her paint a butterfly which he took to a local Tattoo Artist and got it tattooed on his left shoulder, much to his daughters delight. 

He had been inside the house when he saw it on Mel’s shoulder as she sat on a blanket, directing Ellie in the garden on how to take care of the wild vegetables growing there. 

It was like the air had been sucked out of his lungs as he saw this tattoo on her skin. 

Because up to this moment he lived in heavenly denial about the scars that seemed to match his. 

But the tattoo?

He could not deny this. But he didn’t know what to do about it, because he was bad at feelings (that he totally was not having). And he was even worse at talking. 

He felt a hand on his shoulder before Tommy sat down next to him. 

“Are you gonna tell her?” he asked. 

Joel sighed.

“She has more important things to take care of soon,” he shook his head. Which was the truth. And then there was this part of himself that didn’t want to allow the idea of someone new in his life. Because the people he loved either leave or die and he already cared too much about Mel to lose her either way. 

“You deserve to be happy,” his brother said. Joel turned his head to look at his brother. The brother who disappeared for years because of the way Joel chose for them to stay alive when the world ended. 

“Do I?” Joel asked, before he got up and left.

“This is so weird,” Ellie had not stopped looking at the sonogram picture since leaving the doctor’s office. She had gotten her very own copy of the picture of the baby girl growing in Mel’s belly. Mel had some reservations about going to see a doctor with the way she had been treated the last years. Her anxiety was on the highest level, yet she chose to work through it instead of hiding away. 

Because she needed to know the baby was okay. That one good thing would come out of the hell she went through these last years. 

Ellie seemed to pick up on her mood, hesitantly offering her hand. Once Mel took it, she didn’t let go of it until they were through with the doctor's visit. 

“Even more weird when she moves,” Mel put a hand on her belly. 

“You feel that?” Ellie looked at her with wide eyes which almost made Mel laugh.

“All the time,” she fondly rubbed her belly. 

They walked back towards the house after picking up some groceries, intending to try themselves at cooking again. Mel was bad at it, and Ellie had never done it before, so they made quite the team. 

Mel was pleasantly surprised to find Joel sitting on the porch, guitar in his lap.

It was the first time he was home earlier. 

She watched Ellie shrink a little, her smile disappearing. Mel didn’t know what their relationship was before Salt Lake City, but she’d bet that it wasn’t that… difficult. 

“Promised I would teach you,” Joel said with the hint of a smile as he looked at her. 

“Uh. Yeah. That… That’d be great,” Ellie mumbled.

“You play?” Mel asked, walking up towards the house. 

He nodded. 

“Been a long time though.”

“You taking requests?” she asked with a small smile. He huffed a laugh. 

“Maybe later,” he said. 

Mel’s eyes lingered on the scar on his temple, her own scar tingling. 

“Well, I’ll leave you to it then. Gonna try to cook some dinner,” Mel smiled, looking from Joel to Ellie.

“You sure?” Ellie asked.

“Very. I might yell for help though cause I have no idea what I’m doing,” she opened the door, letting Ellie carry the groceries they had gotten inside, before she followed her.

“Mel?” Joel asked behind her. She turned around, looking at him as he got up.

“Yeah?” she asked.

“Thank you,” he said. Mel frowned. 

“For what?”

“Looking after her. Things have been… Tense and you could have just… left or I don’t know but… Fuck I’m just…”

“It’s okay. I’m glad to look after her.”

“Good. That’s… yeah. That’s good.”

Mel was smiling softly at him and Joel seemed to lose every word he had ever learned before. 

“Between us, I think she misses you.”

“She hates me,” he said and Mel shook her head. 

“She’s hurt because she knows you lied to her. And I more than understand why you did, now that I got to know her more. I don’t think she would have understood why you did what you did if you explained right away back in the woods.”

She took a step closer, and Joel stopped breathing for a second. 

“Try talking to her,” she put her hand on his arm and he closed his eyes for a moment before he sighed. 

“I will,” he promised. 

“And spend more time with her. She wants to ask you to redo the garage to live in there, but she doesn’t know how,” she whispered the last part, hearing Ellie come back outside. 

She gave Joel a meaningful look to which he nodded. 

“I put the picture on the fridge,” Ellie informed Mel to which she snorted. 

“Of course you did,” Mel said.

“What picture?” Joel asked.

“We went to the doctor today and he got this cool machine where we could look inside of Mel? Like at her baby? It was so fucking awesome. And also weird,” Ellie sat on the bench outside, grabbing the Guitar.

“You got a sonogram?” Joel asked. Mel nodded.

“You wanna see?” she asked softly. After a moment he nodded. 

He watched her reach into the tote bag she had been carrying, his eyes lingering on her tongue between her plush lips as she searched for it. 

She got a book out, opening it to reveal a black and white picture that had been sitting in between the pages, probably to keep it safe.

“She’s a perfectly healthy baby girl,” she smiled as she held the picture out for him to look at. 

He remembered the feeling of seeing the first sonogram of his daughter like it was yesterday. He had been so fucking scared when he learned that his ex girlfriend had been pregnant. But seeing his baby girl for the first time? 

He felt a finger on his cheek and he blinked his eyes a couple of times to get back to the here and now, finding Mel brushing tears from his cheek, he hadn’t been aware of. 

“I can not wait to meet her,” he managed to say quietly. 

Mel wanted to ask a million questions at the way he reacted to seeing the sonogram picture. But this wasn’t the right time. Maybe she would get some time to talk to him some time. 

“Me neither,” she cupped his cheek. 

“I’m gonna head in and try to cook,” she said. 

“Call for us if you need help,” he said as he let her hand fall from his face, immediately missing his warmth. 

“Oh I will,” she winked, giggling as she turned away from him and walked into their house.

[idealisticrealism]

TCL 3x05 thoughts

The main things:

This ep starts literally immediately after last ep ended, and then takes place over 2 full days

Looks like Thony and Jorge swapped numbers at some point lol; I guess Dante got tired of being the go-between haha. But for a guy that was so concerned yesterday about Thony missing her interview, he sure seems chill about pulling her away today… only to have nothing for her but an unintentionally murdered guy and an uncomfortable fight with his sister lol. That’s a bit embarrassing for you there, Jorge! I like that he later ended the business call about Nadia’s payout to be able to answer her, and then followed through on her request to talk to Ramona on her behalf. And then she shows up at his office– did she google him or did he actually tell her where to find him??-- and tries to convince him to nullify the Amber Alert, and ngl I enjoy the fact that much of their dynamic so far is basically Thony either ordering or begging him to do something, and him being like “No” and making some mocking remark to her about it… and then later doing exactly what she asked/suggested lol. Thony (and especially the potent combination of Thony and Luca) really does have some kind of magic power over the men of this family… though Arman seemed to accept it far more quickly and eagerly than Jorge, who’s still half-heartedly trying to resist haha. But then again, the man still showed up at her court hearing and not only provided the exact thing she asked for, but he also stayed to see the outcome and her reaction?? Like I’m absolutely hearing Nadia’s words to Arman rn: “You love the way she looks at you when you do these things for her. When you are her hero”... Jorge got his first real taste of that during the last ep, and looks like he already wants more haha

Thony and Ramona are clashing more and more which is potentially going to be very problematic for Thony when they lose Arman and she is no longer shielded by her connection to him… but I guess that’s when Jorge’s growing regard for her is going to come into play, and create an interesting divide with the siblings…

Poor Thony reliving the trauma of losing Luca, only even more terrifying this time because instead of Marco (who sucked but was at least relatively safe), he could be with someone who intends to hurt him. “We’ve been down this road before” yeah in more ways than one

“You and Armando will work together, so when I’m gone…(etc)” okay this is a very odd statement for a 50-something to make??? And she later says something about bringing Arman home ‘while there’s still time’-- time for him, or her?? Like is Ramona secretly dying and that’s why she’s so determined to get Arman back, so Jorge will still have family watching over him? Surely the writers wouldn’t use a plotline like that though, not given how we lost Adan…….? 

Okay let’s all pretend that we believe that a 6 year old kid, who had barely experienced the world outside his own bedroom before a few months ago, managed to navigate the streets of a major city on foot to a location that’s a 10 minute drive away, and then also somehow snuck into a large public facility undetected and didn't raise red flags as an unaccompanied kid hanging there for hours lol

Ugh so much love for the courtroom scene and the fam all giving their testimony. I love that they were all clearly ready to commit perjury if needed (eg by covering up Thony’s shady activities if asked about it) and that they also said such beautiful, heartfelt things, because god did Thony need to hear those things. After everything she has gone through, and everything that her actions to protect Luca put the rest of the family through, she’d clearly started to question (like we saw in the kitchen earlier with Fi)  whether she is actually truly good– a good mother, a good family member, and a good person in general– or if she only brings pain to those around her.  The forgiveness and support of her family doesn’t erase what she’s done, but it is going to be a huge part of how she moves forward and grows as a person, and I’m really looking forward to seeing more of that journey.

I also loved that the people trying to take Luca away were two crusty old guys, while Thony’s lawyer (who looked like she was trying not to cry when Thony did her big speech), and the judge, and of course Susan (who, while on the CPS side, is actually fairly impartial and in some ways shows a lot of regard for Thony, and didn’t raise an objection even though she could have) are all women. It feels like a subtle nod to the themes of both motherhood and women supporting other women in this show, and that’s really cool. 

Other stuff:

Congrats to Fi for finally getting to have her own Traumatised Showering Scene haha, I think Thony has had at least 2 or 3 by this point. But I did feel for Fi and Chris that they barely even got to begin to unpack what happened to them because things were just immediately about Luca. Also ngl that music/voiceover combo right at the start with the abrupt fadeout was a bit weird lol

“Sometimes I wish I was a turtle, so I could hide in my shell” #relatable

Love the sweet JD/Fi stuff, though this dude needs to recognise his place in the family hierarchy and not make calls that aren’t his to make lol. Leave the dealing with big important stuff to the women, buddy, you’re out of your depth!  

Speaking of dudes messing things up… seriously Dante? Accidentally killing the best lead your bosses have to getting their relative back? That’s embarrassingly amateurish. Unless there’s actually more going on here than we realise, and he did it deliberately to keep the guy from talking??

Ok seriously how many doors lead outside from Luca’s room?? I know it’s a converted sun-room and not a proper bedroom, but still, they should at least be locked if not also securely barricaded. Geez.

Ah the many facets of Jorge, comfortable in a homeless camp and while torturing a guy in a warehouse, but also in a courtroom and a fancy corner office, and also while kneeling in a kitchen doorway to earnestly accept a gift of a cupcake from a 5 year old lol

Thony always tells Luca she’s never going to let anything bad happen to him… but uhhh, a little too late there, don’t you think Thony? Poor kid has been through more ‘bad things’ than most adults, and most of them have happened within the last 6 months lol

Lol at Thony trying to tell the officer to drop the charges against Dante and he’s just like ‘nope’ haha. I bet she really misses her surgeon days when she could just give orders and people would follow them without question

No Nadia this week! Honestly it felt weird not to see her; it really feels like she is part of the family now, and I’m looking forward to more of her and Thony working together

Goddamn I really gotta learn Spanish.

[commandershepardvasfuckit]

Chapter 4 for the indulgent original writing (4.2k words)

Chapters 1-3 are in my pinned post.

Just unpolished writing to get ideas out of my head

No real content warnings like last last chapter, but wow it’s actual story lol

The entire way down to the dining hall he never faltered, never once did you slip in his grip, never did he need to readjust his hold on you, just strong and steady. It felt like the trek there had taken forever, just miles of hallways and endless flights of stairs, though it also might have dragged on from

your embarrassment of being carried about half clothed clearly in a state where everyone you passed very clearly knew how you spent your morning.

Much like the other parts of the palace you have seen, the dining hall seemed to follow the king’s personal style. Dark wood floors and furniture, drapes and tapestries trimmed in black and gold, jewels inlaid in surfaces that most definitely did not need it.

He took his place at the head of the table, an overly ornate carved chair, nearly a throne, but when you went to climb off his lap and sit in your own chair he tightened his grip.

“No my pet, I’d much rather you warm my lap”.

Serving staff trailed in, the woman from yesterday, Mirabette, and two other women who you guessed where probably around your age.

“And what would you like for breakfast my treasure?” he asked. “Anything you little heart desires”.

This would have been exciting had you not been so overwhelmed. Every possible food seemed to slip from your mind and you fidgeted on his lap, wracking your brain for any possibly reasonable answer.

“If you keep wiggling about like that you’re going to get me hard again” he whispered in your ear, promptly making you freeze. “Oh don’t tense up like that. If I choose to fuck you over the table I’ll send the staff away, don’t worry. I’m not fond of sharing after all”.

His words were not reassuring, regardless of whether he was telling the truth or not.

“Would you prefer if I just chose what was for breakfast and you can add anything you can think of? I do suppose you aren’t used to so many options, it must be quite overwhelming”.

You nodded, “Yes please, my king”.

“Very well! Mirabette, a pot of tea, my usual, and bring everything you can think of, spare nothing for my little pet. Such a sweet little thing should be pampered, especially with how well she pleased me this morning”.

“Yes, my king” Mirabette turned on her heel and disappeared back through the doors, never once batting an eye or making any acknowledgement of how the king spoke so openly.

The two other women remained at the side of the room. One seemed entirely at ease, hands clasped behind her back and simply staring forward, ignoring everything much the same way Mirabette had.

The other women though, a sour expression on her face as she watched you. Eyes narrowed and staring at you as if she thought to stare a hole straight through you.

“Cassandra!” yelled the king, “Either you will control your expression or you will retire to the kitchen, I care not for your opinions. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, my king” she curtsied, her facial a forced neutral as she stood back up.

“Pay her no mind, my treasure. It appears some may be jealous of my affections for you” he kissed the top of your head. “No one’s opinion matters but mine, and I have quite the high opinion of you”.

Mirabette returned with a large tray, precariously balancing a tea pot, two tea cups with saucers, milk, sugar, honey, lemon wedges, various breads, butter, jams, and other small pastries. “Tea and a little something while you wait. The kitchen is working on everything else. May I get you anything else, my king?”

“No, that is all for now. Thank you”.

Mirabette curtsied again, same neutral smile as before, and took her place between the other women.

“Tell me, my sweet little pet, how do you prefer you tea?”

“I don’t know, my king. I haven’t really had tea truthfully” tea in your city was quite the luxury. As it was not a port city or along any major trade routes, nor had a suitable climate for its cultivation, any true tea was a costly import reserved only for the rich.

“Another first for you then. Fine wine and bath soaps last night, sleeping in the bed of your king, wearing my clothes, the first of many times being so throughly fucked” he smirked at you, clearly enjoying embarrassing you.

It was working. You buried your face in his chest, even clinging to him was better than making eye contact with any of the staff.

“So cute that you’re flustered, but I’m sure everyone here knows your role, they see that pretty collar around your neck. No one should be surprised to hear that I fucked you until you cried this morning, how you satisfied me so well, how my cum is still on your thighs as you sit here on my lap in front of my staff”.

“Why are you doing this?” you asked.

“Manners”.

“My king, why are you trying to embarrass me?”

“No, little one, not embarrass, I’m simply praising your good behavior. I think everyone should know what a good girl you’ve been for me”.

You hated how he called you ‘good girl’. Hated that part of you enjoyed his praise, hated how his words made your legs a little weak and caused a heat between your legs.

“Speaking of how well you’ve satisfied me, I do suppose you’ll need something for that, I’m much past the point of wanting to sire any more whelplings”.

In surprise you yanked your face away from his chest to stare at him.

“What? Were you not aware of that possibility? Has no one ever taught you where children come from?” he laughed.

“I know how it works with humans! You’re not human though!”

“But human bodies are highly adaptable you’ll find, almost like humans arose just to serve dragons. Not that humans are particularly capable of having very sturdy whelplings anyways, half whelps just don’t have the hardiness of a pure dragon. They’ll look just like a pure dragon, but never have the full magic or size. But don’t worry yourself over the details, like I said, I have no desire to deal with that anymore”.

You tried to banish the thought. Possibility aside, the entire concept seemed rather unpleasant in general, especially with him being the father.

“Alondis!” he barked, “Let the apothecary know I need something to avoid any unnecessary consequences from this morning and something for daily use”.

You had not noticed Alondis standing just inside the doorway, he seemed an ever present constant, a bored expression on his face as he waited on orders.

“Yes, my king” he vanished through the doorway.

“Now, little one, where were we? Tea! Yes, I’ll prepare yours the same I take mine in that case”.

He leaned forward to grab the tea pot, his sudden movement nearly sending you toppling off his lap and causing you to wrap your arms around his shoulders to prevent falling.

“I’m not going to let you fall, my other arm is still around you. I promise I’ve got you. Though I do quite like you clinging to me like this”.

Gods he was warm, even in the drafty open air of the dining hall it felt like there was a fire just below his skin. Clothed only in his shirt it felt quite nice to be so close to him.

“There you go, a nice cup of tea for a lovely pet” he handed you the cup.

It was warm, sweet and earthy as you sipped it.

“Is it to your liking? I do prefer mine on the sweeter side. I fear I’ve developed quite the sweet tooth from spending so much time around humans, perhaps not the most becoming of a dragon”.

“It’s good, my king”.

“Wonderful! Hopefully everything else will be- Cassandra!” his voice dropped into a growl, his lips pulled back into an angry snarl that showed off sharp teeth.

You snapped your head over to look at the woman, her nose was wrinkled in disgust and a sneer on her face.

“Kitchen! Now! I will not tolerate your disobedience after you have already been warned. You do not have to like or approve of my new plaything but I’d rather have you locked up for the foreseeable future than show any disrespect to myself or my pet” his grip around you tightened.

“Though maybe it would do you better to remember your place below my pet if you were her personal handmaiden. I was going to have Mirabette attend to her, but Mirabette already has to keep all of you in line so instead you will wait on her. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, my king” she responded through gritted teeth.

His chest was heaving and he was not settling down. This was a much stronger anger than you had experienced last night when you refused him, this was animalistic and much scarier.

“Out! Everyone!” he yelled and the three women wasted no time retreating to the kitchen.

Tentatively you leaned your head against his chest and tried to wrap your arms around him, hoping to calm him down. Your touch seemed to snap him out of it for the most part.

Much of the rage receded from his expression as he looked down at meet your own frightened expression.

“Oh darling, I’m sorry you had to see that” he kissed the top of your head softly “I do suppose a display like that does not really endear you to me”.

Darling. Not pet, or treasure, or bird, or even ‘my’ in front of it, just darling.

“Why don’t we enjoy our tea and a light breakfast? I have something I’d really like to show you”.

“Whatever you would like, my king” you answered.

“I would like it to be your decision, actually”.

You furrowed your brow, trying to suss out if this was a trap or game, but his expression genuine seeming.

“In that case, I do think that would be nice, my king”.

Breakfast was a fairly quick affair, and he promised you a much nicer lunch to make up for it. He actually seemed sorry for his outburst even though he continually framed it not as him losing control but as Cassandra making him lose control, though for a dragon that was probably to closest he would ever get to an admission of fault.

Once more he carried you in his arms, this time you wrapped your arms around his neck and laid your head on his chest as he carried you out into the large central courtyard.

“I want you to see me, my actually self and not just- this” he vaguely gestured to himself once he had sat you down on the stairs. “I don’t get the chance to just exist as me often, but I do want you to fully know me”.

“My king, why do you spend so much time looking human then?” you ask.

“It’s just easier this way. The world isn’t really built for dragons anymore, it hasn’t been for a long time, since long before my hatching even. And there’s not many of us left, especially from pure bloodlines. Too much infighting between the bloodlines and humans advanced too much to control the same way”.

“I live somewhere clearly not meant for a dragon, and the process of changing shape isn’t exactly pleasant, it’s not something I do often” he said. “I haven’t even been able to be myself in my own palace since I was a whelpling”.

“Did you grow up here?” you asked.

“I did, before this was my territory it was my father’s, though it was a much smaller territory then. I suppose you’ve heard the stories about me” he smiled.

“Though when I was still little, young enough where I couldn’t even take a human form yet, I would run down the hallways as fast as I could. Oh my mother hated it, she’d be chasing me yelling ‘Valathos! Valathos! Get back there! You’re going to knock someone over!’ She never could catch me though” he laughed, “You try catching a young dragon while you’re stuck on two legs”.

His relaxed expression quickly vanished, his eyes widening as if he just saw something truly awful. “Forget what I just told you” he snapped.

“What?”

“What I just told you, forget it, that was not meant for your ears”.

“Oh” you said softly, not sure what to quite say or what the issue really was, but you had a name for him finally, Valathos. You wracked your brain, trying to remember if you had ever heard his name before, but it was not familiar at all. In all the stories or songs never once had you heard his name, just titles and epithets.

An awkward silence settled between you both. It was a strange bit of information to learn about him, that staying in a human form was less a choice and more of a necessity. As you mulled your thoughts over a noticeable expression must have settled on your face.

“You don’t need to look upon me with such pity, it’s my choice to confine myself as such. I could fly off and control my territory as a dragon at all times if I truly wanted, but with how the world is, this is just easier”.

“I don’t mean to be nosy, but what is so unpleasant about changing shapes?” you asked.

“To be honest, going from this form to my true shape is actually euphoric. I can’t really explain it, there’s nothing that feels like it, just this rush of freedom, feeling like I can finally breathe again. Nothing compares”.

“It’s going from that to this” he once more gestured to himself, “that is so unpleasant. To feel yourself collapsing and folding in on yourself. Every fiber of your being getting twisted and condensed until what is left isn’t you at all. I try to keep a few things, but nature doesn’t like splitting the differences, it wants humans to look like humans and dragons to look like dragons. I try to keep some height, my teeth to some degree, and my eyes. I couldn’t stand to see this face and not even see my own eyes”.

“I didn’t realize any of that” you said softly.

“No, I can’t say I’ve ever heard of a dragon really openly admitting it to a human. It’s not a particularly powerful image for us huh? That one of the most well known parts of our magic is actually so horrible and painful that many of us just choose to stay trapped to avoid it”.

“You don’t have to do this now. I’m sure there will be other times where you’ll have to change shape and I’ll see you then instead of putting yourself through it now”.

“It’s been nearly ten years since last I was myself. Not that long compared to my age really, but it’s not often there’s a reason where I have to change shapes. I’d rather just show you on my own terms instead of my hand being forced”.

“Then I think I’d really like to see the real you” you smiled.

“I’m quite the handsome dragon you know, even if you may not be able to tell” he smiled back.

“And what makes you such a handsome dragon?” you teased.

“My horns! I’ll have you know my bloodline is one of only a few to have double horns and I’m the only of my siblings to get them! You would be very impressed if you were a dragon”.

“No, I’m very impressed!” you held your hands over your head, mimicking horns.

“Very dignified” he laughed, “Thank you for humoring me, I don’t really joke much anymore. You’re a sweet little thing to indulge me so” he ruffled you hair.

“Well at least the first part is fun” he shrugged, “Help me undress?”

“What?”

“I actually happen to somewhat like this shirt and these pants, would be a shame to destroy them in the process, so help your king undress?”

“Yes, my king” you smirked.

He knelt down to where you sat on the stairs so you would not have to stand. You lifted his shirt up, letting your hands linger on his chest, looking over the scars than adorned his skin as you removed the shirt.

“So are the scars your own choice too then?” you asked.

“No, those I can’t change. Injuries inflicted by magic can’t been covered up, even by magic”.

“You have quite a few”.

“I’ve lived a long time, I’ve established a large territory, you don’t manage that without fighting, especially with other dragons”.

He stood up and kicked off his boots, “Now, I will ask you turn away while I change forms. The magic tends to be too bright for human eyes and the process has been described as a bit grotesque, so I’d prefer if you did not see that part. Understand?”

“Sure”.

“Manners” he said firmly, apparently whatever playful closeness was between you moment ago was over now.

“Yes, my king”. You quickly finished removing his pants.

“Do not turn around until I tell you to. I’m serious”.

You heard his footsteps recede to the other side of the courtyard and even with your back to him the whole area was painfully bright. It dragged on for what felt like ages, before you heard his voice.

“Will you face me, little one?”

His voice echoed oddly, it was still very much his voice but something felt off.

As you turned around you found yourself sitting in his massive shadow.

This was the Dragon King, not the man you had just spent the last day with. He was imposing, towering over you even when sitting, your head not even level with his elbow. His scales were a dark charcoal tone, nearly black, his claws a gold tone, you could see where his own personal style came from now.

His eyes though, they were familiar, the same piecing gaze as always but even harder to read like this.

“You are quite handsome like this” you smiled at him.

“Simple flattery, but I’ll accept it”.

His voice did not seem to emanate from his mouth, rather it echoed in your mind.

“How are you doing that?” you asked.

“Speaking to you? Just how dragons communicate, we’re not exactly built to speak verbally like humans”.

“Can you speak like this in your other form?”

“No. I don’t have much access to magic in my other shape, just the basics” he stretched out to lay down, lowering his head to rest on the ground to rest next to you on the stairs and to be relatively eye level with you.

“So, you like this? My actual self?” he asked somewhat uncertainly.

“I do, I meant it when I said you were quite handsome”.

“Did you see my horns?” he tilted his head to the side, careful to not knock you over.

“Quite magnificent, my king” you ran your hand along one of the horns.

Two horns swept back from the top of his head that curved up at the end. The second set arced back before curving back along his jaw to point forward, one horn on each side to frame the center horns.

“I like this, just having you near to me like this is nice” he said.

You leaned against the side of his face, avoiding the point of his horn. His scales were rough, but there was a warmth to him, like he had been sitting out in the sunlight for hours.

“I like it too” you said.

What felt like hours passed, and at some point you definitely napped for a while, but it was comfortable, there was a secure feeling about being curled up against him like this.

“My little pet, it’s time to get up” he gentled nuzzled his face against you, “I know I promised to take you around the palace, and a nice lunch to make up for breakfast, but I long for the skies. It’s been so long since I’ve soared, since I’ve felt the wind beneath my wings. I cannot bring myself to confine myself to the ground quite yet. I hope you don’t hold my nature against me”.

“No, I understand. It’s the same anyone else would want, their freedom” you could not look him in the eye. The horrible irony was not lost on you, that he felt like he had no freedom while he held so many captive here.

“It’s not the same” he said firmly, “The very nature of my being is to fly, to roam. The very nature of humans is to serve. Here at my side you’re able to fulfill your nature and serve me, it would do well to remember your place”.

Powerful wing gusts knocked you over as he took off, the discussion clearly over.

As you tried to pick yourself up off the ground, a gloved hand reached out to offer assistance.

“He’s a hypocrite, and frankly an asshole, in case you didn’t notice” it was Alondis.

“Yeah, I don’t know what I was expecting” you took his hand and let him help you up. “How much of that did you see?”

“Not much. I got back to the dining hall and you were both gone but it’s pretty difficult to hide a dragon so it wasn’t hard to find you. You were napping when I got out here so I left to actually go get some stuff done and I had just gotten back to hear you lecture him on freedom. Quite boldly of you for someone literally wearing a collar”.

“Shut up”.

“Look, I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be rude, but you’ve been here for less than a day and you think you’re going to find something to say to him that hundreds of others haven’t already? He quite literally will never see a human as anything more than a subservient pet. His nature isn’t freedom, it’s subjugation, sometimes he just hides it well”.

“Yeah, I’m noticing that” you sighed.

“He’ll be charming as long as he gets his way, praise you and dote on you, as long as you’re a docile little lap dog at his feet. But he was so happy to announce that he made you cry this morning, happy to tell everyone that you tried to push back against him and he put you back in your place”.

“So that’s just it? Just roll over and take it?”

“I mean, in a very literal sense for you” Alondis smirked.

“That’s not funny!”

“I’m sorry, that was an awful joke, wasn’t it? I swear I’m not trying to be an ass for no reason, I don’t get the chance to speak freely often. I’m either tailing him around waiting on whatever orders he has, or having to be the jerk in charge keeping everything running around here”.

“Have you been here a long time?” you asked.

“About 27 years now in all, 10 years of being his personal guard though, and no, I don’t know why a dragon needs a personal guard either before you ask”.

“Personal guard? Not errand boy?” you teased.

“Very funny. Captain of the Royal Guard, personal guard to the king, and now glorified babysitter of you when he’s out”.

“Of me?”

“Yep, like it or not, you’re stuck with me. Strict orders to keep you out of trouble when he’s not around”.

“So that’s it? I step a toe out of line and you run and tattle on me?”

“Gods no, I really don’t care about what you do as long as I don’t get yelled at for it. I have no interest in being another captor to you, we’re in the same boat after all” he shrugged.

“So, uh, 27 years?” you asked tentatively.

“27 years of captivity and servitude, yeah. It’s great, been here longer than I lived in my own town before” he said bitterly, “A royal caravan came through to collect tribute and unfortunately the previous guard captain decided that I’d make a good apprentice so that was that. I was 14 at the time”.

“I’m so sorry” you said, but your words felt hollow. You did not know what to else to say though. ‘I’m sorry’ did not begin to cover how you felt about his situation, or yours, or for anyone else trapped here.

“Yeah, so am I. None of us deserve this, waiting hand and foot on that monster. But you either play your role or suffer the consequences”. He handed you the bag he had been carrying, “For you, from the apothecary. Blue bottle for right now, green ones are daily. Apothecary said pick a consistent time to take the daily ones, unless you want little versions of him running about. And for all of our sakes, please be good about this, one of him is already more than enough”.

[lnfours]

yess blurb night so excited! if ur not too busy with other asks is it possible for u to pls make a blurb in which tom holland and the reader are best friends and tom always flirts with her because he’s been in love with her for years but the reader keeps rejecting him (even tho she or they is clearly blushing) because she is scared of love because like insecurity and what if one day he leaves her for someone better or they don’t work out and she loses him as a friend? but tom is patient with her and eventually they end up together?

okay anon. it's FINE. just break my heart :,)

send me tom asks !

things between you and tom have always been... complicated.

it was never easy figuring out what the both of you wanted and when, and the fact that you were too nervous to give you heart to another person always made things difficult. but, that didn't stop tom from trying. he'd always go out of his way to make sure you were special to him, always find a way to make sure just how pretty you really were.

you were the love of his life. and he was yours, but you were just too scared to admit it.

"oh come on, y/n! when are you finally going to admit to him that you love him." your best friend and roommate, maddy, sighed. she meant well, she just wanted what was best for you. she saw the way you lit up when he texted you, the way you blushed whenever he complimented you. she knew everything, and she would die on this hill.

"never," you sighed, "liz said she saw him with brooke stone the other night."

"oh, please. as if brooke has something you don't." maddy rolled her eyes. little did you know she had already confronted tom about it. they hadn't worked out at all, apparently she was doing the same thing with a bunch of other guys behind his back.

it hurt like a bitch, even more knowing that you were too late. someone else had taken their chance. what hurt the worst was that tom hadn't talked to you since brooke waltzed her way into his life and took over.

everything. sucked.

"i don't know, she was all over him."

"and was he all over her?" she asked you and you huffed, pulling the blanket over your head. you had been sulking on the couch watching shitty rom-coms for the past three days, knowing now that the one boy you truly wanted was off the table.

or so you thought, anyway.

"i love that this happened to me right before valentine's day. just my luck, eh?"

maddy looked down at her phone as it buzzed on the counter in the kitchen. she smiled, seeing tom's text to her light up her screen.

tom holland hey, by any chance is y/n home? i was going to ask her to be my valentine and sort of kinda confess my feelings, as vulnerable as that sounds lol

she typed back a response

she's home. just for the love of GOD holland please get y/n to stop watching '13 going on 13' and snotting all over the couch

lol, be there in 15 no promises about the '13 going on 30', though. that's a classic

"i love jennifer garner," you said from the couch, "i want to look like her when i'm older."

maddy let out a laugh, "yesterday it was blake lively, now it's jennifer garner?"

you were silent for a moment, "both. both would be good."

she shook her head and sat down on the couch, lifting your legs up for a place for her to sit.

"can we please watch something other than movies that are going to make you cry?"

"no."

"why? do you wish to be dehydrated?"

"yeah."

she rolled her eyes again, "okay then, don't ask me to pick up pedialite tomorrow."

"i wont."

"alright, sure."

after a while there was a knock on the door. maddy tapped your legs.

"answer the door."

"no," you whined, "this is the best part!"

"y/n, they're literally just sharing razzles as 30 year olds."

"but it's sentimental!" you groaned. she gave you a glare and you groaned as you wrapped yourself in the blanket more, walking towards the front door.

"listen, whatever you're selling i'm not interested in. i'm watching a really great movie and it's at the best part and-"

you cut yourself off as tom stood there smiling with a bouquet of your favorite flowers, "i know, maddy told me to save you from getting swallowed by the couch."

you sniffled, walking out onto the porch and closing the front door behind you, "what are these for?"

"well, they have three meanings," he started, "one for not telling you how i felt sooner, another as an apology and another reason i'll get to in a minute."

"telling me how you felt?" you questioned.

he took a deep breath, "i know how scared you've been about loving someone again, trust me, from experience, i know how scary it is. it swallows you whole and you can't think about anything else. but i just can't stop myself from thinking about you day and night. you're the only thing that's ever on my mind. it's like you're embedded in it and i can't get you out. y/n, i love you. i'm head over heels, if that's what they call it."

you looked at him confused, "but you and brooke...?"

"didn't work out," he sighed, "don't worry about it though, i'm actually kind of glad it didn't."

you smiled softly, "you got me sunflowers."

"your favorite," he smiled, "fresh from the farmers market in town."

"you remembered." you took them gently from his hands.

"'course, couldn't forget it even if i tried."

"and the last meaning for these flowers?" you asked.

"oh, yeah," he cleared his throat, "was wondering, would you be my valentine?"

you smiled, "of course."

he smiled back at you and you pulled him into your body by the strings of his hoodie, "and i love you too, head over heels, as they say."

he smiled, leaning down as his nose bumped yours, "i know."

you smiled, "i like to think i can hold up a front."

"maybe when you're not blushing so hard you look like a tomato."

you smacked his arm playfully, "hush."

"make me."

you rolled your eyes and smiled, leaning in to kiss his lips as he held your waist in his arms. just like you've always been wanting him to do.

"thank fuck! it's about time!" maddy yelled from the doorway. you turned around, smiling as you shot her the middle finger and tom laughed behind you.

"yep, love you too!"

[golbrocklovely]

So first of all, thank you for your answer, it made the topic a little easier for me!

The first thing that was false in her eyes was that I sent her a video of Colby dancing with a girl. He was apparently partying with Brennen and the video is available on YouTube shorts. The video was made between 2016-2018, at least that's what it looks like.

Yesterday the SnC video was late and she asked me what was wrong with it and whether Colby is okay. I just said I don't know, maybe because of a small hate wave or they both have internet problems. She asked me about this "hate" wave I was talking about and to respect her feelings, I told her that I didn't want to send her the video of Colby and "M". But I also wrote to her that it looked more like a friendship thing.

Then the rest began, which I had already written to you. She told me I ruined her month's day with Sam and Colby. I just thought to myself, if she says she wants Colby to be happy, you can bring that up too.

She then told me afterwards that I should turn my brain on and that it was clear that it hurt her and that she didn't want to see him with other women.

no problem! like i said you didn't do anything wrong. she's just upset bc she hates seeing him with girls that aren't herself.

and i know what video you're talking about with him and brennen. that was from 2017 when they went with elton to japan for a tfil trip. brennen deleted the video of him reacting to his snapchats, but that clip made it's way around haha

the other clip, with him putting his arm around m, i still haven't seen it. i've heard about it tho. did someone post it somewhere, bc so far i've only heard about it on here lol

clearly she needs some mental health if she can't handle him being around women. that's very odd behavior, even for a fan.

[loftec]

I’m sorry you aren’t excited about writing right now, I know it feels silly and frustrating but you’re so valid in it lol. That being said, I think the only character I would love more about is Edna from NTW??

That’s a lie, I would love to ask everything about Etch but I feel like he’s so well made I know all of his sweet and honest answers.

So number 1 for Edna if you please! Stay safe and happy and warm!

Hello friend! Thank you for the kind words, it means a lot… I felt extra crappy about it yesterday because I have finally (omg don't jinx it don't mention the schedule) cough managed cough to keep up cough a routine! And yet when I sit down at my allotted daily writing time, I waste it on silly things like despair. Anyway! Onwards and upwards, I haven't managed to write much more today but spirits are higher, partly because I got to think about Edna for a while!

I'm not sure any of this will ever come up within NTW so I'm just going to ramble a bit. Edna is quite mysterious to me as well, actually, I feel like I have a really strong image of her but unlike most of my other OCs, she isn't named after or based on anyone. And in the vein of not knowing the full name of an aunt or a grandmother (don't judge me, but I was once asked my grandmother's name and was like ??????? I do know it but I have never not once in my life used it and I cannot recall please help). Well, I did some digging in my feelings and I decided that her married name is Sutherland. I then spent 40 minutes trying to figure out her maiden name and I really just can't. The problem is that she is so clearly a certain way in my head and I want to figure out if she reminds me of someone or if there's a character somewhere that I can compare her to. It's literally been years and I still haven't managed.

Although, I feel like she might look a bit like Miriam Margoyles and I wanted to bring in some connection there, hence Sutherland (Miriam and her partner Heather Sutherland have been together since 1967, which really struck me because it was the same year I'd set in my timeline for Edna and Alan getting together).

This was so much fun, and now all I want to do is write a fic where Ian has a cup of coffee with Edna and gets her to talk about her whole life with Mickey in the background working and walking past to eavesdrop, because he's never thought to ask half of these questions and the old bat is actually sincerely answering everything!

Mickey, after eavesdropping on Edna’s whole-ass life story : I’ve known you since I was born and you’ve never told me any of this! This is some dark fucking magic right here.

Ian, literally just asking normal questions about someone’s life: …yes, must be magic.

Edna, who’s never straightforwardly answered a personal question in her life, and knows it: Maybe you should’ve asked and I would’ve told you.

Obviously, I need to finish NTW so I can write that!

[joannerowling]

When you talk about the egomania of her whose name we'll not mention since she it seems searches her name, could you elaborate on that I'm curious. It's been ages since I've been on her page, like atleastva year-and that was only once; I dunno what it was about her that made be click away, but something just seemed *off*. Like sure, there are basic feminist views that I agreed with her, but dunno, something just rubbed me the wrong way.

But yeah, I'm curious to see your thoughts.

Oh and one last thing, your blog does bring me a lot of joy, it's nice seeing someone who's more level-headed in these parts of tumblr.

Listen, you seem friendly but i'd rather you didn't send me this sort of thing on anon. One of the reasons i don't like menalez (let her find me idc) is because she clearly enjoys that sort of interractions where strangers send her asks like "please tell us what you think, o wise one!" I don't (unless it's JKR related lol). I delete anons on a regular basis (sorry…), i understand some of you are just shy and i accept it! but the truth is they sometimes freak me out a bit. Not, like, the content. It's just that after a while of answering strangers every day (which is what was happening on my other blog until i moved) there's a weird power imbalance that starts taking shape and i don't like it. It's so separate from my real life identity, which is NOT someone people naturally gravitate around lol. It's flattering for a bit but mostly stressful. It's kind of like, i can enjoy losing it at some dumbass in the JKR tag once in a while, but if i try to sustain that sort of anger/smugness much longer it gets corrosive.

My point is i've moved on from yesterday's (was it yesterday?) catfight and i don't really care to elaborate on why i don't like someone. We just don't vibe i guess.

Also i'm happy my blog brings you joy, i hope you did not find this answer rude and you will keep enjoying it here!

[writeforfandoms]

Hi! I don’t have a question, but I just want to say that I love your blog, and I absolutely LOVE your Dr.Fate x reader fic! I’ve seen Black Adam twice already and from the moment he comes on the screen I’m captivated by him! I’ve been searching for fics of him everywhere and couldn’t find any, so I’m so grateful for your fic lol. It was amazing, and I hope in the future you can do more for him! I’m glad we share a love for him lol, have a great day! Oh, and by any chance, do you accept fic requests?

!!! Hi!!! Okay so this made my entire day and I was so so thrilled to get this yesterday!!! Seriously I giggled and clapped and was generally a very happy menace.

Thank you so much for reading!!! I really love Dr. Fate. I don't know what it is exactly, but I love him. I've seen the movie three times in theaters and clearly I have a Problem. A problem we share lol. I am planning to write more for him, so you can look forward to that!

As for requests, I did also answer this yesterday more completely on this here post, but the basic answer is: I don't generally accept requests outside of events like follower celebrations, etc. However, you can send something in and if I have an idea, awesome.

But the best way to get me to write stuff is to come talk to me. Tell me your thoughts and ideas, let's brainstorm! I promise I don't get mad at people for dropping into my DMs, ever.

Thank you again for this absolutely lovely message!! 💖💖💖

[savebatsfromscratch]

A few more moments to fully feel (alright)

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/42477408

-

Summary: Gameknight is getting bullied, luckily his friend is there to help him.

Note: Shawny is my favorite Gameknight character, and I haven't really written him all that much before this. (Ignore the fact that I literally posted a Shawney centric fic yesterday, I’m excluding that one. It wasn’t very good lol.)

Cws and Tws: Bullying, crying

Words: 847

Prompt: HANGING BY A THREAT | Breaking Point | Stress Positions | Reluctant Caretaker

-

Fic (under cut):

Gameknight came home crying, he often did in times like these. For a while it had been better, after the former ring leader of the bullies had moved away to a new school, but someone had (for some reason) decided to start the game back up again, and now kids like him were back on the chopping block. He rubbed his arm, where it was aching from the spot that it had scratched on the locker door. He was wearing his trusty old windbreaker, so it hadn’t been the worst injury that could have happened, but it still hurt.

He grimaced as he kicked off his shoes, stepping on the toes of one in order to pull his foot out and then shoving the other one away with his newly freed foot. They clattered unorganized onto the shoe holding mat, the dirt that had apparently been dried on their soles chipping and giving the ground a new dusty coating. He needed to hide his tears, he didn’t want his dad trying to take action against the school again. (That never went very well.)

His mom was in the kitchen, cleaning some dishes, but she was wearing headphones and hadn’t noticed him walk through the door. ‘Good,’ he thought, wiping his face hurriedly (in case she looked over and saw him crying), ‘I can sneak past her.’

His socks slid on the ground, catching slightly on the cracked edge of a tile that someone had dropped something on. He was thankful that it hadn’t hurt too bad, because he wasn’t so sure that he wouldn’t have just started crying again. Bullying sucked. Why did it have to happen to him? He hadn’t ever done anything wrong to these guys! 

He skirted past the dinner table, pausing for just a moment to plop his backpack down on one of the chairs before making a beeline for the basement. But at the last moment, right as he was about to swing open the door, his mother turned around. 

“Hi honey!” She called, sliding her headphones down her neck and off her ears, “How was school today?”

Gameknight froze. He didn’t want to get into a conversation that would make him cry, and he certainly didn’t want one of those conversations that made the bullying worse. (The ones where they told the school and the school didn’t do anything but tell the bullies that you had told your parents.) 

“Uh, it was fine,” he said, putting all his focus into making his face look ‘normal’, “No worse or better than usual.” He put his hand back on the doorknob and began to turn it.

His mom smiled warmly at him, clearly happy with that answer, but then her eyes brightened as she remembered something. “Hey Tom?” she asked, once again interrupting his trek downstairs.

“Yeah?” He said, not turning to face her at the fear of his face betraying his true emotions. 

“Shawny came over,” she said, turning back to her movie and dish washing, “I don’t know how he got here faster than you, but he’s downstairs.”

Immediately Gameknight felt his face light up, as much of the fear of the day began to melt away from him. “Well, he’s a fast walker,” he said, opening the door and starting down the stairs, “Thanks mom!”

Hearing her, “Bye sweetie!” becoming muffled as he closed the door behind him, Gameknight thundered down the stairs to where he knew his friend was going to be. He felt his worries and the pain in his arm melt away as he ran toward him. For some reason, whenever he thought of his friend, he felt a warmth in his heart. He was nice, he was smart, and he was pretty. (All of which were clearly very normal things to find important in a friend. (Who was definitely no more than that.))

“Shawn-” he started, feeling his muffled emotions choking his words as he met his eyes.

“Tommy,” Shawney answered, standing up from where he sat. (The black and red gaming chair spun slightly as his leg pushed it.) With just a moment of eye contact, the two of them immediately knew what was going on. 

Without words, Shawney brought him into a hug, his arms tight around his back. It was slightly awkward, due to Shawney being a bit taller than him, but Gameknight felt the tears coming nonetheless. They two of them had always understood each other, whether it be in the shadow of a school bully or a general of an undead army, they always had each other’s backs. 

Gameknight buried his face in Shawney’s shoulder, his own body shaking with sobs as all of his emotions came flooding back at full force. But Shawney didn’t mind. He only hummed calmingly, petting Gameknight’s hair ever so softly with a free hand. “You feeling alright?” he murmured. There was nothing pressing about the question, and Gameknight felt the need to answer that, yes, in his arms, Gameknight felt safe. (But he was going to need a few more moments to feel fully alright.)

End of fic notes: I just promised my sister I'd write Warrior Sheep ship fic what am I doing with my life.

[thetaekookcloset]

Reply: Seaweed soup

NONALISA said: Nothing settles the debate. Now people are saying how JK did not know Tae’s drinking restrictions and I guess there is something in Wewerse live yesterday on JK’s mom making seaweed soup for Jimin (is it there? I cannot understand Korean, so I can’t confirm).

So, obviously I don’t speak Korean either lol, and when I first heard about this seaweed soup thing (that Jungkook’s mom made seaweed soup for Jimin’s birthday because it’s a birthday tradition) I saw it in the form of this tweeted fan sub.

It read as a joke to me, like oh yeah I went home too, oh yeah I had seaweed soup too.  Why?  Because it was Jimin’s birthday!  I hadn’t seen the live yet, and when I did watch it, since there are no official subs yet, I didn’t know which bit was them having this conversation.

In this Jikook video, you can see the actual clip, and it doesn’t look like Jungkook’s joking, he says it very matter-of-factly, but it’s also clear from Jimin’s reaction that Jimin was neither present for Jungkook’s mom’s seaweed soup, nor did he know about it before Jungkook mentioned it in the live.

That suggests to me that it was less about Jungkook and Jimin than just Jimin somehow, or even just the birthday maybe -- as in, maybe she knew it was Jimin’s birthday, thought of the soup, and felt inspired to make it.

There’s a Jikooker here on tumblr who does translations and answers questions about cultural context, and she answered a question about this.  If you watch the video I linked to, you’ll see her answer in it.  She basically says that it isn’t common for someone to make seaweed soup for someone outside the family, and so it implies that Jungkook’s mother thinks of Jimin as part of the family, or maybe that the Park and Jeon families are close to each other.

Ultimately, it seems like it implies a closeness between either Jimin and Jungkook’s family, or between Jimin’s family and Jungkook’s, though the nature of that closeness isn’t defined.  It could be because they’re in a romantic relationship, but it also could just be that they’re close in a non-romantic way.

The fact that Jimin didn’t seem to know it had even happened before it came up in this context, and that he clearly wasn’t actually present for the meal itself, makes me think this was more like an, “Oh, it’s Jimin’s birthday today, right?  Let’s have seaweed soup for dinner,” kind of thing on Jungkook’s mom’s part (which also seems to be how Jimin himself interpreted it).

Maybe official subs will give us more information, or maybe we’ll hear more about it from one of the members later.  For now, it’s one of those things that it’s easy to read as romantic in a certain sense (”in a certain sense” because it was a gesture from Jungkook’s mom, not from Jungkook himself) but I don’t think it has to be seen that way, and mostly because of the way it was presented and Jimin’s response to it, I don’t really see it that way.

What does seem undeniable is a sense of closeness between Jimin and Jungkook’s family in this case -- Jungkook’s mom at least knew it was Jimin’s birthday and felt a desire to make birthday seaweed soup as a result apparently -- but that isn’t really surprising, I feel, to anyone who doesn’t deny that Jungkook and Jimin are close.