#I won't get to the new stuff for a while anyways because I put off playing the 2.5 update

[rekino2114]

Training with fem!gojo

A/n:Enjoy my poor attempt at writing a fight scene because I've been seeing way too many gojo vs sukuna edits(guess who's back in his jjk phase). Also, if this does well, I might make more fighting based posts for this au cause I really liked writing this so if you have any ideas for what y/n's cursed technique might be I'd love to hear them

(This is part of my "fem!gojo with a reader stronger than her" au here's parts 1 and 2)

"Allllright everyone are you all excited for today's super special lesson?"

"Well sensei......you haven't really told us what the lesson is about"

".......Oh really?"

"Yeah, you just dragged us here without explanation. This better be good. I skipped my training for this"

"Calm down maki, I'm sure it's gonna be fun"

"It will be, yuta, I can guarantee you that....well for me at least"

".........what?"

Gojo ignored megumi and walked away, turning back to her students after a while

"For today's lesson, we have a very special guest, the strongest sorcerer of today, not to mention my boyfriend:y/n l/n!"

She moved out of the way to reveal you, who just yawned in response while she was hyping you up

"Oh is l/n-sensei going to be teaching us?"

"Nope we're going to fight"

"...........what?"

"I thought that seeing a fight between the strongest sorcerers would be a great alternative lesson. You can learn new stuff and have fun, well I'll have fun"

"I only agreed to this because I was bored, fighting weak curses all the time gets repetitive quickly"

".....that's-"

"AWESOME! I can't wait to see it"

"Very well, I knew you'd be excited"

"Wait, wouldn't a fight be useless since we know y/n is stronger?"

"To make things fair, I'm not allowed to use any of my innate techniques, and satori can't use her strongest ones like her domain or purple"

"OK get away a bit, I wouldn't want you to get caught in the blast"

Before anyone had any chance to complain, all of the students backed away as you and your girlfriend got into position

"You ready with the barrier, ijichi?"

The man with glasses nodded and proceeded to make a large barrier to defend the students.

Seeing this, gojo smiled and started to take off her clothes, leaving her in a tight black shirt (which made you blush a bit as it hugged her muscles and curves perfectly). Meanwhile, you started stretching to get ready

"Be sure to not hold back, I won't even if you're my girlfriend"

Satori smirked at your words and took off her blindfold, throwing it away

"Don't worry, we both know......I never hold back"

You both got into position and immediately ran at each other at blinding speed. She started throwing punches that you dodged. You tried to do the same but were blocked by her infinity

"Tch"

You sprinted away from her and began thinking

'Just as I thought, her infinity is as annoying as always'

You made a fist with your hand as it started glowing with (your favorite color) colored cursed energy

'Luckily, I know just how to counter it'

She teleported towards you and punched you unsuccessfully. You swung your fist at her again, but this time, it started putting strain on the invisible barrier. However, gojo teleported away before it could connect fully

"W-what? Did you see that? He was about to touch gojo-sensei!"

"Did she deactivate her technique?"

"No, the barrier was still there. It was just being weakened, was that one of y/n's techniques?"

"But he said he wasn't going to use any"

"No.....he said he wasn't going to use any that were exclusively his"

"Domain amplification Eh? Can't say I'm surprised"

'Because he's not using any innate techniques, he can focus on using domain amplification all the time,at this rate he's going to go trough infinity soon it's better to deactivate it and focus on blue for now'

"Can we get sushi if I win?"

"Hm?"

"It's been a while since we went out and I want sushi, If I win can you pay?"

"What are you talking about? I always pay anyway"

You cracked a small smile as you got into a fighting position again

"Eh, true"

You raced at her, and you started trading blows at each other like before. Only now, you could freely touch her

'She stopped using her technique?.......good'

You focused all your energy in your punches and continued aiming at satori who couldn't keep up with your strength

"It's insane! the moment he figured out she stopped using infinithe immediately amped up the cursed energy in his fists by undoing the technique, he's so fast"

"And his strength is absurd, he's definitely winning in terms of hand to hand combat"

Just as yuji said that gojo tried to land a punch on your stomach but you blocked it with both hands, thinking she had a chance she raised her other fist but you ducked causing her to lose her balance, you grabbed her by the arm and raised her in the air before making her fall and pinning her to the ground

"You know, I'd actually quite enjoy this position if we weren't fighting"

"Shut up"

"Very well"

You saw her raise her fingers and move them to the right

"Blue"

you were flinged to your right by an invisible force. You put your hands on the ground to stop your motion, but before you could even move, you saw more blue energy form right where you landed

"Ugh!"

"Cursed technique amplification blue maximum output"

You were swept up in the blue sphere of energy that formed under you and that engulfed even the ground beneath you, after playing with it for a while satori threw her blue right at the edge of the barrier, damaging you.

'She's keeping me away because she knows I'm stronger in a close ranged fight, and because I can't use my techniques, I don't have any ranged attacks. she has a big advantage......well, that just means I'll have to get closer one way or another'

You wiped a bit of blood from your face and smirked

".......thank you, this is what I wanted to see, thank you for not holding back"

You suddenly punched the ground with great force,making the rubble and dust spread everywhere, making a veil

'Is he trying to conceal his position? Did he forget about the six eyes?'

Gojo used blue to move the dust and debris out of the way, and to everyone's surprise, you weren't there

"W-what? where did he go?"

'Wait I figured it out! Before, when I used blue to move the rubble away, he got moved too. He used my own technique to move out of my six eyes range........that means'

"Look!"

A mere second before yuta yelled, satori turned her head, but it was already too late as she saw you standing behind her with a fist full of cursed energy.

The honored one tried to activate her infinity to stop the punch, but that was futile as you immediately started using domain amplification when she did. You landed the most powerful punch you had thrown in a while on gojo's back, causing her to spit blood

"That punch.......even I can tell how strong it was"

"It probably would have killed a grade 2 curse, at least. and it wasn't even a black flash"

"Wait, it's still not over"

"Eh?"

The students looked in shock as you didn't even let the special grade sorcerer fly away from the punch because immediately after it connected, you grabbed her by the hair threw her to the ground punching her in the stomach when she landed.

"THIS IS THEIR TRAINING? HE LOOKS LIKE HE'S TRYING TO KILL HER!"

You stood over her body as you looked at her bloody face, mentally apologizing even knowing she definitely wouldn't mind

"We can finish this if you-"

"This is why I love you"

"Eh?"

"Every time I fight you, I feel this sensation....I have only felt with toji, you....you make me feel so understood.......so ecstatic!.....I'm so glad I find you"

You saw her smiling at you. It warmed your heart, and a small smile crept up your face

"You didn't figure it out, did you?"

You suddenly got worried as she kept talking

"Immediately after your first punch, I deactivated infinity so I could focus on expanding blue and red's outputs"

She raised her arm and did a finger gun gesture with it, aiming it at you

"And I haven't used red yet"

You tried running but a red light started to glow from her finger and engulf your vision

"Cursed technique reversal red maximum output"

Gojo fired off an incredibly large red, which hit you directly in the face and sent you flying away, but before you could hit anything solid, gojo teleported behind you and kicked you making you fall to the ground painfully

You stood breathing heavily for a moment, blood dripping from your face before you smiled back at her once again

"Hey, can we allow RCT since the fight is truly getting started?"

The moment you said that you saw gojo heal from the wounds you gave her which prompted you to do the same

"I don't see why not"

"Good........then can we also throw all the rules out of the window since it's getting serious"

Gojo's smile got even wider as she knew what you meant. She giggled a bit before holding her hand up

"I thought you'd never ask"

Everyone who was watching gasped as satori did the hand sign they were so familiar with. you held your hand(s) too in another gesture that everyone could deduce the use for

"Domain expansion: infi-/domain expansion:(doma-"

As you were about to expand your domains, you both saw the barrier being lifted as you grunted in confusion, gojo turned towards ijichi and saw that Yaga was now with him

"Hey what's this? We were just about to get to the good par-"

"What's this!? How about you look at what you did!"

You both turned to see the area of the courtyard you were fighting in completely destroyed

"You decide to have a fight with y/n without asking me in our courtyard!?"

"Well, it wasn't for nothing, you know? My students have learned a lot from watching us"

Gojo looked at them with an hopeful look that they didn't reciprocate as all of them shook their heads simultaneously

".............."

".............."

"S-sorry sensei I was also going to say, wasn't me watching this fight a bit risky since sukuna is inside me and could learn all of your techniques and counters by watching the fight?.......hehe....."

"..............."

".............."

You and your girlfriend seemingly ignored everything everyone said and started walking away unconcerned with your hands behind your head

"So which sushi restaurant you wanna go to?"

"Does that even count? We didn't finish the fight"

"Eh, who cares"

".......you were going to buy me sushi no matter what happened right?"

"Awwww, you know me so well"

She gave you a kiss on the cheek, and you blushed while the principal continued to yell at you two

"HEY WAIT, WHERE ARE YOU GOING?"

In response, gojo simply held your hand and waved at everyone there before teleporting both of you out of there

"..........are they serious?"

"How are those two the strongest?"

".......wait gojo forgot her clothes and blindfold........who wants to give them back to her?"

Everyone present sighed, knowing how much of a bother it was to deal with you and satori

[neonscented]

I will hide reverie spoilers under #Reverie spoilers so please blacklist that tag to avoid them.

[urfavoritegirlkisser]

"Midnight Rain" - Rockstar!Ellie Williams x Popstar!Reader

a/n - finally getting back to writing!! it's been tough with school and stuff but I was finally able to write this, which had three drafts of how it could maybe go so enjoy!

Tags: Fem!Reader, Fem!Popstar!Reader, Rockstar!Ellie, wlw, slightly suggestive since it's kinda implied they had a one night stand, lightly proof read sorry babydolls, petnames like sweetheart and honey, playboy!Ellie, asshole!Ellie kinda, use of y/n, a little angsty won't lie, insecure!reader, lemme know if I forgot anything xoxo

You wake up to the constant ping of your phone on your nightstand, quickly realizing this wasn’t the hotel room your manager had arranged for you and registering the faint sound of the shower running.

Sitting up, you let yourself fully wake up before reaching over to grab your phone from the nightstand

The top one is a message from your manager with the link to a news article

“Pop Star Y/N Not As Innocent As She Seems?”

The article is about some grainy photos and a video of you last night at an after party with Ellie, who is in a rock band under the same label as you, it was your first big win taking home a Grammy for ‘Best New Artist’ and you decided to let yourself loose for once.

Your management wanted to keep up this facade of a sweet young pop star and that meant no ‘going wild’ as your manager liked to call it.

So the photos of you dancing and making out with Ellie Williams, who was known for her bad reputation and playboy tendencies was not good for your reputation apparently.

Speak of the devil…

You realize the shower has turned off and you see as Ellie walks into the room, clad in just a sports bra and sweats as she dries her hair off with a towel.

She looks over and smirks, “Well look who finally decided to wake up” she says with a chuckle and offers you a shirt of her own

You blush slightly, putting on the shirt before grabbing your discarded undergarments and quickly slipping them on, “My manager messaged me an article, apparently someone took some photos and videos of us last night at the party”

Ellie sits on the bed with her back against the headboard, “So? Not the first time this has happened” she says while fiddling with the rings on her fingers

You sigh and roll your eyes, “I mean to you maybe, but my manager is currently on my ass about what we’re supposed to do now and-”

Ellie cuts you off with a scoff, “Sweetheart it’ll be fine, they’ll circulate the pictures for a few weeks and then everyone will be over it”

You sit there before turning to her fully, “Will you be over it too?” you ask softly

The look in her eyes makes you regret even asking that.

“What? You think this is going to continue once you walk out that door?” she says with a laugh that makes your heart drop to your stomach, “Look you’re cute and all but I have a reputation to keep, honey”

You felt stupid, because of course this would just be a one time thing for her, and you knew that.

Maybe you thought you would be the one to change that.

“Right…sorry, yeah, I’m gonna go” you say as you take off her shirt and just put on the dress you wore to the after party, grabbing your things and making your way to the door of Ellie’s hotel room.

“Honey, don’t be like that” Ellie calls after you but you simply walk out the door and to the elevators where you go to your room a couple floors up, setting your stuff down, changing into casual clothes and sitting down on your bed.

You don’t know why you thought that you could change her mind, it was a fun night, but one that was meant to be forgotten.

Everyone will forget it happened, including Ellie.

You’ll forget it happened.

an - sorry if that was all over the place, I rewrote this like three times, anyways go drink water you girl kissers xo

[llamagoddessofficial]

May we please have more crumbs of farmtale sans?

I wanna follow the trail to the source 👀

I'm SO glad that everyone seems to like farmer Sans as much as I do. It warms my heart to see people appreciating the bumpkin.

Here's more romantic-leaning headcanons.

Though his giving love languages are gifts and acts of service, his receiving love languages are very different. He likes doing stuff for his loved ones but he's incredibly awkward when you do stuff for him; he appreciates it, of course, but he won't know how to react.

He prefers receiving quality time, and touch.

Offer to accompany him on one of the many long car rides that come with living in the country. You can listen to music together on the shoddy radio. Do the early morning farm rounds with him! You don't even have to help- he might actively stop you from helping, bundling you in his coat because he's worried about you getting too cold or tiring yourself out. He'll see you nodding off while standing (it's 5am) and he'll scoop you up so you can sleep against his shoulder. He only needs one hand to do his chores anyway.

What matters to him is you're there.

Alternatively, give him casual gentle touch. It drives him wild. Put your hand on his arm when you laugh at his jokes, bump him when he's being teasing, nudge his knee with yours. Lean on him for any reason. He's good at masking how flustered he is in the moment but later, he'll be hiding his face in his pillow while recalling it.

A gentle touch on his cheekbone will have him flustered for days.

He's unintentionally a great flirt. He has a very soothing voice, and if he speaks softly enough completely normal polite sentences sound incredibly hot. He'll wink and say "i'm likin' the new hair, dolly. s'real cute." and you'll be reeling.

During winter, you'll pretty much never be alone. Either you're at his and Papyrus' place, or they're at yours. They're worried about you feeling lonely.

He tells his plants all about you. He's even named his favourite flowers after you. He'll take that secret to his grave.

It's not just Papyrus who's vying for you and Sans to end up together. It's pretty much the whole monster community. Sans, the quiet fella who's never enthusiastic about anything at all, is head over heels for the new human in town? A good love story is ALL the rage somewhere nothing ever happens. You've got an entire community desperate to hear wedding bells.

Sans is completely unaware of the fact that you might think he's hot while working. You see a confident, strong, sexy skeleton with his sleeves rolled up over his big arms. Meanwhile the second he notices you're approaching, he's sniffing his shirt because he's self conscious of how intensely he smells of cows and sweat.

Having just said he doesn't do great with receiving gifts... if you cook something for him he'll love you forever.

He's prone to jealousy. It doesn't show, but he'll pout if he feels like someone is stealing your attention. Time is a valuable currency in the countryside and he doesn't like when someone steals yours from him.

[cherriteaa]

Draken x Black Fem Reader

Honestly, I watched the ep with emma and seeing Draken cry like that hurt me soooo bad. So I'm gonna write some sweet cutesy stuff abt Draken being sooo in love with his pretty gf. And Her taking care of him bc he deserves it. 

Contents: Suuugary sweet fluff 

(not proofread)

I always think it's so cute that they call eachother's gf's in Toman their 'wifey' omg 

Draken is def 100% calling you his wife all the time. Some of the members of Toman even call you by his last name just to mess with you. It's become such a routine joke that it's just become standard. Yall are together 24/7 anyways, might as well get used to it. 

On the topic of that. He will never ever call you out of your name. Not unless it's a petname or something like that. He thinks guys who call women out their name should be jumped. He won't let any other guy get away with calling you out of your name either.

He's super protective of you. He prefers to keep you in his line of sight when you guys are out with gang members just because he knows there are other gangs who play dirty who can attack at any time. He knows other members of Toman will protect you, but nobody can protect you like he can protect you. He's definitely the type to drape his jacket over your shoulders. Not only does he think it's cute, but it also lets anyone know that you are his. 

He's an arm around the shoulders kinda guy. For some reason, holding hands in public gets him a little flustered, but he'll totally put his arm around your shoulders and pull you close. 

He tries his best not to let you know when things are getting to him, but you've been around him long enough to notice what it means when he gets quiet, or when he's clenching his jaw more than normal. Please, please, please take care of him. He appreciates it more than he lets on. Especially when you let him sleep in your cute room. He likes to tease you about you unfathomable amount of plushies and pink items, but it's genuinely the most comfortable place he could ever be. He gets the best sleep of his life there, and you think it's so cute. Literally this tiktok .

Sometimes, guys literally just need to be held by their girlfriends. Of course, he isn't the type to ask though. You might notice he'll be a little more touchy, but he's more silent. However, if you join him in your bed and wrap your arms around him, you just might hear him huff a huge sigh before wrapping his arms around you. You're home to him. Play with his hair and watch all the stress and tension melt from his shoulders. 

On really bad days, for example when Pah or Kazutora went to jail, he will seek you out and just pull you into a hug, resting his chin on your head. He'll mumble something simple like 

"Just needed to hold you." 

Otherwise, he's really content with being the big spoon when you cuddle. He's a big fan of rubbing your back when you cuddle. He's also the type to latch onto you when you're cooking, wrapping his arms around your waist and resting his chin on your shoulder while you cook and just resting his eyes. There's just something about you that brings him peace. 

He's also the type that gets SO embarrassed when he gets caught staring at you. His friends tease him about it all the time, but he can't help it when you're just being...you. He gets a soft smile on his face and he drifts off in his own little world. If he's feeling bold, he just may walk over to place a kiss to your temple, or wrap his arms around you. 

Draken is also a very perceptive man. He absolutely will notice if you got your nails or lashes done. Even if you so much as try dressing a new style, expect some kind of attention drawn to it. He'll grab your hand and admire the new set, or tilt your chin up to look at your eyes and compliment your lashes, or even stepping back to admire your outfit.

As we all know, tokyo rev boys are literally ALWAYS OUT. Which means they often pass shops and things. Occasionally, he might buy a sanrio plushie or cute keychain or trinket to give to you later on. He's very familiar with your obsession with cute things after listening to all your rants.

He's an old-fashion gentleman as always. Opening doors for you, walking so that you are on the inside part of the sidewalk, always making sure you're seated and not him in an area crowded with limited seats, holding the umbrella for you both ect. If he has one helmet and you're riding with him, he's 100% making sure you're wearing his helmet. He thinks you look cute in it anyways.

If you have any younger siblings, he definitely tries to show off just a little. He likes being seen as cool and stuff, and its kind of cute watching him lift heavy stuff or show off his bike to impress them. 

HE LEARNED HOW TO DO YOUR HAIR. He watches you do it, and watches youtube videos. He knows the specific products for your specific hairtype, and if you ever need or want help in any part of your hair process, he'll help you. He's so damn good at detangling, even if you're tenderheaded. 

He takes your problems seriously. He thinks guys who brush their girlfriend's problems off as insignificant are assholes. He's genuinely there for you always. While he may tease you a little if its not something that causes you a lot of distress, and may add some jokes about 'just beating them up' here and there, he always has really good insight on what to say. You can have deep conversations with him and he likes that about you. He's always in awe of how you can think of things he's never thought of.

Overall, he's such a caring boyfriend. At least he tries to be. He's easily flustered and tries to play some things off as cool, but that man will genuinely move mountains for you. His relationship with you is a comfortable one, thats heavy on you both checking in on eachother and making sure you're ok. Even though he's not the gentlest person ever, he tries his hardest for you.

A/n: Omg I'm so excited to get back to writing again!! I love Toman sm so expect more Tokyo Rev posts.

btw, Kisaki is a TRICK ASS BITCH bro. Like die....now. 

as always, please please please reblog and/or comment. I'm restarting my writing blog again, and would love love love to meet mutuals. 

My requests are: Open!

[tonguetiedraven]

Rin was wrong about the Kyoto arc and most of you are too

But like Rin, you don't have to hold onto your assumptions.

With the slight resurgence in aoex popularity, I'm seeing a new rise in some fundamental misunderstandings about the characters and plot. I've been asked a lot of questions about a few certain characters over the years, and I've noticed that the base of the misunderstandings people tend to have with everyone originates in the Kyoto Arc.

What am I calling the Kyoto arc? Everything that happens in the second season of the anime and everything that happens after chapter 13 in the manga . (The point when the anime said let's go off and do our own wild thing and forget about the story and characters Kato is making! It'll be fun and totally not still be causing long lasting chaos over a decade later) and up to chapter 35. It's a 20 chapter arc, roughly. And honestly I think most of the manga exclusive Kraken arc should be included in the Kyoto arc because it is a direct continuation of Rin and Yukio's story line there, but I digress and we will get to that!

I am going to assume that you, the reader of this lengthy essay (I'm wordy and won't apologize for it, lol), are aware enough of the manga and Blue Exorcist to know that every episode in the first season of the anime after episode 16 is NOT CANON and does a poor job of depicting all the characters involved from Angel to Yukio. (There is no character with a Z, lol. So Yukio wins that role.) No one comes out looking correct in that. I know some people will argue that Rin is fine, but no. He is not similar to his canon hot headed, impulsive, loud, often violent/aggressive, and past avoiding self who would never have let his twin pull a gun on Kuro and would never have let Yukio leave after that without a fight. Sorry guys, they nuked him too. Just in a more pathetic victim way so people let it slide because he obviously needs to be protected from all the other meanies.

I am also going to assume you know character names. You can google them if you get confused  ദ്ദി ( ᵔ ᗜ ᵔ )

Anyway, back on topic. I'm going to go heavily into the start of this arc and more broad as it goes on. The initial area is where most of the misconceptions start and they kind of carry through from then on meaning the entire rest of the arc and arcs there are a few flaws in the understanding of character motivations and reasons and some just basic plot stuff.

In chapter 13 of the manga, we get this tremendous clip

Just before this moment the exwires have found out that their classmate is not a human and is powerful.

You'll notice Shima leaning against the railing there. That's because he has a cracked rib and probably a concussion. Konekomaru is now sporting a broken arm, and Ryuuji got strangled out enough to be choking on blood. Shiemi was hypnotized and controlled and carried around like a possession by a demon king who tried to eat her eyes and kept taunting about making her his bride all while she was unable to move or do anything. There is not enough written about the truly terrifying kind of assault that is for the youngest member of their group, and that's without the tangle of a relationship Amaimon and Shiemi have in it.

It is vital that everyone take a second to think about that. Izumo and Takara were not there. They stayed in the camp. They didn't pursue Amaimon, Shiemi, or Rin. They chose not to fight or try to help. The Kyoto Trio did (because Ryuuji/Bon is impulsive and ran after Rin and Shiemi to help and the others followed him) and it took all of thirty seconds for the Demon King Amaimon to knock them all out without even really putting any effort into his attack.

They manage to get out of the forest and back to the pictured bridge with Yukio leading them out while the forest catches dramatically on blue fire. (Remember that the Kyoto trio grew up hearing about how much the blue flames of Satan destroyed their home and killed their family members. Their entire life was irrevocably changed because of blue flames.) And Rin and Amaimon are wildly fucking shit up. They even yeeted Mephisto who is a much higher ranking king.

All that leads to the Paladin appearing, Arthur Angel, who orders the exwires to be interrogated and checked by medics. (Honestly a step up for True Cross. They almost never remember medics.)

The Paladin appears and then Mephisto appears, and he has Rin in tow. Rin who is entirely feral and tries to lunge for the exwires. The traumatized exwires see Rin try and attack them with an entirely demonic face. They do not know anything about his story or Shirou or even ow he got here, but they can easily see that he's tied to Satan because of the flames and now he clearly wants to hurt. Hurt them.

Now in Rin's defense, he's not in his right mind. Mephisto sheaths the sword and the demonic part is forced to retreat and Rin passes out until he's slapped awake. At that point he's the Rin we know again (the exwires still have no idea what the hell is going on) and Angel takes him into custody. Rin looks over and sees his friends bloodied and bruised and sees Ryuuji with blood on his mouth staring with an unreadable expression.

It leads to this shot:

Question for the group: Who is Ryuuji asking this to?

Not Rin, that's for sure. It's Mephisto, in my opinion. Ryuuji is asking, quite understandably, why the hell the child of Satan was put in a class of ordinary students and why none of them were told about it. They just had a Demon King attack their class of exwires all of which were struggling against a simple moth and had to reseal it instead of exorcising it. A Demon King that attacked them because he wanted to do something to the son of Satan and they had no extra protection against that. Enough so that four of them are injured or traumatized.

(Also, if you get strangled do not yell and IMMEDIATELY seek medical help. There are a lot of terrible conditions and long lasting effects that can occur with strangulation.)

So at this point everyone is made to split ways. The exwires will get a small update from Yukio, and Rin will get put on trial for his life. Neither party knows what the other is aware of, and as far as we can tell, Rin does not remember that he tried very hard to lunge at and attack the exwires.

That does not mean that Rin did not lunge for and try to attack them. Not remembering trauma you caused someone else does not erase that trauma.

There is also this moment, and you best believe I am also here to defend Shiemi because she deserves it.

Go girl. You're so right. There's nothing funny about any of this. Not your abduction, not how assaulting that entire thing was, and not the fact that he was feral and that you're feeling like a lot of this is your fault. (And it was not her fault.)

Rin's defense in most bad situations is laughter and ignoring whatever the uncomfortable thing is. This rubs everyone around him the wrong way almost every time. And that's their right. I also truly think he doesn't know what he just did and doesn't remember much past drawing the sword and he's scared, and he's able to tell the vibes are bad and he's in trouble, but doesn't really get why/how. He is a bit (a lot) of an idiot and we love him for that.

Another vital thing to understand about Rin is that he sees the demonic and violent parts of himself as someone else. He is not that demon. He is not the guy that tore apart the forest, everyone is wrong. He didn't lunge after his friends, someone else did that. He isn't out of control of his flames, that isn't him. That demon with the flames and frightening strength and burning anger isn't him. They've got it all wrong. He's just Rin.

That is a big part of Rin's story. Rin accepting that he is all those things. He is the human and he is the demon and he is all the things that comes with both of those things. He is right and wrong and kind and cruel and caring and callous and gentle and dangerous. He is Yuri and Satan and Shirou's son, and he is complicated and trying his best and slowly learning to accept what he is and isn't.

Anyway, they split ways for a shitty night. Rin's is unquestionably shittier, but again, the rest of the exwires don't get told what the hell happened.

Anime only fans will already be noticing differences, but wait, there's a lot more that was missed/ skipped over.

The Kyoto trio are all at the hospital for the next few days and get a call about the temple having been attacked. Shima's dad and Ryuuji's dad were said to have been hurt in it.

This is the second hint we get that Ryuuji is not on good terms with his dad, and the mere mention of Kyoto visibly upsets him. That'll be important a little later.

Rin goes back to class with the girls but is pulled out by Yukio for his own individual classes with Shura before anyone can say anything. The cram teacher then explains the following:

The entirety of their school is giving them instructions on what to do if Rin goes wild because the exorcist and teachers all think he will go feral again.

Rin does not know they're getting this instruction.

We then see what Yukio told them is basically: Yeah, my twin has flames. I don't because I was too weak. I get tested daily for it. The koma (a nickname for Kurikara because you can't exactly go around calling a stolen sword by its name or people will catch on) sword sealed him. I don't know why we were allowed to live when True Cross has a very loud 'no Satan or Satan offspring allowed' policy. Kay, thanks, byyyeeeeee.

So no one is happy and no one really knows anything. Just Yukio who has always known everything and had the biggest emotional, responsible, and mental burden of everything about his brother. He was left holding the bag again. Responsible for a class he's the same age as, mourning his father whose death he doesn't know the full story of, responsible for killing his own brother if he goes feral, now ostracized even more by a community of exorcist he already didn't blend in with, and now made to bear all this. Yukio is a king for holding out for so damn many arcs without showing how bad his mental health was getting with all that stress.

At this point we see Ryuuji is placing the guilt for Konekomaru and Shima being injured on his own shoulders (Konekomaru tells him it was his fault that they were injured) and Shiemi is realizing that Rin became her friend as he was revealed and that she was never as much of a support or friend to either of them as she thought.

Meanwhile Izumo who, and I cannot stress this enough, did NOTHING in the fight and was not part of most of this and has at this point made NO effort to be friends with anyone past cleaning a shirt Rin loaned her, is judging all of them visibly.

A brief interlude of Toudou being a creep and Rin showing he cannot follow orders from absolutely anyone and making Yukio and Shura frustrated at how unpredictable and manageable he is, and we're now given the mission to go to Kyoto and help there.

Ryuuji is just so blatantly shocked and not okay with the assignment to his home. Like I genuinely don't think we have a shot of Ryuuji looking more shook and shit gets wild in this manga.

Ryuuji does not want to go back to Kyoto. He left on terrible terms with his parents and swore he would not return until he had his meisters and rank. He defied his parents in even going to the cram school and now he's being forced to return a bit busted up and long before he was ready. If you do not have a bad family dynamic, you can't really get how devastating this is, but try and imagine it. It's a tremendous source of stress and frustration for Ryuuji, and the main thing he's dealing with through this arc. He has a lot of history with his father ignoring and denying him and trying to control him, and it is not a healthy dynamic. THAT is what drives Ryuuji in this arc. Kyoto, the temple, and his father. It is NOT Rin. Rin is at the bottom of his list of things to be thinking about right now.

This is essentially Ryuuji's arc, and it is, quite simply, not about Rin for him. Rin becomes a part of it, but not until later. At the moment, it is Kyoto and the shame and frustration and resentment about that which is driving him forward.

Shiemi is melting under her own self loathing at this point. She is hating herself and has never been confident and always been prone to thinking poorly of herself, and shown she is unaware of when relationships are abusive with how severely Izumo bullied her and continues to bully her.

(And I could write another essay on how fucking misogynistic it is that everyone flocks to team Izumo when she's slightly nice to Rin and blatantly ignores the Shiemi abuse because well Shiemi is annoying anyway. Check yourself and ask why you feel that way if you do. Why is violence and cruelty okay against Shiemi? Why is it forgivable in her case but not in others?)

We all board a train to Kyoto and see each other for the first time. Rin has zero ability to ever read a room (we love him for it even if he will occasionally kill us with second hand embarrassment) and is acting like he didn't try to kill them on their last interaction and like everything is normal and there isn't a big and awkward elephant in the room taking up most of the train space.

THIS GOES DOWN DIFFERENTLY IN THE MANGA THAN THE ANIME. The manga stretches this scene out to give three characters very important breathing room while the anime cuts this far shorter and mixes up the dialogue some, muddying the motives.

Rin, not reading the room, sees Shiemi and calls out happily to her. Shiemi utterly freezes and can't decide how she should respond or what she should say. She has, as far as we know, never had a friend outside of her family and the twins. She doesn't know how to interact with them and she is drowning in guilt of failing them as a friend. A lot of that is because Rin said she wasn't his friend to the Kyoto Trio and because Izumo is always telling her she's failing as a friend and saying she doesn't like her. Izumo is a bully at this point. I will not back down on that point and will continue to reiterate it. You do her incredible arc a disservice to pretend otherwise.

That leads us to the confrontation:

Ryuuji does not show any sign of anger until Rin talks about Kyoto. Then it's instant grouchy face Grouchy face and grouchy boy until one of the other two interject and then he swallows all that Kyoto frustration right back down and stomps off to sit behind Rin with Konekomaru -- who has been given a talk by their superiors on what to do if their classmates loses his shit and goes feral on them and who lost his entire temple and family to the Blue Night -- voicing his worry about Rin losing control of his flames on a tiny train where there is no where to go.

Rin visibly deflates and sinks back on his chair Izumo, the drama queen who would deny being one, enters and sees. Now Izumo has conflicting reasons for her next act. She has been ostracized and bully quite a lot in her younger life, and that is part of why she is now an ice queen. She sees Rin and wants to help him feel better and is no more in the know of what the others are actually dealing with than Rin, and I dare say that was her first and primary motive.

However Izumo cannot allow herself to do something solely out of kindness to help someone. That is a weakness she will not allow herself and dangerous. Kindness and helping gets you hurt or killed by stronger parties and she has sworn off that in all cases but Paku. (No one quite knows what magic Noriko Paku possesses, but man does she, lol.)

So Izumo sits next to Rin and waits until after the debriefing about why they're here (meaning Ryuuji is now even more upset because yep, it's absolutely his temple and their miasma and their secrets and their weaknesses being discusses and revealed and flaunted) and they chat a little about the fact that lots of people have demon blood (*cough* FORESHADOWING *cough*) and then, after getting flustered about Rin complementing her and thanking her and getting buddy-buddy enough to use a nickname, she goes cruel and decisive and makes a pointed jab at Ryuuji, who takes it in stride for a moment, and then Shiemi, who visibly deflates thinking even less of herself and that Ryuuji does not take in stride.

Izumo did a kind thing in sitting with Rin, however, the others did not do a cruel thing by not sitting with him. They simply chose to give themselves a little space from a situation they were still struggling with. The cruelest one in the moment before she spoke was probably Konekomaru, and even he wasn't talking to Rin. He was nervous and scared and talking to his friends about Rin. None of them owed Rin anything. They did not owe him their time or space or attention. They are allowed to recover from their trauma and physical injuries while not having him constantly shove his over-excited puppy-energy self in their faces constantly and make everything all the more difficult for them while they try and reconcile that guy with the feral monster that wanted to take a chunk out of them and who was not in control of the flames they've grown up terrified of.

We see the story mainly through Rin's perspective, all the more so if you're an anime only, but that does not mean Rin is always an honest and reliable narrator. He is unaware he tried to hurt them and unaware of their own trauma. He can't imagine any of their actions and reactions aren't centering around him at this moment because Rin too is going through a lot of trauma and stress of his own that they don't know about.

What I find over and over again in this story is that people excuse any poor or selfish or cruel act of Rin's because of trauma and not being perfect, but they will not excuse it in any one else. This makes for a frustrating unfairness in expectations, and frankly, turns the story boring. If no one but Rin can make mistakes, or you choose only to see other's mistakes and not Rin's, you are robbing the characters and Rin of their complexity and growth.

Izumo was kind in sitting next to Rin, and she was purposefully cruel at the exact same time. This is who Izumo is. Kind and cruel for quite a long time. Brave and selfish. Confident and self conscious. Guarded while slowly falling in love and denying it every step of the way.

So the train ride immediately goes to shit and they get loud with Ryuuji calling her out (reminder, she can call them coward all day long but she did not leave the circle and didn't fight and has not stepped forward once in any of their missions to work as a group or fight until she had to)

And Shure (in the manga) wakes up and makes them sit in a different car of the train with bariyons on their laps as punishment. Konekomaru continues to stress, Ryuuji tells him to chill, Shiemi continues to hate herself, and Izumo continues to be purposefully cruel.

The bariyons get aggressive and one pins Shiemi to the ground. Rin does Rin and burns it without warning, freaking everyone out because wow! Blue flames are just suddenly everywhere. Ryuuji interferes because again, his temple was devastated by Blue flames and he has no reason to think they can behave differently and he is nothing if not determined to protect and help his team at all times.

Shiemi realizes Rin still has control of them and tells everyone to relax, and they do.

The flames are put out and Rin immediately attacks Ryuuji.

Rin demands trust and honestly, I could understand if he was unaware that he'd caused mayhem in the forest and tried to lunge for them, but if he was aware then he has to be smoking those flames of his because there is no reason to trust him at this point. He's lied (he didn't have a choice but they don't know that and reasons do not negate that a lie happened and we are now in the lies arc) and he has shown he is dangerous and that Demon Kings kind of follow him and will attack indiscriminatingly. (It's not like they know Amaimon is not allowed to kill them.)

Rin knows he won't hurt them and thinks that should be enough. No one else knows that they can believe this at this point. Ryuuji explains that Blue Flames have killed a lot of his people and that he can't trust someone who endanger his family. It is once again Kyoto he is thinking about and Kyoto he is worried about. They are on a train to Kyoto where Blue Flames destroyed a lot and now they're bringing the one guy with Blue Flames there and he keeps flaming up so it seems like what little he still has there is going to be devoured by flames.

Rin says basically, sorry that happened but it has NOTHING to do with me. This is a naïve thing to say and while technically right, is missing the point of what Ryuuji said. I can't trust you because you haven't shown me I can trust those deadly flames with you and they have absolutely devastated my home before.

The fight amps up more -- and again, Rin was the aggressor. They're both hot headed but he's the one that grabbed Ryuuji, not the other way around, and in a fairly close way to how Amaimon had grabbed Ryuuji and that can't be helping things. The fight gets louder and Konekomaru bravely intervenes and grabs both of their arms and tells them to stop. A bariyon choses that moment to cause chaos and try to kill Ryuuji and Shura has had enough and kills it but kindly doesn't kill the exwires for interrupting her nap twice over and the conversation is left entirely unresolved.

And for the next long stretch, they will not have that conversation resolved. They get back, Ryuuji is immediately accosted by his powerhouse of a mom, Torako Suguro who is pissed, and finds out that his dad has been absent and that things are going south fast in Kyoto.

From this moment on, Ryuuji will have one goal and that is to find his dad and save what few temple members he can. He wants to reunite his temple--that has always been his goal--and his dad's failure to lead and potential at being the traitor in their midst is causing what few of his sect are left to fracture even more. He is around Rin a few times in the next chapter, but his mind is never on Rin or their drama. He is wholly focused on Kyoto and the drama here.

This is where a lot of people misunderstand him. He is not avoiding Rin, he simply has a much bigger priority, as he should. This is his family and this temple is everything to him. We find out that Tatsuma has thrown their reputation in the mud and that he has caused a lot of their sect to abandon the temple, and that he has fought Ryuuji's hopes and goals every step of the way, and that he was the first to laugh at Ryuuji (which we know is an immensely traumatic memory for him) and that Tatsuma is actively working to avoid Ryuuji, and that he was at the Keep during the break in, and that several members of the Sect absolutely think Tatsuma is the traitor.

And if he isn't the traitor, then he is still failing them and running away from his duties. What's worse, we see a few of the sect (Mamushi specifically) even place some of the blame of the failure on Ryuuji.

Rin is seen working with the Kyoto trio on some kind of chore after they arrive, and actively being ignored and mistreated by the teachers. They absolutely deserve ire for the way they treat Rin like he's already gone feral and refuse to let him help.

Rin is being ostracized and thinks everything happening here is about him. He thinks the others are ignoring him and that they're upset about him. They're largely just... Not. Izumo and Shiemi are put on helping the large volume of patients and from what we see, Izumo doesn't chat with Rin again after the bus.

Shiemi sees this as a way to not let people down (she thinks she let everyone down in the forest. That it was her fault and she isn't good enough or strong enough or just enough to be their friends. Probably partly because the one friend she thinks she has is a bully.) and dives hard into work. She still doesn't know what to say to Rin and freezes up a lot.

That leads to a fantastic scene in chapter 18 with Izumo and Shiemi in the garden and Shiemi positively sobbing about being a useless friend and not being strong enough to help like she wants and Izumo telling her she's really strong and able to talk about friends and her emotions without getting embarrassed and that she's stubborn and strong as a weed and Shiemi, who has clearly not gotten enough praise in her life just glows and determines to be as strong and stubborn as a weed.

It's a vitally important moment for both these girls. Izumo is kind and doesn't turn it cruel and sees how strong Shiemi is and helps Shiemi see herself as strong too. Izumo has done a lot to break Shiemi down but she is also, arguably, the one that did the most to build her back up too.

She dives back into her work to the point she inspires Rin to try harder on his own training because he is lazy and she isn't, and he admires that.

At this point Shima has decided that to keep going on his own path in the laziest way he can manage that ignoring Rin was too much work so they're just going back to before and acting like nothing ever happened. Rin is drunk and insults him in this with the list.

Rin confronts Konekomaru later and finds out what happened to Konekomaru's family and Konekomaru begs Rin to leave Ryuuji alone because he is dealing with a lot of stress. Rin (correctly for once) realizes that Konekomaru will absolutely be his friend if he can show that his flames aren't a danger. If he puts in the work to get control of those, he can be friends. Rin goes off determined to do that.

Ryuuji and Shiemi are now the only two who haven't had their Rin moment, and they firmly busy in their own stuff. Rin still thinks they're avoiding him because they're mad at him and blaming him for the Blue Night stuff and they're simply not. At no point does he ever really seem to get that he's assuming stuff incorrectly about all this either.

Ryuuji does some not at all stealthy spying and follows Juuzou to the Keep to find most of the staff unconscious and gets himself in the middle of the theft of the Impure King's last eye. Mamushi betrays them to Toudou and states that it is because of Tatsuma that she is. That he has failed them as a leader and conspired with Mephisto by giving away the sacred relic of their temple (Kurikara) and letting the son of Satan have it.

She is not entirely wrong, and she is not entirely right. She is very wrong about Toudou, but they both escape to cause more havoc elsewhere and leave Ryuuji to finally catch up to Tatsuma.

We have been building for several chapters at this point that Ryuuji and Tatsuma do not have a great relationship. There is a lot of frustration and confusion and hurt in it. A lot of history and pain and Ryuuji is trying to get his dad to tell him anything. To deny the allegations if they're not true and do something to help with the fact that one of their members just left.

Tatsuma refuses to. We later learn why and it sucks, but it doesn't lesson the hurt in this moment. Being unable to explain something does not mean that your actions, justified or not, did not and do not hurt someone.

Ryuuji, seeing his dad turn his back on him without even a hint of an explanation to all the terrible accusations and all the pain and trauma around them, pleading for some kind of explanation to anything, plays the only card he has left.

His father has already all but disowned him for the cram school, so he returns that. He warns that if Tatsuma leaves now and like this, he might as well not bother to come back because Ryuuji will no longer (can no longer) consider him his father.

Rin, who has kind of snuck into this dramatic meeting, overhears this and has a violent trauma induced reaction.

Now, Rin has trauma and it is entirely understandable why hearing those words would make him react dramatically. That does not excuse the violence he reacts with. You enduring trauma and having triggers and painful emotions does not give you the right to inflict violence on someone else.

And inflict violence Rin very much does. Once again flaming up some too, not at all in control.

This was not Rin's fight to get in the middle of. I will die on the hill that others do not get to determine what a child can and cannot do in their own parent and child relationship. Others can offer opinions and advice, but they do not get to order or dictate the relationship. They are not part of it and cannot possibly know what it is actually like. This is the same sort of mentality that tells people who have had to make the immensely difficult choice to go no contact with a parent that they should try and make up because it's hard to be a parent like it's easy to be a child and under the parent's control and guidance. Ryuuji has a lot of reasons to have made that ultimatum, and while we will learn a lot more about why Tatsuma has failed as a parent and leader, the reason does not absolve or eliminate the failures. He has failed Ryuuji multiple times and at this moment, tied by a cruel fate, he has to fail and hurt him again.

He did not have to choose to do it this way though, and do not forget that.

And Rin knows nothing about their relationship. He is putting his own reactions and motivations on Ryuuji who does not have them.

Rin is in the wrong in this moment. I will not back down from that either. Rin hurt his friend and revealed himself, and in the next panels defied Shura and continued to try and fight Ryuuji and make him understand that you can't disown your father because you can't take that back--

And it is in this fight that Ryuuji is first made aware that when Rin talks about his dad, he has not been talking about Satan. Rin was raised by someone else. They still don't learn the real story yet, we're not really told when or if they do get the full story about Shirou, but you can see him realize something happened to whoever raised the twins, and it was bad.

Rin gets knocked out and arrested and Ryuuji is sent to ice his swollen face and he will have the injuries Rin inflicted on him here through the entire rest of the arc.

And I am now over 5k words so I'll try and wrap this up some. I'm going to have to post the Yukio half on another post xD

Rin gets a letter that tells him that Tatsuma and Shirou were in cahoots about the sword (look, Mamushi was partially correct) but that the sword did not have Karura in it like it was supposed to. He also finds out that Tatsuma wants him to kill the Impure King. Mephisto then shows up and locks him away giving him a death sentence. Yukio has to leave with that knowledge to try and stop the rising Impure King before he infects and kills all of Japan.

Tatsuma goes and shows that he had made a pact with Karura and that the Suguro line has always guarded the secret that the Impure King was kept sealed under the temple by Karura. That were he to be reunited with his eyes, he would rise again. Toudou wants to get Karura so he did all of this to get Tatsuma to reveal Karura.

Tatsuma is stabbed through the back of the throat and Karura mostly devoured, and the Impure King is rising and reforming and going to poison everyone.

Shura gives the letter to Ryuuji and Kurikara and offers the camouflage ponchos to go break Rin out if they want, and Ryuuji and Shiemi are the only two who do not hesitate for even a moment to go and rescue him.

The jail freezes them and gives nonviolent Shiemi a moment to shine. She confronts her own self doubts and goes to find Rin and coaxes him back out, showing she knows he won't be a danger to her by embracing him and his flames. She realizes that her fears and self loathing caused her to only think about her own emotions, and not how he was feeling (something Rin could also very much stand to do) and she immediately switches to comforting and encouraging him.

Rin busts the prison with style, Konekomaru says he's ready to be friends, Shima and Izumo state they're only here on Shura's orders, and

Rin still doesn't get it. He still has no idea what Ryuuji is dealing with or why he's upset about any of it. He has spent this entire arc trying to find his dad and trying to help the sect, and failing every step of the way. He has tried to help everyone around him in any way he can and show that he can be depended upon and trusted.

Rin has never opened up to any of them. Rin demands that they lean on him and listen to his advice and accept him entirely, and gives them nothing in return for that vulnerability and openness. He doesn't talk about his own life or emotions or thoughts. He keeps conversations light and easy and doesn't even tell them that he was raised by a guy that's now dead. He shoves himself in conversations and dynamics that don't concern him all the while demanding trust, and then will not let them in in return.

Ryuuji is seeing that so clearly now and it is hurting. How can you trust a guy who won't trust you back? How can you trust someone you thought was one thing who never showed you who they really are and still won't be open and real with you? Who has enough power at every moment to level half the world and is emotional and stupid and impulsive and won't be real with you?

Rin has been under a death sentence and told he had to keep his heritage a secret, but even outside of that, he really doesn't talk about himself. He doesn't open up to his friends like he expects them to open up to him. Neither brother is good at expressing themselves (and a lot of that is because they weren't raised to be that way. Shirou did his best but had a lot of limitations too.)

He demands they trust him wholeheartedly but will not trust them in return. Or he hasn't shown in any way that he does trust them.

This arc, at its core, is about lies and how those and trauma can and do make relationships messy. How even ancestral drama can go down the line and get us caught in cycles of it. But it also shows that we can do the work to get past them, and that it's messy and painful and loud and not always easy to see what's right and wrong while we do it, but we can get past it and move on together. We can make terrible mistakes and seek forgiveness and understanding and sympathy or empathy and try to do better. We can laugh in a field of disease and trust entirely on someone because we know we can even if the world is falling down around us and it doesn't make sense.

Neither Rin nor any of the exwires or Yukio are a villain in this arc. Even Mamushi and her cruel words and betrayal are not a villain in this arc. Everyone acts kindly and selfishly or in fright or confusion or in motives that are entirely misunderstood. They're all dragging their own emotional baggage with them and they're all getting tangled up and not listening, but they still strive on and strive to understand and talk it out when they can, because they care about each other and getting it right.

To act like it's as simple as "The exwires bullied Rin!" is naïve and robs Kato's story of so much richness and deprives the later arcs of so much character value she built starting here. Kato does a beautiful job of building all of her characters and giving them rich personalities and motivations and flaws and she shows us them through Rin sometimes, but she also gives them a lot of time without him at the forefront. She gives him flaws too, and a lot of wrongs, and that's why he's such a powerful and alive protagonist for our series.

You're free to dislike who you like and love who you like, but I do so encourage anyone who thinks the exwires were villains in this arc to really dive into the manga. Read through all the scenes and ask yourself why did Kato show that? Why is this character thinking that? Why did the character react that way? Kato gives us so much richness to dive into and to see so many people not do that and to take such quick and often incorrect or fragmented interpretations of the events is heart breaking and honestly robbing those people of a really good story.

Rin was wrong in assuming that everyone hated him and assuming that it was as simple as trust. He was wrong to try and force things and to try and force his own interpretations on others. It was only once he started to listen and hear what they themselves were saying that things got better. Now some of this is just the mess of the anime between season one and the start of season two, but a lot is just misinterpretation by the fandom. It can happen to anyone, but that does not mean it suddenly becomes factual because of that.

It's been at least six thousand words and I don't know if this came across as clearly as I wanted it to, but I hope it encourages those who haven't to dive in deeper. It's a rich arc with so many fascinating moving parts in it. I've barely brushed on Tatsuma, Juuzou, Mamushi, and Mephisto in this and their plots are all entirely interesting and add so much! Expect a Yukio and Izumo and possibly Shiemi follow up at some point, lol. Probably just as long though I'll try to be more concise.

If you read this far, thank you! You deserve to crash with the rest of the exwires in Toraya on a nice futon.

[baby-yongbok]

Okay, so if you're into hip hop and stuff like that, you know that Kendrick and Drake are ripping each other apart right now.

I woke up to bubble messages from Chan saying that the rap beef going on these days is crazy and that he won't say what side he's on (I think he's on Kendrick's side... how could you not be?)

Anyway, I thought about how 3Racha must be talking about the rap beef, so I wrote this, and it's really just Crack but I thought it was kinda funny.

Word Count : 352

“So then he dropped a song called 6:16 in LA, and that one was crazy because-” You shake your head in confusion as you try to keep up.

“Wait who dropped that one?” Jisung sighs from across the room, and Chan smiles your way.

“Kendrick.” Chan says.

“But I thought he already put out a diss.” Changbin groans, standing behind Chan's chair across from you. 

“He put out three, actually.” You furrow your brows. 

“There's four now.” Changbin corrects his hyung, and Chan shakes his head. 

“Right, yeah, there's four.”

“Okay wait, what.” Changbin runs his hands through his hair as he turns to Jisung. 

“Get the PowerPoint.” The youngest stands and grabs his laptop.

“On it.”

“What the fuck is going on?” You're confused and Chan is the only one who finds this amusing. Jisung starts up his laptop and pulls up a very well put together PowerPoint titled ‘Why Kendrick won.’

“Hush. Chan get the lights.” Your boyfriend cuts the lamp off as he fights back a heavy laugh. “Alright, so this all started with Drake's song, First Person Shooter. It had J.Cole as a feature and -” 

“J.Cole is in this too!?” Chan's doubled over in hysterics. Jisung is disappointed in you, and Changbin is ready to tape your mouth shut so that he can feed you this information. 

Just as Bin is about to answer, Hyunjin walks in. He looks around at the four of you, then at the laptop screen, and sighs. 

“They got you too, huh?” Your eyes meet his. 

“I'm so confused.”

“It's a lot. I know, we've been in New York for a day, and they know this all by heart.” Changbin groans, clearly upset with the two of you. 

“Ya'll should be quiet before Bin explodes.” Jisung warns, and Chan shakes his head, agreeing. 

“Okay wait wait… How is Drake West Coast if he's from Canada?” Chan loses it, falling off of the bed while the others groan in what sounds like deep pain. 

“I had the same question.” Hyunjin defends before Changbin yells. 

“Drake is East coast For fucks sake!”

[genshingorlsrevengeance]

Since you can do MMD stuff now I have a request!

The Fontaine gals with an S/O who likes to eat ice cream with them atop somewhere high while watching the sunset! (Inspired by Kingdom Hearts)

(Genshin Impact) Navia, Furina, and Lynette eating ice cream with their S/O

I'd throw my sea salt ice cream at Xion's head.

Navia prefers baked treats over cold ones, but she'll have no complaints about sharing either with her S/O!

And when it comes to their choice of their scenery, Navia absolutely loves it.

Watching the sunset with her lover at her side gets her heart racing.

Though with that being said, she only goes along if that evening is not particularly windy.

The last thing she wants is her hat flying off into the wind at that height.

Mostly because she'll go after it, which S/O would have to grab Navia and make sure she won't fall.

And with how strong she is, she's taking S/O with her.

She also tries to make sure the ice cream doesn't drip down onto her dress, but other than that, sitting next to them is one of her new favorite past times!

===

Navia smiled as she took a bite into the frozen treat, turning to S/O and raising her sunglasses.

S/O blushed at her bright expression, staring more at her than the sunset itself.

(S/O) "Sure thing! I'm sure you can make it taste better too!"

(Navia) "Aw, I can't make it without you, silly! Now, what did you call this again?"

(S/O) "Sea Salt Ice Cream."

(Navia) "Sea Salt, got it! There should be no shortage of that around here, I'm surprised no one's made this sooner!"

(S/O) "A friend of mine taught me the recipe. He liked sitting up here with his friends and eating the same thing."

Navia's sunglasses dropped back down as she moved closer to S/O, taking another bite from her ice cream.

(Navia) "Well...I'm glad you wanted to share this sight with me too!"

Furina is a woman of class, only enjoying the most delectable of desserts adorned with fancy decorations.

And their taste must be nothing short of sublime!

So when it comes to ice cream, admittedly, she finds them lacking, but sweets are sweets!

And the ones S/O had chosen to share with her passed her expectations!...When it comes to the taste, anyway.

But when it came to their choice of location, Furina was more than happy to watch the sunset in silence with S/O.

It was honestly a nice change of pace than the opera houses they'd frequent. This secluded place on the wall overlooking a large part of Fontaine felt like a special place, reserved only for them.

===

Furina examined the treat before her under close scrutiny. Appearance-wise, it was just a block of blue. Boring!

But, S/O had made this specially for her. The taste passed her inspection but it was admittedly bland. She would have to properly inform them how to make amazing treats!

(S/O) "Do you like it?"

(Furina) "The taste is adequate. But would it have killed you to put some flair onto this ice cream?"

(S/O) "Well, my friend never really taught me to do anything special with it."

(Furina) "Your friend?"

(S/O) "Oh, did I not tell you? He's the one who taught me how to make it! We all shared the ones he made at this very spot. Heh, everytime he showed us, he'd ask if we "got it memorized" every single time!"

While Furina was listening, she became enraptured by S/O's face as they recalled their fond memory, smiling as the sun was shining on them.

They had noticed she was staring and tilted their head curiously.

(S/O) "Is something wrong?"

Furina smiled and tasted her ice cream, then leaning the treat towards S/O.

Admittedly, Lynette did not try too many dishes that were either too hot or cold. The only exception for that being tea, and even then she had to wait for it to cool off.

Due to inheriting the cat-like traits, a very sensitive tongue was one of the things she had to learn to live with.

So, ice cream was something she did not have often, although she admittedly did enjoy it, but not to the same degree as other dessert aficionados.

But she won't say no to a free meal, especially one provided by her S/O.

And seeing how happy S/O was to give her the homemade ice cream, she couldn't refuse that smile.

Doubly so when she got to watch the sun set next to them, though feeling the heat directly made her want to take a nap more than anything.

===

Lynette looked at the ice cream in her hands, noticing how basic the shape was.

Shrugging, her tongue poked out from her lips as she gave the ice cream a lick, immediately recoiling.

S/O chuckled at her cute reaction.

(S/O) "I mean, it is ice cream, Lynette. How did it taste?"

Lynette stared blankly at S/O before failing to contain a small smile from growing. She waited for a few moments before taking another lick, noting the taste.

(Lynette) "Salty, but sweet at the same time. Surprisingly not too strong in either direction."

(S/O) "Okay, good! My friend would never let me live it down if I messed up the recipe for my girlfriend."

Now it was Lynettte's turn to quietly chuckle as she looked at the setting sun, feeling the warmth on her skin.

(Lynette) "I don't think Lyney would either. Speaking of which, do you mind making more for him as well?"

(S/O) "Sure. Want me to teach you as well? It's pretty simple."

Lynette paused for a moment, her ears twitching.

(Lynette) "I don't have to use any appliances, do I?"

(S/O) "The stovetop and freezer, mostly."

(Lynette) "I...think I'll watch, so that way I don't break it."

S/O laughed, almost dropping their own ice cream.

(S/O) "Okay. You'll at least eat them when I make them, right?"

Lynette smiled at them before getting back to slowly finishing up the ice cream.

(Lynette) "I won't eat one every day, but I will when you make them."

[jazziejax]

𝐀𝐛𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲

𝐌𝐬.𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥

Pairings- Black!OC x Abbott Elementary Cast, later Black!OC x Manny (Can be read as x Reader though!)

Summary- S1E1-Light Bulb with Naoya Lovel

Warnings- Swearing, kids, mixed race reader( those aren't warnings really, just what to expect)

Jazzie'sNotes!- let me know what you guys think!! I've been really obsessed with Abbott Elementary recently and I'm contemplating if I want to write S1&S2 just to get to the Manny season. I want to get there fast but I know what won't be possible with two seasons worth of writing. Let me know what you guys think I should do.

Word Count- 5,680

“Ten seconds!” Jacob yelled over his shoulder at the people in the room. Melissa and Barbra rushed over to the sitting area in front of the television that played the action news. Naoya sitting the opposite of them on the small couch.

“Oh, we love Action News! Get in early just to watch it.” Melissa said to the cameras. “It just really calms you down after wanting to take a wrench to someone's side mirror in traffic.” She beamed as if what she said was totally normal.

“But the Philadelphia region continues to suffer, temperature in the mid-90s with a heat index approaching 100…” The television said as they all sat and watched.

“Now I’m a proud married Christian woman and I love my husband. But there’s something about that Jim Gardner.” Barba gushed to the cameras. “That non-regional diction.” The woman was practically blushing just at the thought of the man.

“It is so important to support and acknowledge local journalism, okay?” Jacob started. “There’s no agenda here. This is—This is one going, in the streets, powerful stuff.” He explained seriously.

“I get in early just to see my aunt Magnolia on the screen. She’s a news anchor and I like telling her what I like and dislike about her outfits every morning.” Naoya nodded nonchalantly.

“Wouldn’t want to see that dog in traffic.” Jim Fardner said as they all laughed while watching a little Pomeranian dog drive a toy car.

“Yes, Jim.” Barbra agreed, not seeing the confused look Noaya gave her from the side.

“I like the news because that’s when I can say whatever I want and nobody asks any questions.” Mr.Johnson told the cameras with a smirk.

“I’m taking a personal day.” The old man said as he entered the room, looking at the backs of everyone’s heads as they continued to watch the morning news. “Going fishing with my friends. Anyways, toilet papers in the closet.” He said before walking out.

“I hear him.” Naoya nodded, giving the people behind the camera a small smile. “I hear everything. Plus he is a hilarious old man and I wanna know all his secrets. I am this close to cracking him.” She said with an evil smirk making its way into her face as she lined her fingers together to indicate a small amount.

“I saw Jim Gardner once. At the Chipotle.” Barbra smiled bashfully, not taking her eyes away from the television. “Ooh, he orders a bowl so handsomely.” She gushed. Naoya gave the older woman another look, this time more concern than confusion.

It was only a moment later that Jacob was going through the break room fridge, poking around for something. “Who’s branzino is this?” He asked, holding the fish dish in his hands. “This is a very powerfully smelling fish to put in a shared fridge.” The boy complained as politely as he could, closing the ice box with a disgusted look on his face.

“Don’t touch it,” Melissa said looking up from her phone. “I’m making it right at my cousin Annette’s.” She made her way over to have a seat in her usual spot next to Barb. “She thinks she’s the best cook in the family. I’m gonna show her in a non-threatening way. Imma look cuter than her too.” She smirked.

“I have a distant cousin named Annette,” Naoya said, finishing up the delicious breakfast sandwich that she had every morning. “She was psychotic though, used to put poison in the condiments at restaurants.” The younger woman stated, looking off in thought as the rest stared at her in disbelief. “I haven’t seen her in ages. Don’t want to either, she was butt ugly.” She then took a sip of her orange juice.

Just as she finished, Janine walked into the room, putting her bag down on the table in front of Melissa and Barbra. “Guys, the lights in the back hallways have been out for weeks.”

“Thank you for the update,” Melissa said as she applied more makeup.

“What are you wearing?” Barbra asked, looking her up and down.

“And we need to do something about it. Okay?” The short woman tried to sound demanding but it didn’t come off that way. “Uh, Melina, from your class.” She started, pointing at Melissa. “Yeah, she was afraid to come to school this morning. Said it looked like “The Shining.” And I don’t even get how she knows that reference.”

“She loves “The Shining,” Melissa stated.

“It’s a classic movie.” Jacob chimed in.

The camera panes Naoya’s way, who looks at them at their movements. ‘Never seen it.’ She mouthed with a shrug of her shoulders.

“This isn’t okay, alright?” Janine stressed. “And I already talked to Mr.Johnson and he said that there isn’t anything he can do.

“What do you want us to do about it?” Barbra asked the girl tiredly.

“I mean, it can’t be hard. It’s just screwing in a few new bulbs.” The small woman stated.

“Janine, just worry about what can be controlled.” Barbra cut her off.

“Exactly.” Melissa agreed. “All we can do on a hot day like this is our own jobs, anyway.”

“I know what’s right,” Ava said as she barged into the room and made her way over to the coffee machine. “Why is it February and hotter than the devil’s booty hole outside?” She asked.

“Climate Change.” Jacob and Naoya said at the same time, causing them to point at one another in recognition while Ava shot both of them a tired look. “We are living in the middle of its disastrous effects. The permafrost in Russia—” He was about to rant before Ava cut him off.

“Nerd.” The woman said between coughs, which sounded more like a laugh. Naoya rolled her eyes while Jacob just turned back to what he was doing.

“Ava.” Janine started, walking up to the woman who was still laughing from her childish joke. “Can someone from the city come and check on the back hallway lights?”

“Girl, no.” The woman answered, her usual judgmental look on her face. “Do I look like the Kool-Aid man?” She asked, halving around the room. Her eyes stopped on Naoya, who raised her eyebrows in question. “Don’t answer that.” She pointed at the woman, who just shrugged it off. “I don’t have enough juice to manipulate the inner workings of city hall.” The principal continued, looking back at Janine and scoffing before making her way out. “They’ll probably come in the summer.” She said as the bell rang.

“I’m the summer?” Janine asked after doing a double take at her words. But the woman was long gone and the others were making their way out of the room to their classes.

“Tough break. Want some egg white bites?” Jacob asked, easing closer to Janine and holding out a plate. The solemn woman looked up at him with a new determination. “No. I don’t have time to eat.” She said before walking out. Jacob was mid-bite when he turned and faced Naoya, who was putting her bag over her shoulder. And before the man could even speak, the woman stopped him. “No, I don’t want your peasant food, Jacob. It’s insulting that you would ask someone as cultured as myself such a question.” She started before strutting out of the break room. Jacob stood there in disbelief.

“It’s just egg white bites, you put them in the microwave.”

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“Janine, what on earth are you doing on that thing?” Naoya asked as she rushed down the hall to the smaller woman who stood on a ladder. She had just come from using the restroom and leaving a class of a bunch of nine to ten-year-olds unattended for even a few seconds could lead to chaos. She didn’t know that chaos would be the grown woman who was the height of a nine to ten-year-old.

“I’m going to fix this broken light.” The woman said determinedly, only a step above the floor in the heightening tool. Naoya made it next to her, seeing the woman wasn’t doing much movement. She placed her hands on her hips, a smug look on her face. “Janine, you are not meant to go to those heights. God gave you your stature for a reason. Plus you’re terrified.”

“I am not terrified.” The woman said, shooting a glance at her. At that, Naoya gave her a knowing look before ushering the woman to go ahead. Janine nodded and looked back at the matter, fear gripping her. She gulped looking back at Naoya. “Okay, I am terrified but I’m gonna do it because I’m on a mission.” She said before carefully making her way up the ladder.

“If this backfires, you buy my dinner,” Naoya asked, after checking in on her classroom through the glass door, seeing them still doing their reading time. At that, Janine gave a confused look to the air, since she was too scared to look down. “Uh, no. This bet is not in my face, at all.”

“Well, at least have some faith in yourself, goodness gracious.”

At that, Janine continued, taking the cover off the lights and continuing to tweak at the wires. “See, look at this. It was just a loose wire.” The woman said, briefly glancing down at the people below her. She then connected the wire with another one, watching as the light stopped flickering. But it didn’t stop for long, the bulbs brightening before bursting in her face.

“Oh!” The woman screamed as she ducked:

“Janine!” Naoya yelled from below her, hosing her arms out in case the woman fell. Instantly, all the rooms were filled with the sounds of confusion and discomfort. The doors opened as the teachers exited.

“Oh, God! Can someone please help me down?” Janine asked, her voice shaking from the fear of the height she was at and the bulb exploding before her.

“And why would we do that since you caused this situation?” Melissa asked as she propped her door open.

“Okay, I didn’t know doing this would cause all the power to go out.” Janie tried to justify, still clutching onto the ladder.

“Well, the power is not all out,” Barbra stated. “It’s on in some places and off in others.”

“It’s off in my room,” Gregory said.

“On in the gym.” The coach said tiredly, slugging up to the group.

“Yeah, it’s off in my room,” Melissa spoke back up. “Thank God we got the A/C or we’d all be meltin’ already.”

“Okay, well before anyone freaks out, the best thing to do in these situations is just stay calm and—” Naoya started as she looked around the group but was silenced by the frantic voice of their terrible and terrified principal.

“Okay! This is it, y'all! The End Times!” The woman said as she rounded the corner in a hurry, a light strapped to her head. “It’s three months early, but it’s happening!” She said, as she closed in on them, giving the closest thing to her a tousle, which happened to be the very thing that was holding Janine up.

“Aah, don’t shake the ladder.” The smaller woman yelled from up top.

“Gregory is the only person that can stay in my bunker, so stop asking.” The crazed principal continued. Naoya’s head jerked back at her words, shocked at the woman’s blatant advancements that were harassment at this point.

“Ava,” Barbra started, holding her arms out in a non-offensive manner to calm the woman. “It is just a partial power outage. Alright, listen up everyone—.”

“Listen to Barbra, y'all!” The doomsday woman yelled, still latched into the latter out of fear.

“Are you kidding me?” Janie asked, clasping at the top of the ladder for support as it shook again.

“This is what we’re gonna do.” Barbra started again. “Everybody without power, please, head to the gym.”

“Head!” Ava chimed in again.

“We will conduct classes there until this is all fixed. It is not ideal—.” She stressed, looking up at the culprit on the ladder. “But it will work.”

“You hear her. Let’s go!” Ava demanded with a nod.

“Guys!” Janie called from the top of the ladder, causing them all to look up at her. “I-I just wanna I-I’m sorry, everybody.” The woman said nervously. “I just thought if I could get up here and get this done then we wouldn’t have to wait and..”

“And look where it landed us, baby girl.” Barbra cut in. “Everybody please head to the gym. We’ve got bigger fish to fry now.”

“Oh, Jesus! My branzino! Everybody out of the way. Out of the way!” Melissa yelled as she sprinted down the hall filled with children.

“Well, if someone can please help me! I feel like I’m one wobble away from death!” Janie begged from where she fluted the top of the ladder. At that, Naoya walked closer, raising her hand to help guide the woman down but was intercepted by Gregory's large arms. The two people glanced at each other, unexpected by the other one's move. Naoya waved her hand, signaling him to help instead. “Thank you,” Jannie said, too spooked to even pay attention to the odd interaction before her. “Okay, give me your hand. Take your time.” Gregory soothed, his large hand latched onto Janine’s. When he was turned away from her, she gave the camera an odd look, scratching the back of her ear. “Whenever you're ready.”

“Okay.” Janine sighed. There was a moment of silence between them all as they waited. “Am I doing it?” Janie asked, just standing there.

“No, honey,” Naoya spoke up, raising an eyebrow at such an odd question.

“Okay, let’s do a count of three.” Janine reiterated, adjusting herself to prepare.

“Okay,” Gregory started. “One, two…three.” He finished and the woman still wasn’t moving. “One more time.” He said.

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“This is all my fault,” Janie said as she looked around the gymnasium at all the students. The shock clock then went off, the constant noise startling Gregory, who paused his class to speak to the woman. “Yeah, you probably shouldn’t have tried to do the job of a newly graduated DeVry student, but this is okay.” The man sassed, with an awkward smile as she gestured around the room. Melissa was teaching her kids the best she should with something in flashcards, while Barbra was teaching her students to tell time.

Naoya was on the other side of the room, all her students sitting in rows with their eyes closed and taking deep breaths, with her in the front as a group meditation process. She chose this alternative instead of their gym scheduled gym activities, so the kids weren’t accidentally hitting four-year-olds in the head with basketballs.

Janine sighed, going to pick up her phone that pinged. She read the messages she got from Tariq, and that pissed her off even more. Well, it wasn’t helping her attitude for today.

“I made this mess, and I need to fix this.” She said again, looking around at the distressed room of teachers.

“Okay, but fix this how? Gregory asked her. “It seems very outside of your skill set. You should probably just wait for somebody to get to it—.” He tried to reiterate what Barbra had been saying all along and Janine was not having it.

“I don’t want to wait for someone to get to it!” Janine hissed. “You know, our children have needs that deserve to be met. And I’m going to fix this. Nothing is going to get in my way.” She said determined.

“What if you have to climb another ladder?” Gregory finally asked. “Those seem very tricky for you.”

“No.” That was all Janie gave him. “Not today.

Sometime later, the bell rang, signaling to everyone that it was much time.

“Aren’t you going to lunch, Janine?” Melissa asked as she, Barbra, Gregory, and Naoya made their way to the gymnasium doors.

“Uh, no, I’m actually gonna stay and help the lunch ladies with lunch.” The shorter woman tried to find a reasonable excuse.

“The lunch ladies don’t like you, Janine. They never say hello back.” Naoya said, crossing her arms as she looked at the woman across from her. “So, is that what you’re really doing?”

“Yes!” She answered. “And maybe trying to get the lights back on.” She rushed out at the end, hoping no one heard. At that, the two older women groaned.

“Would you give that a rest?” Melissa started. What do you want? To make the whole school blow up?”

“No!” The woman said as she folded her arms. “Plus, I can’t. Luckily the school was built as a bomb shelter in WWII, so…”

“Let it go.” Barbra practically begged the girl before her before she and the rest of the teachers started walking away.

“Okay, I will.” The woman told them, watching them exit. She and Gregory held long eye contact, both knowing the truth deep down. After they were gone, Janine looked back down at her phone, not paying attention to her friends next to her.

“You’re not gonna let it go, are you?” Jacob spoke up.

“No, I’m not gonna let it go, Jacob, okay?” She said, giving the two of them a look. “I need to right my wrongs.”

“Okay, we’ll count me out.” He said, waving her off.

“I never counted you in,” Janine said to him, confused about where he got that from.

“Well, then count me in.” He restated. “Because I don’t have any lunch plans.”

“Okay.” She sighed. She then looked at the woman next to him, her purse on her shoulder. “Weren’t you going to lunch?” She asked.

“You owe me lunch, remember? Your plan backfired.” She reminded the woman from earlier with a shrug. Janine sighed, turning away from them and walking, knowing they would follow. “That’s not how bets work, Naoya. Both people have to agree.”

“That’s how my bets work and you owe me food, woman!”

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“This is just like the one in my apartment, this is going to be easy,” Janine stated as the three of them made their way to the breaker box that was in the custodian closet. “Me and Tariq have to go in that thing like three times a month.” She said them behind her, Jacob holding the flashlight above her head.

“Maybe you should move.” The man suggested.

“Yeah. Tariq says he is “practicing” his credit score.” Janine struggled out and she pushed to get the metal box open. “Apparently 380 isn’t a good—.” She continued to struggle, her words getting lost in her. “Let me try,” Naoya said as she softly nudged the smaller woman out of the way. She gave the box a pull and the thing popped open. She turned and smiled at the two. “I loosened it,” Jannie said, trying to save face.

“Sure, Jan,” Naoya said, going back to looking in the box. “Oh..” she said, looking at the jumbled mess of wires and switches.

“Oh, no,” Janie said, looking at the same thing. “Don’t touch. Not even a little bit.” She read out loud, giving the camera a certain look. “Uh, okay. What’s that say?”

“End of the Road? It’s so hard to say goodbye?” Naoya read out loud, looking at the labels next to some of the switches. “What? Motownphil—These are Boyz II Men songs.” She deadpanned, turning to the rest of them.

“Why?” Jannie asked, moving to stand in front of the box herself.

Jacob chuckled. “It’s ironic ‘cause I’m on Bended Knee.” He joked, giving the camera a brief look. Naoya genuinely snickered while Janie just laughed awkwardly. “Heh. Okay.” She said before going back to the wires. “Oh God, why is that one hot?” Offering them a glance of concern. “Let me try this one.” She said and just a flip of a switch caused a giant spark to erupt, the trio screamed and jumped back to dodge the sparks as best as they could.

“What in the world.”

“What going on?”

Melissa and Barba exclaimed as she entered the hot and dark school building with children running around. “It’s so hot I’m gonna frizz.” Just then, Janie and Jacob came out of the appliance closet, their hair a mess from the static they endured. The three teachers who left for lunch automatically knew who the culprit for everything was.

“Janine! What did you do?!” Barbra asked, quite fed up with the younger woman. “Looking like ‘who shot John.’”

“Barbra, look, I know you told me to let it go, but I couldn’t. Jacob and Naoya—.” At that, she looked back to see where the woman was but she was nowhere to be found. “Jacob helped me open the breaker.” She was quick to accuse.

“I ran away as soon as the sparks started flying. I was looking out for myself.” The woman shrugged as she leaned against the wall next to her. “Plus, I wasn’t about to get yelled at by Barb for this whole mess.”

“It was a chance to support a strong Black woman.” The man next to her breathed out, in a state of shock, quite literally.

“The breaker?!” Melissa asked. “Janine! You can’t do this stuff! What had you come to work today and lose your mind?”

“Look, I—.” She tried to find something to say. “I just have—she gulped—I feel lightheaded.” She said as she swayed.

“Ohh, okay,” Barbra said worriedly as they all closed in on the smaller girl.

“Did you eat today, because I know you didn’t have lunch,” Melissa asked the girl worriedly.

“And you didn’t have any breakfast,” Jacob stated, his tone showing his concern for the woman’s wellbeing. Janine couldn’t even say anything, her balance was off and her mind was delirious.

“Okay, we’re losing her,” Melissa yelled, easing up on the girl. “Do I have your consent to slap you?” At that, Janine fell backward into Gregory’s arms just as Ava and Naoya rounded the corner. “There she goes,” Melissa said over the shocked screams of her colleagues. “She’s out.”

“Yall feel this heat?” Ava asked, just now seeing the sight of the woman on the floor before her. “Oh my God! She’s pale like a zombie! You know, they eat the hottest people first, let me back my tasty ass up.” Ava said, going back to where she came from down the hall. At her stupid words, Naoya was tempted to follow her but snapped out of it when she saw Janine on the floor.

“Uh, okay! I’m gonna go see if I can get some water out of the fridge. Hopefully, it’s still cold.” Naoya said before running off.

“Oh my God, my branzino!” Melissa yelled, moving to push Barb back.” “Excuse me, Barb. She’ll be okay!” She yelled as she pushed the older woman out of her way and jumped over the unconscious woman.

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Once Janine woke up from her little coma, the coach told her that all the kids and teachers were outside. She walked out to see all of them playing in the water that was sprouting from the fire hydrants while the teachers lunged in chairs. “Oh, look who’s back in the land of the living,” Melissa said once she saw the small woman exit the school.

“Who opens the fire hydrant?” Janine asked

“Well, as Melissa would say, snitches get stitches,” Barbra said.

“It was Naoya,” Jacob whispered to his shorter friend, pointing over at said woman who was playing in the water with the children. She had her bat at her side, leaning her weight on it as she splashed the kids who came near her to throw water her way.

“That is correct.” Melissa started again. “But I am not talking to you on account of you killing my branzino.” She said, before leaning back in her seat. Barbra gave her a look and cleared her throat. Melissa looked at the woman from under her shades and sighed a little before sitting back up. Barbra then got up from her seat, allowing Janine to take it.

“So that’s it, huh?” Janine asked, looking around at the kids. “I , uh, gave it my all, passed out, and ruined the school day?”

“Oh, you tanked,” Melissa told her. “You tanked Janine. You took the whole school down with you. It was impressive.” She pressed, knowing she was pushing the woman’s buttons.

“Look, I know. I should’ve stopped. I’m sorry.” Janine sighed. “I just felt so bad when I saw that look on Melina’s face this morning.”

“You don’t think it kills us to see those faces in the morning?” Melissa asked her. “What, are we made of stone? You’re not the first person to feel things, kid. We care.”

It was silent for a moment as Janine thought over the woman’s words. “How do you and Barbra stop yourselves from caring too much if that’s a thing.”

“Because it’s the opposite.” Melissa smiled at the girl as she took off her shades. “We care so much we refuse to burn out. If we burn out, who’s here for these kids? That’s who you gotta take care of yourself.”

“Yeah, what’s with you today Nini?” Both women jumped at the sound of Naoya’s voice, while the woman just stood behind them with her bat. “You’re normally bananas, but…” She trailed off, waving at the girl's aura.

“Uh, I don’t know. Just some stuff at home, I think.” Janine shrugged with an answer.

“Oh, okay,” Melissa said with a nod. “See, that’s the other thing me and Barbra learned. All that at-home stuff—you gotta leave it at the door. Otherwise, you open up a whole nother Panera’s box of problems.”

“I think you mean Pandora’s box,” Naoya told the woman sitting in front of her.

“Nah, I’m pretty sure it’s Panera’s box.” She nodded, while Janine and Naoya both gave the camera a look.

Later on that day, Naoya was in her room in the process of changing the clothes she had on into some that she kept in her closet. She enjoyed playing in the water with the kids but she was not going to go home wet. As she was in the process of changing, she got a phone call. Looking down at her phone, she saw the contact and quickly answered the phone.

“Hello, Adona.” The girl sighed into the phone as she pulled a new shirt over her head.

“Oh, well don’t sound so pleased.” The feminine voice over the phone said to her. Naoya rolled her eyes, as she opened the drawer of her desk and pulled out a plastic store bag. She offered the camera a glance, knowing they were probably thinking as to why she kept so many plastic bags in her drawer. But all she could offer them now was a shrug as the voice over the phone continued.

“Anyways, how are you?”

“What do you want, Adona?” Naoya spat, stuffing her semi-wet clothes into the plastic bag.

“What? I can’t see how my own sister is doing?” The woman said over the phone, the hurt in their voice obviously sarcastic.

“No, but I know you. And I know that you only call when you need money. Money for something other than your child.” The younger girl snapped over the phone. All she got in response was a sigh and some shuffling from the other end.

“You know, you don't have to rub it in.” Adona started, and Naoya rolled her eyes at the woman’s words, knowing this conversation was about to go to the argument they always had. “This all would have been so much easier if the rest of us weren’t left out of her will.”

“That’s not my fucking fault, Adona. I tell you that every time you call. Do you think I want the burden of you and the others calling me every month for some fucking bill for me to pay? Not to ask how I’m doing?” Naoya spat at her sister over the phone. She could feel her eyes start to sting, she was never the best at arguing when it came to her family. She’d been called sensitive all her life and it rang true every time she talked to her siblings.

“ “The others”? That’s what you call us? You’re family?” That was all Adona could say back. Naoya rolled her eyes and let out a scoff, pulling the phone away from her face as she sniffed and held her head back, trying to stop her tear flow. After only a few quick seconds, she brought the phone back to her face. “Uh, I can already see where this is going, so I’m gonna end it here. Just send the amount and I’ll talk to you some other time. Take care.” She said before pressing the red button on her screen to end the call.

She placed her phone in her back pocket and moved around her room to gather her things, trying her best to occupy her mind from what just ensued. She was so in her head that she forgot the cameras were there. And she didn’t hear the voice of Gregory at her door.

“Naoya?” He called out to her.

She looked up at the sound of his voice as she placed her things into her bag. “Oh, Hello Gregory.” She smiled, her face showing none of the emotions she was feeling.

“You’ve eaten?” He asked, just standing in the doorway of her classroom.

“Uh, no, actually. Janine was supposed to buy me lunch because I bet that her plan would backfire.” The woman said as she placed her things in her arms. At that, Gregory gave her a questioning look. Naoya raised her hands in surrender. “I know, I sound like a terrible friend. But it’s not that I don’t believe in Janine, I just know how to black a bet. Get it from my father.” The girl shrugged. She and Gregory both laughed lightly. And when it died down, they just started at one another, the air between them oddly peaceful.

“But, uh, are you offering?” She asked, looking at the man before her.

“Uh, yeah. I was going to ask Janine too.” He said, pointing his thumb in the direction of the said woman’s room.

“Cool! Let’s go.” She said with a genuine smile, causing the man to smile at her as well. They walked out and over to Janine’s room, where it looked like the woman was doing something on her phone. Gregory knocked on her door to get her attention. “Hey.” He said.

“Hey,” Jaimie said, looking at the two.

“Have you eaten?” He asked.

“Oh. No. The um, lunch lady gave me that can of peaches but no can opener, so, no.” She chuckled, pointing at the can on her desk.

“What? No fair! You’re so lucky. Well, besides the whole can opener situation. ” Naoya said jokingly.

“Alright, we’ll, you wanna go get something to eat? With me?” Gregory said before Naoya lightly cleared her throat. “With us?” Gregory was quick to reiterate. Naoya nodded, offering the slightly flustered older man a brief look.

“Oh,” Janine said, looking between the two. “I was gonna wait for my boyfriend to finish his show to eat…” She said. Naoya nodded at her words, understanding where she was coming from. Well, understanding as best as she could because she’d never wait to eat for a man. But maybe that was love. She caught the way Gregory’s posture changed at Janin’s words out of the corner of her eye. She didn’t say anything but she did give me a crazy side-eye, hoping he noticed.

“But…no.” The shorter woman started back up with a laugh. “I’m hungry now, so I should eat now, right?”

“That’s typically how hunger works, yeah.” Gregory played along.

“Right! Normal people eat at normal times, like…4:00.” She said, pointing over at the clock on her wall.

“Yeah. All true.” Gregory said with a nod before smiling. “So, let’s go eat.”

“Let’s. Okay.” Janine said with an equally large smile before moving to grab her things. At that, Naoya turned around to head out the door, not wanting to be in the middle of an obvious love fest. She gave the cameras outside a knowing look, a large smirk on her face.

Seconds later, the two of them walked out of the room, Naoya joining them to go down the hall. On their way, they ended up meeting Jacob.

“Oh, hey guys, what up?” The man said.

“We’re just headed to get something to eat,” Gregory answered.

“Oh, great, I’ll join.” The man just inserted himself, not catching the looks thrown his way by the three. “After school crew.” He continued.

“Ooh, “After School Crew.” I like that.” Janine smiled. They all ended up stopping at the lights coming on within the school. They looked over to see Mr.Johnson in the supply closet, standing next to the breaker machine in his fishing gear.

“You touch the lights, didn’t you, Janine?” He asked, shooting an accusatory look the woman’s way.

“Yes,” Janine answered with a defeated look.

“Good thing I got me a system.” The man told her, flicking the breaker box closed. “I’ll make love to you. Like you want me to.” He continued to sing. This caused them to all sigh and continue walking. Naoya stayed behind, a fond smile on her lips as she watched the old man. When he caught the sight of the woman still there, he paused and looked at her.

“You have a good fishing trip?” She asked the man, crossing her arms over another. The man looked at the girl kind of shocked that she asked and that she knew.

“Yeah. Yeah, I actually did.” He said, offering her a smile of his own. Naoya nodded at his words before walking away, following the crew that left her. Mr.Johnson looked at the spot she left, a fond smile on his face as she continued to sing the song.

[flippinpancakes64]

Hi, can I request the Cullens with a reader who likes to party and goes to raves. Like the reader likes to have a good time but still has their stuff together.

The Cullens with a reader who likes to party

Uhm this will be another call-out post because I have never been to a party or a rave. I mean, I write fanfic on tumblr for fun so. Anyway just saying that this might be inaccurate so just be prepared for that

Thank you for requesting and I hope you enjoy!

Edward:

He's not really a partying type of person

He prefers to brood and stew in misery

He's just that kinda guy

But he will accompany you if you ask him

Personally, he doesn't mind what you do for fun

If you enjoy it and you're not in any immediate danger, then he's all for it

I could see him being a bit put off by your rave outfits though

He's... traditional

He would ask you a couple of times to cover up a bit, but if you say no... then he will keep asking

He's really not comfortable with you wearing next to nothing to go party in a group of strangers

Those are the instances where he might come with you

No matter who you are, you could literally be a 7 foot body builder and he still wouldn't trust the crowds

But overall he just doesn't really care

You're responsible, your partying isn't hindering you any, and you still hang out with him so all's well

Alice:

She is the definition of a party person

She wants to go with you

And yes she would love a rave

It challenges her to make different types of outfits that she never has before

And she loves dancing so

It's just an added bonus that you are also really on top of things

She greatly admires that you can be gone all night partying and then come back the next morning and still get to school on time

Occasionally, though, she will ask you to take a break

Even though you can stay up partying until 4 am and still get to school by 7 doesn't mean that you should

She goes with you to everything and tries to get you to leave earlier so that you can actually sleep

But that only happens like once a week

Every other day she is right there dancing next to you

Jasper:

Opposites attract I guess?

To him, being in a club or at a rave actually sounds like a new torture method developed just for him

He truly does not understand the appeal

Like what do you mean you want to be in a room filled with sweaty, drunk people listening to music that is so loud it'll make you go deaf by 30?

He will not go with you sorry

If you beg him enough he might go to a club

But he will stand in the corner looking like he's about to vomit

Being around crowds is already a challenge for him

But this is too much

But otherwise he doesn't care what you do

It's your life, this is what you find fun, he doesn't mind

Occasionally though he will ask you to stay home for a night just because he misses you

Please hang out with him :(

Rosalie:

I don't think she's ever been to a rave before

But she loves it

She loves the outfits, all of the attention that she's getting from guys (she does NOT reciprocate guys don't worry), and the atmosphere

The music is a bit loud for her taste, but she gets over that

But she doesn't join you every time, just occasionally

She's a bit concerned at first though

She's worried that you aren't focusing enough on school, your job, or anything else

But after a few weeks and she sees that you do actually have a pretty good balance, she drops it

She makes you stay home at least 2 nights a week though

You need sleep

Emmett:

Party animal

I have no clue if he has ever actually been in a frat, but I would be shocked if he wasn't

He loves to dance and be crazy

So he joins you almost every time you go out

He only stays back if you ask him to or if he has something else to do

Like Edward, he never lets you go to a rave alone

He just doesn't trust all of those strangers not to pull something while you're wearing your exposing outfits

Unlike Edward, though, he won't tell you to change

He doesn't tell his partner what to wear cause he can fight

He does not care about your academics

You could literally flunk out of school he wouldn't care sorry

The only thing he would care about is that you are taking care of yourself

Esme:

She is not a party person

I talked about it forever ago in one of my other posts, but it's just not her scene

She will not go with you sorry

Even if you beg

And she is a bit skeptical of your outfits

She's very concerned about strangers

And yes she does ask you to cover up a little more

But it is entirely because she's worried for you

And she is definitely worried about your life

She doesn't want you to be missing sleep or neglecting your work

She will need a bit of reassurance

And by a bit I mean like a couple weeks

And you'll need to compromise with her a bit by staying home a couple of nights or making sure you're home by a certain time

She's just worried about you

Carlisle:

He's not a partying person either but he does understand the appeal

A place where you can go just to have fun and let loose he understands

He'll join you a couple of times and he won't complain, but it's pretty obvious it's not his thing

He does not care what you wear btw

It's your life and he's not your dad so who is he to tell you what to do

He trusts you to be safe and you know that you can call him at any time if you need him

The doctor in him doesn't let you stay out forever though

Again, he needs you to stay home and relax at least 3 times a week

And you need to eat a good meal every time before you leave

But he can tell that your grades are still good, you seem to still be in good health, and most of all you're happy so

Overall he's chill

Vampire! Bella:

Take her with you please

She loves it

She was never really a party person when she was alive but now she's immortal and she's ready to have some fun

She loves raves

And she loves the club

She does still have two left feet though

Like she cannot dance

So she just sort of sways side to side

And also she will not be wearing a rave outfit

She could care less what you wear, though

She also doesn't care if you're responsible or not

Your grades are slipping? Okay is she supposed to care?

You're really tired? Stay home and go to bed. Or just go out again, who's she to stop you?

[sandy-the-glader]

Hi!! I hope this is okay!! If not, no worries!! 💜💜💜 (I love you lots!)

Can I please request an Adrian Chase x fem!innocent!reader Where while Adrian is out and about doing his Vigilante work he comes across a bunch of criminals in a warehouse, and after they’re all “taken care of”, he hears someone crying and finds a girl hiding behind a pile of the criminal’s stuff, and she’s handcuffed to something over there, so she couldn’t leave even if she wanted to. She’d obviously be completely terrified of Vig, but as we know, he is very good at reading a person and would clearly see that she is innocent, and had been taken by the bad guys. Normally he would just set the innocent girl free and be on his way, having already taken care of the bad guys, however… He had unfortunately taken off his mask right before finding her, and had forgotten to put it back on, so she has seen his face. Panicking, he just picks her up, and takes her to his car with him, driving straight to the 11th Street Kids HQ, carrying in a terrified Y/n, he himself all panicked, and the team is like “wtf did you do????” “Did you abduct her???” And he’s just like, “No no, I saved her! But then she saw my face… So I guess, yes??”

Lmao it’s honestly a mess, but the team takes care of Y/n’s injuries, apologies for Adrian’s behavior lmao, and lets her stay there until she has recovered, as not only is she hurt, but very scared. After a while of staying with them, she gradually starts warming up to Adrian, him desperately trying to get her not to be afraid of him anymore (for a while there she was terrified of him), and their relationship eventually grows into a more romantic and intimate one🥺🥺🤧

Afraid of Me

*Not my gif*

Character: Adrian Chase x SoftFem!Reader

Type: Fluff and sorta angsty

Length: 5.4K (a bit long)

Summary: Request above <3

Trope: Strangers to friends to lovers, Slow-burn

A/N: LONG A/N!! Sorry this took forever I've been busy with a lot of stuff and I just haven't had any time but I worked on this whenever I could. Btw again I bent the request a little bit (I'm not sure if I wrote what you wanted for it and I apologize ) so I hope it’s okay I just made this go over the whole period of time the show does and like more so there's more time for a bond to be built lol

I heard a quick gunshot followed by another. Tears continued to fall from my eyes as I was tied to some random wall in some warehouse, Apparently, I was not supposed to come across two men selling heroin to each other but here I am. They claimed I saw too much, took me, and tied me up. Who even does that?

I just wanted to return to my apartment and read this new book I bought. That's all I had planned for my day anyway. Yet now I was tied to a pole in some wet and cold warehouse with random crates surrounding me. I tugged and tried to break from but it was helpless. I cried and sniffled as I continued to try but there was no avail.

Were those shots from them or someone else? Please god, let someone save me. I had been here for hours and I was scared of what they had planned for me. They already hit me pretty hard over the head which caused a small trail of blood to fall from my temple.

I heard loud and heavy footsteps coming towards me. I braced myself and waited for the figure to come around the crate to where I was. He was wearing a teal suit, with blood covering it. It was Vigilante. Should I be happy or terrified? He's a killer but isn't he supposed to be a hero?

"Fuck oh my god." He gasped slapping a gloved hand over his mouth. He was missing one exceptionally important part of his suit. His mask. That must have been why he was so frantic.

In all honesty, he looked nothing like I always pictured him. He was lanky with glasses and he looked really young. He looked mid-twenties though I had a feeling he was older. He honestly looked nerdy.

"I'm sorry. I really won't tell anyone who you are. I-I mean I don't even know your name." I stammered. He didn't care though because he continued to curse.

"Fuck fuck fuck. This is so not good." he groaned. The man ran a thick hand through his hair while bouncing back and forth. "Umm." He pondered confused about what to do. "Shit, I can't let you go." My eyes widen. He already has saved me why not let me go on my merry way? He took off his glasses and put his mask back on.

He came over to me and examined my situation. He crouched down and started untieing the rope that kept me on the pole but didn't bother with the ones around my hands or feet.

I was about to thank him for his acts but he picked me up and started to carry me out. Oh, he's actually not letting me go.

"What are you doing!?" I panicked. I started wiggling my body in his grasp then he held me tighter. "Where are you taking me? This hurts." He continued to keep walking until we reached his car a couple of feet from the warehouse.

Holding me with one hand, he opened the door to his back seat and tossed me in. Judging by his face, he didn't mean it to be as aggressive but it was enough to get me to shut up. He slammed the door and rushed over to the driver's seat.

This is it. After all that's happened today I'm being kidnapped by Vigilante and who knows what's going to happen. I guess the law doesn't apply when it comes to him. I actually can't believe it right now.

The entire car ride was silent. Not a sound from the man or from me. It was terrifying. All I could think of was what was going to happen to me. it took him forever to get to his destination and when we got there I realized it was some rundown video store. That couldn't be where we're going right?

-

"Guy's we got a fucking situation!" Adrian called opening the door with the girl in his hands. The whole team in the building stared at him with wide 'What the fuck' like eyes.

"Who the fuck is that?" Economos asked adjusting his glasses and leaning over his desk.

Adrian (not so carefully) dropped the woman on the floor making her yelp out in shock and pain.

"Did you just kidnap a girl?" Adebayo's eyes widened at the sight.

"No Adebayo!" He yelled defensively. "Okay, well technically yes but-" He was cut off quickly.

"And why did you bring her here?" Harcourt burst out running a hand through her blonde hair.

"Okay, I was doing my badass stuff, right? Like beating up these bad dudes and I found her behind some crates." They all stared at him waiting for him to continue. "And since I didn't know these dudes took a hostage I took my mask off and that's-" He removed his mask again and replaced the glasses on his face. "Really bad." He grimaced.

"Adrian what the hell dude you could have left her. She would have never turned you in. Look at her. No offense." Chris said. She stayed silent like she never heard the comment in the first place.

She was scared to death, trembling on the floor with small tear streaks down her face. Some of the tears mixed in with blood on the left side of her face. She looked innocent as could be and she definitely didn't deserve to be in this mess.

"Dude what the fuck!" He shouted at Chris. "Now she knows my real name! You have so fucked me!" He continued to cure which didn't make the girl feel any better.

"I did not fuck you! Besides it's your fault for bringing her here anyway." Chris furrowed his eyebrows looking back and forth between the petrified girl and his idiotic friend.

"What is happening out here?" Murn came out from one of the rooms and immediately regretted his decision. "We're supposed to be working on the project butterfly case what are you doing Chase?" He asked sternly.

"Oh, now she knows about Project Butterfly!" Harcourt placed a hand on her forehead.

"Well, it's not like I can kill her because she's innocent" The girl's face drained at the mention of death. "and we can't get rid of her because she might tell someone who I am!" Adrian wined out. He was finally right about one thing.

"She also might screw our plan up," Murn muttered trying to think of a reasonable thing to do with this girl.

"Then what do you suppose we do with her?" Economos folded his arms. The girl had been silent the entirety of this conversation but she finally piped up.

"Um.." Her voice caught everyone's attention and they turned their heads to look at her. "I-I can clean and o-organize around here." She stammered. "I can help you guys just please don't kill me." She pleaded. They all non-verbally agreed she had been through enough judging by the look of blood running from her temple and dirt caking her shirt.

"Yeah that honestly could be useful," Harcourt spoke. She looked around the room to only be met with agreeing faces. She let out another deep sigh before Murn spoke up.

"You will work the same hours as us and will get paid a fair amount." He folded his arms tightly over his chest. He didn't ask he just demanded she work.

"I'm also a fast learner and I can help you with anything you need. I don't have a current job so that would be perfect." She tried to look at the bright side of the situation. I can work for money but this is a destructive and hard-core business she pondered. "And since this is a very um dangerous job I just so happened to be trained in medical care." She offered.

"Oh, sweet! That's perfect so now dyed bear can stop doing such a shit job of stitching me up!" Chris smiled.

"Hey!" Economos protested. It was perfectly fine he thought.

"What about my living situation? C-can I still stay In my apartment?" She asked. They all looked around at each other because that was one thing they hadn't thought of. If they let her stay, she could always tell people without them knowing.

"If we let you stay in your apartment, you must realize he" Murn pointed at Adrian Chase himself. "has to keep watch of you? He somehow always knows if someone is doing something they shouldn't be." She nodded slowly. "And if you tell anyone and I mean anyone you will be terminated immediately, do you understand?" He spoke firmly making her hands tremble.

"I understand." She muttered.

"Now that everyone is done with this whole situation I suggest you get back to work," Murn concluded walking back to his office annoyed with the inconvenience.

-

I sat there absolutely stunned at what just happened. I just got myself into a bat shit crazy job. I mean I don't even know these people and one of them literally abducted me. This is not normal.

Project butterfly? Are these guys all heroes or something? I already was aware of Vigilante's existence and somewhat Peacemaker but there's a lot more than just those two.

"Oh my god, he didn't even untie you." The blonde-haired woman spoke in surprise. I didn't say anything because really what was I supposed to say? "I'm Harcourt." She kneeled beside me. She opened a switchblade and sliced through the ropes binding my hands together and then my feet. "Come on let's get you cleaned up. She went and collected the first aid kit from one of the desks on the left side of the room and motioned for me to sit at her desk. "What's your name?" She asked.

"Y/n L/n." I said quietly as I stared into my lap anxiously.

"Come sit Y/n." She said calmly trying to make me comfortable.

I stood up uneasily and almost fell back down. I steadied myself and carefully walked over to the chair and sat down gently. She pulled out a couple of cotton swabs and some alcohol. She poured the strong liquid onto the small ball.

"I'm sorry about him." Harcourt hummed taking the cotton swab to my forehead.

"Hm?" I replied softly.

"Adrian." She looked me in the eyes. "He just isn't all there sometimes." She mumbled. She tossed the bloodied-up swab in the trash and put a bandage over the small cut.

I looked over at Vigilante who I guess was named Adrian. He was talking to Peacemaker and he looked perfectly innocent. Not even an hour earlier he was tossing me into the back of his car. Jesus, what did I really get myself into? Not only does he have to escort me home, but now I have to work with him. He's a psycho!

"She has a point you know." The woman I was pretty sure was Adebayo spoke up. I glanced at her and she nodded trying to make me realize it. "He's a really good guy you just have to get to know him. I get it he basically kidnapped you but he's stupid in everything but fighting."

"Yeah okay," I mumbled softly. I don't care what they say now I can't trust him after what he did unless he really proves he's trustworthy. At least these people actually had the decency to tend to my wounds.

She continued to bandage and take care of every cut I had on my arms and face. I enjoyed her already because she was delicate to me and cared about my feelings. Pretty quickly she finished and put all the materials away.

"Come over here I think we found a box of old clothes you could change in." She led me back into the store and I could feel Adrian's eyes burning into my back.

-

"Dude she's afraid of me!" I panicked at Chris looking him dead in the eye. I waited for her to leave before I talked to my best friend about the whole thing.

"Well, I mean you did throw her in the back of your car. Chicks don't really dig that. Unless they're like hardcore." Okay yeah obviously I fucked up big time but I was under a lot of pressure and I wasn't doing what I should have!

"Dude I didn't know what else to do." I whined

"I mean you just gotta make things right with her I guess. I don't know I usually don't have to apologize to girls." He shrugged his shoulders. Great okay how am I supposed to do that when she's obviously afraid of me? Fuck. "Listen when you walk her to her apartment just be like 'Sorry for kidnapping you in my shitty car that was a pretty bad thing to do!' or something like that." I let out a heavy sigh. This is never going to work.

-

I came back out to the main room in a sweatshirt with the video store's logo on it and sweatpants that were longer than my actual legs with the same logo down the side of it. I held my original clothes in my arms and I was quiet.

What do I do now? Go home? How am I supposed to feel safe in my own home when I know that guy is watching me?

"Listen." Harcourt grabbed my attention. "You can take as much time as you need before you go home. I know that was probably a traumatic experience for you so let me know when you want to leave." She spoke as if she had read my mind. I nodded. "Also we have your address so we can get you home easily." Okay well, I told her my name and that was all it took to find out where I lived. Spectacular.

"What are my work hours?" I still can't believe I got myself to work for these people.

"Just don't get here any later than 8. Hours are different every day. Since you now work here I guess I should tell you who everyone is." She pointed to Peacemaker and Vigilante who were still chatting near the corner of the room "Chris and Adrian ." Then to the other man in glasses. "Economos." The guy in the other room that I could see through the glass. "Murn." Finally, she pointed at the last girl which I already knew. "and Adebayo."

I stood around for not too much longer before very anxiously describing to Harcourt my wishes to leave. She understood fully and went over to Adrian to make him take me home. He looked at me with some sort of care in his eyes but I just couldn't look at him so my eyes fell back to the sight of the floor.

"Come on kid." Harcourt motioned with her head to leave out the door with the man. I walked out the door and the cool air hit me as the sun started to sink down below the horizon.

One car ride and then I'm home. This time I got to sit in the front seat of his car instead of being thrown in the back like a doll. I secured my seatbelt and then just slumped against the car door. All I could really do was pay attention to the passing cars outside and the quiet buzz of the radio.

I also noticed the pleasing smell of his cologne that filled the car or how he hummed along to the Taylor Swift song on the radio. Someone like him is a swiftie?

"I'm sorry that I kidnapped you." Adrian broke the silence between us in an attempt to apologize. I ignored it and kept looking out the window. It was a long day and I genuinely couldn't tell if he was being sincere or was just trying to make me feel like he cared. "Please talk to me. I know I fucked up." I glanced over at him; his eyes flickered between the road and me. "Hey." He reached for my hand and flinched away with wide eyes and a quickened heartbeat.

His eyes lit up in sorrow. He looked like he felt bad. He backed off and for the rest of the car ride, he didn't talk anymore. There was so much tension in that car I felt like I was going to suffocate. I could barely look at him. I was still scared of his guts.

Every turn and stop made me think over and over about the events that occurred today. It was nauseating.

Finally walking through the door of my apartment left me with this feeling I couldn't describe. All of the events that happened today were fucking unbelievable.

The book I was planning to read was on my bed and was quickly tossed on my side table with a small thud. I sprawled out on my bed not bothering to do anything else tonight.

What. The. Fuck.

-

It's my first day on the job and my teammate already hit someone with a car. A van actually. I got to the disguised video store a bit after seven and Murn described the plan to me. Since I wasn't significant to the plan I just stayed in the car with a first-aid kit just in case things went south. And oh they did.

"Is he dead!?" I stood in the van looking at Economos dumbfounded. He didn't reply at first he was just making shocked quivering noises.

"I... I don't know?" My eyes widened as he started to get out of the car holding a crowbar tightly in his hands. I left the kit on the seats (since I had been fidgeting with the latches the whole ride) and followed him for support or something like that. Maybe I thought I could help. He inspected inside the car which he had hit fully force.

Judomaster was crawling on the ground in front of the car slowly. Economos inched closer and closer to him holding the crowbar. He whacked him once over the head and jolted backward then his body went limp. We waited and sure enough, he kept crawling. He hit him again and he still was moving. I slapped a hand over my mouth as he repeatedly hit him on the back of the head. He poked him a few times like you would a bug making sure he wasn't moving.

"Oh my god." He let out. "Fuck yeah!" He turned around to high-five me. I lightly returned it. "Don't worry he's not dead." He said sensing my shock. "They're hardcore it takes a lot."

"Well, what do we do with him now?" I looked at Economos for ideas. We ended up tying him up and throwing him in the back of the van. I watched him intensely. When would this dude wake up? I really hope not any time soon. Murn radioed us and let us know that they would be coming back soon with of course Vigilante. Economos drove us back to the spot we were supposed to be in and awaited their arrival.

"You're pretty cool." I complimented him. He was taken aback by the positive words.

"Well thank you." He adjusted his glasses with a bright smile.

We waited for 15 minutes until they finally arrived and loaded themselves into the van. Everyone looked untouched besides Harcourt's messy hair, a couple cuts on Peacemaker's face and Vigilante crying about his bleeding toe. I grabbed the medical kit I had set down on the seats just minutes before and rushed to Adrian's side.

I motioned for him to move his foot up to where I needed it. He hesitated for a moment but then proceeded to lift his foot into my lap. I scoped out his injured toe and I pulled out the needed materials.

Yikes. I was definitely glad that I stayed in the van. Adrian’s foot jerked in my lap as I tried to get some alcohol.

"Hold still!" I complained to Adrian trying to hold his leg down from wriggling under my grasp. From the looks of it, this man had managed to get half of his pinky toe cut off. That is such a bizarre thing for torture.

“It hurts so bad though!” He wined when I took the alcohol to his foot. He had obviously had worse happen to him but this?

“It could have been worse,” I said. My hold got tighter on his leg since it kept jolting side to side.

“Pft yeah, this was nothing!” He lied as if he hadn’t been complaining two seconds ago. “I’ve gone through worse in DND.” A small smile appeared on my cheeks. DND huh? Who knew the big strong Vigilante was a total nerd? And a swiftie...

“One of my characters got their arm bitten off by a bear so I’d say you’re okay,” I said. His eyes lit up at the mention that I had played before." Just sit still it's about to get worse." His eyes clenched shut.

"Oh shit!" He screamed out making everyone irritated in the van. I shushed him gently with a soft hand on his leg. He shut up very quickly but his body still tensed occasionally with every sting. I held his foot carefully as I bandaged it up thoroughly.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" I asked. I still didn't dare to look him in the eye.

"Yeah, but I can wait until we get back." He tried to act tough but I could hear the pain in his voice. I noticed a couple of holes in his shirt. Maybe I could fix his shirt while I'm at it. God am I being too nice?

I mean I'm trying to think of the bright side of what happened yesterday and honestly, it didn't seem so bad anymore. He saved my ass and I'm having a paying job. I can only imagine the pay is fantastic for what these people have me doing. I sat next to Adrian. I was feeling a little less scared of him now when I thought about him like that. Even through the visor, his eyes were peeled onto me. It felt like since I got here they never left.

Getting back to headquarters I couldn't get Adrian to get out of the van without making a scene. I dragged him quickly into the store so he wouldn't draw any attention from people lurking around In the streets. I pulled him by his hand and made him sit in the closest chair I could spot. He whined and moaned obnoxiously loud. I knew the stories and new articles about the man. He was tough and put up a big fight, he never lost against criminals.

I grabbed the larger bandages from an area Harcourt showed me just this morning and also some more alcohol.

"Show me where you're hurt." I looked at him curious about what else had happened to him. He pulled off his chest plate and revealed the deep stab wound in his shoulder. The fabric of his shirt clearly revealed the bloody mess it left. My eyes widen. "You kept this from me until now?"

"I could handle this. The toe I'm not entirely sure." I cleaned and bandaged the wound with intense concentration. I was careful and sure not to cause any more harm after this long night. "Thank you." He said softly. I just nodded and didn't reply with anything else.

-

The days passed as we worked on this project and the days were long and there was a lot of work to do. I didn't have almost any free time anymore so it was hard to make time for friends I actually wanted to talk to or things I really wanted to do. Adrian continued to try his hardest to earn my trust and befriend me.

I started to warm up to him crazy enough. He did little things for me I thought were sweet. Sometimes he brought me breakfast or he would try to learn about things I liked so he could talk about them with me. I started to trust him more and more as the mission proceeded because he was really good company. He would talk and I would listen.

A couple of days after the whole 'Adrian getting his pinky toe almost cut off' situation he got himself arrested. I didn't even know until Harcourt talked to me about it and what Adebayo said to him. I felt bad for him because as much as I thought I disliked him, I hated to hear he was where he was and how Adebayo literally manipulated him into doing it.

The night he got out he showed up at my apartment because he still needed to check up on me and since he hadn't been able to. For the first time, I felt comfortable enough to hug him. So I did, I wrapped my arms gently around his torso and gave a small squeeze. We stood like that for a minute before he quietly wished me a 'goodnight' without any further words. That was the kindest moment we had ever shared with one another

Then the next day we had another mission. Since all this time has passed, I had been informed on what a Butterfly fully was. At first, it was entirely confusing until I realized these were tiny alien butterflies here to kill us. I know it sounds like something straight out of a sci-fi movie.

I had to sit through a whole meeting in the morning next to Adrian where he (the whole time) joked with me. It felt sorta nice honestly. He never stopped being friendly and I just kind of started to accept it more.

And the whole mission went by quickly.

"Oh my god." I blurted when everyone arrived back in the truck. Peacemaker and Economos were fully drenched head to toe in blood, Harcourt had a good amount on her, and Adebayo and Adrian had little to none on them.

"We fought a fucking gorilla!" Adebayo exploded with astonishment. Jesus, sometimes I wish I didn't sit in the car the whole time.

"Economos is the fucking man." Peacemaker clapped him on the back with a proud grin. I did miss a lot if those two are now getting along.

"All the blood is the gorillas right?" I asked startled for a second considering the amount.

"Yeah we're all fine," Harcourt said tiredly.

"At least no one's arm got bitten off, like your DND character right?" Adrian nudged me in the side and sat down next to me. Sure I had only told him a few days ago about that but it still made me happy that he had remembered that tiny detail.

"Right." I smiled. Chris sat in the front and started playing music like he had at the beginning of the ride. I sang along with the rest of my team members to 11th Street Kids and I actually started to enjoy my work a little more.

I looked over at Adrian who was dancing like a dork. He looked so adorable? He was playing air drums and making up random dances as he went. I don't know why but I started to not hate him anymore. I started seeing this more personal side of him. Not Vigilante but Adrian.

"C'mon dance," Adrian whispered in my ear and nudged me again. I started to sway along with the group.

Later that night Harcourt made a group chat with all of us and sent a photo she had taken in the van. I set the book down I had finally got to reading beside me on my bed and picked up my phone.

Everyone was dancing in the van but on the right side, you could see me looking at Adrian with the sweetest smile on my face. The chat is filled with different emojis. The only number I had was Harcourts but from the merman emoji, I already knew it was Adrian. I liked his message and sent a fitting emoji to match the others.

I set my phone down and continued reading with a big smile. I never seemed to stop today.

-

It was the final day of the project and I wasn’t allowed to go. I wasn’t entirely complaining since this job was so bizarre but I was also disappointed. I mean all this build up and I don’t even get to go. They said it would be safer for me and of course, I understood.

But as the night carried on and the morning came through I was nervous. I had no texts or word from anyone. Sure, they still could be busy and have to do some other stuff before texting me but what if?

I heard a rushed-sounding knock on my door which threw me off. I ran to my door since the person decided to not stop knocking.

"What do you want?" I hissed as I threw open the door but I was only met with Adrian. My eyes soften upon seeing him. Oh, thank god he’s alive. "Adrian. Hi." I paused when noticing he was in a pair of shorts and a nursing gown. "Come inside." I ushered him in with wide eyes and closed the door quickly behind him. "What are you doing here?"

"Listen I jumped out of a hospital building to be her so-"

"Adrian!" I scolded him for being careless. I had started to really enjoy him I didn't need him being so careless all the time.

"Shut up. Sorry, but I need to tell you this." I stared at him silently with folded arms awaiting what he was about to tell me. "Okay, so after almost dying, I know what you're about to say please just wait. After almost dying, I realized had more feelings for you than I have ever had for someone and that's like a lot for me." He stepped closer to me. "I had to tell you those feelings just in case I actually died sometime. But now I'm scared if you reject me because of the whole kidnapping thing when we first met and usually I would be okay with rejection but I don't feel usual with you." He rambled and his hands made several confusing gestures along the way.

Everything about him told me he was being truthful. His hands were trembling with nervousness, He literally came from a hospital to tell me this and he just had that look on his face.

The feelings from the other day came rushing back. I really enjoyed being with genuine Adrian. The time we spent together over the course of this project was enjoyable. I noticed small things about him like the way he always made sure to keep an eye on me and was careful not to get me into anything super dangerous. He had become almost like a personal guard.

He even taught me how to use weapons, and also never overstepped my boundaries. So yeah maybe I developed a crush on my kidnapper co-worker.

"Why are you looking at me like that I'm like really nervous right now." He asked.

"Because I feel the same way. Even though you did totally kidnap and traumatize me." I nudged him smiling but he didn't return it. "Adrian I was playing with you. But I really do feel the same way." He let out a long breath. I was quite sure he had stopped breathing for a little while.

"Oh thank god." Adrian stepped closer and picked me up in his arms as he kissed me deeply. I've kissed a couple of times in the past but never did it feel as amazing as this. I held him close to me as if he would slip away again. He pulled away to look closely at my face.

"Just because you kissed me doesn't mean I won't scold you for almost dying." I glared at him but he just smiled kindly and kissed me again.

"If I keep. Kissing you then. I won't. Get yelled at." He said in between kisses making me start to laugh.

“Don’t scare me like that again Chase.” I shook my head kissing him passionately once more. I could get used to this feeling.

[makeitmingi]

The Cat and Dog Game [Chapter 1]

Genre: Romance, Fluff, Comedy

Pairing: Yunho x Reader (y/n)

Characters: Chef!Reader, RestaurantOwner!Yunho, MaitreD!Hongjoong, Waiter!Yeosang, Waiter!San, Waiter!Mingi, SousChef!Seonghwa, SousChef!Wooyoung, PrepChef!Jongho

Summary: Yunho's dream was to open and run his own restaurant. But he doesn't know anything when it comes to cooking. Until you came along and accepted the job, bringing with you a small crew. How will the black cat tame the energetic golden retriever?

Word count: 3.2K

"Wait, hold on. You're opening in 3 days and you don't have anyone to cook?" Mingi blinked at his best friend. The two of them were seated in the soon-to-be opened cafe/ restaurant.

"I... Look, I had a guy, we spoke over the phone and everything but he ghosted me!" Yunho defended.

"Yeah, he probably got frightened off when you said he was going to do everything solo! I would too. You can't just pluck random chefs off the job ad site, Yun... You have to put together a crew." Mingi sighed, slapping his forehead.

"I'm sorry, okay?! It's my first time doing this. I'm nervous and stressed, I have not been sleeping." Yunho groaned, letting his head drop onto the table.

"You really don't know anything about running a restaurant, don't you?" Mingi scoffed.

"I literally just said this is my first time doing this." Yunho growled.

"I'll ask the others if they have connections. Let's hope lady luck is on your side and the universe can give you a kitchen crew in 3 days." Mingi clicked his tongue, typing away on his phone.

"Why did I do this again? What do I know about running a restaurant?" Yunho asked himself.

"Apparently nothing." Mingi stated.

"Mingi!" Yunho hissed.

"What? I'm just stating the truth. Look, Yunho, you're doing this because this has always been your dream, with your halmeoni. When she passed, she gave you all this money to open your own place. You'll be fine, you have San, Yeosang, Hongjoong hyung and myself. We won't let this place fail." Mingi promised.

"Thank you, Mingi ah." Yunho smiled softly. Mingi was direct but Yunho was glad to have him, knowing Mingi will always encourage and support him.

'Wait, you're opening in 3 days and you don't have a kitchen crew? How are we going to have food? We can't cook! - Yeosang'

'Speak for yourself. I can make great ramen! - San'

'We can't make ramen for our opening! And yes, we have established that Yunho doesn't know anything about restaurant planning and/or what a kitchen crew needs. Move on. - Mingi'

'Gee, thanks Mingi ah. - Yunho'

'You're welcome. - Mingi'

'I may know someone but I think he's just a sous chef. Let me see if he is looking for a job and if he can recommend a crew. I'll keep you posted, Yunho ah. - Hongjoong'

"Let's hope Hongjoong hyung's friend comes through." Mingi told Yunho, sipping his coffee.

"At most, we'll survive the cafe portion. We can all make coffee and help around this gets settled. Only when we can secure a kitchen crew, then we'll have dinner service." Yunho said, trying to calm himself down.

"Yeah. We'll manage. A cafe doesn't need to be fully waited on anyway. We can take turns doing the barista stuff while you manage the counter." Mingi suggested.

"At least the place is done. That's one less thing to stress about." Yunho looked around the empty place.

"And soon it'll be bustling with people. Customers." Mingi smiled.

"I can't wait! I only wish halmeoni was here to see it and be a part of the process." Yunho grinned. It was not easy but he was glad it was finally happening.

"I'm sure she knows and can see it." Mingi assured. Even if he personally may not believe in the afterlife, Yunho did.

"Yes, I hope Joong hyung comes back with good news. Then all will be good and smooth!" Yunho smiled, his mood flipping quickly. Mingi looked at his best friend in amusement, Yunho rarely let anything put him down. But seeing him so happy and excited, Mingi nodded along. He'll help Yunho to make him happy.

-

*KNOCK KNOCK*

"(y/n)?" You frowned at the person who called your name, squinting one eye open to see who it was that disturbed your sleep. Seeing that it was Seonghwa, you grumbled and closed your eyes again.

"Good you're awake, I need to talk to your about something. Don't go back to sleep." He said.

"Hwa... it's too... early... Come back... another time..." You groaned.

"It's 2pm, darling." Seonghwa stated. Seeing as to how he wasn't going to leave, you sighed and scooted to the side.

"Fine. Come... here..." You said sleepily, patting the space beside you. Seonghwa chuckled and walked over, sitting on the mattress, looking over at you to make sure you're listening.

"Talk... Am listening..." You mumbled into your pillow.

"So one of my old classmates, we're not that close but we add each other on LinkedIn, as people do on a business or acquaintance level. We've only ever seen each other at old class reunions and such, nothing major. " He started. You suddenly raised a hand, making him pause in his speech.

"Hwa... I love you and all. But please, get to the point or I'm going to fall back asleep." You placed a hand on his thigh.

"Right. So, he just texted me. One of his friends is opening a restaurant cafe type thing in 3 days and he needs a kitchen crew. My friend is going to be the Maitre D." He informed.

"(y/n)? Did you hear what I said?" Seonghwa poked you when you didn't reply him.

"Yeah... I did. What idiot opens a restaurant in 3 days and doesn't have a kitchen crew?" You frowned.

"That's what I thought too. But that's beside the point, are you in?"

"You know I don't stay in one kitchen for too long." You finally opened your eyes to look at him. Seonghwa nodded, he was part of your crew. Where you go, he goes.

Wherever you have went, he has went.

"Hang on, let me wake up first. Can you call the others to come over in a bit? I need to clean the kitchen. I was so tired after recipe testing that I completely crashed on the couch. Then made it back to my room at sunrise." You sat up, rubbing your eyes.

"I cleaned when I arrived this morning. But yes, I'll call the others over." Seonghwa smiled, stroking your head.

"Thanks, Hwa." You cracked a small smile. He hummed and stood up to let you get ready. Seonghwa was one of the few people you let have access to your house. You didn't trust people easily.

When you shuffled to your bathroom, you brushed your teeth and washed your face. You changed out of your sleepwear and into more presentable clothes.

"I brought coffee." Jongho said when you stepped out.

"Thanks, Jongho. Life saver." You said with a rubberband in your mouth as you pulled your hair up into a bun.

"Let me move all this." You moved the equipment off the kitchen island and counter. When you designed this house, you didn't care for a dining room area so you extended the kitchen to take up a bigger area of the house. Not like you had people over regularly where you needed a whole dining area.

"Where's Wooyoung?" You asked.

"On the way. He had just woken up." Seonghwa informed. You nodded, leaning against the counter and drinking your coffee.

"In the mean time, I'll make breakfast. Or lunch... I got nice chanterelles yesterday and the gochujang cured bottarga I made months ago might be done." You said and opened the fridge door.

"Are you sure you want to cook? Aren't you tired from recipe testing?" Seonghwa asked.

"I'm fine, Hwa." You waved him off.

"Okay but we're doing the dishes after." Jongho said. You nodded and took ingredients out to cook. Your fridge was full of your recipe testing dishes.

"I'll prep the chanterelles." Jongho got up, putting the expensive mushrooms in a bowl to brush clean.

You made a simple meal of goat cheese, spinach and sundried tomato frittata, grating the gochujang cured bottarga (mullet roe) over the top for a spicy, salty kick. On the side, Seonghwa cooked the chanterelles in a basic beurre blanc with thyme.

"Sorry, I'm late. I got ready the moment Hwa hyung called me." Wooyoung said as he entered.

"It's fine. Sorry for calling all of you to come on your rest day. But Seonghwa has a proposal and it is only fair that all of you are present to hear it. And we can have a meal together too." You told him.

"What is it?" Wooyoung raised an eyebrow, putting his coat over the back of your couch.

"Hi." He smiled to you, hugging you tightly. Wooyoung always liked skinship, you were still getting used to it after all these years.

"An old friend contacted me. He has a friend opening a restaurant in 3 days and he doesn't have a kitchen crew. He seems desperate, on behalf of his friend." Seonghwa informed.

"But (y/n) doesn't stay at one place for so long." Wooyoung pointed out with his fork.

"That's what I said." You chuckled.

"And where (y/n) goes, we go." Jongho added. You softened at that, they didn't need to follow you, they could always have big culinary careers on their own but they still always moved with you, they trust you. You've been together for so many years, you worked well together, like a well oiled machine.

"Besides, are you sure this place would even be good? What kind of restaurant owner looks for a crew 3 days before opening?" Wooyoung raised an eyebrow.

"I said that too." You replied.

"I think we should give it a shot. Don't make promises of staying. We can always test it out. If we don't like it, we leave." Seonghwa said.

"We need more details. What's the concept of the place? What cuisine are they expecting us to serve?" Jongho asked the most important question.

"Oh yeah, I never thought about that. Good thinking, Jong. Hwa?" You nodded in agreement, turning the the tallest.

"Apparently it's a cafe in the morning so pastries and sweets. Night time, restaurant. And if my friend is right, we have creative liberty with the menu. No set cuisine. You like that, don't you (y/n)?"

"I do." You nodded, slightly more tempted and inclined to actually learn more about this now.

"But that's barely a concept. This restaurant owner really has no culinary knowledge, does he? Who lets a random kitchen crew walk in and decide your menu? This is suspicious." Wooyoung shook his head with a frown.

"You think we shouldn't do it then?" You turned to the male. Wooyoung made a face but shrugged, taking another bite of food. That was enough of an answer.

"If all of you feel like we shouldn't do it, then we won't... Simple as that." You crossed your arms.

"Like Seonghwa hyung says, I think we should check it out. If it doesn't suit us, we don't stay. No harm in that." Jongho said.

"What about you, (y/n)? Do you think whould we try it?" Seonghwa asked. You remained quiet for a bit, wanting to collect your thoughts before saying anything.

"You really don't want to do it?" You turned to Wooyoung.

"You know that I'll follow you, no matter what. It's just suspicious, that's all I'm saying." He replied. You looked at Seonghwa and nodded.

"We'll head down tomorrow to check the place out and speak with the owner. But no promises." You decided. Seonghwa took his phone out, presumably to text his friend. You finished the coffee Jongho bought you and headed to the fridge to pour yourself some more from your own cold brew stash.

"Don't go overboard with the caffeine and give yourself a migraine." Seonghwa reminded. You nodded, taking a sip of the cold coffee and took your iPad from the charger.

"Thoughts on the gochujang mullet roe?" You looked at the 3.

"I think it can do better with more days of salt cure. Did you add salt to the gochujang?" Wooyoung asked.

"No. But maybe I will in the future since the sodium content of the gochujang is lower than a miso or just pure salt." You said, noting down their comments and feedback on your iPad.

"Would you try doing a few weeks of salt cure first then moving to gochujang?" Jongho suggested.

"Oh... That's an idea." You raised your eyebrows, intriged now.

"I just realised. If we take this job offer, we'll be expected to churn out pastries and desserts too." Seonghwa said, putting his phone down. The boys all looked at each other.

"You make it sound like you guys can't bake. We have done desserts before, even for full banquet dinners of like hundreds of people. We've made both pastries and cakes." You scoffed at them. Wooyoung and Jongho looked at Seonghwa who sighed softly.

"But (y/n), those were 300 copies of the same dessert. Now, we'll have to make a variety of pastries and cakes for a cafe. On top of a dinner service." Seonghwa explained it to you.

"It might be too much to do for just 4 of us." Wooyoung added.

"Should we not do it then? Or tell them we'll only try out for dinner service?" You asked.

"(y/n) will be fine. She runs on no sleep and coffee." Jongho snorted. You shot him a flat look for exposing you while Seonghwa glared at you, he was always worrying about you and your unhealthy habits.

"Look, I say we meet the owner, find out what he actually wants from us. Then we go from there, okay?" You sighed.

"Okay." The boys said. You nodded with a hum of approval as you slid off your bar stool and shuffled over to your fridge. You took a tray out with ramekins.

"Here. I randomly made smoked creme bavarois last night when my brain couldn't work. These two are Madagascar vanilla and these two are Tahitian." You explained, putting the tray on the island for them. Then you took out a bowl with mixed forest berry compote that you made to go over.

"Let me." Wooyoung took a cooking spoon and carefully spooned just the perfect amount of sauce over each ramekin. Then passing them out to the others.

"Hmm, I always like Madagascar vanilla. Brings out the more floral notes in the berries." Seonghwa sighed blissfully.

"But for infusing into alcohol, Tahitian is nicer. Good with a bourbon and rum." Jongho noted.

"Oh, like that amazing rum cake Jongho made the other time." You smiled, remembering how delicious the cake was, even thought he was nervous about it being a new recipe.

"Yeah I used Tahitian then. That bourbon poaching liquid for the poached apricots the other time was also Tahitian." He informed.

-

That evening, Hongjoong, San and Yeosang dropped by the restaurant. Yunho and Mingi were there, chatting happily as they started to unbox the coffee equipment and tools to set up the barista counter. Yunho looked up when he heard the door open.

"Hey!" He waved happily.

"Good evening. We brought some dinner, guessing you two have been here the entire day." Yeosang said, putting the boxes of fried chicken down on one of the tables.

"Our dear Yunho is too excited for the opening. We might have tod rag him out later or he might sleep here." Mingi chuckled.

"T-That's not true! I just want everything to be perfect!" Yunho defended himself.

"The place really looks great, Yunho ah." San complimented, making the taller male grin proudly. He was ready to start this new adventure with his closest friends.

"Did you hear back from your friend, Hongjoong hyung?" Yunho asked.

"Oh yeah! Right. Their crew would like to come and meet you here tomorrow to discuss things. See what their expectations are and what your expectations are before making a decision. You're free to meet tomorrow right? Don't worry, I'll be here too during the meeting." Hongjoong assured.

"Yes! Tomorrow is great! And did you say 'crew'? Your friend has a kitchen crew that he is a part of?" Yunho blinked. This was working out great.

"Well, I say crew but it is just 4 of them. I don't know much about them but I heard they usually help out at pop up events held by chefs. Or temporary kitchens." Hongjoong explained.

"Your friend, he is the head chef of the crew?" Yeosang asked.

"No. He's the sous chef? His name is Seonghwa. From the way he put it, there is a head chef. There's another sous and a prep chef."

"Wow, even if it is just 4 people. That's 4 more people than Yunho has so you're a life saver at this point, hyung." Mingi laughed. Yunho pouted at his best friend's taunt.

"I'm trying my best!" Yunho exclaimed.

"Hmm, should we test them though? Like ask them to prepare a dish or something? I mean, a lot of people can claim to be chefs but how good are they?" San brought up. The others nodded in agreement while Yunho hummed.

"I would but at this point, I am desperate for a crew. I don't think there is time to 'test' them. Plus, Hongjoong said they work with professional chefs. It shouldn't be that bad, right?" Yunho said.

"Well, that's the information I pulled from Seonghwa's LinkedIn profile... Look, we're not THAT close." Hongjoong raised an eyebrow.

"So we're just waiting to see how they do on Day 1?" San's eyes widened in shock.

"Do we have a choice? We can't be unfair and suddenly ask them to whip up dishes for us tomorrow. And we barely know anything about food ourselves." Yeosang scoffed.

"I see where San is coming from but honestly, if they were such a big shot kitchen crew, they wouldn't work at a brand new restaurant for Yunho." Mingi reasoned.

"What do you mean?" Hongjoong asked.

"Yeah. What DO you mean?" Yunho crossed his arms, suddenly looking at his best friend with the most offended look ever.

"Think about it. Yunho is a first time businessman who is opening in 3 days and doesn't have anyone in the kitchen. They wouldn't risk it and there's no reputation. We shouldn't expect a professional kitchen crew who has worked with Gordon Ramsay. Plus, if they have, Yunho might not be able to afford them." Mingi explained.

"I guess Mingi is right. Look I just want people who cook well. I don't need Michelin meals. We'll go into tomorrow's meeting with an open mind and low expectations." Yunho said to the group.

"Maybe not low... Just, not that high." Hongjoong corrected.

"Right." Yunho nodded in confirmation with a smile. With that, the boys all gathered around the table and dug into the fried chicken.

"Other than the whole kitchen crew situation, I can confidently say that we're good to open. I've got to unpack the silverware, plates, bowls, all that." Yunho updated.

"We'll help with that." San said.

"The shelving is all done and designated with labels so it should be done quickly." Mingi nodded over to the rack.

"I've put the ads out on social media like you wanted and put some posters up around the nearby universities. Seems like there's quite a bit of positive responses online." Yeosang reported. Yunho felt his heart pound in his chest.

"Are you okay?" Mingi asked worriedly, seeing Yunho clutch his chest like he's having a heart attack.

"I'm fine. Just really excited for this. It might not be a smooth journey but I know we'll work out way around the obstacles." Yunho smiled, looking at all his friends.

~

Series masterlist

[vicsnook]

Good Luck, Babe! | Jake Seresin x Reader

word count: 6,560

warnings: SMUT, MINORS DNI, 18+, Unprotected PinV

notes: Hey friends! I know I've kind of dropped off the face of the Earth since the new year. I've had massive writer's block due to some personal stuff but I think I am finally out of the funk. Please forgive me for any errors, I wrote this on and off the past few months so I hope it doesn't come off terrible. I plan to make this a 2 possible 3 parter so leave some feedback and let me know if you want more. Hope you like it & please don't forget to like and reblog! 🫶🏼

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I agreed to come on a date to the famous Hard Deck but thankfully I’m not disappointed yet. The jukebox is playing old country songs and some couples are dancing on the makeshift dance floor, "this is definitely my kind of place," I think. 

I approach the bar and look for my date Mickey, who waves me over from a corner booth. He kisses my cheek and slides his arm around me as we slide into the cozy booth. “So m’lady what can I get you to drink?” he asks, his eyes scanning my face but before I can answer a blonde man slides into the seat across from us. 

Mickey’s face turns red immediately as the blonde grabs his beer and takes a swig. “My apologies, am I interrupting anything, Fanboy?” asks the blonde with a southern drawl, flashing me what I could only describe as a million-dollar smile. “Yes, Hangman, so I'd appreciate it if you could make yourself scarce,” growls Mickey, beginning to stand up and holding his hand out for me to follow. 

“And leave this lovely lady alone with you? Not a chance,” responds the blonde, now standing in front of Mickey and in our way. “This lovely lady would also like you to make yourself scarce and stop bothering her date,” I said to the blonde, who just like Mickey turned to me with a look of shock. 

Before “Hangman” could respond, I grabbed hold of Mickey’s hand and led us out the side door and down the ramp onto the beach. When we came to a halt, Mickey was still looking at me slack-jawed. “That was awesome! No one’s ever put Hangman in his place,” he raves, as I giggle in amusement. “Yeah, well he sure seemed like he needed it. Anywho, I don’t take it, he's a friend?” I ask. He shook his head and then explained all about how Hangman was just his insufferable coworker who thought that because he had the only confirmed air kill of this generation he was above anyone. 

“And that’s the story of Hangman, anyway, fancy getting some ice cream mademoiselle?” asked Mickey while extending his arm for me to hold. “Of course,” I reply and chuckle as we make our way to the ice cream parlor by the boardwalk.

The rest of the afternoon went by without a hitch as I learned more about my date whose call sign was “Fanboy” due to his adorable obsession with Star Trek. That night I didn’t waste any time texting him that I had a great time and looked forward to seeing him again.

Maybe my mom was right when she suggested I needed to get back to the dating scene. As I lay there waiting on sleep to come, an image of Hangman flashes through my head and I can't help the feeling in my stomach. Shaking my head, I bury it deep down with memories from my date with Mickey.

I won't let anything ruin my happiness at this moment. That was until I woke up this morning and saw that my blue text had turned green and was unanswered.

Just my absolute luck to get blocked after what I thought was a good first date.

-

I went on with the rest of the week trying to feel unbothered about being blocked but it still crept into my mind every once in while. And that’s how I ended up parked in front of the Hard Deck on what seems like a very busy night.

I sigh and put the car in reverse, this is pathetic. But before I go any further, a blonde Ken doll look-alike catches my eye and I realize it’s Hangman walking in, which I hope means Mickey is probably inside. 

Putting the car back in park, I take one last look in the rearview mirror and reapply my red lipstick. Time to show that WSO what he missed out on.

I’m immediately surrounded by a sea of aviators in their dress whites when I step inside, and a couple of them shoot me hungry looks. I take a deep breath and plunge through the crowd to make my way toward the back where I think catch sight of Mickey and his friends but I soon collide with a very very hard chest before I can reach him.

“So we meet again, lovely lady?” I hear as I tilt my head up and make eye contact with the owner of the hard chest whose hands are holding my waist steadying me. And wouldn't you know it, it’s none other than Hangman who is once again sporting that blinding smile. Up close I can see how green his eyes are and good lord all I can think is how this man is way too damn perfect.

I clear my throat and back away as his hands fall off my waist but I don’t get very far because his hand firmly grasps mine and I’m spun back into his chest once again. “What the hell are you-” I try to ask but my words die when I see the hungry look in his eye. “Not so chatty now, are you?” He smirks at me and I feel my cheeks burn. “What do you want?” I manage to croak, feeling now even more embarrassed to have come here tonight.

“Well for starters, I want to lead you out the door to my truck, then I want take you somewhere nice to dinner, and what I want most is to have those pretty red lips of yours around my cock by the end of the night, darlin’" He whispers in my ear, his breath on my neck making my head spin.

Usually, I would slap any man who spoke to me that way but my brain was currently short-circuiting tonight so I just nodded and followed him out the door into the parking lot to take part in what will probably be a very big mistake tomorrow.

His hand sits on my lower back as he leads me to his truck that is conveniently parked at the very end of the parking lot and before I can convince myself to back out of this we have reached the passenger door. He opens the door for me and helps me into the seat before rounding the truck and getting in too. His scent fills my nostrils, sage and sandalwood. 

“I’m not sure I ever properly introduced myself, my name’s Jake Seresin.” He tells me as he pulls into the highway and I pull myself together long enough to mutter mine back. I take him in as he drives and notice the scar above his eyebrow and how rosy his lips look, and I can’t help but think of how good they would feel on mine.

I doubt any of my friends would be supportive of me throwing caution to the wind but something about Jake makes saying no, impossible. A spark goes through me when his hand comes to rest on my thigh just below the hem of my dress, and I sure hope I haven’t soaked the seat.

-

We pull up to a restaurant downtown that I only ever heard of because of because of it being expensive but before I can protest he is getting out of the truck and coming to open my door. “Jake, this is too much. I -” his fingers come to rest on my lips effectively shushing my protests. “Baby, I’m going to lavish you tonight and I mean that in more ways than one.” 

His eyes are locked into mine as I nod. No man has ever managed to render me speechless, much less make me so agreeable but I guess that changes tonight.

The food and wine are exquisite and the conversation flows smoothly between us and I can’t help but want more of this man. My once disdain for him now vanished.

He tells me of growing up in Texas on his family’s ranch and of his rodeo days that ended too quickly when his father passed. He talks of how he joined the Navy to be able to support his family. I notice his eyes darken as he talks of missing home and how lonely his job can be because he acts like an asshole to keep people away, and I feel myself reaching for his hand to comfort him. He smiles gratefully, then casually turns the conversation back to me.

So I tell him of my sister, Meredith, who died a few years back because of a drunk driver which led me to pursue a career in law seeing as the man who killed her is free and she didn’t get justice. He squeezes my hand in comfort and I tell him that I moved to Miramar to get away from my hometown because everything reminds me of Mer and I wanted a fresh start and how I’ve been here a year now and hardly know anyone because I’ve thrown myself into my work instead of dealing with my grief.

I shudder when I’m done when I realize I’ve bared my soul to someone who I hardly know but I don’t overthink for long because Jake’s hand reaches out and caresses my face. He settles the bill and ignores my pleas to let me pay for at least half and once we’re back in the truck I realize that it’s nearly midnight and he asks for directions back to my place which I give without a second thought.

-

He follows me in and I curse at myself when I see the mess of paperwork on the living room table. “Sorry, I don’t usually have guests over,” I tell him, and he shrugs it off and helps me straighten the papers up. We settle in the small couch and I can feel the heat radiating off his body and the nerves finally kick in. “Um, can I get you something to drink?” I ask, looking over at the TV that is not even on. “No, thank you, Angel. Look, I know what I said at the bar but we don't have to do anything you don't want to do.” He assures me, my eyes finally making contact with his. But I don’t want him to go and I feel an urgent need to feel his skin against mine so I do the only thing I can think of and kiss him.

He kisses me slowly and carefully like I might pull away and dismiss him any second so I move closer to him and then climb onto his lap. He groans as I straddle him and I take the chance to slip my tongue into his mouth, savoring the taste of him. His fingers dip into my waist as I bite his lip and pull back. His eyes are blown with lust and I know then there is no going back.

His mouth kisses along my jaw and down to my neck and I moan loudly as he finds that spot just below my ear that drives me crazy. “Are you sure about this?” He asks, leaving kisses just above the neckline of my dress. “Yes, I need you, Jake, please,” I beg as he slides the straps of my dress down and his mouth trails down kisses, latching onto my perky nippe.

I arch my back and the dress pools at my hips, the cold air on my skin making me shiver for a moment until his warm chest presses against mine and I realize he’s ditched his shirt. I run my hands through his chiseled chest and think to myself that this is the kind of body that Greek statues are made of.

“Where’s your room?” he asks, between kisses and I feel another current surge through me. “At the end of the hall,” I manage to croak and he moves forward so I can wrap my legs around him and then he leads us to my room. The very short hallway feels infinite as he holds me against the wall and his hands run all over my body and I’m now shaking with desire.

“Jake, please,” I beg and I feel him grin against my neck and I blush in the dark as he nibbles on my neck leaving what I know tomorrow will be a very noticeable hickey. He finally takes us into my room and places me on the bed and as he towers over me it sinks in what I’m about to do and a shiver of excitement runs through me.

He pulls down the rest of my dress and I am left in my very small thong, he places his hand over my core and I quiver against it. “Eager aren’t we?” He whispers as he cups the thin fabric of my thong and slowly slides it down, pressing kisses onto my leg as he finally gets it off and stuffs it into his back pocket.

I raise an eyebrow at him in response, but he ignores it as he slides off the bed and pulls me to the edge of the bed where he kneels on the floor. I blush as I feel his warm breath on my thigh as he kisses his way to my core pausing just before reaching it, our eyes lock and I see that he is looking for reassurance. I nod, not trusting my words and within seconds he is eating me out like he is starving and my pussy is a full-course meal.

I moan his name loudly and tug at his hair but he doesn’t slow down and I feel myself getting close when he eases a finger in and he must sense that I’m close to reaching an orgasm because he pulls my thighs even further apart and adds another finger. My moans turn to whimpers as he keeps edging me. I shake against him while he uses his fingers to coax me through my orgasm.  “Good girl,” he mumbles as he slowly raises himself and placing a kiss on my lips and I want more.

“Fuck me, Jake,” I whimper as he settles beside me in the bed but I get a response that I was not expecting. “Not yet angel,” he whispers as he caresses my arm that fills with goosebumps as he gets further up and he turns my head to look at him. His green eyes are staring into mine so deeply I think he can read my needy thoughts. I run my hand down his chest and stop at his belt buckle, his eyes following my every move, and I decide to give him what he asked for at the beginning of the night.

Pulling him off the bed with me I take notice of my shaky legs but still, I kneel in front of him and undo his belt. I can feel his eyes on me as I ease his pants down and palm him through his boxers. A groan escapes him as I slide his cock free of the boxers and suck on his swollen tip. “Fuck,” he moans as I take him in my mouth and I feel myself getting wetter as he starts to fuck my face.

But he’s careful yet again so I grab onto his hips and increase the pace, eliciting various groans from him and when I meet his eyes he slowly stills me. “I want to come inside you,” he says, his voice husky with lust. His arms reach to pull me up and I’m back on the bed before I can protest.

“I’m not going to be as slow and careful, honey. I’m going to fuck you so hard that you can’t walk tomorrow, so stop me now if that’s not what you want,” he whispers in my ear and I shiver with excitement. I reply by pulling him down to me and kissing him as hard as I possibly can. Without warning he’s stretching me open, and before I can even catch a breath, he’s thrusting hard into me again.

His fingers are digging into my waist as I scream in pleasure, “Taking me so good, baby,” he groans while leaving more hickeys on my neck. He continues to thrust hard and fast and I’m shaking with pleasure.

My moans get louder as his finger finds my clit and I worry the neighbors will call the cops. But he seems unfazed as he continues to fuck me through it. I whimper loudly, my legs sliding off his sides as I reach my orgasm. “I’m almost there, honey,” he whispers in my ear but I barely acknowledge him, still lost in my high.

He fills me with his sweet release as I come down from my own. His green eyes boring into mine as he slowly pulls out and I feel his cum slipping out of me. “Look at you, baby. I made a mess out of you,” he grins, laying at my side and pulling me to him.

I lay my head on his chest as exhaustion takes over and any thought of getting myself sorted out flies out the window. He kisses my hairline and the last thing I hear is him saying “good girl” as sleep envelops me in his arms.

-

I wake up to my body aching as memories from last night flood back in and I smile, turning over, only to find the bed empty. Only my dress is in the corner of my bedroom floor, no sign of Jake or my thong. I curse to myself as I get up and feel even more sore if that’s even possible. He sure meant that he would fuck me til I couldn't walk.

The apartment is deadly quiet and I head to the bathroom which I find empty as well. Pulling on my robe, I check the living room which to no one’s surprise is also empty, and as I look out the window, I notice Jake’s truck is gone and then it hits me that my car is still parked at the Hard Deck.

Fuck me.

I check around the rest of the apartment and find no note anywhere. Disappointment creeps in as I decide to finally go shower and get him off my skin. When I catch sight of myself in the bathroom mirror, I see the damage he left on my neck and chest is extensive. Angry reddish marks stare back at me and I doubt all the concealer in the world can help cover what he did.

The next few weeks are a blur as I throw myself into my work and vow to never return to the Hard Deck. Long nights working keep me occupied so much so that I don’t realize my period is late for a week, and that’s when it dawns on me that we didnt use protection and of course, I hadn’t been on the pill.

The pharmacy is crowded as I buy a pregnancy test, and I glare at the cashier who very loudly yells “Good luck!” as I walk out. Traffic is awful too on the way home and I feel myself getting more anxious by the second.

I practically run to the bathroom as soon as I’m home and finally pee on the stupid stick. 5 minutes feel like an eternity when your future rests on the other side. The timer goes off and as I flip the test over, I grab hold of the vanity to steady myself as I stare back at the two pink lines that signify my worst fear.

I’m pregnant.

click here for part 2!

taglist: @harperdoodle , @weirdothatwritess , @rosiahills22 (y’all let me know if you dont want me to tag anymore)

[lover-of-mine]

what are your thoughts on nde for either eddie or buck in 8x08? me personally, im thinking buck is gonna get the nde, and i think he’s gonna be shot. tim recreating s4/5 when he originally wanted to do buddie, but what im thinking, is buck realizes his feelings for eddie but doesn’t want to/doesn’t know if he should tell him, then he gets shot and it’s all dramatic and eddie is there and freaking out, trying to save him and keep him alive (aka why they’re pushing medic eddie so much this season) and buck realizes this might be his last chance so he just goes for it anyway and while he’s bleeding out he tells eddie he loves him😭 i know this is probably not what’s gonna happen but lol i just enjoy theories and i always love to hear what you think!

adding onto this, i ALSO saw around twitter the theory that buck would get a nde, but he gets hit by a car or just in a car accident in general, and eddie is there and it parallels shannon’s death (obviously buck doesn’t die but you get the memo😆)

Hi, darling! Okay, I don't mean to shit on anyone's specs, but I think either of them getting shot again would be so uninspired. The show is slowly reintroducing new ways to pull the triggers they put down for buddie because they need to address the stuff that happened to them somehow, but a direct mirrored parallel to the shooting wouldn't work as well as everyone seems to think it would. Partially because I think that forcing Buck to confess because he (or Eddie) is dying is yet another way to take away Buck's agency and further attach Buck to the idea he's only worthy of love when someone bleeds. But also because putting one of them in the position to be doing the saving again won't really further their storyline. Eddie watched Buck in a nde twice, the bombing and the lightning, and Buck watched Eddie in a nde twice, the well and the shooting, and I think they need a combined trigger, aka a combined nde.

I am attached to my drown Buck theory, have them off duty, crash the car, end up trapped and the car filling with water, but I also think that the trapped dads theory also works a lot here, especially if you put them both in the situation while off duty, aka without gear or backup, and you can play with a lot of elements of every nde before that and create a catalyst for them to talk and figure themselves out. I also think everyone is getting ahead of themselves, I don't think they are in the place to get that catalyst yet, and 2 episodes are not enough to get them there when we are talking about an ensemble show. I feel like people are expecting a direct callback because we got a well callback and are getting a lightning callback, but while buddie was front and center during the well callback, they actually used it to further Chim at first. It works to get the audience thinking about different aspects of their past, which in turn makes it so that when they talk about it, it will be in our minds, but it doesn't explicitly address the implications with buddie. I think the lightning callback will be a lot about reminding Buck of whatever it was that he was supposed to learn with it the first time around that they never truly explored due to the network switch and Natalia not coming back. I also think that confronting the situation where Buck almost died and possibly watching a freshly heartbroken Buck be impulsive can push Eddie to look at some stuff that would push him into action to figure himself out.

Especially if @stagefoureddiediaz ends up right and the lightning callback ends up being a truck bombing callback too since the well callback is also a subtle callback to the kids on the cliff call in 304 and could be played into different directions when it comes to what comes out from it moving forward. Buddie has a lot to talk about, but they need a reason to think about the stuff they need to talk about on their own before getting to a point where they can actually have those conversations. I think they rely too much on how well they understand each other that they fail to consider the way they can't actually read each other's minds, and figuring that part out is important before pushing them to the catalyst. And please don't get me wrong, I'm like, 90% sure that the catalyst will be another nde, I just don't think it's gonna happen until 8b.

[thephantomsdream]

So I just have this idea in mind about a meet-cute with our dearest John.

[Notes: I am writing this at work, and it is raining, and no, I have no costumers, and yes, it is self-indulgent because why not. We're just vibing and dumping cute stuff with some spell-checking, but I could've missed something so I do apologize for that. No use of Y/N or Reader in this one.]

Imagine it's raining where you are right now and you work dealing with customers somehow, yeah? Anyway, John is in the city for work, as always, and he coincidentally entered your workplace. He's smitten, not gonna lie. I see him as the type of man to know, you know? Hell, he'll look at you and you'll also feel the want too, the way he's seizing you up, almost as he is planning how to slowly kiss you. I swear you can feel his warm and rugged hands running over your body, but you have to act professional because he's hot and you're most likely looking too much into things.

But you're actually not, yeah? He smiles at you, a little small smile, blue eyes flicking between your eyes and lips. And god, he fucking looks into your soul. If you have time to talk to him, he'll definitely ask you about yourself while telling you some things about himself, vague but enough to satisfy curiosity. It's also raining, meaning you don't have many costumers, so the conversation goes and he runs it smoothly. It's effortless, the way he talks to you and makes you comfortable. Yes, definitely, you can tell he's flirting with you, but contrary to some younger men, he's calm, he's not pushy, although he is a little in your space. Just a little intense, and you can tell he's like that all the time. Close enough for you to smell his cologne, close enough to hear his voice rasp as he finishes his sentences as he's a little bit distracted by your lips. When you notice and smile, he does too, naturally, happy to get a good reaction out of you.

But everything stops when he gets a message. His lips purse and he grunts, shoving the phone in his pocket and smiling at you, disappointment in his eyes. He sees you get busy as a client walks in, a little sad he has to leave and can't even say goodbye properly, but he reaches for something in his pocket.

"I insist. You said you didn't grab one when you left home, yeah? Take it, love." He says, pushing his damp umbrella in your hand. It was velvety and sturdy, and his hand brushed yours in the right way. Not too much, but enough to get an idea of how warm he was.

"John, really, you don't have to do this. How will you go back?" You'd question.

"Nonsense, I have my coworkers waiting for me close-by and afterwards I won't need it anymore." He did say he'd have to leave the city, showing no sign of wanting to ask you about... anything, really. No number, no proper full name, no social media. Maybe it was just meant to be a very pleasant conversation with just a costumer. It didn't help that you couldn't bring yourself to ask either.

You accept bashfully, smiling at him when he seemed relieved and happy to have you take his small gift. You then wished him a good journey to wherever he's heading. And good luck with everything.

It did look like the man wanted to say more than a simple "Thank you, dove." but he stopped himself with a nod then headed out. Basically rushed, honestly. It did throw you off, how interested he was and just how fast it suddently finished.

Rain stopped not long after and you didn't need the umbrella that day, ending up at home, put away somewhere safe. At least you got a good quality umbrella out of this ordeal, yet you couldn't stop thinking about him.

That story now behind, spring came full force and the rain did not come back until almost three months later.

Weather app lied, it seems, as you glanced outside the store and saw zero rain, and you sighed, having carried your (new and fancy) umbrella around with you all this time. As your eyes studied the outside scenery, someone walked through the front door and you already plastered your "Welcome, dearest costumer" smile when it faltered a little in surprise as you recognized the man that entered rushing in the store. Of course you would, as if you stopped thinking about him. As of today, you were slowly starting to think less about the mysterious John, having to accept that he was just passing by and that you were a little encounter in his busy life. But he was here. In your store. Again. Looking for something. Or someone...

Rushing through the door, almost out of breath, he scanned his surroundings in a milisecond to spot you already watching him. The relief was prominent on his features, making you feel excited? He looked relieved to see you, then he immediately looked a little hesitant, unsure. As if his legs brought him there before he could think it through, although it didn't take long for him to smile at you.

"Been a while, yeah?" God, his voice was even better slightly breathless.

You eagerly get to talking again, his chest puffed and his back stood straighter when you easily told him that of course you remember him because how could you not, really? Conversation was just a tad awkward, him searching in your eyes for something while trying to play it cool.

He pointed out the entrance with a small nod of his head and smiled as you both watched a few shy droplets of water finally hit the dry floor, seconds later it starting a downfall. His eyes locked back onto your face and he asked a simple "I trust the umbrella's been handy?" and to that you smile, explaining how you never got to use it but coincidentally, it was now hanging out in the back with your purse, since finally it was supposed to rain again (Weather App redeemed). To that he just looks at you, expression morphing from shock, to relief to amusement.

He had this way of commanding a room, having people wait for him to react and this would be the first time you'd notice a quirk of his as you yourself held your breath, seeing he was about to say something. He'd take a sharp breath, tilt his head and take a small step forward when he was going to say something intense, something from the bottom of his heart and guts.

"Would I be a fool to ask you on a date, love?" He'd swoop the the rug under your feet with that and continue. "Because I was a fool once to try to act subtle and I almost missed my chance." He laughs at something, something that will turn into a light-hearted joke between you.

As you stutter a yes, you also ask him what he meant. You weren't an idiot, he was interested few months back, but he never made a move, not even a subtle one, just rushed out. Just like that. Poof.

Funny, huh? How he slipped his number on a small piece of paper in the umbrella, thinking it would be cute for it to fall out as you open it. Also, he didn't want to bother you anymore at work, specially since you already had some costumers and he already took so much of your time. (They could've waited, but whatever. Ugh, that mindful dumbass.)

The first time you made him stutter was exactly after he explained that to you, as you raised a brow at him and asked. "What if I used the umbrella in a rush, in pouring rain and I'd never see the piece of paper fall?" It was indeed a question he surely asked himself afterwards a couple of thousands of times in the dead of the night, berating himself for it, yet he still didn't have a good answer for that, hence the stutter and the absolutely fucking adorable shade of pink painting his cheeks for a couple of seconds there.

The way John sees it is that he spent two months waiting for a message, a call, anything. He sometimes couldn't attend his phone but made sure that the number he gave you was always available, even if he couldn't answer immediately. Hell, he even pulled through missions faster to come back to base and look at the device and be greeted with disappointment. It took him a few weeks to accept that you weren't going to contact him and acceptance started to hit, although John can't really let it go before thinking of all the what-ifs imaginable (after some more weeks of sulking silently), so of course he checked the weather in your area after he left you. And of course he saw that in fact it did not rain again, yet he couldn't be sure if it rained that same day, and if it did, how much. Records weren't that clear in your specific area.

He needed to know if you found the paper or not. It was all he had to know. John Price was left stumped and in need of answers. Answers he came to get because John Price knew the moment he saw you that it would be too good to let go.

You had to check yourself, it didn't matter that it was at work with him there. You went back, grabbed the umbrella and opened it, and surely enough, with his observant eyes studying every single one of your movements as he followed right behind, you watched in fascination as a small piece of paper fell swaying side to side in its descend, as if mocking you.

"00xx-xxxx-xxxxxxx"

"I'd love to hear from you again. Call me anytime. John."

As you'd tell this story to anyone who asked you two how you met, you'd roll your eyes at John any single time. He called it fate, said the wait was worth it to see you watch that paper fall out of the umbrella, meanwhile you ways end up calling him an idiot. Lovingly. For such a bright man, he was indeed an idiot. Your idiot thought. (In his defense, it was the only time he ever attempted subtleties with you, learing his lesson and all.) One thing for sure? The story never ceased to bring a smile on your face.

[balkanradfem]

I have some good news! I am now in a possession of a smartphone that is not old and decrepit, and I'm going to tell you the story of how I got it.

I've been working, and the mother of the woman I work for was there. She's always been chatty and sweet to me and I feel relaxed around her. So at one point my phone falls out of my arms, hits the floor, and falls apart in three pieces. She sees this and reasonably gets worried, but I reassure her 'it's all good this happens every week', because my phone is so old that it doesn't break from falling apart, I just need to put the battery back in. She the asks me if I'd like her old phone, because she got a new one, just needs to set it up. And immediately I'm like 'Nooo that would be too much, I could never repay you, I'm sure there's someone else who needs it more'. And I leave the interaction.

And then the next day I'm thinking, maybe my reflexes to decline stuff are not that great. Someone on tumblr recommended me to ask for people's old phones, and I was there, rejecting them when they were offered to me. And I'm thinking, if only I could offer her something in return for the phone, then I could propose a trade.

Next week, I see her again! She complains to me about the price of chestnuts on the market, and I immediately hatch a plan; I can get this woman chestnuts for her phone. That way it is fair, I resolve an inconvenience and I get her old phone, perfect. So I actually take several hours to hype myself up to ask her, thinking of a way to ask her that wouldn't bring me into an uncomfortable situation. Maybe she's already promised her phone to someone else while I've been a coward. In the end, I'm like, okay, I'm going to take a shot and laugh it off if she says no. And I ask her 'hey, do you still have that old phone?' and she's saying 'Yeah, I'm still using it! My daughter didn't have time to set my new one, but maybe next week it'll happen.' And then I reveal that I've been thinking of bringing her a bag of chestnuts to trade for her phone, and she laughs me off and tells me not to bring anything, she'll just give me the phone when she gets her new one set up as she doesn't need this one anymore.

I don't see her next time, but time after that she's in there, and as soon as she sees me, she goes 'I brought you your phone!' and I'm just overjoyed that she remembered. After I was done with work she even found a charger and just left me with it. I thanked her dozen times and went home happy.

The phone I got was Samsung Galaxy, which is funny because my old phone is also Samsung Galaxy, I'm in the same boat. My sim card wouldn't fit into it because it needed to be smaller! I went to the sim provider center to ask them to give me a smaller one, and they did, as well as warned me that this new phone is going to eat up all the internet immediately, and that the mobile data is even turned on automatically every time I turn the phone on! I was expecting the first, but not the second. So I spent several hours figuring out how to stop that phone from using up the internet; I blocked every app from using data (except tumblr), I stopped all apps from updating (be yourself), I went into the settings of every app individually to stop them from using data in the background, and still when I turned on the mobile data, 50mb was eaten immediately (I opened tumblr app for one second). Gyns I only have 200 mb. So I'm thinking, mmmm, this won't work, I'm not going to be able to stop this thing from eating my humble 150mb in 3 seconds. So I took out the sim card, put it back in my old phone. New one is so big it wouldn't fit in my pocket anyway! And if I broke it I would feel terrible. So, I am still back on my old phone, which I love, and the new phone is going to serve a different function; it's going to be my camera.

The new phone has an incredible camera that allows me to take close-up photos, which means I've been taking pictures of every little flower, every droplet of water, and every plant I could find in the grass. The difference in quality is incredible. This thing can also take pictures in the night! Something my old phone cannot dream of doing. You're about to see high definition photos of garden, mushrooms, forest, and anything else I set my eyes on.