#I’d love to discuss more things about the show so feel free to ask absolutely anything Bridgerton related to discuss theories/opinions

[sophiekarim]

This is going to be very unpopular but Benophie > Kathony any day

I mean… fair. Everyone is entitled to their opinion ofc. Tho I do find it super bizarre that every other official ship on Bridgerton has had a photoshoot and not Kanthony, makes zero sense and it doesn’t seem fair at all.

Let’s talk anything Bridgerton related from theories to opinions: Ask me anything

[kenziebluex]

Shiatsu

Toji Fushiguro x Uzui Tengen x Reader(18+)

Summary: You are the sole owner of the best massage parlor in town. Once you heard about Toji Fushiguro falling on hard times and struggling to take care of his son, you decided to give him a job to get by. Trouble arises when all he gets are complaints and to make matters worse, a rich hot regular customer Tengen Uzui wants you AND Toji to serve him. 

✿��○❀✿✿❀○❀✿✿❀○❀✿✿❀○❀✿✿❀○❀✿

Reader POV

“So if you sign up for the yearly plan then the costs for a joint facial will be discounted along with the full body massa-.”

“I’VE HAD IT!” Utahime booms into your office while you’re in the middle of doing business with a customer. You shoot her a lethal glare that read ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?!’ Before turning back to the bewildered patron, you mustered up a masterclass business smile.

“Please take my business card. I’d love to further discuss your consultation. Hope to hear from you soon!” You graciously scooted the customer out the door of your massage parlor with Utahime hot on your heels following behind. You could still feel her burning irises pierce your back and she was one huff away from you completely lashing out. Although it was closing time, it seems like your work is never finished.

After locking the door, you took in a few deep breaths. You remembered that the key to a successful establishment was happy and satisfied employees. Your eyes screwed shut as you felt an impending headache coming on. You partially couldn’t blame her for her outburst. After all, the main culprit always ended up getting off Scot free. Plus, she wasn’t the first employee you had to take on this task so you couldn’t help but feel disappointed. 

‘Not even Utahime had the patience.’ You mentally noted before turning around and facing her head on. You entwined your fingers in front of you as you stood tall in your all white, v-neck tunic with long white knit pants. Your hair was pulled back and out of the way, and your calm and collected demeanor was met with Utahime’s frustrated pout.

“Look. Only for a week-.” You began stretching your hands out as if Utahime was about to launch an attack. 

“Ha! A week?! Try two hours! Do you even understand how much trouble he got in with just two hours?! I mean it boss. Either he leaves or I do!” Utahime ranted on.

“Iori, you know that your reputation is too precious here for you to leave. All I asked was for him to shadow you. I’ll fix it so don’t worry.” Your heart started racing. You absolutely HATED when people used the ‘I quit’ card on you. Most of the time you would let them leave. But Utahime was a customer favorite who is routinely requested and you knew that if she was willing to give it all up, then something bad must have happened.

“I told you. I’m NOT doing it.” She crossed her arms as her long black bangs shadowed her eyes challengingly. It was one thing to reject a task. It was another to challenge your authority. 

“I told you. I’ll fix it.” You stood firm while your voice carried both comfort and warning. 

“Or we can all discuss this together like one big happy family.” The main character of today’s event finally showed up. The white button up barely left anything up to imagination as muscles practically rippled out from under the shirt. His muscles perked up even more while he crossed his arms and leaned up against the doorway that connects the lobby to the parlor hallway. The rolled up sleeves to his button up displayed his veiny forearms and you wondered if he was this big…everywhere.

Toji Fushiguro

A bored expression matched his stance as he eyed Utahime. She fumed at his presence before turning her nose up and leaving to go tidy up the rooms. You could faintly hear her spewing colorful curses as she disappeared into the hallway. Toji turned back to you as a chuckle escaped his lips.

“Are you having fun making my life a living hell? Is me having a successful business that much of a nightmare for you?!” You screamed in a hushed tone as the careful and calm facade you tried to keep up finally came undone. He shoved his hands into his black trouser pant pockets and approached you lazily.

“Toji! God! I swear you…!” You failed to find the right curses to throw at him as he towered over you. An audible gasp escaped your lips as he trapped you between his chest and the cold glass door behind you. He placed a hand flat next to your head as he leaned to meet you face to face. 

“I keep telling you I’m willing to help in other ways.” He taunted. His sharp eyes bore into yours teasingly as a mischievous smirk tugged on his lips. Your eyebrows furrowed at his suggestion but you couldn’t help but feel heat pool your insides as he hovered his head against your ear. His lips haphazardly grazed the top of your lobe. Toji traced his knuckles slowly and gently down your neck and around your shoulder following the curves of your body. 

“Lady Boss~. Why don’t you let me put in some overtime?” He practically groaned into your ear. Your body fell slack as he used his free hand to keep you from sliding down. His lips came dangerously close to your neck. You placed both hands at his chest and shoved him back which earned a pout from your devilish employee. 

“I didn’t give you this job for you to fuck around. You have a son. Have some self control.” You silenced him. You couldn’t read his expression but a part of you didn’t want to press any further. You lifted up the mic clipped to your top that is connected to the walkie-talkie.

“Meeting in the break room, now!” You spoke into the mic that carried over to the other employees. Toji rolled his eyes but soon stalked closely behind you as you made your way to convene with the rest of the night staff. 

_____________________

All of the staff gathered sitting at a round table in the break room. You were one of the last to enter until Toji followed in a few steps behind you. You stood firm and scanned the room at your bored staff members. As soon as he walked in, everyone in the room tensed. Toji remained standing while leaning against the wall next to the break room door. 

‘Damn. It’s like he struck fear in their hearts.’ Your eyebrows furrowed at their reaction as you knew this was going to be a long meeting. 

“I hope you know we are owed compensation pay over this.” Kento Nanami, elegantly wiping his glasses clean, didn’t even bother to make contact when he made the demand. He briefly paused and shot you a knowing glance before drawing a glare towards Toji. 

“I also request a thorough inspection of the staff in the near future. And for necessary changes to be made.” Nanami raised his head as if he were looking down on Toji, who in return blew a kiss. You crossed your arms a little peeved at his requests. You wanted to find some common ground. 

“Choso? Thoughts?” You looked over to the black haired man who seemed astonished at the mention of his name. It’s almost like he wasn’t paying attention to the conversation till now. However, out of everyone, you hoped he would at least be understanding. 

“Toji is shit at this job.” He stated bluntly. A humorous chuckle escaped Nanami’s lips and Utahime crossed her arms smugly. Choso opened the floodgates for a medley of complaints from the staff about Toji.

“He uses way too much force during massages.”

“He’s never on sauna duty on time.”

“He burned a client with hot rocks.”

“He wastes the essential oils.”

“He insults the clients to their face.”

Each new insult felt like a shot in the chest. Did it suck that everyone absolutely HATED Toji’s guts? Yes. But it’s not just because it meant you made a bad call with choosing employees. If he were just anybody then he would have been kicked to the curb a long time ago. 

However, Toji saved your life once when you were in danger and this is you trying to repay the favor. It doesn’t help that he also has an extra mouth to feed. Letting him go now when you are the only one he can turn to for help is just too cruel. But, you can’t put the state of your business at risk. 

You squeezed your eyes shut and your head hung low. 

“I sincerely apologize for this massive oversight. I’ve heard you all loud and clear and I have made a decision.” You heard the ruffling of clothes as if Toji tensed at your words. Your head snapped towards him and he stood defensively, anticipating your choice. For a brief moment, you saw a flash of sadness in his eyes masked by a hint of frustration. 

‘He’s trying. He’s really trying.’ You mentally debated. You reached out and snaked your arm around Toji’s bicep and pulled him to stand next to you.

“That is why Toji will be shadowing me from now on.” You announced confidently. You almost think you should have made this decision from the very beginning. Everyone looked completely unmoved but also relieved that none of them would have to put up with the burden of teaching him anymore. 

After promising compensation and bonus pay for their efforts, the meeting concluded and you allowed the staff to leave the closing duties to you. One by one, everyone packed their belongings and headed home. You almost regretted shouldering all of the closing duties because the workload had tripled since you first started. However, you figured that your employees had been through enough stress for the week. 

After donning a tan apron, you grabbed a mop to begin wiping down the lobby’s wooden floors. Your body jolted at the sharp growl of the vacuum cleaner starting and you realized that you were not alone. Down the hallway, you saw the light for one of the private rooms still on and peered around the corner to take a peek.

“Toji…” You breathed. Unfortunately, the loud roar of the vacuum cleaner prevented him from hearing you as his back faced the doorway you were standing in. You scanned the room and noticed that it was absolutely spotless. The towels were neatly folded and the oils were refilled, prepped, and ready for tomorrow. Your eyes zoned in on his back as he raked back and forth. The dampness from his body made the shirt cling to his skin and fresh sweat traveled down the back of his neck. You watched the water track through his shirt like a tall stone fountain as the sweat traced each curve of his muscle. 

He began to unbutton his top and it fell past his shoulders, snapping you out of your trance. You walked up behind him and grabbed his shoulder.

“What do you think you’re doing?” You gritted mentally wishing for him to continue but you let reason take control. 

“It’s damn hot.” He complained as he turned to face you, letting the white shirt hang down on his elbows. As his body turned square to you, you became face to face with a swollen bare chest that blocked your entire vision. Your eyes trailed down to stone sculpted abs that were practically begging to be touched. You took in a shaky breath. 

“I mean what are you doing here?” You continued while your eyes still failed to meet his. The shape of his body was hypnotizing and the prominent etch of his v-line left promise of a treasure to uncover. 

His hand raised and pinched your chin to raise your eyes to meet his. The mischievous glint in his eyes showed that he knew that you liked what you saw. He hovered over your neck and dabbed his tongue, slowly tracing up your neck, tasting you. You grabbed his chest as a reflex. With a low groan, he paused after meeting up at your jawline. His free hand traveled down and firmly clawed your ass and he nibbled at your earlobe. You bit your bottom lip as a strained groan echoed from your chest.

“Mmm. I think you are worried less about why I’m here, lady boss. And wondering what I plan to do.” He chuckled darkly in your ear before kneading your ass. “You look like you’re afraid I’m going to eat you.” He teased while using his body to push you up against the wall next to the doorway.

He let his shirt fall to his feet and cupped your face. Toji hovered his face close enough where his nose gently brushed yours and took in a strained breath. He pushed his knee in between your thighs and allowed your heat to soak his leg. Your hands curled on his chest as if you were begging him to do something. He obliged and locked his lips with yours. His tongue bullied its way into your mouth as he dragged his hand back to your rear to grind your heat against his leg. He pulled his lips back and left soft pecks up your jawline.

“Tsk tsk tsk. Bad girl. Getting turned on by your own employee.” He whispered against your ear as your forehead fell into his shoulder. He was right, he was taking control over you. And you intended to fix that. You traced your hand down to scout his groin and your hand twitched as you landed on something firm and throbbing. 

“Look at this employee getting turned on by his boss.” Your hand began to massage up and down the outline of his cock. And he hissed as his head rested against the wall behind you. His hand that cupped your face now squeezed your shoulder as a long “fuck” escaped his lips. 

Suddenly, Toji felt something cold. He looked down and saw that you pushed the master keys to his chest.

“Lock up when you’re done here for me?” You giggled sinisterly before escaping his grasp. You gathered your things and hastily left out the front door leaving Toji alone and dumbfounded. 

____________

Toji

Toji knew he was in trouble when he first saw you. Sitting back on the massage chair in the private room, he began to reminisce on the first day he met you. You had just opened your massage spa and was starting out with steam. 

The only problem was that you often did closing time by yourself and unfortunately, you had a few guests who tried to take advantage of that fact. They waited until closing to get you alone. They cornered you away from your car and luckily, Toji, who was already in a bad mood from losing at the casino, was wandering about that night. When one of them brandished a weapon, Toji fell into action, knocking both guys out and waited with you while you called the police. Originally, Toji was going to demand some money as a reward but after he got a breathtaking look at you, he figured the debt was already paid. 

He stuck around and you all chatted while waiting for the police to show up. Once they did, Toji had mentioned how he had to leave and pick up his son who was being looked after by a neighbor. You gave him your number and offered to help him with whatever he needed and eventually, he made the call.

Currently, he was breathless as his head fell back against the massage chair. His pants pulled down to his knees as he violently yanked his cock into submission. 

“Nngh…ah…fuck me…” Curses spilled from his mouth as his member throbbed and ached with seed. Seeing you today was the last straw to his sanity. He knows he broke so many rules but his body moved before his mind could talk some sense into it. He memorized the way you tasted, the mold of your ass on his hand and the moan you tried to bite back when he played with it. His hand moved faster. 

Heavy groans drummed through his chest as his veins pulsed. He fantasized about all the ways he planned on taking you today. He wanted you to feel the cold glass door against your chest as he rutted into you from the back. He damn near wanted to take you in front of all the other employees as one massive ‘fuck you’ when they argued against him being there.

Because he knew you would defend him and he absolutely loved it. The way you stood firm and dismissed all of their doubts about him drove him wild. He jerked faster and started gasping for air. He clawed his bangs back as sweat beaded his forehead. Toji wishes you stayed. He wished that he didn’t go through this torment alone. Because if you did, he knew that you wouldn’t regret it. If you stayed, he would be able to taste more, prod more, pull more of those delicious moans from your lips. If you stayed, he would’ve gladly got down on his knees and swiped his tongue over your-.

“Ah…fuck!” Toji quickly reached over to a folded towel to catch his seed. He continued to jerk and massage until he was fully spent into the towel. You completely had him under your control.

And he would do anything you asked.

________________

Reader POV

You took one last look in the mirror before tugging on your fitted black dress. You attempted to at least fasten it around your thighs but it kept rising up in protest. You admitted defeat, convincing yourself that it’s just going to be a short night out anyways. 

Utahime had invited you out as an apology for lashing out earlier. But in reality, you think she just wanted an excuse to chug down a few beers. Either way, you needed a nice break from work. Even though you created a calm and relaxing atmosphere, the actual workload is anything but that. 

You arrived at the local nightclub and found Utahime along with your other employees huddled in a booth against the wall. You had hoped all of the tension from earlier had passed and everyone was open to having a good time. 

“Hey strangers.” You laid your purse onto the table and slid into the rounded booth. You felt arms wrap around your shoulders as Utahime fell slack against your shoulder. You searched the table noting that the invitation was not extended to Toji. Not like it was surprising. 

“Boss!~ Listennnnn! Did you know Choso ignored my calls?! I had to stake out his house and kidnap him to come with me.” She whined. Her breath reeked of alcohol and all you could wonder is how she managed to drink this much in just 30 minutes.

“Thank you for confessing to your crimes.” Choso tipped his glass towards Utahime who flipped him off in response. The two continued to bicker as your eyes honed in on Nanami who sat at the edge of the booth completely isolating himself from the conversation. He looked more relaxed as held a glass up to his lips while it seemed like he was distracted by something.

“Something wrong?” You spoke up, however not enough to shock Nanami out of his gaze. 

“That guy.” Nanami began. You turned your sight to meet the target of his stare and landed on a very familiar face. “Doesn’t he come by the spa often? I can’t forget his face.” Nanami’s words began to zone out as you made eye contact with the man.

White, silvery hair that fell softly on his shoulders and blush fuchsia eyes that dripped with seduction. He stood back up against the bar with his arms splayed against the counter behind him. He wore a burgundy button up with white pants and paraded expensive gold piercings while a matching white jacket draped across his shoulders. Relaxed and powerful as his figure towered over those surrounding him. You blinked twice as he made eye contact with you and you felt a little flushed as he caught you staring. He gave his head a gentle nod up signaling you to join him. 

Nanami huffed as he watched the entire interaction take place. Your head snapped towards him as he took a slow sip of rum and coke from his glass. He placed his cup on the table and sat back against the booth. 

“Well? Aren’t you going to join him?” Nanami asked, gazing up at you from under his eyelashes. He abandoned his glasses and his blonde hair was slightly tousled from him dragging his hand through it often. 

“Ha! Working hours are over so that means I’m the customer now.” You argued and signaled the waiter to order yourself margarita. “But I wouldn’t expect a workaholic to understand that.” You joked while resting your chin on your palm. 

Nanami clicked his tongue while Utahime howled in laughter. Choso was resting his head on the table while Utahime tried to push him to take one more sip. 

“One margarita.” The waiter placed your drink on the table as you fumbled through your purse to find your card, doubting Utahime is sober enough to keep her promises. 

“Every drink at this table is on me.” The voice belonged to none other than the handsome acquaintance from across the room. Tengen Uzui. The owner of the club who comes by the spa often. Lately, he has been a household name, opening up newer clubs left and right. Surely, he could afford his own household masseuse but he still faithfully supports your spa. 

“We are not doing this again, Tengen.” You sighed as he offered to pay for your drinks like he usually does. You felt a small slap on your shoulder. 

“Yes the hell we are! Remember the tab was on me!” Utahime whispered loud enough to gain a jovial laugh from the tall white haired man. He placed his hands on his hips and leaned. 

“It wasn’t for free, little manager. Let’s just say I’m expecting a free pass to whoever I want the next time I come.” A naughty smirk painted his lips as his request only spoke trouble. Luckily, he had the money to afford that kind of trouble and you figured that he wouldn’t ask for anything too unreasonable, right ?

You practically chugged down your drink with hopes to have a clearer answer to his request. You slammed the glass on the table and you almost choked at the sting of the alcohol. An outstretched hand interrupted your thoughts.

“Dance with me. Talk to me about it with your body.” Tengen urged wickedly. You heard a whistle from Utahime and a scoff from Nanami as you took Tengen’s hand and headed to the dance floor. 

The crowd prevented you from venturing too far and Tengen didn’t waste any time to pull your back into his chest. He snaked his arms down and around your body and leaned over to be leveled with your neck.

“Did you ignore me earlier on purpose? I must say, I didn’t know you were so heartless.” Tengen fasted his hands on your hips and swayed your body to the music. You didn’t miss the hint of humor in his voice as he pressed you. 

“The rich and popular Tengen had his feelings hurt by a small spa business owner. I’ll add it to my list of achievements.” You joked. He began to drag his hand up your front and swiped your hair to the side for open access to your shoulder. 

“Well if I had it my way, you would be my own personal massage therapist.” He planted a small peck on your shoulder that left heat against your skin soon after he pulled back

“You know you couldn’t pay me enough to abandon my business.” You leaned your head back against him and allowed your body to get lost in the movements.

“I know that something is keeping you there. And I want to know what it is. I hope it’s interesting.” The last part of his sentence was barely audible. Tengen palmed your chin to force your gaze to meet his. His lidded eyes burned with desire as he leaned down to hover over your lips. Your heart started racing as his lips practically teased yours and you tensed against his body. 

He traced his thumb against your bottom lip and propped your mouth open. He slid his thumb through your pouty lips and allowed your tongue to dance over it. You wondered if it was the alcohol making you this bold or if the atmosphere of the club was making you feel a little reckless. Tengen responded wonderfully as a red hue colored his cheeks. 

His hand tightened against your hip as he tugged you back against his pelvis. He didn't hide the fact that he was turned on and made sure the crease in your ass felt every inch of his desire.

“I like this side of you, little manager.” He groaned and then tipped your head up and to the side exposing your neck and feverishly sucked on your nape. He suddenly bit down hard and a pained groan escaped your lips. You were thankful the music was too loud and the lights were too dark for anyone to notice. The bastard was trying to leave a hickey. 

You pushed yourself out of his grasp and held the place where he made his mark. He grinned sinfully and breathed another cheerful laugh.

“I wonder how the person you are protecting will react. I look forward to our next meeting very soon.” Following those ominous words, Tengen shoved his hands in his pockets and then disappeared into the crowd. 

_________

You spent all morning doing rituals to minimize the dark plum colored mark on your neck. Unfortunately, the cold spoon method only spread the kiss mark and you opted to just tie a white scarf around your neck for the day. Even though you feel like coming to work with a hickey was deeply unprofessional, that’s not why you tried your best to hide it. 

You were at war in your mind trying to convince yourself that having a hickey is nothing really to be ashamed of if you aren’t dating anyone but you still didn’t want Toji to get the wrong idea. 

Wait…Toji? 

You can admit that you let your guard down a little every time he tried to seduce you but you figured that he was just playing around. And you definitely didn’t want to be the idiot that mistook his constant advances for something more. Still, it’s best to stay out of trouble anyway. You constantly reminded yourself to keep things professional but it seems like these guys are trying to push your limit. 

Morning had transitioned to afternoon and you had already finished your 4th session of the day.

“Thank you so much, Mr. Rengoku! I hope to see you again soon!” You masked your typical business smile while handing a parting gift of essential oils and face masks to the tall blonde fiery haired man. Unlike your masqueraded smile, it seems like he’s the type that never stops smiling. Toji who is shadowing you didn’t hide his annoyance to the male patron.

“No, thank you! My good friend recommended this place to me and I have not been disappointed!” His booming voice seemed to carry across the room as he took your parting gift gladly. You couldn’t help but wonder who the good friend was as you accompanied Rengoku to the door, Toji closely following behind. You couldn’t help but feel his gaze piercing towards your neck in particular. You heard the sound of a car horn and you and Rengoku both turned towards the glass window.

“Speak of the little devil.” Rengoku laughed boisterously as we both watched the white haired man emerge from a flashy red and white Bugatti. You froze as you felt that your worlds were about to collide. Certainly, there is no way that Toji would be able to connect the dots between you and Tengen. Just in case, you tightened the scarf tied around your neck to secure it.

‘Little devil indeed.’ You mentally groaned as Rengoku exited the shop to strike up a conversation with Tengen outside. They began conversing as if they’d known each other for years. You felt a sharp pull on your arm and you were led into a dark supply closet.

Toji had turned on the dim light that hung from the ceiling.

“What are you-?!” You whispered as Toji pawed your scarf and yanked it off before you had time to react. You reflexively tried to raise your hand to cover the mark but Toji was faster than you. He held your wrist and pinned it against the wall.

“This shit was bothering me all morning.” He gritted with his eyes darting back and forth from the hickey to your face. You struggled against his grasp to regain your wrist back.

“I’m grown, I’m single and I’m hot. Do I really need to say more?” You snapped as he clicked his tongue. You’re not sure why you immediately started to explain yourself but you were willing to do anything for him to release your wrist. He dropped the scarf to the floor and tangled his hand into your hair and pulled your head violently to the side. He sucked harder on the same place where Tengen left the hickey. You winced at the pain as you squirmed against him.

“Ah-! Toji please…” You begged as he bit down, reactivating the throbbing pain of the mark. 

“Was it white hair?” He whispered against your neck and your jaw clenched. “I’m not a fucking idiot you know.” He then yanked your wrist to his lips.

“How many more marks do I need to add? Should I put one here so you can’t hide it?” He skated his lips against the pulse point of your wrist. “Is he special to you?” Toji asked, visibly frustrated. He slid his other hand down to your chest and your head fell back against the wall. He started kneading your breast at an excruciatingly slow pace as your free arm clutched his shirt. 

“W-We have an agreement.” You breathed as Toji skillfully slid his hand up under your white tunic shirt. He left fire in his path as he traced up your stomach to your bare chest. Toji used his thumb to leisurely toy with your nipple. Your breaths quicken as you forcefully pull Toji closer. A smirk grew on the corners of his lips and he proceeded to pinch the poor nipple. Your body jumped. He watched in amusement as he continued to flit and pluck against your chest and he brought his lips to the underside of your wrist.

He bit down. The bite was more painful than Tengen’s and you knew that he was being an ass to prove a point. A short scream fell from your lips as you quickly used your free hand to cover your mouth. Once Toji was done, he licked the painful mark he left and pecked it gently. 

“Now you have a new mark to worry about. And I hope it bothers you all damn day.” He ragged on. You felt heat meet your cheeks but not the heat of desire, the flames of anger. You pulled your wrist back and slapped him. A red mark washed over his cheek but then soon faded. He was frozen as his eyes remained wide and his jaw clenched. 

“Are you satisfied now? I have a business to run but you are doing everything in your power to make sure I can’t. It seems that I’ve let you run wild for too long.” You rubbed the mark that Toji left. He hasn’t moved and it was hard to read his expression because his bangs were shadowing his eyes. You heard the faint sound of a bell being rung and figured that Tengen had made it to the front desk. Hastily, you picked up the scarf and fastened it around your neck once more. You left Toji alone in the closet and made your way down the hallway. You pulled the mic of your walkie-talkie and clicked it on. 

“All staff please head to the front.” You gave orders to the staff, some of whom had probably just finished their current clients. Everyone filed into the lobby to meet with Tengen in order to make his decision. Toji was last to arrive as he took his place behind you. 

“Hello again, little manager! I see you kept our promise.” Tengen, who today sported a white button up vest with nothing underneath to accentuate the muscles on his arms. The vest was tailored to highlight the shape of his waist and fitted where you could almost see the outline of his abs. He wore white dress pants held up by a brown belt with matching brown loafers. His wrist was decorated with watches and rings and he of course wore his signature gold shackle earrings. He gave his trenchcoat to Choso who promptly headed towards the coat closet to hang it up. 

Tengen had eyed you up and down but his gaze fell on your wrist and you quickly hid it behind your other hand to hide the mark Toji left. Tengen’s eyes met yours again and a wicked smile played on his lips.

‘Busted.’ You thought as Tengen began to scan the faces of everyone in the lobby. His gaze stopped and looked passed you, clearly at the man behind you. Nervously, you turned your head to see Toji was not hiding his lethal glare towards Tengen whatsoever. 

“You will do just fine for today.” Tengen finally decided but you stepped in front of Toji before Tengen could continue.

“He’s still in training. He’s shadowing me for the day.” You interjected knowing that the effort is pointless. Tengen always got his way. He continued to the back towards the special private suite and bushed towards Toji. He placed a hand on his shoulder and Toji met him eye to eye, masking a bored expression.

“Then I look forward to being your test dummy.” 

Straight filth. RIP reader <3

Reader POV

All of the rooms are sound proof to protect the privacy of the guest, however, the tension in the room was louder than the noise. Tengen, who had already changed into a white robe, settled himself chest first against the cushioned massage table. You assisted him with shedding the robe down his back and covering just above his rear. 

Tengen rested his face comfortably on the back of his palms as he soaked in all of your movements while keeping an amused eye on Toji. You used the palms of your hand to gently knead the back of his shoulders and he hissed and sighed at each motion. 

“Mmm…you’re so good at this. Yes…lower, little manager.” Tengen was often very vocal during his sessions but today he seemed to be especially playful. The moans that left his lips never failed to swell heat into your core as you felt encouraged to do more. You maneuvered your hands to his lower back and began to roll your knuckles over his tense back.

“Nnmmh! Harder…” He demanded while still keeping eye contact with Toji. It felt a little embarrassing that he was just watching because Tengen was not afraid to be blunt about his pleasure. At some point, you think Toji snapped. He marched over to the massage table and held your wrist. You paused and looked up at him in confusion.

“It’s time to switch.” He ordered and pushed you back gently to take over. 

“Turn around.” Toji ordered with the twirl of his index finger. Tengen obeyed and flipped onto his back, his robe now covering just above his groin. Toji walked over to the shelf housing the essential oils and lathered a eucalyptus scented oil all over his hands. He set the oil close by for reapplication. 

Toji got to work on his shoulders first and you were afraid that he was going to use too much force with the client again. However, only hushed groans left Tengen’s lips as he embraced all of Toji’s heavy handed massages, purposeful or not. Toji moved down his abdomen and then his thigh. By this point, Tengen’s member was standing at full attention. Large and thick enough to pitch a sizable tent within the robe. Toji paused, wondering how to massage his thighs without making any mistakes. Tengen noticed the long pause and spoke up first.

“Aren’t you supposed to make me feel better? Help me then, newbie.” Tengen challenged and with one swift motion, Toji pulled down the robe and let it hit the floor. Your eyes flew wide as Tengen’s eager cock bobbed free. 

“Toji-!” You started.

“Are you sure you want my help, rich boy?” Toji slid his slick palm up and down Tengen’s member and Tengen’s head fell back against the table. Toji circled his palm and began to pump Tengen slowly. Tengen’s hands clutched Toji’s palm as he began to drive his hips against Toji’s palm. The slick from the oil echoed a squelching sound through the room as desperate quick breaths spilled from Tengen’s lips. You couldn’t believe the scene that was unfolding in front of your eyes.

“Mmm fuck…I- I need something to hold on to. Ahh….tsss… little manager. Sit on my face.” Tengen ordered while in a daze. Red colored his cheeks to his ears as Toji was busy abusing his control over him. You froze, unable to decide whether to allow it to continue or to dismiss Toji for the day. 

“Do it, lady boss. We have to entertain our client, right?” Toji undulated his hand faster. Tengen’s jaw hung open while strained moans fell from his lips. You hesitantly unfastened your white tunic and allowed it to fall to your feet. You tugged your pants to the ground and you stood proud in nothing but underwear. Toji almost froze while eying you up and down and his hand slowed its pace. Tengen spotted you and bit down on his bottom lip hard.

“Shit…” Toji uttered while his eyes were glued to your body. Tengen motioned for you to come to him and when you didn’t arrive quick enough, he clawed you by your underwear and hauled you towards him. Tengen’s hand proceeded to breach the top of your panties and searched for your sensitive core. A desperate cry left your lips as he suddenly speared your drenched hole.

“Ah! Oh god!” You spread your thighs to properly sit yourself against Tengen’s large hand. Only 2 fingers barely piercing your core was enough to drive you crazy.

“Fuck…lady boss.” You heard a low groan and you saw Toji’s pants had already dropped to his knees. He was pumping his cock fiercely while burning the desperate moans that escaped your lips in his memory. Tengen, hungry for your attention, yanked your underwear down for you to step out of them and clawed you by your ass to motion you to mount him. You pressed your hands on his chest while you swung your leg over his face and hesitantly lowered yourself. Tengen was obviously low on patience as he used both hands to drag your dripping core to his lips. 

His wet tongue swiped once before his firm grip on your ass tightened. You flinched almost hopping off of him but he held you still

“God, you taste amazing. You are always making others feel good, little manager. Mind if I try?” The heat of his breath hit your clit as he forcefully pulled your ass back down against him. He sucked and flicked your nub mercilessly and you squirmed in his grasp while murmuring quiet yes’s. Your eyes screwed shut as you felt ecstasy pool in your insides and you rode his face towards your climax. 

“Mmmf!!” Tengen’s body seized and then froze. Your head darted up and Toji, while pushing Tengen’s leg up, slid his slick cock now covered in more oil in Tengen’s hole. 

“Fuck….you’re tight. Mmm~…Isn’t this the massage you wanted, rich boy?” Toji purred as he rolled his hips, penetrating Tengen further. Tengen released a frustrated groan and lashed his tongue against your crux. Once Toji was fully seated, he raked his hand behind your head and pulled you into a lustful kiss. Yours and Toji’s tongues battled for dominance while Tengen continued to devour you from below. As Toji moved his hips, each slap jolted Tengen’s body and Tengen held onto your ass for dear life. He moaned against your core as he continued to sink his tongue into you like a rabid dog. 

Your hips moved in tandem against his mouth and your thighs tightened. Your hands curled against Tengen’s chest as your eyes screwed and nose scrunched and a pregnant groan escaped from your mouth into Toji’s. While riding out your high, Toji left a family of kisses against your jawline while Tengen licked up all that your core had to offer. Toji pulled back releasing himself from Tengen and assisted you as you attempted to dismount him. After you and Toji were standing upright, he pulled you into another passionate kiss. Your hand searched for Tengen and proceeded to massage his member once more.

Toji leaned to hover over your ear. He was clearly losing patience and his sanity was wearing thin by the minute. 

“Bend over while you do that.” He ordered in a voice so deep and dark it almost frightened you. He was desperate for a release and was going to make sure you were the one that gave it to him. You made your way around the other end of the table and used the edge to hike your ass in the air. You regained control over Tengen’s cock and teased it against your lips. You felt Toji looming behind you as he slapped his dick against your ass. He pushed your lower back down and raised your hips while he positioned himself at your entrance. 

“Scream my name while you choke on his dick, gorgeous.” Without missing a beat, Toji pushed himself through your sensitive entrance while pulling your hips back towards him. The stretch of his cock left your mouth hanging open as pained moans were pulled from your chest. Toji’s head fell back as a guttural moan poured from his lips. Tengen took advantage of your perpetually opened mouth and shoved his dick through it. Toji began to move his hips without mercy and the silk from the oil allowed him to move in and out with ease.

“Fuck….oh god…take it.” Toji uttered a brood of curses while slamming himself inside you over and over again. You're a slobbering mess all over Tengen as he directed your head on his cock. Heavy groans came from Tengen as he applied more force to your head, picking up speed.

“Yes baby. You’re doing sooo good.” Tengen sighed as he fucked into your mouth. His hand released your head and he rested his forearm across his eyes, shielding them. You tried your best to hold your body still to focus but you were simply being rammed senselessly by Toji from behind. He paused briefly to discard his shirt and then leaned over you. He dragged his hands up your chest and under your bra and started toying with your nipples. He rolled his hips slowly but deeper and you felt him thrust himself so far he was ghosting your stomach. Hot tears pierced your eyes as you briefly paused from sucking Tengen. 

“Don’t lose track of work.” Toji warned as he took over and clawed your head, forcing you to push down against Tengen once more. He did this rhythmically and continued to slam his hips while bobbing your head. A sea of screams fell from your lips while Tengen covered his mouth to diminish his moans. 

“I’m so fucking close…!” Toji groaned as he released your head and stood up straight. He latched onto your hips and rampaged against your core. He struck your ass repetitively and left a painful sting before pulling you back against him again. Over and over and over-.

His hips stuttered and his thrusts became sloppy.

“Mmm…do you think you can hold it all for me?” Toji panted but didn’t allow you time to respond as he plunged deep inside of you, drenching your walls with his seed. A labored moan fell from his lips and it felt like forever while he released his spend. As soon as Toji slipped out of you, Tengen pulled your arm and hauled you against his chest. 

“That’s not good customer service. Let me come too.” Tengen whispered as he took you by your waist and flipped you over, with your back now against the table. Tengen slid his cock against your core gathering the mixture of Toji’s spend, the oil and your climax all on his dick. He pushed his hands under your knees and pushed your legs back before piercing your entrance once more. You gripped hard against the plush of the table and your back arched up as a large Toji was replaced by a large Tengen. 

Tengen’s eyes screwed shut and his eyebrows furrowed. A thick groan fell from his mouth and his grip against your knees tightened.

“Dammit. Who told you to feel this good?” Tengen began to thrust his hips mercilessly as your body slid up and down against the table. He pinned you down with his eyes, while he looked both lost in a trance and focused. Tengen watched wildly as your distressed moans filled the room. He looked like an unshakeable force as he used your body to egg on his climax. Toji emerged next to you, his member is still dripping with seed. You brought his member to your lips and licked him clean. 

Tengen switched to holding your hips as he moved at an impossible pace. 

“Will you take all of me too? Do you want that? Hm?….fuck…oh fuck me…” Tengen began spewing endless curses and his thrusts became more powerful. You felt him swell within you and he froze. He leaned over to cup your chin to face him and drove his tongue down your throat. With short and shallow thrust, Tengen faltered, he stopped and continued to thrust again almost like his climax was too much for him to finish. His head fell next to yours and pained whimpers fell from his lips. 

“Yes…oh god…yes…yes…yes.” Tengen pleaded before dragging your core against him and a strained endless moan echoed against your ear. Tengen proceeded to decorate your inner walls with his seed. He collapsed on top of your body.

Toji placed his hand on his shoulder and pulled him up. Tengen obliged and pulled out to stand up and catch his breath. You laid on the table motionless from your body being abused in every way. You couldn’t even move your arms to push yourself off the table. You were extremely spent and fucked out of your mind.

“There is still 45 minutes left of your session. Are you up for another round?” Toji asked and Toji and Tengen looked down at you sinfully.

tag list: @yeaimsafiya @chxrryvibes @txjis @loyalsunlight

-Kenzie

[himbochub]

hi! ive been kind of lurking and i was just curious to ask a few questions to you since you are into fe*derism (feel free to ignore this if you aren't comfortable or miss any questions you don't want to answer)

do you consider there to be different types of fe*derism? if yes, what type do you engage with?

what are your thoughts on people posting fe*derism content on apps like tikt0k, y0utube or instagr@m where they are likely to be seen by people not in your community?

how do you feel about other we1ght contr0l k*nks? like fetishes for underweight people or very muscular people, doms who set up gym schedules for their subs or doms who otherwise control their subs diets? (consensually obvs)

do you think they are comparable to fe*derism? or that they should not be considered the same as a k*nk for gaining?

you call fe*derism a RACK k*nk so i was wondering about what you consider the risks of the lifestyle?

(censored words so this doesn't show up in searches if you don't want it to)

thank you in advance <3

i honestly love this question- hoping it comes from a good place but super open to answering all of these questions! I’d start by saying that “feedism” is a more accurate term than “feederism” imo- the term feederism centers feeders more than it should, and i think feedism is a more accurate umbrella term.

1. there are absolutely different types of feedism, different ways to engage in it- i think from an outside perspective most people’s idea of is extremely heteronormative and the feeder/feedee must be man/woman respectively, with dom/sub aspects to the relationship- and that absolutely isn’t always the case. some people prefer more “soft” feedism, some people want to be teased and humiliated, some people just want to gain a little weight, some people are more just into stuffing/bloating rather than gaining, some people want to be immobile. there’s a whole spectrum and i can’t say i haven’t dipped my toes in everywhere!

2. this is hard because i honestly just prefer that we keep to our own side of the internet. apps like tik tok, really any other social media that doesn’t have kink centered sides to it, are a) exposing potential minors to kink content they don’t need to be seeing in spaces they wouldn’t otherwise learn about it and b) unnecessarily bringing fatphobic attention to our community. obviously though, people making those types of videos on other platforms are typically there to “educate folks” on the “dangers” of this fetish or “manipulative/abusive” feeders- which is so hard to even break down. i hate that those people had those experiences, but i typically also notice them shifting their content into ED centered mid sets as well as obviously, rampant fatphobia and also suggesting feedees are mindless and don’t make any choices for themselves. i am Not talking about sex workers advertising lewds on IG- go off!

3. honestly i can’t say i “feel” any type of way about them because fat centered feedism is really my only shtick. ever since love lies bleeding i do have a very soft spot in my heart for muscle mommies and i do love a super toned feeder, but only in the context of them being obsessed with my fat.

4. I would say they would perhaps be comparable to feedism in the sense that they are a similair type of body altering fetish, but I would imagine they would stand alone in their own regard as far as the more nuanced things that go on in those kinks and spaces. For example, outside of kink discussions, fat liberation is hugely centered in topics of discussion in our community- I doubt we could say the same for a muscle kink type community.

5. This is something that is massively important to me, which is the mental health aspect of gaining. I’ve talked about this a lot on twitter and a bit here, but like any kink that is widely part of your day to day lifestyle, you have to be mindful of how it effects you mentally, and be realistic about that. I see feedees leave this community every day for different reasons- internalized fatphobia taking over, financial aspects being daunting or overwhelming, neglected medical health issues becoming too overbearing. these things could happen to anyone who is too caught up in a kink and not practicing mindfulness and balance. i really encourage other feedees to stay self aware, take breaks when you feel like it’s necessary, don’t let gaining become an obsession that overtakes your personhood. i know that isn’t a super sexy take, but that fantasy is truly not for everyone! a lot of what feedism is is fantasy. most people can’t realistically manage being as big as a lot of us want to be, and especially with many of us being low income, it can be easy to accidentally put ourselves in a bad place in a lot of ways. basically to sum it up, practice safe kink and take care of yourselves! to many people i’ve been told this sounds “redundant” in feedism, but it absolutely is not.

thanks for listening, lol!

[es-draws]

Hi! Idk if you have any advice about it but I wanted to ask - I’m into feedism and don’t really know how to bring it up to my gf. I’ve asked before if I could do things like feed her cookies when we have sex and she’s been cool with that and me touching her tummy when we’re snuggling, but for some reason it feels like it’d be a step too far to share with her that I’d be really into feeding and fattening her up, even as just a fantasy to role play with. To clarify, I’m not interested in making her gain weight secretly or anything like that, I just don’t wanna feel like I’m hiding something about myself. But at the same time I don’t want to make her feel uncomfortable or see me in a weird way. Do you have any thoughts? Thanks :)

I think I speak for all of us when I say - I get it. Talking about this kink is something I struggled with (and still do). But I'll also say that introducing my partner to feedism was one of the best decisions I ever made. And I think it would be for you too!

I think a lot of people worry that their partner will feel either unattractive for looking big, or weirded out by this unusual attraction. But in your case, it really doesn't sound like that's an issue. You're gf already knows you like feeding her, she already knows that you find her tummy attractive, and she's been totally fine with it! I don't know the full story of course, but she's not giving you any signs that this is weird to her or that she doesn't like it. If anything, she's been happy to try things with you. So why would she react any different if you told her more about what you like?

So I think it's absolutely worth it to bring it up! She'd want to know how you're feeling. She's your partner, after all - she's supposed to be the person you can confide in. You'll only be happier in the long run if you can share your true feelings. And if it's anything like my own experience, you may be surprised how much she likes it. It might help her feel more confident in her body and at her weight. And if nothing else, she'll probably be excited to know what she can do to make you happy!

As for how to tell her, here are two things that really helped me (below the cut):

-Ask her about her kinks first. Sometimes it's easier to bring up awkward topics like this if you show your support first. Let her know you wanted to try more things that get her excited in the bedroom, and ask if there are any fantasies she'd like to try. I'm sure she'll respond well to that, since you're showing that you care about her needs, and you're creating a safe space for her to answer without being embarrassed herself. And once she shares more about what she likes, it becomes so much easier to talk about what you like. You're already having the conversation, and you're already free of judgement. And I guarantee that if you ask what she likes first, she'll want to know what you like next.

-It's okay to start slow. I didn't come all out with it once, it felt too awkward to say "well I think it'd be hot if I fed you and made you gain a ton of weight" lol. They don't know your kink, so you don't want their first experience to give them the wrong impression. So I just said "I think bellies are really sexy." And in my case, my partner loved that. She didn't find it odd at all, and was immediately excited that I liked that part of her. She asked more about it, and it became so easy to just have a discussion about feedism. It was painless. And in the end, she was even more on board to try it!

So uh, yeah. Sorry for the wall of text. But TL;DR: don't be afraid to go for it! Your gf will probably respond better than you think! And I think you'll both be happier to share what you like!

[prpfz]

❤️Hi there the name is Lucifer or Luci! I’m looking for a partner interested in a DC Universe roleplay who is also willing to be patient with me while I'm still learning lore. I am still fairly new to the fandom. As of right now, I have seen all Batman Movies (Dark Knight is the best), Superman Movies, and an assorted group of the TV shows. However, my absolute favorites have been The Penguin (HBO) and Gotham (FOX / CW). I also started reading the comics! I also know a bit about the whole Batfam thing but it's just not personally my cup of tea.

I’m happy to include both well known heroes and villains, or dive into lesser-explored corners of the universe—whatever fits your character and ideas best! I just ask that we dont shy away from the darker aspects, its what makes DC so unique and why I got so into the series. Of cousrse with ships there can be softer moments and will appreciate them as well. I just think it would be nice to embrace the dark tones of the universe.

For my side, I’d love to explore interactions with my OC Bloodshard x The Penguin / Oz (HBO Version). My OC is a disgraced surgeon turned mafia doctor / occasional hitman. I am happy to discuss all details in pms since I could rant for hours about them otherwise. This ship is NB x M. But for your side, we can do any type!

In exchange, I’d be thrilled to play any canon character you’d like for your OC. Just let me know your preferences and the kind of story you’d like to build! Though I will say I have a slight preference for writing the villains, especially if I get the chance to write Jonathan Crane. Though I'm open to anyone! I'm also going to research the character anyway since I'm so new to the fandom.

I’m open to a variety of genres on top of romance including—action, mystery, dark and gritty, or even something more character-driven and emotional. Let’s brainstorm and create something amazing together!

I'm also a fan of NSFW themes being involved as long as it's not the main focus. I'd say a good 60:40 plot to smut ratio is perfect. I write both dom/sub characters it all depends on who I am writing. Any kinks + limits will be discussed in DMS for the sake of not making this even longer. Just know I'm willing to write most things, it may not be my favorite thing but I can still find it fun especially if it makes someone else happy! Personally, I have very few limits.

Feel free to Message me if you’re interested, and we can work out the details! My pms are always open. Of course, I will also reach out to likes.

like or dm

[shxtodxroki]

Match-Up Exchange

These are some match-ups done for @stars-tonight as part of a match-up exchange we agreed to! Hi hi there! I know you posted the match-up you wrote a few days ago so I hope the wait wasn’t too long while I finished this up ^^ Thank you for being so friendly during this exchange (and for being patient with me when my ask didn’t send lol) and I hope you enjoy your match-ups! You seem super cool, so if you ever wanna pop back onto my blog either for a request or just to chat you’re more than welcome to! :D Also apologies in advance for any typos, I was only able to briefly proofread this!

For Haikyuu, I’d Match You With:

Tooru Oikawa! 

Reasoning:

Honestly, I think you and Oikawa would be a good pairing because you have a few key similarities and are the kind of people who would make good partners for one another, while also having enough differences to make things interesting and learn new things from one another! This one was tough at first because I had several options in mind who I thought might work for you, but in the end Oikawa just seems like he’d be perfect for you :>

Headcanons About Your Relationship:

- First things first, I honestly think Oikawa would be fascinated by your ability to play the piano. He thinks it’s so beautiful and he loves hearing everything you play, if you practice at school and he’s not busy with practice I think he’d absolutely beg you to let him join you so that he can listen in and tell you how good you sound! :>

- He also loves that you’re also interested in volleyball too! I don’t think he’d necessarily need a partner who enjoys the sport as well, but it’s definitely a plus for him and he loves practicing with you when you feel up to it :D Plus it makes him feel less bad dragging you to his games, knowing that you know how the sport works and can have fun watching it rather than being stuck going to games you don’t understand or enjoy!

- He’s definitely really good with words of affirmation when it comes to his partner. He may be teasing with his loved ones often, but he’s also very loving and verbally affectionate with you, and especially if he knows you’re not feeling great he ramps up his love and affections in order to show you how much you mean to him and help comfort you. He’s great with physical touch, too, he’s super cuddly and could honestly be holding you all the time if you’d let him so there’s definitely no shortage of physical affection for him to show his love for you with <3

- And when he comes to quality time, honestly he really loves that you show your love for him in this way. Being the captain of the volleyball team does make him quite busy even when the team makes sure to take reasonable time to relax and recharge, and he finds himself missing you a lot when he’s at practice if you’re not there. So just being able to spend time in your company, whether on an official date or just at his house after school when he’s free, means so much to him, especially since he’s always whining about how much he misses you when you’re not there

- An easy way for the two of you to spend time together after he’s been practicing all day and isn’t up for anything too crazy would be watching TV together and snuggling on the couch. If the two of you like the same shows then of course he’s ecstatic about that, but even if not, he’s happy to watch some of your favorites and show you some of his in return, so the two of you can gush about them and discuss big plot points together! He’s definitely a bit chatty when watching the TV, though, but if that annoys you then he will eventually shut up for you <3 

- Snuggling and napping together is also something he really enjoys! He’s one of those people who sometimes falls asleep without even realizing it, and honestly, he loves the feeling of your head resting on him as you sleep, it makes him feel like he’s protecting you even if he’s just sleeping alongside you hehe

- And this goes without saying, but I also think Oikawa would think you’re so so beautiful <3 He absolutely adores you, and he’s always telling you about how wonderful he thinks you are both inside and out :> And he’s not shy with the compliments at all, being in a relationship with him means you have to get used to him constantly telling you how stunning your eyes look in the sunlight or how much he wants to run his fingers through your pretty hair 

- And above all else, Oikawa is super protective over you. He may tease you a little, but he is the ONLY one who’s allowed to tease you because he knows how to do it in a way that’s fun and not hurtful to you. But the second anyone else comes along and upsets you or does something that hurts you, he’s SO quick to step in and defend you because he refuses to let some nobody make his beloved sad <3 He’s your number one defender and cheerleader always, this man truly adores you so so much and he’d do practically anything for you

Second Choice:

Honestly, I also really considered Iwaizumi for your match-up, as well as Daichi and Kuroo! A lot of the third years have similar qualities, extroverted and outgoing but still kind, understanding and absolutely adoring of their partners. Truthfully I think any of them could have made a good match for you, I just ended up settling on Oikawa because not only did he seem like a good partner for you, but in turn you seemed like the kind of person he’d find super fascinating and would be drawn to straight away :> 

Song For Your Relationship:

Buy With Luv by BTS Feat. Halsey <3

For Obey Me, I’d Match You With:

Diavolo!

Reasoning:

This one was honestly easier than the last match-up, Diavolo quickly stood out when reading your description of yourself. He’s a guy who matches all the qualities you look for in a partner, is a complete sweetheart while also being incredibly smart and capable, and would be incredibly drawn to a lot of your interests. I truly think he would adore you from the moment he met you, which is why I think he’s the perfect choice for you :D

Headcanons About Your Relationship:

- Okay, so starting off I think Dia would really love cats! He finds them so heart-warming and fascinating when you start showing him pictures of cats up in the human world, they’re so precious to him. And if he can find a way to safely get one down to the Devildom, I think he’d be more than happy to adopt a sweet little human world kitty with you so if you wanted that you can have a taste of home and the two of you can be cat parents together :>

- He also thinks it’s so fascinating that you enjoy writing! Given how busy he is, he often doesn’t have the time or mental energy for creative outlets like writing with the little free time he gets, but that just makes him respect you more as he knows how much effort writing can take. And he’s always so eager to read your writing, too. He’s respectful if you don’t want to share and won’t push, but if you are willing, it puts such a big smile on his face as he reads through your writing and compliments the hell out of it

- I think Dia’s another one who would love the fact that you play the piano. Being friends with Lucifer means he’s gained quite the taste for classical music over the years, and he adores it whenever you give him the chance to listen to you as you practice, enjoying the soothing background noise from his love as he works through his daily duties <3

- Omg and if you want someone who both adores giving and receiving physical affection, then this man is absolutely perfect for you. He’d be more than happy to just absorb you into his arms tbh, he’s a big fan of hugs and is always coming up and wrapping his arms around you <3 And he loves letting you sit on his lap while he goes through any papers he needs to complete, letting you play with his hair or his free hand or whatever else you feel like. It helps keep him grounded as he goes through his day

- He’s absolutely fine with making the first move, too! Diavolo’s not one to shy away from what he wants, so once he’s sure he has feelings for you much deeper than just fleeting attraction, he’s quick to make his way to you and propose a dinner date at his castle. He wants to get to know you, to hear all about you and hopefully woo you in return (if you haven’t already fallen for him by that point lol)

- And he’s also a super protective boyfriend :D Diavolo doesn’t necessarily like to flaunt his status, but if anyone ever decides to mess with you in even the most minor of ways, he makes it VERY clear that they are not to be messing with his girlfriend like that. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to defend you, nothing gets past him or Barbatos and it’s not long before no one in the Devildom even thinks to cross you

- And despite his busy life, Diavolo’s incredibly attentive, which means he can always tell when you’re feeling down and in need of a bit of extra reassurance. He always wants to see you happy, so knowing you’re not feeling your best absolutely breaks his heart and he’s determined to lift your spirits. He can be so eloquent and loving with his words in those moments, too, telling you each and every reason why he adores you and all the wonderful things he sees in you that he’d like you to see in yourself, too <3

- I think a small way that you and Dia would enjoy spending time together would be reading together before bed <3 Whether you read the same book out loud together or both read separate books beside one another is completely up to you, he just enjoys the chance to enjoy your company for a while and unwind with you after a long day before laying down for the evening

Second Choice:

Once again I considered a couple of options for your match-up. Mammon came to mind because not only is he a wonderful partner and one that’s well suited for you, but he would also find you incredibly interesting due to how different you are from him! And I considered Satan as well because he had a lot of similarities to you, which is why I eventually decided on Diavolo because I felt he was the perfect happy medium between the two and matches all of the things you need in a partner :>

Song For Your Relationship:

La Da Dee by Cody Simpson <3

[ewingstan]

Finished Twig

Alright, some thoughts. Whew.

This will be mostly on the epilogues, because that’s what I have on my mind and that’s what I have the most to say about. But I have a lot to say on the whole thing, so please ask me anything about the story, its end, and its characters, because I’d love the chance to put my thoughts down. I know I have some character asks I need to get to, feel free to keep sending those in. 

I feel confident in saying I love at least three of the epilogues. There’s a triptych in Red, Shirley, and Emily’s stories about finding a way to live in a wasteland world. The devastated, lonely woman in the devastated, lonely landscape, wondering what they were even fighting for after so much was lost, and finding the bit of green that answers her. Shirely and Pierre getting their swansong scenes, flexing the problem-solving muscle they’ve built up as Sy and Jessie’s go-to competent people, showing that it will be difficult for the old order of things to reestablish itself. Emily getting to live and to love and to be loved, to rub impropriety in propriety’s personified faces, to start living the type of life we’d all hope to be living if Twig’s technology was made available (that is, taking full advantage of body modification with our partners and then going at it like rabbits).

I am not sure at how I feel at the proposed ending Sy- sorry, Simon- gives the king. It fits with the world that Sy wanted when he was discussing that with Jamie and Helen, way back when. Constant conflict, no room for stagnation. But I worry about how much of a break from the order of things it will truly be. Was the problem really that the academies were stagnant? A lack of challenges wasn’t what led to the use of their population as experiment-fodder. Conflict would only make them less likely to hold back, as we saw since the start of civil war breaking out in the Crown States.

But maybe I’m being too short-sighted on this, and should be paying more attention to the promised end-state. Maybe the stagnation being prevented was the slate-wiping the Infante and his ilk seemed to desire, the plan to choke the world and come back in a few centuries to repopulate it with loyal lab-grown subjects. By contrast, the endstate Simon promises has the Nobles killed, the academies curtailed. The world not choked by power wedded to control. Red, Shirley and Emily’s chapters becoming prophesies, an example of what could come in a world where people don’t need to fear idle lesser nobles making their towns into play-places, or the academy forcing itself to be necessary for everyone’s survival.

I don’t know. Perhaps it’s all just the framing of things that was needed to convince Adam (which yes, I do love the full-circle detail of the king being fucking Frankenstein’s Monster, absolutely terrific as the final tidbit of worldbuilding we get). Or maybe I’m wrong to try and find something resembling a happy ending resulting from this plan. Lord Simon’s narration certainly seemed to suggest that he had left all semblances of morality to his past self. But I don’t really think Simon should be considered separate from Sy. This was a story about growing up. “The poisonous child wasn’t a child anymore.” “Lambs grow up, and then they aren’t lambs anymore.” Simon is Sy, grown up, in the most circuitous way possible but the only way his fucked-up psyche could really allow. His conversation with Duncan confirmed it for me: what if I’m different from the person I was, when I became attached to these people? What if I’m just putting in new hooks? Simon framed it in his head as manipulation, because that’s what he is, but really that just describes any group that stays together over time. No one stays the same, and if we stay together its because we’ve found things to like in the people we’ve become.

At the end of things, all Simon’s done is given himself the biggest bug-box to shake yet, with his friends at his side grown into Nobles and Doctors. Crown and academy wedded together in a way the originals couldn’t be. I can see why Lord King Adam took the deal—sure, he’s at the head, but its of a beast he can’t even really steer at this point. Like professor Lawrence seeing the Infante as something he needed to flow with until he was given a good argument for taking a fucking harpoon gun to the bastard, Adam helms a system whose momentum seems predestined to take it to a place no one would actually want, but whose avoidance would mean the Crown and Academy giving up power and control. The Lambs are offering to force that avoidance for him.

Alright this got a bit meandering. Final thoughts: I still think this is the best of the three wildbow works I’ve read so far. Worm finished stronger for me, but then, Worm had one of the best endings I’ve gotten the pleasure of experiencing in any medium. I might prefer being in the headspace of Taylor over Sy, at least marginally. But the character interactions, the worldbuilding, the struggle with how to have meaningful relationships when you’re a perfect manipulator, the fact that we get to see such a large cast change and mature— its truly amazing writing. Thanks, WB. This one has been a ride.

...

Now, do I have the willpower to go even a day before starting the Glow-worm chapters?

[ikkaku-of-heart]

A Few FYIs to All Current/Potential Ship Partners

Mostly posting these because I am a chronic over-thinker and worrywart about certain things, especially when it comes to shipping, so I figure I’d write some stuff out for my own peace of mind and possibly even my partners’ or mutuals’ who wish to ship but have been too shy to approach.

I ship based primarily on chemistry, but that doesn’t mean I’m not open to discussing the possibility of shipping. Hop into my DMs and I’m certainly happy to talk OOC about it and we can see what it would take for the ship to develop. Hell, even if there is chemistry, please come into my DMs and discuss making the ship official because like I said I’m a worrywart and frequently psyche myself out into thinking that I’ve misread the situation and the chemistry is one-sided.

I am multiship AF. Ikkaku is a social, flirtatious, vibrant woman so naturally she gets around. This ranges from one-night stands to friends with benefits to hateships to actual romantic relationships. However, each ship, unless we decide otherwise for plot/characterization reasons, is in its own separate universe. Ex. in a verse where Ikkaku is shipping with Nami, Ikkaku x Zoro isn’t a thing unless we decide it would make for interesting characterization or plot stuff.

I absolutely ship with duplicates! For example, I ship with two different Eustass Kids and am perfectly willing to ship with more, so don’t be afraid to approach if you want to ship. Each person’s interpretation of a character is different, and therefore each ship dynamic will have its own nuances and cool moments. Because of this I’ll be making a different ship tag for each version, because each one is special and deserves it. 

On the subject of duplicate shipping, I only ask two things:

Don’t assume that just because I'm shipping with one person’s version of a character, that your version is automatically shipping with Ikkaku, too. Like I said, each interpretation is unique and I generally ship based on chemistry.

I know I can’t ask people to completely avoid feelings of jealousy, but if you feel I’ve been showing favoritism towards one version of a ship over ours, please just come talk to me so we can instead work things out. 

I don’t do exclusives. If you want me to exclusively ship with you or your muse, I’m sorry, it’s not happening. Nothing against those who do exclusives, but it’s not for me and certainly not something Ikkaku would be happy with.

On the subject of Hawkins, I know I’ve written more than a few things for him and Ikkaku lately as an NPC ship, but I want to make sure that this is not how I would expect any current or future Hawkins RPers to interact with me. Now, if you decide you want to explore this version of the ship with me, I’m absolutely for it! But I also treat it the same way as I do duplicates - it’s its own separate verse and does not reflect on my interactions with Hawkins RPers. For non-Hawkins RPers, if you want to make this ship part of ours’ canon, I’m also all for it! Feel free to DM me to discuss!

I adore all my ships. I will gladly talk about them all day if prompted. The problem is, I frequently worry that I’m annoying people when I talk about my ships, especially unprompted. So, if you’re ever worried I’m cooling towards our ship, just poke me and I can almost guarantee you’ll be treated to dozens of headcanons and thoughts I’ve had about our ship.

For those who interact/are interested in interacting with Ikkaku’s grandfather, Tomasu, shipping is a no-go for him. Arashi is and always will be his only love. He doesn’t even do casual sex decades after her death. So if he’s ever involved in a ship meme, it’s 99% likely as a joke.

[caracalliope]

Dear Yuletide Writer letter 2023

Dear Author,

Hi! Thank you for writing for me. Hope the end of 2023 finds you well.

I’m requesting my absolute favorite things I’ve read and watched this year. My Optional Details are EXTREMELY optional: anything you write in these fandoms is going to bring me joy.  If you have any questions, anon asks are turned on.

My requests this year are: the Doctor Blake Mysteries, the Dom DM, Vespertine, Several People Are Typing..., The Seven (Dimension 20), Demon 79 (Black Mirror episode).

In general, I like romance! Kink! Friendship! Hurt/comfort! Characters knowing each other really well! Drama! Anguish! Loyalty! Weird AUs (especially BDSM AUs or historical/fantasy AUs)! Experimental or unusual formats (including 1st and 2nd person narration, epistolary, drabble sequences, etc.)! Ooh, also roleswap AUs.

Extremely optional specific details that please me:

Dogs. 

Kneeling, ritually or for any other reason.

Character A running a con on someone and character B rolling with it even though it wasn’t discussed beforehand.

Kisses on the wrist/shoulder/neck/knee/etc.

Painplay. Especially caning!

Characters having big feelings about their social role conflicting with what they want.

Righteous patricide (probably not applicable here, but if you can make it work, go for it)!

Characters learning about each other's passions and getting really into it.

General Do Not Wants: 

extremely unhappy endings with no hope of things ever changing, 

underage sex for characters 14 or younger,

ageplay where the character is roleplaying someone age 14 or younger,

drunk/high characters, 

noncon or abuse among the requested characters - it’s generally fine if it’s from a third party as a source of hurt/comfort,

and characters succumbing to uncontrollable instincts (heats, ruts, vampire instincts, ). This includes intense, all-consuming, uncontrollable, the-character-is-literally-a-different-person-now type subspace.

mentions of current IRL wars. Other current events are fine.

The Doctor Blake Mysteries

Characters: Lucien Blake, Jean Beazley

I am so pleased with this cozy show and its extremely creative, hard-working fandom! 

Lucien is a compelling lead; I love how much he loves his mom (even when he learns complicated things about her), and I enjoy his multifaceted kindness that coexists comfortably with him being an arrogant prick. Him changing his mind is delightful to me.

Jean is a magnificent foil and love interest. I love her many ties to the community, and the way she really understands people; her kindness is different than Blake’s, more pragmatic. I enjoy the way she defends him from threats, physical and otherwise. The scene where she calmly makes tea, and they negotiate with Hannam as a couple - magnificent!

For Yuletide, I’d love to read something adventurous or porny. Let them defeat enemies and fuck about it, is what I’m saying. Or if you prefer longing, I’d also love something about that period after they became friends but before they realized they’re in love.

I’d also enjoy a different-setting AU that explores their relationship. Feel free to throw in some more cool power differences there! You could also tilt the power in Jean’s favor if you like: say a D/s AU where she’s a dom but also his housekeeper, and Lucien is a sub but also a doctor! I like the way they navigate their canonical power difference with grace, but I’d also like to see it shook up a bit in fic.

Fandom-specific Do Not Wants:

Love triangles, jealousy. I like Mei Lin, but if she’s in the story, I prefer it to be set after the divorce, with Jean and Mei Lin being on relatively good terms.

Danny. A casual, one-off mention would be fine, but I would prefer him not to have any lines. All other secondary/supporting characters are 100% welcome (I love them all! Especially Charlie, Mattie, and Rose.)

Note: My blanket DNW for characters being drunk/high in the story does extend to Lucien! I know his drinking is a major characterization beat, and you’re welcome to mention it casually or delve into it. But for the duration of the fic, I’d prefer him to be sober.

A Dom DM - Make Some Noise (Sketch)

Any characters

Please feel free to treat it as an origific concept! You’re welcome to use any gender configuration for the characters. A good girl can be anybody.

Is this a nerdy couple who fuse their love of TTRPG with kink? How did this hobby fusion develop? Do they ever switch? Are there kinks they tried and decided they won’t do? What happens if they roll high?

(Very optionally, I like the headcanon that the sub’s failed kneeling roll is because of a physical disability. That sounds like a fun way for a couple to work out mid-scene communication! Maybe the dice are a metaphor?)

Or you could delve into it as an AU concept: maybe it’s characters trying kink in a universe operating under TTRPG rules? Or kink is innately tied in with magic somehow? Are there Kink Bards and Kink Rogues and Kink Level-Ups? Feel free to add any amount of convoluted fantasy/sci-fi worldbuilding to it. 

Fandom-specific Do Not Wants:

Outright RPF! I don’t mind RPF usually, but for this fandom, I prefer a degree of separation from the creators. Absolutely feel free to include other Brennan moments in your characterization (like his thoughts on DMing as submission). But please don’t have the dom character be named Brennan, and don’t base the other character on from the Dropout cast. 

Note: My noncon DNW applies, but I’d be perfectly happy with some bodice-ripping dubcon AU where the dom is a Dark Fuck Prince who is all “have them bathed and brought to my - hitherto dragonless - dungeons” and the sub is both horny and kind of hapless.

Vespertine Series - Margaret Rogerson

Characters: Artemisia, The Revenant, Leander

Absolutely obsessed with the FEELINGS between Artemisia and her revenant, as well as Artemisia and Leander. There is so much deliciousness packed into this book.

I love the revenant’s growing loyalty, the way its innate curiosity drove its need to understand its nun (my headcanon is that, when the Raven King was sundered, our revenant got his curiosity in the divorce); and conversely, Artemisia FINALLY found someone who sees all of her and understands the ways she tries to make the world better. She’s got all this strange, offputting kindness and resilience in her - she always did! And now she gets to nurture that and also take care of herself, and all that needed to happen was a lil bit of demonic possession. <3

Leander, meanwhile, is a loser, and I say this with all the love in my heart. I need him to be at least a little reverent about Artemisia. She’s his saint, he ought to kneel at her feet like a worm, etc. etc. but also he’s kind of micromanaging and she’s not doing anything the right and proper way. What’s a sad masochist to do!?!

In fic, I’d love to see the three of them build something love-filled and lasting. It’s up to interpretation exactly how the revenant and Leander would feel about each other! Speaking of sad masochists, I think this is a good OT3 - or platonic OT3 - for some kinkfic. Namely, Leander getting flogged by his saint, or, like in this post by Rogerson, offering up his body for Artemisia and the revenant to get to touch each other. ("Stop hitting Yourself!)

Fandom-specific Do Not Wants:

Please don’t give the revenant a separate permanent body! I like body sharing too much (see also: Malevolent podcast). Feel absolutely free to write a different-setting AU, but even if they’re high schoolers or space werewolves, let Artemisia and the revenant share a body.

Note: I like the revenant using it/its pronouns like in canon, but if that doesn’t work for you, please feel free to go with whatever you like! 

Several People Are Typing - Calvin Kasulke

Any characters

I’m so into this strange little Night Vale Does WFH Hell book, and I’m fond of all its characters. I nominated my faves, but if you’re fonder of someone else, please follow your heart. I like everyone in this office-slash-work-community-slash-layer-of-hell, and I like the way they’re all somewhat fond of each other. I love routine-loving Doug Smorin, Kerolyn of the skinks, and Louis C being too much of a dad to be fully involved in the Twilight Zone of it all.

Gerald/Pradeep is such a compelling gradual romance, I love that Gerald is the only one to call him Deepu, and I love the strange forced intimacy of, you know, just guys being dudes, taking each other of a good buddy’s flesh vessel while the good buddy has to find pleasure and maintain his humanity in the face of metaphorical and literal digital submersion of the self. I’d love to see more of their conversations. More weird intentional hedonism. Hanging out together. Finding meaning outside work or even, somehow, meaning in work.

Rob, meanwhile, has got the role of being the only sane one! Kind of! Who’s to say Lydia is any less real than Rob himself? Who’s to say she’s any less real than you or me? I love the surreality of the whole plotline. Maybe you could write about the wolves? Howling is a good theme for Yuletide.

Or write about dear, sweet, precious, horny Slackbot! It’s interesting that this book came out before ChatGPT got to be everywhere. Combine the two in some unholy way? 

I don’t know, please have fun. If you’d like to write an AU set at your job, or an AU where they’re all exchange mods or activists or members of a spreadsheet-centered polycule, that would be cool too.

Fandom-specific Do Not Wants:

Graphic descriptions of pet death. RIP to Bjärk loyalists but I’m different.

Please no fucking of Gerald’s body when nobody’s in it.

Fandom: Dimension 20: The Seven

Characters: Sam Nightingale, Antiope Jones

OKAY, I WON’T LIE: I ship these two like burning. I ship all of the Maidens on some level, but Sam/Antiope are my favorites and I think they fit together beautifully. BUT I also adore their friendship, and I would love to see more of their canon dynamic but in new situations.

Sam is a delight to me, the way she accurately recognizes when something is a terrible, self-destructive idea, and then she goes ahead to do it anyway. She’s got no reason to trust good things happening to her, and she lashes out preemptively because that’s better than trusting and getting screwed over (as by Penelope). BUT she’s also got a secret kindness and largesse, and I love the way it manifests towards Talura, towards Taffodil, possibly even towards random people they meet on their adventures.

And then Antiope is sort of the conceptual opposite of Sam: she KNOWS she’s loved and she knows where she belongs to - or, at least, where she’s supposed to belong to - but she’s struggling with her authentic sense of self. (Sam’s ALWAYS known who she is, and hence the conflict with her terrible mom, and maybe eventually the conflict with Penelope too.) Antiope is very practical and has BIG FEELINGS she’s keeping restrained, and I love the way she and Sam spark into conflicts, but Antiope is so dedicated to being a good leader, not just because she’s even-keeled but because she’s got a very good sense of the right justice/compassion balance.

In fic, I’d love to see them save each other from Situations. Whether they’re friends or lovers, I’d love them to have a femme-butch kind of dynamic? (If you watch Dirty Laundry, a recent episode had Aabria casually kiss a friend’s hand, and that is definitely, definitely something I can see Antiope doing too). Weird/wacky/sexy AUs seem especially interesting here, like goddess AUs, soulmate AUs, D/s AUs, etc.

Fandom-specific Do Not Wants:

Violent transphobia, worse than in canon. I loved Sam’s interactions with her mom, and her reluctance to be filmed, but I wouldn’t like to see transphobia interfere more intensely than that with her life.

Please no cheating/infidelity, or even friendship jealousy. I know Sam’s possessive, and I love that about her, but I’m not interested in “Antiope is spending more time with others” as a source of angst at this time.

Black Mirror: Demon 79 (TV 2023)

Characters: Nida Huq (Black Mirror: Demon 79), Gaap (Black Mirror: Demon 79)

I’ve been staring at this request like a deer in headlights for days now.

I just want more? Literally every second they spent together was perfect, and I want to revel in that feeling. So I apologize if this request turns out hazy: it’s not through a lack of love for the canon, I just don’t know in what direction to take my feelings.

Nida and Gaap? Are perfect. I have no idea if they’re friends or lovers or demon/apprentice or even some kind of subverted twisty demon/worshiper or whatever else. I’d love some post-canon fic set in the void. Bring in other demons? Make it hurt/comforty? Or just ignore the ending have them explore Earth. I love Gaap’s appearance being Boney M-inspired, and I think maybe the two of them should go clubbing. Or they could bring clubbing into the void? Oooh, or they could try out some outfits. Nida finally has a willing model, if she’s into that sort of thing.

I do appreciate the episode’s deeper themes too. Nida Versus Seventies British Fascism is a deeply satisfying story, and I love just how creepy and visceral that part turned out. I was initially going to say I don’t want a no-magic AU, but actually, I could really enjoy like a kitchen sink realism approach, as long as it still ends on SOME kind of victoriousness for Nida and Gaap.

The crux of this ship, to me, is that everything is almost entirely unbearable for Nida, but, she’s got a hammer and also a demon pal. And frankly the world is not worth saving if it keeps failing her.

Fandom-specific Do Not Wants:

Betrayal or perceived betrayal. They like each other despite everything, and even during their spat they’re sort of on each other’s side.

Edit: it also just occurred to me that they'd make for magnificent vampires together.

THANK YOU FOR READING

THIS LETTER GOT LONGER THAN I MEANT IT TO BE. I hope you find something here to spark an idea! But again feel free to go wherever your canon feelings take you

Hope you have a happy Yule!

[fmdhyojung]

✨ Q1 SCHEDULE + BASE EVENT PLOT CALL!

as always, listed below, i will have a brief summary of what both hyojung and suji are up to this quarter and with the new event(s) announced! please like if you’d like to plot!

HYOJUNG

group schedule: selene is slotted for a march comeback with gogobebe, so any sort of interactions when it comes to overlapping promotions! she’s quite indifferent about the song. the only other thing is concert preparations, so if you can also bump into her while she practices for that!

personal: transit love s1 will begin airing on january 20th! the producer tells her that she saw her hosting her radio show a couple of years back as well as her role as yumi, and that’s why she decided to cast her. truthfully, hyojung’s surprised that such a show is coming alive, but she still takes on the panelist role! if your muse ends up being a fan of transit love, you can hit her up for some kind of conversation! the premise of the show will continue to confuse her, but she’s empathetic towards its participants and will always be open to conversations (though absolutely o spoilers!). also, yet to be claimed, but she will begin filming yumi’s cells s2 around this quarter as well, so that’s always a topic to be discussed!

fm 202.3 event: if anybody wants to release a song and needs a female vocalist, hyojung is more than yours to take! just feel free to hit me up and ask for her! she will unlikely be releasing anything on her own since selene is already releasing a group song, but i always like having my vocalists up in case someone really needs a female vocalist

base awards: hyojung will not be having any special role in the awards (maybe award presenter if i decide to? but i’m not sure yet), but she’ll be there... any of the topics that were listed above are open conversation topics at the awards/after party as well! she’s too far into her career to be concerned with awards, so you can just catch her hanging around a little bored

SUJI

group schedule: equinox will be making a comeback with feel my rhythm, and suji will write the lyrics for in my dreams! if your muse is interested in songwriting, she can discuss that process? or if it ends up being a song your muse likes, they can talk to suji about it! other than that, a lot of things are more behind the scenes so more catered towards equinox members, so feel free to hit her up for anything regarding that! she really enjoys feel my rhythm as a whole so happy suji for this comeback

personal: i have yet to figure out what, but i do want suji to release some kind of promoted single in the first half of this year, so once i figure that out, she’ll be most likely working on that track! that, and she’ll most likely be getting a mini album in the second half (or not, because the comeback schedule has a lot of equinox comebacks planned). anyway, she’s just always up for any sort of music talk! if your muse needs advice, if they’re not sure what direction they want to take their music, songwriting (mostly lyrics), she’s your gal

fm 202.3 event: as with hyojung, if your muse needs a female vocalist in any way, suji is available! you can ask for either of my muses, and if you can’t choose, i’ll do it for you depending on the song you pick i guess lmao if nobody hits up suji, depending on the timing of her promoted single, she’ll most likely release a solo song instead!

base awards: suji will 99% get a solo stage at the awards! she had quite a successful 2022, and so i’d like her to get the opportunity to perform those, especially because i couldn’t claim an end of the year award solo stage in time (completely my fault). i’ve already nominated her for a couple of categories, so she’ll be more energetic than hyojung at the awards/after party! 

[lv-iceprince]

@011tsukishima

Hiii!!!  I hope you are having a great day, I follow you and actually requested a personality ship on anon a while ago and I absolutely loved it! You actually made me return to one of my top anime’s so thank you!!! Apologies for the extreme delay but I’ve seen you pop up a lot on my dash lately so I thought I’d haul ass and finish the last section of your ship. 

Normally I allow 2 groups per written ship (1200 words) but since you just asked for a group of my choice, I wanted to put the offer out there that even though my requests are currently closed I can do another ship for you with another group (your choice this time or I can choose another one, or like also do a male idol coz I have another in mind for you too). So if you would like that please don’t hesitate to dm me and I can get out another one today!

Eden XoXoXo

~Twice~ Nayeon 

Now I really did put a lot of thought into this one, your personality is just so endearing and I wanted to make sure that you were shipped with someone worthy of all your preciousness (?). So, I ultimately decided to go with Nayeon! Initially it may seem like a pretty random pairing, but there is so much potential, like,  I really love this ship. I have to get the cutest thing out there, the dynamic is just so cute!! Nayeon may seem like the cheery, popular type, aka the main character cheerleader but she has some sense of reservation. She still maintains part of her timid and gentle nature, which reflects in how she views people. This is just my fancy way of saying that she really takes personality into account when exploring the idea of being in a relationship. So in her mind when she finds herself falling for you it’s the closest thing to true soulmate culture. In this instance she is the shy one, you think you’re more reserved? Nayeon will take that title any day. She is both swept up with the idea of being in love while also being confused at how one person was able to make her feel the exact same level of love that she sings about on a daily basis.

Something that I have to mention almost immediately is how strong the Aquarius x Virgo connection is, especially in this instance. As a pair you are both so unique, your personalities are completely different in a lot of ways. Nayeon is extraverted but also a lot more serious and reserved whereas you’re so free spirited and chaotic (I use this term very loosely). But no matter how many differences there is such a deep connection, I won’t discuss the sexual aspects too much but there is a lot of sexual chemistry between these signs in general. Despite this I just wanted to mention this because at the end of the day you both crave deep love, appreciation and support and you will easily find this in each other.

Moving away from the more “logical” aspects of your relationship, there is no doubt that you would be Nayeon’s little happy virus. In her eyes there is just something so admirable about your cheery disposition, she is quick to admit that sometimes she has moments where she could be a little more empathetic. But that’s part of the relationship, she strives to be humbler and kinder in your presence. It is a bit of an old cliché but she really looks to improve herself. She is also very protective of you and has a true caregiver streak, this is a side of her that she only shows to those who she really loves, so yeah she loves you a hell of a lot. A huge part of this streak is to ensure that you don’t overwork yourself and that you know just how good of a person you are, even if you decide to take a step back from worrying about the wellbeing of others.

Another thing that brings you two closer is your openness to life and your bubbly nature. You have no idea how much she loves the energy you have, even if she doesn’t fully understand your random bursts of energy. And while she mightn’t be into every single hobby you have she still loves to follow you around and experience life as a couple. In short you can bet on all of your last pennies that Nayeon is absolutely in love, she is proud to admit it. But even if she doesn’t her soft smile says more than words ever could.

[shitpostingkats]

Hi! I recently found your blog, and I just wanted to say that I adore your commentary on all things Yu-Gi-Oh. So much. Words cannot express it. Partly because your insights and takes are just so good and also partly because it’s so incredibly refreshing to see someone who has good things to say in this fandom instead of focusing only on negatives and/or fighting about so many simplistic things.

(It’s also great to see that I’m not the only one borderline obsessed with/constantly analyzing these card game shows and their characters, but that’s an entirely different subject…)

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for all the wonderful commentary, and keep up the great work! You’re legit the only reason I even came back to this hellsite after over almost two years away from it, after accidentally stumbling across one of your posts through Google. Seriously. I can’t stand Tumblr, but I might just start a YGO blog here for the sole sake of spam-hearting/reblogging your posts.

PS: And also, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how fricking refreshing it is to find someone who actually gets the characters. So thank you so much for that, too. Like, I mean, specifically Jaden/Judai and Yusei. Seriously, the amount of time I’ve gone on and on about how both these boys are actually great and valid and not at all like what some parts of this fandom would have you think only to try to be shut down with a dime-a-dozen, repetitive excuse that I’ve outargued countless times and yet — sorry, it’s just… it’s great to see that someone actually more or less see where I’m coming from. I’ll stop there, because if I start on a rant about how and why both Judai/Jaden and Yusei are surprisingly really deep characters I’ll be here forever. I would very, very much love to read more of your essays on these blorbos, but, of course, no rush.

Oh my gosh thank you so much for the kind words! ❤️

It legitimately means to world to me to see people enjoy and resonate with my funny little musings. While I started this blog as a place to just record/organize my hyperfixation essay nonsense, a nonzero part of it was to put my thoughts out there and hope it reached an audience other than my non-yugioh obsessed friends who lovingly put up with me spamming our discord with no context analysis.

One of my fondest loves of the internet is picking apart and examining stories that maybe weren't intended to looked with such scrutiny. Especially ones that get a bed rap for being "bad writing" or "dumb". Flawless cut diamonds, while pretty, aren't the only gemstones with facets.

I also made this blog as a place where I can wax poetic bullshit to my hearts content.

But yeah, the internet can be a pretty rancid place, and I really get bummed out seeing such a strong focus on beating down stories rather than lifting them up. I wanted my blog to be a safe place to just discuss anything and apply depth and positivity to whatever took my fancy. And what is absolutely rotting my brain right now is these silly card game boys. Hearing that other people not only read, but enjoy my bizarre combo of pretentious lit. student, heart-of-gold dumb-of-ass, and astonishingly attention-deficient, makes me know I'm doing the right thing, and that other people need that kind of space too.

(I swear, I didn't mean to write this entire response without mentioning the blorbos of the hour themselves. Rest assured, I will be posting a ton more thoughts on them, and your ask has only bolstered my resolve to do so. They are. So good. Always feel free to barge into my house and just start infodumping about the yugioh kiddos. I care them. And I care that other people care them. <3)

[scuttling]

(Not So) Casual Friday

Fandom: Criminal Minds Pairings: Aaron Hotchner/Female Reader Word Count: 4,456 Tags: 18+, NSFW, Dad Bod Hotch (it's not a main component but he very much has the tummy here), Pining, Accidentally admitting attraction, Embarrassment, A little angst, Oral sex, Protected sex Summary: Your best friend Derek finds out about your feelings for Hotch and teases you mercilessly. You can manage it, though, until the first ever Casual Friday, when Hotch shows up to work in a black polo and jeans and you kind of ruin everything. Or maybe you don't? *Requested by anon Link to A03 or read below! “Okay, girlie, today’s the day,” Derek says when you set your bag and coffee cup on your desk on Monday morning. You shoot your best friend a tired smile and wonder for the—you’ve worked at the BAU for almost two years, so it’s probably the 500th time—for the 500th time why he has to be such a morning person when you would prefer not to have a conversation until at least 10 AM.

“Today’s the day for what?” you sigh, asking out of obligation, because it’s obvious that’s what he’s waiting for; he smiles, picks up your coffee and hands it to you, which must mean you sound bitchy. You take a grateful sip, close your eyes and exhale through your nose.

“For you to admit to me that you’re in love with Hotch.”

You spit out your coffee—only all over yourself, which is great, wouldn’t want to inconvenience Derek at all—and then cough so hard he has to thump on your back to help clear your airway.

It draws some attention; Hotch comes out of his office, takes a look at the two of you and probably regrets hiring the both of you, then walks down the stairs to make sure you’re okay.

“What happened? You’re wet,” he says a bit gruffly, looking at the coffee all over your chest and sleeves. You glare over at Derek, who’s clearly trying not to laugh.

“Derek made me spill my coffee.” You grab a handful of tissues off your desk and pat at the wet spot, trying to soak up the worst of it, but it’s not salvageable. You’ll have to change your shirt.

“And then you… choked on it?” Hotch asks, to clarify. Derek does laugh at that; the things Hotch is saying happen to have dual meanings, slightly sexual, and now that Derek knows—thinks he knows—about your thing for Hotch, it’s clear he finds it all so hilarious. He’s a twelve year old boy in a grown man’s body.

“Okay, I didn’t spill, I spit,” you correct, looking up at them, and Derek makes an exaggerated face of disapproval.

“Should have swallowed,” he says, trying to sound serious, and you shoot him an irritated look and reach out to slap him in the chest. Asshole.

“Do you need help getting cleaned up?” Hotch’s expression is kind, sweet, but you’d sooner die than have him blot coffee off of your boobs. It would be mortifying, especially in front of Derek.

“No, no, I think I’m okay. Thanks,” you add with a soft smile, and then you reach up and pull your sweater over your head, unzip your go bag, and search for another top.

For some reason, Hotch has a coughing fit scarily similar to the one you just had, and you turn to pat his back like Derek did for you.

“Are you alright?” you ask, looking up into his face, and he nods despite his watering eyes.

“Fine,” he croaks, and he leaves as quickly as he came. You sigh, because it’s not even nine and your day has already been so weird.

You’re wearing a tank top, and thankfully the coffee didn’t get through to that layer, so it’s quick and easy to throw another lightweight sweater over top of it; you ball up the wet one, shove it in the dirty clothes portion of your bag, zip it up and stash it under your desk. Derek looks like he’s having the best day of his life.

“You realize you just undressed in front of Hotch,” he says with a tone you don’t appreciate. You roll your eyes.

“I did not. I had a tank top on underneath.” You almost always wear an undershirt, because you’ve been a cop long enough to know that sometimes your clothes get torn or messed up in the line of duty, and you’re not trying to offer a free show while taking down an unsub. Derek wiggles his eyebrows, points at your chest.

“Yeah, one that put those little boobies on display. His eyes bulged out of his head like a cartoon character.” This time, you punch him in the arm, hard. It’s too goddamn early for this.

“Can you please shut up already? I don’t have a thing for Hotch.”

“Ah, I didn’t say you had a thing, I said you’re in love with him. And I have evidence; lots of it.” You tip your head back, groan, wondering what you did to deserve a best friend who is also such a pain in the ass, and it’s that moment that Hotch chooses to rejoin you; he looks a little flushed, probably from the coughing earlier.

“Uh. We have a case; I know not everyone is here yet, but you can head up to the briefing room, I’ll grab the others when they arrive.”

“Sure thing, sir,” you say easily, grabbing your tablet and what’s left of your coffee; you gesture for Derek and he follows, laughing and shaking his head. “Okay, what is it now? I’m so glad you find me entertaining today.”

“‘Sure thing, sir,’” he says with a high, breathy voice you assume is supposed to mimic yours. “You want his dick so bad.” You narrow your eyes at him as you head upstairs.

“Uh, because I was being respectful? I know that’s a foreign concept for you, the world’s biggest asshole, but you don’t have to read anything into it.” You take your usual seats at the table, pull up the note-taking app on your tablet, and Derek sits back, crosses his arms behind his head.

“Well you’re not calling me ‘sir’, and I’m the sexiest piece in the office, so it’s hard not to read into it.” You look over at him, elbow on the table, chin in the palm of your hand.

“Sexy is subjective, and you don’t do it for me, sorry to break it to you.” He scoffs, laughs, and you laugh too because you both know you see each other as brother and sister, buddies, and fellow former cops, and absolutely nothing else.

“Yeah, I get it, only Hotch does it for you; he’s not my type, but I can see how a young lady like yourself could be drawn to his brooding exterior.”

“I’m not drawn to his exterior!” you practically growl, and then you’re joined by Spencer and JJ.

“Good morning. What’s going on with you two?” JJ asks, loading up the monitors for the debriefing, her eyebrows raised.

“She’s in love with Hotch,” Derek says completely nonchalantly, and you rest your head on the table, on top of your forearms, and sigh.

“She’s what?” JJ’s whole face lights up, and you seriously regret everything.

“I’m not in love with anybody!” you mumble against your arms, and then you sit up, because you’re clearly going to have to defend yourself. “And I’d appreciate it if you quit saying that I am.”

“I told you I have evidence,” Derek reminds you, leaning back in his chair a little. One swift kick would have him toppling ass over tea kettle, but you’re too nice, even when he’s actively trying to ruin your life. “Shall I go over it while we wait?”

“I’ll be an objective third party,” Spencer says with a brief smile, and you sigh, wave your hand toward Derek.

“Alright, let’s hear it. I’m sure I have a perfectly reasonable explanation for whatever evidence you might think you have.” He grins like this is the moment he’s been waiting for, and you feel a little stupid for encouraging this.

“For one, you always look at him. When I’m delivering a profile, I notice you watching the locals, making sure they understand what we’re going over, since you're the queen of analyzing the micro expressions. But when Hotch is delivering a profile, your eyes are on him the whole time. Same goes for discussing theories on the jet; anyone else, and you’ve got your face in your tablet, scribbling notes, but you always look at him when he speaks.”

Your cheeks get hot. He’s a captivating speaker, is all, with that deep, velvety voice, and you can learn a lot from him, so you pay attention. That’s just being smart.

“Second, you tense when he gets close to you: not like you don’t want him to touch you, but like you’re halfway to jumping him already and trying to control it. I could probably put my hand in your pocket and you wouldn't even flinch, but if he leans over you to point at something you look like you’re about to cream your pants.”

“I have seen that, actually,” JJ offers, and you look over at her, betrayed. Sure, you get a whiff of his clean, crisp cologne, or feel the heat of him at your back, and your body reacts, reminds you that this is your boss and you’re at work and you can’t get turned on by the way he smells, but that’s actually a good thing, not an indicator of feelings or anything.

“Third, there’s something up with you and the gray suits. I can literally tell that he’s wearing one before I even see him, all because of the look on your face. It’s like you’re drunk on the gray suit.”

“Okay, that’s not true,” you say with a roll of your eyes—the gray suits are god tier, but there’s no way you’re that obvious—but it’s Spencer who speaks up, this time.

“You know, I have noticed that. Your pupils tend to be more dilated when his suit is gray or blue than when it’s black.” Fuck. You sigh.

“He barely ever wears the blue. It looks so good on him,” you murmur, and then you snap your eyes shut, cover your face with your hands. “Fuck. This is so embarrassing.”

“To be fair, we are profilers,” Derek says, leaning in to pat your back. “But also to be fair, he’s been a profiler longer than any of us, so if we know, he definitely knows.”

“Not helping, Derek,” you grind out, and then you’re joined by the rest of the team. Penelope takes the seat next to you, leans in with a worried tone of voice.

“Is everything okay?”

“She’s having a small crisis, but she’ll be fine,” JJ says with a smile, and you don’t miss the way Hotch looks you over when she says it, concern in his eyes. “Alright, so we’re headed to Arkansas…”

Later that morning, when you’ve been given your instructions—yours are heading to the crime scene with Emily and Derek—Hotch pulls you out into the hall, rests a gentle hand on your arm.

“Are you alright? JJ mentioned you were having a crisis earlier. This is the first time I’ve been able to get you alone, and I wanted to check on you.” You take a deep breath, look up at him, so handsome in a black suit, white shirt, green tie—he almost never wears a green tie, and you absently think it brings out the more golden tones of his eyes—and smile softly.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s really nothing. Personal stuff, and I’m dealing with it.” If by ‘dealing with it’ you mean you’ve been repressing it, shoving it down day in and day out until your feelings are choking you, then yeah, you’re dealing with it. “Thanks for checking, though, that’s kind of you.”

“Of course. I’m here to help in any way I can, if you need me.” Good god, do you need him, emotionally, physically, but that’s fantasy, and this, what he’s offering, is rooted in reality. Good things do happen, but not to you.

“Thanks.” Your voice is weak to your own ears, and he swallows, nods; you see Derek hovering by the door, waiting for you, and you pull away to join him, plastering a smile on your face. You don’t talk about it again until Friday, and at that point it’s extremely unavoidable.

It’s Casual Friday, newly implemented by the bureau as a way to boost morale, and while it doesn’t really excite you, because you’re fairly casual anyway, others take full advantage of it. Others, including Hotch.

He shows up to work wearing a black polo and dark jeans, his usual watch. It’s easily the most simplistic, basic outfit a man could decide to wear on Casual Friday, but this isn’t just a man, it’s Aaron fucking Hotchner, and so naturally, you lose your damn mind.

It wouldn’t be so bad if the damn polo didn’t fit him perfectly, tight across his shoulders and chest and the little tummy he has that makes you want to be under him so badly, your stomachs pressed together while he thrusts inside you, holding you tightly, his strong thighs working against yours…

“Hello, are you alive in there?” Emily asks, waving her hand in front of your face; the two of you, along with Derek, are in Penelope’s office for lunch while Rossi, Reid, and JJ are out of the office for a seminar. You blink, shake away your thoughts and hope and pray they don’t come back—but they’ll come back, they always do.

“She’s just short circuiting because of Hotch’s Casual Friday look,” Morgan says with a wink, sitting backward in his seat. “She’s been drooling so much I’ve had to follow her around with a mop to clean up after her.” You push your wheeled chair away from them with a groan, needing space and air and, potentially, a brain transplant. You’ve gotten nothing done all day long.

“Can you blame me? The man comes in here everyday, buttoned up tight, looking incredible in a suit and tie, and then he shows up in that black polo, all snug and hot and delicious, and you expect me not to freak out? You guys are lucky I didn’t pass out.” You’re met with silence, and you blink, confused, at your friends, but they’re all just kind of staring with looks of barely concealed humor. “What? It’s not like it’s a secret that I want to climb him like a tree.”

“Pretty sure it was a secret to him,” Penelope says, looking shocked, and you whip around in your chair to see Hotch standing in the doorway, wide-eyed and a little flushed.

“Oh my god. I’m so sorry. I, uh—” He raises a hand, waves you off.

“It’s okay. No harm done; thank you, for the, uh. Compliment.” He steps forward, hands a manila folder to Penelope. “Thanks for taking care of these,” he says softly, and then, unsurprisingly, he gets the hell out of there. You wish you could disappear off the face of the Earth.

“Fuck, holy fuck,” you mutter when he’s gone, leaning forward with your head in your hands. “That’s it, I’m quitting. It’s been nice knowing you guys.”

“Okay, don’t be dramatic,” Derek says, and you look up to glare at him; he’s the one that started all this in the first place. You were fine, feelings tamped down and suppressed, until he brought it up and then told everyone you know.

“Don’t tell me not to be dramatic, Derek! This is all your fault. You never respect my boundaries, you never know when to just let me be, you always have to pick and pick until you wear me down. Maybe I had a reason for wanting to keep my feelings private, did you ever think of that?”

“I know you're upset,” Emily begins softly, because there’s some pretty thick tension between you and Derek now, but you stand up, push your chair across the room, and shake your head.

“I’m not upset, I’m fucking humiliated. I’m going home; let him know I’m sick, will you?” You exhale deeply, storm upstairs and grab your stuff and drive home with tears in your eyes. You’ve never been so embarrassed in your life, and add that to the absolute heartbreak you’re feeling? You’re just happy you make it to your apartment, so you can break down with cheesecake and a sappy, romantic comedy with a happy ending: those perfect, fictional worlds are pretty much the only place one is guaranteed. You are, as planned, hunkered down on the sofa in your softest pajamas, watching You’ve Got Mail and eating the center out of an entire cheesecake with a spoon when there’s a knock at your door. You groan, pick up your cheesecake tin, and walk over to it, fully expecting it to be Derek come to beg for forgiveness for ruining your life, so it’s no surprise you drop your dessert on the floor when it’s actually Hotch on the other side.

He looks down at the tin, then up at your face, cracks the barest hint of a smile.

“I thought you were sick; I brought soup,” he says, holding up a paper bag, and your heart thumps in your chest. You wipe a hand over your face, because you haven’t been exactly neat in your heartache cheesecake consumption, and then you kick the tin across the floor and invite him in, closing the door behind him.

“I thought it was obvious that I wasn’t actually sick, just… really embarrassed,” you say when he turns back to look at you. “I can’t believe you heard all that stuff I said… I’m really sorry I made you uncomfortable.” You take the bag from his hand and invite him to follow you into the kitchen, where you set it on the counter, lean against it. He comes close, but not so close you can’t function, which is good; your comfy pajamas are shorts and a loose tank top, so you feel a little exposed already.

“You didn’t make me uncomfortable,” he says softly, and you frown, must have heard him wrong. He presses his fingertips against the counter, as if for support. “You didn’t make me uncomfortable. It was… unexpected,” he explains, “very unexpected, but I’m not uncomfortable.”

You flush hot, and you can feel the bad decision part of your brain switching on, warning bells ringing in your head.

Whatever you do next has the potential to be extremely stupid, and you would like to avoid that at all costs; you love your job, after all, despite how physically and emotionally exhausting it can be, and you love your team. Time to think with your upstairs brain only.

“That makes me feel a little better,” you say truthfully, and despite the pep talk you just gave yourself, you move closer to him like there’s an invisible magnetic force between you; you would imagine a guy like Hotch would step back, keep his distance, but he only cranes his neck a little so he can look down at you more easily.

God, he’s tall. And he smells good, and his face is perfect, and that goddamn polo...

“Good, I’m glad. I don’t want you to feel bad about this. I’m not uncomfortable, it’s not… it’s not unwanted.” You swallow audibly, looking up at him, wondering if he knows what he’s saying, what it sounds like.

“It’s not?” you ask, and it comes out breathy; he takes a small step closer to you, brushes his fingers over your arm, peers into your eyes.

“No, it’s not. I’ve been thinking of you, too; I know you know you’re beautiful, but you’re also so smart, and strong-willed, and a force to be reckoned with. I’m proud to have you on my team, and I’d be proud… to have you climb me like a tree.” He smiles again, just the barest hint of one, and you put your arms around him and pull him closer for a kiss.

One long, slow, perfect kiss turns into another, then another, and he presses your back against the counter, his hands on your face and your hands on his thick waist; you hum into the kiss, revel in the feel of his lips on yours, his tongue sweeping past them, and when you pull back for air it feels like there’s only one question that needs to be asked.

“Bedroom?” you breathe, and he nods, and you take his hand and pull him in that direction, pausing to kiss him several times before you get there. “You don’t happen to have a condom, do you?” you ask, breathless, guiding him to the bed, and he frowns, shakes his head.

“I didn’t want to seem presumptuous.” You grin at that, lean forward and kiss him, your fingers in his hair.

“I find it so hot that you even say presumptuous. I might have one here somewhere.” You open your nightstand, move around books and toys until you find a couple; you flip them over, checking to see if they’re expired, and offer him a couple options. “They’re still good, surprisingly. You can, uh. Choose the one that would work best.”

He looks them over, picks one and hands back the rest, and you throw them back in the drawer and slide into his lap, wrap your arms around his shoulders.

“I’ve wanted you for so long,” he says, holding your waist as you look down at him, completely in awe that this is happening. “But I want to clarify: if you’re looking for something casual, I don’t think we should go any further.” You inhale softly, surprised by his straightforwardness, and you lean in, kiss him slowly.

“I don’t want casual. I want to be with you.” His eyes are so brilliant, dark in the dim light of your bedroom, and he nods, presses his lips to yours and slides his hands beneath your top, guides it over your head. Then they move to your shorts, slipping them gently off your hips, and you stand so he can push them to the ground.

You’re both breathing heavily, a little rough, and you step between his legs, kiss him again, run your hands down his chest, closing your eyes with a sigh because you finally get to feel him after a year of just imagining what it would be like. After a beat, you open your eyes, look into his, smile.

“Really grateful for Casual Friday,” you whisper. “Otherwise you might never have found out I’m kind of in love with you.” You ease the polo over his head, drop it on the ground and encourage him to stand so you can take off his pants; he does, but before you can drop to your knees as planned, he takes your face in his hands, presses one soft kiss against your mouth.

“I’m more than kind of in love with you.” Oh, if that isn’t the greatest sentence your ears have ever heard… You wrap your arms around his neck, kiss a little more, forgetting that you planned to finish undressing him; when you remember, you make quick work of it, then have him lay back against the bed and settle between his legs.

You put your mouth on him because you want to, more than anything, and his hand drops to your hair, caressing you while you suck slowly, deeply, holding him with one hand and pressing against his stomach with the other. His moans are soft and gorgeous, his body tense beneath your hand, and you’d do this all night, but he murmurs your name, coaxes you up, puts his hands on your back as you settle against him.

“You’re so incredible. I never would have imagined I’d get this, get you,” he breathes, skimming his hands over your sides and hips, and you kiss softly, steamy and sweet.

“Me neither.” You lean up, make space for him to roll on the condom, and then press him inside; your breath hitches, and so does his, and you lay on top of him, chest to chest, stomach to stomach, arms around each other tightly while you move. “Hmm. Aaron,” you sigh, hair falling around him, and he groans, digs his fingertips into your hips.

“Sounds so perfect coming out of your mouth.” You smile, but it slips away when he surges up to kiss you, leans up so he’s sitting with you in his lap. He slides a broad hand up your back, wraps it around the nape of your neck, and pumps his hips up as you sink down, eliciting a series of soft, eager moans from the both of you.

“Feels like I’ve waited so long; I’ve never wanted someone as badly as I wanted you,” you tell him, chest heaving, and he brings you to him for a kiss, something a little rougher, less refined. He’s getting close.

“Never. You make me feel so much.” You reach back against his leg for support, work harder to bring him off, and when he comes he crushes his mouth against yours, delicious and more uncontrolled than you’ve ever seen him. He chants your name, so soft and sweet rolling off of his tongue, and then gets you on your back so he can press deeply inside.

You feel so incredibly full, panting beneath him, your hands on his waist and your feet on the backs of his thighs; his perfect face is inches from yours, all shallow breaths and decadent, passionate kisses, and when you climax you pull him closer, sigh, unravel completely in his embrace.

Maybe good things do happen after all. You hold each other and talk for a while, after a quick pitstop to the restroom, and then your stomach growls—understandably, since the only thing to fill it since lunch was that stupid cheesecake—and Hotch orders takeout on his phone from bed; god bless technology.

There’s a knock at the door twenty minutes later, and you know that’s quick for your favorite Thai place, but you’re not complaining because you’re officially starving. He offers to grab it, throws on his boxers and heads for the living room; after a few minutes, you wonder what’s taking so long, pull on your robe and go to check on him.

Hotch is talking to Derek, who is standing in your living room with a piece of cheesecake and a shit eating grin.

“I came with a peace offering, but now I think I’ll wait for a, ‘Thank you, Derek,’” he says, and you roll your eyes, stalk over and take the cheesecake out of his hands. You give it to Hotch, lean up to kiss Derek on the cheek, and push him toward the door.

“Thank you, Derek. Go away, Derek,” you say with a smile of your own, and he raises his palms and retreats down the hall, laughing as he goes.

This is just one more thing he’ll tease you mercilessly about, but this time the benefits outweigh the costs. Taglist ❤️: @arsonhotchner @mrsh0tchner @ssahotchie @sleepyreaderreads @mintphoenix @meghannnnnn @disgruntledchowchow @azenpal @g-l-pierce @my-rosegold-soul @ssamorganhotchner

[edith-hyde]

Norman Osborn X Female Reader

I Forgot My Umbrella - Part 12

Word Count: 2076

Summary: You start to get the feeling that Norman might have feelings for you. Meanwhile, Norman battles his insecurities once more.

Warnings: Age gap. PG.

A/N: Sorry it's a shorter chapter. This section is important but made other chapters too long.

Archive

Previous

Next

----

As the credits rolled on the movie, Norman let out a low whistle. You looked at him and smiled. You still had some tears in your eyes- Boromir’s death always moves you. 

“So… what’d ya think?”

“That was impressive,” Norman praised as he watched the credits scroll, “They certainly changed some things from the books, but they still respected the source material.”

He finally looked at you and you could tell that he had also teared up. Seeing him emotionally affected by it made you love him all the more. A man who wasn’t afraid to cry at a movie was a rare find. You hadn’t expected Norman Osborn of all people to show this side of himself. All the horror stories you had heard from family members about him seemed so far away. There was no way this man would hurt anyone.

“The acting was phenomenal and the effects,” Norman said, “Absolutely brilliant. You were right to speak so highly of it. It really is a masterpiece.”

A dopey smile took over your face and you nodded enthusiastically.

“I’m so glad you liked it.”

“Have they come out with the Two Towers yet?” Norman asked as he stood to stretch. 

“Yeah…”

You watched him for a moment. Near the beginning of the movie he had taken off his tie and undone the top button of his shirt. His sleeves were still rolled up and over all his shirt looked a bit rumbled; as did his pants. This was the most casual and relaxed you had ever seen him. 

Suddenly he wasn’t the imposing CEO of OSCORP. 

He wasn’t your boss.

He was just Norman. 

“Say, would you wanna go watch it with me?”

The words left your mouth of their own free will. You instantly shut your mouth, biting down on the inside of your lips. It was as if you were afraid you’d say something else and you were forcefully trying to keep your mouth shut. 

“Oh, is it in theaters right now?” Norman questioned. 

His expression was quizzical and you gave a nod. You slowly unclenched your jaw, being very careful with your next words. 

“It’s probably only got a few more days in theaters. I was gonna go see it this weekend. If you’re not busy… we could both… go?”

Your delivery was awkward and hesitant. You tried your best to pose it like you would to Kevin or any other college friend. But somewhere in the middle you lost your confidence. Thankfully, Norman was as cool and collected as he always was. And his response utterly shocked you. 

“I’d love to.”

“R-really??”

You were so excited that you hopped up from the couch. But then you squinted at him as doubt crawled its way into your mind.

“You’re not just saying that to be nice are you? I don’t want you to feel like you have to go…”

Norman gave a small laugh.

“No, my dear. I’m all for trying new things. That’s how humans learn. Anyone incapable of trying something outside their comfort zone is doomed to a life of bland repetition.”

Norman started to adjust his shirt, fixing the parts that had gotten untucked from his pants. He then went about putting his tie around his neck but he didn’t tie it. Once again, these small mundane actions made it hard to take your eyes off him as your butterflies swirled. When he looked at you again, you crossed your arms and hid behind your hair. 

“I can look at the times for Saturday,” he said casually, “We can discuss the exact time later.”

“Great!”

You started cleaning up the mess from dinner and Norman helped unprompted. It wasn’t too long before you were both standing at the door. This moment was strangely awkward, as Norman lingered in the doorway as if he still had more he wished to discuss with you. You couldn’t help a nervous chuckle as you leaned on the door. Norman gave his own hesitant laugh just before meeting your gaze. Time seemed to freeze as you stared into his ocean eyes. 

“Goodnight, Miss L/N.”

“Goodnight, Sir…”

Norman headed down the hall towards the exit. You watched him go and he was almost to the stairs when you remembered that you were still wearing his suit jacket.

“Hold on, sir!”

Norman paused at the top of the stairs to watch you run down the hall. When you stopped in front of him, you shrugged out of the jacket and held it out to him.

“You don’t wanna forget this.”

He accepted the jacket, his fingers grazing yours as he did so. You couldn’t stop the blush that came to your cheeks as you bowed your head and spoke.

“Goodnight, sir! And thank you for taking care of me today!”

Norman’s hand appeared at the side of your face. As his fingers slipped into your hair you felt your butterflies erupt into a fire. He angled your head up so you could look him in the eyes. Your face burned as Norman gave you a sweet smile.

“I’m just glad you’re feeling better…”

The two of you lingered there for a moment longer before he pulled away and headed down the stairs. You watched him go, dreading the moment he would disappear out the door. He stopped in the threshold to turn and give you a wave. As he smiled at you, his frame illuminated by the moonlight, you felt a burning ache in your heart. You wanted to wrap your arms around his neck and give him a kiss goodnight. Just on the cheek, nothing too intense. You just wanted him to know… 

But then he was gone. 

In a daze, you headed back to your apartment and flopped down on the sofa. After a couple of seconds, you grabbed one of your throw pillows, rolled over, and yelled into the fabric. The wordless shout was muted but the raw emotion was clear. 

He was driving you crazy.

You had never felt like this about someone before. All your crushes before had been slow and gradual; and nowhere near as intense. They felt like nothing compared to this. If you looked at it logically, none of it made sense. But then again, love wasn’t all that logical. In the beginning you wanted to blame it on your own inexperience with men- Norman was just naturally charming. Anyone would be smitten with him upon first meeting. But that wasn’t it. Every little thing Norman did just sent you. At one point, you thought the feelings would fade the longer you worked at OSCORP. You expected Norman to set clear boundaries, to be professional. 

But… 

You were starting to question whether or not you were the only one with these feelings. 

The way he looked at you, the way he would touch the side of your face… You weren’t sure if there was meaning behind it or if Norman was just that way. You didn’t wish to misread anything or accuse him of leading you on. But, if this was how Norman was with every assistant… you could see now why they might’ve quit. 

Just the thought of Norman treating other women this way made jealous anger twist in your stomach. 

You had no way of really knowing, but you doubted he treated every woman like this. Norman didn’t really have much contact with other women at work apart from a few of the scientists. And he sure didn’t go around caressing the sides of their faces. 

So… was it just you?

Letting loose another scream into the pillow, you kicked your feet in frustration. You had no clue what to do. The fear of confessing your feelings only to get rejected was too great. You would have to quit your job and stop being friends with Norman. It would just be too awkward to stay. 

But what if he returned your feelings?

Your mind chased the rabbit as you imagined what dating Norman Osborn would be like. You could hold his hand whenever you wanted. You could snuggle into the crook of his neck and enjoy his cologne as you pleased. Just the thought of his embrace made your face burn like a brand. You kicked your feet again, pushing the pillow into your face as if it would make the blushing stop. 

This was quite the predicament. You weren’t sure how much longer you could last without confessing your feelings. Especially if Norman kept treating you the way he did. But you had to stay strong. You still felt like you and Norman were just barely friends. You didn’t want to ruin that with a rushed love confession. 

So, no matter how tempting it was to blurt out your feelings- you would do your best to keep them to yourself. 

For now at least.

—

Norman could hardly remember the drive home. His mind just kept replaying the time he spent with you. It felt so peaceful- apart from his burning desire to tell you how much he cared for you. It was like all of his worries and cares were left at the door when he entered your apartment. He did have the nightmare when he dozed off, but he hardly remembered it now. Waking up to your hands on his face… It had instantly brought him back from the darkness. There was no Goblin laugh. He was free.

And this Saturday he will be alone with you again.

The thought made him a little dizzy. He had been excited when you invited him but, now that he was alone, he started second guessing everything. Why would you want to go to the movies with him? Surely you wouldn’t want to be seen at such a place with him?

He should cancel. 

He didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. And surely you would be, right? Having an old man as your plus one? Just the two of you? It would be awkward for you. You should’ve asked one of your college friends. That would be better. 

At that thought, Norman felt a surge of jealousy.

The feeling was so strong he could barely breathe. He hated those college friends. Those children in the photograph on the kitchen counter. They were able to talk with you -to spend time with you- all without fear. They didn’t have to worry about what other people thought. They didn’t have to worry about making you uncomfortable. They could just be themselves. No one would think anything if you went to the movies with one of them.

If you went with him to the movies, the staff would likely assume he was your father. And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, what if you saw someone you knew? How could you possibly want them to see you with the likes of Norman Osborn? 

Had you not considered your reputation at all?

Norman sat on his bed, not even realizing he had automatically dressed for it. His thoughts were so twisted with his worries. You didn’t make any sense to him and that just made him love you all the more. And it also frustrated him. Were you so determined to be his friend that you would risk how people saw you? Was he even worth that? And why? Why would you chance it? 

You were starting to seem less and less like an actual person and more like a force of nature. Some kind of mystical thing he couldn’t understand. He wanted to demand an explanation from you. You had to have a reason for wanting him around. For wanting to be so close to him. 

And it couldn’t be love.

Norman laid down in bed and just as he closed his eyes, his fears were confirmed.

“Of course it isn’t love, Norman! Who could ever love you? You’ve killed people.”

“No,” he whispered into the dark, “You killed people.”

“I am YOU, Norman. Don’t forget that. I won’t let you.”

Where fear usually resides, Norman felt a strange surge of confidence. He was too tired to deal with this right now. 

“You can’t threaten me,” Norman sighed, “You’re just a lingering side effect of the serum. You can’t actually do anything anymore.”

“Not unless you let me.”

Norman thought of you- your smile, your kindness, your rambling.

“That will never happen.”

And with that, Norman rolled over and went to sleep; his dreams filled with thoughts of you.

[loveinterestcastiel]

Long post ahead, sorry, but I can’t be the only one who remembers this stuff, right?? i.e. the funko scenes from Atomic Monsters (15x04, Davy Perez wrote, Jensen directed)??

The first one came to pass on screen in the finale, when Sam and Dean discuss the mime-vampire case under the big tree.

The second came to fruition only partially. Upon Dean’s arrival at the Heaven Roadhouse, Bobby tells him only that “Cas helped”. However, the funko pops in 15x04 imply that Cas was supposed to be there. Not Bobby. So what happened?

Some seriously fucked up and suspicious shit is what happened. Take a look:

The water tower on Becky’s desk, also in 15x04, was a hint about a filming location for the finale, that we know they made it to and filmed at because of the SPN tapeball Instagram account. On August 29 2020, the tapeball account posted a picture of the real water tower and the tapeball with the caption “About to drown....in tears”.

Now this... this location, and the scenes shot there, never made it to air. We also know that there are 11 shots missing from episode 20 (if someone could dig out the chart plotting out what scenes fit where, I’d love to insert that here)

So here’s the thing about the SPN tapeball! It’s consistently colour-coded. Jensen is blue, Jared is red, and Misha is green. On the outside of the tapeball (therefore, the scenes most recently shot) we see red, blue, and a metric-ton of green on the left.

So where was Misha?? What happened to Cas?

Fuckery, my friends. He was there. (There’s a screenshot someone took of the view from his window when he was quarantined in Vancouver, don’t ask me how the fandom figured that one out bc it’s complicated but just go with it, Michael Sheen confirmed it during the SuperGood video thing, etc. there’s more but I don’t have time for that rn. Feel free to add on to the post if you have the receipts/pictures)

If I had to guess, even though I hate to do that, I’d say Misha shot his scenes, which were presumably set in Heaven, but they were cut, and he only found out as the show aired. Unfortunately, this sort of thing is not uncommon in the entertainment industry. What really stings is that he sat his kids down to watch the finale with him after never letting them watch the show before, only to see the absolutely frankensteined/chopped up/weak/VValker promoting nightmare of an ending that aired. Talk about a slap in the face (or being stabbed in the back...)

And so it goes- no closure. No resolution. And then the fandom divided itself (cult accusations, toxic discourse, etc. ensued from people I shall not name directed at people I shall not name). And now, non-polol and non-polol-adjacent people are starting to loudly question Why The Hell this was able to slide under the majority of the fandom’s noses in the first place after shaming the people who’ve tried to address it from the beginning, but I don’t really care about how we got here. (Full disclosure, I’m only polol-adjacent. Not in the server but I follow many of the people who are, and when I tell you that they’ve publically been addressing this stuff for ages now I mean it. They never really hid anything if you knew where to look, but some people hate inside jokes between friends, apparently. Not my business) All this crap happened for one reason: because network PR is a machine. It’s intentional, it’s calculated, and it doesn’t give a flying fuck about feelings, representation, or ethics. It’s a gaslighting, money-making game that’s up for anything; queerbaiting is only the tip of the iceberg of rampant industry-wide sexism, racism, homophobia, and ableism. But it FREQUENTLY fucks up. And they did with regards to SPN, many, many times. Like the C/W Philly account. Oopsies!

Now that we’re all finally on the same page, let’s not let this go. I know other people have had these ideas before me, but I needed to get all this written out in one place.

It’s not a conspiracy. It never was. It happened right in front of our eyes. And this is nowhere NEAR all of it.

[yuzukult]

acquitted love || sjn & reader

title: acquitted love pairing: johnny suh x reader genre: fluff, angst, co-workers!au, lawyer!au, one-sided enemies to lovers word count: 8.7k warnings: some language/cursing, brief mentions of sex but there's no actual discussions or explicit conversations of the topic, but generally pg-13 prompt: you absolutely hate johnny suh. but when your boss pairs you two up together for one of the highest profile cases, you’re left working close with your enemy but he doesn’t seem to think that way of you. a/n: tada!! i wrote this for the @/ficscafe fic exchange event!! so @urlocalnctstan​ , hope you enjoy this !! i tried to write it according to what you put as your preferences, but honestly T_T it was so hard bc i was just not getting any ideas!! hopefully this is something you’d like :D enjoy !!

“God, isn’t he just… so attractive?”

Along with a click on your tongue, you feign a hit in Hyeri’s direction, whose reflexes have gotten so much faster in the past couple years of knowing you and it shows when she cowers underneath your arm. She gifts you that not-so-apologetic smile, full of mischievousness because she knows no matter how annoying she can be, you’ll still love her nonetheless.

“Why do you keep talking about Johnny? You know he’s banned as a topic of our conversations.”

Hyeri rolls her eyes, crossing her arms over her white frilled blouse. You know that she doesn’t actually inhabit any romantic feelings for Johnny, but she has a problem of thinking without the usage of her brain when she sees a hot guy.

Not that you think Johnny is hot.

No.

“Come on, you can’t tell me you don’t think he’s at least an ounce of smokin’ hot.” She’s unraveled her arms by now, poking your shoulder incessantly to grasp onto your attention as you're tapping on the buttons of the copier machine. “I bet if you asked him out, he’d say yes.”

You briefly glare at Hyeri. “You realize that he and I don’t get along, right? He keeps finding stupid loopholes in the system to win his cases. He thinks with his heart, not his head, and sometimes, with whatever that thing was in his pants.” And, not to mention that he walks out the court with that big grin stretched from cheek to cheek, giving the ‘good news’ to your well-respected boss (who you desperately seek the approval of but that’s a different story for another time). And every single time, she gives him that nod of appreciation, that ‘nod of approval’ if you will, when it should be given to you and not to some asshole who fucks his way to victory.

“But he’s so hot—”

You narrow your eyes at your friend, and with a stern voice, you call out, “Hyeri.”

She shrugs. “Honestly, though, he’s hella smart. He’s got a job here, and works under your boss. It’s Park, Kim & Associates—notice how Park is first, because she’s a fucking genius. She only picks the intelligent ones to work under her. Why do you think I’m still working for Mr. Kim?”

Park Seohyun and Kim Gonghyun—one of the biggest lawyers in the region, decided to join together to build their own law firm from the ground up. They were both highly respected in their field; Kim Gonghyun spent years of his life being mentored by one of the most famous judges, and as for Park Seohyun, she was, simply put, admirable because of the obstacles she has overcome to make her dreams of working in law to be real. Being a woman, young, and beautiful, she’s had her fair share of encounters with people who disregard her potential, that is until she met Gonghyun—who, admittingly is an old man who seems like he’d be traditional, sexist, even, but he proves to also make people realize how wrong they are with their impression of him.

But, as Mr. Kim is getting older, he’s gotten a bit… lazy.

In fact, he’s been slacking so much that he’s gotten a new rep in the office—if he was your direct supervisor, or your supervisor was under him, you were on the side of the office where all the easier, uncomplicated cases were assigned. Which meant that there was a slight possibility that your talents and skills weren’t as sharp and exceptional as you thought they were.

And well, Hyeri works directly underneath Mr. Kim.

Hyeri doesn’t want a heavy workload, despite the fact that there’s a plethora of files on her desk, stacked up one onto another as tall as her PC tower, and they were all open and closed cases—needless to say that she didn’t mind it.

“Okay, but you got offered a position under Seohyun. Do you really think you’re not wasting your potential?”

Hyeri scoffs. “Never. At least, not now. I’m still in my twenties, I’d like to enjoy my youth while I can, for your information.”

You quirk a brow. “And does any of that pertain fucking Johnny? The hot guy, so you claim?”

She immediately has her hand covering your mouth and you scowl. “Shhhhh, he works here!”

You bite the flesh of her hand and Hyeri instantly retracts. “You think I don’t know my archenemy works here? He sits directly across from my office—I get the best view of the guy and I’m not even one of his fangirls.”

“You’re not gonna be one of those girls who claim they’re different because they don’t like him but then end up falling for him anyway… are you?”

Your hand goes up and Hyeri crouches down.

“Stop it.”

“Seriously though! It’s the classic e2l love story,” she has her hands gesturing in front of her like she’s making an imaginary rainbow, “Two lawyers, constantly butting heads, accept each other’s differences and learn to love—“

“The fuck is an ‘e2l’?”

“Enemies to lovers.”

“Are you high? Stop spitting nonsense.” This time, you’re waving the stack of papers that finish printing in front of her face. “Meet me for lunch later. But if you keep talking about my archenemy and I falling in love, you can kiss a free meal goodbye.”

Hyeri gasps.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

Maybe. Just maybe, Hyeri might be a tiny smidge right when she says Johnny is handsome. Just a bit though, because she can’t get credit for something like that.

He’s dyed his hair this shade of brunette that sort of reminds you of roasted chestnuts on a cold, winter day, sitting inside of a cooker outside of your childhood home, baking along with some sweet potatoes your mom had gotten from a farmer’s market nearby. Johnny has this focused gaze attached to the screen of his monitor; there’s a dip in the fronts of his brows, lips tightened into a straight line, and constant switching back and forth from the computer while taking notes down in a book that’s laid open in front of him.

You wonder what’s running through his mind, or well, you’re more interested in what files he has sprawled out on top of his desk.

Truthfully, if it hadn’t been obvious enough, you weren’t quite a fan of Johnny Suh and it’s mostly due to his work ethic. He’d been notorious for his reputation of sleeping around—especially with the opposing side—so it’s hard to convince yourself that he didn’t win the case because of his actual capabilities, but it’s because he pulled some strings.

And Johnny doesn’t put much effort into denying it either.

Albeit deep down, you were a teeny bit envious of his confidence. He struts around the courtroom with ease, and when he presents his position, there’s no staggering in his voice—it’s always crisp and clean, weighted with nothing but credence, and never straying from his initial perspective. It’s never a lack of poise, it’s consistently the look he goes for; from the hand gestures and the furrowed brows, to the rhetorical questions in the end of certain statements that has the speculators and jury sitting at the edge of their seat, Johnny had a talent for performing in the courtroom, but that doesn’t mean anything when the way he gets to the success isn’t ethical.

Just at that moment, his eyes lift from the screen and meet yours.

There isn’t any hesitation when you scramble to grab the remote controller, and the shades drop over the windows instantaneously.

“Fuck,” you mutter underneath your breath, tossing the remote onto your desk and shaking your hands after. What if he thought you were admiring him? Maybe he didn’t see. Yeah. It was for a brief second, and with how close your offices were to each other, it would be common to accidentally lock eyes… right?

Interrupting your thoughts, the office phone rings and it nearly startles the living soul out of you. But before you reach for it, your head tilts to the side curiously because the extension number is familiar—it’s Park Seohyun’s, your boss.

What could she be calling for?

You don’t remember fucking something up—but to be fair, half the times, you never really know if you’ve actually fucked up until someone with steaming ears and a crimson face comes storming in. So… did you do something good? Again, you don’t think that’s right either, because other people would’ve made comments about it.

Deciding to swallow your nerves, you pick up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey!” Seohyun never fails to be bubbly, and you could never mimic her energy. You definitely had to be born with that kind of enthusiasm. “I have a favor. Hop into my office.”

Leaned back in her leather swivel chair, she had her fingers laced with each other while resting over her stomach. Johnny stands beside you (and you do your best to not look directly at him, especially after that weird staring thing), and you both feel like kids being lectured by parents from how still you are. Her office is huge, probably the size of both yours and Johnny’s combined; with ceiling to floor windows, cases of books that line the perimeter, not to mention the humongous ass couch that practically covers the other half of the room, and her desk was so wide, you estimate about four monitors would fit on there with still additional space for work. That wasn’t even the best part—the view of the city looks almost like a generic lockscreen of a Windows computer, and you’re not even sure why she goes home at night when she basically has a penthouse here.

“As you know, I have a favor.”

“Right,” Johnny retorts, mostly as a filler in the awkward silence. “So… what’s the favor?”

She pulls a box from her purse; square, black and made from a leather material with a lock pad stitched into it, something you’ve never seen before, and she slides the passcode in, then it pops the lid open. A key (a… very small one) sits in the velvety cushion, with nothing else occupying the space with it, and it looks comical. She uses this to open the very top drawer of her desk, and as she pulls using the handle, there’s another box inside, but this time, metal instead of leather, but still black.

What the fuck?

It seems Johnny shares the same thoughts, because he sneaks a glance over at you.

“You see,” Seohyun begins, pressing on the digital keys of the box until there’s a beep at the end and the case hisses open. “There’s a lot of security for this. Which means you understand the importance of it.”

Then, she picks up four manila envelopes and lies on the surface of her wooden top desk. “I have a family emergency to attend to this upcoming week. I’m boarding a flight tonight. So I’m leaving the Hwang v. Yoon case to the two of you.”

“Fuck—”

“The what?”

You and Johnny are sputtering out of shock. The Hwang v. Yoon case is the biggest case that the firm is involved in currently, and the only people involved in it have been Seohyun and Gonghyun. It’s been on every social media platform you could think of; from Facebook to Twitter, TikTok to Instagram—there’s even this weird website for emo/grunge teens or strange kids that like writing fanfic called Tumblr, and whatever that is, it’s discussed on there too.

“What about Gonghyun?”

Seohyun scoffs, closing the drawer and dropping the key back into her special box. Where do you even get a box like that? “He can’t handle this alone. So I’m kicking him off until I come back. I thought about letting the two of you work with him, but his ego is so inflated, it’ll get in the way of our chances of winning. It’s easier if it was just me and him, but seeing that things at home aren’t well, I’m going to need you two to step up to the plate.”

The room goes quiet. The only sounds you hear are the muffled noises of a typical bustling office outside the thick walls of Seohyun’s office, and at first, excitement rushes through your blood because Seohyun thought of you taking over a special, high profile case.

Albeit, another realization gets soaked up, and it’s that Johnny also came to mind, and that because it’s such an important case, the two of you would be… working… many… hours… together.

Maybe you should back out of it—but then again, this is such a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Imagine winning this— it wouldn’t be good for just the law firm, it’d be good for you too. Your name, in articles on these big fancy news websites, perhaps even on new channels, talking about how you, this amazing lawyer, won the Hwang v. Yoon case.

But then you’re snapped back into reality when Johnny leans over to take the envelopes from Seohyun.

If your name is on those platforms, so is Johnny’s.

God, this guy just ruins everything, doesn’t he?

“We’ll take care of it, Seohyun. You can trust us,” he says assuringly, a smile tugging on each corner of his lips with that dazzling gaze. “We’ll be at our best.”

Kiss ass.

If you had the option, you wouldn’t be spending your Saturday night here at work, in one of those conference rooms with a long table in the middle, a big projector that displays on the wall, and a random black leather loveseat couch that lines the one corner in case there’s too many occupants.

Especially since the person who’s accompanying you is Johnny Suh.

There’s probably a lot of people who would kill to be in your position (Hyeri being one of them), but you dread it. Not to be that person, but what’s so special about him anyway? What? He’s tall, has some muscles, long luscious hair that he can slick back with that sultry stare—wait, what?

“Alright, moving on…” From what? You guys just started? It’d been clear with Seohyun that the mornings would be dedicated to other cases, but nights would be considered overtime and where you’d zoom in your focus on Ms. Hwang’s justice. “Let’s take a look at the facts here.”

Johnny slips off his blazer, hanging it on the back of one of the chairs as you’re seated in another, leaning back comfortably with an arm resting on the table. He loosens the first few buttons of his dress shirt before folding up the sleeves, and that’s when you notice a little thing in the inner crook of his elbow—is that a fucking sunflower? Is that what he uses to reel girls in? That he’s soft enough to have a pretty little flower etched onto his gentle, silky and supple—

“Okay,” he says, interjecting into your thoughts with a laser pointer in his hand. He taps on the space bar of his laptop that mirrors what’s on his screen, but then, that’s when you realize what’s on the slides.

There’s a collage of pictures, mostly street, casually walking themed ones, but the common factor was that they were of Yoon Changmin, the man you guys were up against. They were all paparazzi-like photos, which begs the question, how did he get pics like this, and why did he get them?

“What’s the point of this?” you ask, voice laced with nothing but suspicion.

“We gotta get into the mind of the enemy.” You wanna get into the mind of your enemy, too.

You gesture to the one image of Changmin with an arm around his girlfriend and a finger up his nose. “Seems like he’s trying to reach inside of his head instead of us. These are just everyday pictures, Johnny. What’s that going to do for us?”

“Well,” he begins, turning to look at the wall of ‘evidence’. “You see—wait, holy shit.”

Freezing in the midst of reaching for your coffee, your head jolts in the direction of your partner. “What? What is it?”

“Holy shit,” he exclaims, “Hoooooooooly shit. Why didn’t I see this before? This changes everything.”

Furrowing your brows, you’ve given up getting your drink and dropped your hands onto the table. “Tell me, what is it?”

“This is a game changer.”

“Johnny,” you call out sternly, and his eyes link with yours before he instantly points to a particular picture with his red laser pointer.

“Look at that.” There’s pride saturated in his words, but when you look at what he’s indicating, your body slouches in disappointment.

Why the hell was he directing your attention onto Changmin’s thighs? Surely, there’s no denying that they were attractive—you recall that his alibi was at the gym that very night of the crime.

“What? He’s guilty for showing off his toothpick legs?” They were lean, you never said they were muscular.

“No,” he retorts, slightly irritated by your response as he rolls his eyes. “Look at his pants.”

“Okay…”

“They’re jean shorts.”

There’s a pregnant pause, but the expression on your face is so loud it can’t be hidden.

Johnny continues, “That’s a fashion crime.” He says it as if it’s an obvious fact known by many. “Not to mention that it’s fucking raw hem. He should be arrested.”

Suddenly, your opinion of him thinking too much with his heart dissipates because it seems like he’s thinking out of his ass instead. Did he win those cases out of pity? How did this guy even pass the bar? How about law school? How the hell did he even get into law school?

“I don’t think—”

“Listen, alright, just hear me out,” he’s got the palms of his hands resting flat on the surface of the table, doing his best to gain your full undivided attention. “Only assholes wear jean shorts. They flaunt that shit around like they own the place, but they’re horrendous pieces of clothing that should not be on a male’s body. I don’t care what you say, what your opinion is, because that is a fact.”

Puffing your cheeks, you feel at a loss. If Johnny is who you had to get this done, it feels like you’re not going to be finding much evidence any time soon.

“Okay, if… if that’s how you want to play it, then show me the evidence—other than those 2012 cut off denim shorts.”

He reaches over to hit his space bar again, then with a wink and a slide change, he leans closer to you and says with that deep, honeyed voice, “Gladly.”

You hate admitting when you’re wrong.

Ironically, you concede and will confess when you actually are, but it doesn’t mean that you enjoy it. For example, when Hyeri claims that the intern Mark had a crush on you, you quickly waved her off, stating something along the lines of, “I’m too intimidating; there’s better chances of him being scared of me than ever finding me attractive.” And then a week later, you owed Hyeri free lunch at that hip ramen place downtown because Mark had approached your desk that very morning with a bouquet of red roses flowers for you, a cheeky grin glued to his face with pools of hearts in his eyes, and ready to ask you on a date because it was the day after his internship had ended. Naturally, it wasn’t fun rejecting that poor college boy.

But, you won’t say you find Johnny interesting or handsome. Or that there’s potential when it came to possibly (just barely the slightest smidge) that you’d ever consider asking Johnny out. He’s your enemy here, you’ve mentioned that a multitude of times, and you stand firm on that very declaration, despite the fact that sometimes when he gets too close, your breath gets caught in your throat and you feel like you can’t get whatever’s lodged in out.

Albeit it’s not the whole “you guys are gonna end up together” comment that Hyeri makes and resulting in you denying it afterwards, it’s that Johnny might… be a decent lawyer.

He’s not the best one you’ve seen; the stupid revelation he had on the first day working on the case about the jean shorts is evidence for it, but it’s the days following that were slowly changing your perspective on him.

When you said, “He thinks too much with his heart more than with his head,” it was 100% correct.

When meeting with potential witnesses, you recognized that Johnny empathizes with people often; when they cry and start panicking from being overwhelmed, he's quick on his feet to put an arm around them, share reassuring words, and have them back to normal in record’s time.

And, well… you? You’re the one making them cry in the first place.

You don’t want to fully take the blame for being the cause of their tears, but people need to hear what’s happening, and the very detail that they can’t even handle this information probably means they’re not worthwhile as a key witness.

Johnny, of course, thinks otherwise.

He believes that these people should have a voice (although you’ve alluded that they might be more useless than helpful), and putting them on the stand with Yoon Changmin there would change the view of the jury to supporting Hwang Naeri.

“Listen, if we get these people to sign the form, we’d get witnesses and it’ll help Naeri,” Johnny claims, frantically moving his arms annoyingly as he talks, trying his best to express the gravity of the situation, “and maybe, maybe, money wouldn’t be how Changmin wins, but how he loses. We can’t have another person with jean shorts walking on the streets of our city like this—they deserve to go to prison.”

You scrunch up your nose. “Why does this always revert back to the jean shorts?”

“It always has to do with jean shorts,” he snaps back matter-of-factly. “Any straight guy wearing jean shorts with that much goddamn confidence has done some wrong in their lives.”

“Right, but I’m pretty sure that the crimes he did are mainly the reason why he’s being prosecuted against.”

“Jean shorts are the windows to the soul.”

“I’m almost 100% sure that eyes are the windows to the soul, but whatever. If you genuinely believe that the women we met today would benefit our case, then… okay. Let’s bring them to the stand.”

On the contrary to you, Johnny doesn’t have a hard time convincing witnesses to testify. You see the way that he works; those kind eyes directed at the participants, the pools of chocolate were sweet, saturated in nothing but tenderness and warmth, then he does that weird thing where he reaches for their hands and cups them before the words that escapes from his lips are enough to swoon them to stand in front of a courtroom.

Maybe, just maybe, there’s a method to his so-called madness.

Aggression and bluntness don’t work, it seems, because when you’re the one attempting to convince these people to go against the man that had done them wrong, they’re less willing to do it. Something about ‘moving on,’ and ‘not wanting to relive those memories again,’ but if it was you, you’d want justice. Then again, not everyone is like you, and not everyone thinks like you, and spending this abundance of time with Johnny is slowly getting you to ease into that perspective.

So… the initial impression you had of him may have been wrong.

And maybe, just maybe, you’re developing some feelings for him, just as Hyeri predicted.

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

His abrupt personal question is enough to have the coffee spill into your mouth to slide down the ‘wrong throat’ because you’re choking, hand on your chest as you’re tackling to regain your breath again and Johnny only stares in disbelief, blinking blankly. “Are… are you okay?”

You glare at him through a hooded gaze. “Well,” you clear your throat once more. “Now, I am.”

“Cool.” He nods, retracting his hand so he could rub your back soothingly, deciding it’s best to stay away. “Are you going to answer my question?”

Quirking a brow, your head tilts slightly in puzzlement. “Why are you asking this?”

Johnny shrugs. “Isn’t it weird that we’ve hung out with each other for a whole week—stayed here for nights and we both don’t know anything about each other?”

Tapping your fingers against the wooden top table, you sigh. Maybe he’s got a point; after all, “Keep your friends close; keep your enemies closer,” right?

“No, I’m single.”

Johnny’s face suddenly brightens, ears perked, and his body straightens its posture in his seat at this revelation. “Oh, uh, I didn’t know that. You seemed busy in your personal life, so I, uh… was just wondering.” He looked anxious, but you couldn’t pinpoint why. “I, um, I’m single too, by the way, in case you’re wondering.” You weren’t.

The plethora of cardboard and plastic boxes scattered across the table was a representation of the night. It’s been long, exhausting, and messy, mostly because it’s a Friday night, the hearing was on Monday, and the two of you were nowhere near close to having enough to present to the court. In fear of disappointing Seohyun, the two of you agreed to stay over the office for the weekend to cram work for the case. There’s no denying that the atmosphere is weirder on the weekends, especially since, well, no one really comes here on the weekends. Johnny had to use the bathroom earlier and ran into the cleaning lady and she nearly shit her pants because she didn’t think anyone was here, so she had music blasting in her headphones.

Johnny is… interesting. He makes you laugh—or well, want to laugh, but you don’t give him that sense of satisfaction—and he’s smart but in his own weird way. He’s not like the other lawyers you’ve met, or any of the law students you attended University with because he’s more lighthearted and free-spirited than the rest, taking life in strides instead of just overwhelming himself in the abundance of stress that work brings.

He’s entirely the opposite of you.

And maybe you could learn something from the guy, but there’s something in you that brews hatred toward him. Possibility that you resent how easy he makes being a lawyer seem when you’re struggling in your day-to-day life to make things work.

But it’s way too fucking hard when he’s just… like that.

Despite all of that, he’s very generous and kind toward you. On rough days, he delivers your coffee order, the one you always get because he remembers what you asked the intern to get for you the last time, and he’s good at identifying when you’re just having that kind of day. You eventually learn he has a photographic memory (fucking show off), so when he saw that crumpled napkin with scribbles of what you want in that dumb intern’s hand, it wasn’t hard to remember. Which, by the way, is how he’s able to get into the most prestigious school for undergrad, manage to pass the bar so easily, and get into law school effortlessly.

And knowing this information sort of angers you more.

You know this isn’t his fault—he’s been blessed with a trait that people desire, one that you also yearn for, but the lucky ones get handed a lot of things in life. You wonder if he’s the type of guy who wins girls easily after matching with them on dating sites because of this stupid ass ‘photographic memory.’ Does he sleep with them right after? Does it ever get serious?

You shrug your shoulders and shake your head. You shouldn’t even let these strange thoughts haunt you, especially when you don’t even like him.

He’s a spoiled brat who gets everything handed to him on a silver platter.

So you’re left counting the remaining days until the trial so you don’t ever have to work with Johnny Suh this closely again.

Okay, well, it’s evident that bad luck is glued to your side because after you win the Hwang v. Yoon case for your law firm with that asshole, Seohyun is so impressed. So goddamn impressed that she insists that all the high profile cases are to be given to both you and Johnny.

To work as a team.

Together.

Jesus, this is Hell for you.

Surely, the promotion and raise that came along with it was definitely a plus, but it has you wondering if it’s even worth it. He’s been your unspoken enemy since the first day, and although you think you’re pretty forthright about your hatred for this guy, he can’t seem to read social cues.

When you’re pushing the double doors into the conference room the two of you often spend working on cases in, you expect Johnny to be ready for another day. But strangely enough, Johnny doesn’t have his laptop out or any of the notebooks sprawled across the table.

“Um,” you slide the strap of your bag off your shoulder and onto the spare chair. “Did you come late or something?”

He takes in a deep breath like he’s been holding back something. “We need to talk.”

There’s worry inscribed into his features; from the crease in between his brows, to his pursed lips, and eyes soaked in concern, almost like he’s got bad news to share and it has your stomach in knots. Was it that the case was thrown out? It couldn’t be, right? You both worked hard, presented your stance to the point that the jury and the judge were in awe with your findings. Sure, you had to cover Johnny’s mouth right before he was about to go off in a tangent about jean shorts, but overall, it was a good win, a hard one to go back on and pull out the wrongs of it. So what was it?

“I’m quitting our partnership.”

You blink. “What?”

He gestures to the room with his hands as if there’s anything out to reference. “This thing. Our work. The big profile cases. The famous stuff. I told Seohyun that I won’t be doing it anymore and she can revoke the promotion and the raise.”

You’re still not catching on. “… Why?” Was it something you did? Yeah, you weren’t a big fan of Johnny either, but were you so bad that he decided to not go through with the raise because of you?

“Because,” he pushes his blazer back, hands sliding into the front pockets of his navy blue trousers. “There’s a policy put into place. Those who are on the same cases cannot have any personal relations with each other that extend past friendships.”

“We’re not even friends?” With confusion written across your face, your head tilts to the side. “I’m not… I’m not catching on here.”

“I like you.”

Startled, the words you want to say are stolen out of your mouth. You’re left with a mixture of perturbation and bewilderment, uncertain where to go from there because Johnny asked for the removal of both a promotion and additional money that could be so good for his career… and it’s all because he has a crush on you?

“You quit the best thing that could’ve happened to you because you like me?”

“Yeah,” Johnny states calmly, sucking in his cheeks for a brief moment. “Ain’t that romantic?”

You scoff. “No. Absolutely not. You’re insane! Why would you do yourself dirty like that? Use your head, Johnny, you’re constantly thinking with that stupid heart of yours, and hate to break it to you, but it won’t get you anywhere.” Combing your hair with your fingers, you let out a sigh. “Go ask Seohyun for the position back. Say you made a mistake and—”

“I’m not asking her for the position back.”

Johnny doesn’t make any sense to you. “What? Why wouldn’t you do that?

“Because,” he laughs in disbelief, not because he thinks you’re funny. “I’m not going to force myself to work with a girl that I keep falling for. That’s self-inflicting, you realize that, right? You’re amazing, but you can seriously be so dense sometimes.”

“I’m dense? You just told one of the best law firms in the city that you don’t want to work on the important cases anymore because you have a stupid crush on your partner!”

“If we were on a team with more people, maybe it’d be different. But it’s just us two. You think I won’t fall any harder? That’s not easy. Every time I see you working, I swear I could be hopelessly in love with you one day.”

Your heart stops for a second.

This is Johnny Suh you were talking about here. One of the claimed best lawyers in your office, one of the most intelligent people that Hyeri has ever met, and Seohyun evidently backs this up because she’s given him so much recognition for his work. He’s the guy who worked with you to win the Hwang v. Yoon case, he’s the one who brought up the stupid jean shorts that seemed so far-fetched at the time, but they were a crucial detail everyone missed—it so happened that when Changmin bought those dumb shorts, there was evidence of at least one of his crimes in that store from the security cameras.

Any cis-gendered male who wears jean shorts can’t be trusted, according to Johnny.

And candidly speaking? You couldn’t even deny that. Your past two ex-boyfriends both wore jean shorts and the one cheated on you and the other one was caught money laundering.

“Listen,” he begins, interrupting your foggy thoughts. “I’m not asking you to tell me you like me back. I’m telling you because you should know, and that I can’t go on any further without letting you know. I’ll, uh, be in my office. Seohyun said she’d find a replacement for me.”

Hyeri is his replacement.

She’s great company and does a good job of helping you with whatever you need, but that was just it. Hyeri followed you, she never led with you, just as Johnny does. Agreeing with everything you say, mindlessly trailing behind everything you do—Hyeri was smart, but she couldn’t figure out how to think for herself when it came to these bigger cases because she’s never been given such a responsibility. But you couldn’t even blame her because it’s what she was told to do under Gonghyun.

“You said that you think Maeri snatched the bracelet?”

“No, I said if you watched the security video that the jewelry store submitted, it clearly shows that Maeri snatched the bracelet. Not that I ‘think.’ The proof is right there, Hyeri.”

She nods, resuming back to her work on the computer. Truthfully, Hyeri felt more like an assistant than a co-worker, someone to bounce ideas off of and to see from a different perspective. And as much as you hated Johnny, he had decent points. He had ways of making you put yourself into the shoes of people you never thought you were; although the guy was obnoxious, at least he actually was… good at his job.

Deciding you can’t take it anymore when Hyeri asks for the tenth time that hour about your beliefs rather than her own, you abruptly stand from your seat.

“Where are you going?”

“Out,” you reply shortly. “I’ll be back.”

It was just a spontaneous thought. It’s after hours, and although there are some people who stay behind to get some work done, you had your doubts that Johnny would still be here. He seems to have a better grip on that work/life balance thing people talked about (unlike yourself), but it didn’t hurt to check his office, right?

It’s a good thing you went with it. Because right across from yours, there’s Johnny.

There’s one single lamp that shines over the tabletop of his desk, and the other sources of light in his office are from his computer screen and the ones from the city skyline from behind him. It has him seemingly angelic like this, so serene, calm, and collected, only focused on what’s laid out in front of him. The sun has gone down, people have gone home, but Johnny remains, hardworking as always, despite your previous observations that he’s a lazy, unprofessional guy who gets everything handed down to him.

With a knock on his glass door, he flinches, head raising up and eyes meeting yours.

Were his eyes always this sparkly?

Opening the door, Johnny drops the pen in his hand and crosses his arms before leaning back in his seat. “What’s up?”

“You’re here late,” you state the obvious, and Johnny only nods in return, without a rebuttal in sight. “You aren’t normally here late. At least, before the Hwang v. Yoon case.”

“Yeah, you’re right. But Seohyun dropped something on my desk this morning. Wanted to work on it. What brings you here?”

Inhaling in a deep breath of courage, your hands bundle up into a fist by your side. “Please come back.”

Johnny raises a brow. “What?”

“Come back,” you reiterate, this time, it’s less tense and releases with ease. Caving in isn’t usually this effortless to you, but something about Johnny makes you feel… comfortable enough.“Come back and work with me again. Yes, I’m not supportive of how you do things—”

“Then let’s go out on a date.”

You freeze. Legs rooted into the floors of Johnny’s office, you’re left immobile and diffident on how to react next. It wasn’t what you were expecting, although you weren’t quite sure what you were hoping to anticipate, but it most definitely was not this.

“I—”

“I said my terms,” he retorts, shutting the book in front of him before shuffling up from his seat. He’s leaving, you realize, and Johnny’s ready to head home for the night and you’re not sure if you could handle an entire weekend with Hyeri here. “And, I meant what I said. One date, and if it really doesn’t work out, I’ll stay on the case.”

Chewing on your bottom lip anxiously, the next words that come out are out of character for you. “And… what if it does?”

A soft smile tugs from each corner of his mouth. “Then we’ll figure it out from there. Promise.”

This is… awkward. It shouldn’t be, but yet somehow, it remains awkward.

You’ve spent weeks with Johnny before, and those moments were in a room, in the middle of the night, and alone. Hours and hours were dedicated to work, yes, but it was just the two of you and nobody else.

So why is it so weird being in a five Michelin star restaurant with him?

Maybe it’s the atmosphere. The dim lights, the white clothed tables in lieu of the scratched up wooden one back at the law firm, and instead of leather seats, there’s a neutral beige chaise cushion for the dining chair, slightly less comfortable because it doesn’t recline like the one in your office. Instead of an array of photos and evidence disseminated in front of you, there’s a laminated menu with a multitude of options of what to have for dinner.

Johnny gets the steak with mashed potatoes and string beans, and you order something similar but seared salmon for the main protein. The waitress offers wine, babbling on about the age of the red, where the vineyard is located, and the dryness to sweetness—to be honest, you could care less; you’d rather have gin and sprite with a squirt of lime. A couple glasses of that and you can almost guarantee that the night would end with a deep slumber.

Oddly enough, Johnny seems nervous. Ever since he pulled up in his midnight black Audi in front of your apartment complex, he’s been acting strange. He keeps wiping his sweaty palms off the material of his trousers, occasionally swiping off the droplets that fall on the side of his face.

“Are you… okay?” you suddenly ask, adjusting your dress in your seat. Deciding to go with a black silk dress with a slit up the leg and your hair let down, it’s not a look you often sport but since you’re going on a date (one you haven’t been on in quite some time), you figured it would be nice to at least play the part.

“I’m, uh, honestly, I’ve never really asked a girl out before.”

You quirk a brow curiously. “What? You’re telling me you never asked a girl out before?”

He lets out a bashful laugh with a faint nod, making an attempt to swallow his nerves after. “Honestly, I’ve always been asked out and not the other way around. Not to sound like that guy, but I never really had to put effort into trying for girls. They kind of just…”

“—Throw themselves at you?”

He beams. “Yeah! Like that. I don’t really know how to react half the time, but it makes the whole dating scene a little bit easier.” Geez, he called you dense, but he’s over here acting clueless.

Either way, it feels like whatever opinion you had about Johnny remained true. He never had to try when it came to the dating scene, and you could only imagine what that means for work and the relationships he has with the women in your career field.

“Mm, does that usually happen with work too?”

Befuddled, Johnny leans back in his chair. “What do you mean by that?”

With a shrug of your shoulders, you’re poking the meat of your salmon that falls off easily. After the first initial bite, the fish practically melts on impact when it touches the tip of your tongue, smooth like butter and bursting with flavor that couldn’t be described by any common person because it wouldn’t do the salmon justice. Johnny seemed to put a lot into this date, and you’re left pondering what the point of this was. Did he actually like you, or was he trying to get into your head? “Just seems like you get a lot of special treatment.”

“Are you jealous?”

“In what way?” you snap back.

“Are you jealous of me because I’m getting this so-called special treatment that you think I’ve always had, or were you jealous of the girls that seemingly got my attention?”

You’re left without anything to say.

It was a good observation he made because truthfully, you never saw it like that.

In actuality, you often saw Johnny as your rival. He climbed the ladder in the field with ease, and it wasn’t hard to quickly blame his success on the fact that he was a guy in a male dominated industry, but the fact that there’s a possible interpretation for your hatred may be from these feelings you might’ve been harboring for him this entire time… that can’t be it… right?

“I mean, look at where you are now,” you begin, trying to defend yourself. It can’t be true that the reason you’ve been bitter about Johnny was because of the girls that got his attention, and one of them not being you. “You got a high position from—”

“—From hard work,” Johnny interjects with his brows furrowed. “I didn’t get to where I was because I slept around, if that’s what you’re insinuating. I knew you sort of always hated me, but I’ve always admired you. I like your work ethic, I like your style, even though we’re both on opposite spectrums, I like the way you think and I wanted to know what it was like being partners with you. Getting to be on that case with you showed me more than just who you were as a lawyer, but who you were as a person. I like you, but I’m trying to put my finger on why you hate me so much.”

“So you noticed.” Sucking in your cheeks, your eyes trail elsewhere—from the fork that lays beside your plate, to the glass filled halfway with wine, to the little candle that sits in between the two of you that flickers the way he has your heart when he expresses once more how he feels about you.

“Yeah, of course I noticed. If you like someone, it’s kind to miss details like that about them. So… you really hated me because you thought I slept my way to the top, huh?”

“I mean…” shoulders dropping in exasperation, you run your fingers through your disheveled hair. “All those rumors—”

“Again, they’re just rumors. I worked hard to get here, you know. And I’m kind of offended that you thought of me that way.”

You scoff. “They’re rumors, Johnny, it’s kind of hard to ignore all the office gossip when that’s all you hear. Plus, it wasn’t hard to believe either, with the whole flirtatious act whenever you encounter anyone who’s breathing and has a vagina.”

“I wasn’t flirting.”

“You need a book for dummies that elaborates on what’s flirting or not, because Johnny Suh, whatever it is you do with your body language in front of that chick who sits by the front door.”

“You mean Siwoo? The pregnant one who’s married to her highschool sweetheart? Also, how do you not know our receptionist’s name?”

You throw your arms into the air. “How am I supposed to know her name?”

He tilts his head to the side, genuinely baffled. “Do you… not talk to anyone outside of Hyeri?”

Your silence answers his question.

“I… honestly, I don’t know if I should be offended or if I should be honored. You think I didn’t earn anything that I have now, you think that everything I have was handed to me. On one hand, it’s flattering that you think my looks and my bedroom skills could do that but at the same time… I’m offended because you think I’m incapable.”

“I never said you were incapable—”

“But you implied it.”

Hands falling onto your lap, it’s your turn to gulp. His words come shooting at you, but you’re without a shield to protect yourself, and with the new experience of working with Johnny, there comes the realization at times that Johnny is a hard worker. There are some things that he says and does that aren’t like the people you’ve encountered, and being put on new cases with Hyeri only proved it. He’s thoughtful in the sense that whenever you’d bring up your stance on something, he challenges you with what the defense might counter.

Johnny makes you want to be better. Not just against him, but to brush off the dust on your skills and enter into the battlefield of a courtroom to showcase them.

“Well, if you’re staying silent, I just want to say that I tried,” the crinkle in between your brows makes another appearance because Johnny is great at leaving you stunned and confused. “I really like you. I love how your head works, and I wanna be with someone like that but I also can’t be with someone who doesn’t respect me.”

Why is it that when you’re in that conference room with him, you’re not afraid and never running out of things to say, but now you’re empty handed?

“I’ll pay for dinner. Grab you an Uber. I honestly thought I could overlook those things, and maybe your perspective for me has changed, but I could see it on your face. It’s the same.”

After that date with Johnny, his life turns back to normal.

Yours? Not so much.

Candidly speaking, part of you missed working with Johnny. You were wrong about him, so wrong, and even when you wanted to apologize at the dinner for what you thought of him, the pride in you was like a vicious plague that blackened your insides, preventing you from ever saying those words.

Oftentimes, you’d still be able to sneak a glimpse of him in his office with that same look on his face—full of concentration and nothing else in his mind other than the task at hand.

The cases you have with Hyeri entail a head like Johnny’s. Someone who could question you, to protest against your stance when there could be flaws in it. It feels like deja vu each time you think about it, each time you open a new case file and Hyeri sits there, perched in that seat beside yours, eyes sparkling with what you have in mind next, instead of what she has going on in hers.

Although you’ve tried convincing yourself that maybe, just maybe, what you feel for Johnny is purely professional but when you see him standing by the water cooler with a couple of your coworkers, eyes mimicking the moon crescents in the skies, replicating the ways his lips curl in elation—it was beginning hard to believe that it was all platonic feelings.

So maybe you should be bold for once. Pull off that exterior that displays you as someone who isn’t just independent and assiduous, but someone who’s stubborn and aggressive in getting what they want—and not in a good way.

This time, you’ll show it in a good way.

Or at least, you’ll try.

Johnny is a routine kind-of-guy—he grabs an iced americano every morning at the coffee shop downstairs at the edge of the street, he does his daily 11:00AM drop-by at the water cooler to refill his Hydroflask (which was his prized possession, by the way), and parked in the same exact spot in the parking garage of your building, despite there being an abundance of places he could choose.

That’s why you decide to stand by his car after work that day. Bouncing on the balls of your feet, hands shaking because it’s your turn to feel anxious. That blazer that once fit so comfortably in the morning suddenly feels tight and hot in the afternoon, and the weather hasn’t even changed. Your bag slung over your shoulder weighs ten times heavier than an hour ago, and you can’t stop your jaw from tightening.

Before your thoughts could spiral off all the possibilities of what the outcome may be when you tell Johnny how you feel, he’s already standing there, feet away from you with that dip in the fronts of his brows that you want to smoothen out the crinkles of with the pad of your thumb.

“Hi,” you greet, faint and peculiarly different from your other approaches. “Um, I just… was waiting for you.”

“Hey,” Johnny says back, the first few buttons of his shirt already unraveled, his blazer hung over his forearm and the sleeves are rolled up. “I see that. What’s up with you?”

“Um,” your leg was jittery, hard to control so you spat everything you had to say out as fast as you could before he could see right through you. “I just wanted to apologize. For everything. You’re admirable, kind, and I wish I inhabited those same characteristics you have. I think professionally, you’ve got great ideas, one that could be implemented into mine and what we did together for that case was just… yeah. We could do something big if we put our heads together.”

Johnny nods in agreement. The relationship between you two work-wise was obvious, he knew that much. “And what about… outside of that?”

“I like you,” you choked, barely getting the words out. “More than just coworkers, um, I guess, more than friends but I’m not really sure since you walked out on our first date,” inhaling in a deep breath of courage, you continue on, “and I don’t know how you feel now after I’m standing before you like this, asking for another chance and that I’m sorry.”

He stares at you blankly, and it leaves you unsure whether or not he accepts your apology. “You know why we ended that date early.”

“Well,” you start again, “can we… start over and try again? I promise I won’t tempt you to end the date early this time.”

And with that, there’s the signature smile that Johnny sports that swoons girls, makes their knees weak, and heart clench but this time… it’s just for you.

“I’d really like that.”