#I’m genuinely surprised I’ve only made this mistake a handful of times

[itsjunear]

Comfort

Note: Hello, loves! I guess I disappeared again 😭 I'm sorry, there's been a lot going on these past few weeks, and I wasn’t feeling very well. This is my way of making it up to you ❤❤ I'm still working on the second part of "Shadows and Whispers", but I got sidetracked, and something totally out of my element came out of it. I’m really sorry if this turns out to be a mess, I’ve never written anything obscene and explicit before, so feel free to tell me if it’s terrible! Remember, English isn’t my first language, so if there are any mistakes, don’t hesitate to let me know! Please take care of yourself! Love you all! 💙💙💙

P.S. I didn’t tag anyone because I wasn’t really sure if you’d want it, especially after disappearing for almost a month. Sorry 😭😭

Words: +1k

Warnings: Obscenity

Summary: Reader goes to comfort Azriel after he's returned from a mission. However, things take a turn, and somehow she finds herself in a sinful situation with the shadowsinger.

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I still didn't understand how the hell I had ended up in this situation.

Or rather, how I had ended up in this position.

My intentions in arriving at Az were completely genuine and innocent. I knew him well enough to know that he was absolutely frustrated with how the mission had ended, just as I also knew that he would try to hide his feelings because that was his way of dealing with everything.

When I arrived at the River House, I found him sitting at the foot of the bed with his elbows resting on his knees and his hands tangled in his dark hair. He was so out of it that he didn't even lift his head when he heard me enter and he didn't bother to pick up his wings either, a strong indicator of his mood.

Seeing him like this made my heart ache, and the urge to comfort him took hold of me, so I didn't even think when my feet carried me directly in front of him. Somehow, I sneaked my hand in and gently placed it on his cheek, forcing him to look up. His shadows were scattered and restless.

I wasn't ready for what I found in his hazel eyes: loneliness and resignation. He didn't even try to hide it from me, and that was what scared me the most. I was prepared to face the big wall he put up when something emotional was involved, but I wasn't ready for the honest vulnerability that hit me like a blow to the cheek.

"Aziel..." I let out with a shaky sigh.

He shook his head and for a second my body went rigid as I felt his arms wrap tightly around my waist and rest his head on my stomach. I reacted and instinctively placed one hand on his back, in the middle of his wings, and the other in his hair, scraping gently with my nails. In response, a shiver ran through him, and I stopped my movements abruptly.

"No" It was the first thing I heard him say since I had entered "Please... Just... continue."

I nodded even though I knew he wasn't looking at me and resumed my movements. He relaxed against me and settled his head higher, right between my breasts. HIS shadows calmed down then, and limited themselves to passing through us occasionally.

"Az..." I tried again.

“Y/n…” he interrupted me, pressing himself tighter against my body. "I need this right now. Just... tell me to stop if you don't want it."

I didn't stop him, and he decided to explore a little more, brushing his nose against the edge of my breasts, making me shiver. One of his hands that was on my waist went down to my ass and squeezed hard, but at the same time slowly, as if he wanted to melt into my skin.

A gasp of surprise escaped my lips when I felt him place soft kisses on my breasts, near the nipples, covered only by an old shirt that was too big for me. He put it in his mouth, wetting the shirt, making my hands fly straight to his hair, tangling and pulling gently. A grunt of approval came from Azriel, and all logical thought vanished from my mind, leaving me completely blank and a prisoner of sensations.

His hands became bolder reaching for one of my perfectly fitting breasts and he squeezed, making me gasp.

"You're so beautiful" he said breathily and pulled my shirt up over my head.

My breasts were exposed, and directly at the height of his lips, so he did not hesitate to put them in his mouth. I just arched my back, delighted in the way he made me feel even though I knew this was wrong. Az was very vulnerable right now and it was a miracle that he was showing me this side of him.

That thought hit me like a bucket of cold water and brought my feet back to earth.

"Az," I called after a moment. "We can't..." I gasped as I felt him pull my nipple between his lips. "Listen, I don't think this is a good idea..."

"I need to feel you close. I need to know that you are here with me," he pleaded in a tone of voice I had never heard before, "Making you feel good will make me feel good."

"But I don't want you to think that I'm taking advantage..."

"I need this. I need you" he interrupted me.

That took my breath away and the way he looked like I was his only lifeline made me give in, so I finally nodded.

The shadowsinger rewarded me by leaving a wet kiss on my neck before separating for a moment to unbutton his leathers and reveal all his glory. I didn't hold back and gently touched his skin, trying to convey everything I felt through those caresses, trying to tell him that I was there for him and from the way he tensed where my fingers passed, I assumed he could understand it. I even brushed the edge of one of his wings and he shivered violently, not hiding the low moan that escaped.

His hands moved down to unbutton my shorts without leaving soft kisses combined with licks on my neck. I dug my nails carefully into his back, avoiding the membranes, and he let out a hoarse moan that went deep into my bones. He slowly slid my pants down caressing my legs in the process and then helped me out of them once they hit the carpet beneath my feet.

That's how I was left in nothing but panties in front of Azriel, who was looking at me like I was the only damn person in his life that he had ever wanted. I didn't feel self-conscious under his scrutiny, on the contrary, I had the feeling that he was memorizing me.

“Y/n” he ​​called with rapid breathing “You are beautiful, fucking beautiful.”

His words also had more meaning, I realized. It was the second time he had told me this tonight and somehow, he managed to warm my heart.

The shadowsinger manipulated my body to his liking, so he gave me one last open-mouthed kiss right over my heart before turning me over, leaving me on my back now. I felt him fill my spine with kisses and hook his fingers on my panties, slowly lowering them until he left a kiss on my lower back that made me shudder.

Completely naked, she took me by the waist to place me on his lap. I could feel his hardness beneath me, and he hissed when I ground my hips together.

I was sitting in the middle of his legs, until he hooked one of his hands and put one of my legs over his, so that I was wedged over it, although I still rested my back on his chest.

Then he hugged me, imprisoning me in his arms and hiding his face in my neck. His hands then went down, directly to my center, and he began to touch me with gentle movements, slow caresses on the clitoris that made me gasp. A moan escaped from the back of my throat as I felt his fingers slide into my folds and curve them deliciously.

"That's it honey, let me hear you" he whispered in my ear.

He repeated the movement, and my body went crazy when he added another finger. Everything was slow and felt completely different, it felt more intimate, fuller of feeling. His fingers worked magic inside me while he caressed my clit with his thumb. It was too much, and I figured Az could sense it because he sped up his movements.

Another moan escaped my lips as one movement pushed me over the edge and the orgasm rippled through me making me tremble, sweeping through everything. Azriel did not stop his hands, prolonging the sensation and supporting all my weight, since I had practically collapsed on top of him.

After a few seconds, he did something that left me gasping, partly from the orgasm he just gave me, and partly from the sensual sight. He took his fingers out of me, not caring in the least about the mess, and sucked on them, looking into my eyes before resting his forehead against mine.

"Az" I whispered in between a gasp.

He lunged at my lips and there are no words to describe the way he kissed me. It was messy, a combination of tongue and teeth, but it felt perfect, like once in a lifetime, everything fit together.

I walked away after a moment, to catch my breath, and he grimaced as if it physically hurt him not to be around, to which I responded by standing up and climbing up behind him, only this time who hid his face in his neck. It was me, absolutely enjoying the skin-to-skin contact and the way he held me close to his bare chest and mine.

Az didn't care about the mess I was probably making on his leathers still wearing my fluids. He didn't seem interested in any of that.

"Thank you for staying," he said after a moment, wrapping his wings around us.

"You have nothing to thank me for," I responded, taking his face in my hands. "How are you feeling?"

"Good, now that you're here." He responded and for emphasis, one of his shadows caressed my arm with a cold touch, making me smile.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked as I ran a finger over the membrane of his wing again.

A shudder consumed him along with a gasp and he rested his head on my shoulder.

"Not yet"

I nodded and wrapped my arms around his neck. Trying to give him comfort beyond words and show him that she was here with him. Not anywhere else.

[cosmicnovaflare]

ur new cinder post looks very nice but I think your old one also does too. I like the shading and look of thag one

Thank you, I struggled with both, but the old one has a very major mistake. I’m notoriously bad at my left and right, and even though I double checked the old one before posting it I still messed up. Her top should have been folded left over right, and I remember checking it and thinking that I had done that, but nope, I mistook my directions and drew it right over left.

[reverie-starlight]

{the proposal- kuroo}

on today’s episode of “rev accidentally disregards the polls she made”, we have this fic :3 I actually adore this one, it was so fun to write!! hope you enjoy <3 also… thank you sm for 1k followers 😭🫶🏻 that’s huge, I appreciate everyone sm 🥹

gn!reader, no physical descriptions. fluff fluff fluff. alcohol mentions, drunk reader. dialogue heavy at the start.

“You need to propose to me.”

Kuroo, who is enjoying his drink, begins to choke. “I what?”

You roll your eyes with a barely concealed smile.

“Not for real, silly, just a fake one.”

He looks at you like you’ve gone insane. “I’m not following.”

“We’re broke university students, do you really think we can afford to pay for more than two drinks tonight? If you propose, I bet people would make a drunken mistake and offer to buy us a celebration round.” You wiggle your eyebrows at him as he continues to give you that same incredulous look.

“That’s-“ he cuts himself off before he can finish that thought and starts with a new one. “I doubt that would work. I mean, maybe at a restaurant with free dessert, but a bar? Really?”

“I’ve seen it done in stranger places!” You defend yourself. “Besides, you’ve been sipping on your drink for the past 25 minutes. If the ice had poison in it, you’d be dead by now,” you lean back and cross your arms.

Your boyfriend just shakes his head. “Your mind is a very interesting place. Alright, fine. We’ll do it, but if it doesn’t work that’s going to be really embarrassing. Hand me your ring, I’ll do it when more people are around.”

You only have to wait another ten minutes before a group of business men having a meeting a couple of tables over appear to be drunk enough to invest in young love.

Your boyfriend nods once to signal that he’s going to do it and soon enough he’s on one knee, fake tears forming at the corners of his eyes and a dusting of pink on his cheeks that make you want to kiss them.

(Your heart jumps that the thought that he could do this for real one day).

“You’re the love of my life,” he begins, and you make a mental note that he either has a bright future in acting or his drink really is too strong, despite his insistence that he could handle it earlier.

A lady one table over gasps and draws more attention to the performance in front of the customers.

“And I absolutely adore every single thing about you. I had a whole plan for this, but with the way you’re looking tonight, I can’t wait a second longer. We’ve managed to get many years together already, and I’d be honoured to spend the rest of our lives just like this. Will you marry me?”

You’re genuinely touched at his words and the sincerity in his tone almost makes you forget it’s fake.

Not wanting to make your audience wait much longer, you make a big show of nodding your head and jumping into his crouched form with a loud “yes!”

Drunken cheers are only background noise while you press against his chest. His heartbeat eliminates the chance of you focusing on anything but him.

Kuroo tips his head down to whisper, “think we pulled it off?”

You nod against him and start to get up. He looks over to see one of the drunk business men coming over to greet you.

“Congratulations on your engagement! Let us buy the happy couple some drinks!”

The man’s face is flushed and he gestures to his table. “Order whatever you’d like, it’ll be put on our tab.”

You fake surprise. “Oh my goodness, that’s very generous of you, but we could never take advantage of your kindness like that!”

Beside you, your ‘fiancé’ stifles a laugh but the man doesn’t notice. “No, I insist! You should celebrate.”

This time Kuroo takes over. “Ah… well, thank you, sir. Rest assured we won’t go too crazy.”

The man laughs and claps him on the back. “What a polite couple of kids you are! Reminds me of me and my wife,” he winks before heading back to his table, whistling some tune.

You spin around and look up at your boyfriend with a smug grin. “So what are we getting first?”

A couple of hours later, you’re both stumbling into your campus apartment, giggling and trying to shush each other despite not having any other roommates.

You somehow manage to get through your night routines and fall back into your bed soon after. You’re a far more wasted than Kuroo is (he always drinks less than you to be able to take care of you), so he tries to get you to sip on some water.

He watches you with a silly grin as you fiddle with your “engagement” ring. You’ve since slipped it back onto your index finger where it originally was this evening, but you move it back to your ring finger and fiddle with it.

“I think…” your words are slightly slurred and laced with sleep. “I mean, I know… that I don’t want my real engagement ring to be diamond.”

His grin widens so much his cheeks begin to hurt. “No? So what will it be, baby?”

You form your own smile. “I’m sure I’ll love whatever you come up with. You know me best after all.”

He forces you to take another sip of water when your words don’t get any less coherent. While you drink he thinks of the ruby ring tucked away somewhere at Kenma’s house. You’re far too good at sniffing out clues and he’s never been good at keeping secrets from you.

You’re still in university, it’s far too soon to get engaged for real- you’ve both always said you wanted to wait until you’re done with school- but he’s been saving up for that ring since high school. he’s always knows you would be the one for him.

So when the time comes he’ll be ready. With a speech much better than whatever he said tonight.

“Alright, let’s get some sleep. You’re going to have the worst hangover tomorrow, you haven’t had that much to drink in a while.”

You tug at his wrist before he can shut the lamp off. “Wait, don’t you want to celebrate our engagement?”

“Sleep, baby.”

You pout a bit. “Don’t you think we celebrated enough tonight?”

You stare at him and he sighs. “There’s plenty of time for celebrating our fake engagement some more tomorrow,” he shuts the lamp off and wrangles you down with him. “Now it’s time for sleep.”

“‘m not tired,” you mumble, obviously lying. “I could go all night.”

You settle onto your pillow and he strokes your cheek. “I know, sweetheart, you’re a fighter.”

You nod as you begin to doze off.

He notices the ring still on your finger and he smiles softly.

The hangover you’ll be sporting tomorrow will definitely have been worth it.

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ty for reading!!! i hope you enjoyed <3

tagging: @emmyrosee @luvring @dira333 @tetzoro

[streetlight11]

The Boy Next Door

Summary: Being friends with a regular customer is great. But finding out that their cute friend turns out to live right next door to you? Sounds like fate to me...

Theme: neighbours au, strangers to lovers

Genre: fluffy

Warnings: mentions of alcohol, drunk people, clubbing, an elderly falling down but no major injury or death

W/C: 7k

Pairing: Kim Seungmin x Fem!Reader

a/n: Hihi! I got bored and wrote this with no particular reason. Just saw him on my phone screen one day and felt like writing a fic about him 😅 This wasn't proof read so my apologies if there's any mistakes in my writing. Hope you enjoy! ✨

Today was another day at work as it was a Thursday afternoon. You were just making the coffee orders when your manager said she was going to bank in yesterday’s profits. She would probably take about 2 hours before she comes back so you would be left alone to mend the cafe. She’s done this multiple times because she trusts you and that she knows you are well capable of running the cafe alone.

Although that sounds horrible on your end, you did feel glad that you are indeed able to make all the drinks and foods on your own after working here for almost 4 years. After you had just finished making the order, you pressed the buzzer number. Once the girl had taken her drink and returned the buzzer to you, you went over to the cashier only to see a familiar face.

“Hey… You’re early today?” You asked as Chris smiled at you. Chris is a regular customer here at the cafe you worked at for a few months now and he even became friends with you and your co-worker.

“Hey, yeah. My friends and I wanted to sit somewhere and discuss our next song. Are you alone?”

“Yeah. My manager went to the bank so I’m assuming she won’t be back for quite a while.” You shrugged as he passed you his phone with a whole list of orders. You began to key in the orders while he continued to talk to you.

“Does she do that often? Leave you to mend the cafe alone?"

“Sometimes, yeah.” You sighed.

“But that’s staff abuse, isn’t it?” Chris looked genuinely concerned for you.

“If you think about it, yeah.”

“Aren’t you gonna do anything about it?”

“No? Must I remind you that I need this job?” You chuckled softly and he sighed.

“You can search for other places, Y/N.”

“I know but… I’ve grown to like it here. Minus my manager of course.” You said with a sad frown on your face and he sighed yet again.

“It’s just that… I think you should reconsider changing-” Chris was about to finish his sentence when a guy with dirty blonde hair came over to cut him off.

“Hyung, can I add something to our order?” He asked as you looked back and forth between them.

“Yeah, of course. What do you wanna add?” The guy glances over to you briefly before he whispers into Chris’ ear with his hand covering it and you stifle a laugh. Then, Chris cracks a smile and relays the message to you.

“Can you add one chocolate muffin please?”

“That’ll be an additional $5 charge to the final bill.” You teased, only for the guy to look surprised.

“Just kidding.” You giggled, hearing Chris chuckle while his friend relaxed a little.

“O-Oh…” He whispered quietly to himself.

“He’s cute…” You thought to yourself.

Just then, another guy rushes over to make a change to the order.

“Hi, sorry but can you change the Ice Blended Hazelnut Latte to Iced Mocha? Thank you!” The purple haired guy with adorable cheeks and muscular arms directed his words to you and this made you smile.

“Hi. And sure.” You said, making the change before looking back up to ask, “Any last changes before we proceed to make payment?”

The 3 of them looked at each other before Chris shook his head to you.

“Great.” You smiled at all of them and told Chris the total price. Once he was done paying, you gave the buzzer and receipt to Chris before they went back to their tables. You prepared their drinks while humming to the song on your playlist that was playing through the speakers in the cafe. Meanwhile, Seungmin kept glancing over behind the counter where you were by the espresso machine making the drinks.

Chan noticed this since he was sitting opposite Seungmin so he smiled as he nudged Seungmin’s arm and nodded his head towards you.

“What’s wrong, Seungmo?”

“H-Huh? Nothing, hyung. Was wondering if I should get some pastries to go.” Seungmin made up an excuse as he pretends to listen to the conversation. However, a couple of minutes later, Chan caught him looking over at you again. Suddenly, their buzzer began to buzz indicating that their orders were ready for collection. Changbin was about to stand when Chan stopped him.

“Hey Seungmin? Maybe you should go.” Chan said as the rest began to pick up the situation.

Minho then poked Seungmin’s side to tease him.

“Yeah, go talk to your new crush while you’re at it.” Minho said. Seungmin hissed at him but got up nonetheless. You were just wiping the collection counter when Seungmin came up to you.

“Uh… Here you go. Thanks.” Seungmin said as you smiled at him and took the buzzer from him. The only thing is, there’s two trays for them but only one person to carry. So you decided to offer some help.

“I’ll help you with this tray.” You said as he opened his mouth to say something but you were already leaving the back counter with their second tray. Both of you made your way to the table as Seungmin began to distribute the drinks while Chris helped with the ones on your tray. Once all the drinks and dessert had been placed on the table, you tapped Seungmin’s arm softly to get his attention.

“I can take the tray.” You said and he passed it to you.

“Um, thank you.��� Seungmin gave you a small smile which you couldn’t help but return.

“No worries. Enjoy your drinks.” You politely said before you walked off.

The minute Seungmin sits down, Hyunjin and Changbin began to tease him in a good way. Seungmin could only brush them off and occasionally threaten them to shut up and it worked. They stayed at the cafe for about two hours or so, discussing their new song.

You were busy the entire two hours with the cleaning and making orders but it was still manageable.

About 10 minutes ago, your manager came back when there was a queue at the cashier. She didn’t bother to help as she went directly into the back room to do god knows what. You handled the orders as best as you could without her help. Not like she’s ever been much help all these while anyways. Not too long after, your co-workers who were working the evening shift just came and they both quickly put their bags down on top of the fridge and helped to make the drinks before they could even take their aprons.

After all the orders were completed and the last customer had taken her drink, only then did they let out a sigh and talked to you.

“Where’s Manager-nim?” Jimin asked, looking around.

“In the back room. She went to the bank 2 hours ago and she just came back like 15 minutes before you guys arrived?” You explained and they scoffed.

“She’s a nightmare. I don’t understand how she’s even a manager.” Jungkook said with a disgusted face and you laughed.

“Well, while you’re both taking your aprons, you can go say hi to her.” You teased them, only for Jungkook to pinch your side and you squeaked.

Another 30 minutes passed, your shift had just ended. Your manager had already left work unusually early, not like you guys cared anyway. You went to the back to change out of your uniform and wore the clothes you did when you came to work this morning. After you’ve kept your uniform in your bag, you leave the back room to say bye to your colleagues. Jimin was making his iced tea while Jungkook was just leaning against the counter and talking to Jimin.

You walked over to steal a bite of Jungkook’s apple pie and he scoffed at you.

“Excuse me, Missy? Go get your own pie.” Jungkook said with a growing smile on his face.

“Nah. I love stealing yours.” He laughed as Jimin poured the tea into the cup filled with ice cubes.

“You’re working tomorrow right?” Jimin asked.

“Yeah, morning shift again.”

“Are you doing anything at night?”

“Hmm, I don’t have any plans if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Jungkook and I are planning to go to the club tomorrow night. Wanna come?”

“Why should I? You’re both just gonna get drunk and go hook up with someone halfway through, leaving me all alone.”

“Nah. I don’t do hookups anymore. I’ve changed.” Jungkook says proudly but you could only giggle.

“Yeah right.” You said as Jungkook rolled his eyes jokingly to you.

“Fine. I’ll let you know if I change my mind.” You said before turning to leave, not forgetting to wave goodbye to them. As you were leaving the back counter, Chris and his friends were leaving the cafe as well.

“Oh Y/N. You’re leaving too?” Chris asked.

“Yeap.” You smiled at him, only for your eyes to naturally glide over to the blonde guy from earlier who was just behind Chris.

“So I’m guessing you’re heading home right now?” Chris asked, making you nod.

“Yeah. Gotta feed my parrot.”

“You have a parrot?” Seungmin asks curiously and you nod.

“Mhm! I’ve had him for 3 years now.”

“Oh, that’s nice. What’s the breed?”

“He’s an Indian Ringneck parrot.” You said as you showed them your phone wallpaper which was a picture of your parrot.

“Oh, he’s so cute!” Chris squeaked.

“Does he have a name?” Seungmin asked.

“His name is Zico! You guys should meet him one day.” You naturally blurt out this suggestion which kind of surprises him a little. Chris, not so much since he’s known you a little longer than Seungmin did.

“That would be nice. Maybe one day.” Chris smiled at you. Just then, you turned to Seungmin who had a soft smile on his face.

“I’d love to meet your parrot some day.” He said softly which made you smile. You then bid them goodbye since you would be parting ways now. You didn’t forget to say goodbye directly to Seungmin before you left and this woke the butterflies in his stomach.

The following day after work, you went home and suddenly remembered the proposal Jimin had offered you yesterday. It would be nice to just relax and cuddle up on your sofa alone at home, watching your favourite movies. However, going out to spend the night with two of your close buddies from work also sounds nice. Therefore, you decided to go ahead with the plan. You told them you’ll meet them there and so they got excited. You picked out your outfit which was a simple black sleeveless dress with strings to hold the back material together.

You paired it with a simple 3 inch heel so your feet don't hurt. When you made it to the club, you struggled to find your friends at first. But when you did, you caught them chilling at the bar. So you slinged your arms over the outer shoulders so that you would be in between them.

“Hi, handsome. Ready to party?” You asked and they smirked. Jungkook openly checks you out as he winked at you playfully.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Jimin said and you cheered. For the next 40 minutes, you drank a whole glass of Daiquiri and were now dancing on the dancefloor with them both. Jimin was standing in front of you while Jungkook was behind you.

They were your human shields from other drunk people who prey on drunk girls in the club. You held both Jimin’s hands as you danced with him to the song. Meanwhile, Jungkook was just moving to the beat behind you when suddenly, the song changed into a romantic but slightly slower beat. Jimin let go of your hands while he slowly got immersed in the song. You were just closing your eyes, allowing your body to move with the rhythm of the song when you felt a pair of hands sliding onto your waist and over your stomach.

You glance down to see Jungkook’s full right sleeve tattooed arm wrapping around your body while he pulls you into a back hug. He pressed his cheek against the side of your head only to say something in your ear.

“Whoever you date next, will be the luckiest guy on this earth.” You smiled as you pulled away only to find him smiling at you. He danced with you for a bit before the song changed again. After another hour or so, all 3 of you decided to go home and call it a night. Jungkook made sure to send you back home to your doorstep which you appreciated so much.

He unlocked your apartment door for you and brought you inside, removing your heels by the door and led you to your bedroom. Jungkook made sure to tuck you in before he wished you goodnight softly and made his way out of your apartment. He had just locked your front door just before he slammed your door shut and twisted the knob to make sure it was really locked when he turned around to find a guy walking past him. The guy flashed him a small smile and Jungkook did the same. Jungkook strolls slowly back to the lift lobby, stumbling a bit in his walk but was quick to recover.

Seungmin watched him walk to the lift lobby as he then glanced over at your door, not knowing that you lived there. Nevertheless, Seungmin enters his apartment which is right next to yours.

A week had passed and it was a Sunday afternoon. You were going to run some errands so you prepared to leave. You had just opened your door to leave when Chris shocked you.

“Y/N?! You live here?” Chris asked.

“Apparently…” You laughed as the rest of his friends were behind him only to walk around him while exchanging their hellos with you.

“What are you doing here?” You asked as you locked your door.

“We were going to just hang out at Seungmin’s place today.” Upon hearing that name, you turned around confused.

“Seungmin?”

As soon as you said his name, the door next to you opened and Seungmin peeked his head out from the doorway. He was surprised to see you but still greeted you nonetheless.

“Y-You… Hi?”

“Uh, hey!” You said with a smile on your face.

“She lives here, Seungmo. Didn’t you know?” Chris asked, only for him to shake his head.

“We’ve never bumped into each other before, hyung.”

“Really?! That’s so weird.” Chris said but then Felix joins in.

“Well, it seems like it’s fate.” Felix giggled as he rushed into his friend’s apartment while Seungmin was left standing there awkwardly blushing. You couldn’t help but giggle at how cute he looked.

“Since you guys live right next to each other, you guys can hang out more often.” Chris wiggles his eyebrows at you and Seungmin cheekily.

“Yeah. That would be nice.” You said while Seungmin glared at his friend.

“Okay then. I shall leave you guys to it. See you around Seungmin… And I’ll see you at the cafe, Chris.” You laughed as he did the same but nodded to your words. They briefly watched you leave before Seungmin grabbed Chan by his arm and forced him into his apartment.

“What are you doing, hyung?! Are you crazy?” Seungmin grumbles while Chan removes his shoes to join the others in the living room.

“Relax Seungmin, I’m doing you a favour.”

“What favour is there to do if she already has a boyfriend?” Seungmin asked and the rest of them went silent.

“Boyfriend? What are you talking about?” Chan asked, slightly confused. Seungmin sighed, feeling a little hesitant to tell them but he did anyway.

“Last weekend, when I was about to reach my apartment, I caught that guy who works with her leaving her apartment. He looked a little tipsy when he left too.” Seungmin sighed as he plops down next to Jeongin.

“Which guy?” Chan asks since he knows a lot about you at this point.

“He’s the one with the full sleeve tattoo on his right arm.” Immediately, Chan lets out a relieved sigh.

“Oh, Jungkookie… They’re just friends. He’s quite touchy with almost everyone he’s close with. But Y/N once told me that Jungkook and her are just very close friends, nothing more. So don’t worry. He’s not her boyfriend. You’re still safe to continue.” Chan encouraged Seungmin while the others did the same as well.

“W-What if you’re wrong? What if they decided to date each other now? What if she’s not telling you the truth? What if-” Seungmin was about to go on about his questions when Hyunjin stopped him.

“Kim Seungmin… Just ask her out. You can’t just assume things without getting a proper answer. Ask her out and see what she says. If she rejects you then maybe she is dating someone. If she accepts then hey? That’s one step closer for you.”

“Yeah, Seungmin ah. Just go for it. You wouldn’t know if you haven’t tried.” Jisung said as Seungmin let out a soft sigh, knowing his friends were right. He was afraid of getting rejected but at least he’ll get his answer on whether you’re single or unavailable. Then from there he could decide whether to go on or not.

A couple of days later, you were working as usual when you saw Seungmin enter the cafe alone. You didn’t expect to see him here because normally, it would be Chris who walks into the cafe at this hour. Nonetheless, when he meets your eyes, you flash him a warm smile.

“Hi.” You greeted softly and he grins at you adorably.

“H-Hi.”

“What can I get for you today?” You asked as he glanced over at the fridge to point at one of the cakes before looking back at you.

“I’ll have a cheesecake and one iced vanilla latte to go, please? Thank you.” Seungmin said and you keyed in his order.

“Anything else?”

He shook his head and you proceeded with the payment. After he had paid for his order, you gave him the receipt and he went over to wait by the collection counter. While you were preparing his order, Seungmin couldn’t hide his nervousness so he texted Chan.

Seungmin [sent at 2:13 pm]: I can’t do it

Chanie Hyung [read at 2:13 pm]: What?!

Chanie Hyung [read at 2:13 pm]: Don’t you dare back out now, Kim Seungmin >:(

Seungmin [sent at 2:14 pm]: What if she says no?

Chanie Hyung [read at 2:14 pm]: You haven’t even tried asking, how would you know she’ll say no?

Seungmin [sent at 2:15 pm]: Shit, she’s almost done. Hyung I can’t do it…

Chanie Hyung [read at 2:16 pm]: Seungmo, you’re gonna regret not asking her out afterwards… Trust me. There’s no harm in asking…

As Seungmin tries to process Chan’s last message, you gently call his name to get his attention. You slide the bag which has his drink and the cake in a small box towards him with a smile.

“Thanks for coming. Have a good weekend.” You said to him.

Seungmin simply flashed you a small shy smile before he thanked you and took the bag from you. Seungmin was about to open his mouth but then he saw Jungkook leaving the back room while tying his apron string around his back. With that being said, Seungmin left without a second thought and this somehow disappoints you a little. After he left in a rush, Jungkook pokes your side and questions.

“Who was that? Your friend?” Jungkook asked casually as he removed the portafilter from the coffee machine and gently slammed it upside down by the handle to remove the used ground coffee into the bin.

“He’s Chris’ friend actually and apparently my neighbour too.” You chuckled while he wiped the filter with a towel to clean the leftover coffee grounds.

“Oh right. He lives right next to you. I think I bumped into him that night when I sent you home after we went to the club with Jimin hyung.”

“You did?” Your voice was soft now as he nodded.

“He probably thinks I’m your boyfriend or date.”

“Well, if you saw a random guy leaving your crush’s place and is slightly tipsy, you would assume they at least hooked up.”

“Fair point. But hey, I can tell him we aren’t a thing if he ever swings by again. He probably has a crush on you.” Jungkook teased with a cheeky smirk on his face. You could say something but you didn’t wanna sound like a fool so you opted to continue with your work. You were currently seated on the floor in front of the bottom fridge, keeping the new stock of milk cartons when Jungkook’s voice catches your attention.

“Hey Cinderella, someone’s looking for you.” Jungkook said from the coffee machine with a smirk and this terrifies you. So you closed the fridge and stood up, only to be met with Seungmin.

“Hey? Did I make a mistake with your order?” You asked, only for him to shake his head.

“A-Actually, no. I um… I came back cause I wanted to… Well, I was wondering if you were free later tonight. I-It’s okay if you’re not. You don’t have to say yes.” Seungmin stuttered and from his shaky voice, you could tell he was nervous. But his simple courage to even come back and ask you this was really admirable.

“Yeah. I’m free tonight. I end at 5.” You said and he seemed shocked.

“Oh.” He paused as if to process your answer.

“Uh… Great? I’ll knock on your door at 8?” He continued from where he left off.

“Sure.” You smiled.

Finally, his lips curled up into a smile that leaves your heart fluttering.

“Alright then… See you later.” He said as you bid him goodbye. After he left, Jungkook squeaked whilst turning off the steaming wand.

“Finally! You scored a date!” Jungkook said happily as you laughed.

“Shut up, silly.” You said before going back to what you were doing previously.

Hours later, you were getting nervous for your date. You tried to pull up a nice outfit to wear instead of your usual jeans and hoodie. It took you almost an hour to decide on what to wear. In which you finally chose a black denim mid thigh skirt, a white long sleeve fitting top and a pair of white sneakers to finish off your look. This wasn’t your usual outfit so you think it was somewhat decent. When the clock strikes 8 o’clock, your door receives a few knocks and this triggers your nervous heart. Nevertheless, you went to the door and opened it, only to find Seungmin standing there looking twice as handsome as he normally does.

He wore a black shirt, a varsity jacket, a pair of jeans and a pair of sneakers. His hair was blonde and long enough to fall past his eyes. The minute you opened the door, Seungmin couldn’t help but give you one quick glance from head to toe before meeting your eyes again shyly.

“Hi… Y-You look really nice.” He said, making you blush.

“Thanks. I could say the same for you too.” You said and this time, it was his turn to blush.

“Shall we go?”

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” Seungmin said and this sparked your curiosity. You locked your door and soon left with him. He brought you to his car as he drove off without telling you the destination. In the car, you bonded with him and got to know more about each other. Everything was going smoothly so far and you were so happy. He brought you to a Korean BBQ restaurant and you were excited for the beef.

Dinner went well as you found yourself being comfortable around him. He was very gentle and calm around you, making you relax and not have to pretend to like being with him. After dinner, he drove you to a lookout point where you both sat on the hood of his car, admiring the stars in the night sky while you talked to him more. Though you never really opened up to him completely about your private life, he never forced it out of you also.

Simply out of respect since you two were only just starting to get to know each other anyway. About an hour or so, both of you decided to call it a night. When you made it outside your door, he made sure to thank you for tonight.

“Thank you for agreeing to hang out with me tonight. I really enjoyed it.” He says.

“No worries. I really like it too… And I don’t mind doing this again.” You gave him the hint which thankfully, he caught.

“Really?” He asked and so you nod.

“Then in that case… Do you have any plans next Saturday?” You asked.

“Hmm, that depends… Do you wanna schedule a plan for us next week?”

“I’d love to.”

“Great. I’ll see you next week then. Does 2pm sound good to you?” He asked.

“Absolutely.”

“Alright then. I’ll see you next week at 2pm. Goodnight Y/N.” He smiles.

“Goodnight Seungmin.” You smiled, turning to unlock your door and enter your apartment. He internally cheers for himself before heading into his apartment. He made sure to update his friends about his date and also the upcoming one. Only for his friends to freak out and encourage him to keep pushing forward.

For the next few weeks, you’ve been on a couple of dates with Seungmin but neither one of you have actually gone past the simple hand holding and slight cuddles. No one has been brave enough to kiss the other. The feelings were mutual and they were there. However, kissing the other person was just too nerve wracking to think about, let alone do it. Today was going to be your 8th date with Seungmin and you planned to somehow kiss him. Maybe just a peck at least. You had planned it all in your head, playing out the scenario to see if it would turn out okay or weird.

It’s been about 2 hours into your date where you were just chilling on his sofa when you received a phone call from your mum. So you picked it up instantly without a doubt.

“Hi mum!” You said cheerily into the call but all you heard was your mum’s frantic voice.

“Y/N. Come home quick. Grandma just fell in the toilet and we’re heading to the hospital now. She’s not in good shape…”

“What? O-Okay! I’ll come now.” You said as you had a tear roll down your cheek and he saw.

“Y/N? What’s wrong? Is everything okay?” Seungmin asked and you quickly got up to leave but he stopped you.

“Hey? Is everything okay?” Seungmin asked as he gently held your wrist and caressed it with his thumb.

“Y-Yeah. I’m so sorry but we have to postpone the date. I’m really sorry, Seungmin.”

“No, no, it’s fine. You don’t have to apologise. But, you sound like you’re heading somewhere. Do you need a ride?”

“I-I… I can get an uber. I don’t wanna trouble you.”

“No, please. I insist.” He said kindly and you were hesitant.

“But it’s a 2 hour drive from here…” You said and he smiled.

“At least you won’t be alone on your way there.” Seungmin said and your heart instantly melts for him.

“A-Are you sure?” You asked just to double confirm since you weren’t forcing him to take you to your destination.

“Absolutely. Come on. Go grab whatever you need and we’ll head out.” Seungmin says and you couldn’t help but lunge yourself onto him. You wrapped your arms around his waist as you buried your head in his chest.

“Thank you so much…” You whispered and he heard you. So he gently wrapped his arms around your shoulders to hold you for a bit before letting you go.

“Don’t mention it.” Seungmin smiles down at you as you both leave his apartment.

You went back to yours to quickly grab your belongings and soon left after locking your apartment door. Half an hour into the drive, neither of you were talking while the music played softly in the background. You have been texting your mum for the past few minutes to get an update on your grandma. Which he gave you the privacy to do so. When suddenly, you spoke up and Seungmin glanced at you briefly before he focused his eyes back on the road.

“My grandma fell down earlier and my parents are rushing her to the hospital…” Your voice was soft.

“I’m so sorry… Did they make it to the hospital?”

“Yeah. She’s in the A&E now, with the doctors.” You stared at your phone, unable to hide your emotions. Seungmin gently reaches over to scoop one of your hands. He tangles his fingers with yours while he rubs soft circles into the back of your hand with his thumbs.

“She’ll be okay.” Seungmin said, looking at you briefly only to catch a growing small smile on your face despite the tears in your eyes.

“I hope so.” You whispered and he turned back to the road. Through the entire drive, you held his hand in yours on your lap for comfort. The drive was surprisingly faster than you thought but thankful to have made it to the hospital safely. You rushed into the building after texting your mum for updates. When you make it to the ward, Seungmin trails behind you as you open the isolation ward door to find your parents on either side of the bed while your grandma lays there with a hip brace.

“Grandma!” You called as you rushed over to them. You cried upon seeing her there with a weak smile on her face.

“Hi my dear. How are you?” She asked.

“Why are you asking me? I should be the one asking you that question.” You said sadly and she chuckled.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m perfectly fine, sweetheart.” She says, making you sigh. Just then, your dad spoke up to acknowledge Seungmin as he came to stand next to your dad after bowing to him politely.

“Oh, hello son. You are?” You dad asked.

“Hi Sir. Um, I’m Seungmin. Y/N’s friend.”

“We were hanging out when mum called and he kindly offered to drive me here.” You explained to your parents only for them to feel thankful.

“Really? Oh how nice of you, dear. So sorry to trouble you to come all the way here.” Your mum said.

“It’s fine, Ma’am. I saw how shaken up she got after she received the call so I didn’t feel good to leave her on her own.” Seungmin said.

“Thank you for being here for my daughter.” Your dad said and Seungmin smiled.

The four of you spent the next hour there before your parents told you to head home. You frowned as you said you wanted to stay over back at your old home with them so you could come and visit your grandma for the next few days.

“What about Seungmin?” Your mum asked as you both turned to look at your dad talking to Seungmin by the door, a few metres away from you and your mum.

Seungmin did send you all the way here on a 2 hour drive because he didn’t want to let you be alone. So wouldn’t it be selfish if you told him to drive back home for 2 hours on his own now?

“Will you and dad be okay if he stayed with us for a couple days more before we head back?” You asked and she smiled.

“Of course sweetie. Besides, it wouldn’t be nice if you sent him home now after all that he’s done for you.”

“I know… Okay, I'll go and ask him.” You said as you got up and made your way over to him and your dad.

“Hey dad? I was thinking of staying with you and mum for a couple of days so I could come here and visit grandma.”

“Of course you can sweetie.” Your dad said before you glanced at Seungmin and then back at your dad.

“And I was wondering if you’ll be okay with Seungmin staying with us too before we head back together?”

Seungmin’s jaw drops slightly while your dad smiles, “Definitely.”

“B-But I-” Seungmin didn't finish his sentence when you cut him off.

“You offered to drive me here for 2 hours just so I wouldn’t be alone. I can’t just tell you to drive back home for another 2 hours on your own now. That’s unfair.” You smiled at him.

Meanwhile, your dad was just silently watching from the side with a fond smile on his face. Seungmin was shy but he knew you had a valid point. So he decided to agree with your offer. With that being said, you stayed for a little while more before all 4 of you made your way back to your old home. Your mum prepared the guest room quickly before she showed him to the room on the ground level next to the laundry room. Seungmin thanked your mum as he went inside to make himself comfortable.

In the meantime, you went through your closet to try and dig out whatever mens clothing that you bought for yourself to lend to him during his stay here. You came back down to find him sitting on the bed just staring at the window. So you knocked on the door softly to not startle him.

“Hey… You okay?” You asked and he smiled.

“Yeah. I’m okay.” Seungmin said before you walked in to pass him the clothes. He carefully took them from you and placed it next to him. You sat down beside him as you softly spoke up.

“You don’t have to stay if you have important things to do back home like work. I just felt bad if I told you to go back now after you’ve driven me all the way here.”

“It’s okay. I can just call in sick. They’ll understand.”

“Are you sure? I really don’t want to hold you back.”

“Don’t worry. I want to stay.” Seungmin said, awakening the butterflies in your stomach.

“Okay…” You whispered to him.

He glanced down at your lips briefly and you caught him. Seungmin then looked back into your eyes and gave you a gentle smile.

“You should get some rest.” He said, making you nod.

With that being said, you wished him goodnight and was on your way back to your room upstairs. A few hours went by and you couldn’t really sleep. You had a lot on your mind, especially thinking about your grandma. You sighed as you turned to the clock on your bedside table to see that it was half past midnight. You wondered if Seungmin was already asleep but you didn’t want to text him. So you got out of bed and tip-toed your way down the stairs. You carefully walked over to the guest room to see the door closed.

You hesitate at first, knowing you shouldn’t disturb him. But at that moment, you were yearning for his comfort so you decided to try your luck. You went up to his door and gave it two very soft knocks. You told yourself to wait for 3 seconds and if you got no reply, then you should just head back upstairs. However, before you could count to 2, the door swung open slightly and he looked wide awake.

“Y/N? Why aren’t you asleep yet?” He asked gently to which you bashfully smiled at him.

“U-Uh, I can’t sleep… Was I disturbing you? I’m so sorry.” You said but he shook his head and pulled the door open wider.

“No, you weren’t actually. Do you wanna come inside?” He asked and so you nodded. You walked towards his bed while he closed the door quietly before joining you.

“What were you doing before I came?” You asked.

“I was actually about to text you to ask if you had any spare charger that I could borrow.”

“Oh. I do. Let me go get it. It’s in the living room.” You said and he patiently waits for you. 2 minutes later, you came back with a charger in your hand and plugged it to the socket next to his bed.

“Thanks.” He says before plugging his phone in. You were about to leave, thinking you'd already disturbed him enough when he spoke up.

“I know you have trouble sleeping but do you maybe wanna lay down and at least try to fall asleep?” He asked.

“But, what if I end up falling asleep here?"

“I can just sleep here too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah? Why not?”

“Okay.” You whispered softly as he pulled the cover back so that he could climb in and you followed after. Once you were both snuggled in the guest bed, he turned to you with a gentle look on his face.

“Come here.” Seungmin said and so you took this chance to scoot over. You snuggled into his side, resting your head on his chest while he held you close. Seungmin’s lips brushed over your forehead and you could feel it. He caressed your wrist with his thumb that was resting on top of his chest. The room fell silent for a good minute or so. With him just softly running his fingers through your hair to smoothen the tangles out. Your eyelids finally began to droop down . Suddenly, Seungmin began to sing sweetly above you. His voice was sultry and smooth.

If he was a supernatural being, he could be a siren.

This works like a charm and you slowly begin to drift off to sleep. The next morning, you woke up to the feeling of someone hugging you from behind. You let out a soft sound from trying to stretch, only to hear him whine behind you.

“What time is it?” His raspy morning voice says from behind you.

You grabbed your phone to check the time and it was just a quarter to 8 in the morning, “It’s 7:45 am.”

“Mmm, more sleep then.” Seungmin hums as he nuzzles his face deeper into your neck while hugging you tightly. You fell asleep for another hour or two before you got woken up by your mother’s voice at the door.

“Kids, I’ve made breakfast.”

Seungmin groans softly before he responds to your mum, “Okay. Thank you.”

A few seconds later, you jolted up when it finally hit you.

“Shit… She knows I’m here.” You panicked, only for him to look at you and finally caught on.

“Oh…”

With that being said, you quickly got out of bed and left his room in hopes you don’t bump into your parents. However, when you were about to dash past the kitchen to head to the staircase, your mother caught you just in time.

“Oh good, you’re up. Where’s Seungmin?” She asks with a smile on her face while she pours fresh orange juice into the glasses.

“U-Uh… He’s awake, I think?” You replied and she simply laughed.

So you excused yourself to head back upstairs and wash up. You ended up spending another two more days there to visit your grandma before deciding to head back. While you were saying goodbye to your parents on the front porch, your mum said, “Seungmin is a sweet boy. It’s still not too late, you know?”

You knew what she was saying so all you did was smile at her. After you left, you never spoke about it throughout the drive. Instead, you talked about other things so that he does not get suspicious. When you finally arrived outside at your apartment unit, you turned to say thanks to him.

“Thank you again for everything.”

“You’re welcome.” Seungmin smiled as you were running out of words to say purely out of nerves. Just then, you wanted to cut the awkwardness so you excused yourself.

“Yeah, I’ll just head back inside. Thanks Seungmin.” You quickly said before rushing in.

You let out a heavy breath while leaning against your door. You wanted to get up and move on with your day but a huge part of you was screaming at you for leaving him out there.

Maybe he already went back into his apartment.

Maybe he went back downstairs to go for a drive.

Maybe he left because you abruptly left.

However, all your assumptions were false because when you decided to open the door and find him, you were surprised to find him standing outside your door with a sad frown on his face.

“Y/N?” He whispered your name.

With that being said, you threw yourself forward to wrap your arms around his shoulders and pull him in for a passionate kiss. You used both hands to gently hold his face while his hands slid around your lower back. When you pulled away to breath, he looked at you with a growing smile on his face.

“T-That um… Wow t-that was really nice.” Seungmin said softly and you blushed. He gently tugs you back in to kiss you again. You felt him smile against your lips, squeezing your waist softly. This time when he pulled away, he guided you back into your apartment as you giggled.

“I like you, Y/N.” He confessed to which you pushed your front door closed and smiled.

“Good… Because I like you too.”

Once you confessed your feelings, Seungmin kissed you again, more passionately as that would be the start of your relationship.

[sarahscribbles]

I feel like Conrad could be the type who gets horny when he’s jealous. Like if he broke up with you and saw you at a bar flirting with someone else, he’s like oops, I made a horrible mistake and the only way to deal with it is to interrupt this nonsense and fuck it out in the most convenient and reasonably private place. But maybe that’s just me.

𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐇𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐃𝐢𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: 𝐒𝐢𝐱 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐫𝐚𝐝 𝐱 𝐟!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: 𝐒𝐦𝐮𝐭

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 𝟐.𝟒𝐤

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐫𝐚𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

“...and that’s when I told him, “buddy, I’m the one who told your wife!””

Eric’s grating high pitched cackle regrettably brings your attention back to the present. He’s looking at you expectantly across the small bar table and so you do your best to force a polite laugh. He looks placated and so you relax, although it’s anyone’s guess what he’s been talking about for the past ten minutes. 

A small part of you feels guilty - it had been you who suggested this date, after all - but the plan you’ve been using him for has been falling into place since you both walked through the frosted doors to the bar. You had selected this table on purpose and took the side that offered you a clear view across the bar to the tiny booth by the window.

The tiny booth in which James has been watching you from all night. 

He’s been nursing the same bottle of 333 for over half an hour, and you’d be willing to bet that it’s still mostly full. Once those icy blue eyes had caught sight of you, everything else seemed to have faded away. 

Eric is in the middle of another mind numbing story, but you choose that exact second to let out a squeal of laughter and reach out a hand to place it on his forearm. At once, four pairs of eyes are on you. Eric’s are bright and disbelieving and maybe a tiny bit confused as to what exactly you’re laughing at.

Across the bar James’ are boring into you, almost as if daring you to laugh again. 

A burst of pride fills your chest. The man who insisted that he didn’t get jealous is jealous. Blindingly jealous. And it’s all because of you. 

“Eugene, you’re a balm for the soul, but would you excuse me for a minute? I’ve got to go powder my nose,” you interrupt your date so suddenly that he genuinely looks taken aback. 

Or at least that’s what you think. 

“It’s Emmet,” he says as you stand from the table. “My name is Emmet.”

You’re briefly mortified - he has served his purpose after all,- but it’s short lived when you glance quickly across the bar and lock eyes with James. Any mortification is soon replaced with exhilaration. 

“Emmet, right. My mistake,” you offer halfheartedly, already turning in the direction of the bathrooms before he can draw breath to reply. 

Your heels clack on the tile floor in time with the music that’s blaring obnoxiously from the small stage to your right, and it sends a rush of confidence straight to your head. You bask in it, letting the warm glow rush all the way to the bottom of your black stiletto heels.

Let James Conrad try and resist you tonight. 

Slowly, you descend the steps to the dimly lit bathrooms below. The music from above becomes muffled when you push through the heavy wooden door, giving you the perfect opportunity to hear the heavy tread of footsteps that follow down the stairs not two minutes later. 

You’re already standing at the mirrors reapplying your lipstick when the wooden door swings open, this time with force, and then it’s just you and James in a very small space.

Just like old times. 

“Fancy seeing you here,” you say after only a beat of silence, surprised at how confident you sound when your heart is beating a mile a minute inside your chest.

James doesn’t move an inch from where he’s standing in the doorway, but you can feel his eyes running over you like you’re a prize he’s finally caught. It’s nothing short of exhilarating to see how you still affect him, and it makes a small glimmer of hope burn in your chest that maybe he’s had the same misgivings as you about the sudden end of your relationship. 

“I could say the same about you,” he finally replies. “You told me you hated this place.”

You drop your lipstick back into your bag and turn to face him, allowing yourself only a second to drink in the familiar shape of the man you once loved. 

No. The man you still love. The man you never stopped loving. 

“No, I didn’t. I told you I hated the wine they served here. Two completely different grievances,” you reply, not missing the tiny twitch of his lips. “Anyway, what are you doing here? I thought you were off on the Galapagos somewhere.” 

“No, you didn’t.” James’ reply is instant, and the quiet confidence with which he says it makes something molten stir to life between your thighs. 

“Hmm, weird. Eddie and I were talking all about his latest posting and he told me he was in the Galapagos with James Conrad. Or maybe it was the guy from last week? I think his name was…Isaac?” you reply, doing your best to maintain a look of total innocence and delighting in the way he rolls his jaw in irritation. 

It’s how you know you’ve got him. 

James inhales deeply and wordlessly reaches an arm back behind him to flip the lock on the bathroom door. The click is barely audible, but it makes the air thicken with anticipation. Your eyes eagerly meet his, and you hold his gaze as he closes the distance between you in two large, slow strides, backing you firmly against the wall. The coldness of the tiles seeps through the thin material of your dress, but it contrasts oh so wonderfully with the heat of James’ body as he presses flush against you. 

“Enough,” he says, his voice low and dangerous, and he reaches out to take your chin between his thumb and forefinger. “I know exactly what you’re doing.”

His touch has excitement thrumming through your veins and awakens delicious memories of what those skilled hands are capable of doing elsewhere. Perhaps if you’re lucky…

A fresh pulse of heat pools between your thighs at the thought.

“Is it working?” you ask with a coy smile. 

His blue eyes dart momentarily to your lips, but they’re just as quickly back on yours and burning bright with desire. “Yes.”

Before you can even draw breath James’ lips are crashing roughly against yours while two large hands bracket your face. His kiss is hungry and demanding, like you’re an oasis in his never ending desert, and you meet his eagerness with your own. You want to devour him and, even with your arms possessively wrapped around his broad shoulders, it’s impossible to pull him close enough. 

How on Earth have you managed to survive six months without him? How did you ever let him convince you that breaking up was in your best interest? If tonight leads to anything more than this, you vow that you’ll never let this man go again. 

James is pressing you firmly against the bathroom wall, like he too can’t get close enough. You can feel the taut, toned muscles of his abdomen beneath the dark blue button down, and it almost sends you frantic with need. It’s impossible to stop your wandering hands from sliding down his back to dip beneath the hem, greedily exploring the dips and contours of his stomach and tracing the outline of his abs. 

James moans appreciatively against your lips and rewards you with a roll of his hips against yours. His cock is hard and straining against his jeans, making you almost dizzy with desire. You need James Conrad like you need the air in your lungs, even if it takes all damn night to be fully satisfied. 

Panting, you pull back from his kiss, but not without a parting nip to his bottom lip. “Is this what happens when I try to make you jealous?”

James is equally breathless as the tip of his nose lightly traces your cheek. “This is what happens when I realise that letting you go was the biggest mistake I ever made.”

Your heart skips joyously in your chest and you’re struck with the sudden need to hold him. “James…,” you breathe out softly, but his lips are back on yours before you can say anything more. 

His kiss is just as eager as before. You welcome it gladly, drinking in the taste of him while he hoists one of your legs around his waist, then the other until both are locked around him and he’s pinning you to the bathroom wall. 

Your dress is now somewhere around your waist, so when James rolls his hips against you once more, you can feel the teasing press of his cock through the thin lace of your underwear. It lights a fire deep in your core, a fire that will only be quenced by having him fuck you right here, right now. 

Just like the first time.

“James,” you say again against his lips, and there’s no missing the note of utter desperation in your voice. 

“Yes?” he replies, resting his forehead against yours. 

Your hands drop to his belt buckle, making short work of it and eagerly moving to his zipper. “Please. Right here. I’ve missed you too much.” 

He hums low in his throat but offers you a devastating smirk. “My depraved girl. I see you haven’t changed at all.” 

You succeed in freeing him from his boxers and impatiently wrap your hand around his cock, relishing the deep moan that floats sinfully from between his lips. “I’ve actually learned a few things,” you tease him. 

James wraps his hand around your own, coaxing it faster while the other pushes aside the skimpy lace underwear beneath your dress. “I expect a thorough lesson later.”

Later. That one simple word sends a wave of euphoria rushing through your blood. 

With your free hand you pull his lips closer to yours. “That depends on how well you perform right now.”

James grins at your teasing and you feel the head of his cock drag through your soaked cunt. “Wicked, wicked girl,” he whispers, claiming your lips right as he eases himself inside you. 

You whimper against his lips as he fills you slowly until you can take no more of him. Your cunt flutters wildly around him and you hear his quiet grunt of pleasure. It’s intoxicating - he’s intoxicating - and you don’t think you can last another second without being his. 

“Please, James,” you beg softly, clenching around him for good measure. 

His eyes are dancing as he gazes at you. “I never was able to deny you anything, was I?” he says, adjusting your legs around his waist. “I have no intention of starting now, darling girl.” 

He moulds his body instantly to yours, rolling his hips just right to hit that sweet spot inside you over and over. He knows you intimately, knows your body better than anyone else, and it isn’t long until you’re clinging desperately to his shoulders, repeating his name like a prayer to the Heavens and caring little if anyone can hear your cries of pleasure. 

In this moment James Conrad is all you know, he’s all you want to know, and when his hand slips between you both to expertly toy with your clit you know you’re done for. 

The heady combination of his fingers on your clit and his cock in your cunt have little stars dancing at the edges of your vision. Your release builds like a tidal wave in your core until it’s white hot and you’re dangling right off the glorious edge of the freefall. 

You aren’t going to last much longer.

“James…please…gonna cum….please,” you beg, closing your eyes against the sheer force of the pleasure building in your core. 

It’s been too long, too long since you’ve been properly fucked, and, from previous experience, you know this man is about to ruin you for anyone else. 

James is panting heavily in your ear, forehead resting against your temple while he’s half gone to his own impending climax. “‘Wait,” he pleads. “Wait for me.” 

With how sinfully he’s grunting and moaning in your ear and how precariously you’re balancing on the knife edge, you aren’t sure you can wait, but you hear his deep intake of breath barely a minute later. 

“Cum for me, my sweet girl. Now.” It’s a direct order, and one that you have no intention of disobeying. 

Your orgasm erupts with so much force that you can’t even scream. It steals the breath from your lungs, leaving you incapable of doing anything but clutch wildly at the man between your legs. You force yourself to breathe, and James’ name leaves you in a scream that rings off the bathroom walls, as though it’s the only word you’ll ever need to know. He pulls you tight against his firm chest as he rides out his own release, cursing and moaning your name until his hips finally go still. 

The silence of the bathroom is only broken by the joint sounds of your heavy breathing and the wet press of James’ lips to your neck. 

You’re boneless in his strong arms when you eventually come down off your high, unable to do anything but cling to him and nuzzle your face into the familiar comfort of his neck. He still uses the same cologne - the expensive one you bought him one Christmas - and it makes you grip him that little bit tighter. 

Had he ever really let go?

James’ chest is heaving as he holds you, and you feel the warmth of his palm as he runs it along your back. So much has changed in the past six months, yet nothing has changed at all. 

“I knew going on that date with Elliot was a good idea. Best sex I’ve had in six months,” you say finally - and a little groggily - against the warm skin of his neck. 

You hear James laugh quietly and press a kiss to your hair. “I’ve missed you, sweet girl. More than you know.” 

You return his kiss with one of your own to the juncture of his neck and shoulder, then raise your head to meet his eyes. “Then don’t let me go again,” you reply. It’s half an order, half a plea. 

James cradles your face in his hands, like you’re the one thing he’s waited his entire life to hold. “I lived six months without you. I don���t intend on ever doing it again.” 

It’s a promise that he seals with a kiss.

[heavcnslyre]

chapter six — j.f. ( masterlist )

THIS IS ME TRYING.

“and my words shoot to kill when i’m mad

i have a lot of regrets about that.”

taglist: @jellybassett @glowingtree @always-reading @yla-aira @infinitywarnatenthusiast @imogen-skye @ilovegilmoregirls @lucidlivi @rubydubytuby @creepynativekid @miniemonie2001 (comment or message me to join!)

you sat alone in your room for a while, attempting to calm yourself down. it really seemed stupid after a while, honestly. jeremiah was probably just trying to be nice, and she might find someone else to bring her anyways. it wasn’t something you had to freak out about.

jeremiah knocks on your door after almost an hour.

“come in,” you call out. you’re laying in your bed, aimlessly scrolling on your phone. jeremiah comes in and smiles at you softly, then takes a seat on the edge of your bed.

“moms are back,” he says. “storms pretty much let up now, but they’re still trying to figure out the power.”

“that’s good,” you reply. he studies your face.

“is everything okay? you…left kinda abruptly.”

you look down at your hands. “oh, uh, yeah. i just…i don’t know.”

“what is it, (y/n)?” jeremiah asks, his tone serious. you look up at him.

“are you seriously going to be belly’s escort?”

he flinches. “oh. that. yeah, i think so. i mean… she told me that apparently conrad asked to be her escort but he’s been so shitty to her lately i just figured that i would do something nice for her. why not, right?”

“yeah, sure,” you say dismissively, rolling your eyes up to the ceiling. “why not?”

“what’s the problem, (y/n)?” he asks genuinely. you sigh and shake your head.

“why is she the exception for you, jeremiah?” you ask. “why, out of everyone, is she the exception?”

he stares at you, confused. “what the hell are you talking about?”

“every single time a debutante ball has ever been brought up you’ve sworn to never be an escort in your life. why is now your one exception?”

“why does it matter?” he asks. “i care about belly. of course i’m going to do something nice for her. why are you so mad about it?”

“are you kidding?” you ask, anger suddenly rising in your chest. “do you not remember when i was going to be a debutante last year?”

“(y/n), what does that have to do with me?”

“the day we sat down at dinner and i said that i was thinking about being a debutante. you immediately sat there and scoffed, and said that debutante balls were terrible and you would never be an escort,” you shake your head. “i gave up on being a debutante after that.”

jeremiah’s voice dropped. “but, why? why did my opinion matter to you? you had so many guys who would have been your escort.”

“you were the only person i would even consider asking, jeremiah,” you blurt out, and he lifts his head in surprise.

“what?”

“i genuinely cannot believe that you don’t know this already,” you run your hand through your hair. “i wanted to be your exception, jere. i would’ve loved to be a deb if you were my escort. but you couldn’t stand the idea of being my escort, could you?”

“(y/n), if i had known…” he trails off. you shake your head.

“whatever, okay?” you say. “it doesn’t matter anymore. i’ve moved on from it.”

“you could have told me,” he says.

“you really don’t get it, do you?” you ask. “you made it such an obvious point to bring that up in that moment. you knew what you were doing, jeremiah. you didn’t think of me the same way. it’s whatever. be belly’s escort. she deserves to have someone who cares about her.”

“why do you just assume i was trying to hurt you?” he asks, his tone suddenly defensive. “why couldn’t it have been an honest mistake, that i didn’t realize you thought of me like that?”

“what do you want me to think, then? that you tried to hurt me or that you’re blind?”

“you’re being ridiculous.”

“ridiculous? really?” you scoff. “how more obvious could i have fucking been? the last three summers i have done nothing but basically throw myself at you and you just—“

“no!” he yells, suddenly standing up from your bed. “no, (y/n), you don’t get to do this! you came here this summer with a boyfriend and didn’t tell me! we got so close this past year and you never fucking told me you had a boyfriend, so i walked in to this summer stupidly thinking that now was our time for something to happen. then you drop that fucking bomb on me and expect everything to be normal? you cannot call me blind when all summer you’ve been the one pretending that everything is as it’s always been.”

“jeremiah, you’re literally not listening to me,” you reply, mirroring his frustrated tone. “everything is as it’s always been to me because you’ve always treated me like this! you’ve always acted like i was so special and then walked away from me into the nearest arms of some other guy or girl! you’ve never made your feelings clear. i’m so fucking sorry that me getting a boyfriend ruined all of your plans for us that i was never a part of.”

“you’re such a fucking hypocrite,” he groans, running his hand through his hair. “you’ve always done the same thing! neither of us have ever expressed our feelings to the other. you cannot place all of this on me!”

“whatever, jeremiah,” you say, not looking at him. “whatever makes you feel good about yourself.”

he stands there and stares at you for a moment before turning around and leaving your room, slamming the door behind him. for what felt like forever, you sat motionless, staring at the door behind him. your mind was racing. jeremiah fisher just admitted he has feelings for you. that was a conversation you had imagined in your mind for years, but this wasn’t at all how you wanted or expected it to go. part of you hated yourself for being so harsh. maybe he truly just didn’t see the signs you gave him. maybe he talked himself out of believing them, just like you had for so long. but part of you was relieved that you got those feelings out. being in love with someone brings about positive emotions, but no one talks about the genuine resentment that goes along with the pining. as your feelings grew, so did the pain. a weight was lifted off of your shoulders. but, a new, maybe even heavier one replaced it. you just had the biggest fight of your lives with your best friend. no matter what, your friendship had to come first.

as much as you do genuinely believe that, you are still beyond pissed at him. you have so many unanswered questions that you aren’t even sure how to ask him. part of you talked yourself out of even believing that he had meant that he had feelings for you, but you had to try to ignore those thoughts, or else you knew you’d make things worse.

although it was still early in the evening, shortly after he left, you put your phone down and go to sleep. you decide that being asleep was better than having to stay up and think about that conversation. the power still wasn’t on, and it continued to rain outside for a while, the dark sky being a pretty good representation of how you were feeling. as dramatic as that seemed, it really was true. you felt so shitty. that was truly the only way to describe it. shitty and pathetic.

[charliedawn]

Hiya Charlie! I missed ya! I’ve been busy with college. I finally changed my major to American history and I’m happier.

Anyway I have a request for you! Idk if you do AUs or anything, but I thought it’d be fun. How about a Hannibal royal family au? I’ve been reading a lot about knights and princes and princesses lately, and this idea wouldn’t leave my brain!

have a lovely day Charlie!

ROYAL HANNIBAL FAMILY AU:

You were but a villager.

In no way were you expected to attend any royal ceremony or to even set foot into the palace…but, you had still received a letter one morning—inviting you to the castle. You had believed in a hoax at first—a joke. Or maybe even a mistake. But, the letter had your name on it—written in pretty cursive.

You were hence invited to the castle of the royal family. Once confirmed, you began to be frightened. Many rumours went about that place…And some of them were gruesome.

Tales of man-eating monsters and bloodthirsty creatures hiding within the castle.

You didn’t know why you had been invited—but you knew that you had no choice but to accept the invitation or some misfortune might befall on you. You hence stepped within the walls of the dark castle where many had stepped in before—only to never return…

You knew you ought to bring a gift for the family, and hence chose to pluck flowers from your garden and bring them with you—hoping they would be enough to change your destiny.

HANNIBAL SR. THE KING:

Fleur de Lys.

For the king, you had brought magnificent fleurs de lys—the royal flower. It was said to bring peace and prosperity to a kingdom. You entered the throne room and sure enough, here was his majesty the king. Your knees started shaking as you made your way into the throne room and bowed deeply before none other than King Hannibal Lecter. His eyes seemed to bore into yours and he didn’t talk for a moment—until his eyes landed on the flowers.

"…Are those for me ?" He asked and you nodded before taking a step forward.

"Yes, my king." To your utter surprise, king Hannibal himself stood up and walked down the stairs of his throne to you. He then took the flowers in his hands and smiled.

"…Ah. Fleur de Lys. How thoughtful. A worthy gift. Such a lovely one at that." His eyes looked down at the unfortunate creature who had come into his castle for the sole purpose of being hunted.

"Tell me, my dear child. Why bring me flowers ?"

He was genuinely curious and you smiled before slowly looking back up at him.

"You and your family have been protecting this land and our way of life for as long as I can remember. And I knew that if I was to meet a king, then I was to bring a gift to show my gratitude as to this unexpected invitation."

Hannibal Sr looked at the villager curiously. It was rather odd. No villager had ever brought a gift with them before…But, it wasn’t unwelcome. He smiled. It was even quite touching in a way…He gave the flowers to a servant for them to put them in a vase. He then looked back down at the villager.

"What is your name, child ?" He asked—his voice authoritative and loud enough to echo all around the throne room like thunder.

"…Y/N. My king." You replied before looking up at him and he smiled as he looked at you curiously. You were intriguing. He hummed before returning to his throne to sit back down.

"How about I offer you a job, Y/N ? Would you like that ? Would you consider to work under my service ?" He asked and your eyes widened at the offer.

"Sir…I would love nothing more."

And just like that, you had now been hired by the royal family as a servant. And for the first time, the villagers saw one of their own return to the village. You quickly packed your bags and left—unaware the fate that you had miraculously escaped.

HANNIBAL JR. THE PRINCE REGENT:

Roses.

When you approached the gates, you could already see the guards staring at you with knowing smirks. You gulped. They seemed to know something about the purpose behind your visit and the way they looked at you made you involuntarily shiver…You looked at the roses in your hands. Perhaps your gift would spare you punishment, or even death ? You shook your head at the dark thoughts plaguing your mind before stepping inside and making your way to the throne room…You were expecting to meet with the king.

But instead, the Prince Regent was sitting there—his piercing gaze staring at you intensely as you approached.

"M-My prince…" You greeted him politely before bowing respectfully before him.

"…I was made aware that you had a gift for me, is that correct ?" He asked and you bowed your head deeply before offering the roses to his gaze.

"Yes, my prince. Roses." He scoffed before standing up to look at the roses closely.

"I have many roses within my kingdom, why would you bother bringing me such a gift ?" You stayed completely still and didn’t know how to answer.

"I…I just thought that his majesty would appreciate them. I have grown them myself and I thought that you would be able to appreciate a gift as this one because I heard you valued hard work and dedication. I only wished to prove myself to you."

Hannibal Jr smirked before grasping your chin and slowly tilting it up to look into your eyes.

"Very well…And what can you do for me then, little flower ?"

You started thinking about it before replying confidently.

"…Anything you want, my prince."

He studied your answer and smiled as his eyes didn’t leave yours for a second. He finally released your chin and seemed pleased by your answer.

"Anything you say ? Interesting."

Maybe…Would he keep that one ?

MORGAN HANNIBAL THE FIRST PRINCE: Pansies

Once you had entered, you followed your instincts to give you the path to the throne room, as no one seemed to be around to guide you. You started walking until you reached a magnificent door with lovely gold patterns. You thought it was the throne room and opened the door—only to end up in a library. You looked around curiously. The village didn’t have books such as these—not as many anyway…And besides, only a lucky few knew how to read. And they didn’t share their knowledge unless they were paid…

Then, your eyes landed on a book that was open on the table. You knew you better haste and find the throne room before your time was up but…Curiosity got the best of you and you slowly made your way to the book. You hoped there would at least be pictures for you to look at…Once close enough, you looked at the pages and found it rather curious to find the illustrated representation of a rabbit wearing a waistcoat and holding a pocket watch…How curious.

As the pages were flipped, more incongruous and confusing characters came in, all the more interesting as the pages went along…You couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of a smiling purple cat. You then wondered who that book might well belong to ?

Suddenly, you felt a presence behind you and before you could turn around—you felt the hand of a stranger at the back of your neck and forcing you to remain in the same position…bent over the book.

"…Do you like it ?" He asked—his voice merely a whisper in your ear and you gulped as you started becoming nervous.

"I…I didn’t mean to look at it. I am sorry, sir. Please. Forgive me."

He tsskd in disapproval before digging his fingers into your skin.

"Answer my question, little mouse…or your last words will be the apology."

And with that threat, your tongue started working on its own.

"Y-Yes. I like it. I love the pictures and the funny animals. I just…I would just like to understand more. I have trouble understanding the story. I am sorry."

He hummed behind you before sitting down next to you. That is when his face came into view and your eyes widened as you recognised the first prince…You wished to escape—but his grip hadn’t loosened as he took the book and opened it on the first page.

To your utter shock, he started reading it to you. His voice was cold, but poised and rich like cinnamon and melted sugar…After a while, you decided it was best to just listen and enjoy the privilege of being read to. You didn’t even notice when his grip on you finally loosened completely and he instead started circling the side of your throat with his thumb—seeking your pulse and wondering if you were afraid.

He searched for fear. He found none…His eyes settled on the flower pot you had brought with you…pansies. You had brought pansies to the castle and he held back a laugh before continuing reading to you.

You had no idea of the fate awaiting you.

KEVIN HANNIBAL THE MIDDLE PRINCE: Daffodils.

"HELLO, PRECIOUS !" You were stunned when the doors of the castle opened wide and none other than Prince Kevin came out with a big grin on his face. "Come in, luv’. Make yourself at home !"

He took your hand and before you could as much as let out a squeak of protest…You were already in. He dragged you all the way to—what you assumed to be—his bedroom. It was a great room with all the luxury one could afford…but what truly struck you wasn’t the fine furniture and incredible gold, silver and emerald green designs worthy of such a man…No.

It was the paintings.

Hundred of them. They were covering the walls and for a simple villager, it was like walking inside a great museum. You had never seen so many paintings, or even held a brush before. But, you couldn’t but to marvel facing all those reproductions of people you had met, people you had never met, places you had seen and other unseen…It put into perspective all the things you knew and didn’t in such a beautiful way.

The prince remained silent—observing you with a slight tilt of his lips. He was holding back a smile as he saw the admiration in your gaze…The middle prince was foreign by what the rumours said about him—from a country far away surrounded by water and where dark creatures resided. But, his smiling face was a complete contrast with what you thought your first meeting with royalty would be.

"Not bad, eh ?" He asked and his accent rolled off his tongue in such a way that it inwardly made you smile for some reason.

"Those are…incredible, my prince." He chuckled at your compliment before looking down at the flowers in your hands.

"Are those for little old me ?" Before you could answer, he took the flowers from you and smiled at the daffodils. He then did something unexpected and threw the flowers on his bed. You were about to ask the reason before he wordlessly guided you to the bed and laid you down carefully. He then started placing the flowers all around your head—as if putting together an art piece. When he was finished, he smiled.

"Don’t move." He then quickly grabbed brushes, colours and a canvas to start painting. You didn’t dare move as he put himself to work and silent fell all around you—except for the occasional sounds of the careful strokes of his paintbrush on the canvas and your breathing. After a while, you dared to glance at the prince and observe him as he worked. He was…quite handsome. His eyelids lowered and his eyes focused on his work. You didn’t know the reason for your summoning, but you would have never thought it was to be the model for the prince’s next art piece.

Suddenly, his eyes met yours and he smiled knowingly—for a moment resembling his own art in the perfection of his traits.

You smiled back.

PETER HANNIBAL. THE YOUNGEST PRINCE: Sunflower.

Peter was bored. His father and brothers were all busy with their duties and he wasn’t allowed outside the wall of his room. He sighed and was staring out his window. He wished for a friend…a friend to come and cure his boredom. And as if his prayers had finally been answered, someone entered his room—someone new. He had first expected Morgan or Kevin, but his eyes lit up when he realised that it was someone he had never seen before…

"Oh. My apologies. I…I am afraid I am a bit lost."

His mouth was about to speak up when they landed on the sunflower in your hand instead. A sunflower ? You had brought a sunflower ? He stared at it and you noticed. You smiled before giving it to him. He was surprised, but smiled at the gift that he eagerly received and stared at…

"Could you please tell me the direction of the throne room ?" They asked with an incredibly sweet voice and Peter was stunned for a few seconds. The throne room ? No…So, they were the next meal ? The next one to be served as dinner for his family ? He looked them up and down and in a matter of seconds—took a decision. He stood up and went to the door to lock it. He then remained with his back facing you for a while before slowly turning back towards you with the biggest grin on his face.

"C-Could you play a game with me ? Just the two of us ?" You blinked twice in astonishment at his request before chuckling nervously.

"Hum…I am not sure, my prince. I think I ought to go to the throne room now before I arrive late…"

"Just one. PLEASE !" He pleaded and you knew that he wouldn’t take no for an answer, so you smiled and nodded in agreement. "Sure. What is the game then, my prince ?"

He giggled and his face got closer to you before he replied:

"Listen to me and do everything I say or…you die." You were taken aback for a moment before you huffed a nervous laugh.

"…What ?"

Suddenly, his jovial smile disappeared—replaced by darkness in his eyes.

"You heard me. Do as I say or…my papa and my brothers will find you and eat you. But, I can keep you safe. I can help you. All you have to do is promise to be my friend !" At that last part, he grinned again and you knew better than to ignore such words. They were no laughing matter—especially that you knew you hadn’t been the first to be summoned and to never return. You realised that he wasn’t kidding and you gulped. What choice did you have ?

You bowed.

"Yes. Thank you, my prince."

His grin widened before he hugged you tightly.

"You and I…we’re gonna be best friends. You’ll see. And I’ll love you and you’ll love and it is gonna be so great ! You’ll see…"

Indeed, you would…

You thought before a petal of the sunflower fell to the floor.

[katsu28]

hello!! could i request ambrosia from the flower prompt list with roy & gn!reader? thank you <3

my first time writing gn!reader, please let me know if i've made any mistakes! <3

ambrosia: a successful love confession, roy kent x gn!reader, 1.2k

Roy Kent was a lot of things. A legendary footballer, a great coach, an even better uncle. 

Being observant? That wasn’t one of his strong suits. For someone so unnervingly wise, you would’ve thought he’d be, but he wasn’t. Case in point, this little back and forth you’d been having with him for the past few months. You were friends, yes, but you wanted to be more. You thought he would’ve picked up what you were putting down by now, but he hadn’t. 

You’d done everything but throw yourself at him, and he still hadn’t gotten the hint. So now, you were on your last resort—telling him flat out that you fancied him. It was the only way to get it through his thick skull. 

You caught him as he was exiting the locker room this time, calling his name as you jogged towards him. 

His eyebrows flew up in surprise when he spotted you and he held a hand up in greeting. “Hey. You alright?” 

“Good. I’m good, everything’s…” 

“Good?” He supplied, arching a dark brow. You nodded stiffly and he suddenly looked amused at whatever was going on with you. “Glad to hear. You, uh—you look really nice today.” 

He did this all the time. Said or did something that made you think that maybe, just maybe, he might have some more than friendship feelings for you—and then he’d avoid you for the rest of the day. Sometimes even two days. And then he’d be right back at it with the compliments. It was a never ending cycle of the same thing, and quite frankly you were getting tired of it. 

You grabbed Roy’s arm, yanking him across the corridor and into the boot room, letting the door slam shut behind you before whirling around to face him. 

“What the fuck?” 

“I’ve had it with you, Roy.” 

Roy opened his mouth to respond but closed it right after, pressing his lips together in thought before speaking. “Is something wrong?” 

“Is something wrong? Are you fucking kidding me?” 

“...No.” You had to hand it to him, he was doing a good job of looking genuinely confused. His brow furrowed even deeper. “Are you okay?” 

“No, I’m not okay.” You huffed. “I’m in love with you, Roy. And I’ve been trying to drop hints and skirt around the topic hoping that you’d pick up on it, but obviously you haven’t.” 

Roy blinked a few times, processing the new information slowly. “You’re fucking joking.” 

“Why would I even joke about something like this?” You asked shakily, pushing down the feeling of shame creeping through you, threatening to crawl up out of your throat in the form of a pitiful cry. 

This was the worst possible way your plan could’ve gone. Roy didn’t feel the same way about you as you did about him, and now things were weird. You’d probably just fucked up your entire friendship with him, all because you couldn’t keep your fucking feelings in check.

Roy’s mildly amused expression immediately morphed into one akin to horror at the realization that you were entirely serious. “Wait, wait, that’s not what I—I didn’t mean it like that. I just—fuck, I don’t even know what to say.” 

“Maybe start with an actual, thoughtful response? S’not like I just bared my soul to you or anything.” 

He was silent for an agonizingly long time before he inhaled a sharp breath. “I just…I never thought someone like you would ever be interested in someone like me.” 

“How could I not? You care about others even if you don’t show it, you’re passionate about what you do, you’re annoyingly fit.” That last part made Roy straighten up a little bit, dark eyes crinkling at the edges in the tiniest of smiles. “I think I’ve loved you since the day I met you.” 

He just blinked at you some more, like he couldn’t bring himself to believe what was happening right now. That was also something you’d learned about him in the time that you’d known him—the time it had taken you to fall in love with him. 

Roy Kent was a rock. Stagnant. Unwavering. He was the team’s rock, and it helped them to become a top tier Premier League team while also providing a supportive environment for these people he called his friends—his family. 

But being a rock wasn’t always a good thing. Sometimes being a rock meant he was only in his own way of change. He was the reason he believed he didn’t deserve anything good in life. 

You were here to prove him wrong, to prove that he deserved happiness. And maybe it was a little presumptuous of you to assume that you could be a source of that happiness, but neither of you would know if you didn’t at least take that chance. 

Roy was never one for many words, so he did the only thing he could think of that would show you his feelings better than his words ever could. 

He kissed you. 

He kissed you like you’d slip from his grasp at any moment, like if he didn’t hold onto you this all might be a dream and he’d wake up wishing it was real. 

“Fucking hell. Didn’t think I’d ever get to do that.” 

“I wish you’d done it sooner.” 

Roy stifled a snort of laughter, giving you a playful squeeze around the waist. “Me too.” 

“So what now?” 

“We’ll figure it out. Together.” He replied, eyes flicking around your face, taking in each and every one of your features like he was trying to commit you to memory. “And don’t you say a fucking word to anyone, Will. You hear me? Nobody.” He growled, not even looking away from you whilst he spoke. 

Your face grew warm with embarrassment even though you couldn’t see where Will was. You hadn’t even known he was in the room in the first place. Guess the talk about Will the kit man knowing everyone’s secrets had some truth to it after all. 

“No, ‘course I won’t.” The poor boy squeaked from somewhere behind Roy, clutching a pair of boots to his chest with wide eyes. “I’ll take it to my grave.” 

“Good.”

“Thank you, Will,” You offered meekly, peeking over Roy’s shoulder with what you hoped was a reassuring smile. 

“No problem. Happy for you two!” With that, Will practically scurried out of the room, leaving the two of you to finally be alone with each other.  

You smacked Roy’s firm chest halfheartedly, squinting up at him. “You’re so mean to him!” 

“Well I can’t have everyone knowing I’m capable of such a successful love confession, now can I?” 

“Successful? This whole thing was a train wreck, Kent.” 

“Kinda sums us up though, doesn’t it? Wasting the past few months we could’ve had with each other because neither of us wanted to fucking do anything about it?” 

“I guess it does. Not anymore though, right? We’re both on the same page about things? About us?” 

“About offing Will if he tells anyone about what he just witnessed?” You smacked his chest a second time. “Yes, we’re on the same page. Now are you gonna let me take you out to dinner tonight or are we gonna waste even more time?”

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[tauforged]

i have got to let go of the ‘yay i’m gonna get a good grade in xyz’ mindset because in reality 99% of the people around me are not, in fact, keeping the score, my supervisor isn’t gonna remember the fact that i knocked over a vial this morning and hold it against me if i drop something tomorrow too. my coworkers aren’t meticulously keeping track of how many times i do abc task vs how many times they do it before i get to it. the people in other departments who walk past our office occasionally aren’t noticing whether or not i’m on my phone during downtime. by constantly acting as though i’m being held up against a standard im doing myself a massive disservice and seriously harming my mental state and making it harder to relax at work

HOWEVER. there’s still something really gratifying about my supervisor coming to check in with me before she leaves for the day and being genuinely pleasantly surprised when i inform her that i e already taken care of a handful of things we talked about earlier this morning, that i’ve written down most of what i think needs to be taken care of this afternoon and i’m pretty firm on what’s going on tomorrow, and that i’m confident in my abilities to do all of this without her help and will let her know if i’ve got any questions. like YESSSSS HAHA IVE REDEEMED MYSELF FOR THE MISTAKE I MADE EARLIER TODAY THAT ONLY I REMEMBER OR CARE ABOUT!!!

[maninthemiroh]

My CM DR as Incorrect Quotes P2

John: Do you guys ever have a civilized conversation that doesn't require insulting each other every time you get a chance? Strauss: No. Me: No. John: Didn't think so.

Dave, to Spencer and I: Woah, dude, premarital hand holding? That’s totally not groovy! Me, squinting: How many wives have you had? Dave, putting his hands up, placatingly: Touché.

Aaron, to Emily and Luke: I need both of you to help, and by "help,” I mean “do literally anything.” Emily, smirking deviously: Anything? Aaron: Aaron: I sense that I’ve made a mistake.

*While the team is in a shootout* Tara, trying to warn about the location of an enemy: To the left! Derek: Take it back now, y'all!

Spencer: When I first got my autism diagnosis, my first thought was, “Woah, it’s canon,” and I think that maybe things like that are why Corvid made me get tested, too.

Dave to Kate: If we’re in trouble, just throw JJ, Aaron, and Corvid at the problem, then hope for the best.

Spencer: Are you having another depressive episode? Me: A depressive episode? Me: I'm having a depressive series, and we're just on season one.

John: I can’t tell if you’re a genius or just incredibly arrogant. Dave: Well, on a good day, I’m both.

Alex, discreetly texting Kate: Alex, help! Me and Corvid are being kidnapped! Kate: Where are you? Alex: We’re with some strange man in a car, and Corvid is asleep. Help! Kate: I'll call Spencer. Spencer, answering his cell: Y'ello? Kate: Alex texted me and said she and Corvid were being kidnapped. Spencer: Whaddya mean, they're both with me- Spencer:Spencer, hanging up: I'll call you back. Spencer: THE NEW HAIRCUT ISN'T THAT BAD! Alex: WHO ARE YOU!?

Derek on Monday, glueing a dime to the sidewalk: Heh, heh, heh. Derek on Wednesday, walking down the street: Ooh, a dime! Must be my lucky day :)

JJ, holding the aforementioned item out to me: I made this friendship bracelet for you.Me, squinting: You know, I’m not really a jewelry person.JJ, retracting her hands: You don’t have to wear...Me, snatching it from her: No, I’m going to wear it forever, fuck off.

Matt: Emily, what did you do!?Emily: I took your advice. I stopped running from the problem, and I tackled it head on. Matt: I meant try emotional honesty, not murder!!

Tara: What’s the straightest thing you’ve ever done? Matt, embarrassed: Killed someone.

Derek: Working sucks.Derek: I want to be a malewife where my only responsibilities are being sexy and cute.

Kate: You need a hobby. Penelope: I have a hobby! Kate: Hitting Luke isn't a hobby.

Linda Barnes: *Is lying on the floor with her eyes closed*Dave: Hey, is she sleeping or dead?Kate, shrugging: Hopefully dead, I hated her. Dave, nodding: Yeah, me too.Linda Barnes, sitting up: First of all, fuck you guys.

Me: You’d be stupid to genuinely try and fight me. Luke: Oh, you’d be surprised how much stupid shit I do.

Tara: They made Penelope cry!Matt: Penelope always cries! Penelope, already tearing up: That's not true!

Derek: Don’t worry, I have a permit.Aaron: This just says, “I can do whatever I want.”

Emily: I like your new pants! Spencer: Thanks, they were 50% off!Emily, winking: I’d like them better if they were 100% off. Spencer: The store can’t just give away clothes for free.Emily: That’s... not what I meant. Spencer: That’s a terrible way to run a business, Luke.

John and I: We’re not funny, we’re just really mean, and people think we’re joking.

Matt: Thank you for not saying, "I told you so." Me, shrugging: When you’re as right as I am, you don’t have to say it.

Derek: Is this about me? Luke: No. Derek: Then I've lost interest.

John: Do you have a second to talk about the environment?Strauss, drunk again: Do you have a second to eat my farts?

Penelope to Spencer: You should change your passwords to "incorrect." Then, every time you forget it, the system will remind you, “Your password is incorrect.”.

Emily: Corvid likes to say ‘you can be part of the problem or part of the solution,’ but I happen to believe you can be both.

Matt: What’s up with you? Luke: What do you mean?Matt: You’ve been nice, helpful, and actually funny all day. What’s your game?

John: I truly believe that water can solve all your problems. John: Weight loss? Drink water.John: Clear skin? Drink water.Me: Want to get rid of someone? Drown them.

Spencer, talking to Matt: You’re trying to lure me into a false sense of security! Well, joke’s on you! I’ve never been secure in my life! And I’m not about to start now!

Dave: No more making fun of me when I misuse dated cultural references, alright? Are we cowabunga on this? Spencer, sighing: Fine, we're cowabunga.

Alex: Hey, wanna hear a funny joke?Me: I only like dark humor.Alex, turning the lights off: What do you call a fake noodle? Me:Alex: An impasta!

Aaron: I just had a long talk with Luke and Penelope about hitting, and now they are yelling, “It’s my turn to perpetuate the cycle of violence” before hitting each other.

Derek: If I run and leap at Corvid, they will most certainly catch me in their arms. Derek, running towards me: Incoming!Me: No! I’m holding coffee!Me, resigned: *Drops coffee and catches Derek*

Me: Dammit, you ruin everything! Strauss: You're welcome.

Strauss: Gagak isn’t answering my calls. Aaron: Allow me. Strauss: I tried 6 times, what makes you thi- Me, answering on the first ring: Hello?

Tara: Are you sure Spencer’s going to be able to handle that Ikea furniture? They’re not very good with technical stuff… JJ: Why are you worried? Ikea is easy to navigate! Everything’s color coded, numbered, and there’s even an assembly robot option to make it even easier for him, which we’ve obviously opted in for. All they need to do is press the clearly labeled ON button, scan the QR code on the front of the box, and it’ll take care of the rest. Even a monkey could do it! *JJ’s phone rings* Spencer: Hey, so I’m at Lowes… Tara: … Tara: I should have gone with the monkey.

Me: I told Spencer to grab snacks for everyone.Derek, looking through the options: Why did you grab fruit snacks? Are you five? Who even likes fruit snacks? *Aaron, Alex, Dave, Emily, Luke, Penelope, and Spencer raise their hands.*

Penelope: Let’s watch Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Me: Okay. Penelope: And make out during the scary parts. Me: Th- Me: The scary parts. Me: Of Sharkboy and Lavagirl?

Luke: *Is hugging me*. Penelope: Hey, it's my turn to hug Corvid! Penelope: *Grabs Corvid* Emily, kicking down the door: What do you mean, "yOuR tUrN"? We agreed now is my time slot! Luke: No, it's still my turn! Me, suffocating: Guys, you know I barely like affection as is, now you’re trying to schedule it…? Luke: But we need the moral support! Penelope: And you're like a giant teddy bear! Emily: If I don't hug you right now, I think the depression will kick in and my body will stop functioning. Me, tiredly: Fine.

Tara, on the phone: Where are you? Emily: I told you, I’m at home. Tara: Swear you’re not at Chuck E Cheese again? *Skee ball machine alarm goes off in the background*

Supervillain!Unsub: I have an army. Matt, shrugging: We have a Corvid.

JJ: I need life advice. Penelope, sipping Gatorade and eating cookie dough: You came to the right person.

Luke: The best part of an Oreo is the cookie part, not the frosting. Deal with it. Me: Darkness without light is an abyss, and light without darkness is blinding; you cannot have a coin with one side. Luke: YO, SOCRATES, IT'S A FUCKING COOKIE!

Spencer: I wish I could control wasps and bees to sting my enemies. Dave: You’re too young to have enemies. Spencer: You don’t even know.

End note: All quotes, though many were modified, originally hail from this link!

Divider credits: @/i-mmaculatus and @/v6quE

Taglist: @amiivrse @colettecrybaby @the-badass-penguin

[ryunnies]

ok so i posted that answer prematurely and deleted but the anon isn’t back in my inbox… so. below is the ss of the anon and my response:

i apologize that this has taken me a week to get to, but as i mentioned in my other post regarding this anon, i wanted to take my time with it. it’s been a busy week for me and i’ve been going back and forth on how i wanted to respond.

felix in himself has feminine features and i did not exaggerate that other than have elliot’s nickname be ellie and have she/they pronouns. when creating the backstory of my muse, felix was the fc i had in mind. that is my process when i create muses. ellie loved to dance and bake and be social and make their friends smile/happy. she wore baggy/comfy clothing and only had an interest in makeup when she got into a relationship. ellie was in a polyamorous relationship, yes with 2 other male fcs, but none of them identified as cismale/men. there was genuine chemistry between them and, to me, it did not matter what their fcs were. i can’t speak for the other 2 muns but i tried my best to have ellie be as inclusive as possible, to not talk badly about people, to strive to do better every day but my mindset in that shifted when i saw how people treated ellie and their partners. so she didn’t try so hard with people and decided to focus on herself and their budding family. and to my knowledge, we were never “called out” for being cliquey or odd. i was also grieving the loss of a very close family member so some days i wasn’t able to get to dms or keep up in a way that ellie would and that caused some tension between ic friendships. the admins reached out to me once for a situation between another mun who’s muse would ignore and subtweet ellie and would be rude if she did decide to interact and decided to block me out of the blue. this was apparently over an ooc issue from my previous muse in that rp THAT I HAD NO IDEA ABOUT. i thought it was strange that the admins were allowing someone to keep my muse blocked and blur the lines between ic and ooc, but knowing what i know now about the admins, i can’t say im surprised. but at the time i let it go. the only reason i left was because i was planning on leaving anyway (i’ve talked about it to a handful of muns from muses that ellie was close too because, like some, i wasn’t fully ready to let go yet) because the stress it caused me was. not. worth. it. did i jump to that decision faster than i would have because one of my ship partners left? yes. but i tried it for a few days and was just not feeling it so i posted my unfollow.

i tried very very hard with ellie to be mindful and not talk poorly about others and to avoid putting my thoughts and feelings into her because i knew i was going through a tough time and i wanted ellie to be a positive outsource. ellie was a much needed distraction and i do not regret how i played her. yes there are some instances or interactions i’m not proud of (ie with the eli mun). i went back and forth between wanting to switch fcs to a female one because i knew people would be weird about me playing a male fc with feminine pronouns, but it just did not fit my backstory for them.

at this point i know it’s not going to matter what i say to some of you because your mind has already been made up about me, and that’s fine. but for anyone who’s not that, for anyone who genuinely wants closure, i promise you my dms are open. i will listen to you as long as you give me that same respect. we all make mistakes, we all act out in ways we don’t mean to, and we all interpret things differently. i will not be apologizing over anon because that feels disingenuous and i am not a damn famous influencer

[www-razaya4life]

Hope Shines Bright: Dark Matter Alt. Ending #2

[Takes place during Razer’s memorial service on Odym]

Somewhere in the afterlife, Razer is joined by his long dead wife. “Ilana, c-can it really be you?” Ilana smiles warmly as she gently brushes his cheek. “Yes beloved, it’s me.” Razer, practically in tears, embraces her for the first time in what felt like a millennia. “I told you I came back for you.” He said, forcing a half smile. Ilana chuckled, “And you most certainly did.” Razer’s half smile falls and he immediately recalls the events prior to her death. “I am so sorry for not listening to you on Volkreig. You were right about everything.” Ilana reciprocates the hug and quietly shushes him. “It’s okay Razer, I know your heart was in the right place.” “No Ilana, it wasn’t. I was so obsessed with protecting you that I didn’t stop to consider the consequences for my actions.” Ilana’s face fell as well. “No you didn’t and for that alone, I would’ve been very disappointed in you.” Razer hung his head in shame; his self-loathing beginning to emerge.

“But…” Ilana started, causing him to perk up a bit. “I’ve seen how far you’ve come since our time on Volkreig. Granted you’ve made some mistakes…” Razer knew exactly what she meant. He could well remember receiving that dreaded Red Lantern ring seconds after Ilana’s death. “However…” She went on, “that’s not to say you’ve done everything in your power to right the wrongs you’ve caused. I’ve witnessed your personal growth from afar and I cannot be more proud of you.” For the first time in a long while, Razer genuinely smiled. “But…” Ilana stated. This caused Razer’s smile to fade. “Your time has not yet come.” “W-What?!” “I’m afraid you cannot join me here beloved.” “Why? Have I not changed for the better?” He asked, desperate for an answer. “You have beloved. But I’m afraid that you are needed elsewhere.” Razer looked at his late wife in disbelief. “More specifically, someone else needs you now more than ever.” She pulls back the veil to reveal a grieving Aya. Razer’s heart sinks at the sight of his true love in tears. “She is mourning you Razer and it is clear that you still love her.” Razer was worried that Ilana would become jealous. But to his surprise, she wasn’t. “Go to her Razer. Be with her.” “Are you certain Ilana?” “I am, beloved. But do not worry; when your time does come, I will always be with you.” Razer nodded knowingly as he slowly faded from the afterlife.

Back on Odym, as the funeral drudged on, something unexpected started to happen. A hand from Razer’s supposedly-lifeless corpse started twitching. Rapidly at first, but then it stayed perfectly upright. No-one noticed this, at first, until they could hear something from within the casket. It started in low and then began to grow:

“In fearful day…”

Upon sensing the creation of a new candidate, a rogue blue lantern levitates from Battery Temple and begins its descent down the mountainside.

“In raging night”

The ring hurdles past various flora and fauna surrounding the area at Mach-speed as it continues its autonomous pursuit.

“With strong hearts full as souls ignite”

Suddenly, with a whoosh and a zip, the ring rockets past the waning crowd of mourners. “Hey what’s that?!” One of them called out, pointing to the streak of blue light left in the ring’s wake. Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched in bewilderment as the blue lantern ring slipped effortlessly onto Razer’s finger.

“When all seems lost in the war of light”

Then, as if by magic, the former Red Lantern rose from his casket and ascended toward the heavens; only to stop halfway.

“Look to the stars where Hope shines Bright!”

As soon as that last line was uttered, Razer: the once fallen son of Volkreig, opened his eyes. Upon doing so, the entire area was immersed in an ethereal bluish-white glow; blinding nearly everybody in its proximity. “What’s going on Hal?” asked Carol, a slight tremble of fear in her voice. “We’re about to find out. Look!” Once the cascading light died down, all those in attendance stared in shock to discover whom it was. Razer slowly descended down until his feet touched the surface. The outfit he was currently wearing no longer had the Red Lantern symbol adorned on his chest, but instead it was the symbol of the Blue Lantern Corps. His original uniform had been fully bathed in a diamond bluish-white color scheme that radiated holy righteousness.

Razer stared down at his hands, contemplating his current situation. Everyone had crowded around to this miracle for themselves. But none were more taken aback than Aya. She carefully pushed herself to the front of the crowd and found herself struggling to comprehend what was transpiring. Then, without thinking, Aya cautiously edged herself toward the man whom was once thought dead. “R-Razer?” She asked, her voice barely a whisper. She reached out to touch him when suddenly he whipped around and glared at her. Tensions were understandably high and no-one said a word. Just then, Razer spoke up, “Aya…it’s me.” The surprising amount of warmth in his voice was almost inhuman. Aya didn’t know what to think. Could this possibly be the man whom she loved with all her heart?

The newly christened Blue Lantern sensed this and with a wave of his hand, he summoned a construct to bring over a blueish-purple lily that had been placed near his casket. He gently floated it into the palms of her hands; not a single petal out of place. Aya gazed at this very peculiar flower and thought, “Why would he choose this one?” Then she remembered how Razer had given her this particular flower when they had visited the ruins of his home back on Volkreig. It had become a symbol of new life taking root amidst the devastation that lay around it. This realization made her eyes light up as brightly as his new uniform. “I-It is you!” She managed to blurt out, her voice choked up with accompanying tears. Razer extends his hand and gentle caresses Aya’s cheek. The former crestfallen android takes hold of his hand and nestles into it; internally promising herself that she will never let him go.

No sooner had their fingers intertwined that the reality of this moment washed over them, overwhelming in its sheer intensity. Their eyes, pools of longing and love, spoke volumes of the trials they endured and the unyielding hope that sustained them through the darkest of nights. Each touch, each glance, ignited a flame that defied the constraints of mortality, burning brighter with every heartbeat. With trembling lips, they drew closer, their breaths mingling in the air, a silent symphony of anticipation and desire. In that moment, Odym faded away, leaving only the echo of their hearts, beating in unison; a rhythm that echoes through time itself. And then, as if drawn by an invisible force, their lips meet in a kiss that transcended the boundaries of life and death.

While they were kissing, the energy from Razer’s Blue Lantern ring starts to swirl around them before culminating into a glorious fireworks display that explodes around them. Everyone gasps in amazement as this wondrous spectacle illuminates, even in broad daylight. Once it concludes, everyone claps and cheers; even the Red Lanterns were shown to be impressed. Amidst the cheering, Razer whispers to Aya, “I am truly sorry for all that I put you through. I wasn’t lying when I said you have more of a soul than I ever had.” Aya smiles meekly. “For what it’s worth…” Razer continued, “You had every right to be angry. I dismissed your affections and kept you at arm’s length because of this.” Aya gazed up at her now revitalized lover. “Razer, while what you said is true, I have come to understand how multifaceted the concept of love truly is. It is an emotion that must understood in both its light and darkest forms.” “Be that as it may; the reason I said those things to you prior to your transformation is because I was confused and afraid.” “Afraid?” asked Aya, “Why?” “I had been in love with Ilana for so long that I become afraid of betraying her memory.” Aya bowed her head with solemn understanding. “As I said before, I saw your memories and felt your pain. But even in death, I would assume Ilana would want you to be happy.” Razer smirked, “Indeed she would have.”

There was a pregnant pause between the two. “Did you really mean what you said?” Aya asked, a twinge of doubt in her voice. Razer looked puzzled, “What did I say?” “That the reason you couldn’t kill me was because you had no hate in your heart for me. Only love.” Razer nodded. ‘Yes Aya, I meant every word of it. I could never hurt you; nor would I want to.” A small tear trickled down Aya’s cheek as the confirmation of her lover’s words resonated in her mind. “Which brings me to another query.” “What might that be?” asked Razer. “Can you ever forgive me?” Aya whimpered, her eyes shimmering with vulnerability and remorse. Razer, though taken aback by her words, held her close to his chest. “Aya, there is nothing to forgive. As I said, you had every right to attack me after the way I hurt you. If anything, I should be asking you for such a boon.” Now it was Aya’s turn to be taken aback. She had not expected Razer to be so even-tempered and calm. But seeing as though he was a changed man, Aya couldn’t stay mad at him. Instead, she stared up at the man whom she had fallen deeply in love with and said, “Of course I forgive you Razer.” “Then I guess you know me better than I thought.” Razer remarked. Aya let out a soft giggle before embracing her beloved in another passionate kiss.

It wasn’t long before the two lovers were greeted by a pair of familiar faces. It was Hal and Kilowog, accompanied by Carol who was too transfixed by the whole ordeal not to join them. “I’m glad to see you all have survived.” Razer said calmly. To his surprise, Kilowog said nothing. Instead, he pulled the young Blue Lantern into one of his famous bear hugs, to which he wholeheartedly reciprocated. “That was some display you put on just now kid.” Hal remarked. Razer rolled his eyes. “But…I sure am glad to have you back.” Hal said, holding out his hand. The new Blue Lantern smiled warmly as he firmly shook his leader’s hand with pride. As he did so, Razer glanced over at Carol with a perplexed look about him. “Who’s she Hal?” He asked, “Another of your earthling mates?” “That’s one way of putting it.” Said Carol. Hal commenced the introductions. “Razer, this is Carol Ferris: my former boss back on earth. Carol, this is Razer: a trusted member of my crew and one I’m glad to call…my friend.”

With this being said, both lanterns kindly shook hands. “Glad to finally meet the man who just came back from the dead.” Carol quipped. Razer chuckled, “It was…life changing to say the least.” “I’ll say.” Carol muttered. “So you must be the woman that Hal aimlessly drones on about.” “Yeah, I guess I am.” “I will never understand the appeal of getting into an intimate relationship with one’s superiors.” Razer remarked. “It’s complicated.” Hal called over. “What he means to say is, we’ve always had an unspoken bond between us. One made even more difficult when I became the head of my father’s company back home.” “And this made you want her even more?” Razer called over to Hal, trying to piece it all together. “Well…that was just a small perk that came with it.” Hal explained. “Oh yeah.” chortled Kilowog, “Hal’s always been a flirt when it comes to women...especially the high-ranking sort.” “Yeah, I got a glimpse of that back on Zamaron.” Carol huffed, remembering her first encounter with the Star Sapphires. “And as I told you, she was just a friend.” Hal retorted indignantly. “A friend who was trying to drug and/or imprison you.” Razer added. “True, but what woman wouldn’t want to imprison all this?” Hal boasted. “Oh boy.” Kilowog groaned as he face palmed himself. “Has he always been this vain?” Razer asked, eying Carol for information. “No.” She sighed dejectedly, “Sometimes, he’s much worse.” Both Razer and Kilowog looked at each other knowingly.

Hal, finally having enough of this mini ‘roast-fest’, decided to cut in. “Alright that’s enough out of you.” He said, briefly pushing Carol off to the side. “Guess it’s true what they say, ‘if you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the engine room.” Kilowog chimed in, looking very amused with Hal’s antics toward Carol. “It’s out of the kitchen actually.” Hal said, quickly correcting his sergeant. “Is she always like this?” asked Razer. “She can be quite determined when she wants to be.” Said Hal loftily. “But anyway, I think I can speak for both of us when I say it’s great to have you back Razer.” “It’s endearing to be back Hal and needless to say, I feel a lot better than how Kilowog looks.” The Green Lantern sergeant chuckled as he shook his head. “Always with the smart mouth.” “Hey, that’s Razer for you.” Hal shrugged.

For the rest of the day, the Interceptor crew mingled among the many Lantern factions that were present. When Razer encountered Bleez; Atrocitus’ former lieutenant, amidst the crowd, she had nothing but a look of restrained admiration upon her face. “I never thought I’d say this to an enemy of the Red Lanterns but…great to see alive Razer.” “Thank you Bleez. It must’ve been hard for you to say such a thing.” “Yeah well, don’t get used to it!” She snapped. Razer rolled his eyes, “Some things never change.” He thought as he continued his rounds. The young Blue Lantern met all sorts of people; many of them congratulated him for his phenomenal return while others asked him how it was possible. But Razer had the same answer: “I just…never lost hope.” Two faces stood back amidst the hectic crowd; both sporting grins and a warm sense of pride: Saint Walker and Ganthet. “Now do you see Saint Walker? How hope never truly dies.” “Indeed I do. The beauty of hope is life-everlasting and I do believe that brother Razer has finally found new purpose after all.”

THE END

[zhoras-bitch]

Strangers

Book: Laws of Attraction

Pairing: Beau McGraw x F!MC (Roxanne Voss)

Genre: angst

Warnings: strong language

Rating: teen

Word count: 1.2K

Summary: Your evening is going really well until, completely unprepared, you run into a painfully familiar stranger.

A/N: Rewrite of the gala scene with Beau from the last update (book 2, chapter 7). Don’t know what possessed me to do it because I literally write like once a year, guess I’m just that much of a Beau clown.

The gala is in full swing when you finally decide you’ve done enough socialising to earn yourself a little treat. After all, the evening’s been going really well so far. Ricci & Associated is the talk of the town, and you’re not going to do the tired old fake humility act and pretend it’s not in large part thanks to you. Since your move to the Big Apple, you’ve gotten pretty good at this whole two-faced, fake nice gimmick. Your fingers stroke a thick stack of business cards stashed securely inside your purse and for a split second you allow yourself a luxury of a tiny self-satisfied smirk, then head towards the bar.

A rookie mistake, really, letting the rush get to your head, but alas. You join the line behind a tall blond stranger, so intoxicated with adrenaline you don’t immediately recognise him, and when you do, it’s already too late.

The man turns around, and his gaze pins you to the floor halfway through the step you didn't even realise you were taking in a cowardly attempt get away from him.

‘Hey, stranger,’ Beau smiles, warm and genuine.

The smile is really the integral part of his whole brand. Beau McGraw, golden retriever boy with a sweet smile and big warm hands. Sincere. Accommodating. Non-threatening. You’d advise him to trademark it, but then again, not like anyone could do it like Beau even if they tried.

The bowtie is really on point too. You would’ve pegged him a bowtie kind of guy. You know, if for whatever reason you’d spent your time imagining Beau McGraw in formalwear. Which you definitely did not.

‘Beau. I didn’t realise you’re here tonight.’

Your reply is dry and hollow, but it’s the best you can muster, so it will have to do. Because if you don’t speak, silence will, and she’s one chatty bitch who knows way too much and has zero filter.

‘I’m as surprised as you are. Martin didn’t want the senior associates here, but Reggie insisted.’

‘Good old Reggie,’ you say, trying not to cringe at just how rusty your small talk game feels.

‘I’m glad I ran into you, actually.’

You don't want to lie, so you just give him a tiny crooked smile.

‘I’ve, uh, been meaning to get in touch with you for a few weeks.’

You know this, of course, because you’ve been actively avoiding him. Leaving McGraw-Byrne was an eye-opening experience in the most unexpected ways. For weeks, your life was almost completely Beau-free, and it made you realise just how Beau-full it was before. There were no more stolen glances as he passed you in the hall. No more inside jokes near the water cooler. No more late nights in the library, when the office got so quiet and empty you two felt like the only people left in the entire world.

If only getting him out of your dreams was this easy too.

‘We’ve been really busy with the firm. You know how it gets.’

‘Yeah, I know.’

There’s an intimate shift in his tone, and before you can stop them, your eyes fly up to his face. Beau’s expression is an open book, warm and vulnerable and somehow a little sad, and it makes you want to burry your face into a pillow and scream. You know what he’s capable of, hell, your experience with it was as first-hand as it gets. And yet, looking into his eyes, you don’t see it. Not a hint of malice. Not a cunning thought.

It would be so much easier to believe that Beau McGraw is just a good liar. After all, most lawyers who are worth a dime are. But you’ve cracked people who were way more cunning than him, and the reality is, the only reason you didn’t see right through Beau McGraw is because you didn’t want to. Because you wanted to trust him so badly that you actually did. Can you even imagine what your enemies would think, what they’d do to you if they had any idea that the hottest young lawyer in town, the sly fox from Ricci & Associates can be left so utterly helpless, so completely shamelessly vulnerable by a trivial little cru—

Ah, crap. You did it, didn’t you? You let the silence speak.

‘So what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?’

‘I actually just wanted to congratulate you and Ash. Sticking it to Eli and striking out on your own the way you did… It took serious guts. I’m glad it looks like it’s paying off,’ he pauses for a second, his big dumb smile tinted with regret, then suddenly puts a hand on your shoulder and adds, ‘Not that I’ve even doubted you. I guess what I’m trying to say is, I’m really proud of you, Roxanne.’

Your skin burns under his palm as your stupid, useless heart leaps into a sprint. A terrifying thought strikes you like a thunder. Does he know? Does he know what he’s doing to you?

You look into his eyes, searching for an answer, but all you see is Beau. Leaning into you ever so slightly.

No, that’s impossible. You haven’t completely lost it. Not yet.

But you’re about to.

‘Beau! We need to do shots for old times’ sake.’

You jump, startled, as cheerful Gigi suddenly cuts into your conversation, throwing an arm around Beau’s shoulders. The air is still heavy with unspoken words, so deafening you barely hear what she is saying, but at least you aren’t about do something you’d regret.

You buy yourself sometime as you grab your drink and down it in one long gulp, but even that doesn’t burn as much as Beau’s gaze. There’s a question in his eyes, and you know what it is. One day, Beau McGraw asked you if you could be friends again, and you never gave him an answer. Because how could you be friends again, if Beau was never a friend to you? Never just a friend?

Holding a tray of shots, Gigi starts pulling Beau aside, but you can see the way he hesitates, still. You give him an awkward little wave.

It’s better this way. If you can’t be his friend, and you can’t afford to lo— to be with him, then maybe you can be just another stranger.

He smiles at you one last time, heart-wrenchingly sad, and turns away. And just like that, this feeling of unbearable loss hits you like an ocean tide, huge and heavy and impossible to endure. You grit your teeth. Just let him go. Let him go. Let him—

‘Beau, wait—‘

Your words come out as a pathetic little whimper that gets lost somewhere between the sounds of the orchestra and the clinking of champagne flutes. You reach out, your fingers what feels like a hair's breadth away from his, but a heartbeat passes, and the crowd has already swallowed him whole. You wobble forward, look around, and for a moment you can swear you catch a glimpse of Beau’s broad shoulders, a golden speck of chandelier light caught in his hair, but when he turns around, it’s just another stranger.

You squeeze your eyes shut. Seconds pass, and you’re all alone, and the room is dark and quiet. Slowly, you breathe out and open your eyes again. The gala is in full swing, and all around you are unfamiliar faces.

You put down your empty glass and straighten your shoulders. Get your shit together, Roxanne. We still have some schmoozing to do.

[deadlycupid]

Seahorse - taod college au

“The tiger sharks?”

“Apparently, it’s a marine biology reference.”

“I thought only Noah studies that.”

Tommy said it as if Noah was the only person in the entire world who studied marine biology. Which wasn’t true, David hoped.

“He is, but Nico drew a cool logo and after a while they just stuck with it,” David explained and put his study books away. Then he slopped back down onto Tommy’s bed, staring up at the red canopy and sighed.

“For someone who claims to not like that guy you know awfully lot about him.”

David shoot him an annoyed glance. He had to arch his head backwards, he saw Tommy upside down, so it wasn’t as effective as he wished it to be.

“Well, it’s hard not to listen to him when he talks directly into your ear.”

Tommy only chuckled and put his hands up in defence. “I’m just saying.”

David rolled his eyes. He knew it would have been a bad idea to invite Tommy to go with him to the show. But he had to face the truth, he would have never showed up there alone. He wouldn’t even have the courage to enter the club let alone leave his house.

Besides, he hoped that when Tommy was there he wouldn’t have to face Noah alone. Tommy was a good buffer. He knew the social rules and how to talk to people. It was easy to hide behind him, because he knew how to draw people in and make them listen to what he said.

Tommy leaned against the headboard and looked down to where David was laying. For a second they just stared into each other’s eyes. Ocean blue met meadow green.

“Fine,” Tommy made a swinging hand gestures towards David, “let me get this straight. We are going to a concert-“

“They call it a show.”

“Concert, show, it’s whatever.”

“Apparently it’s not.”

David had made that mistake too and had been quickly taught better.

“Fine, we’re going to a show of this guy who clearly has a thing for you.”

“We don’t know that,” David rushed to say. He felt the blood flush to his cheeks and he was glad he laid on the other side of the bed where Tommy couldn’t see him.

“He said he had ‘taking a liking on you’ and made some clear hints. Most obviously he wrote a song for you,” enumerated Tommy. David had to hold his head to make sure it wasn’t exploding.

“And you have a crush on him too.”

“Oh, I don’t,” David shrieked and shot up into a sitting position. He could barely face Tommy with how hot he felt but when he did look him in the eyes, Tommy only had his eyebrows raised. His best ‘you can’t lie to me’ - face.

“David, I love you, but don’t try to deny it. I’ve seen you in love two times and you are acting the exact same way right now.” Tommy pushed himself off the headboard and crawled to him.

“Wait,” David’s mind was a mess, “I’ve been in love two times? With whom?”

“Well, thanks for asking, I’ve been dying to talk about it,” Tommy’s face lit up but all David felt was anxiety. How had he not known that he had been in love before, but Tommy so clearly knew? Was he so unknowable to himself?

“First, that girl you sat next to in biology first year in high school. I don’t know her name anymore. Was it Katie? Kylie?”

“You mean Katlyn?”

“Right, that’s her name!”

“I hardly remember her.”

There was only one thing he did remember when he thought about her, and he’d rather not do that.

“Well, you kept staring at her face all the time back then.”

“Because she had a gigantic cyst on her lip. It moved when she talked; it was really disturbing. You could hardly look anywhere else.”

Now he had that image burned into the back of his eyes again, thanks Tommy.

“Really? I never noticed,” Tommy looked genuinely shocked, which didn’t surprise David.

“It’s because you don’t look at girls longer than 5 seconds.”

“Why would I? There are plenty of men in the world for me to see.”

“Okay, I get it, you’re gay,” David chuckled and Tommy joined in. It was oddly ridiculous, the type that came with years of friendship.

“But I wasn’t in love with her. If I was anything than probably disgusted.”

David did feel bad for Katlyn, after all it wasn’t her fault. But he had to make his point clear.

“Hm, okay but you definitely had a thing for Dolores.”

David’s heart stopped for a minute and so did the world. Cosmic moment, apparently.

“She has a partner,” he muttered through gritted teeth.

“And? I don’t see the point. You can still have a crush on someone even if they are taken.”

Dolores was the daughter of his mother’s best friend. Dolores and her mom had visited them two summers ago. It was all a hazy dream now, all the memories mixed together.

But what David did remember as clearly as daytime were the long nights where they all danced together to Latino music and how much fun he had. He remembered the times he danced with Dolores, how her body moved like she was free from any boundaries. How her long curly hair bounced around her head. And her laugh, so bright and melodic.

He also remembered how crushed he had felt when he found out that back at home Alex waited for Dolores, her long time partner. David had tried to be happy for her, tried to listen when she talked about them, but it was hard to force himself to smile.

After he found out, he couldn’t bare dancing with her anymore and always excused himself, spending more times sleeping over at Tommy’s place than home.

At some point he even made up an emergency that Tommy had so that it wouldn’t be suspicious.

David could hardly face her and he was glad that after that summer she had returned to Mexico, miles away.

Enough miles to put his heart back together and forget that she had ever existed.

“Okay, let’s pretend I had a crush on Dolores, because I most definitely didn’t have one on Katlyn, what makes you so sure I have one on Noah now?”

“David, I know the look on a man’s face when he is in love with another. I’ve seen it directed at me multiple times and you don’t look any different. Besides, you keep on blushing when ever you talk about him and he’s like the only thing you talk about lately. Which means you are blushing constantly.” Tommy took a deep breath. “And the most important one, you are willing to go out to a bar to see a show. Not even I could get you out dancing and I’m like your siamese twin.”

David took a deep breath. He knew Tommy was right. The moment Tommy had laid his feelings bare he had known that there was no escaping.

But he had never loved a boy, yet what he felt for Noah was so real. It might even be better than what he had felt for Dolores.

Perhaps that only meant that he had never had a crush on Dolores after all. But the heartbreak he had felt, hab been so painful and he still felt it haunting him now.

“So does that make me bisexual?” David asked helplessly, feeling everything he knew about himself slip through his fingers.

“It makes you whatever you want.”

“But I don’t know.” David’s throat tightened and his vision was blurry. All he felt was Tommy’s hand on his shoulder, who gently pulled David towards him, and the great weight of helplessness. Of being stuck with not knowing himself despite always being so sure that of all things he at least had figured out who he was.

“Oh, David,” Tommy whispered, “you don’t have to know.”

A sob broke through David’s sealed lips and he surrendered to Tommy’s arms, slumping himself against his chest.

“But- but you know who you are. Everyone knows!“ David cried. “Everyone has it figured out, but I don’t.”

He was full on crying now, not holding back anymore. He hadn’t realized how lost he had felt all this time. That he was alone on this big sea and everyone around him had surrendered to a boat, only he was floating, drowning in the cold ocean.

David always figured out his feelings when it was too late. When he had already went and hurt himself.

“Shh, that’s not true, David,” Tommy mumbled, rubbing slow circles into his back.

“There are plenty of people who don’t know their sexuality or gender. And that’s okay. You can take your time to figure it out. Or you don’t label yourself at all. You are valid either way.”

David hiccuped, taking a deep breath: “But you figured it out so flawlessly.”

“Oh, don’t think that,” Tommy chuckled. “It took me a long time to realize that fantasizing about boys was not something straight guys do. And plenty of google researches and many nights crying on the floor of my bedroom later made me come to the conclusion.”

David lift up his head. He hadn’t known about that.

Well, he had never asked actually because when Tommy had come out to him, first year of middle school, Tommy seemed so confident. When he said “I am gay” it had been a statement, a given, something he hadn’t spent time thinking about.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Tommy dried the tears that had streamed down David’s face with the sleeve of his sweater. “I never told you because I never thought it was important.”

“But you could have told me, I would have listened. I would have understood.”

“I know.” Tommy pulled David back into his arm. “But it doesn’t matter now.”

Eventually the initial tears stopped coming and David’s head was bedded onto Tommy’s lap, where Tommy gently brushed through his hair and traced the scare on his forehead.

They quietly talked about different labels and their meaning but for David they never felt quite right. Like they were all lacking something.

But instead of feeling helpless, now he had Tommy who reassured him, that it was fine the way it was, that he would find a label fitting for him and if he didn’t then that was okay too.

That he loved him either way and that he didn’t need to figure it out today.

Then it was quiet in Tommy’s room. David’s thoughts circled around Noah, his snow white hair and those unremarkable red eyes of his.

And in the quiet room to himself David could admit that maybe he liked Noah a bit more than he had thought.

Maybe a part of him had always knew but had been too scared to admit it, too scared of what it would mean for him. Because after all Noah was the complete opposite of him. A free spirit always going with the wind, while David was anchored to the ground, held back by weights even he couldn’t see.

He was scared, even now, that for Noah he was just another person he passed by. Another person caught in his storm until the next sunshine and David knew that he couldn’t do that. He needed reassurance and reliability.

“You know what I hate about Noah.” David said, his voice soft. He had turned his head to the side to look at Tommy before he spoke again.

Tommy crooked his eyebrows.

“It’s all about fun for him. What if I’m just some fun thing for him, too?”

Tommy breathed out, the hot air tickled David’s cheek and he grimaced.

“What does your mother always say? ‘Emilio, Emilio, el mundo es feliz porque estas vivo.’” Tommy then sang.

The heat flushed up his cheeks again and David playfully slapped Tommy’s arm.

“Ah, shut up!”

Tommy laughed and the sound was so addicting that David did too.

“Tommy, I mean it.” David mumbled when he calmed down. “I don’t want my heart to break.”

“A person can have a lot of fun and still take the things they are passionate about serious.” Tommy drew his fingers down David’s nose and then up his cheek back to his hair.

“Also, he’d be an idiot if he broke your heart. You’re like the lottery win, David.”

David closed his eyes, the dark complexion of his skin could only hid so much of his embarrassment, so he hid from the world instead.

Tommy’s hand stilled in his hair. “You have to go out there and live, David. Protecting your heart won’t keep it from breaking. Loneliness might be even worse. But if your heart aches from love, lost or not, it’s still better because at least then you know that you have loved and were loved in return.”

David sighed, then he opened his eyes.

He was done hiding.

spanish translation (mind you I don’t speak Spanish and I wrote this with help of Google translate and my Italian knowledge so if it’s incorrect pls correct me!)

el mundo es feliz porque estas vivo: the world is happy because you are alive

taglist

@writerfae @writing-is-a-martial-art @conundruminprogress @dontcrywrite @sleepy-night-child @bluehourskyeli @dragon-with-a-pen @avian-writes @apeir0ph0bia @poetinprose

[musclesandhammering]

Aaaaah this needs so many more notes!! But because I’m obsessed with discussing the in-universe and out-of-universe politics of the mcu, I’m gonna add a bunch to it.

I’ve said this a million times and I’ll say it again: Taika’s execution of this movie was about as neoliberal as you can get.

It’s so painfully surface-level and intentionally inaccurate. The people who think this movie was a good example of anti-imperialism are the same libs who have peace sign decals all over everything and then get mad when a president withdraws troops from a foreign country. Taika’s execution of this idea is the thematic equivalent of wearing an “Eat the rich” tshirt that was made in a sweatshop in a foreign country. It’s just like…. Come ON. You’re patting yourself on the back for being sooo progressive when you didn’t actually accomplish ANYTHING.

On paper, they present it as if they’re calling out Asgard for being an imperialist society and acknowledging that empires are bad and authoritarians are bad and war and conquest are bad…… and yet they don’t actually let Odin (the authoritarian) be seen as a villain. They do their damndest to make him seem like a flawed but ultimately wise and well-intended leader figure who the next generation should look at with esteem and respect and even aspire to be like! Instead of abolishing the monarchy at the end of the movie- which would be truly anti-imperialist- instead they just present a new “more self aware” king- as if living under a dictator with self awareness would somehow soften the fact that you are still, in fact, living under a dictator. They don’t have a big moment where Thor realises that warring and conquering are bad things (considering he’s been seen doing it casually himself in every single movie, as stated above), instead they try to impress upon the audience the fact that warring and conquering should only be done for Good and Noble reasons. Ok, sure.

They try to paint this watered down, completely useless picture that being imperialist is ok as long as it’s done by an ethical leader, in an ethical way, for ethical reasons. We don’t necessarily need to stop having empires… we just need to compromise on the details of them, right? Imperial leaders aren’t bad, they’ve just made some mistakes, but overall they should be idolised! That’s the message this movie sends.

Honestly, though, this is the least surprising thing in the world considering this is a marvel film. Marvel, who’s owned by Disney- one of the biggest corporations in the U.S. that relies on capitalism to continue to monopolise the entertainment industry… the same capitalism that goes hand in hand with the military industrial complex, which is literally just American imperialism. This company isn’t going to offer any genuine critique on imperialism or colonialism, because in real life they depend on a system upheld by those exact things to continue making their money.

Like it blows my mind that so few people seem to pick up on the fact that Marvel’s two biggest heroes- the ones they present as being the most morally upstanding and righteous and HEROIC- are a man dressed in a U.S. flag suit literally called Captain America who has a very pro-intervention mindset, idolised 1940s military values, is repeatedly shown to ignore sovereign borders and poorer countries’ wishes- invading them and killing civilians and destroying property “for their own good”, and just overall is a glamorised metaphor for the entire American military complex, and a literal billionaire arms dealer and war hawk who they somehow twisted around and redeemed and made into a good person (which just… doesn’t happen irl lol). Like if that’s not propaganda, my dudes, then I don’t know what is.

*and I love Tony and Cap! I’m just saying, from a very meta perspective……. yikes.

And don’t even get me started on how this movie completely dropped the ball as far as Loki’s connection to the story. Ever notice how they vaguely asserted that Odin’s warmonger days were bad, but they never actually showed any specific victims of his warmongering? Like they gave us input from Thor and Hela and Valkyrie (who were all there on the side of the empire in various ways), but they never give us input from someone on the other side. The best person to fill this slot would be Loki. He was literally a DIRECT victim of Odin’s conquests. His home was invaded, his people were beaten down to the point of desperation, his father (their king) was defeated, and he himself was claimed as a spoil of that war. And he was raised to hate his own race, with the intention of having him be Odin’s pawn to finish off said race one day. And it had horrifying repercussions on him personally. It literally ruined his whole life and was the catalyst for his entire arc in all the films. There’s no better example you can get of a victim of imperialism than that!

And yet they never even touched on his experience. Why? The same reason they never touched on any other specific victim experiences! Because that would humanise them. And that would make the anti-imperialism actually click! Actually resonate. It would draw a sharp distinction for that audience that, no, this isn’t a halfway type of thing- this is bad, full stop. Odin is awful, the monarchy shouldn’t exist, and Thor is bad for continuing to uphold it.

But, again, they didn’t do that, because the writers didn’t actually want that message to click. They wanted it to be performative and inauthentic, so they’d be able to cash in on the alleged wokeness of it without offending their corporate overlords.

My biggest issue with Ragnarok's "anti-imperialism" is that Loki's backstory is just forgotten. The way Odin raised him could very easily become an allegory about the way the US and Canada treated too many of their Indigenous people: kidnapping children, denying them any information about their heritage, teaching them that their culture was savage. "Kill the Indian, save the man" rhetoric. But this kind of thing is never addressed, Loki's heritage is never going to be addressed by Disney or their creators.

I think Ragnarok came out before most mainstream media was really talking about the horrors of residential schools. At the same time, now that it is more well-known, I don't think it would be very appropriate for Disney to do anything with that. Or maybe it would be? Idk, seems like people stopped talking about it fairly quickly (I don't blame anyone for that- there's so much other stuff going on in the world too.) I don't have a concrete opinion on who should be making stories about this, but I know that history in my own family definitely informs my thoughts on Loki.

Yup. TR claims to be anti imperialist but is it though? is it really? bc I don’t think so. What exactly is anti imperialist about it?

Thor finds out that Asgard was imperialist? He already knew that! He was raised to believe in that. From the time he was a child he was saying he wanted to slaughter all the Jotnar. Bc that was the type of view and behavior that was encouraged. Asgard is an imperialist warlike monarchy without democracy and with values that glorify war and conquest. In TDW Thor puts down rebellions.

Ok well what about in TR? Maybe it retconned that. Nope! In TR the “bad” thing Loki does while ruling in disguise as Odin is end Asgard’s imperialist policies by ceasing to control the affairs of subordinated realms and regions and focus more on the arts than on war. Not sure how portraying those things as “bad” is anti imperialist.

Also. Loki is a victim of Asgardian imperialism. He was taken from his people and taught to hate his own species. And the message of the movie is that he should just get over it and be grateful to the people who did that to him.

When Thor tortures Loki into submission towards the end of the movie it is portrayed as justified. And Loki gets redeemed by accepting that torture and then obediently rushing to aid Thor (if the character in TR can even really be called Thor, bc for all Thor’s flaws he would never torture a helpless victim for fun, and especially would never do something like that to Loki). Like the message is that the victim of imperialistic cultural genocide can earn “redemption” by ceasing to question his kidnappers and must instead learn to embrace their viewpoints and loyally serve them.

ALSO. The movie ends with Thor being likened to Odin and gaining strength thru learning to be more like him and leaning on his advice. Thor being visually likened to Odin in the end is presented as positive.

And Loki’s whole backstory as the most visible major character who is a victim of Asgardian imperialism is mocked and sidelined.

HOW TF IS ANY OF THAT ANTI IMPERIALIST? If anything the messaging is PRO imperialist. Saying “yeah imperialism is a thing that happened” is not inherently anti imperialist. Many imperialist societies say this bc they don’t view it as a bad thing. The Romans proudly boasted of their Empire. That didn’t make them woke.

Acknowledging imperialist actions is only progressive if the context also includes acknowledging those actions were wrong. If the actions are being openly acknowledged because they aren’t even considered shameful that’s not anti imperialist….

[fushiguroll]

RUNNING INTO HIS EX

⇢ miya osamu, oikawa toru

ʚɞ MIYA Osamu

the two of you are enjoying your Sunday at the local town fair

“are ya having fun?” he asks, glancing down at you, smiling warmly

“mmhm” you reply, mouth stuffed with pretzels

Osamu stops you in his track and uses the sudden halt to wipe off the excess sugar from the corners of your mouth with the napkin in his hand. 

“thanks samu.” you try your best not to blush at the sweet gesture. 

Your tender moment was interrupted by an “omg! Osamu is that you?!”

Osamu could feel goosebumps run across his arms, he could recognize that voice anywhere, it haunted him in his nightmares

With his back to her, he quickly whispers, “ya think we can pretend like I didn’t hear her?”

You steal a quick glance her way, “I don’t think so, babe. She’s waving at me right now.”

Osamu puts on a fake smile and turns around, “oh, hey...”

You feel your throat hitch when her perfume hits you in the face and you involuntarily take a step closer to your boyfriend, hoping his cologne would mask her sickly sweet scent 

“hi Osamu! it’s been too long. How’ve you been?”

Your boyfriend awkwardly looks at you before answering, “I’ve been good.”

Kimi looks at him expectantly

“um...how ya doin’, kimi?”

“I've been good!” She suddenly sighs, “look I've been thinking about you...about us, a lot these days. And now I just happen to run into you. It must be fate!”

Osamu coughs, “no, it’s not. we’ve ran into three people I know already. It’s a pretty popular fair.”

kimi wouldn’t take no for an answer, “well since we’re here anyways, do you want to walk around together? I saw a booth selling all flavors of onigiri.”

Kimi turns to you and smiles, “your sister can come along too!”

You and Osamu look at each other in surprise and look back at Kimi. Her smile seems too genuine to be fake.

“she’s not my sister, kimi. This is my girlfriend, y/n.” he puts an arm around you, pulling you into him 

A deep red covers her face as she sputters an apology to you, “oh oh! I’m so sorry. I had no idea Osamu has a girlfriend now. I'm really sorry, y/n. I didn’t mean to hit on your boyfriend.”

You smile, a little flustered at her reaction, “it’s fine, an honest mistake.”

“well...this has been fun to say the least. I’m gonna go now. I hope you guys have a good time.”

The two of you watch as she disappears back into the crowd

“so...”

“so...she seems nice?”

“yeah she’s nice, just a little too enthusiastic and annoying,” Osamu rubs his temple before glancing at you shyly, “thanks for being so cool about running into my ex though...”

You stand on your tippy toes to kiss him on the cheeks, “what can I say? I’m just a naturally cool person.”

He turns and catches your lips, “yes, ya most definitely are.”

“y/n? Is that you?” a voice interrupts you and osamu

you groaned internally before whispering to Osamu, “what is this? run-into-our-ex day?”

ʚɞ OIKAWA Toru

You settle down in your seat before blowing a kiss to your boyfriend

He catches it and pretends to eat it, a smile spreading across his face as you giggle which soon turns into laughter when you catch iwaizumi glaring at his playful captain 

oikawa mouths a small “oops” to you before flashing you another smile 

About ten minutes into the game a girl sits down next to you

“hey, are they winning so far?”

“yeah, they’re really on top of their game today.”

“oh awesome, I thought I was going to be late.”

You smile at her, “no worries, you made it just in time.”

She extends a hand, “I’m Yuna by the way.”

“I’m Y/N.” you notice the empty seats around her, “are you here by yourself too?”

“yeah, my friends aren’t that interested in volleyball.”

you laughed slightly, “same! hey, at least we can watch it together.”

The two of you continue your friendly chatters as the game continued on

At the whistle, your boyfriend lifts up his head to catch your eyes, only to see you talking with Yuna, your brows furrowed.

He rushes upstairs, bracing for the worst: the showdown of the ex-girlfriend versus the current girlfriend

He stops in his tracks when he hears laughter coming from the two of you

Oikawa scratches his head. Where was the catfight? The scratching and hair pulling?

Your eyes widen in surprise at his figure, “Babe! what are you doing up here?”

Yuna’s eyes widen in surprise as well at your words

“wait! the boyfriend you’re talking about is Oikawa?”

“yeah...I thought I mentioned it.”

Yuna laughs out loud, “oh this is so awkward. The ex-boyfriend I’ve been talking to you about is Oikawa.”

The two of you look at each other before laughing

Oikawa stares at the two of you in shock, “what’s going on? you guys know each other?”

“no we just met! but we’re friends now.”

Oikawa shakes his head, unable to comprehend, “isn’t that a little weird?”

Yuna smiles as you explain, “hmm, I guess it would be if Yuna doesn’t have a boyfriend now.”

Your boyfriend visibly relaxes, “oh okay. I’m glad you’re not fighting. I gotta go back to the game.” he gives you a quick kiss before running back downstairs.

“Why would we fight? he’s such an oddball.”

“I agree,” You echo as Oikawa walks back onto the court, this time throwing you a wink before serving.

You smile, “my little oddball.”