#I'm only taking this half seriously because I don't mess around with AUs much (prefer spending the energy developing filler stories)

[megafreeman]

Its insane how SRTT and SRR are both terrible for slightly different reasons. This is why I propose we take bits and pieces from both games and create a new united storyline

[jellifysh]

Getting Back Into the Swing of Things (part six)

Or, Namjoon falls back in love with his ex (and his boyfriends do too)

Ot7 x reader (slow burn, roommates au, fluff, yoongi trusts you very much)

A/n: taglist closed! I don't respond to replies because I'm a sideblog, but I love seeing what you all write so please continue! If you wanna talk directly to me or have me respond back, just send an ask (anon is on now) or message me

You liked cooking, Yoongi noticed.

You liked baking, too, cinnamon rolls and cupcakes and cookies ready at all times of day, especially early in the morning. Jin was mostly likely to blame for your inspiration, joining you in the kitchen whenever possible, the two of you spending hours making dinner dessert and everything else, giggling and talking all the while.

Jungkook especially liked your baking, sitting up at the counter as you and Jin handed him bits of sweets to try, him taking his title as taste tester very seriously, and happily conversing with you over whatever the two of you talked about. It was surprising, how well the two of you got along, doing stupid stuff to make each other laugh, sitting right next to each other on the couch even when there was space not to. It seemed you shared Jungkook's love of physical touch, or at least you didn't mind. It was a good thing, maybe this way he'll stop clinging to Yoongi so much.

Yoongi wasn't sure how early you were waking up to bake, or if you slept at all sometimes, the sound of baking trays and pots and pans clinking together seemed to happen even in the dead of night. He just knew you had a cup of coffee waiting for him when he woke up every morning.

Not that he was in a place to judge your sleeping habits. The only reason he could hear you in the kitchen was because his work was keeping him awake too, his studio positioned close to the kitchen on the first floor. You were actually pretty quiet, your noises probably not audible on the second floor where the bedrooms were.

Yoongi checked the clock on his desk. 12:48 am. He sighed and went to grab a cup of water, deciding he'd had enough coffee that day.

You had just put a tray of something into the fridge. He sipped at his water, leaning against the fridge as he watched you turn and begin wiping down the countertops.

"What is it this time?"

You glanced at him and smiled, explaining excitedly, "I'm trying a classic cheesecake. It's supposed to set up overnight."

He nodded. "Sounds like it'll be delicious. Good luck." He wished sincerely, heading back to his station.

Ten minutes later, as he was getting back into the rhythm of his work, there was a soft knock on his studio door. "Come in."

You peered into the room. "I made some smaller cheesecake cups earlier. Do you want to try one?"

"Yeah, sure." He replied nonchalantly.

It had actually taken you a while to get used to Yoongi.

It's been about two and a half weeks since you'd gotten here, and while almost everyone was civil with you, and Jungkook, Jin, and Yoongi seemed to like you, you still couldn't help but be wary around them. You just couldn't get yourself to drop your guard.

You were confused at first, wondering why you were so high strung since being here, but your ex-boyfriend had left you pretty messed up, you'd eventually came to realize, finding yourself cowering and planning escape routes when you weren't sure of what would happen next. To say that your fights with your ex were explosive would be an understatement, shouting loud enough to shake the house and throwing things everywhere.

You didn't like yelling, though, only doing it after he riled you up enough, and generally took to just staying quiet to avoid any possible conflict, getting tired of vases being thrown at your head.

You baked mostly, and it relaxed you. Your boyfriend didn't really like sweets but he didn't mind the smell and you always cleaned up after yourself, and you preferred cooking in his apartment as things were generally cleaner.

Here, though, you had so much more at your disposal, and your calming hobby really came in handy in this new environment, where you were unsure if someone was going to snap and when. Jimin seemed to stay a good distance away from you now and to make it easier, you took your food into your room, usually avoiding the awkward process of getting it at the same time as them by taking your portion after you make it with Jin and before they set the table. You stayed for meals sometimes when you were too slow to slip away, quietly sitting and watching the boys interact with each other.

You realized eventually, after getting closer to Yoongi in the mornings, that he wasn't as intimidating as you thought.

He was different alone, more introspective than when he was making conversation with his loves. You took this initially as a sign he didn't like you before realizing that they just brought out the best in him. In his natural solitary state, he spoke only when neccessary, using as little words as possible.

However, this actually made conversation with him easier. He didn't beat around the bush and you didn't feel like you had to either. You mostly just enjoyed each other's company, warming your hands on the morning coffee you'd make for you both. You realized that he enjoyed just being in the same room as others, connecting with those around him without words, and you were touched that he seemed to enjoy your morning meetings.

"Do you want to stay in here?" He asked after taking his cheesecake cup. He had turned back towards the computer screen but you saw him glance at you out of the corner of his eye.

"I actually still have to finish putting away everything." You said, slightly apologetically, not wanting to turn down any time with the calm man.

He nodded, "Okay. If you want to come back after, you can do that too. I won't be sleeping for a while."

You smiled, even though he wasn't looking at you. "Thanks."

And you took him up on his offer after cleaning up, quietly stalking into the room with your origami paper, settling on the comfy couches against the wall. You folded paper for a while before Yoongi let out a frustrated huff.

"Is everything okay?" You asked cautiously, putting down your paper.

"I don't know, something in this is off beat and I can't tell where." He pulled off his headphones. "I think my ears are getting numb."

You hummed. "Maybe I could give it a listen? I don't know much about music but it helps to have an outside perspective sometimes."

Yoongi passed you the headphones and pulled out a chair for you to sit in, playing you the section of music. You watched the screen as cursor scrolled over the sound frequency graph seeing a point where the music and pattern seemed strange. "Is that it?" You pointed it out.

He stared where you were pointing and then put his head in his hands. "Oh my god, I'm an idiot."

You giggled and went to move back to your spot, working in comfortable silence again. For a while it was nothing but quiet, and you felt so relaxed and safe in the small dimly lit room that you started to feel your eyes droop.

"If you ever need somewhere to stay, you can always chill in here. It's quieter and more private, if thats what you want." Yoongi spoke up suddenly. When you didn't initially respond, he stopped tapping at his soundboard and turned to you, swiveling in his chair.

You were a bit shocked, not expecting him to say that to you. You blinked in surprise, eyelashes fluttering. "Is that really alright? You aren't worried I'll mess anything up?"

He raised an eyebrow, as if confused you would even bring that up. "If you wanted to, you could have already. It's not as if there's anything stopping you. This room doesn't lock."

That was the one of the first signs of trust you'd gotten from Yoongi since being here. That you weren't just a guest but a friend. "Thank you." You replied simply, too dazed to say much else and hoped he could see the gratitude in your eyes.

You went back to origami and he went back to work, the comfortable silence returning and a soft smile on your face. At some point you fell asleep, you don't know when or what happened, but you woke up in your bed the next day.

After staying up so late the night before though, you woke up halfway through the day. You sleepily stumbled downstairs and into the kitchen where Jin was washing dishes, long fluffs of hair pushed back by a headband with flower printed all over it. He smiled fondly when he noticed you.

"There you are. I was wondering when you'd wake up but Yoongi told me you had a late night. I saved breakfast for you." There was a covered tray on the table with your name written on a sticky note stuck on the top. "And you're not too late to help me with lunch." He singsonged, handing you an apron off the hook on the wall.

Cooking with Jin was the highlight of your day. When you two were sharing a kitchen space together, it felt like Iike you really belonged somewhere, really belonged here. You knew without a doubt that Jin wanted you here, despite all the mixed signals everyone else had been sending you, Jin welcomed you since day one.

You would find some way to make it up to him, but now this would be enough. Moving around each like water, like a dance, like a ritual the both of you preformed day after day. You had already grown used to the movements of the man, ingrained in your muscles by now.

Jin glanced at the tabletop where the vase from last week sat. "You haven't had much time to go to the garden this week, sweetheart?" Jin asked, handing you the chili spice before you even asked. He knew that you added a little extra hit of chili to everything, that you liked playing with depths of flavor in your cooking. "I think its really kind of you to try and clean up back there. I honestly forget that we have stuff out there sometimes."

"I've just been sleeping a lot during the day, I guess." Your quiet voice mumbled out, but Jin could tell there was more that you weren't saying.

He decided to take a gentle approach. "Oh, can't sleep during the night? You did throw off your sleeping schedule getting here, didn't you?"

"Yeah," you said. "That must've been it."

Jin had seen the way you act when you don't think anyone's watching, had seen the way you let your guard down while cooking enough to know that you had just built it back up again. He knew that you would talk about it when you felt ready.

"You could just try keeping yourself up instead of napping. Or, if you ever have trouble sleeping at night, Namjoon's got some super boring books in the reading nook. I'm sure you could bore yourself into a coma with one of those." He elbowed you gently, getting you to look up at him and laugh. Much better, Jin thought to himself.

You nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

Later that day, when you felt sleepy, you went out into the garden instead of laying in bed. Maybe Jin was right. Maybe you could fix your sleeping schedule by just waiting until night to sleep.

(You knew from past experience that this wasn't how your brain worked, that it liked it to keep you up at night, but you might as well try.)

At the very least, you'd collapse from exhaustion. So you put on the worn garden gloves and all the dilapidated tools you you found and got to weeding and pulling again, working up a rhythm and clearing away a good amount of weeds, until--

"Hey,"

You looked up, Namjoon standing beside you, large shopping bags in his hands with leaves peeking out the top. He shifted awkwardly, looking a bit nervous.

"Jin told me you had been fixing the garden, I thought I'd make it a little easier." He sat down the bags, pulling out some plant starters and some new tools. "Those old gloves look kinda gross. Is pink still your favorite color?"

He pulled out some thick rubber gloves with cute pink peaches printed all over them. You nodded and took the gloves, turning them over in your hands as you admired them.

He cleared his throat, settling next to you slowly. "So, gardening, huh?"

You held back a smile, watching him fidget in place. "Yep." You replied unhelpfully. He looked like he had something to say, so you'd decided to see where this went.

"I like gardening too, this was my garden, you know? I just thought that it'd be cool to have something to do to de-stress sometimes. I used to play with music to de-stress but now that's my job so I thought doing something non music related would be better, but--" he rambled, and probably would've continued nonstop.

You placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling encouragingly. "Namjoon. There's obviously something you want to say so you might as well just say it."

He let out a breath slowly, looking at the budding flowers in the pot in front of you. "I was a jerk back then, Y/n. I never meant to hurt you. I know that doesn't fix anything but you were important to me." He turned to look at you, sorrow burning in his eyes. "You needed me, and I hurt you. I'm sorry."

Your expression changed into shock, not expecting him to bring that up so suddenly. You pulled your hand back from his shoulder, avoiding his eyes and busied yourself with weeding some more. "It's... I mean, it wasn't entirely your fault. I was stubborn, we weren't listening to each other. We would've broken up eventually."

He continued with determination to make you understand. "We could've tried harder, but I just gave up. You didn't deserve that." You glanced over, you could see the regret on his face and sighed. It hurt but, it's been years. You had learned to deal with it, even though it was still nice to hear an apology.

"It's okay. I'm here now, and you have six lovely people by your side. You all deserve each other honestly. You're so much happier now. You're doing what you've always wanted and you're doing great." You smiled sweetly at him, and he smiled back after a moment. "Friends?" You said, handing him a shovel.

"Friends." He took the shovel and started digging some holes for the new plants. You picked up some of the other new tools he bought, watching the sun glint off the new supplies. "You should've bought yourself some gloves too. This is your garden, after all."

He shook his head, dark brown strands of hair falling onto his forehead as he got more comfortable next to you. "Nah. It's yours now, you've put in a lot more work than I did, and it looks way better, too."

He stayed with you as you gardened, helping you place the new starts in the ground and water them. You two spent the afternoon there until it was time for dinner, Jin deciding not to call you in to help him cook after seeing you two laughing through the window.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Taglist closed: @sunshinehobissunshine @pb-n-juju @bunnyrhe @7soulsbts @tinyoonsblog @royalchickens @urvirtualgfteehee @fangirlnonsense @deathincarnation @alngelias @jinswifeyy @not-today-19 @btsizlyfe @justsomoneliving @purplelady85 @just-me-and-myselfs @thinkaholicer @kookstempo @retrojennie @squishyturtle @bunzom @fuckinglittlekitten @canarystwin @scuzmunkie @stupendousliteraturewritingoaf @sugarrush-blush @bt21chim @maries110911 @creatorspalace @bjoriis @highinhopess @little-dark-empress @onlythebest-106 @cestlabellemort @rapunzel76 @kamen-tenshi @totallynoanalien @singukieee @gingerupset @sunshinee0-0 @avadakadabra93 @lvrseok @musicismyoxygen @missinggot7 @silscintilla @jcrml @chosovisionaries @hwa-loves @placeoftime @embrace-themagic

[meetmeatthecoda]

Lately, I've found myself drawn to stories ( and I mean drawn to as in envisioning those stories in my head, thinking them through to the very last detail, not reading, let alone writing them down, because I've long since accepted that they will never turn out quite the same on the paper ) where Red is the one who'd been seriously hurt and, therefore, rendered unconscious for an indefinite amount of time and worried Liz is the one who doesn't leave his side, hoping and praying and pleading that he would wake up. Probably, something that has to do with how unfair it is that we've seen Red keep vigil by hurt!Lizzy's side – playing music for her, holding her hand, reading to her etc. – a number of times and yet, over the course of 8 seasons, never have ever been allowed the pleasure of seeing Liz do the same for him ( not even when he was shot – because she left to retrieve the Fulcrum and couldn't come back until the fight was over – or when he was poisoned – because she'd been waiting to be cleared to see him and he ran away the moment he wasn't actively dying, because that's Red for you all ), even though she loves and cares about him as much as he loves and cares about her.

I mean, just imagine the possibilities!

Liz pacing around the waiting area of Red's mobile hospital while he's in surgery, unable to think about anything else other than how he looked – battered and broken and barely alive – when they've found him and how his head rested in her lap ( she could almost convince herself that he was merely dozing, if he wasn't so deathly pale and still and there wasn't so much blood on his clothes and her clothes and her hands and the backseat of the car ) and his hand was limp in her death grip as they rushed him to his doctors and she whispered words of reassurance and encouragement to him even though she knew he couldn't hear her and how she had to fight the instinct to curl around her lover and snarl at anyone who would come close because she can't let him be hurt further as the medics took him away from her, exchanging observations and orders that didn't sound particularly reassuring. She's also acutely aware of the fact that Red is fighting for his life – there, just a few feet away from her – and, though he's the strongest man she's ever known, he may not win, and so she makes a promise to the empty air in front of her that she will kill him herself if he dares to give up on her and Agnes like that now, when they've just reached the good, right place in their relationship, just confesses their feelings to each other. At some point, Dembe most certainly pulls Liz in for a hug, letting her cry in his shoulder, doing his best to comfort her ( even though there's nothing that can bring her more comfort than Red's hug, when he – alive and whole – wraps his arms protectively around her and holds her close and lets her hide from the whole world in his arms, his chest, his shoulder and neck – wherever she prefers to burrow her face at the time – and the memory itself makes her cry harder, because there's a possibility that he will never hug her like that again ), even though he's just as worried and scared as she is, and Mr Kaplan helps Liz clean up, washing away Red's blood from her hands and producing seemingly out of the thin air fresh clothes for her to change into.

Red, of course, pulls through the surgery, beating all odds, and Liz's heart floods with relief at the good news before sinking when the doctor explains to her and Dembe and Mr Kaplan the extent of Red's injuries and that it's impossible to say when – or even if – he wakes up.

And so the waiting game begins. Liz doesn't leave Red's side, holding his hand, stroking his knuckles with her thumb and never letting go, constantly talking to him and reading to him and even asking Dembe to bring the record player and some records from the Bethesda apartment to play to him, hoping that it would elicit some kind of response from him. Yet, as they days go by, there's not a single, smallest sign that he's aware of anything that's going on around him, that he's still there somewhere and is trying to find his way back to her, to them – he doesn't stir, doesn't so much as flutter his eyelashes, and Liz grows more desperate with each passing day, even though the doctor assures her that Red's slowly but surely improving ( but she can't see it with her own eyes, and if she can't see it, she's less likely to believe it, the more time passes with him just lying there, undisturbed by the loud, chaotic world around him ).

And then there's Agnes... While Liz keeps vigil at Red's bedside, the babysitting duties are split equally between Aram and Samar, Charlene and Cooper, Ressler and Audrey and Dembe and Mr Kaplan. Yet more often than not whoever picks little Agnes up from school and / or her ballet classes brings her over to the safe-house where Liz and Red are. She doesn't seem to be as unnerved by Red's state as her mommy is, climbing on his bed each time she visits ( after giving her mommy the biggest hug, of course ) and leaning in close to him, examining his face thoughtfully before half-asking, half-stating "He's still tired, mommy?". And Liz usually replies with a hoarse "Yes, baby" because she doesn't trust herself not to get choked up if she tries to answer more eloquently. Agnes simply nods then, satisfied with the explanation why he hasn't woken up yet, and settles against Red's side – mindful of his injuries and the spider web of wires and tubes connecting him to all sorts of monitors and machines – and either naps ( especially, on ballet classes days ) or tells her mommy and Red ( she talks to him just like Liz does much too easily – promising him to show him the new moves she's learnt when he wakes up etc. – as if she's already done that before or seen anyone else do that... unbeknownst to Liz, she did both – when Liz herself was in a coma, Agnes both saw Red talk to her mommy and was encouraged by him to talk to her, too, because it may help her mommy sleep easier and maybe she'll get better sooner and finally wake up ) about her day or does her homework or draws ( more often than not, she draws either cards for Red to read when he wakes up or just things she wants him to see ). And when the time comes for her to leave, she always kisses Red on the cheek, wishing him "sweet dreams" and to get better soon, and then gives her mommy, who tries so very hard not to tear up but fails miserably, a hug and a kiss, too, and tells her frequently that she shouldn't cry because Red is just too tired, just like she – Liz – once was, and that he just needs to sleep a bit more.

And when the door behind Agnes closes and Liz is sure her daughter won't see / hear her, she breaks down hard, in big, ugly sobs, because her little girl shouldn't be acting so naturally in this kind of situation and because she wishes so hard that Red just woke up, because she can't do this, any of this, without him.

In the end, once his body has healed itself enough and he regained enough of his strength, Red, of course, does wake up. It's a slow process, and Liz thinks she might either faint or go mad from the overwhelming feelings that are swirling inside of her when Red moves for the first time in what seems to her like forever – squeezing her hand feather-lightly – and when he leans slightly, unconsciously into her touch when she strokes his cheek – out of habit, without even expecting any sort of reaction from him and being pleasantly surprised – and when he opens his eyes for the first time – it's a brief occurrence, with his eyes slipping shut tiredly again after just a few moments, and he's still pretty much out of it, apparently, not even noticing her presence by his side, but for Liz it's a major event – and when he finally, finally looks directly at her – alive and conscious and alert – and calls her "Lizzy". He's still weak and his voice sounds terrible and Liz knows she shouldn't let all of her pent-up feelings – the fear and despair and frustration and love and relief and exhaustion – out on him like that – he's just woken up, after all – but she can't hold back the tears nor the jumbled mess of "thank you"s and "I love you"s and " "I've missed you"s and "I'm so so happy you're back" and "I was so worried" and "Don't ever scare me like that again" that spills from her lips as she leans in to kiss him lightly and give him the gentlest of hugs...

(Since I'm not a ficwriter and, therefore, have no intentions of using this pile of ideas/images/feelings myself, I wouldn't mind at all if you or any other writer drew inspiration from this rambling of mine)

Ahhhhh 😭😭😭 Are you sure you're not a fic writer, anon?? Cause this reads like some quality hurt/comfort to me!! 🥲🥲 Honestly, this is a lovely scenario to imagine & it gives me a slightly bitter sense of satisfaction to think of Liz suffering through just a fraction of the time Red spent by her side while she was in her coma... especially if it's the catalyst for fEeLiNgS to emerge tee hee bc, you're RIGHT, we were woefully deprived of those situations in the show & I'll never not be sad about it tbh. More specifically, things I love the most about this in no particular order: Liz having to "fight the instinct to curl around her lover & snarl" *swoon*, Liz swearing she will kill him herself if he dies LMAO, Dembe hugging her for comfort & Mr. Kaplan helping her get cleaned up 🥺🥺🥺, Liz playing records for Red yasss, AGNES & everyone taking turns babysitting her while she misses her Daddy desperately but deals with the situation with a maturity & grace beyond her years in an effort to help her grieving Mommy through it cool cool mkay mkay, Liz only breaking down once Agnes leaves OWWW, anddddd Liz being a blubbering mess when Red finally wakes up & calls her "Lizzie" & they kiss *whispers* it's fine, i'm fine 🙃 IN CONCLUSION, I love this anon, thank you for sharing this lovely little AU with me!! 🥰 And much, much love to you, of course, my friend!! ❤️