#It weirdly made me much more confident in my art almost like these things are there to help the process be easier and do just that LMAO

[smolskrungliez]

nya

[carnalcrows]

LOLLIPOP - CHO SANGWOO

pairing: dad's best friend!cho sang-woo x trans male reader

synopsis: When your dad’s hot best friend crashes at your place for a week, things heat up faster than the broken AC—throw in drunken confessions, lollipops, and a whole lot of unresolved tension, and you’ve got a summer break you’ll never forget.

content warnings: 18+, reader definitely has an oral fixation, too much plot, mentions of a transphobic mother, (GI HUN IS READER'S DAD), age gap (reader is 19 and sang-woo is in his 40's), unprotected sex, P in V, back-scratching? fingering, lots of unspoken tension.

word count: - 4.3k

A/N: ty to @art-gang-money , their request was what made me go on a spiral w this fic 🙏🏼🫡

Summer in your dad’s apartment always smelled like kimchi stew and stale cigarettes, a combination you’d grown weirdly fond of since moving back in after you started uni. The ceiling fan wobbled as it turned, and the couch sagged just enough to remind you how old it was. You were sprawled out on it lazily sucking on a cranberry lollipop and scrolling through your phone, when your dad cleared his throat dramatically.

“You’ll never guess who’s coming over,” he said, leaning against the doorframe like he was delivering some kind of life-altering news.

“Let me guess,” you deadpanned. “The landlord? Because I think the AC’s about to give out.”

He waved you off, grinning. “No, you brat. Cho Sangwoo. You’ve heard me talk about him, right?”

Heard? More like endured. Sangwoo was the mythical figure your dad brought up at every family gathering, a symbol of everything Seong Gi-hun wanted you to be: successful, hardworking, and an SNU graduate. You’d rolled your eyes through countless retellings of his achievements, imagining some stiff, balding guy in glasses who probably spoke in lectures.

“Yeah, sure,” you muttered, not looking up.

“He’s staying here for a week,” your dad added, oblivious to your lack of enthusiasm. “He’s got a client nearby, and I told him he could crash here. You’ll like him. He’s... cool.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Cool? Coming from you, that doesn’t mean much.”

Your dad ignored the jab, already walking toward the door. “He should be here any minute!”

When the door opened a few minutes later, you barely glanced up—until you heard the deep, smooth voice that followed.

“Gi-hun,” the man said warmly, stepping inside. “It’s been too long.”

You looked up and your sucker almost fell out of your mouth.

This wasn’t the stiff, balding guy you’d imagined. Sangwoo was tall, broad-shouldered, and wearing a suit that looked like it cost more than your dad’s entire wardrobe. His hair was styled just enough to look effortless, and the way he carried himself screamed confidence.

“Finally, you’re here!” your dad said, pulling him into a back-slapping hug. “Sangwoo, this is my son.”

“Nice to meet you kid,” Sangwoo said, extending a hand toward you.

You shook it, trying not to let your thoughts show on your face. His grip was firm, and his eyes lingered a moment longer than necessary.

“So you’re the famous Sangwoo,” you grinned, “Didn’t expect you to be so... old.”

Sangwoo raised an eyebrow, his lips quirking into a faint smirk. “Old?”

“Yeah,” you teased, leaning back against the couch. “Forty’s ancient.”

Your dad barked out a laugh. “Don’t mind him. He thinks anyone over twenty-five is ancient.”

Sangwoo didn’t reply, but the way his gaze lingered on you made your stomach twist.

After dinner, the hum of the evening settled over the apartment. Gi-hun had retreated to the couch, already half-asleep with the TV droning in the background. You had volunteered—reluctantly—to wash the dishes, partly out of guilt for eating so much and partly to avoid sitting awkwardly in the living room while Sangwoo and your dad chatted about old times.

The warm water ran over your hands as you scrubbed a plate, the faint scent of dish soap filling the air. You had just started to lose yourself in the monotony when you felt it—the faint shift of the air behind you.

“Need help?” Sangwoo’s voice came, low and smooth, almost too close.

You froze for a split second, your grip tightening on the plate. “Uh... I’ve got it,” you said, trying to sound casual, but your voice came out tighter than you’d hoped.

He didn’t seem to care—or maybe he didn’t believe you. Instead of leaving, he moved closer, his arm brushing against yours as he reached for the sponge in your hand.

“Don’t be stubborn,” he said, his tone light but with an edge of amusement.

Before you could protest, he had already slid the sponge from your fingers, his other hand gently nudging you to the side—not enough to move you completely, but just enough so he could stand behind you, his chest brushing your back.

The countertop pressed against your hips, trapping you between the solid wood and Sangwoo. You swallowed hard, your thoughts scattering like leaves in a gust of wind.

His scent hit you first—clean and sharp, a mix of soap and something faintly musky, like fresh cedarwood. He had clearly just stepped out of the shower; his hair was still damp, and the faint warmth of his skin radiated against you.

“Just rinse them,” he said, his voice a soft rumble that sent a shiver down your spine.

You nodded dumbly, reaching for the faucet, but your hands felt clumsy, your fingers fumbling with the knobs. The sound of the water splashing into the sink seemed impossibly loud in the otherwise quiet kitchen.

Sangwoo leaned forward slightly, his arm stretching past you to grab another plate. The movement brought him even closer, his chest pressing more firmly against your back. You could feel the faint rise and fall of his breath, steady and unhurried, as if he weren’t fully aware of what he was doing—or maybe he was too aware.

“You’re tense,” he commented, his voice laced with amusement.

You let out a breathless laugh, trying to ignore the heat creeping up your neck. “Yeah, well, I didn’t expect to be body-blocked while washing dishes.”

He chuckled softly, the sound vibrating against your back. “You’re overthinking it. Just relax.”

Easier said than done, especially with him standing this close. Every time his arm brushed yours or his hand grazed yours as he passed a plate, it sent tiny jolts of electricity through you.

“You always make dishwashing this awkward?” you asked, your tone half-joking, half-desperate to diffuse the tension.

“Only when I’m working with someone as clumsy as you,” he shot back, his smirk practically audible.

You turned your head slightly to glare at him, but the motion brought your face dangerously close to his. His eyes flicked down to your lips and back to you, and for a moment, neither of you moved.

The air between you was heavy, charged with something unspoken but impossible to ignore. He was so close you could see the faint droplets of water still clinging to his hair, the curve of his mouth as he smiled faintly, like he knew exactly what he was doing to you.

“Well,” you managed to say, your voice quieter now, “if you’re going to take over, at least let me get out of your way.”

“Who said I wanted you to move?” he replied, his voice barely above a whisper.

Your heart skipped a beat, and for a moment, you thought you’d misheard him. But then he turned back to the sink, the faintest hint of a smirk tugging at his lips as he continued washing the dishes as if nothing had happened.

You stayed frozen in place, your mind racing and your pulse hammering in your ears. If this was some kind of game, Sangwoo was winning effortlessly.

On the third day of Sangwoo’s stay, your dad insisted on taking you both out for drinks, and Sangwoo agreed with a faint smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Gi-hun, unsurprisingly, got wasted. You and Sangwoo ended up practically dragging him back to The humid summer night hung heavy as you and Sangwoo maneuvered your dad through the narrow streets, Gi-hun stumbling slightly with every step. He reeked of soju and cheap beer, his arm slung around Sangwoo’s shoulder while you tried to steady him from the other side.

“He’s heavy for someone who barely eats,” you grumbled, adjusting your grip.

“He’s always been like this,” Sangwoo said, shaking his head. “Some things never change.”

“Y’know,” Gi-hun suddenly slurred, his voice unusually loud in the stillness of the night, “I never thought I’d be one of those dads.”

“Which kind?” you asked, bracing yourself for whatever drunken confession was about to follow.

“The good ones!” he proclaimed, nearly tripping over his own feet. Sangwoo caught him effortlessly, his expression unreadable as Gi-hun continued. “Your mom… she didn’t think so. Thought I was crazy for defending you.”

“Dad,” you muttered, feeling the familiar prick of discomfort settle in your chest. “Maybe now’s not the time—”

“Why not?” Gi-hun cut you off, his eyes glassy but filled with a strange intensity. “Sangwoo doesn’t care. Do you, Sangwoo?”

Sangwoo hesitated, glancing at you before replying softly, “Not at all.”

Gi-hun nodded triumphantly, as if Sangwoo’s approval was all the validation he needed. “See? Told you. No shame in it. Not a damn bit.”

You didn’t reply, focusing instead on guiding him toward the apartment. But Gi-hun wasn’t done.

“Your mom…” His voice grew quieter, tinged with bitterness. “She couldn’t handle it. Said it wasn’t natural. Like you weren’t her kid anymore, just because you stopped wearing dresses and started wearing ties.” He barked out a humorless laugh. “As if a piece of fabric could change the fact that you’re you.”

Your chest tightened, but you didn’t interrupt. This wasn’t the first time he’d brought it up, but it still hit like a sucker punch every time.

“She wanted you to be her perfect little daughter,” Gi-hun continued, his words starting to blur together. “And when you wouldn’t… she packed up your sister and left. Going all the way to America like that would fix everything.”

He stumbled again, and this time Sangwoo steadied him with a firm grip. “America’s got more people like you anyway,” Gi-hun added, his tone lightening into something almost comedic. “She probably hates it there. Serves her right.”

You let out a soft, startled laugh despite yourself. The absurdity of it all—the drunken way he said it, the thought of your mother fuming in a country full of people who were allowed to be themselves (kinda)—was too ridiculous not to.

Gi-hun turned to look at you, his expression suddenly serious. “But you know… I’m glad you stayed with me. I wouldn’t trade you for anything. Not for a wife, not for money, not for anything.”

Your throat tightened, and you could only nod, your voice caught somewhere between a laugh and a sob.

Gi-hun leaned heavily against Sangwoo, his weight almost toppling both of them. “My kid’s a damn good man,” he declared, his voice wobbling with emotion. “Better than I’ll ever be.”

Sangwoo’s gaze flickered toward you, his dark eyes softening in understanding. He didn’t say anything, but the slight dip of his head felt like a silent acknowledgment—a recognition of everything unsaid.

When you finally got Gi-hun back to the apartment, he collapsed onto the couch, snoring almost instantly. You stood there for a moment, staring at him, your emotions too tangled to sort through.

Sangwoo broke the silence, his voice low. “He’s a good father.”

You glanced at him, surprised by the quiet sincerity in his tone. “Yeah,” you replied, your voice softer than usual. “He is.”

When you finally got your dad into bed from the couch, you turned to Sangwoo, expecting some kind of witty remark.

Instead, he just stared at you, his expression unreadable.

“What?” you asked, your voice coming out more defensive than you intended.

“Why do you keep doing that?”

“Doing what?”

“Acting like you don’t know exactly what you’re doing,” he said, stepping closer. His voice was low, almost a growl, and it sent a shiver down your spine.

“Maybe I don’t,” you replied, your tone defiant.

“Don’t play dumb.” He was close now, so close you could feel the heat radiating off him. “You’ve been pushing me all week. Do you even know what you’re asking for?”

Your breath hitched, but you didn’t back down. “Maybe I do.”

That was all it took.

His hand shot out, gripping the back of your neck as his lips crashed into yours. The kiss was rough, heated, filled with all the tension that had been building between you.

You kissed him back just as fiercely, your hands clutching at his shirt as he pressed you against the wall. His teeth grazed your bottom lip, and you let out a quiet gasp that only spurred him on.

The kiss had left you breathless, your pulse pounding in your ears as Sangwoo’s grip on the back of your neck softened just slightly. The wall at your back was cool, a stark contrast to the heat radiating from his body. His forehead rested against yours, and for a brief moment, neither of you spoke.

“You’re trouble,” he muttered again, his voice quieter this time, but no less intense.

“You’re the one kissing me,” you shot back, the words shaky but bold.

A low chuckle rumbled in his chest, and his fingers slid from your neck to trace the line of your jaw. The touch was maddeningly slow, deliberate, and you couldn’t help but lean into it.

“Do you even know what you’re doing?” he asked, his tone tinged with something between amusement and exasperation.

“Do you?” you countered, meeting his gaze.

His eyes darkened, and his hand dropped to your waist, pulling you closer. “You’re playing with fire.”

“Good thing I’m not scared of getting burned.”

That was all it took for him to lose the last thread of restraint. His lips were on yours again, fiercer this time, his hands gripping your waist as if anchoring himself. You clung to him just as desperately, your fingers tangling in his shirt.

When he pulled back again, his lips hovered near your ear, his breath warm against your skin. “You’ve been driving me insane,” he murmured, his voice low and gravelly.

“Yeah?” you whispered, a teasing edge creeping into your tone despite the way your heart was racing. “And here I thought you were just ignoring me.”

His laugh was soft, almost bitter. “Ignoring you? Do you have any idea how hard it’s been to keep my hands off you?”

Your face heated at his words, but you couldn’t resist pushing him just a little further. “Sounds like a you problem, old man.”

His grip tightened on your waist, and he pulled back just enough to look at you, his expression a mix of frustration and desire. “You really don’t know when to quit, do you?”

You opened your mouth to retort, but he didn’t give you the chance. His lips were on yours again, his hands slipping under the hem of your shirt to rest against your bare skin. The warmth of his touch sent a shiver through you, and you gasped softly against his mouth.

“Sangwoo—” you started, but he silenced you with another kiss, his teeth grazing your bottom lip before he pulled away just slightly.

“Say my name again,” he murmured, his voice so low it sent a thrill down your spine.

Your lips parted, but the sound of a door creaking down the hall snapped you both back to reality.

“Shit,” you whispered, your head jerking toward the noise.

He let out a soft curse, his hands slipping from your waist as he stepped back, putting just enough space between you to make it look like nothing had happened.

“Dad?” you asked, your voice barely above a whisper.

“Probably,” Sangwoo replied, his tone clipped. He straightened his shirt, his expression already hardening back into the composed mask he’d worn all week.

You didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed as you watched him pull himself together, but the heat in his gaze when he glanced back at you told you this wasn’t over—not by a long shot.

“Go to bed,” he said quietly, the corner of his mouth twitching into the faintest hint of a smirk. “We’ll talk about this later.”

“Promise?” you asked, your voice light but your heart still pounding.

He didn’t answer, but the look he gave you said enough.

Saturday had never felt so bittersweet. Usually, it was your favorite day of the week—a time to sleep in, lounge around, and revel in doing absolutely nothing. But this Saturday was different. Sangwoo’s stay was coming to an end, and the thought of him leaving left a knot in your stomach.

You hadn’t had the chance to talk about what had happened that night after the pub—or maybe you’d both avoided it. Every brush of his hand, every lingering look, had felt heavier in the days that followed. But neither of you had acknowledged it. Not once.

The tension in the apartment was unbearable, made worse by your dad’s cheery obliviousness. That morning, he announced he had to run out for work and wouldn’t be back until evening. He didn’t even glance up as he slipped on his shoes, leaving you alone with Sangwoo.

You sat at the kitchen table, absently swirling the stick of a grape lollipop between your lips as you scrolled through your phone. The candy clicked softly against your teeth, your thoughts miles away.

The sound of a chair scraping across the floor snapped you back to reality. You glanced up to see Sangwoo sitting across from you, his dark eyes fixed on you with an intensity that made your breath hitch.

“Is it good?” he asked, nodding toward the lollipop.

You pulled it out of your mouth with a soft pop, tilting your head. “What, this?” You swirled the candy dramatically. “Amazing. Want a taste, old man?”

His lips quirked into that maddening smirk, but he didn’t reply. Instead, he stood, moving toward you with deliberate slowness.

“Sangwoo,” you started, a warning in your tone.

He stopped right beside you, one hand braced on the table as he leaned down. His voice was low, a soft rumble that made your pulse quicken. “You’ve been driving me insane all week.”

You tried for a laugh, but it came out shaky. “Is this about the coffee thing again? (you had put salt in his coffee instead of sugar because you were so fixated on his face-) Because I already apologized—”

His hand reached out, his fingers gently gripping your chin, tilting your face toward him. The sudden proximity stole the words from your throat.

“Stop,” he said quietly, his eyes locked on yours. “Stop pretending like you don’t know exactly what you’re doing.”

Your heart was hammering now, the lollipop stick trembling slightly in your fingers. “Maybe I don’t,” you replied, though the smirk tugging at your lips said otherwise.

His gaze dropped to your mouth, and for a moment, he seemed to wrestle with himself. Then he leaned closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. “You’re going to make me lose control.”

The words sent a thrill through you, but before you could respond, his lips crashed into yours.

It wasn’t gentle. It was rough, messy, and desperate, like he’d been holding back for too long and couldn’t stand it anymore. The lollipop tumbled from your hand, forgotten as you gripped the front of his shirt, pulling him closer.

He groaned softly against your mouth, his hands sliding to your waist, pulling you out of the chair and into him. Your back hit the wall a second later, and you gasped, his teeth grazing your bottom lip as he deepened the kiss.

Your hands tangled in his hair, still faintly damp from his morning shower. He kissed you like he was starving, his lips hot and insistent against yours. One of his hands slid up, tangling in your hair, while the other gripped your hip, keeping you firmly in place.

“You taste sweet,” he murmured against your lips, his voice rough.

You managed a breathless laugh, tilting your head to nip at his jaw. “Blame the lollipop.”

He pulled back just enough to look at you, his eyes dark and heated. “Where’s the rest of it?”

“On the table,” you teased, the corner of your mouth quirking up.

With a low chuckle, he grabbed the discarded lollipop, holding it up as if examining it. Then, to your shock, he popped it into his mouth, his eyes never leaving yours.

“That’s mine,” you protested weakly, though your voice was barely above a whisper.

“Not anymore,” he said, his tone laced with amusement.

Before you could respond, he was kissing you again, the faint sweetness of the candy mixing with the heat of his mouth. The combination was intoxicating, making your head spin.

His hands roamed, gripping your waist, sliding under your shirt to brush against your bare skin. Every touch left a trail of fire in its wake, and you couldn’t help the soft sound that escaped your lips.

“Sangwoo,” you whispered, your voice trembling.

“Say it again,” he murmured, his lips trailing down your neck.

“Sangwoo,” you repeated, your hands clutching at his shoulders.

He pulled back just enough to meet your gaze, his breathing ragged. “You’ve been driving me crazy all week,” he said, his voice low and raw.

“Good,” you shot back, your smirk returning. “Serves you right, old man.”

His laugh was quiet, almost disbelieving, before his lips found yours again, pulling you into another dizzying kiss.

His hand was going lower and lower, first to your collarbone, then to your waist. It slowly inched the topband of your shorts, pulling it back and letting it slap onto your skip, making you yelp.

His other hand held you steady at the waist, while his dominant one went under your boxers.

You whimpered as you felt his hand graze your cunt, teasing one finger against your wet folds. It had been a solid minute since you even touched yourself down there. You were always too anxious that Sangwoo would be able to hear you (Dad was tone deaf) or he might come home earlier than expected from his business meetings.

And his fingers— God, his hands. So strong and thick. They linger over the soft pudge of your cunt, pressing into the warm skin and pulling apart each sticky fold to ghost over the quiver and throb of your acawaiting, needy clit. How overwhelming they were, using his thumb to rub smooth circles into it, eliciting a wet squelch as his fingers sunk into your hot, gummy walls.

You latched your hands on his shoulders, back arching into the wall with the sudden intrusion. You muffled any noise you made by hiding your face in the crook of his neck.

He propped you up higher on the wall, letting your head fall back, while his eyes never left yours.

“Sangwo–,” you were cut off by him suddenly sliding your shorts down. You remembered with embarrassment that you had worn–

“Huh. Hello Kitty.” the man stated while looking at your bright pink boxers. Your face flushed, turning to look away, while Sanwoo slid your boxers down and continued to have his way with your sopping cunt. 

You had no idea how long you had been in that position. He had taken your leg and placed it on your shoulder, making you somewhat balance on one leg, back resting on the wall and your hands on his shoulder.

Sangwoo on the other hand was obsessed with how his fingers were practically being devoured by your needy cunt, the slick making it easier to slide in every time.

He determined that you had been prepped enough, and removed his belt, along with his pants and boxers, which were now pooling at his knees.

He used his toned arms to steadily lift both your legs up, making you squeak. Your knees were now at the same level of your shoulders. Before you could let out a remark, he had slid the tip of his length into your gummy walls, eyes going wide with how tight you were.

“Fuck…so tight f’me, aren’t you?” It wasn’t really a question, more of a statement, and before you could respond, he had slid all the way in, making you gasp.

Using the opportunity, he captured your lips with his once more, muffling the sweet moans that came from you. He wanted to hear you, but your neighbours seemed to be quite…nosy.

When he had buried his cock all the way to the hilt, he stopped.

“Please…fuck, Sangwoo–,” you whined, feeling full but it just. wasn’t. enough.

“Please what doll? Use your words,” he teased, the smugness evident on his face.

“Fuck me till my legs are shaking. Please please plea–,” before you could finish, Sangwoo had slid out and he rammed into you once more, making you let out an almost pornographic moan.

He went at it like an animal, fucking into you with reckless abandon, as though he was in a rut. Your hands went from his shoulders to his back, your nails (whatever was left of them after you bit them off) scratched his back, leaving crescent shaped indents on his skin.

Your cunt clamped tightly around his cock, as you tried to babble something but only moans left your lips. He seemed so heavily into chasing his own orgasm at this point. 

“San..Sangwoo..I– ” You tried to say but could only cry out as you felt your orgasm wash over you like a rapid stream. Your fingers dug ineffectually into his back as a way of forgetting the overstimulation against the older man’s harsh thrusts.

He groaned, feeling the sting of your nails and how your cunt was clenching around his length with every thrust.

He continued going even after you came, his hips retracting at a fast pace. His grip on your waist tightened, pressing down onto your flesh.

“ I’m gonna-- “, he breathes out before (reluctantly) pulling out of your tight hole and climaxing all over your stomach. 

The warmth of the liquid seeped down your stomach, settling in your navel and even going further to your used cunt.

As he was staring at your hole, that was still clenching around nothing, you brought your shaky hand to his face and dived in for another kiss.

The sound of a key turning in the door was unheard. Your dad’s voice rang out from the hallway. “Forgot my wallet! Need to get the groceries– What the… CHO SANGWOO WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY SON–”

Shit.

© carnalcrows on tumblr. Please do not steal my works as I spend time and and I take genuine effort to do them.

[amerricanartwork]

Y’know, I have a funny story with the ship between Innocence and Pebbles.

@eggobuggo , my sister, was playing The Sims and made the iterators in her own humanised forms, including her version of Innocence and Wind, along with Moon, Pebbles, NSH and Suns, all with their own personalities and stuff. She set up a generic apartment, put the gang in, and just had fun making them do silly shenanigans together, while I sit and watched her play.

In particular, we headcanon NSH, Pebbles and Innocence as Gen 3s, the newer modes, and so she made them into teenagers, which, with a DLC, have a whole new host of features that are not in the base game. This includes getting crushes (which weirdly enough, young adults and adults cannot get).

But anyway, one day, later into the game (the gang basically all were in the high end of the friendship scale with each other), the notif board popped up that Innocence had gotten a crush on Pebbles. Unfortunately for her, NSH and Pebs were already being all flirty with each other (Ragequit is where it’s at for us), making Pebble basically keep her in the friendzone. Ngl, my heart went out to her :,) Especially so, because they were all sharing a room. (space was tight)

After that, I began thinking about it in context of it in-universe, and ngl, I came to quite liking it as a ship, especially since I see Innocence to be less… asshole-ish (?), I guess, than what the general fandom makes her out to be (I mean it’s understandable, we only see her to leak the pic of Pebbles condition and that’s it.). To me and Eggo, she’s much nicer unless you really piss her off, which then, her more cynical and gossipy side of her comes out. She was actually more of on the friends side with Pebble before the shit went down.

At the time, I thought “dang, it’s a shame I won’t be seeing anything of it since she’s so obscure.”. This was a couple months before I began seeing art of them on the main tag.

Soooo… I guess I’m somewhat of an og Milkshake (as is the fandom name) shipper???

Just, seeing you and others make art about them is almost surreal in a way, since the only reason I really considered them as a ship was cuz of a random event in a life sim game lol.

Also @eggobuggo, I hope you don’t mind me sharing the story. :)

Wow, that seems like quite the story! And I do agree, after witnessing something like that in a totally different game it must be pretty surreal to see the ship gaining popularity in the actual RW fandom now too! It's nice to get another seal of approval from an original Milkshake shipper!

For me, it's also a bit strange because it's something I've considered for a really long time as a lingering "oh, wouldn't it be cool if I could make this work?" idea. The obscurity and lack of content for UI to draw inspiration from, both canon and fanon, definitely added to these feelings and the difficulty of imagining a working portrayal of the ship, hence I've only recently felt confident enough about the relationship and UI as a character to act on it. So after Pura coined the ship name and made a lot more art of it, then other artists started expressing approval and even drawing it themselves, it almost feels like I'm watching the ship enter the mainstream (Tumblr) fandom consciousness in real time, which is honestly pretty cool, especially since it feels like I had a hand in it with that initial ask! And even if I wasn't the very first to consider it, I'll definitely continue supporting this ship!

For some other thoughts though, I totally agree on Innocence not being mean in reality, though for me she's not mean or gossipy at all and more so has a kind-of opposite major flaw that tends to cause bad things unintentionally. As much as I can understand interpreting the character as a genuinely mean person, I thought it'd be interesting to imagine that her leaking the rot simply caused others to perceive her as mean, not that she's that way in reality. After all, I don't think we ever see direct dialogue from Innocence in canon, and the only evidence I can find of her being mean is Wind's speculation on her motivations. I also took inspiration from @shkika's Innocence, but I just wanted to see if I could take those ideas further to create my own unique interpretation.

Also, it's actually pretty coincidental you're telling me this too, because in regards to what I've come up for my Milkshake portrayal, Innocence having an unrequited crush on Pebbles for a really long time is actually really important for both plot and character arc reasons! I've been developing my own take on the classic worm-off-the-string iterator AU idea with @hail-strom for like the past week or so and the ship as of now plays a decent role in that, but the unrequited crush acts as subtle, yet major context for Innocence's actions throughout, which in turn slowly influence Pebbles especially as he starts to reciprocate those feelings (much to his alarm)!

Anyway, thanks for sharing that with me, and thanks for giving me a chance to ramble about this ship more! I'm honestly so happy to see it growing, and all support counts!

[scrybe-of-death]

TAOCC IS AMAZING, and boy has it changed since I first showed up

Aka: Elsie gets really sentimental for once

I’m gonna be honest, this is not the community I expected to end up in on this site. I joined Tumblr about October 29th and expected to end up as maaaaaybe a minor artist. At best. At the time TADC was just “that glitch thing that was blowing up that I thought was pretty good” and I was much more into murder drones anyways.

…Holy crabs, looking back on that…I had no idea what I was gonna end up getting into lol

I randomly followed the @/ragatha1 ask blog at one point, kind of confused as to what an ask blog was but hey, why not? That’s how I found Soup’s gangle blog and boy did things go off the rails. I was…so confused, I showed up smack dab in the middle of the Tiger insanity with no idea who any of these characters or people were. At that point iirc, “TAOCC” wasn’t even the name for the whole thing yet. I made Easton and was like “okay I’ll just have this goofy guy who likes sandwiches, no angst here, maybe he’ll make some friends, I really hope everyone likes him!”

BOY WAS I IN FOR A SURPRISE

I joined my first ever magma at that point as well! And I vividly remember being really confused but just doodling my sona in the corner and then people were like

“Uhhhh who the frick is Elsewhere I like your art :D”

and I was like

“Um

you what”

and thus I joined magma…a lot. Lol. That’s how I got to know soup and you (Xeya) and a few others. I felt so…weirdly new. Like impostor syndrome was in full force. That feeling hasn’t…really ever gone away, tbh.

And since then I’ve figured myself out mostly with only a few embarrassments to my name. I’m really grateful for the people I’ve made friends with, especially Fei, Star, Soup, and Xeya, as well as Kumo and Candy mods. You guys have been lovely to me, and I don’t know how I ever came to deserve that. It’s been rough at times, and I had to/still have to figure out boundaries and how to be assertive basically from scratch. This website still hurts me sometimes, and I accept that I’m a bit odd in some respects. But overall, people have respected that here much more than they do in my actual life. People have respected me here more than they tend to in real life. Before this I could share my writing and art with one person. One. I would go stir-crazy because I would make art and writing and never get to show anyone, which meant I just…spent like an entire year not doing anything. It sucked. And now I will just,..make art and characters for the funsies, and not get scolded for it. I can write incredibly florid descriptions and scenes about stuff like a freaking TOWN’S DESCRIPTION, and people will like it and tell me I’m good at this. I honestly might consider becoming a writer now when I become an adult. I learned that I can be shamelessly self indulgent when writing and people will enjoy it lol. Thank you guys for dealing with that btw lol. I will just MAKE CHARACTERS FOR PEOPLE FOR THE FUNSIES, a willingness I thought I’d all but lost. Like, I saw a 3d printer in my chem class two days ago and went “hmmm yunno what I could give a character in TAOCC a 3d printer for a head and that’d be so cool! Yunno, maybe Xeya would like it if I made that for her.” AND HERE WE ARE I’M CURRENTLY MAKING YOU A CHARACTER WITH A 3D PRINTER FOR A HEAD.

Also, you guys have no idea how grateful I am that you go along with my giant overarching plotlines. Like, my first test of the idea was Dusk’s domain and Sun’s trip to see Northeast, and then I was confident enough that people would care that I made the entire Lull/dungeon thing. The dungeon has been my magnum opus of writing, I put more work into that than almost anything else I’ve ever written. And people actually…respected that. I’m terrible at writing fight scenes, and yet I carried a fight scene for multiple hours with like…20 characters! I DIDN’T THINK I COULD HAVE TWO CHARACTERS FIGHT AND MAKE IT WORK AT ALL! OH MY LANDS I HAVE ACTUAL SELF CONFIDENCE NOW!! AAAAAAAAA-

anyways, that aside lol

it’s been wonderful, really. I feel like the pros far outweigh the cons for me, and the cons for me can be mitigated anyways entirely on my side of things lol. I came to this site looking for a community of people who would appreciate me, stupid flaws, autism, anxiety, writing and all. And I think I got that. And I want to find more, I want to keep going beyond this little bubble, but I want to always come back to this little circle of people. I don’t care how many rps or writing messes I end up in, TAOCC is always going to have a special place in my heart, flaws and all. It’s helped me get through some serious mess in my life, and being excited to come home to whatever insanity these lil guys are up to today makes me happy like almost nothing else.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Thank you for letting this odd moth in, I hope I’ve earned it.

HELL YEAH YOUVE EARNED IT!!!

You've been literally one of the kindest people I've met on the site. One of the most talented too! I've never seen someone write like you and. Honestly. Genuinely. I look up to you in quite a few aspects.

You're funny, kind, caring, skilled, and a great person overall. and im SO FUCKING GLAD YOURE MY FRIEND EEEEE HUGS SPINS YOUUUU

... (kicks feet) and I heard something about a 3d printer head oc youre making for me.... (teary eyed) (/pos) (me when people do things for me. i love yall. sm. love you elsie sm sM SM SM SM SM!!!)

[goodwriterwithbadhabits]

Stray Kids Playlist

AKA Songs that remind me of the members and why. (GIF credit to the original owners/ creators.)

Master List

~~

Chan: Daddy Issues- The Neighborhood

You saw this coming, I know you did. This song is absolutely delicious, its delectable, and its so correct for Bang Chan Stans. He even called himself our Daddy at one point. Additionally, this song is so weirdly sweet? Its about a genuinely loving person, who wants to be there for the other person. There’s an almost gentle vibe to it, if you get over how blatantly sexy it is, which checks out for Bang Chan, tbh. I really can’t explain what about the vibe just screams Chan, but I know you can feel it. 

Lee Know: Teeth- 5 Seconds of Summer

Lets be real, Lee Know is one of the sassiest mfers on the planet, and we love him for that. This song is definitely about a toxic ass relationship, but its still so sexy. The line “fight so dirty, but you love so sweet” just sounds so much like Minho that its crazy. This song really sounds like it was made for Minho, and there’s been a couple of fantastic edits to this song. 

Changbin: Levitate- Hollywood Undead

THIS SONG!! So it’s my favorite HU song, and its so sexy and cocky. Lets be real, so is Changbin. More than that, the lyrics are shockingly deep. Changbin is such a smart guy under all those rippling muscles, and I feel like that isn’t brought up enough. I can’t really imagine Changbin singing this song, but I could see it playing in the background around him all the time. Now Changbin fans are no doubt some of the horniest Stray Kids fans so a super horny HU song just seems correct. 

Hyunjin: Bubblegum Bitch- Marina and the Diamonds

So this song is fun, its sexy, and its all about confidence. On the outset, it just seems to be about having fun and being a flirt, but its actually about accepting and loving every aspect of yourself. Its that thing that calls me to Hyunjin. He’s confident, chic, and very art pop vibes. I don’t know if I want to see him dance to this song, or I want to scream the lyrics with him while we drunkenly dance around in our pjs. 

Han: Ain’t My Fault- Zara Larson

I’m about to be super biased, so bear with me. Objectively, this song doesn’t really seem like Jisung, a lot of the time he’s actually a awkward and weird dude. However! There are times when he’s a very sexy, confident dude. This feels like the kind of song he would enjoy. Just don’t imagine meeting him in a club and dancing to this song. And definitely don’t imagine him wearing a leather jacket. 

Felix: Lights Down Low- Max

So listen, I love this song! Its fun and funky and makes me wanna dance. Its a surprisingly sweet love song wrapped in a fire melody. The vocals are beautiful and the whole song feels like when Felix’s eyes get all sparkly. Its about finding a person that feels like divinity, and getting the chance to love them. Felix is our gentle angel and this song should play every time he walks in the room. 

Seungmin: Love Me Like You Do- Elli Goulding

I know you expected a Day6 song for our young gentleman, however a simple song like this suits him so much more. The vocals alone strike me as something he’d rock, but additionally the sweet message and gorgeous melody suit him as well. Moreso, the wordplay really works with our sassy puppy Seungmin. I can see him dancing with his S/O and singing this song all soft and sweet. (i cry)

I.N.: Maknae on Top- Stray Kids

Hear me out: I literally can’t think of any song that suits him more. The beat is catchy, its a little cocky, and it cements him as THE Maknae on Top. Jeonginnie, like this song, is a bit weird, but overall, the coolest. This song was literally made for him, so it would make sense that it would be the perfect song for him. It should be playing every time he walks into a room, and he should have to do the little dance. 

What do you think? Do you agree with me or do you have songs that you associate with the members? Let me know in the comments. 

[saints-who-never-existed]

1, 26, 38

1. What are 3 things you’d say shaped you into who you are?

Being Scottish! There's a pervasive feeling in much of Scottish culture of always being just a wee bit of an underdog and that does several things to us as a people, I find. I think it's a big part of why many Scots are often so bold and passionate, first of all. Having that odd sense that no one else is going to back you up means that you have to be willing to back yourself. Going on the offense because you're weirdly inured to being on the defence, I suppose. I think that feeling also makes us more willing to back other underdogs up too though. Scotland is by no means free of prejudice or hatred but we have a strong sense of community, solidarity, and justice, and we're known for being friendly, open, and welcoming on the whole. And lastly, I just think it makes us very fucking funny. Swearing is an art-form, insults are a love language, and by Christ do we know how not to take life or ourselves too seriously.

HIGHSCHOOL The first few years of high school were rough as fuck for me but they also made me very, very thick-skinned. While I do still struggle sometimes with Imposter Syndrome and with feeling awkward or out of place in certain situations, on the whole I'd say my experience in high school actually made me more sure of myself in the end! I didn't change to try to fit in - if anything, I got exponentially fucking weirder with it and made myself stand out more! And having no mates at the time meant I relied only on myself and my own mind as I figured out what I wanted to do and who I wanted to be. I found great freedom in that then and I still do now.

Outward Bound I was lucky to have the opportunity to take part in several outdoor retreats in my teens that proved really influential for me. My self-confidence, leadership, and communication skills were boosted immensely, I gained an even deeper love of the great outdoors, and I became infinitely more adventurous and have remained so ever since. Perhaps best of all though, I met my best friend on one of those retreats and almost all of my other oldest, closest friends through her in turn. We'll have been friends for 20 years this September and I'm going to be her Maid of Honour next year. :)

26. Favourite colour and why?

RED!

All day, every day - red, Red, RED!

I can't really articulate a reason why I like it so much. It's warm and it's bold and it's joyful and those are all things I try to be in my day-to-day life I suppose.

I feel like red is the colour of my soul.

38. Favourite song at the moment?

Speaking of warm and joyful things - here, have this merry little shanty! :)

[castlebyersafterdark]

Among my other passions that have nothing to do with fandom, as well. Be less emotional and excited, already a bit much for a guy 🙄

aww i relate to you sooo much here. what helped you embrace your passionate goofiness vinny? i think for me, whenever i heard people speak knowledgeably about a subject, i got a bit jealous and wonder 'why don't i know that?' . could be about something im not even interested in, but it shows me that theres this whole world/field/community that im not part of, and i want in. i'm more chill now, but it's how i ended up with so much random knowledge and got passionate about loads of things. i also had one amazing friend at university who spoke so uniquely about what they loved, it almost made me feel like an idiot for NOT having something to gush about. they spoke about things like lady gaga's history of fashion or why charity shopping is the best in this way that made it sound bespoke and academic rather than just fangirly. they were always so weirdly ahead of the pulse, this was like 2011 and they predicted the return to early 2000s fashion trends by the 2020s lol!

the way to get from cringe to cool is to be somewhat authorititive and unabashedly self confident, it seems! i mean, i think when people are obviously ashamed of their passion, that's when the cringe vibes are handed out for free i think

What happened for me genuinely was leaving the familiar stilted environment of my shitty high school friends and eventually meeting similarly minded people in college!! Didn't start that way, but once I figured out that I really didn't have to try to fit in to some image anymore - well. Wake-up call. Fellow nerds just unabashedly having fun, dragging me to stuff on campus. Figuring out I could take a weird elective to fill a credit just because I genuinely wanted to learn, and that made me a lot more curious about life and leaning in general? Man, the people I met there changed everything. I owe it to my fellow weirdos who were just - confident, about their interests. Similar to what you said! Especially about things I wasn't into, it was just cool to listen and appreciate. Like I had a ton of friends who were into stuff like Magic the Gathering and video game tourneys and that wasn't my world but it was cool that there were communities for that? Meeting people who had some big community passion project and didn't care who criticized their commitment. And then meeting some of the art students, who I was always jealous of because I'm an artist, but I didn't go to school for it, and it was just so cool talking about their work and hey, art students are strange!! And I loved that! I felt so comfortable with those who were off-beat. Because I really really am, too.

the way to get from cringe to cool is to be somewhat authorititive and unabashedly self confident

This is it!!! Embrace what makes you happy, and passions bring personal joy. Try not to let the opinions of others define you ❤️

[po1songore]

anything you'd crave

william afton x reader fanfic ,part I

art by noisx

this chapter contains : cussing / age gap

this whole fic will include : third pov / smut / female reader / sugardaddy / a lot of kinks / degradation / pillow princess / age gap / cheating / writer's self insert bc you need a best friend for this fic >:)

"y/n! im gonna drop the boxes i swear-!"your friend called out on you as you quickly removed the boxes from her hands with a little chuckle. the red head in question was your trusty friend who lived in hurricane for a while, while you lived quite some time away. until now, though. jane, the redhead had found your recent break up a perfect opportunity to convince you to live close to her so you two can finally live that highschool dream of being neighbours with one another.

who are you, though? y/n l/n ,of course. your expectations for college were...different and you didn't exactly pass with flying colors. and on top of everything, your boyfriend broke it off for a lady like, what, ten years older than him? but to each their own i guess. so you took the big step. left everything behind and used the last of your savings to get a house in the quiet town of hurricane, utah. now hurricane was a quiet place indeed,a small town where most of the big names in companies and such resided. you deemed yourself extremely lucky to have good connections to get a house here for a normal price. but, aside from that, you are now in your office. your /new/ office.jane made sure you had a way of getting some cash for at least now and placed you as an assistant in the local newspaper hqs, so now you were practically placing your paperwork and all in your office next to hers.

"hey, earth to y/n."jane snapped her fingers in front of you as you were spacing off. even though you guys were doing nothing more than making your office a more comfortable place, people in the room outside of your office aka the main area gave you dirty looks. you finally let the box on the couch inside your office and turned to the redhead."why do half the people look at me weirdly and the others dont even bother-"

"shit i forgot to mention.this building is intertwined with the building of afton robotics, the people who are looking at us like that are..stuck up rich people basically. "she explained and sighed a bit placing some things on your desk.

"afton robotics?"

"y/n.yes afton robotics, one of the biggest companies around the state and out of it? do you live under a rock..?"she said giving you the look that made you feel, honestly , like living under a rock. "only good thing about that company is its ceo.not my type but, god , he is one fine man."

nodding a bit you seemed to get the grasp of it.small town, half people couldn't care less about you,and the other half look at you like you are a gum stuck in the bottom of their shoe, hot ceo and big company besides yours.noted.

"hey jane i think im gonna grab a coffee before we get to work."you said, you really needed a boost after all that ,plus you were jet lagged as hell.

"yeah sure thing, the cafeteria its in the 3rd floor. I'll go do some things until you are back."

with a nod you were ready to go. trying as much as possible to seem confident and not panic, you made your way to the elevator. once the doors opened, your eyes were laid upon one of the best looking men you had ever seen, if not the one. dark brown hair pushed back with some spare strands of gray, a perfectly sculpted face and a tall posture of what, 6'5? but, the most captivating thing was that gaze this person had , tired dark gray eyes , an almost sinister look that you couldn't resist looking at .

making your way inside, you just stood there for a bit before the male spoke up."you need to press the button for the elevator to move, doll."shit.he is right,you reached your hand to press on..what floor was that again? great, by now your face was red and flustered.

"where do you wanna go?"he said with a small chuckle.

"uh the..the cafeteria.sorry its my first day here and im still confused."

"ah i see, well,its on the third floor so keep that in mind."he told you and pressed the button, before placing his hand on his tie and fixing it around his collar to look more flawless than before.

at least he didn't seem to have that stuck up look like the others did. you left out a sigh of relief before smiling a bit."thanks, most people look really judgy here and its a little..odd.."

"i can imagine. but, don't pay them much attention. trust me, they wish they had a chance to be the new person here." he said and gave you a little side smile as the doors opened wide.

yeah.he was right! these people were probably jealous of your looks, chances and your age as you were one of the youngest to work here. "you are totally right its just..difficult to think of stuff this way."

once you two were out of the elevator and the doors closed behind, you moved towards the counters and waited to get your order. the male got his written down easily and quickly, but when it came to you, a problem had of course to occur.

"i can't serve you without a work card."

"what-Its my first day i didnt get the chance to ge-"

"its policy, i am strictly told to serve people who wear a work tag."

the male soon turned to you with a little chuckle."whats your name?"

you looked at him confused. this is not the time for introductions,this is more the time you are getting publicly humiliated much like in school when the lunch lady made it a deal for 10 cents off..

"its y/n l/n but wha-"

"hey violet-"he turned to the lady across the counter, leaning forward and resting his arms there."write her name down, everything she gets from now on is on me alright?"he said giving her a charming smile. no ,not a cute little smile. one of these smiles that made adrenaline rush through your body and you didn't know why.

the lady's expression softened to a happy one,almost like a school girl."of course mr william~" she said and started getting your order done in no time after noting your name on a little notepad.

whoa, this dude was either large on money or that lady had a serious crush on him going on.

"thanks for that but you didnt ne-"

"don't worry about it, its nothing. well, its been a pleasure y/n but,i have a busy schedule today so i will have to let you guide yourself to the upper floor alone,sadly."he said with a cheeky little grin as he grabbed his drink.

"i hope i see you around."

"and he was like, so nice and paid for my things, and-" with a laugh, jane closed the door in your office."whoa whoa whoa relax. you are acting like you fell in love with the dude from the elevator. its not a bad thing but you /just/ broke up."

"what?im not in love, its just...nice seeing people being actually..people and not.."you pointed out the window of your office to everyone looking at each other in a hostile manner."whatever that is."

"alright, im glad you are happy then. i only hope you dont crash into mr afton like you did with this guy.."

"oh right" you took a sip before speaking up."who is that guy anyways?"

"ceo of the company next to us.rich , im talking filthy rich y/n.this man has so much money he can pass it down like, seven generations of people."

that,indeed sounds fascinating.impressive and a little terrifying.

"god...how the hell,and we are out here searching for spare change."

"yeah, he is self made though, all by himself and his work partner, mr emily.he isnt around much but, afton always is here checking up. he is pretty strict with people from both buildings, good thing he is hot."

"okay you say that again and again as if he is like, the face of forbes and playgirl at the same time.how does he look like?"

"ah ,you will recognize him.dark hair, tall and slender, deep blue eyes, always wearing a suit and a purple tie, pretty cheekbones,a nice smil-"

and as your friend went on and on to describe him,your mind immediately froze at the realization."and his name is william?"

"yes!who told you that?"

"shit-"

[withcolebrock]

I Drew That

Corpse Husband x fem!reader

Summary: Corpse finds out that Y/N has a drawing of him as her background

Warnings: swearing :)

Word Count: 1,818

Author’s Note: I’ve spent weeks trying to write this piece :/ I just couldn’t find a way to make it how I wanted it if that makes sense but I tried my best. This idea was very cute because I can totally see this happening lol. Especially with like the whole flirty voice thing Corpse has been doing with like Brentman and like James and stuff haha. I hope you guys enjoy it!!

~~~

Tonight was one of the many nights that she was playing Among Us. It had taken over her life, a flood of success followed her once she had played with Sean and Felix. She had gained over two hundred thousand subscribers on her YouTube channel. It had changed her life for the better, in many ways.

For the last three rounds, it had been strict imposter wins. Felix won two of those. Everyone was shocked when it was him the second time, Felix was getting great at the game. The group then decided to switch lobbies because Felix was throwing a fit about getting imposter too much. It was the usual group of Felix, Sean, Poki, Rae, Sykkuno, Leslie, Toast, Dave, Corpse, and Y/N.

Over the last few months everyone in the group had gotten a lot closer. Especially Corpse and Y/N. After the first time they played together, a lobby Sean had created, they had talked for hours after the first game they played. This had continued almost every time they had played  Most of the time, Corpse would be editing his videos while talking with her. It calmed him as he worked. She would be working on her art or scrolling through Pinterest or Tumblr.

They had even FaceTimed several times, where Corpse revealed his face to her. He made a big deal out of it, saying a whole monologue before he turned the camera to his face. She followed in pursuit being very dramatic as well. Whenever they would talk he would play her his music, waiting to see if she liked it. She loved any song he put out, despite it not being her usual music taste.

One night she was scrolling through Tumblr and found an artist who was drawing Among Us players with their little characters. One particular character made her smile and her heart flutter slightly. It was an amazing drawing of Corpse and his little character sitting on his shoulder. It was an art style she was familiar with, she loved supporting smaller artists. It was the cutest thing she has ever seen. Weirdly, it perfectly described him. She loved it so much, she decided to keep it as her phone Wallpaper.

The round started on Mira, where Y/N was a crewmate again. Throughout the whole night, she still hasn’t gotten imposter. “Dammit,” she groaned at the screen. She stood still at the start of the map, waiting to see if anyone would fake tasks at the start. Everyone ran off, not doing them. She quickly followed.

After a long thirty seconds lights get shut off. She ignores the emergency and continues doing her tasks, she stood by the vending machine when Felix killed her. “It’s fucking Felix again!” she leaned back in her chair groaning. She covered her face with her hands. “He’s gotta stop killing me first,” she shook her head. She tried to hide how annoyed she was.

Her body was called by Poki, she was the only dead one. “Oh my god,” Poki said once the screen popped up.

“Y/N no!” Rae yelled, “You guys, she’s died first the last three rounds,”

“Wait really? Oh Jesus, sorry Y/N,” Sykkuo said, a breathy laugh leaving his lips.

“I’ll protect you next round, Y/N, I promise,” Corpse said. Y/N tried to hide her smile and the heat rushing to her cheeks.

“We’ll avenge you, Y/N!” Sean yelled. Soon after everyone grieved her death they began asking each other where they were. Everyone had a solid alibi making it impossible for them to figure out who did it.

“Guys, guys, Y/N died first the last three rounds right?” Toast started, everyone hummed, “Who was imposter these past few rounds?” he explained. Everyone gasped.

“You really think I would kill her first three rounds in a row?” Felix tried to defend himself as the voting time clock turned red.

“You’ve done it twice already!” Sean yelled, voting Felix. Felix was saved since half of the group skipped. She floated around the map trying to get her tasks done quickly so she could talk to her chat without holding back the rest of the group.

She glanced towards her chat, reading a few questions, she shifted her gaze to the game and thought about the questions. “I’ve been working on a cute little animation for you guys, I might do another art stream with you guys. Only if you guys want it, of course.” she read through a few more questions while answering them, while she waited for the meetings to end.

Once all of her tasks were done, she began to talk about her art and fanart. “Yeah, there’s an artist on Tumblr, they are amazing, they deserve so much more recognition,”  she explained as she showed them her lock screen with the drawing of Corpse; without thinking about her chat being curious as to why it was him. Turning her phone back towards her, her eyes widened as realization dawned on her.

The chat began to flood in with questions, begging Y/N to tell them why she had Corpse’s drawing as her background. She chose to ignore the question and continue talking about her own art and showing fan art. Despite trying to change the subject, she sighed dramatically. “Chat, there’s no reason why Corpse’s character is my background, the artist is just good, stop talking about it,” she giggled as the victory screen popped up on her screen.

“Felix what the fuck!” she unmuted in discord. He began laughing as he began to defend his actions. “No, no it doesn’t matter if I know your liar voice, Felix-” After about five minutes of everyone talking the next round started. She was a crewmate again, “I feel like I’m bugged,” she groaned as she started running around doing her tasks. Corpse’s little black character was following her.

“Looks like I got myself a little body guard,” she smiled as she spoke. They walked passed the medbay room, as Corpse moved his character dramatically. She rolled her eyes as they both walked into the medbay room. She didn’t have medbay, but she sat waiting for Corpse to finish. They continued doing tasks together until a body was called. It was Sean’s.

“Y/N’s cleared I was with her the entire time,” Corpse said confidently into his mic. She said the same about him. Poki was acting a little weird during the call, which made Y/N a little suspicious of her.

~~~

When the lights were shut off Corpse was killed by Poki, and he groaned as his body was killed immediately. Poki called out Y/N right away, saying that she was with Corpse the whole time. Corpse glanced towards his chat, finally able to try and read everything everyone was saying. His eyes lit up as he saw her name flash the screen several times.

One person kept spamming the chat saying, Y/N’s has your Among Us character as her background, he smiled as he read it. He knew exactly what the picture was, “Oh really?” he hummed as he continued reading. Everyone was saying how nervous she got when they kept asking her about it. He pressed his lips together nervously. He decided to drop it for now, but he was curious. He looked back up to the screen and began to listen to what was happening during the meeting.

“...You really think I would spend this whole game marinating Corpse for me to kill him in front of Poki? What about that double kill that happened, there was no way I would’ve done that if I was with him.” Y/N explained, over Poki trying to defend herself.

“I think she’s got it guys,” It was down to Toast, Y/N, Sykkuno, and Poki. Everyone quickly voted for Poki. The Victory screen popped up. “I knew you had it, Y/N,” Corpse said as everyone started shouting into the discord.

After a few minutes of them discussing the round, they decided to switch over to Polius. “Hey, Y/N, can I ask you something?” Corpse asked, the group quickly went quiet.

“Sure,” she giggled.

“My chat keeps saying you have my character as your phone background, is that true?” he asked, teasingly. He smiled widely. The entire group started cheering while teasing Y/N and Corpse.

Her mouth dropped open as she tried to find a way to explain it, “Well, uh,” she cleared her throat, “I do actually, it was great art, what was I supposed to do?” she laughed.

“Oooo, someone has a little crush,” Sean teased, Felix quickly joined. The rest of the group was simply laughing along. Corpse stayed silent while the group was teasing Y/N, and Corpse for that matter.

He pulled up Y/N’s Twitter and began to scroll through her feed to find the perfect drawing. He took the drawing that Y/N did of her own Among Us character. It was a drawing of Y/N holding her little character in her hand. It was his favorite piece of art she has done. Mainly because she drew it while on FaceTime with him. He quickly changed it to his iphone background, he glanced back towards the screen, seeing if the game started. He took a screenshot of it and immediately texted it to Y/N.

“Y/N, look at our messages,” he said simply into his mic. The group slowly stopped talking as they waited for Y/N to open the message.

“Corpse, I’m scared,” she whispered, everyone started laughing.

“Just open the message,” he giggled.

She sighed dramatically while she pulled up the messages with Corpse, seeing the screenshot. Her lips fell into a pout as she saw it. “I drew that,” she mumbled into the mic.

“You did,” he whispered, as he felt heat rise in his cheeks. He loved hearing her voice. “It’s my favorite,” he continued.

“Corpse,” she whined as her eyes began to tear up. She didn’t know why, but her heart felt so full. “You didn’t have to do that,” she mumbled, readjusting herself in her chair. She shifted her gaze towards the contact name, Corpseyyy.

“Of course I did, It was beautiful art,” he muttered while he looked back towards his phone, admiring his new phone background.

“Is this..a possible.. New relationship starting?” Sean whispered dramatically into his mic.

“It sounds like it,” Rae interjected. Corpse rolled his eyes dramatically, but he didn’t oppose the idea; neither did Y/N. Rae quickly started the game, letting the tension ease between everyone. Corpse and Y/N got imposter together.

“Oh my god finally,” Y/N said into the mic as she started faking tasks, “Chat, please stop saying I’m blushing, you aren’t helping,” she giggled as she continued the game. She raised her hand to her cheek, feeling the warmth.

[happyselves]

Private Fansign { Daniel Ricciardo x reader one shot }

You are a fan of Daniel Ricciardo and everyone around you knew that so they weren't really surprised when you announced that you were going to go to the next GP at Spa Francorchamps. What they didn't know is that you were one of the lucky fans to have a private conversation with mister Ricciardo himself and you didn't know how to react to that. You weren't even sure to be able to say anything to him and as the day was getting closer you were getting anxious. You could do it, he was a normal human being after all, no ? A very sexy and attractive human being you might add. Fuck you were so fucked up.

The day is here, it was today the day you will meet him, Thursday, media day. How to dress ? You didn't want to be all " pretty " . You wanted to be you, be like nothing was happening, like how you were everyday. You end up driving alone to the circuit because after all who would come to the circuit on a Thursday, it wasn't really interesting, but for you this 20mn ride was hell, you thought again and again about so many scenarios of what will happen. Obviously you couldn't find one that would make perfect sense and your mind was wandering everywhere.

As you came in front of the paddock gate, someone asked you who you were and of course they didn't know so they had to call someone from the team to come and make sure you were allowed in as it was close for fans, especially on media day. Apparently you were the last one to arrive which mean that you will be the last one to see Daniel, which didn't help you in your affair cause that would mean more time to stress beforehand, but the Pr assistant told you in your ears that it might also mean more time with him and your anxiety level went to the top and beyond.

You've waited for what felt like hours, seeing everyone getting out of Daniel's driver room all happy and content with the moment they shared with the famous australian. Finally after 2 hours it was your turn and you were feeling bad for him now. He had to spend all those time with everyone when he should be relaxing and you felt out of place here. As you knocked on his door he opened the door, the biggest smile on his face like he didn't spend this much time repeating the same thing other and another to every fan he meets. You knew you only had like 20mn with him but it was already too much for you, you didn't know how your heart would take it this far between the guilt of using his time and your selfish excitement to finally have him in front of you. He was perfect, even more perfect than on tv or on picture. You were stunned by his beauty and how muscular he was. You couldn't find your words and he had to speak first.

Dan : Hi, You are " YN " right ?

He knew your name ... of course he knew your name, you bet his assistant told him before. You didn't know how you found the courage to stumble and respond to him.

You : ahhh yeah that's me hi nice ... nice to meet you

Dan was smiling so brightly, he made a gesture for you to sit next to him on the couch and you did as he asked.

Dan : So how is it going for you ? Ready for the weekend ?

Okay it was time to build up character here and be who you are, be a strong person and be confident in order to have a normal conversation with him, like you told yourself for weeks now, he is a human being like you.

You : Well I'm doing good, really looking forward to this weekend.

Dan : Nice, do you have any for me ?

You had so many questions for him, but you also wanted to be honest with him and honest with you.

You : Well I do but honestly I don't really want to bother with them, you must feel exhausted after speaking with everyone and I really don't want to be one of those. I never thought I would have won this contest for meeting you as I entered it, but here I am in front and I can't even say two words without sputtering.

His eyes grew bigger as he looked at you for the first time, you pierced him, really saw how he was right there and that cut him off guard and now he was intrigued and was fully awake for you.

DAN POV :

She wasn't like the others fans, she looked like one of them, but she had no filter, she saw how tired I was and she looks at me with her two eyes, her two beautiful hungry eyes, beautiful shape, beautiful color that I drown myself in them for a second before snapping back to reality. I need to distract myself, I need to change, to eat something, I need to focus on something else other than her eyes, or her body or her lips ... oh god her lips, gorgeous lips, very plump lips. No nope not happening Daniel no you need no woman will distract you this weekend. Not that they were already distracting me cause it's been a while since I .... NOOOO

You POV :

He stood up abruptly,surprising me in the process, looking confused. He had a nervous giggle.

Dan : Oh that's very nice of you, I'm fine don't worry ... I just remember that I need to change my shirt because I will have the press conference after our talk and ...

You stop him mid sentence.

You : Go ahead, it's okay It's not like I never saw a man shirtless before.

The fuck did you just say that, very suttle, very no filter of you, lord nice one. When you were flirting with him now, you couldn't stop yourself wouldn't you ? You almost had a boyfriend, but Daniel ... Daniel was unique and he was on your list ... Yeah you know the list of them you could cheat with without feeling guilty. Ohh come one mind why are you thinking about this right now. You looked at him turn himself so quick, hiding himself from some blushing of embarrassment, embarrassment was more like it.

Daniel POV :

Oh fucking hell, I was biting my lips so hard right now, hiding my face for her not to see that I like it, I like every words that was coming out of her mouth. She is getting so interesting and is already making my day worth it. And I was about to make hers cause I definitely saw that she was looking at me like I was a target. She is straight forward without noticing it, her body is speaking for her.

You POV :

He took off his merch shirt and the only thing you could focus on was his back, his muscles. As you were licking your lips to water them because he makes them dry off, you've met his gaze in the mirror. Crap .. You look away so quickly and he notices it, but your eyes bring themselves to him again, your head tilting as if you were watching some beautiful art in a museum and this time when his eyes meet you again you don't flinch, instead you sustain your eyes to him. What was happening to you, that's not you, it's your inner self talking there, the woman that was finding this man hot and sexy and perfectly at your taste. He was going for it too,you noticed that the tension between you two was waking up . Not what you were expecting at all even after all these scenarios you had running in your head earlier.His aura was so attractive and you really hoped at this moment that you were the only one with whom he had this weird feeling and weird connection. Jealousy you weren't sure yet but it was bothering you to imagine him being flirty with other people even if you knew the character that he was. He took his time to put on his team shirt and you were enjoying every second of the show he was offering you. As he was trying to put his polo on you noticed his face making some grins ... he had some bad tension on his neck and shoulder and you were feeling bad for him because he will have to wait again before his coach will be able to give him some relief massage. The thought of you having a degree in physiotherapy and being able to help him came through your mind. You stood up and went behind him, he was still looking at you in the mirror, wondering in his gaze.

You : Just don't move, I know what I am doing, I know it's not my place to do that because you have your coach and all, but you can't stay with tension in your muscles, remove the shirt.

You were giving him an order and he was weirdly glad to obey you. You put your cold hand on his neck, started to massage him and he felt the tension leaving his body right away and couldn't help but close his eyes and moaned. That excited you so much, that sound, you wanted to hear it more and it was really starting to get hot in here. Your hands were getting warmer as you worked your way on his back to massage him, he was feeling so relaxed now and you could technically stop now but your hands weren't moving, instead your massage was turning into caress on his skin making him shiver. You were probably insane for doing what you were doing but you wanted to taste his skin so much that your lips connect to the back of his neck and going down to his trapezius muscle, his eyes still shut, his mouth opening, his head tilting, all these signals were screaming green light for you to continue. After all it is scientifically proven that love language could release the tension in the muscle. You start kissing his back, following the line down his spin before going up again to kiss his shoulder. Your mind wasn't thinking anything anymore and you didn't care at all what could happen next or if you had to be surprised, you wanted him,not you as a fan wanted her favorite driver but you as a woman wanted this man in front of you.

Dan : You need to stop before I do something you might regret.

He was breathless, his words came out more in whispers than anything else and you couldn't get enough of it.

You : I think I will go to hell anyway.

He turns so abruptly, catching you by the neck and bringing you closer to him, connecting your lips in a crash, literally eating you alive. All that passion burning was leaving in this kiss, he was catching your lips making it his, biting them or more like torturing them until they were on the verge of bleeding. This man must have some serious sexual tension going on down there for so long and he was finally freeing it all. That was good cause you too needed to blow some steam, you just never thought it would be with Daniel Ricciardo. You felt him getting away from you, loosen up his grip on you, before suddenly opening his eyes, realising what he just did.

Dan : I am so so sorry, this is ...

You : Shhh don't that's on me I shouldn't massage you, I know that as a physio, releasing tension can provoke some reaction, releasing lust and desire, that's really on me.

Dan : Still I shouldn't have changed in front of you in the first place.

You were too far gone now for not being honest.

You : I like the view thought and I still enjoy it

You were looking at his trail going down to his belt, playing with his hair there, looking at him all innocent where inside you were burning for him.

Dan : You are making it very difficult for me to stop things here, I knew you were trouble as soon as I saw you enter that room. I really wanna kiss you again really but I need to change and go, trust me I didn't plan this at all and I would love to stay here with you and take care of this * putting at his well awake bulge * but I have an obligation.

You were pouting now, very sad but you understand, and you let him go.

Dan : Oh don't look at me like that, I already miss your touch, your fingers are magic and I swear I should fire Michael right now and have you as my new coach but I feel like we wouldn't do the right kind of training for you and I.

You were both laughing now, it was the truth, something about this man was attracting you in a way that nobody could understand and you felt he was living the same experience as you.

You : Well I'm here all weekend, all by myself, I wouldn't do that normally because that's not me, but I'm gonna shoot my shot. There is my number here and the address of where my hotel is, just ask for my name at the reception and I'm sure they will let you know my room number.

He was smiling as you gave him a piece of paper with the information on it.

Dan : There are so many women trying to get into my bed, but rarely are thoses who let me come into their, you are the unique one and you will be the only exception, I will text you the hours okay.

You were back to your flirty but shy self, almost childish self.

You : Well I hope you will like some sweets cause I'm planning on ordering strawberries.

You were obviously referring to that picture of him eating strawberries in his garage, making him understand that you are having some thoughts about a night together with him and he was getting excited just by the thought of it.

Dan : Well I believe I do.

You both heard an assistant of his calling him outside to the room, his cut to go and leave you, before he could say anything you just took your thing and head to the door but before leaving him with himself and his thought you slightly turned toward him one last time.

You : Well Mr Ricciardo, it was such a nice delight to meet you, did I ever tell you, you were my favorite driver ?

And then you left him with a smile on your face and a smirk on him. For sure he knows now you were but did you both know that at that moment you were becoming the favorite person of each other ? How can a private fansign like that could end up changing your life forever ? You didn't even get an autograph, what a shame, you needed to make sure he would make up for that later and add an extra to it for the inconvenience.

Masterlist

[agent-cupcake]

just curious, what’s your favorite and least favorite character design? my least fav for sure has got to be female byleth for reasons i don’t want to get in to yep ok have a good day 😁

IOops this accidentally became a rant, sorry

Okay so, to preface this all, I’m not a character designer and I’m actually pretty bad at it, but my rule of thumb with really unappealing or fan-service outfits is whether or not it makes sense character-wise and how much it tells the player about the character. For example, I think we can all agree that there’s quite a bit of fan-service elements in Hilda’s design. Boob window. However, it’s not unrealistic to imagine Hilda picking out those clothes for herself. Her costume tells you almost everything you need to know about her character on a visual level. She’s confident, pretty, attention-grabbing, and high maintenance while the gloves and laced girdle give a nod to her Viking-maiden roots.

Taking it to female Byleth, I don’t think that her outfit works on either front. Her design is definitely my least favorite and it’s not helped by the fact that you have to look at her at all times. Whatever. The huge, solid mass of boobs, the buttoned bib, the big eyes, the feather hair, the bellybutton, the ripped tights, the booty shorts. She’s a merc out in life and death situations with an accessible, pale, tacky 2000′s “stab me” stomach cut out and a wedgie. Which could be excusable if, like Hilda, there was reason to believe that that her costume was character choice. But she doesn’t really have much character, and what there is gives the impression of a very stoic, dry, blunt person. I have no idea why they’d have gone that route when the sexual appeal of more “utilitarian” costuming (aka, form fitting armor that at least pretends to be functional) for characters like her is scientifically proven AND would say more about the singular personality trait she possesses. Okay, well, I know why they didn’t do that and I think it’s lame. This dysfunction of “character designer wanted a sexy girl but it’s kinda random and just shoved in the game without any thought” actually reminds me a lot of Xenoblade 2′s leading ladies, Hikari and Pyra. Although considering that their bad designs led to a lot of people hating the game for superficial reasons while accepting female Byleth’s design, I guess I’m just bitter. Jumping to a different comparison, then, look at 2B from Nier Automata. Her design is fine as hell which is kinda hypocritical of me considering that it's explicitly fan-service, but I think it also shows the most damning thing for female Byleth. Her whole look, despite having a dozen different element thrown in, is boring. Maybe it’s the colors (dressing her in all black and white would have been really interesting considering the colors of the three lords are so heavily emphasized as a part of their characters) or maybe it’s just the way the desperate elements come together. But, like I said, I'm not even slightly knowledgeable about character design and I know that despite Three Houses being mostly separate, they had to appeal to a larger aesthetic brand to which I have little experience with. And, ultimately, a lot of people find her cute or sexy which...To each their own, I suppose. I don’t pretend that fan-service doesn’t work on me (2B... Cloud’s arms in the remake... Seph's shirtless Smash skin...) but when it’s this obviously inserted in by the character designers rather than feeling organic in any way AND looks bad I'm just not super interested.

The other worst designs for me would be all four of the Ashen Wolves post timeskip. I don't think it's controversial to say that they didn't try with the clothes, even if I love their designs from the neck up (Yes, even Balthus. He looks like the type of guy that would let you sit on his shoulders at a rock concert so you could see the stage). While there are other designs I think are unappealing, those are for purely aesthetic reasons and so I can't maintain the opinion that they're actively bad or that I even truly dislike them.

As for favorite looks... I actually have a few so sorry you're getting all of them because despite the shit I'm talking, I actually really really love the character designs in Three Houses. 

Ferdinand's post timeskip is one of my favorite designs, if not my favorite. The hair, the coat, the armor, the spurs, the colors. You know exactly who Ferdinand von Aegir is just by looking at him. He’s wealthy, handsome, confident in his appearance, a hero, a princely type character, his battle form is mounted combat which is traditionally aesthetically reserved for nobility and leaders... I love it. The only reason I cannot say he IS my favorite is because of the three Lords. But before them, my honorable mentions include post timeskip Hilda, Dorothea, Lorenz, Felix, and Hubert. Granted, I could make a case for why I like almost all of the student’s post timeskip looks.

For the Lords, I obviously have to start with colors because, weirdly enough, Persona didn’t invent primary colors but are actually used as shorthand. Blue is the color of honor, loyalty, sincerity, sadness, and depression. Something I’ve always found very interesting is that blue is very rarely found in nature. To me, that’s always made it seem more lonely which, at least in this case, is thematically relevant. People call Dimitri boring pre timeskip and while I won’t defend his hairstyle (okay, actually, I probably would because he tucks it behind his ears and idk why but that’s one of the cutest things ever) I really like how unassuming he is. Bland. He’s supposed to be the plain shortbread cookie to caramel deLite Claude and strawberry meringue Edelgard. It is not in his character to draw attention to himself or stand out. To me, he kinda looks like an old Barbie prince, like he should have been named Dominic. Also I love the blue eyes/blonde hair thing and his more angular features. It really helps to sell him as the fakeout chivalrous prince type. Post timeskip, Dimitri's black armor is amazing. I love the fact that it’s a lot more intricate up-close with the different little shell-like pieces and the fact that his boots are furry. I love the big cape and the black and white fur around his shoulders. It’s really cool how they used his costume to change the shape of his in-game model to match the bodily proportions of the character art. It’s easier to see when you change his costume into the DLC ones, but the fur and cape build up his shoulders and chest look more broad while keeping that tiny little waist. The choice to give Dimitri an eyepatch is probably my favorite thing about this design. It’s genuinely inspired. Such a simple detail yet it tells the player everything they need to know about adult Dimitri when they see him post timeskip, in one frame the player can begin to understand the extent of his loss over the past five years. The subtle shadow under his eye in the first few Azure Moon chapters and the messy long-ish hair really help to sell the feral prince aesthetic as well, as it’s from those small cues the player gets that he’s exhausted (in more ways than one) and doesn’t maintain himself. None of these things are intentional choices by Dimtiri, they’re the result of what his character has been through.

Yellow is an intense, energetic color. Mostly, people think of it as being warm and inviting, the color of the sun and positivity. That intensity can be overwhelming, though, too visually demanding when compared to its primary counterparts. Don’t stare at the sun too long. Buuuut, it’s okay to stare at Claude. Claude not wanting to wear tight pants in either of his costumes is not only a mood, it is iconic. Pre timeskip, the softer lines of his silhouette makes him look kinda slouchy, kinda lazy. Like he’s not too concerned with appearances. But those adorably messy curls, the little braid, the clearly tended eyebrows, and earring make it clear that he DOES care about appearances and is very aware of his allure. And that’s before he even starts winking. It is honestly so in character that as many people picked him first on the basis of being thirsty, that feels like an intentionally Claude thing even if it was inserted by the designers. The contrast of his complexion with his seagreen eyes is gorgeous and instantly adds a kind of mystery and intrigue to him considering the setting... but it’s sf funny that nobody looked at bronze god Claude among a sea of white faces and thought something was up. Post timeskip, they used the same trick like they did with Dimitri to change Claude’s in-game model to match his canon appearance. The way they designed his uniform makes him not look as twink-ish, like he’s actually muscular and imposing and has the strength he’d need to shoot a war bow with a 120lbs draw weight. Also like Dimitri, you can instantly tell what Claude’s been up to. Like, he was very pretty pre timeskip but when he shows up in the Goddess Tower after those five years in all that gold, he demands your attention. Like a gentleman general with the excessive aesthetic ideals of the Alliance and details to imply his heritage. The quilted pants are amazing from both an aesthetic and practical standpoint. He’s a mounted unit riding a creature with scales, of course he’d want something on his legs for protection. And the chinstrap. I love that so much, it definitely makes him look more adult. He’s got such a cute soft baby face, it’s fun imagining him experimenting with different styles during the five years to get the most desired physical reaction to him as a leader. 

Frenchfries, meet forehead. No, actually, Edelgard’s design is really fantastic. Claude and Dimitri both have realistically colored eyes and hair and then there’s Edelgard. Dimitri shrugs off attention physically and Claude shirks it with a wink but Edelgard commands the players attention from the very start. Although I’m sure there’s a lot of things to associate with white hair and purple eyes, my first thought was Daenerys from Game of Thrones. Otherworldly beautiful by with an edge. Red, of course, is The power color. Strong emotions, love and hate. Red is also associated strongly with blood, which is very important to Edelgard’s plot. Granted, I think the red and black association is even more powerful than JUST red and red is the cheapest play to make in regards to displaying villainy (I mean, there are some pretty universally recognized associations with red and black and it led to people making some unfair comparisons between Edelgard and a famous dictator) but I think it was effective and well used and I genuinely enjoy its use in her case. Anyway, if I had a major complaint about her design it would be the weird ashy color of her hair whereas Lysithea’s hair is pure white. Which doesn’t even matter with the AMAZING hair horns. Ram horns can actually symbolize quite a few things, but their association with power and strength is pretty universal I think. They’re also used in demonic imagery. I love that THIS was her alternative to a crown. Edelgard views herself as a force of war and power before she thinks of herself as royalty. She also mentions that she isn’t super vain, but she loves to do her hair, so the hair being the most elaborate part of her look is entirely in-character. Edelgard’s ensemble is, like Claude, very militaristic. I love that they kept her in a dress that embraces femininity without showing skin as that wouldn’t really suit her Also, again, Edelgard demands your attention. She’s dressed all in bright bright red waving around a giant axe. She is a symbol as much as she is a combatant, someone to follow. I didn’t really mention their secondary lord costumes, but a girl in sexy armor is literally everything and I love that they had the balls to put their main sexy waifu girl in full body armor.

Okay I’m sorry I realize this was excessive and probably didn’t need explaining and I’m not sure I even articulated my thoughts properly but anyway I love their designs so here is the positivity I’ll put into the world.

[ginnyweasely]

ONLY GOOD THING [DRACO MALFOY X READER]

pairing: draco malfoy x reader (fem!) warnings: swearing, drinking (sort of), a bit angsty!!, but MOSTLY FLUFF!!, draco is a bit ooc but that’s how i like it bb! summary: draco seems to be super curious of the reader who has trust issues and has a hard time opening up. word count: 7.3k+

A/N: I know this is very loong but bare with me bc i sort of kinda love this one!! This is heavily inspired by one of my own very old imagine but i changed up many stuff,  ALSO!! i’m gonna start making my own gifs for my writings so if you do take them PLEASE please do not claim it as your own and feel free to give credit! happy reading :) also remember feedbacks are alwayss welcomed with luv and hugs!!

MASTERLIST   TAGLIST

Y/N groaned at the sound of her stupid alarm clock, her hand sluggishly and lazily trying to stop the stupid machine from making anymore loud noises, failing so, she groaned loudly as she opened one eye to stare at the clock, spotting the stopping button and pressing it more like crushing it. 

She groaned as she got out of her bed, realizing she had much time left before she actually had  to go to class, causing a feel of calmness in her. She liked being right on time or just being ready way head of time, otherwise being late made the girl filled with anxiety.

Sighing, she messily spread her bedsheet on her bed, not caring enough nor having the enough energy in her to make her bed cleanly.

She looked at her school clothes that were hung by the door, all ready for her to just slip on to her body.

Her head popped around the room as she searched for her roommates, a breath of relief left her mouth as she realized they were nowhere to be seen, she found it better to be just be on her own, getting ready while people were around made her feel weird and uncomfortable.

She got her clothes and slipped into her clothes quickly, admiring herself in the mirror as she put on her robe, her outfit now matching. She brushed her hair to make it look of a messy wave, quite liking having her hair like that, which made her feel a lot more confident.

Y/N was rather a quiet girl who kept most thing to herself, by quiet it’s not as if she was shy or self-conscious, she just liked being alone, didn’t trust people enough, in fact she knew nothing about anyone, as no one knew anything about her.

She liked keeping things that way, as it was easier for her to communicate with people, she was not anyone’s best friend, she was simply friends with everyone, she hung out with people from her house, maybe sometimes with a few of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws too, but mainly from Gryffindor, and she didn’t know why but she didn’t know anyone from Slytherin.

Mainly because she didn’t care to know, Slytherins always seemed too much for her, she barely knew anything about the students at Hogwarts, soon realizing that she preferred it that way, hell she barely knew anything about the “friends” she hung out with, Ron,Hermione and Harry.

She knew she didn’t used to be like this, but with each time more and more people seemed to be breaking her trust, the girl decided that she was better off to keep her things to herself.

She was more than happy to just be with herself, she liked being that way, the only one who couldn’t hurt her was herself, sure she felt lonely at times, but she liked it, she’d rather be lonely than be hurt.

Y/N looked at herself in the mirror, admiring her face, she sighed softly as she noticed how pale she had been looking, so she softly pinched her cheeks to rise some color into them, happy with the results she smiled to herself in the mirror.

She slowly got up as she quickly got her books, stuffing them into her bag, and sluggishly putting it around her shoulders and getting out of her dorm.

She was walking down the Hogwarts corridors, trying to make her way into the Transfiguration class, walking through the empty corridors gave her joy, she finally got where the Transfiguration class normally was, and entered the room but to her surprise the room looked a bit different, it wasn’t the transfiguration class. It was something else.

Confused and distracted she headed to the exit and as she did so, her body collided with a boy’s, books falling to the ground as the weak girl fell from a little bump.

Y/N groaned as her bum hit the ground and she didn’t know if her head or her bum hurted more. “Watch where you’re going!” The boy snarled as she chuckled in distaste.

“Me? Your stupid big head almost destroyed mine!” She protested against him as she rubbed her head. He scoffed at her response but as he looked around the empty classroom he had the same question in his mind as hers.

“Where is everyone?” The platinum headed boy turned his head to her as she was trying to fix her skirt. “That’s my question as well. Isn’t this the transfiguration class?” She said as confused as the platinum headed boy.

“Did they like move classes?” Y/N questioned as Draco shrugged he was as clueless as she was.

Y/N was about to open her mouth but was interrupted as someone else came into the class, looking at both of them weirdly as Y/N sighed “Let me guess, you’re here for the Transfiguration room, too?” She didn’t mean to sound annoyed but clearly to the girls response she was.

“Uh no? This is Defense Against The Dark Arts, Transfiguration moved next to the Potions yesterday, Dumbledore announced it at dinner.”

A simple ohh escaped from the both clueless Draco and Y/N’s mouths as they slowly exited the room, walking towards to the new room, which made Y/N groan because it was all the way over to the end of the castle, causing her to get anxious about being late.

Being so into her thoughts she totally forgot the boy that was walking next to her, she realized they had been awkwardly walking in silence, Y/N sighed as she hated situations like this and was mentally cursing until her thoughts were interrupted with Draco’s voice.

“What’s your name?” He asked as he tried to keep up to her fast walking pace, “I’m Y/N, Y/L/N.” she replied softly, then added “And you are?” The boy chuckled at the question as Y/N stared at him in confusion.

“You don’t know who I am?” He questioned shocked as he realized she was serious, “Was I supposed to know?” Y/N asked as sarcasm was dripping from her mouth.

“Well, of course. I’m Draco Malfoy, son of Lucious Malfoy and Narcissa Malfoy, the most respectable wizards in the wizard history.” Draco said proudly as Y/N just looked at him awkwardly.

“Uhm.. okay?” She replied in an uninterested voice which the boy took offense to and had a hard time not believing in how she didn’t have a clue of who he was.

Frustrated he spoke up again, “If you must know they call me the Slytherin Prince!” He added in order to impress her but in return she just cackled at the name, and even though she tried her best to brush off her cackle it just seemed to anger the boy.

“What’s so fucking funny!” He grunted, as the girl opened her mouth to speak “It’s just you Slytherins have so much confident in yourselves, and it makes you guys extremely cocky, it’s both a good and a bad thing, really.” She smiled and in return Draco smiled back.

“So I take it you’re a Gryffindor?” She nodded “How did you know?”    “Well, you stood up for me, that’s courage and well, your robe..” He pointed and she chuckled at her stupidity.

“Right..” She said still walking towards the corridors, but now they were enjoying their conversation so her pace was much more slower. “You could have been a great Slytherin with that sarcasm though..” She chuckled as she brushed off his comment.  

Y/N was about to make a joke about his “Slytherin Prince” title but she froze as her eyes met up with the light brown eyes of the guy in front of him, she mentally cursed herself, wanting nothing more than just to disappear at that moment.

Draco quickly noticed the change in her and was baffled at first, but he slowly eyed her movements and looked up, seeing the infamous “Golden Boy” of Hogwarts in front of him. Cedric Diggory was standing there as Y/N stood still.

He scoffed at the sight of him, his attention slowly turned back to Y/N who seemed to be stunned by Cedric, as the boy curiously wanted to know why the “Golden Boy” had such an effect on her.

Cedric smiled at Y/N softly as Draco saw her give him the weakest smile ever, as her face seemed to falling apart, her pace quickened by the sight.

“What was that?” Draco questioned curiously as a hint of worriedness could be heard in his tone. “Nothing, let’s just go to class.” Y/N said hurriedly as she brushed him off and their quickened pace arrived them quickly to the class,

“Uhh, do you wanna sit with me?” Draco murmured as he tried to sound confident but nervousness could be read from the boy’s face, “Yeah, sure!” Y/N replied rather quickly, washing away Draco’s worries as she smiled at him and they took their places in the class.

Draco seemed to be confused.. by many things, his mind quickly started to wander off. First of all, why was he sitting with a Gryffindor, that he specifically asked for?

Second of all why did Y/N froze at the sight of Cedric and lastly but the most important, why did he actually like spending time with Y/N? His mind went fuzzy with the stupid questions the entire class, trying his best to focus but unable to. Then he did the worst possible thing he could do, he gently turned  his head around to look at Y/N.

His distracted mind was now a mess, staring at the pretty girl next to him made him feel fucked up in his stomach, he closely eyed her movements, but sooner or later realized that staring this much at her could draw her attention so he tried his best to observe her by the corner of his eye.

He wanted to study her fully, he wanted answers to the questions in his mind, he certainly liked that she didn’t know about him, it was a greater change that he could finally meet with someone unaware of his reputation, because people either hated him for it or loved him for it, there was no in between.

Y/N didn’t seem to be the sort of person that cared a lot of what people were doing, at least that’s what Draco thought as the girl had no clue he even was. To him she seemed like a pretty normal person that stayed out of people’s business.

So the question of why she of all people would have a problem with someone like Diggory was a whole puzzle for him to figure out, meanwhile Y/N was lost in her own thoughts, trying to get the stupid Diggory boy out of his mind, feeling ever so stupid for even thinking about him.

Time passed as the pair sitting together were both in their own thoughts, minds fuzzy with questions, which caused the class to end abruptly.

A sigh of relief leaving Y/N’s mouth as it did so, causing her to act quick and packing her books even faster, getting up as soon as she got ready and muttering out a quick Bye! to Draco and quite literally vanishing.

Draco’s attempt at acting quick and trying to keep up with the girl simply failed as the girl was nowhere to be seen, causing an annoyed sigh come out of Draco’s lips because of her unreasonable stand off-ish personality, the hopes about hanging out with Y/N and maybe even being friends with her were instantly crushed.

Draco clearly needed a friend like her. But it seemed Y/N’s mind was more busy with other things. Her mind was fumbled in other classes too, not to put all the blame on the Diggory boy, she was just a distracted, messy girl is all.. She would write everything down and take notes of everything, but she couldn’t listen to the classes, her mind would be all off.

She got out of her classes and went to supper, her eyes searching for Hermione as she tended to sit with them on lunch, even though lately she felt weird sitting with them since their relationships where causing drama.

It was pretty messy, but all too simple in Y/N’s mind. It seemed that Harry was into Ginny, and Ginny was into Harry but they both didn’t know, and on the other hand Ron and Hermione were into each other but they were both dating other people, the whole drama thing was nice to watch from outside but Y/N didn’t want to get involved, she didn’t like being in people’s business, so she tried her best to stay away, but still sitting with them tended to create some awkward moments.

To be perfectly honest, she didn’t really care, she never was the person that was full of emotions and could open up easily, but after Diggory, she became more and more secretive,  more stand off-ish.

She felt emptier inside, she was less focused and more all over the place, even though it seemed they weren’t best of best friends, even the Golden Trio took notice of Y/N’s changed actions, they even tried to help her once or twice, but Y/N made it look like she was super strong and didn’t need anyone, that part wasn’t really true, but Y/N always hated seeming fragile or weak so they dropped it, leaving the girl alone as she liked it.

She didn’t like opening up to everyone. She couldn’t blame all of it on Diggory either, nor Potter for setting them up, she was also one to blame, she should’ve distanced herself from him, she should have known better but she just didn’t.

When she met Diggory, he wasn’t the “Golden Boy” of Hogwarts, he was just a kind lovely kid who had taken an interest in Y/N, and of course Y/N was stunned by the boy, he was gorgeous, kind and was overall lovely... or that’s what she perceived him as…

Their relationship wouldn’t exactly count as perfect, she could very well admit that, but she always thought they connected on a level that she felt she had never connected with anyone, and she truly cared for the boy and wanted to believe he felt the same for her, it was a huge disappointment to discover that her feelings were not mutual.  

Their relationship wasn’t as public as Y/N thought, a few of their friends knew, rest of the school didn’t care much about it, she never realized not being too much in public with him would be the cause of their break up. There wasn’t a particular problem in their relationship it was all sweet and lovely until the Triwizard tournament, Y/N never thought that Cedric joining the tournament would change him, she never thought that it would end their relationship, but it fucking did.

It all happened when the arguments started, when Cedric was becoming too cocky because of his “Golden Boy” title, he would constantly have girls throwing themselves at him left and right, and he would never do enough for Y/N to feel comfortable when those girls were all over him, making Y/N burst into tears as soon as she was left alone.

Too much tears shredded for a boy who didn’t deserved them. Sooner or later Y/N did suspect somethings about the boy and all the girls around him but she never wanted to believe or egg on her suspicions, she knew she was fooling herself but she was trying her best to not get hurt even more, but boy did that fail miserably.

It happened on the second task, she remembered the moment so vividly. Y/N was on her way to the second task, to support Cedric, she slowly took a place as she stood there cheering for his boyfriend.

Feeling an enormous joy filling her entire heart, only then for her heart to be crushed miserably in a matter of seconds. Y/N’s huge smile slowly faded as it took the form of a frown, her lips now formed in a shut line.

Tears threatened to leave her eyes at the sight in front of her, the realization of what the task was about and who Cedric was with hit her later than she ever realized.

The task was about them saving someone they cared about, and Cedric got out of the water with Cho, whom Y/N heard rumors about that Cho and Cedric hooked up a week ago, a rumor that Y/N now had no heart to ignore.

A soft sob escaped Y/N’s lips that day as she exited the arena, rushing over to her dorm as quickly as possible, she didn’t know whether to be mad at Cedric or herself for being this fucking gullible.

Soon enough though, when all the tasks were over, Y/N broke up with Cedric in the coldest way possible. She thought hiding her feelings from him would make her feel stronger, but it didn’t, she cried herself to sleep that night, and maybe even more nights following that night.

Y/N couldn’t believe she was fooled by his charm, she felt stupid. She hated Cedric because of that, and because of the fact that just today the arse smiled at her in the hallway, as if nothing had happened between them, as if he was smiling at her out of pity, she hated it.

And even more so she hated the fact that she returned it, she mentally cursed herself and groaned at her own actions as they replayed in her head.

She was snapped back to her senses when her horrible memory flashback was over, and her attention was back to the Gryffindor’s chatting at the table, she tried to join in once or twice but failed to look interested, she took one more bite of her food and excused herself, to get some fresh air and be alone with her thoughts, and her mind.

She got out of her chair and collected her books, slowly walking towards to the entrance of the castle, she quickly hurried over to a quiet place as she took a place on the grass her slowly laying out her books on the ground, as she picked one of the books to read it.

Her hands slowly gazed over the book as she started reading it quickly, wanting to off her mind. Y/N’s focus was fully on her book and was devouring the pages quickly, but a nudge on her shoulder startled her as a small squeak came out from her mouth.

“Blimey! Relax Y/L/N! It’s just me!” Draco said chuckling at the girls reaction, as Y/N softly gasped at him and playfully hit him in the arm with her book chuckling “I almost died you arse!”

He smiled as he kneeled down next to her, tilting his head so he could see what she was reading, “What in Merlin’s beard is that?” Draco asked confused.

“It’s a muggles mystery book, you git!” Y/N said smiling. Draco made a nauseous face. “Oh come on! Just read it and you’ll love it! This is the second part of the book series, I actually have the first part in hand, and you can read it and we can discuss!” She gushed as her hand reach out to her stack of books handing it out to Draco.

Draco would never admit this out loud but he found your gushing over a stupid muggle book so cute that he realized he could not refuse.

He groaned slowly “Fine, but in one condition!” he smirked “And what is that?” Y/N asked confused her eyebrows furrowed softly, he did his best to not find the pretty girl in front of her cute at all times but she made it impossible.

“You have to go to Hogsmeade with me!” Draco exclaimed as Y/N was even more confused now, not expecting an offer like this from the grey-eyed boy, she was silent for a second as that made Draco almost die from embarrassment, but seconds after she washed away Draco’s embarrassment as she happily agreed.

They spent the next day with each other, both didn’t know what the day was supposed to be like was it a date? Or just as friends?

It seemed though that Draco wanted it to be a date, and maybe even Y/N did too, but she didn’t know if she was ready for a relationship, she made a deal with herself, more like a promise, a promise that she wouldn’t date guys until she was sure of them, and it had to be nice guys, like the nicest of nice guys, that had no bad intention with her, just overall really great guys.

She didn’t know much about Draco, he seemed nice and he was quite gorgeous, but in order to trust him for even a little ounce, she needed to be sure he was a nice guy. She still seemed to be pretty scared about trusting anyone, she never thought about opening up to anyone ever again, and just the thought of it scared her.

They spend the entire day together, Y/N was surprised she could finally be close to someone, at least in a friendly way, of course there was some flirting going on because Draco did not stop complimenting her the whole day, making heat rise up to Y/N’s already rosy cheeks each time he did so, giggling like a flirty girl at his stupid jokes, Draco took her out to get some deserts as the two chatted up.

Making Y/N feel extremely comfortable around him while Draco felt so happy to be in the girl’s presence, even feeling comfortable enough with her that he opened up to her a bit about his life.

As Y/N listened to him cautiously and attentively while supporting him graciously, Draco felt extremely grateful for her, but he wanted her to feel the same, feel the same comfortableness he felt, so she would be more open with him.

It seemed impossible, he wanted to know about the “Diggory” incident, but also was scared that she would either get mad at him or she would brush it off and not hang out with him again, and he didn’t want that at all, he just wanted to get to know her.

The whole friendship/flirty relationship between Draco and Y/N continued for weeks as they enjoyed each others company more than ever, he liked having her around and so did she, giggles would always fill the room the pair was in, they were always complimenting and having fun with each other, it seemed that everyone else noticed them hanging out, even her friends.

So when she went to lunch one day and sat down, her friends looked at her as if they were about to have an intervention with her any moment, she felt as though she was pitied, “What?” She asked softly as she took a piece of her bread, chewing and then swallowing it happily.

“Y/N uhmm.. we noticed you hanging around with..” Hermione started nervously. “Draco.” Harry finished her sentence abruptly. “Soo..?” Y/N asked confused but wanting to know more, “He’s not a good guy Y/N.”  Harry announced as Y/N’s smile was now met with a frown.

Anyone could tell that her entire face fell at the information, but she wanted to know more. “He literally fucked all the girls in Slytherin and left them, he uses girls...” She furrowed eyebrows confused and her frown intensified as her eyes were filled with a dash of anger.

“Why the fuck should I care? I’m not his girlfriend.” Y/N snapped without meaning to as Harry and Hermione stared at the girl with guilt visible in their eyes.

Y/N sighed softly as she quickly muttered out a simple apology her heart breaking at the information, she slowly nodded for them to continue.

“He also is a bully.. well he was.. he bullied almost entirely everyone at one point Hermione too..” Y/N’s face was scrunched up with disgust as she gasped at the information, she looked down in disappointment as Harry continued.

“Look we just don’t want Cedric Diggory 2.0 to-” Just as those words left Harry’s mouth, Y/N’s disgusted face was now filled with anger and it was aimed at Potter.

“Don’t Potter, don’t fucking go there..” she said slowly as a tip of annoyance and anger could be heard in her voice.

“Look… I’m sorry but we are just saying watch out and be careful okay? Malfoy is bad news. We just don’t wanna see you hurt.” Y/N just nodded slowly as she sighed.

“It’s fine, I’m.. I’m sorry for snapping it’s just uhh.. didn’t expect this, but thank your for informing me, I’ll take care of it, don’t worry.”

She said as she got out of her seat in anger, quickly grabbing her books, she started walking around as her eyes were vigorously searching for the particular Platinum Headed, grey eyed “Slytherin Prince.”

When Y/N got out of the Great Hall and started wandering out in the corridors, she finally spotted him and her eyes finally landed on the boy fully, who was chatting with his friends, and as he turned around he saw Y/N and smiled but his smile was quickly erased after he saw her disappointed expression.

His eyebrows arched up in confusion as  he slowly watched her storming over to him, “Can I talk to you?” Y/N said as her voice sounded firm as ever making Draco’s entire face wash with worry.

“What’s wrong?” Draco asked with a hint of worriedness in his voice. “I heard some things about you, Malfoy.”  Y/N said abruptly as she crossed her arms against her chest. “What things are you talking about, princess?” He said in a gentle voice concerned, “About you fucking every girl you see and leaving them? Using them and throwing them away as If they were fucking garbage?” Y/N scowled, making Draco taken a back little.

“So?” Draco said as Y/N could notice the change in his tone and expression. “So?” Y/N mimicked him as she chuckled sarcastically. “Is it true?” She questioned the boy, he nodded firmly, “Is it also true you bullied people?” He nodded again as she chuckled bitterly annoyed.

“Why do you even fucking care Y/N? It’s not like we’re fucking dating!” Draco now snarled at her out of anger.

Y/N shook her head as she chuckled bitterly, “I fucking care Draco, because you’re not a nice person! You’re not a nice guy! I don’t want to hang out with bad guys! I don’t want to be friends with bad guys!” She bitterly scoffed.

“And you know what the worst thing was? I actually thought you were a nice guy, I genuinely thought you were someone I could finally hang out with, share some stuff with, I thought you were different then all the stupid boys in the Hogwarts, but boy was I wrong.. you’re just like every other guy on Hogwarts.”

She added as she looked into his big grey eyes that were now washed over with sadness, as hers were filled with rage and sadness at the same time, Draco wanted to open his mouth to say something, anything, but no words came out as Y/N’s disappointed look in him was an image that was never going to leave his mind.

She scoffed as she quickly turned around, leaving the boy there all alone.

Draco never seemed to understand her, he thought of her as a very complicated person, mainly because he didn’t know too much about her, perhaps this “nice guy” thing was about Diggory. He wanted to uncomplicate her, get to know her, he seemed to be absolutely fascinated by the girl, she seemed to challenge him in ways he never was challenged, she didn’t know what his reputation was like, well until now…

He really seemed to have taking a liking to the girl, but it seemed that he ruined everything because of his stupid stubborn and angry self, and well partly because of his stupid past, too.

He had lost her, just like that. If he had maybe given her a some sort of explanation, maybe she would have understood, and he wouldn’t be feeling like he was sick to his stomach at the very moment.

Y/N was very understanding and a really great listener. But Draco didn’t have the guts and had too much of a pride to do something about her.

He wasn’t the person she perceived him as, yes he bullied people and he got with girls just for sexual activities, but it was before it was just in the past. He simply wasn’t like that anymore, it was just his act.

And it was not who he was anymore, he just wished instead of being stubborn with her, he would have just apologized and explained but he was too much of an arse to actually do that.

He went back to his common room as so did Y/N going to the Gryffindor common room, days went without neither talking to each other, they both felt empty, and they clearly craved each other very deeply.

The realization hit Draco that he was being extremely stupid, and Y/N just missed being with him, hanging out with him.

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It was a Friday morning as Y/N and Hermione got out of their class, Hermione was trying to force Y/N to a Ravenclaw party at the room of requirement, but Y/N was not having it, afraid he might see Cedric and Cho or maybe just Draco. But Hermione wasn’t letting go of it, forcing Y/N to say yes.

Eventually Hermione finally got a muttered out “Fine!” From Y/N and she got all excited, throwing her hands up in air as if she just won something and then kissing Y/N on the cheek, surprising Y/N as she did so, and then happily leaving to go to class as she finally achieved what she wanted.

Y/N huffed at the girl as she slowly walked down the corridor to go to her own class, her hand was securely wrapped around her books as she was walking her attention still on the floor as she did so.

Footsteps could be heard from the opposite side which caused Y/N’s head to pop up immediately, her eyes softly met with Draco’s grey eyes as he is walking towards her, she simply froze for a second as she didn’t know what to do.

Y/N soon enough kept her walking pace as she was trying her best to avoid him, she slowly felt him coming towards her and she mentally cursed herself for taking this way to her class.

Slowly but surely he made his way over to her, his hand falling heavy on her shoulders as he lightly pushed her against the nearest wall, causing Y/N to look up at him stunned as she was surprised by Draco’s sudden movements. A dash of glimmer was seen in his eyes, as Y/N just couldn’t bare to open her mouth to say anything.

“Are you going to the party?” Draco’s firm voice rings through her ears as his grip on her shoulders loosen up and gets closer to her, Y/N’s skin burning with tingles just as where Draco touched her.

Suddenly feeling a sort of pit in her stomach, filled with nervousness, she still managed to open her mouth to speak. “I.. What?” Y/N asks in a soft, shaky voice.

Draco’s eyes glimmer at the gentle girl in front of him once again, he softly clears his throat as he slowly lets go of his grip and slowly backs away from the girl.

Y/N’s mind is fuzzy at his movements and her brows furrow in confusion “Why do you care?” Y/N replied coldly, now feeling less stunned and more towards angry.

“Are you going to the stupid fucking party, Y/N?” Draco repeats his question more firmly as Y/N nods slowly, “Good, see you then.” Draco murmurs rigidly as Y/N takes a deep breath and rolls her eyes at him.

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The audacity of that boy had Y/N raging, her mind was racing about him as she was in her dorm trying to pick an outfit for the party, she knew she had to look her hottest tonight, so she picked out her red dress that she was sure of that would leave Draco with his mouth open, she applied some make up on her face too, enough to go with her red dress.

Y/N also helped Hermione too as she helped pick her a gorgeous dress and did her make up in a way that she probably otherwise would never do.

The two of them took a look at themselves at the mirror one last time as the girls couldn’t stop complimenting each other, Hermione thanked Y/N gently as the two finally head off to the party.

The dress Y/N wore was complimenting her body in every way possible and displaying her body for everyone to see, it looked absolutely gorgeous on her body.

As they arrived to the room of requirement, Y/N felt nauseous to see Draco and Cedric, but tried her best to shake it out of her mind, when they entered the room of requirement, Y/N still felt absolutely sick to her stomach, while Hermione was genuinely enjoying the attention from every guy and girl around them.

Y/N slowly took notice as a smirk played onto her lips as she turned to Hermione “See!” She giggled as Hermione wowed. Y/N immediately went to the drink stand, because she knew she couldn’t make it through the night if she was sober. She got herself some disgusting alcoholic liquid and downed it quickly.

“Hey Y/N” a voice caught her attention as she turned around smiling and she greeted the boy happily.

“Heyy Neville!” Y/N said kindly as Neville eyed her up and down “You look amazing! Super pretty and gorgeouss.” She giggled at the boy’s slurred words as it seemed that he had a bit much to drink.

“You wanna dance?” Neville asked sloppily as Y/N chuckled, nodding. Just as they were about to go to the dance floor, an angry voice interrupted the two.

“You have 5 fucking seconds to get the fuck away from her.” Draco basically growled as Y/N’s attention turned to him as she muttered out a simple “Fuck.” “But she just agreed to- ” Neville opened his mouth to speak but he was interrupted again by a jealous Draco.

“If you don’t fucking leave her right this second, I’m gonna hex the fuck out of you!” Draco almost yelled as his eyes were now filled with rage and jealousy, as he caused Neville to walk away quickly, “Sorry!” Y/N yelled out at the boy sympathetically as she angrily turned around to Draco.

“What the fuck is your problem?” Y/N scowled. “Me? You should see yourself, why the fuck were you flirting with that git?” Draco questioned angrily as jealousy was dripping from his mouth. “It’s not like we’re dating so why the fuck do you care, huh?” She mimicked the boy’s words as she chuckled bitterly.

Y/N was about to continue but was interrupted by someone bumping into her, “Watch where you’re fucking goi-” she stopped mid sentence as she saw Cedric, as Cho was stuck next to his side, his hand stuck on to her waist as if it was glued.

Y/N’s eyes widened quickly as she immediately stopped herself from saying anything else and simply walked away, Malfoy was bewildered again as he just followed behind her, calling out for her name as he picked up his pace, but it just caused for her to run faster away.

She ended up going to the Astronomy Tower, in which Draco was right behind her, she turned her back to him as choked out sobs were slowly escaping from her mouth.

Draco’s confusedness was now washed away with worry, Y/N didn’t seem to care that Draco was right there, as if she was comfortable enough around him, it brought some warmth to Draco but he still couldn’t handle seeing Y/N like this.

He could feel his entire body fill up with rage and also worriedness, because somehow and for whatever reason the stupid git Diggory was making you cry, and a little pissed because Neville was flirting with you.

Draco gently approached her as if he was scared to hurt the fragile girl in front of him.

“Y/N, love please talk to me..” Draco started softly as Y/N’s choked sobs were now mixed with her softly breathing, Draco took a. deep breath as he got closer to the girl. “Look princess, I’m here for you okay?” Draco said softly again as Y/N slowly tried to wipe her tears. “Let me help you..” Draco said delicately, turning her around to face him, taking her hands off her face to see her gorgeous face filled with tears.

His hands traced down her cheek, wiping away the girl’s tears. The two of them standing closer than ever to each other, a pit of nervousness both appearing at their stomachs as they were now inches away from each other. “Tell me about Diggory, okay? I… I just want to listen and I want to be there for you.” The boy said in the most genuine way possible and Y/N sighed.

“Uhh… god okay.” Y/N breathed once more as words slowly started pouring out of her mouth.

“When I met Cedric, he seemed like a nice guy, he had everything, he was gorgeous, he was kind, nice, he was amazing... He seemed perfect. We flirted for a while and he was great and all then we started dating, we weren’t really that public about it and I thought that we really worked out really great as a couple, but then the whole Triwizard Tournament happened and.. and..”

Y/N’s breath hitched as Draco gently put his hand on top of hers in reassurance, he held her hand as he stroked it softly with his thumb, telling her that it’s okay and wanting her to tell him more.

“Um you remember the second task?” Y/N asked as Draco nodded still attentively listening to the girl as Y/N softly took a breath.

“Yeah um the one where they have to save who they care about, well that day Cedric saved Cho, and that’s how I found out about him fucking cheating on me with Cho- god.” She said as her eyes filled up with tears again. And this time Draco couldn’t help but pull her into a tight hug.

His whole body relaxed as he hugged the broken girl in front of him, also feeling the tense girl relax up under her touch, his hands slowly travelled to her hair as he started stroking her hair delicately, “Baby, it’s okay, it’s fine...” He said softly as she pulled away from the hug.

“I trusted him and he fucking broke my heart.. I just hate him so so fucking much. God- Draco.. then… and then I met you, I met someone who I felt like I could trust again, I met someone who I wanted to hang out with, but then your reputation, I found out about your reputation, for the first time since Cedric I finally liked a boy, I genuinely liked a boy… and wanted to open up to him, but you broke my heart, you crushed it, I thought you were like Cedric, I really fucking liked you, Malfoy and you devastated me.”

She muttered out as her heart ached. And so did Draco’s but at the same time he was happy about her revelation “You- you fucking like me?” Draco stammered as Y/N nodded.

Draco’s grey eyes glimmered with happiness. “Fucking hell, Y/N I liked you from the moment I fucking met you.. You have been quite literally the only thing good thing in my life as soon as I bumped into you in that bloody class..” Draco exclaimed as Y/N chuckled softly.

“The whole reputation thing was in the past, I was too much of a dick in the past but I’m not like that anymore, I promise, I wanted to explain that to you but when you came in so angry, I got angry and acted like an arse, instead of being reasonable with you, I.. I’m sorry.”

He said as he pulled her into a hug again feeling comfortable holding her and as she felt safe under his touch.

Draco’s tight hold was released from the girl as the two pulled away from the hug, as they did so they finally realized how close they had been standing to each other, as they were both gazing into each other’s eyes, both waiting for the other to make a move.

Draco’s arms were still snaked around her neck, and his soft touch on her neck was bringing Y/N closer and closer to him, but it was so painfully slow that Y/N couldn’t take it anymore.

She huffed as a sigh came out of her pursed lips, she felt as though she could not spend any more minutes without having his lips on hers, so she groaned as she quickly but harshly smashed her soft lips onto Draco’s plump lips as a whimper of satisfaction finally escaping her lips as she did so.

Draco was absolutely stunned and shocked by the girl’s motions and as soon as the realization of what was happening washed over him, his mouth reacted very quickly to hers, a low groan coming out of his mouth.

He absolutely adored the feeling of her lips smashed against his, as her lips felt incredibly soft and plump. Draco deepened the kiss as Y/N slowly parted her mouth, and Draco’s tongue harshly and quickly entered her mouth without any resistance as she parted her mouth ever so willingly, a small hint of redness arose to her cheeks.

His tongue slowly but surely experienced her mouth, it evoke feelings and tinglings in Y/N’s stomach that she never felt before, Draco was in a euphoric state as he was happily exploring Y/N’s mouth, his hands slowly stroked her hair, then they travelled down to her face, slowly caressing her cheeks, then it finally landed on her waist, having a quite harsh grip on it, Y/N could feel the imaginary fireworks exploding around them as their kiss deepened even more, Draco slowly bit her bottom lip, earning a low groan from the girl.

Then after what seemed like a long time, Y/N pulled away as she earned a soft groan from Draco causing her to giggle shyly, “We can continue that later.” She exclaimed as a smirk played on her lips and in return Draco licked his lips seductively as his mouth quirked up into a smile.

“I do have one question for you though.” Draco said softly as a hint of firmness and seriousness could be heard from his tone, which caused Y/N’s eyebrows to furrow in confusion as he looked up to the boy’s grey eyes in confusion, her face washed away with a hint of obvious worry.

“When do I get to hex the fuck out of Diggory?” Draco said as Y/N playfully hit him on the shoulder and giggled at the jealous boy. The two spent the entire night talking to each other, joking around and maybe even making out a little more.  

But one thing was for sure, they both felt so lucky to have finally at last that they found each other. They finally both had what they needed, someone to talk to, someone to listen to, someone to hang out with and someone to love.

taglist: @abb-lan-5sos​ @dracosathenaeum​

[dirtyrottenraskel]

my take on yueki's personalities

yue 

notes / personality

cocky (but also like understated confidence - r e g a l af) 

kind of a nerd

maybe a little entitled, and a little bratty and suki loves to indulge her or to rile her up depending on her mood

books

seems soft but made of steel

strong sense of duty

socially intelligent - can be manipulative and suki (the dork) thinks it is so hot 

aloof queen bee typa beat

supportive, both in ur day to day and in going after your big moral life goals 

deep water - steady and powerful, often underestimated

untold depths, private yet surprisingly nurturing - master of deflecting away from herself

political nerd - well read, and when she has someone she trusts not to take advantage of her, she goes OFF 

distrusting of most people, has been used and ignored and underestimated her whole life

patient - homegirl knows how to play the long game

excellent at pai sho / chess 

she and suki have epic battles of wits - dif types of strategy but both are really into it and get a little too competitive (multiple board games have had to be replaced over the years)

loves travel bc wasn’t allowed to much, esp when she was sick 

was super repressed growing up - never let her be herself or really have any sort of independence

used to sneak out and wander around in rebellion and casually sabotage plans and decisions she didn’t agree with 

introverted, many opinions but keeps them to herself, discreet but well spoken

weaponizes secrets and information - doesn’t often use it but...she could

definitlyyyyy worries and overthinks and re-evaluates - worries ab social politics a lot

obsessive about picking things - wants it to be perfect

shes growing into her confidence as a leader

prefers quite intimate places

incredibly romantic

classic lit

planner for the future - visionary

kind / sweet / gentle - yes, but that’s also her “front” to a degree (seriously, i feel like she gets painted as so sweet and submissive and one dimensional by the fandom a lot of times and it freakin kills me)

INFJ-T (The Advocate) ((yes this is from 16p which i know is not super accurate but u can still catch her overall vibes from it ya know)

Creative/insightful/principled/compassionate/altruistic

sensitive/reluctant to open up/perfectionist/prone to burnout/not a fan of the ordinary

friendships / relationships

(<> indicates that they’re one of her best friends)

sokka - puppy love crushes, laugh ab it now, get into deep late night talks about responsibilities and leading, water tribe culture, prank wars (no one believes sokka when he says yue is a mean prank master (expect suki comes to see it in action lol))

katara - <> badass women friendship, totally would go to matches and protests together, tough girl shit, waterbending practice/duels - start of cautious, but then get rough in a good way bc they trust each other, they do water tribe food adventures together

toph - indulges her chaos, bonding over stupid royal upbringings, odd yet weirdly endearing pair

zuko - both sort of standoffish gay royals, but once they come to see that they are friends - take up similar spaces though, so only hang out in a group or rarely by themselves, they do hang out at like political parties and stuff when they get more comfortable together

aang - <> he has an impressive world view, yue is super studied and well read, so she and aang nerd out over past cultures together, and also their peace keeping nature, they have tea together often - usually after she and katara wipe the floor w/ each other

clothing / aesthetic:

blues and pale colors

classy and understated wealth

like those cute feminine button down shirts

dresses

like cold weather classy

complicated braids

sort of soft girl aesthetic?

pleated skirts !!!

i feel like she would wear ethically sourced fur (i don’t wear fur but idk how to get it in an ethical way - maybe it’s just fake??)

knit sweaters and skinny jeans and heeled ankle boots

light academia !!!

hella funky earrings - to mark her native pride and also cuz gay

from my readings, tattoos have a lot of cultural significance for Inuit women, and so i feel like yue would totally have some (when she comes of age ofc) 

suki

notes / personality 

extroverted 

also very strategic 

more spontaneous tho - will totally calculate the odds in a spilt second in her head and then just go for it

like still a careful planner, but willing to say fuck it, yolo if it seems right 

reflects on her mistakes, but more in like a healthy way - unless it was a leadership mistake, then it eats her up inside - worries more ab keeping her girls safe and making the right call

likes lively places

total bashful romantic

manages the present and the short term - realist

loves to do lists 

a little punch happy - loves to make violent threats, but also does it out of excitement and she’s just a really physical person tbh

steady, can come off as stubborn and abrasive but she really just wants what’s best for everyone she loves

harsh on herself and worries about her girls a lot 

always ends up in the oddest situations 

totally would kick someone’s ass for being racist/sexist/homophobic/etc 

dedicated to her training and her regime 

not a great cook, but she can manage 

would drink monsters 

has a weird relationship with femininity - took her awhile to reconcile strength and toughness and being assertive and aggressive with also wanting to feel pretty and feminine and embracing being a girl and how those things can coincide and amplify each other

abandonment issues - parents absent/dead 

was imprisoned - obvi she had several almost successful escape attempts, but she got really close to breaking 

was incredibly independent really early, grew up really fast and tries to make up for that now by sometimes being reckless 

tough/assertive/woman of action 

dry sense of humor/sarcastic - not good at nickname/pun humor tho

practical/dedicated/strong-willed/direct/honest/reliable/loyal/patient

stubborn/judgmental/difficult to relax/difficulty expressing emotions/too selfless 

friendships / relationships

(<> indicates that they’re one of her best friends)

sokka - <>  man they’re like platonic soulmates - she beat him up, and now they spar all the time, totally funny and crack jokes all the time, go skating together, they do shitty art together, and then show their lovers after zuko and yue come back from their high society mixers, broke her out of prison, m/f friendship !!! 

katara - also sparring buddies (suki will throw down at any literally moment (and tbh so will katara)), not close but will hang in a group - go to each other for advice 

toph - <> listen these two wreak havoc together, they help each other out a lot, i feel like they’re shopping buddies (similar enough style to frequent the same shops) toph knows suki won’t judge her for wanting to feel pretty and suki knows toph will be honest, they are both blunt sarcastic assholes and get along like a house on fire 

zuko - <> shows zuko how to like,,,enjoy things (and how to let go of some of that pressure to be always right and the adult and in charge bc they were raised with so much responsibility on their shoulders even tho they were just kids)? she is also super protective of him (once she trusts him), one of the only ppl who can match suki fully in hand to hand combat, both do the Disappointed Parent Look when the group falls into chaos, but by themselves, the two of them end up in hijinks

aang- suki enjoys his optimism and they’re just chill bros, they love exploring abandoned placed together 

clothing / aesthetic

sporty and skater mixed 

ripped jeans, crewnecks, vans 

green and yellow and dark red 

gym clothes/athleisure - lifting style gym clothes - cut off t-shirts and bike shorts

skirts too, likes to play into femininity

she’s a gold jewelry kinda girl - but stuff that won’t hinder her movements 

necklaces that end in the hollow of her throat & occasionally rings

definitely cuffs all of her jeans (it’s just bisexual culture ya know)

so many crop tops - some came like that, some were more of a diy project

yueki’s relationship!!!

nerd/jock solidarity 

feel the burden of responsibility and the weight on their shoulders 

they create a safe space between them, full of trust and warmth and vulnerability 

yue will read suki sappy passages from poetry books while suki polishes her fans 

they slow dance in the kitchen a lot 

they get good at ordering takeout - and they have some weird decision making process that only they understand - bc neither of them are great cooks 

yue would feel jealous of suki and sokka, if it weren’t for how stupid in love sokka was with zuko and yue can see that suki really only has eyes for her 

yue is taller than suki and it amuses her to no end to pick suki up and carry her away from a fight (we all know suki could get away if she wanted to, but when ur hot tall sexy gf throws u over her shoulder,,,,,,u don’t complain)

joke they’ve adopted kataang and zukka, bc they’re all dummies, but in reality every last one of them is stupid LMAO 

they love to do each other’s hair and it’s like super intimate and really cute 

sometimes it’s these epic elaborate hairstyles and then at other times, they try to see how many ponytails they can fit on suki’s head and how many little braid yue can do 

they travel EVERYWHERE 

since yue is royalty and suki is her body guard,,,, well i mean, they totally have to see these kingdoms they are doing trade deals with in person 

it helps that they're friends with a lot of them 

they stay over in everything from camping so they can stargaze to ritzy hotels with hot tubs in the bathroom 

yue gives suki rocks she finds on all their travels and suki lines them up on their mantle around the pictures of them in increasingly weird locations 

suki loves guarding yue’s meetings bc she gets to watch her absolutely rip a new one into misogynistic old men and it never fails to bring her joy 

While yue doesn’t love getting attacked, the ruthless efficiency suki defends her with is like,,,,,stupid attractive 

[mimiplaysgames]

Drink Me

Pairing: Terra/Aqua Rating: T Word Count: 6,601

Summary: Aqua drinks a truth potion... Now they're going to have to talk about things.

Read on AO3

A/N: HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!! This is part of an art/fic trade that I'm doing with Moe (@terraswill on Twitter)!! I was so excited to work on this but it was also just... so hard?? We agreed on the trade back in June I think, and it took me this long. xD The timing was perfect though, and when they post their art, I'll edit this to include a link! Moe asked for was something domestic and fluffy (and I'm totally the wrong person to ask but I never back from a challenge dkfjkfjgf), and maybe give Aqua a reason to play a prank. We support a Let Aqua Have Fun 2021 agenda in this house. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. To my angst readers, I hope you find something here you like anyway lmao

~*~*~*~*~

She says she’s annoyed with me because I won’t let her dust the tapestry. Or rather, I won’t let her have her

way

and take on this ugly monstrosity (which I think is supposed to depict an ancient Keyblade Master who died four-hundred years ago; at this point, the threads are too faded to give him a defined face). 

The truth has more layers than that, something I don’t like to talk about. But it’s a clear day, the sun beaming through our windows and igniting the castle in golden hues. I won’t find the time to mope when Aqua is beckoning me to give her the feather duster. 

Aqua is a lot shorter than me. I pretend to give it to her, only to swerve it around her face and hang it up high above her head. I’ve got a smirk to last me hours, and there’s a sly one pulling on her lips. 

“Maybe if you jump,” I say, wiggling it. 

She doesn’t move. “Terra.”

I pull it up higher. “Come get it.”

“Or you could stop trying to overcompensate and let me help you.”

“Who says that’s what I’m doing?” That’s exactly what I’m doing. Any chance I get, I’ll do it all to make up for lost years. If she says she’ll tidy the garden tomorrow, I’ll rip the weeds by dawn. If she wants to prepare a feast, I’ll organize the ingredients, the recipes, the appliances. I call it helping out. She calls it ridiculous. 

“You’re ridiculous,” she says. Yep.

“It’s not like you could reach the top anyway,” I say, knowing this is precisely what would set her off.

Aqua likes to present herself as proper: head tall, ankles together. But when I push her buttons, that’s the first mask to melt off. She lunges at me, chest to chest, aiming for the duster that’s balancing on the tips of my fingers, my elbow locked and shoulder riding as high as it can, as if I’m trying to clean the ceiling. We’re giggling, we’re tight, we’re children all over again.

“Give it,” she says, her eyebrows and lips twisted in feverish concentration. She’d never let anyone else see her behave this way. 

“What are you doing?” She steps onto my shoes to gain height and I have to wrap my free arm around her waist to keep our balance (not that I’d complain if she ends up landing on top of me). My heart is pounding stupid rhythms at the smell of her shampoo. I don’t like sweet, but I like it on her. 

“Master’s orders. Give it to me.” 

“Try harder.”

She inhales sharply, giving me that Aqua look. Fine. She turns her head towards the tapestry and puckers her lips together, blowing air as if blowing out a candle. The layer of dust that sits at the very top bursts, sprinkling the console table beneath it. 

In my shock, she snatches the feather duster, the quietest Hmm of satisfaction coming out loud enough to demand my audience. She taps the tapestry with a flat laundry bat, all while waving her hand over the surface of the table, the dust collecting itself as if swirled by a magnetic tornado. 

No use for the duster at all.

“You think you’re clever,” I say, getting close behind her. 

“I think you agree.”

I think she’s pretending. Her smile looks the same but it’s manufactured, tied to a puppeteer’s strings. There’s a flicker in her eyes that tells me she doesn’t agree at all. I’m prepared to tell her that she’s assured and confident, but she already knows. This happens: I’ll catch a sudden recognition dawning on her face, like she’s reminding herself of something, and I’m left to guess what it could be.

We’re interrupted by a loud sneeze that drifts from the other side of the hall, followed by a hack and a cough, finishing with a sniffle. 

She’s panicked. It sounds like a case of the common cold, and nothing to be worried about, but that’s Aqua. I follow her lead, which takes us to no one else but Ven, who is wiping his face. A faint trace of dust rides on the strands of his hair. Actually, there’s dust everywhere except on the tapestry he’s responsible for. 

“Ven!” Aqua gapes. “What happened here?”

He takes a look around the chaos and gives a mere shrug, rubbing the back of his hand on his pants. “I was dusting.”

“You were using magic,” she says like she’s scolding him, despite doing the same minutes ago.

“What did you expect me to do?” He gestures towards the tapestry—the Master’s favorite, of a round cat lounging on a throne and announcing a toast with his goblet—like it’s a mountain to climb. “Get a ladder?”

“What a mess,” Aqua mutters with a flitter of her fingers, shepherding the dust together so it’s easier to collect. 

“I’m not finished.”

“Master’s orders,” I say and Aqua doesn’t spare me a glare. Yes, I find that funny.

Ven ushers her aside. “Come on, let me help.”

“I got it,” she says, fixated on the job. Always the one to do and still can’t learn to accept a helping hand.

“Aqua.”

“Ven?”

I know better than to get in the middle of this.

Ven generates gusts of air with a wave of both of his arms—a terrible idea when Aqua’s conducting from the other side—and the dust grows darker into a thick cloud of smoke. He stares at his handiwork with a dropped jaw. I’m shocked too. Where did all of that come from?

Aqua grunts as she tries to calm the storm, Ven mimicking her movements.

“Let it go,” I say, placing my hand on her shoulder.

“It will all fall to the floor.”

“There’s too much pressure building up from the bottom.”

“It’s under control.”

“It’s going to explode.”

She pouts (stars, it’s cute) but of course, only half-listens to me. Moving her palms parallel to the floor, she makes a gesture as if to compress. With Ven slacking, it billows low to the floor and then sweeps up.

The tapestry flaps upward, revealing a door.

Ven’s the first to cough. “What’s that?”

Aqua and I stare at each other. We’ve hidden behind every single one of these tapestries when we played as kids. There shouldn’t be a door.

“Do you think it’s magic leftover from—” I start to ask.

She shakes her head. “It can’t be. I returned everything to its rightful place.”

“Then what is this supposed to mean?” 

Discouraged by our hushed tones, Ven stops himself from turning the knob, waiting for our approval.

“It could have been hidden by a spell,” Aqua suggests.

“Oh.” 

We’re quiet. Spells last for as long as the spellcaster is alive.

“The Master would have called it an inheritance,” I say. “Don’t you think?”

One by one, we peek into the secret room. Ven is eager to open the door but only pushes it a sliver. It creaks with determination to wake everyone inside. Aqua is second, looking over him. I’m last, searching the corners for signs of movement. 

It’s empty except for a rack of white robes, stacks of books on a desk, a chess board, and a forest-colored couch. On the opposite wall sits a huge wardrobe next to a reading stand, displaying an open tome on what may have been the last page the Master read. An old-fashioned wall clock with visible parts and spinning characters counts the time, looking peculiarly like the Land of Departure. The sun shines through a window—though this would be an extra. All the windows on both sides of the castle are accounted for. You wouldn’t be able to see this room from the outside. 

“Terra,” Aqua gasps, “look at these books.”

Most of them are titled in an ancient language. “They’re from Scala.”

“We could probably find Sora with these,” she says, flipping through one.

Some of the robes are sewn with patches of snake skin, others stained with faded off-yellow, each a varying size for a growing teenager. I take the largest—it smells like dust—and slip it on. Almost a perfect fit, though I would’ve preferred it longer.

“It looks good on you,” Aqua says, coming to my side.

I smile at the floor, imagining what the Master would have said, how large his smile would have been under that bushy mustache, like the day he gave me his belt buckle and told me it would be a nice touch. Aqua inspects a fraying seam on the shoulder.

“I can fix that,” she whispers. I let her pull it off me, and she dotingly folds it over the book she decides to take with her. 

“Whoa.”

We drop our thoughts and turn to Ven, who’s helped himself to the wardrobe, stupefied at shelves of potions in glass flasks. Ugly colors, weirdly shaped, totally bizarre. 

“These aren’t any potions I recognize,” Aqua says, placing her stack on the couch and investigating the shelf with her arms crossed. 

None of them are labeled. “Maybe they’re lost knowledge,” I say, still thinking about her compliment. How often does she think I look good? “Can you imagine what kind of magic they’re packed with?”

Ven glances at the open book on the reading stand. “Let’s see.”

I join him, watching him flip through crudely drawn illustrations of odd shapes. We both snigger.

“Look through walls,” he reads before turning to the next page. “Neverending sweat. Turn a face blue. Glue lips together… This one says you can unglue them by washing your mouth with soap.”

“Lost knowledge.” Aqua scoffs.

“But who made them?” I ask. “The Master?”

Aqua rolls her eyes. “Please.”

“This is his secret room.”

“It looks like his handwriting,” Ven says, trying to keep his smile tiny. Trying. “Kind of.”

The O’s and the T’s certainly have their curls, just the way Eraqus would have done them. The Y’s are similar too, if a bit exaggerated and large. As Ven turns more pages, all of which are yellowed and chipped at the edges, I realize the drawings match the shapes of different vials, equipped with descriptions of colors. 

“I think Ven’s right.”

Aqua throws a look (Forget it) and rolls her eyes again. It’s her favorite thing to do. “We’re talking about the Master here. He wouldn’t waste his time on something like this.”

“I got an idea!” Ven beams, nudging me on the elbow. “Why don’t we try some? Guess what they are before we look in the book?”

The only person who stiffens is Aqua. 

“Look at her face.” Ven points. “She thinks we’re savages.”

Aqua doesn’t say anything, but it’s possible. 

I cock my head. “If the Master were here, he would have gotten a kick out of this.”

“Terra—”

“Regardless of who made them.” 

She drums her fingers on her forearm. “If it makes you happy,” she mumbles. It was subtle, but it was there.

“I’ll go first!” Ven leaps over the reading stand. There’s a rainbow of the most unsavory colors. The neon, the dull, the too realistic. “This one looks perfect.” He grabs a thin vial of liquid that I could mistake for vomit: a faded, rotten lime green, and drinks it all in one swish.

Following the last gulp, he withers to the floor, flailing and begging for it to stop.

I’m searching through the book for an answer.

Aqua throws herself to her knees. “What’s wrong?”

Ven giggles, cradling his stomach then scratching his back. “Don’t touch me.” He gasps in between painful howls of laughter. “It makes it worse.”

She carries his head to her lap anyway. She wouldn’t be Aqua if she isn’t indulging in some deep-seated instinct to assume we’re not healthy before assuring herself that we are. 

I tap my finger onto a page. “Tickling potion. ‘Give this to your favorite person,’ it says.”

“I’m going”—Ven inhales—“to bring the Master”—inhales again—“back to life just to… kill him again.” He deteriorates into another round of wheezing, hugging himself tight and turning over into a fetal position.

“It’s too juvenile for the Master,” Aqua reminds me.

This page is written with the same suspicious calligraphy but I hold my tongue. To ease the look of worry on Aqua’s face, I step forward. “My turn.”

“You can’t be serious,” Aqua says.

“Relax. There’s no such thing as death by tickling.”

Aqua jerks to say something but stops herself. I’m guessing, Let me have at it and you’d think otherwise. Nothing that she’d say with Ven in the room.

Ven rubs his eyes and sighs—it’s shaky and long, but it’s an improvement. “Can I try another one?”

The first potion to catch my attention is this wide, stubby one filled with what looks like dark mud. 

“Terra.” 

Her warning makes me think of the slight possibility of developing diarrhea from this. I stare into her eyes as I swallow a gulp of it anyway, much to her horror and much to my enjoyment. Her expressions are a never-ending list of entertainment. 

The potion is too smooth to be mud. It tastes spicy, a kick without any flavor. At first, I don’t feel anything, until a zap of electricity rides up my spine. Gooseflesh covers the backs of my calves up to my neck.

By the time I realize that I’m shivering, Aqua has my face in her hands. Her fingertips are warm when she brushes my hair.

“I’m fine.” A white cloud puffs out of my lips. 

Ven is cackling. Not from the tickling, that may have stopped as soon as he got distracted, but he’s pointing his finger at me.

“As fine as a monkey walking naked into the snow,” she quips, wrapping the robe around my shoulders and rubbing my biceps. 

“You can’t say, I told you so,” I say, my voice reverberating. “You didn’t know this was going to happen.”

“I know you don’t regret it.”

“You’re right. I don’t.”

She scoffs, smirking. Her eyes drop to some faraway conversation with herself.

“What are you thinking?” My teeth clatter. 

She raises her eyebrows, playing coy. 

“Whoever made this freezing potion,” Ven interrupts, having dragged himself to the book and is now leaning on it with both hands to stay stable, “wanted to test it. See if it could preserve vital organs.” He slowly nods (as if anything in this book makes sense). 

“I guess we’ll find out if it worked when I die.” The tremors hurt, rupturing in blows down my torso. Aqua mutters a spell and a fiery glow halos her hands, hovering near my skin. My own personal hearth. I can’t help but imagine doing the same for her one day. 

“Anyone else want to take a crack at it or should I drink another one?” Ven says.

Aqua glances over her shoulder and is actually considering it . 

“No way,” I say.

She ignores me, reading each bottle as though they’d spill their secrets.

I lean towards her ear, though she’s already swatting me away. “Do you need help choosing one?”

She grabs a curvy vial that looks like it has hips and is filled to the brim with pure white. Defiantly turning to stick her nose up at me, she proudly drinks (a sip), grimacing through the taste. But she keeps tall. As long as the nose stays up.

“Oh shit,” Ven mutters.

“Language,” I say.

We wait for the effect. Nothing happens. 

“What do you feel?” I ask.

“Nothing. I feel normal.”

“You’re a liar,” Ven says, throwing pages and scanning pictures, then rustling back to see if he skipped any.

“I am not. Maybe it’s expired.” As soon as she says it, her eyes go wide.

“That doesn’t make any sense. We had immediate effects. Maybe you should drink some more?”

“Don’t be silly.” Aqua shuts the bottle with its topper and gently places it back in its spot. “This was a foolish game, anyway.” 

I have to scoff—that’s harsh, even coming from Aqua. “Then why go for it?”

“Because I admire you so much, Terra, when you’re brave enough to go after something I wouldn’t come near. Because I have to match you, maybe outmatch you sometimes, if you get on my nerves. Because sometimes I get scared that I’ve missed out on so much, and I can’t help but wonder if our childhood may be missing something. After everything we’ve lost, I don’t want to be scared of being silly anymore. But… What if I’m a boring slog? I don’t want to be a bore. I want to be daring and fun like you and Ven,” she says in rapid tossed word salad, her hands getting animated the more she talks, pressed to answer questions we didn’t ask.

Ven and I have nothing to say.

“I…” Aqua fusses with her sleeves. “I don’t know why I unloaded all of that.”

“Dramatic, much?” Ven says.

She fists her hips. “Dramatic is when you whine about your dreams so you can avoid chores thinking I wouldn’t call your bluff.”

Ven gapes. “Aqua, you’re mean.”

“I don’t know what’s happening.” She hides her face behind her hands, taking them to her heart and bowing. “Ven, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Something weird is going on.” I take the helm at searching the book, shuffling pages in chunks until I find one with stark white paint, in the shape of curves and waves. “Ven,” I whisper when I read the description. When he looks at me, his impish smile stretches with lists of ideas. I’m right there with him.

A stuffy silence fills the room when we recite it: Truth potion. The person who drinks it cannot help but to answer questions honestly. 

Aqua steps back. 

She bolts out of the room, knocking some of the books over. 

“Get her!” Ven yells.

My muscles protest when I take off, stiff and sluggish as though I’ve experienced a whole winter outside. Aqua dashes through an open doorway and thrusts her arm out. The doors slam together, refusing to let me through. Ven’s going to have to find another way around. This won’t stop me and she knows it. I slip through a growing portal of darkness—the swirls that lick me would have been cold, but I’m numb—and I come out the other side. There’s certain tricks that come from being the poster boy for Darkness; it’s helpful in fights.

This part of the castle leads to the common areas. I know where she’ll be.

Aqua is splitting her attention between mixing batter in a large wooden bowl and running a soapy dishwash in the kitchen sink. When I approach her, she makes a point to put her finger on her lips.

Stars, it’s so hard not to laugh. “You’re not going to—”

She grunts, shaking her head furiously at me. No questions. 

With my elbows propped on the countertop, I watch her scrub a dish. More than she normally does, actually, a little therapy session to take her mind off the fact that I’m relishing this moment. It’s satisfying how she suddenly remembers that she’s heating the oven, throwing herself across the kitchen to check the temperature.

She points to the spice cupboard next to me, and gets more enthusiastic when I open it. Apparently, she wants the cinnamon. 

“I think vinegar would help better with what you’re doing.” I nod my head to the sink. 

With the flick of her hand, water pouring out of the faucet changes direction and splashes me in the face.

“Am I annoying?” I snigger. I had to.

A tick in her shoulders—her body has no choice but to react. “That’s a stupid question.” Every word is pulled out of her teeth. Normally, she’d say, No, how could you even imagine that!

I dip my finger into the suds and plant one large print on her forehead in between the eyes, where she’s glaring so hard, they are crossed.

“How about now?”

“The worst,” she groans, slamming her hands into the bath. She takes a washcloth to dry them and wipes her forehead. Afterwards, she hands it to me. 

“Think of it as an opportunity to get to know the real you.” I dry my face. 

“You know me already.”

“Do I know everything, though?”

“No.” This potion doesn’t miss a beat.

Ven is panting by the time he enters, climbing a stool behind the counter and peering over the edge like a small child. He’s doing that on purpose, goading her into playing along. He asks me, “Can we?”

She groans.

I’m back on my elbows so I can look up at her and give her the same puppy dog eyes. Between glancing at the two of us, she can’t stand it. She wants to make us happy, she’s always been like that. Then again, she probably also wants to bash our heads together and leave us with headaches. One of the two would amuse her better. 

“How about we ask her three questions only? We shouldn’t drive her crazy.”

She chuckles, that little smile of hers growing and reassuring and there. That’s my girl. Turning off the sink, she folds the washcloth and brings her hands together as though we’re in class. “Three questions each. Is that okay?”

Wow. “More than I asked for.” 

“I already have one,” Ven says, sitting on his knees. “Do you hate Lea?”

“A little. But I’m working on it.”

Ven snorts and drops his face onto the counter. How many times have we asked her that and got the, Don’t be ridiculous. Like I said, he’s formidable. “I knew it.”

“He does his missions with the least amount of effort possible. Takes the easiest route to build his technique. Efficiency, he calls it,” she says, letting out the hot pressure she’s been keeping to herself with relief. “He also calls me, Teach. Who does that?”

Of all the times I’ve expected Aqua to snap at someone, she holds herself back when it comes to Lea, giving him tight smiles to zip it all up. “Ouch,” I say. “He’s been working so hard on a gift to thank you for working with Isa.”

She grimaces. “At least he has good taste in men? Isa does have a respectable work ethic.” 

I pat her hand. Aqua’s usually the one to blow the kettle first, but there’s ways to connect people who may not see eye to eye the first time. Maybe I can be a buffer. “Next time you meet, I could go with you.”

“I’d appreciate that,” she whispers. 

“Lea would find it hilarious, honestly.” Ven waves his hand as if it’s no big deal. “I bet he’d give you a note with your gift. It would say, Thanks for everything. I hate you, too, Teach .”

“Okay, my turn,” I say, resting my chin on my palm. She studies me, too, though I’d like to believe I could keep a poker face. “Do you sometimes steal my cologne?”

“Yes.”

Her bluntness throws me back. “To wear ?”

“Yes,” she says as though it’s obvious and crosses her arms. Duh.

“Hey, that’s two questions,” Ven says. 

“Sorry.” I take one more glance to see if I could gleam any more clues from her facial expressions, but she keeps her nose high. As long as the nose stays up.

“I have to think of a really good one.” Ven holds his chin, looking more serious than he’s been since the Keyblade War. “Ever farted then blamed Terra for it?”

“Ugh.” Aqua quivers, her knuckles bleaching. She throws her face over her shoulder and stares scars into the wall. “Yes of course, didn’t we all?” 

“Come on, I could’ve answered that,” I say (though after all these years, it’s validating to know it’s not a blame game anymore). I nudge her with my shoulder. “Justice does feel pretty good.”

“Ask me something better,” she says after smacking my bicep. Her face is as ripe as sunburn. 

Questions that give her more control. I could do that. “Is there anything you’ve been needing to say but haven’t had the chance to yet?”

The tension in her face drops. It leaves something pale and disappointed in its place, a faraway look. I shouldn’t have asked; whatever this fear is, it’s meant for me. “Yes,” she whispers.

I stand pin-straight, the air in the room thinning, as though the Darkness has opened a hole and is sucking all the sun away. Ven does the same. The other Keybearers will stare at their cuticles, or fumble and cut themselves out of the group when they’re upset or hurt or sorry. Eraqus forged a protocol out of us. When we witness or cause harm, we recite what we’ve done and its effects. We bow when we apologize. 

So far, we’ve been home for one hundred and seventy five days. Never expected it to take this long. I open my mouth to speak.

“Don’t,” she says softly. “I know what you’re going to ask.”

I would have pleaded with her to let me apologize, and I would have met her dismissal anyway: No, Terra, it’s not necessary. We’ve been through it all. We should enjoy what we have. She means well; the relaxation and the mundane tasks are good for all of us. Even when we were younger, Aqua was generous at her expense, sparing nuts from her brownie to bake them into a tarte, knowing I hate brownies. She’d look at the brighter side of things (More fudge for me!), and stick her tongue out. She’s been my smile, but she gives too much, and we still need this conversation.

“So what is the answer?”

She lowers her eyes to the counter, then wills them back up at me. “I blame myself.”

Aqua.

Ven sighs. “I should give you guys some space.” He treads away, keeping his footsteps minimal, meticulously turning the handle so it’d make the least noise possible. Out of the corner of my eye, though, I see him press his ear against the door before it shuts. If he’s going to listen in, that’s fine with me. Whatever she and I have to say to each other would affect all three of us.

“You blame—”

“I would be… lying.” She simpers, shaking her head. “If I said I never blamed you. There were moments I did. How and why. But I had enough endless nights where those reasons circled back to me. What I could have done to make it better. To save you,” she croaks, wiping her eyes. “To be a best friend. You needed that. Ven needed one, too. And I wasn’t.”

Aqua scrubs the already-clean counter with that dry washcloth, creating a rhythm that fills the silence. The oven is now heated, and I take the cinnamon and pour two spoonfuls of it into a beaker, our backs to each other. Add cups of sugar for her, some cocoa, a pinch of vanilla while she drills the grouts in between the tiles.

“I wasn’t much of a best friend myself, either.”

“You were hurt and defeated.”

“I was stupid.”

“You are not.”

I scoff, reaching over and pausing her. My smile is meant to be gentle, but it feels so plastic. “Aqua, do you think I’m stupid?”

“I don’t.”

I’ve expected her to half-smirk, where she tells me, Sometimes. “Really?”

“You overthink,” she simply puts. “But you assume the best. You know, that makes you a better person than me.”

Ha. No. “No. I’m not better than you. Not by a long shot.”

She hums. “I’m just correct more often.”

“But I left you.”

“And I kicked your trust in me in the shins. Are we going to keep count of all the unfriendly things we’ve done? How different would it have been if I didn’t accuse you of things that weren’t true?”

“How different would it be if I had just stayed with you?” I realize I shouldn’t have asked the moment I finish.

In a trance, Aqua inspects the beaker with the spices and sugars I’ve concocted, deciding what I’d done is good enough and dumping them into her unmixed dough, stirring, giving her hands something to do, while I wait for the onslaught. “Probably avoided the last twelve years.” I wince. “Or it could have made no difference. We could have ended up the same, or worse, or better.”

I say, “You don’t believe that,” before stopping myself.

“I was taught to respect Xehanort, too.” 

“We were taught to recognize the Darkness.”

“Which I also failed at.”

“Clearly.”

“I did. I looked for it inside you where I should have placed my faith instead. I regret every moment I did.” She puts the bowl down, a slap of wood against marble. “We don’t help ourselves by obsessing about it a million times.”

“But you’d help me if you let me apologize. To you especially.”

She whips around with nothing to retort, fresh tears short of falling. “To me especially?”

“Ven deserves something of his own. Please.”

She drops her hands together. Swallows. Nods. 

I bow, watching droplets land near my shoes. “I should have been there for you. I should have been stronger. I should have realized what was happening sooner, and I thought I did. I thought I did what I could, and I was there with you in the Graveyard, but it wasn’t enough, and for all the years I didn’t know, I should have found a way to learn and pay you back for what you’ve sacrificed for me. I should have eased your pain, I should have brought you back to the Light. I was focused on myself when I should have lifted you up, and I disappeared when you needed me most. I should have done more, and I’m sorry I didn’t.”

Silence passes the time and I look up to see what she thinks. She’s wetting the washcloth, dabbing my eyes. “Do you feel better?” she asks.

“Kind of.” I’m beat up after taking all those shots, but I’m lighter, free to breathe without the nagging suspicion that I don’t deserve to. 

“One of the things I wished for when I was in the Realm of Darkness was to smell sugar again. I wanted to hear you give me a list of reasons why it’s bad for my body, and I wanted to tell you why it’s good for the heart.” I let her dab my cheeks, the dampness frigid against my skin. “Now that I’m back home, I don’t need any other wish granted.” She sniffs, about to pour the batter into its mold, but then flicks the oven off exasperatedly. “I forgot. I have to wait for the dough to rise.” For some reason that finally breaks her. It tears me apart as well, and I have to hold her shoulder so we don’t rip down the middle. 

“Please don’t cry,” I say, offering the washcloth. “I care too much about you to sit here and watch you cry.”

She stops. “What is that supposed to mean?” 

“Nothing.” I let go and stare at her blended mix, smooth as cream. 

“That’s not fair,” she says, throwing the washcloth onto the counter. “I have no choice with what I say. You could at least answer me honestly.”

“I don’t want to be the reason you cry anymore.” Nor do I want to tell her the truth. Instead I hide it on the back of my neck, where I rub into it so it doesn’t spill over. And yet, that makes me feel more guilty now than I have in weeks. 

“I should make you swallow a truth potion.”

“I wanted us to be equals.” She saves her usual response and waits for me to continue. I close my eyes. “Go through all the same experiences with you. We were supposed to stick together, do everything together. Failing the Mark of Mastery took all of that away from me. Or at least it felt that way at the time. And I wanted more. I wanted…” My hand finds nothing as it waves in the air searching for the words to spell it out. “I don’t know what to say. Everything I’ve done and didn’t do pale in comparison to you.”

“We’re not doing this. We’re not comparing ourselves.”

“No, I mean…” What the stars am I supposed to say? “You’re more important to me than you understand.”

“And you’re just as important to me.”

“No… it’s different with me.” And I’ve said too much, Aqua holding her elbows and expecting me to continue. There’s no other trail to go down than the one I’ve started. “I meant what I said at the preliminary feast.”

“Excuse me?”

The feast where the Master celebrated our achievements, announcing that we’re at last ready for the final test. Where Ven and I squeezed ourselves into suits and he complained the entire night about being itchy. Where I spent it staring at her dress. When I said she looked pretty and then avoided her for the rest of the party.

I don’t say anything about that night and she hears something anyway.

“That’s why…” She glosses over me with wide eyes as the realization makes me look like a stranger. “You should have said something to me.”

“You can’t be serious.” I wave her away.

“But all these years, I didn’t know.”

Good, if we’re talking about the same thing. “I couldn’t have told you anything.”

“Then how was I supposed to figure that out?”

What are we talking about now? “What exactly did you expect me to do?” 

“You should have kissed me.” She covers her mouth, wincing at what slipped out. She keeps her chin high anyway, casually crossing her arms and pretending that her face hasn’t reddened the deep shade staining her cheeks. As long as it stays up.

We pass an unspoken conversation between each other, frozen and unwilling to move.

Did you just—?

I did.

I manage to exhale. “You’re right.”

There’s a moment of shock on her face before I hold her and lean forward. It happens so quick that I don’t register what she tastes like before I realize that I’m clamping my hands on her biceps, two bent rods leaning on each other.

“That was awful,” I say.

“No, it’s—” she laughs.

“Bad.”

“Yeah.”

“I always thought it’d go different.”

“Always?”

Well, I’ve run out of words. “I guess.” When I let her go, she reaches for my chest and lifts onto her toes, kissing me back but with care and intention this time, filling my lips with hers. They taste like Aqua, smell like her shampoo. They’re softer than her hands and face, sweet enough for me to want more. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with my hands until I settle them in the sway of her back. I let her take the lead, take another kiss, tug at my neck. She trembles from the frozen touch of my skin and from the hold of my hands on her body. My muscles are getting warm, too warm but I like it and I think she knows. Earlier this morning, I held her this close, but this is closer. It’s easy and difficult at the same time. 

Then I remember and pull away. “Ven is listening to us.”

There’s a bump on the door as it’s pushed when he kicks himself off, heavy footsteps running down the hall. 

Aqua looks like she’s touched feces. “Ven!”

I follow her, wondering if she’s going to summon her Keyblade but that’s because of how fast she’s walking, like she has a mission, no Heartless left standing. We turn a corner, down a hall of antique vases and ancient cupboards carved from our first masters. Wood creaks nearby. 

She holds her palm up like she’s holding a chalice, and flames lick the cupboard closest to us until it rattles and spits Ven out. He scrambles onto his feet and brandishes his finger, testing our distance as if he’d poke us in a duel. 

“I still have my last question and it’s in your best interest not to threaten me.”

“Oh really? Tell me again how you’re going to protect yourself when you sleep,” she says.

He grounds himself before giving his performance of, “Do you want to see Terra naked?”

Aqua trembles from her head to her knees, her cheeks blotting a strong shot of red. She throttles forward and cups both of her hands onto her mouth like she’s going to sneeze. What sounds like a loud goose honk blows out as the answer. 

“That was awesome.” Ven slaps his thigh, turning on his heel and leaving a trail of giggles. 

I’m scared to say anything, in case she honks at me. So I wait. There’s just no way to make myself seem small, or leave without disturbing her. Maybe if I hold my breath, she’d feel like she has privacy. She’s panting, giving me side glances but never looking directly at me, that nose of hers wilting towards the floor. 

I open my mouth to say something—

She growls and I clutch my lips together. Aqua pulls her Gummiphone out of her pocket, jabbing a message.

Mine rings. 

 Aqua

Let’s find a potion that dyes his hair pink

 She clears her throat, before flipping it over and typing again.

 Aqua

Don’t tell him it was my idea

 “Okay,” I say, testing the word. Even though I soften it, it still bangs like a gong. I don’t know what else to do except smile at her. She grimaces back, no doubt the last several words spoken still ringing in her ears, just as they do in mine. I even hesitate when I hold her elbow—would it ever be the same, or will every touch mean something different? I don’t voice those questions. 

She moves by reflex: first to flinch, then to hold me by my elbow, mirroring me, which isn’t the most comfortable position. She follows my forearm to my hand, knitting our fingers together, and we stand there, adjusting how they fit. Mine are long and thick, dwarfing and burying hers, an oversized pouch for a gem. They fit perfectly, I think. 

“We can find something better,” I say, looking for anything to distract her. “There’s also those books to read, and the robe to fix. The brownies you’re making—”

“It’s supposed to be cinnamon bread,” she mumbles.

Yech. “Nothing I’d eat anyway.”

Her chuckle is partial, contorted and pressed. 

“I can make some beef jerky for everyone. Spice it up,” I say. She hides an amused whimper behind her hand and massages her cheek. “We don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to.” 

She nods, offering me a relieved but crooked smile. 

I don’t know if we should walk the castle hand in hand, so I splay it between her shoulder blades and lead the way. We walk in silence, and I’m okay with that if it helps her. No questions, her head up high like everything is back to normal. We steal glances and do a terrible job at hiding our giggles behind small talk, which is botched and jittery anyway, but there’s not much to say without asking, So… how old were you when you realized?

One of these nights, I’ll tell her I’d like to see her naked, too, when the time is right and the truth comes easier.

[mayraki]

CHAPTER SEVEN

“max and her crazy level of bitchiness”

CHAPTER SIX

SERIES MASTERLIST

MY MASTERLIST

NOTE: hellooo👀 I made a playlist and a pinterest board for this series a long time ago and I’d like to share it with you guys! let me know if you’re interested and if you want me to tag you when I post it! :)

summary: Max Belinsky and JJ Maybank are the two troublemakers of Outer Banks. Going to parties, getting into trouble, having an attitude and being the two people you don’t mess with are the perfect ways to describe them. What would happen when the two people who seem to have trouble follow them around meet? One thing is fore sure, they didn’t expect this outcome.

Max loved the sound of the waves hitting the water. The way the sun would touch her skin and the wind blowing her face. But what she loved the most was when her friends where on time... wich never happened because Sam was the messiest person she ever met, and she had a little brother who would hide dirty underwear under his bed. Sam would always lose track of time and show up twenty minutes late, even if her best friend had told her to not be late because the waves were perfect on that time in the morning.

Max had a little break between work and having to go home and make lunch for Cody, so she would always catch some waves with her best friend. She was sitting down playing with the sand with her feet, while her board was next to her. That’s when she saw her blonde friend running towards her and waving with the hand that was not holding her surf board.

“Before you say anything, I love you and you’re the best friend I could ever ask for.” Sam said catching her breath. “And I’m sorry.”

“You should be! I’ve been waiting for almost half an hour.” Max said trying to be angry at her best friend, but she knew she could never be. “Where were you?”

“Hanging out.” She said quickly.

“Hanging out?” Max asked confused. “With who?”

“Are you seriously playing the jealous girlfriend right now?” Sam said before letting out a little laugh.

“Hell yeah I am, now tell me, with who are you cheating me with?” Max crossed her arms around her chest waiting for the answer.

“I was with Kie.” She said calmly and Max opened her mouth surprised.

“You’re cheating on me with Kie?!”

“What?!” Sam looked around when a couple of old people started to stare. “I’m not cheating.”

“Did you had fun with her?” Max at this point was joking around by playing the jealous girlfriend, she had to do something to her friend since she made her wait. “Does she gave you those little chocolates that you really like, huh? Does she know how much you like to talk at 1 am in the morning?” Sam rolled her eyes and was trying to not get much attention from the people on the beach but Max didn’t care, she was really enjoying it. She gasped really loudly that gained the looks of even more people. “Have you called her and not me?! You traitor!” Max touched her chest like it hurted and closed her eyes.

“Stop it!” Sam yelled. “Alright I’m sorry I didn’t call you to let you know I was going to be late, but please, stop with this games, people are staring.”

Max looked around to see that Sam was right, there was at least ten people staring at them both. “Show’s over! Go to catch some drama somewhere else.” She shoosh everyone with her hand and the people slowly started to spread around. “I’m not mad you idiot. You should’ve called, but I’m glad you are hanging out with Kie. She’s cool, but don’t you dare replace me with her-”

“Don’t worry about it, this is nothing like that.” Sam cut Max off.

“What do you mean?” Max asked confused.

“Uuuh, nothing.” Sam said quickly. “Let’s catch this waves!” She started to run towards the surface leaving Max with a bunch of questions on her mind.

“Why are we doing this again?” Max asked JJ while they were waiting on a dock Max never saw before.

“We have to pick up the kegger for tonight, John B’s orders.” JJ saluted Max jokingly and she just sighed. She didn’t want to be there, specially when the sun was hitting her skin and making her sweat like a pig. “The guy should be here any minute now.” He said and Max started to look around. But when a familiar boy appeared on her sight, her mouth went slightly open for the surprise and she quickly turned around.

“Fuck. What is he doing here?” She said frustrated and JJ turned to her confused.

“What?”

“My... ex-boyfriend is here.” Max said trying to hide her face and not be seen by the boy she hated the most, Johnathan Scott.

“Who is he?” JJ said as soon as the word ‘boyfriend’ came out of her mouth. He quickly turned his head towards the group of people he had in front of him walking around and started to look around like he would be able to know who Max’s ex-boyfriend was.

“Doesn’t matter. Is this guy going to take any longer?” Max asked crossing her arms around her chest.

“I-I don’t know.” JJ shook his head. He was still looking around, something clicked inside of him by the idea of Max having an ex-boyfriend. “He should be here soo- Is he the one?” JJ pointed at a blonde guy that had glasses on.

Max turned around and she shook her head. “No.” JJ deep down wanted it to be that guy, because it weirdly looked like him. He thought that it was unintentional, but he knew what he was thinking and he couldn’t help it. “It’s him.” JJ quickly looked to where Max’s finger was pointing and he slowly nodded when his eyes found the mysterious ex-boyfriend.

Max let out a little sigh when she looked at Johnathan again. He was talking to some guys she had never seen before. He had his dark hair that she used to love so much, she would always say that he looked like young Leonardo DiCaprio with that haircut, and with that busting his stupid ego. His huge arm tattoo that made Max bit her lip everytime she would see him without a shirt, and his dark jeans with his white shirt. He had the perfect ‘bad boy’ look Max loved almost two years ago, he would easily have every single girl behind him, with that stupid smile and freckles, those green eyes and confidence, every girl loved him and they were extremely jealous of Max, but she was too blind to see it all, he was a work of art with an ugly heart. And Max soon find that out in the worst way possible.

“JJ?” A guy said next to Max and they both turned to him. “Here’s the kegger, man.”

“Finally!” Kie said when she saw Max and JJ get out of John B’s van with the kegger. “Where have you two been?”

“The guy showed up late.��� JJ said and Max nodded before Kie started to talk about some thing with JJ, but Max wasn’t listening, she was too focus looking for her best friend.

“Max!” She heard Sam called her name and she smiled to herself. It was like they were connected and when they needed each other, the other one knew it. “You’ll never guess who I saw at beach today.”

“Johnathan?” Max said and Sam furrowed her eyebrows confused.

“Wow, you’re really good at this game.”

“No, I saw him when we picked the kegger.”

She shook her head disgusted and they both walked inside The Chateau. “Why did he came back?” She asked and Max shrugged her shoulders.

“Who came back?” Pope asked and Max noticed everyone was inside the living room.

“Max’s ex.” JJ said and everyone turned to him.

“You have an ex?” Kie asked. “You never told me.”

“Yeah, well... there’s not a lot of good things to say about him.” Max said and just shrugged her shoulders. She looked around and noticed everyone was confused and wanting to know more, but she added quickly. “Who’s ready for the kegger tonight?” She said with a big smile and everyone went back to what they were doing, but with a lot of questions on their minds.

Max was enjoying the loud music with a red solo cup on one hand, while holding Sam’s hand with the other one while dancing. The night was the perfect one for a party and Max couldn’t feel better, she noticed her drink was empty so she let go of Sam’s hand and walked to where the kegger was.

“A refill for the pretty lady?” JJ said once he saw Max in front of him.

“Are you drunk?” She asked pretending to be concerned.

“Why? I can’t call you pretty lady now? You don’t like princess, pretty lady, how am I going to call you?”

“How about... Max?” She said like it was the discovery of the mouth and JJ gave her a face laugh.

“You’re too funny.” He said and Max nodded.

“I know.” She handed JJ her red solo cup with a smile wich he took with a smirk.

“I love parties!” Sam appeared next to Max and let her arm go around her shoulders.

“I don’t think I’m the one that’s drunk tonight.” JJ said with a smile while looking at Sam. Max took her cup from JJ’s hand and the three of them walked to where the rest of the Pogues were.

Sarah was sitting on top of John B’s lap while Pope and Kie were talking about something. Sam sat down next to Kie and she let her head rest of Kie’s shoulders. Max let out a little smile but then furrowed her eyebrows confused. The question ‘what are this two up to?’ appeared on her mind, but when she looked up and her ex-boyfriend walked inside the beach, all those thoughts went away and she rolled her eyes once she sat down between JJ and Pope.

“What’s up?” Pope asked and Max just shrugged her shoulders.

“My ex is here... Fuck! This was a nice party.” She complained.

“What is the deal with this guy?” John B asked while looking around for Max’s ex.

She noticed and then pointed at Johnathan, who was talking to a couple of girls with his friends. “I dated him for almost a year, and... well, I found out he was cheating on me. With multiple girls... at the same time.”

“Uh, that escalated quickly.” Sarah said.

“What an asshole.” That was all JJ could say. All he wanted to do right on that moment was walk to him and punch him on the throat. His jaw was clenched while looking his way.

“Please, tell me you did something to him. You know, the Max way.” Kie said and Pope nodded.

“Yeah, I don’t usually approve the whole revenge thing, but he totally deserves it.” He said. Max was about to talk but Sam talked for her.

“She couldn’t. Remember how you spent an entire week on your bed? And when she was alright, he moved to the main land leaving his family behind.” Her drunk friend said and Max slowly nodded, trying to not kill Sam for her words.

“Thank you... for that, Sam.” She slowly said.

“Well, is never too late.” JJ said and Max turned to him but he wasn’t looking at her, he was looking to the sand while playing with some tiny rock he had on his hand.

“Nah, it’s not worth it. Fuck him. Besides, I’m on my own thing right now and as long as he stays away from me, we’re fine.” Max said but when she took a sip from her beer, a familiar voice spoke behind her.

“Max!”

“It’s like the universe heard what I just said and it responded with, ‘hey... fuck you’.” She said softly so Johnathan couldn’t hear her. Pope and JJ who were next to her, heard her and let out little laughs. She turned around after getting up and a huge fake smile appeared on her face. “Johnathan!”

“How have you been?” He said with the biggest and most confident smile ever. He walked closer to hug her and she awkwardly pat his back.

“I’ve been doing great.” She said dryly with the huge fake smile still on her face.

“You look good.” He said and Max bit her lower lip, trying to not yell at him to go fuck himself, she wasn’t up for the confrontation this night.

“Thaaanks.” She said. She didn’t noticed that the Pogues got up from where they were and walked behind Johnathan. Sam was pretending to punch him while Kie was laughing. Max was trying to let out a loud laugh. “Why-Why are you back?”

“Decided to visit some old friends and family, to be honest, missed the parties too, they don’t have them like this in the main land.” He said. “The pretty girls are here.” He looked Max up and down expecting for her to fall for him, but all she wanted to do was punch him on the face.

“Yeah, well, the pretty girls are over there so I don’t know what the fuck are you doing here.” She quickly said while pointing at the other side of the beach.

“You know, sometimes I think about us.” As soon as those words a loud laugh came out of her mouth. “Good times.”

“Good times?” She asked before letting another loud laugh. “Sure! Good times, before I found out you were cheating on me with multiple girls, the same night we said ‘I love you’ for the first time, sure! Good times.” She let out the biggest fake smile and then patted his arm, before starting to walk away.

“You know, you don’t have to play the victim.” He said and Max never turned her body as quickly as that time.

“What the fuck did you just say?” Max heard Sam said with Kie grabbed her arm once she started to walk towards Johnathan.

“Maybe you should control your drunk friend.” Johnathan said.

“Oh, she’s not the friend she should stop.” JJ was now in front of Max and he was starting to get angry. Max grabbed his arm and pulled him back. This was not his fight, it was hers, and she wanted him to know.

“Why don’t you just go because you know how things can get around her.” Max said at Johnathan, but he just let out a smile.

“I missed this about you.” He said and Max rolled her eyes.

“And I didn’t even missed your tiny dick so why don’t you just walk away, huh?” She said. Pope and John B opened their mouth surprised. JJ let out a tiny laugh while the girls where high fiving each other.

“Go to hell.” He said with an arrogant smile.

“Baby, I dated you, I already been to hell.” Max said without hesitation. “Let’s go.” She said to JJ, who was very close to her. She grabbed his arm making him turn around, they were all ready to leave the boy behind, but he spoke again.

“I guess that didn’t change about you, running away from your problems and never taking responsibility for them.” He said and Max stopped walking. Her heart dropped to her stomach and she could felt her anger growing inside her.

“I’m gonna kill him.” Sam said turning around.

“What does he mean?” Max heard JJ ask.

She grabbed her friend by the arm and stopped her. “You know what.” Max got closer to Johnathan and a then looked down. “You have something on your foot.” She said with a smile and pointing at them.

“What?” As soon as he looked down, she quickly walked closer to him and her foot with her thick boot was already going to his bare foot. He screamed in pain, Sarah covered her mouth surprised while Sam was, again, high fiving Kie. The boys let out loud and surprise laughs.

“Pain!” Max yelled to him which made a lot of eyes go to her, but she didn’t care, she was already walking away from the beach.

She was quickly walking followed by her friends. “That was badass!” Sarah said with a huge smile.

“That’s my best friend!” Sam let her arm go around Kie’s arm while Pope and John B were making fun of Johnathan’s high peak scream.

JJ was absolutely surprised at Max’s actions. A proudness feeling was growing inside of him and he was finally understanding that Max Belinsky, could definitely take care of herself.

“Max!” JJ said getting closer to her. She quickly turned around and she saw his big proud smile. “That was fucking awesome, dude.”

“I know you’re going to say yes.” She said pointing at him with heavy breathing.

“What?” He asked confused.

“Alright!” The alter ego of Max that loved the rush and would often get her in trouble woke up right on that moment. She caught the attention of the rest of the Pogues and everyone turned to her. “Who’s up for the famous ‘Max Way’ right now?” She said and a huge smile on Sam appeared on her face.

“She’s back.”

“Because that, right there,” she pointed back at the beach “was only level two of my bitchiness.” She said. “The real bitch is coming tonight.”

“That was only level two?!” Pope asked shook.

JJ let out the biggest smile. “I like this girl.” She pointed at Max and turned his head to his friends.

“I don’t know what is this, but I like it.” John B said with an approval nod.

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt like this.” Sarah said after letting out a big breath when she felt her heart beating faster and her nerves going up.

“Should I be worried?” Pope asked concerned while Sam walked passed next him.

“Yep.” She said and everyone started to follow Max.

“Did you take the picture?” Max asked to Kie. She nodded and then handed her the phone. “Well, here folks, we have another ‘excuse’ if the police investigate us, people saw us at the party, we have this picture with the perfect time.”

“It’s like I’m watching how to get away with murderer.” Pope said shooked at Max’s words.

“Now what?” Sarah asked.

“Well...” Max said. “What’s the thing that boys appreciate the most?”

“Their dick?” Kie asked disgusted.

“Yeah. But I can’t cut his dick off-”

“That you know of.” Sam said and everyone turned to her surprised. Max just let out a little laugh and continued.

“Well, what’s the second thing some guys love the most...? Their cars. Jonathan left his old car at his parents once he left. It’s still there...”

“I love where this is going.” JJ said with a smile.

“Tell us what to do.” Sarah said excited and John B turned his head to her.

“Should I be worried that you’re so excited about this?” He asked but Sarah just left his side and walked closer to Max.

The day was beautiful. There were no clouds and the sun was the main character that morning. Max felt her skin slightly burn while she was walking to the dock Pope said everyone to meet the night before. She had a smile on her face and when she saw her friends getting the HSM Pogue ready, her smile went even bigger.

“Top of the morning to ya’” JJ said while he watched Max her closer to them.

“Mornin’” Kie said with a smile to Max and she winked at her.

“I’m so ready to be out on the water.” Pope said excited. “I’ve worked non stop this week.”

“The Pogue life, my friend.” Max patted Pope’s shoulder.

Once everything was ready and the Pogues were inside the HSM Pogue, John B got the boat started and he slowly moved away from the dock. Max grabbed a beer and sat down next to Sam, she let her arm go around her friend’s shoulder and they both smiled to each other remembering the night before.

“Hey! Belinsky!” Max heard on dock with a megaphone. She furrowed her eyebrows confused and turned around to find Officer Presley next to Johnathan on the end of the dock. She tried to hold on a laughter when she saw how mad her ex-boyfriend was.

“What?!” She yelled so Presley could hear her. JJ got up and stood there next to her.

“Tell the fucking truth about my car!” Johnathan yell and Max looked at JJ pretending to be confused.

“What?! I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Max felt Pope getting nervous around her. Sam was calmly drinking her beer while Kie and Sarah were carefully listening to the conversation.

“I know you did it! You popped my tires!” He said angrily and Max quickly shook her head.

“Dude! I didn’t do anything. Besides, whoever did it maybe thinks that you’re an asshole and you totally deserve it! And I agree!” Max yell and she then turned her head to Presley. “How are you Jennifer? Having a good day?” She waved at her with a smile but Presley just sighed.

“Officer! Do something!” Johnathan said annoyed but Presley shook her head.

“There’s no proof that she did it, we have nothing on her. This is just a prank from some kids Mr. Scott.” Presley said.

“Huh? There’s no proof against me or my friends? Yeah, that’s what I though!” Max nodded with a smile while Presley turned around and started to walk away.

“You bitch!” Johnathan said angrily and Max touched her chest surprised.

“Aw! Thank you! That’s a huge compliment!” She gave him the biggest smile. “Have a nice day!” She said and John B drove the boat far away form the dock.

“I’ve never seen someone don’t get any nervous when they are interrogated by the police.” Pope said and Max nodded proud of herself.

“Oh, that was nothing. I’ve been in worst.”

“Hey! What about me?” JJ complained. “I’m pretty good at it too, dude!”

“Can’t believe you’re arguing over who is better with handleling the police.” Kie said before letting out a little laugh.

After talking some more about who was better, the conversation turned into who would be better at surviving a zombie apocalypse after Pope started to name the things he thought he wouldn’t survive.

Max sat down with a beer on her hand and seconds later she had JJ sitting next to her with his arm around her shoulders. “I’m so proud of you.” He said with the biggest smile.

“Well, thank you, thank you very much.”

“I have to say, we could learn a lot from each other.” He said and Max lifted her eyebrow. “You know, you can teach me how you do your stuff and I tell you how I do mine.”

“Please, tell me we’re talking about our plans.” Max said quickly with a disgust face.

“I mean” JJ shrugged his shoulders. “What do you want it to be?”

“Oh god.” She said. “You’re never going to change are you?”

“You’re the one who brought it up and thought I was talking about that!” He defended himself. “You’re the one with the dirty mind.”

“Yeah, sure.” Max said sarcastically before taking a sip from her beer. “I do know that you have to learn a lot from the master.”

“You’re the master?” JJ asked.

“After all, I won you that night at the Kook’s party.” She nodded and JJ let out a little sigh.

“I figured that was going to come back.”

“Oh, I’m never going to let it go. We’re going to be old dudes and I’m going to call you every Sunday to remind you. It’s decided.” Max nodded.

“I’ll be waiting for it, princess.”

“Punching bag.” She said trying to sound annoyed but a little smile escaped her mouth.

“Well, I’m really proud of my fake girlfriend. That’s all I wan-” JJ was saying but was cut off by John B and Pope screaming at the same time.

“Fake girlfriend?!”

“What?!” Sam asked confused.

“We-we need to talk about how that happend.” Kie said and Sarah nodded next to her before getting comfortable and waiting for Max and JJ to talk.

“I’m going to kill you JJ.” Max said.

“I don’t know.” JJ lifted his hand into the air. “All I know, is that Max... can’t take her hands off me.” He said and Sam almost spit the beer she had on the mouth.

“JJ!” Max slapped herself.

“Wha- how- I’m so confused.” Pope said trying to connect his thoughts.

“C’mon, we all knew that one day those two were going to end up doing something like that.” Sarah said and Max quickly looked at her.

“Huh?” She said. JJ turned to her with a smirk on his face and she wanted to punch him so bad on that moment.

“Well, you better tell the story or everyone is going to think that we had s-”

“It happened the day after Pope got hurt.” Max started to tell the story and rolled her eyes once JJ got closer to Max and a huge proud smile appeared on his face. “I hate you...”

“I know you deep down love me. But please, continue with the story. We all want to hear you tell it.” He said and Max rolled her eyes, before continuing with the story.

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[mihidecet]

Sbi&CO d&d AU: A Familiar Face (1/?)

WELCOME WELCOME EVERYONE! Today, the tournament arc begins! I do hope you’ll enjoy this ahahah

I dedicate this to all the wonderful people of the Au’s Discord - hit me up if you wanna join! Also, a special thank you to @traitorous-bisexual and @awebo without whom this arc wouldn’t exist <3

Finally, before we start: make sure you check out @whatimevendoinhere , @spout1nk and (soon) @julius-ranch for art and fanfics about the AU!!

It was a lovely morning. 

The sun shined through the tinted windows, turning the light a soft orange glow that lessened the glare of it against his eyes. 

It was a welcome respite: during the months that involved preparing the tournament, days were quick to melt together, nights becoming just darker afternoons as Scott and everyone around him hurried to make everything look ready for the contestants' arrival. So, not having the sun shine directly into his eyes as he looked over the final challenges that had been chosen for the tournament was a relief. The cup of warm tea by his desk was also a saving grace.

Stifling a yawn, Scott figured that he could let himself take a stroll. Maybe open up his window, let the room freshen up a bit. 

With his window overlooking one of the many parks inside the Academy, maybe he could distract himself for a moment and see if his protege had finally started warming up to his teammates. 

That plan had flown out of the window almost immediately. Or maybe it would be better to say that it had flown into the window, along with a green tipped arrow that had suddenly appeared in his field of vision. 

Now, Scott hasn't been adventuring for a while, but it would be foolish to think that he's forgotten how the world works - with a flick of his wrist, a translucent dome of purple arcane energy materializes between him and the incoming arrow, which impacts with the barrier a split second later. The tip goes through, piercing the veil of his magic, and for a terrifying moment Scott thinks it's not gonna stop, but it simply stops, held in place as if caught in a web. 

Which is a relief, the amateur that tried to attack him - an Archmage, in the middle of his own Academy - failed to get their first shot in and this will give him the time to step back and call his most trusted in order to quickly and efficiently get rid of the problem at hand. He has other more pressing matters to attend to, he's not going to waste his time on this. 

As his Shield spell fades, it congeals like a shimmering second skin over his upper arm. Maybe calling the guards isn't that pressing, he's got this. 

Or maybe he doesn't, he thinks as he get a second, much more terrifying surprise - in the span of a couple of seconds, he really can get no breaks.

A figure materializes in the air in front of him, with a dark hood over their head that covers most of their features except for a huge - terrifying - grin and an intricate bow strapped to their back.

The figure appears with a puff of iridescent smoke, crouched in the air as if they'd been in the process of jumping before they decided to teleport, and- crashes into him, the force of the impact and the shock of it happening making him lose his balance and start falling back. 

There's a moment where Scott is confused: is this some sort of strange tactic? Did the stranger misjudge their trajectory? Are they going to wrestle on the ground as if they weren't both magic users? 

Then, a brief split second of panic - he didn't look what the stranger was holding, and he is currently falling on his back. He is going to get stabbed, at the very least, and that conviction is only made stronger as he feels the stranger's arms close in around him. 

But then, Scott has simply enough time to blink in shock, as the arms just wrap around his back, before his world is literally turned upside down.

One moment he is falling on his back, already anticipating the pain of a knife to the back - please no vital organs, spare him the need for an extremely expansive healer. The next the is wrapped in a hug and grunting in pain as his knees impact with the ground. 

"Ah, fuck that hurt- Scotty are you alright?" 

Scott refuses to believe this. He pushes against the chest under him - the arms give, letting him go - and finds himself face to face with a sight that is both very familiar and weirdly unusual. 

"You-" Scott says, tone an unconvincingly mix of menacing and angry as he jabs a finger into the not-so-stranger's chest -"Are lucky to be alive. I could have murdered you."

Hbomb's worried glance instantly brightens, despite Scott's best hopes, and he throws his head back to laugh. No matter how irritated he is at his friend, he can't help but huff out a laugh himself, and a moment later they're both chuckling together on the floor. By all the gods, it has been some time.

"You are a dumbass, H. You couldn't just use the door? You know, like a normal person?!" Scott asks, holding himself up on his left elbow because H has always been one to laugh with his whole body and Scott is still recovering from jamming his knees into the floor, he's not in the mood to be jostled around by an enthusiastic ranger. 

"Aw, Scotty, aren't you happy to see me?" The half-elf asks, putting a hand on his chest as he fails to pretend he's insulted. Scott flicks his nose. 

"Ah- that hurt!"

"I know, I meant it to hurt. Now, do you want to tell me what you're doing here? And what is that doing on your face?" Scott demands, serious at first until he realises that H has been growing out his beard well past what he considers to be a good length - H's pout is barely visible under all that scruff.

"Well, now, that is unnecessarily rude. I've been traveling for a while now, and I wasn't gonna risk injuring myself-" Scott grabs a wandering hand and brings it back on H's chest. 

"H." Hbomb has a tendency of gesticulating when his hands aren't being kept busy, and while he did figure that his friend had simply forgotten to shave, he has known him long enough to be able to recognise when H is going off on a tangent - which is perfectly fine - and when he's changing the subject because he doesn't want to answer. 

He knows he's right when H simply shuts up, eyes wide like those of a deer - quite fitting, considering where he enjoys spending most of his time. But instead of looking pensive, or starting to answer, H just … looks down. At where their hands are. 

Normally, he wouldn't think much of it. But H looks almost sheepish, and his eyes keep moving from his face to their hands, so Scott looks down. 

His brain screeches to a halt, and suddenly he stands up a little straighter, sitting on the floor next to H as he grabs his hand in his. 

Around his fingers wraps a perfect replica of a silver winged fae dragon, while in his palm- one of the most accurate representations of the different Planes. 

Scott turns his stare to his fiend, who looks more calm than Scott feels he has any right to, and when he speaks he sounds almost breathless. 

"What happened to you?"

The tale of how Shubble's patron reached out to him to grant him powers is exhilarating. Not in the "funny" sense, more in the "my friend who is usually not that fond of talking and interacting with people especially when he's not in a place he is familiar with, was transported to a different plane and spoke with a being of transcendent power". So maybe a bit in the "funny" sense. 

The only negative side of the whole affair is the fact that Shubble is currently not present. 

She actually teaches at the Academy, so H was right in his assumption that reaching this place would have helped him out, but he just barely missed her by a couple of weeks. She's recently left, called out on an urgent mission by her patron themselves, and a part of Scott's mind can't help but feel like it is an extremely weird coincidence: he respects power gained through pacts, but he fears deeply the machinations of otherworldly beings' minds and the power they hold over his friends. He'd much prefer dealing with forces controlled by his own self, so that when a spell backfires comically he only has himself to blame. 

But all things considered, he's glad to see H is still alive and seemingly doing better than ever. He looks fine, happy and more confident than the last time he saw him - the way he stands and moves more firm, more secure, filling his space in a way the Hbomb of some time ago wouldn't have. 

It's nice to see him like this. 

What isn't nice is the way his increased confidence leads him to suggest how good of an idea it would be for him to take part into the tournament. Which is a horrible idea. 

"Listen, I know I am banned from playing again-" H starts, arms spread open with a mischievous grin on his face. Scott has sudden flashbacks to all the times he'd seen that grin from the other side of the battlefield and shakes his head firmly before pointing a stern finger at his chest.

"You still have a year before you can." 

H huffs, shoulders falling, and he adopts the most fake-innocent expression Scott has ever seen. 

"But I'm just here to say hi!" Scott levels him with a blank stare, using all of his willpower and internal strength to avoid bursting out laughing. Because for all that his friend's expression is hilarious, this is really no laughing matter. He can't have him win again. 

"I said what I said." H's head hits the desk with a groan of protest. 

On the other side of the table, Scott pinches his own arm in order not to laugh. 

He fails.

H still manages to pout his way into getting a free room to stay in for a while - just like the old times, come on! - and seems to be alright with being left to his own devices for the rest of the morning. 

Knowing him, he'll take it as the perfect chance to snoop around, make new friends and bother the tournament's contestants. 

As Scott turns back to his schematics, the only thing he does is chuckle to himself.