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myelocin · 3 years ago

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Postcards From: Kanazawa | Tsukishima Kei

Synopsis: The fear that comes with love is the realization that it isn't always just light. Love, rediscovered as both the fear and the drive that depicts the push and pull of whether it's worth it to say "I do," if the unknown is what's to come beyond the vow. In which it's a week until the wedding, and the both of you return to Kanazawa--to day one--as strangers.

Characters: Tsukishima Kei

Genre/Tags: Engagement!AU, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with Happy Ending | WC: 10,200+

A/N: this is a piece commed by @tsukishumai ;w; tq for trusting me w u and ur bb boi ily to the moon n back

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commissions | ko-fi

The illusion of the soul is the false belief that love must always—always—be just light.

The truth is, it’s not. Love is many things. Primarily, love begins from desire. Then, that desire seeps into a drive that pushes you to keep wanting. Then finally, when it’s seeped in through the skin deep enough, love pools in the soul.

Love is bound to be raw at the very core. A desire. To say, “I want you,” and think it holds as much credibility as “I love you.” To look at what you know is only the tendrils of something at the very most, and trick yourself into thinking that it’s enough. A beating heart—bloody red. The line just barely hanging in-between what’s selfish and selfless, before it ultimately sways and becomes selfish sometimes.

Sometimes, being right now, Tsukishima thinks.

Sandwiched in-between you to the left, and Yamaguchi to his right, he finds his eyes flickering towards the clock a lot more often than he would have liked. Akaashi, who sat across from his seat on the table, was the first to catch on.

He quirked a brow, presumably in question earlier, and mouthed the question if he was in a rush. Tsukishima’s never been known for having too many words, but because Akaashi pauses and insists to relieve his question with an answer, he shrugs, waving him off and mouthing back that he’s alright.

“So,” Bokuto starts, his voice already slipping into somewhat of a slur. “How’s it feel to be the first to pop the question?”

You laugh, finding amusement in the man’s enthusiasm. Turning to Tsukishima, you sit and wait, expectant of a reaction.

In response, he just shrugs, but a smile breaks through and redefines the nonchalance of his expression anyway. Raising the glass to his lips, he takes a quick sip before answering smugly, “It’s nice to finally settle down. You should try it sometimes.”

Bokuto waves him off, cheeks flushed and eyes already drooping from the inebriation. “Nah,” he slurs, shaking his head. The exaggeration warrants a quick laugh from Sugawara, who sits on the other side, nursing his own drink. Continuing, Bokuto huffs and takes a slight pause before he connects the last of what he says with, “—getting married is nice and all, but I don’t know, man,” he laughs. “Just feels like I’ll end up hitting a fucking blank space after I do or whatever. Not my vibe.”

Visibly, Tsukishima shifts a little, the smile on his face maintained but the lighthearted energy that earlier fueled it just slightly more drained now.

From the corner of your eye, you notice it. Though, Akaashi’s the one who gives him a pointed stare, to which the former simply ignores.

“But—“ Bokuto continues, as if trying to remedy the cracked part of the atmosphere that isn’t even visible in the first place—“If that’s your thing, then I’m obviously not going to judge you for that.”

Tsukishima responds by his silence. Bokuto, with his head still warped around the heavy state of his inebriation, doesn’t do so much other than sip a little more of his barely filled glass of beer, Tsukishima’s apathetic expression just a blur in his eyes now.

“You seem happy, though,” Bokuto notes, then raises his glass towards you.

Blinking at being the sudden subject of his interest, you raise your own glass of water. The ice inside shifts, clinking against the sides of the glass, and slowly, Tsukishima watches. There’s familiarity in the way it moves down: trickling slow like the patience inside him that’s suddenly running by the clock. His palms just barely gripping the utensils, clammy. While his head, still whirs at Bokuto’s halfhearted words.

It’s halfhearted, he reminds himself.

The thought of hitting a plateau after “I do,” in a way is terrifying.

But he is happy, right?

The way his palms respond solely through tensing suddenly spikes the fear that maybe his ring will slip. So he looks at you, trying to find an anchor to keep the love he pushes to stay intertwined with his truth afloat as he responds, “Of course I am. I’m happy.”

You look back at him, eye to eye, though you find something waver just for a split second— wondering if there’s credibility in the saying that gold will always deliver truth.

The rest of the night flows easy.

Almost naturally, he’s quick to wave off Bokuto’s invite for more drinks at the bar just down the street, tugging your interlaced hands towards the parking lot as soon as the group found its way to the exit.

“You know he probably just wanted more company,” you laugh. Thirty minutes after making it back home, instead of jumping straight into the shower and getting ready for the night routine, you instead take out the suitcase and take your place, seated on the floor in the living room.

“We needed to pack,” you hear him respond, his voice a little distant from the bedroom down the hall.

You shrug. “Yeah, but we could have made time.”

“Sometimes we can’t just make things, if we don’t have any to make it with in the first place,” he sighs.

You chuckle. Perhaps it’s just one of those nights again. In the ten years you’ve known Tsukishima Kei, you found that he had a tendency to become a multitude of things.

A stranger, at the start, because that’s where every connection begins. The neighbor who lived with his grandfather across the street from your childhood home. Kanazawa was a long way from Sendai, but before his parents had whisked him off to Miyagi some years later, he had been the friend that oftentimes spent his afternoons with you.

Strawberry cake and tiny sips of boxed juice from the convenient store down the street, and not much conversation exchanged between the both of you. He’d tell you about the things on his grandfather’s old encyclopedia, and you’d listen with rapt attention, finding it nice how he seemed to carry a little bit of the stars the more his eyes gleamed. He just talked about dinosaurs, you remember. At ten, Tsukishima had always been a wonderer.

Then he moved.

From the friend who told you stories and shared his juice boxes with you under that tree, to the occasional email that would pop up on your phone, when you were in highschool and weaving your way in and out of pathways and dead-ends. Miyagi was a little like Kanazawa, he said. There was a lot of quiet in the two cities. His email would come once a week, then twice when you reckon he felt a little lonely.

You’d reply with the same kind of enthusiasm as he had established, though you still couldn’t deny the fact that the notification with his name on it never failed to have you smiling—at least just a little bit. At fifteen, Tsukishima was far from a stranger, but he was also falling just a little short in making it to the halfway mark of being a friend too.

The once-a-week emails were welcome, none the less. It stayed like that, until once a week turned into twice. Though most were just the customary how-are-yous and obligatory holiday greetings once the seasons came and went, one year it turned into emails about the little nothings.

‘I had strawberry cake today,’ it once read. ‘The one we used to share tasted sweeter.’

‘I joined the volleyball team.’

‘Winter here is a little colder. I remember your puffy green jacket.’

‘I don’t know if you want to know…or if I should tell you...but our team won, and we’re going to nationals.’

Somehow, you were managed to be convinced by one of your friends that same week to travel with your own highschool’s volleyball team to assist in the preparation for nationals in Tokyo. It was just a coincidence, you used to reason. You were there, and so was he. There was a hundred other courts his team could have played at, and your priority was assisting your own team in what they needed.

But still, you couldn’t help but wave back and cheer the loudest from your stands when he perfected the block and scored the winning point for the first set.

It was then, where you realized that perhaps Tsukishima Kei wouldn’t just be a stranger.

Kanazawa to Miyagi, but somehow Tokyo became the in-between. Childhood friends to the sort-of friends from the other ends of the country sharing a few scattered memories in slices of strawberry shortcake and random dinosaur trivia from an old man’s outdated encyclopedia.

He was the first to approach you after that match. A hand held out to shake, perhaps to commemorate the evident shift between strangers to friends—but it was nice.

Because after that, friends turned into something more.

Maybe Tokyo really was the middle ground. After you graduated and moved out of your respective cities, Tokyo became the third place of hello.

Then things just slipped into place. He was here, and so were you. He had plans to stay, and you just signed the contract that bound you to the city for the next two and a half years. The apartment right down the hall from yours was recently vacated, and he was looking for a place to stay.

His new work place, coincidentally enough, was just a stop away from the train station closest to your place.

You had always doubted the presence of serendipity and everything that had to dictate with the celestial control of fate, but the ease that came with the relief of him signing the lease the very next week almost seemed to validate what had been just a farfetched something.

From strangers, to friends, to lovers, then to this:

Ten years later, a ring on your finger, and an I do, bound to be said just a little over seven days from now.

Tokyo was kind to the both of you. His mother’s close enough to visit on the weekends, while Kanazawa was just a shinkansen away from Tokyo station. A new apartment with enough space for two, plus maybe an extra, and a bakery right down the street with the best strawberry shortcake made fresh every day.

The wedding’s just a week away. His grandfather, still living in Kanazawa was meant to travel with Akiteru to Tokyo last week, but because plans changed, the both of you were instead tasked with going there yourselves to travel with him. While Tsukishima hesitated, you didn’t. Yes was easy to say in a situation like this. Though your parents had moved to Tokyo some years ago, you were aware that his grandfather didn’t.

The house across the street was still his, while the one you grew up in just now became a summer home your family would frequent to when Tokyo became too swarmed with tourists.

You look at the half-filled contents of the suit case on the floor in front of you. The right side’s meant to hold your clothes, while the left was left bare for Tsukishima’s. You turn and look at him.

“You can just grab the stuff you need me to bring for you and I’ll fold it in. We should probably catch the first train tomorrow if we wanna get there before sundown.”

What comes as a reply is only prolonged silence.

You let what he started stay for a little, but because you had never been the type to be fond in gouging out answers from the blank spaces, you sigh, and break the impending silence before it could get a chance to even settle. “You’re quiet again, Kei.”

When he makes it to the living room, instead of coming back out with a stack of clothes, he stands by the wall with his hands in his pocket. His eyes shift from wall to wall, but skip over you.

Knowing that you’ll just prompt another conversation again the more he keeps his silence, he sighs, swallowing the hesitation and clinging onto the bits of courage that floats by him in the moment. Grasping at the very tips of it, he forces the words out of his mouth. “Are you really coming with me?”

You raise a brow. “Back to Kanazawa? Of course. I’m from there too, you know. Plus I haven’t seen Grandpa in a while.”

He shifts his gaze to the side, thankful for the blur that came with forgetting to slip on his glasses. He’s always had a tendency to give in the moment he looks at you, so the vagueness in the blur was a welcome change. “It’s just for a week,” he mutters. “I think I’ll handle the trip just fine.”

“Plus,” he adds, the hike in the tone of his voice giving away his panic. “—I heard there was a problem with the florists? Maybe one of us needs to go in and fix it ourselves just in case.”

In the ten years you’ve known him, you’ve always considered it a given that you’ve well perceived him by now. In front of you, he’s stammering. While Tsukishima has never been the face to poise and perfection—because at the end of the day he still is just a boy—you knew he only stammered when he was nervous.

Perhaps trying to manipulate the situation through a wordless exchange was his way of doing so. In your head, you chuckle. Tsukishima Kei is many things, and is witty when it counts—but he could never be blunt when it came to the things he was unsure of.

You try to gouge out his truth. Speaking straight to the point, you let him know that there’s no purpose in trying to skirt around. You turn to him, his sweater half folded on your lap. “You know I could have believed what you just said, but,” you pause, giving him a pointed look, “—you’re not even looking at me.”

“Is this about what Bokuto said earlier?”

The way he shifts his weight from one foot to the other awkwardly, confirms your suspicions that that it is about that, before he can muster up the courage to even say it. “Tell me,” you initiate. You’ve never been afraid to speak what needs to be said. “What’s got you so afraid?”

Once more, he hopes for the silence to speak for him. And like before—it doesn’t. Silence was never meant to fill in the blanks. What it did, rather, is add three seconds more on the clock that’s ticking regardless. Tsukishima bets on a timed clock to speak for him, and because you’ve never been the type to shrink at the presence of raw truth, you huff and poke into what obviously hits for him just a little deeper.

“You’re afraid we’ll hit a blank space after we get married, aren’t you?”

He doesn’t look away, but little by little, his body language starts slipping bits and pieces of the truth you’ve already long sensed. “I think I just need to think this through.”

“What?” you scoff. “You planned to go to Kanazawa by yourself for a week to what? Soul search? To decide if you even wanna marry me?”

“I’m sor—“

“That’s what you’re not supposed to say,” you interrupt him. “You don’t say you’re sorry for how you’re feeling, because you’re allowed to feel it how it is, but shit, Kei,” you exhale, pausing to suck in a quick breath. “You couldn’t have just said this earlier?”

He looks away again, the guilt evident on his features. “You’re mad.”

“Do you blame me?”

This time, he turns to you. “No,” he murmurs. “I don’t, but I’m gonna be blunt here—“

“—first time—“

He gives you a pointed look, but in the moment, you don’t really have much in you to care too much.

“I think I need space to clear my head.”

“Sounds like you’re contemplating on whether you wanna stay with me or not,” you respond. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel about that.”

Tsukishima’s steady, this time. “Of course I wanna stay with you.”

“But,” you counter. “You aren’t sure if you want to marry me.”

He looks away. “What if—we hit a plateau after.”

“That’s still not an excuse to back out before we even try, Kei,” comes your reasoning.

“You’re right,” he sighs. “It’s not.”

Then it’s you, who shrugs this time, giving in a little and throwing him what you hope he doesn’t see as a lifeline. There’s no comfort found in knowing that an out is a means of mercy when it comes to love. Why should there even be an out?

You settle for just cracking the door open instead. Though it was never locked, the fact that it remained close must have been understood differently by him.

“Let’s go back to Kanazawa separately, then,” you propose. The open suitcase in front of you still has the right half filled with his half folded clothes, so you reach in, taking it out one by one. “You stay with your grandfather and I’ll stay at my parent’s house.”

Tsukishima raises a concern. “He’ll wonder why we aren’t staying together.”

In response, you shrug. “Just make something up then.”

“Is this just a passive aggressive way to say you’re mad at me?”

You scoff. “When have I ever been passive aggressive, Kei? I’ve said shit as it is since day one.”

He flinches, maybe because of what you said or the tone of the deliverance, but either way, you decide you can’t give much of a shit. It’s a given that you’re angry, but because being hurt just paves the path to silence more than lashing out, it’s not much of a surprise that you probably look deflated in front of him.

“What I’m saying is,” you explain. “Let’s go back to Kanazawa as strangers. Do what you gotta do, however you’ve gotta do it to get your head sorted out, and then we’ll talk. I’m not dancing around in circles with you on this. Either we get married next week, or we don’t.”

He panics. “I don’t want to lose you—“

“You’re already talking like you’ve decided that you won’t be at the other end of that aisle, Kei.”

Words feel lacking all of a sudden, so you pause. The absence of the split second brevity has Tsukishima standing still, his breath held, throat dry.

But like always, clarity seems to weave its way through the cracks in the room and find you first. “Yes or no isn’t easy to decide between,” you finally mutter. Eyes to the half folded sweaters you meant to tuck into the other half of the suitcase, you realize that you’ll need to switch to a smaller trolley now because you won’t be needing this much space anyway. “I don’t know what I should tell you, because I don’t know that we’d be having a possible fallout a week before the wedding. But at the same time—I don’t want to say you’re despicable for feeling like that, Kei. It just—“

“—fucking sucks,” you sigh.

“If you feel like you need a week to figure whatever this shit is, then okay,” you nod. “Okay. Let’s be strangers for a week and by the time we’re back in Tokyo, you give me a yes or no and be fucking blunt with it.”

Later that night when you turn your back against him and face the wall, his whisper breaks through the quiet. “Why are you still patient with me about this? You could have just left me.”

You shift, laying on your back and sighing to the makeshift glow in the dark stars stuck to the ceiling of your room. “Because I love you,” you sigh. “Loving someone just means you have to exhaust every other option before even thinking of throwing in the towel.”

He sleeps that night, feeling heavy.

He woke up later that morning, feeling the same too.

In a sense, things admittedly started weird. You woke up before he did this time, when he usually would be the one trying to be quiet when he slipped out of bed. Even though early mornings had never been a thing for the both of you, there was still something unpleasant in waking up to an empty bed.

The sheets on your side were done, and your phone that usually would be pinging with email notifications by now wasn’t there.

It’s odd, he thinks. While he agreed to be strangers for a week, the walk to the train station was the same. Silence was normal, but the five extra inches that added to the distance between the both of you wasn’t. You nodded his way when he pointed at the shinkansen’s direction, and wordlessly would hand him his usual brew when you stopped at the coffee shop just before going in.

Seated beside you in the train, he tries to ignore the urge to poke you on the side and make conversation. Words have always come easy when it came to moments with you, he noticed.

Tsukishima’s aware that he’s always been dubbed as the kind of person who never preferred to say too much, and while that was true—to an extent—he realizes that there is some truth to the saying that silence kills.

You’re seated beside him on the train, eyes to your phone, and earbuds in place. He resorts to just staring at you through his peripherals, caught in between wanting to satiate the want to talk to you by breaking the silence, or keeping it as is.

This is where fear grips him a little tighter. The deal was, as you had pointed out just last night, that the both of you would move through the week pretending to be strangers again. You’d stay on your side of the street, while he stayed in his.

It’s a given that his grandfather’s bound to ask about you, and so in the event that it does happen, you would just spend a few hours with them and pretend like everything was fine.

You made it clear that you’d try to exhaust all the options before resorting to that, though. And it’s easy, he thinks, doing so. It doesn’t take much to fake a phone call from work or a last minute meeting with an old friend that wouldn’t be able to make it to the city for the supposed wedding.

The lines were drawn, and the outline of what was to be expected in the next week was made clear.

He thinks of what you said before you slept. Love, as that one drive that has you exhausting all your options before even thinking of quitting. It’s fair, he thinks. You’ve always been the rational thinker in the relationship.

But then again, he doesn’t doubt your hurt either. A week was lengthy, he realizes, and to act as strangers again just a week before the wedding was a different kind of test when it came to your patience.

Still, he owes you truth.

You’ve always told him to lay things bare, and even though what’s bare is ugly, because love always pushes to try—he stays, doing just that.

Undoubtedly, this is a jump. There’s no question in the fact that the possibility of reaching the peak and coming face to face with a plateau scares him. But still, his thoughts counter, to face a drop that doesn’t guarantee a landing somehow terrifies him even more.

The sound of your phone vibrating snaps him out of his thoughts. Before you answer it, he snags a look of the name written on the screen—Akiteru’s.

Tsukishima sighs, shooting you a cautious stare as you pick up the phone and turn to him.

The tone of your voice is easy, though you look at him, unbothered. “Hey,” you answer. “Just got in the train, so Kei should be calling you in about three hours when we’re there.”

In comes a pause, before you chuckle a little. Unconsciously, Tsukishima scooches in, curious. But before he could get a chance to lean in too close, you pull away a little, looking at him curiously, an eyebrow raised. “I meant to tell you,” he hears you say, and as you look at him, he chooses to hold your stare.

“Kei and I will be staying separately for the week.”

Beside you, he shifts, fighting the urge to turn away and face forward.

Assuming that your flinch afterwards was only a response to what he’s only certain is Akiteru’s sudden outburst, the prior nervousness of his stare shifts into concern. Understanding the are-you-okay that he mouths, you wave him off. “We’re fine,” you laugh. “I just miss staying at the house that’s all, and I’m pretty sure Kei wants to spend quality time with his grandfather.”

You stay silent after that, which truth be told, doesn’t exactly help with his nerves.

“He’s right next to me,” you add. “We’re fine, I swear. Just wanna enjoy Kanazawa in different ways that’s all.”

To put it bluntly, the first day is awkward.

His grandfather’s waiting from outside the gate the second you make it to that familiar street. Nothing much has changed, the two of you notice. The gate’s rusted a little by the edges, and the door’s still got the same chip on the left side he always said he’d take a look at.

“Heard they were cutting down that tree,” his grandfather says, when it’s a little over three hours later and you’re all seated at a local restaurant for dinner. His old friend owned the place, he explained. Low lights, home cooked meals, and a family run business you vaguely remember your father talking about when you were young.

Tsukishima pauses, eyebrows rising in question. “What do you mean that tree?”

“The one you used to run off to,” he laughs.

Elbowing him, you nod towards his grandfather before pointing out, “We met by that tree, you know.”

His grandfather’s quick to responding, laughing at Tsukishima’s perplexed expression. “Seems like your grandfather’s memory is doing better these days than you, boy.”

You suppose that at the end of the day, it shouldn’t have been a big deal that he forgot. You’ve never been one to dwell too deep within the symbolic little nothings that’s bound to come with life. Rationally speaking, maybe you’re just a little miffed because of what he said the night before. And maybe that’s the reason why you’re taking this a little harsher than you would have on a normal day.

But strangers, you remember. Strangers wouldn’t care if the other forgot.

So with that, you shrug. You take another spoonful of the food in front of you and shift your body just slightly to the left—to which Tsukishima took noticed—and leaned forward. Without even saying much, his grandfather already has his attention on you, the smile on his face kind.

He’s always been kind, you remember. With a smile, you choose to keep the peace in the room at bay, willing yourself to ignore Tsukishima’s stare boring holes into the side of your head from beside you.

“Now that I think about it, I don’t remember a lot of people stop by that tree,” you comment, as you take a step into nostalgia.

His grandfather shrugs, absentmindedly nodding his head as he mulls over your word through a spoonful of broth. “It was in the middle of a residential area. Bound to get taken down if you ask me. People nowadays need a place to park.”

This time, you really feel his stare beside you almost intensify. Truth is, you can make sense of what you know he only fears. The point in life was to brave through the unfamiliar to establish a consistency in familiar grounds. To continuously rise from day one, only to hit the peak and possibly come face to face with a plateau instead of something greater than even the height of all highs—you admit that it’s terrifying.

The plateau, that perhaps works sort of like that tree.

It’s been there, so here it still is.

You’ve both been at that tree—at the start—so here you both still are. Side by side back in Kanazawa, sharing a meal like I do, isn’t hanging on the line.

His grandfather’s voice snaps you out of your thoughts. “You’re not wearing your ring.”

Tsukishima’s voice is quick to cut into the conversation, his voice smooth. “She just doesn’t wanna lose it.”

You nod along to his lie, undecided with how to feel in regards to how smooth he seemed to have delivered his lie.

“You know, now that I think about it, it’s good that they’re cutting down that tree.”

Tsukishima speaks his mind this time. “Last week, you said you were looking forward to coming back home so you could visit that tree again.”

You don’t look at him when you answer. “I know, but your grandfather has a point. When things change, what else can you do but get rid of it?”

“Oh nothing’s changed,” he laughs across you. “Even before the two of you were born, people would always talk about how it’s just there when the space could have been used for parking.”

“Then why put off cutting it down this long?”

“Who knows,” he laughs. There’s an unfound wisdom in his eyes that read through your soul when he looks at you. “Maybe cutting down what people already see as a permanent fixture will do more harm than good in the long run.”

“Even if it doesn’t contribute anything?”

Tsukishima thinks of his fear, then of the plateau.

Through the rim of the glass, he keeps a steady eye on his grandfather, breath held as the anticipation for his words begin to really settle.

“People these days just see what’s the most obvious from the surface and consider it as the only fault then run with it. Maybe it’s not the tree,” he laughs. “Maybe it’s just the people. They want convenience so they cut off everything around them instead of adjusting to it.”

The food tastes bland in his mouth, suddenly.

“Goes to show how selfish people can get sometimes,” his grandfather finishes, as an afterthought. “A shame, really. That old tree’s done nothing but give people shade.”

At the end of the day, you really had to give his grandfather a lot more credit than what was due.

The second and third day was awkward. Even though you tried to stay inside for most of your day, venturing outside and meeting up with old friends was inevitable. And really, you should have remembered that he often started his day with a couple laps walked around the block.

On day two, he hinted that he could sense something was off. Tsukishima had been a lot more silent lately, he pointed out. First, as just a passing comment, then by the third time he’d bring it up and wouldn’t get too much of a response out of you, there came more emphasis to what he says.

He passed by the tree every time you’d round the street too. It occurs to you that passing through it was a shortcut, and contradicted his prior statements to having a route that catered towards the long way home, but you chose to not comment much about it.

The second day was curiosity, and you figured that you could live at least just a week with it.

The third day, on the other hand, gave you a little more trouble than you had bargained for.

You’re on your way home from an old friend’s house, and ironically enough, both Tsukishima and his grandfather are out by their front door, tending to the weeds of a garden that doesn’t even look remotely grown.

Tsukishima’s the first to look at you.

Stubborn, and frankly intent on upholding your end of the deal in staying strangers, you attempt to wave them off with a passing greeting as you look through your bag, feeling around for the keys to the gate.

“You don’t have to think of an excuse,” you hear him say. “He’s back inside now. It’s just you and me here.”

It’s funny how ever since you’ve made it back to Kanazawa, he’s been the one to break the silence a lot more lately.

You don’t turn. Strangers, you think. The deal was to pretend the other was a stranger.

“Cam,” he calls out again, the desperation in his voice inching more and more out of its shell. “I’m really sorry.”

You turn around, the buried anger getting the best of you in the moment. “You know the more you say that, the more convinced I am that I should just give you back your ring right now and go back to Tokyo alone. You talk like the only thing you’re sure of is the fact that you won’t be marrying me next week, Kei.”

The moment you shift your gaze from the ground to his eyes, a part of you aches at the idea that you may have to bid farewell to gold. Swallowing down the mass of emotions you hope isn’t entirely just made of anger, you steady yourself and sigh.

It hits you that it’s been a long day.

“It’s just you and me here,” you repeat, slowly. There’s a flutter in your heart that tells you it’s still love that stares back when you look at him. “Then why do you feel so far away, Kei?”

He doesn’t sleep that night.

Day three of being strangers, but he hasn’t had anything figured out. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but what only grew was the silence. The distance is really just a few feet away—across the street and through the leaves of that tree that your father would always say he’d get to.

The light from your room is still turned on, though the curtains are drawn.

8PM and it’s early. 8PM, and on a usual day, you’d usually be seated beside him in your Tokyo apartment’s living room, mulling over the nothings that went on in your day.

It’s nice to talk about the rest of the world as if all they’re meant to be is just a passing blur in the background, he thinks. He’s never been much for words, but you were.

Then again, you had always been one for truth.

Reality is, he knows he could always swallow his doubts, walk across the street, cover the distance, and apologize to you with an I’m sorry, that covers all that needs to be addressed in a standard apology. Life can be lived as easy as that. You swallow your own thoughts, adhere to what they say needs to be done in the way they tell you how to do so, and be done with it.

But he knows you just as well as he knows himself.

You’d call him a coward—and truth be told, he’ll think the same.

Present wise—he does think he is a coward.

Tsukishima sighs, knowing that blinking at your closed curtain visible from his window won’t do much of a difference. Begrudgingly, he sits up, grabbing his glasses from the bedside table.

The streets around the neighborhood are quiet this time of night. The perks about living away from the city was the silence, he thinks. As soon as he tugs on a sweater, he makes his way downstairs, carefully, so he doesn’t stir his grandfather he presumes is sleeping on the room across the hall.

He exhales, relieved at the barely audible creak the door clicks to as soon as he shuts it and turns the lock from the outside. The keys, jingling in his pockets, is the only sound that rings in the quiet.

It isn’t lonely, but it isn’t comfortable either.

Kanazawa has always been a town he’s considered as a piece of constant that’s meant to drift inbetween.

Neither like Tokyo or the towns by the outskirts of Okinawa, it stays as is. Twenty years ago, the crack on the sidewalk was there, and now, twenty years later, it remains.

There’s comfort in recognizing constants, Tsukishima admits. The tree just down this road, the crack on the asphalt, and the fact that your room is still the second window to the left visible from his on the second floor.

When he was younger, he remembers he often would stand under your window, caught in between wanting to knock on your door and ask permission from your parents if you could accompany him for the afternoon, or just wait around until you’d come down yourself.

While he left a lot of things on chance, the conscious choice to stay rooted in the spot by your window remained constant.

The gravel under his feet crackle everytime he’d take a step. The moon’s hazy behind the clouds tonight, he muses. While you’d wish for the stars, he found a temporary safety in the midnight clouds. A timelessness felt when it’s midnight, stays.

Before he turns to the corner that would lead home, he stops midway—recognizing the tree from a good few meters away.

There’s a sense of feeling an urgency to let something go, the more he stares at it. Nearing autumn, the colors start to change, and just like that, he’s reminded of the impermanence in life.

As the earth eventually changes throughout the years, he fears that perhaps in love—it would too.

“You’re out late,” is the first thing Tsukishima hears as soon as he enters the room.

From the genkan, he peers over the shelf, noticing the lights from the kitchen is what floods into the dim living room. Slipping on his house slippers and making his way around the corner, Tsukishima gets a feel of the warmth that’s radiating from the familiarity of the space.

After his grandmother had passed, his grandfather stayed in Kanazawa. Though his mother often expressed her desire for him to move with the rest of the family in Tokyo, every time, he’d only wave them off and say that there’s too much rooted here for him to just up and leave.

Walking into the kitchen, his grandfather’s the first to raise a mug his way and offer a smile. “I’d ask you if everything’s fine, but I think I’ll just wait around and see if you’re even willing to tell me.”

Tsukishima chuckles airily. “Sounds like you wanna ask anyway.”

He takes a slow sip. “Okay then,” he nods, smiling like he’s just struck a deal. “First question is—are you okay?”

In response, Tsukishima smiles, pulling the chair and taking the seat across his. He nods. “’Course I am.”

His grandfather’s eyes don’t leave him. “You’re not wearing the ring, and neither is Cam.”

Suddenly feeling like he’s caught in between a blocked exit and the spotlight, Tsukishima freezes, but wills himself not to look away. “Just needed some space, that’s all.”

“To think?”

He sighs. “To reconsider.”

“Ahh,” the older man sighs. “Cold feet. Pretty normal, if you ask me.”

He raises a brow in question. “It’s normal?”

“To be nervous, yeah,” his grandfather laughs. “But looks like it’s a different case for you.”

Tsukishima doesn’t respond, his eyes fixated towards a spot on the wall that feeds more into the blank space of his thoughts than anything more.

“You’re afraid,” Tsukishima hears, and as soon as the retaliation he tries to string together at the very last minute don’t come—he realizes the core of all the chaos in his head is meant to be just like that—

Blank.

“What are you so afraid of, boy?”

In the silence, he lets the rawness of his truth slowly spill. “What if I hit a plateau after this?”

His grandfather wastes no second in countering. “How is it life if we just keep climbing? What’s the point in doing all that work if we never get rest?”

Tsukishima laughs. “You know, by that logic it can just go the other way around too.”

He settles in his seat, trying to appreciate the silence instead of looking for company in the noise, before he adds, “What if we decide we don’t love each other anymore?”

“That’s not all there is to a plateau,” he laughs. “It’s a valid fear, but being afraid isn’t all there is after you marry someone.”

“Then what’s there?”

With a smile, his grandfather leans back, raises the mug to his lips, and relaxes—his eyes looking fondly at a faded photograph hung beside the wall clock. “Everyday,” he answers. “What’s there after I do is just everyday.”

Sensing that his grandfather means to say more, he chooses to retain his silence. Sighing softly, his grandfather keeps his smile steady as he continues to speak. “Everyday you wake up. You roll over in bed, you think about the checklist you do to consider a day done, then you come home, eat a meal, rest a little and start the whole day over the next day. Everyday’s like that.”

He shifts, leaning forward with his arms crossed supporting his weight on the table as he eyes his grandson with a smile. “Best part is, you can do all that with someone you love. Makes the boring part of the plateau a lot more bearable.”

“You wake up with them and complain about how boring the rest of your day will be, then come home and eat a meal with them. Wash the dishes, share the silence, and just go to bed knowing you’ll wake up with somebody.”

The smile on his face is honest, then he shrugs. “It’s nice, though. The plateau after you hit a certain point in life is just inevitable, Kei. You can either complain about life alone or complain about it with somebody. At least there will be two pairs of slippers by the genkan waiting for you everytime you come home. You’ll say you’ve made it home and someone will greet you. You’ll roll over in bed at 2am and someone will be there with you. The point of climbing in life is to get somewhere, not ascend past the norm.”

Tsukishima stays quiet, pondering over the truth in his grandfather’s words. “So life’s just meant to stay in the middle?” he asks, slowly coming into terms with his grandfather’s redefinition of the plateau. “Life’s meant to find a consistency in everyday,” he corrects.

A few moments pass before he stands back up, pointing to the counter with a thermos. He knows it’s yours. The old one that your mother refused to throw away, because there’s a crack by the lid and a couple faded sailor moon stickers stuck by the side.

“Look at that,” Tsukishima hears. He turns his head just in time to see the old man offer him a patient smile, the message in his eyes delivered without a hitch. “That old thing’s seen a couple of decades, but it still gets to you when you need it, right?”

It’s not so bad to have an old thing be your constant, right?

Twenty minutes after his grandfather climbs back to his room upstairs, Tsukishima’s seated on the side of the table beside the window. Peeking through the half-opened blinds, he can still see that the light from your room is still flicked on.

Without mulling over the decision, he takes his phone out, scrolling through the contacts until he taps your name. A swipe without too much pressure, because even his thumb’s memorized where your name is by now. Kind of like muscle memory, he supposes.

Bypassing the unannounced rules about what to do as the strangers you had claimed from the start of this week, it results to the lack of hesitation as he types a quick text and presses send without a thought that would counter it.

I love you, it reads.

From his spot in the kitchen, he leans back and smiles, pouring himself a cup of the tea he knows you brewed yourself on the nights where he can’t sleep.

The lights from your room stay on for a few more moments before it dims, but before the metaphoric silence could take root, the screen of his phone lights up.

Stop walking around at night. Drink the tea and try to get some sleep.

Exhaling almost in relief, it’s the slow beating of his heart that resettles him back into the love he’s known everyday.

It’s not quite the end, but it isn’t exactly somewhere unpleasant either.

Two days before you’re meant to return to the city, instead of spending the day in your room—like you had initially planned—you somehow found yourself in the passenger seat of his grandfather’s old car, with a grocery list in hand.

You sigh, understanding what his grandfather’s trying to do.

As you look down, there’s nothing much written in the grocery list. He had complained about some back pain earlier, followed up by his insistent request of desperately needing his groceries done so when Akiteru was to arrive later on, dinner would be taken care of.

Beside you, with his hands on the wheel, Tsukishima sighs. “We could have just ordered in food for dinner. It’s just Akiteru coming,” he mumbles.

Keeping your eyes to the window to your left, you shrug. “He likes making the ordinary special, I guess.”

Tsukishima stays silent after that, mentally thankful for the green light and the empty roads. The more stops, the longer silence would stay. And even after the sort of middle ground from the night before, he doesn’t know what to say to you.

After making a quick turn, he pulls up into the parking lot and kills the engine. Unbuckling his seatbelt, he turns to you, with an expectant look. “You can just stay here if you don’t wanna go in with me,” he offers. “It’s a short list, I can be in and out in a bit.”

You wave him off, already slinging on your bag and opening the car door—the list on your hand. “It’s alright. I think I’m more familiar with this area than you are, so we can just meet back in the car in thirty minutes if that’s okay with you.”

“You don’t need me to come with you?” he raises a brow.

You shake your head no, but upkeep the smile on your face anyway as you exit the car and close the door.

Something about what you say sticks with him, the more he thinks about it.

He can distinguish the hesitation laced each of your decisions. You look past him, but not exactly at him. You speak to him, but keep the conversations short. Though conversation was rare between the both of you this past week, the times that you did speak to him, your words often were clipped short.

It’s your means of upkeeping your end of the deal, he realizes.

You’ve always been one for communication, but then again, patience can only stretch so much.

He respects your wish for distance and walks the opposite way from the grocery store, towards a building he doesn’t really known. It’s a gallery, he realizes. Three steps past the entrance, he notices that he’s one of the few that’s in the room.

Traditional artwork line the wall, hung in frames that have rusted throughout time.

Tsukishima stares, eyes drawn to the pieces of art he recognizes from the few scattered memories in his childhood that relate to his time in the city.

A fieldtrip, when he was seven. He remembers leaving the house upset over the yellow hat he had to wear, and the rain boots his teacher wouldn’t let him change out of. Unlike the present, rain was present that day. He stood beside you in line, and had to tilt his head up at the piece of art he always thought was the prettiest out of the bunch.

And now, almost two decades later, he still thinks the same.

He smiles at the memory, finding the comfort of returning to what’s familiar, pleasant.

As if caught by an epiphany, and suddenly enveloped in a sense of a rediscovered home, here, within a room that’s familiar, he finds purpose in the permanence of love.

Love, that’s never meant to be stretched into the likeness of what the poets declare as the absolute form of love after “I do.”

Staring at the piece of art with the rusting frames, the strokes within the canvas still depict the same story. It still is beautiful.

It’s doesn’t become more—but it stays as is.

And maybe that’s what his grandfather was trying to convey.

To fear a certain phase in love is something that comes and goes, but it often never stays. It can linger, but eventually, it too, fades.

What stays is what’s rooted.

Primarily, just you. Truly, just love.

That tree in that old street, these paintings on the walls, and the kind of serenity that washes over him at the thought of you.

The fear in life comes in the form of thinking that beyond the peak lays a plateau. Beyond “I do,” what’s next to come is love, dwindling until “I don’t love you anymore,” is the only thing left to be said.

It’s fear, that spoke to him the past few weeks, so this time, as he gives in, he listens to love.

It’s quiet.

But through the smoke in the room, the message that’s meant to deliver truth comes in full clarity. Illuminated, it appears before him as it is. A painting that’s struck him as beautiful then and now, and the thought of you as the face that’s always been the first to greet him every morning for more than just a few years now.

An old man stands not too far from him, hands clasped behind his back as he stares—with a smile on his face—at a similar painting on the wall. Sensing Tsukishima’s presence, he looks over and redirects the smile his way. “Been coming here for years, and looking at this still feels the same.”

Poking at the doubts, Tsukishima responds, “Are you afraid that it won’t get old?”

The gentleman laughs, though soft enough so it doesn’t echo too much in the halls. The joy lingers around Tsukishima, on the other hand. “To have something grow old with you isn’t a bad thing. Day one, this piece was beautiful, and now, almost forty years later, I look at it and think the same too.”

A beat of silence passes, but the man speaks once more.

“My wife, when she was alive, showed me this piece. Maybe I look at this and still find it beautiful after all these years because I think of her, but I don’t think trying to focus on that matters much. The feeling’s the same, even if it grew old.”

Reciprocating the older man’s goodbye with a nod to the head, it’s then where he laughs, a little bit more of the truth unraveling as each moment comes and goes. Thinking of his words, he dwells on its meaning.

Standing there, alone in the museum hall, the smoke clears, and he presents himself his words of blended truth and patience.

Love is timeless, his thoughts say. The plateau after the peak is as possible as the drop, but life’s meant to be lived in the lows and in betweens as much as the highs. Time moves in waves, and perhaps love doesn’t always grow stagnant. It can be timeless, even though the frames rust. His hair will grey, and maybe you’ll stop linking your pinky with him beneath the sheets during the rainy season’s thunderstorms, but the root of love stays.

Within the plateau, time will move, and you’ll both grow old, but the taste of the tea you’ll brew for him will remain the same.

And thirty minutes later, when he makes it back to the parking lot with you waiting by the door, the love that steadies his beating heart will be the same too.

Steady, present, and timeless.

Eyeing the dashboard, you’re the first to break the silence. “Why’d you buy a postcard?”

Rolling into a stoplight, he eases on the brakes and shrugs. “Lived here for so long, and I don’t even own a postcard from here.”

“Me neither,” you blink.

A couple minutes pass, and the car’s rolling again, but he misses a turn. Assuming that he’s just not used to the usual route, you stay quiet—until about he pulls up to a familiar street.

Parked to the side, through the windshield, you find yourself face to face with a familiar tree. “Kei.” He hums.

The coming autumn has a few leaves beginning to change its colors, you notice. The summer hues, unbalanced, as bits of red begins to bleed through the green. “You were supposed to turn there, not here.”

He shifts the gear into park, then takes his hands off the wheel, leaning back. “I know.”

It’s quiet after that, but it isn’t all that unpleasant either.

This is the part where the questions begin to poke at you, the what-ifs in love let out in the open as you voice a little bit of your vulnerability. And because the truth is daunting, you hope he understands you through the metaphors. “Do you really think they’ll cut it down?”

He doesn’t allow the silence to take more than a moment. “I think so,” he nods his head.

“It’ll be good though, I think,” you add, nodding your head.

It’s quiet in the room even though the words of your truth coaxes the unhealed wound to resurface. As it comes into light, it doesn’t sting.

Sitting shoulder to shoulder beside him in the car, the tree that witnessed the first hello stays rooted, and watches.

He doesn’t turn to you as he speaks, but in a way, you feel as if a farewell was the finale that was meant to be delivered somehow. “It’s good,” he starts. “Letting go of something that needs to be let go of.”

Tokyo

Tsukishima’s the first to speak.

“I’m not good with words,” he starts.

There’s a hush in the crowd, so you stay with it, knowing you’ll only add to the silence should you choose to respond. It wasn’t your turn anyway, so you will yourself to be still and listen.

“Hey Cam,” Tsukishima continues, choosing to begin his vow with a hello. “I think a lot about what love’s supposed to have meant, mean, or eventually mean in the long run. I thought too much about it to the point where it…” he trails off, blinking at the piece of paper before flicking his eyes up to you with a slight shrug. “—to the point where love began to scare me.”

For a brief moment, he closes his eyes, confident in the fact that when he opens them, he knows he’ll see the world in clarity this time. With the smoke cleared and the scattered pieces of all his doubts set in order, the words of his truth may not speak of the most tender poem of love—but within the lines lies his truth.

As he lays his truth on you, he holds a breath and lets it all go. “I wanna wash the dishes with you for the rest of my life,” he laughs, exhaling softly, his shoulders shaking a little. “Never occurred to me how much of a liar the downside of your thoughts are when you listen to everything that isn’t love,” he continues.

Your shoulders relax, and even through the blur of the veil, you can tell his eyes are steadily watering.

“I’m sorry,” he says, the microphone just barely picking up what he says. You nod your head anyway, wishing you were holding his hands instead of the bouquet. Reassurance comes in many forms, but you know he’s always been the type to receive it well through physical touch.

A kiss on the cheek, your head on his shoulder, or your hands squeezing his. But the smile you give him suffices for now, you think.

“I wanna wash the dishes with you for the rest of my life. I’ll wash, and you dry. Nothing much happens in our day usually, but nothing has to. I’ll listen to you talk about how shit the traffic is in the city, because I know you’ll listen to me talk about the same complaints I have from Monday to Friday anyway.”

You realize he’s written his vows in the back of a postcard—the one you saw on his dashboard a few days ago, from Kanazawa.

He sniffles a little then looks up, laughing to himself at how emotional he’s getting. Allowing more than just truth to trickle out slow is a part of love too, he realizes, so with a soft laugh, he lets the tears be and speaks again. “What needed to be let go of was let go of,” he exhales, like he’s been holding his breath for this long.

In a sense, maybe he has. Sometimes fear grips you tightly enough that it shifts your point of view from one thing to another. What’s love, becomes fear. Then what’s fear, becomes the smoke that buries the core of truth too deep within the haze.

“I let go of the thought the thought that after marriage, if nothing great would come then that would be the end of love,” he breathes. “I stared at that tree and thought of Grandpa’s words again and again then wrote my apology and I love you on the back of a postcard that only had one a couple of blank lines at most.”

He waves it for you, then to the crowd, to see. The words, jumbled up together look almost incomprehensible written so closely together, but in a way, you have a feeling that he’s just speaking the rest of his truth as it comes in the moment.

The truth in love, you realize, is that its truth comes, fully unraveled the moment the initial plan falls apart.

He puts down the postcard, and just looks at you.

“There’s a lot I don’t think I will ever understand when it comes to love, but maybe I’m here to just feel it and not try to decipher it.” He pauses, ignores the few tears that roll down, and shrugs his shoulders, admitting to himself that the truth in his love is the first thought that comes.

“Love doesn’t have to the greatest,” he tells you. “I just wanna wash dishes with you for the rest of my life and hear about how traffic was unbearable.”

You smile, and your assurance reaches him.

“I think that counts as love too,” he finishes, the smile on his face tender.

As he leans in after I do, he murmurs a question in your ear that you’ve been expecting since the start.

You could have just left, he said. How did you deal with me and still choose to stay?

Your answer was said without a hint of hesitation. With a shrug, and an honest smile, you told him, “Because I love you.”

“I think we both had to let go of the thought that to love always means to have the biggest reasoning behind it. We do things for love, and because of love. That’s just how it is,” you shrugged.

Oddly enough, it’s in that same exact moment where he remembers Bokuto’s question from that dinner a week and some days ago.

How does it feel? he recalls, and even though words have never found him first nor met him in the middle easy, he gathers what he can and just settles on the conclusion that it just feels like love.

Wherein love, is this.

An identical band on his and your finger, and the taste of I do pleasant on the tongue. I love you, as a truth that’s easy to fathom and healing to hold, and the fear of what comes next just a passing thought that goes as soon as it comes.

Later that evening his grandfather sits him down and asks him what he really thinks about why people have been putting off cutting down that tree for a few decades now.

With a laugh, the hesitation that often turns decisions is made clear to him. “You know I think that people would decide things and think they’re so solid on it before even being face to face with it. The second they get to that tree with a chainsaw, I promise you they changed their minds. You think you go there and cut off or let go of one thing, then realize you’re cutting off something else in the end. They go back to what’s been there and realize that it’s not the problem at all.”

Tsukishima sighs, and his grandfather watches, the smile on his face easy. It’s like watching some emerge from a smoked out room, he thinks. Clarity’s always been a blessing, and he’s glad his grandson’s finally found it.

“Sometimes going back to the start is the one thing you need to be reminded that it’s worth it to keep going.”

“Sounds like you’re not talking about the tree,” his grandfather comments. Looking at you, Tsukishima smiles. “You could say that too.”

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mcdonaldsnumberone · 3 years ago

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a reprise for a wistful bartender

“drink again, and we’ll be born twice.”

shylock x reader

gender neutral reader

synopsis: what could a joyous occasion to celebrate a dear bartender entail?

a/n: happy birthday shylock!! im late asf bcoz of midterms and shit wwwwwwwwww good luck to anyone rolling for him!

Shylock’s birthdays have evolved rapidly ever since his birth. He barely remembers the wisps of his childhood: the faintest taste of cake, another year added to his body, the world moving on while he remains in place. He might have started his birthday with excitement and presents at one point, until his family had been jousted from grace and he had to build a haven with his bare hands from the bottom up.

But tragedy is an invitation for reflection and insightful joy, so Shylock endeavors to welcome change just as easily as he would welcome serendipity. The only constant he strives to keep is his bar, a place where wizards criss-cross paths and swap stories, all treasures that he stores in the crimson drops of wine and pleasured sighs that he gifts upon his patrons.

He might have highlighted his birthday with a glass of his prized alcohol at one point in time. He might have argued with Murr until his face was red at one point in time. He might have felt the first pangs of solitude graze his chest when the smoke settles as his only guest for his birthday at one point in time.

But loneliness was a guest no longer welcome for him. The mansion makes sure his birthday begins and ends with company and celebration. Loud songs from the rowdy wizards, cakes and sweets and his favorite foods being handed to him until he can’t help but laugh delightedly, his newfound family and friends flocking all around him like truly loving souls.

When he catches your eyes, he mouths two words: with his entire heart, soul, and mind. Above all the noise, above all the festivities, above all the fickle and catastrophic troubles and miracles in this exotic world.

‘Thank you.’

Happy Birthday, Shylock!

#mahoutsukai no yakusoku #mahoyaku #mhyk #shylock bennett #x reader #my writing #IM SORRY IM SO LATE W THIS MY ASS WAS GETTING BEAT TF UP BY EXAMS #me when i completely bs my prelaw midterms #SHYLOCK U R SO GOOD AND WEIRD N I CARE YOU #his card is so pretty too whaddafuck #the trend of giving west wizards black clothes for the bday cards... help girl im in danger #shylock da world

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daydream-believin · 4 years ago

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The Never-Ending Roadtrip (St. Louis)

summary: (pt 1) Reader joins Douxie in the quest for Nari’s safety. He’ll need company won’t he? - part 4) Doux and Reader get out of Missouri finally but not before one last stop (part 5)

warnings: swearing

word count: 6205

a/n: im getting a smidge impatient on my planned mutual pining slow burn as you can see. mmm i want a piece of st louis butter cake. @blixeon gets credit for putting the douxie trying to keep y/n away from moppet!douxie idea in my head. its not a big plot point here but idk felt i should still mention it

Douxie stared up at the ceiling with dry, unblinking eyes. There were many interesting cracks in the ceiling, barely illuminated by the light streaming in from the bathroom door. He was wide awake, despite not being able to convince himself to move. He was never a morning person, but once he remembered where he was, it was like someone had poured a bucket of ice water on him. Y/n was no longer clinging to him when he woke up, albeit, she was not even in the bed at all when he woke up. That had gave him a fright before he realized he could hear the shower running. Somehow, this was worse than if she’d still been there when he woke up. This meant she woke, untangled herself from him, and was probably going to pretend like it didn’t happen, since she couldn’t possibly know he stayed awake long enough to know about it. Which, while waking up in her arms would have been a little awkward, at least he would have gotten a conversation out of it. An acknowledgement. Something.

Speaking of the shower, somehow that was doing a number on him too. It was so strange. They’ve lived together for years now; they’ve shared a bathroom for years now. He’s heard her shower so many fucking times. No sweat. These feelings were making him silly. Perhaps it was this fucking room. The domesticity of it all, which was a weird thing to say when you literally lived with said person. Yet, he couldn’t stop imagining that he was waking up in His Home, listening to His Wife get ready for work in the en suite of Their Bedroom. She didn’t want to wake him, how sweet. She was always worried about him getting more sleep. He’d go help her with her hair, braid it for her. His hands would run through her soft hair as he styled it. She’d kiss him on the nose before she left to go make him a cup of coffee while he got ready. She knew just how he liked it. They’d brush their teeth together, every morning, just like they did last night.

Bleeding balroths, last night. What was he going to do about last night. His dumb heart wouldn’t just be able to leave well enough alone, apparently. Does he,,, say something? Perhaps he should wait to see if she says something. That would be,, the safer route. He knew one thing for sure though. He wasn’t going to act like he didn’t love every second of it. He’d made up his mind. His life has been way too long and lonely for him to keep this ‘it’s not like I like you’ act up. And for Merlin’s sake, he had died not even three days ago. He had almost been gone, and would have never known the love of his beloved. And family wasn’t just who you have, it was also who you’re with. And he was with Y/n. She was already his family, so why not be his family? Like he dreamed of? Yes, he was going to come clean. If she said something. Yes.

Suddenly, he was aware of a noise. Someone had just knocked on the front door of the room. Or less of a knocking and more of a rapping. Archie’s ear’s flicked, but he didn’t stir. Douxie held his breath. The rapping stopped, but now whoever it was trying to open the door. Thank Merlin he warded that thing up. It couldn’t open from the outside, he made sure of it. The door handle stopped moving. Doux still made no noise. Hopefully whoever or whatever that was had decided to move on to easier prey.

Y/n combed her fingers through her wet hair. It was the best she could do at the moment. She’d try and braid it back while it was still wet, so it wouldn’t get even worse. Y/n pulled on the same clothes she’d been wearing for a week. Well, actually she had been wearing a medieval dress for most of it, but still. She looked in the mirror. Not bad for someone on the run. But they did need to make a shopping trip. As much as Y/n did not want to waste an entire other day to a store (thanks Kmart), and didn’t want to spend more of their small savings they were living off of, they did need some things. Backpacks to keep their few belongings close, one more set of clothes each so they could have something to be wearing while they wash the other set, maybe some pajama pants would be nice, although nonessential, a couple of toothbrushes that weren’t the motel provided ones, plus a tube of toothpaste, soap, a hairbrush, phone chargers, some emergency food that wouldn’t spoil, some reusable water bottles, a fucking first aid kit even, lots of stuff. It’s not like they were able to pack for this trip. Hell, they should probably get Nari an outfit that would cover up her, eh, forest spirit-ness. Her running around in leaves isn’t exactly helping their conspicuousness. Despite Y/n not wanting to add to that list, she sure was getting cold in her short-sleeved top. She needed a jacket. She’d been borrowing Douxie’s a bit for the last few days, but if she just stole it then he would be cold. She needed one of her own, she supposed.

Y/n walked out of the bathroom. Archie and Nari were still snoozing, but Doux looked like he was awake. He sat up as soon as he realized Y/n had come out. He looked, troubled. And he had every right to be, she thought. He had just suffered the loss of his mentor and died himself. He had been blankly staring at the ceiling when she’d first came into the room. He probably had so much on his mind. Thankfully he had Archie and herself. They’d be there for him, she’d make sure of it. It’d be best to give him some more time to think, though. She didn’t want to push too hard. He’d tell her if he was struggling, she was sure of it. He’d been so open lately. And they’d had plenty of talks in the past about not expressing frustrations in their lives. He hadn’t been too open with her when they first started living together and it had made being roommates stressful at first. It wasn’t a problem anymore though. They’d worked through it, and it had even brought them closer.

She told him it was his turn for the bathroom now. He looked like he wanted to say something, but then quietly nodded as he got out of bed and headed for the shower. Strangely, this inn stay has been the most normal things had been all week. It was almost like they were home. She was back in her routine of waking, getting ready, telling Douxie it was his turn to get ready. He was so sweet, he always let her have the bathroom first. So chivalrous, although, she had a sneaking suspicion it was more of his excuse to sleep in a little longer.

It was nice, living with Douxie. It was the first time she’d been on her own. Or, well, not on her own per se, since Douxie was there, but at least away from her aunt. Her aunt had practically raised her, but that didn’t mean she was too grateful for it. She felt guilty about that last part, but not too guilty. Her aunt was pretty cold. It was clear that Y/n was just a charity case to her, a beggar who wouldn’t be looked at twice if not for blood relation. She hadn’t even bothered telling Y/n about their family’s magic until Y/n had stumbled face first into it herself. And even then, she only taught Y/n a minimal number of spells, just enough to control it, so she could successfully hide it. Didn’t need some troublesome untrained wizard ruining the family name and scaring the party guests. Y/n didn’t even know that wizards were pretty much immortal at a certain point until she noticed it herself. The people she had grown up with were all out there getting their pretty adult faces, and she was stuck with a baby face. Her aunt only told her once she questioned it. She was well past being nineteen now, but was going to be stuck like this forever apparently. What a great way to live.

Of course, she was absolutely thrilled when she found out her new roommate was in the same boat as her in that department. It was serendipity. The whole thing with Douxie was perfect, really. She had heard through her friend who worked at Hextech that someone had put up a roommate ad flyer on the company’s bulletin board and she called right away. She hadn’t been having any luck apartment hunting. She couldn’t afford rent on her own with her bookstore job, and Arcadia Oaks wasn’t exactly a college town teeming with people looking for roommates. A wizard roommate would be perfect, and the price was right. So imagine her surprise when said new roommate also turned out to be her boss. Y/n hadn’t even known he was looking for a roommate, let alone that he was a fellow wizard. His old roommate, Jack, had gotten married and moved out last month, he told her. Y/n was surprised at how very easy it was getting into this agreement too, Doux already knew her so he didn’t even interview her. And she didn’t have to worry about new person awkwardness. It really was serendipity. Of course, it hadn’t been all rosy, as mentioned before, but they were really groovin’ together now.

Y/n stretched out on the bed. She could hear the water running through the wall. It had been so awesome living right above her job. She got to sleep in, and she’d get ready, eat some breakfast, and be able to instantly step into the bookstore. She’d never be late ever again. Or she never was late again. That was a depressing thought. But hey, bright side, now they could have all the fun of starting up a new bookstore. Perhaps she could convince Douxie to add on a tea shop this time too. One that had cute little round tables with pretty gingham table cloths and flower vases, filled with flowers that they grew themselves in the pots on their balcony. They’d make sure the new bookstore had a nice window that was meant for a display but they’d leave as a place for Archie to sleep in and make snarky comments as he watched the people go by. Douxie could paint the letters on the signs and window, he was great at that. It’d be a task, but truly, they had to remake their bookstore. Even if not in Arcadia. A new bookstore they could fill up with love, that’d be an idea Y/n could hold on to.

Stars, she loved their bookstore. She loved the smell. She loved the peaceful homey vibe. She loved the man who owned it. Whoops, forget about that last part. She even loved the quirky characters it drew in. One time, she encountered this really crazy lady, and she wasn’t even sure if this lady was real or if she dreamt her, since she was the only witness. But Mordrax’s miracles, was this lady something. It started normally enough, Y/n picking up the store’s landline.

“GDT Arcane Bookstore! Please state your grievances.” She knew in the back of her mind that she was the only person who found her dumb jokes funny, but she still made them to brighten up her own day. Also to piss off Hisirdoux with her unprofessionalism. He made the same passive-aggressive ‘I’m disappointed in you’ face every time. It was fun.

“Yes, Hello. I would like to know if you carry any children’s books.”

“Yes ma’am, we sure do. A whole section.”

“Great. And are you child friendly?”

“Are we-, child friendly? I-, Yes I suppose we are ma’am.”

“Perfect. And you’re open until eight?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Thank you, young lady.”

The whole phone call was odd. Y/n wasn’t too jazzed about being called ‘young lady’ either. She had mocked the lady as soon as the phone call ended, but she shrugged it off, and had forgotten that the whole thing had even happened as she went about her day. Then, at about seven, this lady rolls up. She was dressed to the nines but like, in an old rich person way. Long fur coat, black dress underneath with pearls around her neck. On one arm, she had a fancy purse covered in the logo of a fashion brand Y/n wasn’t going to admit she recognized. In the other, she carried a large porcelain doll, the size of a five-year-old, which was dressed in a frilly pink dress that remined her of the dresses her aunt used to make her wear. When Y/n greeted her, she recognized the voice as the strange caller from earlier. Y/n got the feeling that some sort of shit was about to go down, and couldn’t wait. If only Archie was here.

Fur coat lady sat her doll down on the old loveseat in the sitting area and asked Y/n to keep an eye on the doll while she went to go pick out some books. Emily could be so mischievous sometimes, she told Y/n. She assured fur coat lady that she’d watch Emily like a hawk. The doll’s painted eyes stared into Y/n’s soul. Fur coat lady came back far longer than Y/n was comfortable with. She asked Y/n if Emily had been a good-mannered girl. Y/n just nodded, not sure if she should be encouraging this, on second thought. Fur coat lady then preceded to read the doll nine children’s books in a row, pausing in between only to ask the doll if she had liked it. Y/n was too baffled to even tell this lady to scram, we aren’t a library, you know. It crept closer to eight, and Y/n was actually dreading what was going to happen when she’d have to kick this lady out, but thank the stars, fur coat lady starts telling her doll about how it was close to its bedtime so they couldn’t read any more stories, aww darn, and they had to go now. She thanked Y/n as she walked out of the door. Y/n flipped that closed sign behind her and quickly retreated upstairs for the night. She’d go make a cup of tea to relax her nerves after that encounter. Y/n had plenty of other wild stories of people who’ve stopped by their bookstore. It was great for conversation at parties.

Y/n loved parties. With Douxie came all his friends, and she didn’t mind that one bit. They were always over whenever Doux had time off. It was so nice; it kept their place lively. Y/n cooked and baked a lot, it was one of those skills her aunt insist she have, and having so many mouths to enjoy her food felt good. And whether it was band practice or game night, she was happy to play hostess. Douxie’s friends were fun to talk to. She suddenly had the freedom to invite her own friends over too. Having so many people around all the time had helped her loneliness big time when she first moved in. Her aunt’s house may have been big, but it was empty. Her aunt threw a fancy party a month, but none of the people there were people worth talking to. It was so cold. Their apartment was warm.

Honestly, as insane as it was to think about, Y/n couldn’t see herself ever leaving Douxie to live on her own anymore. At first, this arrangement was supposed to be a temporary thing until she could find a better job and go off on her own. But somehow along the way, ‘the apartment we share’ became Their Apartment, and the bookstore that she happened to operate with him became Their Bookstore. It was nuts, and also the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to Y/n. It was the home she’d never had. Douxie and Archie were her family. Way more so than her aunt ever was. It was beautiful, magical, marvelous. She no longer worked, she just lived. Hell, she couldn’t even remember the last time Doux had formally assigned her a shift. She was just kind of always there. Which she was glad to do. She loved it. And when it was time to stop working, she’d just head upstairs and get to spend even more time with her favourite person. That is, if he wasn’t on one of his bistro shifts. She felt so safe and cared for. She no longer felt alone.

If Douxie wanted to make that, how you say, a little more official, Y/n wouldn’t be opposed to that. She had a hunch that he had some sort of feelings for her, if his recent actions were anything to go by. Although, just like she didn’t want to push him about the angst feelings, she didn’t want to push him in these feelings either. He’d tell her when he was good and ready. Slow and steady wins the race after all. Besides, if she was wrong and he didn’t have feelings for her, she’d definitely be tossing this good thing they had going out the window directly into the dumpster. She had to admit though, waking up this morning cuddled into him was the loveliest way she’d ever woken up in her life. She could get used to that.

She wondered if Douxie would be a wedding person or an elopement person. Not that she expected him to marry her. But it would be nice. She rolled over and found her phone on the nightstand. There wasn’t any harm in looking at some wedding dresses, right? Just in case. Y/n listened to Nari yawn and shuffle over to the bed. She opened an arm for the forest child who snuggled in, curious at what Y/n was looking at. Y/n tilted the phone for her to see. Nari really liked the poufy dresses. She’d point excitedly to the one’s she thought were pretty while Y/n scrolled. While Y/n wasn’t a fan of big frilly stuff herself, she had to admit, those poufy dresses would make her feel like Cinderella, which was never something she’d have thought appealing, but somehow it was. There were some really gorgeous not poufy ones also, and even a cool black one. Some that Douxie might like too. Y/n leaned more towards those, but wasn’t gonna tell Nari that. The veggie lady sure was having as much fun as her right now, surprisingly. Hopefully she wouldn’t blab any of this to Hisirdoux though.

Speak of the devil, he came out of the bathroom and sat on the end of the bed. Y/n quickly closed the app she was scrolling through. She sat up, taking Nari with her. Archie yawned and stretched, after sensing movement in the room. He moved from the chair into Douxie’s lap. After giving Arch a good scratch behind the ears, Douxie turned to Y/n.

“So, what’s today’s itinerary?”

“I-, wait, why do I have to be the one who decides what we do?”

“Because you’re the one who likes to have a plan when it comes to these things.”

“Fair enough.” Y/n pulled up google maps. If she had known she would have to do this she would have done it while he got dressed instead of fantasizing about their wedding. “Okay, so as much as I hate to say this, but we gotta go back to the store today.”

Douxie groaned as he laid back. His still wet hair was gonna dry funky like this, but he didn’t care. “Fine. We’ll do that in Illinois. We gotta get out of this town before anything else.”

“I agree,” she paused, seeing something that caught her eye. It would be frivolous, but she couldn’t help herself from asking “Ooh! Can we stop in St. Louis?”

“St. Louis?”

“Yeah! It’ll be fun, Douxie. We can go sit in those cafés that people go to in the black and white movies, we can go take a cheesy tourist picture of us by the arch thing, and I’m really craving some St. Louis butter cake now.”

Doux laughed. “Okay, but only for a few hours, Love.” The least he could do was let her have a little down time to relax and have fun after this hell week. Highly populated cities were good for throwing off their scent too.

“Thank you,” she went back to her map, snickering, “And we’ll stop in Effingham to shop.” She snorted.

“Effingham?” Douxie said it correctly, in his proper accent, which was not as amusing.

“Effing. Ham. Baby.” He rolled his eyes.

They booked it out of that motel and out of that town. Douxie all but tossed the room key into the creepy innkeeper’s hands as they rushed out. Back on the boat, safe at last. He ran a mental headcount once they boarded. Y/n always held Nari’s hand when they went places, so they wouldn’t have to worry about her wandering off, but it still made Douxie feel better to go over his tiny mental list and make sure they were both still safe and with him. Archie, he didn’t have to worry about as much. Even if the cat-dragon wandered he’d always come back. He could track Douxie by scent for a hundred miles too. Y/n had a habit of getting lost, though. He had to keep an eye on her. He didn’t need her and Nari off in fairyland where the Order could find and abduct them at any given time.

Douxie’s hair had still been damp when they set off, but the wind took care of that for him. Sure, wind-tousled bangs were in, but not bangs tousled by real wind. He was sure he was rocking it though. He could pass it off as something he did on purpose. People already thought his relatively tame style was outlandish, they’d just think the messy hair was part of the look. His only qualm was Y/n. He didn’t want to embarrass himself to her any further. His Camelot self already inflicted so much damage in that department this week. That moppet with a man bun had messed up spells, quoted sappy poetry to her, bragged about being Merlin’s apprentice, and even tried serenading her with his lute in attempts to impress her. It was mortifying. He had spent the first part of their Camelot adventure distracted by having to keep Y/n away from his younger self. It was not good for the whole ‘save time’ mission. Thankfully, he had Claire there with him, who had agreed to help him once she had buggered the information out of him. Thank Merlin for nosy teen girls. Claire was a godsend.

He had to admit, he was a smidge disappointed that she didn’t bring up the cuddling. Y/n hadn’t even made a joking reference to it in passing. He would have to bring it up then. But when, how? It wasn’t exactly something that would come up in natural conversation.

He watched her, hanging over the ship’s railing again. They passed a field with some cows and she made sure to point at them and say cows. He smiled at that; Y/n always managed to make him smile. He could recall how bad he had felt when Jack left and he thought he was going to have to fire her, his only employee, to keep up with rent. He had asked Zoe if he could put up a flyer in Hextech in a desperate attempt to find someone before that had to happen. And low and behold, among the three answers he got to the ad was miss L/n herself. It was an easy decision really, and it took away the uncertainty since he knew she was someone that he already liked. As a bonus, Y/n didn’t have a familiar of her own that might fight with Archie, because let’s be real, as much as Douxie loved Archie, the dragon-cat wasn’t afraid of stepping on toes. Although, it did feel kind of strange to give Y/n her paycheck and then for her to hand a little more than half of it back to him on rent day. But it just worked.

He remembered the first time he walked by the fridge to see that not only had Y/n added some fridge magnets to the kitchen, but she had taken the time to write a message to him. It, um, was sort of a rude note, meant to tease, an inside joke. Which he thought was funny, he just wished Zoe hadn’t seen it. It was hard to explain, and Zoe never let him hear the end of it. Archie got a kick out of it too. Y/n would switch the message almost daily, and it never failed to make him smile. He still had to deal with his friends seeing them and teasing him about it, but he’d never change her magnet jokes for anything. They would stay there until she replaced them with equally embarrassing messages meant just for him. It felt sweet to know someone was thinking about him enough to come up words meant to make him laugh on a daily basis.

They had just passed by a town called Eureka, which meant they were coming up on St. Louis. Good. Douxie couldn’t wait for lunch. He had the appetite of a winning fat bear these past few days. Probably the stress. That butter cake Y/n had mentioned was sounding so tasty. He could almost smell it. What Douxie hadn’t considered when he agreed to this was that the magic flying ship couldn’t go through metropolitan areas. Well, it could, but it’d be seen. So despite his growling stomach, he wound up taking the ship around the entire concrete jungle of Missouri, staying in the forested areas. He figured he could park the boat over in Illinois, just outside of St. Louis. This added a whole other hour to the trip than he was expecting, but now at least he knew to take large cities into consideration when choosing routes.

After hiding the boat in a heavily wooded area, the four took the bus into downtown. So when Y/n said she wanted to go to an old café from a movie, she had meant a very specific old café from a specific movie. She had told him it wasn’t a big deal and there were plenty of other cafes, but Douxie was gonna get her there by golly. And he did. The happiness written on her face was worth the extra bus miles. And wow, this café had some delicious food. They had salmon, which Archie enjoyed a little more than usual. Said something about paying himself back. As if he paid for anything, being a cat. That St. Louis butter cake did not disappoint. Archie was pretty fond of the cake too. It was too sweet for Nari, though. Y/n savored every bite. Doux watched her, while he ate his own, and it was so cute how smiley this was making her. He’d learn the recipe for this cake so he could make it for her once they got… home.

Douxie was still trying to shake off that depressing thought when Y/n finished up and was already trying to get the move on. Not without getting a picture first, of course. Not satisfied with just the scenery of the café itself, she begged Douxie to pose for her in various spots around it. He obliged, despite his scruffy appearance. She didn’t think he was that scruffy, and what was better than pictures of her favourite person in a cool place she’d always wanted to go. She also snapped one of Archie to post to her cat insta she secretly kept of him. Douxie knew about it, and contributed pictures to it himself, but neither of them were about to tell Archie he was internet famous as archie_the_emo_kitty. These pictures were going to hold good memories in them. All pictures do.

There was one more photo Y/n wanted to get. Silly cliché tourist picture with the gateway arch in the background. She wanted at least one of just her and Douxie, after the group photo. She’d have to somehow get one of Archie too, since she wasn’t about to pass up the chance to make a pun in the caption about Archie being in front of the arch. As she pulled Douxie close to get the picture, she got an idea. She asked him if they could get just one more. He was holding the phone since his arms were longer so he was able to get better angles with them both in it. He agreed, happy to do anything to keep that grin on her face longer. This time, when he leaned down to make their faces closer together, Y/n gave him a kiss on the cheek. The shutter snapped. Look, she wasn’t going to push, but she could nudge. Y/n pulled away and grabbed the phone to look at how it turned out, so cute, and Douxie just stayed there, leaning over, still as a statue, with wide eyes.

“Did you just- k-kiss me?” He didn’t so ecstatic. Maybe she was reading him wrong after all. Okay, time to deny.

“Yeah, it was just a cheek kiss, Doux. It was a cute pose for our picture, see,” She showed him the picture. A perfectly captured moment where they looked so happy. Where her lips would forever be on his still burning face. “Friends do it all the time.”

“Oh. Ah, okay.” That sounded disappointed, and his face wasn’t the picture of joy before, but now he just looked crestfallen. Okay so she wasn’t reading him wrong before. Good to know. She’d,, have to fix this now. She casually grabbed his hand and laced their fingers. That got him looking back up from the ground.

“C’mon, we’ve got about ten minutes to catch the next bus.”

~ ~ ~

Effingham was a quaint place. Y/n had only chosen it for it’s funny name, but it was surprisingly pretty okay. It was home to the world’s largest cross. Which would be cool, for it’s target audience, Y/n supposed. And they had a train depot. Fun. And exactly one singular popular restaurant. Which wasn’t that much more than Arcadia had, Y/n had to give it to them. They were in this tiny little mall, to see about finding some spare clothes. Y/n stopped dead in her tracks to gawk at a store that’s sign identified itself as Rural King. She tugged Douxie’s hand.

“Oh we gotta go in there.”

Douxie took one look at it and shook his head, “Are you really going to drag us into a hunting store just because it has a silly name?”

“No, I guess not,” Y/n took one last look at the place, “Can I at least get a pic of you posing in front of it?”

“Fine.” Douxie suppressed a grin as he complied with her silly request.

Once they got into a real store though, Douxie leaned over to Y/n to tell her something without the clerk hearing. “Oh, I’ve been meaning to tell you, I’ve got an appearance modifier spell I’ve perfected over the years. We’re not actually here to buy anything, just get some inspiration.”

Y/n nodded, fascinated. Well, that’ll take care of the extra spending problems. Now came the fun part, finding a new look for Nari. Speaking of whom, she was over at a rack, trying on those fake fashion glasses without real lenses in them. She looked really cute in every pair she tried on, and they helped obscure her face. Good. She really took a liking to this square tortoiseshell pair. Y/n took a mental note. It was going to be getting cold soon, and plants tend to freeze in the cold, so they took the veggie lady over to go check out the winter coats. Nari picked out a puffer that looked pretty comfy, but she didn’t like that it was red. It reminded her of Bellroc. Douxie assured her that the one he’d make could be any color she liked. Not surprisingly, she wanted it to be green.

Y/n just decided on a simple outfit for herself, consisting of a black and white striped long-sleeved tee, a black short sleeve tee to layer over that, and a classic pair of jeans. It was easy, comfortable, and didn’t draw much attention. A band kid staple too. Nari wanted to be similar to Y/n and also decided on a striped tee and jeans to go under her coat. Now they just needed to find her something to contain that gorgeous head of grass. Y/n glanced over to see Douxie trying on a cap in the hat section. Perfect. They’d make her a hat. It’d be a big hat, but nothing too much.

Douxie actually did buy a couple of backpacks from the shop. Y/n was a bit confused but he told her how for some reason he couldn’t enchant something that was technically an illusion itself so he had to buy physical bags since he wanted to enchant them to be infinite vessels or something. Y/n nodded. This was interesting. She was pretty good at the magic she did know but it was mostly by instinct. No one had really taught her the technical side of it like this. She never really knew how stuff worked, just that it worked. They headed to the dollar store after finishing up with the clothing, which surprisingly, this little mall had in it for some reason. They quickly found all those necessity items they needed and got out of there fast. They were burning daylight after all.

Once back at the boat, greeted by Archie who was glad they came back within a decent time this go around, Douxie got to work. First, he enchanted those backpacks. Y/n watched his every move, fascinated, and taking mental notes. He stuffed the supplies into the bags, making sure each had emergency food and medicine just in case they’d ever get separated. The first aid kits were a great idea, considering he didn’t know much healing magic himself and Y/n could only do a temporary pain relief spell. Having stuff to bandage up wounds in their bags made Douxie feel slightly better.

Y/n filled Douxie in on the specifics of Nari chosen disguise, and he set to work on that. It came out pretty cute. Nari liked her new duds, taking her time to look over herself. Y/n handed the veggie lady her phone with the front facing camera on so Nari could use it as a mirror. She really liked that. Y/n snickered at Nari trying out different angles.

He moved onto Y/n. He didn’t magically fairy godmother her like he did the forest child, he just made her a spare set of clothes to go in that backpack. He made them according to her request, but paused at the tee shirt. “Do you want me to put a logo or something on this?”

Y/n twirled her hair around her finger. “Hmm. I’m thinking, Ash Dispersal Pattern. They’re my favourite band, ever heard of them?”

Douxie laughed as conjured up the tee. He picked one of his favourite designs from past merch. It could be considered vintage now, but it wasn’t that long ago to Doux. He fancied the idea of getting to see her in his merch a lot more now. She did have one of their tee shirts back in the bookstore, but she didn’t wear it often as it was in rotation with other band’s tees. He didn’t have competition anymore, it seems. He grinned as finished up.

“Anything else?”

“Yes, actually. Now that I know you can just magic up clothes for yourself, I would like your hoodie.”

“I can make you a hoodie like thi-“

“No, no, I want the one you’re wearing, thank you. It’s warm and familiar and it smells like you.” She said half-joking, half-serious. “It would make me feel safer.”

Douxie couldn’t believe what he was hearing. In fact some part of him thought he may have just daydreamed that. He wordlessly forked over the hoodie. She took it merrily and put it on, giving it a sniff for good measure. Now he really was daydreaming.

“Thank you, Dewdrop!” Oh, he had a pet name now. He’d hadn’t heard that one yet. Frisky people had called him all sorts of strange and embarrassing things over the centuries. But this one was a first. He guessed it was a play on his name. Dewdrop, ay? That was so soft and sweet. A shiny little dewdrop, the first thing you see in the morning. Ah. It seems that miss L/n was plotting to kill him. She was succeeding.

#douxie x reader #hisirdoux casperan x reader #hisirdoux x reader #douxie casperan x reader #douxie imagine #hisirdoux casperan imagine #hisirdoux imagine #douxie casperan imagine #douxie #hisirdoux casperan #toa douxie #douxie casperan #my writing #nert

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kaichan24 · 4 years ago

Text

Favorite Royalty AUs

1. Taking Back the Reigns. King Victor Nikiforov was King in name only. A puppet of Parliament - alone, orphaned, and ostrazcized, he floundered through life with no direction and no one to share it with.

With his country teetering on the brink of WWIII, Victor must shed his playboy image and battle a generations-old political party to seize his rightful power from a corrupt Parliament. Finding himself in a morass of treason, violence and dirty secrets,Victor comes to terms with the past and finds a way forward.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15640674/chapters/36323028

2. The Dragon Prince and the Winter Swan. Yuuri Stark is a noble son of the north, returning to Winterfell in disgrace after the latest disappointment in his checkered tourney career. He hasn't given up his dream of becoming a knight, but maybe it's time to find himself a new path, settling down at home.

Prince Victor Targaryen is the greatest swordsman in Westeros, but he no longer finds joy in competition. Things are uneasy in King's Landing, where politics are shifting and dangerous, and he seizes the chance to escape north in search of the young man who came so close to beating him in a tourney last year — and was so beguiling at the banquet afterwards.

Together they begin a journey to the great tourney of Harrenhal, with intrigue, honor, friendship and love along the way...and inevitable political conflict ahead.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11951052/chapters/27019995

3. Through the Eyes of a King. “He was the first Japanese man that I saw in my life. At first glance, he seemed ordinary in appearance, the kind of man one easily overlooked in a crowd. But in his eyes lay passion, and the force of an oncoming storm, revealing the force of nature that he was. A man not to mess with, but to admire.

”These words, written in the diary of the young man that would one day become king of Russia, had burnt their way into the hearts and memories of the people, Russian and Japanese alike. For Katsuki Yuuri had never thought that he would ever leave his home behind. Called to a foreign court to become the teacher of the crown prince, Yuuri soon finds himself in the midst of a world so very different from his own - and in it King Victor the Divine that tolerates no dissent.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18791056/chapters/44583775

4. The Rules For Lovers. Prince Yuuri Katsuki has a duty to his country, above all else (his desires, his dreams, and his happiness included), and he knows this alliance will help to ensure the safety of his people. That’s the only reason he accepts Prince Nikiforov’s hand in marriage. The pleasant surprise, of course, is the part where they fall in love along the way. The unpleasant one, well…

https://archiveofourown.org/works/9645131/chapters/21790376

5. when it lasts. It’s been three years since King Victor fell fast and hard for his Yuuri in the sleepy, seaside town of Hasetsu, and the time has finally come to pop that ever important question. However, asking Yuuri to marry him is easier said than done, especially when all the forces of the universe seem to be working against him. Will King Victor be able to overcome the obstacles in his way and make his beloved his betrothed, or will he be crushed by the powers that be?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/14707139/chapters/33987668

6. The Elusive Vermilion Rose. As the revolution builds in Larussia, a masked vigilante appears to whisk those destined for execution to safety. Not about to have his plans ruined, the king gives his two sons an offer they can’t refuse: discover this masked man’s identity if you wish to be heir to the throne.

The youngest prince knows this is his only chance at the throne, while the older prince, Victor, finds himself caught in the middle; as his curiosity about the elusive Eros dances ever closer to affection.

Meanwhile Yuuri Katsuki, a tailor from the neighboring country of Yamato, has been traveling back and forth more than usual... clearly because of the nobility clamoring to have the emperor’s own tailor make their clothes. And Yuuri and his three friends definitely don’t have anything to do with the so-called masked vigilantes in the Society of the Vermilion Rose. Nope, not at all.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/16158239/chapters/37754681

7. Chrysanthemum Petals. Yuuri Katsuki woke up one day to receive a fancy letter to tea; from his absentee father. That one moment changed his life from just being Yuuri Katsuki, sleep deprived, awkward high school student to Yuuri, Crown Prince of Japan.

Hesitant to become Heir Apparent to the Chrysanthemum Throne, Yuuri will find reason to abandon all sensibilities in the most charming Duke of Kent.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/14453952/chapters/33389637

8. And A Shimmer Takes My Eye. Walking through the streets of New York, Yuuri balances the phone call on his bluetooth headphones alongside errands for his day off. “I don’t know, Chris—

“You’ve been alone too long, schatzi, his friend chides him. Chris met Yuuri when he was in the costume department at the Met, but since he got a coveted position at the Paris Opera, they can only FaceTime or cross an ocean for quality friend time. Orfeo closes soon, he’ll be in New York for business… at least enjoy a glass of something beautiful while exchanging a bit of small talk, yeah?

Yuuri enters the cake shop, walking past case after case of treats and pastries. A lovely cassis and white chocolate mousse cake catches his eye, and his conversation lags as he contemplates purchasing it as a gift to his cast mates for their final bow in a week. “Well. Before I grudgingly agree—

”That’s the spirit, Chris jokes.

“Is he at least… nice?” Yuuri asks.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18991204/chapters/45095746

9. King in Disguise. Yuuri is a low-ranked Ability User with a useless power, considered one of the weakest in the Terra Stellata – the institute to unlock a User’s true potential. But what lies beneath his power was an unfathomable amount of strength unseen by the eyes of others. He dreamed to fight alongside his idol; Victor Nikiforov, one of the strongest Ability Users in existence. He finds Victor willing to protect him at whatever cost.

Will Yuuri ever discover the true worth hidden within him?

Yuuri -- "I've admired you since I was little. You are my hero and will always be." Victor -- "I will always protect you no matter what it takes. If you are my king - then I'll be your knight.

"In a world where demons freely roamed, humans were bestowed with powers beyond imagination - when things went out of control, destiny awaited for a slumbering king to claim his throne.

(Magical/Superpower Fantasy AU taking place in the modern times)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/13525623/chapters/31026489

10. moods, states of grace, & elegies. Victor Nikiforov has traveled far and wide in the company of trader Christophe Giacometti on the silk roads to arrive at Hasetsu, capital of the Great Nihon Empire. He expects to stay a winter, until the seasons change again, and fairer weather and the changing of seasons can return him to his wanderlust.He does not expect to fall in love with the Crown Prince.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/14632119/chapters/33817776#workskin

11. in my head, in my heart, in my soul. Drawn into a conflict outside of his responsibility, Victor Nikiforov, the greatest general of the age, appears to have met his match in the shy Prince of Japan who surrenders on the fields of Goryeo.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15994100

12. Victor the Great. At the age of nine Victor became the Tsar of all the Russias with Lilia as regent. One day he will be the sole ruler of Russia, the man who makes all the decisions and gets to do what he wants, with one exception: he has to marry a woman from a Russian aristocratic family. Except that he falls in love with a boy who is a foreign commoner. Will he risk the throne to be able to marry the one he loves?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12740541/chapters/29055912

13. Our Love will Always Prevail. Almost 10 years ago, Lord Yuuri of the house Katsuki was taken as a ward of the house Nikiforov. A romance blossomed between him and the eldest heir of the house, Viktor Nikiforov. But the path to happiness is not always an easy one, Yuuri and Viktor will have to fight hard to obtain the happy ending they both desperately wish.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/14636100/chapters/33828141

14. Chosen Path. To end a century long struggle between Rus and Nihon the two Imperial families have come to a possible treaty. The only catch, the Emperor of Nihon wants the oldest Son of Rus to marry one of his retinue when he comes to Rus to sign the papers. Victor as oldest of 11 is not looking forward to getting a wife. So together with his siblings, parents, and the help of all his cousins and Palace staff, he sets out to get the one from the retinue he wants. Katsuki Yuuri never thought he stood a chance.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/16161911/chapters/37763492

15. Le soleil est près de moi. The prince moves across the grounds in robes the same shades as sapphires. He walks astride the King, not behind, as he proudly conducts the tour of the incredible grounds with ease. An austere woman follows at a respectful pace in gray and violet. She and the prince both have wide fabric belts in contrasting colors tied at their waists, and the prince’s ebony hair is styled similarly to his companion’s, though hers is vastly more complex.

“He’s quite comely up close,” Christophe continues with a wicked grin. “Though he seems a touch aloof in humor. Perhaps if I treat him to a little wine, a little of my solitary attention—

“Victor gives him a startled look. “No,” he manages, his eyes immediately locking back onto the prince. “Not…not this one, Christophe.”

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17486264

16. Serendipity. Yuuri never imagined himself to be anything other than ordinary, but a visit from his mysterious Aunt Minako leaves him dealing with his apparently royal destiny. With it comes many trials and tribulations, and love in the way Yuuri least expects it.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18212267/chapters/43084823

17. Fires. Victor and Yuuri are kings that govern Rossíya. They try to demonstrate, at the slightest opportunity, the love and devotion they feel for each other.

However, although almost the entire kingdom is happy and pleased by this marriage that ended with years of war against Hasetsu, Christophe, advisor of his majesty, doesn't welcome the constant trips the king makes to his homeland, for what is more than willing to discover what Yuuri hides behind them.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20826122/chapters/49507334

17. Interpersonal Diplomacy. For the sake of ending a centennial war and protecting the lives of his family and people, Prince Imperial Yuuri of Shanjia makes an unexpected sacrifice, placing his life in the hands of King Viktor of Nova. For the survival of their nations' fledgling peace, Yuuri must live on Novan soil alone, surrounded by people his nation just recently considered enemies, and tied to their monarch by the bonds of diplomacy.

However, Yuuri will also find allies, individuals willing to welcome the peace-loving regardless of past history. If Yuuri is to carve a home in this foreign nation, he must earn the trust of the war-weary Novan people.

And in time, Yuuri may find himself drawing closer to the sympathetic but enigmatic King Viktor.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/16072742/chapters/37529747

18. Love Is Beautiful Fear. To become King, Prince Victor has to hold a Selection, to find a man or woman to marry. Yuuri is selected, but will his anxiety keep him from winning Victor's heart?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/9094546

19. love like fools. When Crown Prince Yuuri of Japan escapes his army of minders at his Saint Petersburg hotel, he thinks he’s found the opportunity to explore the city as a commoner.

When investigative journalist Viktor Nikiforov discovers the Crown Prince of Japan on a park bench in Saint Petersburg, he thinks that he’s found his ticket to redemption at the magazine he writes for.

But like the stories of those stranded during the White Nights after the bridges go up, neither of them had anticipated falling in love. (Roman Holiday AU)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12039732/chapters/27258912

20. Like Magic Woven Through Me. Victor was quiet about it of course, but his love for the Prince had burned bright in his chest ever since he first met him, years before, when Yuuri was just twenty and Victor twenty-four. From the moment Victor had seen the Prince, he knew he was in trouble. Raven hair, big expressive eyes, smooth skin and cherry pink lips. But above all that was Yuuri’s unending kindness, how funny he could be when he let his guard down, his intelligent conversation, the way he used magic like he was dancing. How could Victor not love him?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21977671

21. On My Life, Love. When Prince Yuuri and Prince Victor were children, they secretly got engaged. Alas, their friendship soon fell apart.

After 14 years of separation, Victor asks Yuuri for his hand in marriage, for it turns out that his childhood promise was a magically binding oath, and now his only options are to marry Yuuri or to remain unwed forever, lest he forfeit his life.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11844423/chapters/26738385

22. if there's a will, there's a way. Two neighbouring countries in a state of tentative peace. Two royal families trying to protect their own people. And only one thing that can save them all from the war that is knocking on their door – a royal union that will cement loyalty, breed forgiveness and maybe somehow fix things.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12506060/chapters/28473052

23. And all at once, you are the one I have been waiting for. “The law clearly states that the regent shall have a mate. It is widely known that being mated keeps one’s head clearer, brings joy and strengthens relations, both in one’s professional and personal life. Since I do not have a mate, nor do I have anyone in my life as of right now that I would want to spend my life with in that way, I have chosen to evoke the ‘Catarina praxi. “Lilia will give out the specific details how it will be conducted, but it will be a nationwide search for a mate for me and will require scent samples. As those of you who are familiar with the praxi knows, this means that all omegas that fall into the chosen group are prohibited from entering a mateship until an engagement between me and a chosen omega has been announced. This results in that all unmated omegas from the age of eighteen to twenty eight are now legally arranged to be mated to me, until an official engagement has been made."

The Nicholai Hall explodes with questions from the reporters as Lilia steps up to the microphone, while Yuuri keeps completely still, eyes wide and mouth hanging open, heart pounding in his chest.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19727131/chapters/46687906

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rabbitcruiser · 1 year ago

Text

National Dessert Day

Satisfy your sweet tooth with cakes, pastries, tarts and candies on Dessert Day, have a bake-off with friends or invent a brand-new delicacy of your own.

So, What is more fun than making dinner or lunch? Dessert. It can be made with all things that are sweet and juicy or tart and sour and can come out in ways that are warm and soft, flavorful and crunchy, but it’s always delicious. You can indulge dessert with a range of chocolates, candy, or pastries, cakes, and cupcakes, and what about tarts and pies? Preparing them can make the wait for them all the sweeter, or you can grab a pudding or two on the go just to make the day that much brighter. National Dessert Day is your excuse to indulge in your favorite treats.

Learn about National Dessert Day

Are you a starter or a dessert person? If you fall into the latter category, you are going to love National Dessert Day. This day provides us with the perfect excuse to let our sweet tooth take over. You can indulge in as many desserts as you wish, and no one can tell you to do otherwise! What could be better? From pastries and cakes to chocolates and mousses; there is a dessert for everyone. What’s your favorite?

If you do a little bit of digging online, you will see that there are some interesting facts and statistics about desserts and the most popular choices. Of course, you have probably heard of tiramisu, which is the world’s most famous Italian dessert. What about Sacher cake, from Austria, or Baklava, from Greece and the Middle East? Research different cultures and try new desserts on this day!

History of National Dessert Day

The origin of the word dessert comes from the French “desservir,” a word which here means “to clear the table.” This, of course, referenced the dish that came after the clearing of the main dishes served as part of the meal. The earliest references to the term dessert being used are in the 1600’s and arrived at the same time as the concept of serving a meal in courses, letting each part of the meal be its own experience.

While it may seem like a no-brainer now, the idea of serving a sweet repast following the main meal wasn’t something that was always done. Those masters of decadence, the French, were known to serve a sweet wine as an aperitif, and it didn’t take long before the concept of sweet followings to the main dish became commonplace.

The birth of the sugar and honey trade helped to bolster the idea of dessert as it became easier to obtain sweeteners, though for a long time it was still known as a lush decadence reserved for the wealthy.

National Dessert Day Timeline

1300

Filo dough is first used

This base for all sorts of delicious sweets is recorded as having been filled with different nuts and spices, though they may have been serves as appetizers as well as dessert.

17th Century

First dessert cookbook is made

As New World plantations lower the price of sugar, more recipes for sweet dishes are explored.

1691

First recipe for crème brûlée is recorded

England, Spain and France all make claims on this delicious dessert, but the first printed recipe with this name is by a cook at the Palace of Versailles, in France.

1847

First edible chocolate bar is created

British company, J.S. Fry & Sons, makes the first chocolate bar from cocoa powder, cocoa butter and sugar.

2007

Guinness World Record set for most expensive dessert

The famous cafe in New York City, Serendipity 3, sets the record for the most expensive dessert ever: $25,000 for a chocolate ice cream sundae decorated with gold.

How to Celebrate National Dessert Day

National Dessert Day encourages us to celebrate by selecting our favorite delicacies and indulging in them, while also exploring the ever-growing number of options we have to experience in the world of sweets. There are so many to choose from cakes, pies, fried dough, chocolate, tarts, candy, jellied desserts, and pastries; it’s all about choosing how you make them and what to make, and maybe even where to make it?

Dessert can happen at home with family, or you can pick them up from your local store, and there’s always grandma’s house? The only important question on National Dessert Day is “What is your favorite dessert, and how would you like it?” Maybe there’s an old family recipe or something that the bakery down the street made fresh that morning. Whatever you decide, National Dessert Day is your opportunity to indulge in your favorite treats and maybe relive some old memories while doing so.

From rich chocolate to sweet strawberries, there are many desserts you can make on this day. How about Sticky Toffee Pudding? This is a British classic. For those that are unaware, Sticky Toffee Pudding is a delicious moist sponge cake that is made with finely chopped dates. The star of the show is, of course, the toffee sauce that is poured over the top.

If you fancy something a bit more modern, how about Green Tea-Coated Chocolate Mousse? Green tea is a massive hit in desserts at the moment. The Strawberry Cobbler is another dessert worth a mention. For something spectacular, serve it with cream cheese and warm vanilla seed custard. It is warm, comforting, and will melt in your mouth.

Or, what about Sicilian Lemon Tart? The balance between the sweetness and tartness in this dessert is spot on. We could go on, and on, and on, and on… after all, there are so many delicious and mouth-watering desserts out there! All you need to do is a quick search on the Internet and you are going to find plenty of exciting recipes to try on this day.

Another fun way to celebrate National Dessert Day is by watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. When you think of sweet treats and chocolate, this is often the first thing that comes to mind. It is a great film, and it is something that all of the family can watch. So, prepare your dessert, whether it be an ice cream sundae or a comforting apple pie, and get yourself comfortable in front of the television so that you and the family can enjoy a good movie night together. What could be better?

If you are really feeling adventurous, you may want to try making your own dessert invention on National Dessert Day. After all, the best recipes out there usually started as a bit of trial and error. Get plenty of different baking ingredients in and have fun experimenting with different flavors.

You could even turn this into a bit of a bake-off competition with your family or friends. You can all have your own ‘workstation’ and then you can try everyone’s desserts to see who is crowned the winner. It’s always fun to do something a little bit different with your loved ones, isn’t it?

National Dessert Day FAQs

Where did dessert come from?

Derived from the French word “desservir”, the word dessert means “to clear the table”, which seems fitting for the last course of a large meal.

Are desserts bad for you?

Some desserts that are high in fat, sugar and empty calories can be unhealthy, especially when eaten every day. But in moderation, it’s okay!

Can desserts be healthy?

Sure! Desserts that have a small amount of sugar and lots of fiber, like fresh fruit, applesauce, or frozen fruit pops, can be a healthy end to a meal.

What dessert is Italy famous for?

Most people would say that the most famous Italian dessert is Tiramisu, which is made with coffee, ladyfingers, cinnamon and sweet cream.

Should dessert wine be chilled?

Yes, sweet wines that are meant to be served after a meal should be chilled to between 6-10 degrees C or 45-50 degrees F.

Source

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blu-joons · 5 years ago

Text

BTS Reaction: They Think You Like A Different Member

Jin:

You walked into the dressing room, Jin sat on the side of the table, you took a seat in the chair opposite him. You weren’t sure what was going on, all the other boys had been chased out of the room.

“Hey, what’s going on?” You asked, taking a seat. Jin exhaled a deep breath, pressing his hands against the table. You could see his body shaking with nerves, reaching out to hold his hand across the table. “Jin, whatever it is, you can tell me.”

He nodded, looking to the floor and then back across to you. “What I’m about to say to you, you don’t have to act upon. I can see for myself how much you like Jimin, I just need to say this.”

How much you like Jimin? You valued each of the boys equally, they all were your best friends, none more important than the other.

“I really like you, not just as a friend, more than. I’m not expecting you to say anything back, I know you wouldn’t like me like that, but I just need to get this off my chest and be honest with you. I’m tired of pretending to hide my feelings.”

“I do like you.” You smiled, squeezing his hand gently. “I mean properly like you. I don’t know where you got this thing about Jimin from, but it’s always been you I liked.”

His smile grew, his head shaking slightly in disbelief. “You’re not just saying that are you? Because those six other members are good looking guys too.”

“I’m not just saying it Jin, you’ve always been the most handsome one of them all.”

Yoongi:

He sighed watching as you spoke to Namjoon, laughing away at the jokes he told. Watching you broke his heart, he only desired that he could make you laugh like Namjoon did.

“I’ve got to go,” you smiled, hugging him lightly. You turned away, walking over to Yoongi noticing the sad expression on his face. “You alright?” You asked, studying his face. He glanced over at you, forcing a smile on his face.

He nodded, but you could tell he wasn’t doing alright. “So, you and Namjoon, is there anything going on between the two of you?”

You looked back at Namjoon, as much as you liked him, you didn’t like him, there was only ever one guy that you had your eye on.

“Literally nothing is going on between us, he’s just a good friend Yoongs. There’s only one guy I like, a blond haired, quiet, arrogant rapper.” His eyes fell on the floor, scratching the back of his neck anxiously.

You watched his small smile grow, “do you actually? Because I’m nothing special, and Namjoon has these amazing qualities.”

You took his hand in your own, squeezing it gently. He finely looked across at you, his smile widening as he felt your comforting touch.

“You are special Yoongi, special to me.”

Hoseok:

The lights went out, all of you hurrying into Jungkook’s dorm. In your hands was his cake, all the candles had been lit by Hobi, ready to carry in to surprise him.

“Happy Birthday!” You shouted, as he stood up, blowing the candles out. Hobi watched on, a frown on his face, as Jungkook stole some of the icing off the top. “I made it myself.” His eyes widened, placing it down on his desk.

He pulled you into a tight, thankful hug, before thanking his other members. “It looks amazing,” Hobi complimented, wrapping his arm around your waist.

You moved your arm around him, resting your head on his shoulder. You couldn’t have been happier seeing your best friend so happy with what you’d done for him.

“Play your cards right and I’ll make one for your birthday Hobi.” You looked up at him with a wink making him giggle. On the inside his heart was pounding as your eyes stared up at him.

In his mind he was already dreaming of his birthday, the wide smile on his face as you approached him with the best birthday ever.

He chuckled, nodding his head eagerly. “I know you’ll do an amazing job; you care for all of us so well, I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

“I reckon you guys would be fine.”

Namjoon:

Your third date with Namjoon was going well, the two of you were laughing and joking, it was like no one else was in the room.

“So, tell me about the guys in your band, I can’t wait to meet them.” His face dropped, staring off at you. You weren’t sure why he looked so upset, searching for his eyes to look at you. “What’s the face for? Do you not want me to meet them?”

He sighed, “are you just with me to try and get to one of the boys?” You dropped your fork, staring across at him in disbelief.

How could he think you liked any of the guys when you’d never met them? It was him you were on the date with, who you wanted to get to know more.

“Is that really what you think of me? I want to meet them because they are a part of you, I want to get to know you better Namjoon.” You didn’t mean to sound so upset, but it hurt that he valued so little of you.

“It’s not that. It’s just every time I look across at you, I find myself in surprise that someone like you would choose to go on a date with someone like me.”

You chuckled, reaching to take his hand over the table. “Namjoon, don’t feel like that, I don’t think you realise what an incredible man you are.”

“I’m hoping you’ll help me learn.”

Jimin:

The door buzzed, allowing you entry into the studio. Before you even walked in you could hear the raucous screams and chatters of all the boys.

“Here she is!” Hoseok shouted, pushing his way through all the boys to get to you first. You nearly fell back onto the wall from the sheer momentum of his arms wrapping around you. “We’ve not seen you in so long!”

The boys had just got back from a two-month tour and couldn’t wait to see you. “I’m so happy to see you all, and to know you’re all healthy and doing well.”

Jimin sighed as he stood back, upset that you’d allowed Hobi to get to you first. He waited patiently for you to hug all the other boys before making your way over to him.

“Hi,” you smiled, holding him tightly. “I missed you a lot, how was tour? Are you doing okay?” You pulled away, studying his face closely.

“Did you miss me more than you missed the others?” You chuckled, cupping his cheeks, stroking your thumb against his skin.

You nodded, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “Of course, I missed you the most, did you miss me?”

“I thought about you every single day.”

Taehyung:

You all sat across the room, nobody knew really what the conversation was about, as per usual, everyone shouted over each other.

“Y/N, you look confused,” Jungkook commented. You looked over at him, nodding your head with a laugh. “Is Taehyung not keeping you very good company?”

Taehyung sat beside you, shrugging his shoulders, glaring across at Jungkook. “I’m keeping her just fine, not that it’s any of your business.”

His harsh tone surprised you, you knew Taehyung liked you, but you were only joking with Jungkook. You placed your hand over his, squeezing it gently.

“Stop being so overprotective,” you whispered, leaning your head against his. He sighed, nodding his head at you. “I get that you like me, and I like you too, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be friends with all of the others too.”

You could hear him mumbling, pulling away from him. “I know, you’re right, I just don’t want them to think I’m bad to you.”

“You’re never bad to me,” you assured him, “you’re a great person, and by far my favourite member of BTS, I promise.”

“That’s the best thing I’ve ever heard you say.”

Jungkook:

You hummed along as you walked around the studio, gathering a few items out of the kitchen to make yourself some lunch. You hadn’t heard Jungkook walk in until he cleared his throat.

“Can I get you anything I’m just making lunch?” He shook his head, sitting on one of the bar stools around the island.

He embraced the silence of your voice, smiling to himself. “You know, you could sing my song, it’s much better than Serendipity.”

You turned to look at him, not even realising Serendipity was what you were humming, it was the first song that came into your head.

“Euphoria should be your favourite song, it’s song by your favourite human, or do you like Jimin more now? I always knew you had a thing for him, I can see it in your eyes.” His voice turned sour, his grip on the table edge tightening.

You weren’t sure where this was all coming from. “I don’t like Jimin, Jungkook, honestly it’s just a song, what’s got you so upset like this?”

“Because, I like you,” he shouted, “I want to hear you singing my songs because I like you, and it makes me feel happy.”

“Kookie, you only had to say, I like you too.”

---

Masterlist

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nylahfitzgerald234 · 2 years ago

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#Serendipity Cake Company

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tracyshomesick · 4 years ago

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25 things that were invented in NYC.

1. Toilet paper: In 1857, Joseph C. Gayetty began selling packs of “medicated paper for the water closet” out of his wholesale shop at 41 Ann St. The paper was made from pure Manila hemp and treated with aloe. Best (or worst) of all, each sheet was watermarked with his name.

2. Chicken ’n’ waffles: After its 1938 opening, Wells Supper Club in Harlem was the last stop for jazz greats like Sammy Davis Jr., Gladys Knight and Nat King Cole. Catering to its night-owl talent, Wells created the perfect dish for acts who’d missed dinner but couldn’t wait till breakfast: leftover fried chicken on a sweet waffle.

3. Chewing gum, a New York invention, was first manufactured in 1870 by Thomas Adams in a warehouse on Front Street. Called ''Adams New York Gum No. 1,'' it was made from chicle, a form of sapodilla tree sap chewed in the Yucatan and Guatemala.

4. The Waldorf Salad: The Waldorf Astoria boasts two inventions on this list, the first of which is its classic salad, which combines lettuce, apple, celery and walnuts. It was first served in 1896.

5. Teddy Bears: In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot an injured black bear while on a hunt. Inspired by the story, Morris and Rose Michtom, candy-store owners from Brooklyn, sewed a plush bear and displayed it, calling it “teddy’s bear.” The toy was so popular, they gave up candy and opened a factory to make the cuddly critters.

6. The Tom Collins: In 1874, a hilarious joke swept through the city: A prankster would tell a friend, “I was at [insert local saloon], where Tom Collins was saying [insert insult] about you!” The offended party would rush off to defend his honor, but there was no Tom Collins. (Cool joke, bro.) Inspired by the prank, New York mixologist Jerry Thomas created the recipe in 1876.

7. Coal-fired pizza: Pizza was cooked with wood fires until Gennaro Lombardi introduced the tasty magic of coal. Legend has it he served the first coal-fired pie in 1905. Cooking pizza that way is technically illegal now, but the ovens of a few select haunts around the city were grandfathered in, including Lombardi’s, Totono’s and Patsy’s.

8. Scrabble: Out-of work architect and anagram lover Alfred Mosher Butts conceived this wordy board game in 1931 while living in Jackson Heights, Queens. The street sign on Butts’s corner in Queens now reads “35t1H4 a1V4e1n1u1e1” after the famed letter-scoring system.

9. Spaghetti primavera: When this faux Italian dish (fresh vegetables and Parmesan cream sauce on pasta) was served at Le Cirque in 1977, it was, according to The New York Times, “the most talked-about dish in Manhattan,” much to the chagrin of head chef Jean Vergnes. The classically trained Frenchie was so offended, his cooks had to prep the dish in a hallway—yet later he claimed its invention.

10. The remote control: Nikola Tesla conceived of a radio-controlled boat way back in 1898. The idea was so novel that nobody believed such technology could exist.

11. Sweet’n Low: Fort Greene entrepreneur Benjamin Eisenstadt teamed up with his chemist son, who found a way to create saccharin in powdered form (before it could only be a liquid or a pill). He named his pink-label brand after a Tennyson poem.

12. Eggs Benedict: Stockbroker and bon vivant Lemuel Benedict woke up one morning in 1894 with a raging hangover and booked it to the Waldorf Astoria hotel, where he ordered a poached egg, crispy bacon, toast and hollandaise sauce. Legendary maître d’hôtel Oscar Tschirky was such a fan of the creation, he added it to the hotel’s menu.

13. The Bloody Mary:  Fernand “Pete” Petiot imported his tomato-juice-and-vodka concoction from Paris to the St. Regis hotel’s King Cole Bar. Catering to the spicier local tastes, Petiot added Worcestershire sauce, lemon and a dash of cayenne and black pepper.

14. Credit Cards: You have John Biggins of the Flatbush National Bank to thank for those interest charges and late fees: In 1946, he created the charge-it program, which issued customers bank credit cards for use at local Brooklyn merchants. The shop owners would then deposit the sales slips at the bank, who would then bill cardholders.

15. Baked Alaska: In 1876, the pioneering pastry chefs of lower-Manhattan restaurant Delmonico’s conceived of piping-hot sponge cake topped with crispy meringue and filled with ice cream, naming this miracle of food science in honor of the country’s newest territory.

16. General Tso’s Chicken: While exiled in Taiwan after the Chinese Civil War, chef Peng Chang-Kuei created a spicy-and-sour chicken dish as an homage to a famous Hunanese general. When he jumped ship to New York in the 1970s and opened Peng’s, the dish became a huge hit— after he added sugar to the recipe.

17. Frozen Hot Chocolate:  Stephen Bruce, the cofounder of iconic East-Side restaurant Serendipity 3, kept the recipe of this decadent dessert a secret for 40 years. Bruce recently revealed that the famous frozen treat is 14 kinds of cocoa mixed with crushed ice and topped with whipped cream. (The types of cocoa still remain a mystery.)

18. Air conditioning: In 1902, Willis Carrier created his “apparatus for treating air” to keep the humidity from warping the paper at a printing plant on Grand St in Bushwick. Saving workers from the sweltering summer heat was just a fortunate side effect.

19. The Reuben Sandwich: Alright, this one’s contested, but many say Arnold Reuben, owner of Reuben’s Delicatessen, invented the meat-and-krout combo in 1914. Legend has it, the sandwich was created for a famished actress, who came in after a show, using the few ingredients left on the deli shelves.

20. Mr. Potato Head: When New Yorker and toy designer George Lerner first created plastic facial features to stick on real vegetables, toy companies worried that food wasting wouldn’t fly with a postwar public. But in 1952, Hasbro bought Lerner’s  idea and made the first TV ad ever for children’s playthings, selling a million units that year.

21. Hot dogs: Coney Island baker Charles Feltman had the genius idea to serve hot sausages in a  bun for a dime each. His frank fortune bought him a beachside empire of hotels and beer gardens, until former employee Nathan Handwerker opened Nathan’s Famous and sold his dogs for only a nickel.

22. ATMs: the first money-dispensing device was conceived in 1939 by Luther George Simjian, who convinced the City Bank of New York (today’s Citibank) to test his contraption for six months. The bank declined to use the machine after that, because “the only people using the machines were a small number of prostitutes and gamblers.”

23. Cronuts: Dominique Ansel labored for months to perfect his doughnut-fried, fluffy hybrid from heaven. The pastry, which debuted in May 2013, still inspires down-the- block lines each morning.

24. Children's Museums: The Brooklyn Children's Museum, located in Crown Heights, opened in 1899 and was the country’s first museum dedicated to the education of kids. It was also the first to introduce a “hands-on” policy for its exhibits.

25. Hip-hop. Enough said.

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jovialyouthmusic · 5 years ago

Text

Past Times

A Period drama featuring an ancestor of Bastien Lykel

Elizabeth longs to meet the Captain again, and her wish is fulfilled.

Word Count 3060

A/N I know I have taken a long time over this - life has been busy, but this has been great fun to write. No warnings - this is regency Scotland and our heroine moves within very genteel circles!

3 Family and Familiarity

‘Amelia, do stop fidgeting’ Lady Charlotte snapped ‘Madame Burlét needs complete quiet and tranquillity when she performs.’

‘This chair is too hard’ Amelia complained ‘and I’m hungry, you wouldn’t let me have that cake I wanted’

‘It is not polite to take the last one unless it is offered’ she hissed ‘You are a young woman now, behave like one, not like a child’ Amelia pouted and made one last little wriggle before she sat still.

Madame Burlét was a nationally famous Soprano singer who was touring Britain. She was performing at the assembly rooms in one of the smaller rooms, a rare treat, and Elizabeth’s family had managed to reserve seats for Lady Charlotte and the two young women. All the best families attended, and Elizabeth had been thrilled to see the Captain in the throng of people waiting in the vestibule. However, they had not the opportunity to greet each other, and as it was not well known that they were seeing one another, it was not seemly to greet each other in too familiar a manner.

Elizabeth was painfully aware that the Captain sat on the other side of the aisle, and if she turned her head just a little, she could see his handsome profile, the faint scar on his cheek visible to her. Her mother nudged her arm and she dutifully looked straight forward at the pianoforte where her music master sat awaiting Madame Burlét. It was an honour for him to perform with her, and his reputation had increased greatly. Consequently it was a feather in the cap of Elizabeth’s family to have such a person teach their daughters.

Finally, only a few minutes after the allotted time, the singer swept in. She wore an elegant ivory silk gown, high waisted, gathered only just under the bust, allowing her full movement to breathe. The sleeves were in mode, just enough to cover her shoulders, the neckline showing off her ample cleavage, a pearl necklace adorning her throat. Her hair was elaborately coiffed, pulled up and ringleted, a hairpiece of ivory and pearl shining softly in her chestnut hair. She made a little bow and introduced herself in a heavy French accent. She had been trained in the best schools on the continent, but had recently made her home in London, where she was reputed to be romantically involved with a famous baritone singer. Their duets were renowned for their sublime quality, but sadly they only performed together in the English capital.

She nodded to the pianist, and soon the music swelled and her voice filled the air. It sent shivers down Elizabeth’s spine and she was soon transported away from her boredom and restlessness. As she sat, she caught a small movement out of the corner of her eye, and turned her head slightly to see the Captain engineering to look her way by inclining his head to scratch at his ear. Their eyes locked for a second and a small smile graced his lips. She quickly looked away, her face burning and her heart skipping. She wished she could use her fan to cool her cheeks, but did not wish to distract Madame Burlét. She caught her mother frowning, and looked down at her lap, her fingers tightly interlacing with each other.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, concentrating on the music again. However, try as she might, the presence of the Captain drew her mind like a magnet. She desperately wanted to turn her head again, and pictured herself dancing with him, able to gaze on his features as she wished. But did he dance? She sat still and fixed her eyes on the performance, but every little move to her side where the Captain sat drew her mind. It seemed an eternity before the performance was over, and there was polite but enthusiastic applause. Her mother rose as the audience started to file out of the room, and so did the two girls. As they moved out into the aisle between the seats she was painfully aware of his presence. Either her mother and the Captain timed it just right, or it was pure serendipity that he stepped into the aisle at the same time. He paused and gestured to the three women, initially to allow them to pass, and then feigned surprise at meeting them.

‘Lady Charlotte, what a pleasure to see you’ he said warmly ‘and your two lovely daughters. I trust you enjoyed the recital’

‘Good afternoon, Captain Lykel. We did indeed, did we not, girls?’ she replied ‘and as the pianist is a regular visitor to our house, we have been invited to tea with Madame Burlét in but half an hour’s time’ Elizabeth and her sister dropped little curtseys to the Captain and he bowed gravely. The rest of the audience made their way around the group, so he stepped back a little to make more room for them to converse.

‘A pleasure to see you Captain’ Elizabeth said politely ‘I did not know your taste in music was so refined’

‘Thankyou Miss Elizabeth. This was an opportunity not to be missed, and I confess the performance was a delight. I was more used to hearing sea shanties or military music in my working life, so this was most refreshing’

‘Oh we know a sea shanty’ Amelia blurted enthusiastically ‘Don’t we Lizzy? It’s such fun to play and sing’ The Captain turned to her with amusement as Elizabeth blushed. She surmised that many sea shanties would not be heard in a polite parlour room, and what they sang was a pretty one suitable for the ears of young ladies.

‘Perhaps you can play it for me if I am fortunate to visit you in the future’ he smiled. He turned to Lady Charlotte ‘May I ask where you are to take tea with Madame Burlét?’

‘We shall go to an ante room here, there will only be a very few people. The pianist, Monsieur le Blanc, teaches the girls, you know, so he secured an invitation for us’

‘That is a great honour. May I keep you company until the appointed time? Otherwise I shall only be returning to my batchelor’s rooms with no-one to talk to but my manservant’

‘You may, sir. We can wait in the vestibule until we are called.’ She regarded him leaning on his cane ‘Will it fatigue you to stand for such a time?’ He looked surprised for a moment and Elizabeth felt her face grow hot again.

‘Not at all, my leg grows stronger by the day. I may be able to dance again soon, although I must tell you I was never very nimble on dry land. At sea I was fleet of foot and only slipped on deck but once or twice’ He addressed this to Elizabeth, who thought suddenly of moving across the dancefloor in his arms, and managed a smile as her heart fluttered. His eyes were dark but his smile was soft and inviting.

‘Perhaps you would dance better to a sea shanty or a hornpipe then, Captain’ she joked. He laughed

‘Perhaps I might. Shall we go out to the vestibule, ladies?’ He offered his arm to her mother and the four of them walked out into the wide hall just inside the grand doors of the Assembly rooms. People came and went, or stood around in small groups. It was less crowded than the main room where the faint strains of music could be heard.

‘That is a very fine cane, Sir’ Elizabeth remarked, looking at the carved white stick, straight but with a spiral that ran from the tip to the handle.

‘It is often admired, and for good reason’ he replied ‘It was given to me by the Admiral himself, and is made from the horn of a narwhal’

‘A narwhal?’ squeaked Amelia ‘Is that not a sea creature? Did you catch it?’ He smiled indulgently at her innocent question

‘It is indeed a sea creature Miss Amelia, but no, I did not catch it. The cane was carved some years ago and the Admiral had been handed it by his superior when he was a Captain himself. The narwhal is a curious creature and has been called the unicorn of the sea, although I have never seen one myself.’

The conversation flowed, with the Captain entertaining the ladies with tales of his travels until it was time to go in to take tea with Madame Burlét. Elizabeth wished that the Captain was invited too, but sadly he had to take his leave.

‘Thankyou for keeping us company, Captain Lykel’ her mother said ‘Perhaps you would like to visit some time next week. I am planning on inviting some friends over for afternoon tea, and the girls may be prevailed upon to entertain everyone. Elizabeth is an accomplished piano player and Amelia’s voice is very sweet. Tell me sir, do you sing?’ The Captain looked embarrassed for a moment.

‘Well Madam, every sailor sings after a fashion, but the songs are not suitable for polite society. But my mother did make me take singing lessons when I was younger. I confess I am a little rusty’ He admitted ruefully.

‘I will let you know when the gathering is to be held, and we may yet persuade you to air your vocal chords. Good day, Sir’ Her mother said, and he gave a low bow to the three of them. As she curtseyed Elizabeth feared that her legs might give way at the thought of playing the pianoforte in their front parlour with the Captain standing beside her and singing with her. It was quite beyond her to imagine what his voice might be like, as she felt hot and cold in quick succession. Somehow she kept her senses about her, even when his dark eyes locked once more with hers. Then she turned away to enter the ante room to sip tea and make polite conversation.

-------

Back home, Elizabeth lay awake. She was restless after having seen the Captain in a manner she never had done when Duncan courted her. She could think of little else besides when she might see him again, when she might be permitted to acknowledge him socially, under what circumstances they might meet. She had been somewhat soothed by her mother’s declaration of an afternoon tea party, and had scarce been able to stop herself from bombarding her with questions.

Who else might attend? How formal might it be? What might she play on the pianoforte to entertain the guests? With a shiver she could not resist imagining playing with the Captain standing by her, or looking up to see him regarding her with admiration. Butterflies danced in her stomach and she feared she might fumble a note or make a series of mistakes.

She vividly remembered him – his broad shoulders and narrow waist, his dark wavy hair, the dark shadows on his face where he might sport a moustache or beard. His eyes – oh his eyes, dark and piercing, that turned her knees to jelly when they locked eyes. The tingle she felt when they touched, the slight masculine odour that hung about him but with the overlying scent of soap, and oddly, pine.

For now there was nothing to be done but think of him and try to sleep – and tomorrow throw herself into her lessons and wish away the time until their next meeting.

------

All at once time both flew and crawled up to the allotted day. The front parlour was dusted and polished, the best china selected, and Cook and the scullery maid worked hard to produce the very best pastries and cakes.

The Beaumonts arrived first, and Amelia and her friend Anabelle secreted themselves in the window seat to whisper and giggle together. Elizabeth’s acid tongued friend Rosanna attended with her parents, Lord and Lady Mc Dougal and her brother Scott, who was a little older than Amelia. They had not seen each other for some months, as the Mc Dougals had made a visit to relatives in London, and the two young women had much to catch up on, so they found a quiet corner to sit and talk. Rosanna was aghast at the news that Duncan was no longer courting her, and was hard put to it as to whether to talk about that or tell her friend of the wonders of the English capital and the latest fashions, but in the end the former won.

‘Whatever happened, Lizzy?’ she asked ‘Did he act improperly?

‘No, but he revealed his true nature and I discovered it would have been unbearable spending the rest of my life with him’ she said quietly ‘Father discovered he was rather too fond of gambling too, so he told his father and he has been reprimanded and put on a tight leash. Thankfully I was released from our engagement’

‘Father is still looking for a suitable match for me’ Rosanna replied ‘I wish he’d hurry up and find a dashing sea captain like yours – has he any friends looking for a young wife?’ Elizabeth laughed at her friend’s forthright manner.

‘Really Rosanna, I have no idea’ she replied ‘I have not spent much time in his company as yet’

‘When is he coming? He seems to be more than fashionably late’

‘Soon, I hope. I’m so nervous about playing in front of everyone, I wish it was all over and done with.’ Her friend smiled and squeezed her hand

‘You play beautifully, you will charm everyone. Your suitor is sure to drop to his knees and beg to marry you as soon as he hears you’

‘Rosanna, shush’ Elizabeth blushed. At that moment the doorbell rang, and she looked to the door ready to see her beau enter. It seemed an eternity before it opened and Walker announced him. Lady Charlotte went to welcome him in, and Elizabeth curtseyed. The Captain still wore his hat, and swept it off his head and bowed to the assembled guests.

‘My apologies for my lateness, Lady Charlotte. I had a small domestic matter to attend to’ he announced ‘I am deeply grieved to be so tardy’

‘Some things cannot be avoided, Captain and I trust all is well now.’ She inclined her head graciously at his explanation. ‘As everyone is here, perhaps Elizabeth might like to play for us’ she smiled. Elizabeth saw her friend narrow her eyes in envy at the Captains’ appearance.

‘Perhaps I might be permitted a few moments with the lady in question’ the Captain asked ‘I have a small gift for her that may be of use’

‘Very well Captain, but we are eager to hear my dear Lizzy play’ she replied. She stepped back a little to let him move toward her daughter. He produced a flat rectangular package, again wrapped neatly in brown paper and secured with string.

‘Miss Elizabeth, I hope you don’t think me presumptuous’ he smiled ‘Please accept this – again I have been looking through my father’s effects and thought you might appreciate this.’

She took the parcel and went to a nearby chair to sit and open it. He followed her and sat close as she fumbled with the string.

‘I’m sorry, I must have tied it too tight. Let me help’ he said as her hands trembled. He took the parcel and their fingers brushed as he did so. She looked up, startled at the electric jolt, and found herself gazing into his dark brown eyes again. His smile was enigmatic as he produced a small folding pocket knife and cut the string. ‘There – you can open it now’ he said softly. She took it back and carefully pulled back the paper to find a book of music manuscript. She leafed through it to find carefully handwritten music and song.

‘My father had an interest in music and collected various folk songs and sea shanties’ he said in explanation ‘Perhaps you and your sister might try them some time’

‘Thankyou so much Captain’ she said ‘They look very interesting’ He turned to her mother

‘They are all quite appropriate for performing in polite society, Lady Charlotte’ he assured her with a smile ‘I remember my mother playing them when I was a boy’

‘That is very kind of you, Captain’ she said ‘Now Lizzy, we are waiting for you, but you may have a few more minutes if you wish’ She stepped away, and the Captain let out a sigh.

‘Elizabeth’ he said, and the sound of her name falling from his lips was like music to her ‘I hope you find it as pleasurable as I do to be allowed a few moments alone’ he stopped and rubbed his forehead ‘Forgive me, that was presumptuous of me’ She felt her throat tighten but managed to reply

‘Not at all, Captain’ she said ‘I have been counting the days’ His smile now lit up his face and he leaned a little closer.

‘I’m glad to hear that. You are fortunate to have family around you – I fear I barely speak to another soul beside my manservant unless I go to my club.’

‘But you may go where you wish, when you wish’ she sighed ‘I am so envious of the places you have visited when I am barely allowed out at all’ He reached out as if to take her hand, but stopped before their fingertips touched, capturing her gaze again.

‘Then I vow I will do what I can to take you out next time I visit’ he said. He took his hand back and looked at the floor ‘I am aware that would declare my intentions toward you – is that acceptable?’ She felt dizzy, but determined to be bold. She had never felt like she did about anyone else.

‘For my part, yes’ she replied ‘As to whether Mama will think it proper…’

‘I think enough time has elapsed since you broke off your engagement’ he smiled assuringly. ‘I will find it most refreshing to have a little female company, be it for five minutes – or longer’ That last aside made her shiver again, and a shy smile crept across her face as she made her way to the piano.

#period drama #Captain Lykel #Past Times #Elizabeth and John

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thebiasrekkers · 5 years ago

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Make It Right [BTS Mafia!AU]

Pairings: Jin x OC | Taehyung/Hoseok x OC | Yoongi/Jungkook x OC Genre: BTS Mafia!AU Warnings: Graphic Violence, Heavy Language, Angst, Smut, Slow Burn WC: 1461 “It’s always darkest before the dawn…” It’s a dog-eat-dog world in Seoul, South Korea. One has to dwell in the shadows in order to reach for the light. What are you willing to sacrifice in order to feel the sunlight on your face? What will it take to drag you back into darkness? How long will the journey be to make it right?

AO3 | WP

Chapter 06: Serendipity

“I’m your tricolor cat, here to meet you...”

Chapters: Prologue 1 2 3 4 5 6

Jimin sighed softly, scuffing the edge of his boots along the sidewalk. His breath came out in a soft translucent cloud, his eyes lifting at the streetlight just outside of the office building. There was a part of him that really wanted to leave, or at least get some coffee from a nearby street vendor. Seokjin, however, told him to be patient and wait. That this was worth standing out in the cold for. They’d been through worse so waiting around for someone in the chilly bite of Autumn would be a cake walk.

At least that’s how he was able to convince Jimin to even do this in the first place.

Then again, it wasn’t like he was going to say “no” to his Hyung either. Jimin was the sort of person who readily accepted a task that was given to him, no matter how big or small it may be. In a way, this also would cause him to take on more than what was necessary. Taehyung told him once that if he wasn’t careful, he was going to bite off more than he could chew and choke one day. But if he was helping the group and doing his part, then that was all that mattered to Park Jimin at the end of the day.

He just wanted to be useful.

Checking the time, he wrapped his jacket a little bit tighter around himself. It was getting colder these days and he wouldn’t be surprised if it snowed soon. In fact, didn’t the reports say that snow would hit in the next few weeks?

Just as he was thinking this, the doors to the corporate office opened and several workers began to exit the building. Jimin pulled out his phone, making sure that he had the right picture up, and waited as everyone filed out of the office. After politely staying out of the way of traffic, he was able to spy the person he was supposed to meet. Thankfully for him, she hadn’t changed much in the last year or so.

Reaching out with his hand, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward him. A soft gasp left the woman and she looked up at him, green eyes fluttering in confusion as her honey wheat hair flew about her shoulders. She peered up at him through the lens of her glasses in what Jimin could only presume as her trying to figure out who he was. He’d changed his hair since she’d last seen him.

Then came the recognition.

“Jimin-ssi?”

Jimin smiled, thankful that she remembered him. That would make this easier for them both. “Hey Ana Noona. Long time no see, right?”

She nodded slowly, gripping onto her tote purse as he let her go. Ana brushed some of her hair out of her eyes, giving him the once over. “What’s going on, Jimin-ssi? Is it important because I have another meeting?”

He nodded, holding out his arm for her. “I’m here to pick you up for it.”

“Huh?” she said, unable to keep her head from tilting sideways.

Jimin smiled when she slowly slid her arm through his. “Your appointment? I’m here to pick you up for it.”

Ana pressed her lips together in a thin line while furrowing her brows. “My appointment is at an investment firm. Last I checked, weren’t you running with a bunch of gangsters?” The continued walking. “Did you decide to make a career change in the last year?”

Even though her comment was a little bit barbous, he maintained his smile. Mostly because he knew just how kind and honest Ana was. He’d known for years now and from what he’d found out, she hadn’t changed all that much.

She blinked and placed a hand over her mouth. “...I didn’t mean that how that sounded.”

Jimin gave her a warm smile. “I know you didn’t.”

Anastasia D’Angelo was a transplant to South Korea and she’d been there for three years. Out of those three years, one year was spent getting acclimated. After a few company parties and making friends on her own, she ran into Jungkook and they began a relationship shortly after. It was at this time that the others of the Golden Jackals were introduced to her. Jungkook was always about being honest and he didn’t want to hide what his job entailed, even from his girlfriend. The relationship didn’t last long - they were together for about eight months - before they both decided that it was better for them both to stop. Jungkook didn’t want to impede her drive to climb higher in her company.

They remained friends and there were a few times where Jimin and Taehyung were dragged out by Jungkook to go hangout or even pick Anastasia up versus taking a cab. As a financial advisor for her stocks company, Anastasia was a miser. She would pinch a penny wherever and whenever she could. Not that the boys minded - she was honest and that was ultimately what mattered to them.

Which was why Seokjin was absolutely determined to have her working for them instead of her current stocks company. And that was where Jimin was taking her.

But she would find that out soon enough.

“And anyway, I don’t think that’s really important. I’m just supposed to take you to your appointment.” Jimin leaned in, practically pressing his nose to hers even though they were still walking. “Besides, did you really want to go to another company dinner? I thought you were over that nonsense.”

Ana sighed, nodding her head resolutely. “You’re right. But you know how it is. I have to keep up appearances and all that bullshit.”

“Again,” he said slowly, looking at her as he slowed their pace some, “I thought you were over that.”

She puffed one of her cheeks out at him. “Well, what the hell else am I supposed to do?”

“You could always quit that job.”

They were completely stopped now.

“Ha!” she balked at him, unable to hide how big her eyes were getting behind her glasses, “okay, sure. And then I’ll have to move back to the States.” She shook her head. “I’d rather not.”

Jimin watched as she seemed to finally be taking a look at where they’d stopped at. It was only a few blocks away from her actual building. She probably hadn’t realized they’d walked all that way. Jimin urged her to release his arm so he could open the door, ushering her inside.

It looked like a standard office building, just like any other. The difference was the emblem emblazoned in the main lobby. A secretary looked up just as they entered and smiled to Jimin. He bowed his head politely and she buzzed them in where they were able to gain access to the elevators. Once inside, he swiped his keycard and pressed the number to the topmost floor.

“Jimin-ah,” called Ana, dropping the polite form of address which, in turn, caused him to turn his head to look at her. She appeared genuinely confused and a little worried. “...do you really work here now?”

There was hesitation in her tone and it almost hurt Jimin a little. Not that he could blame her and he most certainly never would. But they weren’t just scruffy thugs anymore. They had bigger plans for themselves, just like Namjoon dreamed for them long all those years ago.

Reaching out to brush a few strands of her hair behind her ear, he smiled before gently poking her nose. She went cross-eyed for a second and he laughed.

“Yes, I really work here.”

The elevator dinged and he guided her out of the elevator when the doors opened. There was a single corridor they had to walk down and a set of large, redwood double doors on the other end of the hall. Two large door handles were fitted on the outside and Jimin pulled one open so that Ana could enter. She gave him another look, clutching her bag a little bit closer to her body. He smiled, urging her to continue forward.

“It’s okay, Ana Noona. I promise . Now, go inside.”

He watched her visibly swallow before smiling at him and then entering the door. When the door clicked closed, he took about three steps away from the door. In his mind, he pressed a finger to his chin and absentmindedly wondered how she would react upon seeing who was on the other side.

And then he heard the scream.

“W-Wait a minute!”

Jimin stifled an outburst of laughter with his hand, settling himself on a nearby waiting bench. He pulled out his phone and opened up his reading app, picking up where he left off in the Webtoon he’d been reading.

#bangtanarmynet #btswriterscorner #kmultiverse #smutcentralnet #bts imagines #bts mafia #bts mafia au #bts crime au #bts fanfic #bts fanfiction #bts biasrekkers #bts make it right #bts au fanfic #bts smut #BTS #bts ot7

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btsjimln · 6 years ago

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100 things Jimin has said or done that has made me believe he’s an angel roaming and existing on earth

Jimin got worried over the fact that dogs only see two colors

Jimin broke apart dog snacks so the dog named Miri could eat them safely

In his birthday vlive when a fan commented saying as long as Jimins happy I’m happy, jimin said no I’m happy only when you’re happy

In one run episode where the game was about keeping your balloon jimin accidentally popped Jins ballon, later on when Jimin had lost his ballon he found another one which he then decided to give it to Jin because he popped his previous one

At the LY tour Jimin stopped singing for a moment to check on a fan who had passed out, he crouched down and watched on as people helped the person and didn’t budge until he got a signal that the fan was for sure doing alright

At GMA a little girl got to meet bts, she started to cry when meeting them. Jimin went immediately to comfort her, he hugged her, he caressed her head he even carried her across the stage because she wouldn’t let go of him

When asked in an interview who the best dancer Jimin did a whole show, jumping out of his seat, getting down on his knees and pointing at Hoseok, having Hoseok smiling and laughing at him

The owner of the calico cat (Curry) that was in the serendipity video said that before shooting the video Jimin wanted to get closer to Curry so that Curry wouldn’t feel nervous during the shootings

One of the staff members even mentioned that Curry might scratch him but jimin said that it’s okay even if she scratches him

Jimin heard if you kissed stingrays they will grant u luck so he kissed a stingray multiple times to grant enough luck for all of us

At the soribada awards one of camera men accidentally bumped into Jimin even though Jimin was in the middle of perfoming, he stopped up for a second and made sure the camera man who bumped into him was doing okay

Jimin once said said because Jungkook’s room is close to Jimin’s and because Jimin is the type to go to bed very late he tends to walks past Jungkook’s room to make sure he’s washed up before bed or turned his light off for him if he’s fallen asleep and forgot to do it

In a run epsiode where bts were to make kimchi, after struggling with making it Jimin commented on how he didn’t realize how much work was put into it and how from now on he’ll buy his mom kimchi instead of having her make it

Behind the scenes of the idol mv Jimin found a bug that was missing its leg he told it its a dangers place for it to be here and put it to the side so it wouldn’t get crushed

In a vlive Jimin said how Hoseok told Jimin he could play games at night if wanted to because as mentioned earlier Jimin tends to go to bed late because he can’t fall asleep for some reason and he tends to get bored of just being on his phone but Jimin said he doesn’t want to do it he doesn’t want the sounds to wake him up especially if the day’s been rough and Hoseok has made effort to go to bed in time

Jimin believes aliens exist and said that even though it wouldn’t do much for him if they existed the thought just makes him happy for some reason

Jimin always makes sure to go to each member’s solo project schedules no matter how early or how late the hours are to support them

During a run game where they were supposed to pick clothes for a member Jimin made sure to choose two pair of outfits one for a smaller frame one for a bigger frame (as well as a third one as a special)

During the promotion week of the Answer album Jimin got barely any sleep to the point where people could hear members encouraging Jimin to fight on before a performance yet you can’t see in the performances if he was tired or not because he always gave every performance his all

Whenever a member gets a punishment in run bts Jimin is more likely than not the person to offer himself to go with them: example he offered himself to go with Namjoon to climb a mountain when he seemed apprehensive about it,

he offered to even go with Jin in run bts when Jin said he’ll walk his way to the house they were staying in if it meant the rest got a treat

In the same run episode Jimin noticed Jin was getting tired of walking up the hill so he gave him a piggy back ride although jimin obviously got tired from it, when Jin asked him if he was tired he denied it

Not only that but in that same run episode Jimin had tried multiple times to play games to win drinks for bts

He even offered himself in the same run episode to peal Yoongi’s egg who said he really liked the egg but it was hard to peal it

In another run episode Jin joking said I’m upset because he was losing a game jimin heared him and asked him are up upset hyung, even gave him a finger heart to make him smile

At a recent performance Jimin saw Jin standing off to the side quietly so he quickly went to him and spread his arms out to hug him

Jimin said that the reason as to why he started to take Polaroid picture is because he wanted to save moments and memories with the members when there weren’t cameras around

When they first started out and struggled with money Jimin still got Hoseok a pair of very good shoes and it’s still a present Hoseok cherishes and keeps today

He also got Jungkook a bag so he wouldn’t have to carry around such a heavy one as his previous one was he even got Namjoon clothes because it seemed to be his style

K media even pointed out how Jimin is always giving thoughtful birthday presents to members and putting their tastes into consideration (like a bag for Jungkook, cardigan for Namjoon, hoodie for Jin etc) They also pointed out how Jimin was always the one who is holding a cake on their bday videos

In Taehyung’s birthday bangtan bomb when eating Taehyung’s cake JImin knew that Hoseok doesn’t like sour flavors and since the cake had sour toppings on it Jimin seemed concerned about whether he’d be able to eat it. Hoseok looked really touched at the comment but said it’ll be okay but Jimin still told him which one’s he should eat to avoide the sour flavors

In a Bangtan bomb Jimin checked up on everyone and went to each members bed and wished them a good night, he even stroked Jungkook’s hair lovingly while wishing him a good night softly

Because Jungkook recently injured himself he wasn’t able to dance along with the rest during the performances, at one point while they were performing Jungkook got so upset he started crying, Jimin who was all the way across the opposite side of the stage stopped performing and ran to Jungkook to comfort him

Jimin also said the same day in regards of Jungkook’s injury “ I know you all are worried about Jungkook, but if Jungkook goes home like this today, all he'll do is cry. on three, everyone say I LOVE YOU JUNGKOOK”

Jimin stayed by Jungkook’s side during the concert where he was injured comforting and cheering him up for more than a minute and leaving only when Taehyung came to make him company

Jimin stood with Jungkook when he was injured, he sang for him and with him, he made him laugh and smile he held onto him while he was crying with the most endearing look on his face to exist

In a bon voyage episode Jimin and Namjoon had to walk uphill Jimin made a comment on how he felt bad for the staff because they had to carry heavy equipment up with them

In a bon voyage episode Jimin and Jungkook bought slushies for the staff that were with them, Jimin went up to the staff and made sure everyone got one by asking them mupltiple times about it

In a bon voyage epsiode Jimin said that as a child he wanted to be a pirate and he promised his mom he’d be the number one swordsman in the world, he didn’t know pirates were bad back then and felt embarassed confessing it

Jimin said if he could have any job he’d be a cop

Jimin once took pictures of graffit art that said things like fuck you and literally went and changed it so it would say i love you he even went and cropped out an inappropriate part of another graffiti picture

When Jimmy Fallon fell down to the floor from laughing Jimin quickly made sure he was’t hurt and asked him how he was doing (albeit such a simple thing I found it endearing he’d do this when this is one of his most common habits)

In one run epsiode even though Jimin solved most of the puzzles for his team at the end of it he said teamwork is the most important thing and gave his team all the creds for it

In a run episode where they were to make and drink coffee Jimin knew Taehyung doesnt drink coffee and he made sure that everyone knew about it. he even asked the instructor if Tae could make a hot chocolate instead

During an episode of Bon voyage Jin was too busy cooking food to eat Jimin quickly called him over when he noticed it and told him to have some even made sure to feed him some pieces before it was all eaten

In a episode of bv where Taehyung had yet to arrive there, when someone said something about how this was a friendship trip Jimin got upset and asked how is this a friendship trip if Taehyung is missing he said Taehyung has to be here for it to be a friendship trip

When Jin and Jimin were ordering sandwhiches Jin ordered first 7 until he remembered they were 6 and you could clearly see Jimin got upset over the fact that Taehyung wasn’t here he even graoned and said come on Taehyung

Because Yoongi had a private emergency while they were filming bv he had to leave. Hours after Yoongi left bts were back home playing their own songs, when Yoongi’s part came on Jimin quickly went out his room and said Yoongi hyung i miss you

When Taehyung asked what the biggest room is in the bon voyage house they were staying in Jimin got too excited and quickly told him which room is the biggest even though the rest of the members agreed to not tell him got really embarrassed and made the cutest face to exist

Jimin didn’t take any sides in tae and jins fight that happened in burn the stage instead he showed them both what they did wrong and adviced them how to go from there

Later on, before their concert, Jimin noticed that Taehyung was visibly still upset over the fight before so he went up hugged him and even gave him a pep talk

In burn the stage when Jin and Taehyung were fighting everyone left them to talk in private but Jimin stayed although hidden in the back and out of view for them, once they were done he walked out and offered to get food togeher he even microwaved the food for them

when Jungkook neeeded paramedic assistance Jimin stood to the side and let them do their job but he wouldn’t leave until he knew Jungkook was doing better

Jimin kept talking about how he was thankful they choose to go to Malta for Bon Voyage after he had seen how pretty the moon looked there

In one epsiode Jimin even kept talking excitedly about how he spent a whole afternoon just talking with the cats in the area of Malta

During Buzzfeed’s puppy interview they got a puppy who was quiet shy and timid Jimin soon took him in his arms he played with him for most the interview and gave him kisses and cuddles when he put him down to go to other members the puppy wouldn’t budge and went back to his arms even when the interview was ending and he was putting him down the puppy went back to his arms

Even though Jimin first said in the summer package that when he first heard they were going to see stingrays he was kind of scared but he still felt he wanted to pet them and kiss them and he found it endearing how sweet they were being when you tickled them

Jimin said whenever he does a vlive he feels like he has to prepare himself before doing it and that’s why he takes so long to come on there and apologaized for it

In an episode of run bts Taehyung got sad after hitting the ball in the wrong direction when playing badminton, he started to walk away. jimin saw it and quickly called him and held his hand to comforting him

Someone once called jimin perfect on vlive he genuinely looked confused and asked perfect? how?

whenever jimin falls on stage he’s quick to brush it off and move on from it but whenever someone else falls on stage like tae did for example in the recent concert he wouldn’t take his eyes from him until he was assured Taehyung was doing okay

In a vlive Jimin did with Jin, when saying goodnight he made sure to say goodnight to fans in as many different time zones as possible

When arriving at the Billboard music awards, while the rest were in awe of all the fans that were waiting outside for them, and even the signs that were there for them, Jimin was concered over the fact that they were out waiting in the heat and how it must’ve been like waiting

Jimin also once went to apologaize to all fans who were waiting outside for them to perform, he said it must be hard for them and that they should’ve hurried to get ready and perfom faster, he felt bad and felt like he keeps having fans wait for them

Jimin gave away 60 signed cds of his for all the 60 students at the elementary school he once went to and even paid for the uniforms for the kids that were entering middle school that year

Jimin and tae both gave away their clothes to an organization that sells celebrity clothes and where the profits go to children

Jimin once bought 50 kimbaps when for just dance academy students when they were having their recital last year

a student from jimins elementary school also said said jimin personally called the school and said he wanted to sponsor the graduates scholarships

Taking care of Jungkook is literally is one of the things jimin put on his ‘small but definite happiness list’

In one bv episode you can see jimin walking to Jungkooks room, waking him up asking him if he went to bed immediately when jungkook said yes he praised him for it he even told him to be careful with his joints in the morning when he was stretching

In the summer package jimin asked tae if he could make a snack for him whilst tae was making a snack for himself which tae did Tae was watching something when doing this for Jimin so Jimin found it endearing that he’d bother to do this for him when in the middle of something and kept patting his head and cooing and prasing him

When asked who his favorite member is jimin said that all of the members help him or advice him in one way or another’s that if he has a problem they all deal with it together

During the past few ly concerts Jimins has had aches in his back but he didn’t say anything and kept pushing on perfoming

In Jimin’s and Jin’s recent vlive jimin absently said because theyre having dinner in Jimins rooom jins room won’t have to smell of food

when guest starring in please take care of my refrigerator Jin said Jimin’s been a humble person ever since he was born

When in bv Jimins group didn’t have money to pay for their fairy jimin quicky told them to take his wallet to pay with it

When hobi was shooting videos for his mixtape jimin went and visited him and even brought him a gift

this one time jimin told taehyung “even if i cant help you i can give you strenght”

At the backstage of billboard music awards Jimin talked about how he was very nervous to deliver his award speech but he kept on thinking if they win this award he has to deliver this message

Jimin once spent a good amount of time trying trying to read on trashcans if the trash bin contains non-biodegradables so he could throw rj’s plastic packaging

During an interview with Grammy museum, when the interviewer mentioned the fans jimin got the most endearing smile on his face turned to the crowd and smiled at them, he even decided to answer the question that was fan related

when asked to choose between people plants or pets jimin choose people and pets

Jimin wrote a letter to yoongi telling him to take care of himself and rest well and that he worries about him and his body when hes over working himself for things

When playing around with yeontan jimin wanted to give him a snack but he first went and called tae to ask if it was okay to do it before he gave him it

As jimin was perfoming at the ly tour he saw a fan cry he told them to not cry to smile and that they(bts) loves them

During the time tae was away in bv jimin kept him updated with what was happening with videos and photos

When doing a vlive jimin noticed a lot of people being worried about him in the comments he quickly adressed it and told them to not worry that he’s eating well and taking care of himself

Even in an interview jimin told fans that they’re all taking care of themselves and eating well and to not worry about them

in one run epsiode hobi was making food on the grill and when jimin noticed he was struggling he went to help him, even when hobi didn’t ask for him to get him scissors he literally ran all the way to the kitchen to get them

In a vlive Jimin said he likes being around his members he wants to be around with them. he like being together with them.

Even as Jimin was leaving his hotel even as he was passing by with a car he made sure to great armys who are waiting outside for them

When signing things Jimin blew on his autograph extra well making sure its nice and dry so it won't smudge before moving on with the next item

Whenever he’s drawing something for us he spends hours upon hours into it, putting a lot of time and effort into it and once spent a whole day drawing a page for their colorbook

namjoon said jimins a person who needs lots of love and attention

jimin said he wants to be know for his sincer heart

In a vlive jimin said that perfoming at the Bilboatds isn’t everyone gets to do you can see he was really honored and touched by getting the chance to perfom there

when tae arrived to the bv location jimin kept holding him, holding his hand, telling him he loves him and excitedly chatting with him

jimin really doesn’t like to do vlives alone solely because he enjoys constantly being surronded by his members and when they arent around he misses them

Jimin got a water bottle for seokjin which BTS ended up sharing between them all jimin waited patiently but ended up being last and getting a tiny bit of it

at a ly concert jimin kept comforting the fans that were crying on one side then when he himself ended up crying later on he came to that side and cried

jimin is the most amazing wonderful thoughtful considerate person there is he would literally give the clothes off of his back if you asked for it his heart is as pure as his soul he has the biggest heart and the purest soul in the world he deserves all the good this world can give and more

#me: im late im larte please be 100 thigs

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