#TELL ME WHY WHEN I REACHED THE LAST FRAME TO DRAW FOR THIS I HAD A MOMENT OF I FORGOR HOW TO DRAW SHADOW?

[lowpolyshadow]

here’s my funny behind the scenes where i pick these frames to show bc i like them

[kiemiu]

' 𝓟𝑹𝑬𝑻𝑻𝒀 𝓟𝑰𝑪𝑨𝑺𝑺𝑶 '

pairing kang sae-byeok x fem!reader | wc: 9k+

synopsis kang sae-byeok, a quiet, brooding, girl who keeps to herself has an entire sketchbook dedicated to you. her infatuation stretches across multiple pages yet she struggles to talk to you, until her best friend, ji-yeong finds out and gives her the push she needs.

genre fluff, angst, heavy pining | warnings none really.

masterlist | enjoy <3

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐋 library was quiet, save for the soft rustle of pages and the faint tapping of fingers on keyboards. Sae-byeok sat at the far corner of the room, head bent over her sketchbook. The sunlight streaming through the window fell across her dark hair, but her focus remained entirely on the pencil gliding across the paper.

She was drawing you again.

It had become a habit—sketching your soft smile, the way your hair frames your face, or the sparkle in your eyes when you laughed. Her crush on you was anything but subtle to her own heart. If someone were to flip through her sketchbook, it would be embarrassingly obvious just how much she liked you.

Lost in the depth of her work, Sae-byeok failed to notice Ji-yeong slipping into the seat beside her until she let out a low whistle.

“What’s this, Sae-byeok?” Ji-yeong’s teasing voice cut through the silence, making Sae-byeok freeze.

“Nothing,” Sae-byeok muttered quickly, snapping her sketchbook shut and glaring at Ji-yeong, who was already grinning wide like a Cheshire cat.

“Oh no, no, no.” Ji-yeong leaned over, her quick hands darted to snatch the sketchbook before Sae-byeok could blink. “If it’s nothing, then why do you look so guilty?” she asked, her figure rising out of the seat to create room between the two.

“Ji-yeong, give it back,” Sae-byeok hissed, her voice low yet sharp. Her face began to turn red.

Ji-yeong flipped the sketchbook open and gasped dramatically. “Wait, wait, wait… are these… drawings of her?” Her voice rose slightly, earning a glare from the librarian, but Ji-yeong didn’t care. She looked between the detailed sketches and Sae-byeok, her grin widening. “You’re so in love it’s pathetic!”

“Shut up,” Sae-byeok growled, reaching towards Ji-Yeong to try and grab the sketchbook, but Ji-yeong held it out of reach, trying to muffle her laughter with one hand as the sketchbook, one of Sae-Byeoks’ most prized possessions, dangled carelessly from her other hand.

“I mean, look at this!” Ji-yeong waved the sketchbook around, flipping through the pages. “This one’s from that time she wore her hair down last week, isn’t it? And this one—oh my god, you even got the way her eyes crinkle when she smiles. You’re fucking obsessed, dude!”

Sae-byeok slumped back in her chair, groaning in defeat. “Ji-yeong, I swear, if you don’t shut up—”

“Or what? You’ll glare at me like you do to everyone else? Face it, Sae-byeok, you’re a lovesick puppy.” Ji-yeong chuckled, before finally setting the sketchbook back down in front of her friend. “It’s cute, though. You’re usually so cold and distant, but around her, you’re a total marshmallow.”

“I’m not,” Sae-byeok muttered as she sank further into her seat, but her flushed face betrayed her.

“Oh, you are,” Ji-yeong teased, propping her chin in her hand and smirking. “You should just tell her, you know. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Sae-byeok shot her a withering look. “You mean besides her thinking I’m a complete creep and never talking to me again?”

Ji-yeong rolled her eyes. “Please. She’s way too nice for that. And honestly, I think she’d be flattered—have you seen the way she looks at you? You could be talking about the price of milk and she’s still be all googly-eyed—I’m telling you, there’s hope for you two.”

Sae-byeok shook her head, muttering under her breath. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

But Ji-yeong only grinned wider, leaning closer to whisper conspiratorially. “Fine, don’t believe me. But if you keep staring at her like that, she’s eventually gonna be able to tell you like her. Might as well get ahead of it sooner than later and confess.”

Sae-byeok glared at her, but Ji-yeong just winked and leaned back in her chair. “You’re lucky I’m such a good friend,” she said. “I could’ve shown her your little sketchbook and really embarrassed you.”

Ji-Yeong’s empty threat made Sae-byeok’s eyes widen in alarm, making Ji-yeong laugh in return, holding her hands up in mock surrender. “Relax, I wouldn’t actually do that to you. But seriously, you need to make a move, Sae-byeok. You’re too talented to keep something like this hidden forever. And you're a catch, any girl would be lucky to have you fawn over them.”

With a gentle pat on Sae-Byeok's shoulder, Ji-yeong walked off, slightly chuckling to herself. Sae-byeok sighed and glanced down at her sketchbook. Her latest sketch of you stared back at her, the delicate lines capturing the softness she saw every time she looked at you.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

The classroom buzzed faintly with activity, but Sae-Byeok’s entire world had narrowed down to two things: protecting her sketchbook from Ji-yeong’s meddling and trying not to combust from embarrassment. Ji-yeong, ever the troublemaker, was still smirking like she had just uncovered the most scandalous secret of the century.

“You can’t keep doing this forever, you know,” Ji-yeong said, leaning closer with a knowing look. “Eventually, she's going to figure it out. And when she does, wouldn’t you rather it be because you told her and not because she caught you staring at her for the hundredth time?”

“I don’t stare,” Sae-byeok snapped, her cheeks heating up again.

Ji-yeong arched an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed. “Oh, please. You’re practically a spotlight. Every time she walks into the room, your eyes are glued to her like you’re in some cheesy kdrama.”

Sae-byeok groaned, rubbing her temples as if that would make Ji-yeong disappear. “Why are you like this?”

“Because it’s fun,” Ji-yeong replied with a shrug, grinning mischievously. “Also, because I think you’d be cute together. You’re all cold and brooding, and she’s all sweet and sunshiney.” And as if a sudden revelation came to Ji-Yeong, a wide smile stretched across her face as she snapped her fingers and pointed at Sae-Byeok. “You're like those two care bears.”

“Can you stop talking?” Sae-byeok muttered, wishing the ground would swallow her whole.

But Ji-yeong wasn’t done yet. She propped her chin in her hand, glancing across the room at you before her eyes zeroed in on Sae-Byeok, her head tilting as if she was analyzing her. “You know, if you don’t make a move soon, someone else might.”

Sae-byeok froze. The thought of someone else confessing to you, seeing you smile at someone else the way she wished you’d smile at her, made her stomach twist uncomfortably.

Ji-yeong noticed the shift in her expression and leaned closer, her voice softer now. “Hey, I’m just teasing you, but seriously… I think you should go for it. You don’t have to confess right away. Just, I don’t know, talk to her? Start small.”

Sae-byeok’s gaze flicked to you again. You were still oblivious to the chaos happening on her side of the room, your head tilted slightly as you focused on your own notebook. You looked so peaceful, so effortlessly beautiful, and Sae-byeok felt her heart ache.

“I wouldn’t even know what to say,” Sae-byeok admitted quietly, her gaze drifting from you to her lap as she picked at her nails, a subtle pout covering her face.

Ji-yeong softened at her friend’s rare vulnerability. “Just be yourself. She already likes you as a person—you’re not invisible, you know. She says hi to you every time she sees you, and she smiles at you like you’re the only one in the room. You’re honestly not as hopeless as you think.”

Before Sae-byeok could respond, Ji-yeong suddenly sat up straighter, her mischievous grin returning. “Actually, why don’t we test that theory right now?”

“What? What are you—” Sae-byeok’s words caught in her throat as Ji-yeong raised her hand, waving enthusiastically in your direction.

“Hey!” Ji-yeong called out cheerfully, cupping her hands around her mouth, before starting to wave you over.

Sae-byeok’s heart nearly stopped. She grabbed Ji-yeong’s wrist to try and pull her back down to her seat, her eyes wide with panic. “Ji-yeong, no!”

But it was too late. You had already looked up from your notebook, your eyes meeting Ji-yeong’s first before shifting to Sae-byeok’s panicked form. A warm smile spread across your face as you gave a small wave back. “Hi, Ji-yeong! Hi, Sae-byeok!”

Sae-byeok felt like she was about to pass out. Her face was burning, and her throat felt tight as she tried to find something—anything—to say as you started to make your way over, completely oblivious to the emotional turmoil Sae-Byeok had been fighting beforehand.

Ji-yeong, ever the instigator, grinned and nudged Sae-byeok with her elbow. “Don’t be rude, Sae-byeok. Say hi back.”

Sae-byeok shot Ji-yeong a murderous glare before reluctantly looking back at you. “Hi,” she managed to mumble, her voice barely audible.

You tilted your head slightly, your smile softening. “Are you two working on something together?”

Ji-yeong’s grin widened, and Sae-byeok knew she was about to say something that’d make her want to crawl into a hole and die.

“I'm glad you asked! Sae-byeok here was just showing me some of her amazing drawings,” Ji-yeong said, her tone all too enthusiastic.

Sae-byeok’s eyes widened in horror. “Ji-yeong—”

“Really?” you asked, your curiosity piqued. You leaned forward slightly, your gaze flicking to the sketchbook in Sae-byeok’s firm grasp. “That’s so cool! Can I see?”

For a moment, Sae-byeok thought her soul had left her body. She clutched the sketchbook even tighter to her chest, shaking her head quickly. “It’s nothing,” she said, her voice a little too sharp. “Just… doodles.”

Ji-yeong let out a dramatic sigh, clearly disappointed that her plan had been thwarted. “She’s being shy,” she said to you with a playful wink. “But trust me, she’s really talented.”

You smiled at Sae-byeok, your eyes warm and genuine. “I’d love to see your work sometime, if you’re okay with it.”

Sae-byeok’s heart felt like it was about to explode. She could barely manage a nod, her voice completely failing her.

You didn’t seem to mind her awkwardness. You gave her another soft smile before turning your body to walk away. “No pressure,” you said kindly. “But I really mean it.”

As you settled back into your seat, Ji-yeong turned to Sae-byeok with a smug grin. “See? That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

Sae-byeok glared at her, but there was no real heat behind it. Her heart was still racing, and she couldn’t stop replaying your words in her head.

Maybe, just maybe, Ji-yeong was right. But for now, she was just grateful you didn’t think she was a complete weirdo who lacked social skills.

The classroom’s normal buzz returned as everyone focused on their individual projects, but Sae-byeok felt like the room had closed in around her. Her heart still pounded erratically, and she couldn’t seem to shake the discomfort of her sweaty palms. Ji-yeong’s teasing, however, had slowed to a simmer as she watched Sae-byeok carefully, a knowing grin still lingering on her lips.

“You’re really bad at hiding it, you know,” Ji-yeong teased, nudging Sae-byeok’s arm. “You’re practically glowing after that.”

Sae-byeok tried to pretend she wasn’t utterly wrecked from the interaction, but her red cheeks were a dead giveaway. “I’m not glowing,” she muttered, her voice tight, her gaze fixed firmly on her sketchbook as if it would somehow protect her from the world and drown out the nonsense spewing from Ji-Yeong.

“Sure,” Ji-yeong said, unconvinced, her tone dripping with mischief. “You’re just that naturally red in the face.”

Sae-Byeok didn’t respond, instead focusing intently on her scribbles, wishing she could sink into the desk and disappear while Ji-yeong leaned back in her chair, still watching her with a knowing glint in her eyes.

“You know,” Ji-yeong continued after a beat, clearly enjoying Sae-byeok’s discomfort, “I think it’s time for you to stop hiding behind your sketches.”

“I’m not hiding,” Sae-byeok mumbled, her face still burning as she turned the page in her sketchbook, hoping to drown out the conversation by immersing herself in her drawings.

Ji-yeong only snickered in response. “Right. Sure, keep telling yourself that.” She didn’t seem bothered at all by Sae-byeok’s persistent awkwardness. “I don’t know why you’re so nervous. If you just talked to her—honestly talked to her—I bet she’d be thrilled. You two would be really cute together.”

Sae-byeok shot her a quick look but didn’t respond. Instead, she tried to focus on her work, picking up a pencil to sketch out another landscape. Every so often, her eyes would flicker toward you, who was still absorbed in your work, and she would quickly look away, heart pounding helplessly in the confines of her chest.

Ji-yeong noticed the shift in her gaze, of course. She nudged her again, this time more gently. “You should ask her to hang out sometime. Like… outside of class. That could give you a chance to, you know, actually talk to her.”

Sae-byeok’s heart lurched at the suggestion, but she just shook her head, silently hoping for the conversation to end. “I don’t know, Ji-yeong,” she muttered, barely louder than a whisper. “I just—I’m not good at that kind of thing.”

Ji-yeong smirked. “What? Talking to people?” She paused, leaning back with a feigned look of shock. “You, Kang Sae-byeok? Not good at talking to people? Impossible.”

Sae-byeok sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of her nose. “You’re impossible,” she muttered under her breath. Sae-Byeok felt her mind slowly start to wander back to the way you had smiled at her earlier, so soft and genuine and the way you’d mentioned how much you'd love to see her drawings sometime.

She replayed the conversation in her head over and over again. Despite her awkwardness, she realized you hadn’t seemed put off by her discomfort. If anything, you’d been kind, patient even. That small interaction, just a few words, felt like something monumental to her, even if it hadn’t been much at all.

Sae-byeok bit her lip, her resolve softening, even if just a little. Maybe Ji-yeong was right. Maybe it was time to stop hiding behind her art and finally take that step, even if it felt terrifying.

As if on cue, the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Sae-byeok quickly gathered her things, still deep in thought as Ji-yeong bounced up from her chair, stretching with a dramatic yawn before turning to her friend with a final departing message. “I’m telling you, Sae-byeok. Don’t wait too long. She’s waiting for you to make a move. I can tell.”

“I’ll think about it,” Sae-byeok muttered, too tired to argue.

Ji-yeong raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced, but she didn’t press. “Well, if you do decide to confess your undying love, at least tell me first so I can get some popcorn.”

Sae-byeok shot her a half-smile, though it was more out of exhaustion than amusement. “I’ll let you know,” she promised quietly.

As Sae-byeok walked out of the classroom, she couldn’t help but glance over at you one more time. You were packing up your things, completely unaware of the storm of emotions swirling inside her.

What would it be like to just say it? To tell you how she felt? It seemed almost impossible, but with Ji-yeong’s encouragement still ringing in her ears, she couldn’t help but wonder if maybe—just maybe—she could do it.

But not today, Sae-byeok thought. Not yet.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

The next day, Sae-byeok found herself at a crossroads. She had made it through the morning without embarrassing herself too badly, but now, as lunch started to approach, she couldn’t seem to escape the thoughts that kept floating around in her mind. You were sitting across the room, casually chatting with one of your friends, and Sae-byeok was once again fighting the urge to stare.

She finally decided to take a deep breath and turn the page of her sketchbook. It wasn’t much, just a quick sketch of the view from the classroom window, but it was something. It was one of five unfinished landscape drawings she had conjured in her sketchbook dedicated to you just in case someone were to ask to see what she was drawing.

Her fingers gently traced a line that bled through onto the paper from a previous sketch. Without needing to turn the page she easily recognized it was the curve of your jaw.

She looked up once more, to already see you looking right at her.

For a beat, neither of you moved, locked in an unexpected moment of eye contact. Sae-byeok’s heart leapt into her throat, but this time, she didn’t look away, even as you made your way towards her.

You smiled, soft and reassuring, as if you had known all along what she was thinking. “Your sketches are amazing, you know that?” you called out gently, breaking the silence.

And just like that, Sae-byeok’s world tilted once again. This time, though, she didn’t feel the overwhelming panic that she was used to.

She felt hope.

Sae-byeok’s heart skipped a beat, her grip tightening on her pencil as she tried to process your words. For a moment, she was frozen, as if her mind couldn’t catch up to her body. ‘ Did she just say that? '

You were still looking at her, your smile warm and genuine, and that made Sae-byeok’s breath catch in her throat. She had expected to be swallowed by her own embarrassment for not knowing how to open up her mouth and speak or drop her pencil and rush out of the room like she always did when she suddenly felt cornered. But this time? It was different. You were being… kind. And not just kind in the way people are to acquaintances. You were really noticing her.

Her mouth went dry as she finally managed to croak out a response. “Uh… thanks,” she said, her voice a little hoarse. She quickly looked back down at her sketchbook, feeling a rush of warmth flood her cheeks. There was no possible way she’d be able to look at you for more than a second without completely melting in her seat.

But then, you spoke again. “No, seriously. I think it’s really cool that you draw. I mean, I don’t know if I could ever do it. Maybe one day I could try, though?”

Sae-byeok’s eyes shot up to meet yours again, and this time, she didn’t look away. You were still smiling at her, and there was an openness in your expression that made her heart race all over again. You were… interested? In her art?

The weight of it hit her like a wave. She hadn’t expected this—any of this. She had always kept her feelings locked inside, bundled up in secret sketches no one ever saw. And yet, here you were, reaching out to her without hesitation.

“Maybe,” Sae-byeok replied softly, her voice a little steadier now. “If you ever want to try, I could show you… how I do some of it.”

Your eyes lit up even more, if that was even possible. “I’d love that! Maybe we could even sit together one day, and you could teach me some things? I think it’d be really fun.”

The offer was simple, and it shouldn’t have made Sae-byeok’s heart beat faster, but it did. Her mind raced with possibilities. Sitting together? Teaching her? The words felt too good to be true, like something out of a dream. She tried to keep her cool, but it was getting harder by the second.

Before she could respond, Ji-yeong appeared beside her, tapping her desk with a mischievous grin plastered on her face. “Well, well, well… what’s all this about teaching, huh?”

Sae-byeok’s heart jolted as she turned to look at her friend, who was clearly enjoying the scene. “Ji-yeong, please don’t,” she said, a hint of panic in her voice.

But Ji-yeong wasn’t backing down. “What? I’m just curious. Are we talking about art lessons? Or is this some kind of secret rendezvous? Because it looks like something very interesting is happening here.” she teased, her eyes flickering back and forth between you and Sae-byeok while her eyebrows lifted up and down suggestively.

You, to Sae-byeok’s relief, seemed unfazed by Ji-yeong’s teasing. Instead, you smiled and said, “I was just telling Sae-byeok how much I’d like to try drawing. I thought it could be fun if she helped me out.”

Sae-byeok blinked, surprised by how calm and unbothered you were. How casual you were about all of it, she couldn’t help but admire that.

“Hmm,” Ji-yeong said, crossing her arms with a playful smirk. “You two are practically a match made in art class, huh?”

Sae-byeok wanted to hide under the desk at that moment, but she couldn’t help but smile at Ji-yeong’s antics. Her teasing was annoying, but somehow, it felt less intense. It felt easy and light, possibly due to you smiling at her like you meant it. Like you were really excited to sit down and draw with her, your affection made the butterflies in Sae-Byeok’s stomach thrash around harder.

“Anyway,” Ji-yeong said, her tone lightening as she leaned back against the desk, “I think it’s a great idea. You should definitely teach her, Sae-byeok. Who knows? Maybe you’ll even turn her into a drawing expert.”

Sae-byeok chuckled softly, feeling a slight sense of relief wash over her. She wasn’t sure what had changed, but there was a comfort in the idea that maybe things weren’t as complicated as she’d made them out to be. Maybe it was okay to let things unfold naturally, one step at a time. Maybe—just maybe—she didn’t have to carry the crushing weight of her feelings alone anymore.

“Okay,” Sae-byeok said, her voice a little steadier. “We can do that. I’ll show you some basics next time we get a chance together.”

Your smile widened, and for a split second, Sae-byeok swore her heart stopped beating altogether. You weren’t just being polite anymore. There was something genuine, something real in your smile that made everything feel… possible.

“I can’t wait,” you said, your voice light and happy. “Thanks, Sae-byeok.”

And in that moment, it wasn’t just the words that made Sae-byeok’s chest tighten with hope. It was the way you looked at her, the way you said her name like it meant something special. Her name being something only she wanted you to say until the end of time.

Sae-byeok felt a sudden rush of emotions, a mixture of excitement, disbelief, and something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. She glanced down at her sketchbook, feeling a warm flush crawl up her neck. She had always kept her art to herself, hidden behind the privacy of her sketches, but now, someone else was showing interest. And not just anyone—you.

The quiet connection they had started to form felt so fragile, like it could slip away with just one wrong move. But in that moment, Sae-byeok couldn’t help but feel a quiet, hopeful joy stirring inside her, something she hadn’t allowed herself to feel in a long time.

Ji-yeong, ever the perceptive one, leaned in with a sly smile, watching the two of you closely. “Look at you two,” she teased, nudging Sae-byeok with her elbow. “You’re both smiling like this is the beginning of a rom-com or something.”

Sae-byeok couldn’t help but gently laugh at her friend’s antics, the tension in her chest easing as she realized Ji-yeong wasn’t teasing her with malicious intent—she was just happy to see her friend finally open up to someone that obviously meant a lot to her. Sae-byeok allowed herself a small, relieved smile.

“I’m just showing her how to draw,” Sae-byeok said quickly, her face growing warmer at the thought. She wasn’t sure what exactly it was she was feeling, but she didn’t want to say the wrong thing.

“Sure, sure,” Ji-yeong said with a wink. “But don’t forget to give her the advanced lessons. You’ve got some serious skills, girl.”

You smiled softly at their banter, the warmth of your gaze never leaving Sae-byeok. “I’m looking forward to it,” you said, the sincerity in your voice making her heart race again.

Sae-byeok found it hard to focus on anything else as you sauntered away to your next class. She was too busy replaying that moment over and over in her mind, trying to understand the new reality that seemed to be taking shape between the two of you.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Over the next few days, Sae-byeok found herself thinking about the lesson she’d promised. Every time she saw you, her heart would flutter—especially when you greeted her with that same bright, open smile and expressed your enthusiasm for the upcoming day. It was as if the whole world had shrunk down to only the two of you, and for the first time in a while, she felt seen. Not just as a quiet, reserved person, but as someone with something to offer. Something valuable, something worth sharing.

Friday arrived faster than she expected, and Sae-byeok had found herself preparing with a nervous excitement she couldn’t quite shake. She’d carefully packed her sketchbook that she left untouched and a few pencils, not knowing exactly how much she should teach you or how to act around you. The idea of sitting down together, the two of you sharing space, was both exhilarating and terrifying.

When she entered the classroom, you were already there, sitting at one of the desks near the back, casually flipping through your own sketchbook. You looked up as she approached, and your smile widened, like you’d been waiting for this moment just as much as she had.

“Hey!” you greeted, the warmth in your voice making her heart skip again. “Ready for our art lesson?”

Sae-byeok blinked, feeling a rush of nerves flood her system, but she pushed it down. “Yeah. I—uh—brought some stuff to get started,” she said, her voice slightly unsteady.

You gestured to the empty seat beside you. “Awesome! Let’s get started then. I’m all yours.”

Sae-byeok sat down, her breath catching as she set her sketchbook between you. There was an electric kind of silence between you for a moment, both of you adjusting to the new dynamic. Sae-byeok could feel the weight of your presence beside her, the quiet attention you gave her as she opened her sketchbook. It felt strange—intimate, almost—but also strangely comforting.

“Okay, um,” she began, clearing her throat to shake off the nerves, “let’s start with something simple. A basic sketch of a still life. It’s a good way to practice proportion and—and shading.”

You nodded eagerly. “Sounds great.”

Sae-byeok set up a few items—a small plant, an empty coffee cup, and a pen—to use as subjects for the exercise. As she demonstrated, showing you how to sketch the outlines and focus on light and shadow, she started to feel a little more at ease being in her element. You watched her closely, following her instructions, there was a relaxed atmosphere between the two of you. No pressure, no expectations—just two people sharing a moment of teaching and learning together.

“Okay, your turn,” she said after a while, glancing at the rough lines you’d sketched on your paper. “Try drawing the cup first. Don’t worry too much about getting it perfect—just focus on the shapes.”

You nodded again, picking up your pencil and starting to draw, while Sae-byeok leaned back a little, giving you space. She watched you, her gaze softening as you concentrated, your tongue poking out slightly in concentration. There was something so endearing about the way you threw yourself into it, not caring if it was perfect, but simply enjoying the process.

“I think you’re a natural,” she said after a few minutes, and you looked up at her, surprised.

“Really?” you asked, your voice light with amusement. “I feel like I’m butchering it.”

Sae-byeok chuckled. “No way. You’re just getting started. But the way you’re shading—it’s pretty good for a beginner.”

You smiled at her praise, and Sae-byeok’s heart did another flip. She wasn’t used to being so direct with compliments, but it felt good. It felt natural with you, everything did.

“I’ll take your word for it,” you replied, grinning, before returning your focus to your sketch.

For the rest of the lesson, you worked side by side, the quiet exchange of glances and small words making the space feel warmer than it had any right to be. Sae-byeok didn’t feel awkward or self-conscious anymore. Instead, she felt like she was exactly where she was meant to be—right next to you, teaching you something she loved, but also learning about you in the process.

When the bell rang, signaling the end of class, you closed your sketchbook with a satisfied sigh, your face lighting up in a way that made Sae-byeok’s chest tighten. “I had a lot of fun today. Thanks for showing me how to do this,” you said sincerely.

Sae-byeok smiled back, her heart swelling with a mixture of pride and something deeper. “You did great. You’re a quick learner.”

You both stood up, gathering your things, and Sae-byeok was surprised when you hesitated for a moment before speaking again. “Hey, maybe we can do this again sometime? I mean, if you want to.”

Sae-byeok felt a flutter in her chest. “I’d like that,” she said before she could stop herself, her voice quiet but steady. “We could—um—work on some more advanced stuff next time. If you’re up for it.”

You smiled warmly, your eyes lighting up. “Definitely. I can’t wait.”

As Sae-byeok left the classroom, her heart was racing again, but this time, it wasn’t just nerves. It was excitement, anticipation for what could come next.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

The days that followed felt like a dream to Sae-byeok. Every time she saw you, her heart would skip a beat. The little moments between the two of you—those quiet exchanges of smiles and brief conversations—made her feel lighter, as if she was walking on air. She didn’t even need to try to hide her excitement anymore. It was like you had unlocked a side of her she didn’t know existed, a side that was eager and open to new possibilities.

Soon enough, the next art lesson arrived, and Sae-byeok was exhilarated by just the thought of it. She’d spent the last few days thinking about what you could work on, wondering how she could guide you through the steps. She didn’t want to overwhelm you, but she also wanted to push you just enough to see how much you could grow. And in turn, she could grow alongside you, learning how to be more comfortable with herself and with the space between you.

When you arrived, there was that same bright smile on your face, the one that always made her heart race. “Hey, ready for round two?” you asked, a playful glint in your eyes.

Sae-byeok smiled back, feeling a warmth spread through her chest. “Yeah, I’ve got a new challenge for you today.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Oh? A challenge, huh? I’m ready for it.”

Sae-byeok’s heart fluttered as she pulled out a reference image from her bag—a simple but detailed image of a vase with flowers. “Let’s try something a little more complex today. A still life, but with more detail. You’ll have to pay attention to shadows and perspective.”

You glanced at the image, your expression thoughtful. “That looks… like a lot. But I think I can do it, show me the ropes.”

Sae-byeok couldn’t help but lightly laugh at your enthusiasm. It was contagious, and it made her feel more confident as your guide. She set the image on the desk between the both of you and began to guide you through the process step by step.

“First,” she said, “let’s break it down. Don’t worry about getting every detail right at once. Just focus on the general shape and proportion first. The lines will help you find your way.”

You nodded, pencil in hand, and began sketching out the basic shapes of the vase and flowers. Sae-byeok watched you work, feeling a quiet satisfaction knowing that she was the one helping you learn. It was a strange feeling, but it made her feel good—like she was making a difference, no matter how small.

As the lesson progressed, you asked questions here and there, and Sae-byeok was more than happy to answer. With each step, you seemed to get more confident, your lines becoming steadier, your shading more deliberate. Sae-byeok couldn’t help but admire how much you were improving in such a short amount of time.

“Looking good,” she commented after a while, her voice warm with encouragement. “You’re really getting the hang of it.”

You glanced up at her, your eyes sparkling with pride. “Thanks to you. You’re a great teacher.”

Sae-byeok felt a blush creeping up her neck at the compliment, but she quickly deflected. “It’s all you. You’re a fast learner.”

As you continued working, the silence between you felt comfortable. There was no pressure, no awkwardness. It was just the two of you, working on art and talking about anything and everything. At one point, you even asked her about her favorite artists, and for the first time in a long time, Sae-byeok found herself talking about her passion without hesitation. She had always kept it private, but with you, it felt easy to share.

“Who’s your favorite?” she asked, curious.

You thought for a moment. “I really like the impressionists. Something about the way they use light and color just…I don't know, it speaks to me.”

Sae-byeok smiled. “I get that. Monet’s work is amazing, especially the way he paints landscapes.”

You nodded enthusiastically. “Exactly! I’ve always wanted to try painting like that.”

Sae-byeok’s eyes softened, and without thinking, she said, “Maybe one day we could try painting together. If you want to.”

The offer hung in the air between you, and for a moment, Sae-byeok’s heart skipped a beat. She couldn’t believe she had said that. It wasn’t like her to be so open, but she couldn't help it, you had just made everything so easy.

Your face lit up, and you nodded immediately. “I’d really love that. I think that’d be amazing.”

The class came to an end too quickly for Sae-byeok’s liking, and when the bell rang, she felt a wave of reluctance wash over her. She didn’t want this moment to end. But as you packed your things, you turned to her with that same bright smile.

“Thanks for today, Sae-byeok. I had a great time. Let’s do this again soon, okay?”

Sae-byeok’s heart melted as she nodded. “Of course. Anytime.”

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

As time carried on and your sessions became more frequent, your curiosity for what relied beneath the depths of Sae-Byeok’s sketchbook lingered insistently in the back of your mind.

The sun was setting, casting golden light across the room as you sat cross-legged on the floor of the art room with Sae-byeok. Her sketchbook, as always, was tucked securely into her bag, far out of reach, and in its place.

“Make sure you're holding the pencil lightly,” she said, adjusting your grip with her steady hands. Her touch was careful, deliberate. “If you keep pressing too hard, it’ll be difficult to erase mistakes.”

You nodded, trying to focus on the drawing in front of you—a simple landscape with a cherry blossom tree in the middle was what she had placed as reference. Yet your curious eyes kept wandering back to her bag, where her precious sketchbook remained hidden away. You had always admired her art, her ability to bring life to paper, but no matter how many times you asked, she always refused to show you what was in that sketchbook.

“Sae-byeok,” you said teasingly, glancing up at her. “You know, it’s really unfair that you’re teaching me how to draw, but you won’t let me see your best work.”

She stiffened slightly, her pencil pausing mid-stroke on her own paper. “It’s not ready,” she said, her tone clipped. “I told you, it’s just random doodles and practice.”

You frowned, setting your pencil down. “Practice for what? You’re already amazing. I don’t get why you’re hiding it from me.”

Sae-byeok avoided your gaze, the faintest hint of pink creeping up her neck. “It’s personal,” she muttered. “Can we just focus on your drawing?”

You sighed, letting the subject drop—for now. But the curiosity gnawed at you. What could she possibly be drawing that she didn’t want you to see?

The session continued, the two of you falling into a comfortable rhythm, but as the evening wore on, Sae-byeok’s phone wouldn't stop buzzing on the table, making her frown before standing abruptly. “I’ll be right back,” she murmured apologetically before grabbing her phone. “Keep practicing.”

You watched her leave the room, her footsteps fading down the hall. Your gaze drifted back to her bag, left carelessly open in her rush. The corner of her sketchbook peeked out, and your heart skipped a beat. It wasn’t like Sae-byeok to be so careless with her belongings, the phone call completely gaining all of her attention to just leave everything behind, especially her sketchbook.

Your curiosity got the better of you. Hesitantly, almost guiltily, you reached over and pulled the sketchbook from her bag. Your hands trembling as you flipped it open, half-expecting to find technical practice sketches or random doodles like she said, but what you found was something entirely different.

The first page stopped you cold: it was a drawing of you. The details were unmistakable—your smile, the way your hair fell across your face, the sparkle in your eyes. You stared at it, stunned, before turning the pages.

Another sketch. This time, it was you and Sae-byeok, sitting together on a park bench, her arm draped casually around your shoulders. The next one showed you both in a coffee shop, leaning in close, sharing a laugh.

Your heart raced as you flipped through page after page. The drawings grew more intimate—her figure wrapped around yours in a desperate hug, the two of you sharing a quiet moment under a starry sky. And then, near the back of the sketchbook, was the one that took your breath away: the two of you standing at an altar, dressed in wedding attire, exchanging vows. The detail was immaculate, down to the way her hand cupped yours, the lace detailing on your dress, the sleekness of her plain yet elegant black suit, the soft, yet happy expressions on both of your faces.

You stared at the sketch, your emotions swirling. Sae-byeok had been imagining this—you and her, together, as more than friends. She had been hiding this entire side of herself, these feelings, in her art.

The sound of the door opening startled you, and you quickly looked up to see Sae-byeok standing in the doorway. Her eyes immediately locked onto the sketchbook in your lap, and her expression shifted from mild confusion to alarm.

“Y/N…” Her voice was barely above a whisper, but the panic in her tone was clear. She crossed the room in three quick strides, snatching the sketchbook from your hands.

"Sae-byeok, I..." You paused, trying to collect your thoughts. "I don't know what to say. This is... a lot."

Sae-byeok clutched the sketchbook to her chest, her face pale. “You shouldn’t have looked,” she muttered, her voice tight with fear. “Th— it wasn’t meant for you to see.”

At the sound of silence and realization striking down on her, Sae-Byeok couldn't help but feel an unwelcome dread wash over her. The way she snatched the book from you, the way she scolded you as if you were a small child with your hand in the cookie jar when she had been drawing pictures of you, she felt her resolve start to slip.

Sae-byeok's face fell even further, her eyes filled with regret as she fought back tears. "I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice breaking. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

You shook your head, your heart softening as you saw the pain in her eyes. "No, it's not that. It's just... I didn't expect this. I didn't know you felt this way."

Her eyes flickered to yours, and for a moment, you saw the vulnerability she worked so hard to hide. “Because I didn’t want to ruin things,” she admitted, her voice trembling slightly. “I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable, or—”

“You wouldn’t have,” you interrupted gently. “Sae-byeok, these drawings… they’re beautiful. And the fact that you’ve been imagining us like this…” You trailed off, your cheeks flushing. “It doesn’t make me uncomfortable. If anything, it makes me feel… special.”

Her eyes widened slightly, as if she couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing. “You’re not… mad?”

“Mad?” you repeated, shaking your head. “Of course not. I just wish you’d trusted me enough to tell me sooner.”

"I care about you, Sae-byeok. But I need to know if this is what you really want... or if you were just lost in your own thoughts." you add on, your voice soft, unwavering, and reassuring, the walls Sae-Byeok had built around her own heart slowly starting to break.

Her eyes widened at your words, as if she hadn't expected you to say that. Slowly, she stepped closer to you, her voice quiet but firm. "I want us to be something more. I—I don't want to hide anymore.”

“You mean a lot to me, Sae-byeok. And if you really feel this way then… maybe we could see where it goes. Together.”

For a long moment, she just stared at you, her guarded expression softening as your words sank in. Slowly, a small, tentative smile curved her lips. “You’d really want that?” she asked quietly, her voice wavering with uncertainty.

You smiled back, reaching out to rest a hand on her arm. “Yeah, I would.”

The tension between you melted away, replaced by something warm and new. Sae-byeok set the sketchbook down on the table, bringing her hand to rest against yours.. “Thank you,” she said softly. “For not running away.”

“I’d never run away from you,” you replied. “Not when you’ve been brave enough to share this with me.”

And as the two of you stood there, the unspoken feelings that had been hidden in her art finally brought into the open, you knew this was the start of something beautiful—something worth holding onto.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

. . UNCUT SCENE . .

Even after her slip up of leaving her sketchbook in the open for you to find her hidden confessions, the lessons still persisted on as usual. Friday soon became Sae-byeok’s favorite part of the week. With each art lesson, and each shared laugh, she felt the invisible wall she’d built around herself begin to crumble even more. You had a way of making her feel seen—really seen—and it terrified her as much as it thrilled her. She’d never been good at expressing herself, especially when it came to feelings. But lately, every time you smiled at her, every time you looked at her with those kind, genuine eyes, even after everything that had gone down between you two, she felt at peace, now with the thought that her feelings had been reciprocated.

It was after one of your usual lessons, the two of you lingering in the now-empty classroom, both of your sketchbooks spread out on the table. You were showing her a rough attempt at shading, and though you called it clumsy, Sae-byeok thought it was impressive for someone who’d just started. She tried to focus on giving you tips, but her mind kept wandering. The idea had been swirling in her head for days, and the longer she sat there beside you, the harder it became to ignore.

“Sae-byeok?” you said, pulling her from her thoughts. “Are you okay? You’ve been a little quiet.”

Her heart thudded in her chest at the concern in your voice. She quickly looked down at her hands, twisting her pencil nervously. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she mumbled, though her voice betrayed her nerves. “Just… thinking.”

You tilted your head, curiosity dancing in your eyes. “About what?”

Sae-byeok hesitated, her grip tightening on the pencil. Her pulse pounded in her ears, and she felt a wave of doubt wash over her. What if she ruined everything? What if you didn’t feel the same? But then she looked at you—at your warm, patient expression—and something inside her told her to take the chance.

“Um…” She cleared her throat, still unable to meet your gaze. “I was just… wondering if… maybe you’d want to—” Her words caught in her throat, and she took a shaky breath, forcing herself to continue. “If you’d want to… hang out. Outside of class.”

Her voice was barely above a whisper by the end, and her cheeks burned with embarrassment even with the knowledge of you reciprocating her feelings. She quickly glanced at you, and the slightly surprised look on your face made her want to crawl under the table. “I mean, you don’t have to!” she added quickly, her words tumbling out in a rush. “It’s just a thought. If you’re busy or not interested, that’s totally fine as well I—”

“I’d love to,” you interrupted, your voice soft but certain.

Sae-byeok froze, her eyes widening as she processed your words. “You… would?”

You smiled and nodded eagerly, the warmth in the motion made her chest tighten. “Of course. I think it’d be fun. Did you have something in mind?”

Her mind raced. She hadn’t thought that far ahead—she’d been so focused on just working up the courage to ask you that she hadn’t considered what would happen if you actually said yes. “Uh, maybe… coffee?” she offered, her voice shaky. “Or… or a movie? I mean, if you like movies…”

You laughed gently, and the sound was so light and genuine that it eased some of her nerves. “Coffee sounds perfect,” you said. “How about this weekend?”

Sae-byeok blinked, her heart skipping at the thought of spending time with you—just the two of you. She nodded quickly, afraid she’d lose her nerve if she didn’t. “Yeah. This weekend. That works.”

“Great,” you said, your smile softening as you met her gaze. “It’s a date.”

Her breath hitched at the word, and she felt her face grow even warmer. She didn’t dare correct you, though. Maybe—just maybe—it could be a date.

As you packed up your things and said goodbye, Sae-byeok watched you leave, her heart racing in her chest. She couldn’t believe she’d done it—she’d actually asked you out. And you’d said yes.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

The weekend arrived far faster than Sae-byeok was prepared for. She stood in front of the small mirror in her room, staring at her reflection and trying to decide, for the hundredth time, if she looked okay. Her dark hair was tucked neatly behind her ears, and she wore a simple sweater and jeans—nothing too fancy, but nice enough to show she’d put in some effort.

Her stomach churned with nervous energy as she smoothed her sweater for what felt like the millionth time. Was it too plain? Should she have worn something else? But everything else she’d tried on had felt wrong, and this was the only outfit that didn’t make her want to hide under her bed.

She let out a shaky breath, placing her hands on the dresser to steady herself. “Okay, Sae-byeok,” she muttered, her voice low and hesitant. “It’s just coffee. You can do this. It’s not a big deal. People go on coffee dates all the time.”

She bit her lip, her reflection staring back at her with wide, uncertain eyes. “But what if it is a big deal?” she whispered, the fear creeping in. “What if you mess it up? What if you say something stupid, and she never wants to talk to you again?”

Her hands tightened into fists against the dresser as the doubts swirled in her mind. She’d never done anything like this before—never let herself be vulnerable like this. And now, she was about to sit across from you and try to act like she wasn’t completely out of her depth.

She straightened up, gripping the edge of the mirror as if grounding herself. “No,” she said firmly, her voice a little stronger. “You’re overthinking it. She said yes because she wanted to spend time with you. That means something, right?”

Her reflection didn’t answer, but she took a shaky breath, trying to believe her own words. “Just be yourself,” she continued, her tone softening. “She already likes you enough to say yes. You don’t have to be perfect. Just… don’t run away.”

The faintest smile tugged at her lips as she imagined your smile, your warm eyes looking at her like she was someone worth noticing. That thought alone was enough to make her heart race, but it also gave her a flicker of courage.

“You can do this,” she whispered, her voice almost a plea. “You’re strong. You’ve been through worse than this. And maybe… maybe this is your chance to finally have something good.”

With that, she gave herself one last look in the mirror, straightened her sweater again, and grabbed her bag. As she headed out the door, her nerves still buzzed under her skin, but there was a spark of hope that kept her moving forward.

And as she made her way to the café, she repeated one thought in her mind over and over: You can do this. You’re enough.

Sae-Byeok reached the café ten minutes early, her heart hammering in her chest as she approached the glass door. She hesitated for a moment, catching sight of her reflection in the glass. She adjusted her sweater again, tucking her hair behind her ears for what felt like the hundredth time. Her palms were damp, and she wiped them on her jeans before finally stepping inside.

The cozy atmosphere was filled with the comforting scent of freshly brewed coffee and quiet chatter. Sae-byeok scanned the room quickly, hoping you hadn’t arrived yet. To her relief, the table near the window you’d suggested was still empty. She let out a small, shaky breath and made her way over to claim it.

She sat down, her hands clasped tightly on the table as she waited. The nerves bubbling inside her made it impossible to sit still; she tapped her foot softly against the floor, glancing toward the entrance every few seconds.

When you finally walked in, Sae-byeok felt like the air had been knocked out of her chest. You looked casual but effortlessly pretty, your warm smile lighting up the room as you spotted her. For a split second, she froze, unsure of what to do. But then you waved at her, and despite the frantic beat of her heart, she managed to lift a hand in return.

“Hi,” you said as you reached the table, your voice as cheerful and kind as ever. “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting long.”

Sae-byeok shook her head quickly, standing up to meet you. “No, not at all,” she said, her voice a little quieter than she intended. “I—I just got here.”

You smiled, setting your bag down as you took the seat across from her. “Perfect timing, then.”

The way you looked at her, your gaze so focused and genuine, made her cheeks warm. She fidgeted with the edge of her sleeve under the table, trying to steady her breathing. This was real. You were here, sitting across from her, and it wasn’t just some far-off dream.

“So,” you began, leaning forward slightly. “What’s your go-to coffee order? Or are you more of a tea person?”

Sae-byeok blinked, caught off guard by the question. She wasn’t used to people asking her such simple, thoughtful things. “Uh… coffee,” she said, her voice soft. “Just black, usually.”

“Straight to the point,” you said with a grin. “I like that. Do you want me to grab it for you?”

“Oh—no, it’s okay,” she said quickly, starting to rise from her seat. “I can get it myself.”

But you waved her off with a laugh. “It’s fine, really. Sit tight—I’ll be right back.”

Before she could protest, you were already heading to the counter. Sae-byeok sat back down, her hands gripping her knees under the table as she tried to process what was happening. You were so at ease, so kind, and she couldn’t help but feel a little overwhelmed by it.

Relax, she told herself, taking a deep breath. She likes you. She wouldn’t be here if she didn’t.

When you returned with two steaming cups of coffee, setting one in front of her with a soft smile, Sae-byeok felt a flicker of warmth spread through her chest. “Thanks,” she murmured, her fingers wrapping around the cup.

“No problem,” you said, taking a sip of your own drink. “So, tell me—how did you get into drawing? I’ve been curious since we talked about it.”

The question made her pause, a mix of shyness and pride bubbling up inside her. “I don’t know,” she admitted, her voice still quiet. “I guess I’ve always liked it. It’s… easier for me to say things on paper than out loud, I guess.”

You tilted your head slightly, your expression thoughtful. “That makes sense. I think it’s cool how art can show people who you are, even when words feel hard.”

Her gaze flicked up to meet yours, surprised by how effortlessly you seemed to understand her. She felt a faint smile tug at her lips as she replied, “Yeah… something like that.”

The conversation flowed more easily after that, your questions pulling her out of her shell little by little. For the first time in what felt like forever, Sae-byeok felt seen and heard—not just as the quiet, brooding girl in the back of the class, but as someone worth getting to know.

And as the minutes turned into hours, the nerves that had weighed her down began to fade, replaced by a soft, tentative hope. Here the two of you were, indulging in just the beginning of her fantasies, and for once she hadn't envied the girl on the paper of her sketchbook that resembled her, as she was now making her dream into a reality.

' 𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕 ' 📷 : @miabcuzz @twicesuuui @kissyslut @kritkalhit @st4rcs @dumbbellxo @theforestchoseme3 @wlvlurvsfimmia @genshinenjoyer @theweirdanimation @ch-3-rry @nenukkjhj @giaqnn @crack240 @pookalicious-hq @laurenkenss @sheinhamood @pooksterrr @bbynai @diorzs @beaaluv @colorfulkittenperfection @yourl0caltrash @kidicaruslover911 @sherryuki-callmeyuki @i0nic02 @knfthxv @mina-has-been-here @monroesturnns @everly-summers-solace

[rosemariiaa]

~Casual~

pairing: Paige x Oc

a/n: i need to fix my posting schedule lol.. this is my first collab fic with the lovely karly @makethemhoesmad , part 2 will be on her page!! happy reading lovelies 💌

themes: angst, sexual content, language

Enjoy!!!

I was in the locker room, mind all over the place. Honestly, I hadn’t been this unfocused in ages. And it wasn’t just me who noticed—KK and Azzi were side-eyeing me from across the room, probably wondering why I’d been so out of it. Then I heard Ice laugh under her breath and mutter, “Paige, you’re so pussy whipped.”

It was brutal, but she wasn’t wrong.

The buzz in my pocket had me scrambling. A message from Vanessa.

We’d been “hooking up” for the past few months—nothing serious, just something casual, atleast that’s what she tends to remind me about all the time. That’s how it started, anyway. But for me, it felt like it was turning into something more, whether I wanted it to or not.

V: u busy? come over?

I didn’t even hesitate, typing back a quick, On my way.

———

I was out of there in record time, showered and changed, and at Vanessa’s place within twenty minutes flat. My heart was already racing when she opened the door, leaning against the frame in my shirt and black panties. Damn.

She didn’t waste a second, pulling me inside by the collar and crashing her mouth against mine. All the frustration, the waiting—it was all there. In moments like this, it was easy to forget that she kept me at arm’s length, that I wanted more than just a physical connection. But when she had me like this, I didn’t even care.

“Missed you, V,” I murmured against her lips, hands trailing down her waist, then down further gripping her ass.

She smirked, threading her fingers through my hair as she leaned back, her breath hitching. “Shut up and show me.”

Her lips found mine again, urgent. I let her hands slide down my back, pulling me closer as I trailed kisses along her neck, whispering, “You have no idea how much you’ve been messing with me.”

Vanessa let out a quiet laugh, breathless, leaning into my touch. “Paige, you think too much,” she murmured, tipping her head back sighing. “Can’t help it,” I whispered, grazing my teeth against her collarbone before meeting her gaze, something hungry in her eyes. I tightened my grip, keeping her close, practically pinning her to the wall. “You make it impossible to focus baby.”

Her only response was to pull me back into a kiss, sliding her warm tongue to meddle with mine. I moan softly into the kiss, lifting her up and carrying her to the couch. She sank down, tugging me with her, eyes dark and inviting. I know that look. That look she gives me when she wants me to shut up and take her.

I lean down, pulling her shirt up realizing she’s not wearing a bra. Fuck. I take a moment to admire her perky tots and her pink hardened nipples, she shakes them a little signaling me to move closer. I move closer wrapping my lips around her nipple while sliding my hand up from her stomach to her other breast. I swirl my tongue around it making her shudder and sigh as she moves her hand into my hair. “Mmm..more.” she pleads.

I move my mouth from her breasts, looking up at her as i trail open mouthed kisses down the valley of her tits, down to her stomach, until i reach her very dampen panties. She bucks her hips up, the look in her eyes telling me to dive straight in and eat her like my last meal. I run my two middle fingers up and down her clothed pussy. “Paige..stop teasing.” she says, knuckles turning white as she grips the couch.

I oblige, sliding her panties off and taking in her glistening core. I press my palm against her clit. “God, Paige,” she breathes, trying to grind against it. I run my middle finger up and down her wet folds as she bites her lip hard enough to draw blood. “Mmm fuck ma, who got you this wet? I smirk, clearly enjoying the effect I have on her, and I lean in closer, “Y-you baby please..inside.” She pleads.

I slip one finger in. “This good?” I ask, knowing damn well it’s not. Vanessa shakes her head and I smirk, sliding in another, slow and steady, listening to how wet she is and how beautiful she moans. I could listen to that shit on repeat.

“Still not enough ma?” I murmur, cocky as hell, adding a third without waiting for her answer. A gasp slipping out before she can stop it. “Fuck!” she yells. I keep my eyes trained on her, curling my fingers just right , just the way I know she likes.

I lean in , my breath warm against her ear. "Yeah, thought so," I whisper.

My grip on her waist tightens as she arches her back up moaning, watching her struggle to keep up with the pace as I fuck her faster. "Daddy..." a soft moan in my ear.

My eyes flash, and I raise an eyebrow, "say it again," she brings her hand down to her clit rubbing it in tight slow circles, moaning at the sound of my fingers going in and out her dripping pussy. I’m so wet right now. "Fuck daddy..mmph feels so good please faster." My fingers push deeper, stretching out her tight hole with each thrust, slow at first, but quickly picking up speed as I watch her fall apart.

"Yeah, just like that baby." My voice dark, commanding, and I can see her barely keeping her balance, her body moving faster, desperate for every bit I’m giving her. My hand slides up to her neck, making her look at me as I push my fingers in deeper. Vanessa grips my shoulders, moaning, loud.

"Paige, please..." she manages, barely recognizing her own voice. My smirk just grows, fingers are moving faster now, curling to her spot, stretching her out so much.

"That's it, baby. Just let go, cum for me. You can do it," I babbled. Her breaths came faster, mingling with the squelching of my fingers thrusting in and out. "Paige, I... I can't," she breathed, but it sounded like a lie.

"C'mon V. I want to feel you, want to taste you. Just for me mama."

With each thrust, I could feel her teetering closer to the edge. "I'm trying," she gasped, her voice shaking as I moved her fingers deeper and faster . "I promise it'll feel so good. All over my fingers, just like that." I cooed and I can hear the desperation in my voice.

It was like a dam breaking.Her pussy clenching violently around my fingers. Her hips started to stutter as I curled my longest finger deeper massaging that gummy spot. Waves of pleasure washed over her, body trembling as shs fell apart under me, juices dripping on the couch h and my palm.

"Fuck, that's it," I murmured, fingers still moving in her as I guided her through it. "So good for me. You did it, baby."

Vanessa could barely respond. All I could think was how fucking good it felt to make her cum. For me.

———-

When it’s finally over, we’re both breathing heavily, tangled together in a haze. For a second, I think she might let me stay, that this time could be different. But then she’s reaching for her shirt, slipping it back on, a familiar guarded look settling on her face. And just like that, the walls are back up.

I wandered into the kitchen to wash my hands. The water ran cold, the silence between us loud. Once I was done, I turned around and spoke, "What're you doing later?"

She didn't even hesitate. "Hanging with my sister."

I shot her a side-eye. That was bullshit, and we both knew it. She was too quick with the excuse, not even trying to make it sound real. I smirked. "Sounds like bullshit to me."

She crossed her arms and shrugged, her face going a little tight. "Don't you have someone else to see? ! mean, I saw you after your game with that girl. What was her name again? Leah?"

My stomach twisted. She was bringing that up, huh?

It was funny how she could act like she didn't care about me, but then get all territorial when I wasn't looking.

"Seriously? You're bringing that up now?" I chuckled to mask the weird tension that was bubbling up in me.

"Yeah, I am," she snapped. "I don't like sharing Paige.”

The words hit me in a weird way. I hated and liked how possessive she could be, yet she wouldn't commit to anything. It didn't make sense. I could feel the pull between us, and the way she kept holding back while also keeping me at arm's length, all at once. It was frustrating as hell.

I looked at her, my voice dropping a little. "I don't share either. But I can't exactly do anything about that, can I?"

She was quiet for a second, her eyes shifting around the room before she shrugged again, like she didn't want to deal with the weight of what was just said.

"Tread lightly, okay?"

She was trying to put me in my place, make sure I knew who was "in charge". But it was fucking confusing, because she couldn't make up her mind about us. She wanted me, but she didn't want to admit it. And it drove me nuts.

Her face flickered for a second, and I could see she was holding back-just like always. "Fine. Enjoy your 'sister time' then."

We both knew what was really going on.

———-

A few nights later, I walked into Ted's with Azzi and KK, the noise of the bar flooding my senses. It was a usual after-game stop-loud, crowded, and full of people-but my mind wasn't on the win against Creighton. It was on something else entirely.

Someone else.

I didn't even have to look around to know where she was. My eyes found Vanessa almost instantly, like they always did. She was perched at the bar in a black leather romper, the zipper pulled just low enough to show off her tits, just enough to make my stomach twist. I couldn't help it. I wanted to walk up to her, grab her by the waist, and kiss her right there.

I wanted to feel her lips on mine again, to lose myself in the way she tasted, the way she felt.

But then, as I got closer, my heart slammed in my chest. I saw it.

Her arm was wrapped around Leah.

Leah. Fucking Leah.

I tried to keep my cool, to ignore the tight knot forming in my stomach, but the sight of them standing there, so close, it hurt. Leah had her hand on Vanessa's waist, while Vanessa? She was barely paying attention. She wasn't even looking at Leah.

Her eyes were darting around the room, scanning for... something. Or someone. Then, as if she sensed me from a mile away, her gaze finally landed on me.

"Paige!" Vanessa called out, her voice louder than it needed to be. Her smile wasn't a real one-it was forced, like she was trying to make everything seem normal. "What's up? What you doing here?"

I could feel the frustration bubbling up inside me, threatening to spill over. I didn't want to show her how much it hurt, but it fucking did. She was standing there with Leah, looking so unaffected, like she didn't give a damn about the mess she always left me in. I forced myself to respond, but it came out tighter than I expected.

"I'm here with Azzi and KK for a bit," I said, trying to sound nonchalant, but I knew the irritation was obvious. My voice was clipped, my jaw clenched. I couldn't hide it. The way she was acting-being so close with Leah, acting like nothing ever happened between us, like she wasn't the one who kept pulling me in and pushing me away-it was eating me alive.

Vanessa gave a little nod. "Yeah, well, me and Leah are heading to the bathroom. Catch you later."

She turned without another word, leaving me standing there, alone, feeling like the biggest fucking idiot.

I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, the ache in my chest spreading. Every time I thought I was getting a handle on this, every time I convinced myself I could just let it go, she did something like this. Every time, I found myself right back where I started-confused, angry, hurt.

I stood there for a long moment, my head spinning.

My eyes followed them as they walked away, Vanessa's back turned to me like she didn't even care. But I knew better. I knew how she worked. I could read her, even when she tried to hide it.

What the hell was I doing? What the fuck were we doing?

And right then, I wanted to scream. I wanted to ask her what the hell she wanted from me, why she kept doing this to me. But I didn't. I couldn't.

I hated how much I still wanted her. How every time she pulled away, I let her, and it fucking killed me.

And I hated how much llet her see the hurt in my eyes, even when I didn't say a word.

But she didn't look back. And that made everything even worse.

———-

a/n: posted at 4 but atleast i posted ayeeee!

taglist ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

@thaatdigitaldiary @patscorner @sierrale8ne @ohbueckers @absolutelydreadful @authentic-girl03 @mrsarnold

[eternitariant]

Sketchy

cw//tw//~ knives, blood, bruising, biting, vvv subtle lowkey hints towards sub/dom dynamic, one brutal physical assault (he's very protective... what can i say)

You were walking to your next class when someone’s shoulder slammed into you and sent you flying back into the lockers-

“Ow, Jesus.” You muttered, moving your shoulder back and forth to ensure that you still could,

“Stay out of my way.” Debbie Marlston, your most common tormenter glared at you and you rolled your eyes before continuing towards the classroom.

You sat towards the back of the room and used the time to focus more on a personal project than pay attention to the teacher’s lesson, it wasn’t anything that you didn’t already know anyway. As you sketched out the next frame of your project, someone cleared their throat beside you to get your attention,

“What?” you snipped, not even bothering to look up at them because you knew who it was,

“See, that sparkling attitude is exactly why you have no friends…”

“Well what are you then huh? A charity worker?” you quipped and your best friend laughed,

“This is really coming along. I’ve never seen you so focused… or inspired.” She held one of your loose pages and inspected it, “Shits getting kinda dark though, don’t you think?”

She was holding a drawing of a scene where your protagonist was covered in her own blood after letting someone carve a confession into her skin- it was graphic but that was kind of the point,

“Not even close. Not yet.” You smiled and she laughed,

“Whatever, just don’t cut me up into tiny pieces when you finally lose it.”

After school, you made your way home by taking your usual route along the creek and you were silently plotting out the next chapters of your story when you were interrupted,

“Your arm.” He growled and you turned your head,

“Patrick, it’s nothing.”

“It’s not fucking nothing, tell me who.” He demanded, grabbing your waist to still your frame. His dark eyes were boring into your soul and you knew that you if didn’t tell him, he’d just take it out on everyone.

“Debbie.”

“Good Girl.” He praised and you swallowed before walking again, “Ah, hold on. You haven’t shown me the next part.”

You nodded and handed him your sketchbook. He flipped through it, his smirk growing into a full blown proud smile by the end,

“I like this part.” He announced lowly and you subtly smiled,

“Figured you might, you sick freak.”

“Which part do you want to recreate tonight then, princess?” he asked, slinging his arm around your shoulders,

“It’s nothing we haven’t done before… maybe you should come up with something inspiring, Trickster.” You teased and he raised an eyebrow,

“Challenge accepted.”

Patrick was trailing kisses all over your bare skin when he reached the bruise that he hadn’t made,

“No one ever gets to mark you but me, you understand?” it wasn’t really a question so much as a command and you just nodded slowly to express your compliance, “Good girl. Roll over.” He said, lifting your hips and helping you do as he had said. He pulled his pocket knife from his jeans and lightly skimmed the tip of the blade along your spine before he used his free hand to grip into your waist and where his thumb had left an impression, he made a cut. You hissed but you certainly didn’t dislike the feeling.

“Just mapping you out baby.” He whispered, kissing the opposite side before doing the same thing so that you would have symmetrical scars.

His breath fanned your neck before he sunk his teeth into your uninjured shoulder, breaking the skin and very lightly sucking as he released his bite,

“Ready for me yet, angel?” he asked and you only answered him with pleas, begging him to give you what you needed. He chuckled lowly at how desperate you’d become and how pliable you were for him. That was probably his favourite thing about you

“Dude! Did you hear?” your best friend bombarded you the second you set foot inside the school,

“Hear what?”

“Y/N, Debbie Marlston was attacked last night.” She blurted and you just stared at her blankly,

“How?”

“Her neighbour is Hilary’s cousin and he said that she was like in her backyard or whatever, having a smoke and then this guy came out of nowhere and cut her fingers off with those like giant hedge scissor things, isn’t that so insane?” she was shocked and kinda grossed out but she definitely wasn’t upset and neither were you…

“Do they know who did it?”

“Fucking clueless. Whoever it was, they did us all a favour if you ask me.”

Patrick naturally followed you home, as always and so as you were walking you asked

“Hedging shears… who’d you steal those from?”

He laughed, “That’s what you’re worried about?”

“Not worried, just curious. They better not have come from my house, Hockstetter.” You warned,

“You don’t even have any hedges idiot.” He drawled before he cupped your face with a firm grip and his expression shifted drastically as his eyes narrowed at you, “Now, what did I say?”

“Not to worry about it.” You whispered meekly,

“There’s my girl.” He smiled, “What else do you say?”

“Thank you.” Your voice was still hushed but he nodded at you,

“That’s fucking right.”

[pursuitseternal]

Reader x Raphael

“Mixing business with pleasure”

You willingly walk into his deal with a counteroffer: you will deliver him the Crown of Karsus and help him become the Archdevil Supreme, but only if he proves to you he’s a worthy lover.

“Mixing Business with Pleasure:”

Raphael x f!Reader | E | Smut Asks Prompts

CW: Cambion form smut, inappropriate use of tail, cunniligus

Hells…. That was more challenging than it should have been to sneak out of the Elfsong alone at night. One by one they had turned in for the night. At long last, even your Vampire Spawn companion nodded off in his trance.

A smile on your face, you crept out of the tavern and into the street, back to the South Span. Crowds push past you, drunk and horny. But you don’t care, cutting through them like a blade between your enemy’s ribs. The image makes you smile, your fingers itching for your daggers, for the power they give you.

Speaking of power, you can almost taste it on the air as you enter Sharess’ Caress. It’s not the scent of sex or sweat that makes your mouth water, it’s that tingle of hellfire and smell of brimstone that pulls you up the stairs.

The Devil’s Den, the Devil you know waiting inside.

You push the door open unannounced, the scent of cherries and rose water from his bath filling your nose. He doesn’t turn even after you shut the door, his tall frame standing near the shimmering pool, a towel wrapped around his still damp, dusky skin.

Nothing more than that.

“It’s late, little mouse,” he purrs from over his shoulder, the corner of his dark eye catching sight of you as you draw to a stop near him. “What sort of business could be so vastly urgent it draws you into my clutches at this ungodly hour?”

He snickers at his own wording. But he’s always been his own best audience, you smirk and roll your eyes. “My business is the sort that mixes business with pleasure…” you reply, your words entice even as your tone snips at your syllables all matter-of-factly.

Slowly, he rounds, one hand resting on the towel where he’s tucked it in beneath his navel. Fuck… you swallow, taking in the sight of him. Damp, dark skin shimmers in the candlelight, the shadows seem to melt into his brown hair as it clings to his head, drenched and dripping. But it’s nothing compared to the patches and swirls of dark curls that dart down his torso… that trail of hair that gathers just above where his towel covers the rest of him.

Raphael shifts as he follows your gaze, that small cock of his hips is enough to make you visibly shiver… almost. You catch yourself in time, for you can’t play all your cards right off the bat. Not when your opponent is as cunning as the Devil. His smirk widens as you force your eyes to meet his. “Well tell me then about this pleasurable deal you’re willing to offer. I’m beginning to think you long to give me more than your soul…”

He lets the daring judgment hang in the air. But you just give an unaffected sigh. “And I’m beginning to wonder just how badly you do want that Crown, Devil…”

A sly, knowing smile crawls over his sharp-angled face. “My, my,” he purrs, drawing so close to you that you can feel his scalding hot breath. “You left here so certain, your companions so vocal about how giving me the Crown would be… devastating.” That last word is crooned like a melody, a cadence all its own. “Is that why you burst boldly into my den so conveniently alone?”

You fold your arms and puff out your chest. “Maybe,” you smirk.

“Maybe?” Raphael chuckles, reaching to grab a single loose tendril of your hair from your shoulder so carefully, he doesn’t even touch your skin. “Such an innocuous word, so full of potential fulfillment, or else the promise of despair.”

Fingers reach for the back of your head, grabbing with just enough force to angle your face into his. “So which is it, little mouse? Fulfillment or despair?”

“That will depend on you,” you meet his gaze with all the confidence you can muster as you stare down the Devil. “Like I said, we will mix business with pleasure. I will bring you the Crown of Karsus if you meet my terms.”

A rolling, bassy chuckle overwhelms you. “Are you the one drafting a contract for me?” his deep voice boils with amusement. “That is something extraordinary. I haven’t endured this for some time.” His hand releases your head only to claw its searing touch around your chin. His fingertips buckle your skin. “Tell me, foolish mouse, what do you think are amenable terms for your deal?”

You shift on your toes as he draws your weight higher. “I will give you what you seek, the Crown to make you Archdevil Supreme if…” you swallow as his fingers close around your windpipe more, “if you can prove yourself a worthy lover.”

Those deep set eyes blaze at your offer, flickers of hellfire in their warm brown depths. “You’re either ambitious or very stupid, girl.” His voice is pressed, constrained inside that surly chest.

You shrug as his fingers release your flesh, slowly stroking your neck instead. “I like powerful men,” you give a flippant reply.

Raphael raises a thick brow. “The bear of an Archdruid not enough? Nor the former lover of Mystra, nor the vampire poised to be the most powerful of his kind should he defeat his master?”

You shake your head. “Compare that to the almighty ruler of all the hells? It pales in comparison, and I know where I wish for my allegiances to… lie.” Gaze darting to the bed in the next room behind him, your innuendo and meaning is not lost on the clever Devil.

“You’re cheeky and presumptive, little mouse,” his hand presses at the smaller of your back, pulling your body against him. Drops of near-steaming water dampen your skin through your chemise. “I like that,” he croons into your ear, the pads of his lips loudly suckling that outer shell a little before he pulls away. “If you like powerful men, perhaps you would prefer a different form for me to take?”

“Give me your most powerful, your best,” you rasp trying to catch a kiss on those smirking lips. But he dodges out of your reach, one warm finger pressing against your daring lips to silence you.

“Whether you could handle my most fiendish form remains to be seen, but perhaps we could start with a body that offers more of a bite.” His chuckle resounds eerily before you, smoke and ash and sulfur filling every sense as his body is cloaked in darkness.

Warm supple skin bubbles, cherry red scaly flesh scalds you as you insist on caressing the lines of his chest. The mighty Cambion swaggers in place, great wings beating the cool air of the room as he looms above you. “On to the bed,” he growls in sonorous tones, “and off with your clothes.”

A shiver of delight runs down your spine to pool as wanton need in your belly. You pull your tunic off over your head, sliding your leathers down and stepping out of them unceremoniously. You don’t even glance behind you as you crawl on the lavishly soft bedding, its color somehow less vibrant than the being that gazes at you from the bedside, black and yellow eyes roaming over every detail on your body. You catch sight of his vermillion forked tongue as he licks his lips. “Relax, my dear,” he purrs, his voice low and scintillating as he stalks closers. “I shall give you a taste of what I have to offer. It would be foolish to demonstrate all my finest abilities as the curtain opens. That leaves nothing in suspense,” he grins to reveal all his jagged teeth, “and I do so long to see you hanging in suspense for me.”

He gestures for you to recline with a long sweep of his arm, a matching arc made with his wing. The bed seems to suck you in. Your body grows ungodly hot, your skin burning so furiously that his Cambion fingers feel cool to the touch as they rake nails down your sides. “Shall we inspect the collateral you have to offer on your end of the bargain? A body like yours is meant for scrutiny, for delight and examination down to the most minute detail…”

He’s crawled over you, his wings spread wide, darkening your world to shades of dusky red and burgundy. Those unearthly eyes stare into yours, lips pressing softly once, giving you that taste of cherries and smoke. The forked tips of his tongue press against your mouth, a silent request. But it’s the only act of gentleness he gives you, the only entreating movement for more.

For once you give, once you part your lips for the sizzling heat of his tongue, he plunders you. That impossibly long tongue darts and devours, his pointed teeth nipping and breaking the skin of your lips as he works his mouth. Your head grows light as his lungs suck the very air you need to live from yours. Panting, you fight for control. Not to mention you’re fighting for air. His hands grip their pointed claws into your shoulders, pressing you down as he breaks your kiss.

The warmth of his mouth envelopes one breast as he caresses his way down your burning skin. Back arching, your hands reach for the first part of him you can grab, locking around those rough curves of his horns. His deep laugh tickles the sensitive skin of your chest, his tongue laving hot spit up and down the center of your body in long, sensual swipes. One of his hands claws around your breast, kneading it and teasing your nipple to a hard, aching peak. The other hand grants your aching mound its touch, fingers parting your folds, revealing your drenched and swollen cunt for him. His wings flap, air rushing as he sinks his head between your thighs. “Hold my horns if you like, little mouse, for next time I eat you up, you might just be holding the prongs of my crown.”

You gasp as his tongue dives right for your clit, circling it with expert, ancient precision. Hips rolling, you match the mesmerizing workings of his mouth, that deep sonorous voice growling as he feasts, consuming every drop of arousal that seeps from inside you. But still your walls ache for more, you crave something to fill you up. And just as the thought passes your mind, you feel it.

Long and bluntish and sinuous, something pushes into your cunt. Curling up, you dare yourself to look, for it can’t be his cock….

His tail wriggles alongside his mouth, the tip of it sliding into your welcoming heat with ease. The mere sight of it makes you nearly burst, but it’s when those dark and golden eyes flash up to meet you with his potent gaze that you crumble. Your head slams back against the bed, your back arching as he fills your entire cunt with his wicked tail.

It starts behind your navel, where his hand slinks from your breast to push on that expanse, making you feel each ram of his tail against your cervix. Your breathing grows ragged and dry, and all you hear is the wet squelch of him thrusting in your liquid heat and the growls of his pleasure as he sucks and swirls his molten tongue over every inch between your thighs.

One more press of his hand on your belly, and you erupt. Every muscle floods with heat and contorts as your orgasm is rend from your body. He rips your pleasure from your frame, sucking on your clit to draw out your climax. He feasts on your bliss, devouring your ecstasy until you can’t move a muscle.

It’s all you can do to lie limp in his bed as he withdraws every appendage from your body. You groan, missing the heat of his body and the wet of his tongue as he slinks from the bed again. You close your eyes, reopening them to see that bright red form towering beside you. He runs a nail down your middle, the line of his spit still pooled on your skin. “Oh little mouse, so deliciously spent,” his laughter is low and husky, that little edge of threat at its core. “Bring me the Crown, and next time, I’ll let you have my cock too.”

Eyes fluttering shut, you sigh. That Crown will be his, just as much as you are.

[bomber-grl]

Touch Starved

Pairing(s): Hiro Hamada x Gn!reader

Summary: you’re rarely the touchy type but when you get into a fight with your parents you leave home. The only person on your mind is Hiro so you drop by his house in hopes of comfort.

They were so stupid. Obviously you felt even more strongly about your parents at the moment but that’s what automatically came to mind.

They just don’t understand and sure you’re acting like an angsty misunderstood teenager but that’s exactly what’s happening. Whatever, they’re the reason their teen kid is walking out at night.

Well, regardless of what you thought you were brought out of your head. You were now in front of hiros window, the window that you’d try and climb and hope to not get caught doing so.

Luckily for you, you brought along some gadget you invented while at SFIT so with some A LOT of effort you managed to make it through his window.

Ok, step 1 complete.

….

That’s all you got, you hadn’t planned ahead and now you were standing in the middle of Hiros bedroom luckily without causing any sort of racket What a lie

Well because of how in your own head you were you completely tuned out the footsteps walking towards the door. Aaaaand now you’re face to face with Hiro..

“Uhh hi?” He says a bit awkwardly, he’d been taking a shower if the towel around his neck and wet hair was anything to go by.

He steps out of the door frame and into the room. He’s staring at you…

Huh??? Hes staring at you

“So? Why’re you here” you can practically hear his smile through his tone.

“Oh! Well uh… I just wanted to hang out” that’s all you said, he immediately got it and stepped closer, a little too close.

“Kay, want to play games or something?” He asked nonchalantly, and of course you answered-

“Sure”

-

It had been fun, you and hiro were laughing until it hurt if the ridiculous drawings of each other were anything to go off of.

Half way through your little hang out Cass might have heard the commotion as she popped in and offered some sweet snacks, luckily not suspecting anything.

Now? It was quiet, you both calmed down and you were sitting on his bed and he was standing.

“So uhh, what’s been up with you?” He asks obviously stepping on egg shells around you.

“Huh?” You perk up “what’re you talking about?” You really didn’t know.

He laughs awkwardly “don’t think I haven’t noticed your weird behavior.”

You cleared you throat but hiro interjected “look I-“

Suddenly hiro back was against the wall and despite almost tripping over Baymaxs charge box-thing he managed to hold onto you, you were hugging him.

What you did didnt sink in until you felt his hands reach around you.

Suddenly you became hyper aware, he was breathing close to your neck, his hair was tickling your cheek and most of all? You could feel his heart pounding against yours, and to say it rivaled it wasn’t exactly an understatement.

You held him back of course, your face hid away in his neck and after a moment of stiffness hiro relaxed once more.

You thought you were being silly for reacting this way, but hiro? He was just as much head over heels for you as you were for him.

His face was bright red and all he could hope was for you not to notice, he really couldn’t handle any teasing after this.

Then you let go and backed away. Seeing your face was much more reassuring for him.

It was silent until you both spoke

“I-“hey” you glanced from the floor to him in an instant

“Sorry- “you can go first”, you guys spoke at the same time, again..

You spoke up once and for all “you speak first, please do..” the last part was said in your head but who’s to say otherwise?

“Uh, what’s really up with you?” He breathed in and then out “you can tell me, and if you don’t want to? Well that’s ok.”

The last feelings of conflict left you and you finally told hiro about the big fight with your insufferable parents- albeit in a bunch of jumbled words.

He smiled obviously trying to hide it and when he asked why you hugged him? You told him that you just wanted to be held…

WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT??-

“Oh..” hiros face went ablaze and was now covered in a darker shade of red. Atleast now he couldn’t tease or say anything sarcastic-

He spoke again “then I’m assuming you’re sleeping here?”

-

And boy was he right, now you’re here laying in his bed while he brushes his teeth.

Luckily Cass had a spare and he let you use the restroom before him.

Now you were laying here in suspense, your heart was practically pounding in your chest and you were filled with all kinds of nervous energy.

The door creaked open and in popped in hiros head, then followed by him as a whole.

He stood around the bed for a second, very obviously hesitating. Then he went all in and laid down

He was faced away from you but once you reached out to touch his neck it was hot to the touch.

“U-uHm” his voice cracked “you want to talk about it any more?”

He was going for the normal approach

“No, just… hold me, ok?” You really didn’t know how to respond, was it even possible to say this in a relatively normal way? You rlly don’t think so.

He flushed again then opened his arms. You joined to lay in them and despite the constant pounding of a heart you couldn’t decide was his or yours; you enjoyed it.

It was nice to finally be able to be affectionate with someone.

The next morning rolled around and the two of you got ready and headed down.

You two were met with a delicious looking breakfast and cass may have picked up on the energy between you two because she asked

That morning you witnessed your boyfriend hiro having the Heimlich maneuver performed on him by no other than his own aunt.

-

For those who can’t read between the lines, the last paragraph is basically saying that since hiro and reader were already having tension from the events of last night, cass brought it up and startled hiro- catching him off guard. Prompting him to choke on his food)

[twola]

Two words: messy blowjob.

Teehee, let’s go. 

Also, s/o to @revolversandlace, who mentioned writing a possible 1k+ scene literally describing a blowjob, so obviously, I had to give it a try myself. 😉

Convalescence

Arthur Morgan x F!Reader Smut (18+), MDNI

➵ Fic Masterlist ➵ AO3 Link

Feelings are realized as you nurse Arthur back to health after his run-in with the O’Driscolls. Actions, however, are a bit limited during his convalescence.

Everything hurts. From the searing pain in his shoulder to the overall ache of his muscles, this definitely ranks as one of the most painful experiences of his life.

Regards sent to Colm O’Driscoll, of course.

He opens his eyes and a shadowed figure slowly comes into focus, a small, feminine frame seated on a stool next to his cot.

It’s you, but your normally tressed hair hangs limply in a ponytail, your eyes bloodshot and puffy, and it was obvious that you’ve been crying as his vision clears up.

“Wh- why are you cryin’ there, sweetheart?” He hoarsely whispers, voice rough from disuse.

You rub at your eyes, but it is mostly in vain as you can’t stem the flow of tears tracking down your cheeks. “When y-you fell off your horse when you came back, I-I thought you were d-dyin’.”  

Your voice cracks on the last word.

Arthur frowns, “Sweet girl, I ain’t worth them tears. Save ‘em for a good man.”

“You - you’re such a fool,” You grit out, teeth clenching, “You - you are a good man. The best of them, Arthur Morgan.”

“C’mon now, darlin’. Stop your lyin’.”

“I’m not lying.” You move to sit on the side of the cot, hovering over him, “Why can’t you see what a good man you are? Why are you so blind to it?”

He remains silent. Silly girl. You haven’t seen what he can do - what he does - to other men. The blood on his hands. You’d be far less likely to be praising him, far less likely to be…

…leaning in closer to him.

A pang sears through Arthur’s chest, sharp as a whip, when he realizes you aren’t pulling away from him.

“You’re by far the best man I’ve ever known.”

“Reckon you haven’t known many men then, little miss.”

“Shut up.” You mumble, and in that moment, you lean completely over him and press your lips against his, a move he’s not completely surprised by.

His good arm, unburdened with the wound on his shoulder, winds around your shoulders as you press against his chest gently, still hovering so as not to put too much weight on him.

Arthur allows it all, from the first timid press of your lips on his to the far less timid pressing of your tongue, demanding entry into his mouth. He groans in response as he lets you in, and a mewl works its way up your throat.

It's only then, with you hovering inches above his chest, lips, and tongue working against his own, that he realizes that this is quickly turning into a predicament. Of course, it is, considering the view he’s gotten down the front of your blouse.

Someone, god, hopefully not you, stripped him of his bloody union suit, which probably did need to be burned, but failed to re-dress him. He was nude as the day he was born underneath the blankets, and it became increasingly clear as he felt his blood rushing toward his groin. 

Of all the times to act like a damn teenage boy-

He cannot help the groan that wells up in him as you shift, the curve of your waist at the flare of your hip pressing against his own - pressing against his hardening member.

He internally curses when you slowly pull away. 

But your eyes are lust-blown, a red blush settling on your cheeks. 

“Darl-”

“Let me take care of you.” You say, slowly sitting up and reaching for the edge of the blanket with your small, thin fingers. 

He wants to tell you to stop, that you don’t have to do this, that you don’t have to do anything, that he’s been smitten with you since you rode in half-starved and doe-eyed on the back of Davey’s horse all those months ago. 

But silent he remains as you slowly draw the blanket down his body. Your nose crinkles as your lips turn downwards as inch by inch of his chest is revealed to you - bruises and lash marks and signs of the torture he received at Colm’s hand.

“Oh, Arthur.” You sigh sadly, eyes watering over again.

“ ‘m gonna be fine, sweetheart. Just a little uglier than usual.” He tries to lighten the mood with self-depreciation, but the deepening of your frown tells him that’s not working. You blink the tears collecting away and continue to pull the blanket downward, revealing his navel and the trail of dark, wiry hair leading downwards.

He sucks in a breath as the collecting fabric brushes against his ramrod-hard cock.

Finally, finally, your hand slowly pulls the blanket over his hips, first over the curls at the bottom of his pelvis, to expose his cock, leaking from the tip and laying heavily over his thigh. 

You look back at him, and he’s wide-eyed, biting his lower lip, looking down at you hovering over his hips. You can see his chest expanding with his breathing, speeding up as he stares at you. 

You lean down and Arthur’s good arm swings over his head to block his vision, because if he sees this, he’s sure to make embarrassing noises loud enough for the whole damn camp to hear.

He feels your small hand wrap around his cock, and he bites his lip not to make a sound as you gently pull it upright.

But he is not able to stifle the noise he makes when his cock is enveloped in something wet and warm - his arm flies upward and he cranes his head to watch you take him into your mouth. An embarrassingly needy whine escapes his mouth, but that’s better than the shout he wants to let out as you suck gently at the head, your tongue pressing against the weeping slit of his cock.

“Jesus Christ.”

You let go of the head of his cock with a pop, and he bucks up slightly, as if to follow your warmth as you look up at him.

“You alright? Need me to stop?” You ask, one hand still wrapped around his length.

“Oh, darlin’, please, please don’t ask me that.” His forearm slides across his eyes again as his other hand.

“So you want me to keep goin’?”

“Jesus fuck, of course.” He replies incredulously, flabbergasted that you could doubt this felt amazing.

You smile for a moment before turning back to his length, enveloping him once again in the velvet warmth of your mouth. His head hits the pillow as he loudly sucks in a breath.

You slowly, deliberately, work your way down his length, bobbing up and down, sucking on his skin gently as you take more and more of him into your mouth.

It feels like years you’re doing this, inch by inch of velvety skin warmed by your wet cavern. 

Finally, you gag slightly as your nose touches the chestnut curls at the base of his cock, saliva dripping down from your lips and slowly running down toward his heavy, full testicles, and he has to actively clench the sides of the cot to stop himself from bucking upward. 

“Oh, oh god, woman.” He mutters as you slide back up, fingers once again grasping the base of his length as you suck in a breath, looking up at him with a hint of a smile, your lips and chin shimmering with your spittle. His cock shines against the oil lamp’s yellowed light, absolutely dripping wet from your mouth.

You lean back down again, but instead of taking his length into your mouth, you run your tongue down its side, all the way down where you nuzzle against the globes at the base of his cock, gently sucking one into your mouth. He whines, whines, this gunslinger, this outlaw, this hardened mountain of muscle beneath you. All being torn apart as you suckle on him.

After several moments, you pull back, and he’s panting, chest heaving, a sheen of sweat developing over his clavicles, and the bandages wrapped tightly across his pectorals and shoulder.

Your thumb presses gently on the underside of his cock, and he closes his eyes and lets out a low, long moan. You smile, rubbing at his hip affectionately.

“Christ alive, woman, you’re killin’ me.”

“Ain’t done yet, Arthur.”

And with that, you resume, leaning down and retaking him, sucking harder than you have before, leaving him squirming beneath you. 

You suck, and bob, you squeeze his balls and rub at his thighs. Lord almighty, he must have died at Colm’s hand - this had to be heaven.

The burning in his gut reaches a fever pitch, and he knows he’s not long to last.

He tries to sit up, but can’t with his shoulder bound, and finds that he just has to make enough noise to tell you to get off of him.

“Darl- darlin’, I’m gonna come- you- you need to move-”

His sentence goes unfinished as you look up at him, mouth full of his cock, and slowly, deliberately, slide all the way down, saliva dribbling out of your mouth again as the tip of his cock hits the back of your throat.

Arthur’s eyes go as wide as saucers, and he audibly swallows before his head hits the pillow once again. You slide up and down, sucking, tongue working around his length, the gentle suction of your mouth causing him to whimper.

He grunts, hands clenched around the wooden sides of the cot, hips moving despite his attempts not to. He is completely at your mercy - each lick and suck of his cock sends him further down that road of unabashed pleasure.

“Sweet- oh god, oh - fuck - I’m -” Arthur cannot finish his sentence before he trails off into a groan, his hips bucking up as you press down, and he shoots his spend down your throat, you pull back, gagging slightly, and as you sit up, Arthur can barely believe his eyes as he watches a dribble of his white, milky spend drip from the corner of your mouth. Christ, it makes him want to come again.

You wipe your mouth with the back of your hand, clearing your throat, and pull the blanket up to Arthur’s chest once again, where he just looks at you, stupefied.

You cock an eyebrow at him as you slide up the side of the cot, sitting next to his chest. “You alright? That wasn-” You frown, “God, I hope that wasn’t bad.”

Arthur’s good hand grabs the collar of your shirt and yanks you down, where he presses his mouth to yours desperately, not caring at all that he can taste the bitter tang of himself on your tongue. You draw away after a moment, and Arthur tucks a strand of your hair that escaped its braid behind your ear.

“Woman, you’re the only one takin’ care of me from now on.”

[missposessive]

make you mine

featuring... tecchou suehiro, jouno saigiku.

description... oh, these poor, lovesick boys. how will they go about yearning and pursuing? in which case, their first meeting caused them to fall head over heels for you

authors note... wow i haven't written since september hello everyone... crazy. it's winter break and i'm bored, so i chose to come back for a little (we'll see how long that lasts). anyways enjoy lol! also nikolai and chuuya will be featured in part 2

warnings... maybe ooc. need to get back in the flow of writing lol...

🎧- make you mine : madison beer

tecchou suehiro

it was a pretty slow day for the hunting dogs, so jouno sent tecchou out to go get some coffee for everyone. the base was close to a place he liked, but he wasn't expecting what he saw when he walked in there.

the first thing he noticed was how gorgeous you were, and he was confused on why he couldn't draw his eyes away from your form. you were facing him, but too enamored in what you were typing to notice his gaze. he was pulled out of his mind when the barista welcomed him into the shop, and he walked up to order.

you had pulled yourself away from your work to get another bottle of water, excusing yourself and reaching next to him to grab a bottle and pay at the other open register. goodness, what game was cupid playing with him? your voice was so gentle, it made him want to fold. but he kept his tougher exterior and gave a small smile when you locked eyes.

you had smiled back before apologizing for the reach. why did you apologize? for what? he asked himself, but he just nodded, adding a soft 'you're alright' before you walked back to your chair.

he couldn't keep his eyes off of you. it felt like an eternity, waiting for the drinks, and every so often his eyes would dance back towards your frame. he didn't want to just walk up to you, he thought that would be a little weird. it was soon he realized that he'd gotten a little too distracted, for he found your eyes looking right back into his, an awkward smile on your face.

the drinks also happened to be ready, and he wasted no time at all in grabbing them and racing out of there. when he looked back through the window for the last time, he could see you laughing into your hand.

oh, how he knows fate will bring you two back together, and he'd be able to make you his.

jouno saigiku

it was a very pleasant day outside, he noted, walking through the streets of yokohama. he was earlier assigned to confront a man who had been on their watch for a while, and put an end to all of the dangerous things he's been doing in the city.

he could sense the heartbeats of people walking past him, keeping up with the flow of traffic that way. that was, until he heard a heartbeat get closer, and closer, and closer, until..

crash!

someone collided into his arm, causing them to stumble back a little bit. that someone was you. you immediately started spewing apologies, apologies turning into panic when you figured out that you just ran into a blind man.

"are you okay, sir? i'm so so sorry, i-" you were panicking, until he cut you off.

"it's alright, i feel fine. i hope you're not hurt." a smirk is evident on his face, causing you to take a deep breath. he noticed your heart rate drop a bit, showing him that you're not as panicked as you were before.

but what he didn't realize is that his heart rate was slowly inclining. your voice, the way your hand smoothed over the shirt fabric over his arm, making sure you didn't injure him. everything he was able to tell with you made his heart beat a little faster than normal.

you were so caring, so worried that you'd done unnecessary damage to his frame. he can still feel your touch lingering on his arm, gentler than how it feels when a nice breeze blows on his skin.

"are you sure you're okay? if you need me to, i can help you to your next destination, it's the least i can do," you added on, patiently waiting for his answer.

he immediately accepted, holding the very arm you bumped out for yours to intertwine with. he wanted to get to know you. he wanted to spend a little bit more time with you, and he got what he wanted.

[cherryrikis]

BETTER LUCK TOMORROW - three ! breaking principles

pairing : nishimura riki x reader

synopsis : after being in the wrong place at the wrong time, you (as well as your friends), were framed for the death of your brother and disappearance of your boyfriend. you all had no hope. no job, no money, none of you were even allowed to graduate. at least, until a stubborn kid on a dance scholarship suddenly acts as your savior, riki helps clear your name all for the sake of a school project.

this episode contains the following : 0.5k wc, swearing, mentions of death, court dates, house arrest, violating parole, and juvie + jail

authors note - these last few days were so busy cz halloween, school, (and the dodgers winning the ws!!) all that stuff😭

previous | masterlist | next

the two stood in front of your house.

despite jungwon telling riki not to do so, he knew there was no point in trying to change his mind.

you weren’t hard to find, because they knew you still lived with your family (aka heeseungs old house). so riki didn’t hesitate to drive straight to your place.

but he did hesitate to ring the doorbell.

jungwon watched as riki reached out, before drawing his hand back every few seconds. he grew so tired of standing in the hot sun, until eventually pressing the button himself.

they expected your mom or your other older brother to answer, literally anyone but you.

“oh, jungwon? i was wondering who was at the door. well, wow. this is.. this is really awkward. you haven’t come by since the funeral.” you coughed.

“hi yn.” he smiled. “i know, it’s been a while.”

“whos this?” you ask, pointing your head in riki’s direction.

“what? seriously? i was one of heeseungs friends. i came around just as often as jungwon!” he exclaimed.

“im sorry, i don’t remember all of my brothers- i mean, heeseung. i don’t remember all of heeseungs friends. but, look. i get that it’s been a while since we’ve all met, but i think you guys should go.”

“wait yn!” jungwon called out right before you closed the door.

“don’t you wanna know why we’re here?” he asked.

you frowned slightly as you thought on the matter, before nodding your head.

“fine, go ahead.” you sighed.

“senior project. you remember, don’t you? for college apps-” “i never got to apply. i wasn’t even allowed to graduate.” you said sternly, cutting riki off. “you remember, don’t you?”

riki turned with wide eyes to face jungwon for an idea on what to say next, but jungwon only mouthed the words ‘hurry before she tells us to leave again’.

“we want to reinvestigate that issue before your next court date because-”. he cleared his throat aggressively as he carefully chose the next few words. “because we heard you violated your parole.” riki swallowed, but it wasn’t enough. his face fell as he watched your expression change.

“you’re saying you think you can solve my case for your final project? nice fucking try you two, but not even my lawyer could help me out as you can see here.” you scoffed, before sticking your leg out from behind the door, to point out the ankle monitor you wore.

“house arrest. huh.” riki muttered.

“it’s worth a shot. we might be able to prevent you from being incarcerated again. and clear any charges from your record if we can prove it wasn’t you.” jungwon stepped in, beginning to ramble.

“yeah. jungwons mom is an attorney! and his sister is studying law.” riki smiled. but, he paused when you raised your hand in a way that screamed the words ‘stop talking’.

“listen, as much as i appreciate the gesture, i think im the last person you want to free. everyone’s seen me as the person who killed her brother and boyfriend, for the last 3 years. nothing else. if you want answers, go interview one of the others who were framed. aeri got out around the same time as me.”

“but yn- you were lucky you only got juvie! even after you turned 18. if this next court session doesn’t go well, you could go into like, a real jail!” riki exclaimed with wide eyes.

“goodbye riki. nice seeing you jungwon.” you nod, before slamming the door in their faces.

“well that couldn’t have gone any worse.” he sighed.

“you know what, im going home. i still have that french exam to study for. but uh- i have some theories. i’ll see you around man.” jungwon huffed, patting riki on the shoulder before he walked off your front porch.

riki followed without a second thought, before they both eventually split ways.

taglist ! @jiiyen @prettiestgirlontheplanet @hannicorpse @wonsboo @murazbae @stilesks @soobinbunnie5 @blvengene @r1kification @gyuvision @goldenmellow @ariluvssssss100 @who-tf-soddhi @mmurazz @jaemified @strawberrieswithchocolateo3o @heartheejake @hoonsdrnkdzd @wonkixo @yangjungwonnie @tya0

[mystverse]

EVERYDAY DRABBLES - BETWEEN FRIENDS AND FEELINGS

Whomsoever thought that scheduling the theatre and the lab together is a dimwit. Jaemin wouldn't say so because he's just watching his friend walk around the theatre looking for her bag when he's been holding it for an hour now. You rush to him, "Nana, I couldn't fin- yah why didn't you tell me you had it? Letting me roam around like a headless chicken isn't fun!" He laughs, holding your hand and walking out of the theatre.

"It is, for me. You looked cute." That makes your garden of a heart bloom, and the butterflies flutter around. But you grimace, rolling your eyes, "Yeah, sure, Na Daeman." You take your bag from him only for it to be snatched away from you by Jeno who joins you both.

"Yah yah, I need my water bottle." He just hands over the water bottle to you and slings your hello kitty bag on his shoulder as if he isn't the guy who despises pink. You hardly understand the dynamic. You'd say that you are best friends along with Renjun who have known each other for years who kiss at times and you believe it's platonic, at least for them since they are normally chivalrous, but it's hard when they act like this. Compliment after Compliment and adding acts of service to it? It's a dangerous combination for your heart. All these thoughts in your head, and you miss what Jaemin had said to you. You look up at him only when he shakes your shoulder.

"Is your head in the clouds?" You blink, clearly caught off guard, "I'm sorry. What were you saying? I was thinking about our homework." Jaemin sighs, "This is why you should take more breaks."

"Do you want to have a sleepover at our apartment-" Jaemin facepalms, elbowing Jeno's side, "We are supposed to take this slow, Jeno." Jeno shrugs, but he keeps his eyes on you, looking for an answer.

"Yeah, sure. I'd like that." You smile. Sleep over with your best friends who you like a little romantically seems fun.

The noises from the TV is just white noise at this point. Jaemin wonders if you knew how they felt about you. Surely you would have taken a hint. They like you. It's painfully obvious to everyone. He thought that you were playing dumb to not hurt them. Then again he knows that you are utterly oblivious when it comes to romantic advances.

He sees you laughing at something, and Jeno is laughing along while a fresh out of shower Renjun settles on the floor between your legs and he starts laughing too when you let him in on the conversation. About what, he doesn't know, but it brings a smile to his lips. He takes the large popcorn bowl and settles on the couch next to you. You wordlessly reach for the popcorn, but he gives you his hand. You turn to him confused, and there he is memorizing your face as if he hadn't done it for a hundred times already. You flush pink, and your soft lips parted in surprise, "Jae-" He gently pecks your lips. A wish he had asked the Santa, last Christmas. To kiss you, that is. This would do too-

He feels the same soft lips on his again. It's you. You are kissing him. Your fingers find purchase in his hair and he's melting into your gentle touches. It lasts for a few seconds and you are parting for a breath. He's in a trance. A soft smile. Pink cheeks. He should send more wishes to Santa.

Renjun liked you both too much to disturb you. He simply watched. The faint glow of your skin in the TV light made you just prettier in his eyes. You are in a trance that Jaemin put you in while he kissed you ever so lovingly. That moment. It's the kind of artistry that should be immortalized. He will draw it; paint it; sculpt it; frame it; display it in his gallery because everyone should know that this kind of beauty exists. It is not imagination and that it is you, his muse and that you are very much real.

He kisses your thigh and you gasp. "Can I do that?" He asks, drawing patterns on your calf, and he receives a nod. The silent approval is all he needs to continue. He revels every little gasp, huff and hitch. He finds satisfaction in those pretty sounds. He doesnt have to kiss your lips to leave you breathless. His faint touches and soft kisses are enough to pull you into him.

He leaves a gentle kiss on your knee, near the scar you had sustained when you fell off a see-saw. He still remembers how fast he had run to his mom for a bandaid while Jaemin and Jeno stayed with you, comforting. It's nostalgic and pleasing to reminisce. They've come a long way as friends and sometimes much more. He savors everything you give because he likes your entire existence.

He should should have simply watched the movie instead of watching Renjun and Jaemin fall in love with you. Now he is sure he wants it, too. Jaemin always said, "You think I'm in love, but my love, you should look at yourself when you look at her."

Maybe. Maybe he is in love. Maybe he is down bad. Why does he think so? Simply because why should the sleepy figure of yours in his arms make him full of love and warmth. He understands what Jaemin had told him now. He felt it so intensely, the urge to hold you against his chest while he fights off all the demons you encounter in your dreams now that he has you in his arms. You are worth the fight. You are his to protect, cherish, and love.

He caresses your hair, lulling you into sleep and presses a chaste kiss to your forehead in hopes that you are already in dreamland but, you stir gently, head tucked under his chin, and soft words are uttered before you fall into comfortable slumber, "Jeno, one more please."

...

: MYST

[mossyscavern]

In your arms, I feel no fear.

__________________

It was a gruesome battle.

Not many spark signals are shown thanks to him and his decepticons. It’s a bitter sweet victory, just how he likes it. It’s what he is built for…

So why on cybertron is he not satisfied? He even destroyed some of the autobots before they can even get to alpha trion.

The bot grunts as he stomps through the trudging bodies of bots, not even bothering to fly above them. Even telling his decepticons to retreat back to their base of operations.

With a deep sigh in his vents, he decided to use a short cut and went into an alleyway of one of the abandoned cities.

Megatron didn’t care, he tells himself. And if there’s any bots that had survived his attacks he’d finish it… but even then he’s distracted by his thoughts.

Thankfully it didn’t last long as he heard a noise in front of him, to the right of another alleyway. Which already seems off.

With his canon pointed to the opening, he slowly crept up towards it, waiting around the corner… only to put his canon down when no one came out.

‘Nothing… no em field either.’ He thought, deciding to walk in the alleyway, cables relaxed when he saw no immediate danger. Only a dead bot 5 peds away from him.

First thing he noticed about the bot is she’s a femme… been dead for a while thanks to the hole on her tank. The frame is rose gold with silver streaks, a round helm with horns on it, in her restarlueus a fabric bundle.

Even though she put up a fight thanks to the dents presented… he felt no sympathy, in the world of war… no space for survivors.

Giving the autobot femme one last look before walking away… then he heard it. It’s muffled but definitely a sound, red optics land on the bundle.

His optics stare at the fabric before turning, deciding against curiosity and went onwards… not long before he hears wailing, halting the war frame to a stop.

He turns back and in the femmes restarlueus, the wailing came from the now moving fabric… drawing out megatron’s curiosity further.

Walking and kneeling down next to the offline femme, struggling to remove the bundling fabric. Already having a feeling what it could be.

Once the fabric is moved away, it confirmed his suspicions. A wailing sparkling.

The young sparkling’s plating is yellow with black, faceplate being a common silver and the baby bot’s own horns presented on each side of the helm.

In all his years as a warlord warrior… never in his life had he expected to see a living youngling this young in his presence alive.

Megatron furrowed his optic ridges… the sparkling is too small for his liking. Making him scowl as he pieced together what he’s assuming as both possible murder and abandonment.

Pushing the thought aside he looks down at the sparkling in question, seeing the small bot finally calm and stare at megatron curiously with blue eerily familiar optics before servos reach for megatron…

Megatron smirks, then took the sparkling, cradling it in his restarlueus. “Without a semblance of fear? Makes you a worthy bot of my presence.”

The sparkling cooed, trying to reach for megatron’s helm and faceplate, the warrior chuckles at the attempt. “… your main weaponry are affective for now, but it’s a temporary thing.”

He told it, rocking the baby bot back and forth. “You need a fitting designation.. though health takes priority.” Megatron states.. but before he can leave he prays to primus and the thirteen to guide the poor femme’s spark.

After saying his prayers, the mech left with the sparkling in his restarlueus. For all that is worth, megatron swore protection to the sparkling…

To his new son.

__________________

Finally! Took me forever!

Anyways… here we have babybee au with a sprinkle of parent megatron adopted baby bumblebee from the ‘parental megatron franchise’ tag… or for short, parental megatron origins!

Uh, the dead femme in this is a made up character that no one will hear from again... only time she’s ever mentioned, she is mostly known as ‘late carrier’ Or ‘dead carrier’

Sorry… and again, so sorry… hope you guys enjoy!

[chizups]

Enough of that boring realism for now! Behold, sinner, an angel!

Spent too much on this one just because I tried to figure out what tool works best for me as a liner. More than less I am pleased with this piece.

I also was fighting with myself over that hell of a neckline that became a boob window in the end, even though I tried to avoid it through several redesigns there's always next one. Not sure who lost in this situation lol.

In the mood to write some info about this fantasy. I understand that a ship like that is not everyone's cup of tea, BUT it's not for everyone, it's for ME :D

Behold once again: the info dump✨

***

How character came to be in the first place?

I was gifted Far Cry 6 with Collapse DLC and after playing through it, I had some things to say to Joseph. So I needed an avatar to channel my thoughts. Self insert is always an option, but at the moment I was tired of drawing myself and was not in the mood to make another sona. Besides an unusual looking interpretation of Joseph's mind called for some ethereal entity, not a sad bitch like me lol

I also at the moment was obsessed with playing Warframe (still is), design of my character is based on a frame with the same name - Wisp. Her whole theme is being ethereal and wispy, ghostly character, moving between the fabrics of reality, which works nice with The Bliss, I think. And she has no feet. I'm not sure why it became such a thing for me in this case, I just like this artistic choice, that's all.

Is this character a self insert?

Well, in the end not at all😂 Whatever I wanted to tell through her was taken by the wind it seems. When I started thinking about Blissed Wisp, her biography and their interactions with Joseph, I came to realization that she would be just as easily manipulated by him as so many other characters in the plot, therefore will not say a single word from what was intended to be said in the first place.

If character has to fight, what's their weapon of choice?

Blissed Wisp is a skilled fighter (was created to be) and can use any fire weapon available. However her angelic image in the Project of Eden's Gate limits her choices of weapon to hand to hand combat, which would really be a problem only for her opponents since she is much stronger that an average human being and can injure a person without putting effort into it. She has an option to display her divine power (which are based on warframe abilities as well) but burning people alive is not exactly her cup of tea, so she is restraining herself from using it as well. Blissed Wisp leans more into scaring her opponents - her unusual appearance is just enough to do that - or confuse them by pretending to be a ghostly apparition in the woods.

What song describes character and their partner/love interest?

Who is she? - I Monster

Wisp was a mute witness to Joseph's reflections for years, carefully looking through his thoughts and memories without him noticing. He wasn't the only one she was able to reach, but somehow became most fascinating one to her. For many years after she first spoke to him, Joseph wasn't able to even imagine her face, most probably because she was not allowing him to do that: unsure of how long their connection would last, she figured her appearance was unnecessary information for Joseph to know.

However after some time their established relationship and Seed's religiously charged attitude lead to him become strengthened in faith that he in his mind was talking to an angel or a deity, wishing to get closer to her someday and meet in person if possible, since he was aware that Wisp wasn't just a incorporeal entity (despite her name).

With that desire there were many times Joseph "called" her name in his prayers to engage in conversations.

Where does character live?

Many years was spent in the science facility. I already said before that Far Cry 5 and New Dawn with it's Bliss are two steps away from Outlast and SCP, so I figured making a lab rat of a character that got turned basically into cyborg wasn't really that long of a stretch, but you don't need to agree.

If Wisp arrives in Hope County in time closer to Far Cry 5 dates, her place of residence would be a run down church somewhere in Henbane River region. When she's not there, she is rolling across the bliss fields just genuinely enjoying her freedom under the sun.

She doesn't really hide and is no stranger to cultists in other regions, but in general avoids being seen by people that are not following Joseph's word.

If Wisp arrives in what's left of Hope County by the time of New Dawn, she sticks to New Eden's region, mostly by Joseph's side, helping him with whatever and protecting his people.

How does character handle their mental health? Do they take care of themselves?

Frankly has no idea what mental health is, when it comes to her, trauma is not a word Wisp would use to describe her struggles, yet she is not just traumatized, but was trained for decades to believe that all the suffering she endured - mental and physical - is for the greater purpose that she might not even understand, but pain is inescapable.

However in case of other people, Blissed Wisp mostly understands the needlessness of their suffering, therefore when being a witness to people mental or physical struggles, she feels compassion and expresses it without doubts.

How do Seeds feel about the character?

As was said, obviously Joseph is a big fan. They have a long lasting connection that in some scenarios grows into kind of a romance between a mere man and a deity. Besides the fact that Joseph cherishes his relationship with Blissed Wisp, his Pride cannot help but make somewhat subtle advances towards her now and again in an attempt to strengthen his feeling of uniqueness and chosenness: a unique partner for The Chosen Son of God and Savior of Humanity sounds just right in his mind.

Jacob keeps his distance and is a bit afraid of the entity that Blissed Wisp appears to be in his eyes. Despite the fact that of all people her and Jacob could've find quite a few themes to talk about, he has a hard time to accept her existence, since none of his beliefs really implied the possibility of meeting something like Wisp at all. Of all heralds he is the one who is closed away from Wisp's influence and does not appreciate her in the mountains.

Faith is almost as big of a fan as Joseph, though she is not aware of Blissed Wisp's real nature and believes in her angelic origin, which is not surprising since girl is probably high most of the time. But then again, Wisp was able to insert herself into The Bliss, and that made girls grow closer to each other at least on that topic.

John Seed takes very little of this angelic bullshit, but keeps his mouth shut to appease Joseph first and foremost. He does not believe in Blissed Wisp being an angel, and in his eyes, if paranormal exists, she is a demon at best. However he is not nearly as closed as his older brother and is able to open his mind to Wisp in some cases.

Why this name?

Wisp is not the name of this woman, but the name of the entity she was designed to be. The purposes she was created for did not imply her having a name at all.

Blissed she became under Joseph's influence at Eden's Gate.

What people say about the character?

Though Blissed Wisp is not exactly hiding from people, the influence of Eden's Gate has spread so much, barely any person outside the project would be able to catch a glance of this unusual looking gal. But some did, and that made her into some sort of a local cryptid. Obviously not too many people believe that there is an actual angel roaming Hope County, but people talk there is some... thing.

Sharky was able not only see Blissed Wisp, but have a small chat with her as well and after that just calls her "Joseph's chick" absolutely ignoring her name.

[sitkowski]

this delicate balance ( noah sebastian x nicholas ruffilo )

pairing: nicholas ruffilio x noah sebastian cw: none. a little bit of angst, mentions of post tour burn out. pretty much just fluff. word count: 860 author's note: more soft boys from my riptide verse. this is set in the same time frame as twin skeletons. title comes from "existentialism on prom night" by straylight run. i think i hurt myself a little bit with this one. divider by @saradika-graphics ✨

⇉ masterpost || taglist signups || the riptide verse masterpost

Waking up without an alarm, without someone telling him where he’s got to be and what he’s got on his schedule is a new concept for Noah lately. The band has been going non stop, and he has to remind himself out loud that this break is for the best. That if they didn’t take it, if he didn’t take it, he was going to become resentful of it all. He’d never been more grateful for the band—his family—than when they told him they were basically making the decision for him, all he had to do was agree to it. And now, here he is, sleeping in and waking up with Lydia tucked into the space behind his knees, and the sounds of Nicholas talking out in the hallway, presumably to Jerry since Dave is sleeping on Nicholas’ pillow beside him.

The door’s already half open, but when it opens more, Noah lifts his head to see Nicholas peeking in.

“I’m up,” Noah murmurs, trying to stretch without disturbing the cats. “What time is it?”

He looks around for his phone, but doesn’t see it. And when he looks to the other side of the bed where Nicholas’ alarm clock usually sits, he sees that something’s been tossed over the display so he won’t see the numbers.

“It’s almost one.” Nicholas says as he comes further into the bedroom.

Noah went to sleep around midnight the night before, and his eyes went wide as he does the mental math. “You let me sleep for thirteen hours?”

“I put your phone in the kitchen too. You needed it, you didn’t wake up once in the middle of the night. Trust me, I checked.”

He can usually sleep that much and more after a tour, but normally he’s ready to bounce back after a day or two. It’s been two weeks, and he still feels the burnout. Never ending jet lag. Not wanting to do anything but sleep and usually that’s pretty fitful the first few nights home before he starts to feel normal. Normal isn’t coming so quickly this time.

Nicholas making sure that he slept fully through the night does something to his heart, and he gently extracts himself from the bed and shuffles over, immediately wrapping his arms around his boyfriend. He feels stupidly grateful, and doesn’t know what to say. That's been happening a lot lately. But he doesn’t really need to say anything, Nicholas knows. Reaching up, he pulls Noah’s head down to press his lips to his forehead.

“Why don’t you shower, and then we’ll figure out what we’re gonna do today.”

It’s not lost on Noah that there is no itinerary, no schedule he’s got to follow. If he wanted to turn around and go back to bed, he could. But he takes a shower, which at least helps him feel a little more awake. When he goes downstairs finally, he makes himself a cup of coffee and takes it out onto the back patio, where Nicholas is sitting with his sketchbook.

“Any plans you wanna make?” he asks, not looking up from his drawing.

Noah gets a little distracted just watching him draw, something he hasn’t had an opportunity to do very often. He wants Nicholas to tattoo him again at some point, he’d give up every last inch of bare skin left over for him to fill in. But he doesn’t realize he hasn’t answered the question until Nicholas is looking up at him expectantly.

“I mean, not really? Half the day is already gone and—”

“Do we need to talk about you deserving things again?”

Noah blushes hotly at that, trying to fight off a smile at the memory of just a few days ago. “Not right this second, no?”

Because he knows the whole point of taking this time off, was to actually try to use the break to relax. And the more he thinks about it, the less guilt he feels about it. There’s not some magic fix, but he’s glad to have Nicholas there with him. As if he’d be anywhere else, he knows he wouldn’t make it through any of this without him.

“You’re gonna wait me out if I don’t give you an answer, aren’t you?”

Nicholas puts down his pencil. “If you wanna do nothing today, then do nothing. It’s entirely up to you.”

“Okay. Let’s order burgers from that hole in the wall place down the road, and do absolutely nothing today.”

“Yeah, we can do that.”

Sitting aside his sketchbook, Nicholas starts to get up, probably to go and grab his phone to place the order. But Noah doesn’t let him get far. He sets aside his coffee cup and tugs him down onto his lap.

“One more thing I want today.” Nicholas hums out a questioning noise, smiling. Noah reaches up and pushes his hair behind his ears. “Can I have a kiss?”

Leaning into him, Nicholas loops his arms around Noah’s shoulders, pressing his lips to his cheek. “As many as you want, sunshine.”

Noah pulls his mouth to his, deciding to take him up on that offer. Lunch can wait.

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@deathblacksmoke @ladyveronikawrites @circle-with-me @baddestomens

@rumoured-whispers @cookiesupplier @dominuslunae @malice-ov-mercy

if you ’d like to be added to the taglist, you can find the form at the top of this fic! thanks for reading/reblogging 🩷

[csanflower]

“you drew stars around my scars”

pairing: experimented on! jungkook x experimented on! reader

powers au!, childhood besties au!, patients au!

genre: angst, fluff, sfw

wc: 5.9k

synopsis: meeting jungkook was like gazing up at the brightest star in the sky as you lay helpless on the cold ground in the dark night. you both found comfort in one another. you healed each other as you suffered through painful experiments together. the pain was bearable, with him by your side. whenever he was around, your smiles were brighter, your shoulders were lighter, and all your worries just seemed to disappear in an instant. good things don’t last though. you learned that the hard way.

OR

jungkook and y/n meet in the hospital both trying to be cured of their ‘disease’ (they have powers :O) and form memories along the way <3

tw: experiments on human (not detailed though), scars, gun

*inspired by ‘cardigan’ by taylor swift: “you drew stars around my scars” pls listen to it while u read this 🥹🥹(A/N: GONNA BE FIGHTING HARD FOR TICKETS TO ERAS TOUR THIS WEEK SO I WROTE THIS HOPING TO MANIFEST SOME TICKETS😭🙏🙏)

——

13 june, 2005

You monitored the pale, white room around you. White bed. White cupboard. White walls. You sighed in frustration. Your rainbow obsessed 7 year old brain screamed at you to add some colour to the walls. Note to self: Bring crayons to colour walls next time.

“Please…I will take care of her… don’t do this…”

Hearing the small familiar voice of your mother, your eyes lit up, and you climbed onto your white bed, propping your elbows onto the tiny window frame in the small room, peeking your small head out as you stared curiously into the other room. Your mother talking to a man in a white coat. They were having a serious conversation, and your mother seemed like she was about to cry. Why is mommy crying? Is she hurt? You thought to yourself, immediately jumping off the bed and running to the room next door to find your mother and comfort her.

The moment you entered the room your mother was in, you noticed she instantly wiped her tears away, trying to hide her tears from you.

“Hey sweetie, you like the room?” She plastered a smile on her face as she looked endearingly at you.

“It was alright. It could have more colour though. Next time I should bring my crayons and draw Bibi on it!” You let out a huge smile at the thought of Bibi, showing off your missing front tooth. Bibi was your imaginary friend. Picture a golden retriever, but covered in rainbows. Making friends were not exactly your specialty. For some reason, everyone called you a freak and did not want to talk to you, all because you were able to move things with your mind. And so you found comfort in your imaginary friend Bibi instead. He was the only one who understood you.

“Hey sweetheart, you’ll be staying here for a while, ok? It’s to make you better. Don’t worry, mommy will come back to visit when I can.” You could tell your mother was holding back her tears. It was the same face she made when daddy screamed at her and left us, or when she received a call that grandma died.

“W-why can’t mommy stay with me?” You felt tears brimming at your eyes as a sinking feeling appeared in your heart. You could feel that something bad was happening.

“Y/n, you are a danger to your mother. You need to stay here to get better-“ The doctor in the coat was cut off as I screamed out loud.

“NO! I WANT MY MOMMY! IM NOT GOING TO STAY HERE!” Your tears were overwhelming you as more people stomped into the room, grabbing your mother’s arms as she tried to grab you into her embrace. She had released her tears by now, sobbing uncontrollably. The people who stomped into the room grabbed her arms harshly, dragging her away from me and out of the door.

You felt your arms being pulled back by the doctor as you tried reaching out for your mother. You let out a frustrated scream, as your emotions ran rampage. The room around you started to shake and you unintentionally slammed everyone in the room against the hard wall — including your mother. Everyone except you fell hard to the ground as they hit the wall, all groaning in pain. You looked at your mother apologetically, then looked at your own hands in disgust. What have I done?

Your mother looks at you with one last glance, glossy eyes as she mouths to you ‘It’s ok, i love you’ The security people, as if unphased from the hit, immediately got up, containing their job as they dragged your mother forcefully out of the room. You didn’t dare to stop them. Not after what you did. You knew you were a monster.

“Do you see now, y/n? You’re a danger to everyone. If you want to be fixed, you will do the wise choice of cooperating with us so you can see your mother again.” The doctor got up slowly, looking at you with a cunning smile.

You gulped. You were scared. So, so scared and lonely. But you knew you had to do this. You had to get better. You had to make your mom proud. So you bravely nodded, agreeing to stay at the facility to get help.

—

2006

You never saw your mother again after that incident. You were unsure if she chose not to see you again because she thought you were a monster or if she was not allowed to visit you, but you sure hoped it was the latter.

You grew accustomed to the lifestyle. Everyday, your morning would be filled with ‘recreational activities’ like playing chess, but having to move the pieces with your mind, or doing basic commands with your powers that the doctors made you do. Afternoons were the worst. They would strap you into the terrifying pink chair in the ‘rainbow room’ and conduct experiments on your brain. For a room called ‘rainbow room’, it was certainly not full of rainbows. You would have to sit through hours of excruciating pain as the voices in your head overwhelmed you. There were so many needles, blood. But there was nothing you could do. None of the doctors cared for you. You had no one.

As time passed, you started getting used to the lifestyle. The food wasn’t bad, you had a chef that would make what you wanted, and servants that would get you what want. The only issue was the loneliness. You realised you were the only patient at the facility. Nobody ever talked to you. The guards, doctors and servants were not allowed to form a relationship with you. You had no one to talk to — except Bibi. But you knew Bibi wasn’t real. You weren’t a kid anymore - you had matured quickly from having to face the bitter reality. Bibi was merely your coping mechanism from the horrors of your daily life.

That was until he came along.

On 13 June, 2006, Jeon Jungkook, a 9 year old boy, was admitted into your facility exactly a year after your admittance. You were excited when you heard the news. You would finally have someone to talk to, someone to share your pain and to hang out with — a friend. Sadly, you did not hit it off as well as you expected it to. Jungkook was a shy, frightened boy, slightly shorter than you, eyes red and puffy probably from the amount of times he cried after being separated from his family. You felt for him. You were in the exact same situation as him a year ago, and you understood that he needed some private time to heal himself. He was definitely not in the mood for making friends. So you kept your distance for a while, not wanting to seem too desperate.

Until the night of his first experience in the ‘rainbow room’. You laid on your bed, reading the same book for the thousandth time as you sighed in boredom. Until you heard a sniffle in the hallway.

Curious, you stepped out of your room, not shocked to see Jungkook crouching into a little ball in the hallway outside his room, crying quietly. You could see the deep scars left on his left arm, the same ones you get daily from the experiments. You crouch down beside him softly, hesitantly patting his back as you tried to comfort him wordlessly. At first, he looked tense and uncomfortable at your touch, but he slowly eased into it as he saw the same scars on your arms. You inched closer to him, giving him a warm embrace as you cried together with him.

After that night, the two of you became closer. He realised that you were just like him. That he was not alone in his painful journey. And so started your friendship with Jungkook.

You soon realised Jungkook was more than a shy, frightened boy. He could be playful and kind at times, and he quickly became your close friend — more like only friend.

He painted your bleak childhood colourful with memories and fun moments. The two of you would make inside jokes about the staff there, laughing at how they always wore the same clothes and probably didn’t wash them, and joke over stupid things like whose powers were stronger or who was taller.

Yet despite all the jokes, the two of you placed deep trust in one another, comforting each other when the experiments got too harsh and painful, convincing each other that it would end some day. Mornings and afternoons of playfulness and fun ended in late nights of cuddling and crying together. This lifestyle became a norm for the two of you. But still it was tolerable, because you had each other.

—

2010

“Y/n, look what I found!” Jungkook ran into your room with a big, smug toothy grin on his face, hiding something behind his back.

“Did you finally find out where your room actually is? Because I’m starting to think you don’t know that since you’re always in my room.” You rolled your eyes playfully as you pretended not to be interested in what he actually brought.

His smile faltered for a second, processing your words, before he faked an angry frown, and pounced onto your bed that you were laying on, tickling you as revenge.

“Ok stop,” you giggled, “I was just kidding, tell me what you brought.” He finally stopped tickling you, pulling something from under his shirt behind his back, as he excitedly presented it to you.

You jaw dropped in shock as you immediately snatched it from his hand, staring at it in disbelief.

“That’s right! A full set of rainbow coloured crayons just for you!” Jungkook beamed with pride.

It was only the previous night that you admitted your obsession with rainbows to him, telling him stories about Bibi, and sharing about how you wished you could colour your room walls. You’ve been begging the workers for some sort of colour since you’ve arrived, but they never met your requests, saying that it was too “childish”. You couldn’t help but wonder how Jungkook managed to get it.

“I bet Bibi could have never gotten this for you, it just proved I’m a much better friend than him!”

You laughed at Jungkook’s statement. After telling him about Bibi, he had been so jealous that you had another friend other than him, even though you repeatedly told him numerous times that Bibi was an imaginary friend. However, you didn’t admit that you hadn’t talked to Bibi in a long time since you’d made friends with Jungkook. That would make his pride swell too much.

“How did you get it? The workers never ever let me get anything like this!” You were still in disbelief.

“Well, doctor choi has been wanting to do the new form of experiment on me since a few weeks back, and he said he would reward me with anything I wanted if I did it! So since I’m the bravest and coolest person ever, I did it today!” Jungkook said with a smug smile.

You frowned when you heard what he said. For the past few weeks, Jungkook had opposed greatly to doing the new format of experiments, since it was on a much larger scale than the previous experiments we had done. Our previous experiments usually ended in scars on our arms, but this new experiment was performed on the whole body. Jungkook had protested against it, because he was too afraid of needles. He had always been less receptive to pain than you. But why did he suddenly agree to do it today?

You looked down on Jungkook’s body, noticing new scars that were on his legs. He quickly tried covering them, saying, “It’s no big deal! It wasn’t even painful!”

You knew it had to be painful. The size of the scarring were just much larger than the usual. You pouted in guilt, hugging Jungkook tightly, “You didn’t have to do that! I bet it hurt so bad!”

“It’s fine, I just wanted to do something for you after all you’ve done for me…” He looked at you, face blushing slightly from your close proximity.

That night, the two of you didn’t sleep, colouring the plain walls with the crayons until dawn broke.

“Pfff. What is that supposed to be?” Jungkook muffled his laughter when he turned to see what you were drawing.

Frowning, you exclaimed, “It’s the galaxy! These are all the planets and all my beautiful stars!”

“Those are supposed to be stars?! They’re so ugly!” Jungkook joked with you.

You threw one of the crayons in his face, ignoring his comments. You didn’t care how ugly your drawing was, you loved seeing the sky and stars shining. Especially the stars. Stars were your favourite thing. Before you came here, you and your mother went stargazing every week, staring into the beautiful sky. Even though you probably would never be able to see them again since you weren’t allowed out of the building, you still held on to the hope that maybe one day you could have that chance again.

You stared at your galaxy for a while before turning over to Jungkook’s side to see what he was drawing.

You were shocked to realise that he was a much better artist than you. You inched closer to his side, smiling when you realised what he drew. A portrait of you and him together, on a lush green field, staring up into a sky full of stars. Although you never told him directly about your love for stars, you realised he must have guessed it from all the times you talked about them and tried drawing them. Your felt your heart beat a little bit faster at the thought of Jungkook being so attentive to your likes.

Your eyes trailed down to below the beautiful drawing to see a small writing below.

‘Y/n and Jungkook together forever!’

—

2015

As the years ticked by quickly, Jungkook started growing from a boy into a man. Once he hit puberty, he shot up like a tree and grew muscles. His featured became more defined and he grew out of his baby fat. You noticed that as Jungkook turned into a teenager, he had also turned more rebellious towards the workers, always unwilling to follow through their instructions and ending up getting punished. Yet he still stayed kind and sweet towards you, acting like the same 10 year old boy when he’s around you.

“One more time and we will not tolerate this anymore! You got it?”

Hearing the faint voice of doctor choi, you quietly get up from your bed and run to your door, peeking out softly, looking in the hallway.

Doctor Choi stood outside of Jungkook’s room in anger, scolding him. You could barely see Jungkook from your angle, only seeing half of his body.

“Ya, ya whatever. I won’t do it again.” Jungkook rolled his eyes and then slammed the door in Doctor Choi’s face, resulting in Doctor Choi stomping away in anger.

When you were sure Doctor Choi was out of sight, you quietly tip toed to Jungkook’s room, knocking on his door impatiently.

“What more do you want? I-“ Jungkook opened the door, annoyed.

When he saw you, he paused and his eyes softened.

“What did you do again? I was so worried when I couldn’t find you this morning! You have to start being more careful! These people have power over our entire lives! You can’t just act recklessly like this!” You immediately pushed past him and entered his room, sitting on his bed, as you looked at him angrily.

He carried a childishly guilty look, nervously scratching the back of his neck.

“I didn’t do anything bad! I just kind of sneaked out…”

“What!?? You tried sneaking out again?? Are you crazy? You could get into serious trouble-“

“I didn’t try, I did sneak out. I succeeded.” He said with a smug smirk on his face.

You paused your words in shock.

“Wait what? You sneaked out? Whats outside? Did you see the sky? How did you sneak out?” You bombarded him with questions.

He chickled slightly, sitting beside you in the bed.

“Chill, it’s mostly just greenery. But I found a really nice spot. I’ll take you there tonight.” He smiled gently at you.

You don’t know why you agreed with Jungkook’s ridiculous rebellious plan, but the thought of even a chance of being able to see the night sky again was just too tempting.

So now you and Jungkook were currently hiding in the vents, waiting for the right time to sneak out when nobody was looking. You sat rolled up in a circle beside Jungkook who looked noticeably more uncomfortable than you due to his size. The two of you were inches away from each other and you could feel your face heating up at the close proximity.

“This is really uncomfortable.” You muttered in the awkwardness.

He chuckled stating that it would be worth it.

Sure enough, he was right, as he usually was. When the workers were not looking, he quickly dragged you out of the vent as the two of you ran as quickly and quietly as you could to the spot he was talking about.

“Don’t open your eyes!” Jungkook placed his large hands over your eyes excitedly as he led you quietly to the spot.

You followed him blindly, placing your trust in him.

“OK! Open your eyes now!” You could hear the smile in his voice, excitedly opening your eyes.

When you peeled your eyes open, you stayed silent, in awe at the view you saw. The sky was pitch black, but the bright stars around twinkled in the dark. You felt like crying. You’ve been longing for this view for years. And now that you could see it in real life you didn’t know how to feel.

“I-It’s not the best view but I thought you would like it.” Jungkook said with a shy smile.

“It’s beautiful, Jungkook! I love it so much.” You were on the verge of tears, throwing yourself onto him as you embraced him tightly in gratitude.

You could feel him sigh in relief, hugging you back just as tightly.

“I’m glad you love it.”

The two of you sat on the field in silence, staring at the sky in awe. From your peripheral view, you noticed that Jungkook was looking at you the whole time.

“You should take a picture, it’ll last longer.” You joked with him as you turned to him momentarily.

“I really wish I could.” He replied.

You kept quietly, not expecting that response. The two of you stayed quiet for a while before you broke the silence.

“My mom used to bring me out to star gaze every week… I miss her so much.”

Jungkook looked at you in slight shock, not knowing how to reply. Though the two of you shared everything with each other, parents were not a topic you commonly discussed as it was pretty sensitive.

As silence engulfed the two of you again, you asked Jungkook, “Do you want a family when you grow up?”

“Yes, but only with the woman I love.” He stared intensely at you.

You looked back into his eyes, not knowing how to reply.

“Y/n, you are the one I lo-“

You cut him off quickly, pressing your finger onto his lips.

“Please don’t, I don’t think I can handle that.” You say apologetically, “I don’t deserve to be loved. My scars, they’re too ugly. I- I’m ugly. I don’t deserve love.” Your tears fumbled your words.

Jungkook’s eyebrows fumbled, his strong arms grabbing your arms gently, relentlessly pulling it towards him even as you tried your best to pull it away. He gently looked at your scars, rubbing onto them as he pulled them to his lips and kissed them gently.

“They’re beautiful y/n, everything about you is beautiful.”

Your tears started pouring as Jungkook looked at you with so much love and affection, kissing your ugly scars with so much care as if they were the most beautiful thing in the world.

“No they’re not, I can’t even look at them. It hurts, Jungkook. I hate everything about myself.” You leaned your head on his shoulders as you cried harder.

Jungkook hesitated for a moment, before grabbing something out from his pocket.

You almost laughed amidst your tears when you saw what he took out. A pink crayon. You remember giving that to him because you refused to use that colour in your drawings, stating that you hated that colour. (mostly because it was the colour of the chair in the rainbow room) As years passed and your crayons were used up, you never knew he had kept that crayon until this day, keeping it in his pocket like that.

You kept quiet as you watched him curiously. He grabbed your arms gently, drawing cute little stars around them.

“Look, now your arm is a cute little galaxy. It’s even more beautiful than the sky up there.” He smiled gently at you.

Looking at your arm now, you chuckled slightly as it did slightly resemble the universe above you. Jungkook used his fingers to wipe away the tears below your eyes.

“Since I kissed your scars, don’t you think you should kiss mine too?” He smirked.

You laughed, tears dissipating as you bent down and kissed the scars on his arm as well. You grabbed the pink crayon, drawing stars around his scars as well. You frowned when you realise his little universe didn’t look nearly as nice as yours.

“Wow you’re trying to make my scars uglier with your ugly stars.” He teased you.

This time, instead of throwing the crayon into his faces, you smiled endearingly as you leaned your head onto his chest, savouring as much as you could of this sweet moment.

“Jungkook… sorry for cutting you off just now. In fact, I-I actually love-“

Just as you were about to confess, you were suddenly interrupted.

“Jeon Jungkook! I told you no more sneaking out! This is it! You will be punished! Grab her!”

You felt yourself being pulled away from Jungkook’s side as two strong men grabbed both sides of your arms.

“Let go of me!” You tried pushing yourself off and using your powers but you were too weak after the experiments this week.

“Stop! Let go of her now!”

You’ve never seen Jungkook this mad before. Jungkook used his powers, twisting the heads of the two men holding you, making them crumble on the floor with blood gushing out of their eyes. You looked at Jungkook in shock.

Before you could run away, more men appeared, grabbing you once again, other men grabbing onto Jungkook.

At this point, you were a sobbing mess and the both of you were unable to escape since Jungkook’s powers were too weak from attacking the two men.

Jungkook was fuming, struggling in the grip of the two men, as he repeatedly shouted, “Don’t hurt her! Please! Let her go!”

You could feel yourself getting weaker as the men holding you placed a device onto your arm, draining your energy.

“This is your punishment, Jungkook. You’ll never see her again.”

That was the last thing you heard before you blacked out.

——

2016

You barely saw Jungkook again after that. They moved his room into another wing, and held his experiments elsewhere. You were back to 2005, lonely and depressed.

The only times you heard of Jungkook were through overhearing gossips from the workers.

“He caused a ruckus again, asking to see y/n. “

Your heart ached, longing to see him once again as well, and also concerned that he would be punished for being uncooperative.

You started focusing more on following the doctor’s instructions, with the hope that you could rid of your powers quickly so you could be released together with Jungkook. You were starting to see hope, everyday your powers were slightly diminishing and becoming weaker as you focused diligently during your experiments. Although as your powers grew weaker, you noticed you were becoming weaker as well. You’d lost a bit of weight and strength. But that didn’t falter you. You were too determined on losing your powers and escaping the facility.

Every morning, you would wake up to the fading drawing of you and Jungkook together watching the sky, bringing you back to the memory of that cursed night. Nights ended with you daydreaming on what could have been if you guys weren’t separated. You just wished you could have seen him one more time.

You didn’t know that your wish would have came true so soon.

It was 2am at night. You were lying on your bed, staring at the stars you had drawn on your ceiling with the crayons Jungkook gave years back. When someone entered your room quietly.

“Y/n, I have no time to explain. You have to come with me now.”

You looked up, shocked at the familiar voice. Sure enough, it was Jungkook in the flesh. He had an anxious look on his face, as if he was in a rush.

“W-what? How?” You didn’t know how to react after seeing him for the first time in so long. He looked the same from the last time you met him, except he grew buffer and more handsome. You looked at his arms, realising he still had pink stars that looked like the ones you drew around his scars. You assumed that he had traced over the stars when they started to fade so that they would stay intact. You let out a small smile at that.

He grabbed your wrist tightly, dragging you out of your room in a rush as he kept looking around for workers. You were still in a state of shock, unable to say a word as you followed him. When he was sure no one was in the hallway, he dragged you into the janitors room, closing the door.

He turned to you, glossy eyes looking at you as if you were the only thing that mattered in his life.

“I missed you so much.”

“Me too.”

The two of you stood in silence for a few seconds until Jungkook remembered why he came to find you.

“Look, y/n, we have a chance to escape. No, we need to escape. I found out something about the facility here. They have no plans to actually cure us, they can’t. They plan to have us stay here forever, to contain us and weaken us so we can’t escape. They’re afraid of us, y/n. And they can kill us at any time. They couldn’t kill us previously because the government did not allow it with the public watching. But with time passing, I overheard them saying that the public is forgetting and the government gave them the green light to kill us anytime we prove we’re a threat. We need to go, y/n.”

You knew this time it wasn’t a joke. Jungkook had never put on such a serious face before, and you could only nod at whatever he was saying. It was weird, the way you trusted him so easily. But he was the only person in your life who ever truly understood you and supported you. Maybe that was why you agreed to easily to whatever he said.

“W-when do we leave?” Your mind was still confused at how fast things were escalating. A moment ago you were just about to fall asleep, and now you were about to escape from the only place you’ve been in for the past few years of your life.

“Now.”

You followed him quietly as the two of you entered the vent you’d once been in. Memories of that horrible day came into your mind, but you pushed them away. Despite having an inkling that something about his plan could go wrong, you tried ignoring that thought, hoping it would be a success and that the two of you could actually leave together.

The two of you crawled through the vent, going a different route from the previous time. When he stopped abruptly, you stopped as well, waiting for his instructions. Looking down from the vent through the tiny holes, you realised you were above the main entrance of the building, the same entrance you and your mother had walked through the first time you entered.

You held your breath at the memory of that day. You hadn’t seen this door since that day in 2005 since it was always blocked off by guards and lots of protection. You felt heartbeat increase, maybe there really was hope at an escape.

“Ok on my signal you follow me and jump down, alright?” Jungkook turned around to look at you as he whispered. You nodded determinedly in response.

When Jungkook mouthed the word ‘now’ to you, he kicked off an opening on the vent and jumped down onto the floor as you followed along. As you jumped down, you stumbled slightly, but Jungkook caught you, steadying you with his arms.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” The guards, who had been on break took notice of us and ran after us from a few meters away.

“Run!”

Jungkook grabbed your arm tightly, pulling you along with him as the two of you ran for your lives out of the building.

As you ran, you started panicking as all you could see around you were greenery. But then hope came again when you could see a town with people and buildings in the far distance. There was a chance the two of you could make it.

You ran harder, locking hands with Jungkook as you both ran towards the town.

Bang!

The sound of the gunshot resonated through the forest. You didn’t feel any pain. But that made you feel worse. Because you knew it was Jungkook that had been shot.

“Shit…” Jungkook groaned in pain as he grabbed onto his stomach, blood gushing out.

Despite the pain, he didn’t give up, dragging you to a blind spot in the forest behind a tree where no one could see the two of you.

You placed him gently on the floor as tears flowed down your eyes uncontrollably.

“No…no, please…” You muttered as you tried putting pressure on the wound.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. Go. Go without me.” He said with little energy.

“No! No… I’m not leaving you here.” At this point you could barely see anything, everything blurred from your tears.

“You have to go now y/n… please… I love you so much…” He said with tears.

“Sorry, y/n, I didn’t want to show you my new power this way, but I have no choice.” He said weakly.

You were confused for a moment, until he grabbed onto your arm and said, “You will run as fast as you can to the town there and not look back once. And you will never ever return to this place.”

Instantaneously after his command, your legs stood up without your will and ran towards the town.

“W-wait! Jungkook! I love you! Stop this now! Please! I’m begging you!”

Your words were no use, your legs following Jungkook’s command as you couldn’t even look back to give a final glance at him.

When you reached the town, you broke down on the street immediately, wanting to run back to help him, but you physically couldn’t.

2018

Healing was hard. Especially without Jungkook. But eventually you moved on, like you always do. After escaping, you found a small job as a cashier at a convenience store, becoming close friends with the old grandma who owned the store. Your income was not a lot, but it was enough for three meals a day and rent for a small apartment. You went on that way for about 2 years, until realising you were too lonely and needed a new companion. And so you adopted an 8 year old golden retriever who had previously been used for animal testing. The moment you saw the scars on his frail little body, you broke down and sobbed at the adoption drive in front of dozens of people. You knew at that moment that he was yours. You named him Jeon Bibi.

—

13 June, 2020

“Jeon Bibi! The park is this way, where are you bringing me to?” You chuckled at your dog’s cute behaviour as he excitedly dragged you away to the opposite direction of the park you usually walked to.

“Ok, ok you’re the boss, i’ll follow you.” You smile affectionally at him as you trail behind him, curious to find out where he was bringing you to.

When Bibi came to an abrupt stop, you realised that he stopped behind the tall silhouette of a man’s back. You looked up curiously at the man, wondering why Bibi brought you to him. The man whipped around when he felt Bibi sniffing his hands.

You felt your breath hitch as the familiar man turned around, staring deeply into your eyes. For a moment, time stopped. Your eyes turned glossy as years of memories flashed passed your mind in an instant, the walls you’ve built around your heart demolishing in a split second. Your eyes trailed from his slightly longer, curlier black hair down to his large brown doe eyes, and to his pink lips, adorning a new lip piercing. You brought your eyes down to his body, noticing he became even buffer and taller. Then your eyes reached his arms and you felt your heart stop, looking at the scars that you once rubbed, kissed, newly decorated by familiar stars that were now permanently inked onto his skin.

He seemed equally shocked as he stared at you, tears brimming his widened eyes.

You both didn’t move an inch, staring into each other’s eyes. You were the first to break the silence.

“I thought you said my stars were ugly.”

He broke into laughter amidst his tears at the fact that that was your first comment after meeting him. You could feel your heart squeeze at his laughter. God, you missed him so, so much. You found yourself laughing along to his contagious laughter. For a moment, it felt like the two of you were 10 again, laughing without any worries.

“Y/n, everything about you is beautiful, even your ugly stars.” He ceased his laughter, small smile on his face as he looked at you intensely, years of memories hidden behind those eyes.

He paused for a second, hesitating before confessing.

“Y/n, I love yo-“

Before he could finish, you cut him off by taking a step closer to him and smashing your lips against his. He instantly melted into the kiss, grabbing you tightly, scared you would be separated again. You hugged him back tighter, reassuring him that the two of you would stay together forever.

After all, he was your star, your salvation, the one who made you love your scars, the one taught you acceptance and love, the one who made living worth it.

A/N: I LOVE THIS STORY SO MUCH😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭Ifeel so attached to them i cant do this rn i’m so sad. if u don’t understand the last part basically he REMEMBERED THE SHAPE OF HER STARS AND GOT A TATTOO OF THEM EVEN THOUGH HE HATES NEEDLES OK 😭😭😭😭ok but actually this piece was a bit of a rush since i wanted to quickly post it before my great war so it may be a bit incomplete at parts ANYWAYS PRAY FOR MY GREAT TICKETING WAR TMR🙏🙏THANKS LOVELIES FOR READING and do give comments if u can because i love reading feedback <3

[audreyclimbs]

foreseen in shadows- chapter one

chapter summary: cassandra returns to her apartment, and after a brief encounter with her best friend, she reflects on her night.

word count: 3.3k

TW: allusions to sexual assault! canon-typical violence, foul language

to access the entire story: foreseen in shadows masterlist + masterlist

I slipped in through my bedroom window as silently as I could, but the rain slicking every inch of my body had a different plan for my return to the apartment. In other words, I faceplanted on my hardwood floor—hard.

“Fuck,” I groaned under my breath, drawing out the vowel as I turned onto my back.  My eyes clenched shut as pain ached in every square inch of my body.  Exhaustion had settled into my bones hours ago, my body not yet adjusted to the demands of this new “night shift” of sorts on top of my day-to-day schedule.  Now, it was all I could do to scrape myself off of my now-slippery floors and shut the window before the rain blew in and soaked my bedroom.

As I turned around, I saw the hallway light flick on through the bottom crack of my closed door.  Dammit.  Could anything go according to plan tonight?

“Cassy, you okay in there?  Did you fall?” Jaimie’s voice called out from outside my door, groggy and scratchy with sleep.  She started to turn the doorknob.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

“Uh— I’m naked!”  I yelped, my voice pitching unnaturally high.

To her credit, she did pause.  “Girl.”  Her voice, though tired, was a perfect deadpan.  “There’s nothing there that I haven’t been subjected to multiple times before.  Why the fuck are you naked at… what the hell time even is it?” She muttered, trailing off and pausing briefly.  “At 3:30 in the morning?  Oh my God, do you have someone in there?”  My best friend gasped, the sound of shuffling giving away how she was now pressing herself closer to the closed door as if to listen for clues.  “You bitch!  What have we said about telling each other when we have—”

“I don’t— no, no one is here!  Don’t have someone!”  I blanched.  Why didn’t I just go with that, the fuck—  “I got sick, so I’m just changing into fresh clothes.”  That’s believable enough, I guess.

I watched as the shadow of her footsteps shuffled back to a normal distance from the doorframe.  “Aww, I’m sorry, Cass.”  I am such a piece of shit.  Guilt chewed away my bones at the sincerity in her voice.  “Do you want me to make you some broth?  Or.. or I can run out and get some of that juice you like?  I think the Petersons’ place down the street is still open for a little—”

My words came out in a rushed blur, “No, no it’s okay, seriously!  I appreciate it though.”  I began struggling to strip myself of the drenched clothes that clung to my body like a second skin.  The relentless aching of my muscles certainly didn’t make matters easier.  “I think I’m just gonna go back to bed and try to— uh— sleep it off.”  Hopping on one foot as I attempted to tug a boot off, I reached my dresser and leaned my back against the strong oak frame.

Jaimie hummed empathetically from the other side of the door.  I could practically see the distinct furrow of her brow, her hand coming up to run through her blond tresses.  The air came a little easier into my lungs now that I didn’t run the risk of her stumbling across the state I was in.  Drenched to the bone, beaten up in a way I’ve never been before— I couldn’t imagine the terror and worry that would take my best friend by the throat.

Her shuffles back from the door almost didn’t reach my ears.  “Well, if you need me, just come get me.  You know where I live,” she called out, yawning at the end of her sentence.  

“Will do— thank you,” I replied, drawing out the last word to serve as my farewell until the morning.

Her footsteps finally retreated from my doorframe, and the hallway light flicked back off.  Now, the only light in my room was the faint glow of streetlights streaming in from the rainy streets.  I kicked off the last boot and finished tugging off my long-sleeve shirt, tossing it in the vague direction of my hamper.  I’d pick it up in the morning and do a load so that I had something to wear when I go out again tomorrow night.  Or rather, tonight, I guess?  I resisted the urge to groan dramatically at the realization that I would have to go do all of this all over again sooner rather than later.  I couldn’t stop now, especially after whatever that encounter with the blind-but-not-blind guy was.

I so do not have the energy to begin processing that beatdown.

My back slid against the smooth, cool wood of my dresser as I sunk to the floor, head tilting back and eyes sliding shut.  Pain radiated in constant, throbbing waves from my jaw, my ribs, my legs.  

What the fuck even happened tonight?  It had started simply enough.  As simple as you can get when it’s your debut as a… vigilante?  Technically, I guess I’d fall within that category.  But I didn’t break the law, so do I actually?  Okay, I did technically assault a man, but he was about to assault a minor, so does that count?  I need a lawyer or something.  Is there a vigilante rubric I can grade myself on?  

As my eyes closed, I thought back to the start of my night.

Who am I even kidding right now?  Vigilante or not, nothing that happened tonight could fall within any category of normal.

---------------------------------------

1:55 A.M.

I crouched against the exhaust pipe that protruded from the rocky terrain of the rooftop, arm wrapping loosely around it in case my feet lost their purchase due to the torrential downpours currently soaking the streets of the Upper West Side.  

“What am I even doing right now?”  I muttered to myself.  

Deciding to take to the streets as a start, I released my grip on the pipe and dropped myself onto the fire escape below, landing in a crouch before rocking to my feet with the momentum of my brief fall.  The fire escape creaked and groaned, its joints squeaking from lack of use as I began lowering myself from ladder to ladder, moving diagonally as I tossed myself quickly and used each bottom rung as a monkey bar of sorts to propel myself to the next tower of fire escapes, steadily making my way down to the street.  

Upon reaching the last fire escape before the side of the building gave way to the street, I used the last of my momentum to swing off of the bottom rung and roll onto the rough concrete below, tucking and rolling as my feet made contact.  I quickly rose to my feet and began walking slowly to the street running perpendicular to the last few yards of the alley I had chosen for my descent.  As the distance between myself and the street began to close, I could hear the bustle of nighttime traffic and the relatively sparse nightlife roaming the streets of the Upper West Side.  Finally, the alley gave way to the street, and I looked around, orienting myself to where I now stood.

I turned left out of the alley and walked to the street corner, eyes squinting through the rain to read the sign of the street running parallel to me.  85th Street.  I hadn’t realized how far I had wandered in my nighttime escapade, but I couldn’t stop now.  I didn’t know how, but I knew I was meant to help.  Someone, somewhere, somehow.  The visions still flashed across my mind every time I closed my eyes.  So much blood, so much grief, and I knew that I had some way to stop it.  If I could see this coming, however far off it may be, then I could stop it, right?

Feet pivoting to turn my body around, I began walking further away from my apartment and toward whatever trouble awaited me tonight.

2:45 A.M.

It had been almost an hour.  Nothing.  Weariness crept into my mind as I continued wandering and pacing through the streets of the Upper West Side.  There was a certain kind of liberation that came with the pitch darkness of the night.  The mask that draped across my face, hiding my identity from someone or something— though I truthfully didn’t know what— didn’t seem to faze any passersby.  Then again, it was New York City.  I had learned fairly quickly that genuinely nothing could make this city’s inhabitants bat an eye.  

A smile tugged at my lips as I remembered how Jaimie and I had outright gawked at the absurdities we witnessed on our first day in the city before starting at Columbia.  It had been four years since then, and we both had changed so much, but I doubted either of us would ever be truly acclimated to this place.  Jaimie, in all her blunt and brutally honest glory, had yet to return to our shared abode in the evening without some story about some odd person she had seen out and about.  

Then, I saw it.  As I passed by a fairly normal-looking man, maybe a few years older than I, it began.  A sudden, frigid sensation passed over my skin as the world before me blended with the vision beginning to form in my mind’s eye.  The inky, misty scene began to unfold, voices drifting in various levels of clarity and volume, colors and shapes drifting and floating in and out of focus outside of the man standing before me.  

“I said, get on your knees,” he spat out, hands coming forward to shove harshly on my— her— shoulders.  

A sob tore from my lips in a voice that was not my own.  My— no, her hands, a milky white and freckled complexion that did not match my tanned, olive skin, shook in front of me as they came up to protect my face futilely.  The sleeves of her black jacket were muddy and dirty, evidence of a likely tumble to the wet ground of the dark alley she was now trapped in.  The dumpster pressing against her back effectively shielded her from the sight of passersby.  

(Not that anyone would glance twice even if they did see the scene playing out before them.  God help me, I fucking hate New Yorkers sometimes.)  Ripping myself from my bitter thoughts, I tried to focus on the milky, foggy scene before me.  The tears welling in her eyes did nothing to aid my vision through her eyes.

“Please,” the girl croaked out, and I could feel the hot tears streaming down her cheeks as if they were my own.  “Please, my mom is waiting up for me.  I won’t tell anyone, I— I s-swear,” the last syllables of her words trailed off in a hysterical cry, fear practically oozing from every fiber of her being.  

In my own mind, rage and indignation flared as the premonition continued to play out.  

Through teary eyes, she lifted her head and I saw the face of the origin of her fear.  It was the man I just passed by.  Blindly, I willed my body to turn around in the present and walk in the direction he had been going.  I prayed that I didn’t hit anyone as I moved unseeingly through the streets.  Focusing back on the vision as best I could while also trying to devote some of my attention to the present world, I watched as he began reaching for a knife strapped to his belt.  Oh God.

Desperation bubbled up in the girl’s throat, and I willed my present body to breathe deeply— to keep the barriers between us up and not give in to her emotions.  The man’s lips curled sadistically back, but they slipped back into a growl when she began scrambling backward.  He lunged forward and went down to the ground with her, body pinning her down as his hand holding the blade positioned it to the side of her neck.  His other hand came up to grip at her hair, and I felt a harsh pain to the side of my head as he tugged on her long, wet hair.  Rain dripped off the bridge of his nose and fell onto her forehead, and his breath fanned hotly across her face, a stark contrast to the biting cold of the October night.  

“I told you to get on your knees,” he panted, a manic sheen crossing over his eyes.  In the present, my skin crawled.  “But did you listen?  No, no you didn’t.  You know what happens,” he pressed the sharp edge of the blade into her throat, not hard enough to draw blood, but enough to stir a new wave of panic and fear in her.  

It was getting harder to stay in the vision and keep walking through the present, but I needed to know.  My autonomy in these visions was still weak, but I was getting better at controlling them— at making them play out instead of flashing chaotically behind my eyes like they did the first several times.  

Then, I felt it.  He pressed his hips down, and I felt the bulge press into her outer thigh— my outer thigh.  Bile crept up in her throat, and I willed myself to take deep breaths through my nose as I kept walking, vaguely seeing his form walking ahead of me.  It took everything in me not to pull out of the vision right then and throttle him with every fiber of my strength, but I kept walking.  Kept trying to see through her eyes— just a few more seconds.

The girl screamed and I felt it rip through my vocal cords, a harsh and desperate cry of terror.  She sounded so young— only a teenager.  The man shook her harshly and hissed in her ear to stay quiet.  Then, with his other hand, he reached down and fumbled for his belt—

I barely ripped myself out of the vision before I slammed into a lamp pole.  For fuck’s sake, Cassandra.  I scrambled back and found the man again.  Because of my clumsy error, he had gained a few extra feet on me.  I let him have it, trying to appear casual and we walked— together, though he didn’t know it just yet— through the night streets.  He paused, so I paused.  The man’s head whipped left and right, and I saw him focus on a distant bodega.  The street corner he had stopped at was on the opposite side of the intersection from the small shop, but he watched it steadily.  At that moment, I realized that he hadn’t been wandering at all.  He positioned himself next to a streetlight, arm coming to rest against the green, painted metal.  In the brief pause, I took a moment to observe him as best I could from the somewhat substantial distance between us.

He had a black zip-up hoodie on, the hood of which was pulled over his head.  His pants were just jeans, and I strained to see where exactly he had the knife I had seen in my vision.  One of the faults of my new abilities had to be the clarity— or rather, lack thereof.  If I focused with all of my strength, then I could usually get the scenes playing behind my eyes to clear up.  More often than not, however, that just wasn’t possible due to the present’s demands of my attention.  The jacket ended just past his hips, effectively blocking my view of his belt.  No matter, I’d figure it out soon enough.

A bell sounding from the bodega drew my attention across the intersection.  A young girl with fiery red curls stepped out, waving goodbye to whoever remained inside.  

“See you tomorrow, Mr. Lopez!”  She called out cheerily as the door snicked shut.  Then, she began walking away, pulling the hood of her black jacket up over her hair.  

Oh. 

The man ahead of me began following her, subtlety clearly gone in the wind.  Internally, I begged the girl to turn back— to go back inside and wait, to walk home with the man inside who she seemed to trust, to do anything.  She kept walking, arms crossed tightly across her chest to fight the harsh, whipping October air and rain.

His pace picked up, and the horror washing over me was far colder than the frigid rain currently soaking through my clothes.  He was gaining on her quickly.  I broke into a run, blindly crossing the street and praying that I didn’t get hit.  Then, he reached her and grabbed her through the hood of her jacket by those red curls.  Her scream was muffled by the arm that came up around her, presumably cupping over her mouth.  They backed into the alley to their left, and I sprinted as quickly as I could, rounding the corner and barrelling into the alley.  

This monster would not have her.  Not ever.

The man’s head whipped around to face the sound of my approaching footsteps, and before he could react, I yanked on the collar of his hoodie with all of my might.  Luckily, his grip on the girl broke, and she stumbled forward.  I released my hold on his collar and let momentum take him the last few feet into the wall behind him.  With blind instinct, I whipped my leg around to slam the flat of my foot into the soft part of his side below his ribs.  A groan slipped past his lips, and he doubled over but recovered quickly and stumbled in my direction. 

“Go!  Run!”  I screamed blindly in the young girl’s direction, hoping she would understand despite my gaze never leaving the monster of a man before me.  From the corner of my eye, I saw her figure dart behind me and out into the street.  I sent up a silent prayer that she would go back to the bodega.  That she would get home safe.

In my moment of distraction, the man managed to land a clumsy blow to my shoulder.  I stumbled back, grunting from the force.  Based on the uncoordinated path of his fist, I guessed that he was not experienced in combat.  Good.  My fighting left much to be desired, but I at least remembered most of what I learned during my time in Columbia’s Women’s Kickboxing Club.  I willed myself to recover quickly and assumed a somewhat awkward fighting stance.  I was rusty, sure, but not as bad as him.  

With a swift inhale, I wound my core tight, swung my leg around, and hit my mark on that same soft spot.  This time, it did the trick.  The monster gasped as he tried to regain the breath I just kicked out of his lungs.  I kept on him and wound my other leg around to strike his opposite side.  He fell to his knees.  A small, sadistic part of me was satisfied at the dark irony of this situation— at the fear he was now feeling, rather than inflicting on an innocent teenager.  Blind rage took over the forefront of my mind, and I kept landing blow after blow until he was nothing more than a crumbled mass on the wet floor of the alley.  I stared, eyes wide, and air finally came back to my lungs when I spotted the rise and fall of his chest.

A rustling sound from the dumpster behind me pulled me back to the present, and I stepped back shakily.  Has my heart always been this loud?  Trembling breaths shuttered in and out of my wet lips, and my hands shook violently as I reached up to wipe the rain from my eyes and brow.  A quick scan of my surroundings somewhat eased my worries about being seen or attacked, and with that, I took off running.

[swallowedbyfandom]

Her chambers soon begin to look like a florist shop. Colin has been a busy bee, she will give him that. He has sent her beautiful elaborate bouquets everyday this week with sweet little cards attached. In the week since that awful dinner at Bridgerton house Colin has managed to purchased a home in Bloomsbury. He has also interviewed and hired several servants to fill household positions. There have been trips to the lawyers and other legal affairs that has the Ton holding their breath. It is clear to all he is preparing to take a wife.

Her mother observes the situation with a shark's predatory anticipation. It is almost makes Penelope sad that her mother cannot see what he does not do. He has not gone to see a doctor yet nor has he had one come to call. She is serious about that, she had once overheard a midwife tell her mama that certain illness can led to infertility. While at the time she did not understand, what they were speaking on she does now. Her Papa's whoring likely left her mama unable to carry a child again. Colin has not come to call and he still has not come to her mama to formally declare his intentions to court her.

Frankly she has stated clearly what her expectations are for a suitor. That he is still falling short of her expectations is his own doing. He had eight weeks to work with. He just burned nine days of that with half measures. Flowers are a nice gesture but they are an empty gesture when she has a home filled with gentlemen callers daily. When they take time from their day to hand deliver her flowers and sweets. When they line up and wait to spend time with her. He is stalling, and falling woefully behind.

She is standing with Agatha who has used her dragon's glare to give her succor during the last three balls. The pickings of available bachelors worth spending time with tonight is minuscule. They are in the middle of giggling like schoolgirls over Lord Duncan trying to hide behind a curtain, when she spots Francesca looking uncomfortable with Lord Samadani. She lets out an aggravated sigh.

"Please pardon me. I must rescue Fran from the Queen's import. Please let her Majesty know they are incompatible. He wants an army of children and Francesca does not want more than two." Agatha lets out a snort, with a knowing smirk.

She makes her way over to Fran who is politely trying to give the Marquis a not so subtle hint. She flashes Fran a reassuring smile and smoothly cuts into Lord Samadani's ramble.

"Please pardon my interruption, my Lord. Francesca, Lady Danbury has been trying to get your attention. I believe she has a message from your mama to pass along."

Francesca gives her a relieved smile, before turning to excuse herself from Lord Samadani. Penelope opens mouth to excuse herself also, when she spots Fife making his way over to her.

She grabs Lord Samadani's arm and turns her wide panic filled eyes on him. She speaks rapidly.

"You must sign my card and take me to dance immediately."

To his credit he reaches for her dance card as he speaks.

"Why am I breaking the rules of etiquette to dance with a Lady I have not yet been introduced to?"

"You are a gentleman are you not? I am a Lady in distress. What better reason is there?"

They take their positions on the dance floor.

"Are you really in distress?" He asks her.

She places her hand on his shoulder and relaxes her frame while responding.

"I assure you my Lord, any Lady with sense would be distressed by Lord Fife. I am sure that if I am forced to dance with him once more tonight I shall stab him with a dessert fork."

He releases a deep rich laughter that draws attention to them. He smirks at her.

"May I have the name of the violent lady I am to dance with?"

Giggles escape her as she demurs.

"Penelope Featherington, my Lord. However I dispute the claim that I am violent. I prefer the term vigilant." She frowns as she continues speaking. "Lord Fife is swine. He enjoys making comments that are improper. While I may not understand the actual innuendos, I understand his leering looks enough to be uncomfortable."

The Marquis looks decidedly less amused by that. His frame carries a tension now it did not before. She distracts him with questions about his country. He is surprisingly charming and intelligent. He escorts to her to Albion after their set is complete and once he sees Lord Fife approaching again, this time trailed by Colin he signs her card for a second dance. Thankfully it is her last spot available on her dance card. She gives him a curtsy while graciously thanking him for his aid. Now she has a viable reason to deny Fife and Colin both a dance.

Colin is lucky she is not holding a drink in her hand when he asked why she did not keep a dance available for him. She for certain would have thrown it into his face at that moment. The hubris of that question fills her with rage. They have been at this ball for hours if he wanted to dance with her he should have asked when she arrived. She has danced six sets tonight with a variety of different gentlemen. She has danced an additional four sets that were second dances. Lord Samadani will be the fifth Gentleman she has a second dance with that night. That Colin thought he would swoop in the last hour of the ball and finally grace her with his presence. He must believe her desperate or still a silly girl waiting for crumbs of his attention.

The carriage ride back is entirely too long in Penelope's opinion. Her mother has spent the ride blatantly evaluating Penelope. She allows her mother to look her fill without comment until she figures out which question she wants to ask. Finally Portia seems to make up her mind.

"Have you finally given up on Mr. Bridgerton?"

She rolls her eyes. God, her mama is so short sighted.

"Contrary to what you like to believe I had never really set my sights on Mr. Bridgerton."

Her mother scoffs in response.

She makes a dismissive gesture with her hand, before she continues speaking.

"You don't have to believe me. Your opinion in the grand scheme of things matters very little. I have always adored the Bridgertons as a whole. It is also true I have always held tender feelings for Colin. However I never expected anything to come from it. I was aware that our close childhood bond would always have him viewing me as a little girl. I did not try to entice him. I never felt the potential fallout with his family to be worth the risk."

"If I were as blinded by love as you believe, I would have accepted his proposal. I did not because I am no longer certain he would be an ideal husband for me. He has allowed peer pressure to dictate a change in his values and behavior. What use would I have for a fickle husband?"

"If he wants to be my husband he will prove it. He will swallow his pride, eat his words and court me publicly. He doesn't get a pass because we were childhood playmates. We are not children any longer. I will not marry unless I am sure my husband will not leave me and our children in dire straits the way papa did to us. I am more practical than you believe."

"I do not need to be in love to marry well. I am looking for a stable partner I can grow to love. I am looking for a man who will think disappointing me is a fate worse than death. Who will choose me and our children before anything else. I would rather be a spinster than settle for less than that."

Her mother's lips are white with how hard they are pursed together.

"Colin Bridgerton looks down on our family, mama. He thinks he would be doing me a favor by marrying me, and saving me the shame of the Featherington name. Our family may be a scandalous mess, but we are survivors. While I am not proud to be a Featherington, I am proud to be Penelope Featherington. If I allow him the upper hand of being my white knight now, he will have it forever."

Her mama looks so pensive. Penelope allows herself to lean forward and drop a kiss on her forehead.

"I have been caring for myself for years now, mama. Put your efforts on my sisters they need you, I do not."

Her mama seems to startle at that. " I have tried my best with all of you girls. You know that right?"

Penelope exhales heavily she is too tired and short tempered for this conversation.

"No you did not. You tried and failed with my sisters. Phil and Pru are helpless and without a single drop of cunning. You married them to idiots. Albion and Philippa I can understand. They are in love and happy but neither of them is particularly bright. They are one shady steward away from poverty. Albion needs someone to teach him how to run an estate. Hopefully his parents will do so."

"Pru and Harry are doomed. Harry is sweet and simple, Pru will take advantage of him. While the Dankworth fortune is sizable, it is not so sizable that it can withstand Prudence's spending and inheriting the debt remaining on the Featherington estate."

"That your daughter's are completing to inherit that debt, should tell you everything you need to know. Yes a son will secure the title of Baron but it will also inherit the mess Papa and Jack made. If either of my sister's had sense they would pray for a daughter. If you had sense you would remarry and wash your hands of papa's mess. That is why I have finally entered the marriage mart. I am looking to wash my hands of our family."

"You have never tried to help me succeed, mama. Everything I am, I am in spite of you. Perhaps you were trying to make me strong? I doubt it though you are not a long term planner. You love me. I know this but you do not like me. That is fine. I feel the same way. We do not have to play pretend with each other, mama. We are adults."

Her mother remains quiet after that. She knows she has broken something irreparable between her mother and her. However they have been broken for years. Why should she be the only person to carry that burden?

She has carried the Featheringtons far enough. She has kept them off the streets. The more she thinks on it the more she realizes that the money she has set aside for her mother is unearned. Why would she leave almost half her earnings for her mother to spend on tacky gowns? Let her mother count on her son in laws or let her remarry.

She has worked hard to secure her future. Why the hell would she leave behind half her fortune? No. She isn't leaving anything behind. She has already done more for them, than they ever did for her.