#UPDATE! another idea for the ending to make it more platonic would be that shot in the snippet of omar running & spinning around | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

polizwrites · 3 months ago

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PoliZ's WIP Update - 21 Aug 2024

Making up for a bit of lost time this week – I touched five fics (3 new & 2 WIPs) - for a total of 3125 words.

On Ao3, I posted:

Chapter 3 (final) of The Business of Pleasure - Stucky omegaverse D/s fic.

Fathers Don’t Know Best - No Powers AU platonic WinterIron ficlet.

On Tumblr I posted:

Operation Sea and Surf - Tony Stark + Avengers post- Battle of New York one shot.

I’m juggling 20+ active/semi-active WIPs with my current deadline being the Hot Bucky Summer and Tony Stark This or That events which run til the end of August.

See below cut for what I’m working on/planning to work on - arranged more or less by bingos/challenges/etc. As always, feel free to send me prompts or plot bunnies as well as asks regarding any of these projects or any other WIPs I’ve got out there. Interaction really helps feed the Muse and keep me motivated!

July Break Bingo [JBB_24] (runs 1-31 Jul 14 August)

Ended up with a blackout plus (26 squares) and here’s my Masterpost! Had so much fun I requested two 2x3 cards for the Post July Break Bingo, which runs til the end of next June - see below.

Hot Bucky Summer 2024 [HBS_R2] (Ends 31 Aug)

More fun from the @buckybarnesevents folks - this time weekly challenges to create (usually NSFW) Bucky-centric fanworks! Thanks to plenty of cross-filling with other events (I’m looking at you, July Break Bingo) I’ve submitted something for the first eleven weeks and am working on one more with a vague idea for the final week - here’s hoping time & inspiration hold out!

* Week 11 August 10th - August 16th “You look good like this.” + Kneeling + Tied Down + Ruined. Posted Chapter 3 of The Business of Pleasure last Friday - picking up with Steve’s POV and continuing with some more bondage, edging and toy play. It’s crossing over with the BaBB August: Bondage prompt and came in an a hefty 2033 words!

* Week 12 - August 17th - August 23rd – “What should I wear?” + Nothing - Working on Love is a Muscle (and you make me want to flex) - WinterIron massage therapy with a happy ending. Planning to crossover with BaBB August: Body Worship, BBB K1 - Tony Stark's Workshop and it’s currently sitting at 511 words.

* Week 13 (August 24th - 30th) - FREE WEEK + Optional Prompts: Mutual Masturbation – Based on where Love is a Muscle is heading, I think a second chapter would be a good match here. Possibly crossing over with BaBB August: Desperation, BBB C5 - KINK: "You're such a tease" and TSTOT Row 3: Lab Sex?

Tony Stark This or That [TSTOT_24] (Ends 31 Aug 2024)

I signed up late and then promptly forgot I had a card - so am tackling this 8-row card with the hopes of getting it at least halfway done by the end of the month. Am doing okay with three prompts filled so far - need to brainstorm crossovers with my TSB, BBB, and WIB cards!

* Row 3: Lab Sex - see HBS Week 13 above

* Row 7: Beach Day - filled this with Operation Sea and Surf - a crossover with last week’s Flash Fiction Friday prompt [#FFF266 Great Expectations] & my TSB K2 - Miscommunication square. Tony rents a beach house in hopes of getting the Avengers together for a bit of team bonding; things don’t quite go as planned. It came in at 836 words and will get posted to Ao3 before this event ends.

Build-A-Bucky Bingo [BaBB_R1] (Ends 31 Oct 2024)

Another fun year-long event from the folks at @buckybarnesevents! Each month there’s a list of prompts and you choose (at least) one each month for your card! At thirty-one fills and one WIP with about two and a half months to go, I seem to be going a bit overboard …. 😁

* May: Bucky’s Trigger Words - combined this with a previous Flash Fiction Friday prompt [#FFF251 Out There] for Just To Live One Day Out There - a Winter Soldier self-reflective ficlet. It came in at 312 words and will get posted to Ao3 Real Soon.

* August: Body Worship - see HBS: Week 12 above.

* August: Desperation - see HBS Week 13 above.

WinterIron Bingo Round 2 [WIB_R2] (Ends 16 Dec 2024)

Signups are still open for pre-made cards for Round Two of this super-fun bingo event! I have sixteen fills and zero WIPs at the moment - setting this aside for the moment, as I have other time-sensitive events going.

* Iron Soldier (One Bingo, One Fill) - looking at combining my Column B prompts: Matchmaker, Bucky Riding Tony, Stark Gala, Inside Joke and Threesome. Still working on a plot - if you have any suggestions/want-to-sees - let me know!

* I3 - Car Sex - Have a fun ficlet in mind for this - some of the dialogue & such already worked out in my head.

*I4 - SHIELD HQ - Finally posted Fathers Don’t Know Best to Ao3 this morning. A crossover with Flash Fiction Friday prompt [#FFF245 You Never Cared, it’s a No Powers AU with Bucky working as an analyst at SHIELD who stumbles across a late night visitor to the lobby. It came in at 410 words.

* N1 - Hair Pulling Kink - thanks to a fun prompt from @scottxlogan - I filled this square with Untangling Their Attraction - where Tony’s offer of assistance leads to mutual kink discovery (not as racy as it might sound). It’s coming in at 544 words and will post to Ao3 before this event is over.

* N5 - "I'm here for you." - Possibly the next chapter of Lady Natasha’s Consort and Lord Steve’s Companion ?

* O3 - Love Confession - Circling back around to Chapter Seven of A Little Bit Carried Away - where Pepper learns about the impulsive offer Tony made to Bucky after they spent the night together. It’s sitting at 455 words at the moment and will cross over with TSB K3 - Pepper Potts and my pJBB C1_A1 - "Promise me you won't get mad." prompt.

Bucky Barnes Bingo - Round Six [BBB - R6] (Ends 31 Mar)

This amazing bingo event from the folks over at @buckybarnesbingo is back! I have twelve fills with one WIP at the moment, but a couple more crossovers planned.

* K1 - Tony Stark's Workshop - see HBS Week 12 above.

* K4 - Last Times/Farewells - combined this with a previous Flash Fiction Friday prompt [#FFF257 Count The Days ] for Short-Timing It - a pre-war (just barely) Bucky & Steve (Stucky if you squint) ficlet. It came in at 313 words and will post to Ao3 before the event is over.

Tony Stark Bingo - Mark VIII [TSB_R8] (Ends 31 May)

This amazing bingo event from the folks over at @tonystarkbingo is back! Late signups will start next month if you want to join in on the fun! I have four squares filled and one WIP - I need to plan out more crossovers!

* T1 - Watching Helplessly - Posted Stranded Among the Stars to Tumblr on Friday as a crossover with the Flash Fiction Friday prompt [#FFF265 Galaxies Away]. It’s a Nebula & Tony ficlet set on the ship - it came in at 345 words and will get posted to Ao3 before the event ends.

* R4 - Bartender - Got inspired by another song to start Some Other Beginning’s End - Tony’s a bartender dealing with an a-hole patron (Brock) and his just-broken-up-with boyfriend (Bucky). It’s sitting at 766 words and I plan to cross over with my pJBB C2_A2 - "You deserve someone who makes you happy." square. I may try to squish a few other squares in before I’m done.

* K2 - Miscommunication - see TSTOT Row 7: Beach Day above

* K3 - Pepper Potts - see WIB O3 - Love Confession above

* K5 - Misunderstandings - see HBS Week 10 above.

Hawkeyes Bingo [HB_R2] (Ends TBD)

Working on this Tumblr event - got a 3x3 card and am looking forward to creating more Clint-centric content and trying my hand at a bit of Kate Bishop fic as well!

* A3 - Awkward Flirting – this might be a good entry into my first femslash fic with Kate/Yelena?

* C1 - Magic - Combined this with a previous Flash Fiction Friday prompt [#FFF259 House of Cards] for Keep a Steady Hand. Clint notices Bucky getting frustrated with a task and offers to help. It came in at 632 words and will post to Ao3 possibly later this month.

Post July Break Bingo 2024 [pJBB_24] (Ends 30 Jun 2025)

As I mentioned above, I requested two 2x3 cards for this Discord-server only event from @julybreakbingo – so if you want to join in the fun, let me know and I’ll try to get you an invite! I have two fics in progress and need to figure out some more crossovers.

* C1_A1 - "Promise me you won't get mad." - see WIB * O3 - Love Confession

* C2_A2 - "You deserve someone who makes you happy." - see TSB R4 - Bartender.

Warm and Fluffy Bingo [WFB] (no end date)

Eight fills on my card, courtesy of @warmandfluffybingocards - need to try for another crossover or two!

* I2 - Vulnerable Drunk - matched this up with a previous Flash Fiction Friday prompt of [#FFF258 Milky Way Dreams] for Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines - a MIT-era Tony & Rhodey ficlet, where a drunk Tony shares a childhood dream with his best friend. It came in at 318 words and will get posted to Ao3 at some point.

————

On other creative fronts: I am working on a Count Orlok plush figure for a commission.

If you’re looking for one of a kind gifts for birthdays or other celebrations, check out Stuffed With Character over on Facebook for a full list of my designs (now over 150!). These soft stuffed figures are mostly Marvel and monsters, but I have some Star Wars, Star Trek, DC and Disney figures as well. Plus I love to take custom design requests for any fandom!

#writing stuff #wip wednesday #wip update #shameless self promo

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firefly-in-darkness · 4 years ago

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Separation, Connection - [1/2]

Pairing →Bucky Barnes x Reader

Characters → Marvel Characters

Summary → Your friendship with Bucky deterioates when you catch him in a compromising position with a fellow agent.

Word Count → 2.3k

SSB2021 Square Fill → “God I hate you” - @star-spangled-bingo

AFG Square Fill → “What the fuck am I seeing?” @anyfandomgoesbingo

Warnings → 18+. Angst, Heartbreak, Jealousy, Swearing

Betas → @kalesrebellion // all mistakes are my own.

A/N → This one was sitting in my WIPs folder for ages, and after brainstorming with @writethelifeyouwant, this 2 parter was finished! Ps. I know I haven’t updated Worst Idea Ever in a while and I’m sorry - I’m just very stuck with it atm, the plot and majority of the story is planned out, I just can’t seem to fill in the blanks.

Firefly’s Masterlist

You and Bucky were close, and there was that little thin line between friendship and something more. Nothing had happened but, god, you had wanted it to. The secret crush you harboured for your teammate, your friend, had only grown over the years. Everyone thought you would be good together, commenting on how well you got along, that friendship was an important part of a relationship. Both of you rolling your eyes and laughing at their comments.

When you finally gathered the courage to tell him how you felt, you saw him with someone else. They were at the back of the training facility; the team were in a simulation of a terrorist attack on Paris and once the time on the training session was called, you stumbled across them.

They were just out of sight, hidden in a dark corner. And it wasn’t just a casual embrace. They were having sex, he was fucking her, hard, up against a wall. You froze at the sight of his bare bottom clenching with each thrust and the blissed-out look on her face. What the fuck am I seeing?! Heart shattered, you fled from the room without a sound, not wanting to disturb them or for anyone to see you crying.

It hurt too much to be as close to him after that, you consciously decided to withdraw from the friendship. Not going straight to him when entering a room or staying in bed instead of heading to the rooftop where you’d usually wander at five in the morning to talk with Bucky, putting the world to right.

And of course, Bucky noticed. It had been a week since you had joined him for a midnight chat in the kitchen. He was missing his best friend. He wanted to share his life with her, and she was nowhere to be seen unless someone else was in the room.

Bucky knew it was a bad sign when you chose to sit next to Wanda, not sandwiched between him and Nat, on movie night. He felt alone in a room full of friends, as they watched a film about a love triangle set in England. It was supposed to be funny, but Bucky didn’t hear the jokes, let alone the punchlines.

Nat had realised something was wrong too. She saw the dark circles under your eyes when you drained the coffee from the cup in the morning and the puffy redness from crying in the middle of the day. She had detested the way you and Bucky were before, it was like a pair of magnets drawn together, a connected ribbon, a gravitational pull. But now? Well, you were repelling within a few meters of one another, and she hated that even more.

“What did you do, Barnes?” Nat whispered harshly, eyes still on the film.

“Nothing.” Bucky looked over to you, sleeping with your head resting on Wanda’s lap.

“So why is Wanda looking at you like that?” She raised an eyebrow.

Bucky lifted his gaze, saw the fiery red eyes staring back at him as she stroked your hair, a soft red mist falling over you. He frowned at the Sokovian and tried to talk telepathically but she shook her head and looked back at the television.

On autopilot, you ran from your room to his bedroom door, knocking until the screams died down. Long ago, you’d learnt to not enter the room until he’d settled down, had the bruises to your neck and dealt with the guilt-ridden expression on Bucky’s face for weeks.

Pressing your ear to the door, you could hear Bucky moving about and slowly pushed it open so as not to startle him. A soft glow from the lamp at his bedside welcomed you in, he'd stacked his pillows against the headboard with his knees drawn up and resting his head in his hands.

“Hi, Buck. It’s me.” You spoke softly, his head and eyes shot up to meet yours.

You walked over and sat at the end of the bed, averting your eyes to the floor and fingers fiddling with the edge of a blanket, waiting for him to respond.

“What did I do doll?” He croaked, fingers running through his hair, his knees dropping down.

Your heart raced and you were certain he could hear the harsh thumps, but your voice remained steady, “It's nothing, just need a little time to process some things.”

“You normally come to me. What's different?” His voice was strained, thick with distress.

Standing up, you walked towards the window, arms wrapped tightly around your torso. You could feel his eyes burning into the side of your face, but you remained focused on the navy sky fading to blues and oranges with the sunrise.

“I can't this time Buck, I need space. I need space from you.” With each word, your heart fractured along the lines you’d attempted to piece together with being away from him.

“Get out then, just leave me alone.” His tone was now harsh, stronger than before.

“God, I hate you.” Without a final glance, you left the room. Your heart in tatters once more.

Once in the safety of your room, the sob heaved out of you. Bucky had disregarded you so easily, he let you go without a second thought. And you didn’t know what was worse; what you saw a week ago or what he just said.

Bucky finished his 76th lap when someone caught his eye. It was you. His best friend. The one he stupidly let go of. It had been three months since he'd told you to leave, and you hadn't gone back on his word.

Of course, Bucky was just as stubborn and hadn't approached you unless it was work-related. But there was something different about you. His eyes focused on the man you were standing with, and how you glowed, and Bucky just couldn't stand that you were feeling that way about a random recruit and not him.

“She used to look at you that way.” Wanda’s voice echoed in his head.

He scanned the field and found her figure leaning against a tree, shading herself from the summer sun and a book in hand. Bucky grabbed the small towel and wiped away the sweat, swigging his water bottle, then joined her on the grass.

“What are you talking about? She’s never looked at me like that.” He gestured towards you and the agent.

Wanda chuckled and shook her head, “You're not blind, or stupid, Bucky, she adored you. Still does, even though I wish she would get over you.”

His brow creased. “She wanted space, ended our friendship.”

Wanda’s eyes flashed red, “And you broke her heart.”

“Show me.” Bucky held out his hand, pleading with her, “I don’t know what I did wrong.”

“I can’t Bucky. It's private, she would never forgive me.” Wanda shook her head and placed her book in her lap, “I've seen what she's done to you, I'm not going to lose her too.”

Bucky sprang to his feet and kicked at the grass. “Then just tell me what you know. Just something?” He turned to face you, hands on his hips as he tried to think of what he’d done.

“Paris terrorist simulation,” Wanda stated without emotion.

Bucky turned around, seeing nothing but a neutral expression on her face. The simulation had been a success, the whole team had done well but he hadn’t seen you at the debriefing. Steve said you were exhausted and needed to rest.

“What about it?” asked Bucky.

“Don't deny it. I saw it, I felt it. She had no chance of blocking me from that pain.” Wanda stood up, eyes flickering red, “you and that agent. I thought you were better than that Bucky.”

“Shit.”

Bucky knew exactly what Wanda had meant before she explained. Shame coursed through him; he'd broken your trust by not telling you about the agent he’d been hooking up with. Honestly, he didn't want you to know, didn't want you to judge him for the flings he had. Subconsciously, he knew that was what your distancing was about because he hadn't seen her again or hooked up with anyone since.

All he wanted was you back in his life; he was going to make it happen.

Wanda smirked, shaking her head before walking ahead of him, “Best get a move on Barnes, she’s not thinking of him in a platonic way.”

Bucky’s jaw clenched and he strutted towards you, determined to get you back.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder and he could only hope you still felt the same way.

You couldn’t believe Bucky dared to pull rank on you in front of another agent. That he had the gall to do such a thing after he told you to leave him alone, how he betrayed your trust as a friend and unknowingly broke your heart.

You stormed down the blurry corridors as anger took the form of tears. Your whole body tense and determined to get away from the assassin on your tail. People parted like the sea as they saw your strut and scowl, you scoffed at their reaction and thought, this must be what it’s like to be Bucky on a mission. Using it to your advantage, you managed to pull someone by the arm and into the path of the Winter Soldier.

While you sprinted away, you glanced back and spotted Bucky helping the woman to her feet, apologising profusely and then realising it was the agent you had caught him with. Your blood boiled as you pushed through the door to the stairwell, it slammed against the wall and probably damaged it, but you didn’t care anymore.

It wasn’t until the breeze hit your face that you realised where you were. You’d come to the rooftop, the exact spot that you’d air all your worries with Bucky. It was the place you’d first bonded outside of the team.

A hand dragged down your face and your shoulders slumped. You spun on your heel, ready to escape when you stopped short. There he was, blocking the doorway. You groaned, of course, he knew exactly where you’d go even before you did.

“I just want to talk.” Bucky quietly spoke, a hint of a question in his tone but a statement all the same.

“I’ll scale down the side of this building if I have to.” You stepped back towards the edge.

Bucky growled and walked towards you, “would you quit being so stubborn and dramatic for one second?”

“Just leave me alone.” You threw his own words back at him, stopping him in his tracks.

At that moment, you could see that Bucky realised how hurtful those words were, but you weren’t going to console him anytime soon. He should suffer for how he spoke to you and for never attempting to speak to you until now.

Bucky slowly circled you towards the edge, his eyes focused on you while you turned in tandem following his moves. He reached the railing then settled down into a seated position, legs hanging over the side, his chest against the metal pole.

“Are you going to join me?” Bucky’s gaze now on the horizon.

With a roll of your eyes, you sat beside him, but at least a metre apart, you couldn’t get that close to him. He was too intoxicating, and your emotions were incredibly high, even if they were full of anger and hurt, and you didn’t trust yourself not to succumb to his charm.

“Are you going to talk then?” You sassed back at him.

“I’m sorry for what you saw. You shouldn’t have seen that.” Bucky didn’t hold back, “I was going to tell you, I just thought you’d judge me.”

“I’d judge you. For sleeping with a colleague. In the middle of a training simulation?” You scoffed, “You didn’t tell me about her. Or anyone else for that matter. Natasha filled me in on all your little late night rendezvous when I was on missions.”

“I didn’t mean to.” Bucky knew he’d not win this conversation and scrambled to bring it back onto his side, “you were away, and I needed something, someone.”

“So, you used them and used me too?” You glared at him.

“That’s not what I said,” Bucky seethed, annoyed at the way you were twisting his words but not surprised with the pain you felt.

You continued, ignoring his comment, unable to stop the words falling from your lips, “I gave you emotional support. Watched you cry yourself to sleep after a nightmare, held your hand when you had a panic attack during a mission.” You shook your head at him, “I just wasn’t good enough for the sex part.”

Bucky held your chin and pulled your face to look at him, “You mean more to me than that. I just didn’t know how you felt. If I’d had known-”

You jerked away from his touch, it felt too nice, it felt like home, but you weren’t ready to fall back into this friendship. He knew how you felt, and you weren’t ready for his rejection. You still needed your space.

Swiftly, you returned to your feet, brushing down your trousers and hands, “Thank you for your apology, but I can’t forgive you.”

Bucky stood up and watched you begin to leave, “I’ll do my best to make you see how much you mean to me.”

You paused in the doorway, but you had to be strong, to carry on walking away, you couldn’t let him hurt you again. It was time to move on.

Continue Here...

Everything Tag List: @kitkatd7 / @fandomfic-galore / @writerwrites / @thefridgeismybestie / @wedonttalkaboutitenough / @courtneychicken / @persephonesinfernos / @miraclesoflove

Marvel Tag List: @natasha-danvers / @little-baby-vixen / @stuckonjbbarnes / @starlightcrystalline / @nekoannie-chan / @hailhydra920 / @vollzeitliebe / @fitzsimmons-is-forever / @ladyacrasia / @emmabarnes / @selfsun

strike through - unable to tag.

#Bucky Barnes x Reader #Bucky Barnes #Bucky Barnes Fic #Bucky Barnes Angst #Bucky Barnes Fanfic #Bucky Barnes Fanfiction

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leviiattacks · 3 years ago

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Two Faced | Chapter Ten

↳ levi ackerman, the very person who was about to kindly behead you by a surprising turn of events manages to become your loving husband? you would be elated if this was true love, but it’s all thanks to a mysterious magic spell that your life is spared, for now at least.

pairing :: duke!levi x duchess!reader genre :: royal au ??? (at this point idek) angst, fluff, slice of life etc ?? word count :: 4k author note :: haha.... wowww it's been long since i last updated. honestly my physical and mental health have just been horrible... that's about it, i lost a lot of motivation but if you're still reading i am very thankful and i will try to deliver the story well. i tried my best but writing whilst sick is very tiresome :-) tags :: @patience-is-here , @chwlogy , @a--nonymousse , @imkumichan

→ chapters list

Keeping yourself cooped up within Levi's estate and never daring to step a foot outside should have been what you had done. Blackmailing him to keep you confined within the walls of your bedroom would be much better compared to the problem you have to resolve now. Perhaps if you had done so you wouldn't have collided face first into this muddle.

Jean fiddles with the ends of his button up, he doesn't take the chance to glance up at any of his superiors. He's either much too embarrassed or has nothing noteworthy to start off with.

Erwin chooses to call the shots seeing as neither you or the Viscount by your side wish to begin.

"You both understand why we're here. Correct me if I'm wrong?" The Commander looks between you, Jean and your unfortunate excuse of a husband. Suddenly it looks as if the gears and cogs in Jean's brain move without warning.

Offering a demure nod you expect for him to follow in your footsteps and do the same only he stands there looking between you and Levi.

"Wait...The two of you are? A couple?" Stunned isn't the word, Jean's completely flabbergasted.

"If you figured that out this late, I do not understand why Erwin sees you remotely fit for my team." Levi's beyond insulted at the fact he's only just understood the situation.

Jean, now more intimidated than ever before straightens his back and coughs clumsily, "Sorry." He murmurs chestnut eyes making contact with the hardwood floors.

The Commander's laced hands sit atop his desk, elegant fingers moving similar to honey on a spoon. He sighs not out of fatigue but pride. Whatever plan he's come up with has to be decent at the very least, his body language is telling you that much.

"We have a number of possibilities we can choose from. We owe that pleasure to Mr Kirstein here." Erwin offers him an almost cynical smile, you can't help but gulp thinking about how this is essentially your fault. With all the constant training sessions and team building tasks it makes sense for Jean to have completely forgot about your unspoken rule. Solely blaming him is incorrect.

Raising your arm above your head to intervene you make it known that you're aware of Levi shooting you a look of warning by returning it. It's best he knows you don't care for anyone's opinion let alone his.

"Permission to speak Commander?"

Your request is agreed to immediately with the wave of Erwin's hand.

"It's my fault for not reminding Jean. I'll take the blame, I hadn't even told him the full story concerning me and Levi."

Levi doesn't enjoy your defense in the slightest. "I don't expect my wife to fling herself at other men and allow for them to snoop around gathering the details of our personal lives."

Scoffing you shield yourself with your arms over your chest.

"Oh dear husband. If you want to get personal do tell me where my family is?" It's an inside joke only Levi will be able to understand.

"If you call those people family your standards are disgustingly low."

"Maybe that explains why I settled for you."

Again, other's opinions are not at the forefront of your priority list. Regardless it's quite enjoyable pushing Levi further into a corner with that sentence. You see the internal struggle play out within him. Jaw clenched, hands balled together. He doesn't have an appropriate response

Jean bursts out unable to hold it in any longer, chest trembling with every quake of laughter that ripples through him you have to shove him with your elbow. For a Viscount his etiquette sure is nonexistent.

"My word, the two of you sound like..."

Levi stares at him most probably expecting something along the lines of "An old married couple."

But, no. It's nothing anyone in the room expects. That includes you.

"It's as if you're unhappy with each other..."

Not a noise is made after that. Jean isn't mistaken, your heart is miserable. You've never had many relationships to begin with, whether it be familial, romantic or platonic and for someone such as your husband to treat you the way he does - it feels futile having to navigate around the complexities. Even if he isn't really your husband it's disappointing to reflect on your marriage so suddenly.

Feeling your face droop a little you bite your bottom lip with your teeth. Hearing the truth from someone you barely expect to hear it from has an effect on you.

You're so caught up analyzing everything it takes you a minute to even register Levi grumbling and lunging forward pilfering the collar of Jean's shirt.

"Every day you prove to be more and more pathetic than I expect." Levi turns to look at you after that. His stare bores into you but he doesn't come off threatening, you assume his last remark is directed solely at Jean.

When he turns back only glaring at Jean now with even more tenacity than before. He's ready to snap but Erwin has clearly had enough of the unwanted altercation in his office.

"Enough. The both of you. This is most bothersome." At the Commander's orders Levi is silenced although it takes all of his resolve to do so.

Finally bothering you take a good look at Jean. He's calm in an incredibly out of character way.

Is this not the man who trembled in his boots the first time he and Levi came into contact? It's almost as if he seems pleased with himself for drawing out such a reaction from his Captain.

Erwin shuffles through stacks of paperwork on his desk. The man needs an assistant at this point. You doubt you could find anything in that haphazard pile. Edges of crumpled paper poke out uncomfortably and Erwin becomes increasingly annoyed when he can't locate what it is he's looking for.

Just as you're about to ask if he requires any assistance it seems he's found what he's been looking for, that's if his eyes are any indication of the relief he feels.

"This." He holds up the paper, all eyes in the room are trained on it. "Under normal circumstances would not have to become an option."

"But these aren't normal circumstances?" Jean's thoughtless question is irksome when the answer is so obviously staring him down in the face.

Nonetheless Erwin nods incapable of losing his cool over something so minor.

"Sign to confirm to my proposition."

The document he places onto the desk isn't what you imagine, you can practically feel the dread climb up your throat once you're done scanning it. Jean's full name placed right next to yours in bold lettering has your stomach lurching. You don't have to read the rest to understand the new circumstances you've landed into.

To make matters worse Erwin places two rings down right in front of the both of you.

A pot of boiling hot water is what you've been thrown in.

Are you supposed to be some sort of replacement for potatoes? What's Jean in this scenario? Carrots?

"It is troublesome to have the two of you put on an act to be involved with one another but I see it as our safest option." Erwin notices your parted lips and slacked jaw. "You need not worry this isn't a marriage contract, you're simply acting."

There's no path out of this pot, you and Jean will simply have to deal with the prospect of being boiled alive.

Ah, you forgot to mention who would act as the hot water but you're sure the suspect is obvious.

Even right now Levi's fury radiates off of him, it's unclear if he was given the details of the Commander's plan beforehand but if his furrowed brow and pursed lips are indicators of the truth he must have had no idea.

Your suspicions are confirmed to be correct once Levi reaches forward plucking the paper away, it just so happens he's snatched it away the very moment Jean leans in to get a closer look at it.

"I was never informed of this."

Erwin gives him a guarded smile. "Do you have any jurisdiction over what I think is best?" Is his freezing reply.

"Yes. When it concerns my wife and another man - Correction. I meant boy."

Jean's taken aback by the subtle jab and shamefacedly shoves his hands into his pockets.

You watch the scene go down with a perplexed look the entire time. Levi's frustration seems to be legitimate yet he has no logical reason for it to ever be present in the first place. Unless he has a plan which outperforms the one you've just been given he's doing this all for nothing.

"I assure you your wife is in safe hands so long as you stop interfering."

Levi's about to bark back until he catches your confusion. He's become aware of your tilted head and telling expression and only then does he silence himself permanently not before sighing deeply, muttering an expletive under his breath.

"I’ll sign it.” That seems to be Jean’s indirect way of asking what your choice will be.

“I... will too.” Is your hesitant reply.

Levi only becomes avoidant after that. Half way through Erwin explaining how you and Jean have to look believable Levi just ups and leaves without a word. Perhaps you've hurt his pride but for what he's done to you it's a small price to pay and so you do nothing to make amends. He has no reason to feel uncomfortable, you aren't really his wife, you're essentially strangers. Does he even know your favourite colour? Your favourite food? Your favourite pastime?

You doubt he does.

Jean and you are rather successful with your act. It feels pleasant having him brush your hair out of your face occasionally or lovingly place a hand on your forehead to check if you've come down with a fever. He laces his fingers with yours when others are around and when they aren't he lets the act go. It's satisfying having a cooperative partner.

Naturally Jean is still a tease, even now he makes the odd suggestive comment or two in passing but you can't say you hate it. In fact it excites you to think of a response that borders the edge of teasing and simple fun between friends.

The increasing openness between the two of you is enough for the cadets to deduce that he's most probably the noble man you wed in secrecy.

It's only been a few days since yours and Jean's newfound behaviour, thankfully you haven't been flooded with questions just yet. The higher ups sit nearby during breakfast, lunch and dinner keeping watch over the cadets. It leaves you able to eat and drink without having to handle the constant inquiring of your comrades.

However, you aren't as lucky today. A meeting's taking place and after yours and Jean's convincing act Erwin deems it safe enough to leave you unattended for a short while.

Of course it doesn't go according to plan because when you're involved when does anything ever go according to plan?

The cadets are flocked around your table at dinner as soon as they notice they've been left to their own devices. The opportunity to sit down without everyone invading your space is barely provided to you. Krista is sat to your right leaning into you rather animatedly, Annie has made herself at home sat across you which in itself is completely out of character and slightly unnerving, Annie never and you repeat never concerns herself with you.

"Why did you and Jean hide it?" Armin hovers over your shoulder as per usual. He can't be blamed for naturally being inquisitive and it does give you the opportunity to lay out the foundations of your plan. Now's your time to muster up one of your rehearsed responses.

"It would interfere with work." You respond immediately wanting to appear natural. Pondering on an answer for too long would raise suspicions.

Armin makes a sound of approval and shuffles into the seat next to Krista, that is until Ymir can be overheard telling him to move if he knows what's best for him.

"I have a question." Says a voice across the table, you don't have to look at the blonde parallel to you to know it's her.

For once Annie’s initiated a conversation with you, she’s not particularly great at keeping her intentions discreet. Maybe she doesn’t care if you can tell what she’s up to? But if that’s the case her plan isn’t all that foolproof, there's no way you're to let any details slip away.

Sharply inhaling waiting for what it is she has to say you find that her sentence never comes. Instead she shakes her head and murmurs a "Never mind.". You don't even have the time to ask her to stick around, she's already rose from her seat taking her unfinished plate of food with her, you let her go assuming she feels unwell.

"So how'd you two meet? Jean already told me earlier but I'd like to hear your side." Reiner's taken Annie's empty seat and his gaze is unwavering. The trap they've set up is a clever one. Surveying the hall for Bertholdt you know he has to be observing too. The two never operate alone.

You suddenly hate Reiner. For whatever reason he and his trio are endlessly obsessed with you, they've caught onto something that's for sure but you don't know what it is and now they've completely ensnared you with a backhanded trick. There's no way out of this, you have no idea what it is Jean said to Reiner, the chances of you providing the exact same answer are slim to none.

"My memory is really fuzzy, I don't think Jean gave off much of a first impression so I've forgot." Your horrible excuse doesn't fly by, everyone simultaneously narrows their eyes in disbelief. What you've said isn't convincing at all.

Husband and Wife yet you've forgot how the two of you met?

Fidgeting with the ring adorning your finger the cool metal isn't doing a great job at alleviating the pressure of the situation.

"Jean said the two of you hit it off almost instantly. Who's being dishonest?"

Reiner's either lying to catch you out or he's saying the God honest truth and right now all you can do is hope and pray for a miracle to sweep you off your feet. Mikasa and Jean still aren't within view. At this point you're hoping for Levi to save you, it doesn't matter how so long as you escape unscathed.

"Hey, I think we're just making her anxious with all the questions." Armin is quick to side with you, deep down you know he only does so due to the respect he holds for his Commander. You thank the Heaven's for Erwin's admirable smile and commendable leadership, it seems to be the only reason Armin believes you and Jean.

"Or she's lying." Reiner's resting his head in one of his palms, he's still boring holes right into your frame.

Your eye twitches, this is all unnecessary and uncalled for, whatever it is Reiner wants out of you it better be worthwhile.

He still eggs you on. "You walked out of the Captain's quarters. I saw you."

Standing up and leaning forward you plant your feet to the ground as firmly as you can you.

"And if she did what's it to you?"

Fighting the urge to sigh in relief you've never been happier to hear Jean's voice but something's off. His breathing sounds heavy - like he fought his way to get inside. Turning only then do you notice Mikasa standing by him. She looks equally as exhausted. There's been some sort of a struggle.

"You think it was funny getting Annie to guard the door?" He heaves and runs a frustrated hand through his hair.

"And you think hiding secrets from the rest of us is any better?" Reiner's adamant there's information that the both of you are hiding, he's not wrong but that doesn't change that he's challenging you unprovoked without a reasonable motive.

"We're hiding nothing." Unlike you Jean is sure of his words, he's confident speaking up and he seems to be able to pull off the role of a protective husband perfectly.

“I came out of the Captain’s quarters because he had access to hot water. He said I could use his shower. That’s all it was.”

Reiner quirks an eyebrow upwards and is pleased with your answer. God you’ve said something incriminating haven’t you? It's not incriminating per se but it's without doubt malleable and easy to twist.

“Jean, you were okay with your wife doing that at the dead of night?” Reiner's still leading the interrogation.

“I was the one who suggested it.”

“I don’t believe you’re a couple." If it were Reiner who said that you wouldn't care much, after all it's pretty clear he never believed it but to your displeasure it isn't him who's spoken. Ymir's lopsided grin is all knowing and you're beginning to lose your footing in this argument any second now if any more people start to side against you.

If Ymir disagrees that almost certainly means Krista has her qualms about you too, you've observed beforehand that Ymir tends to speak for Krista on occasion. This happens to be one of those times.

Krista timidly raises her hand and Ymir gives her an approving nod encouraging her to speak.

"I don't like the conflict going on but it is suspicious..."

"Why have I only ever seen you two hold hands?" She asks.

Ymir slings her arm over Krista's shoulder affectionately. "Yeah, I tell Krista I'll marry her every day of the week."

Mikasa mumbles something unintelligible, Ymir gives her a look of warning but Mikasa doesn't seem to care. Instead she repeats what she has to say loud and clear.

"Stick to only speaking when Krista is involved."

Krista holds Ymir by her arm so she doesn't get up, she knows how she gets when she's been provoked. Even if Krista has her suspicions it isn't worth Ymir gaining a permanent penalty point on her record.

Thankfully Armin cuts in. "There's no solid evidence to show they're lying and even if they are the Commander's most probably told them to. Don't you think there's a reason? Leave it be if that's the case. I trust him with our lives."

"We have a right to know." Annie's returned and insists to keep this back and forth going.

Just as you're about to fire back Jean takes a hold of your waist, you look down and seeing his large hands planted securely around your frame has your stomach bubbling with anticipation.

"What are you— "

And then he kisses you, he doesn't ask and instinctively your arms move to whack his chest but you stop yourself in time. You realize it's for the sake of your plan not falling through and so you gently place your hands on his shoulders attempting to ground yourself. It becomes increasingly difficult when you sink deeper into the kiss than you'd like to admit. Blood rushes to the tips of your ears and the thumping of your heartbeat makes it difficult to articulate any thoughts, all you really know is that you like this, whatever this is.

Jean's hands don't feel like they were made to rest against your back, they feel slightly out of place as if he's a key and you're an unmatched lock. In spite of that the circles he comfortingly rubs into the sides of your waist are appreciated, you almost forget you're in a room full of people until you're flooded by cold air.

You've been dragged off of Jean and something in the pit of your stomach has you wishing Levi isn't responsible for the interruption.

To your relief it's just Hange, they're glowing in mischief, the grin on their face shows they aren't mad. They might even find this entertaining.

"Well I be damned... maybe they weren't bluffing?" Connie's been persuaded by the looks of it and Krista's busy whispering to Ymir, you hear the faint sound of the word "Romantic" escape her lips, she's equally as convinced as Connie.

Hange smacks your back light-heartedly and looks to the door for a second. "We leave ya' both for a while and you decide to give everyone a show?"

Erwin's stood by the doorway with a humorous smile playing at his lips, Levi however is anything but amused, he glares at you with murderous eyes, he looks like he's ready to end your life then and there but you know he won't dare do so and for a second you feel braver than you ever have before. Without much thought you grab onto Jean's forearm.

"Me and my husband will get going now!" You allow your gaze to loiter when you get to Reiner. He grunts an apology and you're oh so tempted to ask him to repeat himself but you'd rather not instigate anything.

With that said and done you and Jean leave after giving the performance of your lives.

Slowly but gradually the sky outside becomes dark.

The will to sleep left your body long ago. It's by pure luck that you even manage to catch three hours of rest. Training is the only available distraction and dying out in battle isn't favourable by any means, your boredom may as well be used resourcefully - Strapping yourself up in your ODM gear is the best option.

A quarter way through your warm up you can sense a presence behind you, the leaves rustle and the wind feels noticeably quieter. You'd bother to turn around to see who's intruded but Levi's snuck close enough for you to be able to smell his perfume from where you're stood.

"Feel disrespected? Embarrassed even?" You jab at him knowing it'll rile him up, you don't face him not wanting to give him the pleasure of seeing your face.

"Watch your mouth." he warns sharply.

Rolling your eyes you go about your business, it stays that way for a few minutes. All the while Levi stares at you darting from tree to tree, his scrutinizing gaze scalding you repeatedly.

"Y/N!" He yells at the top of his lungs.

For some unknown reason you automatically stop and lower yourself to the ground

"I have something to tell you." Comes his tense follow up. A finger of his latches onto one of the leather straps on your back.

You can't believe he's still denying the undeniable.

"You can wait till tomorrow. I'll be going to bed."

Levi doesn't seem to care for your cold response and proceeds with no warning.

"I'm jealous." His voice shakes. The grip he has on your harness doesn't let up. With your back turned to him you're still somehow able to detect the very obvious crack of pain.

Levi, jealous?

Gritting your teeth together you feel deceived.

How much longer will you have to tolerate Levi's push and pull?

“May I ask, what he is to you, my love?”

Your breathing grows heavy, tensing up you're completely shocked by the term of endearment that falls from his lips. You haven't heard it for so long, Levi sounds eerily different.

You hate to admit it but a flicker of foolish hope lights in your chest.

"Levi why would you ask— "

"Why don't you call me Lev anymore?" He whispers sounding strangled. You can't take it anymore and hesitantly look his way.

His eyes are filled with tears "I'm sorry my love, I don't know what went wrong." you falter for a second not knowing what to think.

At that moment the flicker becomes a flame.

The man who stands right before you is meant to be dead, never to be seen again. By all accounts this should be impossible, but Lev has always been a fighter.

Bitterness stings your heart, the wounds you've collected are still fresh but despite your body's protests you don't flinch when he gently takes a hold of your wrist, bringing it closer to his mouth.

"Lev...? Is that really you...?" You ask desperately.

The warm kiss he presses against your pulse point provides you with the answer you've been longing for.

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undead--ghost · 4 years ago

Text

What a Wonderful World

Summary: Five’s critically injured in the apocalypse and you’ve done all you can to help. It’s all you can do to fulfil one more request of his.

“Can you sing for me?”

Pairing: Five Hargreeves x Reader (can be platonic or romantic)

Author’s Note (14/06/21): Hello everyone! This is an updated version of the story!! If you’re confused, this story was posted a while ago with a different ending, however, I decided I didn’t like that ending and so I changed it! But nonetheless, enjoy!!

AO3

MASTERLIST

WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD

The wound was gross, simply put. A deep gash stretched across Five’s stomach from the underside of his left ribs to just above his right hipbone. It was red and irritated. Fresh blood poured out of the wound, mixing with the dried blood that has crusted around the edges of the cut. Pus also seeped out, it’s colour a stark contrast against the crimson that stained his pale skin.

It was ironic, in the movies blood always seemed bright red. It always stood out and forced the viewer to look at it. But in reality, the blood was dark, allowing it to camouflage into Five’s jacket and for you to not notice it until it was too late and he’d collapsed from the blood loss.

But in the movies, the wound also healed quickly and the character’s moved on with their lives - life wasn’t like a movie.

You had been forced to practically drag him back to your shelter. The malnourishment meant that what muscles you once had were quickly gone in an attempt for your body to energise itself. Your arms were weak and by the time you reached the shelter, you felt like your they were seconds away from dropping off.

Once you’d reached the makeshift shelter you two had made up, you deposited of him onto the only mattress you had. A selfish part of you wanted to place him elsewhere, somewhere where he couldn’t stain and ruin the mattress that had taken you two years to find amongst the rubble. But that thought was quickly shot down as your compassion for him won and you realised he wouldn’t hesitate in doing the same for you.

After a while, he had woken up and you immediately took the chance to berate him for not telling you sooner. You used your anger to mask the deep fear that you felt, it was a trait you’d, unfortunately, picked up from Five.

It was a few days after he’d collapsed and you hadn’t allowed him to move from the bed. He was currently sitting up while you knelt on the floor next to the mattress. You grimaced as you looked at the wound. You had managed to stitch it up, but the workmanship was sloppy as you lacked both the tools and expertise to be doing it. His wound had gotten worse over the days and no matter what you tried to do to help, nothing was working.

Not only had the wound gotten worse, but an infection had begun to spread rapidly throughout Five’s body. He’d had a fever for the past two days and more recently he’s been less and less lucid. He’s been sleeping for most of the days but when he’s awake, he pretty much has stopped initiating conversation, only talking when necessary. You were worried.

You shook your head to clear the steadily approaching negative thoughts and got back to the task at hand. You picked up your water bottle and carefully tipped some of your precious water into your cupped hand, quickly bringing it up to Five’s stomach so you could rise the wound.

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see him wince slightly as you accidentally put too much pressure on it and you eased up, your touch becoming featherlike. After it was as clean as it was going to get, you reached over and picked up one of the last bandages of your supply. He sat up slightly to allow you to reach behind him to wrap the bandage around his stomach.

You had a limited medical set up, consisting of painkillers, a couple tubes of disinfectant ointment, a handful of bandages as well as a sewing kit that was usually meant for stitching clothes but you had to use for his wound. It had taken the both of you four years to gather all the supplies. Hours of shifting through rubble, desperate to find anything to add to your medical supply in case of an emergency. But in the end, you had managed to burn through it all in a matter of days.

Once you were satisfied with the wrapping, you leaned back on your heels and allowed him to tug his shirt back down.

"How’s it look?" He asked, his voice breaking the silence.

You bit your bottom lip as you wracked your brain for an adequate answer to give him. You didn’t want to lie to him, but you didn’t want to tell him the harsh truth. You refused to look into his eyes as you stuttered out an answer, "I-I’m, uh, not too sure… Ma-Maybe just rest up a bit and we can, um, we can see in the morning?" You said with an uncertain tone.

Five’s eyes narrowed and even in his drowsy state, he knew you were lying. "Don’t bullshit me, Y/N. Just give it to me straight."

You still hesitated, you didn’t even want to think about what was likely to happen, even less say it out loud; because you knew that as soon as you said it out loud, it would make it all too real.

At your hesitation, Five scoffed lightly, leaning back against the crumbling wall that the mattress was pushed up against. "Grow up, Y/N. We’re 17. I’m not a kid so just tell me what’s wrong!" He demanded, his voice gradually getting louder as his temper shortened.

You clenched your jaw and blinked back the rapidly approaching tears, "Fine!" You snapped back. "I don’t know if you’re gonna make it through the night."

A heavy silence fell over the both of you as Five took in the words you said.

Five’s face flashed through emotions almost too quickly for you to decipher. First anger, then confusion, fear, sadness, before finally landing on resignation. You felt a pang of guilt rise up from your stomach as you watched him. You shouldn’t have said it like that. You shouldn’t have yelled. You should have been more calm, just like your mother used to be. It wasn’t his fault he was dying, but your anger at the world had trumped any other emotion and in the heat of the moment, you had let it slip.

"I’m sorry," you said, your voice nothing more than a whisper. "I-I’ve tried everything I can, but we’re out of medical supplies." You took a deep breath. "There’s nothing I can do," your voice sounded small and you hated yourself for that. You wanted to be strong for Five, but your walls were quickly crumbling like the ruins that surrounded you.

Five didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. After years of living in the apocalypse with only each other for company, you had come to recognise each emotion that crossed his face. And you knew that he was having an internal war. You knew the morbid thought that lingered at the back of his mind, that perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad to leave this Earth, you had those thoughts too. But you also knew that he was a protector at heart, and would do anything to keep you safe, and leaving you alone wasn’t the answer. He would be blaming himself, for his recklessness in getting hurt, for not telling you sooner, for toying- even briefly- with the idea of leaving you.

You reached out and placed your hand over his in a weak attempt of reassurance. "It’s not your fault." He opened his mouth to argue but you kept talking. "The only thing you can do now is sleep, and hope that your temperature will go down overnight," you said, your voice shaking as you pushed on your thighs to stand up to your feet.

Five didn’t respond, and you took that as a silent agreement. You helped him shift into a more comfortable position on the bed before picking up the ratty blanket at the end of the mattress and draping it over him, tucking it in at the edges. You knew he didn’t like you fussing over him, but you did it nonetheless, anything to make you feel like you were helping him. And he let you, knowing that it was helping ease your guilt just a bit.

You stood over him after you finished tucking him in, your eyes scanning for anything else you could do. But you sighed as you found nothing that could be done and you realised you should leave him to rest anyway. You didn’t want to leave him at all, but you knew Five and you knew that he liked his alone time, especially during times of vulnerability.

You turned to go keep watch out by the fire but as you went to step away, a warm hand clasped around your wrist.

You turned back to Five to see him with a pleading look on his face. "Can you stay? Please?"

He had never been this vulnerable before and you knew that it was hurting him to be so, but you could also see the fear in his face at the thought of dying and you couldn’t say no.

You silently nodded your head and he quickly shuffled over on the mattress, a silent invitation to sit next to him.

You gently clambered in next him, resting your back against the wall and stretching your legs out in front of you. Next to you, Five had once again shifted and rested his head onto your lap, his weakened body curling around his stomach. You managed to keep in the surprised noise that had threatened to come out of your mouth, careful not to startle Five. He’d never been one to initiate contact between you two. Even after four years together in the apocalypse, you still found he sometimes struggled to give in to your hugs that you gave him after a particularly rough day.

You didn’t comment on this though and instead began to run your fingers through his hair as he looked up at you with a look of contemplation of his face. His forehead was hot to touch and his body was far too warm pressed against yours, just another worrying sign of his infection.

It was quiet for a few moments as you shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, when finally he spoke, "can you sing for me?"

You felt yourself tense at the question, the fever must really be getting to him at this point. "I’m not a very good singer," you said.

"I don’t care, I hear you singing all the time," Five replied.

It was true, you did have a tendency to sing to yourself. You would sing all the time. When you were scavenging for food and supplies. When you were mending holes in the clothes that you both had been wearing for far too long now. When you were heating that nights dinner of whatever tinned food was available. You weren’t the best singer, but it was one of the things that connected you to home and kept you sane.

The silence often became too loud for you, and you sang to drown it out.

You dumbly nodded your head and opened your mouth to sing.

"Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, There’s a land that I heard of once in a lullaby,"

The first few lines of the song came out raspy as your voice adjusted to the song, but Five showed no displeasure at this as he simply continued to look up at you with a look of content over his face.

"Someday I'll wish upon a star, Wake up where the clouds are far behind me,"

In your long years of the apocalypse, your memory of songs had faded and you often found yourself forgetting the lyrics. Sometimes you would just skip to the next part, or if you were in a better mood, you would create your own silly lyrics, often pertaining to what you doing at that moment.

"Where trouble melts like lemon drops, high above the chimney top, That's where you'll find me,"

Five looked at you as if you hung the moon in the sky. His eyes darted around your face as though he was taking note of every detail.

"I see trees of green and red roses too, I’ll watch them bloom for me and you,"

His breathing had slowed significantly and his chest rose and fell so shallowly it was barely noticeable.

"I see skies of blue and clouds of white, The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night,"

Outside, the wind blew strong gusts of wind that shook the walls of your bunker, the lantern next to the bed flickered dangerously. From what you had seen earlier, a storm was coming soon.

"The colours of the rainbow so pretty in the sky, Are also on the faces of people passing by,"

His blinking had slowed and it seemed as though keeping his eyes open was an effort for him. It would be any moment now that he would fall asleep - possibly never waking up.

Hot tears fell from your eyes and rolled down your cheeks, but you didn’t brush them away. Instead, you shifted one of your hands so that it rested on his shoulder, your thumb brushing a soothing pattern. The other hand remained carding through his hair.

"I see friends shaking hands, saying how do you do,"

Five’s tired eyes locked onto yours with an intensity that momentarily took your breath away. As if he was trying to convey every emotion he had felt that he never got the opportunity to truly express.

But you felt it.

It hit you hard. The need he felt to protect you. The respect he gained for you over the years. The deep love and affection that ran through his body.

It was his goodbye.

"They’re really saying, I, I love you,"

You choked back a sob as Five’s eyes finally slid shut and his face smoothed out as he fell into unconsciousness. You didn’t know if Five would ever open his eyes again.

You gasped for air, but your sobs ripped it right back out of your lungs again. But you had made a promise to Five and you continued to sing, determined to finish the song for him.

"I hear babies cry and I watch them grow, They’ll learn much more than, we’ll ever know,"

You struggled to sing as sobs wracked your body. Your voice kept breaking on each word and it was an effort to get the words out past the lump in your throat. Five was now limp in your arms and you cradled him to your chest, tears falling into his hair and your heaving breaths rattling throughout your body.

"And I think to myself, what a wonderful world,"

The wind had picked up around you, but it was nothing compared to the hurricane that was forming in your mind. The wall behind you cracked just a bit more and dust particles fell and landed around you. The sky above was a smokey grey colour and clouds of ash flew overhead. The lingering smell of decaying bodies hit and you cried harder at the thought of Five soon joining them.

Your sobs mixed with the never-ending silence of the apocalypse, echoing off the crumbling walls of the shelter around you.

"And I think to myself, what a wonderful world." You muttered, finally ending your song.

You laid Five carefully down on the mattress and rested your head on his chest, the song of his drawn-out heartbeat filling your ears, until is slowed to nothing but silence.

#tua x reader #five hargreeves x reader #number five x reader #tua fanfic #the umbrella academy #tua #the umbrella academy fanfic #what a wonderful world

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cinnaminsvga · 4 years ago

Text

🌸 social media au where y/n posts a fake boyfriend application on twitter as a dare but ends up seeking something real in the long run (aka how to fall in love the zillennial way) 🌸

A/N: I know I said this update wouldn’t be written, but I decided to fix the little drabble I already had written and... It’s not as bad as I thought and now I’m moderately happy with it. Anyway... We’re entering angst city babey so please put on your seatbelts because we are SOARING! || W.C. 1.8K

prev // part 18 of ? // next masterlist here.

[updates every 6PM PST]

After sending his last text to you, Namjoon is only slightly surprised when he sees your caller ID flashing on his phone screen. When he looks at the time, he notices that it had taken you less than a minute for you to call him, no doubt ready to scream your head off at his outrageous suggestion. Admittedly, he knows that his idea might be a little outside of your comfort zone, but he believes you can do it. If his people reading skills are even remotely average, then he’s sure that it’ll work if you just—

“KIM NAMJOON! HOW IN THE WORLD DID YOU COME UP WITH THAT CONCLUSION?” Your voice is loud enough to burst an eardrum, but luckily, Namjoon had already expected your volume and had held his phone an arm away. In his nine-ish days of knowing you, he’s somewhat accustomed to your theatrics, though you’re still no match for Hoseok’s excited shrieks.

“Hello Y/N,” Namjoon hums, sitting up groggily from his bed. It’s a bit too early to go to sleep, but he supposes that your panicked screams are going to keep him up a little bit longer. “I feel as though you’re overreacting a little.”

“A little?” You scoff loudly, and Namjoon can imagine you pacing circles in your room. You did always seem a little fidgety when you two went out together. “Namjoon, you can’t just expect me to go on a date with Jungkook—“

“Why not? You guys go out all the time, don’t you?” Namjoon points out, smiling slightly at your exasperated huffs.

“Well, that’s different! Those were platonic hangouts! Just bros being bros!”

“Then change the context a little bit. You don’t have to ask him to be your boyfriend just to go on a date.”

“Namjoon, I know you’re a smart man but I don’t think your math skills are all that great,” you say brusquely. “That doesn’t add up! If I ask him on a date, then he’ll know I’m into him and—“

“And that’s a bad thing?” Namjoon interrupts, raising a brow. “Y/N, we both know you’re being a little unreasonable right now.”

You splutter for a moment, but you find that you’re unable to retort. Namjoon smirks, continuing, “Y/N, I know you’re worried that Jungkook might get swept away now that he’s quote-unquote ‘single.’ I get it. But if you’re not going do anything about it and suffer in silence, then he’s definitely going to leave. Besides, I already told you that he probably likes you back, judging from how jealous he got. You could probably even ask your friends and they’d tell you the same.”

You snort. “God, I’d rather die than talk about… love stuff with those freaks I call friends,” you cough out a laugh, muffling the sound before it can continue. Namjoon knows you’re a bit conscious of your “unflattering” snorts, but he just finds them cute. A lot of the things you don’t like about yourself are cute in Namjoon’s eyes. “I can’t even imagine going to any of them about this… They’d just bully me and make me do something I don’t want to do!”

“Isn’t that basically what I’m doing right now?” Namjoon laughs, giggling even harder when he hears your tired groan.

“Yeah, but you’re nice. Unlike those meanies,” you say. Namjoon hates to admit it, but he does appreciate being special to you, even if it’s over something trivial like this.

“You’re right. I wouldn’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do,” Namjoon starts. He can hear you humming in agreement, but he doesn’t stop there. “But, it is a suggestion. Seeing as how you don’t have any other idea how to solve this mess, I’d say go for it. What’s the worse thing that can happen?”

“Um? I get rejected? Hello?”

“You don’t have to let him know it’s a date, you know.”

“What do you mean? Namjoon, you should stop speaking in riddles because I honestly don’t have enough brain cells for this, clearly.”

Namjoon sighs. “I guess what I’m trying to say is… What if you fake date him?” When you don’t reply immediately, Namjoon is quick to keep talking. “Not that I’m asking you to stop fake dating me! What I’m trying to say is… Maybe try to rekindle the rumor that you and Jungkook are dating? He doesn’t have to know it’s a date, so long as everyone else thinks that you two are.”

“I… I guess?” You sound unsure, though Namjoon admits it’s kind of a long shot to begin with, not when you wouldn’t know the last thing about being subtle. He kind of wants to throttle you, in a gentle way. It’s honestly frustrating to see you like this, and he just wishes he could… Make the problem go away.

That would be easy. If Y/N just stopped pining after Jungkook, then he could just come in and—

His thoughts skid to a halt, nearly slapping himself to keep from going down that road again. Look at him, trying to help you with your mess when even he can’t get a handle on his own emotions. What is going on inside my head, he thinks sadly to himself.

“Listen, it’ll be really easy! All you have to do is text him and say, ‘Hey, wanna go have dinner with me tomorrow?’ but bring him somewhere nicer, perhaps? Then take a photo of him all dressed up and looking boyfriend-y and post it on Instagram. I’m sure that’ll shut people up.”

“Namjoon, I don’t know if you’re aware, but Jungkook’s definition of ‘dressing up’ is combat boots, a hoodie, and his god-awful backpack the size of Africa. He looks like a nerd.”

“I mean, you kinda dress alike…” Namjoon mutters, and he’s thankful that you don’t hear his slight slip-up. He clears his throat. “A-anyway, I’m sure it’ll be fine? I think it would be more suspicious if he wore a suit and tie or something. So long as you guys look cozy and comfy together, I’m sure people will take the hint. If worse comes to worst, I can maybe slip something to Johnny and he can retract his statement or something.”

“I hope to god that isn’t the case,” you say. Namjoon nods, before realizing you can’t even see him.

“Right. Well, I think everything should work out perfectly. Just ask him to some popular couples restaurant. Maybe the nice Italian place in Hongdae? Something more romantic, not necessarily fancy.”

There’s a pause on your end for a moment causing Namjoon to sweat a little, wondering if he might be overstepping. He does genuinely want to help you, though he hopes he isn’t actually weirding you out somehow. He’s not adept at handling love problems as much as he’s trying to appear to be, since he’s mostly using the romance novels he had read during his teen years as his sole source of reference. This is what I get for not dating for so long, Namjoon thinks, grimacing.

“Namjoon.” You break the silence, your voice quieter than before. Namjoon has to strain his ears a little, pursing his lips as he waits for your response. “Are you…”

Namjoon tilts his head. “Am I?”

Namjoon hears you hesitate, stuttering syllables over his phone speaker like you aren’t quite sure how to ask your question. “Do you remember when I asked you a few days ago if you were sure you don’t actually have a girlfriend?”

“Yeah?”

“I just… I don’t know how to say this without being weird, but I just want to say you’re great. Like,” you huff out a laugh, incredulous. “You’re just… The perfect package? You’re so kind and so sweet and it’s just? Almost mysterious how you don’t have someone special to call your own yet.”

Namjoon smiles wryly to himself, head bowed as he stares at his wrinkled bedsheets. “I suppose other people don’t feel the same way.” He tries forcing out a laugh, but it sounds a little strangled. His chest feels tight, strangely. Hopefully, you don’t notice.

“No, I highly doubt that! You’re literally the perfect guy. Any person would be lucky to have you as their boyfriend.” You sound almost indignant, like you can’t imagine anyone ever thinking badly about him. He almost wants to laugh, but he tightens his hands into fists instead, digging his nails into his palms and leaving crescents in their wake.

“Well then… I guess that makes you lucky to have me, then?” Namjoon nearly slaps his hands to his mouth, a cold tingle of embarrassment mixed with fear running down his spine. Did he really just say that— “What I mean is, erm…”

“N-no, I get you.” You’re giggling, but—is he imagining it?—you sound a little nervous to his ears. If he thinks hard enough, he can almost imagine you blushing, bottom lip trapped underneath your teeth. “I guess I am lucky to be your fake girlfriend, huh? Even for just a few weeks?”

“Yeah,” Namjoon breathes out the word, guilt washing over him like waves. Here he is, feeling things that he shouldn’t be, over a girl who was never his to begin with. There are seedlings in his chest, barely anything to write home about. But he knows—a gardener can see the garden even before the flowers have bloomed. Each day he spends with you is another day they get a chance to grow, and he’s afraid he’ll soon be overrun, unable to handle the forest that is bound to erupt. “Just a few weeks,” he echoes, unable to completely hide the sadness from his words.

“I guess I am just being melodramatic about everything, huh?” you say. It takes a moment for Namjoon to even remember what the two of you had been talking about, so caught up in his thoughts that he has to pinch himself back to reality.

“Think of it as a funny story to tell your grandkids,” Namjoon says.

You laugh, and Namjoon can feel a seedling sprout its first leaf. “Yeah. Definitely. God, I can’t even begin to think about kids… Not when I can’t even ask him out on a fucking date.”

“You can do it, Y/N.” Namjoon whispers. He flops back down onto his bed, eyes half-closed as he stares at his cracked ceiling. If he breathes quietly enough, he can hear the sounds of Seoul outside his windowpane. If he stops breathing altogether, he might be able to hear you across the city, your socked feet padding towards your bed, curling up into your own blanket.

“Thank you, Namjoon. Really.”

For what? Namjoon leaves that part unspoken. “You’re welcome,” he says instead. He drops the call, feeling a little emptier than before.

#bangtanarmynet #bts social media au #bts scenarios #bts texts #bts fake texts #bts imagines #bts x reader #bts #jungkook scenarios #namjoon scenarios #jungkook fake texts #namjoon fake texts #jungkook fanfiction #namjoon fanfiction #jungkook x reader #namjoon x reader #kim namjoon #jeon jungkook #bangtan

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cherrybracelets · 4 years ago

Text

til the end of time

spencer reid x fem!reader / bau x platonic!reader

word count: 5.1k | warnings: typical cm violence, pregnancy and childbirth mention. other than that, all fluff and corniness

an: this is super stupid and corny; just sometbing i threw together !! i also wrote a lot of this on my phone if there’s typos don’t @ me

You had been imagining the day of your wedding since you were 12 years old, and attended your Aunt Maria’s wedding. It was the first wedding you had ever been too, and it was so much fun. Well, looking back, it was actually a very cheesy and poorly thrown together party in a cheap hotel, but at the time you were amazed.

You have attended quite a few weddings since then, much that were way nicer than Maria’s. Every one you went to, you gathered more and more ideas for what you wanted to do on your own big day (when the time came, of course.) You knew you wanted white roses in the centerpieces, vanilla raspberry cake was a must, and your dream venue was saved a thousand times on your Pinterest boards.

But, nothing ever goes as planned, right? When you started planning your wedding with Spencer, you know you would have to sacrifice a few of your ideas that weren’t exactly plausible. But you never in a million years thought you would be here.

It all started about a week ago, back in the lovely conference room of the BAU. You and Spencer sat next to each other, whispering away about wedding and honeymoon plans, the rest of the team scattering in and preparing to hear about a new case.

“I just don’t know what we’re going to do if my Uncle Mike brings his girlfriend…” you frowned, your stomach doing flips as you stressed more and more about the big day.

“Just have your mom call him and talk to him, he’ll listen to her,” Spencer assured you, squeezing your hand tightly, trying to pull all of your stress away. He hated how much anxiety all of this was bringing you. For him, your wedding was the brightest day of his future, it was all he could think about. And you felt the same, of course, but the planning was exhausting.

“Sorry to bring everyone in again, I know we’ve barely been on the ground a day, but we have a weird one today. Garcia,” Hotch motioned to the tech analyst, who smiled happily as she stood up and began her presentation.

“So, my friends, we are going to Spencer’s favorite place, Las Vegas!” She giggled, trying to bring lightness into a place that had seen so many horrors.

“Oh! I’ll have to call my mom!” Spencer smiled, always excited at any chance to see his mother.

“Let’s focus on getting this creep, first,” Garcia shuttered, pulling up multiple photos of dead bodies on the screen. “These are the two victims that we know of, Jenna Benson and Evan Perry.”

“What was the cause of death?” Morgan asked.

“Gunshot to the head. But, there are two ante mortem shots on each of the victim, one in the leg and one in the… nether regions,” Garcia shuttered, pulling up more pictures of the injuries on the bodies.

“Genital mutilation, that’s a statement,” you responded.

“And it was done before he killed them, so it’s definetly torture.”

“Do you think he could be trying to extort information? One bullet each time you don’t get a question right? You have three strikes to get it right?” JJ suggested.

“I don’t know, but these bodies were only killed a few hours apart, and chances are he’s already moved on to his next victim. Wheels up in 30.”

The group began to dismiss, Spencer’s hand still locked in yours as you left and went back to your desks.

“I’m gonna go grab our bags from the car and call my mom, you’ll be okay for a few minutes?” Spencer questioned, his eyes wide as he awaited your response.

“Yes, I’ll be fine on my own, Spence,” you giggled, rolling your eyes as you turned towards him and back at your desk, mixing thoughts of your big day and the big case racing through your mind.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════

The plane ride was long, going backwards in time to reach the opposite coast always took a while. The team spoke for a bit about the case, before saying all that could be said and separating into their own comfort. You and Spencer sat close in the chairs, your head resting on his shoulder as he flipped through some case files.

Garcia had popped in earlier with the knowledge that the victims attended high school together, making these killings seem a lot less random.

“Jenna was a freshman when Evan was a senior, it’s probably unlikely they knew each other,” Spencer whispered to you, his brows furrowed as he tried to uncover something between the lines.

“I knew a lot of seniors when I was a freshman,” you shrugged, dismissing his theory.

“Yeah, but you went to a small school, everybody knew everyone. Vegas high schools aren’t like that,” he responded sharply, his knowledge of his hometown showing through.

You decided to let Spencer think silently; he tended to work best that way. You shut your eyes for a bit, only waking back up to feel the plane descending.

You didn’t know how you had managed to let time pass away like that, but the stress of everything must have been wearing you down. Spencer had fallen asleep too, his groggy eyes reopening as the plane hit the ground.

Hotch had already given you your assignments, you and JJ off to the second crime scene, which happened to be Evan’s house. The cars were there when you walked off the plane, and an extra car tasked with delivering your luggage to the hotel you probably wouldn’t have a chance to go to.

As you landed, Hotch took a quick phone call, his face making that familiar look when something happened.

“Another body?” Emily asked as he hung up the phone.

“Two. Let’s all go back to the station, for now. We need to sit down and go over everything. If he’s working this quickly, this is a spree. And we have a lot less time than we thought.”

“I’ll let the Detective know,” Rossi nodded, walking towards the car and hopping in the driver's seat. The rest of the team followed, you and Spencer walking side by side to the car that Derek had claimed as his.

“Glad I took that little nap on the plane, doesn’t seem like we’ll be sleeping for the next 48 hours,” you giggled, getting in the back seat of the SUV.

“Probably 72, if we’re being realistic,” Spencer teased, getting in the passenger's seat. He always got in the passenger's seat when the two of you were in the car with one other person. You never questioned it, but one day he let it slip that he just didn’t want the person in the front to be lonely.

You got to the Field Office about twenty minutes later, partially thanks to Derek’s driving. As the rest of the team continued to arrive, the three of you walked into the building to begin your work. You greeted the Agents and Detectives, avoiding small talk as you knew the urgency of this case. Luckily they had a room and boards all set up for you guys. Spencer and Derek began hanging evidence on the boards, as you called Garcia to get an update on your latest victims.

“Hey baby girl, what do you have for us?” Derek flirted, while neatly hanging photos.

“The two vics were actually killed previous to our two victims. Not graduates of our high school, but! One of them is Jenna Benson’s mother, Cheryl. But I cannot find a connection to the other one.”

“Her mother? So there’s gotta be some dirt in that family. What can you find?” You asked, twirling a pen in your fingers.

“I’m looking, but I can’t find much. Cheryl’s husband and Jenna’s dad, Clint, apparently left them when she was 15. Filed for divorce and just left. Other than that, they look pretty normal.”

“What about hospital records, medical stuff? Are there signs of abuse?” Derek asked.

Your phone started ringing loudly on the desk, which you quickly declined and put in your pocket.

“Sorry, go on Garcia,” you apologized, uncomfortably shoving your phone in your jacket pocket.

“Doesn’t appear so… oh, woah. This is odd.”

“What did you find, baby girl?”

“When Jenna was 14, she had a doctors appointment where they noted she was 6 months pregnant. And there’s no other documentation of it. No other ultrasounds, no birth or death certificate of said baby.” Garcia was clicking away, trying to find any trace of other evidence.

“What year was this?” You asked.

“1991.”

“So if the baby was born, they would be 29 now. Fits the profile of a spree killer,” Spencer shrugged.

“Yeah, but how is there no record of this child anywhere?”

“Children,” Garcia chimed in, her voice filled with dread.

“Come again?” Derek asked.

“According to her doctor, Jenna was pregnant with twins.”

At this point, the rest of the team had finally arrived, coming in just in time for the call. Garcia filled everyone in, each of you silently going over the facts. You tried your best to focus on the case, but your mind was still drudging over the details of your wedding. Your phone kept buzzing in your pocket, and you were certain it was some vendor or family member trying to take your money or beg for a plus one. But you couldn’t think about that, not now. You had to be here, be present. You had to catch this man.

“I have another information bomb that is going to blow your minds,” Garcia chimed in, her voice in shock as she awaited permission to talk.

“What is it?”

“In 1992, Cheryl and Clint Benson deposited two sixty-thousand dollar cash deposits in the same week.”

“That’s about how much a baby would go for on the black market,” Spencer added, his fact bringing you all to the same conclusion.

“We have to find Clint Benson, he’ll be the only one that can help us,” Rossi said.

“Do you think he’ll cooperate? That’s super illegal, he might not indict himself,” Emily added.

“We can offer him some kind of deal. If our unsub is one of the children, he’s the only shot we have at finding him.”

“I’ll work on finding the dad. I’ll talk to you guys soon.”

The team split up into smaller conversations, your phone still vibrating violently in your pocket. Spencer walked up to you, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you close.

“You doing alright, honey? You seemed distracted earlier…” he pouted, kissing the top of your head with ease, showcasing his clear difference in height from you.

“I’m just thinking about all the wedding stuff… it’s stupid,” you answered, shaking your head in defense. “It sure doesn’t help that my phone won't stop ringing!” You groaned, ripping it out of your pocket and slamming it down on the table. The team stopped what they were doing and looked towards you, but Spencer waived them away, as if to say, ‘I’m handing this, don’t worry.’

“I’ll answer, and take care of it whatever it is. You focus on the victims, see if we can find some more connections, okay.” Spencer gave you a reassuring kiss on the lips, holding your phone in his palm and walking out to the hallway to handle your never ending stress.

You turned towards the files, trying to take your finances advice and focus on the victims. You looked at the photos over and over, trying to see if there was something you missed. Something that would make this make more sense. And then you had a thought. Something that might make this make sense.

“What if he’s looking for the dad?” You shouted, hoping someone would be drawn to your thought.

“The two men have nothing in common,” Derek responded.

“No, no. I know. But, like…” you stuttered, trying your best to organize the words into your head so they would understand. “The old man is still an outlier. But this younger victim, Evan. He went to highschool with Jenna. What if all the information he had on his dad was he was a senior at her school. Maybe he had a picture, and he’s hunting guys who might be the one.”

“If he came face to face with his mom, though, why not just ask her directly? If he is shooting them to get information, why wouldn’t she give in?” Emily questioned.

You thought for a moment, but JJ came in with an answer before your brain could think of one. Thank god.

“Maybe she wanted to protect him.”

“How would he have gotten a picture of his supposed dad though? Why would she give him a picture and not a name?”

“We’re missing something here. And unfortunately the only way we’ll find it is with more victims,” Rossi said, crossing his arms in frustration.

“And there are. Two more bodies have been found, this time much more recent. Time of death is only two hours ago,” Spencer added, walking back in from the hallway.

“And identification on them yet?” Hotch asked.

“Yeah, they’re sending their names to Garcia. It’s two more men, though. Roughly the same age as Evan. Same look as well, according to the Agent that told me.”

The phone in the middle of the table started ringing, a sign that Garcia had important information to fill your heads. Her voice always brought a kind of sweetness to your thoughts, making the whole room seem brighter.

“Garcia, what’s up?” Rossi asked her, awaiting the key to unlock this case.

“Two more victims both went to high school with Jenna. And they do look a lot alike…” Garcia said.

“Okay, can I state the obvious here. If these babies were sold, what are the chances either of them make it to 29? Most creeps buying infants don’t want them for longevity,” JJ shuttered, feeling sick at the words she was saying, but knew it needed to be discussed.

“Actually, an alarming amount of babies purchased illegally are bought by real parents looking for children to adopt. The adoption process is incredibly lengthy and difficult, and it’s even more difficult to find a newborn. A lot of… more affluent couples take this route.” Spencer nodded quietly after he spoke, something small you had always noticed about him. It was almost if he was reassuring himself that he did okay, that he said all he needed to say.

“So the only shot at finding either of these babies is through Jenna’s father,” Hotch sighed, realizing again that almost all cases came down to one cruical final piece. Clint Benson was your final piece.

“Lucky for you, Aaron Hotchner, I have found our man of the hour. Clint still lives in beautiful Las Vegas, only about fifteen minutes away from where you are now. Sending the home and work addresses as we speak,” Garcia teased, a few of you giggling as your phone’s received her information. Spencer handed you your cell back and smiled, kissing your forehead.

“I handled everything. No one will bother you again,” he assured, making you feel relaxed for the first time in weeks.

“Well, people can bother me a little, it’s still my wedding,” you teased, pushing Spencer slightly as he rolled his eyes and walked back towards Derek.

“I think we should bring Clint here versus ambushing him at home. He may not know about Jenna and Cheryl yet. It only hit the news cycle an hour ago, and they aren’t even releasing the identities,” JJ spoke, her motherly instinct always kicking in in times like these. She was right, as she usually was. It would be better to hear that kind of news here.

“Reid and Derek, go to his house. JJ and Rossi, go to his work. (Y/N) and Emily, stay here and start working on a profile based on what we have so far. Hopefully we can present something soon after we talk with Clint.” Hotch nodded at you all, making sure you all understood your tasks. You blew a kiss to Spencer as he walked out, feeling calmed by his quick smile before he was gone.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Clint Benson was devastated when he heard the news of his wife and daughter. He still loved them both, but the guilt and shame of what happened was too much for him. According to Clint, the whole thing was his wife's idea. When she found out Jenna was pregnant at 14, she was heart broken. It was too late for an abortion, because they had only officially found out when she was six months.

“Cheryl was humiliated. Pulled her out of school, locked in her room. Didn’t want none of our friends to see her, to know what she did…” Clint sobbed, his voice tripping over itself.

“Which is why she never saw another doctor?” Hotch asked, carefully poking around for answers.

“Yeah… I kept trying to talk to her, ask her what we were going to do. Telling her Jenna needed to see a doctor. But Cheryl just said she was handing it, was taking care of all of it. I… didn’t know what to do. And then when Jenna went into labor, I begged Cheryl to take her to a hospital… but she wouldn’t. She barricaded herself in front of Jenna… until it was too late. She had them… right in her bedroom… a boy and a girl. They were so, so beautiful.” Clint was crying more, his words sounding more garbled with each passing second. You felt sick, horrible for the man.

Times like this made you wish for the distraction of the wedding. You tried picturing the suit you had planned for Spencer. The colors were perfect for him, and would match the rest of the theme perfectly. But then you remembered the guest list, and the caterer not having enough vegan options, and the open bar messing up your signature cocktail… And don’t even start with the DJ!

“Where are the babies now, Clint?” Hotch asked, his voice now rough and full of urgency.

“I… don’t know exactly. There wasn’t much information passed. Just names and cash.”

“What were the names?”

“Uh… the girl… she went to a couple named Ashley and Brian. The boy… Danielle and Andrew…” Clint mumbled, trying to remember more.

“Wait…” you whispered to yourself, something finally clicking in this case. You ran into the interrogation room, interrupting Hotch, much to his shock.

“Do you remember Andrew’s last name? Or what he looked like?”

“Uh… I think his last name started with an M… He had glasses. Does that help?”

“Hotch… our first victim was Andrew Masters.”

“Yes! Masters was his last name! Wait… victim? Did something happen to him? Is this connected to what happened to Cheryl and Jenna?”

You and Hotch looked at each other, a silent understanding between the two of you. You both knew what was happening here. Andrew Masters was killed by his own son. He was one of two babies given away by the Benson family that fateful evening. But why start murdering your family out of the blue? There was still something missing here.

“Have Garcia find out everything she can about Andrew’s son,” Hotch instructed, nodding you away as he readied himself to continue talking to Clint.

You ran into the hallway and called Garcia, looking around for Spencer, trying to tell him about the break in the case. Whenever either of you found something vital to the investigation, you always told each other immediately. You had done that since your first day on the team.

“What can I do for you, beautiful?” Garcia asked, distracting you from your thoughts about Spencer.

“Andrew Masters, our first victim, can you find anything on his son?”

“Uhh, sure. I can do that... what am I looking for exactly?” She questioned, still typing away madly in the background.

“We think he may be the unsub. Any triggers, any red flags?”

“Hmm, well here’s something. Up until two months ago, he was engaged. Can’t find a reason why it ended, but almost two months ago exactly they cancelled the venue, vendors, everything…”

“For no refunds, I’m sure,” you giggled, knowing well how the wedding industry worked. “What’s the ex fiance up to?”

“Well, she moved back in with her parents, Ashley and Brian, who look relatively normal…” Garcia responded.

“Wait, say that again. What were her parents' names?”

“Ashley and Brian Gregg.”

“Holy shit, Garcia. You’re a genius. Thank you!” You kissed loudly into the phone, hanging up the call and running towards the conference room. Everyone except Hotch was there, but you texted him to meet you in the conference room- that it was urgent.

“Guys, you will not believe this,” you finally said, after everyone arrived and was quiet enough to hear you. “Our first victim, Andrew, was the father of the son that Jenna gave away. Now, Jenna also gave away a daughter to another couple. Now, what are the odds of this. These two kids grow up, fall in love and get engaged. Talk about a trigger, finding out the love of your life is your secret twin.”

“You’re joking… evil twins again? Didn’t we already do this?” Emily laughed.

“It’s most likely just the guy. I’ll call Garcia and get her to send us everything she has on him. We gotta find this dude,” Derek instructed, leaving the room to speak to Garcia.

“How did they find out, though? Chances are the parents didn’t even know they were twins,” Rossi asked.

“Most likely not. Clint said the babies were picked up on different days.” Hotch added.

“It doesn’t matter how he found out, what matters is that he’s gonna kill a lot of people until he finds his ‘Dad’. He wants to punish anyone he thinks is involved in this crime.”

“We’ll put his picture out all over the media, and an APB on any vehicles he has. He won’t be able to hide for long. He has a mission, he’ll have to complete it.”

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Hotch, as usual, was right about the unsub. He did not stay in hiding for long. The police and FBI searched for six hours in his comfort zone, almost giving up hope, until he finally caved and came looking for another victim. JJ and Derek got to him first, trying to persuade him to drop his gun and come with them.

When it was finally all over, you felt equally ecstatic and exhausted. You couldn’t wait to crawl up onto a leather private jet chair and take an amazing nap. You were sad you didn’t get at least one night in the hotel. Something about hotels made Spencer get in a certain mood… even if you got a night away, there wasn’t much sleeping happening.

But you were grateful to be going home, at least until the next case popped up. You and Rossi were the only two that stayed back while the team went searching, wanting to be here in case any new bodies popped up. Rossi was wrapping up some paperwork with the other Agents out in the main room, and you paced back and forth in the conference room, hating the silence that was left when you were alone.

Rossi walked casually back to the conference room, and you could’ve sworn he had changed clothes. Maybe it was the extreme lack of sleep, but you could’ve sworn he didn’t look so… nice when he left the room.

“You ready to head to the airport? Everyone is gonna meet us there.” Rossi said, holding the door open for you.

“Oh, uh, yeah. Sure,” you responded, slightly confused at why the team didn’t come back here first. They usually did. But, everyone was tired and there really was no need to come back, you and Rossi had taken care of everything you needed to do to leave.

You followed Rossi down to the car, making small talk as he got in the driver’s seat and began heading away. You had only ever been to Vegas on trips for work, so you’d never really seen much of the city. It didn’t help that every street looked almost identical. You felt lost as you stared out the window, wondering how a young Spencer Reid could’ve survived in this massive city.

“Oh, before we get there, I just have to make one quick stop,” Rossi said, turning the turn signal on and pulling to the side of the road.

“Oh, uh, right now?” You questioned, jolting up as he hastily parallel parked the car.

“Yeah, it’ll be real quick. But, this isn’t a great part of town, so maybe you should come in with me…” He instructed, turning the car off and waiting for your answer.

“Um… I think I’ll be okay, Dave.” You laughed, rolling your eyes and turning to look at your phone.

“I really think you should come with me.”

“Are you not gonna go unless I do?”

“Pretty much.”

“Fine!” You rolled your eyes, opening the passenger door and getting out of the car. You stood on the sidewalk, standing angrily as you waited for Rossi to get out and walk to you.

“What are we even doing here-” you asked, turning around and getting smacked in the face with one of the cheesiest and most stereotypical Vegas chapels you had ever seen. Neon flashing lights, Elvis decor, cheap paint. It was amazing.

“Why the hell are we at a Chapel? Are Emily and JJ finally getting hitched?” You laughed, staring at disbelief at the building.

“Why don’t you just go inside…” Rossi instructed, waiting for you to enter the building so he could follow.

“Alright…” you responded, walking in the door and being immediately bombarded by JJ and Emily. They were in dresses, which made you even more confused.

“Come with us! You’ve gotta get ready!” JJ said, grabbing onto your arm and pulling you towards a door down the hallway.

“What is happening? Did we drink too many Margaritas at the taco place again…” you said, still being dragged against your will to a secret room.

And then you saw it. Emily opened the hideously pink painted door to a small dressing room, and in the middle was the single thing about your wedding that had gone right.

The dress. You found it a few months ago, and immediately knew it was the one. It was one of the first dresses you tried on, but you knew immediately it was the one for you.

“How did you… what is happening…”

“You’re gonna put the dress on, and then you’re gonna get married. That’s what's happening,” Emily shrugged, pushing you in the room.

“But… no… what about… and…” you stuttered, sitting down on the cigarette infused couch, the smell of stale smoke so strong it made you gag when you sat down.

“Okay, let’s not sit on that,” JJ laughed, pulling you up and away from the toxic furniture.

“I can’t get married. I’m not ready!” You protested, Emily stripping your clothes as you stood shocked.

“Just get in the dress, everything will be okay,” JJ assured you.

“No… I can’t…”

“Get in the dress, (Y/N), or I swear to God I will have to hurt you,” Emily joked, her eyes trying to be serious but a tiny smirk made it obvious.

“Fine. But I’m not happy about this.”

But then you put the dress on. And they were right. Everything made sense. You loved Spencer, and nothing mattered except marrying him, promising your life to him. The location, the guest list, the food… it didn’t matter. Your love mattered. He mattered.

“I’m ready,” you nodded, a few tears flowing down your cheek.

You walked out of the worst dressing room of all time, your dress dragging on the cheap shag carpet behind you. Emily handed you a bouquet of fake flowers, which made you and JJ laugh as you opened the doors to the chapel.

On the other end of a long red carpet was Spencer Reid, the one person you loved most in this world. He had on his suit, the one you designed in your head. You weren’t sure how he made it possible- you weren’t sure how he made any of this possible. But you couldn’t stop crying, a gush of hot tears flowing down your face as you walked anxiously down the aisle to your new forever.

“You are the most beautiful person in the world,” Spencer whispered to you, taking your hands as you reached the end of the aisle. JJ and Emily sat down next to the rest of the team, the only other guests in attendance. It was perfect, though. You couldn’t have imagined it any other way.

“We are gathered here today to celebrate the love between (Y/N) and Spencer,” the man said. “Thank you all for coming to this beautiful celebration. Spencer and (Y/N) have decided to share their own vows.”

“Um, I don’t have my vows,” you sighed, looking around awkwardly at the crowd.

“Should’ve memorized 'em, like I did,” Spencer winked. You rolled your eyes in annoyance, lightly shoving Spencer on the arm.

“Do we need to do all this? I mean… I know you love me. I know I love you, and I hope you know that. I know that every small thing you do makes me fall more and more in love. And I can’t imagine any day of my life without you by my side. Can’t we just skip to the I do part and get married!” You wrapped your arms around Spencer’s waist and pulled him closer.

“I just want to say one thing before I kiss the bride. Nothing has mattered more to me than you since the moment we met. I would stop the world for you if I could. I wanted to do something to take away all your stress, and although I couldn’t do it perfectly, I think this is going pretty well.” Spencer smiled goofily at you, squeezing on your hand.

“Oh, the rings!” You squealed, looking around for the small box.

“Right here,” Derek smiled, handing the box to Spencer. “Best man duties.”

Spencer slipped the metal circle around your finger, his hands shaky as he slipped it on. You grabbed his ring from the box, putting it delicately on his hand, your heart racing, still unable to process what was happening.

“Is that it?” Spencer asked excitedly, looking up at the ordained Elvis, hoping to be married already.

“Well, I have to say one thing. I now pronounce you married. You may kiss your bride!”

Spencer wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you into him. He kissed you excitedly, his lips moving rapidly with yours.

tags: @gayprentiss @blakeprentiss @bitchyreid @spncersreid @yesimaunicorn @slutforthegubes

#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid #spencer reid fanfic #criminal minds #spencer reid fanfiction

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sometimes-i-write-4-you · 5 years ago

Note

Hi I was wondering if I could request something for JJ from outer banks (I saw you had request open for it) with when him and Pope are getting beat up behind the movie he protects reader, you can decide the rest just make it fluffy:)

Fight for me - JJ x reader

a\n: i feel like there’s more angst than fluff but this show is lowkey the defenition of teenage angst so honesly not suprised.

trigger warnings: cursing, fights, gun mentioning, underage drinking. if i missed anything lmk.

word count: 3227

"so" Kiara started. We were standing in the line at the beach for a movie screening they had. It was in the Kook's area, but Kiara invited us. JJ and Pope were there too, but Kiara and i went to get Pepsi. "now that it's just us girls, spill it" she said. "spill what?" I asked her, confused. "don't deny, you know what I mean" she insisted. "Kiara, is this about JJ?" I asked.

I was sitting at the beach, a red solo cup in my hand. I'm not too sure how many beers I had at this point, but it really didn't matter. After everything went down, I run as fast as I could. I needed quiet, and so I went to my favorite spot at the beach – the balcony over at the deck. What the fuck was JJ thinking?

"hi" a quiet voice said. speaking of the devil. "hi" I relied, taking another sip of beer. "hey, (y\n), that's like, you're 7th cup and you know that I'm the last one to say such thing, but that might be too much beer" he said, taking the cup away from me and leaving it on the table as he sat down next to me. I moved to the end of the bench. "look, (y\n), I'm sorry. I saw you running off after the fight and-" he says, and I laugh. "you call that a fight? That was not a fight, JJ, you pulled a gun on the guy-" "he was drowning John B! why doesn't anyone understand, I'm not the bad guy here" he cuts me off, and our eyes finally meet. Even in the dim light, his eyes were shiny, or maybe they were glossy from the tears that threatened to burst. " JJ, I don't think you are a bad guy, but you know that they are going to paint you as one" I said, my tone cold. It took every muscle in my body to keep calm, because deep down I wanted to cry. "you are so stupid, JJ. Do you have any idea how much trouble you are going to get into?" I say. "well, jeez, (y\n), If I wanted to get yelled at, I'd stay with Kiara. I came here to see to you, but whatever man, if you don't want me here, I'll just leave" he said. "how did you know I'd be here?" I asked, and he froze halfway through getting up. "well. It's your favorite spot" he said, sitting back down. "oh" I said, "yeah, it really is".

We sat there quietly, and I moved back toward the center of the bench, resting my head on his shoulder. He tensed up for a second, surprised by my actions considering the fact I moved when he first sat down, and then proceeded to tell him he's stupid. He stretched his hand behind me, brushing my shoulder. For a guy that just was at party full of alcohol, sweat and fights, he smelled good. "look, (y\n), I'm sorry if I scared you. You know, when I" he said, and shot the air with his fingers along with a terrible impression of a gun. "it's okay, I guess. I mean, you were scared too" I said, and he sighed. "yeah" he said and kissed the top of my head. "thank you" he suddenly said. "for what?" I asked. "for not walking away when I got here and for not letting me walk away when I wanted too" he replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "no problem JJ" I said, looking up at him. I finally noticed the tears that were running down his cheeks. His voice didn't even break, and if it wasn't for the shiny stripes on his face, I would never know. I set up straight and cupped his cheeks, rubbing my thoubs against his tears to wipe them away. A pair of lips crushed on mine, kissing me hard, desperate to feel my lips move, and I kissed back. JJ's hand stroked my jaw line, pulling me closer. That was the moment I realized that you don't think about how shiny your friend's eyes are and you don't think the smell of beer and sweat is good unless you see someone as more than a friend. "oh my god, I'm so sorry" he said, pulling away. "what?" I said, confused. I kissed back, it's not like I pushed him off me, "I can't- you are drunk, and I'm taking advantage of that, you're my friend, that's not-" he said, leaning on the bench. "JJ, it's fine, I really didn't mind it" I say, smiling at him. he looked at me, "it's the alcohol speaking, kiddo. Let's get you home".

"yes, thank you very much" Kiara sighed, bringing me back to reality. "look, it was just a moment, and anyways, there's the rule. No pogue on pogue action" I said, hoping she wouldn't notice the sadness in my voice. I of course never mentioned all the details, I couldn't do it. Kiara, John B and Pope would kick us off the team, or at the very least kick us. Especially JJ, since I only hung out with them for the past month, since I moved to Outer Banks. I simply told her I think I have a crush on him. "great" Kiara smiled, "and thank you for like, talking to me about that" she added, and I laughed. "Kiara, it's normal girl talk" I said. "yeah, well, if you think I ever had those…" she laughed, and it was finally our turn in line. "two Pepsis" Kiara said to the guy behind the counter.

"hey kei, what's up?" someone asked. It took a moment, but I recognized him as the guy who almost killed my friends more than once. "how are you?" Rafe asked, and Kiara rolled her eyes as she told him she's fine. She turned to him, wondering what the heck does he want from her. She might be a Kook by social status, but those guys don't like her, and she doesn't like them. "good, good" he mumbled, "tell your boy that we know what he did". His posture was threatening, and I wanted to disappear, even though his attention was on kei. "sorry, what boy are you talking about?" Kei asked, returning his don't-mess-with me attitude. I had no idea how she is not terrified. "he'll know" Rafe said, and Kiara had enough. She took the Pepsis and started walking back to our spot. I followed. "bye" he said, and I don't know if he heard, but she called him a douche. She was right. "man, that guy's a creep" I say. "yeah" Kiara sighed.

We got to Pope and JJ. "just saw Rafe, and he said, and I quote ' tell your boy that we know what he did', what is that?" Kiara asks the boys. They looked at each other and I knew something was going on, and they were not about to share it. "where is he?" JJ spoke. He was wearing his hat backwards. I used to think it look dumb, but he looked good. We acted like normal ever since the party, never even mentioned it. I think he thinks I was too drunk to remember, and so he doesn’t bring it up and I'm scared to do so, cause he's my friend. "right there" Kiara replied, looking at the direction me and her came from a second ago. Both boys turned around to look. Topper, Rafe and Kelce were looking right at us, smiling like they are some Disney villain. "great. The whole death squad" Pope said, and JJ turned his head back to us. "don't stare bro" he said. "just warning you bro, if they corner me, I'm coming on swinging, okay?" JJ said, and I wanted to tell him to satay the hell out of trouble, but I knew he wouldn't listen. "slice and dicin', I'm on the edge right now" JJ kept going, and I was almost tired of hearing it. "yeah, yeah" Pope said, half dismissing JJ's words. JJ had so many fights with those stupid Kooks, but they always win, and I find it hard to believe this time would be any different. I love him, I really do, even if I have to keep this as a strictly platonic love and seeing him getting beat up by some rich bullies is breaking my heart. "If that doesn't work" JJ says, sensing the septicemic in the air, "I got this right here" he said, picking up his bag. "yeah, yeah, so we just gotta stay in group" Pope nodded his head, "they can't get us in the group". "like school of fish" JJ agreed. "stay in school, can't leave the school" Pope said, and it seemed like he is calmer. "I'm sorry JJ, please tell me you did not bring a gun hear?" Kiara said, half disappointed but not surprised. Kiara looked pissed, and rightfully. He looked anywhere but at us. "JJ, there are kids here. . She was annoyed, and upset, and I felt for her, but it really seemed like it was not my place, so I got up. "Kie, I didn't bring the gun, okay? Everything is fine" JJ blew her off, and their voices slowly fade away as I got closer to the water.

A few moments passed, and I felt someone is approaching. The mystery figure stopped right by me. I looked up to see JJ. "hey, you okay?" JJ asked. "yeah" I said, but his voice overpowered mine as he kept talking. "because you left up, and I just wanted to check up on you" he said, turning his face to me, but his body still faced the water. "just felt like it's not my business, so I-" I started. Our eyes meet and it's just like that night. The both of us facing the water, looking at each other's eyes, and one of us has tears in his eyes. I look away. "well, it is your business, you are a part of us, (y\n)" JJ says, placing his hand on my shoulder, "just to keep you updated, things might go down tonight". "you'll get yourself killed, JJ" I say, regaining the courage to look in his eyes, and the dammed salty liquid is now running down my cheeks. it's just a few drops, barely noticeable, but JJ is quick to pull me into a hug. "hey, hey, it's okay, I won't die. Don't worry, okay?" he said, slightly pulling away from the hug to wipe away the tears. He doesn’t move his hands, and as he's starting to lean down, and I'm about pull myself up to meet his lips halfway, we hear someone calling our names. (y\n), movie stars!" Pope screams, running toward us. We clear our throats and step away from each other and turning back to the seats.

Fast forward to a few hours later. The moon was out, along with the stars, and Pope's need to pee. Him and JJ went together, which I thought was funny until I realized why. Minutes pass, but there is no sign of them. "kei, we should check on them" I say. "and risk catching them pee?" Kei replies, laughing, "no yeah, you're right, they've been peeing for really long" she admits after she realized I'm serious. So, with that, we get up and start walking at the direction they went, taking JJ's bag with us. The sounds we heard could not be mistaken.

"get off of him, Topper, you fascist asshole!" Kie called without thinking to much, hitting Topper with the bag. If she's on helping Pope, guess I gotta save JJ, who's taking punches from Rafe as he struggles to escape Kelce's grip. "leave him alone" I say, approaching them. Violence is not my thing, but if words won't help with those guys, which is highly likely, I might have to use my self-defense skills. My mom forced me to learn those when I was younger.

"or what, you gonna paint my nails?" Rafe laughed, leaving JJ alone and getting closer to me, which allowed the blond surfer to escape Kelce's hands. My goal was to make Rafe leave JJ, so goal achieved, I guess. JJ punched Kelce's Jaw and ran toward me, but his body was all bruised and he still needed to breath a little before he can do anything. i was scared, but rule number 1: don't let the other guy know you're scared. Well rule number 1 is actually to avoid fights, which I already failed, then rule number 2 is to never attack, only defend yourself. Now that I'm thinking about it. I'm not sure "don't let the other guy know you're scared" is anywhere on the top 5 rules of fighting.

"look, bitch, I don't care that you're a girl, a pogue is a pogue and I'll beat your ass back to your dirty neighborhood" Rafe said, raising his punch and aiming at me. I adjust my legs and move to the right. Rafe's punch hit the air, and I used his loos balance to push him on the floor. I pushed so hard, I lost my balance and fall over him, he quickly pushed me down, getting on top of me and holding me down. His hands were sweaty and dirty, and the spots on my hand he pursed on hurt really bad. I started kicking in hopes to hit a sensitive spot. "aw!" he groaned in pain, put it wasn't me who pushed him on the ground, it was JJ. "stay out of this Kiara!" I hear Topper scream as he's shaking her off of him, and she rolls on the ground, landing next to JJ's bag.

Speaking of JJ, he was sitting on Rafe's stomach, punching his face. "you fucking dick, don't ever touch her again" JJ calls. He pulls Rafe's shirt to pick the bleeding Kook only to smash his face on the ground. "you hear me?" He yells, "I want you to promise, say it!" JJ says, and his fist meets Rafe's face once again. In the background I can hear Topper yells something about admitting something. "I barely touched her man, she should've just stay out of it" Rafe insisted. "say you'll never go near her ever again" JJ doesn't give up. The smell of something burning Is finally shaking me off the shock and I get up. "JJ, come on, let's go" I say, looking at the burning screen. "say it!" JJ yells. His knuckles are covered in blood, and I couldn't tell if it was his or Rafe's. "JJ, there's a fire we have to go" I say, and I reach my hand, pulling his shoulder back to sign him to get up. "yeah, you should listen to your stupid bitch of a girlfriend" Rafe smirks in an attempt to keep JJ there. "JJ, get off of him right the fuck now" I say, and finally, he looks at me. "look, I'm fine, let's go, okay?" I say, he nods and gets up. Before we walk away, I kick Rafe's chest. "that's for calling me a bitch" I say, and JJ's fingers intertwine with mine to pull me away from the scene.

"what the fuck, JJ?" I ask when we finally stop. I look around I see that Kiara and Pope are nowhere to be seen. We're at the beach, at the pogue part of the island. His hand still holds mine and he pulls me closer to him. "listen, man, I gotta ask you something" he said. "no JJ, first give me my answer. What the fuck happened there? What did Rafe and his goons wanted from you and Pope?" I asked him once again, insisting to get my answer. "the other day, we were doing deliveries and they jumped Pope. Told him they never wanna see him on their side of the island. Those fucking assholes, and I wasn't there to protect him, (y\n)" he says, taking my free hand in his. "you promise not to hate me if I tell you what happened next?" he asked when I looked at him waiting to hear how the story continued. "JJ, I can never hate you" I admit. "okay, cool, so uh, we-, Pope and I, we drowned Topper's boat" he said, half a proud smirk on his face. He tried to stop himself, but when I started laughing, he couldn't hold it any longer. "that's-" I tried, "they had it coming, JJ, you did nothing wrong". He smiled and pulled me into a hug, whispering "thank you".

"you know how you said you can never hate me?" he asks, breaking the silence and the hug in the same time. "yes?" I say, my tone turning the word into a question. "well, there's something I have to tell you. At the party a few days ago, I kissed you. I was pretty sober, but you weren't and as much as I wanted to kiss you, I stopped" he confessed, "and you know, you said you were okay with it but I'm pretty sure it was the alcohol – you drank way too many beers, (y\n), and-" "you can stop talking, JJ, I remember that" I said, smiling at him. "you- oh" he laughs awkwardly, "then why- cause you never mentioned it". "I don't know, I guess I just thought there was nothing to talk about, you said I'm your friend" I said, my eyes meet his. The sea of blue he had for eyes was now surrounded by a sea of red. "do you think I'll beat Rafe like that for just a friend?" he asks, slowly wrapping his hands around me. "I think you'll beat Rafe for pretty much anyone" I laughed, and he pulled me closer. My hands reached to the collar of his shirt, fidgeting with the stained fabric. "shut up" he laughs. "no, JJ, you shut up. And kiss me while you're at it". I have no idea where I got the courage to say that, maybe it was the adrenaline or whatever, what mattered was that he did. "thought you'd never ask" he smiled before connecting his lips with mine. I pulled his shirt to get him closer to me as our lips moved in perfect sync. My hands reached for his jaw and settled on his cheeks. "ow, man" he says, laughing into the kiss. "shit, sorry" I laugh and pull away to look at his black eye where I touched. "nooo" he calls, disappointed the kiss came to an end. "JJ, we can kiss anytime, however you don't have a black eye all the time. Please, let's go over to my place, I'll get you some ice, and-" "really?" he asks. "well, yeah, I'm not gonna let you walk around with this thing and not take care of-" I said, confused. "no, I mean, really, can we kiss anytime?" he asked. "sure, yeah, it's- yeah" I replied. His smile got wider. "so like, are you my girlfriend?" he asked. "do you want me to be?" I shoot him a question back as I take his hand and start walking toward the street. "yes" he says, a little scared. "well, JJ, than yes, I am your girlfriend" I say.

#outer banks #outer banks imagines #outer banks X reader #jj #jj x reader #jj imagines #jj imagine #outer banks netflix

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masjestickingdom · 4 years ago

Text

Secretly Fighting (For You)

Pairing: NCT Jaehyun x reader

Genre: Angst, one shot, fluff

Summary: You and your best friend Jaehyun are inseparable and love each other platonically. Key word: platonically. Or so you thought. When Jaehyun’s relationship with his girlfriend goes into turmoil, suppressed feelings resurface, but in the light of preserving friendship, an idiotic, ignorant front is put up. Will your relationship with Jaehyun remain stable or will the possibility of being something more be the ultimate destructive ending?

Note: Hey! So this is the scenario I’ve been hinting at for the past two updates. This scenario is by far the longest piece I’ve written, and it’s also a bit different from my usual one shots in the sense that I’m trying out a more angsty/fighting-type scenario. I hope you enjoy it!

_______________________________________________________________________

“Jaehyun, open up!” a loud, shrill voice shrieked. “We need to talk!”

Banging soon followed and sure enough, it caught the attention of both occupants of the apartment: you and your best friend Jaehyun.

You and Jaehyun had the amazing opportunity to rent out an entire apartment floor, shared with a few of your mutual friends, including your younger cousin Haechan. Having an entire floor was unbelievably amazing, and you quickly adapted to the perks that came along with it. The best part of having one humongous floor was the sense of privacy. It seemed trivial to you at first, but not having that constant anxiety of coincidentally meeting your next door neighbor and not having to hear the constant arguments between next door children were things you got comfortable with. As a matter of fact, it was one of the reasons you used to convince the others to join you in renewing the contract a few months ago.

That was the perk, but it was being completely invaded by that crazy girl your best friend called his girlfriend. Generally, what he did to his girlfriends was his own problem, so he rarely talked to you about the reasons behind his break-ups. Sometimes, he wouldn’t even tell you whether he was still in a relationship or not. Of course, you, being his best friend, sensed his break-ups every time without him having to tell you. The dark gaze that passed his eyes when you once asked him about his date gave away everything. In that similar sense, you were always able to smell something fishy with every other relationship he had.

“Jaehyun, I know you’re in there!” his girlfriend continued to scream.

With the absurd situation, you had no idea what to do. It was thrown at you in the middle of your slumber, and all you could think about was how good of an alarm your friend’s girlfriend would have been with that booming voice of hers. Thankfully, everyone else on the floor had already left for either school or work. You and Jaehyun were the only ones whose schools ended early, so since the beginning of your summer break, both of you were typically the last ones to wake.

Standing in front of the intercom, staring at the girlfriend’s frustrated face, you angled your neck so that your head was tilted to one side. From that angle, her resemblance to Cassie from Dragon Tales was uncanny.

“Jung Jaehyun, I will stand here and wait for you all morning if I have to!” she yelled.

You immediately exchanged a terrified face with Jaehyun as he stood next to you, massaging his temples.

“Jae, you have to answer her,” you urged, not understanding why he was avoiding his girlfriend. “Our neighbors will complain.”

He freed his face of his hands and lifted his head to get a better look at his girlfriend through the intercom.

“Do I have to?” he groaned, which was completely out of character for him.

Dreading to face another angry girlfriend was normal, but openly avoiding confrontation was not Jaehyun. Maybe he’s tired of being angry at, you thought, concern taking over your facial expression. Why did his girlfriends end up being mad at him? You had no clue, but it happened almost every time. The one time one of them wasn’t mad was when you told Jaehyun to never let go of her.

“Hey,” Jaehyun spoke, pulling you from your trance. “I’m the one who has to deal with Screaming Girlfriend over there. What’s with your face?”

You directed your eyes at him, and when you saw the distress in his eyes, you finally mustered the courage to ask him the questions you were afraid to ask. “Why is it that your relationships, with the exception of Bora, end horribly? What are you doing to make them mad?”

You saw the change of look in his eyes. It was as if you were living in slow motion because you saw a clear transition from concern to stone, which is what you called Jaehyun’s emotionless, stoic state of being. Somewhere in your brain the “stone mode is activated” alert went off. You had no time to process why he was in stone mode because, suddenly, you were walking away from the intercom, but not by your own will. Jaehyun had a strong grip around your wrist, and he was practically dragging you away from the virtual screen of his screaming girlfriend. He was definitely avoiding your questions.

Figuring that pressing him on about his relationship patterns would pull a trigger to his patience, you decided to nag him about something less trivial, something you tended to do when you tried to mitigate tension.

“Jae, if the rest of them are going to come over here and disrupt our process of becoming Sleeping Beauty, you might as well move and leave me be at peace.”

When he kept dragging you away, you became more desperate.

“Hey, are you even listening to me? Aren’t you my best friend? Don’t you want your best friend to rejuvenate? Do you want me to live with bigger bags of dark circles, huh? Hey, are you there?”

By the last question, you were in front of your bedroom, your door opened the way you left it when you barged out of your room earlier that morning to see what the commotion was about. Your eyebrows furrowed as you failed to ease the tension because what he said next hit you like ice.

“Stay in your room,” he said, keeping his hands firmly wrapped around your wrists. “I don’t want you coming out until I say so.”

“Mother, all I did was ask a bunch of questions,” you replied sarcastically.

But Jaehyun wasn’t having it.

“Do you understand me?” he asked with the sternest look you had ever seen in him in the last six years you had known him.

Reluctantly, you let out a small sigh and nodded your head. “You won’t hear me squeak.”

He mirrored your actions, acknowledging your compliance before he left you standing there. This isn’t some kind of war film, you said silently. It’s not like you’re going off on conscription. Nevertheless, you closed the door, switching off the talkative voice in your head in the process.

...

“You’re never honest with me,” you heard Jaehyun’s girlfriend cry. “You always lie about your feelings! The time you... and that other time..."

It was minute twenty-three and you were racking your brain, trying to come up with a better way to hear the girl. What happened during the first twenty-three minutes? Some hitting. And some more hitting. And some more hitting until Jaehyun had had enough and asked her to calm down. It was silent for eight minutes, which was a pretty accurate time estimate, considering you were counting with the old-fashioned “one-mississippi, two-mississippi...".

The last two minutes were the freshest memories in your mind. It probably had to do with the fact that they were literally the last two minutes you could clearly listen to, but it undoubtedly had to do with the fact that the confrontation reminded you of the times your previous neighbors’ kids would shout at each other at each other and of the arguments your parents had their fair share of.

Damn, why does my room have to be farthest from the entryway? You silently cursed in frustration while you were on your stomach, trying to shove the side of your head, where your ears were located, down your door to hear better clarity through the bottom cracks.

“...I asked you so many times if you had feelings for..."

That was it. You had the last straw; you gave up and situated yourself against the wall, becoming comfortable with the opening cracks that the side of your door provided. Fortunately for you, your breathing stabled from all that activity, and you could hear the conversation, or argument, rather, more clearly.

“I asked you so many times and you never denied it!” you heard the girl say angrily.

“Because I figured that the first few times I answered truthfully with a definitive ‘no’, you didn’t believe me, so what difference does it make if I deny it or not when you clearly don’t trust me?” Jaehyun shot back, letting go of himself for the first time.

Sure, you witnessed him getting into physical fights and verbal altercations before, but not with a girl. He was always respectful and always kept his anger at bay. He had never raised his voice at anyone--except at you, but those times were never caused by angry outbreaks.

“I saw you sneaking around,” Jaehyun continued, “following us at the mall when I definitely told you that there was nothing going on!”

The mall? Your eyebrows scrunched together. Who was he at the mall with?

“It was the mall, Jaehyun!” his girlfriend--although you weren’t sure if she was his girlfriend anymore with all the fighting--spat. “People who go to the mall together are either family or are taken!”

“That’s ridiculous,” Jaeyhun retorted. “Since when was the mall off limits to friends?”

“Since I saw the look you gave her when you brought me to her birthday party!”

“What do you want me to do?!” Jaehyun exclaimed exasperatedly. “She’s my friend and I can’t just unfriend her!”

“That. I want that.”

And for the first time in ten minutes, the house was silent. Were you hearing things correctly? Were you hearing this girl forbid your best friend from seeing someone? That got you riled up. How dare that imbecile demand that ludicrous request of him?

Of course, other than the broken silence in your head, the silence in the entryway was short-lived when Jaehyun followed up with, “What?”

“You heard me: unfriend her.”

You heard Jaehyun scoff. “You’re delirious. I am not breaking off a friendship I value for some crazy request.”

Do it, Jae, you thought, your heart thumping in excitement for what you anticipated the next words in his mouth to be. Do it.

“I’m breaking up with you.”

Cue your celebratory dance, which was, of course, performed in your imagination. For the first time known in history, Jung Jaehyun had finally broken up with someone. Throughout the entirety of his life, Jaehyun was the one who was broken up with. In that moment, thanks to that crazy ex-girlfriend of his, he was the breaker for the first time. He did it, you sang, which accompanied your imaginary dance. He did it, he did it, he did-

“Fine,” the girl declared. “But tell me: did you love her or did you not?”

Jaehyun, his stone-cold voice still operating, countered with, “I’m not obligated to tell you anything.”

“As your ex, I demand-”

“All we’re doing is walking in an endless cycle we don’t need to be in anymore.”

“You’re not denying it, Jaehyun!”

“And we’re back in circles.”

When you heard nothing, you pushed yourself against the door, wanting to listen to everything. Is she gone? Did she leave? Did he get rid of her? No, she was far from gone.

Voices resurfaced and soon enough, you heard Jaehyun say hurriedly, “What are you doing?”

His voice neared and by the time you realized that she was heading towards your room, it was too late: she swung open your door, which, by the way, was unpleasant, especially because your face was already behind it.

“Don’t you dare pull her into this,” you heard your friend say in the middle of the swinging-the-door-open process, glaring daggers at his ex.

It never registered in that empty head of yours that you were the infamous mysterious identity in their disagreements--or any of his disagreements with his other girlfriends, really. It wasn’t until your eyes locked with hers, a chill running down all over your body. You swear her eyes were icy cold.

Jaehyun’s eyes followed hers. Feeling the need to break off the intense eye contact, you averted your eyes to him, earning you a scoff. You stood there, staring at Jaehyun helplessly.

“So this is the scum you keep lying about,” the girl suddenly attacked, to which you responded with your eyes instantly trailing back to her.

No one had called you out like that before. Never like that, and it felt disgusting. You had only met her twice, once the first time Jaehyun introduced her to you and second at your birthday party.

You were too immersed in your own thoughts, coming up with all the possible comebacks and attacks you could formulate, that you missed Jaehyun’s darkening eyes.

“Get out,” Jaehyun spoke, his voice dangerously low. “Get out now.”

“She-”

“Get your crap together and get out while I’m still being nice.”

The unfamiliar tone intrigued you into taking another look at your best friend and evaluating his expression. There was no doubt that he was pissed off. His eyebrows were stiff and his eyes were narrowed, replicating the coldness of an iceberg. He had his jaws clenched, which amazingly defined his jawline, leading your eyes to the veins that were protruding from his neck. He wasn’t huffing out angry breaths like the crazy girl in front of you; instead, he was breathing so skillfully with his nose that you, for a moment, doubted if he was breathing at all. At that point in time, you knew that that face wasn’t his rock-hard stone mode. It was his ultimate shut out mode, and although you lived for it, you feared for what he would do if the girl didn’t leave.

When the girl wouldn’t budge, Jaehyun did something that made you realize that that day was a day discovering a new side of Jaehyun. For the first time, he raised his voice at a girl, broke up with a girl, and brought out the ultimate shut out. In that moment, you witnessed one of the scariest (and manliest) sides of Jaehyun you had ever seen.

Your best friend, the guy who you believed, without a fail, was considerate of others, caring, and seriously entertaining at times, broke his quintessentially collected and patient self. He grabbed your wrist and, without a notice, pulled you closer to him, letting you inhale that whiff of the naturally floral-scented shampoo he used the other night and the honey-based face mask he had on before his ex showed up. In that situation, looking up at him, centimeters away from his face, had your stomach doing somersaults. His jawline was impeccably sharp, which was so beside the point, but you couldn’t help but admire his beauty. Even that beauty mark he developed on his neck, the mark people normally call a flaw, was a charming imperfection.

With his hand wrapped around your wrist, he warned, “We’re going to be in the kitchen as if nothing happened for exactly one minute. If you’re not gone by then, I’m calling the cops.”

And that was that. When his ex snobbishly sashayed away after a full minute, Jaehyun returned to his normal state and sighed in relief. He turned his attention to you and his hands left your wrists, only to land on your shoulders.

“You okay?” he asked in a soft, but rough voice.

You barely nodded. You were set in a trance with his beautiful eyes, which you noted were beautifully concerned for you. He offered a small smile and pulled you into a hug. It was only nine in the morning and both of you were tired.

“Sorry you had to go through that because of me,” he said quietly.

Your arms quickly found their way around a comfortable spot on Jaehyun’s torso.

“Hey, for you, I would go through that again anytime,” you breathed, a sincere smile forming on your lips.

He rested his chin on your head and began rocking your bodies back and forth.

“Really? You would relive that experience?”

“In a heartbeat.”

A chuckle left his lips and you felt his body, especially his chest, vibrate harmoniously in sync.

“You’re crazy,” he said.

“Maybe, but what are best friends for?”

And that’s when the swaying stopped. Subsequently, the warmth he provided you left your body.

“Right,” he spoke, pulling away from you.

The portion of warmth that was left was your fingertips because that was the last place that left his torso, and that withered away a split second later. He shot you a quick smile before heading towards the adjacent living room. Thinking that he wanted some time alone, you stayed in the kitchen, but he soon patted a place for you to sit on the couch next to him.

Somewhat relieved, you followed the steps he took to the living room and asked, “Are you tired?”

His eyes landed on yours and your heart broke at his tense state.

“If you ever want to get back with her, I can-”

Your face was met by one of the throw pillows.

“You’re crazy,” he chortled, shaking his head.

You smiled at your small success at bringing a smile on the exhausted face, so you tried for one more.

“You know, I would have told you to do whatever she asked of you and to fight for her, but, damn, she was so adamant and selfish that she was definitely not worth fighting for.”

He shook his head, laughing. “If she had trusted me, she would have stayed.”

It was his way of saying that it was okay, you thought. But what you weren’t aware of was that it was his way of secretly fighting for a certain someone.

He took a moment to collect his thoughts before he added, “Besides, I wouldn’t have trusted me either.”

It took a lot of willpower not to analyze what he meant by that, but you failed miserably after three seconds. You knew that you were mistaken as more than a friend by his crazy ex, but what did it mean when he was the one who said it? He was worn out. He probably wasn’t thinking properly, right? Settling with that answer, you lightly threw the pillow back at his direction.

“What are you talking about? It was her trust issue. We didn’t even hang out that much once you started going out with her.” You shook your head and continued, “The next time you have a girlfriend, I’ll make sure to tone it down whenever she’s around. Actually, consider me invisible.”

“The next time I have a girlfriend?”

“The next time you have a girlfriend.”

When he didn’t respond, you looked over at him, but by then he was already chuckling.

“After this, I think I’m going to lay off for a while.”

You goofily smiled at him. “Impossible. All the ladies go to Jaehyun.”

“All the angry ones.”

You agreed. “All the crazy ones. What are they thinking? Us? Together? Ridiculous.”

“That’s what I always tell them.”

In the back of your mind, you knew that it was possible that his girlfriends could have had trust issues with you since you and Jaehyun were of the opposite sex and were best friends for six years running, but it didn’t cross your mind that you were the root of their serious conflicts.

“So all this time, they confronted you about me?”

Your friend merely nodded his head.

“Wow, I didn’t know that I was popular with the ladies too.”

With the insane event that happened to him that day, all you wanted to do was restore his energy. You wanted him to forget what happened and live the summer like he should have, so that time, you were the one to take his wrist and pull him up.

“Let’s go.”

“But I’m tired.”

“Let’s go.”

...

To say you are a spontaneous person is false. Nothing you do is out of spontaneity. All the activities you partake of are predictable of you, and you’re okay with that because that’s you. However, to say that you are completely unpredictable would be false too. For your friends, you would do anything, and for Jaehyun, your best friend in the entire universe, you would do everything.

“Let’s go,” you said, pulling him out the door. “I promise you that you won’t regret it.”

So where did you lead Jaehyun to? Everywhere. You took him to the beach, where you both got your clothes wet. You snuck him into a rival college’s campus, a fairly easy thing to do, and watched a hilariously boring film production. You pushed him inside a famous coffee shop and ordered a fan favorite drink, which you shared with wacky straws. After visiting three new places in the span of four hours, you were drained of energy and so was he.

But there was one place left to go to, one perfect place to end the day.

“So where is this surprise you’re taking me to?” Jaehyun asked, walking alongside you on an unfamiliar sidewalk.

“You’ll see,” you teased ambiguously. “We’ll be there in five minutes.”

Because you were in an unfamiliar place, you had your virtual map on your phone to guide you the way to the highly rated, must-go-to, chill restaurant. The restaurant was a perfect place to end the day: you could eat everything there, return home with full stomachs, and sleep well. It was the ideal situation you formed in your mind. While you were checking the directions, Jaehyun peered over your shoulder to take a sneak peek. You, noticing right away the shadow that loomed over you, immediately retracted your arms behind your back and narrowed your eyes at your friend who had the back of his head already facing you and was whistling to a horrible tune.

“Hey, no cheating,” you warned him.

Jaehyun swiftly spun his head and raised an eyebrow at you.

“Is this supposed to be a game?” he asked, tilting his head.

“It’s supposed to be a surprise,” you huffed, but when you saw the ends of his lips curl upward, you pressed, “You saw the name, didn’t you?”

Cue the dramatic gasp.

“No, I did not,” Jaehyun scoffed playfully. “I cannot believe you would accuse me of such foul play.”

When you glared at him, he broke into an innocent, but not-so-innocent, smile. You couldn’t help but be enchanted by the way the angle of his tilted head let him cover the sun, the rays of the light shining around him in an endless circle. The way he smiled at you was so pure-looking that you wanted to scream and pinch his dimples. The sparkle in his eyes reflected pure joy, and you wondered if you were the one to have pulled that out of him. No, you reminded yourself. That’s just how he smiles. Nonetheless, your heart raced with an impressive speed. As soon as you felt your face warming up, you set your eyes on the road ahead of you.

In less than five minutes, you safely and successfully guided Jaehyun to the right place.

“This is it,” you told him, looking up at a sign that read Al’s Place. “Surprise.”

Jaehyun laughed at the lack of enthusiasm in your voice.

“Sorry for peeping earlier,” he said, not-so-gently patting your head.

You simply grunted in response.

When you entered the restaurant, you were greeted by an overly eager hostess.

“Hi, welcome to Al’s Place! How many?”

“Two,” you replied while Jaehyun scanned the place with his eyes.

As the hostess led you to a table of two, Jaehyun leaned towards you and whispered, “Nice place.”

You hummed in response, taking a look at the place yourself. Along the way, you saw a couple of looks being thrown your way--or more specifically, Jaehyun’s way. It wasn’t a foreign occurrence, but it reminded you of the whole “I wouldn’t trust myself either” phrase, which brought you back to: what in the world did he mean by that? If it meant anything remotely to what you secretly wished it meant, you weren’t going to risk your friendship with Jaehyun for a short-term, badly ended relationship like he had with all of his other girlfriends. You just wanted to remain his secret admirer and maintain a strong relationship.

When it came to Jaehyun, there was no wrong. Even when he made mistakes, he learned from them and “benefited from them,” according to him, “because all those mistakes served to be cardinal learning experiences that would eventually allow him to become a bigger human being”. That was Jung Jaehyun for you, and with your influence on him on a romantic level, that was too much pressure for you. Once, on a day out at a festival with your fellow housemates, Jaehyun had a flock of girls running at him at once, asking for his number. Naturally, he courteously rejected all of them. He had a girlfriend at the time, and, afterall, his friends were waiting for him with their orders. While he rejected them, you and Haechan, being the only ones who volunteered to assist Jaehyun, threw the idea around that no girls would be good enough for Jaehyun.

“He’s so damn awesome,” you said, expressing your strong acknowledgement of your best friend’s impactful presence. “He’s there with girls swarming around him while we’re here standing like loners waiting for our single-sticked corn dogs for our single selves.”

“But you know,” your wise cousin started, “I think when he finds a girl who likes him for him and not his looks, they’ll be burdened by his lack of amorality.”

Leaning back on the corn dog stand’s extended counter to allow your elbows to rest, you observed the way Jaehyun kindly turned down all of his offers. “You think?”

“It’ll probably happen. I’m pretty sure Jaehyun’s thinking about it too.”

“That jackass is probably thinking too highly of himself,” you scoffed, but it was an act you put up, and that wise cousin you considered your close friend read you like a book.

“You know more than anyone that he’s simply thinking of all the possibilities of the perils that will come with each relationship he’s involved in,” Haechan said matter-of-factly. “With all the girls he’s gone out with over the years, whether he likes to admit or not, he’s probably tired of calculating what peril he has to anticipate at the start of any relationship.”

“And you’re saying that when the right girl comes along, that conflict will be her low self-esteem?”

Haechan hummed in response, his fingers tapping to a small but fitting tune for the hot summer as he waited for your response.

Your hesitant response mirrored the lingering anxiety that you couldn’t get rid of.

“He’s so perfect that he has to worry about being perfect, yet that’s a burden to the girl,” you finally said with a bitter smile. “So unrelatable.”

You ignored the gaze Haechan was giving you. You didn’t want to know what he was thinking although you had a feeling it had to do with your last comment. He knew the front you put up. He saw right through you. If he saw through you, could everyone else? Could Jaehyun? Instead of dealing with Haechan, you watched Jaehyun reject the last girl. That’s when it dawned on you why you had put up a front, especially for your best friend Jaehyun...

It started three years prior to the festival, when you were freshmen in college. You were trying to navigate your way through the enormous hallways when you spotted a very familiar brown-haired boy. Jung Jaehyun. His hair was originally black, but he dyed his hair to the lighter shade it became, telling you that he wanted to start a fresh, unanticipated image, and apparently dying his hair was the first step. In response, you snickered and bet that he would return looking like a mess. With that gorgeous girl he was conversing with in the hallway, you knew that you had lost the bet.

Preceding your college days, Jaehyun only had flings. None of his encounters with girls were serious. It wasn’t that he was a player. It was simply because he wasn’t looking for a committed relationship before college. He once told you, before one of your many movie marathons began, that he didn’t want to deter his studies with an alluring distraction. Yes, he said that right before you started your movie marathon on a school night. Regardless his reasons seemed ridiculous to you or not, he kept his word, and, at the time, you were secretly relieved.

College was a new territory. That meant that it was Jaehyun’s time to explore the new world of relationships. That meant you had to let go of your buried feelings for Jaehyun, but they were so deeply buried that you never bothered to dig deeper. You just left them sitting there, burying them more when you came up with a defense mechanism, which started when Jaehyun announced to you that he was seeing someone, that majestic girl in the hallway.

With the exception of hints of jealousy peeping here and there, his flings in high school didn’t trouble you. They were purely flings, afterall. There was no harm in them. Serious, committed relationships, however, were on a different level. When things became serious with his first girlfriend, you developed a system that would ward you off from showing your true feelings, which would have otherwise had you raging with jealousy. That system was sarcasm. You weren’t really the sarcastic-type of friend, but it was the only way that safely kept a distance from you and Jaehyun to prevent any possibility of romantic feelings slipping. It was also--now this you failed to acknowledge--a way to distance yourself from any remotely amorous feelings with anyone, and this helps explain why your dating life barely existed.

“Earth to Miss Crazy.”

Jaehyun was waving his hand in front of your face, repeating the same line until you snapped back to reality.

“Aren’t you going to recommend something for me?” he asked when your eyebrows relaxed.

“Hey, I’m just as new of a person here as you are,” you said, shaking your head.

“But still,” he pushed, like a child. “You brought me here.”

Instead of fighting back like you would have normally done, you called a random waitress to order. To your luck (note the sarcasm), the waitress was the one who was sending googly eyes to Jaehyun earlier. Setting that fact aside, you calmly asked her for the most popular set menu. Whatever left her mouth, you couldn’t focus because all you could think about was how she had her eyes all over Jaehyun. Oblivious to this, your unsuspecting friend continued to read the menu. When the buzzing stopped, you realized that you had no idea what she had said, so you naturally asked your unaware friend if the set sounded appealing.

He looked up from the menu and nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

The waitress smiled widely. “Okay, then I’ll be back with your orders. If there’s anything else you need, anything, just call me over.”

You handed her your menu, which she took by the far corner, but when Jaehyun extended his, she deliberately let her hands graze over his soft, slender fingers before leaving the scene. You examined your friend’s expression, and it was not good. He was visibly uncomfortable with the interaction.

“So,” you started, grabbing his attention, “how was today for a surprise?”

...

The interaction with the waitress definitely put you in for a chaotic spin in your head, but you didn’t want your messy thoughts to spoil dinner. Jaehyun, although affected at first, eventually forgot about it. The both of you shared a good meal with random conversational topics, sharing upcoming projects and reminiscing about a few memories.

When you were done with your dishes, the waitress returned, and something was different about her. Was it her face? No. Her clothes? Maybe. If people consider busting an extra button open as changing the appearance, then, yes, that was the change. She was clearly drooling over Jaehyun, her eyes full of lust. When she asked, “Can I interest you with our dessert menu?”, she made sure to make eye contact with Jaehyun, biting her lower lip. Your genius friend, however, simply cocked his head sideways at you, asking you for your thoughts.

“Very classy,” you said, over pronouncing “classy” to make sure he got your intention. “Very classy dessert, don’t you think?”

He shook his head, distaste apparent in his eyes. “No.”

Although there was jealousy stirring inside of you, you kept your cool and put up an act, deciding to make it seem like you were stifling your laughter.

“Fine, we’ll take the cherry cupcake surprise,” you said, directing your comment to the waitress, who took one final look at Jaehyun before strutting away.

Watching her walk away, you commented, “Wow, I did not know that this was a dinner and a show type of restaurant.”

You turned your attention to Jaehyun, who was shooting you a dirty look your way. You wiggled your eyebrows suggestively.

“Looks like somebody has the hots for you.” You smirked at him, but he simply sighed. “I see someone’s tired of being Mr. Popular.”

He shook his head at you. “You know I’m not interested.”

“Yes, yes, I know. She’s not even your type.”

To that, Jaehyun raised an eyebrow. “I have a type?”

“Everyone has a type.”

You took your glass of water in your hands and swirled it around.

“Do you have a type?” he asked.

Staring at the disturbance you created, you answered, “Sure, I just don’t know it yet.”

When you heard him click his tongue, you looked up from your glass and scrunched your nose.

“Hey, I’m sorry that I haven’t dated as many people as you have,” you said, sarcasm dripping in your voice.

With curiosity taking over his face, he asked, “When was the last time you went out on a date?”

“Oh, I don’t keep track.”

Jaehyun was transparently amused at your vague response.“It’s been that long?”

“Excuse me for trying to find the right guy,” you scoffed.

“So,” he said, leaning forward with anticipation, “what do you think my type is?”

You promptly answered, “Someone who’s willing to craze over your obsession with wine.”

Right away, Jaehyun leaned back in his chair. “I don’t understand why you have to hate wine.”

“I don’t hate it,” you corrected him. “I would prefer water to it.”

“That’s-”

He stopped in mid-sentence when he spotted something, or rather someone.

“Just wait until you try this wine.”

In that moment, the waitress came back with your desserts, and for the first time, Jaehyun directed his speech at her.

“We’ll have **** wine.”

“Of course, I’ll be right back with your drink.”

When he averted his gaze back to you, you gave him a knowing look.

“But you gotta admit that she’s pretty hot.”

And at that, he deadpanned, but he swiftly recovered, asking, “So what else am I looking for in a girl?”

You handed him a clean fork, which he took, and his fingers brushed past yours ever so slightly, leaving you with a tingling sensation. You took your own fork and split the cherry cupcake in half, giving Jaehyun the side with the cherry; you didn’t enjoy cherries as much as he did.

Suppressing your growing feelings, you finally answered his question. “You seem to go out with girls who are pretty outgoing, which surprises me.”

“And why is that?” he queried, taking a bite of his half of the cupcake.

You shrugged. “You’re calm and collected at most times, and I say most times because that five percent you aren’t, no one can contain you.”

Licking the remaining frosting on his lips, he pointed at the cupcake and said, “Now that’s a good cupcake.”

You took the time to let the flavors of the dessert melt on your tongue before ultimately agreeing with Jaehyun.

“And that wasn’t even a recommended dessert,” you remarked, proud of your choice of order.

Jaehyun playfully applauded for you. “I commend you for that.”

“Oh and by the way,” you spoke, continuing your thoughts about his type. “You have this thing with girls with long hair. Do you know that it’s a pain to maintain long hair? We lose hair because of the weight of it.”

“I’ll do my best to keep the range diverse,” Jaehyun noted, laughing.

“I’m not kidding. Jae.”

“Then why do you have long hair?” he fired with amusement in his eyes, pointing out the irony.

“I-”

Just then, the infatuated waitress interrupted you, approaching you and Jaehyun with a bottle of wine and two additional wine-tasting glasses.

“Here is your bottle of **** wine,” she announced a little breathless.

You offered a small smile, but her attention was all on Jaehyun. She purposefully set the glassware in front of him and opened the bottle of wine with a small but audible grunt. You had no idea if that was intentionally supposed to be a grunt or if it was supposed to sound more sensual. Either way, it was incomparable to what she did next.

While she moved on from one glass to the other, the waitress “accidentally” tipped over one of them in the direction of Jaehyun. Your unfortunate friend immediately grimaced, and the waiter, at once, set down the bottle of wine down on the table and rushed to his side.

“I am so sorry,” she gasped, touching his arms. “I am such a clutz.”

While Jaehyun reassured her that he was fine through his gritted teeth, you quickly reached for the pile napkins at the edge of the table and tossed them to Jaehyun. He slid his chair backwards to dab the moist parts of his outfit, but the waitress had other plans. She snatched the napkins from the empty table next to yours and tried to help your soaked friend by reaching down to his chest. Jaehyun responded with quick reflexes and shot up from his seat.

The waitress met his eyes with the most seductive look she could display. “Let me help.”

Jaehyun, however, wasn’t pleased. Ignoring his unwavering gaze, she attempted to “help” again, but this time she aimed for his pants. To this, Jaehyun instantly grabbed her by her wrist.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he snapped.

Round two of an approaching shut out mode.

The waitress flinched under the pressure of his hands, and when she saw his dark, fuming eyes, she immediately diverted her eyes. He released her wrists roughly, his gaze unchanging, and took you, the silent bystander, by the hands.

“Jae, what are you-”

Jaehyun didn’t let you finish your sentence as he pulled you out of the restaurant while you tried not to meet the stares of strangers. He stormed past the hostess that had welcomed you and pushed the doors open with such force that it felt like winter. The next thing you knew, you were heading towards a park.

“Jae,” you called, trying to listen to you. “Jae, stop.”

But he kept going.

“Jae, we can’t just leave the restaurant like that,” you reasoned. “You do realize we have to pay..."

Your voice trailed off when he slowed down and turned around. He looked at you dead in the eye.

You gulped. “Look, I know what she did was wrong, but-”

“She clearly has no moral conscience!” he yelled, causing you to wince.

He was definitely outraged and there was going to be no easy way to calm him down other than listening to him.

“She was clearly trying to seduce a customer,” he went on angrily. “I was clearly not comfortable. Did I or did I not look uncomfortable?”

“You gave her clear signs, Jae,” you responded as calmly as you could. “And it was totally wrong of her to ignore them.”

“And what’s more is that you didn’t seem to care.”

That was a sudden splash in the face. Didn’t care? Of course you cared! How could you not care?

“Jae, I did care,” you tried to explain, your hands flailing around in the process. “And I’m sorry I didn’t do anything to prevent her actions when you were visibly uncomfortable, but understand that I care.”

The fire in his eyes did not cease.

“Because you’re my friend,” he said.

“Of course, I-”

“And nothing more.”

That slapped you hard. It was true that you were his friend, but to hear him expose the one thing you tried so hard to bury hurt.

With a pained expression written all over your face, you pleaded, “Jae, what are you trying to say? Of course I’m your friend, but the problem is that the waitress back there was extremely inappropriate.”

“I’m mad at the waitress, but I’m more frustrated that you can’t seem to take a hint!”

Your eyes frantically bounced back and forth between his infuriated eyes that drilled into yours. Was he seriously angry at you? For what? You had arguments in the past, but you always knew where those conflicts rooted. This, however, was not one of them. Nothing could register properly in your brain with that look he was giving you.

“Jae, are you mad at me?” you asked quietly.

The feeling of fear crept up behind you, the fear that he was mad at you and for an unknown reason at that. Having to deal with an outburst due to pure emotions was one thing. To have a close friend genuinely mad at you was another. Your hands began to tremble as you brought them to your chest.

“I-I didn’t mean to anger you,” you stammered, your voice breaking and lips slightly quivering. “I genuinely didn’t mean ignore the problem.”

Seeing your frightened state, Jaehyun’s eyes softened, and he took your hands in his.

“I’m not mad at you,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m really not mad.”

When you couldn't calm down, he pulled you into a hug, his hands brushing through your rough hair.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled as his face nestled against your neck. “I’m really not mad at you.”

“Okay,” you whispered, letting your arms slowly wrap around his torso. “I believe you.”

You two stayed in that position for a few long seconds before he broke away from your embrace, searching your face for any upset feelings until his brown eyes locked with your darker ones. His strong, yet delicate hands reached your face, his thumbs stroking your cheeks. Your bodies were nearly one. The expression that his eyes revealed was one that you couldn’t read. All you knew was that they were soft but passionate--loving, almost.

“I’m not mad at you,” he repeated softly.

“I believe you,” you said again.

You watched him take a deep breath before saying, “I’m in love with you.”

A gust of wind rushed past your protected face, but the same couldn’t be said the same for your heart. It was thumping rapidly, faster than when you ran the mile for your gym class several years ago. For months--years, even--you had been sharpening your defense mechanism to cope with your love-struck feelings. You developed this unhealthy system to prevent the destruction of your relationship with Jaehyun, yet there your best friend and crush was, confessing his attachment to you. In an instant, whatever you built washed away.

“Do you know why everyone had a hard time trusting me?” he spoke, his eyes surveying yours. “Because they all knew that my heart was taken by someone else.”

You already knew the answer judging by the look in his eyes, but you wanted him to confirm it again.

“Who?” you whispered, the corners of your lips tugging upward.

A genuine smile appeared on his lips as he breathed, “You’re an idiot.”

It was your turn to smile like an idiot. Your smile grew so big that it started to hurt. Jaehyun leaned down and lightly pressed his plump, smooth lips against your forehead, his hands still cupping your face.

All these years being friends with Jaehyun had you learn one thing: you never really got over him. Whatever you previously thought about not wanting to risk your friendship with him was gone. When you lost yourself in his gorgeous eyes, you knew that you weren’t going to let go of that chance.

“I love you too, Jae,” you said with the brightest smile that had ever appeared on your face.

It candidly was the best way to end the day and a secret fight that you and Jaehyun had both been struggling with--a fight for each other.

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moeyy-writes · 4 years ago

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Here and Now - Part 1

Zak Bagans x Reader

Warnings: hints at family issues, mild fluff.

Word Count: 1,822

A/N: Great, what have I gotten myself into? This started as a random idea that was in no way planned. I didn’t even think it would be something worth posting. Now, it’s becoming a series that I’m praying I’ll be able to update regularly. I don’t really know where it’s going yet. I guess we’ll find out together. Please let me know what you think. Thanks!

My Master List || Also on AO3 || Series Master List

“Yes Mom.” You sighed. “No, I won’t be. I’ll be filming that week.” Another sigh. “No, I’m not going to be looking for another job.” You rolled your eyes and leaned your head back over the back of your folding chair. “Mom, this is what I want to do—Okay. Love you too.”

You tossed your phone over onto the table in front of you and sighed. You loved your parents, but they didn’t quite understand when you told them you were leaving your cozy job as a nurse to hunt ghosts. Your mom blamed your long-time friend, Jay Wasley, for “luring” you into the field. Every time you talked to her, she begged you to rejoin the medical field, but there was nothing that could convince you to do anything else than be a part of the Ghost Adventures team.

You loved joining the guys on investigations, being the main audio-visual tech for the last year. That allowed Billy and Jay to be more involved in the investigations, which was especially helpful when investigating the larger sites.

Not to mention, you were working with some of the nicest people you had ever met.

You never second guessed the career change. When the guys asked you to be a part of the team, you jumped on it without even giving it another thought. Jay and you had both taken film classes in college, but you changed majors after your family urged you to find something “more career friendly”. He knew you loved working with different types of cameras and had a very keen eye for the slightest hints of evidence on the screen. And the other men on the team couldn’t agree more.

As you let out a long sigh, you heard footsteps to your left. You glanced over to a tall, spiky-haired figure illuminated by the sun behind.

“Hey Zak,” you greeted the leader of your team. He lowered himself down into the chair beside you and smiled. His sunglasses were sliding down his nose, and the wide brim of his hat shielded your eyes slightly from the sun.

“Hey, what was all of that about?” he questioned, nodding towards your phone. You just shrugged and huffed out a frustrated breath.

“It’s just my mom. You know, same shit, different day. She’s constantly questioning my ‘career choice’ and telling me that I don’t know what I’m doing.” You closed your eyes. “She only sees a job for the money.”

Zak nodded. “Yeah, well some people see that. Some people do something because they know the pay check is going to be awesome, and the title is going to make them look good to everyone else.” You laughed.

“Yeah, well, the pay check isn’t too shabby for you, is it?” you both laughed and turned to the building in front of you. It was another location, and the interviews were going to start shortly. You decided to make a small station to set up and charge cameras between interviews, and keep a few pieces of equipment handy for any impromptu investigating.

You glanced away, trying to ignore the intense set of butterflies in your stomach whenever Zak was near you. Sure, you had met him several times before you became part of the team. Hell, he was one of the people who fought for your spot on the show. But, you didn’t know a whole lot about the man at your side. Jay had filled you in on the basics of his life, but that was about it. Sure, he was goofy, nerdy, and a little bit full of himself. But, he was also a kind and friendly guy, something you weren’t really expecting.

He had welcomed you with open arms, as they all did. He made sure that you always felt included when you wanted to be and checked in with you whenever there was an emotionally heavy case. You wouldn’t tell anyone in the media, but he was secretly the caretaker of the group.

So, it was no wonder he was sitting beside you after hearing your phone call. He could sense when something was off about a crew member. It was definitely something unique about Zak Bagans.

“Do you ever second guess being here? Leaving the nursing field?” You shook your head adamantly.

“Not for a second. I became a nurse because my dad is a doctor and pressured me into joining the same field. I liked it, don’t get me wrong, but I wanted to help people in another way.” You peered over at Jay, who was fiddling with Aaron’s camera. “Thanks to Jay, I’m here doing just that.”

“Well, we all agreed for you to join. To be honest, it’s been really nice having a different perspective on everything. You always find the best positions for the static-vision and x-cameras, and always find logical reasons for our equipment malfunctions. You have a gift, Y/N.” You could feel your cheeks redden at Zak’s words. You ran your fingers through your hair.

“Thanks, Zak. That means a lot.” Your gaze flicked back to your phone for a moment. “I know my parents love me and want what’s best for me. I just wish that they knew I’m at the age where I can find that out for myself.” Zak nodded, loosely crossing his legs.

“They do love you. There are plenty of people who love you, Y/N. And we’re all here for you.” You leaned back a little, raising a brow.

“Plenty of people? Like who?” Your heart fluttered, secretly wondering if he was implying something more behind his words. Could he be? No, not Zak. That wasn’t like him.

Zak smirked. “Well, I freaking hope you know by now that the crew loves you. Jay’s known you for what, at least a decade? More? Aaron and you have that never-ending prank war thing that I swear is going to be the death of one of you. From the second time you met, I knew you were pretty much platonic soulmates. And watching you and Billy geek out over equipment together makes me smile. Nerds.”

You nodded, practically beaming. Zak always knew what to say and when to say it, at least most of the time.

“And I think you’re a great addition to the team. You’re smart, fun to be around. It’s like you’ve been with us since the beginning.” You didn’t know what else to do but smile. Where the hell was all of this coming from? Sure, Zak was usually sweet and uplifting, but this was a lot coming from him. He was rarely this intense.

“That means a lot, Zak. I’m really glad to be working with everyone. I really do love you all too.” You and Zak stared at each other for a moment before he spoke again.

“You know, you’re really a special person, Y/N. Your parents know that, the team knows that, And I definitely know that.” He pushed his glasses up his nose, then cleared his throat. Was he nervous? Zak Bagans, nervous? Huh.

“Uh, thanks Zak. Really.” He was kind of repeating himself, like he was trying to hint at something he was too afraid to say. You had never heard him talk like this before. He was always super straightforward and blunt, never talking in code or hiding meaning behind his words.

“And, I was wondering if you were, um, interested in hanging out more outside of here? You know, outside of the show?” You furrowed your brow.

“We do hang out. I mean, we all meet for lunch or dinner, and meet at each other’s houses—”

“I know, but I meant you and me. You know, just the two of us.” Your brow shot up as your stomach swirled.

“Um, are you asking me out Mr. Bagans?” No fucking way. He couldn’t be. There’s no way Zak Bagans would be asking you out.

“Yep. Yeah, I am.” Oh, you stood corrected.

“Well, I, uh, yeah. That sounds awesome.” You studied his confident smirk.

Zak nodded to himself. “Awesome,” he repeated. “Let’s focus on this lockdown, then we’ll work out the details. But, I know of a great place I want to bring you to.” He reached over and gently placed his hand on top of yours.

You flipped your hand over and wrapped it around his. “I can’t wait.” And that was the God-honest truth. Your whole life flipped in the best possible way over the last several minutes, and your head was reeling as you tried to accept your new reality.

You were dating, or about to date, Zak Bagans.

“Hey, Zak, we’re almost ready to go!” Jay called over. Zak perked his head up.

“I’ll be right there!” He squeezed your hand, then pulled away. As he stood, he offered his award-winning smile, then made it over to his friends.

You really needed to get your camera ready, but you couldn’t move. Your brain was still struggling to process. Not only was this whole thing something you never dreamed of, it completely came out of left field. Zak was a natural flirt, but you didn’t think he flirted with you more than any other woman he met. He was respectful, avoiding any type of sexual jokes, and making sure he called out the others if anything made you noticeably uncomfortable. That was half the reason your brain was still currently malfunctioning.

Your phone buzzed in your hand, shocking you from your thoughts. You unlocked your phone and opened your messages.

New Message: Jay Wasleyyyy

You studied the message, which was a simple thumbs up emoji. You glanced up at your buddy, who shared your gaze, standing beside a grinning Aaron. Great. Sure, Jay knew about how you felt towards Zak. It was hard to keep it a secret sometimes, especially from someone who had known you as long as Jay did. He obviously knew that Zak was up to something too. Sneaky bastard.

But, now Aaron wasn’t going to leave you alone about it. Joy. All you needed was your goofy friend poking at you as singing ridiculous songs about love and shit.

Another message pinged, forcing you to glanced back down at your phone.

New Message: Zak Attack

It was another wordless message, with a black heart and a winking face emoji. Totally Zak’s dorky yet oddly suave style.

You stared at the message, suddenly giddy with excitement. Now that your brain had come back down to Earth, you were nothing but excited about what was to come. You had no idea what Zak had up his sleeve, or how the two of you were going to do in a romantic relationship, but there was an odd exhilaration in not knowing.

With a long exhale, you silenced your phone and slipped it into your pocket. Then, you lifted your camera from the table in front of you and headed off to join your team.

Thanks for reading. Feedback is appreciated! <3

#zak bagans #zak bagans x reader #zak bagans and reader #zak x reader #zak bagans x reader fluff #zak bagans series #zak bagans x reader series #aaron goodwin #jay wasley #billy tolley #ghost adventures #gac #zak bagans reader insert #ghost adventures imagine #ghost adventures series

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crownjimin · 4 years ago

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✰ 086 | baby fish, part one

la vie en rose ━ in which lee aera, a girl who has been crushing on choi soobin for a long, long time, is starting her junior year and her friends decide that its time for her to make her move.

A/N: the entire thing ended up being 5k so like the last written part, i broke it up into two separate posts, which is why it took me so long to update. part two will be posted tomorrow.

( masterlist | prev | next )

The entire week leading up to Saturday was abnormal, to say the least. Firstly, Haeun hadn’t spoken a word about her and Hyunjin’s meet up from the previous Friday. From what Aera could tell, Haeun didn’t seem sad, which the smaller girl thought was good, but Haeun also didn’t seem completely happy. If Aera had to describe how her friend looked, she would probably say serene or tranquil, like she had less to worry about. There was definitely a weight lifted from Haeun’s shoulders, as far as the smaller girl could tell, but if that feeling would last is what Aera was unsure about.

Coupled with Haeun’s odd behavior, this week was the first that Jiah had insisted on Jeongin and his friends joining their table for lunch. Maybe it was because Hyunjin and Haeun had “resolved” their issues, so inviting his friends wouldn’t be awkward for Haeun, but Aera is almost certain Jiah forgot to wonder whether or not this would make Aera awkward.

On Monday and Tuesday things were fine when it came to seating arrangements. Sanha had sat next to Aera, since she sat at the very end of the table, meaning only one person could sit next to her. Soobin sat at the opposite end of the table, the furthest seat possible from her, something that Aera tried not to purposely pay attention to (or feel sad about). But on Wednesday, Soobin had decided to switch seats with Sanha, so instead of Sanha keeping Aera company, it was Soobin. From there, things progressively got weirder for Aera, mostly because she noticed that she wasn’t panicking at the thought of being so close to her long-time crush. And Aera always panicked when it came to Choi Soobin.

Maybe it was because Soobin had been to her house before, he had met her parents, and for crying out loud, they even hugged. So him sitting next to her should be a walk in the park for her, and it truly was. Up until Soobin’s leg brushed hers.

At first, she chalked it up to an accident, since it initially happened as a result of Soobin shouting out in excitement at something Huening Kai brought up. But once his leg had returned to its regular position, away from Aera’s, Soobin had deliberately moved it back, bringing back the warmth that came with it. And even worse, he stared at her while he did so, eye contact ensued, and maybe that meant something important to Aera.

She wasn’t sure yet.

The last bit of change that occurred throughout the week was that Soobin was everywhere. Yes, Aera and Soobin already shared two classes and lunch together, but usually Aera would walk there herself. But after lunch on Wednesday, Soobin waited for Aera to throw away her trash so they could walk to Music class together.

Together. Like, side-by-side.

While Aera never imagined herself walking anywhere with Soobin, having him as a somewhat guide, since he was so tall, wasn't that bad of a thing. He could see over the majority of everyone’s heads so Aera didn’t have to worry about navigating her ways through the crowded halls. Added onto the fact that the clutter of students practically parted for Soobin meant that Aera’s usual four minute trek to class was shaved down to two.

And from lunch to music wasn’t the only time Soobin walked her to class. He walked her from music to physics, then from physics to her brother’s car after school, keeping her company as she waited for her brother to arrive from his last class, which Aera used to do on her own.

But now she had Soobin.

So, yes, the week leading up to Saturday was odd. All of these actions, more so the ones from Soobin made her really think, was Saturday supposed to be a date? Is that why Soobin decided to start walking her from class to class and sitting next to her at lunch? Is that what people do when they start dating? Aera had no clue, but she couldn’t help but to have the smallest bit of hope that it meant something good.

_ _ _

When Soobin had told Aera that they would hang out on Saturday, it wasn’t until the day of that he realized he never told her what time. So on Saturday morning, as he woke up at a quarter past ten, he shot Aera a text, telling her he would be there by noon. Unsurprisingly, she texted back quite fast with a simple okay. Soon followed by another text, oh and also good morning soobi.

Soobi.

If anyone else had come up with the nickname he probably would’ve thrown up, but it wasn’t anyone else. It was Aera.

Honestly, Soobin had never felt this way about anyone before. He wasn’t inexperienced when it came to having an occasional crush, he’d had plenty of them throughout middle school and even had one on Lee Chaeryeong in ninth grade before he decided that dating was one of his last priorities—so none of this was new to him. What was new to him was Lee Aera and the way she came out of nowhere, with her adorable eyes and cute pouty lips.

The first time he saw her he swore his first thought was: “is this love at first sight?”. Soobin wasn’t one for cliches or overly romantic gestures, but he was prepared to be at her beck and call, ready to do whatever she wished after that first glance. It was odd, and dramatic almost, which was weird because everyone knew Soobin was level headed and almost nonchalant when it came to pretty much everything.

But the way he had been acting recently whenever it came to Lee Aera was anything but level headed or nonchalant. And maybe he liked it a bit, he liked knowing that there was potentially someone he wanted to genuinely make happy in a non-platonic sense. Someone that mattered romantically to him, rather than as a friendship and it excited him while it also made him nervous.

He never actively sought to make someone his girlfriend before. He never had the self-doubt or the burden of worrying about a perfect date, and yet the moment Lee Aera showed up and smiled at him, his mind started thinking about and opening up to the idea of a relationship. It’s funny how much one person can influence sudden change in someone’s life, and at the moment Soobin was experiencing that firsthand.

But, oh, Soobin remembered, this wasn’t a date.

Brushing his teeth and styling his hair was quite easy for Soobin to handle on his own. When it came to choosing his outfit, that’s where Soobin found trouble. He changed from a collared white shirt to a plain tee, then back to the collared shirt. From sweatpants to joggers, back to sweatpants then to jeans. His collared shirt then turned into no shirt at all and instead a hoodie, and finally Soobin felt like he looked presentable. His outfit was simple enough to not clash with his purple hair (which was starting to fade, so he needed to decide a day where he dyes it back to dark brown).

The obvious choice in shoes were his high top black converse, and then he finally went downstairs for a light breakfast. By time he scarfed down his cereal it was eleven-thirty, so he called for his mom to see if she was ready.

From there, it was fast-paced. The trip to Aera’s house was blurry, and him ringing the doorbell was a fuzz as well. He seemed to snap from this odd state once Mrs. Lee, or Dongmin as she asked to be called, opened the front door with a bright smile and widened arms. With sounds of excitement, Dongmin pulled Soobin into a tight hug, swinging back and forth as Soobin heard the sound of his mom’s car engine turning off and a car door slamming.

At that, Dongmin stepped aside and ushered Soobin into the house, pointing up the stairs as she said, “Ae is upstairs, you can go get her.”

And with that, Soobin peeled off his shoes and began up the stairs. It wasn't hard to see which room was Aera’s since a large A was hanging on the closed door of only one of the many rooms on the second floor. He knocked and waited for a reply, but with the loud music that was slightly audible through the door, Soobin knew he wasn’t going to get an answer.

He took it upon himself to slowly push the door open, and the second he did so the loud music flooded into the hallway. Soobin was greeted with a sight that he couldn’t help but describe as devastatingly adorable and a pleasant view for his eyes.

Aera danced around her room with closed eyes and the utmost conviction, as if this was the last ever performance she would ever give. Her dance moves weren’t anything close to perfect, but they were so imperfect that they seemed natural coming from her. It made Soobin chuckle at her antics, an almost awed and proud feeling for him to see his favorite person so carefree and comfortable in her own space.

Soon though, she whipped around as she continued to sing, and spotted Soobin as he smiled at her with crossed arms and a teasing glint in his eye. He watched as she slipped on the hardwood floor from her socks as she scrambled over to her desk to shut her speaker off.

Silence filled the room for half a second before they both broke out into laughter, Aera with a more embarrassed tone compared to Soobin’s pure glee.

“Forget you saw that,” Aera spoke once she finished laughing. “You saw nothing.”

Soobin shrugged coyly, poking his bottom lip out in a joking manner. “I don’t think I will, Pouts. To me, it looked like you were putting on a good show.”

Aera’s cheeks tinted a shade of red as she stood frozen in place for a second. She then puckered her lips as she pointed at Soobin before she shook her head, seemingly deciding against saying whatever was on her mind. Soobin takes that as her moving on from the entire ordeal and begins to look around her room. Instead of posters lining her walls, like he had expected, there was art work, some framed while others were just sheets of paper that were pinned into the wall.

Some of the pieces were colored, others just rough sketches made with what looked like a pen or pencil. Many of them weren’t finished, just random sketches of life-like hands or other body parts--one page having multiple sketches of noses of different shapes and sizes, some with shading and others with scribbles over them.

Aera never spoke about or mentioned any interest in drawing, and maybe it was something she wanted to keep private because the moment she realized Soobin was studying the art on her wall, she rushed over to him, and practically shielded them from his eyesight with her body.

“They’re terrible, I know,” she said, grabbing one of his arms and turning him the opposite direction, so his back was facing the wall. “I just do it for fun, so please don’t judge too hard.”

Soobin quickly shook his head. “I’m not judging at all. And they’re not terrible, they’re really good—like super good.”

“You’re only saying that to spare my feelings.”

“No, really,” he followed Aera as she walked to her closet. “I wouldn’t lie. It’s really good.”

Apparently, Soobin had followed too closely and too quickly, because once Aera had reached her closet and gotten what she needed (which were her shoes), she had whipped right back around, colliding forehead first into Soobin’s chest. They both jolted at that, Aera jumping back and Soobin doing the same, except he didn’t land on his feet, he landed on his butt after his foot caught onto a stray piece of clothing that was on the floor.

Immediately, Aera rushed to help him up, tossing the shirt that Soobin tripped on across her room a little too harshly, before she tugged him off the floor. His clothes were disheveled and Aera was panting a little too hard from the energy it took for her to pull him up, but they didn’t have time to dwell as their mothers shouted up the stairs after hearing the thud of Soobin’s fall.

With that, the two of them gathered themselves and left Aera’s room, heading down the stairs fast and awkwardly, with Aera behind Soobin. So far this “not date” was starting off fantastic.

_______

Neither of their mothers noticed the awkward air between Soobin and Aera once they greeted them at the bottom of the stairs. Soobin’s mother and Dongmin seemed to have bonded quite nicely while Soobin was in Aera’s room, seeing as two empty wine glasses sat on the coffee table in the living room.

Soobin’s mom, who Aera learned was named Ruha, reassured the two of them that she was more than sober enough to still drive them to the park where they planned to hang for the afternoon, and the three of them planned to head out. But first, Dongmin made sure to ask Aera a million and one questions before she could leave.

“You have a jacket?”

“What about money? Do you need money? Go check your dad’s wallet for some money.”

“What about your phone? Is it charged?”

“Are you sure those pants will keep you warm? You know it’s getting chilly outside. Maybe you should go chang--”

“Eomma,” Aera gasped. “It’s fine! I’m fine! I have money, my phone, and a jacket. It’s fine!”

Dongmin rose from her spot on the couch and walked up to her daughter, smoothing her hands down her shirt sleeves while simultaneously raking her eyes over the entirety of Aera’s outfit. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

Dongmin takes a second to look at Soobin, “Awe, how cute! You guys are all matchy-matchy.” She points at the both of them before grabbing each of their shoulders and smashing them together. “Same shoes and black jackets, so cute. Ruha, look.”

Soobin’s mom walked over from her spot by the door to see what Dongmin was cooing about and once she explained everything to Ruha, they both began teasing their children. Soobin took control of the situation before it got any worse and reminded his mother of their plans, wrapping his arm around his mom’s shoulder as he led her towards the door while shouting a farewell to Dongmin. Aera followed close behind after she looked at her mother with a deadpan look, already regretting having Soobin pick her up from her house.

And per usual, Dongmin ignored the look from her daughter and sent her a flying kiss as Aera walked out the door and to Soobin’s mom’s car.

#choi beomgyu #choi soobin #choi yeonjun #hueningkai #kang taehyun #choi soobin x female oc #kpop #social media au #txt #txt social media au

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dahniwitchoflight · 4 years ago

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Homesquared Chapter 14

lol gotta love John’s enthusiasm of being part of the movers and shakers getting shot down cuz he hasn’t actually flexed his Main Character Muscles in quite a long time

though he’s honestly taking his mid life crisis very well all things considered, its good he cares more about his kids than anything else and I like the bond he’s getting to make with Harry, it’s nice!

Now what’s a million times funnier though is the same thing happening to Vriska, she is decidedly NOT taking her midlife “but but I want to be important too!!” crisis not nearly as well as John is haha

VRISSY: I guess you Did go Viral, 8ut the news moves so fast these days. I don’t think Any8ody is like...

VRISSY: Glued to their phones Waiting for your New Hashtag Resistance content.

Yeah Vriska, you’re so 15 minutes ago :P people have moved on

what, did you think you were going to be important forever?

VRISKA: What’s the point of me even coming to this shitty fake reality if I’m not supposed to fix it?

to have a mid life crisis about not being important anymore obviously :P

VRISSY: Yeah, they told me about That stuff, but a Lot of the Shit that Happened in the Session if just not in the History Books.

VRISSY: You weren’t Really mentioned that Much.

VRISKA: Excuse me?

I Am Living For This Whole Conversation

VRISKA: I SINGLE H8ND8DLY!

VRISKA: CURED YOUR MOTHER’S FUCKING ALCH8LISM!!!!!!!!

JOHN: uh, vriska, everything okay over there?

VRISKA: EVERYTHING’S FINE, J8HN!

JOHN: okay.

JOHN: do you girls want a snack?

ASJHGFSHFHWE yeah calm down Vriska have a snack

ahh, loving it

Turns out, History is written by the people who were left who decided to give a damn about writing it, and if those people Don’t Like you, they can just decide to not mention you, no matter who you are or what you did

All your “important” accomplishments are for naught and have become meaningless because you’re an asshole and other people didn’t like you enough to decide that you mattered in the long run

Congrats! Infamy doesn’t matter as much as Connection

Aww, cute with Annie getting hug bombed by her moms

Though, Rose definitely has a stronger bond with Annie than just being her surrogate it looks like

I understand this family situation just fine, if Annie really was just supposed to be a way for Jade to overcome her lonliness, and Rose was her only functional way and only person she could approach with this idea, and Rose responded out of care for her friend

Rose, shouldn’t really have a distinct mom attachment here, because then it implies a stronger than platonic relationship with Jade

but it could just be a great example of “this is why you don’t agree to create a child with your friend purely because said friend was crying out of lonliness out of failed relationship and wanted a child to fill that void of lonliness but who then shoves said child off the sidelines and doesn’t interact with her at all and leaves her in the hands and care of a supposed enemy and

yknow, I think I’m just gonna stop there before I remember Jake also knew about Yiffany existing so if the only ones who didn't know were John/Dave/Karkat and Kanaya then what was honestly the point of hiding her in the first place

Its not the fact that Yiffany exists that Im finding hard to believe, its just hows she treated narratively after she started existing thats stretching my rubber band into a dangerous area

“ROSE: Is it the libidinous power rush that comes from snapping your fingers at men with guns, or are you worried that you might accidentally do something heroic?

(its the latter)

“She stopped thinking about how she would be received, and more about how she could play to the people she knew would receive her favorably.

Looking up she sees Tavvy with tears in his eyes. Rage and guilt surge inside her. This situation is not her fault.”

Gotta Justify It. Gotta Justify It.

Doesn’t matter if I’m Right or Wrong, if enough other people validate me than Everything is Fine and I’m a Good Person.

JANE: So before you accuse me, take a look at yourself!

JANE: I'm the only one who has taken any interest in her upbringing or education!

JANE: Or have you forgotten who has been paying for her schooling and taking charge of her introduction into society?

JADE: i never asked you to do that!

JADE: you offered!

Okay but Jade, you DID let Jane have Annie in the first place and then presumably washed your hands of her, when supposedly the only reason Annie exists is because you wanted a daughter with whom you could have a loving relationship with

You gotta, explain you’re thinking there Jade cuz I still don’t get this bit

Though in thinking about it, I think I know why this happened

Jade grew up isolated from any person, but still loved her grandfather, despite his absence

to her, family relationships didn’t involve any sort of personal work, they were just things she had because she had them

did she just believe the same would happen for Yiffanny? that she could paradoxically still have a relationship despite long absences? Annie doesn’t seem to have any resentment here for Jade or Rose so I mean ???

“ If they were to kill Tavros, the entire world would see them commit this war crime. And weighed in the balance, Lalonde and Harley would be off the playing board. Saving your daughter certainly counted as a heroic death, and with the damage they'd done to humanity, it would also probably be just. “

She hates them both so much she’d let Tavros die for it

But also, she really does calculate everything in terms of how the Masses would view their actions as Just or Heroic

so yeah, she was absolutely about to let Tavros die, damn Jane

literally the only thing that stopped you was that Jake viewed the threat as a real threat and was about to do something stupendously Heroic to save Tavros and you decided you didn’t want Jake to die a heroic death

On the flipside, oh damn, Yeah Vriska’s going full throttle right on the nose ahead with the obvious audience expectation, that there gonna make another sburb session and get the obvious group of important 4 kids to god tier

that’s clearly the path vriska wants and expects, but hey, just imagine if what Vriska wanted to happen didn’t happen this time, imagine if the kids were just like “nah im good?” when it comes to a god tier

The narrative is making it super clear that at least 3 out 4 kids are kinda not feeling all the outdoorsy action and excitement of a game of life and death

Annie though I could hella see her down to play sburb and get a god tier, shes got that whole “isolated childhood trauma and parental issues pressure cooking her a strong will to take her life into her own hands” energy

Vriska, go see Annie, her strong willed butt is more of the action girl you’re looking for I think

At least if they do end up playing the game and getting the tiger, Annie feels like the first one to do it or the action catalyst of their session, like how Vriska was for hers, or Dirk for the alphas, or

hmm. who was is that kinda, moved things along for the Beta’s again? I think it was Rose, but Dave did a ton to move things along as well, but also their trolls like Terezi and them gave everything big nudges, I think Rose counts as the equivalent Beta in session mover and shaker though

Side note: the panels with vrissy and vriska here very feel cartoonish and light hearted, interesting choice

but it does give off Major “Play Game: Level 1″ vibes if that makes sense

What the fuck is with the Dave Soldiers

I mean, they look more like Red Johns?Jakes? with the black hair

the glasses throw me off though-

UHH DID THEY JUST FUCKING KILL HARRY ANDERSON??

HOLD ON. HOLD UP

TAVROS AND ANNIE: WITH ROSE/JADE/JAKE/JANE

VRISSY: WITH VRISKA DOWN BELOW

HARRY: WITH JOHN. ON JOHN’S COUCH.

JOHN IS ALSO STILL HERE, MEANING HARRY SHOULD BE WITH HIM.

yeah he literally just went outside for a second to see where the V’s went and then the house gets bombed, and we get three whole panels dedicated to John slowly sitting down in the wreckage

Harry Anderson just got fucking killed holy shit.

oh my god, they were leading up to it too.

We just had three seperate death flags for the other 3 kids in a row

Brain Ghost Dirk warned Jake that Annie was gonna die via electrocution unless he stepped up

Jane was gonna let Tavros die vie neck snapping (even though Kanaya really wouldn’t have)

Vriska and Vrissy discuss god tiering, and what it would mean for Vrissy, death is a subtle implication there but still there

Now to see if Jane’s ever revived Harry Anderson before in the next update I suppose :o

*edit*

They did not kill Harry Anderson, I saw pumpkins in front of the house that got exploded and didn’t see it looks different than the other bland white suburban house that John actually left, so no one died, Harry just got his implied death threat turn

Harry is at Roxy’s House, John sits in the smoldering ashes of his childhood home, languishing in the idea that Jane, the girl who might have in another reality been his loving grandmother, actually wants him and his kids dead for realsies

he never really got to sit and think about the hole where his home was that the meteor struck when he entered sburb huh? (I know his house came with him, giving the allusion all was well in the Medium, but a real meteor still struck the place that he stopped existing on OG Earth, to an outside observer, it would look like a meteor destroyed his home)

with Vriska talking about sburb to Vrissy, it is nice imagery to imagine the implications of the Kids god tiering from Earth C

and the destruction left in their wake

#Homesquared #Harry Anderson Egbert #RIP Son #John does not have good luck with family and explosives

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chrysalizzm · 4 years ago

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i uh. realized people follow me now because of uh. you’re human tonight on ao3 asdjgfs

i have content!! behind the scenes content as promised. i do outlines for my fics as a general rule of thumb just because i personally can’t write things to a satisfying finish if i don’t Do That, and so - here are my chapter/plot outlines for you’re human tonight ^^ (i have no idea if this is interesting content or not i thought i’d put it out there because i think outlines are kinda fun hhhh)

chap 1 fundy

subtitle: an inkling

fundy makes an iron golem gone wrong, dream makes it go boom

chap 2 purpled

subtitle: uh oh social interaction

purpled shelters a fugitive, gets his house explosion-proofed as thanks

this is probably gonna be the only chapter with a funny title hh oh well

update: it’s not and i’m pleased with myself for branching out with my dry humor

chap 3 sapnap

subtitle: dust to dust

sapnap’s dying via wither effect, and he knows respawn’s around the corner but goddamn if it doesn’t hurt til then. dream skids in around the nether fortress corner, drops all his weapons cradles sapnap’s head in his hands, has always taken death much harder than anyone sapnap’s ever met. at the last few seconds, when death creeps up like a shroud, dream starts to hum to him hoarsely, pressing his forehead to sapnap’s, and in the final moments sapnap doesn’t hurt at all. the last thing he hears is dream whimpering. he visits dream’s bunker the next day, knocks on the door over and over, but there’s no sign of life there. sapnap shrugs, bites his lip out of guilt for forcing dream to sit there watching him die (if temporarily), and moves on.

the chapter that introduces dream’s primary ability of soothing hurts. put a lot of emphasis on the fact that sapnap ached up until the moment dream started humming, because for dream to do that is pretty frivolous considering once sapnap died he’d respawn and the hurt would just disappear but dream wanted sapnap to have a peaceful last few seconds. emphasize how abnormal it is that withering stops hurting.

chap 4 ponk

subtitle: beaches dry of sugarcane

dream visits ponk after george burns down the first tree. when ponk arrives to the second tree to move in, he realized dream made the tree flourish, grow healthier and bigger.

chap 5 sam

subtitle: fuck this shit i’m out (edit: the official subtitle is “oh god oh fuck”, i changed it last-minute)

dream picks sam’s brain for manhunt strategies while the latter is mining for redstone. sam stumbles upon a spawner and reels back, trips, nearly misses the moment dream sweeps him behind him and his eyes flash beneath the mask and when sam gets back up, dazed, there’s nothing but the splay of cobwebs all over the walls.

chap 6 punz

subtitle: lines drawn

in an unrelated skirmish, punz drives his sword up to the hilt in dream’s chest, relying on respawn for dream to not feel any pain and for punz to get paid. dream doesn’t die. this is understandably alarming.

can we get some funnies in chap? just a few laughs?? a lil funny for mr luke punz man?

can we get some panicky dry humor for real tho because punz strikes me as someone who copes with morbid humor and dream spluttering up blood is def a situation that punz would not know how to deal with

chap 7 wilbur

subtitle: so about that date

wilbur makes platonic moves on dream while dream fake texts his fiance under the table. wilbur also accidentally vents to dream about his little brother tommy and how afraid he is that tommy will get himself hurt for how reckless he is. dream siphons some of his anxiety from him, smiles as they depart from one another. wilbur notes that dream is shaking when they leave.

chap 8 skeppy

subtitle: get wrecked noob

dream walks skeppy through some pvp. when skeppy demands a rematch w tommy and gets a lil stage fright kinda sorta thing, dream siphons his anxiety and his nerves and goes full soccer mom with bad and skeppy loses 5-2 but like!! he won!! against tommyinnit!! HH

is there any mental image nearly as powerful as dream wastaken, the soccer mom

chap 9 jack

subtitle: mandatory volunteering

after tommy goes on another one of his destructive rampages lmao, dream enlists jack, newest-comer, to help him rebuild stuff bc underclassmen have to do whatever upperclassmen tell them to do thems just the rules. after rebuilding a statue near the community house, dream pats it fondly, and when tommy sneaks back to set in on fire for shits and giggles, he finds that it’s fuckin fireproofed AGAIN

rebuild efforts, i promised monuments rebuilt so thats what theyre gonna fuckin Get

chap 10 antfrost

subtitle: twist the knife

ant on what ends up being an unpublicized manhunt: dream stops the manhunt because he’s triggered a raid and by the time the hunters get there, alarmed by the screaming and the fire and dream’s unresponsiveness, the villagers are all dead and there are raider corpses everywhere and dream is lying near the bell on his side, whimpering. (what the hunters don’t know - dream tried to fight off the raid but was overwhelmed and witnessed the village get slaughtered, he took the pain of the villagers that weren’t dead but were dying.)

segment: There’s a reason they do the manhunts, and it’s not just for them to horse around and try to kill one another for a few days. Antfrost is the newcomer but he’s always been good at reading people and from the outset he knew that Dream was someone filled to the brim with the restlessness that characterizes humans, that never-settling wanderlust, and his brain works too fast for the rest of his body sometimes, and he just needs an outlet. It’s part of why he eggs Tommy on in their little war games, why he holds onto those discs even though he doesn’t need them, why he gets that delighted look on his face when someone tells him that Tommy’s griefed them or stolen from them or otherwise ruined their morning. Antfrost thinks the only times he’s ever really seen Dream silent, Dream waiting, Dream unmoving, are when Dream is

chap 11 karl

subtitle: head in the shallows

karl, sapnap, george, and dream have a sleepover after mcc 11. karl, nearest to dream, wakes up when dream starts tossing and turning from a nightmare. when he tries to shake dream awake, dream’s eyes fly open and he slams his fist into the wall behind him and the earth, the literal earth, the entire slab of it, shudders like an earthquake. sapnap and george sleep like the dead, so it’s just karl and dream staring at one another. finally karl asks, concerned, “do you want some tea or water or anything?”

chap 12 hbomb

subtitle: a maid’s burden

“i want to dress up as a maid for fundy,” says hbomb with false bravado. fundy’s fiance levels a very impassive look at him for an awkward minute or two and just when hbomb thinks he’s misread dream and fundy’s relationship dream says “i’ll get you a wig” and the entire chapter is just dream idly twisting the fabric of reality to get hbomb the items he needs to put the outfit together

pranks, i promised pranks, theyre gonna get pranks

chap 13 alyssa

subtitle: message in a bottle (edit: official subtitle is “ship in a bottle”)

alyssa’s leaving, at least temporarily.

alyssa tells dream it’s getting dangerous on his server, doesn’t relish the expression that brings to his face, but he holds her hands and nods and bids her safe journey. when alyssa returns, running for something (later we’ll learn she had heard that dream was bad, that he might be dying), she finds that her house is completely inaccessible by everyone save her, placed in complete stasis by someone.

start of the chapters leading up to festival arc. build unresolved tension in this one.

chap 14 niki

subtitle: life doesn’t discriminate

wilbur and tommy are relentless, they waste no time; niki is willing to wait for it.

the night before the duel, she goes to dream and holds a sword to his throat and demands he call it off, even though she knows it’ll mean little because of respawn, tells him she won’t stop hunting him down until he gives up l’manberg. dream smiles a little sadly and pats her hand and her fright, her rage, it simmers back down, and the anger that had swarmed her and made dream out to be the devil dies down until it’s just her friend, who was playing along with tommy til it got serious and he got cocky, who’s just as in over his head as she is, and maybe niki’s soft but she likes that about herself, that she’s always the first to forgive. niki is looking at the healing cut on dream’s neck, uncovered by any bandages, when dream shoots tommy, a clean shot that causes no suffering.

a long chapter, probably. i think at some point in this i want to mention niki’s respect for dream for apologizing during the first pet war, for not letting things get any bigger until fundy came back. some parallels can be drawn here - that dream let the fire die down in the initial stages of the pet war, that dream won’t let go of the l’manberg war now, and it occurs to niki that she doesn’t know dream nearly as well as she thinks she does if she expected him to act exactly the way he did during the pet war. she’s got what she’s wanted - dream’s remorse, proof of dream’s humanity - even though it’s not in the form niki wanted it.

chap 15 eret

subtitle: crown of thorns

the king in name only consults with the true leader.

they’re both upset about pogtopia’s exile, eret arguably more so because they think their early betrayal of l’manberg somehow butterfly-effected into the current dumpster fire, and as they talk eret works themself into a full panic attack reflecting on things that were, things that could’ve been - and the tide washes out all of a sudden, and eret’s left with the same looming hollowness they’d been feeling before, no dregs of the panic, they’ve never had a panic attack that left them feeling normal after - but dream is now wheezing like he’s about to die and eret immediately walks him through the panic attack, levelheaded even as they’re confused out of their mind.

chap 16 quackity

subtitle: water to blood

quackity is a snake in the grass.

quackity at schlatt’s side during the few weeks of his presidency. he knows schlatt from before, has been his friend, so he knows when his friend is acting off. the cynical, straight-faced humor is still there, his completely bland delivery and brazen showmanship, but it’s twisted to the left somehow, to make it so that those qualities that make up his friend have rotted, hurt people. quackity eventually goes to dream after schlatt first overdoses with a lot of questions, maybe even to confess that his allegiance has begun to shift because he can’t go to pogtopia and he can’t go to schlatt - and dream just gives him a long, sad look before lightly patting quackity’s shoulder and says “i can’t guarantee anything - just that you’ll be safe” and shooing him off and as quackity heads back to manberg he realises all the hostile mobs are avoiding him like the fucking plague.

it’s big q!!!! fattest ass in the cabinet!!!!! pog!!!

fun fact this chapter’s subtitle was almost “chekhov’s gun” until november fucking 16th of 2020

chap 17 tommy

subtitle: most disputes die and no one shoots

tommy learns how a legacy dies.

a compendium of tommy watching the madness consume wilbur. it needs to be emphasized in this chapter that wilbur becomes an entirely different person when they’re ejected from manberg, that he becomes obsessed with the legacy he’s created and watching it crumble is what twists him; when dream gives tommy his crossbow, tommy, out of desperation and a need to have an older sibling again, asks what’s wrong with wilbur; dream’s face hardens and he asks tommy to take dream to wilbur. it’s a terse meeting, the only one they have before techno and before wilbur completely loses it and demands the tnt; wilbur says a lot of things tommy doesn’t understand (it’s complex mythological jargon hinting at dream’s status as a god but could be misconstrued to refer to dream’s status as simply the world owner) and at one point wilbur sneers, “are you trying to play god, dream?” and dream lurches forward and grabs wilbur by the wrist, and there’s a completely silent moment where tommy feels the air suck out of his lungs and there’s an off buzzing in his ears and he fancies he hears something that sounds, just a bit, like dream, whispering desperately wilbur wilbur wilbur it’s me it’s me listen listen listen then a shrieking, acrid wave of no and tommy reels back and when he looks up dream has staggered back, his hand to his mouth, blood dripping from somewhere beneath his mask, sounding like he’s gagging or maybe he’s sobbing, as wilbur shrieks in a voice that is entirely not his “get out get out if i can’t have l’manberg...” and tommy understands, finally, as dream sprints out. that’s not wilbur.

a distinction needs to be made perfectly clear in this chapter, as with schlatt’s chapter: it’s not them. they’ve been twisted out of control by something bigger than them, something that wants to toy with the young god running an oasis of peace for his people. it doesn’t need to be outright said in this fic; in another we can delve into the madness and who did it and why. for now, just make it clear it’s not explicitly anyone’s fault.

chap 18 techno

subtitle: colosseum

dream had to let techno in first, you know.

techno and dream have interacted often - the duel, the championships, they’re friends more than acquaintances now. but techno was called in by someone wearing his brother’s face that he honestly doesn’t recognize from his voice and when he arrives at spawn, before tommy fetches him, he sees dream sitting cross legged waiting for him and they talk about the situation, dream giving techno a quick brief. when tommy comes, crying “techno, this way, this way to pogtopia”, and crossbow bolts are being fired at techno, dream gives him a lil wave goodbye (or what techno thinks is a lil wave goodbye but what actually turns out to be putting a swiftness effect on him).

“that’s not my brother, dream,” says techno, and dream’s mouth wobbles and he says, hoarse, “i know.”

techno Suspects, but only knows that dream has world-manipulating powers and thus standard minor god powers. he doesn’t let dream know he suspects.

chap 19 bad

subtitle: run devil run

bad trusts dream, perhaps against his better judgement.

dream comes to visit bad and skeppy on neutral grounds in the interim leading up to the festival that everyone on the server is side-eyeing and side-stepping. bad considers his friend and the owner of the world as he gives dream an impromptu tour through the escape route he and skeppy have dug out, wonders with a little reproach how dream could let things get to this point, then, soft, gentle as always, acknowledges that dream is only human kindly. when he says that, though, dream’s face crumples, as though those words hurt him more than any criticism bad’s given him in the time he’s known him, as though bad had driven a blade into his heart, and bad doesn’t understand but he lets dream run away from that. when a small flock of creepers explode over the tunnel the night before the festival and bad grumbles that he has to fix it, he learns dream left him with a fortified escape tunnel.

a/n: i’m sure the irony isn’t lost on you.

chap 20 tubbo

subtitle: cadmean victory

what say the sacrificial lamb?

tubbo is coming to terms with the fact that he might not make it out of office in one piece and it’s not his first time respawning but the older members of the server always, always did their best to shield the younger ones from death. he runs into dream by complete coincidence while he’s avoiding pogtopia (mostly wilbur) and manberg (mostly schlatt), caught between two strangers wearing his friends’ faces. he looks at dream, who looks back at him impassively, and tubbo starts to cry, because it finally hits him that even with his death and respawn nothing will be fixed, nothing can change, the poison’s run too deep into the veins of dream’s beautiful little world and now nothing can be right anymore and it feels like he’s shattering into tiny, aching shards - and then dream kneels before him, takes his hands, presses his forehead to them, sighs like his heart’s breaking, and tubbo feels a small calm thread back into him as dream stands abruptly, jittery. dream, with hands that shake, grips tubbo’s shoulder, hovers for a second, then his head jerks up and he bolts into the forest, clambering up a tree with admirable ease and disappearing away into the leaves as schlatt suddenly emerges from the bushes nearby with a joyous, plastic “hey! tubbo!”

chap 21 george

subtitle: lantern burns low

a moment in the night; george is visited by a specter.

dream comes, pale, and asks george if there is anything wrong, is everything okay with you? takes george’s caught-off-guard face in his hands and says george george george, are you - and george catches a glimpse of dream’s powers (is he safe safe does he hurt no but fear but anxiety there are dregs hush now quiet now he is safe all quiet quiet quiet he’s safe) and he says, stricken even as the constant thrum of nervous energy he’d kept with him fades out, “dream what was that,” and dream presses his hands to his mask where his eyes are and says, despairingly, “they don’t get to have you too,” and staggers back out.

george is the first person dream overtly “comes out” to. this is also why george doesn’t see dream til the festival.

chap 22 schlatt

subtitle: the empty throne

dream visits schlatt in his office.

schlatt, possessed by madness, has no idea what he’s saying but it feels right, it’s exactly right, everything is in his hands, and when dream approaches, his hands facing up, is he there is he there yes yes yes tainted polluted this is twisted this is madness madness madness dream reels back, shaking, and schlatt leans in and leers, not even knowing what he’s saying, “you can’t even fix it, young god,” and relishes the way all the color drains from dream’s face.

chap 23 dream (edit: this monster ended up being split into three for pacing purposes and also if i left it together it was gonna be. h. 14K WORDS. also the drama of a cliffhanger at what most people thought was going to be the last chapter was too good to pass up don’t @ me

subtitle: do you feel like a young god?

running, running, running again

finale!! dream takes everyone’s old hurts into himself, takes the madness from schlatt and wilbur, promptly passes the hell out because no one should be doing that, wakes up, gets the shit hugged out of him, and explains a little, and gets told that he’s loved over and over.

i uh! take questions! i like talking about this story, there’s a lot i still want to show, and even apart from that i just really love mcyt haha

#mcyt #young god #chrys writes #you're human tonight #yg meta #long post

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travllingbunny · 4 years ago

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The 100 rewatch: 5x04 Pandora’s Box

Another excellent episode, maybe a little less action-packed than Sleeping Giants but still fast, full of tension, new information, and many warm reunions and nice character moments - which are important to see before all these characters start having conflicts and many of these relationships get strained to the point of almost breaking later in the season.

This one picks up immediately after the last scenes of both 5x02 (the bunker - cliffhanger with Kane as one of the fighters in the pit) and 5x03 (Eden with Bellamy, Clarke and the prisoners after Bellamy has negotiated with Diyoza, Raven and Murphy on Eligius 4), brings everyone together*, as the prisoners open the bunker and Wonkru finally gets out - and ends with the conflict that means that war between Wonkru and the Eligius prisoners is imminent. The Pandora’s Box has been opened, to use another one of Bellamy’s Greek mythology references. (Oddly enough, he makes that reference in the next episode, not in this one.)

(*Well, not everyone - Monty, Harper, Emori, Echo and Madi are MIA this episode. hiding somewhere in Eden, before they also reunite with the rest of Spacekru plus Clarke plus Wonkru in the next episode.)

If I hadn’t seen season 5 before, I’d be thinking “Will this be the best season of the show?” It is by far the season with the strongest beginning - before the plot starts to drag, building conflicts within both camps. so that war would not happen until the two-part finale. Strong beginning, strong ending, poor middle part.

After the epic Bellarke scene at the end of 5x03, this episode delivers their actual reunion, with another one of those incredibly intimate and intense hugs that Bellamy and Clarke are known for. They tend to grow in intensity, and I’ll just say this: when Tumblr flagged gifs of this hug as “explicit”, well - for once I could see why poor Tumblr bots were getting confused:

A reunion after 6 years, during which Bellamy believed Clarke to be dead, while Clarke didn’t know if Bellamy was alive but still called him on the radio and talked to him every day for 2199 days, has to be pretty epic, and this scene delivers. It seems almost like Clarke - who had been badly tortured - wasn’t entirely sure if that was really Bellamy who emerged out of the darkness to save her, of if she was imagining it, with the way she says “You are really here!”, while crying out of happiness. The intimacy in the body language and the way they look at each other is also reflected in Clarke telling him “And now you’re home!” This goes way beyond how platonic partners and non-romantic best friends interact with each other. The scene is not just acted but directed and shot in such a way that anyone who would see it without knowing Clarke and Bellamy’s actual relationship status, would get the wrong (?) idea. For a moment, they even look like people who have been caught making out, like they don’t want these strangers to witness such an intimate moment.

Even if she did not see this scene in particular, it’s no surprise that Diyoza assumed Clarke and Bellamy were a couple (“the hostage taker and his girlfriend”) after what she saw of their interactions. Really, who wouldn’t?

Bellamy quickly updates Clarke on how everyone is - Madi, Spacekru, acknowledges that Clarke has saved them all (something multiple people do in this early part of the season) and that all of the people who went to space are safe. (”Murphy, Monty, Raven?” “Echo and Emori”. - But why the Harper erasure? This is one of the very few lines in this episode that feel wrong. She’ one of the Delinquents both of them have known since they landed on Earth and Clarke would logically care about her more than Echo, who, she barely knew and who was her enemy 90% of the time. )

Another beautiful reunion happens by radio - Murphy and Raven learn that Clarke is alive. Murphy smiles the moment he hears her voice, and Raven, teary-eyed, thanks Clarke for saving their lives. The Spacekru have been criticized a lot in the fandom for not appreciating Clarke’s sacrifice, but it has to be said that, right after they learned she was alive, they all acknowledged it and expressed gratitude. (Some of them were just later angry at her and not so ready to try to understand her perspective after living isolated for 6 years.) This is one of the very few moments of happiness in season 5 (whenever I see that screenshot of Clarke and Bellamy’s big smiles, I mistake it for a moment for a BTS photo. That’s how rare it is to see characters looking happy on the actual show.)

…………………….

Meanwhile, over in the bunker, no one is happy. and everything is dark, sad and disturbing. Octavia is full Blodreina and acting like a Roman Emperor, deciding if gladiators get to earn their freedom or not. because even being “the last” doesn’t necessarily earn you freedom now - it all comes down to the Queen’s whim. Kane is forced to fight in the pit again tomorrow. I suppose they already have the next batch of fighters ready - it would be a bit weird if she expected a bunch of new “crimes” tomorrow. But things must have gotten progressively worse if they’re now having death matches every day. If they had been condemning people to the pits at that pace throughout those 6 years, even more than 1/3 of the Wonkru would be dead.

One thing I had not noticed before - there is a singer, singing an anthem or ceremonial song before the fights start, and it is the same woman who sang the Coalition anthem in 3x03. This somewhat changes my views of the way Grounder clans chose 100 people to survive the bunker. At least one of the clans was smart enough to include a musician, rather than a bunch of warriors. There should have been even more musicians and other entertainers (you’d expect a culture like Grounders to have some sort of epic poetry!), as that would’ve helped the life in the bunker much more than warriors (and there could have been entertainment that does not include killing). But this was probably an exception, because this person probably had a high status as a ceremonial singer.

Our first look at Abby after the time jump - and she is obviously in a bad state and pill-addicted, and both she and Kane look tired and worn down. He is protecting her and taking the guilt for her crime - stealing pills, since Abby is obviously in no state to fight - and on her part, Abby wants to confess and spare him. But Indra - who has been helping them and is clearly unhappy with the way Blodreina is ruling - is more rational and knows Kane winning is the only way to save them both. Kane, however, is choosing to take a stand and refuse to fight.

Kane and Abby got a lot of flak from the fandom and were accused of hypocrisy for their attitude to Octavia later in the season - with the argument that Abby was the one who persuaded Octavia to go through with cannibalism and killing people for refusing to ear, and that Kane knew Abby’s role in it but blamed Octavia. All these arguments presume that they were blaming Octavia for the cannibalism and everything else that happened the Dark Year. But in fact, there’s zero indication that this is what they blamed her for, and it’s pretty clear that the reason why they - and others - have issues with Blodreina is that she’s been ruling by fear and throwing people into fighting pits for all sorts of reasons, and generally being a scary tyrant/leader of a cult of death and violence. Yes, as we learn later, Abby was a crucial part of how Octavia turned into that person, but that doesn’t change the fact that she is that person now, that she has absolute power in the bunker, and people have been living in fear of her.

Kane tries to plead with Octavia when she comes to tell him he has to fight, and at this point, he seems to still believe she could change and start making better decisions. What feels a bit off to me is that he says he’s been silent for too long - this can’t be the first time he’s tried to change her mind? He would have probably had a lot more chance to succeed if he tried much earlier. We get the first mention of the infamous “Dark Year” (this is also the episode where we first hear “All of me for all of us”) and see Octavia getting upset at its very mention (a reveal will be dragged out for 6 more episodes). It’s interesting that Jaha and Kane both mentioned Aurora Blake’s fate in their speeches to Octavia, but they used it to say completely different things. Jaha was saying that this is what you have to do, execute everyone who is the “enemy” because they endanger your survival in any way, even if it’s having one more child. Kane was saying that’s what they shouldn’t be doing anymore, she shouldn’t be doing what they did on the Ark, but do better. Octavia ended up taking Jaha’s advice, which shaped her as leader, for better or worse. (Mostly worse, IMO.) She could have maybe taken Kane’s advice years ago, but now it’s clearly too late.

If anything, Kane’s refusal to fight makes her more determined than ever to break him - she doesn’t want to condemn him to death, she wants to break his resistance and his stubborn insistence on morality. I don’t approve of all of Kane’s later actions in season 5, but it’s really not hard to see why, after these experiences and everything in the bunker, he thought Blodreina’s rule was the worst thing that could happen.

And then - like a Deus ex machina, the bunker door opens and Bellamy is literally coming down from above, into the darkness of Octavia’s underground realm, as the savior, bathed in light, It’s the second episode in a row where he comes as a Big Damn Hero in almost dreamlike scene, from a POV of a woman in his life, this time his sister. For a moment, Blodreina is Octavia again and hugs her brother. Clarke comes down a moment later (but she is not bathed in light - she looks at the Blake siblings from the shadows.)

Instead of hugging, Clarke and Octavia greet each other with a forearm handshake - which is quite an interesting choice, particularly since (thanks @jeanie205) this is apparently a type of greeting associated with Roman generals greeting each other. (But only in Hollywood movies, It wasn’t a thing in actual Roman history.)

In addition to all the reunions, some characters meet for the first time - such as Octavia and Diyoza, who are about to become rival leaders on two sides of the war. Who could have known what their relationship would turn into in season 6 and season 7?

I love the way that everyone - Bellamy, Clarke, Diyoza and the rest of the prisoners - have the “WTF is this” look when they see the fighting pit (which is all covered in blood - apparently, they don’t wash it. It’s an aesthetic, I guess.) Bellamy soon asks Octavia what the heck she’s doing (and guesses exactly what inspired her: “Someone must have read Ovid one too many times). It’s an experience she hasn’t had in years - to have her decisions questioned by someone who’s not one of her subjects and not afraid of her.

More reunions follow: Clarke and Abby, Bellamy and Miller (another relationship that will turn sour in the rest of the season), Clarke and Kane.

Meanwhile, on Eligius 4, Raven finds more info about Diyoza backstory - Colonel Diyoza was "something called Navy SEAL" (it makes sense that Arkers wouldn’t know about such things), decorated for valor three times, before turning into a rebel/terrorist, and leader of a movement called United Liberation Army. As we see in these articles, civilians died in these attacks, which is something Diyoza regrets in season 7 - even if her cause was right, her means were wrong.

Raven and Murphy have some fun playing soccer, but they’re also worried about the fact they may need to murder 283 people. Raven finds it hard, so Murphy offers to do it to spare her. It’s typical for their relationship that Murphy tends to see Raven as someone better and more moral than himself (in spite of the fact that she once tried to sacrifice him instead of Fin), while Raven often says disparaging things about him, even though she is fond of him.

One thing I found a bit odd that Murphy at one point says: “Why do you have to always be the one to sacrifice?” - even though this was just the second time Raven has decided to sacrifice herself, and he wasn’t even around for the first time - trying to blow the bridge in 1x10. But Murphy seems to have a somewhat idealized view of Raven, driven by his guilt over crippling her and his self-loathing. Or maybe he meant the others in the group in general. as he sees himself as the selfish cockroach as opposed to them. (Note: I initially wrote this in my 5x03 review, before I realized it was actually said in this episode. That’s what happens when you finalize posts after having seen two episodes ahead.)

Raven and her future love interest Shaw try to outsmart each other in hacking (Raven even kind of flips a bird at Shaw at one point - it’s like they are having a digital meet cute without having even met.)

But when Diyoza finds a way to outsmart Spacekru by suffocating Raven and Murphy - Raven tells Murphy to pull the lever (usually Clarke’s job) and kill the prisoners; and when he hesitates, she goes into her fierce/ruthless mode and goes “Fine, I’ll do it”, before Murphy comes up with the smart solution that prioritizes survival and also doesn’t include mass murder - a win-win, except it also takes away Bellamy’s leverage.

I wonder where the standoff between Wonkru and the Eligius prisoners would have led after Diyoza took Abby and Kane with her and announced her people were taking over Eden? Would war still have been inevitable? I can’t see Octavia giving up on Eden so easily. In any case, the war here was started by an idiot who shot an incredibly destructive weapon at Octavia just because her arrogant Blodreina grin pissed her off. (This guy, called Szybunka, is a part of McCreary’s faction, and here we first learn that they are preparing a rebellion against Diyoza, though McCreary thinks it’s still not time for it.)

A lot more deaths were prevented by Shaw, Major props for him in this episode both for that, and because he is the first person to finally make the point that there are so few people left of the human race and that it is incredibly stupid to kill more of them

Octavia immediately blames Bellamy for everything - even though he was the reason why she and Wonkru got out of the bunker instead of being stuck there forever/ And this time, I’m sure this was 100% meant to highlight that she has a habit of unfairly placing blame on Bellamy whenever something goes wrong in her life.

Body count: I haven’t been doing these for a while, but now I’m doing the body count for the entire season 5 so far:

Wonkru - we learn in this episode that, out of the 1200 people in the bunker, there are 814 remaining. So, 386 - almost a third - died during those 6 years. That includes 3 people who died in the fighting pit. An additional Wonkru member is killed by the idiot Szybunka while protecting Octavia, leaving 813.

Eligius prisoners - two of the party on Earth were killed by Madi and Clarke in 5x01, Four more were killed in 5x03 - one shot by Clarke, another one mercy killed by Diyoza after getting into one of Clarke’s traps, two more shot by Madi to save Bellamy, Monty, Harper, Emori and Echo. On the ship, Kodiak, the big guy Diyoza activated as a weapon (”activate Kodiak!”) was killed in self-defense by Bellamy with help from Echo and Raven. And in 5x04, Szybunka is killed by McCreary for his stupidity. This leaves 282 prisoners on the ship and an unknown smaller number on Earth.

Rating: 8/10

#the 100 #the 100 season 5 #the 100 rewatch #pandora's box #the 100 5x04 #bellamy blake #octavia blake #clarke griffin #charmaine diyoza #marcus kane #abby griffin #raven reyes #john murphy #bellarke #indra #indra kom trikru

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