#all day long i'm munching and sipping

[wewontbesleeping]

ok dentist was fine. fine. it was hellish and i hated it but that's to be expected at the dentist so it was Fine. i talked to them about getting invisalign though. so that could be interesting. and extremely expensive. cool. really fun.

[acciojaeyun]

under the web | p.sh.

PAIRING. officemate!sunghoon x fem!reader

SUMMARY. there's something about the way people seemed to scurry about whenever park sunghoon from the IT department would be coming to whichever area of the office. that's something that would be all because of you, his lovely officemate. your constant teasing and mockery of that one thing you know about park sunghoon made it seem to reach the headlines, and park sunghoon was determined to let you know that you're not the boss here.

CONTENTS. smut, some angst, some fluff. smut with plot. not beta-read. MINORS DO NOT INTERACT.

SMUT WARNINGS. making out, humiliation, implied dom vs. dom dynamics, dirty talk, slight exhibition, curses, virginity, unprotected sex (please practice safe s), reader is a jealous menace (a bit stalker-ish), mentions of manga, mentions of other members, if i forgot some, lmk!

WORD COUNT. 4.1k

AUTHOR'S NOTE. this will be my first ever sunghoon fic after a long while! i did take a hugeee slump after writing ( and had never been so inspired to write oneshots until now. and i'm such a sucker for glasses hoon and this is the product of it. thank you so much for reading! <3

MY LIBRARY. REQUESTS ARE OPEN!

It was an annoying morning.

Or well, for you, it was annoying. For you had to witness a group of interns gushing over the "guy with rolled sleeves and glasses making his coffee," and you scoffed when they mentioned that he looked like an Americano drinker, which, in their words, made him more attractive.

You rolled your eyes, the guy that they were talking about never liked Americano. In fact, his black instant coffee had the same amount, if not more, of cream added to his stainless steel coffee tumbler.

How did you know about that, though?

One thing about you was that you knew Park Sunghoon very well. He was the Class Salutatorian of Batch 2023, bachelor's in Information Technology. It was pretty impressive, if you were to ask everyone else. Park Sunghoon was immediately hired by the company that you are working in, and while you can say that Sunghoon did deserve both the position and the benefits, you couldn't help but feel like he didn't deserve the attention men and women alike were pouring him.

Of course, if anything, it should be you showering him attention. But, you wouldn't do that. Not when you're Y/N Y/L/N. You're the darling of the company, the sweetheart, so to speak. Because even though you cannot be of the same level as that of talent, knowledge, and skill which Sunghoon possess along with his looks, you were a pretty hardworking person.

Being in the Marketing Department also had its hardships, and while you still pray for the day commoners stop shunning down your bachelors, you are able to supply yourself with your needs and wants just by exerting everything you've learned in business and people-speaking.

But there was something about Park Sunghoon that makes him your own thesis.

Your own skill in building relationships didn't seem to work on him as much as you had hoped. Okay, let's admit it, you had taken a liking into Park Sunghoon. The quiet IT Specialist that exuded looks that were enough to make women fall to their knees.

A little bit of chit-chat here and there, some subtle glances and light touches, you were still far from the starting line. Park Sunghoon still hadn't reciprocated at least a fraction of your advancement towards him.

And by now, you're almost as helpless as it could be as you're munching on your own lunch, eyes over the cubicle of the IT department, watching how Sunghoon eats his sandwich, gaze never leaving his computer as he typed in codes with his other hand.

"How's the thing with Mr. Cold guy doing?" Sunoo would nudge your side as he caught you staring at Sunghoon for the nth time today.

You rolled your eyes for the nth time today as well, "He's so annoying."

"Now, he's annoying? Please, Y/N, cut yourself some slack. You need to get humbled, too, you know?" The blonde boy laughed as he sipped on his coffee.

"I just don't know how he hasn't caught up on it yet," you groaned, stabbing your fork on the penne pasta that you had on your lunchbox, "I've been doing a lot! How come he's still oblivious!"

"That, or he knows and just doesn't want to do anything."

You furrowed your eyebrows at Sunoo, "What do you mean?"

"Please, you're practically throwing yourself at him, it's a miracle how he hasn't caught up on yet."

"Or, he's a virgin."

Sunoo laughed, "Maybe,"

A loud thud on your desk was heard throughout the department as you placed your lunchbox down, "I'll talk to him."

"Again?" Sunoo looked at you, bewildered. "And, while he's working?"

"What, can't he handle a little distraction?"

"With you almost pushing your boobs towards his face? I think not."

"You know what? Fuck you." You flipped your best friend off, making him laugh as he ate his tteokbokki happily, ready to see you in your downfall yet again.

You, on the other hand, were determined. Straightening your slacks and blouse, grabbing your laptop, you made your way over to the IT Department, greeting everyone along the way while making a beeline straight to Sunghoon.

"Hi," you greeted.

Sunghoon hummed, his eyes still not leaving his screen.

"I mean to come to you to help me with a feature on the application that we're using?"

The boy glanced at you, his chewing coming to a slow halt.

"What about it?"

"Oh, I was hoping that I can access the Network's files? I've forgotten my flash drive at home and I only have access to some of the files but it would be in Sunoo's disk."

Sunghoon flashed you an impressed look at your terms, at the bare minimum.

"It'd be against company policy to allow you to access other people's disks without their consent, Ms," Sunghoon cleared his throat, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "and besides, aren't you friends with Mr Kim, anyway? Why wouldn't you ask him directly?"

"Uh, well..." you trailed off, "well, Sunoo also has the copy of this file on his flash drive, and coincidentally, he has also forgotten it at home!"

The boy raised an eyebrow at you. He was not buying it, you thought.

But your thoughts were proven wrong as Sunghoon swivelled in his chair, clicking on the multiple tabs open until he had manipulated the system for the time-being upon your request.

Your hands glanced on his hands, so dainty, long, and pretty. You wondered how it would feel around your neck, or in your pussy.

"It'll be open only for your access, Ms," Sunghoon said, looking up at you, "I'll be resetting it to company's default after forty-five minutes. Would that be enough time for you to get your files?"

You nodded, "Yes, thank you,"

"Do you have anything else for me to help with?" Sunghoon looked at you with a raised brow, making you blush.

"N-No, not that I know of, thank you, Sunghoon," you smiled at him.

He merely nodded before opening his coding software, clearly blocking you out from all his senses as he returned to eating his sandwich and work.

You pursed your lips, inhaling a large breath as you excused yourself from his cubicle, greeting yet another group of people acknowledging your presence as you made your way out of their department.

You were not expecting what you are seeing.

Not at all.

Whatever it was, there seems to be a glitch in the system as you also had an access to Sunghoon's drive.

You see, it was not your fault you were a bit nosy over your crush. You had taken a liking in him, and maybe, you think, there may be some stuff about him in his drive that could let you know a little more about him.

If not him, then, maybe, technology, his trusted friend, could help you.

You've seen his curriculum vitae, all the data he's working with, his clients, as well as a folder of his personal stuff which included torrented movies.

You laughed, his degree really has his perks.

You were so close to clicking off the movie folder named "O", but as you clicked on the next folder, named "P," you gasped at the number of porn videos were downloaded into the folder.

And all of them had the same theme: office sex.

It maybe too much, but in your mind, it made sense, when you were noticing how each of the female partners had the same features as you. Smirking to yourself, you glanced a look at the IT Specialist, bingo.

Surprised would be an understatement when Sunghoon entered the pantry as he went through his usual routine: leave his things at his desk, make his creamy coffee, work, leave to buy Subway for lunch, work, leave at 5:30 PM sharp.

He was surprised when the first people in the pantry left as he entered the room, furrowing his eyebrows when he heard faint words such as, "porn," "boundaries," and "couldn't he have had downloaded it in his own laptop?"

Now, Sunghoon may have been overthinking. His quiet life at work was already enough for him. But there was something bugging him for the first time in his life as he placed water in his stainless cup, especially when after making his coffee, no one would even dare look at him as he made his way to his cubicle, men and women, alike, swivelling their chairs to move farther from him, as if he were a plague.

Sunghoon rolled his eyes, it was getting to his nerves.

And if it weren't for Jake, his only friend in the department, who initially swivelled his chair away form Sunghoon, but then decided to swivel back as Sunghoon didn't even stand up for lunch, who told him about the rumours that spread about him, he wouldn't have known, and there was only one person who would have accessed his files.

You.

He snickered at the story Jake was telling him, and left Jake to his imagination whether the story was true or not, only giving him a shrug when the older did try to confirm to him.

"Believe what you want," Sunghoon responded, typing aggressively on his keyboard, "besides, I think you have, since you initially scooted away from me."

"Look, man," Jake scooted closer, whispering, "if it's not true, I could tell it to them, you know? I don't want them to think of you as some horny teenager who doesn't know about work boundaries."

"As if they're going to believe you," Sunghoon curtly responded before pressing a key harshly before looking at his friend, "if it came from Y/N, no one would even bat an eye at you."

"Y/N? Why her?"

"Only she had access to my files yesterday. Wouldn't it be too much of a coincidence if the story only spread now?" He chuckled, amused.

"So, it's true?"

Sunghoon shrugged again.

"Are you going to do something to address it?"

"Address it? What for? They already think I'm some horny dude, anyway."

"Well," Jake licked his lips, "just send me the stashes next time, too, okay?"

Sunghoon laughed.

Your plan was working.

A lot of people had taken their distances from Park Sunghoon. Making you think you're progressing at your plan to keep people away from him.

You can't help it. As long as there were hindrances in your way towards Sunghoon, you think there would be little chances to make your advances to him. You had yet to tell Sunoo, but you know that he was already aware of the rumour, and he would ask you about it after his client events.

So, while everyone had left Sunghoon alone in the pantry, that was your cue to enter the pantry. Making your way as calmly as possible to the counter as possible, you placed your food on the microwave, heating your breakfast as Sunghoon was stirring his drink in his cup.

"I never took you as the guy," you sighed, faking sympathy, getting more annoyed as you never got any reaction from the boy.

"I was expecting more from you, Mr. Salutatorian, I'm sure you know about policy since you were so high and mighty about it when I tried to get into Sunoo's files," you continued, watching his every reaction.

But he remained stoic. And that irked you.

You were about to open your mouth when the microwave had beeped, making you jump and take your food, frustrated over the fact that Sunghoon was ignoring you. Forgetting that it was still hot and you didn't retrieve the mittens beside it, you burned your fingers, finally getting Sunghoon's attention.

He discarded his coffee and immediately went his way over to you, grabbing a hold of your hand before examining your fingers, his eyes never leaving it as he tried to suck on it in attempts of both soothing the wound and seducing you.

Your breath hitched, making you look at him. What the hell was he doing?

"S-Sunghoon?"

He smirked at you as he pushed your fingers to his mouth, wetting your pointer finger with his warm tongue, only for him to retract it and swirl it on the tip of it.

"There's one menace between the two of us," Sunghoon whispered as he pulled away, leaning in to you, "and it's not gonna be you."

You let out a breath you didn't know you held as he pulled away and made his way out of the pantry.

Weeks later, you found yourself mad at Park Sunghoon.

Because after the incident at the pantry, he seemed to be hovering in your space more times than you would like. And while it did seem the best thing for you, it wasn't. For Sunghoon was not only hovering, but he made sure his presence was made known whenever he was around.

Holding on your waist, rubbing his crotch against your bum, rolling his sleeves whenever he knew you looked at him – while keeping his unbothered expression at his face.

Other than that, you were thinking he was losing his game as another person had suddenly took a liking into you. Food in carton boxes at your table by the morning you come in to work, and while you had hoped that it were him, your hopes were shut down as fifteen minutes after you had arrived from work, only had then Sunghoon, too.

Flowers were also hard to miss every week. There was a different flower every week, the whole department gushing whenever you grab a stem on your desk. And while you had hoped it was Sunghoon, again, you looked at his desk and see him in his natural habitat: working and face straight to the computer.

By this time, you had grown infuriated. Because you felt like he was toying with you. Especially when he was not paying you any attention at the Thanksgiving Party your office had held after reaching more than the targeted quarterly sales, and it was because of you! Why wasn't he giving you any attention?

Blame it on the alcohol in your system, and your innate drive to prove something to Sunghoon, a trait of yours that you have acquired overtime, you made your way towards the guy who was alone at the bar, nursing his on the rocks with his finger dancing around the rim of the glass.

"Aren't you going to congratulate me?" you spat, annoyed.

Sunghoon turned on his seat, smirking at you, "For being the best employee?"

"What else!"

He chuckled, taking a sip on his drink, "Congratulations, princess,"

You scoffed, "That's it?"

He grinned, "What, you'd want me to kneel for you?"

You were stunned. "You know what? Whatever, Sunghoon, I feel like I'm just a game to you, anyway."

And maybe that's what did it for Sunghoon, because the moment you uttered those words, you found yourself being pulled by your wrist outside of the ballroom you were in by none other than Park Sunghoon himself.

"Let go of me, Sunghoon!" you said as you tried to escape from his grasp.

But Sunghoon did not budge, he was determined on making you regret what you say. He pushed the fourteenth floor button, the floor where he was staying, and even though it took quite a while to get to the floor, Sunghoon didn't even try to lay his hands on you, it was better for him to do it on his bed, anyway.

Because you deserved it.

The moment the elevator doors opened, you found yourself being pulled to his room, with heavy breaths as he discarded his suit jacket on the couch, he turned around and met you in a passionate kiss, surprising both you and Sunghoon.

Ah, if there was one thing you didn't know about Sunghoon? Was the fact that he was a virgin. He never had any relationships in the past, and it had only been you whom he was very attracted by. So, it was bound to happen, perhaps. Sunghoon giving you his virginity in the hopes of you reciprocating his feelings.

But Sunghoon was a realistic man, of course, he knew that he was just your own entertainment. Having a lot of suitors here and there, he knew he had to step up his game.

That meant, letting you see through his drive because he was scared of doing the first move of asking you out on a proper date, because everyone was always first in doing so.

A few occurrences later, Sunghoon had decided on levelling his courtship up by bringing you food to your table the moment he gets to work. His bag still on his hand as he ordered your favourite meal as he sped placing it on your table before making his coffee.

Sunghoon had started realising that you liked flowers, so he had brought it upon himself to at least give you flowers every week, keeping it anonymous before he finally musters enough confidence to tell you that it was him who was giving you the gifts.

Not Jake, not Jay, and most certainly not Heeseung.

So, he hopes he had translated all of his misunderstood feelings into the kiss, cupping your jaw as he pushes his tongue in your mouth, swallowing the moan that you had blessed him.

"You drive me so fucking crazy, Y/N," he groans into the kiss, "accusing me of playing with you when you were the one who started this in the first place." He trails off, his lips pressing onto your mouth up and down before stopping by the skin near your collarbones for him to suck.

You let out a whimper, too lost in the feeling of his lips on your skin, "You drive me so fucking crazy, too," you start, letting your head fall back to have the boy kiss more of your skin, "I don't know what's on your mind most of the time." Sunghoon had found your sweet spot below your ear, making you gasp.

The boy hummed, wrapping his hands around your waist, pulling your body flush against his, slowly rolling his hips forward so you could feel his hard cock pressed against you, "Well, it's about time you know that you take over the expanse of my mind, princess."

You were already soaking wet at this point, basking in how Sunghoon looked today, you swear you could feel yourself salivating over how he presents himself. You pull his face away from your neck, locking your lips in an uncoordinated kiss. "I need you, Sunghoon."

Sunghoon groaned, kissing you for a moment longer before abiding to his girl's needs. His cock was aching, and you needed him. It was time to cut the chase.

"My needy little slut," Sunghoon growls as he teased you by rubbing your clit over your panties, and when he slid his hands through her folds, he was met by pleasing wetness, making him chuckle, "You've been trying to fool everyone with how much of a sweetheart you are, angel," he hummed, rubbing his nose on the crook of your neck, "but you really are a menace. Wanting her Sunghoon to give all of his attention to her,"

"Y-Yes," You moaned, grinding your hips on his fingers, "M-My Sunghoon,"

And when he motions to remove his glasses, you tap his wrist and shook your head, making him realise you never want his glasses off, making him chuckle.

"You liked hearing it, don't you?" Sunghoon inquires as he pushes you to the bed, pulling you over the edge of it as he bites on your panties, pulling it down to pool on your ankles, "You love the idea of me being yours, don't you, Y/N?" He smiles as he sinks his finger in you, curling as you clench around you.

"Yes, I do - shit, Sunghoon!" You managed to say, "I did everything because I only want you! Only you!"

Sunghoon docks his head in between your thighs to hide the blush creeping to his cheeks before pressing hot kisses into the expanse of your inner thighs, fluttering light kisses as his lips made its way to your folds, kissing it before he gives kitten licks to your bud.

Your back arches, satisfying Sunghoon with his little experimentation. He, then, soon, pushes another finger in as he started swirling his tongue on your clit, alternating between licking his tongue flat from your hole up to your clit, making you thrash your legs everywhere.

He moaned when you clamped your legs around his face, urging him to continue his movements, "M' close, Hoon," you whispered, one of your hands leaving the sheets to tangle in his newly-cut hair, and with one more curl of Sunghoon's fingers, you were already tumbling over the edge, your cries of his name falling from your mouth.

"God, you're so beautiful, Y/N," Sunghoon whispers as he cleans you off with his tongue, and when he was done, he pushes himself up as he unbuckles his belt and removes his trousers, discarding the article at some part of the room.

"I wanna ride you," You confess, making Sunghoon blush again, "oh, are you... is this your first time?" You asked, your eyes widening slightly as Sunghoon replied with a nod.

Your heart almost burst at his confession, making you sit up and pull him into a slow kiss, "I want to see how you'd look so damn sexy sitting on my cock, Y/N," Sunghoon breathes, "but I want- I need-"

"Take your time with me, Hoon."

A breath escapes you when Sunghoon finally gets you out of your dress, his hands immediately pinching at your nipple. And without another word, Sunghoon lifts your leg and lines himself to your entrance. And with a heavy breath in, he pushes in slowly, the roll of his hips feeling delicious until he's fully buried inside you, low moans heard throughout the room.

"I, fuck, Y/N," Sunghoon starts, groaning instead as you clench around him. Sunghoon hovers over you, his arms on either side of your head before resting his forehead against yours so he could look into your eyes, "God, I love you so much, Y/N."

Before Sunghoon ever regrets he had confessed out of nowhere, you had already pushed your lips on his hungrily, meeting his thrusts, you let out a whine as Sunghoon placed your legs over his shoulders, reaching deeper of you, the same time he rubs slow circles on your clit in time with his harsh thrusts.

"God, you feel so fucking amazing, Y/N," he breathes, earning a chuckle from you as you say, "You're fucking me so good, Hoon,"

Sunghoon smiles at your continuous use of his nickname, before his eyebrows furrow as he lets out a breathless moan as he hit your g-spot, making you squeal, "Jesus, I'm not gonna last much longer!" you say, and you were quick to wrap your legs around his waist, aiming to feel him closer.

"Me either, darling," he whispers, "come with me, please?"

And with a few more thrusts, you feel yourself coming on him, your toes curling, back arching, eyes almost rolling at the back of your head, as your nails rake down Sunghoon's back from his nape. Your walls clench around his cock, making him also reach his climax. He cuts your moans as Sunghoon pulls you to him for a hungry kiss as he empties himself in you.

He slows his thrusts down as he helps you come down from your highs, his lips attached again to your jaw down to your neck, peppering light kisses. And sooner, Sunghoon pulls out and rolls onto his back, his arms around your waist to make you roll on top of him.

A silence was heard in the room as you mindlessly traced irregular shapes on the expanse of Sunghoon's pale skin. He feels like his heart is about to explode from mixed emotions, having the girl of his dreams on top of him, his virginity in your hands – but, at the end of the day, he's unsure about your feelings for him.

However, one thing's for sure: you were all Sunghoon had ever wanted and needed, no matter how much the world can prevent him from doing so.

"I mean every word I said," Sunghoon whispers, kissing your hair, a silent affirmation to the thousand words running in your head.

You giggled, "I feel like I'd look good bouncing on your cock, too, Sunghoon."

"N-Not that.." Sunghoon blushed, "I am really crazy for you, Y/N, but you know, we could just pretend it never happened and think this is a one time thing."

"That's so unfair of you," you say, looking up and leaning your chin on his chest, "because I'd rather have you bringing over lunch and flowers every time if that meant having you every day."

Sunghoon visibly relaxed, smiling at you warmly, "So, it's forever."

"It is."

© acciojaeyun, 2024.

[thebluester2020]

If you're taking writing comissions.. I really liked your post about sdv bachelors with reader who squirts...but let's turn it around! How about a farmer (female) who is really quiet during sex? Cuz you know, when she was touching herself alone, she didn't want to be loud and it stayed that way. You don't have to write all the bachelors, I'm interested in Harvey 👀 I imagine he would be concerned at first and overthinking if he did something wrong

Harvey x Quiet Farmer Who Squirts For The First Time

Summary: Harvey makes a quiet reader squirt for the first time. Warning(s): Munch Harvey, Reader is a bit quiet in this one, Slight dom!Harvey(?) [It quickly goes away though lol], Both Harvey and the reader are shy together tbh. Side note(s): Sorry this took so long anon- the procrastination virus hit me hard 😭 [I hope this is close to what you were asking for!] Also, shout out to Aaryan Shah for being my song inspo that allowed me to write this. His music is so good I swear to god.

MINORS AND AGELESS BLOGS DNI

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ

He couldn't help the nervousness that racked his entire body as he feasted upon your sex. You...you were just so quiet!

And that was something that he never minded. Your comfort and pleasure came before any wishes he may have had or would ever had, so long as he was allowed to suckle at your cute clit, sweet babbled murmurs and moans flooding his ears like the welcomed warmth of water over cold skin. He was was fine with you never making a single sound in the bedroom.

Your reactions and silent pleas for him to continue were enough for him, enough to make his cock absolutely ache.

But, at this moment? As your cunt practically begged and drooled for more of his skillful tongue, the sight of your glistening pussy wet from the sheen of your slick making his throat dry as if he hadn't taken a sip of water in days. Coupled along with the fact he was admiring your panting figure through his lashes, a question mark silently formed in his head.

Why were you so adamant on making as little noise as possible?

As arousing as your attempts were...from how you bit your lip so hard to the point he feared it would bleed.

Or how you'd squirm and turn your head side to side, biting either the pillow sheets or covering your lips with the back of your hand if that wouldn't work. Adorable as it was, his desire to hear you moan out his name all the stored-up breath in your lungs frew ever fervent in his mind. To the point he feared he'd begin to cum inside his boxers like some teenager!

But...rather than try to confront you about it, it was far more fun to let his tongue and fingers do the convincing. To let them coax your voice out of you.

"H-Harvey...?" You whispered in a daze as you finally registered Harvey's tongue no longer circling your sex, your breath labored as you shakily rose your head to look at him.

"Yes?" He responded with devotion in his gaze, apologetically pressing a kiss to the inside of your thighs as his fingers slowly traced your labia.

You sucked in a breath, electricity pulsing through you at the simple slow touch. "W-Why did you stop?" You whispered.

Harvey pressed another kiss on you, to the hood of your clit this time as he steadily worked you back up, as well as silently worked himself up to the plan he was about to commit. He almost felt bad for it! Torturing his poor wife who looked like she was on the verge of tears if she didn't get to cum in the next minute.

"Harvey..." You moaned, trying to get his attention once more. "A-Aren't you going to— Oh!" There it was...the noise he'd been so desperately searching for, yearning quietly since the moment you two had started becoming intimate with one another, all from him suddenly plunging his fingers inside of your wanton sex and curling them up into your sweet spot.

An action he more than eagerly repeated as his head dived back towards your sex, lapping and suckling at your engorged clit as he unconsciously rutted against the sheets, aching to release his cock from its confines and find relief in your sweet sweet pussy.

"I'm so clue," You cried out, your thighs shaking as your peak rapidly approached the more Harvey's fingers continued its assault on your G-spot inside your pussy. Something that didn't register in the doctor's head as he became drunk off your juices, barely paying mind to how your thighs twitched more than usual or how you were becoming more and more vocal.

It was like finally receiving that badly wanted gift during Christmas.

His groans against your pussy creating a delicious buzz against your clit that further brought you closer and closer to orgasm until...something felt different.

You grabbed his hair, fruitlessly tugging to try and catch his attention. "H-Harvey...!" You keened, Harvey's free hand digging into the flesh of your hips to keep you open before you came. The sheer force shocked you as a guttural scream ripped from your throat, white flooding your eyes as wetness gushed out of your cunt.

And it was silent as you came down from your explosive high, your chest heaving up and down as you struggled to focus your vision and come back down to reality. Your vision was blurry and...filled with Harvey's worried expression as he looked down at you. "Y/N! Are you okay?" He asked, his voice distant as you smiled all dopey-like.

"Y-Yeah..." You said.

As you steadily propped yourself up on your elbows and rose an arm to loop around Harvey's neck, bringing him closer to you. Both you and he began to blush as you tried to work up to asking your question. "C-Can you do that again...?"

His words choked up in his throat, his cock twitching at your words.

Rather than it being a one-time thing, it seemed he'd have all night to continue to hear your unashamed moans...

[pencil-n-pen]

hii! i hope you are doing well. i love your overworked series so much. it's very relatable to me on what the circumstances the reader is in and all i do eat the series all up(munch munch) how about like a study date for them? that would be cute

Hello honey !! Thank you so much for this request, I was so excited to write it <3 Hope you enjoy!

STUDY OR DATE

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄ ౨ৎ ⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠄⠂

summary: you ask Leon to go on a study date with you at a coffee shop. Things don’t go as planned, but work out just fine in the end.

cw: i think this qualifies as a drabble not a oneshot it’s short :( but sweet :) sorry some angst slipped in there, one of Leon’s ex friends says some kind of mean things about you but Leon comes to your defense, honestly that’s it this is pretty fluffy

a/n: i just know leon absolutley slams those frou frou coffee drinks. i say this as a frou frou coffee drink enjoyer

no the Baby I'm Yours reference was not intentional

masterlist | previous (not actually a SERIES series, just takes place in the same universe)

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

It was you who proposed the idea of a study date.

"I think it might be nice," You'd said, staring at your shoes and shuffling in place as people file out of the last class of your day- the one you share with Leon. "I usually study by myself, but I think it would be good to... get out of my room, for a bit. Um. And then we could study together?"

"Are you asking me or telling me?"

This is one of his current favorite sentences. "Training you to stand your ground, princess. Nothing bad is gonna happen when you do."

You squeeze the strap of your backpack. "Telling...? But also asking, because I don't know if you're free."

"Even if I did have plans I would cancel them. Where were thinking of going?"

A burst of heat rises to your face. "That cafe? Near the east side of campus?"

He leans down, giving you a quick peck on the nose. "I think that's a great idea."

The walk to the cozy cafe isn't too long, but it is cold. You shamelessly use the winter chill as an excuse to cuddle up to Leon.

"As if you need one," He mumbles, squeezing you close to him.

When you arrive to the shop, the bell dinging signifying your entrance, Leon tugs at the backpack on your shoulder.

"Gimme that. I'll snag us a table that has outlets. Order something for me?"

You don’t have to look to know the hand in front of you has his credit card in it. And you know better than to refuse. He likes spending money on you, for whatever reason. You’re not complaining, really, it just eats at you a little bit. Just a little.

But it’s also really, really, really sweet. The kindness tends to override the guilt, in his case.

For yourself, you order exactly what you want- Leon has a second sense for when you order something that's for the sake of preserving money rather than what you actually want. You'd asked him once where his seemingly never-ending supply of money came from, but he'd just kissed you on the forehead and told you not to worry about it. You kind of still worry about it, but never enough for him to notice.

For Leon, you order exactly what he wants but will never admit to liking- an iced caramel macchiato. The way coffee shops like Starbucks make them, not the traditional way. More milk and sugar than coffee. It's funny watching him slug his way through black coffee with a splash of milk when you know for a fact the milky, sugary coffee drinks never last longer than about five minutes when they're in front of him.

The cafe isn't that crowded, so it doesn't take long for your drinks to be ready. You take them from the bar with a thanks, then slide into the table Leon snagged for you.

His eyes catch on the drink.

"What is that?"

"An iced caramel macchiato."

"And why, exactly, did you order that for me?"

"Because you like them."

"No I-"

"Don't even pretend."

He takes the drink with a grumble, but reaches across the table and squeezes your hand once, a quiet thank you.

You take a sip of your own drink, then take your supplies out of your backpack and get to work.

You work fairly quietly, Leon occasionally sliding random snacks he, apparently, just keeps with him across the table to you. At one point, he gets up and returns with a plate that has a few of the pastries you were eyeing earlier on it. How he even knew exactly which ones you wanted is a mystery to you.

An hour or so after he gets the pastries, the bell dings, signifying someone's entrance.

"No way! Leon, is that you?"

Leon's face twists into something sour and angry, and a small stab of apprehension slices through your chest as the voice is accompanied by approaching feet.

"Josh," Leon says evenly, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair. "Haven't seen you in awhile. On purpose."

You turn, eyeing the man that's standing behind you, a few other guys standing a little ways behind him, all leering for a glance.

The Josh in question just laughs. "Oh, whatever Leon," His gaze catches on your face and his eyes widen.

"No way. Are you seriously here with the pretentious--"

"You mean my girlfriend?" Leon leans forward in his seat, his jaw set and his fists clenched where they rest on the table. "Be very careful about your next words."

Girlfriend?

Josh blinks. "I meant nothing by it, man. I'm just surprised to see you here with her, is all."

Leon looks absolutely murderous. "And why would that be?"

"Just because, you know. We always talked about how annoying her attitude was. And that rivalry thing you guys had."

"I remember ditching you guys when you started ragging on her, yeah. Fuck off, Josh."

Josh raises his hands. "Jeez, okay man. I was just surprised. You're seriously choosing that girl over us?"

"This woman, yes. We were never friends like that. Forgive me if I prefer being with someone who doesn't make me consider the legality of finishing a college degree in prison."

Josh seems upset by Leon's statement, but Leon holds his ground. He jerks his head towards the rest of the gaggle. "Go."

Josh scampers away, metaphorical tail between his legs.

Leon immediately turns to you, brows furrowed in concern and body un-tensing. "Are you okay? Did he upset you? Do I need to kill him?"

You blurt out the first and only thing you got from that entire exchange.

"I'm your girlfriend?"

He re-tenses.

"Do you... not want to be?"

"No!" You shout, a little too loudly, because Josh and his friends look back over, but the ensuing glare from you and Leon is enough for them to look away so quickly you think you hear Josh’s neck pop.

"No," you say quietly, "I um. I'd really like to be your girlfriend. I just. I didn't know what we were."

He gets that fond look in his eyes again. The one he gets before he says something sappy.

"Baby," He says, reaching across the table and grabbing your hand. "I"m yours. I mean that. I didn't formally ask you out because I figured you wanted to take things slow."

"I did. At first."

He smiles. "Then princess, my princess, may I please be your boyfriend?"

You can't help the giddy giggle the escapes your mouth. "Yes."

"Oh thank god," He says, wiping fake sweat off his brow. "It would've been awkward to have a heart attack and die in this cafe."

"That seems a bit extreme."

"Not really. Have you seen my girlfriend? Cardiac events are a normal reaction, I assure you."

You don't get much studying done for the rest of the day.

--

After that, there is a noticeable increase in study dates and date-dates. Leon is weirdly good at picking date spots and ideas.

The first time he introduces you as his girlfriend at a party, Ada shouts so loudly you think she might burst someone's eardrum. Your roommates all squeal with excitement when you tell them.

Chris, being Chris, says "Weren't you already dating?" when Leon tells him the news. That seems to be the general consensus.

You're on another study date right now, Leon's face doing that cute little scrunch thing when he's thinking about a math problem, and you set your pencil down just to stare at him.

He's your boyfriend.

You're his girlfriend.

He looks up at you, chewing on the end of his pencil. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

"No," You say, a little breathless. "M' just looking at my boyfriend."

He grins, leaning across the table to give you a kiss, soft and slow.

You're normally not one for PDA.

But maybe you'll allow it. For your boyfriend.

ᯓ✦

[hxrnyhunter]

You go for a walk in the nature reserve. Everyone has been saying how relaxing it is. How you can hear so many sounds of nature, feel apart of it, without having to get too close.

When you get there, you're a little surprised it's so empty, but it's the middle of a work day. You suppose they're at work, or busy. Or maybe it's always like this. You've never been.

As you're walking, you bask in the sounds of birds chirping and the way the sun feels on your skin. It's like you're the only person alive. Of course, you can't see me peering out at you from among the dark trees. A monster with more hunger than one.

I watch your little human form as you walk around, my cock starting to harden and ache. How would you look stuffed with my cock? How hard would I have to keep you pinned to breed you?

A low rumble bubbles up from my chest as I watch you. You hear and pause, but quickly shrug it off. So naive. So stupid. I decide that I will have you, once I know you can't escape me. You walk further and further into the reserve, only stopping a couple times to sip on water and munch on the snacks you brought. When you're standing back up, I strike.

From the trees, I burst forward, grabbing you by the shoulders and slamming you down onto the grassy next to the bench. Your face hits the grass roughly, making you dizzy. It takes a moment for you to realize that my long claws are ripping through your clothes, and that my enormous cock is trying to push inside of your tiny human cunt.

A cry rips from your lips as you try to get away, but it's no use. I'm more than twice your size. When I can't force my cock inside of you, I pull back. My long, thick tongue pushes inside of you, slicking you and helping to stretch you slightly. The unwilling moans that you let out spur me forward. I keep licking at you, my tongue sometimes licking all over your cunt and clit, until I can smell how strong your own arousal is, despite your protests.

It's still a struggle, but I manage to force my cock inside of you, inch by inch. You're back to crying and begging me to stop, but how could I stop now? When I bottom out inside of you, your stomach extended with how deep my cock is inside of you, I growl, trying not to cum already.

After a moment, I start moving inside of you roughly, slamming my cock in and out of your tiny, tight human cunt. You can't even babble out pleas anymore because the force is knocking the air out of you, making you grunt and whine.

I bite and scratch along your body, licking up any blood that starts to trickle out. I missed the way human blood tastes. As I'm licking up your blood, my cock starts throbbing inside of you, coating your womb to prepare my seed.

This I bottom out inside of you, my knot is pushed in as well. It smells to keep the cum I'm dumping into your unprotected cunt. You can't stand the pain anymore, slipping into unconsciousness.

Don't worry though, human. I'll lick and clean all the wounds I left until my knot goes down. Once I can pull out of you, I'll finish undressing you so I can touch all of your body and have your limp mouth clean off my cock. Afterwards, I'll carry you back to the entrance of the nature reserve. I'm sure someone will find you before I decide I want to use you again.

[watermelonlovershigh]

Can you write something where Reader had taken care of Harry all night because he was sick and then she has to wake up to care for their child and maybe the child wants to give Harry cuddles to make him feel better.

Sick Daddy /concept/

AN: had this in my inbox for a while but am trying to clear some of my requests out so here you finally go. its very short because this ask just felt like it didn't need to be crazy long. hope you enjoy still. send you feedback. xoxo

This story contains: mentions of throw up, the rest is fluff

{ husbandrry - dad!harry - any harry era }

word count- 566

You and your son Oliver make Harry a breakfast to hopefully feel better because he'd been sick the previous night. Then after Harry's better, you and Ollie catch the same bug and Harry takes care of you both as you did for him.

You'd been up off and on with Harry all night. He seemed to have caught some type of stomach bug and nearly every hour of the night woke up to be sick. Though Harry insisted you just stay in bed, of course you were gonna be right by his side. Placing a little clip in his hair to hold his bangs out of his face and rub his back as he heaved over the toilet.

Now it's eight in the morning and your little one, Oliver, who's five, is awake. Though you're dead tired from you lack of sleep, you go into Ollies bedroom and help him get dressed and brush his teeth. Once that's all done, Oliver asks, "Where's daddy? Wanna go see him."

Kneeling down to his level, you reply, "Daddy's feeling a bit ill today, loves. He'll probably be in bed for a while. But, how about you help mummy make daddy some tea and toast to hopefully feel better."

With a concerned look on his small face, Oliver nods, "Alright, mummy. Then can I cuddle daddy? Daddy cuddles me when I don't feel very well so it might make him feel better."

Thinking for a moment, you answer, "Maybe. We'll have to see. I don't want you catching whatever bug he has though."

-----------------------------

Oliver helped you prepare an easy breakfast for Harry. One that will hopefully not bother his stomach. Once it's ready, you carry it on a tray and Ollie walks up the stairs beside you, excited to finally see his daddy today.

When you walk in the bedroom, Harry is curled up under the covers sleeping, a thin layer of sweat coating his skin. You set the tray down and nudge his shoulder, "Harry babe, wake up for me. Got you something to drink and eat that you'll hopefully be able to keep down."

Harry slowly turns over and sits up. With his very messy bed-head, he croaks out, "Awe, thank you, m'love. I'll try to eat some of it. Not really that hungry though."

Oliver steps to the side of the bed and asks, "Daddy sick?"

Harry looks down and answers, "Yeah baby, daddy's tummy hasn't been well. But mummy is the best doctor around so I'm sure I'll be good to go in no time."

Harry sat in bed and munched on his plain toast and sipped his tea while you and Oliver sat at the foot of the bed to keep him company. After some persuasion, you finally let Oliver cuddle Harry. You knew it was a risk of him getting sick too but you were also at risk from just being in the same house as him.

Luckily Harry was able to keep that food down and with some more rest, got to feeling better within twelve hours. Unluckily to you and Ollie though, two days later you both woke up to sick tummies and it was Harry's turn to play doctor. With the amount of vomit he had to clean up he should become a professional cleaner.

It got so bad that he had to migrate everyone to the living room where he could watch you both at the same time. One moment holding up the barf bucket for Oliver and the next moment holding it up for you. He gave y'all tons of cuddles and extra love and within a day everyone was well again.

(PLEASE REBLOG BECAUSE WRITING IS NOT EASY AND IT'S FREE SO JUST DO IT)

(no more tags are allowed because i've hit my number limit. sorry : ( )

tag list: @one-sweet-gubler // @harryscherrysugar // @hsfanficsrecss // @lollypopsx // @harrycanyonmoonn // @itfeelslikemytherapisthatesme // @damnasstyles  // @mrsstylesharry // @softmullet  // @meetmyblondemuffins  // @thegirlnextdoorssister // @stanleystyles  // @haarrrys // @michellekstyles  // @skyangel57   // @the-gardener-31 // @lhharrylilpumpkin // @yousunshine-youtemptress // @clairestylessss  // @kissmyaxe140  // @goldenmelonsugar-hi // @kaitieskidmore97 // @florencepughily  // @alienorknight //@dancearoundthelivingroom  // @swiftmendeshoran

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______________

My Masterlist Masterpost

[covetyou]

send in the clown

ao3 ⋆ main masterlist ⋆ series masterlist

pairing: Dieter Bravo x f!reader rating: Explicit (18+ only!) warnings: clowns, dubcon, unprotected P in V, anal play, grinding, titty play (clown motorboating), drug use, hotboxing, the shoes stay on, unconventional use of grease paint word count: 4.1k summary: You lose your scarf on a visit to the carnival. Send in Dieter Bravo - washed up actor turned circus clown.

A/N: Happy Halloweekend, friends! Originally this was going to be some dark evil fic with a murderous clown and some non-con, but basically I can't do that. So here you have washed up actor clown Dieter instead, and he's going to rock your world. You're welcome.

This is not inherently scary, but probably something to avoid if you really hate clowns. It's essentially just clown porn. I'm not sorry.

10 points to anyone who can spot the Oscar.

follow @covetedfics and turn notifications on for updates on future work

Want Dieter at the carnival, but don't want the clowns? Check out Candy by @secretelephanttattoo

Loud noises and knives and fire and bodies bent into strange shapes.

It sounded more like a horror movie down on paper, but the lights and music were dazzling, amazing, turning something terrifying into something beautiful.

You sipped too sweet drinks and munched on overpriced snacks as you watched on with your friends, laughing and gasping with them as the sights before you unfolded. A tiny woman bending herself over backwards, shooting apples off of people's heads with a bow and arrow clenched in her delicate feet. A couple swinging through the air, no wire in sight, fabric fluttering along behind them as they flew. Sword swallowers, fire breathers, acrobats, magicians, clowns.

Clowns.

You were mesmerized by it all, taken in so completely, that when you all stumbled out after several hours and made your way home, you didn't even notice you'd left your scarf until you moved to pull it off as you stepped in your front door. They weren't in town for long, things like this never were, so you turn around and head back to your car, driving back the way you came until the big top comes back into view.

It had been almost an hour since you left and the parking lot was mostly empty now, save for a few cars closer to the entrance. The sign was no longer illuminated, but lights shone brightly from inside the gate as a handful of people bustled around, packing up for the night.

You make your way to the ticket booth, spotting a grizzly old man with a toothpick between his teeth closing up, pulling a small box filled with ticket stubs and loose change out from the desk.

"We're closed," he grumbles, not bothering to look at you as he turns the key, locking the booth, and stomps away.

"I know," you shout, feet squelching in a wet patch of grass as you stumble after him. "I lost something, left it here. Do you have a lost and found?"

He stops, eyes you up, then sends you inside, directing you to an open sided tent. You walk in semi-darkness, listening out for the shouts and jokes of the cast and crew ending their day.

Two people sit there, feet up on a box and cards in hand. One has a threadbare sweater thrown on over a skimpy lyrca outfit adorned in sequins, the other looks like he could have been in the audience if it wasn't for the peak of tattoos from the top of his hoodie and across his hands.

They don't notice you standing there, so you clear your throat. Sequins is just about to play a card, but halts mid way through the movement and looks up, raising his painted on eyebrows at you.

"We're closed," Tattoos repeats, not bothering to turn to look your way.

"I lost a scarf. Was told to come here," you explain. You just want your scarf back.

Sequins slaps the card down on the box then sits back, eyeing you up and down just as the grizzled old man did, crossing his toned arms over his chest. "What's it look like?"

"Woolen, red and brown kind of checks. It's pretty big, almost like a blanket?"

Tattoos scoffs, finally turning to look at you. "Oh yeah, that one. Bravo the Clown took it. No one ever comes back for shit they lose at the circus, toots. If you want it back you're gonna have to go ask him."

"Okay, and where can I find this Bravo the Clown."

They send you off to a trailer on the other side of the camp. You hear their laughter as you turn your back and walk away, squelching back through patches of wet grass that hadn't been boarded over.

The trailer is worn and old, a colorful tarp covering the front window and stapled into the ground. "Bravo" is scrawled on the door in sharpie, scribbles of other color around it so it looks like the name has exploded from the door. There's a faint light from inside, and you can hear music playing, but there's no answer when you knock.

You try the handle, the door opening a crack before jamming. You tug harder, and the door swings open, nearly knocking you down onto the wet ground.

Smoke billows out. You almost think there's a fire when you smell something earthy and herbal. Definitely not a fire.

You call out over the music, a repetitive carnival jingle, and when there's no response, you climb up the few steps and step foot into the trailer of Bravo the Clown.

It's dark inside, the smoke barely cleared and the tarp masking any light from outside in a red haze. The herbal stench in the air is thicker inside, covering the stale musky smell of sweat and dust.

When your eyes adjust to the dark through the haze of smoke, you see the place is a mess. Wigs of all shapes and colors are thrown haphazardly onto a crooked shelf on the wall, something shiny hidden behind a puff of rainbows. Shoes litter the walkway, and clothes and costume pieces are strewn over a bench seat. There's a patch where it looks like someone has been sitting, and next to it, your scarf, screwed tight into a messy ball and pushed down into the rest of the clothing.

You approach, going to grab your scarf and leave, when you're distracted by a long mirror sitting to one side, a worn chair in front of it. There's a vanity where brushes and pallettes are thrown, pots of grease paint left open and discarded.

You drag your fingers across the worn wooden vanity. Picking up one pot of paint - a vibrant white - you are moments from swiping your finger across the pristine surface when a gruff voice startles you.

"What the fuck?!"

You spin, paint falling from your hand and clattering to the ground. Stood there is a half man, half clown, joint perched between his lips, makeup smudged over his face. His hair is sweaty, sticking up at all angles, wig nowhere to be seen. You cast your eyes down him. An oversized striped shirt is pulled open, graying undershirt beneath on show, sweat stains at the armpits and a wet patch on the hem. His red pants are unbuttoned, slung low on his hips, his suspenders unclipped at the front and hanging down low behind him. Large shoes jut out from the bottoms, bulbous and curving slightly upward.

"What the fuck are you doin' in here," he says from around the joint, throwing his hands up in the air.

You stumble over your words, stuttering a few times before you can spit it out. He looks at you like you're stupid, like you're the one with paint smeared over your face.

"I- I lost my scarf. They said you had it, I'm sorry, I-"

"What? Do you think breaking and entering is okay because I'm a fuckin' clown," he yells, pulling the door closed and slamming it hard when it gets jammed again.

He stalks toward you, blowing a puff of smoke into your face, making your eyes water, before he flops down into the worn chair in front of the vanity. It creaks as he stretches back, the tip of one of his too big shoes running up your leg.

"Do you think stealing is okay because you're a clown?" you retort, hands on your hips, shaking your head in disbelief. You never pictured your evening ending in an argument with a half-dressed clown.

More smoke puffs from his mouth as he laughs at you, face contorting strangely as he smiles with a down turned red mouth smeared across his own.

"What're you going to give me," he says, pulling his shirt off and throwing it onto the pile on the bench.

"What?"

He takes another long drag on his joint, and lets the smoke billow from his lungs before he sits back and replies. "For the scarf. What's it worth to you."

You watch his hand stroke down his belly, past the wet patch on his t-shirt and down to the front of his pants. He adjusts himself, rolling his hips as he palms his cock through the fabric.

You swallow a lump in your throat. Maybe it's the smoke going to your head, the haze of the room making you feel stuffy and floaty, clouding your judgement. Or maybe you've always had a fucking thing for clowns, you flithy b-

"Anything," you say, before you can stop yourself. He laughs, throwing his head back as he flicks ash onto the floor.

"Then take that coat off and come here. Show me them pretty tits."

You unbutton your coat, throwing it onto the bench with your scarf. You look down, thick sweater obstructing any view he'd have of your chest, and decide to yank that off too, pulling it over your head and discarding it with your coat. You take a deep breath, lungs filling with smoke and the sweaty smell of Bravo the Clown, before you pull down your tank top and bra, pushing your tits out of their cups and exposing them to the cold air.

"Can I have my scarf back now?"

"No! I want a closer look," he pats his lap, visible tent now forming in his red pants. "Come sit down on Bravo the Clowns lap, sugar tits," he says with husky laugh.

You shuffle forward trying not to trip over his shoes as you wonder how you'll perch on his lap with his knees spread so wide. You don't have long to think when he grabs you by the hand and pulls you onto him, your knees straddling either side of his thighs on the chair. It creaks and groans, and you shift on him, terrified the old chair is going to collapse with the weight of you.

He takes a final long drag from his joint, before snuffing it on the vanity and blowing the rest of the smoke into your face. You cough and splutter, blinking back watering eyes, when two large hands come up and grab your tits, massaging them as your chest heaves.

"Nice."

You blink again and look down to see him smiling at your tits, nodding as he massages them. He squeezes them together, watching as the skin squishes and puckers under his fingers. His hands are rough, fingernails painted with chipped polish that glitters in the dim lighting of his trailer. The grimace painted onto his face a stark contrast to the man underneath having the time of his life.

He's entranced, looking at your tits as he squeezes them. Painted fingertips come and pinch your nipples, pulling at them and making you gasp. Your back arches as he tugs, jiggling both as he pinches and laughing as they ripple with the movement. Your hips shift forward, nudging the hardness in his pants, and you fight to still yourself and not grind against him.

Before you know it, he's mashing your tits together again and shoving his face between them, rubbing the scruff of his jaw across your delicate skin, smearing paint all over your chest. He breathes in, and you feel him start to nip and suckle at your flesh as he rubs from side to side, burying his face in you as you push your hips down hard onto his cock.

As quick as he started, he flops back with a sigh, letting your tits fall heavy from his grasp. He smiles serenely as he looks at his handiwork, white and red and blue smeared into a mess of lavender across your tits.

"Think you liked that as much as I did," he taunts, gesturing to where your crotch sits flush against his stiff cock. "Shame you're in so many fuckin' layers." He runs a hand up your thigh, pinging the thickness of your tights against your leg before fingers play with the edge of your skirt where it's bunched around your thighs. He tugs it higher, pulling it to your waist.

He slides his hands back down, thumbs tracing down the front of your tights, teasing the apex of your thighs. One hand holds you there, stopping you from rocking into him again, whilst the other slides between you, rubbing broadly over your damp, covered crotch.

You close your eyes, letting him massage your pussy with his large hand, the sensation muted by so many layers. You rock into his palm as you float along on his lap, lost in his heavy breathing and the monotonous music still jingling along in the background.

He starts muttering, playing with the waistband of your tights, looking for a better way in, a way to get to your cunt that means you don't have to get off his lap. Your eyes snap open, you watch as he shrugs, a wicked smile pulling smeared makeup across his face. He pulls at your tights, gripping in both hands, tearing the fabric and exposing your inner thighs and panties to him. You can't help but moan as you feel his hand find your bare skin, and push against the wet front of your panties.

He lets out a low whistle, he'd barely touched you and you're dripping, grinding against his hand. "I can do one better than my hand," he says, waggling his eyebrows and looking down to his crotch. He's fully hard now, tent more impressive than the big tops outside.

Before he can say another word, you're reaching for his pants, pulling the zipper down and fishing out his rock hard length. He pulls both his arms back holding them up in mock surrender.

"Woah, woah!" he laughs.

You start to stroke his cock, pumping up and down, drawing the precum dripping from his tip over your palm and down his length with each stroke. He's watching you as you play with him, teasing his tip, reaching down into his red pants with your other hand to stroke his balls. They're heavy in your hand and sticky with sweat, but you squeeze them as you jerk him, making him groan, throw his head back and grip the arms of his chair.

Your pussy is cold without his hand, neglected. You don't want to let go of the weight of him, so you rub his tip over the front of your soaked panties, dragging it over your clit and applying pressure as you circle it with his head. You need more, more friction, so you hold him against you, rocking your hips against one side of him as your palm holds him to you in the other.

"Oh, hell yeah. Are you gonna come just from grinding on me?!" he says in disbelief, listening to your desperate moans as you jerk him against your pussy.

"No," you gasp, watching a bead of sweat trickle down the side of his face over the layer of greasy paint. The look of him alone is almost sending you stratospheric - the hair, the paint, the sweat - but the friction against your pussy isn't enough. "I want to put it in me."

He looks like he's won the lottery, wide eyes and thrilled face covered in paint nodding back at you, gesturing down to his dick as if to say help yourself.

You yank your panties to the side as you rock your hips into his cock, still holding him tight to you. Your slick pussy glides up and down his length, his head rubbing directly over your clit with each cant of your hips. You're moaning, wiggling on him as he watches straight down at his cock gliding against your bare cunt.

"Do you have a...?" you say, looking around the room for anywhere where he might stash a condom.

"Nope," he says, popping the P. "If you want it, you gotta take it like this."

You don't even consider any other option, you simply plunge your two middle fingers deep inside you, gathering your slick before smearing it around yourself and down the other side of Bravo the Clown's cock. You raise up on your knees, the chair creaking again as you move, and tease him against your entrance before taking him inside you.

"Oh, Bravo," you moan as you sink down onto his cock.

"Thank you, I'm here 'til Tuesday," he jokes, miming a bow from where he's seated. You bet he uses that on everyone. You soon wipe the smug grin off his face when you lift up and slam back down onto him, moaning his name once again before you begin fucking yourself on him in earnest. "Fuck."

"Dieter," he whines as you bounce on him, chasing a high that seems so out of reach with the high already muffling your head, "Name's Dieter."

"Dieter," you groan, bottoming out and groaning as you rock your hips over him, his cock seated deep in you.

"Fuck yeah, that's it," he grunts, clown shoes planted flat on the floor giving him leverage to pound up into you as you meet his every thrust. The chair is creaking, the trailer shaking, your lavender colored tits bouncing with each pound. His glazed over eyes watch them bounce in front of his face, a frown knitting his brows together and creasing the paint slathered on his skin as he tries to focus on your jiggling breasts. You think you see him go cross eyed as he tries to look at both of your nipples at once.

You're about to reach your hand down, circle your clit and bring yourself over the edge when arms wrap around you pulling you toward him, face falling into his neck. You can smell him more strongly here, the smell of sweat and weed clinging to him like a second skin. He holds onto your ass as he pounds up into you, pulling your cheeks apart. From this angle you can feel the grind of his hair against your clit with every thrust, and you muffle your moan into his neck.

"Ohhhhh."

"Gonna have to give me more than that, ain't been long since I last came," he huffs into your ear as he pulls you apart. You can feel the slick smear of grease paint on the side of your face.

There's another loud rip, your tights being torn again, this time from behind to expose more of your ass. He slows down the roll of his hips into yours as he pulls you deeper, and deeper, letting you grind down onto him even easier, the rub of him against your clit almost perfect now. The feel of his throbbing cock deep in your pussy, rough hands pulling your ass open and the scratch of his pubic hair on your clit feel so good, but you can't quite get there, whatever end you're trying to reach chased away by the fuzz in your head.

You whine from his neck, shifting your hips, trying to see if another spot would work better. Bravo - Dieter catches on and you hear his voice rumble from his chest as you rock on his lap.

"What's your favorite color?"

Now hardly seems like the time to get to know each other, but you humor him. "Blue," you breathe, rubbing your nose against his cheek, the smell of grease paint strong.

"Blue it is."

One arm lets go of you and you hear something on the vanity. You keep rocking your hips, still so close but not close enough. He brings his hand back and you gasp at a foreign sensation between your cheeks.

It's thick and slick, swiping smoothly across your asshole. You moan and gasp against his face, halting your movements and lifting off him a fraction. He laughs, swiping his slicked finger back and forth over your ass, circling the tight ring before dipping a fingertip in just as he pulls you back down flush onto his cock.

It's intense, and you moan so loud Tattoos and Sequins can probably hear you.

"And that's improv," he says, grunting as he picks up the pace of his thrusts again.

"Fuck, more," you beg, as he slips more of his fingertip into your ass, fucking you hard now as you grip his neck and bring your face in line with his.

He laughs at you, panting with the effort of fucking you. "Oh you're freaky, I like it."

"Watch who you're calling a freak, clown." Your grip his neck, holding on for dear life, unphased by the spread of his face paint onto your own skin.

Both arms are wrapped around you, one feeling at your entrance where he pounds into you, creamy slick coating his fingers with each thrust, the other between your cheeks, finger hooked into your tight hole. His finger tugs at you with each bounce onto his cock, stretching you and making you feel fuller than you are. You tilt your hips again, clit colliding with his thick hair, gridning against you, and you see stars glitter around your vision. They're so close now, the haze in your brain diffusing the light as it draws closer and closer.

"Hnnnng, I'm so close," you groan, rubbing your nose against his.

"Fuck," he mumbles as you pull his mouth onto yours. You kiss him, moaning and grinding against his lap, his tongue flicking against the seam of your lips just as the stars align and burst in your vision.

You come with a deep groan into his mouth, clenching tight around his cock as he frantically pounds up into you, hips stuttering as sweat drips down his face. You feel him start to twitch and then his cock is slipping from you, the remnants of your own orgasm fading as his cock slides against the outside of your cunt and spurts thick ropes of cum up against his belly, catching the already damp hem of his t-shirt.

You sit, faces together, panting for a moment, kissing him again just before he slides his finger from your ass, wiping the slick onto your exposed skin. When he looks down at his spent cock, he groans and huffs.

"Not again. I like this shirt."

He tuts at himself, flopping his arms down and looking around for something to tidy up with. He gives up, instead grabbing a tin from the vanity, popping it open, and starts to roll another joint on his chest.

You take that moment to climb off him, covering your pussy with the scrap of fabric of your panties, tugging your skirt down and your tank top up to cover as much of you as you can. The paint on your chest will stain, but you'll think about that later.

You throw your coat back on, not bothering with your sweater or the mess on your face, when Dieter addresses you again.

"Don't forget your scarf."

You roll your eyes, casting an exasperated look at him only to see him looking up at you with a mischievous glint in his eye.

You take your scarf, unbunching it and immediately sticking your hand in something wet and sticky. Even in the darkness, you can tell it's almost definitely cum. You look over to Dieter, disgusted look on your face as he shrugs his shoulders.

"If I'd known you'd come here begging for some of this," he gestures down his slouched body, "I never would've done that sweet cheeks. That one's on you."

"You're an ass."

"I'm not an ass, I'm the one and only Bravo the Clown." He spreads his arms wide, looking obscene with his flaccid cock hanging out of his bright red pants, belly covered in cum and face paint smeared all over his face. He places the unlit joint between his lips and you walk past him, pushing open the door to his trailer and stepping outside into the clear air. You take a deep breath, head already feeling clearer when you turn back, a question on your lips.

He's stood at the door of his trailer, tucking his cock back in, looking even crazier now that your head is clearer.

"The music?" you ask. It'd been playing this whole time, the same tune over and over.

"It's called method acting, sweet cheeks," he says with a wink, lighting his new joint and tilting his head back to expel a plume of smoke into the night sky.

You laugh, you can't help it, the man is a caricature even of himself, but there's something so intoxicating about it.

"Goodnight, Dieter."

You walk back to your car to the tinkling of fairground music and Bravo the Clown's raspy laughter.

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[pablitogavii]

Vacation Mornings

Summary: What does it look like when you get to spend mornings together when pablo is on vacation <33

Pairing: Pablo Gavi x Reader

Warnings: none just pure fluff <33

You woke up first so you turned around in Pablo's arms smiling at his peaceful sleepy face knowing just how much he needs sleep after the draining season he had.

When you look at him, he was only your Pablo, an 18 years old sleeping baby, but then you remember all of his achievements and how he has to spend most of his year being the professional player.

When he finally had a break, you wanted him to rest up and recover as much as possible so you decided to let him sleep in for as long as he wants to in the next month.

Your hand touch his face gently careful not to wake him up as you slowly start leaving kisses to his cheeks, then his neck and chest getting a little too much into it. You heard his giggles looking up feeling guilty for actually waking him up but he didn't seem to mind.

"Mmm I love vacation mornings..." he said and you blush moving up and kissing his lips lovingly as he pulled you on top of hi deepening the kiss and holding you tightly in his arms.

"I'm sorry I woke you up cariño.." you say but he shook his head kissing your lips again while his hands went through your curls down your back slowly.

"I could never complain being woken up by your kisses anjo..if only I can always wake up like this" he said sighing and you smiled touching his face and pecking his lips.

"Then I am going to wake you up like this every morning during this vacation.." you said and he smiled nodding his head before you kissed some more.

"Y/n! Should I wear this dress?" Aurora just rushed into the bedroom and Pablo jumped putting the blanket over you on top of him instinctively although you weren't even naked.

"Don't you know how to knock!?" Pablo said and you giggled when Aurora flipped him off and walked to show you the pictures of the dress she was talking about. It looked very nice on her and you said she should wear it.

"Oh and I knew you weren't naked since for the first time there was no noises and I could sleep!" Aurora said before rushing to the door as Pablo threw a small pillow at her.

"I love staying at home for vacation with you but maybe we start locking that door preciosa.." he said and you giggled nodding your head kissing him again.

"This is where we left off, isn't it cariño??" you said and he smiled kissing you again this time with a bit more strength and you moaned quietly.

"Mhmm..morning besitos..I'm going to get hooked on them" he said and you smiled into the kiss nodding your head before laying down on his chest and just cuddling up some more until it's the time to start your day.

When you walked downstairs finally meeting his family already done with the breakfast, you walked up to Belen who giggled at her sleepy son who saw searching for a cup to make himself coffee.

"So grumpy in the morning..like his papa" Belen said and you chuckled walking up to Pablo taking the cup and telling him you'll take it and he should go eat something.

"Te amo princesa..graciass" he said like a whiny child and you giggle nodding your head as he pecked your lips and sit down with his dad to eat some breakfast. You asked Sr. Gavi if he wanted coffee but he politely declined saying he already had his earlier.

"Made you and me some oats, hermanita" Aurora gave me the bowl and I sent her a kiss before finishing Pablo's coffee while munching on it and then bringing it to him kissing the side of his head.

He took it smiling and pulling me to sit on his leg which I obliged as we talked to his dad while finishing our breakfast. He kissed my shoulder softly before sipping on his coffee and finishing his breakfast.

"You kids want to have a pool day today??" Belen said and Aurora nodded at the same time as me while Pablo whined but seeing how excited I was about her he also agreed.

"You're lucky yo te amo muchisimo princesa!" he said and you giggled nodding your head and kissing his lips before you both went upstairs to change into some swimsuits and have another amaizng day on vacation together <33

I know it's short but I really like this idea of Pablo being grumpy in the morning hehe <33

[wooahaeruby]

Chapter 37: A Very SVT Christmas

Chapter Word Count: 10,612

TW

None! This is the peace we needed c:

Author's note: HI, I'VE HAD THE WORST LUCK RECENTLY, 2 BROKEN PHONES, 1 KNEW PHONE, A BROKEN WASHING MACHINE, AND I WAS DYING. Anyways, I'm working hard on this, please be patient with me :D <3

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“So…” You took a long sips from the milkshake you ordered from the diner, raising a brow at Seokmin who sat close to you on the couch. “Christmas makes everyone…nice?” 

“Okay, well, I wouldn’t say nice.” Seokmin munched on some of his fries, kicking his sock covered feet up on the coffee table. “More like…everyone kinda agreed years ago that the holidays are off limits for any turf wars, gang on gang violence, and mob shit. So no drug pushing, cartel product moving, nothing until January second. After that, it’s all fair game again.” 

“You know, Min, the more and more you feed me mafia information, the more I believe I’m in some sorta coma and my mind is making shit up.” You used a chicken tender to point at him. “You mafia people are weird as fuck.” 

“ Us mafia people, Mouse. Stop acting like you aren’t in on all this. You are friends with the 99 line for fuck sake.”

“I feel if I am to accept the fact I am part of the mafia then I might turn crazy and start killing people.” 

Seokmin threw his head back in laughter, shoulders shaking and a wide smile spread on his face. “Honestly, you are so right and I can’t deny that. Though, we wouldn’t let you go on a killing spree. Promise.” 

“Um, excuse me,” Clicking your tongue, you took a bite of chicken. “You completely underestimate my affinity for crazy, Seokmin.” 

“I definitely do, but I’d like to give you the benefit of the doubt. I don’t see you as some big shot street crawler, but you are currently dating and sleeping with two of the bosses here.”

Nodding, you could agree on that. “Yeah, you're right. I’m too much of a homebody to be a vigilante. Only in my dreams I guess.” 

“Oh!” Seokmin wiggled in his spot beside you, shifting to better face you. “Are you ready for a SVT Christmas?” 

“Dear god, no.” You slouched down, hugging yourself. “I got all the presents but Chan said you guys go all out.” 

“It isn’t that bad.” He reassured, “The guys just get all excited. Plus…nice gifts are fun. We really try to keep it a secret from each other about what we get unless people team up.” 

“Excited,” You snorted, frowning. “Joshua said the presents get open at six in the morning, big breakfast, and everyone spends the whole day together.” 

“Eh. Cheol said no more six in the morning presents, but Mingyu likes cooking and making desserts. It’s a big family affair. He really wants to cook with you.” 

You smiled, sighing quietly. “You know, this will be the first Christmas since I started college that I’ll be spending with people.” 

Seokmin leaned forward and wrapped his arms around you, pulling you into his chest for a tight hug. “Don’t worry, honey, we will make it a Christmas you won’t forget.” 

“This better be, I’m nervous you guys won’t like the gifts I got.” You let him hug you, even returning it just as tightly. 

“It’s always the thought that counts, no matter what.”

Earlier in the morning, earlier than Jeonghan really wanted to be awake, Mouse crawled out of bed much to his disdain. Joshua ended up being his own heat source but he was too much of a light sleeper to curl back up and go back to sleep. She quietly and quickly scurried back into the room and went directly into the closet. He raised his head when the closet door was shut then opened a few minutes later, seeing her in multiple layers before rushing back out, boots in hand. He, rightfully confused, got up and stepped down the hall towards the living room, seeing the thick blanket of snow that started late the previous night. 

Mouse was out by herself, shuffling through the snow in a mix of his, Joshua’s, and her clothes. She looked so happy standing under the still falling snow, stunning really – even if the layers looked a little ridiculous. He grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and dragged a chair by the glass door. Jeonghan gladly sat and watched her play in the snow, smiling to himself at how ecstatic she looked. 

Mingyu emerged from his room, half dressed and half asleep, perking up when he noticed Jeonghan, a sound of question leaving him. He simply nodded his head towards the backyard where his girlfriend started to make a snowman to the best of her abilities. The taller man nearly skipped back to his room and Jeonghan could hear Mingyu bothering Chan to get dressed to go out in the snow with her. 

The pitter-patter of socked feet had him looking away from Mouse, finding Mingyu and Chan dressed for the freezing weather. 

“That was fast.” Jeonghan clicked his tongue, wrapping the blanket snugly around himself. 

Chan slid on the boots in his hands, grinning from ear to ear. “This is the most snow we’ve had in ages! Plus, I wanna play in the snow with Mouse.” 

“And everyone is still knocked out.” Mingyu rushed out the door, calling out to the woman. 

Jeonghan simply sat, returning to his observation, sighing with a smile. Mingyu started a snowball fight the moment Mouse was in range. There was an unspoken conversation between Chan and his girlfriend, something evil behind their bright eyes when their gazes met. When whatever communication ended, they both turned on Mingyu. Snowball after snowball, the two youngest pelted the taller man despite his attempts to fight back against them. 

By the time Jeonghan got up to make himself a cup of coffee and settled back down in his seat, Mingyu had given up, hands raised in surrender as he retreated towards the backdoor though the snowball assault didn’t end. The attack stopped the moment the sliding door cracked open and Mouse sent a beaming smile Jeonghan’s way. 

“Those two are brutal.” Mingyu huffed out a breath he was trying to catch. “They teamed up and everything.” 

Jeonghan let out a silent, breathy laugh through his nose, raising his mug to take a sip of his drink. “They are living their childhood dreams and you were the perfect, easy target. I would’ve been surprised if they didn’t team up against you.” 

Mingyu stripped out of his shoes and heavy jacket, shivering violently. He quickly made himself a cup of coffee, turning to the sound of a yawn coming from the hallway. Seokmin trudged into the living room, clothes wrinkled and hair sticking up in a thousand different directions. He barely muttered a good morning as he joined Mingyu for a cup of coffee. 

“Pancakes?” Jeonghan questioned, peering over and watching Mingyu start to pull out bowls and pans, along with his favorite countertop griddle to make the usually large morning meal. 

“With bacon, eggs, and those little breakfast sausages that Cheol likes since he bought them.” 

“Mornin’.” Joshua grumbled, leaning himself over the kitchen island tiredly. He stretched out his arms and legs before moving to silently help the other two in the prep and cooking. 

Looking back out the doors, Chan was tackled into the snow by Mouse, almost entirely covered by the white fluff on the ground. Jeonghan let out an oof, cringing at the wrestling that started between the two of them, seeing her press snow into his face before he managed to shove snow down the back of her jacket. Mouse screamed out a curse as Chan chuckled in victory. 

“They are going to catch a cold.” Seokmin giggled, placing the eggs in a pan to cook, looking out the window over the sink. 

“Ah, they’ll be fine.” Standing from his seat, Jeonghan started to grab dishes needed to set the table, knowing it wouldn’t be too long before everything was finished. 

When everything was placed to his satisfaction, Jeonghan slid back into the kitchen, keeping to the corner where the warm drink mixes were usually kept; tea, coffee, etcetera. He got two mugs out to make Mouse’s hot chocolate for her and Chan. Humming to himself, he tried his best to make it exactly like she did but it never came out the same. Mouse always said his attempts were perfect but he also knew her versions were top tier, the absolute best. 

Carefully he walked the mugs over to Chan and Mouse’s usual seats to cool just enough to not burn their tongues. He huffed as he opened the sliding glass door, the chill sending a shiver down his spine. 

“Chan, Mouse, breakfast soon!” 

Both their heads whipped over, snow in hand to throw but it was quickly dropped and they stumbled through the snow towards the door. He stepped aside to let them in, helping with their coats and handing them up while they removed their shows. Chan cheered out a thanks, skipping off to warm up his bones. Mouse wrapped herself around Jeonghan’s waist, sapping his warmth. 

“Good morning.” Her teeth chattered together quietly as she warmed up. 

Jeonghan wrapped his arms around her snugly, running his hands up and down her back. “Good morning, my love.” 

“ ‘m sorry if I woke you and Shua.”

“Me, yes, always. Him? I don’t know how he can sleep so deeply at times.” He chuckled, kissing her head. “I tried to make your hot chocolate for you and Chan.” 

She lit up, bright eyes looking up at him before pulling away. “Thank you, babe!” 

Jeonghan shrugged it off, just content seeing her happy any chance he could. He had been hoping the holidays would help lift her spirits even if it was a smidge. 

“Mouse, do you wanna do something later for me?” Joshua asked, placing one of the many plates down on the table. 

Mingyu gasped and Joshua snickered, seeing him nod. She frowned at the two of them, sipping the drink Jeonghan made for her. She raised a brow at him curiously but Jeonghan shrugged. Of course he knew what Joshua was going to ask but wasn’t going to ruin anything for the other man. 

Jeonghan watched as his counterpart rounded the table and wrapped his arms loosely around Mouse’s waist. 

“So we usually have Chan do it, but…” Joshua smiled sweetly down at her. “Chan gave up his job willingly so you could place the star on the top of the Christmas tree.” 

Leaning over the back of Seungcheol’s chair, Jeonghan watched as their girlfriend peeked over to the large Christmas tree placed in the living room near the front windows, beside the TV. It was missing the usual large star that sat on top. The last few years, Chan would climb up the ladder and place it, but he suggested that Mouse do it as her first Christmas with them. Joshua and Mingyu thought it was a great idea knowing she hadn’t done much for the holidays. 

“The star…?” She stared over at the tree but looked back at Joshua with a nod. “I’d love to do that.” 

There was this…gooey, warm and fuzzy feeling in Jeonghan’s chest, a smile spreading on his lips. She gave a kiss to Joshua’s lips before he was breaking off to finish helping with breakfast. Seokmin asked Chan to start getting everyone up to eat, leaving Mouse to slide her way under Jeonghan’s arm once more. 

“Why are you smiling like that?” She whispered, peering up curiously. 

Jeonghan pulled her close, tightly wrapping his long arms around her so she couldn’t easily escape. “I dunno, baby, maybe I’m just in love with you.” 

Her cheeks flushed a dark pink and he swore he could see stars in her eyes. 

“Get a room~” Seokmin said in a sing-song voice and both Jeonghan and Mouse rolled their eyes. 

“Oh trust me, we can and will get a room.” He smirked as Mouse hit him on the chest. 

“Jeonghan!”

“No, Mingyu- Do not pick me up-” Mingyu’s hands were already on you, easily lifting you as you struggled in his hold. 

You were just about to climb up the ladder when he grabbed you as a joke and lifted you up. He had been a little annoying all day, following you around as he wished the evening would come sooner so the star could be placed on top and the tree could be lit. 

“Put me down!” You hollered out, wiggling in his grasp. “I will kick you!” 

Chan laughed along with the giant, even a few others in the group joining in. 

“No you won-” 

You accidentally kicked back and hit him right in the groin and Mingyu crumbled. The loud uproar of laughter nearly overshadowed his pained groan. Once your feet hit the ground, you turned to Mingyu, seeing him on the floor, hands covering his crotch. 

“Note to self,” He wheezed out a breath, trying to collect himself. “Don’t pick up Mouse.” 

 “That should have been obvious, dude.” Vernon chuckled, wiping tears from the corner of his eyes. “I don’t know what you expected to happen.” 

“I am so sorry.” You kneeled down, panic in your eyes since you never intended to kick him there. 

“Don’t feel sorry, he deserved it.” Seungcheol shuffled in, grabbing two decently wrapped presents on the couch to place under the tree. 

“I just wanted to help you get the star up.” Mingyu pouted, sitting back on his feet. 

You sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose. “That is what the ladder is for!” 

“Don’t yell at me! You kicked me in the balls!” 

“Keep talking and I’ll kick you in the face!” 

“You are a menace to society!” 

“Good!” You crossed your arms, star still in hand and you stood tall. “Don’t forget it.” 

“Come on, up the ladder.” Joshua defused the situation quickly, guiding you towards the four-step ladder. 

You childishly stuck your tongue out as Mingyu now that he mostly recovered from your kick, letting your boyfriend usher you. Joshua held the ladder steady as you climbed, getting to the top and balanced yourself as you stood at the top. Reaching up, you ever so gently placed the star atop the artificial tree. When you were satisfied with how it was placed, making sure it was straight, you descended, looking up at your handy work. With a curt nod, you turned to look at all the guys. 

“Ta-da!” You Will Smith memed the tree, noticing Seungkwan’s phone raised and aimed at you. 

You gave him a little shimmy of your shoulders to make him and Vernon laugh as Chan bounded over towards the light switches and Jun was up and ready to plug in the tree. When the lights were flicked off and in the dark of the living room, the Christmas tree came to life when Joshua pushed a button on the small remote. 

From bottom to top, the lights ingrained in the tree went on in a straight white pattern before Joshua pushed another button and they transitioned to a rainbow spiritual starting at the base. You watched with wide eyes at the different effects it had, never having a tree as nice to see such a fancy display. 

Joshua placed his arm over your shoulder and pulled you into his side, kissing the top of your head. You took a deep breath, smiling pleasantly as the lights went solid white once more and the lights flickered back on. 

“Hmm, maybe I am feeling some holiday spirit.” You admitted, leaning your head against your boyfriend’s chest, staring at the tree. 

“Good, I want you to have a good Christmas, sweetheart.” He tilted your chin up and kissed you sweetly, feeling him smile against your lips. 

“Right in front of my salad?” Seungkwan asked and you raised your hand to flip him the middle finger. 

“Do your mushy couple shit somewhere else.”

There was a devious glint in Joshua’s eyes that you didn’t like. It was only a second before you were dipped back, hand on your ass, and he was kissing you again, this time rougher. If you could, you would have been laughing but up until this point, a majority of Joshua’s affection was slow, sensual even when things got heated. 

You noted the sounds of complaint and retching from your friends, but a laugh came from Jeonghan. Joshua pulled your back up, moving away some to throw a smirk as some boos were also thrown out. Your cheeks were flushed and you turned your head away, not wanting them to see how flustered you were. 

“You guys are nasty.” Jihoon griped and one peek at Joshua showed his eyes lighting up once more. 

“Nope, no, do not-” You escaped his arms and ran straight into Soonyoung’s waiting ones. 

“Who are you and what have you done with my Shua?” You gasped as Soonyoung bundled you up close to his chest. “Demon.” 

Mingyu jumped into your other side, holding you along with the other. “We’ll protect you, Mouse!” 

You stuck your tongue out at your boyfriend and Seungcheol cleared his throat, breaking the moment. 

“Make sure presents are under the tree before Christmas day, by the way.” He sent a glare to Vernon then Jun, both avoiding his gaze. “Last year some people nearly lost some of their gifts because they weren’t placed in the living room to not lose them.” 

“Oh come on.” Vernon crossed his arms and Jun only grinned and snickered. 

“Don’t ‘come on’ me. Soonyoung at least can follow the simple instructions and his room is a minefield of shit.” 

“Okay, he isn’t wrong…” Soonyoung muttered and you covered your mouth to hold in a laugh. “I’ll admit that I’m messy.”

“I’m hiding the mistletoe!” Mingyu parked up, grinning wide. “Been thinking of hiding spots all year.” 

“Oh god.” You cringed, shaking your head with a smile. “Why mistletoe?” 

“Because everyone deserves a kiss!” Seokmin chuckled, biting on the tip of his tongue.

Mingyu placed a sloppy, wet kiss to your cheek and you pushed him away with a squeak. Wiping his spit off with his sleeve, you whined at how gross he was. 

“There will be a lot more of that where those came from. Whoever has got the most mistletoe kisses by the end of the night gets another gift and this year Cheol gets to provide it.” 

“First year we did this, Minghao had to provide it, then last year it was Wonwoo.” Soonyoung filled you in thankfully, still keeping you wrapped up in his arms. 

“And I’m keeping it a secret until then.” Seungcheol spoke smugly, a smirk on his lips.

“You rang?” Sona stepped into your apartment, stopping as she noticed the mess you were working on cleaning before Chan would pick you up. “Did a baking tornado rip through here?” 

“No, uh, sorry.” You placed some mixing bowls in the dishwasher, along with some measuring cups and spatulas. “I was baking seven batches of brownies, some for 99 line Christmas to take home with them for everyone else. Lost track of time but they are all in my ovens.” 

Quickly rinsing off your hands and dusting your apron of any flour, you moved towards her with a small hop in your step. Sona raised a brow and tilted her head to the side in curiosity. 

“Okay, so I know you said I shouldn’t have to, but I got you a gift for Christmas.” You smiled at her, hearing a scoff and shaking her head.

“You are ridiculous, but I…did do the same.” Her features broke into a smile, dropping her head with a huff. “Let me go grab it.” 

You cheered as she hurried out and you sprinted down the hall to get the recently wrapped gift box. It was placed atop the pile of presents you needed to take up to the house, along with your small suitcase since Seokmin and you would be heading here from the house to work through the week between Christmas and New Years. 

It was, in fact, the day before Christmas either way. In a little while you’d pack everything into Chan’s car, head to the 99 line party, then head up to the house. You were so lucky that the 99 line settled on a Secret Santa rather than getting everyone present for the gift exchange. You’d have enough time to place everything under the tree at the house with the rest of the gifts then crash before the festivities started.

Over a week ago, a sealed envelope was given to you by one of SVT’s men who stated it had been delivered by one of ATZ’s people. It was a note that told you who your gift was for, which ended up being Yeosang, and that there was a five hundred dollar spending limit. Wooyoung had texted the groupchat to start gift hunting and they could figure out a day to chill another time and exchange. 

You sat at the kitchen island as your pans of brownies baked, drumming your fingers over the box until your door opened once more. Sona walked in with a simple gift bag, tissue paper sticking out along with an envelope. 

“I want to admit that one part of this gift here is for both of us on my dime.” She commented and you chuckled, motioning her over. 

“Not a problem.” You slid the box over to her once she sat down and she placed the bag in front of you. “You first, Sona.”

Sona huffed, smiling gently as she tore off the purple wrapping paper and opened the box, letting out a laugh at the contents. One after another, she pulled out five large makeup pallets you had ordered. They were new releases, you stayed up a few nights on their drop dates and spent a good bit on them. Thankfully, for once, you weren’t overly worried about the cost you spent. 

“Damn, how did you know?” She opened each of them, loving over the wide variety of colors and shimmers she could use. 

You grinned, resting your elbow on the table and your head in your hand. “When you did my makeup for the gala and the ball, you always had the newest pallets in your case from these brands so…ta-da!” 

Sona closed the pallets, stacking them nearly and nodding her head towards the gift bag. You took the envelope out first and placed it down, digging to pull out the bottle of wine. Your eyes ran over it, seeing the date, an older, definitely expensive bottle from France from what you could tell. Once you were content with the wine, eyes having looked over every inch, you reached for the envelope, practically vibrating in your spot. 

“No way!” You read over the papers, beaming from ear to ear. “You did not.”

“Oh I did.” Sona giggled, watching you continue to read. “I think after all this shit, we both need it.” 

“Three days, two nights, all inclusive spa resort for four- Wait. Four?” 

“So, it was mainly for you and I, but there was a deal for four people and I thought you could bring Gahyeon or one of the other girls and I could bring Lex, all on me.” 

“That sounds…” You paused, narrowing your eyes as a mischievous grin spreading on your face. “Lex, Huh?” 

“Not this again, Mouse, we are just friends.” Sona groaned, dropping her head. “Nothing is going on between us.” 

“Mhmm, nothing. Keep telling yourself that, babes. Nothing yet.” You winked but opened your arms for a hug. 

Sona pulled you into a hug, resting her head on your shoulder, holding you tightly. “Thanks, Mouse, and Merry Christmas.”

You sighed happily, rubbing her back. “Merry Christmas, Sona. I’ll see you after New Years.” 

She moved back, holding onto your forearms gently, looking at you almost with a hint of melancholy in her eyes. “First vacation in a while. I dunno, I might miss hanging out with you.” 

“You’ll make me blush.” You swooned dramatically. “Enjoy your vacation and your new makeup pallets…Tell Lex I said Hi.”

She rolled her eyes. “We’ll schedule the weekend for the spa trip after the holidays.” 

“Oh for sure.”

Sona gathered the bow into her arms and bid you a goodbye before leaving. One glance at the timer for the brownies told you that there was plenty of time to change and throw on a little makeup. You were pulling the brownies out of the oven when Chan came in. With haste, you placed them aside to cool and hurried over to greet him gleefully. He explained that he borrowed Minghao’s SUV since he was already home to take whatever you had to the party to the house. When he ended up seeing just how many assorted boxes needed to be brought, Chan asked a few of their men downstairs to help. You were so glad you baked more than just brownies recently, offering them a whole batch of cookies when they took the last of the boxes. The men took the container at your insistence and you could see their barely there smiles as you wished them a happy holidays. 

The moment the brownies seemed cool enough to transfer, you divided them into the extra containers you bought and set off towards the small restaurant Changbin chose for the evening, or well – he booked the entire place. Main reason you brought the brownies was for them to take home to their groups since you couldn’t do anything else for them. 

You grabbed the present for Yeosang out of the back, grinning to yourself at the item inside. It took a few minutes to simply find the item, surprisingly, but two weeks to arrive at your doorstep. You received it in the mail the previous night and scrambled to get a box and wrapping paper together to wrap it. 

“You good?” Chan pulled his own simple box from the car, an unknown gift for an unknown Secret Santa. 

Giving a nod, you stood beside him with the brownies in a bag and the present. “You’ll be okay to drive later?” 

“Mhmm. I’m not drinking tonight.” He bumped his hip against yours, locking the car as you both strided into the restaurant. 

“Merry Christmas!” Wooyoung nearly barreled into the two of you, placing a sweet kiss to your cheek and a gross wet one to Chan’s. 

“Ew! Fuck off.” Chan wiped his cheek off, cringing and frowning. “You kissed her all nice and kissed my cheek like you are a dog.” 

“Because I treat women well.” 

“That is a lie.” Gahyeon strided over, dressed down in a sweater half tucked into light jeans. “You treat Mouse like a lady sometimes and me like you are an annoying little brother.”

“And I still treat you better than I do the rest of these idiots.” Wooyoung hummed, nodding his head back towards the others. “Come on, let's sit since food is gonna be ready soon.” 

You happily greeted the rest of the 99 line, giving hugs and big squeezes. You placed your present on the wall behind you, taking a seat between Yeosang and Yeonjun, teasing the former for his bright dyed orange hair. He explained that he lost a bet but even then it did look good, which Yeonjun appreciated. 

The food was amazing, the minimal staff was amazing and attentive, and you were glad to have a simple night. Chan had informed you in the car that they had security watching the perimeter of the building, the ground understanding the anxiety you had being in public, even if all of them were more than able to protect you. Some were drinking, you agreed on a glass of wine as you ate and Chan kept his word that he wasn’t drinking, along with San, Mingi, and Wooyoung.

San and Yunho were on a tangent about some event in League of Legends, specifically the TFT side, and it was getting loud. Wooyoung joined the conversation and Yeosang sighed, shaking his head at their over the top behavior. You chose to stay quiet since you hadn’t used your computer to play any games in a while, leaning into Yeosang’s space when Yeonjun got involved, wanting to preserve your hearing. They went on for a while as dinner was eating. Wooyoung almost threw a piece of bread, which Changbin stopped, and you were glad they were mostly sober, minus a drink or two. 

“Okay, you guys are getting overly rambunctious.” Chan spoke up, grinning despite their lively, weird banter. “Presents before dessert?” 

With the questions posed, the main course was quickly finished and plates were taken away. Everyone grabbed their presents, eyeing each other to make guesses at who was whose Secret Santa. 

“Whose first?” Mingi gazed about, leg bouncing with pent up energy. 

“Youngest or oldest?” 

“So Gahyeon or Wooyoung?” 

“Oh, I wanna go!” Gahyeon placed the small, square Swarovski box on the table, smiling wide. She handed the bow closed box across the table to you. “I was lucky enough to get Mouse for this.” 

You laughed through your nose, taking the present and undid the bow, gingerly opening it. Inside, you laid your eyes on a cuff bracelet, silver in an infinite style band design. You lifted it from the box, letting out a small hum of amazement, examining the crystals in their settings. You undid the hinge clasp and slid it around your wrist. 

“ ‘Hyeon.” You pouted, lifting your eyes to meet her wide, bright gaze. “It’s so pretty, thank you.” 

The woman continued to smile across the table, eyes shining in the lights. She lifted her arm and pushed her sleeve up, revealing the same bracelet in gold around her wrist. You whined, bringing your hand up to your heart and pouted even more. 

“Now you can never escape me.” She winked. “Your turn to give your gift.”

“Oh, yeah.” You lifted the rectangular box from your lap and handed it over to Yeosang beside you. “This is for you.” 

His eyebrows raised in surprise but a shy smile made its way onto his lips. He tore the paper and balled it up before lifting the lid on the box. You watched as his eyes widened at the limited edition skateboard with black and red designs all over it with matching grip tape. Yeosang took it into his hands and you moved the box to let him examine it thoroughly, flipping it over in his hands. 

“How did-” 

“At karaoke you said that you like to collect them and ride skateboards so…” You shrugged. “I had Channie help with the colors.” 

He thanked you, a breathy chuckle leaving him and a wide, timid smile continued to spread on his lips. “I’ll make sure it gets good use.”

Yeosang’s gift ended up being for Wooyoung, who had a few people eyeing the latter as he snickered but was thankful for the large designer duffle bag within the packaging. Yeosang said that his old one was getting messed up since he needed to travel a lot. Changbin was next to receive a gift. Wooyoung’s present to him was a thin but large box and Changbin was confused as he unwrapped it. Once the top was off, he scoffed but smiled broadly, pulling a nicely framed, signed horror movie posted. Wooyoung went on to say that he knew it wasn’t a part of the already existing collection so…

Changbin’s Secret Santa was Yeonjun, who was gifted a pair of simple diamond earrings since the latter lost his first pair when traveling and was bummed since they were a gift from Soobin. San was given his gift from Yeonjun, a three piece suit, designer of course, in a lovely dark purple color since he looked good in said style and color. 

San was given Mingi to give a gift to, which came in the form of a matching ring and chain necklace set due to his love for jewelry. Mingi didn’t hesitate to slide them on happily as he thanked San, grinning wide. The aforementioned man passed his present over to Chan who tore into it with childlike fervor to reveal a pair of shoes, ones you knew he was looking to pre order but decided against it. 

Chan was Yunho’s Secret Santa, handing the present over to the grabby hand man. He pulled off the ribbon around it, along with the top, and Yunho took hold of the jacket inside, humming excitedly as the long silhouette came into view. Chan snickers that Yunho’s last long jacket got ruined in a shoot out so it was necessary to get another. 

Since Gahyeon was first, she was last to obtain a gift, having waited patiently. Yunho handed the box over and she opened it with hand, gently moving the tissue paper aside to pull out the designer handbag. She thanked him and ran her gaze over it as Yunho spoke up, stating that her old favorite bag fell to pieces from how much she used it, the hand strap even frayed to bits, and he wanted her to have another she liked. 

With gift exchanging done and more gratitude passed around (along with many hugs), the staff on duty brought out dessert; chocolate lava cakes with vanilla ice cream. Yeosang asked you where you found the skateboard which you gladly explained, even pulling you your phone to show him. You hadn’t stopped smiling, laughing at jokes that were said, a light, warm feeling in your soul. 

Goodbyes weren’t far behind dessert, all wanting to get home since it was getting late, with a big exchange of hugs, cheek kisses, and a promise for a meet up once the New Year started. You gave Gahyeon a tight hug, hearing her giggle as she squeezed you close to her body. She asked one of the others to take a picture of the two of you, to which Yunho took her phone and snapped a few happily. Chanbin asked a member of the restaurant staff to take a group shot, all of you scrunching together to fit into the frame well. All vibrant smiles spread on your faces.

Before you left, you handed out the containers of brownies, warning them that you were going to text other members of their group so the treats were shared, which made a few groan in disappointment. 

Between you and Chan, it was loud the entire ride home, which wasn’t a big surprise. Despite how late it was, Chan continued to keep you smiling, through stories and horribly tuned karaoke. You did end up giving him a brownie when he started to beg, laughing as he almost dropped it, twice, while driving. He pulled into the garage to Minghao’s spot, peeking inside to find it quiet and most of the lights off. 

He helped you as quietly as possible to take all the presents from the car, almost tripping over other gifts in the living room. You gave Chan a hug, whispering to sleep well and that you’d see him in the morning. He trailed you to Jeonghan’s room before wandering off towards his room. 

Slipping into the room, you could hear the soft breathing from Joshua but saw the dimmed light of Jeonghan’s phone. His head shot up at the click of the door and you padded over to the closet with a wave at him. You changed quickly then disappeared into the bathroom to clean off your face and brush your hair. There was a quiet grumble of your name, you rolled your eyes as you flicked the light off and made your way over to where your boyfriends laid. 

“Welcome home.” Jeonghan muttered, pulling you into his hold, letting you climb over him to the spot in between. 

“Why aren’t you sleeping?” You slipped under the covers, feeling him snuggle into your side. 

“Was worried about you. You didn’t answer my texts.” 

Placing a kiss to his forehead, you sighed and ran your fingers through his hair. “Sorry… Chan and I were having fun bullshitting. You can go to sleep now.” 

He huffed, planting a kiss on your jawline. “Can I be the big spoon?” 

“You wanna-?” You snickered and nodded, feeling his arms loosen so you could turn over. 

He tugged you to his chest and you reached out to pull Joshua into the pile. The second man made an unknown sound but his body easily shifted to curl up with the two of you. 

“Merry Christmas.” You muttered into Joshua’s hair and knocked out not long after.

“Wake up! It’s Christmas!” 

You, Joshua, and Jeonghan were violently startled awake by Jun yelling into the room. When your groans of disapproval started, he jumped into bed across all of you. Jeonghan hit his back weakly while Jun laughed with childlike enjoyment but whined. Joshua pushed him away and you struggled under his (light) weight crushing you. 

“Everyone got to sleep-in this year, wake up!” He rolled over and off the bed, checking his phone. “Almost nine in the morning, get up!” 

Through the door, you could make out Soonyoung cheerfully yelling into someone’s room. Jun grinned once more before he scurried out, leaving the door wide open. 

“I’m gonna kill ‘em.” Jeonghan pressed his face into the pillow. “Violently. Murder.” 

“He’ll enjoy it too much.” Joshua replied, an arm over his eyes as he continued to wake up.

“I hate that you’re right.” 

Reluctantly you sat up, brushing some hair out of your face and flattening the rest down. You contemplated whether you’d change but looked down at your (Jeonghan’s) flannel pajama pants and t-shirt (Joshua’s) and only decided on throwing a sweatshirt over it. Both of your boyfriends followed out with Joshua dragging blankets off the bed and trudging out to the living room, stealing the loveseat for the three of you. Seungkwan, Vernon, and Chan were huddled together on the couch, bleary eyed but awake enough to be coherent. You sat half on each of your significant other’s laps, both cuddling into your sides. 

“Mouse,” Chan pouted. “Can you make hot chocolate?” 

Giving a pat to both Joshua’s and Jeonghan’s heads, you gleefully stood despite their whines and set off to the kitchen on a mission. You set up quickly to make everyone a cup of something, keeping in mind who liked theirs extra sweet or didn’t want it at all. Chan did end up helping you pass out the wide assortment of mugs, even helping toss some mini-marshmallows into them. Members were still emerging from their rooms but accepted the sweet drinks to warm their bones before the massive stack of gifts were open. 

“Merry Christmas!” Mingyu skipped over, a devious smile on his face, throwing an arm over your shoulder.

He pulled you close to his side, opening a different cabinet beside the mugs. “Would you look at that! Mistletoe!” 

Not giving you a moment to react, Mingyu pressed a big, wet smooch to your cheek. You squealed when he didn’t let up, laughing when Seokmin appeared at your other side, doing the same. 

“Ridiculous!” Swatting both away, they simply grinned. 

“Two Mistletoe kisses for Mouse!” 

“Take your drinks and stop being nasty.”

You forced mugs (carefully) into their hands, but you didn’t stop smiling at their antics. Chan took the two for Jeonghan and Joshua while you walked over to the half awake, pouty leader, handing him a mug. He thanked you with a lazy side hug and a grumble, plopping down on the couch. You joined your boyfriends with your drink, humming at their warmth and the mug in hand. 

“Alright, teach me a very SVT Christmas.” You motioned aimlessly at the tree and gifts. 

“Typically…” Minghao yawned, taking a sip of the tea you made him instead of hot chocolate. “It’s a free-for-all thing but since it's your first major holiday with us, I think we are going easy.”

“Mouse should open all her gifts first!” Seungkwan smiled wide, resting his head on Vernon’s shoulder. 

“Mmm, if we do that, you all need to open your presents from me then you can have your wild free for all.”

“Deal!” Sooyoung beamed. 

“He is the worst of all,” Joshua complained, groaning. “Last year he fucking bit me.” 

“Huh?” You looked at Soonyoung in disbelief but he didn’t deny it. “No biting for fuck sake!”

Soonyoung almost looked…disappointed. Weirdo. 

“Okay!” Jun interrupted, clapping his hands together. “Mouse’s presents.” 

He grabbed each of your gifts with called-out help from the others saying which were for you, an almost scary sized cluster of boxes. Jihoon laughed at your shocked expression, pointing like a child. 

“The fuck, guys…” You said, slipping onto the floor in front of the pile, taking in the plethora of boxes. 

“Open them~” Jeonghan encouraged and with smiles all facing you, you reached for a gift. 

You tore off the (slightly) janky wrapped paper after finding the name, the first from Wonwoo. It wasn’t heavy as you opened the inconspicuous brown cardboard box, snorting as you pulled out the fancy digital camera and the accessory box.

“Once everything…settles down, maybe we could go out and take pictures together.” The low, tired rumble of his voice had you nodding in agreement, having seen his camera before. 

You set your eyes on the smallest of the stack, a smile square box with a bow holding it together. There wasn’t a giver name, but you were able to see the Cartie etched across the top. 

“Holy shit.” You whispered, seeing the gold, diamond bracelet staring back at you. It was thin, dainty, but the metaphorical weight was a lot. You’ve seen them before, expensive, and a dream if you were a millionaire. 

You gazed around the room and the moment your eyes met with Seungcheol’s, you knew. There was a subtle shake to his head, almost asking not to point it out as you slid it around your wrist. 

“Damn, okay, I’m glad I didn’t go with that.” Mingyu snickered as you moved along to a medium sized, rectangular box. 

“I’m terrified of this big square box.” You gave it a light kick and Jun’s shoulder shook with silent laughter. 

Minghao panicked when you were a little harsh in peeling off the wrapping paper. “It’s fragile-” 

You instantly were gentler, hearing a deep breath leave him. Pulling off the top, you squeaked. It was a gorgeous tea set in a very pale blue-green, mint colored glaze and a seemingly hand painted cherry blossom pattern. Another squeak left you when you found the matching designed cups. Mingaho let out a giggle and you found pouches of hand labeled tea bags of ones he had made for you previously. 

“I’m gonna drink the fuck out of these, Hao.”

“Good, I know where to get more.” 

The boxes were getting bigger, minus a singular smaller one. You saw a neatly wrapped present with the youngest three’s initials scrapped across it. You dragged it over, noticing the three perk up as you tore off the ribbon and popped off the top. 

You bulked at the three, crisply packaged designer bags in three different styles. You really tell who picked out which one based on the varying colors and style. Seungkwan definitely got you the lavender purse with a regular hand strap and a detachable shoulder strap. Vernon’s was a simple black shoulder bag with silver accents. Chan’s was a chrome silver with matching metal chain hand strap to hold it. 

“Between this and the clothes in my closet, I’m getting the feeling you don’t like my style.” You snarked, looking over each bag lovingly. 

“It could use some help.” Seungkwan teased back and you scoffed, flipping him off. 

“Jackass.” You placed the box aside and picked up a sparkly wrapped small gift. “I hope you all know that I know some of you can’t wrap gifts.” 

“Team effort.” 

“I feel like a kid on Christmas morning with all the aunties and uncles here to spoil their only niece.” You got the paper off, hating the glitter that now stuck to your hands and clothes, but coming face to face with a pair of noise canceling headphones. “I need these with how loud you guys can get.” 

“See, I told you!” Seokmin hit Mingyu’s arm, cackling. “Twenty bucks, please.” 

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll get it later…” 

You moved onto the next gift, turning it about to see Santa Jun scrawled across the side. It was the second largest box in the pile left and you were laughing when you saw the contents. The squished, vacuum sealed face of Gengar staring back at you. 

“A giant plushie!?” 

“Bean bag chair!” Jun vibrated in his seat, hands shaking happily. “It’s huge, like five feet by five feet.” 

You stared at him blankly, slow blinking. “I will never leave it. It’s my new home.” 

He grinned, nose scrunching up in a snicker. “Good, that was the plan.” 

“Okay, biggest one.” You stood to open it and Mingyu was bustling with excitement.

It was a large entertainment speaker system similar to the ones at the house with a note saying ‘ Movie Night?’. 

“Yeah, I think that can be arranged. Another big movie night.” 

There was a cheer from some as you reached for a bulky square-ish box. It was heavy and you heard something shift inside. There was a messily drawn tiger and cat face that made you chuckle. There was a lovely record player inside with a very thick stack of vinyls of multiple artists you knew or some you haven’t heard of. The one that stuck out to you at the very bottom of the stack, however, had you on the floor laughing. 

“DJ-” You wheezed, “DJ Leaf Blower’s Greatest Hits-” 

“Read the number one song.” Jihoon called out. 

Flipping the vinyl over, you screamed and laughed harder. “ Ram Ranch Remix?! ” Gasping for air, you held your sides. “I’m gonna pee.” 

“ Barbie Girl 4.0?” Minghao raised a brow, reading it once you handed it over. 

“Don’t worry about it.” Vernon snorted, a wide grin on his face. 

“Come on, one more before ours.” Mingyu hummed, shimmying in place. 

Collecting yourself enough to catch your breath and wiping your face, you pulled the last gift close, a black and gold rectangular box. J&J was written on the card and you quickly opened it. 

There was an assortment of items inside that you sorted through. Perfumes, clothes, shoes, and so much more. You smelled each new perfume, happy that were similar to your much cheaper ones. The clothes and shoes were matching and you found a note insinuating they were for a night out with them. There was even a new clutch and jewelry to go with said outfits. 

“You know, I can’t hug all of you at once-” 

“Wrong!” Mingyu yelled while Seokmin cheered, diving at you and talking you to the floor. 

A few more joined, mainly Seungkwan, Chan, Jun, and Soonyoung, leaving you squished against the tallest and your best friend. You struggled, clawing at the carpet to try and flee, but you gave up as they started to get up and off of you. 

An exasperated huff left you, tired and unable to fight back. “I can’t believe you heathens.” 

You stood, ignoring their beaming smiles and chuckles in order to retrieve and hand out each of their gifts. Some were large while others were small, handing them out to some grabby handed adults. Jun helped you move all your things aside as they started one by one opening their gifts starting with Chan. 

You had found a humongous otter plushie on sale, knowing he looked like the animal, and a new leather jacket. He laughed loudly as he unpacked the stuffed animal, keeping it tuck under his arm as he took the jacket out. Chan thanked you as Vernon started to open his two packages of similar size tied together with a ribbon, one thin and the other relatively thick box. You had many text conversations with Seungkwan to find something, deciding on a new DJ turntable and a rare, signed David Bowie poster that you got help from Changbin to find. He let out a surprised sound, eyes wide and a grin in disbelief. 

Seungkwan opened his gift next, a nice, reliable shoulder bag he didn’t have. Totally didn’t snoop in his room to find out, and a new pair of running shoes since his current ones were falling apart. Mingyu tore into his gift the moment a thank you left the younger man’s mouth, meeting the cheesy Kiss The Chef apron, resting on top of a custom tailored dark green suit. Siyeon had given you a list of all the colors the giant looked good in and you picked the color you hadn’t seen him in a lot. He was ready to strip, standing up to throw the jacket over his black sleep t-shirt, rambling at how much he liked it. 

Seokmin opened the box in his lap, gasping dramatically as he lifted the papers in the air.

“Divorce papers?! How could you?” He waved them around before tossing the faked papers on the floor. “I thought you and I were soulmates!” 

“I’m sorry,” You placed a hand to your chest, sighing. “But I have found another- two others.” 

He fake cried as he rifled through the box more, pulling out the bottles of cologne you found similar to his common ones. He thanked you with a playful kiss to the cheek. 

Minghao was next, giggling at the gift you got him. Just as he had given you, a custom tea set rested in the box with little cute, painted frogs on it. Each of the four cups had cartoon frogs with different expressions on them, and it came with a handcrafted frog tea pet. You went on to explain that Jun told you about his love for animated frogs and had a great idea. He thanked you and curled in on himself to take the pottery in. 

Jihoon’s gift was harder to find, but the moment you did, you bought it without looking at the price tag (you did later and you died a little inside). It was a limited edition, dark red Ibenez guitar. His eyes lit up as he lifted it from the case, an excited, random sound leaving him as he gazed upon it. He mumbled a thank you a moment before Soonyoung unwrapped his present, laughing loudly at the three piece tiger print pants, shirt, and suit jacket set you bought. He, without a single care, kicked off his pajama bottoms and tugged the new pants on. You made a sound of complaint at his stripping but glad that he enjoyed it. 

Wonwoo’s presents were bundled in one, three (four technically) items to add to his computer setup. You were originally going to get him a new graphics card but you walked in on him a few weeks ago taking his tower apart to install…a new graphics card. In the end, you settled on a large, wireless charging mouse pad, a new mouse with a lot of side buttons, and a clicky-clacky keyboard. You matched the brands to ones you knew he had in his current set up, but got a second keycap set if he wanted to change the style out. 

Jun’s present was kind of similar to what he got you, funny enough. He got you a huge ass Gengar bean bag…you got him a four foot long Mareep Pokemon plushie. He wheezed in excitement, ripping the plastic off to hold it comfortably to his chest, making a comment that he would cuddle it forever. 

Joshua’s and Jeonghan’s presents were quite large, however you added a small gift to match something you had made. Based on their taste, you got Jeonghan a chain bracelet while Joshua got a necklace of similar design. You got yourself a necklace with a mix between both styles to match, but you’d tell them later. 

Along with the jewelry, you got Jeonghan a huge lego set to work on during the holiday. He expressed wanting to build one again and not knowing what to do with his time when you went to work during the week with Seokmin. For Joshua…you got a life sized model of Ichigo’s first sword from Bleach, one of his favorite anime. Both looked thankful but overjoyed admiring their gift. 

Last but certainly not least, Seungcheol held the box in hand, larger than his palm but still small. You, with the encouragement from Jeonghan, snuck into his room to find a decent gift idea for the leader. He had a large collection of watches of varying brands, styles, and types, you took as much time as you could to find something online before rushing out. 

Seungcheol’s gummy smile could be seen as he popped the lid open, removing the rose gold Rolex watch. He looked it over with quiet enjoyment, hastily sliding it around his wrist, surprised it fit well since links usually needed to be table off. You…won’t tell him you took one of his and returned it to its original place with the help from Chan. 

You asked everyone if they liked their gifts and the chorus of affirmation and thank yous followed. Soonyoung got up, still sporting the tiger pants, and quickly started to pass out presents. You moved out of the way, dodging a box tossed Jeonghan’s way. Sitting with your back to the foot of the love seat, you watched as chaos ensued. 

Wrapping paper, bags, and box tops littered the living room. Excited screams and loud conversation filled the space as more presents were thrown. You wanted to help in some way, taking on the duty of collecting the trash, making a neat pile for easy clean up once everything was done. 

It was outrageous but also so heartwarming to see the happiness shared. While Jihoon wasn’t physically affectionate, he let Mingyu give him a tight hug and Jun to ruffle his hair. Seokmin practically jumped into Seungcheol’s lap when he opened the present from the leader. Jeonghan and Joshua nudged shoulders at their own exchange. You hugged your knees, continued to watch them, your… family, living in the simple pleasures of a normal life moment. 

When gifts were finished, Mingyu and Minghao took charge in fully cleaning up, which became a group effort. You snuck into the kitchen to start on the even larger breakfast, finding Joshua at your hip not long after. Between breakfast and dinner later, you didn’t mind the thought of spending the whole day in the kitchen. You even had something…special up your sleeve for dinner. 

“Why is there mistletoe down here?!” Joshua asked, opening a bottom cabinet. You sprinted around the kitchen, sliding on your socks to plant a kiss to his cheek. 

“Joshua one!” You sprung up, calling out to Mingyu who whooped loudly. 

Joshua rolled his eyes but stole a kiss from you when he stood before letting you get back to cooking. With help from Seokmin and Chan, breakfast was a mix of food from pancakes to hashbrowns. Despite the time, everything ended up being more brunch items, but everyone looked satisfied with the spread of sweet and savory. 

Some gifts were moved from the living room to make space for the full bellied bodies and movie watching. Jihoon sat with the guitar you got him, tuning it with practiced precision. Seungkwan was sitting on the couch with Jeonghan, snickering over the gifts they got each other; a nice set of jackets for the younger man and two sets of imported wine for your boyfriend. Everything was calm and domestic. 

You could hear an annoyed shout from Minghao as Soonyoung and Jun pecked him on the cheek when mistletoe was found in the linen closet. They both shouted the count then ran from the assassin. You, on the other hand, started prepping items for dinner, chopping many vegetables, positioning out so much chicken, and making some (a lot ) of dough. Their background noise was comforting, hearing them laugh and chatter. After being on your own for a while, this was a change you knew you needed. 

“Mouse, come join us.” Jeonghan called, peering over the back of the couch, pouting. 

“I’m almost done here.” You hummed over your shoulder, placing the prepped items in different containers. 

“Mouse-” He whined and you shot him a playful glare, moving to wash your hands. 

He was grinning at you with a gaze full of love and infatuation as he watched you move about. You shook your head and moved over to him once you were finished. Seungkwan ran off somewhere else, leaving a space next to Jeonghan that you were going to fill, but he pulled you into his lap, kissing your cheek a few times. 

“Are you having a good Christmas?” He whispered, watching as you looked around the room. 

You took in a deep breath, smiling with a nod as your eyes settled back on him, taking in his features. “I am.”

Once more, you looked around, seeing the holiday joy, bright vibes, and the love between everyone. 

“I’m glad that I ended up tangled with you guys, Hannie.”

Dinner was a much bigger affair than you had previously thought. You were kinda warned that you needed to dress up a little, but you laughed, seeing some of them in some of their best outfits, recognizing some from the gala. You did throw on a dress Joshua got when you moved into your new home, long and classy but not long enough you needed shoes. Soonyoung had the tiger suit jacket that you got him and Mingyu wore the lovely dark green suit with lots of ostentatious jewelry. The entire scene was comical the more you looked them over head to toe. 

The only explanation you were given as to why this dinner needed nice outfits was that someone had made a joke once that everyone should dress up extra nice just to have a home cooked meal and hang out. Some took it to the extreme with Seokmin and Chan walking out in brightly colored outfits and horribly clashing patterns, making everyone die laughing. They looked like eyesores. Joshua decided to go similar to Mingyu, hands and neck littered with lots of over the top jewelry.

You were happy the dress you brought wasn’t bothersome to keep cooking, quickly tossing on an apron to assemble the individual chicken pot pies and getting them in the oven. Minghao, Jun, and Seokmin were finishing up their own dishes that wouldn’t clash too much with what you were making. 

Pulling open the cabinet with the serving dishes you opened earlier in the day, you gasped, cursing under your breath. You tried to close the cabinet quickly but Minghao’s hand stopped you. He giggled but placed a gentle kiss on your cheek, only for Seokmin to dive in and kiss your other one. 

“Mouse two!” 

You grumbled and turned to find Mingyu’s playful gaze. “How did you manage to change the spot?!” 

“Dumb question, I changed more and hid more so everyone be prepared.” He grinned. “So far, Mouse has four, Hao has two, and Joshua has one.” 

“How the fuck…” You whispered, huffing as you went back to cooking, exasperated, “Someone set the table!” 

Jihoon, Vernon, and Wonwoo worked on setting the table, happy to help since they were…pretty useless when cooking. Working with Jun, you got everyone’s ramekin out of the oven and to the table. You gave a warning that it was scolding hot so on one should touch them right away. Hao and Seokmin got the rest of the dishes plated and to the table and soon you were sitting down to eat with everyone. 

Seungcheol took a peek at the dish before him then to you, raising a brow since he knew exactly what it was. You only gave him a wink as everyone started to grab more food and dug into the meal. Seeing the satisfaction on everyone’s face was enough to get you all giddy and a fuzzy feeling settled in your chest. Your grandmother would be over the moon to see more people enjoying her recipes. You knew you were happy for her. 

“Can we do a big family picture after?” Seungkwan looked down the table, addressing everyone. “I think we all look amazing enough.” 

“Ostentatious, you mean?” 

“Oh yeah. I want this framed for my memories. Plus we had stupid matching pajamas last year thanks to Jeonghan. And we have Mouse with us.” 

“I want a picture of all of us.” You hummed, chiming in as you smiled to yourself. “My first Christmas with all of you.” 

“We can take it by the Christmas tree!” Soonyoung was excited, hummed with joy. 

“That would be great.” 

Those who didn’t cook, cleaned, leaving Minghao, Jun, Seokmin, and you to relax. Seungcheol opened the fridge, yelling out at Minghao as Chan kissed his cheek dramatically. You shouted out his couch, laughing as the leader wiped his face. With time, you moved any presents laying around away from the tree to make room for everyone. Seokmin scurried off to get his camera and tripod to take the picture. 

Everyone piled in, tallest of course in the back and you secured a place standing in front of Joshua with Jeonghan and Seungcheol on either side of him. Seokmin called out that he was setting a timer, wanting everyone to post while he ran to his spot. It took three tries and two poses later for the group of you to be satisfied with the effort. You snickered, asking to have them printed and framed to keep with you at home. 

“I’m getting out of my suit and getting back into my pajamas.” Jeonghan complained, already almost out of the living room. “Are we watching bad Christmas movies still?” 

“Oh yeah.” Vernon followed, heading towards his own room. 

“Bring your pillows and blankets I guess.” Wonwoo hummed out a chuckle. 

You stayed behind to finish and clean up, watching everyone go to their rooms. Joshua joined you despite his gaudy jewelry and a look that he definitely wanted to change. 

“Shua, you can go change, I’ll be there soon.” 

“No, no, I want to help.” He stepped close, taking the rings off his hands and pocketed them. “Plus, I get to have a moment alone, in peace, with you.”

You grinned, wrapping your arms around his neck to pull him flush against your body. His hands were on your waist, gently swaying with you to an unheard tune as he lovely smiled down at you. 

“I’m happy you got to spend the holiday with us, and that you are going to spend new years with us, Mouse. Having you here with all of us…God, the guys love you, I love you-” He stopped with his mouth agape, sputtering. “Wait fuck, I didn’t mean to-” 

Gently you pulled him down for a kiss, sweet and slow, hoping it began to express the feelings bubbling in your chest. Butterflies fluttered in your stomach when he returned with fervor, feeling him smile against your lips. One of his hands came up to gingerly hold your face, his thumb ghosting over your cheek. He pulled away first, only to chase back to give you a singular small peck to your lips before he bashfully grinned down at you. 

“I love you, sweetheart.” Joshua whispered, as if the statement was a secret between the two of you, but you cleared your throat, taking his face into both hands. 

“Joshua Hong, I love you too.”

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[watchtowerindistress]

the empath and the eldritch horror (5/5) - sparrow!ben x empath!reader

Summary: Ben and Eight have breakfast together. Diego is being weird-er than usual. Two manipulators (more or less) have a heart to heart. Ben and Eight have the best and the worst day together.

Word count: 5.6k

Warning: language, mention of smut, angst (kinda?)

Author's note: Yes, this ends on a cliffhanger note, but that's only because the finale episode will be used as a recap in the new series, so you'll be picked up for the next ride. The Ben/Eight scene during the one hour reprieve can be read as a deleted scene since I couldn't just leave that out.

Just so you know, if you're interested in the sequel series for S4, you can already enter the taglist. Just access the series masterlist, the rest is gravy. 😘 I'm going to take a break after this since I'm getting mentally tired - maybe I depleted all there was for this character for now.

Dear me, thank you for 1.8k. Remember guys, reblogging and writing a small comment is love. Let me know if you even liked this.

Series masterlist

There was just so much to choose from, you realized, when you were standing in front of the buffet, admiring the breakfast collection. Your stomach emitted a rumbling noise to signal its craving for food. You just started filling your breakfast tray when Ben joined your side.

“Here, have some vitamins,” you said, popping a pineapple cube into his mouth.

A grunt left Ben’s mouth. He paused awkwardly before he slowly munched on the fruit. Ben wiped his mouth. “You’re lucky I—you’re alright. You do remember me punching your brother for wanting a hug, right?”

It felt surreal to have him not being his snarky self. Without him hissing at every turn. Ben’s behavior in the elevator should’ve been indicative enough of how the morning after was treating him.

“Is this the hangover talking or are you losing your touch? Because I remember you being way more hostile when you want to be.”

Ben groaned loudly at being caught unawares. “Just give me a few minutes with a cup of coffee, alright? Then I’m back to insulting your whole family.” The corners of his mouth tensed until he managed a smirk.

Your eyes widened comically, clutching your throat. “I was getting worried for a second there,” you retorted before taking a sip from your cup of tea. Feeling satisfied with your yogurt and selection of fruits and cereals, you playfully brushed your shoulder against his and strolled to the dining area.

You chuckled quietly to yourself when you felt him inquisitively turn his head towards you.

Okay, fine. You were kinda flirting with Ben.

But sometimes it was just fun to tease him and to ruffle his feathers a bit since that guy was all about control.

You pulled out the chair at a long banquet table which was covered by a white tablecloth and took a seat with a small sigh. The sweet taste of a juicy strawberry was barely in your mouth before you were reintroduced to Ben’s company who seated himself next to you. He dropped his chin on the palm of his hand, suffering in silence. Which didn’t actually sound like the Ben you knew.

Maybe this was Ben’s idea of a small pity party. Not needing another convincing of him, you touched his forehead without averting your eyes from your food.

Ben groaned while closing his eyes. Bit by bit, he managed to regain his energy. “Oh damn, that’s nice.”

“It was starting to distract me,” you calmly let him know. As soon as you felt him slowly being himself again, you dropped your hand next to your cutlery.

Ben stared intently at you. “Oh, my mistake. How could I dare for having a hangover, right?” He smirked sardonically before he drank from his coffee. “And here I thought you were being all altruistic. Maybe you’re just like me after all.” He inclined his head, like he knew something you didn’t.

The moment when you stirred your cereals into the fruit yogurt, something else crossed your mind. Ever since this morning his mind was preoccupied with morose thoughts. Something must have gotten to him in the wee hours.

You exhaled unevenly. “What’s wrong?”

“Why would there be something wrong?” Ben settled his arms on the table, turning his head towards you with a small smile on his face. Despite the energy surge, Ben’s eyes looked tired.

“Well, if it’s not your emotions revealing themselves, it’s certainly that look in your eyes,” you said softly.

Ben grunted low in his throat. There was something he hadn’t been able to forget, as much as he tried to bury it to the back of his head.

“Ah, classic defense mechanism. Pushing away the people who care about you the most. Just like Dad.”

Ben inhaled deeply and spoke almost absentmindedly. “Klaus said something.”

Remembering one of the first words he uttered while in the elevator, you nodded. Wondering what it was that Klaus said that would make Ben feel so uneasy.

“It really must have gotten to you, huh?”

“Enough to make me want to punch him in the face.” Ben smirked faintly.

“But you didn’t. That has to count for something.” The semblance of pride remained in your voice at the minimum of self-control.

~ Diego POV ~

From afar, Diego and Lila observed Ben and you having breakfast together. Almost in slow motion, Diego’s eyes followed your hand movements when you reached forward to cover Ben’s forehead, swiping his hair to the side while doing it. Barely even noticing the golden shimmer under her palm.

The serene and blissed-out expression on his face made Diego frown. “What the fuck?” Diego muttered under his breath, stalking towards the two of you.

He felt Lila’s fingers clench around his bicep. “Easy there, tiger. Your sister doesn’t have time for your testosterone bullshit,” she calmly whispered into his ear, trying to be some sort of voice of reason. A deed which didn’t sound right in his head. Lila wasn’t exactly known for being reasonable or calm.

“It’s not bullshit if mean Ben just wants to get his tentacles into my sister.” Diego waved towards the little shit. He felt the twitching in his fingers, as they reached for one of his knives in the holster around his ribs.

Lila leaned her arms around Diego’s shoulders, muttering quietly. “Overprotective Diego is kind of a turn-on,” Her voice turned normal again. “Come on, just let your sister have a wee bit of fun for once. I mean, are you behaving like such a controlling, big brother that you don’t even want your sister having a good shag?”

Despite Lila’s flirting or intimate gestures, Diego felt far too tense—not to mention, he was way too in his head—to react accordingly to his girlfriend’s needs. He whipped his head around, feeling slightly nauseated at the mere thought. “What did you say? You think they’re having sex?”

“I’m saying I don’t know. Why?” Lila pulled her head back, slightly befuddled. “What did you mean?”

“I meant that he’s still Dad’s kid. A damn Sparrow. Strategic power move, you know? Keep your enemies closer and whatever. I mean, since when are those two so chummy?”

“Diego, calm your tits.” Lila implored him with a soothing tone, widening her eyes. She enunciated her next words with a deep voice. “We don’t know what’s going on. Is it that surprising that your sweetheart of a sister makes friends with literally everyone? I thought everything was cool.”

Diego’s hard glare met Lila. “That was before, Lila.” Squaring his shoulders, he stalked briskly towards you. Something flashed in his eyes. “Let’s find out.”

She whisper-hissed, “What do you mean let’s find out? Diego!”

“I’m proud of you,” you added with a tad of mischief and gentleness shining in your eyes.

Out of nowhere, the chair opposite of you was pulled out by Diego, rendering you both silent. With a loud grunt, he sat down, bracing his arms on the table. “Hey, what’s up with you two?” Diego’s gaze alternated between Ben and you, it was almost the scrutinizing kind.

You paused from eating your yogurt, feeling stumped by the nature of the question. “Having breakfast?” You arched your eyebrows, speaking slowly. “What are you guys doing?” The question was uttered more out of courtesy, getting the feeling that Lila didn’t intend to take up more of your time. Despite that you watched her tentatively take a seat next to Diego. You didn’t think it was possible for Lila doing anything tentatively.

“Same as you,” Diego said, taking a sip from his cup of joe while keeping his gaze set on the two of you.

“Someone’s being serious,” you muttered before leaning towards Lila, needing something to lift the mood. “I heard the two of you were being some horndogs.” You wiggled your eyebrows.

“Oh, Y/N, you know, a lady never does kiss and tell.”

You smiled, provocatively tilting your head. “And what would you call yourself then?”

Gasping mockingly, Lila guffawed with laughter.

“Care to tell what you guys did once the party was over?” Like a bucket of ice-cold water drenching the atmosphere, Diego interjected.

Before you could react, Ben answered for you. “What do you care?” He braced his arm around his chair.

Diego smirked sarcastically, trying to get under his skin. “And here I thought we were becoming best buds.”

You tilted your head. If anything, Ben got to Diego before you could’ve said your piece. “No, I’m kinda with Ben here. Why are you in detective mode?” Widening your eyes, you inquired with both parts levity and earnest fascination. “Wait, did someone actually die?” You kept weaving that hypothetical scenario in your head.

“Nobody died, I think,” Lila threw in. After throwing a secondary glance at Diego, she affirmed stronger. “Nobody died. Don’t mind Diego,” Lila replied, soothingly stroking his shoulder. “He didn’t get much sleep last night. Didn’t you, love?” Lila articulated with a firm tone, intending to jog his memory.

“I told you, babe, this is important,” Diego retorted forcefully.

“And I’m telling you, you’re behaving like the weirdest guy ever. Now is not the time. Now, come on, let’s get moving before I change my mind.” She shook Diego’s shoulders from behind when he didn’t move a muscle. “Diego, I’m serious. Move your cute bum.”

With great reluctance, Diego finally relented. But not before sending you two a meaningful glance.

“What was that all about?” Ben asked almost boredly once the both of them walked away. Or more like Lila dragged your brother away. Ben sank his teeth into a cucumber with relish, emitting a delicious crunch as he stared after them.

“That’s Diego in detective mode for you. My theory with a whodunit still stands, you know?”

Ben hummed. “And what a tragedy it would be if someone didn’t wind up dead,” he said with a sardonic smirk.

You merely threw him a dry expression at Ben’s idea of a good time.

“So, you heard about that family meeting dad called in?” Ben inquired and continued speaking when he heard you sigh wearily. “You going to show up?”

There was something about Reginald calling in a meeting that felt like more of an emotional chore to pull through. Your eyes looked into the distance. “He probably has some sort of devil’s advocate favor to ask.”

Ben arched an intrigued brow. “So, you’d rather he influenced the rest of your family instead? Klaus doesn’t seem that opposed to gaining his favor.”

With your eyes narrowing, you saw right through him. “Don’t manipulate me.”

He shrugged without a care. “It’s not manipulation when you know it’s a manipulation.”

You tilted your head in consideration. “I don’t think that’s how it goes.”

“Just saying, you don’t think there are a few other people who would join his side if given the chance?” Ben probed even further, “Maybe Allison or maybe even the dynamic duo we just had over?”

A gleam was shining in your eyes when you pursed your lips. “You do realize I was going to show up either way before you decided to confront me with your sales pitch, right?”

Ben lost all the fight in his body when he leaned back in his chair with a huffing exhale. “Why do I even bother with you?”

Five was the last to join the family meeting when Reginald and him entered the lobby. The younger Hargreeves was confronted with boisterous applause when he went across the carpet to sit on the armchair by the wall, sending you back to drunk Five during the wedding.

Klaus clapped his hands. “Woo! Five! Yeah!”

A sarcastic Diego agreed by mentioning, “That speech last night! Wow!”

Lila joined the spectacle. “Brought me to tears, you big softy.”

You sat between Ben and Klaus on the round mustard-colored sitting area when Ben impatiently covered his forehead at everyone’s antics.

Five waved a hand. “Okay. Enough. It was the booze talking. In the light of day, you’re all still deplorable.”

“And your day’s about to get worse,” Reginald added ominously. Your inquisitive eyes met him anchoring a thickly bound journal to his chest. “As a boy, I heard the legend of the eight bells. All these stories are the same. The village is under threat by flood, by fire, by a night that never ends. A shaman brings his disciples to a sacred cave.”

Lila laid with her head in Diego’s lap. There was something in her eyes which told you she didn’t fully believe the tale yet.

“He tells them if they can ring the magic bells, the village will be saved and all will be restored just as it was. None of you can deny what’s going on around us. All of existence will be gone by the end of the day, but whoever or whatever wove together space and time, they left a way to put things back together if the universe ever faced total annihilation. There is a portal in the universe. I built this hotel around it, and on the other side is the answer.”

Luther voiced your inner thoughts. “And… we’re supposed to, what? Just stroll in there, ring some bells, and fix this shit?” Sloane leaned against him, seeking comfort while her hand slung around his arm.

“Sarcasm aside, you are mostly right. Except for the guardian.”

Viktor filled the tense silence. “What kind of guardian?”

With a calm voice, Diego explained, “Kinda guardian that does this. He had a sword.” He held up a hand which had two fingers missing.

Eyeing the missing appendages, you spoke dryly, “Sounds like the stakes are pretty low then. Not to mention very convenient.”

“It is a force to be reckoned with,” Reginald assured fervently.

Still, Viktor remained cautious by this reveal. “Why would the builders of this ‘back door’ need to have a guardian?”

Sloane raised a hand, speaking all too eagerly, “Ah! To protect it from people who want to use it for nefarious means.”

There was something about Reginald’s agenda which irked you to no end. Especially with some sort of guardian protecting this reset device. “Guess we’re gonna be the ones who will use it for nefarious means,” you retorted sarcastically.

If there was one thing you could trust about Reginald, it was that he couldn’t be trusted. So, you wondered what he wasn’t telling everyone since this whole story seemed way too convenient for already offering a way out of this mess.

It was obvious where Allison stood with all of this. “So it’s gonna take all of us to defeat the thing protecting the bells.”

Like he already made up his mind when he came to this gathering, Ben stood up and positioned himself next to Reginald. Despite the unwavering loyalty being drilled into him at a young and impressionable age, uncertainty still simmered under the surface. “I’m in.”

Diego followed. “Me too.” Lila winced when he left her side abruptly, making her jolt her head on the sofa.

Your eyes scrutinized Ben’s unhesitating willingness, especially with Diego joining the mix—all too willing to go all Batman again.

“Well, I say we vote,” Viktor offered diplomatically.

Ben glared at him. “This isn’t a democracy. Dad’s calling the shots.”

“I’m with Viktor,” Five agreed. “We vote.”

“The world is ending, and you want to count hands?” Reginald exclaimed in incredulity. With Ben silently agreeing with him who wanted this to get done as quickly as possible.

“You’re asking us to risk our lives,” Luther—ever the mediator among the family—threw in. “I think it’s only fair you give us time to discuss it. Privately.” After hearing Reginald make an indignant huff, he continued, “Why don’t we meet back here in an hour?”

After a tired sigh, Reginald brushed his hand against Ben’s shoulder as he passed him by.

“Agreed,” Five added.

You didn’t need the extra hour to make up your mind. You tasted the cold dessert in your mouth while your back leaned against the balcony on the roof top.

“So, it’s a portal, right?”

Ben sighed, digging with his spoon into the tub of ice cream between you. “Yes, it’s a portal from where I can summon eldritch monsters.”

“Then, if you had the choice what other monsters would you pull through your body?”

Ben groaned loudly at that. “You know, I didn’t have that in mind when you said we’d have some fun.”

“Come on, this is fun.” You giggled, waving your hand towards the sky. “These are some front row seats to the apocalypse. I’m trying to get to know you with these questions. Ergo, a fun time.” You pursed your lips. “I’m thinking probably a creature who has the skin of a snake, lots of eyes. Maybe some sort of Medusa, you know?”

Ben nodded indulgently. “Definitely.”

“It’s your turn.”

Ben exhaled. “Do we have to turn this into a game?”

“It’s called a two-way street. Otherwise, I would just be the one talking which I don’t mind—to a certain degree.”

“Of course.”

“This way you could divulge what interests you in return.”

“What is that called?”

“An interaction, you dork.” You chuckled, brushing your shoulder against his. “Can be anything. Favorite foods, cereal first or milk, favorite sibling.”

“How do you see the auras?”

You turned your head. “That’s your first question? You want to talk about powers?”

Ben shrugged his shoulders in justification, exclaiming, “You were the one who did this first. Besides, I already know who your favorite sibling is.”

“Wait, what?”

“So, let’s get back to power talk.” Ben continued when he heard you grumbling, “How do you see them? You keep mentioning clouds.”

You finally sighed, making up your mind. “Every person has some sort of smoky cloud following behind in a specific color. All those colors just have a different meaning.”

“What’s mine?”

“What do you think yours is?”

“Let me guess, anger?” Ben smirked, having speculated from all your conversations.

“And green.” You looked at him with a serene expression.

“What’s that?” He arched an eyebrow, smirking mockingly. “Hope?”

“It’s willpower.”

Ben averted his gaze before he hid his smile. “Oh wow, you really know how to build a guy up.” His dark eyes met yours again. “Have you seen yours?”

You could remember the handful of times you saw the familiar colors while passing reflections. “Yellow and violet. Fear and love.”

“Fear and love—” Ben quietly repeated to himself. “What’s that like?”

“Haven’t you ever loved something so much you were afraid you were going to lose it?”

There was hesitation in his eyes. “… Can’t say I have.”

You felt your mind wandering elsewhere as you leaned with your arms against the railing overseeing the lobby. The others had withdrawn for some peace and quiet to make their choices. It was barely half an hour left before the rest would have to reconvene.

Tensing your shoulders, you reared your head. Needing a moment for you to breathe mindfully again.

“Are you here for some peace and quiet?”

If there was one voice you didn’t expect to hear, it was Allison’s.

You didn’t bother turning your head, hoping that Allison could read your disposition that you weren’t good for company. At last, you murmured, “I thought some solitude might do the trick, but I guess that’s out of the window now.”

Her long suffering sigh could’ve bridged the distance. Allison was torn between staying or going before she seemed to make up her mind. She exhaled deeply and took her time in joining you at the banister. “Here we are … another day, another apocalypse. Who’d have thought we’d be here again, huh?”

You had already gone tired from any affectation. “Why are you here, Allison?”

A reminiscent smile tugged at her lips. “You know, there was never any bullshitting with you. No pretending. I kinda loved and hated that about you at the same time. That day at the Sparrow Academy, you saw me. For what I really was. When everything was out in the open, when the others saw what I did, I was … afraid that you would try to influence my emotions and then I was almost anticipating you to when you didn’t.”

Something akin to disappointment rose in you at this recurring notion.

“That’s not who I am. I won’t be subjected to being a painkiller you can just take when you can’t deal with something.” As soon as you said it, you remembered who you were talking to and that there was a 50/50 chance that she would misunderstand and think you meant the reset of her daughter and not anything in general.

Before you could clarify, Allison beat you to it. “I know that now.”

There was hesitance in your eyes when you chose your words carefully. “Why is it exactly you’re wanting to talk to me?”

“You’re probably one of the only people in this family who doesn’t want to kill me … yet.”

It still came out of left field that Allison said that out loud. Despite that you raised your eyebrows at the astute observation of your siblings. “Yet. With some exceptions.” With an exhale, you averted your gaze. “As much as I understand and feel what you’re going through, I can’t cross the line into your darkness.”

“I don’t want you to.”

“Then tell me you’ll be satisfied—happy when all of this is said and done,” you implored.

“I don’t know. I hope so. This rage … it’s all I have left. I’m scared I would fall apart if I just let myself feel things.” With her eyes shining wistfully, Allison continued, “What do you see when you look at me? The truth, please.”

You didn’t need to look at the wisps of smoke to discern the black and red colors surrounding her like an ominous beacon. “Pain,” you inhaled, feeling your chest tightening. “… and rage.”

Allison’s laughter echoed with a choked voice. “True.” She sent you a cursory glance. “Isn’t it strange that with our powers being so similar, our paths still deviated?”

“Well, our powers don’t shape us. We are the ones who choose how we use them.”

“That’s a very black and white perception to have.”

“Only when you’re telling yourself it’s the power making you do bad stuff, instead of the other way around.”

Allison shook her head. Perhaps a part of her felt rattled that you didn’t take the bait and rather painted her in such a light that it was her own doing for becoming a cunning person for misusing her powers like that. “I just don’t get it. How you could remain untainted by all of this. You have no idea what it’s like having someone like you grow up beside us.”

“It’s not like you ever gave me a shot, did you?” You replied monotonously. “Found someone else to blame other than the obvious culprit?”

If it was possible, Allison’s huffing breath elevated her level of frustration even more. “I get it, I’ve been a shitty sister.” Her gaze wandered around in thought. “The thing is, we don’t have a lot of time. You always struck me as this sensible and sorta neutral person, so I guess, I wondered on which side you fell on?”

“The unsurprising one. You’ll find out like the others, don’t worry.”

Not satisfied by that answer, Allison clenched her jaw and licked her lips before she accepted your words with a small nod. Your gut was telling you that she intended to mentally join her side. Her back was already turned to yours when you threw one last shot.

“To answer your question, I never wanted to hurt people with my power. That’s the difference between us. So, either tell me, you know what you’re doing and that you’ll draw the consequences from your actions or promise you’ll find a way back to us.”

There was an added layer with the tension in her body when Allison stopped in her tracks.

“I promise.”

It was unsurprising how fast an hour could pass when time was of the essence. The moment of truth called as soon as the question was uttered whether the other side should be crossed. You sat between Viktor and the just married twosome of Luther and Sloane on the stairs, calmly waiting for Allison to finish her take.

“-which way I’ll be voting. We’ve all been through a lot. We’ve all lost people.” She sent an awkward glance towards Five who leaned against the illuminated pillar. “Mannequins… But their deaths have to mean something. Which is why I’ll be voting to go with Dad.”

Lila’s quiet muttering to Diego, “What she said,” wasn’t as muted as she wanted to believe when your eyes met the two over your shoulder. She hollered, pumping her fist while following Allison’s example when she sauntered to Reginald’s side. “Let’s go save the bloody universe!”

In turn, Diego moved away from the pillar and decisively walked towards the stairs with the rest of us. “All right, well, since she said yes, I vote stay. How’s that for nice?” Diego stared with defiance at Lila, offering a shallow smile.

“I am with Father.” Klaus spoke with a low dramatic voice. He waved his hand at the aforementioned man, with a flower in his palm.

Ben offered Reginald an indiscernible nod at Klaus’ reaction, making you frown.

Sighing at Allison’s gaze, Viktor spoke softly. “Look, I want to believe, okay? I really do.” He waved his hands. “I just can’t shake the feeling we don’t know what we’re getting ourselves into.”

The thunderclap echoing in the distance was a dire warning that time was a rare currency you didn’t have.

Allison crossed her arms, stubbornly refusing to accept his stance. “No, but we know what we’ve got if we don’t. We have to go into this together.” Her imploring stare switched over to the rest still sitting on the stairs. “Viktor.” She smiled softly. “A family.”

Viktor’s body language turned weary and incredulous. “You can’t just keep throwing the word ‘family’ around. It isn’t enough. I vote stay.”

Hugging Sloane from behind, Luther’s hands brushed against her shoulders, gazing at her from above. “Um… Sloane and I talked, and-”

Offering her silent support, Sloane covered his hand comfortingly.

“Well, we’re out,” Luther continued, “Look, we wanna spend whatever time we have left together, and not fighting some guy with a sword and ringing bells and stuff. So…”

“Four in, four out,” Viktor summarized.

“I saw the future, and it told me to sit this one out. I vote stay.” Five arched an eyebrow at Reginald. “It’s time we accept our fate.” Slowly, his head swiveled around until his green eyes met yours. “The moment of truth,” he mumbled as encouragement.

Absentmindedly, you licked your lips in consideration. “We jump from one apocalypse to the next. Maybe I’m tired of jumping into the next one.” You shrugged your shoulders. “Maybe this is supposed to happen, who knows? I’d rather we choose to live or die on our own terms than face something we aren’t prepared for. So, I’d rather stay.”

“This is insane,” Ben exclaimed, waving a hand. “So, you’d rather give up than to even try fighting?”

“Sounds like a great idea—confronting an enemy we know nothing about except it can chop off digits. Sounds like someone to be reasoned with.”

Ben shook his head with a grimace. “You didn’t strike me as a little scaredy-cat. There’s something called strength in numbers, you know?”

His adamancy in trying to change your mind made you frown. “You actually expected me to go pro-Reginald? In what world?”

“Maybe I expected more from you,” Ben hissed in a whisper.

The others revealed a mildly astonished expression at Ben’s reaction to your line in the sand, throwing each other furtive glances.

Diego crossed his arms, wasting no time in standing close to you. “Dude, she said no.”

Ben pointed at Diego as his shoulders tensed from the protective gesture, itching to go toe-to-toe with him. “Don’t call me ‘dude’.”

“I reckon this is final then.” This time it was Reginald who spoke up ever since you offered your perspective.

Once the word final was uttered, Allison scoffed. “You’re all pathetic,” she said, strutting away.

“Why can’t we go in there, just the four of us?” Ben pressed quietly on the subject.

“That would mean certain failure. There must be eight.” Reginald answered. He faced the others in one last speech. “Children, I can’t say I’m happy with this. But I see now the blame falls on me. I failed you when you were young, and I have failed you now. And in doing so, I have doomed the entire universe. If anyone needs me, I’ll be in the courtyard… awaiting the end.” With that, it was almost with a pitiful air in which he walked away.

Ben’s hard glare haunted you when he followed his father’s example. “Idiots.”

“Was that a real apology?” Viktor inquired in uncertainty.

Luther remained steadfast, no matter what. “The man’s never apologized for anything in his life.”

With his arms laced together over his abdomen, Diego admitted quietly, “I actually feel bad for him.”

Hearing him offer sympathy compelled you to send him an admonishing, but weary glance. “Don’t.”

Five reinforced the notion. “Don’t worry. It’ll pass.”

The elevator let out an ominous ding with its arrival from your side while you were unlocking your room when something else caught your attention.

“Oh, great work out there.”

Enormous dread made your body freeze, as much as those words of utter sarcasm were to be anticipated. Ben wasn’t the type to just take it without complaining the whole way through. Dropping your head with a sigh, you already let yourself in. Expecting him to barge in anyways.

Not bothering to close the door, Ben started with his rant. “I especially liked the part when you admitted to just accept fate and-” He dramatically spreads his hands in a final gesture, “just give up. Very moving stuff.”

You exhaled heavily, turning around until you were facing him. “What do you want from me, Ben?”

“I want you to give a shit. We had this one shot to come together and face whatever there was on the other side.” Choosing to dip the knife deeper, Ben smirked darkly. “But instead, you decided to blow it.”

“Wait.” You tilted your head when you brought to mind the last few hours. Allison doing her little shtick was one thing but… “You actually—A part of you expected me to go a different route. That’s what you were trying to do before. By going for an Allison maneuver?”

“First, thanks for the compliment. Being compared to the schemer of your family? Not exactly the insult you think it is. Second, I just can’t believe you’d willingly waste the rest of your given time before the apocalypse. Truth be told, I thought you’d pick the smarter choice. Guess I pegged you wrong.”

Your skin started to heat up. The first petals started to fall from the flowers in the vase on the windowsill. A few breaths in and out later, you shook your head.

“Because I don’t see it like you? Because I don’t trust your father? Because I don’t want anyone to die just for his whims?”

Ben’s eyes were blazing with fervor. “He’s been training us for this our whole lives. It has to mean something. This didn’t just fall into my lap. I was chosen for this. To be a Sparrow.”

You chose to confess what was on your mind, as much as it pained you. “You’re breaking my heart. To willingly offer your loyalty to someone who will always have conditions bound to that. You want Reginald to see you?”

You shook your head. “He won’t. As much as it takes me no pleasure to say this, but … he won’t accept you as his equal. No one could ever measure up. Your Dad sees himself far too superior for everyone else. That man follows his own agenda.”

“You think you’re so damn smart, don’t you?” Ben harbored a narcissistic expression. His arrogance and destructive second nature felt like a familiar sting. “Your family is the reason we’re in this mess in the first place. You think I’m just going to accept it when all of you are just wreaking havoc regardless of the consequences? At least our father is actually trying to fix this.”

“I’m just saying, you need to take a step back and listen to your gut instinct.” Your hands hovered in front of you, almost close to touching him. “Reginald does not deserve your undying loyalty when it’s not even warranted. In every universe so far, he doesn’t care about anything other than achieving his own goals. Do you think he would actually lay down his life for you or for Sloane? You deserve more than this. I care about you, Ben. Your sister cares about what happens to you. That has to mean something.”

With his eyes softening, it felt like Ben would step closer. For a few seconds you thought you got to him. Until he clenched his jaw.

“You’re so pathetic,” Ben hissed, shaking his head in derision. “For thinking your opinion matters to me.” His face hardened. “You’re the damn replacement. You probably wouldn’t have been even able to save your Ben, if you had the chance. So why don’t you lie down like a good little corpse and wait for the Kugelblitz to take you. See if I care.”

Tagging: @cherryinsalemverse @mellowstatesmanhandsempath @ravenmoore14 @blackmagicwoman @lelaamela @kit-k4t @callsignwidow @gordorio @rinaarii @mencantaleer @lumpyspaceprincess05

[sonotkari]

Imagine

NewJeans OT5

[ Synopsis ]

What do you need for your future to have a "perfect life"? It seems that all 6 of you have different wants and needs. But if you had to choose one thing, what would it be?

Fluff, Angst(?)

[ Word Count ]

1.4k

[ a/n ]

Probs the fastest fic I ever wrote which is like in less than an hour. Just got home from school, tired w everything and the idea just sorta came out so I decided to try writing and happened to finish it for some reason lmao enjoy?

Had a tiring day? (me tew we twinnin) dis for u bae <3

Imagine what life would be like if it were perfect. 

It doesn't have to be spending riches every day or living in a big mansion, even tho that would be one of the definitions describing a perfect life to some other people.

But for me, all I ever ask for is never that far to reach. 

Maybe a home with a supportive family who's always there for your back and, maybe a good amount of friends you can chatter your heart out whether it was a good sunny day or a bad stormy one. 

Being your best self always with the best things for you even if it wasn't those highly branded items all the girls were talking constantly 24/7 365―

"Nah I wanna live in a big ass mansion" I quickly looked to my left side to see Hyein with a cheeky smile as she went back to sipping her apple juice. "Are you saying you need new friends??? Are you not satisfied with us???" Sighing, looking at my other side, I saw Hanni dramatically gasping with furrowed brows, placing her hand to her chest as if she had just heard something she wasn't supposed to. I groaned and let out another long sigh "You know that's not what I—" 

"Well, I wanna have a garden at my future home...!" Turning my head back I heard a cheerful voice, Danielle had come our way with a plastic bag filled with sorts of bread for our lunch, and not so far behind her was Minji carrying several bottles of soft drinks she went to buy at the convenience store with Dani. "Finally, I'm starving!" The youngest whined as she stood up, hurrying her way to the plastic bag and searching through it to find the one she had been craving for. 

"Is that what you guys were talking about? The future?" Dani beamed a smile at me as she scooted closer to sit beside me while gazing at Hyein happily opening her food. "Because I'd have a garden, and grow tomatoes, and cucumber, Oh! and carrots we can't forget that!" I chuckled softly at her talking about the wonderful garden she was imagining full of vegetables. It fitted so perfectly to Danielle that I think she's secretly already planned everything in the back of her head at this point. 

"See? That's what I'm talking about when I say, all you talk about is carrots!" Hanni claimed with a laugh as she walked beside Hyein and took her bread, opened it up, and started munching through it like a hamster with seed-stuffed cheeks you see in the videos.

"And all you talk about is bread so you really can't say stuff" Minji reached us each bottle as she took a side glance at Hanni. The girl, still cheeks stuffed had rolled her eyes, playfully hitting Minji, and Minji shrugged her shoulders as she lay her hands out in a confused pose. "What? Am I wrong tho?" 

"I want a cat... no two cats... no actually I want frogs... frogs and cats...?" Danielle cooed an "Awhh" to Haerin who was eating her food while looking up to think about what she wanted for her future. "We can get as many frogs and cats as you want Haerinie" Danielle sweetly says so, hugging Haerin from the side and the girl humming a satisfied response to her. 

"Did anyone even pay attention to what I was saying?" grunting as I looked at the 5 hungry children devouring their food girls who were all looking back at me. 

"Yeah, you were talking about wanting a simple life but, I wanna be richy rich and buy all BTS albums and go to concerts, meeting—" 

"No, you were talking about wanting new friends which is unacceptable by the way because we are the most amazing most best you have—"

"Oh, I thought we were talking about our future home, which definitely should have a garden guys, because we have to stay healthy—" 

"We're going to at least have a cat right? I mean, I understand why we can't have frogs but we gotta have cats if not then maybe a fish tank—" 

"What do you mean we? Are we all gonna live together? Do I have to take care of a hyper toddler, a farmer, a munching machine, and a cat till 60??? No way—" 

Grunting, sighing, smacking my forehead, rolling my eyes in disbelief because what the heck is with these girls I swear to god—

Okay, maybe we were a little too dramatic there. 

"Okay okay okay" Hanni stood up, laying her hands out, gesturing a stopping pose as she thought of something for a while before holding her waist as if she popped up with an amazing idea. 

"Let's just pick one thing and add it all together. Then we can get what we want equally!"

"That's literally perfect!! Okay okay" Hyein squealed excitedly, shifting her position to a more comfortable one as she thought about one thing that she really wanted most. 

"I'm gonna start from our base which is obviously, a mansion because... uh why not???" 

Hearing soft chuckles and giggles, next up was Dani and she was already raising her hand eagerly wanting to say her opinion. 

"Garden! Because we can save and stay healthy which is a win-win" 

"Thought you'd say that" Hanni giggled and pointed out at the person beside Dani which was Haerin.

"I thought about it and... I don't wanna wake up with frogs jumping in my room so, cat it is" 

"Huh?? You were thinking about having frogs inside!?" Hyein gawked at Haerin with deeply furrowed brows and a shocked expression, holding onto her chest like a certain someone a few minutes ago. She learns from the best. 

"All I want is my sanity to last till my very last breath because I feel like I'm going to lose it soon when I'm with you guys" 

Minji shrugged as Hanni loudly booed at her, all acting innocent like they don't either chase each other in the school hallways or give each other piggyback rides and miserably fail. 

"Well, as long as I have enough money to buy bread and all the good stuff I'm perfectly fine" Hanni huffed in satisfaction, probably thinking about all sorts of baked goods she would devour in the future. I'm surprised how she completely didn't say about having a bakery— 

"Or! We could just own a bakery business!! I'm a genius!!" 

Nevermind. 

"How about you? What do you really want?" Dani stared at me with her sweet smile as she asked the question and all the girl's attention where spotted on me once again. 

What do I really want? 

After a moment, I finally made up my mind. No actually, I didn't even have to think about it. I know exactly what I want. 

"You guys are what I want"

Mumbling embarrassingly, I smiled at the 5 girls who each replied with tender smiles and "Aww"s as they all came squeezing each other tightly, sharing a big group hug. 

"You don't have to worry about a single thing" Hanni smiled brightly, her gaze softening at me as she continued

"We're gonna stick together forever and ever!! You always have us anyways so—"

"Miss Y/n L/n?" 

Looking at my left side, I see the nurse with her usual clipboard and pen. What even was her name? Wait no, what were we talking about? Ah yeah, the typical"How are you doing?" questions, right... 

"Nothing much, just same as usual"

I hear the noise of her pen moving, writing my daily medical records, probably handing it over to the doctors later or whatever. I move my hands swiftly, continuing to write as well.

It's always the same person at the same time with the same questions every single day. Looking at the off-white colored walls and the grey-shaded ceiling, I always wonder how long it's been since I got to this ward. More importantly, when will I leave this nightmare ward?

"When do I get to leave this place?" 

The nurse stopped her movements and looked at me with those same soulless eyes. Like she always does. Or maybe it's mine, which was just reflecting all this time. Who knows?

"I'm sorry but, I can't answer those questions" 

Like the questions, it's always the same fucking answers.

Every. Single. Day. 

"So, what were you thinking throughout the whole day, miss Y/n?"

I looked down at my sketchbook, a messy drawing of five girls written on it as I murmured an answer. 

Imagine what life would be like if it were perfect. 

notice how the girls never called your name once?

[cnnmairoll]

hello hello! may i ask for a luka x fem!reader where luka sees reader taking care of the moles and he just gets this very homey and fluffy feeling within him? :'DD please only do it if you're comfortable + are okay with doing it given your sched!!! have a great day/night ahead!

The Moles' Beloved Miss

Pairing : Luka x Fem!Reader Genre : Fluff a/n : When I saw this rec I immediately stopped whatever I was doing and got into writing. Luka favoritism? Yes but I'm not sorry for it. Anyways hope you liked this anon!!

You had always been the nurturing type. Whether it was tending to your garden, or baking cookies for your neighbors, your heart was as warm as your freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. You had a special place in your heart for children, which is why it was no surprise that you found yourself surrounded by a group of adventurous kids who called themselves "The Moles."

You had become fast friends with Hook and the other members of The Moles, Timmy and Julian. It all started when you noticed them playing in the park one day. Hook had taken a tumble, and you couldn't resist rushing to her aid. Since then, you had become their go-to caregiver, a role you embraced wholeheartedly.

One breezy afternoon, you sat in the center of a circle of Moles, their eyes wide with wonder as you spun a fantastical tale of knights, dragons, and magical kingdoms. They hung onto every word, their imaginations running wild.

Meanwhile, not too far away, Luka watched with a soft smile. He had always been drawn to your nurturing spirit, and your ability to bring joy to these young souls only deepened his admiration for you.

As your storytelling session concluded, Hook, the self proclaimed leader of the Moles, jumped up with enthusiasm. "Miss, can we hear more stories tomorrow? Pretty please?"

You chuckled, ruffling Hook's hair affectionately. "Of course, Hook. I'll have a new adventure ready for you."

Timmy and Julian exchanged excited glances, and Luka couldn't help but be touched by the happiness radiating from the children.

After your storytelling session, the Moles led you on a little expedition through the hidden corners of Belobog's Underworld. They showed you their secret hideouts, mysterious caves, and all their favorite spots for games. Along the way, you couldn't help but notice their youthful curiosity and wonder, and it warmed your heart.

As the day turned into evening, you returned to your small cottage in Belobog's Underworld. It was a cozy little place with wooden walls and a thatched roof, and it felt like a second home. You had a feeling Luka was responsible for its comfort, as he often popped by with small surprises, like freshly baked cookies or a bouquet of wildflowers.

Tonight, as you entered your cottage with the Moles in tow, you discovered a delightful surprise. The room was bathed in the warm glow of candlelight, and the smell of something delicious wafted through the air.

"Miss, look!" Julian exclaimed, pointing to a table laden with cookies, hot chocolate, and a pile of storybooks.

Hook grinned mischievously. "Luka helped us set up this surprise for you, Miss!"

And there, standing by the table, was Luka himself, wearing his characteristic warm smile. "I thought we could all have some cookies and milk and continue with the stories," he suggested, his eyes twinkling.

The Moles cheered in delight, and you couldn't help but feel a flutter of happiness in your chest. You all gathered around the table, munching on cookies, sipping hot chocolate, and sharing tales long into the night.

Luka, with his infectious enthusiasm, added to the magic of the evening. He told stories of his own adventures, ones that inspired the Moles to dream even bigger. As the hours passed, you couldn't help but admire the way he connected with the children, just as you did.

The night drew to a close, and as the Moles left your cottage with tired smiles and full hearts, Luka lingered behind. He looked at you, his blue eyes filled with warmth and admiration.

"Thank you," he said softly, "for bringing so much joy to their lives. You have a gift.

You blushed, feeling grateful for Luka and the bond you shared with the Moles. "It's my pleasure, Luka. And thank you for always being there to support us."

With a fond smile, Luka reached out and gently held your hand. "You know," he began, "I think the Moles are right. You're like a guardian angel to them. And to me."

As you looked into Luka's eyes, you realized that this peculiar little corner of Belobog's Underworld had become a place of magic and wonder, filled with friendship and love. And in that moment, you couldn't imagine being anywhere else in the world.

[hell-drabbles]

Mammon 3

Summary: You had a midnight craving and get up for snacks. While you're munching in the dark, Mammon walks right in. With underwear this time. Huh. He actually listened to you.

(Yay Embittered Companion and Mammon interactions! It's really fun to have people talking while they're drinking, for some reason. There's a certain level of intimacy that I like from this.)

Sleep easily evades you when you're sleeping on a bed that just wasn't your own. The mattress in this guest room just didn't have that dip that wrapped around your form, and the blankets were of textures you just weren't used to.

All this discomfort kept you away, and because you were kept awake, you got hungry.

So, here you are, grabbing a bag of snacks from a fancy cabinet made of gold, and relaxing under a single light in this huge and echoing kitchen.

It's nice. The air was cold enough and the floor was perfectly heated. While it was dark beyond that singular light, enough of the moon's light shined through the windows to keep you from feeling isolated and alone.

You were just going to munch, clean up, and then enjoy this time by your lonesome.

But, this is Hell, and rarely do you get anything you want, especially when you're around the ever-wanted Ra-on.

Mammon walked through the door, his gold eyes and golden horn failing to blend in the darkness. Though, that's about all you can see.

"Oh." A simple utterance from his lips, like he didn't expect you to be here.

"Hmm." You sighed through your nose then looked away. And here you thought you could have a rare moment to yourself.

Yes, yes, this is his place. He has every right to roam as he pleases, but… You've seen him walk around naked on more than one occasion, so you never look forward to encountering him at night.

You were content to ignore him, to just let him walk to the fridge for whatever he wants, but instead, he stepped into the limelight. He leaned against table you're at, blatantly staring at your face with a mischievous smile on his.

He didn't say anything. Just stared, and waited while you ignored him.

Eventually, you sighed again and looked over.

"What do you–" then, something white caught your attention, "Oh. You're wearing underwear. Huh."

His smile grew wider and he stood back to his full height. "Well, why wouldn't I be wearing them? Didn't you tell me to do so?"

Ah, that you did, in a haze of disgust and annoyance.

"I did," you opened a bottle and poured your drink into a clean glass, "I didn't think you'd listen. Isn't Ra-on the master to give you orders?"

Mammon walked away but continued talking. "You still think of me like that? As someone that ignores the voices of his possess–" He stopped just as he placed a glass of his own on the table. He cleared his throat. "As someone that picks and chooses who to listen and who to ignore?"

Lackluster recovery there, Mammon. But, you're not in the mood to nitpick.

"Does that come with the king territory?" you raised an eyebrow, but poured the bottle in your hand into his glass, "But, you have been listening to me, so I guess no. I don't really think of you that way. Would've left the room as soon as you came in."

"Oh?" Mammon picked up the glass and swirled the drink around, "You wouldn't have picked up the nearest vase and throw it at my near my face as a warning? And here I thought my every action made you angry to no end. Shame. In a way, I almost miss it."

You took a long sip and tipped your head back to enjoy the flavor. "I'm not a constant ball of anger, Mammon. I know when to pick and choose my outbursts. Besides, you don't actually make me all that angry, at least not all the time."

Honestly, compared to the others, Mammon's the one you get angry at the least. Well, among the kings anyway. You never got angry at Ppyong. Not even once.

"Though, ever since that day, on our first meeting, you haven't shown that fierce and loud anger towards me," Mammon put down his drink and leaned against the counter, "So, I have to ask, what did I do to tip you off to that extent?"

You crunched into chip and nearly bit your cheek. You breathed in, then out.

"…whenever anyone wants something out of a specific person, the first thing they do is tell them how special they are," had it been Leviathan or Satan asking you these questions, you would've ignored them and go back to your room, "how so much better they are to the rest of the people they've ever met. Not to actually get to know the person, but to get to that specific end result faster, because any other method would lead to that person saying no to you. It reeks of everything I hate in a person, that blatant disrespect."

"But, if all parties are willing, then does it really matter? Seems to me that you were quite petty, on that day." His smile was still wide, still swimming of the afterglow of sex and the cool embrace of the night with a chilled beer at hand.

Your glass clinked loudly on the table.

"You don't respect the previous encounters you've had," fine, fine, you'll quite beating around the bush, "'Oh, all the other humans are boring but you, you're the special one, and doesn't that make you feel good? That I don't care for other humans unless they interest me in a way that's convenient for me?' That's what you sounded like to me. And that pissed me off, because I've had to deal with other shitheads like you on a daily basis, because Ra-on was was unconscious and sick and you decided that this would be the perfect situation to make a move! Why wouldn't I be pissed?!"

Ah, just remembering that day makes you want to grind your teeth. You remember waking up and seeing this devil attempting to crawl into the same bed as Ra-on. Took you everything you had to grab at his robes and yank him away from his bed. He sat on a chair instead, and you thought that was that, but then he started saying those words, emphasizing the special aspects of Ra-on while calling the other humans, the lower humans boring for reacting in a perfectly human manner.

You can't stand anything or anyone who takes "special" to mean "better than everyone." To have value depend on the existence of lower statuses.

Mammon's eyes were wide, taken aback at your rush of words.

You relaxed your jaw and practically deflated into a chair. It's too late for this.

"So, yeah," you took another sip just to refresh your voice, "I just didn't like the way you spoke, speaking like Ra-on was above human beings, while insulting other human for being themselves."

"I see. You love humans as much as I love all that belongs to me." He laughed as though he discovered something amusing.

"Yeah? No shit. I come from them, Mammon," Yeah, you get disgusted by the absolute abyss that is human greed and apathy, but kindness is the backbone of it all. Kindness is as stubborn as the horrors that threaten to consume it. And, as such, you refuse to lose faith in your own kind. You refuse to let anyone put down humans just so they can elevate one person above all others.

"I suppose I too would be insulted if you loved only one thing of my vast wealth while calling everything else boring."

Mammon finally pulled out a chair and sat down. Noisily, he scooted until he was next to you, though you had enough space to stretch out your arms. He downed his drink in one go and and tapped his glass against the bottle. He winked at you when you poured.

"Well, as long as you listen." You sighed. "Pretty glad that you do listen, actually."

Otherwise, you wouldn't let Mammon near Ra-on in the first place, nor would you let Ra-on entertain the thought of seeking this king out. He's… tolerable to an extent.

"Though I might do it again," Mammon looked away for a moment with a sly smile before looking back to you, "will you be there to correct me if I slip up?"

"No," your voice was flat but you couldn't help the smile, "you're a grown devil. You can learn by yourself."

"Then I guess I'll have to chase you for that lesson," Mammon raised his drink.

"Good luck with that, bastard."

You both clinked your glasses together and drank.

[jettboat]

CHAPTER 3 - NEW INFORMATION AND COOKIES

"Dude! That's so cool! Are you like invincible right now?!" Bdubs stood up from his chair in excitement, making Etho jump.

"Yeeess... Until someone hits me and finds my heart-" Etho stopped before looking back up at his friend. "You're not going to hit me to find my heart, are you?"

"What?! No!" Bdubs sat back down and crossed his arms. "I don't want to hurt you!"

Etho's shoulders seemed to relax, which made Bdubs's heart sink.

Did Etho think he was gonna hurt him? Why would he ever do that! Did someone he trusted hurt him?

Before Bdubs could follow that train of thought, a knock on the door rang out through the house.

Etho and Bdubs froze, Etho pulled back up his mask. Bdubs immediately looked down at his cocoa to let Etho stand up.

He heard Etho walk towards the door and creak it open. Then he heard a sigh of relief before a familiar voice made it's way to Bdubs's ears.

"Etho! I heard what happened!" BigB said before dropping his voice to a rather loud whisper. "Is he causing you trouble?"

Bdubs heard Etho close the door. "No BigB, he's fine. Better than I thought, actually. Oh- You can look up now, Bdubs." Etho said.

Bdubs looked up and nearly jumped out of his skin.

BigB was part wood! He was a creaking like Etho??

"Don't be scared! I can only hold my human form for so long and I can't transform right now!" BigB explained hastily while wildly waving his arms, nearly whacking Etho in the face.

"Human form?" Bdubs asked.

"Yeah! I can only keep up my human form for an hour. Etho, here, can hold his all day." BigB explained.

"Until I need to go to sleep." Etho chuckled, taking off his mask.

"Yeah, until he needs to sleep. You still need to tell me how you managed that, dude!" BigB responded.

"Not right now, do you want a hot cocoa?" Etho asked pointing his thumb towards the kitchen.

"Sure. I wanna get some info outta Bdubs." BigB explained.

"I'm still here, you know!" Bdubs yelled before looking back down at his cocoa so the others could move.

The two creakings moved around the house, BigB to the couch (Bdubs only knew that because Etho started telling BigB to not get splinters and leaves all over his recliner chair again) and Etho to the kitchen.

Bdubs heard Etho pour a mug of hot cocoa and give it to BigB before making his way back to his spot across from Bdubs.

"So, what type of creature are you?" BigB asked.

Bdubs took a long sip of his cocoa. "I'm just a human." He mumbled.

"What's wrong with being a human?" Etho asked.

Bdubs looked at the two creakings for a moment. "You guys aren't gonna be like 'arg he's a human! I'm gonna kick him outta my woods!' or something like that?"

The two creakings now looking very confused.

"What?? No?? Why would we do that?" BigB asked.

"My old village didn't have a lot of humans in it, I got bullied a lot, got into a few fights... So, you guys... Aren't angry?" Bdubs asked.

"No! Of course we aren't!" Etho said. "We thought you'd be angry at us!"

"Well. This is one confusing night." Bdubs laughed, making the other laugh as well.

The laughter was interrupted by Bdubs's growling stomach.

"I'll find some food." Etho said before Bdubs turned to look at BigB.

"Any other questions?" Bdubs asked as he heard Etho rummaging through a chest in the kitchen.

"Yep!" The creaking responded. "Why'd you come into the garden anyways?"

"Oh! Grian and Martyn wanted me to find out what Etho was in exchange for a life." He explained.

"Those two are trouble together. Wasn't it Grian first, then Martyn joined in the shenanigans later?" BigB asked.

"Yeah! It was weird, Grian was giving me the details of the deal and Martyn was just standing there listening." A chill ran down Bdubs's spine. "I don't like what they're planning."

"Me neither." Etho had sat back down at the table.

The creaking tossed one cookie to BigB and handed one to Bdubs.

BigB gasped happily before immediately munching on it.

Etho nibbled on his, Bdubs usually saw him eat by raising his mask a bit so he could eat and no one could see his eye, and that was when he rarely ate around others.

As Etho ate his cookie, his two eyes stared down at his snack as if inspecting it, but his third eye scanned the room of any dangers. It landed on Bdubs for a split second before quickly looking away. Bdubs guessed Etho was still getting used to his friend knowing his secret.

Bdubs dunked half his cookie into his cocoa as BigB made a muffled gasp as an idea struck him.

"I heard about this new biome! A kingdom of sweets! We should totally go tomorrow! It might have answers on the two mischief makers!" BigB exclaimed.

"How will sweets help us get Grian and Martyn off our tails?" Etho chuckled.

"Grian's a sugar plum fairy. Duh!" BigB raised his arms in the air, sprinkling crumbs all over Etho's couch and rug. "It will definitely have answers to what their up to."

"I like the sound of that!" Bdubs said.

The two looked towards Etho with goofy smiles on their faces.

Etho sighed. "I'm out numbered, aren't I?"

"Yep!" The two yelled in unison.

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"Martyn? Where are you going?" Ren asked as he watched Martyn fold and tie a rope around his dress so it wouldn't drag on the ground.

"Going on a quick trip with Grian, will be back soon!" Martyn explained before looking up and smiling at his snail-dog friend.

"Can I come?" Ren asked, his tail wagging a bit.

Martyn bit his lower lip, he looked torn.

"I'm sorry, you can't. You need to watch the base, I'll be gone for a few days at most." There was a crack in Martyn's voice when he spoke. Plus, I... It might be dangerous. I don't want you getting hurt. Not when you're on yellow."

Ren was quiet for a moment before walking up to Martyn and giving him a tight hug.

"Then be careful. Please." The snail-dog said softly.

"I will... I will..." Martyn mumbled as he hugged Ren just as tightly.

Ren wasn't sure why Martyn needed to go with Grian, but he knew his friend would be okay.

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Martyn broke down into tears when he left Renwood.

He was tired. Tired in general and tired of being forced to follow Grian around... Or what was left of Grian...

The watchers were awful beings. Martyn knew that well. And if he wanted to see Ren after this night, he'd need to keep following Grian.

And so, he walked off towards the Sub 1 Club's base to find the watcher.

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I'm so glad you guys are loving this au as much as I do!

So sorry for the long wait! I've been super busy! Have this really long, lore filled, chapter as a reward for your patience!

Also, I haven't announced this but I changed Bdubs to a human! He gets ✨lore✨!

After the main plot is finished, if you guys want, I can make one shots and qnas in between the mer au!

Thanks for reading this really long chapter! Have a great day! And a cookie from Etho! 🍪

[angel-of-the-moons]

A Rose Under The Moon

Moon Knight System (Marc/Steven/Jake) x Fem!Reader

TW/CW: None really

A/N: Gods you guys I am so sorry it's taken so long, life just keeps getting on track and derailing into some crazy bs for me lately (and of course the wonderful problems of depression and problematic mental health are an issue) but I'm hoping I churn out a bit more writing because I miss it and Lord it drives me bonkers when I wanna write, but can't think of where to start. So this is one of the shorter chapters, filler mostly. But have some Hippo Mama-focused stuff for a bit!

Taglist: @bad4amficideas @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction @shirukitsune @lokisremainingsanity @mundivagantsoul @furblrwurblr @zoleea-exultant @latenightcravingz @daygirl26 @thelastemzy @leahnicole1219 @crazyunsexycool

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Chapter 7:

Cats and Cradles

You were certainly a peculiar creature. Odd dietary habits, an awkward sleeping schedule...

But all this could be tied to your soulmate, surely. Or well... Soulmates, as it were. It had to have been.

"It must be so difficult for you, poor little thing." Taweret sighed as she watched you eat your breakfast for the day. Some simple grain-based cereal with granola and dehydrated fruit mixed in, with some sweetened oat-milk poured in, a nice piping cup of tea steaming next to you.

You idly ate spoonful after spoonful while you read an old journal of some sorts. Mass produced of course, but the pages were yellowed and torn at the edges, the spine well-creased.

Taweret leaned over to see what was in the book. Inside were detailed sketches of relics from various Egyptian tombs.

The goddess chuckled as she looked down at you, and looked at your wrist. The bottom right Moon was full today. Given your choice of breakfast and reading material for the morning...

Taweret had to guess Steven was in control of the body. Already, you and the boys were so in tune with one another you didn't even notice when your habits would change depending on who was in control.

Like the day you put whiskey in Jake's coffee. You were intending to do the same for yourself. In fact, you did.

You were sipping at your tea when a slight scratching could be heard at the door that led to the stairs that descended into the alley behind your shop.

Taweret's little ears flicked about as she watched you curiously as you stand, and go over to the door. Once it opens, there, patiently sitting with big, beautiful green eyes, was a silky-soft black cat.

The cat raised its paw at you a few times, meowing.

You chuckle and step aside, "C'mon, Puck. Yes, I got your treats for you." You say to the little creature as she--yes, Taweret was positive the cat was female--sauntered into your flat as though she owned the place.

The cat, apparently named by you as "Puck" sat at two empty little dishes on the floor, pink with little fish pictures printed on.

"How quaint!" Taweret giggled. Of course, she knew you couldn't see or hear her, but she was curious about you. And if that blasted old pigeon was nosing about you, Taweret wanted to know more about you as well. And gosh, did she find you positively endearing! Especially with how you were baby-talking to your little furry friend!

"C'mon, Puck." You giggle, pulling out a small container of goat milk. Taweret watches, absolutely besotted with the scene in front of her as you pour some of the milk into one of the pink bowls, and a handful of kibble in the other.

You scritch the cat's ear as she happily laps up her milk, before she switches and munches on her food.

"I wish I knew what you got up to when you're not around. I haven't seen you for two weeks!" You sigh, sitting on your haunches with your cheeks in your palms as you watched the creature eat.

Taweret carefully maneuvers herself out of the way as you get up to grab your cereal, finishing it off as you talk in between bites to your furry companion, ranting about some controversial fact or another you've read about, or perhaps it was a particularly rude woman in the local super market, you never ran out of things to rant about to the cat.

The hippo woman giggles again as she clasps her hands in front of her and the one-sided conversation you were having. When she looked back down, she noticed Puck was staring right up at her.

Oh, right. Animals can see her.

Ah well... It's not like Puck could talk, so she couldn't exactly tell you there was a 9 foot hippo woman standing in the middle of your flat.

"You're such a good girl, Puck." You coo, scooping up the fluffy critter. The cat allows you to hold her in a way reminiscent of a mother holding her baby, and she purred as you rubbed her belly, licking her chops clean of the food and milk she still had on her.

"Such a messy girl, too." You grin, leaning down to boop your nose to Puck's.

'This cat is the calmest I've ever seen.' Taweret thought amusingly. 'So well-behaved and sweet. A perfect little friend for this darling girl.'

Already Taweret was feeling things for you, she was already starting to dote on you (even though you didn't know it) in a similar way she did with Layla.

The past few weeks, when she wasn't conversing with Layla or the boys, she was with you, milling about in your shop, watching you bake. (Watching someone bake muffins without eggs and other animal products was fascinating! Steven usually made meals, not sweets!)

Sometimes she would sit on the floor, curiously watching whatever it was you had on the TV in the background. (Heavens, there was some dreadful stuff there. She learned to tune out your serial killer documentaries...) However, Taweret was certainly partial to the sci-fi movies you watched.

Particularly the old ones, like that one... Oh, what was it? That strong young woman with the orange cat? Ah! Alien. She very much liked that franchise, it was nice seeing such a strong young woman. "Ripley" reminded her so much of Layla. She even had curly hair! And her darling cat, Jonesy; she had a soft spot for ginger tabbies; they tended to be so silly!

As you went about your morning routine, Taweret noticed that Puck would watch her everywhere she went. It wasn't uncommon, again, for animals to react to her presence. Dogs and birds would make a fuss, but cats were always content to just watch. Sometimes she would lean down and give the little animals a good stroke to their fur.

Taweret continued to watch, the invisible spectator to your routine as you did your dishes and began baking your morning muffins and cakes for your shop.

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The day was rather droll, the grimy chilly weather outside meant you would have few customers. So, you'd taken it up on yourself to start organizing and dusting shelves of the books that hardly got touched, Puck staying your loyal little shadow.

She was a big hit with those that did come in, especially older folks. They would lean down, stroke or scratch her and go "oh, such a sweet cat" and "such a good girl!" And of course, Puck seemed to eat it all up, purring loudly and sitting snugly in a folded up sweater you set on the checkout counter.

However, you noticed that Puck, somewhere around mid-afternoon, began walking about the shelves, sitting at the end, and staring.

It was unlike her, when she would spend time with you. She almost always snuggled in your old wool sweater and waited for pets from customers.

But right now, Puck was sitting in the section that held your stock of fantasy and sci-fi novels. Her eyes large, and unblinking as she looked at what appeared to simply be dead air. You noticed she did this in your flat this morning... but paid no mind to it. After all, who could possibly claim to know the inner workings of a feline mind? Perhaps a speck of dust wafting about caught her eye and she was fixated upon it? Who knows?

You left Puck to do her silly kitty routine and continued cleaning and organizing.

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Taweret got a little anxious when the cat persistently followed her about. For some reason, this cat was wholly invested in Taweret's appearance after she awoke from her nap on the counter.

Perhaps it was because Taweret was an alien presence that the cat had never seen before? Perhaps she could sense Taweret's divinity? Cats were often capable of sensing supernatural things, or even venturing into a kind of spirit world, and capable of bringing good luck and good fortune to those that housed and loved them.

And you seemed to care and love Puck whenever she would come back to see you from her "adventures" as you put them.

But right now, Pick was still just... staring.

"Oh, dear... Shoo, little one! I'd hate for your friend to catch on!" Taweret said, her fingers wiggling anxiously, ears flicking about.

The cat merely stared, giving Taweret a long, slow blink in response.

"Ohhh..."

"Whatcha gawking at, Puck?" You say, clicking your tongue as you kneel next to the cat, rubbing her head with your fingers.

Puck's tail merely flicked about behind her a few times, and she gave another slow blink, but not at you.

Your eyes track where Puck was staring, and for a moment, Taweret was worried you could see her...

But instead you chuckle and scritch the cat again.

"Is my bookshop haunted, Puck? If so, tell your ghost buddies not to knock stuff off my shelves, okay? I do not have poltergeist insurance."

Taweret sighed, her body sagging in relief as you walked off, paying no further mind to Puck and her odd behavior.

"Goodness me, you certainly are an odd one!" Taweret told the cat, reaching down to stroke her sweetly.

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A young woman with bright green hair and possibly the most piercings you'd ever seen in a person had walked into your store, striking up a conversation with you.

She was from Turkey, originally, and was looking into books about any local history, and oddly enough, nursery rhymes.

The young woman told you her name was Anya, and that her parents met when her mother was on some job that required her to travel. She only recently moved to England (her mother's birthplace) after her father passed away.

That's when Anya told you she wanted to go into childcare, hence the books on nursery rhymes.

"Yeah, there's a local daycare that says they need more books cause the kids love em to pieces." She snorted, shoving her hands in her pockets. "Literally."

"Oh, no I can imagine." You chuckle, placing the colorful books in one of your reusable bags.

Anya reached out and patted Puck's haunches, and Puck stretched, making a "mrrp?" noise as she did. Stretching over Anya's torso (that was visible beneath her over-sized shirt that hung off one of her shoulders) was a mark that looked almost like flames. You were absolutely transfixed by it.

"'S not ink, if that's what you're wondering." She winked at you.

Your face flushed, and you rubbed the back of your neck, embarrassed that you were caught staring. "Oh, I just... It's just so..."

"Eye-catchin'? Yeah, I know." She grinned. "I've had it since I was like, six."

"Oh! It's your mark?" You gasped.

"Yep! I like it, honestly. Rather cool and adds to my whole aesthetic." Anya laughed. "You can imagine my mum's reaction when she woke me up for school one day and I have a freakin' big arse mark that looks like some sorta phoenix. You should've seen the look on my teacher! Oh, man. She about died!"

Anya petted Puck again. "You've got a really sweet cat, here. She's really calm."

"Oh, Puck? She's actually not my pet, if you can believe that!" You chuckle, watching as Puck soaked up the attention like a little fluffy sponge.

"She's not?" Anya blinked on reply. "Then whose is she?"

"I'm not sure," You answer truthfully. "She just comes around, disappears for a while, and comes back. I love her company, though. She's a real sweetie."

"Man, I've always wanted a cat. I wonder if I can talk my mum into getting a cat?" She mused.

"Oh, I recommend it. My dad always had cats growing up." You chuckle. "He'd feed the strays on our property, would get them vaccinated, build little hutches for the winter... We also had one or two in the house as our pets. Always had a black one, like Puck here."

You sigh wistfully, playfully poking Puck's belly as she rolled over and showed the pudge to Anya, who cooed at her cute behavior.

"So I guess I have a soft spot for little voids, they remind me of my dad."

"Oh, man, void cats are the best. I love watching videos of them online! They just look like giant polka dots with eyes!" The young woman giggled with glee, happily rubbing Puck's belly.

You'd finished ringing her up and she gladly paid, saying as she left, "I'll have to come back and get more of these for the kids. Thanks!"

"Anytime, sweets!" You say to her as she happily walked out into the dreary weather.

You looked at Puck, your chin in your palm as you snorted at her. She turned her head and stretched, moseying over to you and headbutting your chin, before pulling back and giving you a slow blink.

"Maybe I should get you some of those talking buttons, eh, Puck? I'd sure love to hear what you're thinking!" You sigh at her. Puck merely purred in response.

You were still blissfully unaware of the goddess still inhabiting the space of your shop, watching you with a fond smile.

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Chapter 8: Link

[ohwhataniight]

I'm stuck on your heart - Chapter 5

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

On AO3

Strumming my pain with his fingers

John’s life suddenly becomes dim, with only Rosie left to light it up. If anyone had told him a couple of weeks ago that he would find himself co-parenting a child with a person he was hardly on speaking terms with, he would have laughed incredulously at the fella, being out of their mind and all.

The thing is, he’s pissed. How could Sherlock hide from him a thing as important as a date? In all honesty, John knows that Sherlock has every right to, that Sherlock deserves to have his own life. Still, they’re raising a child - his child - together. And that’s becoming increasingly difficult.

Sherlock looks after Rosie while John is at work, then disappears into Mrs. Hudson’s basement, doing God-knows-what. On a few occasions, John has caught him playing “Killing me softly with his song” on the violin. He doesn’t go out a lot, which probably means that the date at the pub didn’t go that great, but the obvious fact that the detective is in pining mode doesn’t make John feel any better.

The festive spirit of the days has suddenly become oppressive, but it’s importnat to John that he stays as cheerful as possible for his daughter, even though the Christmas carols that Sherlock plays for her make his insides turn.

They exchange the most words on a few times when they’re out on a case together, but John gradually starts saying no - he doesn’t want to leave Rosie with Mrs. Hudson for a long time, what with her not getting any younger as time passes.

He loves the time he spends with Rosie, tossing her into the air, tickling her, reading her fairytales and tucking her into bed. He just wishes he wouldn’t get this hollow feeling in his chest every time he notices Sherlock looking absent-minded.

One morning, in the middle of December, Mrs. Hudson stops him at the doorway as he’s putting his coat on to leave for work. “Do you know what Rosie told me yesterday, dear? Papa no love She’lock. Do you really think that this long face of yours is worth it? Think of the baby.”

John’s lips tighten into a thin line. He slowly nods. “I’ll talk to Sherlock, Mrs. Hudson. Thank you. And... sorry. For that.”

That evening, when he returns from the surgery, he dresses Rosie and the two of them head out to meet Harry for coffee. They’ve gradually grown closer together, after she met Rosie and fell in love with her. Harry is doing better for herself now, and she also recently seems to have grown quite keen on Sherlock. In the past, John didn’t remember feeling such warmth when he spotted Harry’s butch haircut and sturdy figure sitting at a cafe, waiting for him. She does look like his twin brother, he’s always thought, thoughts drifting back to that first night he met Sherlock.

Harry spends a good ten minutes playing with Rosie, and giving her gifts (John feels the least happy about the toy harmonica - “to accompany Sherlock with”).

“So, tell me what’s ailing you,” Harry asks, sipping her machiato. The flashing fairy lights from the decorations that hang above their heads are illuminating her round face in rapid stacattos. “It’s him, isn’t it?” she asks when John doesn’t respond. “Has he found someone else?”

John surprises himself with the lack of defensiveness in his response. “It seems so, yes.”

“How many times have I told you since we were kids, John? You can’t freeze with fear when there’s something you fear, when there's something you desire. You need to speak up, be open with your feelings, before it’s too late.”

John for once, doesn’t respond. Rosie is sitting in a giant armchair, red checkered dress, white woollen tights and shiny shoes already a mess as she munches on her cupcake. She occupies herself with her new toys as John leans forward towards his sister. “I never expected we’d come to this, Harry.”

“It’s never too late to act for what you want. Our parents’ repression isn't a good look on you, John.”

As they’re paying and walking out of the cafe, getting ready to hail a cab to go home, a black limousine appears and pulls back in front of them. Harry sighs. “Duty calls you, I see. Make it right, John.”

He inhales, exhales, then kisses her on the cheek, trying to contain Rosie who’s already trying to get into the car, yelling “Unc’e Myc’oft!” They really do have to teach her a thing or two about getting into cars with tinted windows.

They climb onto the back seat. Anthea coos at Rosie, who doesn’t seem to mind the time and place and starts experimenting with her new harmonica. John’s life is a big mess.

They meet at a quiet playground at Notting Hill. “Can you not, with the baby?” John hisses when he spots Mycroft, ridiculously expensive suit and all, sitting on a bench, his weight resting on his umbrella that's fixed on the ground.

“Hello, little Watson, hello, big Watson,” Mycroft forces a smile, handing a granola bar to Rosie. “It’s sugarfree. Anthea will push you on the kiddie swing, run along.” He turns to John. "This playground was licensed recently, passed all tests with perfect marks. I had it checked".

John doesn’t take his eyes from Rosie as Anthea lifts her up and places her on the swing near the bench, but thankfully their encounter with Sherlock’s brother is brief.

“It was young love, as they call it, John,” Mycroft says quietly. “Victor Trevor, he broke Sherlock’s heart in the university. I won’t try to hide the truth from you. It wasn’t for a case, or anything like that. But I assure you, it wouldn’t have happened if you had gotten your act together sooner.”

“Your brother’s apparently... existing love life is no concern of mine, Mycroft,” John states. “Especially not a good enough reason to take me into dark playgrounds when I have Rosie with me”.

“I know my brother better than he thinks, John,” Mycroft exhales a thick cloud of air. “Do what’s right. For all our sakes. It’s Christmas”.

These days are full of firsts. John would never have assumed that Mycroft Holmes would be caught, dead or alive, using Crhistmas as an excuse or a reason to do anything. He wonders if he really does know something.

They are dropped off at Baker street. For now, all that John can concern himself with, is bathing Rosie and putting her to bed.