#also if you think these AUs are cringe and weird let me know I guarantee I have other AUs that are the exact opposite in every aspect

[flippingyouoff]

Hey! Trying to get a game of sorts started in this fandom where people can interact more, so pass along some asks like this if you want after answering this!

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR FAVOURITE AU YOU'VE MADE AND FAVOURITE SHIP GO

I just saw yr own response I am so OVERWHELMED WITH AFFECTION that you'd select me to Spread The Virus! It is Evil and Vile however that you would ask me to select Just One Favorite AU I've made! I can only interpret this as an act of hostility and malice. Lock your windows scumbag /loving

TL;DR

AU: Anastasia AU, with a side of Asexual Occult Harem

Ship: Stylennyman, because I'm contrarian and too old for shipping wars.

And now, the ominous Read More:

GOD so like I've this AU that I'm conceptualizing as a Visual Novel because I've had a simplistic Visual Novel Creator For Dummies program for like fifteen years and I've never used it and I'm always trying to decide on a story I could use with it.

The base backstory is loosely SOT but that's when the kids are kids. Then it's a parody of the 1997 animated Anastasia movie. Kenny is Anastasia and I do not take critique.

The prologue is when they're kids and Princess Kenny is brought to Kyles Kingdom with their families' intensions to betroth them to eachother because the Broflovski royal family is having issues with Fantasy Bigotry with the humans and the McCormicks are landwealthy but bankrupt mostly humans with a touch o Orc in there (I just have no fun way to fit more Orc into the plot it's very uncreative of me)

So Stan is Kyles squire bodyguard in training and Cartman is a fledgling wizard from an abolished Rival Kingdom and he's allowed to play with them because Kyle pities that he lives in a hotdog in the woods or smth that's not important they all become bestest of friends!

Kenny has been presented as a girl to be a more realistic match for Kyle but Carol confesses their desperate scam and neither Queen Sheila or Kyle mind they wanna help them out and everyone fkn loves Kenny bc it's Kenny gd it.

But the Dark Kingdom suddenly attacks one day and the castle is thrown into turmoil. They've arrived with a massive army and a slew of wizards collected from the remains of Cartmans Kingdom.

The parents fend off the aggressors- and mostly fall- while the kids scatter. Kyle, Stan and Ike collect Kenny and Karen to try and escape. They run into Cartman who quickly swaps sides to help his friends sneak out.

Stan and Kyle are separated from the group to get traumatized on their own while the others continue on, eventually getting caught in the crossfire. Kenny seemingly sacrifices himself to get Ike and Karen to safety.

Cartman hides them away someplace safe before he's found out to have helped both Kingdoms heirs, his magic powers are bound and he's abandoned to be caught by remaining armies. When he's thrown in the execution lineup however, Stan shows up and causes a distraction to get him out, and the two run off together.

Kyle is left as the heir apparent to his Kingdom, and after safely being taken to neutral lands, agrees to dissolve his families royal legitimacy so his surviving people can get sanctuary and a ceasefire be found. He knows that Cartman secured Ike's safety somewhere but also knows that he's safer wherever that is. Stan left his side in shame that he failed to protect Kyles family.

Pop forward ten years later, rumors that a McCormick heir survived are bustling in rebelling circles of the now impoverished lands the Dark Kingdom annexed. Stan and Cartman have been surviving in them together all this time. When Cartman gets whiff of the rumors he concocts a plan to find someone to impersonate Kenny, who they knew best, as a ticket back into the neutral lands that are posting the reward for a confirmation of the rumors. What he's actually planning is just to get him and Stan back into a humane country and then handing over the fake to the Dark Kingdoms leader, so that he can have his magic unbound. Stan's in his own self-imposed isolation though so he just goes along because he's codependent on Cartman sdakfjlbsdf

Though right on time, the real Kenny shows up to get pulled into their scheme. All amnesia'd up, and absolutely all for scamming his way out of the country with these two PTSD-stricken oafs, because his only lead for where his possible family and past might be is a pendant marked with the crest of Kyles royal family.

Cue a roadtrip from Fantasy Not-Russia across Fantasy Not-Europe to Fantasy Not-Paris, where you would be playing a Friendship optional Dating Simulator of Kenny helping Stan and Cartman getting through their traumas, where you can get Stan to get his self esteem back and Cartman to Not sell Kenny off to Evil Overlords. All culminating in a final stretch reuniting with the Usurped Prince Kyle, who missed them all very very much...........................

Another one of my AU's that I like alot right now is a Werewolf AU where I take Jersey Kyle, Goth Stan, Bad Irene and Princess Kenny/Mysterion and caramelize them in a Polyamorous MeetCute Teflon Pan, where they all get wrapped up in Kyley-B's transformation into a werewolf and his subsequent quest to understand his predicament. Along the way Raven gets bit by a vampire and Irene finds a magic wand. Oh and they also have a run in with Princess' Ex, Damien The Antichrist. Also Princess is an Asexual Succubus. Also they're all Asexual. That doesn't mean anything I just already headcanon Kyle and Cartman as Ace and an Asexual Succubus is a fun concept so Stans wrapped in on this too so that I can call this the Asexual Occult Harem AU. I made them in Sims!!!

So then it shouldn't be a surprise I'm listing my OTP as Stylennyman. I usually list my OTPs as Style, Bunny and Creek because I Love Those but it's also very boring and I don't want to allow any assumptions that I am so complacent about Anything. So my stubborn contrarian ass whose fear of conflict manifests in embracing both sides in fandom shipping discourse just decides to throw everyone together. No heartbreak no jealousy just long drawn out monologues and very specific scenarios spun just right to get this absolute shitfest to work. I don't even like requited Kyman I'm just fixated on making their relationship less uncomfortable and beating Cartman into a morally tolerable character because I got into this fandom and started out being mean to him and it gave me a tummy ache so sorry he gets happy endings too.

I have this whole fun skit idea where when the guys come out as Together Gerald goes on a long quest collecting all the Estranged Fathers to try and break them up. Also I kneaded and beat the plot until I baked up a good way to get Menorah Cartman there, because God, I love Menorah Cartman so much and this is my AU and I do what I want. She still hates Kyle. Also Wendy's a international super spy and Kenny's an Eldritch God, but those are my normal 20smths Headcanons.

Fandom stop being weird challenge we all are fixated on the like third worst show in American Culture lets just embrace the cringe and be nice to eachother there is literally No Way To Go But Up <3

[nervouscupcakeinspace]

BTS FIC RECS (PART 2)

Jeon Jungkook/Jung Hoseok | J-Hope

Don't Get Charmed by shikiso

When an injured omega is found on their territory, Jungkook's instincts scream danger. He is the pack's omega, they don't need another one. Jungkook is doing a good enough job by himself, protecting the den and soothing the tension off everybody's shoulders.

Why is the pack so adamant on keeping that useless omega in ?

They have Jungkook, they don't need Hoseok.

Why can't they even see his little game ? Hoseok definitely knows how to play the scared and helpless omega. But, if he manages to trick everybody, he can't trick Jungkook. He is immune to his sweet scent and sweeter eyes.

He won't fall into his trap.

Jeon Jungkook/Park Jimin

Omega Drip by sugamongoose

Park Jimin is the kind of alpha who makes you coffee and asks about your day before reducing his partner to a crying, writhing mess on his organic cotton sheets. He doesn't even seem to care one bit that Jungkook is a broken omega who doesn't get wet when he's supposed to.

“Are you busy right now, alpha?” Jungkook asks, holding his breath in anticipation. He can already visualise getting on his knees for the smaller man, can imagine those soft-looking hands petting his hair in approval when he shows just how good his mouth is.

Jeon Jungkook/Kim Namjoon | RM

Every Kind of Way by Oh_Hey_Tae

And then he realizes, quite belatedly, that he’s not supposed to be shaking the hand of the barista. Because that’s weird. And uncalled for. And really, really weird.

So Jungkook draws back his arm, grips the straps of his backpack, and promptly flees the building without a word spoken. Which is fine. Sometimes you have to get out of awkward social situations and blacklist particular cafés and adjust your route to school to avoid said café and the barista with the heart shaped face and his sweet pea scented hands. It happens.

“Jungkook-ah, meet Kim Namjoon.”

And sometimes during your bi-weekly dinner one of your good friends introduces you to said barista with the terribly soft hands who also happens to be getting his masters in social work to help underprivileged youth in inner city neighborhoods. Which is fine. This is fine. Jungkook is doing just fine.

 (Or: Jungkook adores everything about Namjoon except that the man can't catch a clue.)

Here Is What I Know by Oh_Hey_Tae

There are flowers growing on Namjoon’s arm. They aren’t real flowers, of course. That would be absurd. Impossible. Ridiculous. But Namjoon spends most of his lecture on Kant watching the garden of ink bloom on his skin, beginning at his pinkie and spreading across his wrist, trickling down to his elbow, curling up and around his bicep and out of sight under the sleeve of his shirt. Irises and peonies and roses and sunflowers. The girl who’s sitting beside him is staring, and when caught, gives Namjoon a bright-eyed grin before glancing back to the board. Namjoon spots a faded smiley face inked into the skin of her thumb, what looks to be a grocery list scrawled over the back of her hand. Notes or reminders from her soulmate maybe. Soulmates. Huh. It looks like Namjoon has one of those now.

try to resist, i still want it all by exarite

At first, Namjoon doesn’t think much of him.

He looks familiar, but he’s too far away for Namjoon to really see or scent out his dynamic. He’s cute, but Namjoon's not new to cute boys either. He's far too used to handsome, and pretty, and everything in between in the industry.

But then he stands up. Namjoon's eyes catch on the swell of his belly, and every nerve in his body lights up, his mind going blank, and—

Oh, he breathes. He's pregnant.

::

Namjoon fucks a pregnant Jungkook.

just let me adore you by elle_O_moonchild *

Rockstar omega Jungkook has never let an alpha tie him down. He was independent, and happy, and had no need for a domineering knothead to mess up his career and lifestyle.

But powerful and wealthy alpha Namjoon only wants to spoil the pretty omega rotten.

or

A smitten alpha Namjoon gets a weary omega Jungkook to go on a date with him and shows him just how good they can be together…

Jeon Jungkook/Kim Seokjin | Jin

more and more and more by moonsuns

"If you haven’t had sex by the time you’re twenty, then I’ll have sex with you. That way you’ll have a guaranteed end date for your virginity.”

“Do you promise, hyung?”

"I promise."

The problem was, Seokjin never expected to be called on it.

you shouldn't give it to me (good like that) by jamaisvore

opposites in the eyes of the media, but a perfect match in each other's arms.

or: supermodel!jk x rockstar!jin

Jung Hoseok | J-Hope/Kim Namjoon | RM

Pull Me Under by Oh_Hey_Tae

It’s been two weeks. Hoseok has managed to survive two weeks of Kim Namjoon’s progressively darkening thighs and his cheek craters and his swooshy hair and that stupid laugh he does that makes him sound like a bleating sheep.

Yoongi looks over his shoulder. Stares. Slowly draws his gaze back to Hoseok. “Are we discussing the same man who tried to brush his teeth with sunscreen yesterday?”

“Ew, he did that?”

“Your voice says that’s disgusting but your face says you’re enamored.”

Hoseok presses his palms against his eyes until he sees colored spots. “Make it stop, hyung.”

  (Or: Hoseok works at a summer resort and Namjoon is the newest lifeguard. Chaos ensues.)

fall underneath by crycoby

“Is this secretly about your huge crush on Namjoon?” Jimin asks, his fingers digging into the back of Hoseok’s neck in a way that is frankly criminal. “You know that if you like him, you’re going to have to be more direct. He doesn’t like to assume things about people and… He overthinks a lot,” he finally settles on diplomatically.

Hoseok groans, half because of the pressure and half because the idea of talking about this, about any of this, about any of the gnarled mess that is the clutch of Hoseok’s emotions in the knot of his chest, gives him hives.

//

hoseok could talk about his big messy feelings about namjoon, or he could talk around them instead and just hope for the best. yeah. that sounds good.

Methods of Mutual Stress Relief by Only_A_Fangirl

Hoseok cringes, “How weird would it be if I actually asked to jerk off in here with you?”

“Very,” Namjoon answers instantly.

Hoseok nods, “You can choose the porn.”

Namjoon blinks, “Are you for real?”

lyre lyre lyre by oliviacirce

Namjoo regrets every life choice that has led her here, to the hard wooden floor of this dance studio, where she's lying on her back like a beached whale.

Jung Hoseok | J-Hope/Kim Taehyung | V

the long and winding road by moonsuns

Hoseok is (basically) forced to go on vacation and leave his stressful idol life behind, at least for a little while. He wasn't expecting to find Taehyung, that's for sure. (He's glad he did, though.)

Kim Namjoon | RM/Kim Seokjin | Jin

Procurement by FlyYouFools1 (WIP) *

Seokjin and Namjoon have waited decades for a little of their own. Taehyung just wants to pay for his little brother's education.

Kim Namjoon | RM/Kim Taehyung | V

Dandelion Love (part of the (Not) Destined series) by almostsophie1

Taehyung is twenty-one when the word on his wrist turns ashen. The kind of love that soulmates share is forever out of reach.

(But enter one Kim Namjoon, who doesn't think the same.)

Kim Namjoon | RM/Min Yoongi | Suga

Bleeding Love by beebalm

Yoongi was already dressed and halfway to the door, nothing but a dry chuckle and a See you around when Namjoon asked for his number.

OR

It's not that Namjoon is hurt Yoongi only ever wanted him for a one night stand. And he doesn't have a crush. He just wishes they didn't have to keep seeing each other all the time.

Kim Namjoon | RM/Park Jimin

but i want it anyway by ameliabedelias *

Park Jimin’s roommate goes to study abroad for a semester. Kim Namjoon takes over the lease.

only lingering around you by moonsuns 

“I don't. I mean...this is going to sound awkward, but I’m...not really looking for a relationship right now.”

Namjoon considers, for a moment, elaborating and telling Jimin about everything with Hoseok, but there wouldn't be any point in that. And also, Namjoon is pretty sure that Jimin doesn't care about any of that anyway.

And he's right. At this, Jimin outright laughs. It isn’t a mean laugh, but Namjoon is pierced by the sound anyway. “Who said anything about a relationship, or even feelings? It’s just sex.”

Or, Namjoon and Jimin are friends with benefits.

Kim Seokjin | Jin/Min Yoongi | Suga

운명 (Fate) (part of the (Not) Destined series) by almostsophie1

Yoongi is part of that three percent population left without a soulmate word. It doesn't matter if he falls in love, because love isn't meant for people like him.

(Then he meets Seokjin.)

candy on my lips (part of the just desserts series) by moonbabie

Anonymous advice columnist and baby bi Kim Sujin meets queer club president Min Yoonji, and does the following: writes some cheesy advice columns, cuts her hair, and figures out her shit. (aka a queer romcom meets emotional constipation, self-discovery, and clueless wlw)

Min Yoongi | Suga/Park Jimin

pull me closer in the backseat of your rover by moonsuns

Jimin had just wanted to get off. He didn't think he'd end up with a boyfriend at the end of it all.

Or, another friends with benefits AU.

Nip & Bloom by sugamongoose (WIP) *

The year is 2021, and yet traditional and oppressive views of alpha/omega relations run rampant in the Korean society. Unmated Park Jimin is placed in a government programme which pairs delinquent omegas with support mates to make them more comfortable in their submission. Jimin’s alpha for six months turns out to be Min Yoongi, a tiny music producer who wears fuzzy sweaters, and who won’t stop talking about his kitten Holly.

“You look like an omega,” Jimin blurts out. The strange alpha flashes him a smile that reveals the pink of his gums. “Is that something you prefer? I saw your file, and it said you identify as queer.” “Oh, you looked at my file just to see if I like to fuck other omegas? Knot swelling yet?”

POLY RELATIONSHIPS

OT7 - Relationship

indiscentsible by cloudyworld *

Jungkook had been a little disappointed when, after all the build-up and speculation, he'd presented as a beta. Betas are great! They play an important role in society: level-headed, big-picture thinkers, the solid foundation that holds everyone together. But that pull of instinct that comes with being an alpha or omega, the feeling of belonging... He was crushed at the thought he might never get to have that.

In a pack with three alphas and three omegas already, presenting beta was a gift; Jungkook learns to see that too.

Precious Mettle by glitterandgilt (WIP) *

Jin loved his nest. He'd built it very carefully from the ground up. Spent centuries on selecting the individuals he wanted to spend the rest of his immortal life with. He was proud of his nest and protected it with a possessive love that rivaled a dragon's guard on their trove.

Jin didn't get the chance to go through that evaluation process with his newest treasure. But he would never let it go.

Or

When Jin's blood is stolen and used to sire a new fledgling, Jin has two choices: to ignore the strands of magic binding him to his new childe, or to lay claim to another jewel for his collection. He chooses the latter and drags his entire nest into a situation none of them were anticipating.

Kim's Seven by Gobi17 (WIP) *

Jungkook, 17 year old YouTuber, is in awe of the 6 hot boys who have adopted him online.

Bangtan are a dangerous group of vigilantes who seize the opportunity to kidnap the stepson of their latest target.

Found Kin by Adaptive_Artist (WIP)

Jungkook is starving. Food doesn't make anything better, and his teeth ache like someone is hammering on them. He thought he was cursed. Turns out he's a hatchling kin, and is now the precious baby of the renowned Kim nest. He's also growing little fangs.

Huh.

love bites (series) by feraljk (WIP) 

Summary from the first fic:

newly-turned vampire jungkook still has a lot to learn, but his hyungs are there to help him. taehyung enlists yoongi and jin to teach the fledgling how to teethe and helps him discover how much of a bonding activity teething can be.

or: trans koo and tae teeth on their hyungs and also come

Isn't it lovely? (all alone) by hopefully2020

At age eighteen, all citizens are given a concentration that will determine their fields of study. A small empty square on their wrist will gain a color corresponding to their skill set. Everyone’s fear is that their square color is black, meaning they are destined for a life of crime. When Jungkook turns eighteen, he waits anxiously for his square to gain color, only to be presented with a blank square. He is shunned by his family, having to struggle through high school while trying to figure out what to do for the rest of his life. Jungkook's life gets flipped upside down on the day of his twenty-first birthday when the store he works at is robbed with Jungkook at the cash register. Fearing for his life he believes he is going to die, only to be saved by a figure in black with a mask covering his face. To make things even worse, Jungkook suddenly becomes the target of one of the largest drug syndicates, solely because of his new connection to his savior and five other men who turn out to be the biggest crime lords in Seoul. What happens then, you ask? Well, then the blank world Jungkook always saw starts to drip with black, just a little bit.

blueberry peaches (a serendipitous summer) by elle_O_moonchild (WIP)

Jungkook spends a life changing summer working at a beachside car wash and meets 6 new lovers who change his heart and life forever.

Jeon Jungkook/Jung Hoseok | J-Hope/Kim Namjoon | RM 

Falling For an Alien From Amalthea 5 by Pyotr_Keats78 (WIP)

Jungkook has been in and out of the hospital for years with various medical problems. Eventually, his heart becomes so weak that no human medicine can save him. Believing he will die never having come out as trans to anyone, he gives up. That is until his brother Jimin tells him, “You have two choices, Jungah: you can stay here in this hospital and get high every day until your heart fails you, or you can go to Amalthea, grow a parasite, and live.”

Jeon Jungkook/Kim Taehyung | V/Park Jimin

Mentoring on Marsa by FlyYouFools1

Jungkook comes to the planet Marsa after being promised a full scholarship to Marsa National University. When the scholarship falls through, his academic advisor gives him the number for a mentoring service for newly stranded omegas on Marsa. With rent due, no way home, and no success in finding a job, Jungkook calls the number. The organization sends him Min Yoongi, a fellow omega who's been living on Marsa for 8 years. Yoongi teaches him how to survive. Jungkook's first attempt at survival is alpha couple Jimin and Taehyung.

Features: Yoongi doing his best to teach Jungkook how to manage handsy alphas, handsy alphas (like all of them are touchy) taking liberties with omega protagonists, and my best attempt at writing problematic but entertaining sex. A lot of fluff too, actually. The alphas are fluffy as hell with the omegas, and pamper them a lot, even though their actual behavior is wrong.

Jeon Jungkook/Kim Taehyung | V/Min Yoongi | Suga

November (series) by cuttothequickk 

Summary from the first fic: 

Sometimes, Jeongguk gets so lonely he doesn't even feel alone anymore. He's practicing, and he's very good at it. Loneliness. Being alone. It's blustery cold, and the leaves are falling from the branches of trembling trees, and Jeongguk is alone in a big city, shivering without a jacket, trying desperately to keep himself warm.

There is no one, and then there is someone. Two someones. The lovely winter boys from Daegu, Taehyung and Yoongi, opposites and equals, so loving and in love.

It would be ridiculous, really, if Jeongguk didn't fall for them, too.

Jung Hoseok | J-Hope/Kim Namjoon | RM/Min Yoongi | Suga

how, or when, or from where by moonsuns

“Stop calling it my quest,” Namjoon whines, and Hoseok laughs.

“You’re the one that said it first.”

“I was drunk.”

“Well, the bad thing about going out with people, is that you can’t take back the stupid shit you said when you were drunk. Especially when they’re way less drunk than you.”

Or, after Namjoon almost dies, he decides to go on a quest to live his best life, and takes Yoongi and Hoseok along for the ride.

(* Personal favorites)

MASTERPOST FIC RECS PART 1

[ncssian]

A Favor: Part Eleven

Nessian Modern AU

Masterlist

a/n: first chapter after acosf!! im sorry for how short this one is, but acosf wrecked me and writing this put me back together. i hope it does something similar for you ❤️

***

“You say you’ve been doing better lately?”

The therapist’s office is plain, a little gloomy, but big windows overlook the center of town that make Nesta feel less suffocated.

She nods, “Yeah.”

“How would you describe ‘better’?” Dr. Bond— Lana, she insists on being called— has been endlessly patient with Nesta’s non-answers so far. Nesta almost feels bad and decides to throw the woman a rope.

“I’m not alone anymore,” she says. “I used to be alone all the time, but now I have friends, sort of… and a boyfriend.” She still loves that word. It’s never tasted so exciting before.

“You were always alone before this, then? Or were there just people that you didn’t consider noteworthy?”

A scowl rises to Nesta’s mouth. Damn, she works quick. “I was raised with two sisters in a one-bedroom apartment. I never got to be alone, but then I grew up, and…” Her mind wants to skip over the time she spent in college. “For the last couple of years, I holed up in my own place. Never wanted to talk to anybody or see them. If people took an interest in me, I shut them down because I didn’t have an interest in them.”

“You missed a few years,” Lana notes.

“What?”

“You’re twenty-four, and you moved out at eighteen. Where were you before getting your own place?”

Numbness seeps through Nesta at the question. She knows she can ask Lana to change the topic, but that will only bring it back later. “I had a boyfriend in college,” she says flatly. “I lived with him for a few years, but like you said, it isn’t noteworthy.”

“As a fellow lone wolf, I disagree.” Lana’s clinical polite face is unchanging. “Any person who you trust enough to let into your life is noteworthy.”

Nesta says nothing.

“I’m interested in these people you’ve chosen to trust,” her therapist continues after a beat of silence. “Why don’t we start with whoever you trust most?”

Nesta snorts. This she can talk about.

“His name is Cassian. I’ve been living with him ever since my apartment got flooded a couple of months ago, and he’s always been a good friend to me.” She sits there, thinking about what else to say. “I think I like him more than I’ve ever liked anybody.”

“This is the new boyfriend?”

Nesta nods.

“Do you compare him to the old one?”

Nesta doesn’t know what this lady’s angle is, but she answers carefully, “I used to. Back when I first moved in. I haven’t done it in a long time, though.”

“Why not?”

The answer is simple. “There’s no need to. He’s not comparable to anybody.”

“Is that why you opened up to him after two years of self-imposed isolation?”

Nesta looks away. “It wasn’t isolation,” she defends. “It���s just… after a lifetime of being subjected to the gaze of strangers, I wanted to hide. I liked hiding.” Mostly.

“What does that mean, the gaze of strangers?”

Question after cool question, this one. Nesta struggles to find a proper answer.

“You know how,” she starts slowly, “as soon as you start school, you’re placed into this bubble with a bunch of people who don’t know you and have no reason to care about you? There’s a shift in how you view people, and how people view you. And I thought I could leave it behind once I graduated high school, but it followed me to college and to parties and into everyday interactions.”

“What is it?”

“It’s this—” Nesta waves her hands, “judgment. It’s that thing you do as soon as you meet someone, and you try to determine whether they’re worth your time or not. Whether they’re above or below you in this made-up social hierarchy in your head.”

“Explain that more,” Lana says.

“We want to hang around people we find cool. And when we meet someone new, we inspect them, look them up and down, to see if they fit our definition of cool. We take them apart. Everyone does it, even you. And with me,” she shrugs, “I’m pretty, I wear the right clothes, I do my makeup. So at first glance, people think, ‘Oh, I can see myself getting to know her better. I can see myself liking her.’ But then they take a closer look at me, and it’s like…” Her fingers flutter in the air, trying to support her thoughts. “I can see their minds changing. ‘Nevermind, I was wrong. Nevermind, there’s something off with her. She’s a little quiet, a little weird, a little bitchy.’”

Lana narrows her eyes. “And Cassian doesn’t look at you like that?”

Nesta looks away. “He doesn’t look at anyone like that.”

It’s what used to make her so uncomfortable about him. She was incapable of fathoming his honesty, his genuineness, his kindness. She thought he was even weirder than her for it— she placed him beneath her on her social hierarchy for it.

Lana frowns thoughtfully. “And now you two live together?”

Nesta nods, then shrugs. “For the next twenty-four hours, we do. He’s helping me move back into my old place.”

Because that was another conversation she and Cassian had on Thanksgiving night. It was a long time coming, but also the perfect time.

“You’re saying your apartment has been ready for weeks? Why are you just telling me now?”

Nesta pillowed her face on his chest, not as upset at revealing the news as she would have been some days ago. “Because I was scared that if I moved out, I would lose my friendship with you.”

“That never would have happened—”

“We wouldn’t see each other every day anymore. Even if we didn’t go back to being complete strangers, the closeness would be lost.”

“You must not know me, then. I would’ve texted you every fucking hour. You’d never hear the end of me.”

“I couldn’t guarantee that back then.” She looked up at him through her lashes. “I can now.” She crawled higher up his body, lowering her voice to a secretive pitch. “Want to know why?”

“Why?” he whispered.

“Because you’re mine now. And that’s what I was waiting for while I made Lorene hold that shitty empty apartment for me. I was waiting for a catalyst, a revelation.” She pressed a kiss to his sternum. “And I most definitely got it.” The pleasant ache between her legs was proof enough. “Also,” she added, “it would be weird if you lived with your girlfriend before even having a first date with her.”

Cassian huffed a laugh. “You have a point there. We have been moving backwards, haven’t we?”

Nesta nodded into his skin.

He got a little quiet. “Still,” he said after a moment. “I’ll miss you.”

“You’ll see me every day. I’ll be fifteen minutes away.”

“I’ll still miss you.”

“I know.”

“What does talking about guys have to do with my therapy?” Nesta squirms, getting restless with the topic.

“Lots of things,” Lana says, putting down her notepad. “It gets you comfortable with expressing your feelings to me, and it teaches me about how you view the world. Besides, therapy isn’t just a rehashing of past traumas, you know. We can talk about whatever you want here, especially if it makes you feel good.”

“Well, I want to talk about something else.” She’s not spending this much money by the hour just to talk about how much she likes Cassian— she can go to Cassian for that for free.

“Like what?” Lana asks smoothly.

She’s offering an opening, finally, to the real reason that Nesta’s here.

Nesta pulls at the sleeves of her sweatshirt, wondering where to start. “I feel like I’ve been growing up lately,” she says carefully. “I have all these new people in my life to be responsible for, and I’m— I want to do it right. But I’m worried I won’t have room for new things until I pack up some of my old shit, so that’s why I’m here, I guess. I don’t want to hold on to all of my old shit anymore.”

At Lana’s encouraging silence, she continues, “I spent my whole life stuck in a suffocating town, and as soon as I left, I got stuck in a relationship. By the time I knew what freedom felt like, I— I’d been left behind. Everyone I knew was moving onto bigger things and all I had was this shitbag of a past. So I got a new place and started law school and called it a fresh start, but now I’m here and I’m not sure if I ever got better.”

She takes a sharp breath after everything that’s spilled.

Lana purses her lips, letting the room absorb Nesta’s words. After a long moment, she says, “Just because bad things stop happening to someone, doesn’t mean they instantly get better. It’s a good thing that you’re recognizing that before stepping into new relationships, Nesta.”

Lana glances at the clock on the wall. “I’m afraid that’s all the time we have for today, but this was a productive first session.” She offers a small smile. “Same time next week?” She says it as if it isn’t already a done deal.

Nesta nods gratefully anyway, unable to say anything else. As soon as she’s out the door, a pent-up sigh escapes her. That wasn’t so bad.

***

Later that night, Nesta doesn’t miss Cassian’s wistful stare as he takes down the painting he got her from the fall festival. Nor does she miss how slowly he packs it away.

Once the bedroom she made her home is as sparse as the day she moved in, all her things packed away neatly in boxes, Nesta wraps her arms around Cassian and pulls him to the bed. There, she lets him hold her close, their breaths and limbs intertwining as they lie in thoughtful silence.

“I can’t believe I’ll never see this room again,” Nesta says quietly.

Cassian’s eyes widen in alarm. “What do you mean, never again?”

“I’ll be staying in your room whenever I visit, remember?” Her underwear already occupies a drawer in his closet.

Cassian visibly relaxes when he remembers, then smiles. “Right. Of course.”

She lets herself sink deeper into his embrace. “I just realized you’ve never seen my apartment before.” He was waiting at the front door of Lorene’s place while Nesta collected her things all those weeks ago, but she cringes at the thought of him visiting now. The clear wealth gap between her and Cassian doesn’t usually show, but it’ll be undeniable with the cramped room she calls an apartment. “Maybe it’s best if I move back in without your help. There might not even be space there for your huge body.”

“Sounds more appealing by the minute.” He’s not joking. He tilts up Nesta’s chin so she’s forced to meet his eyes. “I can’t wait to start partaking in your life the way you took over mine. Spending nights at your place, meeting your friends, riding in your car instead of mine.”

Nesta swallows.

“I’m gonna miss you like hell, but it’ll be for the best.”

He’s right: this is what’s best for their budding relationship right now. Moving out, creating even a little bit of distance— all of it is so they can finally learn each other as lovers instead of roommates. So when they do come back together, which Nesta firmly believes they will, it’ll be stronger than ever before.

Some of their shared sadness flits away at the truth of it. She only places her hand on his cheek, content to appreciate this view— this beautiful, hazel-shaded view— without further chitchat or goodbyes.

Cassian is not as fond of the silence. “I need to tell you something,” he says seriously after a few minutes.

After only a handful of days dating Cassian, Nesta knows what he’s going to say. “Don’t,” she warns, unamused.

He grins conspiratorially and leans in even closer, until their mouths are almost brushing. “You’re my everything, Nesta.”

“Oh my god, stop it.” She squirms out of his hold and gets up, tossing the blankets off herself.

“No, come back!” He makes a grab for her sleeve. “We have to use the bed one last time—”

But she’s already running off.

***

Cassian carefully arranges the canvas painting on the wall, taking a step back to determine if it’s hanging straight. The ruby and amber leaves of the landscape stand out against the dull teal walls of Nesta’s basement apartment, but he’s just getting started.

The rest of Nesta’s things are half-unpacked from their cardboard boxes, but instead of going for the important shit first, he finds the box he specifically marked FAVES in bold letters the night before.

While Nesta wrangles to get her clothes back into her old closet in the background, Cassian crouches and rips open the small box. There, lying atop his girlfriend’s favorite trinkets and personal items, is the framed photo he snuck in without her noticing.

It’s of the two of them at the fall festival, taken mere hours before their first kiss. Nesta is pressed up close to Cassian (her excuse being that it was cold), and a genuine light fills her eyes, one that Cassian never thought he’d be able to capture on camera. Cassian himself isn’t looking at the camera, but down at Nesta with wind-flushed cheeks and a distant smile. Making sure she’s having a good time, that she truly wants to be there with him in that moment.

He never realized how close they looked in that picture until he had it printed and framed, not long after Nesta announced she was moving out. He can’t believe he didn’t see it sooner.

Standing up, he places the photo on Nesta’s wooden dresser. Nesta still has her head in the closet, moving things around, but Cassian makes no announcement of his gift to her. She’ll notice it sooner or later.

He clears his throat. “Wanna take a break and order Chinese?”

Nesta pops her head out of the closet, her ponytail ruffled and eyes narrowed at him. “Have you even been helping this whole time?”

“Standing here and looking pretty is harder than it seems, but I don’t expect any credit from you,” he jokes. “Just let me buy you lunch.”

Nesta grumbles something he chooses not to hear, but straightens up and rubs her spine with a wince. “I need a fucking chiropractor,” she mutters.

Guilt shoots through Cassian at that small wince, and he resolves to finish organizing Nesta’s closet for her before the day is over. Nesta goes on, “So? Still determined to split your time between here and the cabin?” She gestures to the apartment with an arm.

It’s really just a glorified single room, with a rusty kitchenette in the corner, a hallway near the stairs that holds the bathroom, and Nesta’s bed pushed against one wall. It’s nothing special, but Cassian loves it. Mostly because he can already envision each new nook and cranny to take Nesta against, and how he wants to wake up in that too-small bed on days that he’s too lazy to drive home.

“It’s perfect,” he says simply. Thank you for sharing your home with me, is what he really means. Speaking of homes—

Cassian digs around in his pocket, finding and pulling out a newly-minted silver key. “I almost forgot to give you this.”

Nesta frowns, coming forward to take the key from him. He uses the closeness as an excuse to wrap his arms around her waist while she inspects the object.

She glances up at him, eyes softer than they were a moment ago, lips slightly parted. “You’re giving me a key to the cabin?”

He shrugs casually. “You should’ve gotten one a long time ago.” She used either Cassian’s key or the spare while she lived there.

Her mouth is still open, and she closes it once, twice, before finally saying, “I don’t have a key to my place for you.”

“But I can get one,” she adds quickly. “If you want it, that is.”

Of course he wants it, but he keeps his face carefully neutral. “Only if you want me to have one. We’re still new, and this is your personal space.” He emphasizes your.

Nesta purses her lips, then says, “I’ll think about it.”

Cassian’s shoulders slump in relief— relief that Nesta is being honest with him instead of doing something she isn’t yet ready for. He’ll take her honesty over an apartment key any day.

Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he smiles brightly and shoves her toward the bed. “If we’re getting dumplings again then you can’t steal mine.”

***

a/n: fair warning that ive never been to therapy, but in stories therapists are usually a mode for character exploration and development, which is what nesta's therapy will be for.

also im so glad i got to meet gwyn in acosf and im so excited to introduce her into this fic too!! if you have ideas for her origin story feel free to share because nothing is planned yet

taglist: @ladywitchling @sjm-things @thewayshedreamed @drielecarla @valkyriewarriors @superspiritfestival @aliveahaahahafuck @cupcakey00 @sayosdreams @rainbowcheetah512 @claralady @thebluemartini @nessiantho @missing-merlin @duskandstarlight @lucy617 @sleeping-and-books @everything-that-i-love @cassianscool @awesomelena555 @julemmaes @wickedqueenoffantasy @poisonous-bloom @observationanxioustheorist @gisellefigue08 @courtofjurdan @theoverlyenthusiasticwriter @wolfiixxx @cass-nes @seashade @royaltykxx @illyrianundercover @queenestarcheron @monstrousloves-explodinggalaxies @humanexile @that-golden-lyre @agentsofsheilds @mercy-is-alive @cassiansbigwingspan @laylaameer01 @verypaleninja @maastrash @bow-dawn @perseusannabeth @dead-on-the-inside666 @jlinez @hungryreadingaddict @anidealiveson @swankii-art-teacher

[rkived]

drabble #2: pediatricsurgeon!jk is sure he only has a tiny crush on generalsurgeon!reader, but neurosergeon!taehyung makes him face the reality of how big that little crush actually is.

or, in which, hypothetically speaking, would jungkook mind you going on a date with obgyn!jimin? (hospitalplaylist!au) 

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‘‘Yeah, yeah,’’ Taehyung spoke, rolling his eyes as he makes his way to seat next to Jungkook, who was having his dinner.

And by dinner, it’s the microwavable Top Ramen his office’s pantry is filled with.

He opens his mouth, finger pointing at it as the silent request for Jungkook to feed him ‘‘No, I mean─’’

He does and now Taehyung’s mouth is stuffed with noodles, interrupting his conversation as he mumbles the last of his words, though they’re incoherent.

‘‘Mph─?” he garbles “I’m having dinner.’’ he answers after swallowing and Jungkook stifles a laugh at his annoyed expression, he can’t tell if Taehyung’s unpleased with the person on the phone or with his mischievous action ‘‘What? No! I’m having dinner at work.’’

By the way he’s speaking, the pediatrician figures out who his friend’s talking to. 

‘‘Yoonah?’’ Jungkook mouths and Taehyung nods, there’s a glimmer of annoyance in his eyes. 

Taehyung huffs, switching the phone to his other hand as he takes Jungkook’s chopsticks to feed himself more noodles ‘‘Okay, y’know what? I’ll call you later, babe.’’ and the neurosurgeon's girlfriend is not allowed to answer back because Taehyung has already ended the call, putting his personal phone on airplane mode and placing it on one of his lab coat’s pockets.

He groans, exhausted. Taehyung never looked like this, not even after a big surgery. Jungkook doesn’t even make an effort to take his chopsticks and ramen back. 

‘‘You should break up with her already.’’ Jungkook casually advices and it’s obvious this is isn’t the first time the topic has been discussed. 

Taehyung shakes his head slightly, cheeks stuffed with noodles and the pediatrician wants to squeeze them for the fun of it, but his friend’s annoyed so Jungkook might just get it. 

Taehyung swallows and he sighs ‘‘I’m too old to date again,’’ he explains and Jungkook prepares himself to hear his friend’s excuse for the upteenth time ‘‘and Yoonah is a pain in the ass, but she puts up with me. I have to meet her halfway.’’

Jungkook knows it’s not because of that.

Taehyung isn’t old, but once he turned thirty he had deemed himself ancient. The neurosurgeon even cried while they all sang him the ‘happy birthday’ song. 

Also, Yoonah is a twenty-two-year-old model and she’s pretty, so there’s that.

‘‘You should mind your business,’’ Taehyung spoke ‘‘you’re old too, yet your ass is single.’’ 

Jungkook did get it after all.

‘‘I’m not old, I’m still in my twenties.’’ Jungkook argued and his friend laughed out loud enough to be heard by the passer-bys outside the pediatrician’s office. 

‘‘Barely,’’ Taehyung replied after calming down ‘‘you’ll be thirty in a few months, say goodbye to your youth.’’ he says this bitterly, like he resents the natural aging a human has to go through. 

The pediatrician sighs, eyes closed ‘‘Taehyung, turning thirty does not equal to being old, in fact, thirty is the new twenty!’’ 

He read that somewhere, probably one of those lame Facebook posts that definitely a thirty-year old wrote to makes themselves feel better. Taehyung’s thirty-two so he can attest that that’s not true at all. 

‘‘Anyway, right now I’m focused on my career,’’ Jungkook continues ‘‘I can think about settling down later.’’ 

Taehyung hums, unimpressed ‘‘Fine, die alone then.’’ 

The familiar ringtone of Jungkook’s phone is the conversation ender between the two. Jungkook smiles lightly at the way your name displays on the screen. 

Taehyung chuckles ‘‘Or don’t.’’

Jungkook ignores him and answers his phone with a chirpy tone ‘‘Hey, you coming?’’ he asks and he can hear papers being stacked in the background, he guesses you’re rearranging stuff in your office like you always tend to do once a week, apparently it brings you sanity. 

‘‘Yeah, in like, ten minutes’’ you say and Jungkook knows you’ll be right on time, he hopes he’s still here by then. 

You’ve been a little too busy lately and he’s been unable to have a face-to-face conversation these days, coincidentally falling on a time where he’s fully aware of his tiny crush on you. 

Maybe it’s a good thing, but now he goes stupid whenever he bumps into you around the hospital’s hallways because he’s not mentally prepared when he sees you. He’s never able to fully explain why he stumbles over his words when this happens.

You hang up, explaining you need to finish something up before you’re able to stop by his office and Jungkook doesn’t let you know he already knows what you’re doing, instead telling you he’ll wait for your arrival.

‘‘Ah, Namjoon was right,’’ Taehyung speaks up ‘‘this is serving me Med School vibes.’’ 

‘‘You’re thirty-two, please don’t talk like that.’’ Jungkook reminds him, there’s a whine in his voice and he physically cringes at his friend’s usage of the new slang terms.

Taehyung frowns ‘‘Thought I was young.’’ 

‘‘This is not Med School, alright?’’ the pediatrician clarifies, standing up from his place on the couch to take the finished Top Ramen his friend had ate for him and throwing it in the trash ‘‘I am mature now, I can control my emotions better.’’ he guarantees.

‘‘Oh yeah?’’ Taehyung retorts and Jungkook nods, he seems sure of himself ‘‘So, let’s say that─hypothetically speaking─Jimin asks Y/N out on a date and she said yes, would you get upset?’’

Jungkook hums ‘‘OBGYN Park Jimin?’’ he asks and Taehyung nods ‘‘Hypothetically speaking, he doesn’t have a chance on going on a date with her.’’ he answers with a tight lipped smile.

‘‘Hypothetically speaking, why not?’‘ Taehyung prods. 

The pediatrician scoffs, thinking this conversation was absurd and quickly taking another direction ‘‘Because, hypothetically speaking, Y/N is out of his league,’’ he entertains the idea anyway ‘‘and yes, that includes medical fields.’’ 

Taehyung stands up abruptly ‘‘Okay, pause, are you trying to say that bringing a baby into the world is lesser than a common surgery? Where does that place me then?”

‘‘Hypothetically speaking.’’ Jungkook says through gritted teeth ‘‘Why are you bringing that up, anyway?’’ he asks because even though Taehyung always talked about the randomest shit, it always made sense in the end. 

His friend shrugs his shoulders, like there’s no particular reason ‘‘I don’t know, maybe Jimin’s interested,’’ he teases ‘‘maybe not.’’ 

Jungkook’s heartbeat races up and he’s come to understand why Namjoon gave him that diagnosis a few weeks back. 

He’s nervous. 

---

By the time you stop by, Taehyung’s long gone having already lit the match, but not bothering to wait and watch it burn. 

You so kindly came with an iced americano for him and a small cupcake to indulge yourself in, a small reward for the succesful surgery you had done earlier that day.

Jungkook is trying to listen to you explain to him what the process was like, but your words sound like an echo in his head instead. He can’t help but to think about Taehyung’s stupid—but valid—hypothetical situation.

Well, he’s sure he’s not madly in love with you. Like, he hasn’t reached that level—yet. If anything, this crush is a ‘I think you’re really pretty and smart and nice and sweet and cool’ sort of crush.

Fuck, this is actually giving him Med School vibes too.

“Would you go out on a date with Park Jimin?” he interjects and his brain is yelling at him, perhaps he should seek Taehyung’s help next “Hypothetically speaking.” he adds once he notices the raise of your eyebrow.

You cross your arms over your chest, glancing somewhere else “Uhm,” you really don’t know what to answer, thinking that entertaining Jungkook’s out of the blue questions usually don’t end up well “I don’t know—I guess?”

“Hypothetically speaking, right?” Jungkook asks, but it sounds like he’s begging for you to tell him that the situation would never happen.

“Sure,” you shrug “he seems like a nice guy.”

Jungkook tries not to yell in frustration.

There’s no backstory to him and the OBGYN. The pediatrician only resents the fact that Jimin had become residents’s favorite doctor, taking Jungkook’s spotlight away. He had made peace with it, there was something about that guy that was indeed charming.

But now, this opens up the possibility of you being on Jimin’s league. He tries not to let Taehyung’s words affect him, but what if the OBGYN really is interested?

Jungkook knows his neurosurgeon friend and the bright smile guy get along quite well, have caught them eating together at the hospital’s cafeteria more than once.

Does...does this mean Jungkook has competition? Is he actually going to have to do something about this tiny —not so tiny— crush?

A lightbulb pops over Jungkook’s head instead “Hypothetically speaking, would you go out on a date with me?”

“Okay, what’s up with you?” there’s laughter in your tone and Jungkook doesn’t like the way you can’t seem to take him seriously.

“Y/N!” he whines “just answer, it’s hypothetical anyway.” Yeah, hypothetical.

You sigh, there’s a level of patience you have to have for dealing with him. You’ve studied it and have learnt it for the past decade and few years of being friends with him. Yet, you still have to prepare yourself every time.

“Are we friends in this hypothetical context?” you ask and he narrows his eyes at you, does that change your answer? He nods anyway “Mmm, yeah, sure.”

Jungkook wants to yell in excitement now, but he’ll wait for when he’s in the privacy of his home.

He’s in your league too, then!

He can’t help but smile anyway, but you mistake it with him making fun of you, because this is something he could possibly use to embarrass you later on.

“You’re so weird.” you mumble, drifting your gaze somewhere else as if to hide from him.

You make a mental note to threaten him about not revealing this information to any of your friends later on. Right now, it’s actually sort of cute seeing his bunny-like smile.

a/n: i be like “don’t be shy, write some more :)” kssjsjsjsj [roblox death sound] n e way here’s some more pediatrician!jk x gs!reader for y’all this is purely self indulgent at this point but u know what ??? i am at peace with that

[jbbuckybarnes]

PR Stunt

Desc: Fake Dating AU. Celebrity AU. After pity posts for Sebastian skyrocketing, you two being seen together as friends a lot and with a big movie coming up, his management decides to pair you two for a PR stunt. You both agree, pranking the public seems fun and getting rid of pity tweets seems convenient. Pairing: Sebastian x Reader Warning: It’s not that good and one of my last real people fiction pieces I have left. Not beta read.

M A S T E R L I S T

+Pop Magazine - Articles: +Hot actors that are still on the market!+

*@lancebastian: Someone give this man a family!* *@stanfanfam: I feel so bad for him, he still isn’t with a woman or trying to build a family.* *@aliburger: Poor boy looks so alone. I’m volunteering!* _______ +Pop Magazine - Candids: +Sebastian Stan seen with his friend Y/N Y/LN in Manhattan, New York+

*@seabassbaby: I know they’re just friends but they’d make a cute couple.* *@lancebastian: Get her, Stan!* *@vanillaiceice: She’s cute af.* ________ “People are pitying you so much, it’s insane. What is so wrong with being single at your age?” you looked up from your phone at Sebastian sitting on the other side of the couch. “They’re just projecting their desires onto this.” he shrugged without looking up from his phone. “How does that not annoy you to some degree? I read it and get irritated by it.” you chuckled. “Sometimes I do, but at the end of the day it’s so unimportant.” now he looked up. “Yeah, but doesn’t that suck energy out of you to some level?” you two never talked about this specifically. “A bit.” another shrug with a small pout. “Well, let’s stop talking about that then. When’s press coming up?” you tried to change the topic. He looked at you for a second with a confused face before answering, “I think in two weeks.” “No, brunch meetings for weeks again.” you pouted like a child and got a smile back from him. “Poor baby.” he played into it and laughed. “You know they keep me sane.” you answered chuckling. “I know. I promise we’ll eat like three pizzas in one day when I’m back again, chaotic mess.” you looked at him offended. “I’m just telling the truth.” he held his arms up and grinned. “Ar-” you were interrupted by someone calling him and went back to checking your socials. You had a decent following and were friends with a few photographers, which gave you the opportunity to try yourself as a model and influencer. One of you photography friends is also how you two met and as soon as you two found your love for New York brunch meetings the friendship was sealed. “With Y/N?” you looked up at the mention of your name and saw him raise a brow. “Okay, yeah. Good, tomorrow at 11am. See ya.” he ended the call and finally saw your confused face. “Guess we have a meeting at 11am tomorrow and they also want you there.” his hand went through his hair and he exhaled a bit exhausted. “Why that?” you weren’t with his management or something. “She didn’t tell me. Maybe they want to sign you?” he was just as clueless as you and sat back down on the couch and you sat up. “That would be...sudden?” you said even more confused. “I feel like there’s something more to that.” his eyes narrowed. You shrugged taking your phone again, “We’ll find out I guess.”

___________ “We know you both don’t like paparazzi but this could benefit all of us and would be over after a few weeks.” the woman ended her little idea. “Wait, you want us to do a PR stunt, did I understand that right?” you said it out loud. A serious nod came back and a sigh from you. “Can’t believe I’m saying this but I think that would be hilarious outside of the paparazzi stuff.” he snorted beside you. “Excuse me, what?” you turned towards him and got a shrug back. “So...would you be on board?” the lady asked again. You let your head sink onto your arms on the table with an, “I guess.” You both left the office after you got handed a contract to go through to sign with the management and the comment, “I hate being friends with you.” “Did you mean being in a relationship?” he joked and got a stern look back. “Don’t take it too far, Stan!” you warned him. “Won’t. Promise.” he said with that boyish smile that guaranteed for nothing. “Idiot.” you muttered while walking out of the building onto the busy street. A hand was reaching for yours and you looked up confused. “What? Need to lay down the foundation for what’s about to go down.” he clearly loved the idea to mess around with you and the public for a while. “Dork.” a smile finally found its way onto your face and you shook your head. You didn’t mind holding hands with your other friends, so this wasn’t the problem. You weren’t so sure about the rest of what was about to happen in the upcoming weeks. “You love it.” he said nudging you lightly.

“Only if I get some good pictures for my Instagram and Twitter.” you chuckled. “I’m sure there’s gonna be some of your beloved photoshootings.” he grinned. “You’re gonna be an Instagram boyfriend, don’t you forget about that part of it.” you grinned back. “Oh god.” he had the realization hit him. “Yeah, didn’t think through that I might get back at you, huh?” you laughed.

“Lunch date?” he looked down at you after you both were finished with laughing and had walked for a block. “As long as I don’t need to play honeymoon phase love, yeah.” you bit your lip to stop the laugh that was making its way through your body. “Don’t worry, I think the eating each other alive part is one or two weeks in.” he wheezed and held the door to one of your favorite places open. “It’s gonna be hella obvious that it’s a stunt.” you pointed out. “That’s why I agreed. Why not have some fun and confuse people for a bit.” there was that boyish smile again. “Like that whole Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello thing.” you shuddered. That was obviously a stunt but there was that part where everyone kinda thought it might be true and they just wanted to get the extra publicity. “I have no idea what you’re talking about but I guess my answer would be yes.” he said before turning to the waitress that just arrived at your table. ___________ +Pop Magazine - Candids: Sebastian Stan seen having a lunch date and holding hands with Y/N Y/L/N*+ *@bellastann: I feel like our dreams start to manifest stanfam!* *@lancebastian: Not entirely sold, holding hands ain’t that special. They are friends for months now.* *@evanstackiee: Yeees! (Y/L/N)stan is real!!!* ____________ Your contract was signed, your game plan was well organized. There were appointments and activities planned out, what to do at which one and the paparazzi would be there for some of them. You kinda cringed when you looked at the little calendar in front of you but you also were about to have some fun with tricking the general public. “Just an insanely big acting exercise, right?” you looked beside you to see him read through the stuff too. “Uuh, yeah.” he said concentrated on reading. You were both extremely open with each other and rarely had any miscommunication. So kissing in public without starting friendship problems wouldn’t be so hard, but you still had a weird feeling about it. Not fear, just a feeling.

__________ The first thing you did was pretty mellow. Attending a small local event together. You did things like this before but this time you’d have to cuddle up a bit here and there and make a few Instagram Stories. “You comfortable?” he smiled down at you holding your body close to his arm. “You’re 6 foot and fit, I think there is no way in hell anyone would think this isn’t comfortable.” you gave a sweet grin up at him. “For a model you’re pretty good at this.” he joked and you poked him into his waist. “Hey!” he laughed. “You act like I wasn’t a drama kid in school. I might be good-looking but I’m also a nerd. You should know that best...space nerd.” you chuckled. “Stop calling me out like that or I’ll make you talk to that dude you find annoying over there.” he pointed at a man that had bombarded you with his boring business ideas months ago. “Don’t you dare, Stan!” you looked offended. “You wanna sit down with some wine then, madame?” he said in a posh accent. “Of course, it is incredibly instagramable.” you answered in the same way. A boomerang of your drinks with each other tagged in it and two glasses of wine later you officially had glued yourself to him. He had a very comforting vibe about him and you clearly helped with his anxious moments. A kiss was planted onto your temple and a black and white filter put on top of it. Followed by a funny selfie and a picture of your empty wine glasses. Shortly after you already left the party under the flickering lights of a handful of paparazzi. Holding hands and very close together. __________ +Pop Magazine - Gossip: Are Sebastian Stan and his ‘best friend’ dating?+ *@stanfanfam: Cause of death: That temple kiss.* *@vanillaiceice: Damn, is it the late 2000s? Seb leaving a party with a girl? Damn!* *@evanstackiee: For me it’s confirmed.* *@seabassbaby: It looks kinda staged but if it’s not I’m super happy for him!* __________ The second little thing on the list was a photoshooting together. Since you both had modelled for magazines before and with other models you were kinda in your element. It was for a mid-sized fashion magazine that published every month and you two were having fun all over the rented AirBnB. Some expensive yoga pants with a knitted oversized sweater and boots was the first thing you needed to wear for a scene depicting to come home. Falling into each other's arms multiple times definitely made you laugh because of the dumb faces he made. The next outfit was a sleeping outfit. Silk shorts and an airy white cropped shirt. Your socks were pink and had donuts on it. “Can I have them?” you gave them puppy eyes and the team laughed. Modelling while laying was hard. You needed to look realistic but also show of what you were wearing. Combined with a giant baby blowing air into your ear ended in him being pinched by you. He was clearly not prepared to see you in the third outfit. Lacey underwear and an open button-down mens shirt. You could literally see his brain work and giggled “C’mon, get it together.” He was wearing briefs and a white shirt, needing to embrace you from behind while you pretended to make scrambled eggs. “My eggs are definitely scrambled after this.” he whispered and you couldn’t hold back the genuine laugh, ending up in some good pictures. The last two outfits were a bit more editorial but still wearable and the pictures were taken outside. “Well, that wasn’t bad.” you said to him as you two walked out after changing back into your clothing. “For YOU.” he answered. “Poor baby, needed to see his friend in underwear.” you made fun of him. “Yo, it’s a different thing if I see an Instagram picture or the live version.” he defended himself. “Clearly...don’t you dare fall for me, dork.” you joked and he huffed. The walk back was silent but he looked down at you from time to time. You just couldn’t see his reaction every time he did. __________ +Pop Magazine - News: Sebastian Stan & Y/N Y/L/N modelling together. Check out these pictures!+ *@lancebastian: Damn, so this is really a thing, huh? Holy, that’s cute.* *@evanstackiee: Can they adopt me?* *@bellastann: That kitchen picture sent me into cardiac arrest!* _________ By now you were trained at sending each other stolen glances. No matter if you just needed to go to your management or when you had brunch together. But for the last three days he was in LA for the press junket of his new movie. There was this weird feeling again. It felt so close to fear but it wasn't fear. You couldn’t quite pinpoint it. *God, I’m way too used to being around you now.* *You miss not freezing to death in any given moment, admit it!* *No, real talk, I miss you.* *Realtalk: I miss you too...but admit it’s the freezing!* *D O R K !* You had taken a flight to LA the day after because an award show was next on your list. You were ten times more nervous for the dress sitting right than the man on your side. You also weren’t used to hair and makeup. You were an Instagram model, this was a luxury at experimental shoots. “You’d think I can smile on command and not look like shit...but I can’t.” you said to him before stepping onto the red carpet an hour later. “You’re looking good, stop worrying.” he said in his usual calming tone before gently pulling you forward. 10 minutes later the torture to your eyes was done and there were interviews. “What do you have to say about the rumors about your relationship status?” you were asked. “That people should care more about their life than mine...oh, and that he’s the best human being on the planet. Doesn’t matter in which way we are connected.” Sitting down at an award show with your hand being held was not were you thought you’d end up when you agreed to this but why not make memories? Your head naturally landed on his shoulder after a while. You really had missed him being in close proximity for those 4 days. His thumb softly wandered over the back of your hand. “What would you do if I’d win something?” he asked in a low voice. “Jump you?” your head went up again to see his eyes wandering over your face. “In a happy kinda way, I assume.” he had a lopsided smile on his face. “You’re thinking about that photoshoot again, huh? Literally a teenager.” you joked but saw his eyes wander to your lips for a bit too long before he concentrated on the host again. For the rest of the evening your mind went in circles about him playing that or being genuinely interested in you in that way.

__________ +Pop Magazine - Gossip: Mysterious answer to relationship question about (Y/L/N)stan+ *@vanillaiceice: They are boning, come ON!* *@evanstackiee: Look at how happy she is while she says it.* *@seabassbaby: Gosh, just say it!* __________ Today was the day you weren’t really prepared for. He had an off day from press and you were still in LA. Your plan was going to the beach and getting photographed. Well, it wasn’t your plan. It was the plan made for you. “I hate swimming in the ocean!” you mumbled. “Hey, it’s gonna be fine. You have two excuses to grab onto me, right?” he chuckled while watching you undress and revealing your red bikini. You both laid in the sun for a while, talking about his press junket and the social media reactions to this. “Wanna get wet?” you opened your eyes to a child in a man’s body wiggling his eyebrows. You punched his chest with a laugh and let him pull you up with him. Hand in hand you made your way into the ocean rather slowly, “And you didn’t want to admit that you freeze to death without me.” he chuckled. He got impatient and just grabbed your waist and jumped backwards into deeper water. After a squeak from your side and your nails clawing into his back a little bit too harshly, you got used to it. “Look. It’s fine.” he put some hair strands out of your face with his free hand. “I still hate the ocean.” you pouted, trying to overplay how fast your heart was suddenly beating. Oh hell no, you were not just slowly falling for your best friend...please? “I get that.” he put his hand onto your lower back and you put your legs around his hips. “You’re my floatie.” you giggled putting your head into the crook of his neck. “And you are...I can only assume a freezing rock.” you both chuckled.

Your head went up again to see a big grin on his face, “Fuck you.” “You love it.” he said like usual but this time you slowly nodded with a serious face and his eyes widened enough for you to notice. “Wait, I didn’t…” you exhaled deeply with attentive eyes on you. “I feel like we should just stop this. I don’t want to see this friendship break apart just because my body thinks close proximity is a good reason to send hormones out.” you got out of your system. “That’s an odd way of saying that you’re having a crush on me.” he smiled and put his other arm around you. “Yeah, well, I don’t wanna ruin this.” your eyes went down, you rarely made yourself this vulnerable. “You already did by, to say it in your nerdy words, making my body think it’s a good idea to send out hormones because we are in close proximity.” he answered with a nervous chuckle, hand going through his hair.

Your eyes met his again, “I stopped acting the moment it started, Y/N.” “Well, um, it took me till about approximately 5 minutes ago to realize that this odd feeling I have isn’t some suppressed fear.” you made fun of yourself to make the situation less awkward. “Wanna give them what they want?” his head nudged towards the beach with a smirk. “Do you mean give you what you want?” you joked and he remembered where he heard that before. “I hate being friends with you,” he bit his lip, “I’d much rather call you my girlfriend.” The reference made you melt, he remembered that dumb little conversation from two weeks ago. Your hands went from his shoulders to his head and his free hand pulled your head closer before your lips met. You didn’t care about the camera clicks in the background, you only cared about finally making out with the man that made you love brunch dates so much. It felt like an hour before you broke apart a little. Steel blue eyes were staring right into your soul and the most calming voice in the world said “I love you.” “I hope you don’t say that while thinking of me in underwear.” you joked. “Nah, don’t need to. You’re grabbing onto me in a bikini.” he said with his hands wandering down your body and a giant smirk on his face. “I love you too, dork.” ___________ +Pop Magazine - News: (Y/L/N)stan confirmed! Couple seen kissing at the beach.+ *@vanillaiceice: I’ll fistfight anyone that hates on her!* *@evanstackiee: Look at those SMILES.* *@seabassbaby: Maybe I’m crying.* *@lancebastian: She makes him happyyy.* *@bellastann: I think this gave me diabetes.* *@stanfanfam: Make babies! lol* *@Y/N: Gosh, @imsebastianstan we have heart eyes galore in these. Might need to go and get that checked out.* *@imsebastianstan: @Y/N, yeah, heard of that new disease called love. It’s attacking every part of your body and mind!* *@seabassbaby: For real...ADOPT ME!* _____________

M A S T E R L I S T

[letspurpletogether]

The Guardian || M. Yoongi (M)

Summary: You have never meddled with hybrid affairs, not until the night you find a stray panther hybrid hiding behind some trash containers. 

Genre: hybrid au, romance, dystopian, angst, drama, mild smut.

Pairings: Panther hybrid!Yoongi x human!reader

Word count: 20k+

Warnings: Assault, mentions of abuse, some past trauma, and persecutions, blood, mentions of violence and death, threats to the reader’s life, mild smut, voyeurism/exhibitionism (kind of ig), masturbation (male). Some fluff along those lines too.

A/N: this used to be a drabble series since I was limited to the mobile app before. I merged the parts together to make this part one of what is going to be a two-shot now. Nothing has changed regarding the plot, just more words.

A thunder cracks the sky in two, making you almost drop the trash bag all over the ground. You take a deep breath, and tighten your grip around the plastic bag. The bakery’s closing time had passed about an hour ago, but it had been raining so heavily that you couldn’t head home just yet. So you decided to stay and start the clean-up you had schedule for tomorrow morning. Rain had subsided enough now for you to take out the trash without getting wet head to toes, but still the chilly weather makes your whole body shiver.

You go down the three cement steps that connect your bakery’s back entrance to the backstreets where all the trash containers are aligned. Carefully, trying to avoid stepping on a puddle you toss the big black bag over the edge of your container and wipe your hands clean on your jeans.

Glancing down at your feet, you notice your untied shoelace. You kneel down and tie them in a quick knot before you stand up again. But it is in that swift motion that your eyes catch the silhouette of something hiding behind the containers. At first, you can’t quite give shape to it. It is like a big dark ball of wet clothes, and you almost think your mind is playing tricks at you when you notice a fluffy tail wrapping around the ball.

You crouch down again to have a better look at it. It looks like a child, no- a person. A person hugging their knees, face hiding in between their arms. But then you remember the tail, and as you see it curling around one of his legs you realize this is an hybrid. And a stray one if he is here in an alley and not inside a shelter.

As your eyes become accustomed to the dim light, you can make out the shape of his head and the pair of round ears on top of a tousled and wet mane of jet black hair. They twitch when you try scurrying between the containers, closer to him.

“Hey there… Are you lost?”

A pair of yellow eyes look back at you alarmed. He hisses, showing off his pointy canines in a threatening gesture. You stumble back, landing on your ass, and palms against the rough ground. Your heart beat furiously inside your chest when you first tried to stand up.

You have never been this close to an hybrid before.

These… humanoid pets as the media called them. They are quite popular among the rich families. You would often seen them strolling around the privileged parts of the city alongside their owners in golden leashes and extravagant clothing when you were making deliveries. The idea of hybrids, of having themㅡa sentient personㅡas a pet to toy around with, had always made you cringe. Was it ethical? Was it right? Where they human? Or just talking animals? People always had different opinions on that matter.

As far as you know the are some non profit organizations advocating for hybrid’s rights. You’d seen their rustic posters on the subway stations, but they weren’t really popular. The media, owned by the big fishes that handled hybrids’ affair and distribution had them labeled as criminals, even terrorists groups sometimes. They accused these activists of spreading lies about the hybrids, misinforming the people and potentially endangering the lives of the creatures and their owners. Just last week on the news channel they broadcasted a story about the fire that destroyed an illegal underground shelter in the outskirts of town and killed ten people. Three hybrids among them.

The local authorities stated the tragedy had happened because the heating system for cold-blooded hybrids quarters had been installed without the normative precautions. After him, the press representative for BioTech Servicesㅡthe biggest company that arranged hybrid distributionㅡDaniel Lee had made a statement. “Let this be a lesson to you all”, he spoke in a stern voice, his thick black eyebrows scowling at the camera as if he was looking straight at you. “You might think you are doing good, but this is what happens when you don’t leave the protection of the hybrid creatures to the competent authorities”.

Hybrids had never interested you apart from the news. While some members of your family like your cousin Mia did want to own an hybrid (and was in a desperate search for funds to acquire the outrageously expensive license that allowed her to purchase one), you yourself had never meddled with hybrid affairs.

Not until tonight, at least.

And there is no doubt that the person in front of you looks very humanㅡexcept when he bared his teeth out and hissed at you.

What is an hybrid doing hiding behind trash containers in this part of the city? You can’t help but wonder. This is far from being the rich part of town. No one in this neighbourhood had the means to owns an hybrid that you know about, and if they do, well… they have it well hidden.

So what can you do about this situation? It isn’t like you can just take him home with you, you don’t have an owner’s license and by the way he reacted probably wouldn’t want to come voluntarily either. You could call BioTech Services but a part of you fears they would start an investigation that would ruin your business.

It had happened before a couple of years ago when a runaway hybrid was found hiding inside the warehouse of a small delivery company. They authorities teared the place apart looking for more runaways and strays, and the business owner was given an unpayable fine. The company closed shortly after that, never been able to recover from the damages caused. You definitely don’t  want that to happen to your store. It’s all you have, it is your life. Your grandma had passed on her apron to you so that you would continue her business and keep the Tradition alive. Tradition is the name under which your nana had opened the pastry shop for the first time over three decades ago.

You can’t risk losing it all because of a stray…

You can also report him to the district pound. But nothing can guarantee that the hybrid is going to stay here until they arrive. Either way, he can’t stay, is too dangerous.

You have to lure him out.

With a plan in mind, you go back inside and grab an old table cloth the hybrid can use to dry himself up and a gray hoodie left behind by your friend Seokjin the last time he was here eating all the strawberry pies. You also make sure to fill a take-out box with some of the leftovers of that day’s production, and the go back outside to give it all to the hybrid.

You step carefully again to the containers, and place the plastic bag with the items in his visual range. You squat down. “I don’t want any trouble, so here. Eat if you want and get cleaned up”. You push the bag closer to him, carefully in case he lashes out again. “You shouldn’t stay here, it’s cold and dirty and it might rain again later tonight. It’s not safe...”.

You wait a few more seconds hoping he would take the bag, but he doesn’t move. Distrusting eyes glaring back at you. There’s nothing else you can do, so you leave the alley to finish closing the store and head back home for the night.

The next following days, you slip back to your usual routine. Wake up early to bake your goodies, open the store, tend to your clients throughout the day. The usual… Except that you made an habit of checking the alley and around the containers every night to make sure the hybrid had really left. And although there were no traces of him anywhere, you did find the makeshift towel you gave him, hanging half-dry from the back door’s handle the day after.

Now, that a couple weeks had passed by, you’d forgotten all about that hybrid incident. Your day goes as usual, smiling to clients, welcoming them to your small world, having them eating your confections. It’s closing time, you are finishing locking up the store and are about leave. You walk home. You always do, your apartment building is only three blocks away from the Tradition, anyway and your neighborhood, albeit modest, had always been safe.

That night, however, the strange feeling that someone is following you assaults your mind halfway home. Even though the streets are empty and the sky was clear. No clouds, no weird shadows creeping through the alleyways. A round yellow moon bathed the city streets with its warm light.

It takes a moment to convince yourself you are just imagining things, that it is all good, that you are fine. That’s until an old man cuts through your path, forcing you to stop in a halt. His eyes are red and sore, and he smells like stale liquor and cigarettes. He asks you for money, and you try to dismiss him by politely “I’m sorry, sir. I don’t have any change in me at the moment”, you say and resume your walk. The sting on your scalp as he yanks you down by the hair takes you by surprise. You immediately cry out in pain, and drop your bag to the ground.

“You fancy bitches are all the same!”, he yells at you, tightening his grip on your hair. “You think you are above me! Huh?! Too good to spare me a glance, sweetheart?!”

Tears are prickling in your eyes. Your heart racing fast in fear, and your knees become weak. “No, please! I don’t- I just…!”. You try to free yourself. However, another pull at your hair has you falling down, your knees scraping on the ground though the fabric of your jeans. You cry for help, and he replies with another tug to your hair.

“Shut the fuck up!”, he barks. “I hate whiny bitches so much”.

That’s when you hear it. A growl, loud and deep like a thunder, coming from somewhere behind your assailant. The man curses and turns around, giving you a chance to slip from his grip just in time to watch as second figure pulls him into the shadows of the nearest alley.

You heard a scream, the tearing of fabric and then just silence. For a moment you can’t move a muscle. The quietness of the night mixed with what just happened overwhelms your senses. You covered your face with one hand as tears are still falling down your cheeks.

“Are you hurt?”, you are startled by a deep voice and your first impulse is to run away. But your legs don’t respond the way you like, and you are stumbling back to the ground.

You curse out loud when a hand reaches out for your shoulder to help you stabilize. You don’t realize this, of course, until he is right in front of you: A young man with amber eyes and dark tousled hair.

He crouches next to you, and you are quickly to recognize the oversized hoodie you gave away to a certain hybrid about two weeks ago. That’s when you raise your head to look at him. The hood covers his ears but you can still tell there was something more than hair behind the gray fabric. To your surprise he doesn’t look dirty, as you would expect from someone who’s been living on the streets. He does smell a little like wet dirt, though but nothing offensive. You glance down at his hands. His nails are pointy and sharp, like claws and his knuckles are purple and bruised.

“Can’t you talk?”, he speaks again, and you are remainded you’ve been staring for too long now.

“S-sorry…”, you mumble and shake your head. “Thank you, I’m okay”. He eyes you suspiciously and you are about to assure him you are perfectly fine again, when he leans closer and sniffs the air around you. “What…?”

“You’re good”, he simply says after that, as if that is enough explanation.He offers you a hand to help you up, and you gladly take it. Your legs are still wobbly and the shock hasn’t completely left you body just yet. “Now go home, human”, he gestures you to leave and hides his hands inside the hoodie’s pocket. You nod, and pick your bag up from the floor. When you turn around to thank him once more, you find an empty sidewalk.

He is gone.

A sense of security immediately washes over you as you reach your building, and step inside the tall brick structure. You greet the door man and take the elevator to the 7th floor where you live. You are still shaken about what just happened, the assailant, the hybrid that came to your rescue. Why would he help you? You wonder. How did he know where to find you? The feeling of being watched…? Was that him? Your restless thoughts invade your sleep that night. You dream about an hybrid boy slipping through your window and watching over your sleep. You dream about a low purr lulling you deep into the dreamland, and the smell of rain and wet dirt.

The next morning, you wake up past six with a sense of not having sleep like this in ages. You feel so light and rested, it actually feels you’re still sleeping. You notice the window to your room still open, didn’t you close it last night before going to bed? 

“I must had left it open…”, you mumble to yourself before getting ready for your day as usual.

Normally, you wouldn’t mind having a free day all to yourself to stay home and watch Netflix in you pajamas. But being sick kind of makes it hard for you to enjoy yourself at home alone. You’ve lived alone for years now, since your grandmother passed. After you graduated from high school, you moved to the city to live with your nana and study culinary arts to be the best pastry chef in town for when the time came for you to take over the Tradition… Speaking of which, you should really phone the shop to see if everything is running smoothly as you friend promised.

Seokjin had sent Rose to cover for you today, and made you promise you’d call him if you needed anything. You and him had been friends since your first day in town. His family owned a few shops by the river a few blocks away from your pastry shop. Seokjin would always stop by to get his mother something and being the social butterfly he still is, he befriended your grandma and you soon after. He was there for you when she passed, stood by your side and helped you will all the funeral arrangements and to reopen the Tradition again once you felt ready.

Seokjin loved to cook, the way his eyes gleamed with excitement whenever he was in the kitchen was something you’d always admired. Whilst his family kind of hoped he would get an office job, stable, ordinary, he decide to pursue his dream of becoming a professional chef. He had his own traditional restaurant downtown, to which Jiwoo served as sommelier after seven; it was quite the fashionable place nowadays, frequented by important businessmen and socialités. The food was amazing truth be told, but there was something else that made Epiphany’s popularity rose like foam on a freshly poured beer, something about Jin and the way he charmed people so easily. His handsome face, his impeccable self-groom, his smile, his jokes. It was his otherworldly skills as a host that drew people back to Epiphany all the time after their first meal.

You kind of envied that sometimes. Nevertheless, you had other type of clients of course. People from around the block, familiar faces you’ve gotten to know for half your life now. Like Mrs. Park, a nice old lady who was the number one fan of your pineapple tarts, or Mr. Caruso who was an art teacher and had gifted one of his beautiful paintings to your grandma once. It hung from your dining room wall, depicting a white rose bouquet on table next to a basket of fresh, red and juicy strawberries. Sometimes they looked so real you had this urge to extend your hand and pick one from the painting. Just like now, you think to yourself as you stare at the painting right across the table.

You are finishing the cup of chamomile tea you brewed yourself after a late breakfast and now you are craving some strawberries. There’s Mrs. Khan’s grocery store is just around the corner. You flounder for a moment if it is worth the risk going out with this weather and your sore throat to only get a box of strawberries. You walk past your living room, to the sliding glass door that heads to a tiny balcony. You don’t open it, though, you just slide the curtains a little to take a peek outside. There are rain clouds coming from the west side of town, opaquing the feeble sunlight that managed to slip pass the cloudy sky. Maybe if you run to the story very quickly you might make it before the it starts pouring. But just as you are about to slip your coat on, you hear the little droplets smashing against the glass panels and the metal railing of the balcony. It’s a soft pitter-patter nothing your umbrella can’t handle. However, much to your dismay as soon as a thunder echoes through the sky, a downpour breaks out, covering the skyline in a gray veil of rain and subsequently trashing completely any plans you have of going out.

With a resigned sigh you plop down onto your couch and search for the tv remote somewhere between the beige cushions to binge watch a whatever Netflix comes up with in your recommendations. After a short selection, you settle down for a baking reality and another cup of tea for the afternoon. The rain continues to pour down as you quickly feel yourself dozing off as the main chef on the tv explains the detailed layered interior of an ovoide cake.

A lighting streaks down, parting the clouds in two. Your dimmed illuminated living room is covered for a second in a blue light. But is enough to reveal the tall shadow of a person stretching across the carpeted floor.

Your stomach does a somersault and your heart starts pounding furiously against your chest the moment your turn around and meet the dark figure standing on the balcony. If you hadn’t been so frightened by the sight, you would have stop to wonder how the hell did it manage to get there, seven stories up, under the heavy rain. But you first impulse today is to scream, to run and lock yourself inside your room before this creep attacks you. And you are readying your feet to run, when he does something that leaves you completely disconcerted… to say the least. The shadowy figure uncovers his head, pointy ears coming to light and gently… he knocks on the glass.

An hybrid.

The hybrid.

Wait what?

You blink once. 

A moment passes and he knocks again with the same caution as before, as if he’s actually waiting for you to let him in. You can’t think for an appropriate response. Ignore him? Resume your intention to hide away in your room? Sure if he climbed all the way up here he can find his own way down too. Or should you call the police? Well, considering he helped you before, it would be quite rude to report him or let him freeze outside in the cold rain any longer. You hurry to the wall to turn the lights on and have a better look at whatever is happening and to make sure he’s the same hybrid from before.

The rainy gloom is replaced by the warm light of the led chandelier that hangs from the ceiling as it illuminates the living room and casts enough light towards the balcony for you to recognize the young man standing outside. It’s definitely him. His hair is wet, fringe plastered against his forehead and his little ears keep flicking back and forwards on his head. When you meet his eyes, he wriggles the fingers on his lifted hand in some kind of awkward greeting gesture. This is situation is completely absurd. So obviously, you decide to go with it.

You walk over the glass door a slide it open.

A familiar smell of wet dirt kind of sends you into a deja-vu as you glance at his form. He doesn’t look that big or menacing anymore as you stand in front of him. Seokjin is way tallerㅡand broaderㅡyou note to yourself as you notice he’s still wearing the other one’s hoodie, which is completely soaked in rain. All of him is. 

You notice his amber eyes scanning your face as you do the same to his.

“Human…”, he mutters in a low but soft voice. You note his button nose, and the way his lips seem to form a natural pout when he speaks. “You didn’t go to work today. Are you sick?”.

His question is so out of the blue, and his tone worried like you knew each other as good friends, that you remain silent for a moment. Taking it all in. Did he…? Did he just climbed to a balcony 70 feet high to ask youㅡa completely strangerㅡif you skipped work because you were sick?

You stare at him, dumbfounded. He blinks, calmly despite the rain drops that keeps falling on his head and shoulders as he waits for you to answer. His ears flick again. You notice a black tail waving behind his legs. And you finally snap.

“Are you serious right now?!”, the exclamation leaves your mouth before you can stop yourself and you yank him inside, to shield him from the rain. Does he want to get sick too? What the hell is wrong with this manㅡhybrid or whatever he is?

He stumbles inside, and drips into your carpet but you pay no attention to it as you head to your room to fetch him a clean towel. He hasn’t moved by the time you return, not even an inch and he remains still as you throw the towel over his shoulders to attempt to dry him up a little.

“First of all, what the hell? Second, who are you and what on earth are you doing here?”, you ask him, pressing the towel down on his chest, shoulders, moving up softly to his cheeks and hair.

“You know who I am”

“You’re a cat hybrid and a stray. That’s all I know”

“Jaguar...”, he huffs. You catch an offended tint in his tone this time. His tail flicks uneasy behind him.

“What?”

“I’m a black jaguar hybrid, not a cat...“

“Well, sorry. I don’t know anything about hybrids!” you retort, looking at him again. You’re about half an inch shorter than him, so you don’t have bend your neck too much “But seriously? Are you following me? I told you I didn’t want any trouble! The last thing I need BioTech knocking at my door”.

He doesn’t reply. Maybe he’s not much of a talker, you think to yourself. Still, you need him to understand how inconvenient this situation is for both of you, but specially for you.

“Look… I can’t afford nor want a license, so if you were looking for a new owner I’m sorry to disappoint you”.

He frowns a little, but his face remains rather neutral. He reaches for the towel with his own hands now and you step back to let him dry himself now.

“I’m not interested in a new collar, don’t worry”, he says. His tone is stern and you come to wander if you’ve made him upset. “Like I said…”, he clears his throat and pressed his lips together “I came to make sure you were okay, that is all”.

You frown at his words and glance at him with a questioning look.

“Why? You don’t know me and I don’t even know your name. I only gave you leftovers and a used sweater. What do you want from me?”.

“You are one of the good ones, human.”, He clutches the towel against his chest with both hands. “You showed me kindness, I wanted to… repay the favor, I guess”.

His ears fold down against his skull. It’s such a soft gesture, and his eyes look genuine. It makes him look so small and vulnerable that you have to resist the urge to pet him. You remind yourself he is not only a grown man but his genes are also mixed with those of a wild animal. A panther, a predator, not a house cat you can pet.

You take a breath and fold your arms over your chest.

“You already helped me, remember?”, you remind him of that night when the drunk man assaulted you. He nods so you shrug. “Then we’re even. You don’t need to watch over me. I don’t want you to...”. He says nothing, his eyes drop to the floor as you let out a sight. “Honestly? It actually freaks me out... I don’t know you. Do you think is normal for a person to follow another one around like a shadow? It’s not! It’s creepy!”.

He blinks in confusion, like he’s having a hard time following your rant. But then, his shoulders drop, he lowers his eyes to the carpet again and lets out a heavy sigh.

“I- I understand”.

“Good.” You nod, not entirely satisfied with that answer or his lack of visual contact to help you figure out what he’s thinking. But still, you let him be as you round the couch to pause the TV with the remote.

An awkward silence follows after, neither of you move for a moment. Then, when you can’t take it anymore, you raise your eyes to look at him and are suddenly taken aback by the way he’s staring back at you, intensely. His eyes seem to glow inhumanly and he wears a stern frown that’s unsettling enough to make you flinch.

"W-what now?!”, you snap, feeling uneasy by his gaze alone.

“Am I a person to you?” he then asks. 

“Of course you are... Aren’t you?”. His reply shines for its absence again, and you can’t stand anymore of that piercing look. You quickly maneuver yourself towards the kitchen without locking eyes with him again. “Look, you are a completely stranger that just climbed through my window. But you saved me once and I think I can trust you no to do something weird, so... You can stay until the storm is over…”.

You swear you hear him mutter something that sounds like a ‘thank you’, as you scoot away to the kitchen. 

You come to a stop two steps away from the door frame, when you realize something important. You haven’t even introduce yourselves to one another. You turn around in your heels and pop you head out of the door. You roll your eyes when you see that he’s still standing next to the glass door. Is he not planning to move from that spot at all?

“My name is y/n, by the way”, you tell him.

He turns his head to you and nods.

“Yoongi…”

“Nice to meet you, Yoongi”. You offer him a half-smile and point to the couch “Sit down… I mean- if you want to”.

“I don’t want to ruin your furniture”. It takes you a moment, then you remember. Your lips forms and quiet ‘o’ as you glance down his body. Though his face is dry, his clothes are still damp and would probably leave wet patches all over where he decided to sit.

You step out of the kitchen scratching your chin with an amused smirk.

“Well, I suppose we have to get rid of those clothes then”.

His face is priceless. He doesn’t know how to react and you note the way his tail curves around his leg, coyly. Innocent confusion to your flirty lame joke that has you wondering if he’s never been in this kind of situation before. He’s handsome, his features are sharp and manly, his skin clear and that button nose makes him look rather cute. He might be a panther, but his reactions are still very kitty-like. So before he gets a bad impression and darts out of the window, you open your mouth again to clarify yourself.

“I have other clothes that could fit you. Dry clothes so you don’t get a pneumonia”.

He still looks a little confused.

“I can’t get sick”, he replies.

You nod.

“Yeah, that’s my point”

“No, I mean… biologically I- that’s how they… um, made us…”, he scowls down at his own feet.

You can tell he’s struggling with his words, to try and explain it to you but you are quickly to get an idea of what he means. Of course, if they go all the way to modify their DNA to mix it with animal genes, why not throw a reinforced immunity system in the mix as well. That, however, ignites a new question in your mind. When he says they “made us” he means from the womb or at some point in their life… were hybrids once fully human too? The implication of the former being true sends shivers down your spine. BioTech experimenting with humans, possibly children… it can’t be, right? Those kinds of things just happen in Orwellian novels and science fiction in real life there are limits, human rights are to be considered… right?

“Human…”. Thank God his voice drags you out of that train of thought. The dark road where it was leading is some business you don’t want to meddle with. 

You clear your throat and look up at the hybrid.

“But still, you’ll need dry clothes if you are staying”. You insist, and since are feeling a little braver after he scared the hell out of you, you reach for his wrist and pull him alongside you. Anything to block the horrors your mind can come up with if you let it wander back to the possibilities of hybrid genesis “Come on, let’s go”.

You walk him to your room.

Surprisingly, he lets you drag him along to your closet. You are thankful that he’s not big, so a pair of your baggy gym sweats might fit him just fine. You also pull out the only large t-shirt you own, black and plain. You usually only use it as pajamas. He is probably going to appreciate the color considering all he’s wearing right now apart from Seokjin’s hoodie. You smile to yourself. You also grab a beige sweater from your closet, winter is just around the corner and even with the heater on it can get quite chilly especially when it’s raining like this. You turn around and hand him all the clothes you selected with a satisfied smile.

“it’s almost lunch time. You can change here while I go and make us something to eat”.

“You are ill and plan to cook?”.

“Yes…?”

He raises his eyebrows and eyes at the pile of clothes in his hands, disapprovingly.

“What?”

“Sounds unwise”.

You take a deep breath. He’s got a point, though, and your body still feels a little sore.

“Fine, I’ll order food then... Whatever”, you roll your eyes. 

It really doesn’t matter if you cook or not and he’s probably right. If you really want to wear off that cold you should probably step away from extreme changes of temperature. 

“You can use my Bathroom if you want to freshen up, is behind that door”. He nods. “I’ll leave you to it”, you give him a smile, pressing your lips together and pat the room’s door before closing it behind you.

By the time Yoongi leaves the room, you are at the door, paying the delivery boy for the food. After browsing some yelp recommendations, you’d settled down for a barbecue restaurant nearby that had a four star review. And by the smell of it, you know you won’t be disappointed. After closing the door, you turn to your hybrid guest and catch him sniffing the air, enthusiastically. His ears stand tall and straight, as his attention falls to the takeout bag in your hands.

A smile tugs at the corner of your lips and you gesture him to the dining table in front of you. He obeys without hesitation. Your heart shrinks with concern, he probably doesn’t get to eat properly out there on the street. If he’s been hanging around the neighborhood he most likely has to rely on people throwing away leftovers. Maybe that’s why he was rummaging through the trash containers outside your shop that night.

You sigh, a sudden urge to protect him washes over you, like an instinct you can’t quite explain. The poor thing, he must be hungry.

You are quickly to set the table and invite him to sit down. Before you start eating, you make sure to take his wet clothes and put them inside the dryer. You make your way back to the living room and set the plates for the two of you. A part of you thought he might dive right in, tossing the cutlery away to tear the meat apart with his fangs instead. But Yoongi shows impeccable table manners as you both start to eat, not even placing his elbows down on the table. 

A pang of guilt crosses your chest, why were you expecting so little of him? Did you regard him as nothing more than a desperate animal?

You are quickly to chastise yourself, brushing those thoughts away. He is a person, a man, and just because he’s got a fluffy tail and cute little ears doesn’t mean you should expect him to act like an uneducated beast. You know nothing about him, his story, where he came from, if he had past owners, or if he lived all his life out there on the streets. No, scratch that last part. He had to be an indoors hybrid considering the way he so expertly manipulates the fork and knife. He said he was a panther, and you once heard in the radio panthers and timber wolfs hybrids were a trend among the rich families. Something to do with the territorial nature of their animal half that tied them to their owners, thus minimizing the chances of runaways. But Yoongi has no owner. He’d said so himself earlier that evening…

“Are you a stray?”, the question just drops from your lips as if they had a mind of their own. He pauses for a moment to regard you in silence. You bite into the fork at his unamused glance. Maybe he’s trying to find some hidden meaning in your question, as if to understand where the question comes from.

He breaks eye contact and glances down at his place.

“I thought you said you were not interested in being an owner”

“And I’m not. I’m just curious about… “ how can you phrase it that it doesn’t sound invasive? You want to ask it subtly, but when you open your mouth again what comes out is:, “How you ended up outside my pastry shop hiding between the trash containers?”

Not subtle at all.

But it seems to amuse him. You note a half smirk forming in the corner of his lips.

“Ah, that…”

“I won’t tell,” you promise. “I’m just curious..”

He seems to think about it for a moment. Lips pressed together and his fingers fidgeting with the fork in his hand.

“I-“ he clears his throat. “I got into a fight”

“What?! Why?”, You blurt our, not expecting that exactly. Worry washed over your face, he can see it, but he simply shrugs. It’s better not to get you too involved, for your own safety.

“I pissed people off”

“But, you are okay. Aren’t you?” You question him and he simply nods. “Don’t you have someone you can contact?”, you ask him, concerned for his well-being. He must have someone, Jaguars are a rare breed, even the actual animal jaguars are in danger of extinctions. “I just imagine… panther hybrids to be rare and therefore… valuable? Shit- I don’t… It sounds awful that way- I didn’t mean it like that, I’m sorry”

He smirks and shakes his head.

“You don’t need to apologize, though. You are not wrong… “, a sigh leaves his lips and he raises an eyebrow. “The rarer the commodity higher is the price”.

“People are not commodities, Yoongi…”. His ears flick at the mention of his name. He nods slightly and presses his lips together.

“They don’t consider us people”. You note the bitterness of his tone.

“Who?”

“You know…” he shifts uncomfortably in the chair. His tail flicks behind him. “Owners in general”.

A moment of silence settles between you two as you finish your meal. You have so many questions, so intrigued by this new world you just found out about, that you can’t help but break the silence.

“Can I- can I ask you another question, Yoongi?”.

An annoyed sigh leaves his lips and you swallow nervously.

“You will, regardless of my answer”, he takes another bite and when you remain silent he glances at you frowning sightly. He sighs “yes, you can ask me whatever you want, human”

You bite your nether lip. You have many questions indeed, but he might find you more annoying if you decide to bomb him with all of them at once. You don’t want him to feel obligated to answer you, so you keep it simple. The question that’s been haunting you since he step foot in your apartment.

“Did you really just came here to see if I was okay?”, you ask. He pauses for a minute, setting down his fork. His eyes scan your face. His head lolls to the side, ears flick back and forth. Great, you just make him uncomfortable. “It’s just… not usual. To receive that kind of attention I mean. People… unless you are family or very good friends, going over to their home instead of texting them just to check on them is… well, it is weird”.

“I don’t own a phone”.

“… I figured”, you chuckle.

Another beat of silence and he finally speaks.

“It’s the instincts”.

“What?”

“It’s hard to be that rational when your DNA commands you to rely on your instincts”. He explains with a serious face that is rather hard to read. “I apologize if I made you uncomfortable”.

“Don’t worry”, you shake your head. “…Maybe we all should trust our instincts more often than to comply to society standards of behaviour… So many rules kind of break people apart, you know? Like… Wait until he calls you, no you shouldn’t let him in after the first date, make sure to hung up first, if you text him right after the date you will look desperate… It’s ridiculous. If I want to do something, meet someone you should just go for it, period. ”, you let out an embarrassed chuckle and rest your chin on your palm. “I’m sorry, I’m just rambling now”

His lips stretch in a soft smile.

“I can see”.

You smile back. What would Seokjin think if he saw you right now? Trusting this stranger without a second thought, you, the girl who double checked the plates and driver’s profile when riding an Uber. But Yoongi doesn’t make you uneasy, on the contrary. His presence is weirdly soothing for you, maybe it’s his honest words, or what he did for you that night. Maybe is the innocent look he gives you when he seems confused. You don’t feel in danger, even though your mind already acknowledged the fact that he is part a predator.

“Human…”, his voices makes you realize you went back to staring, again. With flushed cheeks you stand up and gesture to his now empty plate.

“Let me take that, I’ll go load the dishwasher”

“Ah… looks like the sun is going to be out in time for the sunset”, you sigh as you look through the balcony’s window. It stopped raining a few moment ago, and the sky is covered in warm pink and orange clouds. After lunch, you both went back to he living room and you resumed watching your TV show. Yoongi made himself comfortable in the armchair next to the TV and neither of you felt the need to fill the silence with pointless conversation.

You turn you head towards him. He’s curled in a ball, his bare feet up and knees pressed to his chest. His black tail is wrapped around his left leg and his ears flick every now and then with the sounds that come from the TV. It is a cute sight, and part of you wishes he would sit next to you so you can pet his ears. They look so soft…

When his amber eyes find yours, you feel your cheeks heating up, embarrassed. He caught you staring so earnestly that you fear he might get the wrong impression about you. You stand up so fast you almost trip over the carpet and laugh it out when he looks at you with a raised eyebrow.

“I- I’m going to check your stuff, the drying cycle is probably done”, you disappear into the back of the kitchen for a minute. You manage to calm down and collect his stuff before heading back to the living room. Yoongi is now standing next to the balcony, his eyes admiring the sky across the glass door. He senses you approaching and turns around.“Here, dry, warm and fresh”, you hand him the pile of clothes. “you can keep the ones you are wearing too, if you’re comfortable”. He thanks you with a faint smile, securing the clothes below his arm. That can’t be comfortable, you snap your fingers and point back at the kitchen with your thumb. ”… let me get you a bag”

“You are nothing like them”, you hear his voice from the living room as you rummage through the kitchen’s cabinets.

“Like who?”

“My former owners”, he replies. You find an old tote bag you forgot you owned, folded in squares at the back of one of the cabinets and you grab it. “It’s difficult to find humans like you, that’s why I wish to protect you. You should be protected”.

You frown at his choice of words and exit the kitchen with the tote bag in hand.

“Protected from what?”, there’s no one in the living room. The veil curtains from the sliding glass door flow swiftly with the breeze that slips through the open panel. 

“Yoongi?” You call for him.

But he is gone.

It’s been a few days since that odd encounter with Yoongi in your apartment. You haven’t seen him since then, and you can’t help but wonder what’s been of him. Is he still around? He did say he wanted to protect you, but you live a fairly ordinary life and you tend to avoid trouble in generalㅡapart from that drunk man who attacked youㅡ; the only dangers to worry about in life of a pastry chef is to mix up salted and unsalted butter, or that the meringues don’t rise in time in the oven.

You are back at your shop. It’s early in the morning and you are finishing with the last batch of lemon curd pies before the customers start to arrive. You are checking the oven’s temperature when your cellphone rings inside your apron’s pocket.

You clean your hands with a kitchen rag and fish your phone out. It’s Jin, you smile but can’t help to feel a little confused. You can’t remember the last time you received a call from your best friend at this hour in the morning, it’s not even seven yet.

“Hey, beautiful” he greets you when you answer. “Just checking on you, are you at the shop?”

“Yeah, I’m about to open. Why?”

“Have you seen the news today?”

“Not really. I woke up and came straight here” you reply, supporting yourself on your elbows on the counter. “Why? Did something happen?”

“Well, I’m not sure… It’s just- I was on my way to the restaurant and there’s this thing going on in the radio about about a search party in your neighborhood. I’m just calling to make sure everything was okay”.

You blink confused. “A search party for what?”

“Apparently there was an underground hybrid shelter taken town around the river sector, the said something about dangerous stray hybrids on the loose…”

Your can’t help but think of Yoongi, is he going to be okay? Are they looking for him? but you don’t want your friend to senses your uneasiness. You don’t want to worry Jin.

“Sounds dramatic. But so far…”, you sigh, as if nothing is happening and step out of the counter to glance out of the windows. “Everything looks normal here- Oh! There’s Mrs. Park, I gotta go, Jinnie…”.

“Kay. Please take care!”

“You too, bye~”. You hang up and greet at the cute little old lady that just walked through the doors. “Good morning Mrs. Park! How’s the hip going?”

She smiles at you, her eyes disappearing for a moment to form half crescent moons.

“Better child, I injected myself last night something for muscular pain and I feel like a can dance all night”

“You injected yourself”, you blink in disbelief. She laughs and waves a hand as to tell you it’s okay.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’m retired from the Military Hospital, used to he the head nurse back in the day”, she winks. You smile. “every rump in the division knew my needle”.

You chuckle, and take your place behind the register to get her order.

The day continues normally, except for the few police sirens you can hear patrolling around the block. More than usual and you figured it must be because of the search party. You decide to ignore them, and focus on finishing your day at the shop before heading home.

It’s night time when you step into your apartment. You take off your coat and shoes at the entrance hall before turning the lights in and walking to the living room. You heart skips a beat at the scene in from of you.

Yoongi is standing in the middle of the living room. His face and clothes are dirty, and his hands are covered in crimson bloods. He looks agitated, sweating and his pupils dilated. He glances at you helplessly.

“We didn’t know where else to go…” Yoongi utters, his voice trembling sightly, ears folded against his skull. He clutches at his sweater. “Please, y/n… help him”.

Help him? Help who?

Your heart feels like it’s going to explode out of your chest, you can even hear buzzing sound in your ears as you try to understand what is happening. You look at Yoongi, and scan his frame to look for a possible wound that explains the blood in his hands. However, you note he is disheveled but not hurt. It’s not his blood. For a moment you feel relieved, but then it hits you. Help him… He’s asking you to help someone else, someone else that is hurt.

You hear a low grunt coming from behind the couch. You knees feel wobbly, and your heart beats hard against your chest. That’s when you see him, a young man with his back against the couch and an open wound that’s oozing blood right on his left side.

“Oh, my God!”, you drop your bags to the floor and hurry to his side. But the hybrid hisses, baring his canines out at you and quickly tries to move back away from your touch. He’s too weak for that, though, and ends up falling to the side. He curses in pain, and blood starts to ooze from another wound in his right thigh.

Yoongi rushes to his side and helps him up again. You notice his handsome face contorting in a worried look, almost anxious, afraid. You heart sinks. You don’t want Yoongi to be afraid. You want to help him, to help this friend of his that he seems to care a lot for.

“Joon, it’s okay. She can be trusted”, Yoongi says. But the hybrid still seems too reluctant to let you come close as he eyes you warily.

“Humans can’t be trusted, hyung”, he says that, with his golden eyes piercing through you. His face is drained of color, lips almost purple and sweat making his silver hair stick to his forehead.

There’s a pair of triangle-shaped ears crowning his messy curls, very similar to husky ears. What breed could he be, you wonder as your eyes scan his wounds again. Yoongi had wrapped some kind of rag around the wounded leg to cut the blood flow, but the sudden jerk must have reopened it.

Yoongi’s eyes find your own, his ears are now folded against his skull. He looks at you almost pleadingly.

“She’s one of the good ones, I trust her”.

His words move something inside your chest and fill you with determination. Maybe is the way he looks at you. Whatever is is, you get up and run to the kitchen to gather some rags and towels to help stop the bleeding and your small first aid kit you keep inside the drawers.

The new hybrid takes a few more reassurance word from Yoongi to let you touch him, and with your combined efforts you help him to your room, he’s too tall for lying comfortably on the couch. Besides, a few bloods stains in your duvet are going to be the least of your problems if this hybrid dies under your roof. However, soon you come to realize there’s nothing you can do for him but clean his wounds and pray to God he hasn’t lost too much blood. He need stitches, antibiotics, painkillers and you have nothing but acetaminophen and some band-aids at home.

“Yoongi…”, you call his name and he can sense your anxiety in your quivering tone. Your hands are stained, and the new hybrid is about to lose consciousness. “I’m not a doctor but the amount of blood coming out of that wound is alarming. You need proper medical care, we gotta get you to an hospital”

“NO!” Joon growls and the effort to raise his tone like that, has him wincing in pain.

Yoongi sighs. “No hospitals, y/n… It’s not safe”

You glance and the hybrid lying on the bed. He’s got his eyes closed now and his breathing is irregular. “If he doesn’t get that wound treated up you are going to bleed out or worse if it gets infected and-”

“Can’t you treat him?”, he looks at you so full of hope that makes you hate yourself for not even knowing the basics of first aid.

“Yoongi, I’m a pastry chef not a nurse”, your eyes water when that hopeful look vanishes from his amber eyes. Joon growls under his breath, he’s getting paler as the time goes. If only you could be of more help, if only there was something else you could do, someone you could trust to help- “Wait…!”

Yoongi’s ears flick as he looks back at you. “What is it?”

“I know someone in this building that can help us!”, you say. Yoongi frowns a little. “Mrs Park, lives on the second floor and she’s a retired nurse”, you explain, and stride to the door to grab your coat first. You don’t want to alarm Mrs Park with all the blood staining your sweater.

Yoongi stops you right when you close a hand around the door’s handle.

He is reluctant to let you go, but you can feel it in your heart that Mrs Park can be trusted. She can keep the secret and help.

“We have to take the chance, Yoongi. Your friend might not make it through the night if he doesn’t receive treatment”.

He bites his lip and glances at the bed. When he looks back to you he simple releases you and nods. You give him a half smile before leaving the room.

You are not in the right mindset to mind taking the elevator so you run downstairs to the second floor and almost trip over at the last step. When you get to her front door, you need a moment to calm yourself down before knocking. When she opens the door, you are a nervous wreck, fidgeting with your hands behind your back.

“G-goodnight, Mrs. Park… I- I hope I’m not… not intruding” the old woman eyes you confused, she’s wearing reading glasses and holds a hardcover romance novel in her hands.

“Oh, not at all, dear. I was just doing some reading”, she gestures vaguely at her book. “What do you need?”

“Nana, I’m hungry!” A soft, sweet voice speaks from inside the apartment before you get a chance to explain yourself. 

“Gimme a minute, Jiminie I’m at the door”, Mrs Park replies and her attention goes back to you. “You were saying, dear?”

You take a deep breath. You have to do this, now or never. “Mrs Park, you said you were a nurse in the army, right?” She nods. “Have you ever... like... treated bullet wounds?”

Worry washes over her fine features.

“Did something happen, y/n?”

“I… Uh- How do you feel about hybrids?”

“I don’t understand…”.

You are running out of time. You need to make her understand without revealing too much in case she refuses.

“Do you think they are human too?”

“Hey, what’s gotten you to ignore me?” A young man pops up from behind the old lady and places his chin on her shoulder. Your attention is immediately dragged to his bright orange hair and the two triangle-shaped ears with dark tips on top of his head.

“Sorry, y/n”, Mrs Park sighs and gently pets the boy’s hair. “this is my grandson Jimin”

“Grandson?”

“Hi~”, he smiles, his eyes disappearing in the same crescent shapes you’ve grown accustomed to see in Mrs Park’s. But his face shifts to a cringed expression after he sniffs. He eyes you with a mix of wariness and concern.  “Why do you smell like blood?”

You can’t give him a coherent reply, and you look at Mrs. Park like a deer caught in the headlights. She eyes you curiously now and you swallow.

“Why don’t you tell me what you really need, y/n?”

You guide the woman back to your apartment after you’d explained the situation to her. She was more than willing to help. Mrs Park grabbed her medical supplies and her and Jimin accompanied you to your floor.

Yoongi walks out of your room as soon as you enter the apartment.

“Yoongi…”, you call his name and he turns to you. His ears stand tall and sniff a couple times. He eyes fall on your visitors and tenses at the presence of the fox hybrid. His tail waves nervously behind him as he stands. “This is Mrs Park, and this is her grandson, Jimin”

“Hello there, young man. We meet again”, Mrs Park smiles warmly at him, catching you by surprise. “Are you still climbing buildings?”

Yoongi’s cheeks turn a bright shade of pink you’ve never seen before.

“Uh…” he swallows and drifts his attention to you, as if asking for help. You, however, are more astonished at fact that she seems to know him… and his peculiar habit of climbing the exteriors of buildings. 

All kinds of questions flood your mind, and that’s when you realize you actually know nothing of him. Well, it shouldn’t come as a surprise, you met him twice and that’s all. But for some reason it feels unsettling, like a part of you is disappointed. You want to know him, you desperately want to know more about this person but you can’t bring yourself to understand why.

“Where’s the boy?”, Mrs Park asks, dragging you out of your thoughts.

“This way” you guide the woman to where the hybrid lies, Yoongi and Jimin closely trailing behind you.

Joon has passed out, and when Mrs Park reaches down to check his temperature, a deep frown forms in her face. She asks the two of you to leave the room and gestures Jimin to bring in her medical supplies.

Yoongi doesn’t want to leave, so you end up having to drag him out with you. “She will treat him, don’t worry”, you try to reassure him everything is going to be fine. You trust Mrs Park, if there’s anything to be done for his hybrid friend, she will do it. “I’m sure he’s going to be okay”

“I know, that wolf is too stubborn to die”, he half-jokes and you note to yourself his friend’s species.

“Let’s get you cleaned up” Yoongi nods and lets you pull him towards the living room.

You have him sit down and go fetch the box of baby wipes you keep in the guests’ restroom.

You diligently clean the dried blood from his hands and claws, and then reach up to do the same with his face. He lets you, eyes closed.

“There…”, you smile and truck a strand of raven hair behind his ear.

He opens his eyes. Warm, enticing, amber pools looking straight at you. He has such beautiful eyes, so full of mysteries you can’t help but stare back. It’s the closest you two have been since you met him, if you were to move a couple inches closer your noses would meet. Behind the metallic stench of blood, you can still make out his own scent, a mix of wet dirt and rain.

“Thank you…” he mutters, breaking the spell you found yourself into.

Realization hits you. How long did you stare? You swallow and look down at your own hands. You can feel your cheeks starting to heat up.

“You- You don’t have to thank me, I just did what anyone would”, you try to brush your embarrassment off by focusing on cleaning your own hands.

Yoongi scoffs.

“You know that’s not true”

You shrug. Your hands are clean already but you keep scrubbing them with the wipe. Suddenly too embarrassed to look at him in the eyes. 

“I want to believe it is…”, you mutter, more to yourself than to him.

“Still doesn’t make it true”, Yoongi retorts and leans back on the couch. You raise your head slowly and find him with his eyes closed again, arms folded against his chest. “…I knew I was right about you”

Your heart does a flip. If he trust you this much, would he trust you with the details of what happened too? You are too curious and too worried not to ask, you want- no, you need to know. 

“What happened, Yoongi?”, you ask him. He opens his eyes and presses his lips together, giving you an apologetic frown. “I’m no expert, but I’m positive those were bullet wounds, weren’t they? And… and there was a searching patrol around the neighborhood”

He sighs.

“We were being chased”

“Why?” You lean closer, eager to hear the truth. But Yoongi remains silent and shrugs. You take a deep breath. “Yoongi, please…”, you nudge him in the arm. “I’m risking a lot too to have you here right now, the least you could do is be honest with me. Please…” You too maintain eye contact for what it feels like an eternity. Finally Yoongi seems to give in.

He turns his body to you and sighs.

“There’s a group out there that fights for hybrids rights, for us to be considered equals to humans…”, he explains, still reluctant. “I can’t tell you their name, but... if you must know... Namjoon and I- we’re with them. Last night…”

He pauses, his eyes drift to the side as if he’s replaying the events that led to his friend’s injuries last night. You reach for his arm, and give him a comforting squeeze you hope will make him feel at least a little better. He takes you by surprise when he places his hand on top of yours. The size difference is so evident. He feels incredibly warm and you are left to wonder if it was you that needed the comforting instead. Your stomach ties in a nervous knot when he brushes his thumb over the back of your palm.

“There was a meeting inside an old warehouse we’d adapted as a shelter for hybrids in need…” he continues. “Somehow… Someone had to betrayed us and word got out… and we were ambushed by Hybrid Control. They started shooting before we could defend ourselves…”

“But…” you blink in confusion. “I thought Hybrid Control just brought hybrid to the Pound, they shouldn’t be armed…”. 

A dark chuckle leaves Yoongi’s mouth at your words.

The knot in your stomach tightens at his new stern look.

He shakes his head. “That’s what BioTech advertises… But it has never been true” he sighs and removes his hand from yours. You take it as a cue to do the same, even though you don’t feel like it. You still want to comfort him in any way you can. “Many were killed… the few of us who make it out were hunted down. Namjoon was hit trying to help the younger ones escape. We don’t even know if they make it…”

You bring a hand to your mouth. That’s just horrible, you can only imagine the fear, the chaos. You want to say something, you want to comfort Yoongi, to make him feel safe here even though you can barely defend yourself from a drunk man.

You hear him sigh, heavy and tired. 

“I said I wanted to protect you and now I’m putting you on the line of fire…” he shakes his head and brings a hand to his forehead. He probably feels disappointed with himself too. ”I’m sorry, y/n”

“No, don’t be” you are quickly to respond. “I want to help, let me protect you this time”.

His beautiful eyes find yours and you feel short of breath. The way he looks at you has your stomach doing flips, a strange feeling washes over you, it’s warm but also electric. Yoongi reaches for your hand again, you can’t take your eyes off him, or the way he seems to be leaning closer to you. Your heart beat picks up and you glance at his lips, moisturizing your own as a reflex.

“All done”, Mrs Park walks into the living room wiping her hands with a stained rag. Yoongi stiffens and draws back in a heartbeat, putting some distance  between the two of you as you turn around to look at the old woman. “I took the bullets out and stitched him up. I’ll come to check on him tomorrow to change the bandages. He has a few broken ribs too, they need time and rest to heal. I can’t do anything about the sour attitude though”

She chuckles.

“Thank you so much, Mrs Park”, she smiles warmly at you both and nods.

“Call me if you need anything, child”. You promise you will and she leaves with Jimin, not before advising you to be careful and not to drag any unnecessary attention to yourself.

“He’s asleep now”, Yoongi announces, walking back to the kitchen after checking up on his friend. He needed to eat something to regain his strength so you fixed him a quick meal, mostly meat, and Yoongi made sure he ate. He leaves the empty plates on the counter and you offer him a bite of the leftovers stew you made before serving him a bowl. You two eat in silence and after all is done and the dishes are placed inside the dishwasher, you go back to the living room.

It’s past three am. Your apartment is made for a single person so you don’t have a spare bed to offer Yoongi. Instead, you fetch a cozy blanket and a pillow from the linens closet and offer him your couch.

“You should probably get some sleep, it’s almost dawn”, you tell him as you tuck him in. But when he sees you about to walk away, Yoongi frowns and sits straight on the couch.

“Wait. What about you?”

You shake your head. “I need to go back to the shop at seven, anyway”

“You haven’t sleep, you need to rest”, he scolds you with a worried look that makes you giggle. God, you really must be tired. “You shouldn’t work today…”

“It would look strange if I don’t open the shop today and Mrs Park said not to drag unnecessary-“ you yawn mid-sentence “…attention”

“It’s not unnecessary attention”, Yoongi grabs your wrist and pulls you down with him. You fall into his arms, and somehow he manages to fit both of you in the small couch before throwing the blanket over your form. “Yoongi-“, you try to protest but he shushes you.

“You are tired, you need to rest”. His warmth is so inviting you don’t want to pull away, and you can hear the calm beating of his heart against your palm. He has one arm below your head to serve you as a pillow, and the other one wraps gently around your waist.

You can’t remember the last time a man held you like this, with so much care, and you want to nuzzle against the crook of his neck.

“Is this okay?”

You nod, resting your cheek against his chest. “Y-yes…”

“Good. Now sleep”.

“Okay... but one last question”, you whisper, he doesn’t reply and you take it as cue to go ahead and ask, “How did you get up here?”.

You hear a soft chuckle leave his lips, but he doesn’t reply. A moment passes and you realize he’s not going to talk again soon, he must have fallen asleep by the rhythm of his breathing.

You yourself start to doze off as well to the smell of warm cotton and wet dirt.

Just as she promised, Mrs Park came the very next day to replace the wolf’s bandages. That’s what Yoongi tells youㅡsince you were still sleeping until late morningㅡ when you find him in the kitchen, struggling with the coffee machine. His tail waving angrily behind his back as he stares at a bunch of little coffee pods in his hands. 

“Do you need help?”, you ask him.

“It’s a coffee machine, not rocket science”, he replies, but you can still see confusion in his eyes. “what’s the difference between mountain fresh and highland fresh?”

You chuckle, “One is cheaper. They all taste the same. Here…”, you grab a pod and place it inside the machine, then close the lid, mark the amount of water and place a coffee mug below for the brew to start. You notice Yoongi’s ears twitching as he follows your moves. 

“Oh- okay…”, he clears his throat. “Thank you”.

“No prob…”, you smile and busy yourself with looking for some cereal bars at the top cabinet. “So how’s Wolfie? What did Mrs Park said?”

A amused smile find its way to his lips. 

“He’s angry at me I won’t let him set BioTech on fire yet until he’s healed… She gave him quite the scolding for tearing his stitches, you totally missed that.”

You chuckle at his enthusiasm.

“You are good friend, Yoongi”, having him speak to you in such casual, care-free manner is refreshing, and fills you with a rare sense of familiarity you can’t quite understand yet. 

The only thing in your mind right now is how endearing you find his gummy smile, and those bright amber eyes looking back at you. How can he smile so beautifully after all he’s been through? The painful realization hits you, and your own smile falters. That‘s probably just one of the many awful things he had had to endure after becoming a stray. Persecution, rejection, other people treating him like an animal, seeing his own friends being killed, and who knows what other kind of abuse. And still, here he is, smiling at you like it’s nothing. Like he is fine.

Yoongi senses your change of mood immediately and eyes you worried.

“Everything okay?”

“Just…” You shake your head, try to recompose your face. “I’m- I’m sorry for what happened to you and… the shelter…”

Yoongi steps closer, and places a finger under your chin to make you rise your head and look at him. 

“It’s not your fault”

“I know, but... I feel guilty enough knowing that other humans did it”, something heavily presses against your chest and you take a deep breath to steady your heartbeats. “Knowing that… We are capable of so much violence and our goverment simply doesn’t care-”

“We don’t need your pity, human”, a deep growl coming from the kitchen door has you almost jumping into Yoongi’s arms.

You turn around and find the wolf hybrid standing against the frame, his eyes blazing with anger, shooting daggers at you. Yoongi sighs, a hint of annoyance in the way his features harden at his friends. But he still holds you close to him, a protective arm wraps around your shoulders.

“Joon, you shouldn’t be up”, he says with a warning in his tone. The wolf hybrid completely ignores him, and continues to glare at you.

“He says you are one of the good ones, and I want to believe hyung… But I’ve met humans like you, so willing to help, to care for us… in the end they just want to put us on a pretty leash”. He bares his canines as he speaks, nose scrunching, disgust and anger mixed up in his sharp features. “We are not property of anyone, we are as much as a person as you are, and we are tired of getting showcased like commodities to sell to the highest bidder”.

You hold on to Yoongi’s shirt, the soft fabric crumpling in your fist. He’s really hurt, and angry. It’s painfully clear to you, and you try not to take it personally. After all he’s been through, it’s only logical he would be distrustful of you, just another human being.

“Were here because Yoongi-hyung chose to trust you, but if I sniff something funny going on on your side I won’t hesitate to rip your throat out with my bare hands, human”

You try to steady your shaky breaths, but he even got your legs trembling. He’s way taller, broader, bigger than Yoongi. The thickness of his muscles can be seen through his clothes, and the vein popping along his exposed neck. You have no doubt he is capable of ripping you to pieces and more. Is this how a prey feels in the presence of its predator? You wonder whilst his bright feral eyes bore into yours. This immobilizing fear, the cold sweaty hands, the trembling limbs, the impulse of running away as far as you can go. It’s not the same fear as when that drunk man tried to attack you, this is something else, something… primal. 

Your body knows you are in the presence of a hunter.

A predator.

And you are the prey.

“That’s enough, Namjoon!”, Yoongi lets go of you to stand right between you and his hybrid comrade. When he’s hidden you from his sight, is like oxygen finally returns to your lungs. “Go back to bed”.

You hear the wolf grumbling under his breath, reluctant to let you off his hook just yet. But thankfully, soon he’s gone.

“I will never let him hurt you, you don’t have to be afraid of him”, Yoongi tries to reassure you.

“I’m not afraid”

“Don’t lie. I can smell your fear, y/n”, you sigh and cover your face with your hands.

“Yes, I am terrified of him! And he’s also right!”, you take a step back, and uncover your face to glance at the floor. “The only difference between you and me is the ears and the tail, we are all persons and you shouldn’t have to fight for freedom when it is your natural right! Why are people so selfish? Why do the have the need to own another human being to feel superior?”, your voice cracks, and hot tears run down your cheeks before you can do anything about it. All the fright from Namjoon’s earlier speech is finally melting away. “It’s not fair… it’s not right…”

“I know”

“I’m selfish too”

“No, you’re not”

“Yes, I am…”you sniff, and let him comfort you when he places a hand on your back. “because the only reason I helped you that night was because I wanted you to leave, I didn’t want to have any trouble… I was thinking only about myself… I’m sorry…”

You hear a quiet chuckle leaving his lips. “You’re so cute”

“What-?“

“Well, to be honest… You could have scared me away with a bat or something, I was too hurt too tired to fight back then…” he shrugs and tucks a strand of hair behind your ear. His hand gently caressing your cheek, and his soft, caring gaze has your stomach doing somersaults. “But you gave me food and dry clothes instead and asked me not to stay out because of the rain”

You are a lot loss of words.

“You shouldn’t think so lowly of yourself, y/n”, his warm hand trails down your neck, thumb still stroking your cheek in circular moves. “You have a good heart, I can see it… and Joon does too that’s why he tried to scare you like that. But don’t worry, as soon as he’s in better shape we’ll leave”

You can feel something shattering inside you after he speaks the thing you’ve been trying to ignore so far. He would have to leave, eventually. You can’t keep him here, it’s dangerous for him and, well… illegal too since he’s technically still a stray and you have no hybrid license.

“Where will you go?”.

He sighs, his other hand comes to rest on your neck as well, encasing you face in the warmth of his skin. “We have to make contact with the rest of the pack… to see who else made it out and reassemble”.

“You are welcome here to stay as long as you need it”, he raises an eyebrow. The faint hint of a smile tugs at his lips, but it’s so subtle you are not sure if you saw it or just imagined it. “I’m not trying to keep you here against your will, or put a leash on you… But I don’t want you getting your clothes all wet out there in the rain either”.

“I’ve put you in enough danger by staying the night, we are used to the streets. Don’t worry” He doesn’t say anything else, and turns to the coffee machine. The brew is ready, the smell of warm dark coffee filling the kitchen. 

He hands the mug to you and places a new pod inside the brewer for himself.

The wolf hybrid recovers at a quicker pace that you’d hoped. It only takes him a couple days to get back on his feet, and another two for the wounds to completely disappear from his body leaving just a few scratches and some greenish patches around the scars. Yoongi and you keep sharing the sofa those two nights and you don’t mind at all. Having someone to hold onto until you fall sleep is better than to hug your pillow. Specially when that someone smells as good as Yoongi does, and his body against yours works better than a thermal sheet to keep you warm and comfy.

The wolf hybrid also seemed to lower his guard a little in the following days. You’d leave Yoongi in charge of your place for the day, and the three of you would have dinner together when you arrived. And even watch some tv before going to bed. Namjoon didn’t really addressed you regarding that first incident in the kitchen, but you would occasionally exchange a few words with him when you saw him checking your book collection. He was a fan of Orwell and Kafka, and it pleased him you had good reading material in your home. Also, he seemed more open to vent his frustrations with the current hybrid laws than Yoongi, and the ways he thought they could improve. 

You learned a lot of this new world you found yourself immersed in just by listening to him. Apparently BioTech had been pulling some strings in the government to create a monopoly out of hybrid license distribution. That way only people approved by the company could get a license.

“It’s all about the profit”, Namjoon explained. “They don’t care about the conditions under which hybrids are kept by their owners. As of right now, you have to pay that absurd amount for the license but the government’s Hybrid Protection Agency demands the owner to take an exam on hybrid careㅡdepending on which breed they choseㅡand go through a personal evaluation to see if their are fit to actually care for an hybrid. BioTech wants to dissolve the HPA completely, so that they can sell the licenses at whatever price they see fit. So many hybrids are mistreated and abused by their owners, even with the few protection laws we have to our benefit. If the HPA is gone then we will have nothing… BioTech can get away with anything, they can do whatever they like to our kind and nobody will have he power to go against them”.

You can’t help but feel terrified for them. You get it now, all the fear, the distrust glares. Humans had done nothing but hurt hybrids for years, and now they want to strip them off any rights they have so they can use them as they please. It has your blood boiling in your veins, you wish you could do something. You want to help… Yet there’s not much you can actually do, but offer to support them, give them a safe place to be while they decide what to do.

One morning, as you are getting ready to leave for work, Yoongi approaches you with a thoughtful frown. He helps you into your jacket in silence, and you thank him with a content smile.

“I was thinking to stop by that Brazilian restaurant again and get something for tonight”, you comment. “Maybe we could watch a movie and-“

“We’re leaving tonight”, he cuts you, and it’s like a tons of bricks just fall over your head.

“What?”

“It’s just... We’ve been here more than what its prudent. Our pack is looking for us”

“Oh…”, is all you can say as you feel your heart sinking in your chest. “I-I see… It’s fine. Uh- Please, be careful. And… if you need something- Anything, food, clothes, a place to crash… I’m always here”.

“Thank you, y/n”, he gifts you a cute smile, and you fight the urge to stroke his ears or wrap your arms around his shoulders and hug him against your chest. “I’ll still be guarding you, though”.

“Yoongi…”

“Hm?”

Standing on the tips of your toes, you gather all your courage and press a kiss to his cheek. You let your lips linger there a little longer than necessary just to elicit a reaction from him. But when you pull back, you are rather disappointed to see a poker face looking back at you. 

He doesn’t say anything else and you rush out of the apartment with your cheeks burning in embarrassment. Why on earth did you did that?

When you return home that night after closing up the shop, you find it empty. Just as promised, they are gone. Your room looks like it was cleaned before they left, they even went to the trouble of changing your sheets as well. You sigh and let yourself fall back into the mattress. Looks like you’ll have to hug your pillow and pretend it’s Yoongi if you’re hoping to get any sleep tonight.

The first day you wake up alone in your apartment feels odd. Your double bed feels way too big for you, and your back kinda hurts from the soft mattress. When you are fixing breakfast your mind slips for a second and you end up with three portions of the same scrambled eggs. What a waste of food, you mentally scold yourself. They were here not even a full week and now you are feeling lost without those two presences in your home. It takes a few days to get back to your routine, but finally you are able to push the hybrids to the back of your mind and concentrate in your own work. It’s been a long week, but seeing familiar faces helps. Jin just stopped by earlier, to order some strawberry mousse cakes for this big party he’s hosting at his restaurant tomorrow. He was so excited but couldn’t tell you much because of some confidential agreement. And now, your smile broadens again when the little bells on the shop’s front door jingle and you see another familiar face smiling back at you.

“Oh! Hey, Jimin…”, you are too excited to have him here that it takes you a moment to realize it’s the first time you’d seen him going out. He’s hiding his ears under a brown beanie, and probably has his tail tucked inside that long grey cardigan. “It’s so good to see you. What can I get for you?”

He approaches the counter and rests one forearm on the surface. “Nana wants pineapple tarts”, he explains. “She would have come herself but she’s not feeling good enough to come out. I figured it be okay if I came instead, your store is hybrid-friendly right?” He gives you a cheeky smile.

“You are welcome here, everyone is. But, what’s wrong with Mrs Park? Is she sick?”

“Well I caught her sneaking a bag of ice to her room for her sore joints, and then she tried to shrug it off as if it was nothing but she could barely take a step without wincing”

“Wait- Is she going to be okay? Shouldn’t you take her to the hospital?”

“I’ve tried. Trust me, she’s too stubborn for that. Last time I took her to see an orthopedist and she basically told him he was a disgrace for the medical field and didn’t allow the nurses to inject her”, he shakes his head. The way he pretends to be annoyed is actually endearing, as it is the little pout that forms in his plump lips. “Though I already gave her some medicine for the pain, she’s going to be fine. She’s just getting old, y’know?”

“She’s lucky to have such a devoted grandson to watch over her”, you smile at him and he giggles. His cheeks turning a pretty shade of pink as he runs his fingers through his hair “let me get you those tarts. On the house”

You pack the order in a pretty box and make sure to put an extra of cream for Mrs park’s sweet tooth in the bag before handing it to Jimin. “Thank you, y/n”

“Anytime”, he waves a hand as a goodbye and head for he door. Just then you get a peek of his fluffy tail behind the cardigan and that’s when the questions pops into your mind. “hey, Jimin?”

“Yeah?” He turns on his heels to look at you.

“I’ve been wondering… You don’t have to answer if you don’t want but I was curious about…”, you clear your throat, not wanting to sound like you are prying in somebody else’s business. Jimin returns to the counter with short steps. “Well, you’re a fox hybrid, right? And Mrs Park is human… how come..?”

“How come she’s my grandma?”

“Well, yes…”, you admit. “I thought maybe she adopted you?”

The way he chuckles and shrugs washes over any worries you might have about feeling like prying. Still, you’re a little embarrassed. “She’s my biological grandmother, actually. It’s just how it is, my dad, her son, is human… my mom, she was like me”.

“Was?”

“Yeah.. Uh-“ he ruffles his own fringe with the hand that is not holding he bag, setting the beanie straight “She died… When I was a kid”

Your eyes open wide, and you start apologizing for being so rude.

“Hey, it’s okay.” He tells you, a soothing smile on his lips. “You’re my friend, no need to apologize for being curious”.

“I just thought- I didn’t know hybrids could actually have offspring with humans”.

“Technically, we can’t…” he tilts his head to the side and runs another hand through his red locks. “But there are some cases where a human male can impregnate a female hybrid. That depends completely on the hybrid’s animal part, and her genetic material. It only happens with mammals as far as I’m concerned”.

“Can it happen the other way around?”

“Like a male hybrid impregnating a human?”, you nod. Jimin raises his eyebrows and shake his head. “Not that I’ve heard about… I mean, I can ask one of my professors though. Maybe they’ve done some research on that”

“Your professors?”

“Oh, yeah! I’m majoring in Hybrid Studies”, He beams with pride when he tells you this. His smile is the sweetest you’d ever seen. “It’s all online since pets can’t study and stuff” he rolls his eyes. “Anyway, Nana got me some fake ids and all. I kinda like it, feels like I’m an undercover agent or something”

“That’s amazing, Jimin!” You smile back.

That’s another piece of information that is new for you. Maybe you should’ve guessed since during your college years you never actually shared a classroom with a hybrid, but you never questioned that before… Not even once. You didn’t even considered the possibility of a hybrid wanting to study, to attend university and get a diploma.

But why would you?

Namjoon was right…

Even thought you never wanted to have a hybrid pet, it didn’t mean you actually saw them as more than that.

That’s until Yoongi appeared on your life.

You weren’t better than the people at BioTech, you weren’t better than the owners and that realization hit you like an ice cold water poured over your head. Your eyes prickled with tears, now you understood where all that guilty feeling came from. Because silence never helps the victims… only the perpetrators. “Y/n? Are you okay?”. You look up to see Jimin’s worried eyes scanning your face.

That’s when your attention shifts towards the door when you hear the bells. Thank god is only you and Jimin in the shop at this hour because Yoongi just walks inside, not bothering in hiding his tail and ears.

“Yoongi…!”, you circle the counter and run to his arms. However, the hybrid holds onto you instead, like he’s having trouble to walk and takes a deep breath. “What is wrong? Are you hurt?” Your paranoid heart beats hard against your chest as you Inspect him for blood or something that might justify his state. There’s nothing.

“I’m fine…”, he lets another shaky breath and stumbles over one of the wooden tables. You are quickly to help him stand.

“Like hell you are!” Jimin rushes to your side to help you, but Yoongi growls at him.

“What is this fox doing here?”, his voice is raspy and low, like he’s drunk. But you don’t smell any alcohol in him, only the familiar smell of his skin.

“That’s not relevant now! What happened to you?”, you try to brush the messy fringe from his eyes, and as your hand comes in contact with the skin on his forehead you notice he abnormal body temperature. He’s boiling hot. Yoongi insists that he’s okay, but you are not. “Jimin can you please help me get him home”

“Of course”

You bounce anxious from feet to feet outside your room as you wait for Jimin to come out. Yoongi was acting so strange, drowsy even, and Jimin offered to examine him to see if there here were any signs of the intoxicationㅡ or something similar that could explain his condition. He’s been inside the room with Yoongi for at least ten minutes now, you are getting worried and are about to burst in and check on Yoongi for yourself. Is in that moment when the door opens and you almost run him over a confused Jimin. “Are you okay, y/n?”

“Yoongi- is he...?”

“Oh? He’s fine”, he replies, closing the door behind him.

“But, the fever-“

“It’s not... well, it’s not exactly fever”. Jimin brushes the hair off his face and that’s when you notice a scratches right over his left cheek, three horizontal streaks of irritated skin that run all the way down to his hairline. It looks like some animal dug his claws in him...

“What? Wait-“you lean closer and hold his hair back with one hand to take a better look at the marks. “Did he attacked you?”,

“It’s nothing, just a superficial scratch. I should’ve seen it coming, but I’m not as territorial as he is” he just shrugs, and you don’t know what disturbs you most, that Yoongi had laid a hand on Jimin or that he doesn’t care he did.

“I don’t understand?”

“Well, it’s pretty simple actually... “, he pushes you  gently, away from his personal space. “Yoongi... he’s, um- reacting to your hormones”.

You frown.

“What?”

“That’s where the increasingly body temperature comes from”, he talks as if you are supposed to know what that means. So when you stare at him completely blank, he huffs in disbelief. “y/n, do you even know anything about hybrids at all?”

You can’t get yourself to answer. Much to your embarrassment, the truth is you are as clueless as one can be regarding hybrid biology. You remember Yoongi saying he could get sick, though. Something about his genes and modified DNA. However, you’re pretty sure that isn’t what Jimin means right now.

He sighs, sounding somehow defeated, and waves his hand in a dismissal gesture.

“Listen, grandma has a book on big cats hybrids, imma get it for you”. He strides to the door, but you are quickly to stop him. He hasn’t even answered your questions yet!

“Wait, but what is wrong with him?” He laughs to himself, shaking his head sightly like this is some personal joke he knows you won’t get.

“There’s nothing wrong with him. Its you, you are the problem”. 

You? What does he even mean? You make an offended face and he rolls his eyes again. 

“You’re ovulating, y/n”.

“How- how could you possibly know that?”, you give him a questioning look, trying to disguise your flustered mind, and step back a little.

He shrugs.

“I can smell you”. Your cheeks burn instantly at his words. And he has the nerve to just chuckle at your embarrassed face. 

“What?”, he laughs again and shakes his head. He proceeds to place a hand on your shoulder that is supposed to be a comforting gesture, but doesn’t really help when he opens his mouth again. 

“Take it easy. Look, I can even smell the blueberry and bacon muffin you had for lunch is no big deal”.

“But I brushed my teeth!”, You yelp in embarrassment.

“What can I say? Foxes have outstanding sense of smell”, he grins, inflating his chest, tail waving playfully behind him.

“Okay, but what does it have to do with him being sick? Am I making him sick?”, you ask him, desperate to get some answers. However, Jimin insist on being ambiguous.

“It’s a hybrid thing”, he states and you frown.

“Then shouldn’t I be making you sick too?”

“Foxes mate once a year, on winter season. Besides, as cute as you may be,  you are not my mate, y/n”, and again, his tone is suggest you should know what he’s talking about, but you are so confused and worried you can’t think of a good way to share your questions but to stare blankly at him again. He rolls his eyes with an amused smirk on his face. “Do you really not get it? Look, y/n... Your body is saying it’s ready for babies and he wants to give you his babies. Get it now?”

“What?!” You swallow hard, if your cheeks couldn’t get more flushed before, they are now. How can he imply that-? When you two had never even... “But I- but we don’t... Oh God...Uh- I...”. You are too embarrassed to talk properly, and Jimin seems to be having the time of his life looking at you squirm. He reaches to ruffle with your hair, but you glare at him and smack his hand away. “How can you know that’s what is happening?! For all I know you could just be messing up with me!”

He chuckles. 

“Why would I do that, y/n? Heats are a serious thing for hybrids”, he folds his arms over his chest, but he senses your uneasiness and drops the smug face. He offers you a gentle smile instead. “Hey, relax... He’s not going to coerce you into sex, don’t worry. He’s still the same person you know. Heats are caused by our animal DNA, but don’t make us irrational beings... just... Super horny, I guess.”

“Oh my God!”, your hands come up to hide your face. Jimin chuckles and you let a loud sigh before looking at him again.

So, Yoongi is in heat and it’s your cycle’s fault. But you still don’t understand why does it affect him when Jimin looks just fine, and when he two of them have been around you for around the same time.

“He’s just feeling sick because he’s been far away from you for too long. Give him a couple hours and he’s going to be fine. It might hurt him a little, but nothing a cold shower and some good old self-love can’t fix”, he does a jerking motion with his hand and winks at you with that foxy smile of his that has your cheeks flushing again.

“Oh, my God! Your such a pervert, Jimin”, you yell, completely outraged by his raunchy suggestion. ”Get out!”

He burst into a laugh, throwing his head back and clapping at your annoyed face. You’re about to take off your flip flop and smack him in the head when he runs to the door. “I will get you that book. You need to do some reading and maybe give the poor kitty a hand!” And he wiggles his eyebrow suggestively. 

You throw the flip flop at him but it misses its mark as he shuts the door closed. You can still hear his airy laughter as he walks away.

You huff and stand in the middle of the entrance hall for a few more minutes until all the indignation has vanished from your system. What’s left is the awkwardness of what you just learned.

You make a beeline back to your room. You take a deep breath as you twist the door handle. You pray to god there’s no visible traces of your embarrassment on your face still and push the door open. Yoongi is sitting at the edge of your bed, his broad back to the door. His tail waves rhythmically side to side and his ears twitch as they register your steps. You approach him cautiously, the last time you spoke was when you said goodbye with that awkward kiss. The memory of his emotionless face as he stared back at you then still makes you wish you didn’t do that.

“Hey, stranger...” you speak softly, the mattress dipping a little under your weight as you sit next to him, leaving a body’s width between the two of you. “How are you feeling?”

“Better...”, he sounds tired, hasn’t even looked at you yet. “Sorry if I... y’know... scared you with the way I walked in. I shouldn’t have...”.

A soft laugh leaves your lips as you try to lighten the mood. There’s some tension in the air, and you want it gone. “I thought you were dying or something. Don’t do that to me again”, it’s meant as a joke but he doesn’t laugh. 

He doesn’t react and the awkward feeling in your gut just grows more.

“Sorry...”, you whisper.

“Don’t apologize”, he speaks, voice still raspy, gaze focused somewhere at his own feet.

God, this is so awkward you can’t stand it anymore.

Taking a deep breath you stand and step right in front of him. That seems to wake him up and he raises his gaze to look at you from where he’s still sitting down.

“I have to go back to the shop, but please stay here for as long as you need. There’s food in the fridge, and you already know where the plates are. I can run you a bath too before I leave if you want”

“Don’t worry, I’m okay just...” he blinks and shakes his head.

“What is it?”

“It’s nothing...”, he lowers his head, visible uncomfortable. You reach for him, but he grabs your wrist in the air with a mind-blowing agility. “Please don’t touch me right now”.

“Right...”, you swallow hard and step back. The brush of his fingertips around your wrist as he lets go fo you leave a warm trace that lingers. “I’m sorry. I’m going to go now...”, you are unsure how to say goodbye, so you simply wiggle your fingers in the air and walk out your room.

He doesn’t stop you this time.

Needless to say, the rest of the day you can’t help but feel miserable.

He didn’t want you to touch him, he was like that because of you. He probably resented you even. Jimin said being away from you so long made him sick, so he was very much stuck with you until you period came. How delightful...

That couldn’t be easy for someone used to roam freely when he wanted. You didn’t want him to be mad at you. Those days without him made you realize you grown more fond of him that you probably should considering he was not even... fully human. Well, he was a handsome man... and sweet too, so brave, and caring, and well-mannered... and probably the best cuddling-buddy you ever had. You smile to yourself as you replay the way he held you the first night you spent on that couch together, how he had insisted you should rest. Shit, you were totally into him. Even his little ears and tail where endearing to you. But... was he into you? By the way he reacted to your kiss you already knew the answer was a big fat no that laughed at you silly heart.

You let out a disappointed sigh and take a glance at the book Jimin left for you at your apartment mailbox before you returned to work. He even attached a blue post-it note to he cover, that said you should have a good look at chapter four. You brought it to the shop with you to provide some kind of distraction from this quiet day. There weren’t as many customers as usual, and you had a half mind to close up early today.

You’re already done with half of Seokjin‘s order anyway, stored in the freezer at the backroom kitchen. You want to finish the glaze tomorrow so it’s fresh and shiny for his especial event.

You flip the book to the chapter referred by your fox friend and when you read the tittle you understand why he sent you there.

«Chapter four: Felines heat and reproduction.

Female feline hybrids have shown to be extremely fertile, so owners should be careful when they allow them to go through their heat. Intercourse between humans and hybrids is not uncommon, and is more likely a female to get impregnated after sexual intercourse with a male during heats.

There is no specific season for heats to happen within the feline family, but it’s known that a safe environment is crucial for a female to be able to enter her heat. It can happen at any time of the year, and males nearby will react to the hormone increase, preparing themself for breeding. It has been noted when there is no female feline hybrid around, males sometimes will enter their heat during their female owner’s ovulating period. Some catnip based heat suppressant can work better with feline hybrids than chemical based ones if the owner prefers to not have their hybrids go through their usual rut once a month, since it could be a quite painful experiences of here is no relief for the hybrid. (...) On regarding male genitalia, depending on the hybrid’s breed, is posibleㅡthough not commonㅡto find the presence of penile spines around the gland. One purpose of the penile spines on a feline penis is to aid in a female's ovulation. Females hybrids, as it is known, do not ovulate before sexual intercourse. Instead, the barbs stimulate the female‘s vulva during intercourse, which causes her body to then release an egg. This is painful for the female, but part of the pro-.»

“What the hell...?!”, you have to close the book shut and take a deep breath.

What the actual hell? Was this thing real? Holy cow... did it mean Yoongi had actual piercing spines in his-

You glance at the book again in disbelief, the book even provides a graphic drawing depicting an odd looking penis, surrounded by little spines around the base of the head.

“Oh, my God!”

This has to be a joke of some sorts...

The author said some hybrids, not all of them right? He also mentioned it was not common, so you should worry if... Well, not that it’s going to happen anyway. Yoongi doesn’t like you. But... holy shit, could that the reason big cats aren’t as common as other hybrid species like rabbits and dogs? There’s one clear thing in your mind, though... The only way you can actually be sure is to see it for yourself, and you are not quite sure that it is even possible.

Your head is a complete mess right now, so you end up closing earlier anyway. Yoongi said you didn’t have to apologize to him, but you feel like you really have to. He must be so pissed right now, he knows you did this to him, it’s all your fault for suggesting they stayed with you those weeks back, your fault for insisting on sharing the couch with him. You head back home with the book tucked below your arm.

The moment you step inside your apartment, you ear catches the faint sound of a shower running. It gets louder as you get closer to the hallway so you figure it must be coming from the guest’s bathroom. Is Yoongi showering at this hour? You wonder as you head to your room, but can’t help to look back at the bathroom. The door is sightly ajar, and there’s a cloud of steam coming from the inside.

From this close you can hear a soft pant that sounds a lot like Yoongi’s voice mingling with the noise from the shower. It takes you a moment to figure what he must be doing and your cheeks heat up with the mental image. You think back to what Jimin said earlier today and what you just learned from the book in your hand. You know he’s probably trying to find some relief from the pain, it’s would be natural. Still your guilt hasn’t vanished completely, because you know there’s nothing you can actually do to help him.

Except well, grant him some privacy... But he’s naked in the shower, a voice inside your head pulls you closer to the door. This could be it, you could seize the opportunity to check if he had spines or not. Yeah, but why do you care?, Another voice chimes in, it’s not like he would want you, and if he does it would only be because of the heat.

Torn between pry or let things the way they are, you stand frozen between your bedroom door and the bathroom door. Yoongi’s pants intensify, the noises he’s making with his hand makes you realize he’s going faster now. You clench your tights together when a streak of arousal courses through your body. You can only imagine what he must look like, completely wet, heavy breathing with his hand around his shaft and- Fuck, he’s getting closer. You bite your lip, you really want to see him now, but you are already on questionable grounds just by standing there listening to his moans. You know you should leave, but your feet are glued to the floor.

You hear a soft groan, followed by a beat of silence and then heavy pants. The water stops running and you hear some shuffling inside the bathroom. It takes a moment for your lust drunken neurons to understand the situation: he’s coming out and he’s going to find you like a peeping Tom right outside the bathroom.

Your attempt to leave unnoticed goes to the gutter the moment you turn around and in your haste you forget to unlock your bedroom door before you attempt to cross it. A loud thud and you stumble back, cursing your stupidity, one hand clutching the book and the other one comes up to hold your forehead when it crashed against the wooden door.

But your whole body goes rigid the moment you hear someone clearing his throat behind you. “Fuck...”, you hiss and slowly turn around to face Yoongi. He’s only got a white towel wrapped around his hips, but you don’t have time to stare at his beautiful torso, when you catch his eyes glaring at your form.

Eyebrows furrowed and you swallow hard.

Heat comes rushing to your cheeks and you are left a blabbering mess. Fuck, he’s got you. 

“I... I didn’t... I mean-“, you look down at you feet, clutching the book against your chest.

“Are you-?”, he blinks and clear his throat. “How long have you been standing there for?”

Your stomach ties in knots, and you can’t answer him properly. You know you crossed the line here, you invaded his privacy and basically eavesdrop on him jerking off. Your cheeks burn with so much embarrassment you think you are going to pass out. What kind of sick person are you? Why did you have to stay, for Pete’s sake?!

“What is that?”, he steps out of the bathroom and his eyes scan the cover of your book.

“Nothing!”, you exclaim and rush to hide it behind your back. But he snatches it away from your hands before you’ve even got the chance with the same agile movements from earlier. And much to your dismay, he opens it right where you left Jimin’s post-it as a makeshift bookmark. His eyes go through the words in the page and then blinks once.

Twice.

And then he scoffs, obvious indignation washing over his features, before it quickly turns into anger and looks at you.

“Who gave you this?”, his tone borders a growl and you flinch a little.

“Jimin, but-“

“Of course, that asshole fox”, Yoongi spits and rolls his eyes, handing you the book back. “I don’t know what he told you, but I don’t have a cat penis, y/n!”

“Wait, It wasn’t like that I...”, you start apologizing again and again, until you realize what he just said. That he doesn’t have- you blink repeatedly, and stare at him in awe. “You... You don’t?”

“Of course I don’t!”, he frowns but a snicker manages to form on his lips anyway, “What the hell would you even think that?”

“Be-because...”, you lower your gaze. If people could die of embarrassment you are sure you’d be twice dead right now. You heart pounds hard against your chest, and you don’t even know what to say. “I didn’t... it’s just- the book... But the penile spines-“

“For goodness’s sake, y/n...!”, he takes a deep breath and brings a hand to his face. The other rests against his hip, right over the towel.

“Yoongi, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, I was just worried it may hurt because- shit... I didn’t mean it like that, I wasn’t thinking-“, you want to disappear in thin air, to dig a hole in the ground, get in it and never get out again. You swallow and take a breath, a hand against your forehead, as if it’d do any good in hiding your shame. “Look, I’m really so, so sorry, Okay? I’ll give you privacy now, I should go and- Uh... fix us something to eat, yeah...”

With that you turn on your heels, wanting to run away and hide in the kitchen for the rest of the evening. Even if you have to sleep on the counter. You can’t face him right now, what horrible things must he be thinking about you now? You must disgust him, on top of the resentment he must feel because of what you did to him.

He’s going to hate you now more than what you hate yourself already.

“Y/n, wait a minute”, he calls for you and you freeze in the spot. Is he going to yell at you? Is he going to tell you how a disgusting human being you are and that he’s leaving and I’ll never come back again- “I can’t have you believing the lies in there”

“What?”, you blink confused and turn around again. And without any warning his towel falls down at his feet and now he stands in front of you in all his naked glory.

Your eyes dart downward to his crotch, following the happy trail that goes from below his belly button to the patch of hair over his pubic bone, and there’s nothing you can do to peel your eyes away from his dick.

Oh boy.

He is bigger than what you had anticipated and he’s only half-hard even though he just came in the showerㅡsomething you pin to the heat he’s going through. A decent length and girth, and you can only imagine what he’d look like fully hard, without the foreskin covering the tip. But you don’t have to wonder for long, because he grabs his shaft with one hand and strokes down to pull gently at the foreskin, revealing the silky head.

“See?”, the tip of his pink tongue protrudes from his lips as he licks them. A smirk in his face, one eyebrow arched. “No penile spines”

You swallow, mouth practically salivating at the sight of him. How can he do this so casually? Touching himself... Does he even know what he’s doing to you? Offering himself to your eager eyes like that.

Your cheeks are flushed. Your mouth hangs open for a moment before you can actually manage to find the words, and even though, you’re still a complete mess.

“That’s quite big- ¡a big relief...! to see you- you don’t have... spines...”, you mentally curse yourself, as you manage to finally tear your eyes from his member and turn your face around, to glance at the empty wall next to you.

“Good. Curiosity sated then”, you still can see him through the corner of your eye as he bends down to pick his towel up and wrap it around his waist again. A part of your can’t help but feel disappointed, but a nervous thrill shoots down your spine when you notice him drawing closer to you. Your body turns to him like a piece of metal to a magnet, and he’s god an amused smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “You can ask me if you have any questions, just throw away that stupid old book. Okay?”.

You take a deep breath and nod. He smells so good after just having a shower, and you a dying to run your fingers through the modest curve of his pecs to collect the few water drops that still linger on his skin.

“Are you okay, y/n?”, he takes another step closer and you back away, your back hitting the hallway’s wall and the book falls from your hands. He only gets closer and rest a hand on the wall just over your shoulder. You manage to mutter a quiet “I’m fine” under your breath, it’s less than a whisper but he catches it anyway and hums in response.

He comes closer, and suddenly he’s pressing his chest against your own.

Your heart feels like is about to explode, and his closeness does nothing to alleviate the arousal that pulses in your lower belly. You bite your lip when he leans closer to whisper in your ear. His warm breath ghosting over your sensitive skin sends shivers down your spine.

You have to bite your lip to avoid the pathetic whimper that threatens to come out. 

“You smell delicious...”, his voice is deep, low, rumbling inside his chest like a purr. “Did you like spying on me that much, huh?”

He’s making you so wet and he hasn’t even touch you yet. You can feel your underwear dampening under your jeans, and you can tell he’s aroused too by the way the towel stretches in a tent around his groin. But you know this is only the heat speaking, this isn’t really him wanting you and when you manage to remember that, your lust-clouded mind clears enough to find your tongue again.

“Yoongi, I’m sorry. That was inappropriate of me, I shouldn’t have...”. Your words get caught in your throat when you feel his lips brushing against the shell of your ear. “I’m sorry...”

“You already know what is happening, don’t you?”, his lips hover a few inches away from your ear and you take a deep breath.

“Jimin said... that I- That I might have triggered your heat. I’m really sorry, I didn’t know...”, You don’t know if you want to look him in the face, but you need him away from your neck or you are going to end up doing something you’ll regret.

You try your best to scurry to the side, but he stamps the other hand against the wall, trapping you in his arms. His lips connect to your neck and before you know it, he’s sucking at your sweet spot, eliciting a moan from your lips.

Your hands dart forward, looking for support against his arms. He presses his hips forward to your own in response and you can feel his erection pressing on your thigh behind the towel. His lips travel up your neck kissing your jaw, before the land on your lips. His kiss is hungry and desperate, but his lips are soft against your own. His tongue finds it way to the inside of your mouth with little resistance, fueling the fire that had begun to grown in your lower abdomen. It’s been a while since a man kissed you like this, passionate, like his tongue is made of liquid fire. 

He sucks and bites and all you can do is moan at the pleasure.

His is hands skim down your waist, to land over your ass and squeeze it.

That’s when you react, and push him away. 

He stumbles back a little, and looks at you with hooded eyes. For the first time since that started you get to see his face. The amber is almost gone form his eyes, his pupils are blown dark with lust and sight clouded in lust. A pink blush dusts across his cheeks and his chest, and his chest rises and falls with heavy breaths.

“I’m sorry- I... I don’t want you to hate me...”, you mumble, legs trembling as you struggle to maintain eye contact with the breathtakingly handsome half-naked hybrid in front of you. “I- I know it’s all because of the heat and... I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret when you are back to normal. I don’t want to take advantage of you like this, Yoongi... I can’t do it”.

He regards you for a moment, the cloud in his eyes disappears and a heavy sigh leaves his lips. He closes his eyes and shakes his head, with one hand he brushes his hair back and takes a deep breath. When his eyes find yours again, there’s no more black lust, but a warm amber looking back at you.

“Do you really think I would let it happen if I didn’t want you?”, he asks, and you can’t find a way to respond to that. What is he saying? That he’s not in heat? Or that he deliberately let his heat happen by being close to you?

He must see your confusion on your face, because he draws closer, cupping your face gently with both hands.

“I’ve wanted you since the moment I laid eyes on you, y/n...”

Your heart skips a beat, and you stare at him in at loss of words. You only react when you notice he’s leaning closer again, his eyes fixed in your lips.

“But earlier you-!”, You place your hands on his chest and push him just a little to force his eyes back on yours. His skin feels warm and cold at the same time.“You didn’t even want me to touch you this morning... I thought you resented me for triggering your heat”

Yoongi shakes his head, a defeated sigh leaves his lips when he looks at you again.

“I panicked because that fox’s scent was all over you...” he scrunches his nose with disgust. His hands leave your cheeks to wrap around your waist, pulling you closer to him. “You weren’t supposed to smell like him, I had scented you before I left that day”

Your cheeks heat with embarrassment again.

“You- you what?”

“I scented you”, he repeats as if it’s the most normal thing to say.

“What does that even mean, Yoongi?”, you whine and a smirk forms in his lips. He brings his lips closer to your ear again.

“It means that I want everyone else to know you are mine...”, he whispers. His hands sneaking up your blouse, caressing the skin of your lower back. “I want to claim you, y/n. And I think you want the same... I can smell your arousal dripping to your underwear”

“Fuck...”, your head falls to the side, leaving your neck exposed to his greedy tongue. He wastes no time in lavishing your skin with kisses, and you moan under his lips. “Yoongi...”

“Don’t you want me?”, he whispers again, lips trailing kisses down your collarbones now. 

You bite your lip, and your hand travel up his chest to dig into his raven locks.

“Of course, I do...”, you sound so breathless already. He reaches for your lips again with his own. His hands reach for the back of your knees to pull you up from the ground, so that you wrap your legs around his waist.

He holds you there, against the wall, his bulge pressing against your clothed core as he continues to kiss you just as fervently as before. He breaks from you just a moment. 

“Then I’m going to make you mine now if that’s okay with you”, he whispers against your swollen lips.

“God, yes...”, you whine and that’s all he needs to hear before he captures your lips one more time. After he’s done with you, he’s going to make sure there’s he no traces of that fox’s scent left on you.

[post-itpenny]

49 :3

Pinkie Promise

Progressing the storyline in the mafia Au, sorry how long this is.

Tagging @grotesquegabby because Billy and Ama are here.

Oof

It was in the morning that the news broke of a sixth victim being found. Body just as mutilated as the others.

Now it was evening, the streets not as crowded as usual as the city was on high alert. There was one figure that seemed to walk under the streetlights with confidence. The older woman wore a scarf over her head and a smile on her face as she carried a large tote bag of which a small dachshund rode in with a smile all his own.

Some smiled at the cute dog, most ignored both dog and owner. More than once the pair was stopped as someone asked to scratch the little dog’s ears. Finally they turned a corner down an alleyway. Shimmying up a fire escape and to a rooftop.

She picked a corner overlooking a conjunction of alleyways. A spot within the area the past several deaths had been and seemed idea for another victim. Magpie has done quite a bit homework.

She pulled the dog out of her bag along with a small stuffed toy and treats to entertain him. She scratched the dog’s ears and proceeded to pull out the different pieces of what was soon assembled as a sniper rifle.

“Now the boring part,” she chuckled as she scratched the dog’s ears again and settled in for what she was certain would be a long wait.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maggie was quiet. Not her usual quiet that came with intense listening to the world around her, but more of a withdrawn quiet. William could not help but notice the redhead’s fire had seemed to have gone out. No more snark, no sass, no sneaking out, no sliding down banisters when she thought he wasn’t looking (he knew and he wasn’t happy), if the bags under her eyes were a clue she wasn’t sleeping. But for someone who seemed to be operating on a low battery he had never seen her on such high alert. Jumping at any and every sound.

William wasn’t quite sure what had gotten into her, but then the news broke of a sixth body being found and he couldn’t help but notice how pale Maggie became.

Ah, that explains it. Time for a talk then.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Atlas sat on a bench outside the library, swinging his legs as they hung in the air, toes just barely touching the concrete.

He was currently reading “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” a part of him enjoyed pretending he was with Watson and Sherlock on the case. Solving crimes with their intellect alone. Would that make him a traitor to the family?

“Heya short-stack, what are we reading today?”

Atlas looked up as his cousin Juno sat down. Ruffling his hair with a grin. “Sherlock again?”

“Yeah, he’s cool.”

Juno smiled, “well he must be if you like reading him so much. I’m here to pick you up since your dad had work ok?”

Atlas nodded as he hopped off the bench, tucking the book into his backpack. The two of them walked down the street. Turning into a small cafe instead of walking home like he was supposed to.

“We’re visiting,” Juno explained with a wink as the two of them were seated in a private room away from everyone else.

Atlas looked around in confusion before the answer came in a tiny “yip!” As a woman with a dog in her bag came strolling into the room.

Atlas gave a shout of delight as he hopped off his chair and ran to give his Aunt Magpie a hug. Getting caught up in a torrent of dog kisses as he did so.

Magpie chuckled at the sight, “looks like Trouble likes you. You may hold him if you wish.”

“His name is Trouble?”

“First day with me he chewed up a set of shoelaces and the leg of a chair. Yes, his name is Trouble.”

Juno ordered drinks as they all sat down. She and Atlas having lemonade and cookies as Magpie had her tea, something Juno recalled her always being near religious about.

“Business first,” Magpie declared. “I had no luck last night but they also didn’t have any new targets. I plan to stake out the same area again.”

Juno nodded, knowing her aunt knew what she was doing. “From what we could gather someone staged a lockdown drill and used the confusion to make sure their cell doors were tampered with. Not unlocked but easy to break out of.”

“Enough to fool a guard then.”

“There were several cell doors with the same issue. About twelve attempted to break out and only two made it. Taking nine guards with them.”

Magpie frowned, a dread filling her stomach at Juno’s information. She knew the sisters were bloodthirsty but…”

“All the more reason to get rid of them,” she sighed.

“Is this why everyone calls Maggie crazy?” Atlas asked. “Because it’s her family you’re talking about right? They wouldn’t hurt their family would they?”

The two women cringed, how could they tell him the truth?

Juno tried first, “well Maggie lived with us because they hurt their family. So yes they would hurt her.”

“Is Maggie crazy too?”

Magpie took hold of Atlas’ hand, being so heavily reminded this was a child in a world children shouldn’t be in. “Do you think she’s crazy?”

“No.”

“I don’t believe so either, I think she’s… rambunctious and definitely stubborn. But she would never hurt the people she’s supposed to care about. She would however do whatever she could to take care of them.”

With this the conversation ended, the three sitting in silence for a moment save for the slight snoring of the dog in Atlas’ lap. It was this that made them all giggle, a lighter conversation starting after.

“So has your brother gotten anywhere with that one boy?” Magpie casually asked, Juno grinning in response.

“Don’t think so, he’s been weird lately about it. Avoids the topic like the plague”

Atlas took a sip of lemonade, “maybe they hooked up.”

Both women choked on their drinks.

“A-Atlas!” Magpie coughed. “Where did you learn that?”

“Juno.”

There was silence then. If looks could kill, Juno would have been dead on the floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was a knock on William’s office door.

“Enter,” he called knowing fully well who it was.

Maggie slipped through the cracked open door, watching her boss with uncertainty. “You wanted to see me?”

William nodded with a hand extended to the chair in front of his desk. “Please have a seat.”

Maggie arched an eyebrow, of course she caught the change in his tone. Not his usual “everyone listen to me” tone but calmer. Naturally she didn’t trust it.

William rolled his eyes, sensing her uncertainty. “You’re not fired, I just need to speak with you, sit.”

“Speak about what then?” Maggie asked as she sat down.

William sat down as well with a sigh, “well…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Magpie hugged her niece and nephew goodbye as they left the cafe.

“The next time you meet with that little D’Vitt girl and her brothers be sure to be polite.” Magpie instructed Atlas, “you would do well with friends your age.”

Atlas nodded, “are you gonna be ok? You have to stay out all night again?”

Magpie nodded as she knelt down with her pinky extended. “I used to make pinky promises with Maggie when she was your age. I never once broke one.”

Atlas nodded, locking pinkies with his aunt with a smile.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So you are getting rid of me then.”

“No, no. I’m suggesting you take a vacation. I’ve already put too much money into you already to just toss you out.”

Maggie rolled her eyes, “I’m so relieved to know you value your employees as people. Truly, your kindness knows no bounds.”

The corner of Williams’s mouth twitched, there she was.

“Maggie dear you’re not well. I’ve read your file and I know why this is getting to you.”

Maggie turned away, pulling her boa tighter around her.

“I’m not criticizing you.” William insisted, “but you haven’t been sleeping, you’re not functioning at work. You shouldn’t have left the manor but what’s done is done.”

“I’ve been perfectly behaved-“

“Sliding down the banisters.”

“You can’t lie and say you’ve at least never wanted to do that.”

“Sneaking into the kitchens at three in the morning.”

“I was hungry.”

“You tried to have a Gila monster mailed here.”

“To surprise you! But I haven’t done anything lately, I’ve been perfectly behaved.”

“Maggie,” William sighed, “yes you have but you’re not yourself. A vacation wouldn’t hurt.”

“But what if-“

“Believe me I’m half tempted to go after your sisters myself-“

“No!”

William arched an eyebrow in surprise, Maggie turning bright red but holding her ground. “You’ve read files but you don’t know. You could shoot at them and they think it’s funny.”

“The Blackwood’s former hitwoman is out there.”

“And I hate that she is. You know if you send me away I’ll just be coming right back.”

“Then what do you want?”

“Let me just work, send me out all… all be fine.”

William arched an eyebrow, “if you’re at work I cannot guarantee your safety. What would happen if you’re caught out alone at night?”

Maggie turned pale, seeming to shrink a little in her chair.

Williams’s eyes light up, an idea popping into his head. “You want a job then? I’m certain Pierre would enjoy a break so why don’t you watch over Amaranthus for the rest of the day?”

“... you want me to babysit?”

“You do well with her, and my Angel is so well mannered.”

“Yeah, so what are you gonna do when she’s a teenager and wanting outside?”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“You’re avoiding the question.”

“It’s this or I’m sending you to Siberia.”

“Right! Got it! Ok!” Maggie shouted as she walked backwards out of the room pointing finger guns at her boss. “Yes sir! Your honor, your majesty! Big boss man! He whom I am blessed to share the same breathing space with!”

She continued on as she walked backwards out of the room. William wondering if having the old Maggie back was worth the headache he now had.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Magpie was set back up on the roof with her dog Trouble at her side. She was worried, worried about Juno who was following a lead tonight in enemy territory. Worried about Atlas who was more and more exposed to a world that was so unkind to children.

Magpie remembered the first night a small Maggie stayed with her. Being woken up constantly by the poor child screaming at night terrors. Acting near feral in her distrust of the world and need to survive. Magpie read the files but she knew she never could fully understand that certain kind of evil that could destroy a childhood so thoroughly.

But she could get rid of that evil for good.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You’re grumpy.”

Maggie looked up at the small child with angel wings that was standing over her. They were in Amaranthus’ room playing tea party at the child-sized table. Maggie with her knees to her chest frowning at a small tea cup.

“I am grumpy, but I’m allowed to be grumpy. I’m not having the best week.”

Amaranthus nodded, “you need a nap.”

The way she looked as she gave the order looked so similar to her father it took all of Maggie’s power to not laugh.

“Fine,” Maggie finally decided. Rolling out of the chair and onto the plush carpet. “I’ll nap here.”

“But that’s the floor.”

“Yup, want to take a nap too?”

Amaranthus paused before electing to curl up in an enormous pile of plushies with Mune the cat doing the same.

“Um,” Ama began, “after the nap we can play princesses some more right?”

Maggie smiled as she held up her hand with a pinky extended. “Pinky promise.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was movement below Magpie’s perch.

They came dragging a man beaten and bloody but still alive down the alley.

Magpie observed as they chartered in hushed whispers. Noting how the way Zilla walked seemed so much like Maggie when she was moving for quick stealth. The way Faline’s smile was like a larger- twisted version of her baby sister’s.

They had gotten ahold of a rusty set of butcher knives. No doubt having been scavenged from some dumpster.

They stood over their victim arguing over who got to stab first.

There was a wizzing sound as something bit into Faline’s shoulder. Causing the large redhead to stand up screaming.

Magpie lined up another shot before something went wizzing by her head. A rusty knife.

Wow, what an arm.

Magpie ducked, pulling Trouble close to her side, the sound of the sisters cackling below in the alley.

Another knife came wizzing by as she quickly sat up again and fired off a shot, the silencer working its magic.

This shot snagged a dancing Zilla in the hip. The mad woman flinching in pain but giggling as she and her sister took off. The injured man scrambling to his feet and running in the opposite direction.

Magpie cursed and she pulled a handgun from her bag and scrambled down the fire escape. Trouble at her heels.

Magpie reaches the alley with gun drawn and ready, following the blood splatter on the ground till at last she found her target.

They were waiting for her.

Faline has the same hair as Maggie, but it was longer and matted. Her smile too wide to be natural. Zilla was tall with dark hair, her eyes held a hollow look to them.

Magpie kept her distance, gun trained on Faline’s head.

There was a clicking sound behind her, a gun being cocked.

Magpie turned around in surprise, “you bastard.”

Outside the alley all was quiet, a car sitting quietly in the street with its engine humming. Inside the alleyway arguing could be heard. The sound of someone cackling.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

There was the screech of tires as the car peeled away, followed by a small dog running away crying in freight.

Something damp and red splashed on its fur.

[mia-cooper]

Fanfiction Questions

from here

Fandom Questions

1. What was the first fandom you got involved in?

Involved as in ‘frantically read every book I could get my hands on, daydreamed about being part of that universe and wrote stories/made art inspired by the books, if not actual fanfiction’? Mm, probably The Chronicles of Narnia when I was six or seven. The next great obsession was The Silver Brumby when I went through my horse stage around age 12, and then Sweet Valley High when I was 15. Hahaha.

2. What is your latest fandom?

Marvel! I’m not into comics and I’m definitely not interested in consuming every last bit of canon material or memorising the variations of every universe, but I love (most of) the movies and Agents of SHIELD is pretty cool.

3. What is the best fandom you’ve ever been involved in?

Star Trek Voyager. No contest. I venture to suggest that the older fandoms, the ones that are all about defunct shows, are a hell of a lot more chilled. Maybe because we’ve come to terms with our shitty canon endings and learned that liking the ship you hate doesn’t make someone problematic, unlike some newer fandoms I could name (Yes I’m talking about you, Game of Thrones fans. What the fuck.)

4. Do you regret getting involved in any fandoms?

I’ve dipped a toe into one or two fandoms for shows or books I’ve really enjoyed and backed the fuck out when the vibe gets weird (oh hey, it’s GoT again), but nope. No regrets.

5. Which fandoms have you written fanfiction for?

All the Star Treks except TOS, and a Trek/MCU crossover. I’d like to write more for MCU someday. Plus I’ve written longhand entire notebooks full of teen romance shit that bore an uncanny similarity to SVH, and my first short story was a fantasy fic that featured a girl whose guardian was a wise talking lion who led her into mystical secret worlds, which is kind of familiar.

6. List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in.

Wow. I’m going to define ‘involved in’ as ‘cared enough about to have an OTP’, but I’m guaranteed to forget a ton. In no particular order:

Voyager: Janeway x anyone who can get her off

Discovery: Lorca x Cornwell or Pike x Tyler x Burnham (or any combination of)

DS9: Kira x Jadzia Dax

TNG: Picard x Vash, I guess? I don’t really have any TNG ships

ENT: T’Pol x Trip x Hoshi (or any variation therein)

MCU: Cap x Widow

AoS: Coulson x Skye... no May... no Skye... I don’t know

CAOS: Madam Satan x Zelda

Timeless: Garcy

The Good Place: Eleanor x Tahani

The 100 (shut up): toss up between Clarke x Bellamy and Kane x Abby

Veronica Mars: Veronica x Leo (first run), Veronica x Logan (s4)

Orphan Black: Cosima x Delphine

BSG: Apollo x Starbuck

SG1: Sam x Jack

Arrow: Olicity (so over the show now though)

This Life: Milly x Egg

Yeah you know what... I’m drawing a blank. I can’t think of any other shows where I’ve been invested in The Romance that much.

7. List your NoTPs from each fandom you’ve been in.

I’m too tired to do every fandom, and besides, I can come around to almost any ship if the headcanons (or fics) are convincing enough. I do have a few hard no-gos, but they might be someone else’s OTP so I’ll shut up about them.

8. How did you get involved in your latest fandom?

Reluctantly. The MCU movies are not something I ever thought I’d enjoy beyond a dull evening’s entertainment. I never expected to get attached to the characters. And yet.

9. What are the best things about your current fandom?

Voyager is my forever fandom and the only one where I’ve really interacted with other fans. The best things about it? In general, everyone is just cool, accepting, open and basically awesome. And talented. I love my Party Bus people.

10.  Is there a fandom you read fic from but don’t write in?

Sure. The 100, Veronica Mars and Agents of SHIELD are the ones I’d dip into more frequently. I really enjoy crossovers between Trek and BSG or the Stargate variants, too.

Ship Questions for your Current Fandom

11. Who is your current OTP?

Janeway x Chakotay.

12. Who is your current OT3?

Janeway x Chakotay x Paris.

13. Any NoTPs?

A few.

14. Go on, who are your BroTPs?

Janeway & Tuvok! Also Torres & Chakotay, and I’d have killed for more Janeway & Torres in canon. (If they kissed sometimes that would be okay too)

15. Is there an obscure ship which you love?

Yeah. Paris x Seven. There are like two fics in existence, and yet ... the potential! (Sorry, B’Elanna)

16. Are there any popular ships in your fandom which you dislike?

Nope.

17. Who was your first OTP and are they still your favourite?

Janeway x Paris. And they’re still way up there, but not quite at the top.

18. What ship have you written the most about?

84% of my fics feature Janeway x Chakotay as either the primary or secondary pairing... holy shit.

19. Is there a ship which you wished you could get behind, but you just don’t feel them?

Paris x Torres. I mean, I feel them. I just don’t generally feel the need to write about them.

20. Any ships which you surprised yourself by liking?

Chakotay x Seven. In another universe, it could’ve been beautiful.

Author Questions

21. What was the first fanfic you ever wrote?

Actual story that was clearly fanfic? A farcical drunken romp told in the 24th century equivalent of email format called PADDemonium (see what I did there?)

22. Is there anything you regret writing?

Lol, a few things that should probably have never seen the light of day for various reasons, some of them leola related. But I’ve only deleted two fics that I can recall.

23. Name a fic you’ve written that you’re especially fond of & explain why you like it.

Relieved. It’s a 30k AU Chakotay moral dilemma backstory that brings in DS9 characters, Section 31 and his longstanding history with AU Janeway. I did so much research for it (way back in the days before memory alpha and chakoteya.net) and I’m really proud of how I wound in canon stuff across series but changed a few key bits and pieces. Only problem is, it’s a sequel to ...

24. What fic do you desperately need to rewrite or edit?

... Pressure, which I can’t even read without cringing. My characterisation of Janeway, even Angry Maquis AU Janeway, is way over the top and there are moments that verge on Mills and Boon and give me first, second and third hand embarrassment. God, I’d love to rewrite it. Actually, that’s a lie. I want someone else to rewrite it so I can read it without covering my eyes and moaning.

25. What’s your most popular fanfic?

Desperate Measures, by about 70,000 light years, lol. Although Fragile Things beats it on bookmarks.

26. How do you come up with your fanfic titles?

You know what? A fair percentage of the time, I think of the title first and come up with a plot second. Aside from that, I prefer shorter, punchier titles that clearly tie into the story (Flight Risk, Speechless), though sometimes it’s song lyrics (Burn Our Horizons, your body like a searchlight) or a literary quote (Required to Bear, All the Devils are Here) or a turn of phrase from the story itself (The Prisons You Inhabit). Hey that was fun. Thanks for letting me pimp the shit out of my stories.

27. What do you hate more: Coming up with titles or writing summaries?

Ugh, it depends on the day. Summaries are harder, I think. I never want to give away too much of the plot, but there has to be enough there for people to know whether they’ll bother clicking. Funny story: I actually ran the stats on this a few months back. Here they are for your edification:

Fics with a one line plot summary = 54%

With two or three line plot summary = 18%

With a short snippet directly from the fic = 16%

With a snippet + a one line explanation = 3%

With a one line plot summary plus a line to date the fic (eg "set in season 3", “episode tag to Worst Case Scenario") or the fic prompt = 7%

And finally, a quote from something other than the fic = 2% (that's only 3 fics).

28. If someone were to draw a piece of fanart for your story, which story would it be and what would the picture be of?

Ooh. I’ll say the final scene in Explosive.

29. Do you have a beta reader? Why/Why not?

I used to regularly ask @jhelenoftrek​ and @littleobsessions90 to beta for me, and both of them are brilliant at it. Lately I’ve been posting without sending my stuff off for editing. This is partly because I’m impatient to get stuff out there, partly because I don’t have as much time to write/edit, and partly because I’m a little less focused on improving my writing and more on enjoying it for its own sake.

30. What inspires you to write?

Little bits of episode dialogue I haven’t noticed before, other people’s fanfiction, stray conversations, fic prompts, song lyrics, random headcanons, fever dreams, dares ...

31. What’s the nicest thing someone has ever said about your writing?

I’ve been really lucky with comments on my fic. The least helpful comment I’ve ever received was on one of my early 30k fics and all it said was “Did you have to take the name of the lord in vain?” Which is kind of funny. The nicest thing anyone’s ever said? I’m very partial to the feedback that starts “I don’t even like this pairing/genre/trope/show but you made me love it”, and particularly “I’ll read anything you write, I don’t care what it’s about.” But all comments are gold. The little heart button is cool too.

32. Do you listen to music when you write or does music inspire you? If so, which band or genre of music does it for you?

I’m not someone who can tune out music I love, or leave it in the background to inspire me. If it’s on, I’m fully invested in it. I’m that annoying person in the car who flips radio stations every three seconds until I find something I like and then it’s on 11 and I’m singing along to it. I’m also really picky but extremely eclectic, although there are genres I can’t stand (anything with autotune makes me stabby). That said, sometimes I find a song that I can’t stop listening to for weeks and often that perfect combination of music and lyrics will inspire me to write a fic. For example, I just plotted out an entire J/C story because of this song.

33. Do you write oneshots, multi-chapter fics or huuuuuge epics?

All of the above. Although I’m not sure if my longest epic is huuuuuge or just huuuge.

34. What’s the word count on your longest fic?

101,467.

35. Do you write drabbles? If so, what do you normally write them about?

I have two drabble collections. One is all J/C, full of responses to random prompts and I add to it sporadically. The other is episode additions set on Kathryn Janeway’s birthday (May 20) and added to annually.

36. What’s your favourite genre to write?

Angst, definitely. Sometimes it’s smutty angst or fluffy angst or hurt/comfort angst, but often it’s just fucking unrelenting angst. And I’m okay with that.

37. First person or third person - what do you write in and why?

I did the stats on this once, too, haha. Pretty sure I came out fairly even on first and third person with a smattering of second person in there. I’m probably even-ish on present vs past tense, too. I make it a point to mix it up to avoid my writing getting stale or same-y. And sometimes a fic doesn’t really click for me until I try it in a different POV or tense or from a different character’s perspective.

38. Do you use established canon characters or do you create OCs?

I mostly write for canon characters - the fun is in all the different ways you can interpret and imagine them - but I’ve been known to throw in the odd OC, or focus on a character who only got a brief cameo appearance, or write about someone who only appears in beta canon, or who only rates a mention on screen.

39. What is your greatest strength as a writer?

Oh, wow. I’m not sure. I guess the thing I value most about my own writing is my willingness to try different styles, characters, pairings and so on. The thing I strive for most is characterisation that feels true, and I really love it when I get comments on that. Exploring a character in a way that rings true with a reader is the best thing ever.

40. What do you struggle the most with in your writing?

Overly long sentences and adverb abuse, haha. No, truthfully, there comes a point in most of my fics, particularly the longer ones, when I really just want to scrap it because in my heart I know it’s dreadful. Usually that passes once I slog through the ‘I don’t wanna’ stage because I’m a bloody-minded bitch, but sometimes fics do get left in the dust half-written. Honestly, though, they’re the ones that probably should stay there.

Fanfiction Questions

41. List and link to 5 fanfics you are currently reading:

This is hilarious because I was just talking on discord about my problematic ‘to read’ pile. My unread AO3 subscription emails currently number 29 and my phone browser has 71 tabs open. So here are 5 random picks from that list of exactly 100 fics I should be reading:

Sex on the Beach (E, Janeway/Chakotay) by @traccigaryn​

The Ruby Ring (T, Janeway/Chakotay, Janeway/Tighe) by @trinfinity2001​

Earth is But an Idea (T, Janeway/Chakotay, Carter/O’Neill) by @caladeniablue​

Home (E, Janeway/Chakotay) by Cassatt

Wise Up (E, Janeway/Chakotay) by KimJ

42. List and link to 5 fanfiction authors who are amazing:

Only five? Shit. Okay. In no particular order, these are five of the writers I keep coming back to:

quantumsilver (also here)

northernexposure

LittleObsessions

Helen8462

Cheshire

But there are so many others. My chosen fandom is chock full of amazing talent.

43. Is there anyone in your fandom who really inspires you?

All of the authors above for various reasons, but also august because her writing is so spare and delicate and devastating, and runawaymetaphor because she writes the most delicious Janeway/Paris, and @seperis​ because I read In the Space of Seven Days literally 20 years ago and I still haven’t recovered, and I could be here all night raving on this topic but there are still many questions to get through.

44. What ship do you feel needs more attention?

Janeway x Paris. I’m so happy there’s been a little bit of a resurgence in J/P fics lately. Thanks, @curator-on-ao3​, you’re doing the lord’s work.

I’ll also take Janeway x Johnson content any day of the week.

45. What is your all time favourite fanfic?

What the hell? I can’t pick just one! Ugh!

... but okay, here’s the first one that came to mind when I tried to think about this: if you came this way by tree. I’m not sure I’d call it my favourite, but it’s one I revisit often. Ugh, there are so many other fics I’m thinking of now that I really want to list.

46. If someone was to read one of your fanfics, which fic would you recommend to them and why?

Oh, that’s hard. I should probably pick an angsty smutty J/C because that’s a fair proportion of what I write and it’s good to let a new reader know what they can expect. But honestly, I think the best fic I’ve written is The Uncharted Sea. (It’s safe for work. Maybe not for makeup.)

47. Archive Of Our Own, Fanfiction.net or Tumblr - where do you prefer to post and why?

The Archive, of course. Where else can I find ad-free hosting on a stunningly user-friendly interface with absolutely no moralising content restrictions and the world’s best tagging system? That Hugo award is well deserved.

Tumblr is good for headcanons and meta and gifsets and a few other formats that I’m less likely to post on AO3 because I’d feel like I was pissing off people who subscribe to me by giving them some random garbage.

I also have my own website, but I’m not really sure why. Sometimes I post fic there that doesn’t make it to tumblr or AO3.

48. Do you leave reviews when you read fanfiction? Why/Why not?

I try to. Honestly I do. I love it when I get reviews, so I figure paying it forward is the least I can do. I’m less scrupulous about leaving comments when I’m busy or reading on my phone.

49. Do you care if people comment/reblog your writing? Why/why not?

I mean, I love it when people reblog, but I certainly don’t expect it. @arcadia1995​ is amazing for reblogging stuff *blows kisses*

Nobody owes fanfic writers shit, but I feel like there’s a tacit agreement that if you like what you just read for free and you’re on a platform that makes it easy to do so, you leave a review or at least a kudos, because I’m not gonna lie, posting a fic you’ve worked super hard on and seeing it get very few kudos or comments is a bit deflating. I’m sure a lot of us have been there.

50. How did you get into reading and/or writing fanfiction?

During Voyager’s original run I was trawling the internet for Endgame spoilers (I don’t know why; I usually love surprises) and I guess I googled (or whatever the 2001 equivalent of googling was) something like “how does voyager get home” and somehow I stumbled across Revisionist History. At first I had no idea what I was reading - was this a lost story pitch that somehow got leaked? A professional novella commissioned by the showrunners?

Then I started following links and discovered yahoo groups and webrings and Trekiverse and fanfiction.net and all sorts of incredible things I’d never guessed at, including the now defunct ‘archipelago of angst’, a collection of Voyager writers who focused mainly on a darker Janeway than most of the other fic writers I was encountering, and I was hooked. So I wrote a few of my own pieces, and then I lost interest for 15 years. I’m still not sure how I got dragged back in.

51. Rant or Gush about one thing you love or hate in the world of fanfiction! Go!

Honestly, in what other way can I indulge my obsessions, hone my skills and talk about it endlessly with like-minded people? Where else can I instantly find a plethora of fiction about the exact topic I feel like reading about on my mobile device and for free? Fanfiction is fucking amazing and I’m so glad it exists in my life.

[restlessmaknae]

Out of this world

As a part of my Birthday Prompt Party, Out of this world is dedicated to @dat-town who has requested #31 “You know, no one bothered me this much when I was dead.” in a mythological setting with a VIXX member. Hope you like it, dear! <3

Words: 2934

Genre: fluff, angst, drama, tragedy

Main Characters: Lee Hongbin x Kim Yuna (OC); Lee Taekwoon

Setting: Greek mythology AU

Warning: death

“Does that mean that I’m fired?” the young man gasped with a slightly offended expression, signs of confusion clearly written all over his face. It was as if he didn’t want to believe what he had just heard or assumed that it was all part of a big joke.

“Just look at you! You already talk like those humans!” the older man snickered with obvious pity in his voice. “I’m sure there won’t be a problem. As soon as you earn back my trust, you can come back and claim back your immortality,” the bearded man announced, his voice firm and confident. He made it very clear that he was the only one who had a say in the matter.

After all, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise. He was Zeus, the god above all while the young man was only at the bottom, if not the last one. No one thought that he had a difficult job but who were they to belittle something that they had never truly experienced – to be precise, they may have experienced but not whole-heartedly. Who were they to make fun of the most complicated and twisted part of a human’s life that he tried to protect as much as possible?

He may be the face of the most cringe-worthy day of the year but he wasn’t completely useless. He was Eros (more commonly called as Cupid, although it was only his Latin name) and if he didn’t exist, the world would turn into a constant battlefield because of hatred and rage.

However, after what Zeus had said, he wasn’t Cupid anymore, only hypothetically. He was forced to leave the Olympus and live as a human as a punishment for his crime – neglecting his duties for the sake of his appearance. It was funny enough how he always tried his best to help the heart-broken and now he was one of them and no one could be there to mend his heart. He was alone and helpless just like a forsaken ex-god should be.

 How can an ex-god earn back Zeus’ trust without all his powers – seduction, manipulation and the ability of creating little things such as flowers and bouquets of chocolate? That was a bloody good question.

Eros had no idea in the beginning, so instead of coming up with one, he moped and cried for an entire week, using up more than 15 boxes of super soft tissues. All he got from his superior was a well-furnished flat, some money and a list of reminders about what he should and shouldn’t do as a suspended god living in human form. He was partly glad because he finally had the opportunity to breathe, feel his heart beating, smell the fragrance of sweet dandelions, taste the creamy caramel in a piece of cake, in other words he was now able to touch, feel and live. There was only one thing that he forgot: gods were invisible to the human eye.

Small wonder why he was so dumbfounded when he first moved out of his flat and one of his neighbours came up to him to say hi. He needed to remind himself that he was no longer a god, therefore he could be seen by everyone.

“So what’s your name, sweetheart?” the elderly woman asked with a genuine smile, her eyes filled with curiosity.

“I’m E−“ he started casually and almost facepalmed when he realised that he wasn’t allowed to use his real name. It was one of the beloved reminders of Zeus. He said that if he exposed himself and his name was mentioned more than 3 times in his presence, he would be fired for real. He wouldn’t even have the chance to go back. Eros was quite taken aback at first but when he realised that he had other names too, he wasn’t so terrified anymore. People would most likely call him Amor or Cupid, right? No one knew about Eros nowadays, only that so-called Cupid from commercials and toe-curling couple product names.

“I’m−“ his eyes frantically searched for a proper name and when he caught sight of the newspaper in the woman’s hand, he read out the first name that he happened to lay his eyes on. “I’m Lee Hongbin?” he averted his eyes back to the granny, plastering a friendly smile on his face. “Yeah, I’m Lee Hongbin. Nice to meet you, Mrs. Kim! You have such a lovely haircut,” he complimented right away, his generous comments not leaving him even as a human being.

From that day on, he was Lee Hongbin who turned his flat into an office since he found the perfect way to regain his position – he became a dating coach. He helped wandering souls who were constantly thinking about that sought-after love of their life yet they didn’t have any luck in love.

He was there to help them with his generous tips and thanks to his long years of playing the matchmaker, his business was quite fruitful. Even worried parents and friends came to him who wanted to put an end to the lonely days of their loved ones and their request usually led to a beautifully blooming relationship involving that said acquaintance.

Truth to be told, Hongbin was enjoying his job to the fullest. He could still do what he used to do as a god but he was closer to the humans, so he had the chance to see what the couples became after their first confessions. As Eros, he did nothing but be present at the time when they fell in love but as a dating couch, his clients sometimes came back to say thank you. Frankly, he couldn’t have been happier. He loved the smile on their faces, the way they gazed at each other and the little sparkles that accompanied them.

He was doing so well but as expected, his job didn’t come without obstacles. There was only one female whom he couldn’t help, no matter how hard he tried. He did everything he could, even though she wasn’t his client.

Kim Yuna was working at the café where he always bought his morning vanilla latte and there was a frequent customer who couldn’t look away when the pretty barista was around. It was obvious to Hongbin that the guy had a crush on her but she seemed ignorant to his obvious stares and nervous half-smiles. After several failed attempts and a conversation with the said guy – Jung Taekwoon −, Hongbin finally blurted out that Taekwoon was in love with her but he was also too shy to admit his feelings.

Yuna’s jaw dropped upon hearing his words but her bewilderment soon turned into something totally different – guilt.

“I’m sorry about your friend, Hongbin, but I don’t like him. We had talked a couple of times before but I don’t feel anything when I’m with him,” she admitted as she ran a hand through her obsidian-black curls.

Hongbin didn’t want to tell her that he didn’t even know Taekwoon, let alone being friends with him, because there was no use of correcting her. Instead, he wanted to convince her because there was nothing more heart-breaking than an unrequired love.

“Just give him a chance! He needs time to open up but I can guarantee that he’s a kind-hearted, gentle and caring human being,” he pleaded almost frantically, giving her the puppy eyes look. Yuna furrowed her eyebrows for a moment but her features softened a bit after that.

“Fine,” she let out a sigh, her eyes already searching for the tall guy at the table beside the window.

“Believe me! You won’t regret that you gave him a chance,” Hongbin clapped his hands enthusiastically while a sudden pang invaded his heart. He was so taken aback by the subtle pain that was suddenly rushing through him that he didn’t even see when Yuna sat down at Taekwoon’s table.

 It turned out that Yuna and Taekwoon were a wrong pair from the start. She was bold, sassy, cheeky and playful while the guy was introverted, quiet, sensitive and easily hurt by jokes. Hongbin couldn’t mind her behaviour, he was actually attracted to her in a way that he had never experienced before.

On the other hand, for her and her biggest fan, things didn’t seem to work out well despite all the tricks and gifts that Hongbin gave them, showering them with date ideas and couple activities. The fact that Yuna wanted to give up from the very start pissed him off and he couldn’t help but reprimand her when he couldn’t take it anymore.

“You know, no one bothered me this much when I was dead,” he remarked not so gently and not until Yuna’s eyes widened, did he realise what he had just said.

“What?”

“Oh nothing, nothing! It was just a joke,” he tried to shrug it off and scamper away as soon as possible but she didn’t seem to be convinced. She took a step closer to him, squinting at him with suspicion-filled orbs.

“You were always acting particularly weird. I wouldn’t be surprised if you were a god or something,” Yuna stared at him for long seconds that seemed like hours for him.

He was always sure that he would be exposed in the future because he had blurted out something that he shouldn’t have. He was always blabbing after all. That’s also something that he could use to convince humans to believe him. He talked a lot and talked fast, so instead of trying to puzzle up his words, they gave in.

But what if he said something this time that could indicate that he was a god? What if she found out who he was? Would she think of him differently? Would it even matter?

Yuna gave him a final stare and took a step back, giving him some personal space. As soon as she turned around to head back to the counter, Hongbin let out a weary sigh.

“I always knew that she was smart,” he muttered under his breath as he wiped some sweat off his face. She was so close, he was almost caught. Almost.

“What?” Yuna turned around immediately, her head tilted in confusion. “So you are really a god?” she exclaimed not caring about the astonished and judging gazes she earned from the customers around her.

Hongbin was trying to find the right words to say but he froze on the spot, not knowing what to do. He had only a little experience with humans, so he never had to lie to anyone.

As a forsaken god, he couldn’t know that his silence was a bigger indication of his identity than any lie could ever be.

“Gosh! I can’t believe it! I’ve been hanging out with a god,” she giggled whole-heartedly without a hint of fear or judgement in her eyes. She shook her head in disbelief as she walked towards a customer who wanted to order, an amused smile never leaving her attractive lips.

Hongbin stood there like a statue, except the fact that he awkwardly blinked like he didn’t want to believe that the scene in front of his eyes was actually happening and it wasn’t just a part of his dream. Kim Yuna had really figured out who he was and didn’t make fun of him? Laugh at him, take pictures of him and tell silly god-related jokes? Did she really just… smile? Show that gorgeous smile of hers that was as rare as snow in August?

He couldn’t help but feel proud. There was an oddly unfamiliar sensation pumping in his veins, motioning his heart to beat faster and his lips to raise higher and higher until he was also smiling. He showed a smile of his that neither of them knew existed – the loving one filled with childish excitement and innocence.

He loved people in general, he really did. Otherwise, how could he be so eager to help them to find their other half? But this kind of affection was different because he received it and not just gave it away. It was different because he experienced it with her. With his other half.

 Yuna was pretty cool about the god thing. She really believed him, stating that she was suspicious from the moment Hongbin read the menu upside-down or when he had no idea about how a vanilla latte tasted. Not to mention the time when he started laughing when her hand accidentally brushed his when she placed his order on the table. He had even blurted out once that he never touched a human before. It was a sentence that he didn’t even remember. Maybe he was too pumped up to care about the words he said out loud.

After he managed to stop her from calling him by his real name, he was no longer in danger. He knew she would keep his secret, and the fact that they both shared this knowledge actually brought them closer.

They were both sassy, so there was no way either of them got furious since they knew their words didn’t carry an air of seriousness. They teased each other a lot – almost like young lovers −, played various silly games and hang out a lot. Yuna was always amused when he tried something for the first time, let it be karaoke, going by train or trying sushi. As he was falling in love with the world around him, finding beauty in everything new and special, he was slowly falling in love with her, too.

He could never imagine that being in love was such a magical feeling. It was as if love was something out of this world. His whole body was reacting to the way she smiled, to the sound of her airy laugh and to the touch of her roughish skin. Getting to know her was like peeling an onion (new favourite food of his!).Whenever he thought there was nothing else left, there was always a new layer underneath.

She was sometimes as fragile as a glass sculpture while other times she stood still like a mountain. She could get emotional too easily or not feel any sympathy at all. She could play the little kid who wanted to have popcorn at the cinema or the responsible adult who showed Hongbin where to stand to not get hit by the train. She could lazily lay on the couch, whining about the fact that boys could never understand the pain of a cramp or jump up and down in excitement when she got a pay rise. She was a mixture of everything and he loved all of her colours.

Truth to be told, he didn’t neglect his job but he spent less time with his clients than with Yuna. They haven’t confessed yet and he wasn’t sure they would. He wasn’t even sure that it was how love was meant to feel or if Yuna felt it too because she didn’t say anything obvious.

Meanwhile, the fact that Zeus hadn’t even contacted him bothered Hongbin a lot, he didn’t even know what he was doing wrong. Because he was doing something wrong if his superior didn’t want to see him, right? On the other hand, he wasn’t even sure that he wanted to go back. At least, not until it was the matter of life and death.

 It started as a usual day for him – counselling in the morning and spending time with Yuna in the afternoon. However, as he was about to get to the café where she was working, he was so immersed into smelling the rose bouquet that he had bought her that he didn’t care about anything else around him. That was a fatal mistake on his part.

Everything happened so fast. It was now only a blur to him. The stretching tyres of the bus, the pain in his chest, the warmth of his blood, the sirens of the ambulance and Zeus’ words.

“Choose, Eros! You’ve proved that you are still worthy of your title, so you can come back to the Olympus to fulfil your duties as the god of Love. Or you can choose to die as a human. You have no other choice. You can’t go back to her, no matter how much you would like to.”

Hongbin was selfish. He wanted to beg Zeus to let him live as a human because he didn’t want to die. He wanted to see her, to tell her how she made him feel, to tell her that he loved her, even though he had no idea if that was how love was supposed to feel. He wanted to caress her cheeks for one last time, he wanted to hear her laugh and gosh, how much he wanted to kiss her!

Hongbin was selfish. It may destroy him to see her again while she can’t see him but he wanted to do it. No matter the pain, he wanted to be around her. Even if he was invisible to her, the time they had spent together was not enough for him. He wanted more.

“I’ll go back to the Olympus,” he whispered with his last breathe as his heart stopped beating forever.

Now he knew. Eros, the god of love, finally knew why humans loved the feeling of being loved. Now he knew that love was something precious, something inexplicable and something out of this world.

Love was something to die for.

[alchemyphan-blog]

This Was Not a Love At First Sight Story

word count: 2.9k

style: oneshot

desc: Dan works at a cafe and starts pining over a regular customer who likes to order ridiculous coffees and edit his videos. 2009 AU. Written in 2014. 

a/n: it feel so good to be back and posting vvvvv old fics i wrote!! more to come :) 

also an ancient fucking relic when it was cool to write in first person lmao bye this is cringe

Monday, 1:48 P.M.

Working the midday shift guaranteed for quite a different vibe of people. People weren’t rushing around to get their coffee and breakfast, and it wasn’t loud and obnoxious like the dinner shift. It was so laid back, and people always had an inviting presence.

It found itself particularly inviting on a certain day in October.

I cleaned the counter willingly, as given this shift actually made me more looking forward to going to work each day. From behind the counter I watched as people started to occupy the restaurant. One particular man walked in a few minutes after the midday ‘rush’, and sat right in my ideal view. He opened his MacBook, coated in a layer of vibrant stickers. I smiled, and right away I could tell the kind of guy he was - I had earned the ability to do that ever since I started working here. He was the kind of guy that would go for a long time without saying something, then out one of his thoughts. It was like he was running wild in his own place, and was a visitor of the real world. He was the kind of guy I had always wanted to have in my life.

He looked to be about 22, which made it almost impossible for me to talk to him, me not even 19 yet. But I watched him from behind the counter. I could see a sliver of what was on his laptop - it was his own face. His mouse dragged segmented clips of himself with a tiny lion on his shoulder around. I watched him there for at least two minutes before willing myself to take his order. I just happened to be working that section today, a part I never usually do. Something welled up inside me and I felt like it was for a reason. Surely I was just being silly. This was not a love at first sight story we’d tell our kids.

And then I realized - in the time span of 4 minutes I had imagined us with children. I sighed, and lightly slapped my cheek as a discipline for thinking that. You don’t even know his name, I thought.

I looked behind the counter I was stood at and adjusted my hair in the gargantuan mirror. I straightened my black polo I had worn for the past 5 shifts of work, even though I had two others.

Okay Dan, stop this. Just take his order and get out of his hair. What is your problem?

 I found it in myself to open the notepad shaking in my clammy hands.

“Hi, w-what can I get you?” I managed out, my voice cracking. I felt so stupid.

He let out a chuckle. Without looking up from his laptop yet, he began to respond.

“Erm, I’ll have a caramel macchiat-,” he started, his eyes glazing over me. I suddenly felt extremely exposed with his stare on me. Sweat dripped down the back of my neck.

He blinked hard a few times. For the first time, we looked at each other.

You could go swimming in those eyes.

A perfect shade of blue, surrounded with a green tint and specks of yellow. I couldn’t stop staring at them.

Time slowed. Everything seemed to blur and it seemed like we were the only things left walking this realm. I tried to shake myself from my own mind when I’d noticed I had been staring at his lips for at least 20 seconds.

Way to go, you just completely freaked him out, I told myself. But I wonder what it’s like to kiss this man. Was he the type his persona proved him to be? Or was he unpredictable and impossible to read?

Either way, I wanted to find out. But first I just needed his order.

I coughed, looking down.

“So that was a, um, caramel macchiato?” I asked him, leaving off where he stopped.

He looked up at mean again. “Yes, thank you...Dan,” he said, reading my name tag. I vigorously blushed. He just said my name.

I nodded in his direction, and ran away as quick as possible to make him his coffee. Not very many people came in for coffee at 2 P.M. anymore. It was a nice change of pace for this time of day, as most days I didn’t usually get to show off my coffee skills.

I capped the lid on his drink and ran it back over to him, setting it down on the table next to the chair he was sat in.

“Thank you so much. How much is it?” he asked, smiling.

“Oh, it’s-it’s on the house today,” I said quickly. Did I just scare him off paying for his coffee?

“Really? That’s so nice of you, thank you,” he said. I ducked my head for a response, scurrying away.

God, why the hell was I so awkward? 

 Wednesday, 1:51 P.M.

It had been torture the next day. All I could think about was seeing him again, but I knew I had blown it. I slapped myself thinking about how much I had thought about him. I didn’t even know him. For all I know he’s not even from around here and that is all we will know of each other for as long as we live.

But that afternoon a familiar face walked in the door. It had gotten at least 20 degrees colder in two days and by now I was wearing the long sleeve shirt they had supplied me with. He was wearing a lightened purple sweater advertising a blue wolf on it. I found it insanely adorable. He had brought his laptop with him again, another sticker I found had been added to the collection. Indulging in the free wifi, I watched him log into YouTube and lurk around channels, something I’d do a lot of in my free time. He pulled down a tab and clicked ‘upload video’, something I only dreamed of doing one day. The video that was projected onto his screen the days previous was now being added to the world of YouTube. I let him commence the process but realized it took much longer than that, maybe why he’d come here to pass time while waiting.

I walked over to him again. I felt like some kind of stalker.

My eyes lit up when he turned up to me and smiled. A wave of relief came over me when he spoke.

“You’re back! I was hoping I’d see you again,” he said.

My mouth felt like it was sealed shut. Did he actually just tell me he was happy to see me?

“R-really?” I stuttered. My cheeks flourished.

“I-um, yeah,” he suddenly replied quietly, looking down. “N-it doesn’t matter. Forget I said that.”

“No, no,” I told him, “I, um, kind of haven’t stopped thinking about you since you were last here. I felt like I scared you off paying for your coffee and acting weird.”

He didn’t quite reply to that, but just stood there twiddling his thumbs. He invited me to sit down.

Being truthful, I had stayed an extra half an hour past my shift, seeing if he would walk in again.

Graciously, I accepted his offer and sat down in a chair mirroring his, a footrest sharing space between us.

“I’m Dan,” I told him. It was only moments after I realized he already knew that.

“I know,” He said, smirking. “My name is Phil.” Phil. His name tingled to say in my mouth. It was perfect just like him.

“It’s nice to meet you, Phil,” I said, saying his name for the first time. He shook my hand. Electrons buzzed and shocked and illuminated at the touch of our skin, and it was so magical. I just wanted to keep his hand in mine forever, but it seemed a tad bit unrealistic.

Silence hung over us as I attempted to keep the conversation flowing.

“I like your stickers,” I said, pointing to a particular one stating ‘I <3 Your Mum’. He giggled.

“Yeah, that’s one of my favorites, and that one,” he said, pointing to a sticker with Sarah Michelle Gellar’s face covering it.

“Do you ever just wanna get her face tattooed onto yours?” I stated, instantly feeling like freak. This sensation didn’t last for long.

“Yes!” he exclaimed, and my face heated up. I was actually talking to him this very moment.

 “So how long’ve you been working here?” he asked me.

“Well I’ve been working in the industry for about five years ago, it being my first job. I came here about 3 ½ years ago, and I really like it. Recently I got moved from the night shift to the afternoon shift and I like it a lot more. I actually look forward coming to work now,” I told him.

“That’s great to hear! Maybe if you hadn’t we wouldn't have met.” “Funny the way things work out.” We looked at each other as the silence was less unbearable this time.

His laptop made a soft noise. His video had uploaded.

“About time,” he muttered, mostly to himself. I saw him smile a little as another had added to his collection and watched him annotate it quietly.

For a moment he disregarded everything surrounding him. It was really cute, the way he could just detach and hook himself onto something he valued. After a moment he looked up again.

“Sorry, my uh, video uploaded,” he said shyly. I think he expected me to be confused, but I just smiled and nodded knowingly. It felt quite reassuring for him I suppose, not having to explain the concept of what YouTube can really mean to someone. He probably did it quite a lot when people asked him what his job was.

 And then we just sat, not very much in silence but in our own thoughts. I shifted awkwardly in my seat, trying not to make it look like I was as nervous as I was; but he just sat there. He looked comfortable and content, and I began to think if my theory I had depicted of him had been correct. I watched him think there for a few minutes.

After exactly 2 minutes and 12 seconds, he spoke.

“Isn’t it crazy how things just sort of happen? Like here I am, a college student trying to make a living on this website and getting coffee paid for by a really cute guy when even a year ago I wouldn’t have even dreamt of this happening.”

Wait. He just called me cute. Did he just call me cute? He did. Phil just called me cute. Oh my God.

I tried to remain calm exteriorly, but inside I was manically and utterly spazzing.

“I know, I mean a year ago I was probably handing in my A-Levels and dozing off in a geography class from having stayed up all night doing the coursework. I never thought this would happen,” I replied. I had minorly revealed my age. I wanted him to think I was older and smart like him, but in reality I was just a cripplingly awkward and nervous teenager that’s just scraped by my whole life. I was waiting for things to take off. Maybe I just had to wait longer than others did.

 Before I knew it we had been sat there for over 2 hours and the new workers had already commenced preparing for the dinner rush waiting to happen. I warned him about it.

“Yeah, we should probably get out of here. Um, what are you doing this week?” he asked me. I loved how cute and quiet he went when he was trying to flirt on any level. I knew for a fact I wasn’t any better.

“Let’s see, it’s Wednesday today, I’m working here Tomorrow and Saturday,” I said, trying to correctly memorize my schedule.

“Okay, cool. I’ve got class early tomorrow morning, but this time Saturday I don’t. Maybe I’ll stop in and we can talk again. I really liked this,” he said, gaining more confidence.

“I’ll be here,” I told him, now both of us huddled together outside the shop. I was carrying something of his by the opposing side of my body. I didn’t want him to forget it.

“Oh, I forgot to pay you again for the coffee,” he told me. I held a hand out to his shoulder: “It’s no problem. Don’t forget it by the way,” I said, holding his coffee in my hand I know showed him.

“I’m so forgetful. Thank you again, you don’t have to keep buying it for me, though. I may be broke, but I’m not that broke.”

He began to slowly walk up the street, and I watched him from inside the shop see the smiley face I had written next to my phone number. Luckily he didn’t see me.

 It had been almost a year since our first encounter, and we have been together for over 7 months. By now I had let my boss in on my not-so-secret love affair with a customer.

“So we were right?” he asked me. I stared at him confused.

He turned to the co-workers behind him. “We’ve been having a poll going for how long it would take for you to catch on that this is in fact a love at first sight story, as much as you say it isn’t,” He said. 2 of the 4 huffed and handed him a few tens.

“Are you serious? No, that’s not what it is, and you’re just gonna have to give that money back,” I protested.

“Dan, I was here when he first walked in. I saw you two look at each other and boom, love at first sight sparks went off,” Gale, the best barista, told me. “You’re all delusional. That is not what this is,” I said again. This was still not a love at first sight story. It’s been that way since the day we met.

“Whatever you say, but I saw it. With my own two eyes,” she said, making a V-shape with her fingers pointing towards her pupils.

 He walked in the door. I withdrew myself from the conversation, more argument, and practically leaped overtop the counter separating us. Only 2 people were in the whole restaurant that weren’t workers, now 3.

“Phil!” I almost screamed. He ran over to me, smiling. He pushed me up against the outer side of the counter, kissing me. His hands grazed down from the sides of my face to my hips. I kept mine strung around the center of his back. I didn’t even care that my co-workers, not to mention my boss, were sat right on front of me. Usually I’m good about keeping it on the DL, but with Phil participating in PDA is no problem for me. I want everyone to know he’s mine, and he’s not going anywhere.

He drew away.

“Hi, Bear,” he said, just loud enough for me to hear and the others to barely. I curled my head to rest on his bony shoulder and he rubbed my back for a moment. I looked up to him, and my eyes lit up. I loved looking at him and every part of his beautiful structure - his glistening eyes, not tampered by any form of lighting, his rising and reddened cheekbones. It was starting to get cold again, and I had helped him drag out his jumpers two weeks ago. I snuggled into it. I heard the shutter of a camera go off from the tribe of black shirts huddled behind the counter, and they all surrounded the source and giggled. I sighed and glared at them.

Phil and I walked over to the phone and saw it was a picture of my gaze at Phil.

“If you don’t call that love at first sight, then I don’t know what is,” one said.

I would not be winning this battle.