#also no relatives allowed in the area i woke up in

[salamancers]

guess whos just had surgeryyy~~~

technically it was, like, this morning, but i only now came home to my parents place after spending hours in the car so! still counts even if it took around 13 hours from after the surgery was done until i came home heh

i have four brand new holes in my stomach and one less internal organ and for some reason i feel like this is something to *brag about* lmao

[gfmima]

ex bf!kuni mini hcs bc he wont leave me alone </3

ex bf!kuni who tells his friends he moved on but keeps all ur pics in his photo album n the items u left when u moved out in the same areas u would place them when u still lived with him

(he secretly wears the promise ring he gave u as a necklace under his shirt. he nearly trashed the whole apartment after he misplaced it by mistake… it was on his bedside table the entire time)

ex bf!kuni who continues to buy ur favorite laundry soap, so all of his clothes and bedsheets smell like u. he won’t admit it but the familiar scent comforts him on a bad day. he even hugs ur pillow at night when he has trouble sleeping

the first night post break-up was difficult for him. he was so used to having ur body rest beside him, it didnt feel right to sleep without u. he forced himself to get used to the sudden change bc he didnt know when u will come back to him and if u event wanted to :(

ex bf!kuni who returns home after a long, tiring day at work and forgets you arent there to greet him anymore. his face wears a deep frown once he noticed how eerily quiet it was without u around. it was strange to yell “i’m back” and not hear ur voice reply w a cheery “i missed u!”

one time, he woke up and called out (whined) ur name, only to be met w absolute silence. needless to say, he laid in bed uncomfortable w ur absence

ex bf!kuni who acts like he doesnt care about u but goes “!” when he overhears a friend mention ur name or talks about ur latest ventures. he leaves the room after they move onto the topic of ur love life

ajax was the first person to catch onto his strange behavior, however, chalked it up to him seeing things. that was… until it happened again and again and again and again

he begged kuni to call u and get closure. ur ex would rather die than humiliate himself by listening to his friend

ex bf!kuni who looks through the photos u took as a couple whenever he misses u :( he changed his lock-screen but his wallpaper is still u

the neighborhood’s aunty caught a glimpse of it and teased him for being such a lovesick sap. she told him he was lucky to find his person at a young age and scolded him to treat u right and never let u go

sigh, if only she knew…

ex bf!kuni who convinces everyone he moved on from u and was doing well despite the end of your long relationship. his attitude didnt change, giving off the impression that he was unaffected by the break up and led many to believe he didnt love u as much as they thought

it was (hilariously) far from the truth—if anyone were to pay close attention to him, theyd spy his weary eyes and mellow demeanor and understand he was lying to save face

ex bf!kuni who goes undercover and visits the restaurants, cafes, and places u frequent in general, hoping to see u or accidentally bump into u

he stopped after it dawned on him how creepy it was of him to do this. he also didnt want to take his chances and see u w someone new. honestly, he didnt know what to do when the day comes and he spots u happy & well w another man holding ur hand

ex bf!kuni who didnt know what to say when nahida asked him why she doesnt see u anymore, why u dont visit her :(

instead of telling her the truth, he told her u were busy bc of work and that shed see u once ur schedule allows it. he was sent some knowing glances by his relatives because of his response. he knew hed be questioned about the status of ur relationship sooner or later and he wasnt ready

[one-night-story]

I Don't Know You, But I Would Love to Meet You (Jack Hughes)

a/n: I wanted to get this not under the wire, but I can't help but feel like it a little? Which, sorry about that. this is for @writingonleaves by way of @wyattjohnston 's annual winter fic exchange! I hope you enjoy it! this was as always a fun challenge to write. title is from "We Should Be Friends" by Josh Ramsay, which is v cute. (also it's so long oh jeez)

There’s probably a certain age when you’re fairly certain you’re “too old” to be waking up on strangers couches with little memory of A) who’s couch you ended up on and B) how exactly you got there.

I don’t think I’ve quite hit that age yet, so I think I’m in the clear for the understandable confusion I woke up with as the morning sun streamed in from the floor to ceiling windows. 

Shit, not only was I in an unfamiliar apartment, whoever was renting the place was clearly richer than my blood. 

Good news: my phone was on the coffee table and attached to a charger, so whoever I’d crashed with was a benevolent host, which boded well for my continued situation. I checked my texts and it seems last night me had been coherent and just exhausted, seeing as I remembered to text my roommate that I wasn’t coming home saying I was crashing “with friends” and that I’d text her when I got back on campus. 

Huh, promising.

It at least meant she wouldn’t send out a search party consisting of our friend group, their friends, and the National Guard. All incredibly good things for my continued health and existence. 

Now, to figure out who’s apartment I’d just woken up in. 

Carefully, I stretched out my legs and shifted the blankets onto my lap when I realized I at the very least had the sense to not try and sleep in jeans but had left my “nice enough to go out” t-shirt on, and scanned the area. A couple of photos on the wall of a relatively decent sized family, siblings at the bare minimum as they popped up in several photos. Rich, but a bachelor as no one with any interior design sense had popped by to huck a colored throw pillow into the mix, and that was assuming their lease didn’t allow for wall color changes. 

Honestly, I was coming up empty. 

None of my friends were this rich, hell if they were I feel like it would’ve come up way sooner, not to mention why the hell would they bother commuting to campus when they probably could leverage online classes and still come out with a degree. 

I was just about to fashion enough of a blanket skirt to at least try and find my pants so I could start rifling through a mail stack when there was creaking coming from down the hall. Well, maybe I’d have an answer soon enough. I readjusted the blanket a little so I could look over from where I thought the creaking was coming from and was greeted by… okay calling it a familiar face might’ve been a stretch, but so would the text to my roommate saying I was staying with a friend, so somehow that was two birds with one stone. 

I did recognize him, which was an improvement over my worst fear, he was a friend of a friend of a brother of a friend. Which put me at four degrees of separation, and raised my “why the fuck did I crash here” hackles, but the fact that I was on a couch and not in someone’s bed felt safe, even if it wasn’t all there yet. 

He didn’t seem to be fully coherent yet, as he rubbed his eyes and ran a hand through his, admittedly very pretty, hair so I tried to hold back a large laugh when he startled at seeing me sitting on his couch.

“Hi,” I said with a sheepish wave. “Sorry, I’ll get out of your hair soon enough,” I remarked. What I really needed to do was find out where the hell half-dead me had hucked my pants so I could tug them back on and then make a beeline to the nearest train station to get home.

“‘S fine, just… uh… shit, there’s no like… good way of asking this,” he mulled over.

“It’s okay, I don’t quite remember your name either,” I said, saving him the embarrassment. He laughed, and it was goofy and light, which was way too endearing for… shit did that microwave clock say 9:30 in the morning? I couldn’t help but join in with a chuckle of my own. 

“Oh thank god,” he said once he stopped most of the laughter, “I didn’t want to seem like a complete asshole, but also there was no way I was going to remember it after last night.” He added.

“Yeah, I don’t remember much either, and I don’t even think I drank that much?” I said with just a dash of question in my tone, he nodded once.

“You didn’t, but I think you mentioned that you didn’t want to risk taking the train back so late.” He said. “I offered to let you crash here when you refused to let someone pay for a hotel.”

Yeah, that sure did sound like me.

“Well, thank you, I’m Sadie,” I said, and as soon as I did, he brightened like he suddenly did remember and just needed the metaphorical kick in the brainstem. 

“Yes! Okay, see I thought it’d be in there,” he said with another chuckle. “I usually at least try to learn the names of the girls I bring home.” I couldn’t help but laugh at the way he chose to phrase it and even more when he very clearly winced realizing how it sounded.

“We’ll chop it up to “lack of coffee” and call no hard feelings, sound fair?” I proposed as an even solution to our silly little predicament. 

“Fair, I’m Jack by the way.” he said as he came over to the couch and offered up his hand. “Nice to actually meet you Sadie,” he said. 

“Nice to meet you too,” I said with a chuckle as I shook his hand with a bit of teasing vigor. 

“Can I at least offer you breakfast before you sneak out in the middle of the morning?” He asked while still holding onto my hand. I thought it over, and remembered the time, and figured that… yeah I could probably stand to be held up for coffee and a minimal breakfast before jumping on the train. 

“Yeah, if it’s not —“

“Don’t worry about it,” Jack was quick to cut me off. He let go of my hand and wandered back over to the kitchen and I was quick to try and figure out where the hell I’d put my pants so I wasn’t having to talk across the apartment and be perceived as rude on top of whatever else one could make assumptions about a girl who’d crashed on the couch of a guy she barely knew. After being assured that the blanket was carefully tucked around me I leaned down to check under the couch and was relieved when I found them sticking out. I carefully maneuvered my body so that I could reach under the couch, grab them and carefully bend back up onto the couch so I could put them on under the blanket. When I eventually sat back up and stood. Jack was looking at me with a look of bemusement. 

“Were you…”

“No, last night me wanted to not sleep in jeans. So I must’ve haphazardly hucked them off.”

“And you managed to get them on… without getting up from under the blanket?”

“Old trick from summer camp. Trust me, you haven’t even seen half of it.” I could get dressed pretty entirely without getting up from under the covers. When Jack still looked amused I chuckled and finished walking over to where he was in the kitchen. “What? Upstate New York gets cold in the morning in the summer.” I remarked. Jack fully laughed and again, I couldn’t help but join in.

“Oh I know, I guess I’m just used to living in houses with heating too.” He said. I simply shrugged, low tech summer camps, what could you do? I watched as Jack maneuvered around his kitchen to get the coffee going from the cautious spot of his breakfast bar, trying to not take up too much space or get in the way, no one likes multiple people in a kitchen at once, it was practically a fact. “I only have milk and sugar, I hope that’s okay?”

“It’ll be fine, I’m hardly in a position to be picky,” I said as I tried to focus on something that wasn’t the way Jack’s hair was falling that made him seem… softer? than just my brain’s logical, knee jerk reaction of him being “just some guy”. I mean, of all the people that my sleep addled brain could remember, I definitely remember that Jack was one of the better looking ones. I could feel my fingers wanting to pick at my nails and the social morays of it all was pretty much the only thing holding me back from doing so. I wanted to say something, anything, pretend for one morning that I was good at socializing. The fact that I’d managed to get through last night with enough grace and charm that I had managed to score a place to crash after the friend of a friend I came with ditched me to hook up with on of the myriad of white boys that were there that night meant this morning I was praying I had enough left to at least make it through coffee.

Jack set the Keurig off to do its thing and rifled through the cupboards to try and find… something. Honestly, while I was hoping for cereal, I would’ve settled for toast, when I heard him curse someone under his breath and went over to the fridge.

“Shit.” He muttered.

“Roommate eat you out of house and home?” I said taking a shot in the dark. Jack looked over, remembering he was making coffee for two and gave me a look that read as though I’d gotten it in one. He padded back over to the breakfast bar and leaned in conspiratorially, something I couldn’t help but meet him halfway about.

“So… I might’ve lied about breakfast. My brother was supposed to go grocery shopping yesterday after practice and it looks like he forgot.” I chuckled and opened my mouth to assure him that really, it was fine, thanks for even offering, I’ll just go; but he pressed on, “there’s a spot around the corner that does… probably better than I ever could and that includes the coffee. If you want, I could… take you there?” He proposed. 

On the one hand, that was incredibly sweet and his smile was very much continuing my brain’s belief of him being endearing. Not to mention I love a good brunch spot as much as the next girly and that included a good little diner.

On the other hand, I felt gross being in yesterday’s clothes and I didn’t want to impede Jack’s ability to get on with his day. That, and the somewhat social expectation to turn down anything offered with you without an obvious way to pay back. We weren’t really friends, and we weren’t dating, so what the hell could I even do? My obvious gut reaction was to reject it, to chop it up to the fact that really, he was just being polite and there was no real reason to go with him. But then I snuck another glance at him, a little open and earnest and maybe the offer was just a genuine “let me be a good host in spite of the fact that my roommate is making that a challenge.”

“One condition,” I said and Jack nodded, “you mind if I borrow your shower? I feel super gross,” I said and Jack immediately nodded.

“Yeah, course, I’ll get you a new shirt if ya need.” He was quick to add. I smiled and thanked him as he pointed me toward where the bathroom was. It was very clear a bachelor’s bathroom, but at least they had more than one bottle of soap. So… small victories.

I was quick to wash up and thankful for the t-shirt left precariously balancing on the bathroom island that fully suggested it’d been put there without someone looking. Changing was just as fast and I came back out feeling a little less like death. I grabbed my phone and my bag from the end of the couch (ungracefully shoving my t-shirt from last night in) and met Jack where he was by the door. 

The trip to ground level was mostly quiet, with both of us seemingly trying to pick and choose what to say about all of this. I didn’t want to put any sort of anything on it, hell, I was prepared to pay should need be and blow the rest of my fun money budget for the month. 

And Jack hadn’t been lying when he said the place had been around the corner as, sure enough, the glass faced front of a quaint brunch place, Edison light bulbs and all, was in front of us. For a late Saturday morning, it wasn’t horrendous by any means. I predicted a twenty minute wait without reservations, but I was willing to be surprised. Jack got the door for me and I muttered a quiet thank you as we walked in. The front area was small so I suspected that this was probably a strict “reservation or get lucky on a walk in” place. I snuck a glance at Jack, but he didn’t seem to be fazed by any of it as he made his way over to the hostess and they had a quick exchange before menus were being grabbed and we were being led to a quiet little back booth, out of sight of the main windows. The hostess gave her usual spiel about the menus and our waiter being over in a few and we both thanked her for her time. As she left I finally looked over at Jack.

“What?”

“Does the owner owe you money or something?”

“No, but he is a fan,” he said. That made me tilt my head slightly but I was quick to shake it off. “Relax, I made reservations while you were showering. Got lucky that they had a last minute cancellation.” He said. Yeah, that seemed reasonable all things considered, so I let the topic drop and gave the menu a scan. There wasn’t a lot that didn’t appeal to me, so that was a good sign. 

“Got any recommendations?” I asked as Jack fidgeted with his fork.

“Oh, uh… the pancakes are pretty killer. And my brother swears by their waffles. But pretty much everything’s good.” He said. I nodded and adjusted my own silverware as our waiter came over and poured water. While I was of the firm belief that brunch didn’t count as brunch without mimosas, I just ordered coffee with some of their fancier fixings. We asked for a bit more time with the menus and our waiter agreed to come back with the coffee. We fell into a silence, not quite awkward but nowhere near comfortable, and I settled on biting the bullet first.

“So why New Jersey?” I asked.

“Why New Jersey?”

“Yeah, you don’t seem like you’re from around here so why’d you move to New Jersey?”

“Work,” he answered simply. My memory of the previous night was still a swirling mess of exhaustion and bright lights and a smidge too much noise, but I think I remembered that those at the table who hadn’t been with my acquaintance group were coworkers. Must be a tight knit workplace. “You?”

“School, got a scholarship.”

“What for?”

“Creative writing, not the flashiest of degrees, but it’s what I’ve always wanted to do.” I replied. 

“Working on the next Great American Novel, then?” He asked and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Ah, maybe. Right now I’m fighting to try and keep my voice while meeting every professors’ wildly different expectations. It’s a… hassle.” I said. The conversation spiraled from there, breaking to order brunch, but otherwise swapping stories about his family and my schooling. What could I say, I had an odd high school experience, even by American Public School standards, and eventful friends.

By the time food came out, we’d eased up the tension by a couple points, and I only felt sort of bad when my phone vibrated insistently in my pocket. I made a gesture asking if it was chill if I got it and he nodded. I fished it out of my pocket and scanned the notification. Multiple texts from Anna, the friend I was supposed to travel home with last night, as it seems she’d finally woken up from her adventures last night. Most of them were standard, if sweet, a “did you get home”, a “sorry for ditching you”, and then finally “oh holy shit this guy is rich rich”. It was funny, and I was just about to put my phone away when I saw the last text come in.

what kind of rich as hell guy has a two bedroom? Shit, did i sleep with a married guy?

That finally got me to audibly laugh and Jack raised his eyebrow, “The friend I was supposed to get back to campus with, she just woke up and is questioning if she just became the other woman.”

“Nah, none of the guys out last night were married. What’d she look like?” He asked.

“Blonde, dark eyeliner, wearing the purple tank top,” I said. Jack then stifled a laugh.

“Ask her if the guy she went home with had poorly taken care of curls,” he said offhandedly. I did and set my phone on the table as I continued eating my brunch.

A couple minutes later my phone lit up with a notification.

yeah, that is *oddly* specific, how did you know?

“Yeah he is,”

“Oh my god,”

“What?”

“She’s at my place.”

“You’re kidding,”

“She went home with my brother, you’ve been in the same place all night,” he said and I couldn’t help but nearly double over as I started laughing. The entire reason I’d crashed was because she had ditched me and now it turns out we’d been in the same apartment the whole night.

“Oh that’s so fucking funny,” I said once I could breathe again. I shot off a text to Anna.

I’m still downtown, I’ll meet you at the train station in a half hour if you want?

deal.

I finally put my phone back in my pocket and we finished up brunch with a companionable edge. By the time the waiter came back to clear our dishes we were getting close to having to negotiate the bill.

“So…” I started to say.

“I’m paying,”

“You didn’t even—“

“I was never gonna let you pay, my mom raised me better than that.” He said. 

“At least let me cover for my coffee?”

“Sadie, don’t worry about it,” he said with a tone that got me to drop it. Like I wasn’t going to be able to win this no matter how I negotiated it. As the waiter came back with the bill and Jack handed over his card I said a quiet thanks which got a grin out of him. Brain, pick a struggle, we cannot be enamored by this boy after waking up on his couch in a first meeting we can barely remember. He finished paying and we got up to leave and I did my best to keep my internal argument off my face as we did.

I managed to make it to the street corner before I was willing to confront the fact that I had to actually leave and go back to campus, and Jack had to… wait. Hang on. 

The coffee had started to kick in and things were finally lining up. I knew I had to have gotten into school for some reason right?

“Oh shit,”

“What?” He asked with a tilt of his head and okay fine I’ll admit it brain he’s cute, but the realizations that my brain was finally having made it so that this was never going to happen again.

“You’re a Devils player,” I said as I smacked my own forehead and Jack started laughing. 

“You only just figured that out?”

“Leave me alone, I haven’t had a full night's sleep in like a week,” I joked, still covering my face a little. Jack carefully moved me out of foot traffic and gently pulled my hands away from my face.

“Is that a deal breaker?” He asked.

“What?”

“Me being a hockey player?”

“What, why?”

“Well, I thought that went well all things considered and I was gonna ask for your number to hopefully do dinner sometime.” He said with a soft smile, letting his hand fall into mine. I thought it over, between the fact that he was indeed cute, that he was nice, and funny, and asking with such an expression that seemed that, if he wasn’t trying to convince me he was cool and at least a little normal, he’d be rocking on his heels about; and the mere fact that he took me out to brunch after offering to let me crash on his couch. It was pretty much enough in the category of good signs that I was inclined to say:

“It’s not a deal breaker,” and he grinned a little wider, “besides I was going to ask for your number anyway. I have to get your shirt back somehow.” I chuckled.

“Ah, keep it, I can always buy a new one.” He joked. I passed over my phone and he put his contact in before quickly texting himself and passing it back. I chuckled at his contact photo, a terribly taken close up of him, and saw that I had a text from Anna that she was at the station already.

“I guess I’ll talk to you to figure out scheduling?” I proposed with just a hint of awkwardness. 

“Yeah, I gotta check with my brother about some things and what have you.” 

“Okay,” I said with a little chuckle of disbelief. “Thanks for brunch, by the way.” I said.

“Thank you for agreeing and not sneaking out in the middle of the morning,” he replied with a bit of a chuckle that lit up his face. There was no good way to leave this, with a promise of something stronger, but still uneasy about what one's dynamic is in the now, “can I give you a hug?” He asked.

Oh thank god.

“Yeah, yes,” I said with a stumbled out laugh as he matched it before giving me a friendly “see you around” style hug. We parted with a half wave and I started making my way back to the train station.

I made it with a bit of a light jog as Anna dragged me in the direction of the platform so we could catch the train just pulling into the station. We quickly collapsed into seats before she finally turned to me.

“So… who's this?” She asked tugging on the sleeve of the clearly borrowed t-shirt.

“The guy who’s couch I crashed on last night. I made a comment about feeling gross about being in last night's clothes that he lent me a t-shirt.” Lent, gave, I wasn’t certain I wanted to broach that topic with Anna yet. Roommate first, acquaintances second. “How ‘bout you? Did you at least get coffee?”

“Yeah, he made a comment about his roommate being out so we ordered breakfast at his place, he was so nice.” She gushed. I watched as the realization crossed her face, “wait you said you’d tell me how you knew what he looked like when we met up,” she lightly wacked my arm with the back of her hand, “spill.”

I laughed and rubbed the back of my neck, “I was at breakfast with his roommate. Also known as his brother.” I said.

“Shut up! No fucking way,” she said with a laugh. We were getting looks from a few commuters in our immediate area and I tried to quiet her down. “That’s too funny,” she said in a slightly quieter tone. “Are you seeing him again?”

“Are you?” I countered.

“Maybe, he gave me his number, but I’m not certain.” She said, “Now tell me you coward,”

“Maybe,” I countered and she groaned at my dramatics.

“Insufferable, you fink.” She joked. I grinned a little as we continued some small talk before I agreed to let her rest on my shoulder until we got to the campus’ stop. 

I fished my phone out and figured that I should probably try and organize a date huh?

[tfp-enthusiast]

Tiny!Transformers Ratchet

[Saw this a few months ago some where, i sadly don't know where anymore, and the idea came back to me so i decided to make this.]

[I will make other bots too and if you want some scenarios etc.]

It started of as an normal sunday, you and the other kids had a sleepover at the base, in disguise of a sleepover at your place so their parents wouldn't be suspicious about it, and where still a little tired.

Raf just got up and was just reading something while eating breakfast and Jack was still sleeping.

Bulkhead and Arcee where on a mission to possibly find a new relic and Miko was allowed to go with them.

You where just vibing in the medbay and slowly waking up but you still wanted to help Ratchet.

It only got a little more hectic when Miko was back and started to be loud, nothing new about that tbh.

"Hey Ratchet! Look what we found in some old mine! It looks like a music box!"

You could hear Ratchet sigh out of frustration at Miko's nonstop talking but he didn't say anything yet.

Arcee gave Ratchet the relic and to be honest if you didn't know better you too would think that it was a speaker that they used on festival's and concerts.

You heard Jack groan, Miko probably woke him up, and Arcee chuckle before walking towards him and having a small chat.

"What do you think is this Ratch'?

"I'm not sure yet, Y/n, but i will try to find it out by getting a look inside"

You examined it from where you sat, a hammock that was way to big for you that was hangig between the monitors, and the more you looked at it the more it looked like some sort of gun out of your eyes.

It was relatively blocky but it had some sort of trigger and there where also many buttons on the seemingly back.

Both you and Ratchet flinched when you heard Miko's guitar sounds trough the base.

The relic fell down because Ratchet's arm moved a little to fast and it landed with a loud bang on the floor.

Ratchet was about to say something, chances are high he was about to scold Miko, but the relic suddenly made a whirring sound and the room was filled with a white flash for a minute or so.

When you could see again you couldn't see Ratchet, you looked around but still saw the others.

You jumped down onto where the relic stood a few moments ago and looked down to see the relic with a few cracks and some sparks coming out of it.

You also saw something on the floor, you quickly got down but it seems like Bulkhead and Miko where faster than you.

"Ratchet got shrunk down! Awww you look kind of cute like that-"

"Miko don't you dare think about it!"

When you where on the floor you saw it clearly: Ratchet, a very grumpy Ratchet, he couldn't be taller than 40 inches.

Miko was about to pick him up but you could stop her from doing so by stepping in front of her.

She let out an audible groan and pouted at you for ruining her fun.

While you where busy protecting Ratchet from a touchy Miko where Optimus and Bumblebee back from a scouting mission.

"What happened here?"

"We don't know to be honest.."

Bulkhead got Miko to sit on his shoulder after some time, which both you and Ratchet where thankful for, and you helped Ratchet onto the small human area so Optimus could see him and talk with him.

"What are we gonna do now?"

"I am not sure, we will try to repair the relic and turn Ratchet back to his original size but we don't know what to do until then."

"It was already hard to not step on you kids but Ratchet now? It seems impossible.."

There was a short moment of silence before Optimus had an idea.

"Could anyone of you four help us with Ratchet? Your size would make it a lot easier."

You looked at each other and there was a moment of awkward silence before Jack spoke.

"I'm not so sure how i could explain that to my mom Optimus.. I mean i would love to help but i don't think i can."

"I'm afraid that i can't too. Tomorrow is a holiday and my family is having a small trip, i can't really bring him there."

You could see Miko grin and it seems like Ratchet saw it too because you saw a worried look in his eye.

You didn't have anything to do tomorrow, your parents would only be there in the morning, go to work and back in the late afternoon to go to sleep.

"I could. I have nothing to do tomorrow and my parents wouldn't even be at home to see Ratchet."

"I have nothing to do tomorrow too! We could both watch over him, my host parents wouldn't even question why he is there."

You believed that, Miko told you sometimes about her home here and in Japan, and from what you heard she did you could understand why her host parents where a little scared of her, you would be too.

"I take Y/n's offer."

It was clear that he would choose you, you where his charge and you where sure he was horrified of going with Miko, and you had a feeling that Miko knew it too.

That didn't stop her from pouting but she begrudgingly accepted it.

You stayed for a hour or so before all had to go home, you didn't have to considering it wasn't even 3 pm and your parents wouldn't be home in a few hours but you decided that it would help everyone on the base if Ratchet was away for a short time.

He probably doesn't even know it but he was pressuring everyone around him about turning him back.

You got driven back by Optimus because there was no one else that could.

"Thanks for the drive Optimus. Just text me or call me when you repaired the relic."

"Of course, i wish you a good night Y/n and i promise you Ratchet, we will find a way to turn you back."

"I sure hope so, goodbye Optimus."

You had to take an elevator to your apartment, because you wouldn't be walking into the 21th floor with him in your backpack.

You opened the backpack once you where inside the elevator to look if he was okay, thankfully no one took the elevator that moment, and he just looked around confused.

"Is this your 'home'?"

You had to laugh at his comment but soon you stopped when you reached your floor.

"No, that's my home, over there."

You gave Ratchet a small tour of your home, it wasn't big or luxurious but it was enough for you.

The only room you didn't show him was your parents bedroom, obviously, and your room because you where a little embarrassed about showing it to him.

You where in the kitchen while Ratchet was looking at your living room, the kitchen has an open wall that lead into the living room, and you made yourself a sandwich and took some juice out of the fridge.

"Y/n what room is that? I don't recall that you told me what room that is."

"Oh? That's my room, nothing wild."

"I would like to see it."

It would have happened sooner or later, you just nodded and told him that when you finished eating you will go to your room.

You looked at the clock really quick to see that it was almost 5 pm now, your parents would be home soon.

You stoop up and Ratchet followed suit, it seems like he was really curious about your room.

"Here it is, don't expect too much please."

You let Ratchet in your room and closed it behind him so that if your parents come home they wouldn't see him.

Ratchet went straight for your TV that was on the opposite of your bed while you just took the remote and sat down on your bed.

"What is this?"

Ratchet held a CD in his hand from your favorite game.

"Just a game of mine, do you want to play it?"

Ratchet shook his head and you just shrugged before putting on a random movie to watch with him.

You patted the space beside you so he would sit down next to you.

Ratchet just let out an 'annoyed' sigh and sat down next to you.

By the end of the movie you where barely awake and Ratchet told you to just lay down so you won't fall over and hurt yourself.

So you did, but in your groggy state you didn't seem to think and hugged Ratchet from behind and went under the covers.

He just grumbled while the next movie came on and decided that you won't even remember it and that it is actually comfortable like this.

You did remember and when you where alone you would sometimes tease him about being the perfect teddy bear.

The next day you got an text from Optimus that the relic is repaired and that he will be waiting for you in the next parking lot.

You where kinda say about it but you knew that the base would sink into chaos without the medic.

It was still one of the best day's in your life and for Ratchet it was a good way to make him relax a day.

[bergeronprocess]

9/25/24

It’s raining really hard today and it just made me think about a rainy day in Paldea and how my original/game protagonist character might deal with that.

Also good god I love Scarvi so much but they REALLY needed to give the areas proper names. 

Well, there go my plans, thought Violetta the moment she opened her eyes. The rain was driving hard against her window, the world outside tinged in gray, creating a morning darker than it should have been. Her plan had been to head out to South Province Area 4 and go on a Pokemon catching spree, but immediately she knew the marshy area would be even worse than usual with all this hard rain and it was just going to be a miserable time.

So instead, it was time to create a plan B.

Violetta sat up, stretched and looked over to see her partner Pokemon Sprigatito (Spriggy for short) still curled up asleep in her bed, which just so happened to be shaped like a pizza. She knew that wouldn’t be the case for much longer, though, so she hopped out of bed and immediately saw to filling Spriggy’s bowl with kibble. The sound of the kibble woke her up and she ambled over to get her breakfast, her Everstone clinking on her collar as she walked. She meowed approvingly and began to eat.

“As for me,” Violetta said aloud, her accent giving away her Wyndonian heritage. “Breakfast here, or at the dining hall?” She took a quick inventory of what was available in her cabinets and found a box of Choco-Pokeball cereal, her absolute favorite. “Right, that’s the way!” And so she poured herself a big bowl of it, added some Moomoo Milk from her fridge, then sat at her desk and opened her laptop to browse the internet while she ate.

A quick check of the weather confirmed that this rain would be falling all day. Violetta had already attended all of her required class sessions for the week, so she didn’t have that as a backup plan. No new messages had popped up in her Uva Academy email account overnight and her direct messages inbox was empty on the Uva Grapes social media site. The weather was too dreadful for her to want to visit her mum’s restaurant in Los Platos. She really and truly had no plans.

What to do?!

She got cleaned up and got dressed in casual clothes (not needing to go to class meant no need for uniforms), recalled Spriggy to her Pokeball, made sure she had her purse and left her room.

Having arrived in Paldea at the start of this school year after moving to the region with her mum, Violetta found herself in a surprising new role at Uva Academy. She was popular. All the other kids seemed to be interested in her. The combination of Galarian accent, battling Team Star on her first day, her unusual Cyclizar-like Pokemon with a color that matched her hair and her willingness to give anything a go had endeared her to the population. It was very much the opposite of her experience back in Galar, where she purposefully distanced herself from everyone because her father kept her up to her eyeballs helping to run the bed and breakfast. It was different - and it was nice.

She said hi to everyone she saw as she made her way, using only internal hallways and corridors so as to stay dry, into the library. Her father hadn’t allowed her to have a Pokemon, so she felt she was lagging behind other students in terms of her Pokemon knowledge. Thankfully the library had tomes upon tomes to help her get up to speed. She spent some time quietly reading up on her type advantages - some of them made sense to her, but she really struggled to master others - and then felt her phone vibrate.

It was her best mate Nemona! 

“What’s up today?” read her text message. 

“Literally nothing. Not going anywhere in this rain!” Violetta answered.

“I hear that,” Nemona answered. “Me neither. Classes?”

“Finished them for the week.”

“Same. Nowhere indoors to battle safely either :( Ugh this sucks.” That was a relatively down note for the eternally chipper Nemona, thought Violetta. “Where you at?”

“Library. Reading up on type advantages. I just can’t make heads or tails of Poison type!”

“Just try to remember that the ground safely absorbs poison and that a psychic can see the poison coming and avoid it!” Oh, that’s actually quite a good mnemonic. No wonder she’s a Champion, thought Violetta. “Let’s get some churros at the dining hall.” Well, go on then!

The two girls sat side-by-side, facing outward, all the better to people-watch as they dunked their freshly-made churros into luscious chocolate sauce. Nemona was chatting away about how she battled a third year after class yesterday and totally schooled him, he had no idea what he was up against, he was so mismatched, he…

Then suddenly Violetta felt like she could barely hear Nemona despite her literally being right there. A certain someone walked into the dining hall and time seemed to slow down entirely, like in a movie. Everything else faded away for a moment. He even has his hair up in a Ponytatail, thought Violetta as she felt herself get warmer and felt her heart start to beat faster and faster. I love when he has his hair in a Ponytatail.

Arven made a Beedrill-line straight for the counter. Violetta couldn’t hear whatever he was ordering over the sound of her own heartbeat in her ears. She absentmindedly continued to dunk the same churro in her chocolate sauce over and over again - it was rapidly becoming a mushy mess - he looked so good saying thank you to the staff members and then receiving his tray of food, she couldn’t stop staring, his arms looked so strong holding that tray, did he work out or something, wait hold on, hold on, is he…

“Little buddy!” he said brightly, smiling from ear to ear as he noticed Violetta sitting there. Overly excited, she waved…the hand that had been dipping that churro so thoroughly, flinging chocolate sauce all over.

“Oye!! Stop that!!” Nemona protested, flailing her arms about, scrambling to grab a napkin.

“Oh no!! Sorry!!” Violetta said with an embarrassed gasp, letting go of the churro so it would plop onto her tray before realizing she’d splattered chocolate sauce all over her shirt. Now she felt mortified, so much so that she just wanted to shrink into her chair. Arven probably thinks I’m mad, or an idiot, or both.

But instead, he just kept smiling, set down his tray containing a mug of Tapu Cocoa topped with pink marshmallows that had Ditto faces on them and put his oversize backpack onto the chair in front of his tray. Unzipping one of its many, many pockets, he retrieved a towel and offered it to Violetta.

“Here,” he said, his voice as warm as that Tapu Cocoa must be. “It’s OK. Happens to us all sometimes.” 

Her hand trembling, Violetta took the towel and somehow managed to thank him before she attempted to tidy up her shirt. She was able to mop up some of the damage, but she still knew she’d have to go back to her room, change shirts and pop over to the laundry room. Guess that’s my plan for the afternoon then, she thought. Wait, this towel’s going to need washing up as well, won’t it…

“Looking better already,” he said, his voice still as warm as the sun. Even though Violetta still felt quite mortified, his voice did seem to comfort her a bit. 

“Ay, I’ll need to wash this shirt,” Nemona mumbled under her breath. 

“Th-thanks again,” Violetta mumbled. She could feel that her ears were warmer than usual, and she suspected she was blushing as well. “Erm, do you want this back?” she asked, gesturing to the dirtied towel. 

Arven chuckled a little bit. “Nah, all good. Keep it, little buddy.”

Little buddy…I kind of hate when he calls me that, but I also kind of love when he calls me that. Is that weird? That’s weird, isn’t it? Does he think I’m weird? Does he think about me at all? Does he have any idea that I fancy him? Violetta’s thoughts were racing.

Nemona, noticing that Violetta was temporarily on another planet, rolled her eyes and then spoke up louder than normal. “Thanks, Arven! That’s so kind of you! You’re so thoughtful!” She was intentionally laying it on thick. “Isn’t he so kind and thoughtful, Vi?”

“What? Huh? Yeah!! Er, yeah! Really…” Violetta turned red from ear to ear. “Really kind and really thoughtful.” She could hardly bear to look directly at him, the feelings were just so intense. “Really…thanks…” 

Arven smiled again. “Of course! Any time.” He then made to pick up his tray again. Oh no, is he leaving?! I’ve driven him off, Violetta lamented. But then he stopped. “Hey, little buddy, do you have any plans for tomorrow?” Her heart leapt in her chest. “I could just use your help with something if you’re not busy.” 

Violetta knew that was his attempt to remain subtle and not broadcast his Herba Mystica quest out loud to everyone in earshot. They’d already been on one outing before, so she was already familiar with this mission.

But Nemona, not knowing any of this backstory, saw it totally differently.

“Oye!!! Arven! Are you asking Violetta out on a DATE?!” she said at full volume. Violetta thought she was going to fall right out of her chair in shock! “Tomorrow is FRIDAY! That’s perfect for a DATE!” Then she grinned as she beheld Violetta and Arven, both as red as Tamato Berries, rendered fully unable to react for what seemed like an eternity.

Until…

“Er,” Violetta said quietly, her mouth dry. “I…would…I would like that.”

Arven looked surprised. “You would?” Violetta just nodded. “Well then…” Now he looked resolute. “Let’s go into town tomorrow night.”

Violetta was thrilled. All of a sudden, this boring rainy day had turned extremely interesting!

[wolfeyedwitch]

Charles needed to get blood for the little vampire. But first, Ollie.

He found the man in the living room, listening to music.

“Hello dear. Please, sit with me. I need to speak with you.”

Ollie instantly looked panicked, as he knew he would. Charles took the younger man’s hands in his own and smiled gently.

“Don’t fret, darling. I have news, but it shouldn’t mean much change for you, at least not right now. And I need you to understand, I adore you and will never replace you or get rid of you. Now, as for what exactly the news is, well.”

Charles took a deep breath and then said it.

“Someone sent me a vampire. To be my newest pet.”

Ollie instantly teared up, but he was doing a good job not fully crying. Charles wasn’t sure if that was something that should really be celebrated or not.

“You can cry if you need to, darling. As I just told you, I would never replace your or get rid of you. You are my wonderful muse. I adore you above anything else, my dear. But, that being said, I can’t exactly send the vampire away. They might get mistreated by someone cruel, and I’d never forgive myself for that. Do you understand?”

“I… I don’t know, Mr. Charles.“

“That’s okay. That’s perfectly okay, Ollie. It’ll be confusing for awhile, I’m sure.”

He patted Ollie’s hand, then thought of adding,

“Also, the vampire is quite starved and confused, I think, so I am going to keep them restricted to just a few rooms until they’re settled in. Perhaps a week or two at the most. These won’t be rooms you or I frequent. This will also allow you and I to become more accustomed to the idea of the vampire as well.”

Ollie nodded. A few tears rolled down his cheek. Charles handed him a handkerchief and the young man wiped his face.

“Mr. Charles?”

“Yes, darling?”

“Will the vampire be your new muse?”

Charles consider this for a moment.

“I don’t think so. I’m not very… artistically inspired by them. I strongly dislike starvation, which they have suffered greatly from. Plus, there’s just some people that I just don’t find as fascinating as others. Aesthetic attraction, I believe it’s called.”

Ollie nodded, still clearly quite shaken. Charles let go of one of his hands and cupped Ollie’s cheek.

“Dear, nothing will happen to you, I swear it. I shan’t get rid of you, no matter what. Please trust me.”

Ollie nodded.

“Okay, sir. I do.”

- - -

Charles, with the help of his wonderful assistants, had found a place nearby to buy bags of blood for vampires. He had bought enough to last them just about a week, as he was afraid of quickly the bags might expire.

About two hours after he had left, Charles re-entered the vampire’s room to find them curled up and asleep. They looked relatively peaceful like this, if he ignored the starvation and other glaring signs of mistreatment.

He debated about waking them, but decided against it. Instead, he just elf the blood bag on the other side of the room, figuring they’d just open it when they’re hungry and hopefully wouldn’t get too much blood on the blanket and pillows, since it’s far from the sleeping area, so there should be the minimal amount of spattering.

Part 1, Part 2

Part 3:

CW: starvation, internalized dehumanization, it as a pronoun, female vampire whumpee

The vampire didn't know how long it had been asleep when it finally woke. The room was an interior room, with no windows to judge time by. (It wouldn't let itself become hopeful about the lack of sunlight and what that meant about how its new owner would treat it.) Its internal clock was also all but entirely untrustworthy at this point, so it couldn't judge the time that way.

It noticed the change almost immediately.

Blood.

It could smell it. The plastic-and-disinfectant smell of the packaging did nothing to quell the instinctive surge of hunger as it focused on the bag of blood. It found itself crawling across the room, away from its sleeping nest and towards the empty corner where the blood bag lay on the ground, before it could catch itself.

No. Bad pet.

It was such a stupid creature. It wasn't allowed to take the blood, even if the bag was left in this room. Even if its new owner had said he would get it food, that wasn't the same as giving it permission to eat.

No, this was a test. Another test, just like the leniency the man had described earlier when saying what it was allowed to do. He obviously wanted to see its training in action, to see what it would do given such apparent freedoms.

Well. If he wanted to catch it misbehaving so he could punish it? He was out of luck.

It was better trained than that.

It straightened, transitioning from hands and knees to a kneel. It rested its hands on its knees and did its best to arrange its face into something akin to calm contentedness, rather than the aching, empty misery it truly felt.

Its owner would decide whether he wanted to punish it or not. It wouldn't give him any extra reasons to do so.

---

I'm still not sure who all to tag in a crossover like this, so please let me know if you'd prefer me not to!

@kim-poce @nonbinary-disaster @onlybadendings @neverthelass @its-mysweetlittlesecret-blog @ghostfacepepper @someonesnamesblog @rainbowsandwhumperflies @extemporary-whump @thecyrulik @myhusbandsasemni @heart4brains @kixngiggles @whumpsday @whumppsychology @elrysdoesstuff @towerlesskey @inkkswhumpandstuff @whumpycries @thingsthatgo-whump-inthenight @haro-whumps @pigeonwhumps @cc1010foxy @bloodinkandashes

[luke-r-gillespie]

May 9 - Imperial Palace / Yasukuni Shrine

Freewriting

I woke up today around 7 and practiced my Japanese by reviewing some kanji until getting ready to leave for breakfast at 8:30. After eating a light breakfast, I met up with the class for morning assembly. After a short assembly, we left for the center of Tokyo to visit the Imperial Palace. After exiting the station, we were met by the massive moat surrounding the palace (it was astoundingly wide, especially considering how limited technology was at the time of its construction.)

We walked around the palace first, giving me a pretty good understanding of how much land the structure actually spanned (its massive.) We waited in a short line to have our bags checked before being allowed on to the palace grounds. Upon entering, the first structure was old barracks for low ranking samurai defending the palace, the buildings roof was elegantly sculpted and depicted relevant historical crests. Moving further on to the property, we stopped to explore an expansive and beautiful garden.

It was refreshing to see such a expansive and lush green space in an area where the property would sell for an exorbitant price. I walked around the garden for thirty minutes, looking at the koi and well maintained greenery before moving on to the highest point of the palace.

After reaching the highest point, we left for the palace's exit to head to Yasukuni shrine. The shrine, which is a hotbed for controversy due to the enshrinement several war criminals was visually stunning. The massive gate at the entrance looked like something computer generated but despite the controversy, the shrine seemed relatively normal.

After seeing everything that the shrine had to offer, I left for lunch with Zachary, Griffin, Noah and Rich. We had pretty inexpensive beef bowls at a restaurant near the shrine before catching a train into Akihabara. Our first stop in Akihabara was Book Off, where I purchased two used manga volumes (one was Full Metal Alchemist and the other was a series I have never read.) Both manga are in Japanese so I'll do my best when reading them. After Book Off, we visited a few other cool spots in Akihabara before heading back to Hotel Edoya to do laundry (I stopped at 7/11 on the way back and picked up this months issue of Shonen Jump and some Pokémon cards.)

Academic Reflection

Yasukuni shrine seemed like all of the other shrines that we have visited on the trip thus far at a glance, but understanding the controversy paints the site in a new light. Enshrined at Yasukuni are fourteen class-A war criminals. On its own this is somewhat problematic due the actions taken by these individuals against both China and Korea during their times of power, but matters are made worse by the prime minister of Japan's annual visits to the shrine. Many argue that his visits are a direct violation of the separation of religion and government within Japan. While the government has no ability to affect who the priests enshrine and where they do so, they also do not have to support the enshrinement by having the prime minister visit. The situation is complex, as many members of the Japanese populous believe that it is a Japanese issue and this Korea and China should remain out of it. Korea and China however, find it highly offensive or so they say (many believe that the countries use the prime ministers visits as an excuse to heighten tensions between the three nations.) There is no single, please all solution to the situation and both sides are very vocal about their stances. However, none of this could be felt by me when we visited the shrine earlier today.

[kariachi]

I woke up and went 'I should do a post listing some of the changes I use when doing general Pern fic (aka 'not me bitching about something in literary form') to make shit work for me'. This is nonexhaustive and just what pops into my mind because it's one of those days.

Consent! It exists! Rider- and Handlerpairs come to consensuses ahead of time regarding who they're down to chase, who they're down to have chase, whether they're going to have chasers at all or are just going to vanish into the middle of nowhere and fly themselves, etc.

The whole 'this shit is resonating between us' thing is still there, but expanded to other areas and goes both ways. It's just strong feelings and urges in general. The effect is stronger coming from the dragonkin, as a general rule, due to their being naturally psychic and the rider/handler piggybacking off of them, but can be stronger from the human's side if they also have telepathic or empathic powers in their own right, depending on how strong those powers are and the strength of them in their Bonded.

Firestone doesn't act as a sterilizing agent, but as birth control. Golds don't have access to it, but there's always the option of only having non-siring chasers if you don't want to deal with that, and worst comes to worst as with humans Betweening at the right time can solve many problems.

Dragonkin do not care for human worries about disabled or queer or 'improper' candidates. Humans may put restrictions in place, but as far as dragons go all they're looking for is a compatible and complimentary personality of their rank. Everything else doesn't even enter into it. Barring people from Standing just means you get more Stands Impressions. And the whers don't even care about the rank thing, they look at your personality and how wher-y of a mind you have. All about those visual and abstract thinkers.

Dragonkin are divided amongst themselves by rank (green/blue/brown/bronze/gold/the nebulous spot Ruth is in which we'll get to/it depends) and mating style preference (rise/chaser/no thanks/yes please). Left to their own devices they don't have gendered pronouns as we recognize them, but dragons have picked them up from being so closely tied to humans for so long. The above typically correlate to biology, but don't regularly

Humans: It's weird how dragonkin are queer so much more often than humans are | Dragonkin: *know themselves and each other from birth and prioritize mental or physical stuff socially due to being Very Psychic* | Humans: *have queerphobia as a concept and run with it distressingly often* | Humans: Just fascinating how that happens

"Cometh is a he. Yes, he's a green and he Rises, what does that matter?" | "Jerask is a blue, and sometimes a gold- yes, I know she's small and green-colored- also she prefers to chase but running is good too if there's browns available."

Riderpairs don't survive broken bonds longterm, even if one half doesn't die soon after they pretty much always die by their own choice eventually. It could be two minutes it could be forty years, but they always suffer mental and physical health problems and always choose to die before their time.

Handlerpairs can and do survive broken bonds, though it's far from unheard of for one to be deadly on both ends.

Firelizards and whers can live for absolute ages, far longer than humans. Dragons bond so fiercely that it affects their own aging and that of their riders, allowing the rider a longer life but causing the dragon to age more quickly. The other two don't bond to the same degree.

If a firelizard outlives their bonded then they typically don't rebond to a human, though it's not unheard of. Whers, on the other hand, relatively often rebond after the loss of their bonded, most commonly to relatives of their bonded. In this way a wher can become the center of a family of handlers, having been one of them for generations. Even if they don't rebond, it's not uncommon for whers to stay with their bonded's close family.

Dragons bond too fiercely to share their riders, but whers are fully capable of doing so thanks to their looser bonds. Some have even managed to share with dragons, though it's a very rare occurrence.

While the physical traits of whers weren't planned, their ability to survive without Impressing was. The assumption most who understand dragons and whers were exposed to enough mentasynth to make them people and know the history make is that Kitti was working under the assumption she wasn't getting them to the 'people' stage when she programmed the dragons and that either there was an error somewhere or that a then-unknown facet of firelizard genetics caused the effects to be felt more strongly. Wind Blossom, cottoning on that hatching people who need to bond to other people or die is Fucked Up decided to make the next batches not need to bond, hoping that trait would be dominant. We've seen how it ended up.

Queen Councils. Consist of the active clutchers of a Weyr as well as the Weyrleader pair. Weyrleader pair is in charge of matters pertaining to Thread and fighting it, that's it, all other matters are handled by the queens.

Whers matter. Whers are important and beloved. Your standard bonded pair is typically in a position of status locally- though that status isn't expanded to non-bonded whers, they're just locals- though they're considered outstatused by riderpairs of similar rank. The exception is goldpairs, who share status equal to Weyrleadership, Lords, Mastercrafters.

Weyrs are primarily there for defense against Thread, but also can be called upon for long-distance transport- in general during an Interval and with prior scheduling and an understanding that Fall takes precedence during a Pass- aid with things like clearing land, emergency aid (large fires, avalanches, floods, etc), hauling time-sensitive goods, and more. All considered paid for via the tithing system.

Technically abortion services are included in that, going Between being generally safer than the herbal route, but in that case- where you just need a quick hop, skip, and jump- it's generally easier to just get in touch with a local wher or handlerpair if you can. They're not likely to have the coordinates needed for getting you to, say, Fort, but taking you to the other next cothold over and back real quick? Not an issue. You may have to pay for the service though, depending.

Whites are not a thing. Like, yes there's the very rare dragon that hatches out this odd conglomorate of ranks, but they aren't white. Ruth was white, but that's because Ruth had his own shit going on that made him seriously fucking pale. Normally they're much more saturated in tone and the wide variety of colors is more apparent. There's no real name for the rank, there's only been three dragons and four whers of it since they came into being and never at the same time, it's generally called something describing whatever example exists at the time. These dragons come in a wide size range, generally between 'smaller than greens' and 'small-brown-sized', and also display colors from all the other ranks. So far all evidence points to them being infertile.

.

[justanotherstory]

Hold Upp!!

It is not what you think...

This story isn't about getting locked in a jail lock up, but this story is about me, my sister and my parents getting locked outside our home ..

An adventurous, a thrilling experience in itself. Now when we look back , we laugh about it, but at that moment, when we were in that situation, it was horrific..

Okay, so the story starts with us leaving our home for some relative's  wedding to attend, which was in some other city and took 2-3hrs to arrive.. My grandparents were home as usual (they don't travel much) . My dad locked the door and gave the keys to my grandma and left without taking the duplicate keys .

Everything was going smoothly until we reached back home at around 1 am. My dad parked the car in the garage and pressed the doorbell but no one came out, so he ringed my grandma's telephone once and then again and again,  but everytime it was the same thing, “The person you're trying to reach is out of the network coverage area”...WHHAATT!!?

He then honked the car horn multiple times but neither of my grandparents came to see what was happening..(If you're wondering,their room is literally just above the garage). Now more of my neighbours had gathered 'to check' .

What do we do next !!?? My neighbours tried to offer help by allowing us to sleep in their houses, but the question was not about a place to sleep, but it was more about my grandparents' safety. Were they safe? Did anyone break into our house ? Or was it something else ?

Then my dad thought of a masterplan, and threw his shoe towards their room's window and he missed it terribly .. Then he did the same with the second one and it did hit the target but it wasn't much help. (Just in case you're wondering why he didn't throw a stone or something, then the reason for not doing it was it might break the glass and hurt my grandparents) . We tried using a ladder but it didn't reach the top. So it was time for Masterplan B.

Okay, let me brief you about the plan. So the idea was to get onto the balcony of the adjacent house and then jump to my balcony. Sounds simple and easy, indeed it was. But here comes the twist. We ringed their doorbell and they also didn't reply. Another neighbour told us that they weren't in the town . But wait, we can modify the plan, right!!? So , now the plan was to go to the balcony of the third house, then jump to my neighbour's balcony and then jump to mine. And do you know who was chosen to execute this plan !!? It was me .. (•_• )

I went, on third neighbour's balcony and tried to get on the adjacent neighbour's balcony but there was a gap inbetween the two houses which this small kid was terrified to jump over.

Just imagine a child hanging out on a balcony railing and crying out loud while others are motivated to jump(obv. not to jump off the balcony but to jump over the gap). Finally, my dad pulled me back up and then everyone was convinced that this plan was also a fail until my mom stepped up and said that she would do it .. and she went on and did it..She literally aced it like some marvel character. She jumped on the neighbour's and then ours and then silently walked over to their window and peeped inside and saw ............

My grandparents were asleep, then my mom called them and they woke up and were like ...what are you doing here!!? My mom asked, why didn't you open the door, and my grandma replied that she was asleep so she didn't hear any noise and then she added that we could have just called her.(⁠*⁠_⁠*⁠)

That day I was sure that my mom surely had some Spiderman skills. This story taught us to carry at least the spare keys with us every time we go out!!

So, I was very sleepy that day and now I don't have any clear visuals, plus I couldn't even find anything that represents this situation, so the designs for the post is a representation of our masterplan :

Hope you enjoyed reading this blog . This was 'Just Another Story'.

This is me,

Signing off!! <<33

[somethinginscoutcounty]

June 5th 2024 entry in a diary by Erik Karim-Belyaev

6/5/2024

I'm finally able to write or actually do anything without being in pain. A lot has happened a lot that I don't even remember or was even conscious for. I don't know where to start or even how to start I learned all these things myself rather than remembering or even knowing it. Here I have something that can at least help.

(a section of the Scout County Weekly Newspaper dating to April 22, 2024 is glued into the journal, reading as follows)

"New word on the five young adults who went missing on a spring break camping trip in Scout Wyoming National Park last week, not returning on the day they were meant to come back. Last week on the night of the 16th one of the missing persons, Aubrey Donnely-Yang, was found stumbling around the forest area close to the more populated common grounds dazed, confused, and distressed. She was rushed to the hospital to be treated for injuries and potential effects like dehydration and starvation. However, in the early morning of the 17th, Erik Karim-Belyaev was found farther into to forest in the parts known as Deeper Green unconscious with injuries such as lacerations and broken bones along with other injuries. He too was rushed to the hospital to be treated. The remaining three, Graciela and Michael Ellis-Ramã­rez, and Francisca Lambert are yet to be found, but police, search and rescue, and locals are continuing the search for them in hopes that they can be found and rescued. Details on what happened and caused the disappearances are scarce and it's not known whether the group had gotten lost while out in the wilderness or if something else happened."

(diary continues)

So yeah. I got found in the middle of the woods nearly bled to death. I don't remember what happened to me or even what happened to us. All I do remember was all five of us taking the hike in the park to go and find a campsite for our stay and the first day of the actual vacation but after that I have nothing. The next thing I know I wake up in a hospital room hooked up to all kinds of stuff and my body hurts. Apparently, I was out for a few days and finally woke up on the 20th. I had to get a shit tone of stitches for the cuts and lacerations I had. My left shoulder was dislocated, had a broken nose, and I had two broken ribs. I had some kind of rash on a lot of my body that burned so bad and the bandages didn't help at all. I was bedridden at the hospital for weeks and still ordered to stay in bed as much as I could when I took the option to take the rest of my healing time at home where Dad could take care of and watch over me. Of course, Mama came back home leaving her work down in Brazil to see me and also help take care of me. I've been here since April since SCU allowed me to take all the time I needed to heal.

It hasn't been easy though. For a lot of different reasons. Both because I was in pain most of the time since being found and let out thanks to all the soreness and pain in my body from my ribs and the rash that I had for a while, and also because it's been nearly two months and no one else has been found other than me and Aubrey. I'm starting to get worried I've known Gracie, Michael, and Franky since middle school and high school and they mean a lot to me, so much. I'm glad that Aubrey is okay too but I haven't heard from her at all. I don't know what her condition is or how she's doing. I've been waiting for her to call or even text me but I haven't gotten anything.

Mom and Dad have been doing great at making sure I'm okay. relatives have come to see me too along with Nathan coming over too from the campus dorms since he said the dorm room feels weird being so empty now. he's brought Genie along a couple of times. I like Genie, don't get me wrong, but I don't know her too well like Nathan does but she's still cool.

I just hope everything turns out okay in the end.

-Erik

[samanthamarkle92]

Hey followers! Here part three of my Call of Duty: Modern Warfare fan story! Sorry if it's a little short; I’m building up for the next few chapters that features some big events as the story goes on! My previous installments are here: part one and part two!

Much love to @nsharks @loonyundead @m0chac0ffee and @cravingcoldoreocake123 ❤️ @ladyelissarose

***********

When Ghost woke up the next morning, he felt better.

Still weak, but much better than yesterday. The only thing he noticed was that Farid wasn’t present. Amina brought him some kind of flatbread for breakfast, which he ate quickly.

“Where’s Farid?”

“He went to the village. We grow most of our vegetables, but buy the rice and other food.”

Ghost nodded, knowing the cultural norms of women not being allowed outside their homes.

“Farid jokes that when he’s old enough, we can go into the village together. He doesn’t remember when women could go alone.”

Amina handed Ghost a folded paper. It was a map of Afghanistan and a few surrounding countries. It was in English; left over from her time in school. It showed many different roads.

“We have a radio; I’ve been listening where the different armies are. The black dots are the Taliban held areas. British camps are across the mountains. There are a few people that leave the village regularly to go to the other regions. Those roads are relatively safe and under travelled. You should be able to take one to one of the British camps.”

“How soon can I get there?”

“There’s a few men in the village who worked with both the American and British during the occupation. They can get you there.”

Ghost nodded his thanks. He would need to be careful crossing the mountains. They were steep and jagged. He was certain that once he crossed those passes he wouldn’t be able to cross the border again.

“You can lay low here until we can get you out.” Amina said.

“I’m putting you and Farid in danger just being here.”

She shook her head.

“We’re safe. As long as no one comes out here. The Talibs only come out here to look for food and weapons. They haven’t been here in a few months. ”

“That could change.”

Amina gave him a sharp look.

“You don’t have much time to figure out how to get to England.”

“I’ll think of something.”

“Well, you have weapons at least.” Amina answered, nodding to the gun leaning against the wall. Ghost also had his side arm in a holster and combat knife. He just had to wait; wait until he was healed enough to leave.

[rebrandedstoryline]

Overlapped Timelines - 2

Next part of the weird au of an au that features @zenkaiankoku’s noodle bois.

          When the woman woke, she woke with a start. Then with a groan. Her body ached all over. Mostly her chest and her right arm, which had suffered the most beneath the insane grip of the daytime attendant. To make matters a bit more of a hazard, she was in a high up area with no plausible means of safely getting down on her own. Not to mention the fact that when she awoke, she awoke to find the animatronic looming over her. If not for the fact that she was in a fair amount of pain, she might have tried to drag herself away from him.

          “Hello---o friend~! Did you enjoy your nap~? Golly, you were out for a while. Have you been getting enough sleep at night? Oh! Should I go find some blankets?! We can have a sleep over!” Sun spoke, blurting out a whole series of questions in an excited manner. All the while moving closer. He leaned down, practically pressing his face against the woman as his hands tightly gripped the floor beside her. Though he was seemingly unaware of his own strength, he appeared to be putting a conscious effort into not manhandling her further.

          That idea did not put the woman any more at ease. Knowing that she could be unexpectedly grabbed and smothered at any moment was rightly concerning. Slowly, so as to not somehow alarm the animatronic with an abrupt movement, she began to back herself out from under him. At first, he seemed oblivious to her actions. However, he was not so easily tricked into allowing her to get away. She only need to move a short distance, before whatever hesitation he had in grabbing her was gone.

          One long, rope like arm snaked down to grasp her by the leg, at which point he nonchalantly yanked her back to him. There came a very quiet pop in response, followed by a twinge of pain. That had been her hip popping out of socket for a moment. Only a moment. The bone only came partway out, resulting in it immediately being sucked back into place. She was going to be very, very sore following today’s events. If she actually managed to survive. At this rate, she may actually get violently snuggled to death.

          “Now, don’t wander off, friend~! You need to keep close. Stay where I can see you~ It’s no time to play hide and seek.” Sun excitedly uttered, now moving to stand. Ayala was then dragged a short distance from where she had been napping, over to a little area that had been set up for arts and crafts. Being dragged across the floor was unpleasant in its own right. Especially after nearly having her hip dislocated.           “Its time to color~!” He added, lifting the woman up by her leg, before using his other hand to grab her by an arm. He then let go of her leg, sort of allowing gravity to flip her upright. At which point he just sort of dropped her back onto the floor. Her bum hit the hard surface with an audible thud. Once she was sat down, a messy stack of crumpled coloring books were pushed in her directly. Along with a relatively mangled box of crayons.           “I don’t have a lot of colors left, but that’s okay! We can use our imaginations!” He added, happily ripping open one of the remaining coloring books to look for a page which hadn’t been scribbled on yet. For a moment, the woman was left staring at him in a state of confusion. She was weighing her options. With how casually this animatronic manhandled her, she realistically needed to find some way out of his possession as soon as possible. With her so high up and pretty seriously hurt, she also needed some means of him getting her down without her body winding up in a worse state.

          She shifted rather uncomfortably, already feeling her hip beginning to throb in protest of her recent robot-manhandling. The throbbing pain emanating through her body admittedly dampened her ability to think coherently. The best idea that she could come up with was bluntly telling him that she needed to go home soon and needed to be able to see Moon before she left. Given that she couldn’t think of anything else, that would have to do it.

          “Sunny, sweetness. I don’t have time to color today. I need to home soon, and I still need to speak with Moon.” Ayala uttered, snapping the daytime attendant out of his happy little daze. She audibly heard the crayon he had been coloring with get crushed in his grip. Oh. Oh that probably wasn’t a good sign. His smile had wavered. He seemed to be pouting a bit.

          “But why---y?! Why talk to that meanie at all! He’s bad! You can just forget about him and color with me until its time to go home!” Sun responded, pouting rather obviously as he spoke. He unintentionally crumpled his coloring book into a ball in the midst of his protest. That response only made her nervous. There was a genuine fear that she might wind up being the next thing to be crumpled into a ball, given the recent string of events. Okay. She had to try and rein him in. She had to try and get him to give her a bit of control over the situation.

          “Sun. I’d love to stay and color, but I still have work to do. I have to meet with Moon, and when I get home I have to get started on things for the books.” Ayala responded, only to be rewarded by an irritated noise from the animatronic. Alright. Try again. Rein him in.           “Sunny, we’re friends, right?” She inquired, giving the animatronic a sort of pleading look as she offered a soft, sort of hesitant smile. The daytime attendant offered a violent nod in response to this.

“Yes! Yes! We’re best friends!” Sun replied, sounding both excited and worried. Like he was afraid that he was about to be told that she didn’t want to be friends with him.

          “Well. Friends try to help each other. They make compromises with each other. I still have to get my work done. I’ll be gone for a few days. If you do me this little favor, and let me talk to Moon, then I’ll do you a favor when I come back. Anything you want.” Ayala offered, attempting to reason with the animatronic. In response to this, the daytime attendant grumpily crossed his arms and pouted. For a moment, it looked as if he wasn’t going to cooperate at all. Then he cast her a sort of pleading look of his own.

          “Anything? You promise? You promise?” Sun responded, almost sounding desperate. The woman mentally kicked himself for unwittingly signing a verbal contract she might regret having to comply with.

          “Anything you want.” Ayala replied. As much as she might regret these choices, she needed him to cooperate. Given she would be working in close proximity with him for a while, she just had to hope it would be a promise that she was physically able to keep.

          “... Then you have to come back play games with me. All day! Until the Pizza Plex closes.” Sun responded. The woman mentally let out a sigh of relief in response to this. The poor guy must have been pretty lonely, all locked away in the daycare all the time.

          “Of course~” Ayala replied, offering a more genuine smile.           “I can even bring some new crayons and some coloring books, if you want. These ones seem a bit... Old.” She added. This wasn’t some coy tactic at manipulation. The coloring books were all very clearly old and had already been scribbled in and manhandled multiple times, from the look of them. It only seemed fair to try and bring along some extra supplies to make it easier for them to play. There were only so many ways to re-color a picture book with three different broken crayons.

          “Really~?!” Sun blurted out, sounding genuinely excited by that suggestion. In fact, he seemed so excited that he was very clearly about to grab her again. Call it some quick thinking. Call it fight or flight mode switched on to the max after having already been manhandled a few times already. Ayala somehow, by means of a miracle, managed to out maneuver the robotic limbs of the animatronic as they reached to ensnare her again. It was if she’d reacted to a life and death situation.

          Everything had suddenly slowed down for a moment, allowing her to sort of grab Sun’s arms well enough to sort of push herself towards his body and away from his arms. Something which seemed to not only catch her off guard, but catch him off guard. He offered a short but excited cackle in response.

          “Golly! That was a good trick! Are you an acrobat~?!” Sun chimed, seemingly so distracted enough by what she had just done that he didn’t immediately try to grab at her again. Which was good. She most definitely couldn’t pull off that stunt a second time. The awkward part about this was that she was once again trapped under him, having only been prevented from sliding down further by bumping into his knees.

          “Er... No, not really. I uh...” Ayala awkwardly stammered, genuinely baffled by what she had just pulled off. She hadn’t performed a stunt like that since trying to evade the black mass of goo and wires that Afton had become. And when she had done that, her body was in pretty good condition. Right now, her body was absolutely livid with her for having done what she just did. She awkwardly cleared her throat, trying to think of a way to change the subject while heavily distracted by the pain.           “I-I just realize how close it is to being time for me to leave! Yeah. So we really need to bring Moon out so I can introduce myself.” She responded, sort of awkwardly going with what first came to mind. This, in turn, coaxed another groan out of the animatronic. He was still being grumpy. Still wanting to resist the fact that Moon needed to come out.

          “Humph. Fine. But there are rules! Rules that you have to follow! No buts! Mr. Moony Meanie Pants is very dangerous and could hurt you! So you have to stand in the light outside the daycare. Don’t leave the light. I won’t be able to help you while the lights are out.” Sun responded bitterly, giving the woman some very, very stern instructions. She sighed in response. Alright, fair enough. Her Moon had technically been dangerous, so it made sense that this one was a bit of a threat. Probably more of a threat. If this Sun was so unintentionally rough, there was no telling what this Moon was capable of.

          “Alright, Sunny. I promise.” Ayala responded, making a sort of ‘cross my heart’ motion as she did so. Not that it really seemed to satisfy the animatronic all that much.

[harmoniousworld]

I wanted to document this here if that's allowed. I have a comorbid situation along with EDS. I went to the ER today. Idk if I'm having a side effect from a new medicine or not. While at the ER, at about 4:00 a.m., I took "magic mouthwash" along with Amoxicillin, given by the ER doctor. I have taken the Amox. in the past and tolerated it rather well.

The side effects I felt of the mouthwash only lasted for 30 minutes. My throat got tight, but it was nothing major... nothing overly alarming.

Then I got home at about 5 or 6 a.m. and fell asleep by about 7:10 a.m. I slept for only 45 minutes before a new, unusual, alarming "ailment" woke me up. **Note: I may have had a similar event during 20 min of sleep before even heading to the ER, but I was not fully aware of what happened during my sleep that triggered the medical attack.

So, as for the medical event at 7:10 a.m., I really don't know if this was the same event as which I experienced before or if it was new and possibly from the medicine. Maybe the Amoxicillin was too strong of a dose for my body size.

This new symptom is extremely scary, and I'm not sure how to describe it fully, but I'll do my best:

I woke up with intense head pressure, but not my usual migraine or pressure that I have everyday. This was on top of it. And during this episode, I felt intense seizurish activity, but no seizure that was visible or even felt. No shaking. No staring type of seizure either. Electrical feeling. During this episode, I felt like my brain was very confused and disoriented (way worse than when you typically awaken). I felt like I was about to have a seizure, but I didn't. (I do get seizures regularly and oftentimes will get the warning.) But this was so different. It really didn't feel like a type of seizure. Anyway, it also felt like I was actively dying.... not to be confused with being afraid of dying. I was not panicked or afraid. It happened out of nowhere. I felt my brain like scrambling the electrical wires and trying to connect while the intense head pressure let up. The episode mostly resolved, until I went back to sleep for 1 second and it happened again. I woke up, took 20 seconds to recover, and went back to asleep... only to repeat again. I do have central sleep apnea, by the way. I feel like this is a mixture of some existing ailments, combined with a bad reaction to one of the medicines. I am now avoiding sleep because when I fall asleep I literally feel myself start to enter this most horrifying (for me) symptom.

I also need to mention I have an infection in a gland with tons of swelling (when I eat) that has spread to my head, ears, & neck.

Despite the infection, I don't currently feel feverish, weak, or the way one usually feels with an infection. (I did feel weak and feverish yesterday, though.) I only feel intense pain near the areas of the infection. I also do have a migraine with ear and eye pressure and hundreds of other symptoms that aren't new for me.

I feel the doctor was very negligent because he addressed no side effects of the medication, and he told me there were no further tests for my gland, which was a lie. He was confident that I had a tumor or stone— something blocking my salivary gland. He also kept walking away every time I tried to ask a question. I think he probably just had a lot of patients to tend to and maybe they were understaffed. I just felt like I was kind of left in the dark with all of these questions, and he felt really annoyed with me having to answer any of them let alone the 20 questions I had. They were actually relatively short questions. He cut me off when I 1st arrived as well and I never got to give him the full story. I spoke for 3 minutes straight and I was not allowed to really give the story.

[marshmallowwitharubberband]

This morning I woke up with the realization that the cop who pulled me over at mignight on a deserted street for skipping a stop sign (that I didn't see bc I was looking for an address, sorry) and kept insisting the fine was really expensive, like REALLY expensive after I assured him, multiple times, that it was ok, it had been my bad, and to just give me the ticket and please tell me where the street I was looking for was (phone had died) didn't actually had pity on me out of the goodness of his heart (I went to pay the fine the next day and there was no infraction on the system, now that I recall he didn't physically give me the ticket either, he just drove away) . He was trying to goad me into bribing him. It's sad, but it's relatively common in my area, that cops will try to pin infractions on people, said people will offer a few bills and the infraction will be dropped, I've even seen it happen, it just hadn't happened to me... now, maybe this cop was a genuinely good person who saw a lost and stressed young woman in a 25-year old car and went "ugh... no, my conscience won't allow it". But honestly, all signs point to it being a bribing hook and me being too dumb to bite. It also took me 3 months to realize it.

I'm, apparently, too stupid for corruption.

[gimmie-a-sammich]

To Rule Them All | Chapter 13 | Time of Love

Pairings: Idol!Ateez/???!Ateez x Fem!Original Characters

Summary: Alexis is about to have the summer of a lifetime traveling the country with some of her best friends following one of her favorite groups, Ateez. Little do they know, there is more to this group than meets the eye. Take a trip into the dark as they navigate a world unseen.

Genre: (18+ Minors DNI) smut, angst, fluff, supernatural vibes 

Chapter Warnings: bit of anxiety, unprotected sex (don't do this please), nipple play, vaginal sex, fingering, oral sex (f. receiving), dirty talk

Word Count: 16.2k

read here on AO3

To Rule Them All masterlist

previous chapter | next chapter

**

When I say time flew by, I meant it wholeheartedly. Between the trip home, packing for months worth of travel, and getting Scout ready to go spend time with grandma Gale I felt like I had no room to breathe. Thankfully, Gale didn’t put up much of a fight when we informed her of the once in a lifetime opportunity, even if we did have to be mum on the details. She didn’t press us much, however it wasn’t too hard to figure out some of what was going on. The comments about us being delusional were at a minimum once Gale figured out the gist of our adventure. She didn’t ask too many questions, simply because she knew we would not have the ability to answer them. Promises were made to check in frequently, both via texts and video calls to make sure our precious fur babies were being well taken care of and to let Gale know we were alive and well. 

The flight to Chicago felt the same in terms of quickness. We were so adjusted to the hubbub of JFK and New York that we weren’t even phased by it at this point. Nikki had relatively gotten over her fear of flying, at least enough that it wasn’t too big of a battle to avoid the airport bar at seven in the morning regardless of how good mimosas sounded. She always sat on the aisle seat since she passed out with her headphones in so Christie and I would have the ability to entertain each other. Per usual, I was in the window seat. Christie was always so gracious to let me have it, allowing me to daydream in the clouds whenever I wanted. 

It was smooth sailing through the sky and the three-ish hour flight went by without a hint of major turbulence. Nikki slept the entire time while Christie and I watched a couple of episodes of Tokyo Ghoul per my request before ending the flight listening to our music seperately. Silence was always welcome and comfortable between us, never awkward. We woke Nikki once the pilot signaled our descent, knowing that it would take a bit to work her grogginess out. 

I let San and Wooyoung know the moment we landed, but Nikki also texted the giant group chat. That chat amounted to sheer chaos 90% of the time, and more often than not I found myself either texting San, Woo, and I’s little group chat or them individually. Thea of course did not answer since her flight had just left a little bit ago, but we still texted our own little friend group chat to let her know we were safe and sound in Chicago. 

Once we departed the plane and gathered our luggage we all kept our eyes peeled for Joon. O’Hare was a huge airport, but nothing compared to what we were used to with JFK. It was near second nature for me to navigate us through any airport, even though I had the worst sense of direction amongst us. Whenever the situation called for it, though, I was able to figure it out, even with the obscene amount of people meandering about.

Joon had thankfully given us a very specific meeting spot, even going so far to send me a picture of the decorative plant and the signage around him. With those clues it was very easy to find him just inside the pickup area. Mingi and Woo had joked with us about having Joon hold a sign with our names on it, but alas we were not provided that celebrity treatment. The lack of red carpet welcome garnered no complaints from me and I could see the relieved looks on Nikki and Christie’s faces when Joon was empty handed. We were greeted with what I assumed was the warmest smile based on how Joon’s eyes were wrinkling above his mask.  

“Glad you made it all in one piece,” Joon joked once we were within earshot. “Maybe now that you’re safely in my custody the nagging will stop.” His laugh was infectious and I found myself giggling along with him.

His words reignited the lingering question in the back of my head. How much of Ateez’s staff knew about us? What were they told our purpose for tagging along on this tour was? I’m sure much of the information was on a need to know basis, but judging on how close both Joon and Angela would be to us they would have to be very high up on that list. Thinking about our purpose and the overall intentions of the guys was something I did my best to avoid in the effort to just enjoy this crazy trip. 

He mentally took inventory of us by looking at the luggage and bags in our hands. Substantial care had been taken by each of us to not over pack even without the faintest idea of what we would be doing the next couple of months. Our lives were confined to a single large suitcase each and what I’m sure were stuffed carry-ons and personal items. Anytime we asked what we should bring it was always the same vague answer of “whatever you think you’ll need.” If anything we always had the ability to run out and buy something if necessary, but therein lied the issue of what limited space we had. 

“Alright, so there’s a car just up here for us and we’re going to head straight to the hotel,” Joon said as he led us outside into the bustling pickup area. There were taxis and Ubers galore, all vying for a space to load up their waiting patrons. Joon maneuvered us with ease towards a sleek black SUV. Another masked man was standing beside it, who Joon quickly introduced as Benjamin, another member of Ateez’s staff. 

Joon and Benjamin grabbed our luggage and made quick work of loading it, instructing us to get into the car regardless of our offers to help. Both took off their masks once in the vehicle with Benjamin taking the wheel while Joon twisted around in the seat to address us. “I have your room keys for you…” he said, pulling out two envelopes from his pockets. “It’s up to you to decide who’s rooming together, but it’ll be two per suite.” 

“Suite?” Christie questioned, eyebrow raised.

“In a sense. They are above the standard double rooms so suite is what I would best use to describe it. Your comfort and privacy is important to all of us.” 

It was quickly determined that Christie and I would share a room since we were already accustomed to living together. There was a reason Nikki didn’t move into our house with us at Derby, and that being the fact Nikki was much messier with her living spaces. Typically speaking, if we ever had to divide between hotel rooms it was usually Nikki with Thea and then Christie and I without much of a discussion otherwise.  

Conversation with Joon was much easier this time around. It wasn’t hard to see that he was inherently kind. That kindness overflowed in the questions he asked. He genuinely wanted to get to know us, asking general questions about our flight and how our initial trip home went, but also asking more personal questions about our pets and just our thoughts about being here. We were much more apt to answer his questions this time around than our first ride in a car with him. Joon was just as happy to answer any question we had for him and I instantly appreciated the open communication he provided. Benjamin was just as friendly. It was clear the two of them were going out of their way to make us feel less awkward about our arrival and new participation in the tour, something that was much appreciated by the three of us. 

With the amount of talking the drive to the hotel seemed to take much less time than it actually did. However, due to the traffic we hit Joon and Benjamin had to head straight back to O’Hare to make sure Thea wouldn’t be waiting alone. It all was in the air of caution, but the act did not go unnoticed among us.  

Again they unloaded our luggage, offering apology after apology that they couldn’t help us bring it up to our rooms. Of course we paid it no mind, caring much more about them getting Thea than helping us with our bags. Both bid us farewell with quick nods and smiles, leaving us alone to enter the hotel. 

“Feels a bit more real now…” Nikki mumbled as she looked through the glass doors.

“Think of all the ‘you up’ texts you’re going to be getting now that you’re only doors away, “ I teased, earning a laugh from Christie. 

Nikki just glared, but the lack of quick witted response was very out of character for her. She had been very forthcoming about her late night excursion with Mingi, even if we had to force it out of her initially. It wasn’t hard to tell something happened during the late hours of the night when she asked to take the later half of the drive. Nikki was usually tough to crack, but once we pestered her enough we got most of the details. We may or may not have teased her endlessly for sneaking out like a high schooler, but she took it in stride. There had been something slightly askew with her though, not enough to press her about, yet enough that Christie and I noticed. Maybe it was nerves about the trip, maybe it was more, but she was definitely off. 

She took off into the lobby with a small shake of her head. Christie and I both had a confused expression on our faces when our eyes met, but followed Nikki towards the elevators without comment. The ride up to our floor was unnaturally silent, but not filled with discomfort. The silence continued even after the elevator doors opened and as we began walking down the hallway. Our rooms were across from one another three quarters of the way down the hall.

Nikki leaned against the door frame after she dropped her bags. “I’m going to get my things situated and chill for a bit… especially before Thea gets here. If you guys figure out that we’re doing anything, let me know okay?” She wouldn’t make direct eye contact with us, but gave us a quick smile before unlocking her door, dragging her suitcase and bag in behind her. 

Ah. Nikki was most definitely in one of her moods. She often got like this and needed to be in the comforts of her own space, alone. Something we learned early on in our friendship was to respect her wishes and give her the ability to decompress and regroup on her own time. She would come out of her cave to talk to us when she was ready. 

Christie sighed once the door shut behind Nikki, glancing at me briefly while she unlocked ours. The bags were growing heavier on my arms and I was thankful that Christie held the door open for me to lug everything inside. Joon was telling the truth when he said we had an upgrade from the typical double room, but I think he intentionally understated what we were truly getting. 

“They really can’t do anything small, can they?” I said, looking around the suite.

It had a designated living space with a chaise lounge couch, coffee table, and comfy looking armchair with a perfect view of the TV. Situated in the corner was a refrigerator and wet bar, complete with a microwave and keurig on the counter top. It was legitimately a two bedroom suite, meaning Christie and I would each have a room and bathroom to ourselves. Having to share a sleeping space was never an issue for us, and honestly it never would be, but the additional layer of privacy was going to be welcome. 

“Well, at least we know Nikki will really get her space if she needs it,” Christie said while she walked towards one of the two bedrooms to claim it. 

“Think we have cause for worry yet?” I asked. Instead of walking into the opposite room I plopped down on the couch. It was much comfier than I had taken it to be from first glance. The chaise portion let me completely extend my legs comfortably and I relished in the stretch after being cooped up in the airplane and car for so long. “She’s been off since Atlanta.”

Christie’s head poked out from the door. “No, I don’t think so. At least not yet.” She pursed her lips, wheels clearly turning in her head. “This is a lot. And she does like to keep things in… but she’s still acting semi-normal most of the time. If it goes much longer, yeah, we should pin her down. But let’s give her a little bit. Maybe being around Mingi and Seonghwa again will pull her out of it.” 

I reached for one of the pillows, hugging it against my chest. “Or it’ll make it worse. One or the other. AND we remember the last time we were in Chicago… right? So maybe that has a little part to play in it, too.” 

Christie’s laugh echoed throughout the suite over the memories of our last Chicago trip, nearly drowning out the knocks on the door. I groaned, not wanting to get up since I had just gotten comfortable. Christie exited her bedroom just as I made a dramatic effort to stand. “I got it, Sunshine, no need to disturb yourself.” I rolled my eyes at her in response to her teasing tone, but relaxed back into the couch nonetheless. 

“What’s so funny?” I immediately perked up at the voice, or rather voices. “We could hear you cackling from the hallway.” I could easily see Wooyoung standing in the open doorway once I sat up, Yeosang and San right behind him. Woo’s smile widened when he laid eyes on me. “Jagi.” 

Wooyoung entered the room without so much of a formal welcome from Christie and leapt straight towards me. With how much force he came at me with I was surprised at how carefully he eased me back into the couch cushion. He had somehow managed to peel the pillow out of my arms, too, laying squarely on my chest. 

“Chicago is a city that is woefully unprepared for us,” I laughed. My voice and giggles were muffled thanks to the pressure on my chest. Woo dug his head into the crook of my neck, his entire weight resting on me so I was trapped beneath him. “Miss me or something?”

He resituated his arms on either side of my head, propping up on his elbows and tongue just peeking through his toothy smile. His bangs were draping into his eyes, and god damn was it a nice view having him on top of me like this. He dipped down to press a quick kiss before rolling off to lay beside me with an arm bent behind his head. 

“Someone was a little eager to get in here…” Yeosang said with a shake of his head. His arm snuck behind Christie once the door was closed behind San and him. There was no evidence of shyness or embarrassment this time when he leaned in and kissed Christie’s temple. 

She eased into him like it was second nature, making Yeosang smile against her. “Clearly.”

“Because you weren’t?” Wooyoung retorted, sticking his tongue at both of them. 

“Yeah, yeah, Woo. We were all a little excited,” San added, stepping around my suitcase and bag still in the middle of the room. His hand found its way to my cheek. You would think with how many times I had this man smile at me now it would lose its appeal, but it was just as dazzling as that first day in the green room. He kissed my forehead, that smile never fading from his lips. “Which room are you taking, jagi? I’ll grab your bags…” 

“Ever the gentleman, Choi San,” I said with my own beaming smile. I motioned towards the room opposite the couch. San grabbed my bag and suitcase without any further comment, taking them out of the living area with that grin still plastered on his face. 

With minor protests from Wooyoung I pulled myself off the couch to follow San, Wooyoung hot on my tail. Christie and Yeosang went into her room to finish unpacking. I needed to do the same, plus I don’t think neither Christie nor I were complaining about a little down time with the guys. In reality we were all a little drained from the flight and early morning and I need to relax or something before this date with San tonight. 

“What is everyone else doing?” I asked once the three of us were in the room. San had placed both of my bags on top of the bed before he sat down on the chair in the corner. Wooyoung on the other hand, made himself right at home by sprawling out on the bed next to my suitcase and bag. 

“Mingi went to see Nikki…” San began, earning a snicker from Wooyoung. San shot him a look before continuing. “Jongho is waiting around here for Thea. Hongjoong, Yunho, and Hwa are at the venue checking over things before the show tomorrow. They wanted to do it now in case there were any changes, that way they weren’t worrying about things tonight.”

At the mention of tonight San’s eyes immediately became brighter and I couldn’t help the smile blooming on my face. He had been entirely tightlipped about the date even with my endless pestering for the tiniest hint. All I ever got in return was a smile and laugh, always followed by a you’ll have to see. Wooyoung apparently knew whatever San had planned but would not spill either despite my best efforts. Even Christie said she was completely unaware of what San had in store for the two of us, but I could tell by her face that wasn’t the entire truth. 

I unzipped my suitcase and moved it around so it wouldn’t land on Wooyoung. It was stuffed to the brim, filled with as many clothes and shoes as I could manage into my packing cubes. I took out my toiletries bag, taking it with me into the bathroom. “Speaking of tonight… do I get a hint yet or am I still going in blind?” I popped my head around the doorframe to look at San. He simply shook his head at my question, chuckling softly while he looked at the ground. “So blind then.” 

I busied myself in the bathroom, unloading my things onto the counter and the shower so I wouldn’t have to worry about doing it later in the night when I would be even more exhausted. Even now I felt the effects of our early morning and flight threatening to overtake me.

Hands sneaking around my waist shook me out of thoughts. I hadn’t heard San come into the bathroom, but now I was looking at him pressed against my back through the mirror. His chin had settled onto my shoulder, eyes locked onto mine through the glass. His fingers teased their way underneath the crewneck I was wearing to trace lightly along my stomach. Both of our dimples were on full display with how large our smiles were. 

“My treasure…” he murmured, lips finding the hollow space beneath my ear. “Let me spoil you tonight. I’ve been looking forward to this since I last saw you… indulge me in wanting it to be a surprise. So please… no more questions.” His eyes flicked back to the mirror, watching my face intently as he continued dragging his lips along my throat and jaw. My hand found its way into his hair, snaking my fingers through it loosely. Lips turned up in a smile against my skin when I dropped my head back onto his shoulder, granting him better access to my neck, gaze never wavering. This simple act had me near breathless. San’s eyes fluttered shut only briefly, opening enough to look back at me through his eyelashes, never pausing his ministrations against my neck. 

I tightened my fingers in his hair, my other hand finding a home on his forearm across my abdomen. “Who would I be to take that away from you, then? I’ll just continue waiting impatiently.” 

He hummed against the column of my throat in approval, eyes crinkling into a smile. “Good girl.” San’s arms tightened around me just as he began pressing his lips firmly against my neck, a stark contrast to his ghosting brushes. Never had someone looked at me the way San was at this moment. Brown eyes were full of adoration that was easily seen once he placed his chin back onto my shoulder. “I’ll pick you up at six, babe. And that is the only thing you are getting out of me about tonight.” His words were as direct as his gaze, leaving no cause for follow up questions.

San took my hand in his hair within his, detangling my fingers carefully. He kissed the tip of each one before stepping away, leaving me feeling weightless from the missing pressure on my back. When he brought my hand to his lips I felt like an absolute princess in a little fantasyland. “I wanted to make sure you got settled in, but I promised Woo that I wouldn’t take up all your time since we have all night…” he immediately blushed at his words, dropping his head with a meek smile. “That sounded a bit presumptuous of me- I’m sorry for that.”

The last word I would use to describe him would be presumptuous. “Not at all, Sannie.” 

His hand cupped my cheek. “I like when you call me Sannie, my treasure.” If only he knew what else I called him, but now was not the time to mention that he was most commonly referred to as Santini or simply Tini by my friends and me. He was clearly lost in my eyes for a moment, only to snap himself out of whatever daydream played through his head with a small laugh and a grin. “I’m getting distracted. Six o’clock, dressed and ready.” His fingers resting on the nape of my neck pulled me closer. The kiss was soft and sweet, but much too short for my liking and left me wanting more. “I’ll see you soon, okay?” 

San gave me one final peck before walking out of the bathroom, pausing to smile in the doorway. He told Wooyoung to behave himself, followed by a snicker from the latter. He said a warm goodbye to Christie and Yeosang before the door shut behind him. It didn’t take long to finish unloading my things in the bathroom with the absence of San, and when I reentered the bedroom Woo was still lounging in the same position on the bed. 

Wooyoung scooched himself further up on the pillows, patting the empty space beside him. I shoved the suitcase to the floor to sit cross legged on the bed in front of him. I placed my elbows on my knees, letting my head rest on closed fists to look at Woo, contemplating how I wanted to proceed. There was a question that had been burning in my head, and instead of letting it eat at me I figured it would be better in the long run to ask. Now that I had Woo in front of me grinning like the Cheshire cat I was second guessing my decision to ask him instead of San first, but there was no turning back now. 

“I have a question.” 

Woo raised his eyebrow, damn tongue coming back through his teeth. “If it’s about your date…” he mimed zipping his lips and throwing away the key, looking even more mischievous than normal.

I shook my head. “No… it’s about this.” I gestured around the room, opening my arms wide in hopes that would get my point across without getting too detailed yet. “In general.”

This caught his attention and he further adjusted himself on the bed, leaning forward off the headboard to look at me more intently. A look of confusion crossed his face, but once he figured out what I was questioning it turned into concern. “I may have an answer for that… but before you ask what you need, let me say this. San and I- we both like you. We both enjoy your company. And you like both of us, do you not?” I nodded, his eyes meeting mine fiercely as he spoke. “I don’t think it needs to be more complicated than that, honestly. Does that answer anything?”  

“But… are you both okay with it being that way?” 

Laughter escaped his lips as his hands came towards me, landing behind my elbows on top of my thighs. He tugged at my joggers, rubbing the material between the pads of his fingers.  “Of course. Are you?” His expression flipped back to genuine concern. The last thing either of them would want would be me questioning this situation, and that was written all over his face.

Being here was making my head spin more than I originally anticipated. The date with San was looming and here I was sitting in bed with Wooyoung. I had made out with both of them, been intimate with both of them, and neither seemed to bat an eye at it. It did seem backwards that I was questioning things following said events, but in those moments I assumed I wouldn’t be spending an entire tour with them. 

Apparently I was silent for too long. Wooyoung slid even closer, placing his legs around mine, circling around me while he pulled on my hips to bring me forward. Seriousness was in place of his typical humor. “Jagi, there is no need to overthink this, I promise. As long as you’re happy with both of us, we’re happy. Don’t be worried about jealousy or anything like that, that’s not a thing with San and me, and it especially won’t be a thing with you. We may joke about it, but we’re both just glad you’re here with us. So, I’ll ask my question again… are you okay with this?”

His eyes were searching mine, but doing nothing to give away his own thoughts. “I guess I just needed to hear you say everything is fine out loud. But yeah, I’m good with this. All of this.” 

Relief visibly washed over Woo. He reached for my hand, locking his fingers tightly. “Ask Sannie too if it makes you feel better. He’ll have the same answer. Honestly, we should’ve had this conversation with you before bringing you here and just acting like it’s nothing and everything is normal. That’s our fault… and I’m sorry for that.” 

I fully intended on asking San the same question, simply for my own peace of mind. Until then, I would take Woo’s word for it and would do my best not to stress any longer. There hadn’t been cause for worry up to this point, but it wasn’t out of the ordinary for me to conjure something out of thin air. 

“It’s just…” I sighed, running my free hand through my hair. Might as well let it all out. “It’s surreal having both of you want me, for lack of better words.”

Wooyoung laughed even louder. “Ah. Well, Alexis… you’re hot as fuck.” I snorted and rolled my eyes and smacked his chest softly, but that did nothing to deter him. “It’s beyond that though, in all seriousness. I don’t know if I could explain it to you, so I’m not even going to try. Just take it for what it’s worth, yeah? If we didn’t want to be here… to put it bluntly, we wouldn’t be, and neither would you. ” 

The room was unnaturally quiet with neither of us speaking. His words weren’t harsh by any means, the furthest from that actually. But the air of certainty around them was something I wasn’t expecting. I pursed my lips, chewing on the inside of the lower one while searching for what I wanted to say and coming up empty handed. Woo sighed and uncrossed my legs, latching onto the bend in my knees. He hooked my legs around his waist while he wrapped his arms around my torso, splaying those ungodly hands across my back to pull us closer. I let myself relax into him, dropping my head onto his shoulder. Maybe I was stressing myself over nothing. Maybe exhaustion had finally caught up and was making my emotions all over the place. Or, just maybe, the reality of what was happening hit me like I ran straight into a brick wall.  

“Get out of your head,” he murmured, lips pressed against the side of my head above my temple. I felt each breath he took blowing softly on my hair. There still wasn’t anything I could bring myself to say and honestly didn’t think anything really needed to be. All I needed was some reassurance, something Wooyoung easily provided. The more he and I interacted the more I saw this side of him, even if it had just been through texts and video calls up until now. 

I let my eyes close. “Thanks, Woo.” His giggle blew out a huff of air and without warning he shifted his weight, toppling us sideways. 

My leg was pinned uncomfortably beneath his hip but with how tight Wooyoung latched onto me there was barely anything I could do to move. The giggles from Woo continued at the expense of my struggle against him. With a substantial amount of effort I tugged it free, letting me relax much more comfortably against the mattress. The lack of help earned him a narrowed glare and a soft shove against his chest. His smile in return was absolutely blinding and so large his nose was scrunching in an absolutely adorable way. 

“Now, my treasure… what are we going to do until your little date this evening?” He tapped his lips as if deep in thought. Neither his face nor his words showed the faintest sign of jealousy, putting my mind even more at ease. Before I had a chance to make a suggestion his eyes lit up. “Wait… what are you wearing?” 

I raised my eyebrow at him, laughing softly. “Are you really suggesting what I think you are?” 

Those plump lips puffed into a pout. “Pretty please? You don’t even know what you’re doing, how are you going to know what to wear?” The shift from full pout to teasing happened in a split second. He had a point, not that I would admit that to him. Woo sat back up, grin in full effect. 

I propped myself up on my elbow. “Fine, but I need to shower first. Airports and airplanes make me feel gross.” 

“I think you’ll need some supervision with that. You know, just to make sure you're clean for your date.” He was biting his lip suggestively, the corner turned up into a smirk. I shoved him back down onto the bed. He landed with a surprised huff before scrambling up to his elbows. “What was that for?!”

I climbed off the bed, rounding the corner to stand at the foot of it. I couldn’t help but smile at him. He knew exactly how much of a little shit he was being judging by the smirk that was still plastered on his perfect face. “You, Jung Wooyoung, are absolutely ridiculous.”

“That’s not a no.” He slid to the edge, situating himself so his legs were pressed on either side of mine. Hands skated up along the backs of my thighs, moving so slowly they were rucking up the fabric of my pants. Eyes were heavy when they met mine, his thick eyelashes almost obscuring his gaze completely.  When he leaned in further his chin settled into my stomach. The combination of his big brown puppy dog eyes and slightly protruding lower lip were threatening to crumble my resolve. 

I reached for his face, leaning down and stealing a quick kiss, but holding him in place as I pulled away. “Not this time, Woo… maybe in your dreams,” I teased, reaching behind to unhook his hands that settled right below my ass. 

With how dramatically Woo flung himself down onto the bed you would have thought I ripped his world to shreds. Arms were outstretched across the bed before he brought one forearm to cover his eyes, sighing deeply. “If only you knew what happened in my dreams, treasure.” 

“You are so dramatic.” 

Woo didn’t budge, only stuck out his tongue and waved me away, hand dropping limply onto the bed. So damn dramatic. I rolled my eyes even if he couldn’t see. I walked into the bathroom, stopping to grab a pair of shorts and a t-shirt from my suitcase along the way. Even with the events of the backroom frequently replaying in my mind I was not ready to parade my naked body in front of him just yet. 

The shower felt heavenly. I stood in there much longer than I probably should have with Wooyoung waiting in the bedroom but I couldn’t bring myself to move. Showers had a weird way of easing my racing thoughts and I was taking advantage of the endless amount of hot water. Letting the water cascade down my face always brought me back down to earth. I was in need of a slight reality check and the shower was giving me the space to comb through the jumble that was my brain. It was much easier to calm down following the conversation with Wooyoung, but I wouldn’t be entirely settled until I spoke with San too. 

Immediately my thoughts redirected towards the date with San tonight.  Where were we going? What would we be doing? Would it be awkward? Holy shit, was I going to be awkward? I had what seemed like an endless amount of questions bouncing around, none of which had an answer. It had been years since I’d been on a first date, not that the last one had been anything too spectacular in retrospect, but nonetheless going on a legitimate date felt like uncharted territory. 

With a deep sigh I finally pulled myself out of the drizzle and turned off the faucet. The bathroom was filled with hazy steam even though I remembered to turn the fan on. I wiped off the mirror as best I could to do my skincare and prep for makeup. Within minutes I was done and had thrown on clothes to begin the arduous task of deciding on an outfit. Whatever I chose would directly impact both my hair and makeup, so unfortunately that would need to be decided first. 

Wooyoung was exactly where I’d left him: body sprawled out on the bed, feet firmly planted on the ground. Of course the drama queen hadn't moved an inch while I was showering. With how still he was I assumed he was asleep, especially since his forearm was still covering his eyes. The only movement was the slight rise and fall of his chest. 

“Are you really sleeping?” I half laughed, arms crossed at the sight of him. 

“You implied you would shower with me in my dreams… can’t blame a guy for imagining that.” He turned his head to look at me, eyes just barely peeking beneath his arm and still very clearly pouting. 

“Again… dramatic.” He scoffed at me as I sat on the floor to pull things out of my suitcase, shooting off a quick text to Christie as I plopped down. She was a necessary member of outfit selection, and while I trusted Woo not to do me wrong I wasn’t sure how well he’d handle me going into meltdown mode. It would have been just as easy to walk across the suite but I didn’t want to barge in on her and Yeosang. Text was definitely the safer option. 

I was so engrossed in pulling potential things out of my suitcase that I almost didn’t notice Wooyoung crawling to the ledge of the bed. It wasn’t until the low humming that I finally looked up to see those big brown eyes peering down at me. He looked almost childlike with his chin resting on his hands, legs bent at the knee and feet kicking back and forth in the air. I sighed at him, glancing at the mess of clothes beside me. Half my suitcase was out on the floor. Dresses, rompers, shoes, shorts, everything that had the potential of being a viable option was completely strewn about. Still, I felt hopelessly lost. 

“Okay, you gotta help me weed out.” My eyes were pleading with Woo’s for the tiniest bit of help. The smirk never left his face, but he did lean further over the edge. “Dress or no?”

“Most definitely a dress.” Christie’s voice rang through the room suddenly.

I had become accustomed to her ninja steps since living with her. She still frequently scared the shit out of me when she snuck around, but the jumpscares were much less intense. Wooyoung on the other hand nearly jumped out of his skin, tumbling face first to the floor and cursing the entire time. His hands flung out just in time to catch himself, but the damage was done and now he was strewn out on the floor among my clothes. 

“Are you a fucking assassin or something?” Wooyoung stammered, glaring at Christie and Yeosang standing in the doorway. He quickly moved to a seated position, leaning on an arm outstretched behind my back

Christie returned the look, and walked further into the room. “You’d be first on my list if I was, Woo.” 

Wooyoung scowled further and somehow the glaring intensified. “Good luck with that one.” 

“Yeah… real great comeback,” Christie responded with an eye roll, sitting down at the edge of the bed above us while Yeosang took a seat in the corner armchair. She pulled her knees to her chest, surveying the pile of clothes. She pointed to a short green number. “That one first.” 

“This one too,” Woo grabbed another from the pile. It seemed as if the two were going to be going head to head with outfit selection as well. They were going back and forth for no reason and this was just going to be another way for them to compete for god knows why. 

They continued, each picking out something and thrusting it into my hands. Once my hands were full I went into the bathroom to begin the fashion show, listening to them sling one liners at each other while Yeosang and I shook our heads at the two of them.

***

Per usual, I was rushing up until the last minute. At 5:53 I was swiping on a final coat of mascara while Christie lightly sprayed the waves tumbling down my back with hairspray. Everything came together perfectly, with Wooyoung taking victory in the outfit battle. The dress itself was a flattering light blue with a dainty white floral pattern that just barely dusted the floor. The deep v neck and open back showed the perfect amount of skin without making the dress too risque. It hugged my torso, accentuating my lean frame before flowing out slightly just below my rib cage. 

“Beautiful, my love.” Christie was beaming at me. She adjusted the bow at the back of my dress that tastefully broke the openness, making sure the ends were even. “Are you ready?”

With a smile I took a step back from the mirror, turning around to face her directly. “Yeah, I’m ready.” Nerves hadn’t quite settled in yet thankfully. I was more excited than anything, a much nicer turn of events. 

I grabbed my phone and small clutch off the bed, having laid it out so I wouldn’t forget it before Christie and I went to join Wooyoung and Yeosang in the living area. Wooyoung immediately stopped talking to Yeo when we walked in, mouth dropping slightly at the sight of me. As he stood up he grasped my wrist, lightly pulling him into him so his other arm could wrap around my body. 

“Sannie’s a lucky guy,” he hummed, thumb tracing lightly along my back. He shot a look at Yeosang on the couch. “I guess you’ll have to do for tonight, Yeo.” 

His best friend kicked the back of his knee, buckling it out from underneath him. Woo only stumbled slightly, catching himself quickly. “Don’t think I won’t cancel on you,” Yeosang said. His face was cold, but the tone in his voice gave away the joke. “But, you aren’t wrong. You do look beautiful, Alexis.” 

Blush formed on my cheeks at his compliment, a smile blooming at the same time. Before I had a chance to respond Woo pulled me closer, pressing his face flush against my cheek and squeezing his fingers possessively around my waist. “I swear, Yeosang, you better not be making a move on my girl now.” With a quick turn of his head, his lips found their way to my cheek. They stayed for what seemed like forever, another way of Wooyoung staking his claim. 

“I think you mean my girl, Wooyoung,” Christie said offhandedly as she walked back into her room. Even without seeing her face I knew she was rolling her eyes, the tone of her voice and overall body language giving that away to me instantly. 

Woo didn’t bother responding, but finally peeled his lips off my cheek just as there was a knock at the door. Once again, his fingers tightened and his lips brushed my cheek briefly before he walked towards the door. He positioned himself perfectly in front of it, only opening it a crack.

“Close your eyes, Sannie. It’s a surprise.”

I rolled my eyes. Apparently we were back to dramatics. I heard San chuckle softly from behind the door, along with a second unmistakable giggle. What I couldn’t see was whether or not San complied with Wooyoung’s ridiculous request. All I could do was stand while Woo swung the door open, stepping aside so I could finally see San. 

He did, in fact, comply with Wooyoung’s request, and looked utterly handsome standing in the doorway, even with his eyes squeezed shut and a huge cheesy smile stretched across his face. He was dressed head to toe in black, his dress shirt tucked in with the sleeves rolled to his elbows. 

Wooyoung grabbed San’s arm and tugged him in the room. Ever the good sport, San kept his eyes closed and that smile on his face, bracketed by his deep dimples. His head was shaking slightly, a soft laugh coming from his lips. 

“This is entirely unnecessary,” I said with a laugh of my own. “You’ve been extra dramatic today.”

This earned a laugh from everyone in the room, including Hongjoong who snuck in behind San carrying a large paper bag with some chinese restaurant’s logo on it. Wooyoung stuck his tongue out at me, but otherwise said nothing. 

“Absolutely necessary, treasure. Now, San-ah, open.” Wooyoung stepped to the side, completely removing himself from San’s line of sight. “Tell our girl how amazing she looks.” 

San finally opened his eyes. I didn’t think his smile could get any larger, but damn was I glad to be wrong. Dimples were deep in his cheeks, brown eyes sparkling as he looked me up and down. “Our girl is always beautiful, Woo… but she does look absolutely amazing.” 

He stepped towards me, eyes locked on me like there wasn’t anyone else in the room. Latching onto my waist he pulled me in for a sweet kiss, opposite hand finding my cheek. “But tonight, you’re all mine,” he murmured, letting his fingers brush along my cheekbone. 

I melted further into him. “All yours, you say?” San eased his mouth back slowly, kissing the smile off my face. Following a peck to my nose and forehead we broke apart, but San’s arm never left my waist while he held me to his side. 

“Car’s ready for us downstairs, jagiya. Are you ready to go?” His voice was low and sweet as he tilted his head towards me, letting his head rest lightly on top of mine. 

At that moment Christie returned from her room, quickly stepping towards me with purpose. “Not yet.” Once she reached me she gave San a soft smile, reaching for my forearm. She was clutching a gold chain, the pendant dangling between her fingers. 

I recognized it instantly, and while I didn’t want to leave San’s embrace I took his hand off my waist. He didn’t fight me in the slightest when I took a step towards her, turning around and sweeping my hair off my back and around my shoulders. After I squatted slightly, she swung the chain around, situating the gold and blue pendant perfectly just beneath the hollow of my neck. Her papa’s evil eye was one of her most treasured possessions and one she kept close to her at all times. It wasn’t the first time she’d given me the honor of wearing it, having leant it to me in times she felt I needed extra protection. Each time I heard the same words: “For the additional safety of my grandparents watching over you.” This time was no different; she whispered the words so softly they were lost to everyone else in the room, meant for my ears alone. 

“Perfection. Now you’re ready.” Christie readjusted my hair, fluffing the waves back down my back. “You best have her back at a decent time, Choi San.” Her green eyes were glinting as she teased him. 

San reached for my hand, curling his fingers through. “She’ll be back here safe and sound, don’t you worry.” 

She looked pleased, placated by his words even though I knew she was not naive enough to believe I would be back in the room this evening. When her focus turned off me she jumped slightly before a small smile formed on her face, finally noticing Hongjoong. “When did you sneak in here?” 

Hongjoong shifted on his feet side to side. He had just entered the room enough for Wooyoung to close the door behind him and with how silent he had been there was no wonder Christie hadn’t noticed him. “I followed San in here, but didn’t want to interrupt anything…” His smile was almost as soft as his gaze. He clutched the paper bag close to his chest, still swaying side to side in place.

“Well on that note… Yeo, we have our own date to attend.” Wooyoung held out his hand, beckoning Yeo towards him with his fingers, a huge grin plastered across his fast. The gesture was similar to San’s just moments ago, done I’m sure on purpose. 

Yeosang stood up with a sigh. “It’s not that exciting, Woo.” His low voice was shaking with laughter.

Before he moved too far, Christie took hold of his bicep. Standing up on her tippy toes to reach, she pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. Her lips lingered there for an eternity, Yeosang smiling with his eyes squeezed shut the entire time. The act was reminiscent of Wooyoung’s dramatic kiss earlier, something that Woo also seemed to notice based on his snort. I couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped. Christie was definitely being a bit bratty this evening, letting her slightly territorial side sneak out jusssstttttt a bit. I wasn’t surprised that she was acting that way towards me, but now it seemed to be extending out to Yeosang. Wooyoung seemed to be bringing that aspect of her out more lately for reasons I hadn’t quite figured out yet. 

Wooyoung never dropped his hand while he waited. Yeosang did in fact take it, but only to pull Woo’s palm to his mouth, licking quickly. In quick retaliation Wooyoung smacked him lightly on the back of the head. Bickering immediately ensued. Hongjoong rolled his eyes at them, stepping out from the door for them to mosey through.

“And San-ah,” Woo paused in the doorway, barely turning his head to look at us through the corner of his eye. That side profile was absolutely to die for, chin and jawline sharp. A smirk crept onto his face, tip of his tongue poking out slightly. Eyes became dark, filled with hazy lust. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

San laughed. His thumb slid along mine before continuing up my arm, sweeping around so his hand could rest on my hip. A shiver shot up my spine when his fingertips ghosted along my back. “That leaves little to the imagination, Woo.” Fingers roughly dug into the skin around my waist, a much different touch than the brushes he just laid across my back. San applied further pressure, bringing me closer to his side so his lips could press onto my temple. It was a small act of possessiveness, but an act nonetheless. 

Yeosang literally pushed Wooyoung the rest of the way out the door. “Wooyoung, nobody needs to hear any of this,” he said with an eye roll. Of course, Wooyoung complained and argued. I could hear it continue down the hallway with a perfect picture of Yeosang scolding but laughing, hands still on his shoulder blades to force him to whomever’s room they were going to have their own little date in. 

With their exit Hongjoong finally moved from his spot in the corner, gliding into the room and plopping himself comfortably on the couch. The large bag was set on the table and he started pulling out the containers while Christie sat down beside him. Quick goodbyes were said and smiles were exchanged from Christie and I, then San and I were finally walking out the door hand in hand. 

I could not get over how affectionate this man was. There wasn’t a moment when San’s hands weren’t somewhere on my body even on our short walk to the car out front. Hands tangled together. Arms around my waist. Hand pressed to the small of my back. Kisses placed on my forehead, temple, back of my hand. Conversation was just as easy, never an awkward silence. I still couldn’t get over how easily we seemed to mesh together. 

The man even held the door of the car for me, standing beside it with a loving grin once he pulled his mask down and an open arm. “Have I mentioned before how perfect you are, San?” My smile was huge, and even though I was shaking my head at him slightly he didn’t seem to mind. I don’t know if I would ever get used to this type of treatment. 

He took my hand, bringing it to his lips while I stepped into the car. “I just think you should be treated the way you deserve.” He slid in beside me, hand immediately resting upon my leg. 

I smiled when I met Joon’s eyes in the rearview mirror. At least he was a familiar face, and it confirmed my thought that he knew most of the reasons why we were here. Honestly, it put my mind a little more at rest knowing it was him and not having to meet someone new.

“Do I get a hint yet?” I asked, leaning my head onto his shoulder. I wiggled my arm behind his, hooking my index finger around the thumb on my thigh.

San hummed and I could feel the vibrations coming from his body. He tapped his fingers on my leg, thinking how he wanted to answer. “Hmm… Well we’re going to dinner.”

“Well no duh, Choi San.” I couldn’t help but giggle. What a lame hint. 

He laughed along with me, leaning into my shoulder. “You didn’t say how good of a hint it had to be.” 

“Joon, help a girl out,” I pleaded with the man driving. 

“Sorry, Alexis… sworn to secrecy on this one.” 

I groaned, but quit pestering them both for information. San and I continued talking the entirety of the twenty minute drive to wherever we were going. The way he gazed at me as I spoke was something out of this world, like he was hanging on to every single thing I said and storing it to memory. Occasionally he would lean in for a quick kiss, that perfect smile never leaving that perfect face. Things were just… easy. Easy to the point something had to be off, but I kept pushing that thought out of my head. 

“Alright, babe, here we are,” San said once Joon pulled in front of a very small, fairly nondescript building. It was just outside of downtown, with very few cars parked in front of wherever we were. I was entirely confused but San just smiled at me before he opened the door, not bothering to pull a mask on this time. Joon said that he would be right outside if we needed him and to enjoy ourselves. 

I grasped San’s outstretched hand once again, loving the familiarity of his strong hand around mine. “Alright Sannie… do I get to know now?”

He pulled me in close, not caring how exposed we were being out in the open. There wasn’t another soul around, at least not that I could see, but it still made me nervous. “Dinner, my treasure. And one I hope you don’t forget.” 

Of course, not a real answer of where we were, what we were eating, anything. It was so damn difficult to be annoyed at San when he looked like that, staring at me with so much excitement and hope. The sky behind him had begun changing colors, making his all black clothes stand out and once again I was speechless by just how gorgeous he was. 

Hand in hand he led me to the front door, typing in a code to unlock it. When the door opened I finally realized where we were and I completely understood why he was so tight lipped about it. San must have seen it finally click, but only smiled at me, adding a wink for good measure. We were standing in a completely empty waiting room filled only with a podium.. A hostess was standing and waiting for us. 

“Thompson, reservation for 2?” she asked pleasantly when we approached her. The use of a fake name didn’t surprise me in the slightest. 

San nodded, flashing her that stunning smile of his. “Yes, that’s us.” His fingers curled into my hand further. 

She smiled at us and motioned to the stairs behind her. “Take a seat wherever you like at the tables down the stairs. It’ll be about thirty minutes before we are ready for you, but we will bring out drinks and amuse-bouche while you wait.” 

With a quick thanks San and I took off down the stairs. He pulled me to the furthest table, taking the time to pull my chair out before sitting on his own across from me. As always, that smile never left his face. Those damn dimples were so endearing. My own had to be out just as often with how much he made me grin. 

“I know I’ve said it before, but you do look beautiful,” San said with adoration, only pausing when the hostess arrived with two cocktails and tuna rolls, placing them on the table between us. He continued speaking once she walked away. “Have you figured it out yet? Christie approved immediately when I said I wanted to bring you here. I didn’t want to tell her exactly where we were going, but she was pretty pushy once I asked her if you liked sushi.” He laughed, and I could only imagine the conversation between the two. 

Once we entered the building it finally registered that we were at the hidden sushi speakeasy in Chicago. It had amazing reviews, and was a place I had been dying to try. Sushi was one of my favorite foods in the entire world and the omakase experience offered here was supposed to be out of this world. 

“She has a habit of being pushy when it comes to things like that.” I joined in his laughter. “How you got a reservation this quickly is beside me… but I couldn’t be more excited about it.” San beamed at me and took one of the rolls from the plate while I took a lengthy sip. 

Thank goodness for that drink, because I needed a little bit of something to ask San his feelings about this whole situation. There was never going to be a great time, but I would much rather get it off my chest before we were too deep into the date. Wooyoung had definitely talked me off the ledge and provided a majority of the reassurance I needed, but he was only a fraction of the people involved. I needed to hear the same thing from him.

“So… I had a little bit of a conversation with Woo today.” I took another sip. Might as well just rip off the bandaid right? “Just about, well all of this.” 

San sighed and reached his hand across the table, extending his fingers to ask for my hand. I happily gave it to him. The instant it was in his grasp his thumb started tracing along my skin in the most reassuring way. “I know, jagi. He messaged me about it.”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “Of course he did.” 

“Don’t be upset with him, Alexis… he cares about you. WE care about you.” His thumb applied more pressure now, as if to emphasize his words. “We both need to apologize for not talking to you about everything before you were thrown in. We got caught up in the moment and didn’t really think about how it could affect you… so please forgive me for that.” San shook his head, flicking his eyes downwards for a moment before returning to gaze at me. His eyes were so soft, full of concern as he watched the emotions rolling across my face. “All I want is for you to be happy. I couldn’t care less about Woo and I’s feelings about it all but I know you do, babe. I’ll say the same thing he did. I’m glad you’re here. Yeah, it’s not a typical dynamic, but it’s one that we both wholly embrace because it means being with you. There are no issues on either of our ends. So, Alexis, my treasure… are you happy?”

For the first time I saw a hint of uncertainty cross San’s features, thankfully only for a split second. It wasn’t surprising in the slightest that San would also be a little worried about my response, especially now that we were sitting across from each other on a legitimate date. I don’t know what all Woo had told him about our little conversation. As annoyed as I was, I was a little thankful that he brought it up to San first since it saved me from having to explain everything. Now it was my turn to offer up reassurance now that I had received mine. 

“I’m the happiest I’ve been in a very long time, San.” His chest heaved with the exhale, accompanied by a squeeze to my hand. Seriousness left his face, letting a smile creep back in. “I had a lot going through my head about being here and it all hit at once. It’s a lot, to be honest, and it all feels very surreal. But I’m really, truly okay with everything, regardless of it being a little unconventional. I just needed to know that you were both okay, too.” 

Our hands broke apart with the hostess returning with a second small plate containing oysters. San cast her a soft smile at her while I said thank you as she walked away once again. The pause was needed on my part, a brief lull for my brain to regroup. 

“And that, my treasure, is all I care about,” San said softly. “Now… less serious talk?” He held up his drink, nodding at me to do the same. With a laugh I raised mine, staring at that gorgeous face with a smirk. “To you, my treasure. And to what I hope is the first of many unforgettable nights.” 

“Cheers to that, and also to you, dear Sannie,” I added. He beamed at the addition. At the clink of glasses and his request, the serious talk ended. I glanced around the room while I sipped, taking another oyster after I finished the tuna roll. Nobody else had entered the little waiting room and while I hadn’t been keeping track of time we had to be nearing the official reservation time. 

My speculation was proven true when the hostess returned once again to escort us deeper into the building to the main dining area. Our names were the only two written on the chalkboards on the tables, meaning we were the only ones who would be enjoying this experience that was typically meant for ten. 

“San, you didn’t,” I gasped once I sat down. This was insane, and I couldn’t imagine the price he paid. 

He kissed the top of my head, brushing the hair off my shoulders to fall down my back. “I sure did. I told you I planned on spoiling you.” 

I took his hand once he sat down next to me. “And spoiling me you are. You did not have to do this, really. I would have been content with pizza and a movie.” 

San laughed. It was beginning to become one of my favorite sounds in the entire world. Deep and so full of joy that it made it impossible not to just grin at him like crazy. “I know you would, and don’t think that won’t happen either. But you deserve to be spoiled to the fullest and I intend to do just that.” 

Our conversation paused once the chef came out, a woman named Naomi. She looked absolutely fierce, but was extremely kind and welcoming. Just by looking at her you knew she meant business and definitely knew her way with cooking and knives. Sake started running freely once Naomi started preparing the entirety of the seventeen courses we were set to enjoy. Naomi made the overall experience a million times better than I could have anticipated, laughing and joking along with San and I. 

I nearly died when she asked how long San and I had been together. San came up with an extravagant story of how we first met, telling her that we were celebrating our third anniversary tonight. Of course, I went along and took my role very seriously, adding how much my parents loved him and playing everything up to the max. The entire act was only taken further the more San drank. He was not going overboard in terms of alcohol by any means, but even the smallest amount seemed to have a significant effect on him. Words of affection were constantly rolling out of this man’s mouth by course twelve. The lines of what was played up for show and what was legitimate were becoming more blurred the longer the date went on. Naomi was a dream though, giving San and I space to talk between courses since we were the only patrons for this reservation time.

“It’s not that often I see a young couple so in love,” Naomi said fondly as we finished eating our final course. Two hours flew by like it was nothing and it was hard to believe it was now coming to an end. “You two have both been a pleasure this evening… thank you for choosing to spend your anniversary with us.” 

My cheeks instantly became flaming hot. Hopefully they weren’t as red as they felt, because holy shit. I mean, yeah we were laying it on a little thick, but it was really just a backstory we were playing up… not our actual interactions. I wasn’t expecting someone else to equate us to, well, love. Don’t get me wrong, San was amazing, but love wasn’t something I had even let enter my mind.

San chose this moment to lean over, brushing my hair behind my ear. “She makes it very easy, let me tell you.” His gaze was heavy, smile soft, eyes only for me. Fuck. “Thank you. This was incredible.” He took my hand again, pulling me to stand next to him. 

“Definitely something to remember, and the food was amazing. Each and every bite,” I added. Naomi gave another smile and nod, thanking us one more time before she and the bartender disappeared for a moment. It was our sign to go as well. 

Even with all the sake I was proud to say I was not drunk. Tipsy, maybe, but definitely not to a point where I would regret any decisions. Clearly San was feeling just as good, and the minute we were back in the car with Joon his hands were all over me. After a few minutes an arm wrapped around my shoulder, the other coming across my waist, caging me against the car door. Part of my brain was concerned about what Joon was thinking, but the other half was to transfixed on the words coming out of San’s mouth to care.

“I had plans for dessert, my treasure.” He was barely audible. “But if it’s okay with you, I’d much rather get back to the hotel.”

I was speechless for a moment, taking everything in. The arm around my shoulder slid across my skin, fingertips dragging to grip the nape of my neck. The pressure was making me delirious and San was inching those full lips closer with each breath. “I like the sound of that.” My voice was a whisper that was quickly swallowed by San���s lips coming onto mine. 

All thoughts completely went out the window. Fingers raked into my hair, pressing our lips together further as they tensed against my scalp. His tongue wasted no time in entering my mouth, tangling with my own while he wound his way through every inch of it. My back moved to press against the car food and I scrambled to grab onto something, finally settling on the side of his shirt. I was kissing him back with just as much passion, letting my tongue loop along his. These kisses were intoxicating and now that his other hand was digging into my hip I was losing myself even more. 

San’s lips slowed down allowing us both to catch our breath and compose ourselves just a little for the remainder of the drive. My lip caught in his teeth once San pulled away. He chuckled slightly, but his eyes remained dark. “I can’t get enough of you, fuck.” Voice continued to be low, although Joon thankfully had the music relatively turned up. San’s hand ran down my side and his fingers tensed on my hip. “Behaving myself is becoming more difficult, jagi… but I can hold out a little longer.” 

Our foreheads nestled together briefly since he thankfully hadn’t pulled completely away from me. “You call this behaving?” I teased, tugging on the side of this shirt. Saying I was enthralled would be an understatement, and all I wanted was his lips back on mine. Every single fiber in my body wanted him and each second I felt more desperate for him. 

I swear this man growled, more or less groaning while he continued to press into my skin firmly with his fingertips. His breath was hot against me, very clearly struggling to hold himself back. With a sigh he closed his eyes. He pressed his lips back onto mine, so full of longing that I could almost taste the need. Those lips were moving so damn slow, his tongue sliding back into my mouth languidly. “My treasure...” San continued kissing me in between words, lips never completely separating from mine. “You have no idea what I have in store if I can have my way with you tonight.” 

He completely pulled away from me now, a smirk on his face while I was left completely flustered and breathless. San kept his hand cemented on my thigh, rubbing firmly. His face was still flushed with a bit of pink and lips were swollen. We had to be close to the hotel now and I don’t know about San, but I was more than ready to get out of the car and away from Joon’s eyes. 

Thankfully my speculation was right, and within minutes we were back at the hotel. Joon didn’t say a word to us as San opened the door, although he gave me a quick wink and a smile through the rearview mirror. I was too far gone to even consider being embarrassed. San’s hand reached out, taking me from the car so swiftly I didn’t have a chance to stumble. Not bothering to put a mask on, we both quickly said thank you to Joon before he pulled away. 

He looped his arm around my back, tucking me close to his side. San smiled when I wrapped mine around his waist, letting us tumble together into the elevator. Lips attacked me the instant the elevator doors closed. I was pinned against the back wall by his chest and arms, and if the door opened on any other floor we would be found in a very compromising position. 

“San,” I half moaned. The kisses he was placing on my neck were accompanied by perfectly placed sucks, dragging his lips and tongue as he moved. One hand had a firm grip in my hair, the other on my ass. It was absolutely intoxicating, mixing with the dizziness from the alcohol. “We need to pause this, really. Someone could-” 

I was shut up by San’s hand moving around to my throat, flexing softly around it while he crashed his mouth back onto mine. “Let them,” was all he said, pressing our bodies together so tightly I could feel every hard inch of what was hiding in those dress pants. Kisses became deeper but San continued to keep a semblance of control even though my brain was begging him to let loose. 

The elevator lurching to a stop was what caused San to finally relinquish his grip around my neck and unfortunately remove his lips. The smile he gave me with his heavy eyes was nearly enough for my knees to give out. With a slight pull against my ass he tugged me away from the wall, positioning both of us so he could hide his very evident hard on. I ended up in front of him, both his hands now resting on my hips so we could walk through the hallway with a bit of decency. Steps were a little awkward at first, but we quickly came into a rhythm without tripping over one another. 

“1672, jagi,” San whispered into my ear, letting his lips linger for good measure. Using his hands, he steered me through, twisting my hips if we needed to turn. Fingers clutched more tightly the closer we came to his room, lips brushing softly on my hair and ear. 

He reached around me to unlock the door, his dick digging into my back. Clearly that was intentional judging by the smirk he gave me when I turned to kiss his cheek. He took me further off guard by spinning me around so we were back face to face. Our lips met again while he backed me into his room. The door was kicked shut in a hurry once we were inside. 

“Treasure,” he breathed. Hands coasted up my body, disturbing the fabric of my dress as they moved. He continued stepping us back into the room until we were feet away from the bed. “I can’t even begin to describe how much I crave you.” I clung to his hips, pressing us together so I could get some sort of pressure on my dripping center. San had worked me up so easily and I needed some sort of relief. “Since that first kiss, jagi, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. This pull I feel towards you…” he trailed off with a sigh, choosing to kiss me instead of finishing the thought. This one was sweet, his tongue tracing intricately around my mouth. A hand had moved to hold my back my hair, the thumb caressing my cheek while his other hand was tilting my chin upwards to give him the best angle into my mouth. It quickly turned hungry, but he tore his lips away with another sigh. 

My chest was heaving and my brain was reeling. There was definitely something different between him and I, something I also hadn’t been able to put my finger on. We were drawn to each other like magnets in an unexplainable way. 

I slid my hands up his chest. His shirt was much softer than I expected and the material hugged every single muscle in his chest and back exquisitely. I fingered the top button, looking at him through my eyelashes. Our eyes met, and holy hell. This man was staring at me with equal parts lust and adoration through heavy lids. “I do hope you realize I feel the exact same way about you, San.” 

His mouth twitched up briefly into a smile before hunger became the only visible emotion. “I can’t keep my hands off you, my treasure. I desperately want to know every inch of your body.” Lips began ghosting across my skin in conjunction with hands moving to tease the bow at my back, tugging the ends to untie it. Now that the bow wasn’t keeping the dress snug my bare breasts were threatening to completely fall out of the now loose material collecting around my chest. “There isn’t a single part of you that will be untouched by my fingers.” Said fingers danced across my shoulders, easing the thin straps over my shoulders. Breasts were on full display now. San’s mouth moved lower to drag across my shoulders and collar bone, thumbs rubbing my nipples. “Nothing left untouched by my lips.” 

I took the opportunity to undo his buttons while he continued to pull down my dress until it fell in a crumpled pile on the floor, leaving me only in my thong. My fingers fumbled slightly on the buttons when his hands started exploring my body, but eventually all were undone. His fingertips were leaving goosebumps with how lightly they were brushing along my skin, but he avoided spending too much time along my breasts and thong. San’s eyes were locked on to me and turning darker by the minute as he took in every inch of me. Typically I would be embarrassed if anyone looked at me like this, but as always I was comfortable with San. 

“You, my treasure, are more perfect than I imagined,” he said softly, teeth biting into his lower lip. He slid off his shirt, letting it join my dress on the floor, giving me a front row view to that perfectly toned chest. “So beautiful.”

God damn this man was fine. His body was immaculate, looking like it had been chiseled out of marble. Pictures and seeing on stage could not compare to having it under my hands. His chest and stomach were firm, his breathing becoming deeper as my touch moved lower towards his waistband. San’s lips connected with my neck again as he pulled me closer, both of us moaning at the contact of our lower bodies. His fingers dug into my hips, grinding further into me. I needed more.

“Jagi,” he murmured, lips never straying far from my neck. His hands moved lower to hook into the sides of my underwear to play with the fabric, absolutely teasing me and making me grow even wetter. “I want to pleasure you in every way imaginable.” 

I couldn’t take it any longer. The need for him was overtaking me and damn near unbearable. “Then take me, San.” 

Without another word he gently pushed me back onto the bed. I moved to the middle of it, not breaking eye contact while San moved slowly with me. His body hovered above me briefly with his elbows positioned on either side of me before he slotted his mouth back onto mine, pressing his bare chest onto me lightly. I wrapped my hands through his black hair, pulling him as deep into me as I could. Every small movement of his hips had his dick rubbing along my thinly covered center, causing stifled moans to escape my mouth. 

A particularly pronounced roll of his hips had me whining, his name coming from my mouth. “Sannie.” He rolled his hips again, and I could feel the smile on his lips. “Please, I need you.” 

A soft laugh came from his lips as he moved to press kisses along my throat, tongue dragging along the skin. San continued his ministrations down, sucking and nipping as he went until paused above my breasts. “Baby,” he breathed, thumbs rubbing smoothly over my nipples before he pinched and rolled them between his fingers. I gasped, earning a smile of appreciation from him. “I intend on taking my time with you.” His mouth latched onto one breast, tongue swirling around my nipple. 

Part of me wanted this man to do anything he wanted to me and let him take his sweet ass time in whatever way he saw fit. The other half wanted to rip his pants off, climb on top of him and ride him like there was no tomorrow. But, fuck, his lips felt heavenly around my breasts, biting and sucking while one hand was pinching the nipple not under attack but his mouth. The other hand migrated lower and lower, finally teasing along the outside of my thong. 

San pulled off my nipple with a small pop, both breasts littered with teeth marks and mottled red and purple from his work on them. “So wet for me, babe,” he slid a finger across the soaked fabric, pressing softly onto my clit. “I can’t wait to taste you…” 

“Fuck, San,” I moaned when his finger finally entered my core. He sat back on his heels, finger teasing in and out slowly. Thumb started circling my clit, pushing my thong further to the side. His golden skin stood out gloriously in the dim room, emphasized wholly by the black pants still clinging to his thighs.

Looking at me through heavy, hooded eyes only for a moment before he leaned back down, licking and brushing his lips down my body. He idled above my thong, eyes flicking up as a smile pulled across his face. Licking his lips, he pulled his fingers out, hooking them into the material and tugging down. I raised my hips slightly so he could remove them completely, dropping them out of sight. 

He nestled himself lower, spreading my legs further apart so he could lay comfortably. Hands wrapped around my thighs as his tongue licked my slit slowly, holding me against his face while he sucked my clit. I moaned, tangling my fingers through his hair. San groaned, pressing his face deeper into my pussy and eating me out like a man starved. 

Every movement of his tongue was sending a shockwave through my system, each suck and flick across my clit threatening to send me over the edge. San dug his fingers into my thigh, quickening the pace of his tongue when I tensed my fingers, inadvertently pushing his tongue in further. He hummed against my clit, swirling his tongue. The orgasm hit me hard, stars flooding my vision. San’s hands were thankfully keeping my lower body in place, my hips rutting against his face.

The languid strokes of San’s tongue rode me out of my orgasm, but it was clear this man was not done with me. My arousal glistened on his face when he pulled away, swiping it off with his fingers. His mouth closed around the digits, eyes closed and moaning at the taste. “There’s one for me, baby girl…” He began kissing along my thighs, mixing small love bites in between each sensual movement of his lips. Fingers reentered, a whimper escaping my throat as my head rolled back. I had barely come back down and was already feeling overstimulated. Head was barely seen over me, pupils blown out as a hint of a smirk showed. “But one isn’t nearly enough for me.” 

His mouth latched onto my clit once again, this time nipping and sucking with absolute fervor while two fingers worked in and out of me quickly. The combination of quick flicks from his tongue and him bending his fingers, beckoning me to cum, nearly had me spiraling again. The sounds that were coming from my mouth were obscene. Heavy moans and whimpers accompanied by the wet slurps of his tongue along my pussy. It was positively lewd. 

“My treasure,” he mumbled, tongue swiping firmly over my clit before sucking so hard it was borderline painful, but quickly turned to pleasure. It was addicting. I gasped at the feeling, making San pause for a moment. “Baby,” his voice was softer, his tongue giving kitten licks and fingers slowing, “I need to know what you like. If it’s too much…” 

Always so concerned. I smiled, running my fingers through his soft hair. “More, Sannie, it feels-”

The sentence was incomplete. San sucked harder this time, jolting my hips into his face as I screamed his name with the suddenness. He moaned into me, sucking my clit with hungry enthusiasm. Two fingers continued pistoning in and out of me, curling upwards at the perfect moments. This orgasm hit me harder than the first, crashing over me like a tsunami. I shuddered against, his tongue running deliberately through my slit to take every drop of me into his mouth. 

“So fucking good, baby,” he said, adding to the many words of praise he was giving my while kissing up my body. Again he took the time to abuse my breasts with his mouth, taking inventory of every sound of pleasure coming from me. 

Our mouths reconnected. He hadn’t bothered to wipe the remnants of my second orgasm off his face and I could easily taste myself on his lips and tongue when it entered my mouth. When San let the full weight of his body down I could feel how much his cock strained against his pants. 

He pulled back to run his thumb over my lips. I opened my mouth and wrapped my lips around it. Moans escaped him when I sucked and and swirled my tongue around, an echo of treatment his dick received in the backroom only a couple of weeks ago. He rutted against me, clearly needing release. It was the first deviation from the aura of control this evening, want and desire easily apparent on that flawless face. 

“Babe,” I breathed. His thumb slipped from my mouth, strong fingers now clutched my chin, angling my face so he could have the access he needed to kiss and nuzzle into my neck. “I need you, and I need you desperately.” 

He growled, pressing his dick soundly against my center. I reached between us, taking his clothed length into my hand. Biting my neck, I could feel his eyes flutter shut and his breath come out in pants when my hand slid upwards along his length. I knew he had a very clear vision for how he wanted this night to go and I was intentionally interrupting said plan. “Fuck, treasure. You are making this…” 

I pressed my palm over his dick more firmly, a hiss escaping his mouth while San ground into my hand. For the first time this evening I held some control and I was loving every second of it. “Making it what, Sannie?” My voice was oozing with sweetness.

San’s lips were off me in a flash. Leaning back to his heels he undid his belt and pants in a hurry, eyes boring into mine as he licked his lips. Gone was the control he had been exuding, now he looked ready to completely destroy me.  

The pants were thrown on the floor, joining every other article of clothing. Now a completely naked San was perched on top of me, staring down at me with a feral hunger. He was stroking his cock slowly before he lowered his body down onto mine. A hand clasped around my throat, applying enough pressure to make me dizzy, cockhead teasing the folds at my entrance. 

“I’m going to show you just how much you’re mine, treasure.” His voice was a low growl. That alone made my arousal surge higher.  

I tried to move beneath him. The need to feel him inside me was overtaking every thought racing through my mind. But San pulled back, only letting his dick continue to tease at my entrance, brushing unbearably with every movement. “San,” my voice a pitiful whimper as I squirmed beneath him, “Please. Quit being a tease” 

A smirk crossed his face. “Tell me how badly you need me, how much you want my dick inside you.” San had the power back in his hands now. As much as I enjoyed my brief little powertrip, seeing him like this was making me wetter by the second. 

I grabbed onto his torso, my fingers digging into his bulging back muscles. “San please,” fingers flexed against my throat, a moan breaking up my begging, “I need you inside me.” 

At my words he crashed his lips onto mine, a mess of teeth and tongue going at each other relentlessly. Dick eased into me slowly, letting my body adjust to the stretch until every inch of him was inside me. 

“Fuck,” San groaned. He eased out at an agonizingly slow pace, pushing in just as slow. His dick felt like absolute heaven. 

San kept this pace, rolling his hips slowly and moaning into my mouth. I could feel every bit of him at this rate, the head dragging across my g-spot. When my fingers laced into his hair the tempo finally increased. He fucked like he danced, every thrust fluid yet pointed. 

He leaned upwards, pulling my hips with him. At this angle his thrusts hit deeper and the knot in my stomach was tightening with each one. His fingers were digging into my skin, hard enough that I would surely have bruises. His dick drove him into me harder and quicker, moans and whimpers filled with San's name coming from me freely. 

Sweat was forming across San’s golden skin, glistening in the dim lighting. His thumb applied pressure onto my throbbing clit, rubbing smoothly. With each circle I teetered closer and closer to the edge. “Give me another one, jagi.” 

I came undone at his words, back arching further off the mattress as I screamed. San’s body tumbled on top of me, hands cupping my face as he rode me out of the orgasm. Hips rocked against me slowly, lips brushing sweetly across my skin. 

“My perfect, perfect treasure.” His thumbs stroked my cheeks, but the rolling of his hips still hadn’t stopped. I was becoming increasingly sensitive and even these small motions had another orgasm looming. “So beautiful.” He slotted his mouth against mine, the kiss purposeful and ending with a sharp bite to my lip. “You… you make me greedy. I want more. I need more of you.” 

I moaned, his hands roaming to massage my breasts, teasing my nipples in between his fingers. The feeling was mutual, but my head felt hazy from the last three orgasms and words were not forming. Instead I kissed him, giving his full lip the same sharp bite before I pushed him off me softly, forcing him to land beside me on the bed. 

“You already have all of me, Choi San,” I said as I moved to straddle him, hovering over his hard length. San’s hands coasted up my thighs, our breathing becoming heavy pants. 

I eased myself down, the stretch of his dick easy to take. My head rolled back, eyes closing. I reached for San’s chest for some stability, pressing down on that board chest as I slid back up his length before lowering down just as slowly. It was San’s eyes that rolled back, hands coming to my hips to hold me in place. 

He sat up, weaving his hands into my hair, our chest flush together. His heart was pumping just as quickly as mine. His kiss stole the breath out of my mouth, my arms wrapping around his neck and into those black locks in an effort to bring us closer together. That was impossible, of course, we were already as close as humanly possible… but I couldn’t get enough of the feeling of his skin against mine. 

This time, it was me who set the pace, quick enough that we were both receiving the friction we desired, but slow enough that we could feel the other entirely. My clit brushed against his pelvis with each motion, adding to my own pleasure. This position was entirely intimate, the words San whispered between our passionate kissing only adding to the closeness between us. 

“Alexis.”

“My most precious treasure.”

“You are mine.”

“You will always be mine.”

I was on the edge of crashing over the cliff again, the knot slowly becoming tighter and tighter. I knew my body couldn’t handle much more. “San, baby… cum with me. Please.”

Fingers tightened with San’s moan. “Fuck, jagi.” 

He lowered himself back down onto the bed, keeping his forehead pressed against mine and his hand laced my hair so I was forced to move along with him. The other hand migrated back to my hip, holding on so tightly I gasped. He held me in place, slamming his dick into me, chasing his own release for the first time tonight. Moans filled the air, mixed with expletives as my walls clenched around him. 

“Jeezus fuck, San,” I screamed, cumming around him a fourth time. 

San hit his own high seconds later, painting my walls white and moaning my name between panted breaths, hands tugging my hair as he came. Thrusts slowed as we came down together, lips meeting in soft kisses. San pulled his softening length out of me entirely before pushing us both back up into an upright, seated position. He gently took my legs, wrapping them around his waist before taking my arms and placing them around his neck.

“You, my treasure…” he laughed softly, burrowing into my neck and peppering the softest kisses imaginable. “You are magical.” Strong hands began massaging my tired back muscles. As awake as I felt, exhaustion was starting to trickle in. One hand moved to cup my cheek. San’s gaze was soft when his eyes met mine. A smile formed on his face before he lightly tapped his lips against mine. “Can we manage a shower, jagi?”

I laughed. “My legs are absolutely jelly, Sannie.” 

“Job well done on my part then,” he teased, nuzzling his nose against mine. His fingers splayed across my back. “I got you, baby. I promise.” 

“None of my things are in here…” I protested slightly, even though I wanted nothing more than to soak up in a shower with him. “Can we at least go get…”

San shimmied us to the edge, his feet now planted on the floor. A mischievous smirk was plastered on his face. “It’s already here, my treasure..” He laughed at my raised eyebrow. “I may have asked Christie to grab whatever you would need in case you decided to stay with me tonight… Woo and Yeo picked it up and brought everything here while we were out.” 

I smiled, shaking my head slightly. Of course he would think of everything. Nothing slipped his mind, something I was quickly becoming more fond of. “How are you so perfect?”

In one motion San stood and eased my shaky legs onto the carpet, keeping a strong hold of my waist. “All I want is to make sure you’re comfortable and taken care of, my treasure. At a minimum you should have the things you need.” His eyes were sparkling, smile just as bright. 

Damn. This man really was everything. 

He led me towards the bathroom. My legs were wobbly but with San’s grip there was no fear of them giving out on me. Just as he said, all of my shower supplies were set neatly on the bathroom counter along with a pair of pajamas and a change of clothes for tomorrow. I’d have to also thank Christie for going above and beyond and thinking of everything. I grabbed what I needed for now, handing it to San to put in the shower. 

I got a glance of myself in the mirror and I couldn’t help but giggle. I looked like a fucked out mess. The waves in my hair had long since fallen, sticking to random places on my body from sweating. My mascara was smudged, but impressively enough it wasn't running down my cheeks. Skin was still flushed and littered with bruises and bites. I quickly took one of the makeup wipes and rubbed my eyes, not wanting to look like a viking with eye black in the shower. 

San came behind me after he turned the shower on, snaking his arms around my waist. “So fucking beautiful,” he mused, pressing his lips to my cheek.

Once the water temperature was to his liking, San brought me into the shower, never letting go of my hands as I stepped through the glass door. He kissed me as the water fell around us, speaking so softly it was nearly drowned out by the drizzle. He showered me with praises, lips ghosting all over my skin as he washed my body. Every touch was intimate, but lacking any sexual motive. San truly did want to take care of me, and this was another indication of that. 

This form of treatment was foreign to me. The only time Austin took the time to care for me was after an exceptionally terrible outburst. Even then the motive behind the uncharacteristic softness was nefarious, a way for me to look past his countless monstrosities. 

San was nothing like that. Every tender touch and word was as genuine as his dimpled smile. 

We were in the shower for what felt like hours. I relished in the feeling of San’s hands caressing my skin. My own were roaming his body, imprinting every curve of his muscles to memory. I wanted nothing more than to stay in this moment for eternity, but my body ached and my eyes grew heavy with tiredness. I became more reliant on San’s arms to hold me upright, something the man noticed immediately. 

He reached around me, turning off the shower. “Let’s get to bed.” 

San wrapped one of the fluffy towels around me carefully before disappearing out of the bathroom. He returned in a pair of sweatpants and one of his t-shirts held loosely in his hands. I smiled, reaching out for it, but San kept it out of my grasp. Instead, he stepped closer towards me, tugging the towel off my body and haphazardly throwing the shirt over my head with a laugh. 

“Was that necessary?” I giggled once I popped my head through, twisting it around to work my arms through. The shirt landed mid thigh, covering me just enough. 

“Entirely necessary, I’m afraid.” San grabbed the sides of his shirt, tugging me closer. 

His hands glided down my body, pausing on my ass for just a moment before continuing to my thighs. With absolutely no effort I was hoisted up, legs quickly encircling his waist to help support my weight. We were both laughing as he walked us out of the bathroom towards the bed. 

“I’m guessing this was also necessary?” 

San kissed my nose before dropping me on the bed with no warning. I bounced against the mattress, giggling even louder. “You catch on quickly, treasure.”

He climbed in after me, pulling down the duvet and adjusting it to cover us completely. I settled easily into San’s open arms, the invitation to snuggle into his chest accepted without question. He enveloped me completely, hands stroking along my arm and through my hair. 

“Sweet dreams, my treasure,” he whispered, lips barely skimming the top of my hair. 

“Good night, my mountain.” It was the first time I said something so intimate, words of endearment beyond the typical babe and baby. A puff of breath hit my hair and I could feel the faint outline of a smile when his lips connected with my head again. 

With the steady rise and fall of San’s chest I was quickly being lulled to sleep. My brain was finally quieting when a thought came crashing through it. One that was equal parts exciting and terrifying. 

Falling for San was going to be easier than I ever thought possible.

[pocket-goblino]

Im an in training hydrogeologist (groundwater sciences graduate student) and I don't have all my sources now cause I just woke up but a large part of what fixed the dust bowl wasn't just an increase in rain after the drought, it was an increase in well technology in the 50s or so allowing farmers in the area to pump the deep yet largest aquifer in the United States; the High Plains Aquifer. Aquifers are areas in the ground where water is naturally stored and relatively easy to pump out. They recharge through processes like spring melt, rain, seeping from rivers and lakes, mountain snowmelt, etc, but it takes time. Depending on the aquifer, its conditions, how much recharge it's getting, etc, the time to recharge can vary wildly.

The High Plains Aquifer stretches across like 5 states from north to south (will have to find a map, I'm not American so I don't remember them off the top of my head) and supplies fresh water for irrigation of crops. Because of pumping of the High Plains Aquifer (also known as the Ogallala aquifer), the region of the dust bowl has become a breadbasket. This is going to change, however, because the High Plains Aquifer is drying up quickly due to overpumping, and it'll take about 6000 years to replenish.

The rate of depletion isn't uniform; the amount drying out varies from place to place. This depends on local pumping laws but also the aquifers capabilities at said point. And the change is already being felt; some farmers in areas affected already need to evacuate places where the wells are running dry. Efforts are being made to staunch this (a LOT of research is being done on the High Plains Aquifer worldwide) but it's a balance between what the scientists are saying and what people actually do. So far, it's going to run dry in a few decades, and dust bowl conditions (especially with climate change knocking on our door) may return in our lifetimes.

It is possible to sustainably pump groundwater; we do it all around the world all the time. If you stick within the recharge rate of an aquifer, it is a renewable resource. If you pump too much and too fast, however, you can deplete it completely and have to wait a long time for it to replenish again.

I'll try to reblog later with more details, some sources and some maps once I've had some caffeine but hopefully this primer helps understand a facet of the dust bowl and why we haven't seen conditions like that today even though farming is intense in the area. Yes there were a lot of changes in farming practices, but a large part was due to having water from the deep aquifer.

I grew up on stories of the Dust Bowl.

My dad’s parents were Okies–environmental refugees, before anyone had a word for it. They left their families, the land they were renting, their animals, took their 1-year-old daughter, and drove to California. My grandpa worked in a peach packing plant. My grandma cleaned houses.

They were so lonely that after a couple years they went back to Oklahoma, with their total savings of $20. Later, they bought land. Built a house. Survived.

My mom’s dad was a kid then, and his family stayed in western Kansas. Stayed because my great-grandpa was too damn stubborn to leave, stayed when their neighbors had all left, stayed because they didn’t have enough money to leave. They slept with wet rags over their faces. My great-grandpa tied a string around his waist, tied the other end to the house, and went to check on the cows, while my great-grandma tried to make soup from a little milk and a little flour. There was so much dust swirling in the air, the soup turned to mud. She cried, begged her husband once more to let them leave, and they went to bed hungry.

My grandpa’s oldest brother was the first one in the county to leave his wheat stubble in the field instead of plowing it under after the harvest. His neighbors made fun of him. His parents scolded him for having messy fields. 70 years later, at his funeral, someone told how people from Japan came to visit the farm, to see what he was doing differently.

More than 80 years after the Dust Bowl, I stood on a mountain in Ecuador watching, horrified, as a man with a tractor plowed a steep field. He would back up the hill, set the disk in the ground at the top of the field, and drive down, breaking up the soil, dragging it downhill. Dust billowed around him.

The man next to me, a rich-for-the-area farmer, sighed happily. “Look at all that dust. Isn’t that great?”

“What? No!” I was shocked.

“Why not? That’s what a modern farm looks like.”

I thought of the old black-and-white photos, dust clouds like black walls rolling in across the prairie. That’s what a modern farm looked like, too.

The next field down, four people and four oxen–well, dairy cows used as oxen–were planting. They used plows, too, but instead of a disk pulverizing the soil, their plow was a straight piece of wood, metal from an old leaf spring bolted to the end. One team of oxen used that plow to open a furrow, the women walking behind dropped maize seeds into the soil, and the second team of oxen dragged the same kind of plow just above the first, closing the furrow and burying the seeds. They walked along the hill–side to side, furrows running along the contour of the hill. If they were raising any dust, it wasn’t enough for me to see from across the valley.

The man with the tractor probably finished in an hour or two. The whole group, people and oxen and all, probably spent the whole day planting the same size field.

As the maize grew tall, you could see the difference: In the tractored field, the top rows were yellow, spindly, trying to root in the yellow-brown clay the topsoil had once covered. Down below, in dark, rich earth, the maize was tall, green, strong.

In Mali, years later, a farmer explained to a group of visiting scientists why, despite having made erosion control bunds, his rows of maize still went up and down the slope, instead of along the contour, parallel with the bunds. “Because of the wind,” he said, like it was obvious–because it was. In the rainy season, the wind comes from the south, and when storms come it blows hard enough to send dust and dishes and clothes left on the line flying and tumbling with it.

The rows of maize have to be parallel to that wind, or they’ll blow over. So sure, you can put the scientists’ earthen ridges in to block the downhill flow of water, but your rows can’t follow that meandering contour. Your rows have to face into the wind. 

For thousands of years we’ve been coaxing, wrestling, dragging our food from the soil. If we’re careful, and lucky, we can make our peace with it. If we charge into places unknown–the high plains of Kansas and Oklahoma, the steep slopes of the Andes, the storm-swept fields of West Africa–if we plow, and plant, and harvest without thinking? Without learning from the place? Dust clouds blackening the horizon, stunted maize on worn-out soil, crops blown down in  thunderstorms–the earth is forgiving, but only so far. We have time to learn, to make mistakes, to do what is easy even when it does harm, but only so much. Beyond that, we destroy the very literal foundations of our lives.