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meltwonu · 4 years ago

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| 🍒 CH-CH-CHERRY BOMB! 🍒 | [CHAPTER 𝟙𝟛]

pairing; dom!seungcheol x camgirl!reader

this chapter’s notes; camshow, breeding kink, sir!kink, pet play(kitten), v small amt of anal play, dirty talk!!! HAPPY FRIDAY THE 𝟙𝟛TH! 😗💕 Here we are with ch 13 on Friday the 13th, I didn't even realize it but man my ✨brain✨just planned that out so perfectly LOL 💕 I just wanna apologize for any grammatic/spelling errors in this one and it’s a bit shorter... I tried to proofread this all day but I'm also watching unus annus’s livestream at the same time and my peabrain cannot multitask but I TRIED!! let it be known 😩😭 Anyway, I hope ya’ll have a great weekend, stay hydrated and safe! Enjoy~! 🍒

chapters; 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - ?

alphagyu97: oh fuck oh fuck

alphagyu97 has donated $100

hoshi_tiger_xx: oh??? Cute lil kitten ears????

A moan floats past your lips as you sit in Seungcheol’s lap; his cock already snug inside of you before you’d even turned the camera on. “Ah, ye--yeah, we thought we’d, mmh, try--try something n-new…”

Seungcheol smirks although neither you nor the camera catch it as he holds you still. Much like before, he’d started working you up before you got on camera and this time he’d asked you to sink down onto his cock and wait patiently until it was time to begin; neither of you saying a word or moving an inch as he peppered kisses along your shoulders and neck. “Why don’t you show them your cute ‘lil tail, kitten? It’s getting squished between our bodies...”

universe_WZ: yes yes yes

tangerine_kwan: show us your cute tail princess

therealchan99: thank u for the pics btw i scream abt them every 30 minutes

therealchan99 has donated $50

You reach a shaky hand behind your back for the fluffy material as you show it off to the camera to the best of your ability; making sure to not move it around too much or else you knew you’d cum too soon. “I, ah, it’s--it’s keeping me s-so full…” He makes you answer a few more comments as you sit on his cock; blunt nails digging into the skin of your waist when he feels you trying to get him to move.

artist8hao: so so so pretty baby

kitty_junjun: cute little kitty

kitty_junjun: should come and play sometime ;)

xcaliburDK has donated $75

The way Seungcheol has you in his lap is a little uncomfortable for you and he quickly takes notice of the way you start to squirm more and more with each comment or question you reply to. “Kitten, it looks like you hit your donation minimum already. Should we start?” He coos.

You can only nod in return as you squint your eyes to check the laptop screen to see how you were doing. “Ngh, p-please… I--I’m so f-full I can’t wait any l-longer…” Whining, you clench around his cock and the toy as he chuckles lightly behind you. He’d purposely asked if the two of you could sit further back on the bed and further from the camera and laptop and you’d raised an eyebrow but agreed.

“Sorry, the angle’s not going to be very good for this but you’ll understand why.” Seungcheol comments.

The laptop screen is full of questioning comments and donations that beg Seungcheol to hurry up and fuck you.

His grip on your waist tightens a little before he’s slowly lifting you off of his cock and you let out a disappointed noise when he’s completely pulled out. “Nooo~ I w-want--”

“Ah, ah, I know what you want, kitten. But you need to get on your hands and knees for me. Facing the camera.”

Oooh, that’s why he wanted space.

You nod frantically as you easily get comfortable on your hands and knees in front of the camera and laptop; fluffy tail resting against your spine as the bell on your collar jingles.

alphagyu97: oh god please breed her

angelhan: yes god please

Seungcheol kneels behind you; already easing his cock back into your tight pussy as you mewl straight into the camera. “Our cute little kitten is already squeezing my cock so tight…”

You feel his fingertips on your skin before he’s reaching for the fluffy tail and he gives it a small tug as you whine and whimper in return.

“No, no pl--please, sir, I’ll cum if, ah, you p-play with my--my tail!”

Your eyes clamp shut just as Seungcheol starts to play with the anal plug; tugging on it and moving it slightly in order to get you to squirm a little more before he gives you want you wanted. He smirks at your back as he hears the sound of donations and comments flooding the screen in rapid succession.

“Oh? But they seem to like when I play with you like this.” You clench around Seungcheol and the toy, small cries on your lips when your sensitive body already wants to give in to the pleasure. “So fuckin’ pretty with your cute tail and ears and your pretty ‘lil collar on.”

chwenon: shes gonna cum so fast lol

gentleman_josh95: i kno, u can already tell she wants to

hoshi_tiger_xx has donated $50

xcaliburDK has donated $50

sleepy_wonu: look at her cute fuckin face while she tries to not cum haha

Seungcheol draws his hips back slightly before slowly thrusting into you from behind; fingertips still playing with the tail as he moves it around in tandem with his slow thrusts. “Oh kitten, you’re so fuckin’ wet for me, baby~” You can only moan back in response as you resist the urge to meet his slow movements with your own, much quicker ones.

“Ah, s-sir, please…”

tangerine_kwan: so cute when she's whiningggg

angelhan: dont give into her so easily~ make her work for it ;)

kitty_junjun: aww but shes so cute like this

Your fingertips dig into the bed sheets and you peel your eyes open as you attempt to read off the comments flying across the screen. “Mmh, ‘m so full… and sir won’t s-stop playing, ah, with my--my tail…” You can see Seungcheol’s form behind you on the screen, hips slowly moving as he plays with the tail.

You slowly find yourself moving with him and meeting his thrusts; chasing your pleasure as Seungcheol seemingly takes his time.

“Ngh, s-sir, can I c-cum?”

Seungcheol grins at your back, suddenly picking up the pace as he finally leaves the anal plug alone. “I don’t know, can you? Why don’t you ask them?” You blink your hazy eyes at the camera before flitting towards the comments section of your camshow.

“P-please tell s-sir to, mmh, let m-me cum…” You beg; unintentionally sending the comments section and donations into a flurry of yes’s and no’s.

artist8hao: let her cum but dont let it be the only time

alphagyu97: aww princess dont forget he still needs to breed your cute lil cunt

universe_WZ: she can cum but she still needs to be a good girl and let sir get what he wants

“Mmh, of--of course I, ah, w-want sir to b-breed my pussy… I, hah, want his--his cum i-inside of m-me…” You start working your hips back as you meet Seungcheol’s pace that speeds up at your words and the two of you fall into a rhythm as he works to get you off first. His hands grip your waist as he angles his thrusts to tap your g-spot and you mewl and whine in response; careful to not accidentally call Seungcheol’s name in the midst of the moment.

“Fuh--fuck, sir, ‘m g-gonna cum… please…”

“Cum whenever you want, kitten.”

You nod shakily; head falling forward as you let yourself get lost in the pleasure.

Your eyes flutter shut as various thoughts flood your mind. The main one being how seamlessly Seungcheol fit into your camshows and how much easier it was to film with him than you ever anticipated. The two of you easily forgot that the camera was even rolling most of the time, whether it was live or pre-recorded for your channel and now that he was always with you, it was hard to imagine filming without him.

“Ah, kitten, your cute ‘lil cunt is, ah, sucking me in deeper… You must really want my cum, huh?”

His words bring you out of your thoughts as you bite your lip. “Mmhmm, I w-want sir to c-cum, hah, inside my p-pussy and b-breed me… wanna be, ngh, filled with your---your cum…”

“Why don’t we cum together then, hmm? Bet you wanna feel my cock throbbing in your cute ‘lil cunt, huh, kitten?”

The warmth blooms inside of you as you nod; cheeks hot as you peer straight into the camera. You readjust slightly, the bell on your collar tinkling as the set of cat ears on your head slip slightly. “Y-yes, sir… Please cum w-with me…”

Seungcheol doubles his pace and you quickly feel one of his hands leaving your body as he wraps his hand around the fluffy tail again. He starts to move it around again, slightly tugging on it as you cry out. “Ah, s-sir!”

chwenon has donated $75

angelhan has donated $50

universe_WZ has donated $100

artist8hao has donated $75

“Fuh--fuck, sir, please! P-please breed me, please, ah, c-cum inside m-my little cunt and--and fill m-me up with your c-cum!”

Tears blur your vision as you’re quickly thrown over the edge and into an orgasm; ears ringing when your entire body goes rigid. Seungcheol finds it harder and harder to thrust into you as your walls flutter around his cock and he soon finds himself cumming with you too; cock throbbing as he unloads all of him cum inside you. “Oh, fuck, kitten…” He moans; eyes rolling to the back of his head as he lets the pleasure wash over himself as well.

The sound of donations and comments drown out your soft cries and Seungcheol’s deep groans and you’re almost positive that you’d made at least a couple thousand off of tonight’s show.

alphagyu97: holy shit look at her face, fuck

kitty_junjun: is she crying?

hoshi_tiger_xx: damn, shes so drunk on cock shes crying

therealchan99: aww poor kitten~

You let out a stuttered breath as your body starts to relax; soft sniffles following right after. “Ngh… sir…”

Seungcheol smiles softly when he hears the way your voice trembles and he’s gentle to slide his cock from inside your cunt; groaning when his cum immediately drips down onto the sheets from how much he’d cum inside you.

“Ah, kitten, what a waste. How am I supposed to breed your ‘lil cunt if you’re letting my cum spill out of you already?”

You lick your lips and despite the tiredness, a new wave of arousal pours over your body at the thought of Seungcheol cumming inside of you a second time. You shake your hips; foggy eyes staring straight into the camera.

“You’re just going to, ah, cum inside me again… and let e-everyone watch...”

The next morning, Seungcheol drives you over to��the diner to start your first real day at work and you feel downright nervous once the car stops. You’d gotten so used to camming and being alone that this new foray into normalcy was making you think twice, even just momentarily.

“You gonna be okay?” He turns to you, concern obvious on his face when your eyes meet his. “I can always take you straight home or take you back to the roller rink with me if you d--”

“No! No, I wanna do this... I know we made a lot of money off of the show last night but... But I think this’ll be good for me. Both of us working so we can afford rent ‘n stuff!”

“We should like a married couple.” Seungcheol jokes.

Your cheeks burn hot at his comment as you bite your lip. “Ehehe~”

Seungcheol grins at you, hands still on the steering wheel. “Just let me know if you need anything, okay? I always have my phone on me anyway, Namjoon doesn’t really care.”

The two of you share a laugh as you slowly reach for the door handle.

“I will, I promise!”

“I still do not get why you want to work here.”

Jun laughs, hands on his hips as he watches you adjust the short dress uniform you’d put on, moments before.

“It’s just... something to keep me occupied, is all.” Smoothing down your uniform, you do a small spin for Jun who nods back in approval. “And I wanna make friends! Aren’t we friends?”

Jun’s eyes twinkle with playfulness as he gestures you over to the front of the diner. “Of course we are! Which by the way...” He pauses, looking over the relatively full diner to make sure nobody caught your conversation. “Is... Seungcheol-hyung okay with y’know... You working here and me... Being one of your viewers leaving comments ‘n stuff?”

A genuine look of concern crosses his features as he waits for you to respond.

You puff your cheeks as you think, “I think so? I mean he hasn’t...” Memories of Seungcheol saying he’d kick Jun’s ass immediately flood your mind as you laugh nervously.

“Y-yeah, he didn’t say a word!”

After two hours, you decide to take your 15 minute break; waving to Jun before you head towards the employee backroom to grab your phone.

You check your notifications, surprise on your face when you see Seungcheol’s already messaged you a few times.

cheollie ✨: have a good day!

cheollie ✨: u okay over there, baby?

cheollie ✨: dont feel pressured to answer asap lol

You laugh under your breath, typing up a response as you take a seat in the break room.

‘It’s been going okay! I’m taking a short break right now tho!’

Shockingly, Seungcheol response only after a few seconds.

cheollie ✨: oh, thats good! I take it no issues?

‘Nope! my feet kinda hurt tho lol’

He asks you a few more questions; one about Jun keeping his distance, to which you shake your head and laugh.

cheollie ✨: you never showed me your uniform btw 😏

You let out a noise of realization, fingertips already swiping through your phone to get to your photos as you send him one that you’d taken earlier.

‘How's it look? 🥺’

It goes quiet for a couple minutes and you half-wonder if Seungcheol got in trouble for having his phone out.

‘Cheol, u ok?’

cheollie ✨: is it bad I'm already thinking about lifting that cute little skirt up

cheollie ✨: fucking you nice and hard with your panties just pushed to the side

cheollie ✨: fuck, and making you go back to work with your pussy filled with my cum

A shiver rolls down your spine at his words; gulping as you check the time for how much you had left before you had to get back out onto the floor.

‘what if I bend over and someone sees my panties all wet n soaked thru with ur cum...’

cheollie ✨: then they’d know you’re mine.

cheollie ✨: I mean most of your viewers already know that

cheollie ✨: but I want everyone to know, yknow?

cheollie ✨: god the way I wanna fuck you on the hood of my car

cheollie ✨: your cute little whines while you try to keep quiet

You let out a shaky, quiet moan; thighs rubbing together when you notice you only have about three more minutes before your break was up.

‘Cheol... I have to get back to work 😭 how could you get me horny before I have to get back...’

You pout your lips at your phone screen as you wait for his response.

cheollie ✨: 😈

cheollie ✨: I have an idea

cheollie ✨: for later

cheollie ✨: I hope you can wear your uniform home

cheollie ✨: see u in a few hours baby

#cherrybomb!cheol #seungcheol smut #scoups smut #seventeen smut #svt smut #scoups scenarios #seungcheol scenarios #scoups imagines #seungcheol imagines #svt imagines #svt scenarios #seventeen scenarios #seventeen imagines #scoups #seungcheol #svt fic #seventeen fic

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inner-sakura · 3 years ago

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Hypothetically Ever After

[childhood friends AU, adrienette, slowburn, fake/pretend relationship]

With only two weeks of summer vacation to spare, Marinette enlists Adrien’s help with a task of utmost importance.

“I need you to help me seduce your brother.”

Quite predictably, nothing goes according to plan.

a fic loosely inspired by @starrycove’s Brothers AU from approximately 9835 years ago that has lived in my head and my heart ever since.

read it on: ff.net | AO3

< prev chapter | next chapter >

chapter seventeen

[10:04] Adrien Agreste:

good morning!

[10:04] Adrien Agreste:

it looks like it’s gonna be rainy again today. which sucks butt because i wanted to go on a picnic :’(

[10:05] Adrien Agreste:

but i thought we could maybe hang out at my place instead? my dad and brother are gonna be out for most of the day so we’d pretty much have the place to ourselves

[10:08] Adrien Agreste:

if you want to that is! no pressure if you’re busy or something. just thought i’d see!

[10:45] Marinette Dupain-Cheng:

morning :)

[10:46] Marinette Dupain-Cheng:

yeah that sounds like fun! i’ve got nothing planned today really. plus it’ll save me from being roped into another of my dad’s home reno adventures. he’s installing shelves in the basement today…

[10:47] Marinette Dupain-Cheng:

...which means i woke up to an ungodly crashing sound and my mother screaming 'TOM WHAT HAVE YOU DONE NOW'

[10:47] Adrien Agreste:

oh god is he okay??

[10:49] Marinette Dupain-Cheng:

all of his limbs are still attached and accounted for, so i’d say it’s a win.

[10:50] Marinette Dupain-Cheng:

at this point, i’m not sure whether i should be more worried about my mother doing him in or him accidentally maiming himself

[10:50] Marinette Dupain-Cheng:

anyway

[10:51] Marinette Dupain-Cheng:

let me get ready and i’ll be over around 12ish k?

-x-

As Marinette marched over to the Agrestes’ house later, her arms laden down with items, she cursed her lack of foresight when it came to packing cute, rain-appropriate apparel.

Although Adrien had informed her Félix wouldn’t be home, she wanted to be prepared just in case. So she’d picked her outfit with extra care, taking the time to apply an additional coat of mascara before leaving on the off chance that she did happen to run into him.

Now, however, as she squelched through the ankle-deep mud, dressed in her mother’s old rain boots and an oversized raincoat that had once belonged to her father, she prayed fervently that Félix wouldn’t be there after all.

Because, despite it having worked out for Elizabeth Bennet in the end, Marinette was seriously doubtful that if she showed up looking like a water-logged rat on the doorstep of her own Mr. Darcy that things would play out quite the same way.

She clomped up the walkway, feeling less like a heroine in a period drama and more like a workhorse, pre-industrial revolution.

In other words, I’ve never felt more beautiful, she thought with a wry twist of her lips, groping blindly for the front door.

When her fist met air—not wood, as expected—she looked up, peeking out from underneath her hood.

Adrien stood in the open doorway, staring down at her with his eyebrows raised.

Marinette blinked, surprised to find him already there. She hadn't sent a message to let him know she was on her way, which meant he must have been watching for her from the window in order to have timed it so perfectly.

Was he...waiting for me?

The thought would have been much cuter if he wasn’t currently looking at her like she was an abandoned kitten in a cardboard box, or a sickly street urchin begging for change.

“Are you gonna let me in, or are you content to keep staring at me like I’m the little match girl here to peddle my wares?” He moved aside quickly, letting her through. She shoved what she'd been carrying into his arms, taking care to make as little mess as possible as she removed her sodden outerwear.

“Where should I put these?” She gestured meaningfully, her muddy boots held aloft.

Adrien looked up from where he’d been snooping in the box of pastries, considering her briefly.

He eyed the way she was dripping mud onto the once immaculate floor.

“Better put them in the garage,” he decided at length. “Here, you take this and I’ll deal with them.”

They traded objects, boots and jacket for the box of baked goods.

Turning left, Adrien made his way down a side hallway, leaving Marinette to continue straight, coming to the point where the main hall fed out into the great room.

Even though it was bleak and rainy outside, the room was still relatively bright thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows that took up most of the wall space. She ignored the spectacular view they provided though, walking past the sleek sofas and unlit fireplace that made up the main seating area, heading directly for the open-plan kitchen.

She set the large box down on the counter, content to rid herself of the burden at last.

Her mother had all but shoved it into her hands as she was on her way out the door, instructing her not to eat any of them as they were intended for the Agrestes.

Because, in Sabine’s words, “those poor boys and their father don’t eat enough.”

Marinette peeked inside, taking in the slew of goodies that had been meticulously laid out. A mouth-watering assortment of croissants, danishes, breads, and tarts filled every corner, piled in sweet-smelling layers. Marinette opened the box more fully, intent on putting the things that needed to stay cool in the refrigerator.

A hand reached around her, plucking a danish from the pile.

“Mm, apple! My favourite.” Adrien let out a pleased hum, eyes fluttering closed as he savoured the flaky pastry.

“Yeah, my mom made sure to include a lot of those. And the tarts that she knows your dad loves, even though he pretends not to,” Marinette smirked, sticking her head in one of the cupboards, rifling around until she found a container she thought might be big enough.

"A-ha!" She crowed triumphantly, waving a plastic container and lid in the air as she emerged. There really was no greater joy known to man than finding tupperware with a matching lid, she thought with no small amount of satisfaction.

Spoils in hand, Marinette began transferring the tarts one by one, making sure none of them got squashed or damaged in the process.

“You look like a pro,” Adrien remarked from where he was leaning against the counter. He had already begun eyeing the box for his next treat, having demolished the first in no time flat.

Marinette snorted. “Yeah, well I’ve definitely got a lot of practice at it. Boxing things up is pretty much the only job my parents have deemed safe enough for me to do in the bakery. And even then, they won’t let me near the bigger things like the cakes and pies." She made a face. "It has been deemed 'too risky' in light of my... capabilities.”

Or lack thereof.

Adrien pressed his lips together, clearly understanding the unspoken message. He looked like he was trying very hard not to grin at the mental image. “I can only imagine the kind of devastation that had to be wrought in order to come to that conclusion.”

She put on a grave face. “We lost many good men that day.” Handing him a spinach and feta mini quiche, she closed the container, sliding it into the nearly empty fridge.

“What the hell do you people even do for food?” She marveled, taking in the lack of anything that even remotely resembled human sustenance inside. It was mainly full of beverages: bottles of strange-looking juices and meal supplements lining the shelves.

“Our chef comes by around meal times and makes something usually. Breakfast is often liquids only though.” Adrien grimaced in distaste. Marinette echoed the sentiment.

“That should be illegal. Breakfast is the best meal of the day and the single greatest thing humankind has ever invented.”

“I know,” Adrien nodded. “That’s what I’ve been saying. Another reason why I’m thankful to sneak these treats whenever I can… Your parents’ food is so good.” He shoved the rest of the quiche into his mouth. “So much better than celery juice.”

She patted him on the back as they made their way upstairs. “Whatever you do, don't let my parents hear you say that. Knowing them, they’ll never let you leave my house again without at least fifteen pounds of leftovers.”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” was all he said.

-x-

“We could always watch this one...”

“Adrien, for the last time, I am not watching The Notebook again.”

“But it’s my favourite movie!”

“I know this, and I love you, but if I never watched another Nicholas Sparks movie adaptation in my life, it would be too soon.”

A sigh. “So I guess that means A Walk To Remember is off the table then…”

Marinette groaned, ignoring his pouting. They had been trying to decide what to watch for what felt like hours now, unable to agree on anything when it came to genre. Marinette, who was more a fan of action and thriller, kept trying to steer Adrien in the direction of a new zombie movie that she’d been dying to watch. Adrien, who was not a fan of anything involving gore, murder, or monsters, had balked at the suggestion, putting forth his own pick: another goddamn romantic comedy about a plucky heroine living in the big city, dealing with love and other misadventures. Marinette had refused.

And so, they were at an impasse.

“What do you have against romantic comedies anyway?” Adrien asked sullenly from where he sat at the other end of the sofa.

She raised an eyebrow, throwing him a smug smile that she knew would set his teeth on edge. "You mean other than the fact that they're corny and unrealistic?" He blew her a raspberry. "Then how about the fact that no self-respecting person in their right mind would ever get up in front of a crowd of complete strangers and dramatically declare their love for someone?" Adrien, she was amused to note, appeared extremely affronted by her frank assessment.

"You—gah—that's—!" When it became clear he was too aghast at her words to formulate a proper response, Marinette continued.

“Sorry, but everything about them just seems so far-fetched. Not to mention the logistical nightmare required to get most of those grandiose gestures to even happen..." She shook her head. "If I’m gonna watch something that forces me to suspend my disbelief and critical-thinking ability, then I’d rather it actually have something interesting in it. Like aliens. Or lots of explosions.”

Adrien's face was scrunched up, his sulk quite pronounced now.

“That’s the whole point though! It's supposed to highlight how far people are willing to go—risking humiliation and making themselves vulnerable all in the name of love." He leaned forward, his eyes taking on a fevered sort of intensity. "That’s what makes it romantic!”

His face lit up as he warmed to the topic. It was, after all, one of his favourites. “If someone was willing to go that far and stage some kind of grand gesture in an effort to woo me, then I would know it must mean they really loved me. And I’d be perfectly content with that.”

Taking in the gooey expression he was wearing, Marinette shuddered, her skin crawling at the mere notion. “I’m pretty confident that the idea of being forced to shave my head and run buck-ass naked down the Champs-Elysées would be preferable.”

“And that is why you suck,” Adrien grumbled, crossing his arms and flopping back onto the cushions.

"That is why I'm a realist."

"More like a real pain in the ass..." He muttered under his breath. Marinette chose to ignore him, turning her attention back to the matter at hand.

“Well, how about Crimson Peak then? I know for a fact that one has romance.” She suggested, very deliberately not mentioning the creepy ancestral home, ghosts, and sinister secrets that also made up a significant portion of the film's story.

“No, no, no!” Adrien wagged a finger at her. “I know what you’re trying to do. Last time you convinced me to watch a scary movie with you I had nightmares for weeks.”

Marinette sighed.

Eventually, they managed to come to an agreement, deciding on an action film with a romantic subplot that Adrien deemed reasonably acceptable.

Reclining on what she fondly thought of as 'her' side of the sectional, Marinette proceeded to get comfortable, watching as Adrien did the same at the other end.

Suddenly, she was struck with an idea.

Eyeing him for a moment, she deliberated.

On one hand lay the potential for awkwardness and discomfort should she be rebuffed.

On the other, maximum comfort AND payback for the pain in the ass comment.

High risk, high reward.

Her mind made up, Marinette decided to take a chance, stretching her legs out as far as they could go before plopping her feet quite unceremoniously in Adrien's lap.

His eyes darted up to meet hers, one blonde brow raised in silent question. Marinette held out her hands, palms up, giving him a half-shrug even as a cheeky grin threatened to split her face.

“What can I say? It’s the curse of having such long, luscious limbs," she batted her eyelashes at him. "I take up a lot of space.”

Glancing down blandly, Adrien took in the way her legs were just barely able to reach far enough.

"...right." He said, his lips quirking to the side briefly. Then, with the slightest shake of his head, Adrien let his hands come to rest on her legs.

“What are you doing?” Marinette stammered, tensing at the feel of long fingers encircling her ankles. The warmth of his hands was strange and unexpected, though not unwelcome.

And definitely not unpleasant.

She became acutely aware of his fingertips absentmindedly caressing the sensitive skin above her heel, tracing the delicate point of her ankle bone. Marinette swallowed, deciding it was probably in both of their best interests that she not mention it.

Adrien began pulling her closer by the legs. “What if Félix were to walk in right now? He could technically come home at any moment, you know. And what kind of new couple sits at opposite ends of the couch when they’re watching a movie together?”

Marinette made a face, her nose scrunching up as she mulled it over. He'd raised a valid point.

It would undermine their credibility somewhat—maybe even blow their cover entirely—if someone were to walk in right now and see them seated as far apart as physically possible on the same piece of furniture. Even though it was the same routine they'd had for years—and what they would have done, under normal circumstances—everything was different now that they wanted the world to believe they were suddenly madly in love. Marinette had to step up her game and stop making such rookie mistakes.

Thankfully, Adrien seemed to be paying more attention to the details than she was. It helped that he was also more well-versed in these things.

Perhaps there was some merit to watching that many romantic movies, after all. She bit back a smile.

And so she let Adrien pull her forward, scooching her across the cushions until she was nestled beside him in the elbow of the sofa. She was all but pressed up against his side now, their feet stretched out in front of them.

Her legs looked comically short next to his, the tips of her toes only just brushing the middle of his shins.

And to think, at one point we were the same height... She mused, looking anywhere but in Adrien's direction. She could feel him fidgeting, clearly uncomfortable having her in such close proximity even though the whole thing had been his idea in the first place.

Marinette, for her part, was doing her best not to squirm as she attempted to find a position for her limbs that felt natural.

How do you even sit beside someone? She wondered, trying to figure out what to do with her arms and legs. Sitting beside a person had never felt like such a foreign concept before. Although it did make her feel marginally better to note that Adrien was obviously going through the same existential crisis beside her, shifting around just as much as she was.

Finally, he stilled, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. “You good?”

“Mhm,” she nodded, comforting herself with the knowledge that any lingering weirdness would most likely wear off as time went on. They both just needed to relax and distract themselves with happier things.

Like car chases. And explosions.

Adrien pressed play, starting the movie.

After a while, once the opening sequence had finished and they were well into the exposition, Adrien moved his arm, slowly settling it over her shoulders.

Peeking up at him from under her lashes, Marinette tried to get a feel for what he was thinking. His face was smooth, eyes pinned forward, focused intently on whatever scene was taking place on the screen.

He looked relaxed and unbothered; the very picture of comfortable nonchalance.

Hmm, in that case...

Carefully, as though he were made of hand-blown glass, she let her head come to rest on his shoulder.

From her current position, she wasn't able to see the look on Adrien's face, but she certainly felt his surprise in the way his body stiffened. It was a calculated risk, upping the stakes so quickly and without warning. Still, she couldn’t help but be curious to see how he would react.

It should be okay. After all, she reasoned, this was a normal thing that couples did, right?

Which meant there was absolutely no need to panic, she thought, already panicking.

He's not doing anything. Why is he not doing anything? Her brain chose that moment to oh-so helpfully supply her with the mental image of a disgusted Adrien pushing her away from his person, leaping up from the couch as though the whole thing had caught fire.

Oh god, did I push too far? Is this the final straw?

Then, like a switch had been flipped, she felt the tension bleed out of his frame, his hold on her tightening ever so slightly as he pulled her closer.

Marinette let out a breath, unaware she had even been holding it in.

Immensely relieved, and comfortable at long last, she turned her attention to the television, more than happy to lose herself in the familiar formula of whatever B-list action movie they were watching.

Yet, some small part of her brain—a part that wasn't currently cackling as the protagonists once again defied the laws of physics to drive their sportscar through a goddamn skyscraper—remained fixated on the points of contact between them, hyper-aware of every single place where Adrien's body and hers were touching.

His arm across her shoulders. Their sides pressed together, long and short legs intertwined.

Her ear against his chest, listening to the rapid staccato of his heart beating against his breastbone, an unwitting echo of her own.

-x-

#ml fanfic #miraculous ladybug #adrienette #marinette dupain-cheng #adrien agreste #adrinette #ml fic #miraculous fanfic #no miraculous au #ml brothers au #childhood friends au #pretend relationship #my fics

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hops-hunny · 4 years ago

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Distance Makes the Heart Grow

CHAPTER 7

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Mafia Boss!Neville Longbottom x Reader

Pronouns: She/Her

Word Count: 2.2k

Summary: (Y/n) lives a normal life. But that’s the issue, it’s normal, it’s plain, and it’s growing boring. Everyday she wishes for something, anything to spice up her life. But, when her old school friend (and crush) shows up at her bakery with a new look (and what looks like a new life), what will it bring for her? Will their puppy love grow? Will his big secret lead to the end of them or will it spark a new beginning?

Warnings: mentions of insecurity

A/N: I love and hate this chapter so much

Although this trip wasn’t for leisure, Neville was doing everything to treat it like it was. No matter how busy he was with planning the current mission or even seeing what else Italy had to offer money wise, he made sure to make time for (Y/n). Everyday had been a dream come true, from softer moments down to more...intimate moments.

He hadn’t taken her all the way yet nor had he asked her to return the favor but he didn’t need her to. Spending hours upon hours between her legs was more than enough for him. The small whimpers and whiny moans that would erupt from her plagued his thoughts during all times of the day. Most of the time he’d step away to take care of himself when he did but other times when that option wasn’t available he’d pray to Merlin that his obvious hard on would just disappear. It was 50/50 with whether that’d actually work and when it didn’t? The guys would never let him forget.

Today was different though. Instead of having to split his time between preparing for the big day or spending time with his beloved he got to do both. Today was the day before they’d put their plan in action, making it the safest day to bring her to the museum considering there was no risk. Because the museum received many visitors on the daily, no one ever questioned their consistent visit. Plus, their attire often made them look like the kind of people who admired art, which wasn’t an incorrect assumption. They did appreciate art, just even more so when it was in their home or being sold to some rich idiot.

(Y/n) looked around in awe at everything around her. Everything about the museum screamed class and money. There wasn’t just art on the walls, but the ceilings had been hand painted as well. However, her eyes fixated on the glass display in the center of the room. Inside was an array of jewels of all sorts, in crowns, in rings, in earrings, but also in the most beautiful necklace she had ever seen. It had the biggest diamonds she had ever seen, connected by a white gold chain. Reading the sign she saw it belonged to a queen of a country that no longer existed and it had clearly been kept in immaculate condition over the years. A matching set of earrings set on the other side of it.

“See something you like, petal?” she jumped at the sound of the voice, turning her head slightly to smile at the man. Neville smiled back, wrapping his arms around her waist as he came behind her. His eyes lingered on the way her reflection made it seem like she was wearing the necklace. He couldn’t help but think of how beautiful she would look in it.

“No, just looking.” she responded, turning around to wrap her arms around the man’s neck. However, she couldn’t help but feel as though someone was staring at her. Looking out the corner of her eye, she saw a womanly figure facing her direction. She went to look but her attention was turned to the warm cheek on her hand. Neville leaned down, pressing his lips to hers not even trying to fight the smile growing on his lips. She kissed him back, standing on the tip of her shoes before pulling him down to her height as she giggled. He went to say something but muffled voices started to come from his ear piece.

“Sorry, it appears our time has been cut short for now. But don’t worry angel, I’ll be back as soon as I can be.” he said, placing a kiss on her lips before pulling her into a hug. Over his shoulder, (Y/n) watched as the woman from before quickly turned back to the painting in front of her, as if she wasn’t just staring at her. Perhaps it had been her imagination? Giving him one last smile she waved as the tall man began to walk away.

Curiosity began to get the best of her, leading her to walk across the room to the woman. Looking at the painting she saw that it was indeed a beautiful painting! It showcased many people inside some sort of marble lookout point, gazing upon the sea. A gasp left her lips at the attention to detail, the wet appearance of the water, the reflection of the sun. Despite it not moving like the ones she was used to, she found that it didn’t need to be. The woman standing next to her gave her a side glance, a look on her face that she didn’t notice.

“Ti piace il dipinto?(“Do you like the painting?”)” the woman asked her, a mischievous look on her face. Gisele knew that the girl was sheltered just from her appearance. She wasn’t nearly as traveled as herself so there was no way for her to know even an inkling of what she had just asked her.

(Y/n) blinked at her, pondering what the woman had asked her before nodding. “È bellissimo. L'attenzione ai dettagli è incredibile! Non ho mai visto niente del genere.(“It's beautiful. The attention to detail is incredible! I've never seen anything like it!”)” she looked at the woman as she choked slightly, a concerned look on her face.

“You speak italian?” she asked in an offended tone, an unreadable look on her face. (Y/n) shrugged some, continuing to look at the painting.

“Not quite. I’ve only been learning for a few days. My boy- er, friend taught me but he says I’m a quick learner! I’m sorry if my translation was a bit off.” she said, offering the woman a kind smile. The woman’s eye twitched at the information, growling slightly. But, she remembered she had some “information” of her own.

“You mean Neville?” the strange woman asked, causing her to look up. She nodded slowly, offering her another kind smile.

“Do you know him?” she asked.

“Know him? Ha!” she sighed dramatically, putting a freshly manicured hand over her ample chest. “We were practically married! He and I were seeing each other for such a long time. I’m assuming you’re dating then?” she smirked to herself, watching as the girl shook her head no. “No? Well I guess that isn’t too shocking. I mean, why date a knock off when the real thing is still available. Oh! Where are my manners? I’m Gisele Bardot, Europe’s one and only top model.” (Y/n) felt her throat grow tight as she swallowed harshly. Neville had never once brought up Gisele to her. In fact, he had even gone as far as to say he hadn’t dated anyone, saving his heart for her.

“Knock off? What do you mean?” she asked her innocently, blinking back the tears that were threatening to form. Perhaps it was a simple misunderstanding. However, Gisele’s cackle of a laugh told her otherwise.

“Oh honey, are you really that naive? Look at you, you’re a lesser version of myself. Do you really think that’s a coincidence?” she stated as if it was a face. She took the time to look at Gisele and realized she was right. Gisele had all the same features of her, but better. Higher cheekbones, fuller lips, her hair was healthier. And when it came to her body? (Y/n) could only dream of a chest as nice as hers with a stomach so flat, so toned. Was it a coincidence or was Neville really using her as a replacement for what he couldn’t have. “Poor thing, anyone with eyes could see-”

“Could see what?” Twyla seethed, placing an arm around her shoulder as she walked up to the two. (Y/n) felt relieved from the familiar face, wiping the tears that had fallen from her eyes, much to her efforts of trying to get them to not do so. “What business do you have with my friend?”

“We were just chatting! Right..” her eyes widened at the fact she didn’t know the girl’s name. Twyla smirked, giving her an expectant look.

“Go on, what’s her name?” Twyla asked in a fake concerned tone. As the model stood there gaping, mouth opening and closing like a fish, the blonde scoffed, grabbing (Y/n) as she dragged her off.

“Come on (Y/n), we don’t associate with trash. Especially not trash wearing grandma’s pearls and perfume.” she turned around once more, looking her up and down. “It’s a good thing you’re a model because you sure don’t know how to dress.” and with that they were off, walking out to the garden of the museum. When they got there, the taller girl looked at the (e/c) eyed girl, a concerned look present on her face. “What was that? I don’t like her, she gives me bad vibes. Not like, sinister, just...petty. I’ve seen her in those magazines and stuff. What’s her name? Gizette?”

“Gisele. Apparently she was Neville’s....Neville’s ex girlfriend.” tears began to fall from her eyes as she sobbed softly, falling forward into her friend’s chest. Without hesitation, the blonde wrapped her arms around her, hugging her close. “She essentially said that I’m just a replacement for the real thing which is her and, it must be true! I mean just look at her, she’s gorgeous Twyla! Runway gorgeous. She’s an international model and I’m..I’m just me.”

“Oh honey, I hate to ruin this heart to heart, actually this is an awful heart to heart, but she’s definitely lying! I’ve seen the way Neville looks at you and so has everyone else. I’ve got this feeling that he’s lying and you know me with my feelings, they’re always right.” (Y/n) looked up at her, sniffling some as Twyla wiped at her runny makeup with her tissue. “Plus, that easily could be the other way around. How do you know she wasn’t just a replacement for you?” she froze at her words. She was right, it very well could be the other way around. How would she know unless she asked? As if she read her mind, the next words aligned with her thoughts perfectly. “You know, there’s only one thing to do.”

“Ask him about it?” she gulped at the thought. Neville had been nothing but kind to her since they reconnected. She had nothing to be scared about. Whether it was learning the truth or Neville himself she feared she didn’t know. Or, at least she didn’t wanna admit which one it was.

“Oh..I was gonna say find this bitch and replace her shampoo with nair. You know, maybe even give her some of that tea my aunt gave to her husband.” Twyla shrugged, leaning back some with a sigh. “Buut, that’s good too.”

(Y/n) gave the girl a questionable look. “Twy….didn’t your aunt use that tea to kill her husband?” the girl nodded, sitting up as she dusted herself off.

“Yeah. Your point?” Before she could respond, Neville came running up to the two of them with a smile. As he placed a peck on her lips, she gave him a weak smile.

“Hi, love. I missed you.” he said, a dopey lovesick smile on his face. He cleared his throat, ears tinted cheeks. “I-I was wonderin’ if uh, you’d like to go on a date with me tomorrow. You know, after the mission.” her eyes widened as she felt her face grow fuzzy. A date? She was sure he had something worse to say, especially after the fiasco from earlier. ‘Gisele must’ve not been able to find him.’

“I’d love to! I’ve never been on a date before.” she answered honestly, giving him a smile. “I can’t wait.” he looked surprised as she accepted, picking her up as he spun her around before setting her back down gently. Placing a peck on her lips, he stroked her cheek.

“Fantastic. Oh I can’t wait. I’m going to spoil you on our date tomorrow,” he leaned near her ear, resting his hands on her rear, “And tonight too. How’s bout you sit on my face again, yeah?” she nodded shyly, looking down at their shoes. Neville chuckled some, walking away before another pair of men’s dress shoes stopped in front of her. Looking up she saw Seamus who gave her a small smile.

“Don’t worry mini boss, I kept that stupid woman away from him.” her eyes widened as she went to speak. “How’d I know? I could tell something was up and plus I saw her enter as we were leaving. Thought she’d try something. Whatever she said wasn’t true.” He patted her back (a bit too roughly..) as he offered her a thumbs up. “But, I know you’d still probably rather hear that from him.”

“You know Finnigan, for someone who acts so stupid you’re kinda smart sometimes.” Twyla said, giggling as she intertwined her hands with Draco. Draco offered her a nod to which she returned before beginning to walk off with the rest of them. She smiled when she saw Neville waiting for her by the door, hand outstretched with the same look he’d always give her. As they got in the car, she watched as the beautiful buildings passed them in the distance. It was then she decided.

She’d ask him, no matter how scared she was of the answer. Neville was sure to give her an honest one, but was it the one she wanted to hear?

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TAGSLIST: @vayeya11 @pink-hufflepuff @clancyscookies @elemental-of-magic @beewitchedlou @simpforremuslupin @mottergirl99 @princesslaiahg @nevillelongbottomsgirlfriend @redpanda-poetry @vibingaesthetically

#neville x reader #Neville Longbottom #neville longbottom x reader #neville longbottom x you #neville x you #Harry Potter #harry potter imagines #harry potter imagine #harry potter x reader #mafia!neville #mafia!au

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tuanhood · 4 years ago

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lambda

pairing: frat!mark tuan x reader

genre: angst, enemies to lovers (kinda), smut, fluff

warnings: 18+, language, cringey frat stuff, dirty talk, oral sex (male receiving), explicit sex.

word count: 11,400+

summary: your last choice was renting a room at a frat house over the summer, especially after you told yourself you were done with anything frat related, but when your ex ditches you last minute its your only option. now... if only you could stop dreaming about the president of lambda chi.

a/n: surprise again! mark won the poll!! but like I said i think i’m going to continue doing a frat one shot for each member. so it’ll be like a little anthology series!! but i have no clue when i will write the other once so please bare with me :) Also if there’s some frat stuff in here that doesn’t make sense just let me know in my ask or if you have any questions i’ll be happy to answer!

“Who do you know here?” you found yourself being asked before even fully stepping onto the property.

The douchey guy with his backwards baseball cap and muscle tee – sporting his letters of course – looked you up and down as if trying to place you.

“No one actually.”

He looked confused, “wait seriously? You’re just going to admit that right off the bat? Usually people try to make something up.”

“See I’m not here to play games… Kyle? I’m guessing your name is Kyle. I have the unfortunate pleasure of living here over the summer, because this was the cheapest and most last-minute housing I could find. Now I’m just going to go up to my room and mind my own business while you and your brothers throw this stupid party that better be over before midnight.”

“You could have just said you live here…” the boy mumbled mostly to himself, “well welcome home and congrats on moving in! I’m Bambam by the way.”

He thrusted his hand forward to you, almost forgetting about the mob of people behind you waiting to get in and see if they pass the “vibe” check to get past the front door. You were sure in any other circumstance you would not be passing the vibe check.

“Wow Bambam…” you said to yourself considering the name. He looked delighted as if you were so enthralled by the unique quality of it. You were however, thinking about how Bambam was even worse than “Kyle.”

“And you are?” he asked.

“Dude can you stop flirting and keep the line moving! I’m trying to get wasted before 11!” someone yells from deep in the line behind you.

“Hey! I’m the one who says how fast or slow this line moves! Fuck off man or you can go find your own kick back,” Kyl- Bambam yelled.

Snorting, you rolled your eyes, “you call this a kick back?” You gestured to the full house behind him, deciding to leave out those who were sitting on the roof.

“If the normal school year isn’t in session and the house isn’t over 50% occupied with members, then it’s a kick back. Chapter rules.”

“Would love to see that rulebook, if you have it handy,” you laughed, joking. Somehow, Bambam didn’t get it and cocked his head to the side absorbing your comment, “you really want to see the rules? I mean I could bring it to you later if you-”

“That’s fine Kyl-Bambam, I’m good. I’m just going to go inside now.”

“Bet, see you later.”

The way he said it makes you think that he means he’ll see you later at the party. That would however be completely wrong, because there was no way you were going to hang out with these disgusting egocentric heathens that just want to fuck and get drunk.

Fraternity housing hadn’t been you first choice for this summer. In fact, it probably hadn’t been your last choice either, but this is what you were stuck with. Staying at school over the summer had been a very last-minute choice – for reasons you weren’t ready to discuss – and by the time you were searching for housing, everything that was cheap and decent had been taken. Instead you were left with cheap and… chaotic.

“Whoa watch out!” You heard being yelled by some douche in a bucket hat as soon as you stepped into your new home.

It had been a week since you moved in, but you hadn’t made any effort to get to know any of the other people staying over the summer. Regardless of whether they were in the same predicament as you or if they were actually members of the org, you weren’t particularly interested in face to face time. After the Spring Quarter you had, you needed alone time and this summer you didn’t plan on making friends with your housemates… Especially if they were in a frat.

Your first week had actually, however, gone somewhat okay. No one had tried to interact with you – in fact you had barely seen anyone else in the house – and there had been no disturbing sounds or noises… It almost didn’t feel like you were living in a frat house, besides the urinals in the bathroom and the boxes of energy drinks that lined a few of the hallways. You were pleased to say the least, until you turned onto Greek row and heard all of the noise from the corner.

Please don’t be Lambda. Please don’t be Lambda. Please don’t be Lambda. Please don’t be Lamb-

The silent prayer in your head clearly hadn’t been heard as you had grown closer and closer to the house you were staying in. Lo and behold you had been met with a very large line of people waiting to get in, loud music and trash all over the lawn. What had you been expecting by choosing to live in a frat?

The bucket hat guy’s warning didn’t faze you. As soon as you process his words you placed your hand up to smack the Styrofoam football he had thrown to the ground. You weren’t in the mood for an obstacle course, you just wanted to get to your room and put in earplugs so you could rest before work tomorrow morning.

“Whoa you got mad fast reflexes. Do you play?” he asked grabbing the object off of the sticky floor.

You couldn’t tell if he was genuinely curious or not. But judging on the way he eyed you up and down, there were other things that were actually on his mind.

Side eyeing him, you snorted, “yeah… I’m not doing this,” you motioned your hand at him in circles and turned to head towards the main stairs. His words stopped you, “wow are we heading there already? Just give me a minute to tell my brothers I can’t watch drinks table anymore.”

Instinctively you cracked your knuckles, bucket hat guy found himself clearing his throat noticing the small detail that showcased your frustration. Turning around, it takes everything in you not to slap him, but more likely than not, this guy probably lived with you as well. Although you didn’t care for being friends with your housemates, it probably wouldn’t be a good look to be the housemate who slapped the people she shared a home with. So instead of a physical reaction, you simply clenched your jaw and went with the most basic response.

“I live here. I’m going to my room.”

Instead of showing any kind of shame or embarrassment for his very wrong estimate about where the situation was going, bucket hat clicks his tongue – almost in a disapproving way.

“Just watch out… we’re using the rooms on the second floor for hookup space. Or wait was it the third?”

As if you couldn’t have been more annoyed.

“What the fuck? How can you guys use the rooms up there when people are renting them out? How can you even use them when they’re locked?”

Bucket hat started to blink too much as if considering your very real query, “The President has a master key to all the rooms. What do you expect deciding to live in Greek housing for the summer?”

If you had known how much this frat didn’t care about personal space or just basic human rights, you would have never chosen to stay at Lambda Chi. In fact, you would have never chosen a fraternity at all – cheap price or not.

“Is it the second or third floor?”

“Don’t remember,” he hummed, no longer paying you any mind but twirling the football in his hand and eyeing a group of girls who had walked by.

Groaning, you snapped your fingers to regain his attention, “It makes a difference so remember.”

He shrugged and looked at you with an annoyed look on his face, “listen you’re kind of bringing my mood down… And I think I hear someone calling me from the kitchen so…” he pointed his thumb somewhere behind him, “I’m just gonna do that instead.”

Bucket hat guy leaves you standing in the main foyer, squished amongst other people, without another word. Although, you swear you heard him mutter something about you “not passing the vibe check.”

Left without a clue of what to do, you figured that the only viable option you had was to go find the President. Luckily bucket hat gave you one sliver of useful information.

Whipping around, you go to ask Bambam where exactly you could find the President, but he’s too enthralled in a conversation with one of the girl’s waiting in line to get in. It probably would do you more harm than good to get involved in that.

Searching around the space in the front of the house, you look for another brother who could perhaps help you with your task.

Right… Shouldn’t be too hard. Just look for someone who’s confident enough to think they’d be able to get out of a DUI.

A loud laugh caught your attention, it comes from a guy holding a Grey Goose bottle and letting random girls take pulls out of it.

Perfect.

You approached him, placing a gentle hand on his arm that holds the bottle to get his attention. He took notice of you immediately, giving you the same exact look bucket hat had given you earlier. What was up with these guys? They weren’t even trying to be subtle.

“You want a pull?” He asked with a smirk, shaking the bottle in his hand at you.

Shaking your head, you cleared your throat, “I’m looking for the President… Where would I find him?”

Grey Goose bottle guy wiggled his eyebrows at you. Gross. “Ah I see… you want Mr. President. I think he’s in his room.” You wanted to be cordial, but these people just weren’t making it easy.

“What room is his again?” You asked, batting your eyelashes in the most normal way possible – as if that was normal for you.

Grey Goose placed his hand under his chin and tapped it as if deep in thought. He paused and smiled, “I’ll tell you if you take a pull.”

Where were you right now? In what dimension was this actually happening to you? If you told your friends back home about having to take a pull from a bottle of Grey Goose in order to find the President of a fraternity to get him to stop maybe letting people hook up in the room you’re paying for, they wouldn’t believe you. You didn’t believe it.

Sighing you brought your hand up, in a “give it to me” motion. Grey Goose smiled proudly and brings the bottle up, tipping it into your mouth once you have your head leaned back and lips parted. It felt like forever by the time he finally brings the bottle up from your mouth. The burning sensation in your throat makes you want to throw up, and for a moment you think you are, but somehow you manage to take a deep breath and control yourself.

“That was awesome! I think you took like a shot and a half.” I know, you wanted to yell at him, but you bit your tongue. Usually pull meant a swig, not 66 milliliters of vodka.

Wiping your lips with the back of your hand, already feeling lightheaded, you repeated your earlier question, “what room is his?”

Grey Goose nodded, “he’s on the third floor. There’s a huge sign on the door that says President with the chapter’s crest, you can’t miss it.” If it truly was that easy, maybe you should have just gone looking yourself instead of being blackmailed into consuming alcohol the night before you had to work.

“Thanks,” you muttered to him, not bothering to wait and hear a response. You found yourself back at the main stairs, taking two steps at a time until you reached the third floor. It wasn’t long before you realized Grey Goose was right, his room wasn’t hard to miss.

Usually you were a rational thinker. You liked thinking out your thoughts before you turned them into actions, but in this case, you couldn’t stop yourself from knocking on the door as soon as you’re in front of it.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

There’s no answer. Was it possible he wasn’t in his room anymore? You tried again.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

This time your ears catch noise behind the door. There was someone inside, but they were just choosing to ignore you.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

This time the noise was clearer and you can make out specific words being said.

“Maybe they’ll just go away.”

Before you could stop your usual logical mind, you’re reaching for the doorknob – annoyed by this “President” who was trying to make you leave. To your surprise, the handle turns and you swung the door open slowly, being met with a mostly dark room aside from one bedside lamp being on.

“What the fuck?” The deep voice startled you as if you had been expecting no one to actually be on the other side of the door. What the hell were you doing?

Your eyes landed on the large bed in the middle of the room and you really wished you hadn’t. The two half naked figures on top of one another looked at you with wide eyes, the girl immediately grabbing the comforter to cover herself pushing the guy, causing him to fall off the bed.

“Are you for real right now?” the guy asked you from the floor, “get the fuck out!”

You felt frozen in your spot, your hand still on the door knob and unable to break your gaze from the boy on the floor. It was like you were a virgin again based on the way you were staring at his toned chest and muscular arms. You were certain if he hadn’t been sitting and crouched on the floor, you would be eyeing the black boxer briefs that rest on his hips.

“What’s wrong with you? I said get out!”

It’s almost as though his second demand for you to leave is what woke you up, suddenly mumbling a “sorry,” and shutting the door closed.

Opening the door to someone’s room without approval wasn’t something you typically did – you had simply done it as a reaction to the stressful situation you were in. Openly staring at a frat boy definitely wasn’t something you typically did either. It was like your brain had shut off and you weren’t going to let it happen again.

You continued standing in front of the door, unsure of what to do. Should you wait for him to… finish? Was that even the President? Maybe this was your sign that the third floor was the hook up floor. If so, then you were in the clear to go back to your room… so why didn’t your feet want to move?

“Mina come on! Don’t leave! We can keep going!” This time the voice behind the door is much louder and clear.

“You were dumb enough to leave it unlocked! I shouldn’t even be doing this anyways… my loyalty lies with Sigma Chi.”

“What? Just because they’re Phi Mu’s affiliate frat? That’s bullshit!”

“My sisters will kill me if they find out I was with a Lambda,” you heard her say, her voice becoming louder signaling she was approaching the door.

“I don’t understand why that has to stop us from fucking though!”

The door swung open and you find yourself taking a step back, looking away to pretend like you weren’t eavesdropping. The girl glanced at you and rolled her eyes before ignoring the boy behind and heading down the hallway to go downstairs.

While pretending to be fixated on the wall’s chipped paint, you glanced out of the corner of your eye to see the guy in his doorway, clearly annoyed at the situation. He ran his hand through his hair out of frustration and you can’t ignore how fluffy it looked. You watched him run it through three times, before you make yourself look away.

“You,” he grumbled pointing at you, “Here. Now.” He quickly turned, going back into his room, leaving the door open for you to follow. You think that maybe you shouldn’t follow him, but judging on the way he looked back at you with an intimidating stare, it was probably the right choice.

You awkwardly stood next to his desk and watched him reach into his closet to grab a robe to throw over his naked torso, shielding his body from you. As he tied it and sat down on the bed, leaning forward, you’re able to see a sliver of his chest and collarbone where the robe hangs down. It confused you as to why he wouldn’t just put his regular clothes back on, but you found yourself not being annoyed in the slightest at the display of skin.

His eyes bore into you, and it’s almost as though he’s waiting for you to speak first – to say something to make up for your invasion of his privacy.

“Are you the President?”

He looked at you as if you were insane, “what the hell does it say on the door?”

All of the annoyance and frustration that had fueled your fire downstairs, making you a woman on a rampage had dissipated. For some reason standing in front of this guy, you felt like a small child being talked down to. In any other situation you would fight back and show him you weren’t going to take his tone, but for some reason you couldn’t find it in you.

“I was just making sure… okay?”

Mr. President cracked his knuckles, “Why the hell did you barge into my room?” You don’t answer him. You were trying to think of what you would normally say or do to a guy like this, but your mind went blank once again. “You just cost me a hook up tonight, so speak.” His tone is a mixture of aggravated and bored – if that was something that was even possible.

“I mean you’re the one who left the door unlocked…” you mumbled to yourself, but the anger on his face signals that he heard. He threw up his hands, “That still doesn’t give you the right to just walk into a room that’s not yours.”

That really got you. You felt the flame within you being lit once again. “Look who’s talking.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“You’re the one who’s letting people’s rooms be used for sex without their permission. Invading their privacy!” you growled.

Mr. President blinked at you blankly and judging on his reaction, it almost seemed like he didn’t know what you were talking about. Oh… he’s good.

“Excuse me? What kind of place do you think this is? This isn’t an authoritarian regime.”

You took a step forward to where he sat on the bed, waving your finger, “then explain to me why one of your little minions downstairs told me that.”

“I have no clue who would tell you that… or why.”

“Bucket hat… football,” those are the only two words you can think of to describe him, but you hoped that would be enough. Almost instantly he nodded, “Ah Jaebeom… Yeah he was definitely just fucking with you.”

You took a step back out of shock. This was all a joke? These idiot Lambda Chi boys had been playing you? “So, I took a pull from Grey Goose guy’s bottle for nothing? I came up here for nothing? I walked in on you and Ms. Phi Mu for nothing?”

He ignored your comment about the girl’s sorority, a clear admission that you had been listening through the door, “Grey Goose? Do you mean Youngjae?”

The last fifteen minutes had filled you with enough inconveniences, stress, annoyance and embarrassment to feel like a lifetime… and this was only after one week of living in this house. How were you going to last the entire summer? Deal with all of the parties… the douchey boys objectifying you and treating everything like it was a funny joke. Not to mention their chapter’s President who seemed bitter and rude. Surprisingly attractive… but bitter and rude.

Instead of confirming Mr. President’s suspicions that Grey Goose guy was indeed this Youngjae person, you nodded solemnly towards the direction of his door, “I’m going to my room.”

“Wait… you’re living here over the summer?”

When he asked the question, you begin to feel the alcohol you had consumed earlier. Instead of feeling drunk it made you feel dizzy, tired and heavy. It made you feel even more defeated than you already felt from your sudden reality that this was your life for the next three months.

You threw up an unenthusiastic thumbs up and slowly made your way to the door. He looked at you stunned for your sudden disengagement in the conversation you were having. Although to you it didn’t feel like a conversation. Conversations were meant to be constructive, collaborative… Whatever this was, wasn’t that.

You’re in the doorway when he speaks again, “It’s Mark by the way… for when you dream about me later.”

Clenching your fists, you don’t give him the satisfaction of looking back no matter how much you weirdly want to. To see his fluffy hair, bounce as he shakes his head from side to side, that golden tanned skin, his huge-

That’s enough.

That night it takes you nearly two hours to fall asleep. You spend the first hour with a pillow over your head, trying to drown out the party downstairs. The second however, is spent thinking about one… Mr. President. It makes you feel nauseated and when you finally wake up for work the next the morning, all you can remember is the fluffy hair in your dream.

Four days had passed since the party and you hadn’t run into any of the brothers since then. No Kyle, no bucket hat, no Grey Goose. Or Bambam, Jaebom and Youngjae… or whatever. And no Mark. Not that you had been thinking about seeing him again.

Those four days felt peaceful – normal almost, that was until now. Those calming four days came to an end when you came home from your afternoon shift at work, the guys all sitting on the front porch with beers in their hands.

You were quite aware of “porch” culture amongst the fraternities at your school. The members would drag ratty old indoor furniture such as loveseats and armchairs onto the porch near the front door and sit there for hours. They’d drink their beers, play their loud music and shout things at people walking by. Yes, you knew porch culture very well… It was how you had met your ex-boyfriend.

“Well look who we have here!” Jaebeom – sans bucket hat – shouted as you began walking up the path to the porch, “haven’t seen you since the party sweetheart.”

“Shut up man you can’t say that stuff anymore. Feminism and all that,” Bambam said hitting Jaebeom’s shoulder. If you were held at gunpoint and forced to pick a favorite out of them – it would probably be Bambam. He had done the least to annoy you thus far, but you weren’t holding your breath.

“I’m going inside,” you hoped your emotionless tone is enough to get them to leave you be and just get into the house. You’d rather not spend any more time than you have to with the guys – especially during porch time.

“Heard you got history on the row Y/n,” Youngjae’s words made you stop in your tracks. This was the last thing you wanted to talk about, especially with them. You gave Youngjae a death glare, trying to communicate with him to keep his Grey Goose filled mouth shut.

The way Mark looked up at you behind his IPA doesn’t go unnoticed by you. In his mind he was trying to be discrete. He tried to present a look that was a mixture of intrigue but also indifference, even though in reality he was eager to hear his friend’s story about you.

“Some Sigma Chi history to be more specific,” Youngjae wiggled his eyebrows and you have to stop yourself from slapping the smile off of his face.

If there was anything you truly knew about frat guys, it was that every action they did or thing they said was all meant to get a reaction out whatever person they’re torturing. Acting like you didn’t care was going to bring the stakes down for Youngjae and he would ditch the story altogether. Clearing your throat, you shrugged your shoulders, “yeah so what. It’s history and history is in the past so… that’s all that needs to be said.”

He looked at you with the same stupid smile and it doesn’t falter at all. You must have shown too big of a reaction in your response.

“You dated Ryan for almost a year – I’d say that’s a record for someone at Sigma Chi,” him and the boys laughed – all of them except Mark who’s still looking at you, but pretending not to.

You tell yourself not to get upset, not to get angry or cry – because that’s what they wanted from you. Here they were treating the “relationship” you were in like a joke and you had to remain a stone wall, unaffected. Well fuck that.

“Yeah it was a record for me falling for the stupid and douchery of the typical frat guy who was actually fucking other girls the entire time unbeknownst to me because in actuality he never considered us together. But hey what can you do when you’re dealing with guys who have big egos and small dicks?”

The boys stared at you with blank faces, you swear you see Mark smile behind his bottle.

“Is she talking about us too?” Jaebeom whispered to Bambam, “Dude… I think maybe.” Without another word, you pushed open the front door aggressively, making sure it closes behind you loudly.

You don’t know why you thought your “relationship” with your ex-boyfriend was going to work out. The two of you had met because you had been passing by his house during porch time and he cat called you. What the fuck were you thinking? Even at that point you had thought guys in fraternities were terrible, but for some reason that day you just went along with one of them objectifying you… And you fucking made him into your “boyfriend.” That day you had been feeling insecure and low – that was the only explanation you had for your out of character actions.

Being with Ryan only continued your influx of out of character actions. You spent all you free time with him when you weren’t in school or working. Apparently however, all of his free time hadn’t been spent with you. The truth came out after you had planned on staying with him over the summer at his family’s lake house. It had been something you two had talked about for months and when you were only a month away, he had hit you with a bomb.

“Maybe we shouldn’t do this live together thing over the summer. Samantha might get mad.”

To which you had asked, “who’s Samantha?” Then the guy who you had thought was your boyfriend went on to explain how the other girl he was seeing – Samantha – would get jealous if he brought you to the lake house instead of her. The next thing to come out of your mouth was a big “fuck you” and “I never want to see you again.” Hence why your decision to stay at school over the summer was so last minute and you were forced to stay in a fraternity house which was so much like the one your heart had been broken in only a month earlier.

You should have known Ryan wasn’t serious about you – no frat guy at your school would ever be serious with an unaffiliated girl like you. The sex should have told you how serious he was. It would always be the fast, rough kind of fucking where he mostly had you in doggy position or with your mouth around his dick. There was none of the lazy, slow passionate sex that came when you were actually serious or mesmerized by someone.

“What the hell is up with Sigma Chi getting all the hot girls?” you heard Jaebeom ask from the porch. The idiots had left the front window open so anyone could hear what they were talking about – but there weren’t really any boundaries when it came to brotherhood. Instead of leaving and going upstairs, you remained frozen in your spot with an ear positioned to the window. For some reason it seemed like living in this house was turning you into an eavesdropper.

“Guys don’t talk about her like that.” The chiming in from Mark surprised you, he had been so silent outside when you had been present that you didn’t really expect him to defend you.

“Oh really, why?”

“She’s not just a hot girl…” Mark paused for dramatic effect and you can practically hear all the guys on the edge of their seats, “she’s a super-hot girl.” You rolled your eyes as he finished his thought about you, the guys all giving him high fives and verbal agreement.

“So, what do you say Mr. President? Gonna try to hit that?”

Mark didn’t answer the second question, “Mr. President?”

Bambam laughed, “Oh yeah I overheard her on the phone the other night and that’s what she called you.” Okay maybe Bambam was no longer your favorite, “Mr. President and his fluffy hair.” You aren’t sure if you should be embarrassed because of him exposing you or offended because of the voice he uses to mimic your own. You did not sound like that.

Once again, all the guys laugh, but this time you can’t hear Mark’s own stand out giggling in the mix. For some reason you wished you could see his face right now. That’s when you decide it’s probably best to go upstairs.

“Take it, take it all,” Mark growled into your ear as he thrusted into you at a brutal pace. You couldn’t respond to him; your mind was too hazed over with pleasure.

“Wow my cock’s that good that you forgot how to speak? I know you think you’re smarter than me, but it looks like you’re wrong. All it takes is for me to be inside of you for one fucking minute for you to act like you don’t even know your own name.”

He’s right. He’s so right and all you can do is agree with him.

He brings his hand down between the two of you to rest on your clit, tapping his finger at the same pace he pumps into you at. “I know you think I’m a dumb frat boy who’s only good at drinking and partying, but how about now, hmm? Don’t you think I’m good at fucking this tight pussy?”

You awake with a gasp. You’re covered in sweat and your hand has somehow found its way underneath your shorts and underwear. Why the fuck were you having a sex dream about Mark? It felt like your entire body was on fire, even your fan being on the high setting wasn’t going to help you in cooling down.

Getting out of bed, you decided to head downstairs to the kitchen. What you needed was a popsicle and a bag of ice. The ice was to help how hot you felt, the popsicle was a distraction from thinking about whatever the fuck your subconscious had just come up with.

“Hello?” The voice coming out of nowhere causes you to jump as you swing one of the freezers in the large kitchen open. You attempted to squint your eyes in the darkness to make out who the voice belongs too, but it’s too difficult to see.

“If you keep your eyes like that, you’re going to ruin your vision,” the lowness of the voice takes you back to only moments ago in your room when you had been hot and absolutely bothered. It was the same voice from your dream.

“What are you doing down here?” you asked, moving your head around the space, still unable to properly see him.

Suddenly, Mark’s face comes into view as he stepped closer to you so he could be seen in the light of the freezer, he’s so close, you hold your breath, “what? No hello?”

You scoffed, “I usually don’t when people are just down here sitting in the dark.” Mark doesn’t respond to your comment about him lurking and positioned his glance to where your hand was placed in the freezer, “feeling hot?” Your eyes went wide, “w-what?”

He pointed to you hand resting on the box of popsicles, “the popsicles…” Laughing awkwardly you pulled one out from the package and go to reach for an ice pack, “oh… yeah.”

Mark nodded his head, “it’s pretty hot tonight… That’s why I came down here. You know heat rises and all that stuff… I’m on the third floor so…” he drifted off and his tone sounds off, unlike when you had first met him. He almost sounded nervous?

“Listen… I want to apologize for the guys on the porch the other day. They brought up all that stuff about you and your Sigma Chi dude… and it wasn’t cool.” You don’t think about the fact that he called you super-hot and laughed with all the guys, but instead you focus on how surprisingly genuine Mark sounded.

“I’m sorry too about coming into your room and ruining your night.”

“Nah you didn’t ruin my life,” there’s a weird pause and it makes you look away from him, but he’s quick to continue, “I mean that girl was just some stupid Phi Mu bimbo.” Without thinking about it, you hit his arm and he flinched at the pain, “ow!”

“You can’t call a woman stupid or a bimbo just because she wouldn’t sleep with you!” He placed his hands up in surrender, “Sorry, sorry! I’m still learning.”

Mark reached behind you into the freezer and grabbed a popsicle himself. When his arm brushes your shoulder and he gets close enough that you can feel his breath on your face you feel the same pulsing in your core from your dream.

“You should probably eat that… It’ll melt,” he motioned to the popsicle in your hand once he’s back in his original spot, “and close the freezer.”

“Right…” you nodded. It felt like you suddenly lost all intellect when you were around this guy, what was happening to you? It had happened with Ryan… but not on this scale at all.

Shutting the freezer, you’re both met with the darkness of the kitchen. This time you’re able to focus in on Mark’s face despite it being pitch black, both of you opening the wrappers of your icy dessert.

“Besides…” Mark began, going back to the previous topic, “from what I’ve learned… sorority girls are trouble. Not really what I’m looking for. I’d much rather be with someone unaffiliated.” His words caused you to choke on your popsicle, coughing until you feel like there’s no breath in you. Mark’s thankful for the darkness, otherwise you’d see his smile at you being so caught off guard.

“Are you okay?” He asked patting your back, just as you’re at the end of your coughing fit.

You nodded your head, but then realize he probably couldn’t see your gesture at being fine, “yeah I’m okay… just… went down the wrong pipe, ya know?”

“Oh, I know.” The way he said it almost suggests something, but you try not to think about it. Otherwise your panties were going to get more damp than they already were from earlier.

Mark takes a deep breath in and sighs after a moment, “I know you think I’m a dumb frat boy who’s only good at drinking and partying-” he began, but you cut him off immediately when you recognize his choice of words.

No fucking way.

They were the words from your dream. You felt your heart beat out of your chest and you became worried. You really didn’t want to hear what he was going to say next.

“I’m going to bed!”

“What?” Mark feels confused at your sudden announcement and the way you quickly rush out of the kitchen, the sound of your feet running up the stairs the only reply to his question.

You were strange… that was for sure. But he kinda liked it.

Smiling to himself, Mark finished up his popsicle in the darkness and headed upstairs to go to sleep.

“Mark fuck… please fuck me.”

“Oh, is that all you want from me? Is that all I’m good for?”

You aren’t sure what to say, what you need to do to convince him. “N-no.”

“Then tell me… what do you want from me... Really?”

The quick racing of your heart awoke you from your dream. Fuck… not another one.

Should you go see a therapist? Why was this happening to you? It was the third night in a row you had woken up to a Mark Tuan sex dream. This one however, felt different. Unlike the two before it where he was rough with you – this one it seemed like dream you wanted more. Of course, dream you wanted to still be fucked senseless by him – aka the frat boy way – but she was also holding back. She wanted more. She wanted something else. But what?

Climbing out of your bed, you trail down the hallway to the bathroom.

During normal term time all of the bathrooms were for the guys living in the house, but luckily for you they made a few of the bathrooms in the house “ladies only” for the few girls living in the house over the summer. You pushed the door of the bathroom open, being met with the now familiar poorly drawn and weirdly sexual woman stick figure picture taped over original sign.

Expecting to see an empty bedroom, you felt your jaw drop to the floor at Mark’s naked figure in the shower. He hadn’t even bothered closing the curtain.

You felt like you couldn’t move, you felt like you couldn’t think. With his eyes closed under the stream of water, your eyes trailed down his muscular shoulders to his toned abdomen, slowly going down to his length. The same one you had been dreaming about for the last three nights and your fantasies certainly didn’t do it justice.

Before you could truly comprehend the creepiness level of what you were doing, you heard Mark yelp in shock.

“What are you doing!” he yelled, grabbing the curtain from the side and moving it over the lower half of his body.

Your mouth went dry, “I-I-” You attempted to say something, but you felt your eyes watch the droplets of water that cascade down his skin.

“Y/n!” His words snapped you back into motion and you look up at him. It was difficult to say whether the redness on his cheeks were coming from the heat of the water or from his embarrassment of the situation. Mark himself wasn’t sure.

“I- this is the girl’s bathroom. Why are you in here?”

“This bathroom has the best water pressure in the house… I thought since it was so late no one would come in,” he stuttered.

Even though you’re supposed to be having a conversation with him, you find yourself still thinking about how he looked when you first walked in. How long and thick his cock was.

Still recovering from your dream and the peep show you had just been exposed to, you find yourself moving closer to the shower, “you didn’t even close the curtain… It’s almost like you wanted someone to come in here and find you.” He doesn’t say anything, but you make no mistake of noticing the way he grips the curtain harder against his body and the way his breathing gets heavier.

“Did you want someone to find you?” You’re so close to him now that you can feel the steam from the shower opening your pores.

Mark licked his lips, “maybe I wanted you to come find me.”

“Maybe or you did?”

“You know… you do kind of owe me.”

You furrowed your eyebrows. What was he talking about? Weren’t you guys being all sexy? Weren’t you about to do something?

At your nonresponse he smirked and dropped the curtain, revealing all of himself to you once again, “you cockblocked me, so now it’s time for you to make up for it.”

Just like that with your core beginning to throb almost painfully at how much it wants to be touched, you’re set into motion. You join him in the shower, not even caring about getting your pajamas wet. It’s almost as if no logic matters in this moment to you, instead it’s all about you and Mark and your desires for one another.

He pulled you into a heated kiss, pulling you flush against his soaking wet body. You feel his length pressed up against you and you moaned instinctively at the feeling. Your hands roam up and down his body, feeling those muscles you had been obsessing over since your first encounter, stopping when your hand reaches his hardened member.

Instantly Mark groaned out at the feeling of your hand slowly stroking him. He had already felt sensitive and worked up as he had already been thinking about having you under him before you had entered the bathroom.

Mark’s noises send you into another moment of not caring about reality as you kneeled down before him. In any other situation you would be disgusted at the fact that you were willingly on your knees on the floor of a frat’s shower, but this wasn’t any other situation.

You plunge yourself onto him, mouth wide and your tongue lapping at his head. The sudden and almost vicious sucking nearly caused Mark to lose his balance and slip. You pay no mind to the water cascading down your back and beginning to weigh down your hair as you feel yourself be spurred on by the grunts and moans leaving Mark’s mouth.

As you moved more him into your mouth getting a mixture of pre-cum and water dripping from the corners of your lips, you felt Mark buck his hips into you further. The sudden fullness in your mouth until his head was at the back of your throat made you choke around him, Mark bringing his hand to the top of your head to stroke your hair.

“I know how good you are at choking. I know how much you love it, keep fucking going.”

The vibrations from you moaning at his words caused Mark to throw his head back, “show me how much you want my cum. Moan for me, show me.”

Bobbing your head up and down his length, you make no mistake as you continue your noises around him – not for his benefit, but you genuinely felt turned on at just giving him head.

“Fuck, I’m gonna-” before he finished his thought, you felt his warm release in your mouth and you make sure to swallow it instantly.

The sounds of the shower running and Mark’s heavy breathing, coming down from his climax fill the bathroom. It feels like you could just stay here on your knees forever listening to the sounds and you would be fine.

Once Mark catches his breath, he leant down to grab your hand and lifted you up off the wet – and probably filthy – ground. He pulls you into his arms and placed a kiss on your forehead, “damn what the hell am I going to do with you?”

It’s like his words mean more than what he’s going to do with you in the bedroom and somehow that is the thing that finally snapped you into reality. It’s not seeing him naked; it’s not kissing him; it’s not getting down on your knees and suck him dry and it certainly isn’t swallowing his cum. What the hell am I going to do with you?

What the hell was he going to do with you? And what the hell were you going to do with him? The two of you didn’t make sense and you had to remind yourself that you were in a frat house… doing things of a sexual nature with a frat bro. You were not going to find yourself trapped like you were with Ryan. You had sworn off the kind of guy Mark is. You needed to leave it here… no matter how wet and turned on you were right now.

You took a step back, away from Mark and out of his arms, “I- um I should get dry.”

Mark took a step forward and you took another back. He cocked his head to the side, “well… let me help you.” His seductive gaze doesn’t go unnoticed to you, but you have to think with your head for a second. You had already gone against your own “no more frat boys, they can’t commit” beliefs once, you couldn’t do it a second time. You had to quit while you were ahead.

“I’m going to head to bed,” you stepped down from the shower and onto the bathroom tile. Mark lost for words at your sudden distance, “what? Why? Let me take care of you… You haven’t-” Waving your hands, you cut him off not wanting to hear it, “Mark… Don’t. Let’s just leave this at this. Me blowing you because I owed you one…” when it comes out of your mouth, you realize just how ridiculous it all sounded.

Mark took a step toward you, also coming out of the shower and reached to grab his towel, wrapping it around his waist. “Leave it at this? Y/n… I don’t think you understand, I-”

“Mark, I know the kind of guy you are. It’s who your friends are, it’s who all the guys living in this house are, it’s who my fucking ex-boyfriend was. I really can’t do another guy who’s just going to fuck me like I’m an object and be under his charming douchey spell, thinking that he’s all mine. I already did it once and if I did it twice, I think it would kill me. I’m sorry if I led you on or whatever by sucking your dick and making you think that we were going to fuck… and as much as my body wants to, I know it would be smart for me.”

Despite the seriousness of your words and confession, Mark found himself chuckling at the end of your monologue. He’s laughing at your word choice of “sorry if I led you on or whatever by sucking your dick,” but you don’t think about it that way. You think he’s laughing at all of it.

Typical frat guy, you think.

When he noticed the way, your mouth turned into a frown, he feels his heart leap out of his chest. He didn’t want to see you upset… ever. If he could just take some time to talk out how he was feeling to you, then maybe you’d understand how he was – “Goodnight Mark. I’d ask you not to tell you friends about this, but I know you will.”

And just like that you’re gone.

Two weeks and there had been no words exchanged between you and Mark. He had tried countless times to get your attention and talk to you, but you acted as if he didn’t exist. It didn’t go unnoticed by the other people in the house. Bambam prided himself on picking up on sexual tension and when he saw the way you and Mark acted around each other on that day on the porch, he felt it. Sure, the two of you hadn’t said anything, but Bambam could feel the pull between the two of you.

Although previously you didn’t talk to Mark that often in general, Bambam could sense something had happened – something wasn’t right between the two of you. It made him upset to see his brother so down, so… emotional.

“Guys… We have to do something about this Mark and Y/n situation,” Bambam said as he watched Jaebeom and Youngjae practice their beer pong aim in the backyard.

Youngjae looked at him confused, “what do you mean Mark and Y/n situation? There’s something going on there?”

Bambam felt like he wanted to hit him. How Youngjae could be so clueless? He wasn’t sure. “Do you not understand basic human emotions?” The older boy blinked at him mindlessly, before going back to throw the ball at the cups on the other side of the table.

“So anyways… I was thinking we could-”

“That was two! That was two! It totally hit the side of the other cup before it went in!” Youngjae yelled, interrupting Bambam’s big idea.

“Are you kidding? No way. Just take the one or I won’t even give you that,” Jaebeom rolled his eyes, he had enough of Youngjae’s cheating.

“What do you mean you won’t even give me that one? It went in!”

“Guys!” Bambam yelled, interrupting their bickering over the trivial game. They both looked at him with wide eyes, “Can you listen to me? I have a plan.”

Yawning, you decided it was probably time to head in for the night. It had been another long week of trying not to think about Mark.

You barely knew anything about the guy… but for some reason you had this weird pull to him. Deep inside your stomach you had this feeling telling you that this was the guy for you, he could be the one. You pushed it all down, your mind was just playing tricks on you – you were delusional thinking he could be the one.

Heading down the hallway to the bathroom – yes, the same bathroom – to brush your teeth you spot Youngjae coming down the corner. You tried your best to avoid his gaze, it was better safe than sorry to just proceed by ignoring Mark’s friends too.

Out of the corner of your eye as you pass one another, you notice the strange way he stares at you. It’s almost in a diabolical way… but that wouldn’t make sense, right?

Weird.

You’re probably on your sixth yawn when you finally head back to your room, reaching the door and going to turn the handle. Except… the handle won’t turn and your door won’t open.

No, this can’t be happening right now…

Trying again a few more times, you realize it had somehow locked on you. And you… like the idiot you are, left the key inside when you went to the bathroom. Was God playing some kind of sick joke on you? How were you supposed to go to sleep tonight?

That’s when it dawned on you that there was only one option.

The President has a master key to all the rooms

Jaebeom’s words flashed in your head over and over again. You tried to think of something else that could get you back in your room and under your warm covers tonight, but you come up short. You had to go up to Mark’s room.

Slowly going up the stairs to the third floor, you find yourself on the borderline of passing out at how completely nauseous and lightheaded you feel. The only way you could truly make this out alive was if you just pretended to be confident.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The door swung open immediately after the third knock, Mark looking surprised to see you at his door.

He felt his hands grow clammy, “Uh… What’s up?”

“I-I locked myself out of my room… And I heard the President as the master key so… here I am.” Mark felt his heart fall at the reason for your visit. Some stupid part of him had thought that maybe you were here for him and not a key to your room, “yeah… just give me a minute.”

Mark stepped inside and you reluctantly follow him, letting the door shut behind you with a bang. Both of you jump at the noise and softly laugh when you notice.

“I get scared easily,” you mumbled.

Mark snorted, “I can tell.”

Crossing your arms, you moved towards him, “What’s that supposed to me?”

“What do you think? That you’re too scared to explore anything you have with someone, because you got hurt once. Tough, Y/n but getting hurt and let down is a part of life,” he looked at you once as he fumbled through his drawer, looking for the key.

“It’s not just that I’ve been hurt. You’re a-” He cut you off, rolling his eyes done with your overdone argument, “I’m a frat guy, I get it. We’re all the same, blah blah blah. Save it for your dissertation on how I’m scum for your Psych class or whatever.”

“I don’t think you’re scum,” you said softly.

Mark shut the drawer, unable to locate the key in this part of his desk and turned to you, “then why do you hate me so much?”

You shuffled in place, unsure of what do with all of these pent-up feelings that not even you were sure how to describe – and you were the one feeling them. “I don’t hate you. In fact, that’s the problem… I like you so much, I’m so attracted to you and I barely know you! I’ve had so many dreams about you that it’s made it all even worse.”

Before you could stop him, you felt Mark’s lips on yours and you find yourself being suffocated again – sidetracked from your original intentions of forgetting him. However, the way his mouth moved against yours and the way his tongue slipped past the crease of your lips made you not care. But of course, he was a good kisser, he probably did this all the time to all the girls.

You felt his fingers grip the hem of your top. He bunched the material just below your breasts as his hands splayed across your ribcage. He allowed you to pull away, your chest heaving and your eyes closed, before he tugged the material of your top up and over your head. The two of you looked at each other, as if absorbing what the two of you were doing.

When he dropped the fabric onto the floor, he moved his mouth to your neck. He can’t help himself as he marked your collarbones with his teeth, every inch of you is practically covered with marks when he’s done. While your mind is caught up in the feeling of his lips on your neck, his hands moved to cup your breasts.

He made you feel so damn good, you didn’t care anymore.

“Mark,” you breathed as you shifted your head to give him better access, “d-do whatever you want. Fuck me however you want. Just do something.”

You could feel the vibrations of Mark’s laughter against your neck as he reached around your back to unsnap your bra before he pulled away to watch the material fall to the floor. His eyes glued to your chest for a moment, his pupils darkening with lust, before he returned his lips to yours in a heated kiss.

Your hands dipped beneath the fabric of his t-shirt. You allowed your hands a moment to roam, before you break the kiss and tugged the material of his shirt up and over his head. Once again you feel hypnotized by his chest, just as you had been the first night you met him. You wanted to trace your finger over every muscle, every vain and every inch of skin. Mark helped you out of your pajama pants and returned his lips to your neck.

“As much as I would love to do fuck you until you feel me in every single part of your body, I want to take my time. To show you just how beautiful you are, just how much I want you.”

In your sex induced brain you have a moment of clarity to consider his words. Take his time? Weren’t frat boys supposed to be rushed, quick and just be rough with you? You had not a doubt in your mind that Mark would be able to deliver on that, based on how he had first acted around you… but slow? Sensual? Was he even capable of that? You weren’t expecting him to be so… soft and delicate. It wasn’t a part of his brand.

This time when Mark brings his lips back to you, they’re much softer – he kissed you at an unhurried pace as if he had all the time in the world with you. He gently nudged you to lay on your back, your fingers going to tangle themselves in his fluffy hair. He brings his fingers to curl at the waistband of your panties, “is this okay?” he breathed against your lips. You feel yourself begin to grow more wet at his ask for consent.

“Yeah,” you mumbled, your eyes closed and your hands tugging at his hair, “more than okay.”

With your permission, Mark slipped his hand into your panties. Brushing your folds lazily, his fingers gentle and unhurried as he allowed you to pull away and catch your breath. When he brushes your clit and felt yourself jolt in surprise beneath him. He attached his lips to your neck and began pressing kisses along the column of your throat.

No words are spoken as you moved one hand from his hair and gently squeezed his hardening cock over his sweats. Mark moaned against your skin and moved his fingers a little quicker but not changing his lazy pace as he worked to rile you up. It doesn’t take long as he slipped a finger into your heat and hears you release a content sigh at the feeling.

“You’re so gorgeous usually,” he whispered against the column of your throat as one of his hands go up to pay attention to your breasts, kneading them gently. “But, fuck, you’re even better naked.”

At that you laughed, “You’re not so bad yourself Mr. President, you know for a frat guy and all.” He smiled at you, capturing your lips in another kiss, nudging his sweatpants and briefs down.

The continual strokes of his fingers, working you open along with his hand on your breast makes you feel dizzy. You attempt to focus your attention elsewhere, pressing kisses to his heated skin as he rubbed your clit with his thumb.

You could feel Mark shifting above you, reaching for the stash of condoms next to his bed, before he ripped open the foil packet and pulled away to roll the latex onto his length. His slowness practically drove you to insanity, you just wanted him inside of you now.

“Mark please, I want it.”

Smiling at you, he leaned forward to press a kiss on your forehead, “princess you’re going to get it all.”

Mark returned his lips to yours as he sank into you. His pace is slow, lazy and soft, as he began fucking into you. You had always thought that slow and sensual sex was the best kind of sex, but maybe you were wrong. With Mark it felt like your whole body was on fire – it was pure torture. The way he jutted his hips into you at a rhythm had your core aching for more. It was like all of your senses were heightened, everything felt so much more pleasureful with the way your body was hanging on every thrust.

He buried his face into the crook of your neck and groaned as he felt you tug at his hair again. You felt like you were going to go insane and you needed something to grab onto. For you, Mark was willing to do or be whatever you wanted – something he had never remotely thought of doing for anyone ever, including the guys in the fraternity. He was ready to be at your beck and call, to take you like this – making you feel every single stroke, every single time pump into you.

Mark brings his hand between the two of you back to your core and circled your clit once again, allowing you to fall over the edge. “I know you’re going to look so pretty when you cum, please cum for me. I’ve been thinking about it since that night in the shower.”

His mention of the shower brings you back to thinking about how good it felt to have him in your mouth, how good he tasted when he came on your tongue, how much you’d like to be on your knees for him again. These final thoughts have you clenching around Mark, his groaning getting more consistent telling you that he’s close. He nipped at your skin and sucked the spot under your jaw at the same time he thrusted himself at a semi-faster pace, hitting your g-spot. That finally makes every part of your body go numb, and you feel your hips buck forward involuntarily, everything in you spasming.

As he watched your strong release and felt your walls throb around him, Mark began falling over the edge himself. You felt his hips stutter, his breathing shallow, and his hand clenched your hip firmly as he spilled into the condom and you found yourself wanting the moment to last forever as he remained on top of you. You feel him everywhere, warm and solid and entirely him. He pressed a kiss to your lips, another lazy peck, before he pulled away to tie the condom, tossing it somewhere on the ground of his messy room.

“Are you really just going to throw that on the ground?” you laughed. Mark shrugged, “what if you forget about it later?”

He smiled, wrapping his arms around your naked body and brings you as close to him as he can, “nah there’s no way I would forget this.”

Two Months Later

It was hard to believe that summer was finally ending and the new school year was right around the corner. No longer would be stuck in what you once considered was your own personal Hell – the Lambda Chi Alpha house.

The personal Hell had somehow shaped itself into one of the biggest blessings of your life. It had given you Mark Tuan.

“Finally, you’re home!” Mark smiled, patting the open spot next to him on the love seat at your return from work.

As soon as you plopped down, Mark pulled you close to him, resting one arm around your shoulder and the other on your thigh, “want the aux cord?” he mumbled into your shoulder, nuzzling the side of his head against it.

“No! She always gets aux cord when she’s porchin’ it up with us! It’s not fair! She plays that weird K-pop stuff and makes us the laughing stock of the whole street!” Jaebeom whined.

You laughed, “Don’t knock it until you try it!”

“I have tried it and I hate it,” Jaebeom quipped back, crossing his arms to show his firm disagreement on the matter.

“Fine let’s do One Direction this time.”

“Like that’s any better!”

“Can you guys shut up I’m trying to think of something to say to that girl,” Youngjae grumbled in annoyance at your bickering with Jaebeom.

You looked to see a girl walking by the house. Judging on her large backpack, casual clothes and tired face she had been at the library. You doubt she would be up for any unwarranted cat calling. “Don’t say anything!”

Youngjae looked at you confused, “what… I’m trying to shoot my shot.”

“As a girl, please trust me when I say don’t.” Youngjae pursed his lips in thought, “not even if I just tell her she has a nice smile?” You look at the girl frowning, “she’s not smiling and no not even that.”

“Get a load of this guy,” Bambam said as a guy in Phi Kappa Tau letters walks by – most likely to his house. Judging on all of the times you’ve spent on the porch with the boys now, you knew what was coming. Standing up, he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “PHI KAPPA TAU SUCKS.” The guy turned to the porch, eyeing Bambam and flipped him off.

Sitting down, Bambam shakes his head, “it’s because he knows it’s true.”

“Will you ever listen to me and realize that it’s stupid to shout at another frat?” you asked.

Bambam shook his head firmly, “you can’t just get rid of tradition Y/n.”

Mark firmly nuzzled his head into your shoulder again, kissing the side of your neck, “pay attention to me.” A clingy boyfriend might be annoying to some people and at one point in time you also thought that way, but with Mark you couldn’t get enough of it. The way that he was so dominant and attentive in the bedroom, but then so needy and clingy when it came to being in public. Especially when you were with the other guys.

“Anything for my number one frat star,” you cooed, pinching his cheek.

“You know I hate it when you call me that!” Mark whined, “you pay more attention to the guys then you do to me.” As he pouted you leaned in to give him a peck, but instead he brings the hand resting on your thigh up to cup your cheek, deepening the kiss. Youngjae, Jaebeom and Bambam all groan.

“Y/n?” Your name being called breaks you out your bubble with Mark. The bubble that made you feel like you two were the only people in the world that existed. Pulling apart from his lips, you both turned to see who the culprit is that ruined your moment.

“What the hell are you doing at Lambda?” Ryan asked. It doesn’t hurt to see him again; it was just annoying.

“Back from your lake house I take it Sigma Chi?” Mark asked. You had told Mark everything about what went down with you and Ryan – and if looks could kill… Ryan would already be in his grave.

“I’m not talking to you,” Ryan rolled his eyes, “what the hell are you doing at Lambda?” He asked again.

Without thinking about it, you find yourself standing up and cupping your hands around your mouth just as Bambam had done earlier, “SIGMA CHI SUCKS!”

Ryan couldn’t believe his eyes, he stood there blankly on the sidewalk in front of the house, “what? Very funny Y/n… I know you don’t mean-”

You do it again, “SIGMA CHI SUCKS!” The boys on the porch with you begin to laugh.

Ryan pointed a finger towards you, waving it in the air, “now just wait a minute-”

“SIGMA CHI SUCKS!”

Your ex-boyfriend clenched his jaw, “You weren’t even a good fuck anyways!” The words should hurt you, but they don’t because you know it’s not true.

“Uh… Yeah she fucking is,” Mark retorted, standing up next to you, “why don’t you go home Sigma Chi?” And just like that, you and the guys on the porch have your second middle finger of the day – this time from your ex-boyfriend.

As he walked off in the direction of the Sigma Chi house you all laughed at how blatantly offended, he was at just the fact that you had said his frat sucked. It was middle school taunting, but of course it would work on someone like Ryan. Ryan was a special breed of asshole and it makes you feel stupid to think that you had once grouped Mark with him. All of the Lambda boys.

Mark kisses your shoulder, “what are you thinking about?” His smile melted you – it always does. He was one you had been waiting for and somehow your body and subconscious knew it before you did.

“Just how happy I am to have you by my side Mr. President.”

“I’m happy to have you by my side too,” Mark hummed, but soon he pauses, “unless it’s during beer pong… because you really suck.”

“Mark!”

#got7 fanfic #got7 smut #mark tuan fanfic #mark tuan #got7 #mark tuan smut #got7 drabble #got7 one shot #got7 fic #got7 blurb

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yellowsuitcase · 4 years ago

Text

Betwixt; Draco Malfoy: Chapter 2 - The Prince

A/N: Getting settled! Enjoy

Warning(s): Swearing

Word Count: 4.8k

Credits: @10amnoodles Check her out! her artwork is incredible and this series wouldn’t be happening without her :)

Bewtixt Masterlist

“Here is where you will be staying indefinitely. You have an hour before your etiquette lessons start. They will be held in the library on the first floor at exactly 10 o’clock. Please do get settled; your uniforms are hanging in your wardrobe. You are expected to wear them every day unless told otherwise,” Olive opened the door. I gave her my thanks for showing me around, and she took her leave. Once she was gone, I stepped into my new room.

It was better than I’d expected, honestly. I had assumed I’d receive a bed and wardrobe, and while the room did have those essentials, it certainly wasn’t limited to them. There was a dark wooden desk in the right corner; a matching wardrobe leaned against the wall next to it. The room was lit up by two glass doors leading to a balcony. I instinctively took a step towards them and found myself standing on a cream-colored rug. It was perfectly circular and looked very expensive. I hastily shuffled off of it, not wanting my dirty shoes to taint its color.

I proceeded to the balcony. There were two pots of blue flowers in each corner, as well as a bench sat in between both doors. Despite my aching feet, I found myself at the railing, clutching it firmly. I ignored the discomfort of the chilly autumn air nipped at my skin. From where I stood, I could see rooftops and people moving through the city, albeit they did look like dots from this height. I tried to look past the walls, tried to see home. Of course, all I could see were fuzzy blobs vaguely resembling trees. I couldn’t help but think of Jasper. God, I hope he’s okay. I wonder if he’ll be upset with me when I come back.

Reluctantly, I shoved Jasper from my mind and retreated into my bedroom, kicking off my shoes as I sauntered over to my wardrobe. Upon first glance, I could tell it was handcrafted. However, it had undeniably seen better days. The wood was chipped in numerous places, and one of the knobs was dangerously loose. I gingerly opened its doors to reveal several white dresses. I pulled one out and held it up to my chest; it looked as if it’d fit me well. I stood in front of the vanity adjacent to the wardrobe to examine it further. The dress was quite simple, just a flowy frock paired with a dark blue corset and green apron.

I made sure my door was locked and got undressed. I then slipped into the corset and attempted to tie it on my own. I thought I had done quite well, but when I examined myself in the mirror, my eyes widened at the sight. The ribbons were twisted, wonky, and overall atrocious, barely acceptable. Yet, it was the best I could manage. I had never been a fan of the restricting garment.

I went back to the wardrobe to hang up Ginny’s dress when I was dressed. Upon getting close to the closet, my eye caught sight of a loose panel in the back of it. Quickly, I pushed the dresses to the side to get a better look. “Huh,” I mused aloud. The board had a slight bend in the corner of it as though it had been forcefully yanked from its place on more than one occasion. Curiosity got the better of me, and I reached out my fingers and grasped the corner, testing the waters, seeing how much it would give. Surprisingly, it resisted my gentle tug. Although this should’ve deterred me, I was too interested now. I planted my foot firmly in front of me, bent my knees, and yanked on the panel. It remained stuck. I tried again; this time, it gave way so easily that I toppled over onto my back with a loud thud.

“Fucking hell,” I muttered under my breath, examining the board in my hand. Then I looked up from the ground; my jaw dropped to the floor when I saw it. Behind the panel was a tight crawl space. I hastily got to my feet and leaned my face towards it. Cold air fanned over my face, carrying the smell of dirt and dust particles with it. I reeled back, coughing violently. “What on Earth…”

It looked as if the channel had no end. It was fully dark, but my room's light highlighted all the numerous cobwebs covering the walls. Hesitantly, I stuck my hand inside it, feeling the rough stone walls as I did. Where could this possibly lead? Surely, it’s not a secret passageway. There’s no way Ron was right... Fuck, what if he was? I pulled my head out of the wardrobe and scanned my room for a clock, locating one on my bedside table. I picked it up and looked at the time: 9:30. My eyes drifted back to the wardrobe, then to the forgotten panel on the floor. Fuck it. I hiked up my dress and clambered into the closet. Yet, once I got inside, my feet hesitated as I faced the dark abyss.

My heart pounded in my chest. This could lead anywhere. If I was lucky, it could lead home. Yet, I had no way of knowing how long it was, whether or not it was safe, if I’d be able to turn back. Tick, tick, tick. The unmistakable sound of time passing reminded me I had a mere thirty minutes to spare. I decided to go through with my decision, putting my head down and crawling into the hole. It was only when I got my entire body inside that I realized how truly tiny it was. The floor of it felt unpleasant against my exposed elbows, and I could feel fear beginning to set it, but I was in too deep now; I had to keep going.

I trudged forward and, at some points, dragged my body through the crawlspace. It wasn’t getting any brighter, and the cobwebs were only getting thicker. Nevertheless, I kept going until my hand reached forward, only to find that the floor had, inexplicably, ended. My heart stopped, and I quickly curled my toes and pulled my body backward, away from the edge. Once I had calmed my pulse, I picked my hand up and felt around. My fingers found the ledge, as well as a wall beneath it. Wondering if there was anything else, I extended my arm downwards. As I did this, my hand brushed up against something firm. Hastily, I curled my fingers around it. It seemed to be a wooden pole of sorts. Upon further exploration, I discovered I was touching a ladder. Excitement stirred within me, and I reached upwards, trying to find the ceiling. I waved it around wildly in the dark; I couldn’t feel anything but air.

Time was still ticking, so I extended my arm backward and latched my fingers around the edge of the crawlspace’s ceiling. Then, with wobbly legs, I got to my feet and stood up. “Okay,” I breathed a sigh of relief. Slowly, I turned myself around and lowered my right foot. It found the first rung of the ladder, then my left found the second. I climbed down it until my feet met the floor. An echo sounded when they did, and I whipped my body around, startled. I couldn’t see anything, I couldn’t hear anything, but the scent of mildew and mud was unmistakable. However, my curiosity was only growing, and after a few moments of standing with my back against the wall, it overpowered my fear. Tentatively, I stepped forwards and stuck out my hands.

As I moved them around, my left pinky finger came in contact with something sturdy; another wall. I ran my hand up, down, and across it in every way I could manage. Just as I was going to try the opposite wall, my hand hit something cold. I yanked away with a gasp but then reached out again; this time, I felt something smooth. As I ran my fingers up, I felt little bumps and then a rough stick. I pinched my fingers onto it and felt some sort of crust smear onto them. Puzzled, I brought my hand to my nose and sniffed. Ash. It smelled of ash. This was a candlestick, I realized. My heart leaped; this meant I could return with a flint striker to light the tunnel. That’s just what I’d do, I’d return, but at that moment, I knew I had very little time left. I went to the ladder and crawled back through the hole, this time with light shining from the end of it.

Once in my bedroom, I picked up the panel and jammed it back into place. Then I pulled the dresses over it to hide it and shut the doors of my wardrobe, letting my hands rest upon it as I caught my breath. So many emotions were running through me, confusion, exhilaration, shock, but then my eyes found the clock. 9:50.

“Shit!” I cursed as I started for the door. However, as I was taking my leave, I caught sight of my reflection in the vanity mirror. It showed a dirty woman, her hair covered in spiderwebs, definitely not someone who could roam the castle halls. Frantically, I rushed back to the closet and took out a new dress. There was no way I could show up to lessons looking like how I did. As fast as I could without tearing it, I disrobed my soiled uniform and tossed it into the basket beside the wardrobe. I then donned the new, clean dress and jerked open my vanity drawer. I spotted a hairbrush and frantically ran it through my tangled hair, ridding it of any debris. Once it was clean, I twirled it into a bun and pinned it.

After a final once-over in the mirror, I deemed my appearance acceptable, slipped on my shoes, and fled my room. Since Olive had already given me a tour of the castle, I knew the library was located at the back of the palace. My feet carried me down the hallway and down the staircase. I was nearly running, terrified of being late. Upon turning a left corner, my body ran into something firm. “Oh!” I yelped.

“Watch where you’re going,” a familiar voice hissed. I looked up to find the prince glaring down at me, a scowl etched upon his face.

“I apologize, Your Highness. It won’t happen again,” I told him while bowing my head.

“It better not,” he spat. I nodded curtly and took a step forwards, aiming to walk around him and continue down the hall. As I was passing him, a hand abruptly and firmly grabbed my wrist. Without hesitating, I wrenched myself from his grasp and took several steps backward, my heart speeding up. Draco stared at me bewilderedly, his hand still hanging in the air. Obviously, he was wondering why I’d reacted in such a way. His eyes were narrowed, but even from the distance I had put between us, I could see the confusion in them. Curiously enough, despite emotion being at the forefront, the look of vacancy from that morning was still there, buried beneath it all.

Before I was able to properly calm down and further study him, he snapped out of it, lowering his arm and clearing his throat. “When you’re done with your training, stop by my study. We have things to discuss,” he instructed me. I nodded, watching as he side-stepped away from me and continued on his path, wherever it may be to. As my heart began to slow down, my eyes drifted to a nearby clock. 9:58. “Motherfucker!” I whisper-yelled, then broke into a sprint that carried me all the way to the library doors.

When I entered, a tall, grey-haired woman peered at me through her oval-shaped glasses. I swiftly straightened my posture, suddenly aware of my disheveled appearance. She carried herself with elegance and maturity; I could practically feel her judgment from where I stood.

“Y/N, I presume?” I nodded. “Next time, arrive early. You will address me as Lady McGonagall, understood?” she asked. Her voice was high pitched and steady. This woman wasn’t one to fool with.

“Yes, Lady McGonagall,” I replied. A smile formed on her lips.

“Excellent, let’s get started.”

--------

I closed my door behind me, finally inside my room. Exhausted, I let myself sink to the floor. Mother of God, had my first lesson been rigorous. McGonagall had high expectations, to say the least. She berated me the entire class.

“Spine straight, chin up, shoulders back.” I must have heard that phrase nearly twenty times. When I made the decision to try for this position, I had no idea it would be this exhausting. I couldn’t help but wonder if my mother had gone through the same thing. She hadn’t worked for a member of the Royal Family, of course, but being a maid for Lord and Lady Greengrass surely meant she had to learn proper etiquette. If only she could see me now. What would she say? What would she think? I like to think she’d be proud of me for getting off my ass. The thought of it made me laugh.

I picked myself up and walked over to the balcony. I knew this would quickly become my favorite spot. I knew Jasper would love it. The thought of him made my heart squeeze. I’d only been gone eight hours and I missed him terribly. However, I suppose it made sense that I was feeling this way; I’d never been gone from him this long. Releasing a sigh, I rested my head on my arms that were propped up on the railing. I can’t be thinking like this. I’m here for a reason; I’m here for Jasper.

Reluctantly, I went back inside and began cleaning myself up in my mirror. I already stopped by the kitchen after my lesson to get a small snack, so the only things left on my agenda was my meeting with the prince and dinner. McGonagall told me I’m on waitress duty for tonight’s dinner. This meant I’d be one of two servants present in the dining room. I’d only be able to eat once the Royal Family was finished.

I deemed myself presentable and once again headed out of my room. The North Wing of the castle housed all the family’s private quarters, so I made my way there. I was unsure of where exactly Draco’s study may be, but I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.

When I reached the correct corridor, I slowed my pace, examining each door as I went. Some had signs hanging over them, but others remained unmarked. None were open. Well, I’m not going to find it by standing here, I thought. I went down the hallway, knocking on every door and trying the handle. One after the other, locked, locked, locked. My hand was hovering over the final door when I was startled by a soft “ahem.”

I whipped my head to the left to find Draco standing in the middle of the corridor. The look on his face made my stomach churn; he didn’t look pleased. He strutted towards me, fists clenched and chest puffed out. His stance reminded me of Jasper when he was trying not to throw a fit. Was the prince about to have one?

“Rule number one, don’t attempt to get into rooms you haven’t specifically been instructed to enter,” he spat as he reached for the doorknob in front of me. The door swung open easily, and he gestured for me to go inside.

“But, Your Highness, you told me to go to your study, how was I supposed to-” He held up his hand, silencing me.

“Go inside, don’t make me repeat myself,” he ordered. I did as he asked and stepped into his study. The curtains were drawn shut, making the room extremely dark. I watched Draco walk over to a desk, presumably his, and open one of the drawers. He pulled out an object. I couldn’t quite make out what it was. It made a clinking noise as he held it in his hand. The light from the hallway illuminated the room just enough for me to see Draco approach a wall-mounted candle holder, and sparks emerge from his hands. The tinder took flame, and from its light, I could see the object in his hands were actually two—a flint striker paired with a piece of steel.

He used the tinder to light the candle, then used that to light the others until every last one was lit. The study was now easier to examine. A large mahogany desk sat in the center of the room. To the left of it were green sofas and tall bookshelves, packed to the brim with various novels. To the right, a round table surrounded by dark green armchairs. A vase of white, wilting flowers sat in the center of it. It seemed as though Draco had noticed me staring at them, my feet subconsciously drawing me nearer to them.

“That’ll be a job of yours, replacing those flowers. They’re appealing at every stage of their short life, but the stench of rotting sweet pea is not one I find to be very pleasant.”

I turned my body towards him. He was standing by his desk, hand resting on the edge of it. Neither of us said a word; we simply looked at one another. He was trying to figure me out. I was doing the same. Suddenly, he seemed to come to his senses and broke eye contact.

“Shall we sit? Perhaps you should grab parchment and a quill? To take notes of what will be expected of you,” he suggested, placing the flint, steel, and tinder back into its case on his desk and reaching for a piece of parchment. My hands found each other behind my back, and I walked right past his desk and straight towards the sofas. I could feel his eyes on me as I took a seat.

“I’ll remember, Your Highness,” I told him, my voice soft. He raised an eyebrow, doubting me.

“Are you sure? Maybe you should just-”

“I said, I’ll remember.” My words seemed to anger Draco, but he said nothing. Instead, he took a seat on the emerald couch across from me, his eyes still searching. I wondered what they were hoping to find. If it was obedience, submission, he wouldn’t find it in me. Yet, I think he understood that when we met. I think it’s why he chose me.

“Very well. I assume Lady McGonagall has already informed you of many of your duties. Such as weekly tidying of my bedroom-”

“Your study, the kitchens, the guest rooms, the sitting rooms…” I trailed off as I saw Draco give me an unamused look. Nevertheless, he nodded and cleared his throat.

“It seems you do remember well. Good, so you know your chores. Now I can go over my personal rules for you. We’ll start with this room,” he said while gesturing around the room. “I spend the majority of my days in here, thus it gets messy quite quickly. While you must clean it, you shall never clean my desk. I don’t care if its entirety is covered in parchment and books; they are not to be touched. Neither are the drawers.”

My eyes followed his fingers as they pointed towards his desk. The flint striker shined with the light from a nearby candle. It was calling my name, but patience was going to be the key to snagging it, so I turned back to the prince as he stood up from the couch. He walked towards a series of display shelves. Numerous peculiar items sat atop it. The one that caught my eye the most was a small glass ball with a golden ring around its middle.

“None of these items are to be touched under any circumstances, understood?” he asked. His voice had turned dark. Seems as though these objects held quite the meaning.

“What if one of them is about to fall onto the floor?” I asked, purposefully trying to irritate him, just to see how far I could push him. He pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance but did inform me that should an item be falling to its doom, I could catch it.

Draco continued going around the room and telling me what I could and could not mess with. Some of these things seemed completely arbitrary, like the crooked picture frame above an end table. Others made sense, like the ring on display. According to Draco, it had been passed down through eight generations.

Once Draco finished going around his study, he headed to the door, ready to lead me to his bedroom. Before joining him, I walked by his desk and pretended to look at the portrait to my left. It was of the prince and his father. Draco saw this, and instinctively followed my gaze; it was all I needed. My fingers swiped the flint and steel case right off his desk and slid it into my apron pocket. When his eyes returned to me, confusion evident on his face, I was already heading towards him. He said absolutely nothing about the now missing item. What a shame, he really had been just angry this morning.

As we entered the bedroom, I felt my eyes begin to widen. His room was magnificent. Not only did he have a dark green canopy bed, but he also had couches, a fireplace, a floor-length mirror next to his enormous wardrobe, and another desk. I noticed from the open door that it even had a washroom of its own. I must not have hidden my surprise well enough because I heard a soft chuckle beside me.

“Biggest bedroom in the palace,” Draco gloated, his hand on his hip. I disregarded him and instead began walking to the windows. When I got to them, I peered out to see a relatively big fenced-in field. There looked to be some stables in one corner. Do they have horses?, I wondered. Unable to quell my excitement, I turned to Draco to ask but stopped short when I found him giving me a hard stare.

“Do you have no manners at all? You cannot just wander around my bedroom as if it is your own! I’ve been tolerating your nonsense only because it’s your first day, but one more foolish act of disrespect, and you’re gone, understood?” he lashed out, his teeth barred and chest heaving. I gave him no reply, only watching as he seethed with anger. However, that soon got boring, so I turned my head back to the window. His little tantrum didn’t phase me one bit; I knew his words were empty threats.

“Do you have horses?” I asked, breaking the silence and meeting Draco’s eyes again. His eyebrows were knitted together, and his nose was scrunched.

“Seriously? You’re not going to acknowledge what I just said?” he questioned, his anger still strong. I said nothing, my eyes blinking at him with false innocence. He stared at me, waiting. When he realized I wasn’t going to back down, he threw up his hand halfheartedly. “Yes, of course, we have horses. What kind of a question is that?” he berated me. “Whatever, just sit down, and I’ll show you what else you’re forbidden to touch.” I decided enough was enough, and I did as I was told, taking a seat in one of the nearby chairs.

As Draco roamed about his room, I couldn’t help but let my eye be drawn away from him again. This time, it wasn’t the window that interested me. It was the sword hanging above his nightstand. The handle of it looked to be made of jade stone. It had silver snakes curled around it, hovering, almost. At the base of the blade was a dark, black gem. Not until Draco waved his hand in front of my face was my gaze torn from it.

“Forgive me, Your Highness,” I apologized. However, the prince didn’t look upset. He smirked at me as he walked over to the sword and gently lifted it from its shelf. His right hand gripped the handle as he began lightly swishing the blade through the air. I watched, mesmerized as he handled the weapon with ease. I’d be lying to myself if I said it wasn’t attractive. There’s something inherently captivating about a man who’s good with his hands.

Without warning, Draco twirled the sword around then upwards towards the ceiling before slowly bringing it down until the tip of the blade was nearly grazing my nose. My heart pounded in my chest, but not from fear.

“Do you know how to use one?” he asked. I shook my head. Of course, I didn’t know how to swordfight. “Didn’t think so,” he replied, lowering the blade from my face.

“Why do you ask, Your Highness?” Draco didn’t answer. He seemed to be in deep thought. Surely he wasn’t thinking what I was thinking.

The prince toyed with the sword for a moment before looking at me and asking, “Would you like to learn?” His expression remained blank as he stared at the floor. He was nervous.

“Why would I? And why would you want to teach me?” I asked him. There was no point in beating around the bush. Draco shrugged his shoulders and glanced up at me briefly before breaking eye contact again.

“Protection,” he stated as if it were obvious. “Sure, you can wash my bedsheets and clean my room, but knowing that I can have you as some sort of secret weapon, should anything ever happen, is good insurance.”

He wasn’t wrong, I suppose. Teaching me to fight would be a good thing to have in his back pocket. If anything were to happen, like a neighboring kingdom attacking Sithrawl, not one member of their army would consider me a threat. Furthermore, not many get the chance to learn the art of wielding such a dangerous item. I’d be stupid to deny his offer. I pushed myself up from the chair and clasped my hands together.

“I accept your offer, Your Highness,” I said confidently. There was a mocking undertone, but of course, Draco didn’t pick up on it. Him and his big head.

“Wonderful. We shall meet in the dungeons every Friday at, let’s say, nine o’clock.”

“In the morning?”

“Evening,” Draco specified. I nodded but went on to ask another question.

“May I ask why the dungeons? That seems like an odd place. Surely a ballroom would be better suited?”

“Well, if you’re to be a secret weapon, we can’t exactly have you swinging a sword around in one of the main rooms of the castle now, can we?” Draco smiled, waving his sword back and forth as he spoke. I didn’t like how cocky he was with that thing in his grasp.

“Of course, you’re right.” A moment of silence passed. Draco continued playing with his sword while staring at me, his eyes cloudy. “Am I dismissed, Your Highness?” I spat out, eager to leave the tension-filled room. Draco nodded and gestured to the door. I bowed slightly, showing my thanks.

As I was reaching for the handle, Draco cleared his throat behind me. I spun around to face him, wondering if he was going to change his mind. Maybe there was something else he wanted to go over. However, his next words surprised me.

“Forgive me. It’s just occurred to me that I haven’t asked for your name.”

I felt my eyebrows raise and the corners of my mouth lift, despite my best efforts to retain a straight face. You shouldn’t be blushing because he’s doing the bare minimum of asking your name, I chastised myself. Truly, Draco had been nothing but a spoiled brat since I met him this morning; however, there was something about him that drew me in. He just seemed so intriguing, so puzzling. I wanted to figure this man out.

“Y/N. Y/N Y/L/N.”

“Well, Y/N,” Draco started. He then took a few steps towards me, swinging his sword. He seemed to like fidgeting with it. “I will see you at dinner.”

I swallowed. He had gotten close enough that I was able to smell his perfume. Despite the sword in his grasp, I looked up at him. Once again, a staring contest arose. This one didn’t last long, though. “Until then, Your Highness,” I said softly. Then I pulled the door open and hurried out, not bothering to look back and see if Draco was staring. I didn’t have to. I could feel his eyes on me.

Taglist(pls lemme know if you don’t want to be on the Betwixt taglist!): @mischiefisbeingmanaged @pastelpuffbar @cutie1365 @dracoxmgg @lumlfy @sambucky8 @emilianamason @raplinethereal @DixieTheMorab24 @xoxohollands @prongsandprancer @ch0kemedracomalfoy @avlauriaa @purpleskymalfoy @mariah-can-dream @drxcomvlfx @sydnee-kom-spacekru @dracosgoodgirl @voilawind @gloryekaterina @anchoeritic @ragxsxragxs @exoticlizard @dlmmdl @siriusblklftv @Writtenbyadramaqueen @amourtentiaa @keidensu

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xiyao-feels · 4 years ago

Text

Part Three: Claims about JGY

Intro - Pt 1 - Pt 2 - Pt 3 - Pt 4

JGY

1) JGY has the authority to teach NHS the SoC

He does teach him, and there's no suggestion from anyone involved that he didn't.

In MDZS, the SoC is explicitly one of the Lan's exclusive teachings, and NMJ objects to LXC teaching it to JGY on those grounds; LXC's response to this includes the fact that it can't be leaking it since JGY is their sworn brother, a consideration which would not extend to NHS. I'm not saying that LXC would necessarily deny NHS the chance to learn it (if he were in fact capable of playing it; it's noted as very difficult), but there is no way that JGY has the authority to teach it to NHS without LXC's permission. Nor does NHS seem to be making any efforts to hide what he's playing (in front of both NMJ and some of the Nie men JGY was just playing in front of), so it doesn't seem as though JGY was playing on that to get NHS to keep in a secret. I grant you the plan is stupid enough as it is, but if he'd obtained permission from LXC to teach NHS that would elevate it to new heights of idiocy.

In CQL, the guqin conversation is missing a great deal of what we see in MDZS, and that includes the exchange about it being a Lan exclusive teaching. Nevertheless, we're not given any reason to suppose it's not—and all later discussion of it pretty much follows on MDZS, where it is.

2) JGY involves NHS in his killing of NMJ

He teaches him the corrupted SoC. Now, as in part one, I think MDZS canon suggests this would result in NHS actually helping NMJ, but that's clearly not what the movie is going for.

In MDZS, JGY consistently defends NHS from and to NMJ, as you've seen in some of the quotes in the previous sections. Moreover, after NHS burns his hands when NMJ burns NHS' things, he's the one who orders medicine prepared and comforts him, advises him to go back to his room and rest, and tries to keep him from provoking NMJ; and then, after NHS has run off and locked himself in his room, refusing to open it to anyone to allow them to deliver the medicine, and while NMJ is still furious about NHS' defiance, accepts the medicine and plans to take it to NHS' rooms after he's finished with NMJ (ch 49-50). He does not involve NHS in his plan to kill NMJ.

In CQL, again, we see rather fewer of JGY and NHS' interactions during this time period—which doesn't mean that they don't happen, just that we don't see it. Again, when CQL doesn't say something, I tend to assume it matches MDZS unless I have a specific reason to believe otherwise—CQL kind of relies on this, in fact, otherwise you have questions like "wait what the heck was JGY trying to dig up in the temple". Regardless of whether you agree with that argument, JGY does hold NHS back and prevent him from running towards a qi-deviating NMJ. Although I've seen it interpreted as cruel, he likely prevents NHS from getting himself killed or injured (as happens in MDZS, where NMJ wounds NHS (ch 50)). And this is of course not strictly part of the text, but I'll observe that ZZJ has said that he thinks JGY would regret allowing NHS to witness NMJ's qi-deviation. There is, regardless, no evidence in CQL that JGY used NHS in his plan to kill NMJ.

3) JGY can straightforwardly prevent NMJ's violence via the SoC

We see him do this when NMJ is about to punch NHS; he's obviously hurrying a little, but the SoC works clearly and quickly.

In both MDZS and CQL, he shows no sign of an ability to do this. Instead he just has to deal with NMJ attacking him. When he can prevent NMJ's violence towards him, it's literally just that he manages to talk him down; JGY is, in fact, incredibly vulnerable to NMJ's violence.

We see more of NMJ targeting JGY in MDZS (see next point), but in neither MDZS nor CQL does JGY show any sign of being able to stop NMJ's violence by playing a few quick measures.

Granted, this is mostly a replay about the SoC being able to stop NMJ's violence quickly even when used by someone with weak cultivation. But it's a very important point.

4) Someone other than JGY is the main target of NMJ's violence.

This isn't an explicit claim, but while NMJ is violent on more than one occasion, at no point is JGY his target, nor (from what I can tell) is it suggested he usually is. Rather, NHS and the Nie men are made to stand out as NMJ's victims.

In MDZS, JGY is absolutely the main target of NMJ's violence;* although he does burn NHS' things, leading to NHS' hands being burnt when he tries to save them, and later injures various people (including NHS!) when he qi-deviates, he does this latter /because he is hallucinating they are JGY/. He calls JGY out at the stairs and /publically/—in front of various Jin disciples!—and not only humiliates him but also kicks him down the stairs then draws his sabre on him with intent to kill him (all this after trying to hit him very first thing after they go outside). Earlier, of course, we see him try to kill MY after MY has just killed WRH and saved his life, and his final qi-deviation is immediately preceded by him kicking open a door to slaughter JGY on the spot for the crime of being upset to LXC about how NMJ treats him…ostensibly combined with him being polite and friendly to NMJ's face, but the last time JGY was anything but, NMJ tried to kill him, and indeed LXC is advising JGY against "provok[ing]" NMJ "again," presumably by talking back to him as he did at the stairs (ch 50).

In ch 118—before the stairs incident, and I think it must have been before the Chang clan are killed too—XY asks if JGY's bruise is from NMJ. Although in fact it is not (and observe JGY's response: “If he were the one who did it, do you think I could still be standing here and talking to you?”), the possibility of NMJ's violence towards JGY is clearly present. In ch 32, when WWX sees some kids playing, although we're told that LFZ is the most popular character and although the text is replete with indications that at this point in time he is both powerful and well-respected, there is /still/ the general knowledge that NMJ is going to threaten JGY and JGY is going to flee:

“Nie MingJue” raised swung his fist, “So what if you’re the Chief Cultivator. You’re still my youngest brother. You’ll have to run away whenever you see me anyways.”

“Jin GuangYao” did indeed cooperate and maintain his character. Flinching his shoulders, he quickly ran away.

See also WWX's comment in the first Empathy chapter, when he's surprised at watching NMJ and MY get along: 'Wei WuXian had heard too much of those jokes of how “LianFang-Zun fled whenever he heard that ChiFeng-Zun arrived”.'

We're even told that the brotherhood oath they swore was unusually violent!

NMJ's determination to kill JGY lasts even into his own death—that's /why/ JGY dismembers him and sets such strong seals on him, so that NMJ's fierce corpse won't kill him. NMJ's violence towards JGY is a central part of both of their narratives, and shows up all throughout the text.

*Well, NMJ is also very pro-Wen-killing, but on an individual level.

In CQL this is a little more complicated. NMJ seems perhaps generally less violent? Certainly we are shown less of his violence, and in e.g. the confrontation in Sun Palace he is not constantly attempting to get to JGY while LXC blocks his blows and explains things. In episode 36, although we still see the children playing, the exchange is a little modified; we're still told JGY is scared of NMJ, but the NMJ kid doesn't raise a fist or anything like that, and the JGY child doesn't run away. Nevertheless, NMJ is clearly hostile to JGY, and his violence at the stairs is the same: attempting to hit him the moment they arrive outside, kicking him down the stairs, and then drawing his sabre on him to try and kill him. The difference is that in CQL, JGY survives because NMJ qi-deviates, whereas in MDZS he would likely have died had LXC not intervened. The emphasis on NMJ's violence towards JGY is much less present in CQL; nevertheless, JGY is still the primary target of what violence we do see.

5) JGY is easily replaceable, indeed at all replaceable, as a subordinate

FJ does not explicitly say this, but NZH seems to be very well-integrated and to have been there a while, and there's no suggestion he is in any way less than a perfect subordinate, or that JGY was better. As though to emphasize this, we see him dive in front of NMJ to take a blow (as with MY in CQL)—and, of course, he has the good grace to die when NMJ tries to kill him. One of the rather underspecified Nie cultivators also flings himself in front of NMJ, taking a blow to save his life (although, to be entirely fair, willingness to take a blow for NMJ is probably the way in which MY /is/ most easily replaceable).

In MDZS, MY's competence as NMJ's subordinate, and indeed the extraordinary level of his competence, are fundamental to his and NMJ's relationship. Consider these quotes from ch. 49:

After he left, Nie MingJue switched to another deputy. Wei WuXian, however, felt that the new one was always a few beats slower. Meng Yao was an unusually clever talent. He could understand what wasn’t said, and perform to the best with the simplest orders. He was efficient and never slacked. Anyone used to him wouldn’t be able to refrain from comparing him with others.

and

Nie MingJue was never close to people. He rarely opened up to anyone. Though he finally managed to obtain a competent, trustworthy subordinate, whose character and capabilities he approved, he found that the subordinate’s true colors were nothing like what he had thought they were. It was only natural that his reaction was so extreme.

Moreover, it's WWX's conclusion in ch 49 that part of the reason NMJ agrees to swear brotherhood with JGY is JGY's extraordinary talent:

From [WWX's] observations, aside from how Lan XiChen brought it up, having always hoped that the two would reconcile, the most important factor was probably the gratitude of saving his life and writing the letters. To be precise, in his past battles, he had more-or-less depended on the information that Meng Yao sent over through Lan XiChen. He still thought that Jin GuangYao was a talented person whom one would rarely come upon, and intended on leading him back onto the right path. However, Jin GuangYao wasn’t his subordinate anymore. Only after they became sworn brothers would he have the status and the position to urge Jin GuangYao, like how he disciplined his younger brother, Nie HuaiSang.

This is also part of LXC's attempt to reassure JGY that NMJ has not entirely turned against him, in ch 50:

Lan XiChen, “He has always cherished your talent, hoping that you would choose the right path.

JGY's extraordinary competence is very much central to their relationship, and the /fact/ that he has to be so extraordinarily competent to achieve any recognition is central to the themes of the text.

In CQL, again, this is less explicit. However, in episode 10 NHS praises him and WWX and JC are impressed by his talent; the captain, the only other high-up Nie man we get an individual sense of, seems rather less impressive. Moreover, at the stairs, when confronting JGY about XY's imprisonment, NMJ says what did I tell you back in Qinghe (about wanting XY dead), i.e. when JGY was his servant, suggesting he still views JGY in the framework of that relationship and at least possibly suggesting that he still misses JGY in that position.

In the interests of justice I will also bring up the important claims about the characters I noticed that /do/ have significant textual support: first, that NMJ is very good at fighting; second, that NHS and NMJ are each other's most important people. (It technically also gets that NHS hates practicing the sabre, but given the way it contextualizes this I'm not giving them any points for that one.) FJ also claims that lying to someone to keep them from knowing something that would hurt them is an expression of love—although in MDZS this goes rather the other way around, with NMJ keeping things from NHS, considered in isolation it does fit in with similar expressions of love in CQL/MDZS.

Now, I want to be clear, I'm not actually being as thorough as I possibly could. To do that, I would have to watch it multiple times and think things over for at /least/ a month, and even aside from the poor anon who's waiting on the answer to the question "what do they erase about NHS and JGY," I have absolutely no desire to spend that kind of time with the film.

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#fj negativity #more than one tag could contain #anger burned in his heart #we can't change places #long meta

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aesudan-kholin · 4 years ago

Note

If Kaladin had actually given Elhokar hero lessons, how do you think those sessions would have gone?

so... i made a post recently about how i understand (i know lots of things, but not understand) literally nothing about them whatsoever. so answering this ask isnt going to keep in line with what i usually do of only saying something if im confident in it and reasonably sure it wont change later. AKA me from the future might not agree with what i think and say now. so just putting that out there.

so the thing about this is it probably never could have happened. elhokar was desperate, and in his desperation, whether this idea of kaladin teaching him was something that he had been stewing on for weeks to months, or something he thought of while drunk (i imagine it would be the former, though he probably didn't think about it in specific, accomplishable ways), he finally worked up the courage with the help of some alcohol to ask kaladin to do this completely un fleshed out plan of figuring out how to make elhokar not be a shit king. now, this was doomed to fail for a few reasons.

number one: elhokar had a very very good chance of legitimately being incapable of being a good king.

maybe he could have ended up (with some guidance) as a good leader at some smaller scale, like a small town, but even that is debatable. kaladin instinctively knows things, and while i definitely think he had a negative bias against elhokar and his King Skillz in that moment due their relationship being at a low point, his instinct saying 'yeah thats never gonna happen' was probably completely correct.

number two: kaladin probably would not agree to it.

2a. in that moment where he did ask, kaladin thought he was being weird as hell and was so fucking confused. he didn't know at all where this was coming from, because he is blind to how other people view him a lot of the time, and by extension how elhokar had been idolizing him. they probably hadn't seen much of each other ever since elhokar tried to execute him and throw him in jail. from kaladin's perspective, elhokar tried to kill him, then is coming to him like he has all the secrets to life, which is very baffling to him. unrelated sidenote i need to rewrite this stupid coppermind article on elhokar i did not write it but i want to fix some shit in here. so kaladin in that situation is like WTF????? in his head but out loud he's like 'um.. i dont know if thats possible for you' which is a rejection. i don't know if he would have said the same words if he was at a relative high point in his opinion of elhokar rather than potentially the lowest point that he got in wor that he was in that chapter (thinking about it the chapter where he was in prison might have been the lowest but this is a low point is what im saying), but thats probably an opinion he would have kept throughout the bumpy road of whatever tf their relationship is.

2b. kaladin has shit to do, man. dude was working double triple shifts in words of radiance, got into urithiru and was like the only windrunner, and was training overtime to train some windrunners to have some squires ready for the expedition to kholinar. after he got back he was made a highmarshall and we dont see too much in the ob-row timeskip but he wasnt getting much sleep either, and he probably had a lot of shit to do when he was awake, battles aside. when would he have had the time to even begin to think about lesson plans for this goal that in his head is sort of unachievable, let alone find time for actually talking to elhokar about shit.

so like even if elhokar did ask at a point where kaladin felt less like he was absolute crap and more like [??????? but more positive than the absolute crap thing], kaladin would still have been like dude what. and kaladin also would have been like dude i do not have the time. even in an elhokar lives au (because the first time kaladin would have potentially had any time whatsoever for that is post-kholinar), shallan would probably be the radiant he was interacting more due to lightweaver reasons. and elhokar has a great deal of respect for shallan as well, certainly not as much as he has for kaladin, but he does value shallan's skill and opinion, and shallan would not only be a lot more willing to give elhokar some support and advice, they would be working closer together anyway because of their shared order. he wouldn't be getting this nebulous "secret to life" stuff that he wanted to get from the guy who survived a highstorm, almost single handedly saved an army, beat shardbearers with nothing but a spear, and fell into the chasms only to crawl back out again even after a highstorm, but, and my future self might disagree on this, but he might have just been looking for advice on how to live his life.

but, all of that aside. lets say that kaladin for some reason decided that it was personally important to him to train elhokar to not be a shit leader, that he potentially thought it was not a lost cause, and if he did then he cared enough to try anyway. postponing kholinar (which he would have the power to do in this case, since elhokar would be listening to whatever he said*) might have given him more time for that after that request, or else he might have had to think about it and agree post-kholinar, which would involve an elhokar lives au, which i dont want to deal with all the implications so im going to say in this scenario he accepted after elhokar asked in wor 80, or maybe directly after urithiru was discovered (aka later that night) with a promise to start teaching him right after he got back from hearthstone. god i feel like alternate history hub. the later that night thing would have been more likely because that is after his whole 180 about elhokar. that way, the weird intense commitment to help elhokar be a better leader was baked in to all the other weird dramatic shifts about how he thought about elhokar.

what i think kaladin would do?

possibility 1: he would have elhokar start small. i think he would have elhokar teach a single person to do something. he would get a new recruit, and tell elhokar to teach him to be a soldier. maybe the new recruit is one of lopens cousins who saw elhokar blackout drunk and being pushed around by lopens mom to eat his food, so he's not intimidated by him. the new guy not being intimidated is key, because he can't just do what elhokar says because he's the king. after the day, kaladin talks to the new recruit then elhokar, seeing what went right and wrong, then tells elhokar what changes to make. if somehow everything went right with that, kaladin would next give him a group of 5 to lead in some way, and if that worked, a group of 50.

possibility 2: a job shadow. either kaladin job shadowing elhokar, watching all his fuck ups happen in real time, and constantly whispering advice which is offputting to the people elhokar is meeting with but its funny. the issue here comes with kaladin not knowing a lot of political theory. as good of a leader as kaladin is (which is insanely), elhokar is more well versed in political theory (as an example think of the time kaladin was like 'why is beating sadeas in a duel going to wreck him its literally just a duel' there would be a lot of situations in elhokar's work as a king that kaladin would probably be similarly confused on), even if he doesn't apply it well. either that, or elhokar job shadowing kaladin, watching kaladin train the windrunners, and breaking to explain some things to elhokar every once in a while, which elhokar would theoretically learn from. the issue here of course comes with how both of these guys both have sort of incredibly important jobs that they could probably only carve out a few hours at most for something like that. unless elhokar abdicated.

abdication.... no i shouldn't go into all of this this should be a separate 2000 word post. but abdication could come into play and is related to that *asterisk earlier.

i can not think of a third possibility, although there probably is one. i would think that possibility 1 would be more likely in my opinion.

some meme possibilities i came up with:

- kaladin lets elhokar borrow syl and elhokar wears a hat and syl is in the hat pulling bits of his hair like ratatouille and basically operating elhokar and she makes him be an ideal windrunner whenever she feels like he's fucking up

- kaladin presides over the document signing meetings and whenever elhokar is about to sign a document he thinks isn't good he slaps the pen out of his hand and has a disapproving glare. elhokar has to do the walk of shame across the room to get the pen everytime this happens

- training montage with "Gonna Fly Now" in the background where there is no dialogue and it just shows elhokar visibly failing and he tries to lift a rock with a piece of paper on it that says "kingly responsibility" and fails and kaladin shakes his head, then there's a training montage of idk him learning the spear or training other bridgemen or other kaladin-y things and wearing a bandana for no reason then by the end of the montage he successfully lifts the kingly responsibility rock

- they just completely switch jobs for a while while elhokar gets his shit together. all hail king kaladin

(+ my first thoughts)

#SORRY FOR THIS GETTING SO LONG LMFAOO i did not mean it to #also sorry for posting this so long after i got the ask i got caught up in some irl stuff #thank you genuinely for the ask #its almost 1am im not proofreading this if you see a typo or continuity error no you don't #ask #long post #the hero #room temp milk #unnamed syl tag #my posts #unnamed discord tag #stupid in chief

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snkpolls · 4 years ago

Text

SnK Episode 71 Poll Results (for Manga Readers)

The poll closed with 176 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results for the Manga Readers’ poll. If you wish to see the results for the Anime Only Watchers’ poll, click here.

RATE THE EPISODE 172 responses

This week’s episode keeps up the high mark of the previous episodes, with 98.8% of respondents giving the episode a score of 3 or higher (overwhelmingly 4s and 5s). Nice!

It was aight.

It's cool

8.5/10

great!

Very rocky imo in terms of animation, as the cracks are beginning to show but overall look like the backgrounds and music choices were top tier.

Really good episode, I was disappointed in the jacket scene but it’s not the end of the world

loved it

It was overall a great episode I loved it.

🔥🔥🔥

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING MOMENTS WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 174 responses

46.6% of respondents overall were most excited to see Eren meeting up with Floch and the others, with 23.6% of those respondents favoring the scene of Eren putting on his jacket specifically. 12.1% most enjoyed seeing the angry citizens shouting out the Survey Corps motto. 9.8% were thrilled to see Zackley’s death animated. 8% were psyched to see Pieck in disguise at the end, and 6.9% most enjoyed the moment where Hitch caught Armin red-handed trying to touch Annie’s crystal.

YOUR REACTION TO EREN PUTTING ON HIS JACKET? 171 responses

Eren putting on his jacket was a scene many obsessed over when it first appeared on page and many looked forward to seeing it animated. Most of the response choices were focused on various forms of swooning over Eren and his abs. Some (13.5%) stated that they didn’t really understand the dramatism and some others (another 13.5%) simply stated that they did not see much in Eren outright. We’ve gotten a lot of write-ins about comparisons to the pre-animated trailer shot of said scene. More on that in a later question.

i mean i understand the thirst, but eh

Prefer manga :/

The trailer did it better

Meh. Better in the trailer and the manga.

TF was that? Well it's still good in its own way.

YES! YES! YES! YES! Y E S!

both "HOOOOOLYYYYYY 😳" and "so dramatic and for what?"

Trailer/Manga shot was way better

Manga shot/trailer version are way better. Dissapointed

Trailer looked better :(

Mappa only made Reiner thicc, why Eren is so frain he has 1,85! He is so strong in the manga

I don't care

Manbun.........👀

He can have my babies anytime 😌💅🏻

Not as sexy as advertised; that’s okay, though.

That scene looked weird af ngl. It looked better in the trailer 😔

Me after THAT eren scene: 🤰🏻🤰🏻🤰🏻

Eren makes my dick rise

ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW HAPPY ARE YOU NOW THAT WE APPEAR TO BE GOING BACK TO LEVI AND ZEKE’S PERSPECTIVE NEXT WEEK FOR A BIT? 171 responses

Levi and Zeke’s chemistry has been the subject of praise for many, so it’s no wonder that 87.1% of respondents are rather excited to get back to seeing Levi and Zeke again. Wow!

ARE ARMIN’S FEELINGS FOR ANNIE GENUINELY HIS OWN? 173 responses

Armin’s feelings for Annie have been looked at under a microscope for a variety of reasons, which is why we’re asking if you believe that his feelings for her are genuine. A plurality, 49.1% think that they’re a mixture of his feelings for her, as well Bertolt’s. Slightly less (30.6%) believe that Armin’s feelings for her existed since before any of the recent developments. Only a select few believe that he either became interested in her post-timeskip or that his feelings are solely influenced by Bertolt. One person doesn’t think Armin has any feelings for Annie at all. And a few others just don’t care.

Bertmin simping for Annie and that apparently being enough for her to start considering him as boyfriend material is the fucking worst. I hate this shit. It's made me like both characters considerably less.

Uhh Armin where ya reaching?!

He was interested with her even before it was revealed she was the Female Titan and now that he has Bertholdt's memories, he sympathizes with her too and wants to understand her more so maybe Bert's memories intensified his feelings

His feelings for Annie are mostly his own. Bert's feelings might be in there a little, but the feelings are still Armin's.

CONTINUITY ALERT! EREN HAS HIS HAIR UP IN A BUN IN YELENA’S FLASHBACK. THOUGHTS? 173 responses

Uh-oh, Eren’s hairstyle moment. It would appear that there might be a continuity error with Yelena’s flashback and whatever that means for the timeline. A slight plurality (37%) didn’t seem to care about this, actually. But 33.5% appeared to believe that it was a mistake on MAPPA’s part that might get fixed in the BluRay version of the episode. 16.8% also believe that it was a mistake, but don’t believe it’ll get fixed. 9.8% think that it’s actually a retcon and that Eren’ll have the man bun when Chapter 123 gets adapted in Final Season Part 2.

I hope it gets fixed because it's bugging me.

I really wish it was like how it was in the manga. Eren looks good with his hair down in his 16-17-year-old phase. Despite the error, it wasn't a deal breaker for the episode.

He looks totally gorgeous with his hair up in a bun, please let this mistake be

Honestly I don’t mind it. It looks great either way.

Eren in a manbun is a total win for me!

WHICH PIECES OF INFORMATION MISSING FROM YELENA’S ADMISSION IN THE MANGA DO YOU WISH WOULD HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN THE ADAPTATION? 163 responses

As with almost all dialogue-heavy chapters in this series, there are cuts. In this episode, these cuts mostly affected the conversation between Yelena and Pixis. The most yearned for cut material was Yelena never telling Eren to go along with the plan and Yelena saying that she used Floch as a “go-between” between her and Eren. Others also noted missing lines about Yelena wanting Eren to stand up for himself, Yelena stating that Zeke gave the volunteers a hopeful future and the idea that her and Eren came to quick agreement. The plurality (31.9%) however, didn’t seem to mind any cuts.

WHAT ARE YOU OVERALL FEELINGS ABOUT SOME OR ALL OF THE AFOREMENTIONED DETAILS BEING CUT? 161 responses

There is often a sort of expectation to have everything (or almost every) line from the manga adapted in the anime, so it’s interesting to see how people react to that sort of stuff. An almost 50% of respondents stated that they didn’t really care about the cuts, whereas smaller handfuls of respondents stated that the cuts either took away from the characterization of the conversation, or from the context and timeline-building purposes.

I'm not thrilled about the cuts, but I understand MAPPA can only fit so much in on each episode, so I'm okay with it

the yelena/volunteers plot has always been wonky and hard to follow

I don’t think it’s a problem, they need to cut certain things.

i literally never notice but i agree that it makes it harder to piece things together

Meh

It might seem for anime watchers that Yelena didnt do much, and Floch and Zeke that did the most part, in their own plans. Floch to betray and Zeke in predicting Eren wouldnt be on his side in some way. Yelena helped Zeke a lot to where he arrived in the rumbling

All of the above

ZACKLEY WALKS OVER TO HIS TORTURE MACHINE IN THE ANIME BEFORE MIKASA ASKS WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO EREN, RATHER THAN GLANCE OVER AT IT AFTER HER QUESTION. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE CHANGE? 170 responses

There was a partially comedic insinuation in the manga that Zackley thought about strapping Eren to his “art piece”. The insinuation is possibly still there in the anime, but in a different form. So we asked how you felt about it. Slightly below a half (48.8%) stated that they thought the subtlety was still there. 18.8% thought the subtlety was lost with the small change and 8.8% believed the change made Zackley seem less unhinged. 21.8% really didn’t care at all.

Why is this a question?

The glance was funny as fuck in the manga, but might have been awkward to pull of in the animation

They're blown up tho, does it even matter?

DID EREN KNOW ABOUT THE BOMB? 170 responses

Whether Eren truly knew about the bomb is a bit unclear to this day and with how it endangered Armin and Mikasa. A plurality (40%) believe he knew about the bomb, but did not know about his childhood friends meeting Zackley. Slightly less (30.6%) think that Eren did not know about either the bomb or AM meeting the Artist. A minority (7.1%) does believe that Eren knew about both the bomb and meeting and 21.8% simply aren’t sure!

Even if he didn’t know, he obviously doesn’t care either way.

THERE IS SOME DEBATE ABOUT WHETHER EREN’S JACKET SCENE WAS BETTER ANIMATED IN THE PROMOTIONAL VIDEO OR IN THE EPISODE ITSELF. WHICH DO YOU CHOOSE? 170 responses

Here we go… The elephant in the room… Which Eren abs scene did you prefer? The Promotional video or the actual episode? A somewhat slight majority (57.1%) seemed to like the version seen in the promotional video more than the episode itself versus the ones who preferred the episode’s style (42.9%).

THE EPISODE MARKS THE BEGINNING OF FLOCH’S ACTIONS AS THE VOICE OF THE YEAGERISTS. HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABOUT IT? 170 responses

Floch has always been a controversial character and the developments seen post-time skip have not been any less debatable. You may floching love him or floching hate, but he’s here and he’s staying for a while. A plurality (48.8%) notes that although they may not personally be a fan of the character, they truly do appreciate the nuance his appearance gives to the story. Just over a quarter (25.3%) stated that as big fans of the character, they’re looking forward to all the screentime the Flochster will receive. In contrast, 20.6% despise the man and his questionable haircut and are also dreading the showcase he’ll soon receive.

I hate Floch and will cheer again when he dies, but I enjoy his character.

I detest Floch but I'm not dreading all the screen time he'll take up.

Since he died in the manga, my hatred for him has cooled down somewhat now that I'm watching the anime.

I am once again asking for you to shut the fuck up, Floch.

WE KNOW NOW THAT EREN DID CONSPIRE WITH FLOCH TO BETRAY ZEKE TO ENACT THE RUMBLING. STILL, DO YOU BELIEVE HE DID IT BECAUSE HE HAS THE SAME BELIEFS AS FLOCH, OR WAS HE JUST USING FLOCH AND THE YEAGERISTS AS A MEANS TO AN END? 161 responses

An overwhelming amount of respondents (87.6%) stated that they believe Eren never truly saw eye to eye with Floch and his ideology and that Eren was simply using Floch as a means to an end. In contrast, 9.3% truly do think that Eren was ideologically similar to Floch and the “New Eldian Empire”. A select few thought you couldn’t just say one way or another.

They both wanted to protect Paradis

DO YOU THINK IF THE YEAGERISTS, BESIDES FLOCH, KNEW ABOUT THE FULL SCALE RUMBLING BEFOREHAND THAT THEY WOULD WILLINGLY FOLLOW EREN? 167 responses

The majority (53.3%) feel that the Yeagerists would see a divide if they knew beforehand that Eren wanted to initiate the rumbling, with some sticking around for the cause and others possibly leaving because it’s too extreme. 25.1% believe that they all would have fully supported the rumbling in the name of their own survival. 15% believe that every Yeagerist already knew about the plan to commence the rumbling, and only 6% feel that they would most certainly have betrayed the Yeager brothers (and Floch) if they had known.

I don’t know, this is a loaded question and I’m tired.

DO YOU THINK THAT, IF THE STORY ENDS PEACEFULLY, MIKASA WILL HAVE A ROLE TO PLAY IN HIZURU? 170 responses

While this plotline may not be going anywhere in the manga (or so it seems), the reminder of its existence is brought to light again as we revisit these older moments from the manga. 32.4% feel that Mikasa wouldn’t leave Paradis behind to start a life on Hizuru. 23.5% think that she wouldn’t leave Paradis behind, necessarily, but will still have a role to play in Hizuru. 21.2% think it doesn’t matter because Isayama has completely discarded (or forgotten) about this plotline. 12.4% don’t know what to predict (if anything) and only 8.2% believe that her future lies in Hizuru beyond the main storyline.

The last two options plus me not caring. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

hizuru is already rumbled, gone, but she will continue the azumabito clan in paradis

Is no one else gonna question Kiyomi's hair being sucked into her skull??? HELLO MA'AM???

Hizuru is likely flattened

WHICH SCENE FROM THE PREVIEW ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? 171 responses

Episode 72 has already broadcasted as of the completion of this poll. For scenes that were most anticipated, 35.7% were most looking forward to seeing Levi and Zeke’s interaction in the forest. 33.3% most looked forward to Niccolo leaning straight from Gabi’s mouth that she is Sasha’s killer. 18.7% highly anticipated the Blouses learning about Gabi killing Sasha, and 9.4% were looking forward to Gabi/Falco and the Blouses gathering at Niccolo’s restaurant. Only a small amount were looking forward to Niccolo protecting Jean and Connie from drinking the wine.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

Man the animation was gonky

no levi </3

So many faces of Niles are weirds !

Let hange aloneeeeeeee and happy, please

I have no word for this, but I feeling good

Shit is getting really real now!

Everyone talking about Eren’s abs and I just wanna say the music in that scene was amazing!

I loved how it was all neatly put together and fast moving

Armin looked so good. Homie walked from point A to B and i SCREAMED. Thank you.

i wish they included eren's warhammer escape from the prison, besides that solid episode all around, the people chanting 'dedicate your hearts' gave me chills

I can't stand Hitch at all but MAPPA made her really pretty. Re: The jacket scene The trailer version was pretty much identical to the manga panel. But I liked the version that made it into the final episode too. People have been so ridiculous about MAPPA ""ruining everything"" this season, they should stop watching if that's how they feel. I thought Eren looked great and found the sun shining on his abs funny. The scenery was better in the episode, imo. I hope they don't cut Jean's line about booze not caring about what race you are. Lmao

Meh. It's not bad of course, I just find the rythm weird and I don't really feel many emotions watching the episodes. And I was so thirsty for the jacket scene, and it turned out weird too.

Mappa pls stop drawing eren like shit he is gorgeous in the manga

MMGH SOON!! LET'S GOOOOOOO

You friccin moron, you just got zooked!

i miss eremin </3

Wish they had shown how eren used his titan powers to escape.

I'm so not looking forward to the controversy that's gonna be reignited during the EMA talk scene. I'm actually dreading it, but we'll finally get the Levi vs Beast Titan scene so I'll be fine

112 will destroy ships

I felt the animation was flawless as usual but the script was kinda boring, I expected more of these aspects: -Yelena, it was bland with the cuts -Hange, they cut something I cant figure what in this Yeagerists coup act that turned her scenes a little bit lacking? Idk something -Again the soundtrack in the episodes is so silent. The only episode so far I liked the ost beyond the Opening and Closing themes is Reiner episode. I miss the melodrama of Witstudio osts

Eren putting his jacket on in slow-speed whilst talking at regular speed is fucking trippy

Just happy to see Hitch!

It was slow and mainly plot driven. I enjoyed it despite the changes.

goddamn is that a hella well-animated explosion

more abs please

Great episode. Really ridiculous how many people overreacted about the jacket scene. It's ok to perfer the way the trailer did it but to those who say Mappa is ruining the adaptation because of minor things like this, calm down.

I wish the jacket scene was better But over all the ep is pretty good

Boring, but then again so was this phase in the manga.

I really like the VA they chose for Onyankopon! His voice is very warm and genuine, which suits his character well

The sunset was so aesthetically pleasing

yoooo just read ch. 138 and im crying in da club :(

These MAPPA episodes have been a low point for me. I’m trying to enjoy them because I love this story but it feels like a chore.

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 161 responses

Thanks again to everyone who participated!

#snk poll #snk polls #snk spoilers #snk s4 #shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan #snk #aot

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dorevenge · 3 years ago

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where ignorance is bliss - chapter 9: although you know

SUMMARY: Anton shows his true colors when the arc reactor development isn't going as smoothly as planned. [AO3 LINK]

CHAPTERS: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 [9] 10 11 12 13 14 15 ☆

June 14, 1967 – Los Angeles, California, Stark Industries Headquarters

“I’ve told you already, Anton, we don’t need Roxxon’s help!”

“It’s been four years; the Unity Project isn’t going anywhere!” Anton fires back at Howard. They’ve been fighting the same fight over and over, and everyone else in the lab is used to tuning it out by now. They haven’t agreed on anything all summer, like a couple of rams constantly butting heads.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day, Red, and it sure wasn’t built in four years. Hell, only five years ago Kennedy said we were gonna get man on the moon, and it’s gonna happen, it’s just gonna take time.”

“We choose to go to the moon, but you haven’t yet!” Anton replies sarcastically. I slink back further in my chair, watching the two of them go at it again in the laboratory. Howard and I were going to go out to lunch together before the two of them picked up the same argument again. “The Lunik 9 did it last year, but we Russians also know when to give up. We proved it’s possible. You can’t prove the arc reactor is possible. Americans don’t know how to stop fighting.”

Howard shakes his head, laughing, but not out of humor. “I’ve been at this for over two decades, and inventing since I was 6. I know when something’s not gonna work, and when it’s gonna work and just needs some time. You think the Stark Industries empire happened on accident? No! It took time. If I gave up on it like you did, no one in this room would be here.”

“It’s taking time we don’t have. There’s so many other things we can be focusing on, more pressing issues, more profitable projects.”

“We? Get that word out of your mouth, Anton. You haven’t been a team player. Since day one, you were only looking out for yourself, even when we fought tooth and nail for you, defending your name that you weren’t a Commie, protecting you from the Feds, and for what?” Howard stops to catch his breath; he is about to turn 50 in a couple months, and the years have crept up on him. “For you to give up because it’s hard? Life’s hard, buttercup, so put on your big boy pants and strap in.”

Anton sets his work down forcefully. “That’s it, Stark. I’ve had enough.” He grabs his briefcase and packs it hastily, snapping it shut with a tone of finality. “Consider this my two weeks’ notice, and I’ll be taking two weeks of vacation starting tomorrow.” Anton makes for the door with a hurry.

“Like hell you are. Open your briefcase, Anton,” Howard stalks towards him. Obadiah runs to catch up to Howard.

“Act rationally, Howard,” Obadiah warns.

“In the years you’ve known me, have I ever acted rationally once, Obadiah? Anton, your briefcase.” Howard sticks his hand out, like a petulant child expecting a treat. With his other hand, he motions to the security guards, who place themselves between Anton and the door silently.

Anton stands indignantly, insulted. “I will not be treated like a criminal. I gave up everything to move to the United States, to work with the Scientific Strategic Reserve, to work with S.H.I.E.LD., and this is what I get? Back home, I was a genius, and I was treated like one. The disrespect in this facility is preposterous.”

“What are you hiding, Anton?” Obadiah steps forward, in front of Howard. “Show us your briefcase. If you have nothing to hide, you’d show us, and we’ll let you leave. No hard feelings.”

“I will show you nothing.” Anton is tense, every muscle in his body engaged, ready to decide in a split second whether to fight or flee. I can almost see his pulse rising, his nostrils flare and eyebrows settle deeper into his face. Before Howard can move closer, Anton turns and sprints, right into the arms of the two guards. His speed connects with their strength and knocks Anton flat on his back, his briefcase crashing from his grip and falling open on the floor. Papers fly out across the lab, some landing at my feet. Anton tries to get to his feet and is kept down by the guards. The first paper I pick up has a familiar name.

“Why are you sending telegrams to Giulietta Nefaria?” I ask. “Are you working with Roxxon?”

“I worked there for a short while before working with you,” Anton stammers.

I look down at the telegram.

RECEIVED

June 12, 1967

To: Vanko, A.

A., Thank you for the updated plans. Our recreations are coming along well, but we’ll need your help in the lab soon. Are you free next week?

NEFARIA, G.

“I don’t believe that for a second. Look at the date.” I hand Howard the telegram, then go to his desk to phone the S.H.I.E.L.D. office. I quickly relay the situation to the agent on the other end while keeping an eye on the situation.

Howard reads the telegram, then looks up, heartbroken. I watch the realization hit him, the tiniest movements of his muscles showing how devastated he is. “Updated plans? June twelfth? Roxxon was the one who hit our house that Christmas, weren’t they? Anton, you were working with them while you’re working with us.” Kneeling, Howard sifts through the rest of the papers on the floor, Obadiah helping him, and they find copies of blueprints and sketches of models, with detailed notes, all of their research of the arc reactor and the Unity Project ready to be handed off to the enemy.

“You son of a bitch,” Obadiah says under his breath, taking in the evidence.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents arrive at the Stark Industries office a few moments later, Colonel Chester Phillips leading the charge. Being a founder of the organization helps with speed and urgency, making Howard a high priority. Phillips takes our stories as Anton is further restrained, ready to be taken in for questioning. Agents collect the papers and briefcase, as well as anything else on Anton’s desk.

“Anton… What have you done?” I ask softly.

“How much?” Howard asks Anton, still laying on the ground, seething. “How much did you sell us out for? How could you do this?”

“I did what any man would do in my position. Don’t act so shocked, Howard. You should know better than anyone. It’s all about money.” Anton struggles against the arms of the guards. He has a bruise just starting to form under his right eye, and his lip is split and bleeding. “It’s always about money.”

“We’re rounding up Vanko’s family in town now,” says Phillips. “Don’t worry, Howard. We’ll take care of things from here.”

“What are you going to do with him?” I ask Phillips.

“Most likely send him back to Russia. Depending on what he’s done with these blueprints, he could be tried for treason, espionage, aiding and abetting. At the very minimum, he’s looking at a handful of charges and a lifetime of misery,” Phillips says, finishing his report. “He got his shot at the American dream and blew it to hell.”

Anton is escorted out of the building, spitting curses in Russian all the way out, and Howard dismisses the other inventors in the office, calling it a day. His shoulders slump with defeat, staring out the window, and Obadiah tries his best to turn the situation around.

“I know that must’ve been tough, Howard,” Obadiah says genuinely. “But that guy was a crook. What choice did you have? You took that commie under your wing, you let him into your home.”

“Obadiah…” I say quietly, I’m not sure he hears me. The lesson has been learned, and enough is enough.

“I know this cuts closer to the bone because of your belief in the arc reactor and your plans for the expo. I’m just saying, maybe you should take this incident as some sort of sign. Maybe we’re too far ahead of our time, and everyone else needs to catch up to us.” He places a hand on Howard’s shoulder. “I’m here for you. Just like I’ve always been. But let’s just get back to doing what we do best, huh? Let’s change the world, Howard.”

The next week, Stark Industries holds a press conference, led by Obadiah, announcing they are doubling down on the fight against Communism, promising their aid will turn the tide for the Vietnam War and the Cold War, and that their weapons division will more than triple their production output as a testament to their patriotism. Howard’s words from three years ago ring in my head, “Think about the children we’ll have someday, the legacies we’ll leave them with, the world they’ll be born into – that’s our priority,” and I feel sick to my stomach, unable to picture what that world will look like.

#where ignorance is bliss #obadiah stane #iron man 2 #marvel #fanfiction #canary writes a fanfiction #wiib reading

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kill-for-cookies · 5 years ago

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Promise is a beautiful lie (pt. 1)

Dhawan!Master x Reader

Summary: finally, you could just sit at your comfortable sofa in peace and quiet when you heard the sound which you thought you’d never hear again.

Word: 1731

Warning: angst (I really like this genre)

Note: I really like brave and nasty reader so I love this chapter. Hope you enjoy it!

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

It was evening. It was obvious from your fixed eyes looking up at the dark starless sky that you weren’t in the real world. A nervous sigh escaped from your throat. You were sitting on the sofa with your legs tucked under you and your head in your lap. To be honest, today wasn't your day. Everything fell apart: whatever you started, everything didn't come out the way you wanted. Although this had never happened before.

In general, it is very difficult to return to normal life after adventures with the Doctor and sometimes it is simply impossible. But you didn't have much choice. Besides, no one knows if she's alive or not... No! They say thoughts are material, so you shouldn't even think about it. Surely, she is alive, got out of a difficult situation. That's what the Doctor always does, isn't it?

You missed traveling in the TARDIS. Everything was so simple in this blue small outside but bigger inside box (not everything, of course, but at this moment you thought so). Explore new galaxies and planets, study historical periods... What could be better? Although perhaps there is one thing... The Fam. Ryan, Yaz, Graham. Wonderful people who have really become your family. You missed them very much. Missed all the moments you spent together, whether it was: exploring different corners of the Universe or meeting historical figures. Or even just staying in the TARDIS, watching all together some movie or reading favorite books in the comfortable silence. Yes, those were good times.

You didn't pay much attention to the sound coming from the opened window at first. But then you realized... It can't be! You heard again the best sound in the Universe which you thought you'd never hear. And now... You had tears in your eyes. You ran to the window in disbelief... That damn blue box! You thought you'd never see it again. You still stood for a minute to make sure it was real and ran to the closet, quickly put on the first thing that came to your hand and went out of the house.

You ran headlong to the TARDIS. Your feet got a little tangled because you had to stay at home for the last month, but you didn't complain. The most important thing is to run to the box and dive in this amazing world of travel again. And now you were standing inches away from those damn blue doors. Your hand went quickly to the door handle and was about to touch it... But something stopped you. There was an unpleasant feeling in your stomach, a doubt in the back of your mind. Something was wrong... Yes, something was definitely wrong. What's wrong with you?! Why couldn't you just walk through that door? It was a blue police box. Who besides the Doctor will travel in a 50s police box? You took a quick breath and opened the door.

You were so preoccupied with your own thoughts that you didn't notice some changes in the design of the TARDIS. It was darker, and the console was smoother. Because of the unaccustomed darkness you didn't immediately notice the mess in the console room. And in general, a nice, friendly blue with yellow changed to... Red? Somewhere in the back of your mind you heard ‘I told you so.’ You turned around slowly and were about to leave when you heard:

"Surprise! Glad to see me? Of course, you’re glad, you're always glad to see me." you slowly turned on the voice and saw the Master standing next to you. Why him? Of all the possible aliens, why him? The man who tried to kill the Doctor, your friends, and you during the encounter with the Kasaavins. Brilliant! Could this day be any worse? "I found an wonderful planet where the city is built on mountains and gorges. Therefore it feels as if the city is floating in the air. Although it's a shame that this beautiful place is ruled by a tyrant king. But there are rumors that a palace coup is being prepared. And I think this is the right time to steal the crown. Sure you'll like it."

You just stood there and stayed quiet. Just a little more and your jaw would have dropped. What the hell? What just happened? Wait-wait-wait... He wants to show you a planet? He? The Master? No, this is some kind of deception. Trick. Another sick game. What should you do? What would the Doctor do? She certainly wouldn't have stood there in silence.

"What are you up to?" your voice was low and anger flowed out of you like a river.

"What do you mean? I'm trying to show you a planet..."

"Stop playing with me. I will ask you again and it'll be the last time "What are you up to?" a restrained growl escaped from your throat.

"Y/N, I don't know what's gotten into you..." he really seemed confused, but you decided to not believe him.

"What's gotten into me?! Are you serious? You've tried so many times to kill the Doctor, my friends, me at least. You think I'll believe a word you say? Don't flatter yourself!" while you were saying your mini-monologue, your hands didn't stop going up and down.

"Are you finished? If so, let me ask you a question. Just one: "What year are you from?"

"What?" your eyes widened.

"What year is it?" he repeated the question calmly. It was so strange to see him calm considering his constantly changing behavior.

"Um ... 2020. April 22nd."

"Oh... Who would have thought this would ever happen to me..." he muttered, rubbing his beard. It was like thinking out loud. "Yeah... Unpleasant situation... So, it turns out that... yeah. Then I'll just send you home... Yes, that would be better." his eyes met yours. They were full of... sadness? Is this even possible?

Suddenly the TARDIS was yanked so hard that you couldn't keep on your feet, you were ready to fall with eyes closed, but it didn't happen. Your eyes remained closed for a few seconds, then you slowly opened them and saw the Master's face a few inches away from yours. One hand gently encircled your waist, the other held your raised wrist. Your chests were so close that you could feel the warmth of his body. You felt your cheeks flushed a little, but you held back your embarrassment. But apparently you didn't do it well, because he gave you a big smile. Or he knew you too well. But you met him once, so he couldn't, could he? When you travel with the Doctor, you’re not sure of anything.

"What are you smiling at?" you said it firmly, but it sounded a little confused.

"Nothing..." mischief played in his eyes, the smile spread even wider on his face. You snorted in annoyance, rolled eyes and turned your head. You did it not only to avoid his gaze but also because you didn't know what to do. Deep down you admitted to yourself that he was damn attractive. It was like fire, just as unmanageable and dangerous. And hell, you like playing with fire. Besides, he wasn't... himself. Not that you know him, but... He was calmer and friendlier than before (well, at least he didn't even try to kill you, which is a success).

"Let me go" you said it quietly and not as aggressively as before, trying to calm down your thoughts.

"Are you sure you can stand on your own?" you turned your head to look at him. Wait a minute! Was he... flirting with you? No! No, it can't possible... Right? Oh, and how his smug smile infuriated you! The rage was boiling, bubbling in you, ready to burst out like a fountain. Barely holding back it you looked at him. You could even feel the fire in your eyes. Reading your glare the Master realized it was better to let you go which he fortunately did. If this situation had lasted a little longer, you wouldn't have been able to answer for your actions. At this moment you didn't really care who he was. A rebel timelord, the most dangerous criminal in the Universe... You didn't care.

As soon as you freed yourself from his grip, you turned your back on him, wrapped your arms around your neck and took a couple of steps toward the door. Your eyes closed, a sigh instantly escaped from your throat. Yeah, what an evening! Well, at least you'll come home alive, according to the Master, which was actually easier to say than do. But did you really have a choice?

You felt his gaze, but you didn't turn around. You just didn't want to give him what he wanted. Maybe you should considering you don't have eyes in the back of your head and he could do whatever he wanted to you, but you didn't worry about it right now. If he wanted to kill you, he would do it earlier... Right? This went on for a few more seconds, until you heard his quiet sigh and retreating footsteps.

You didn't have to turn around to know he was next to the console and started pressing various buttons and pulling levers. Few minutes later he said in a low sad voice (okay, this really started to scare you, strained every cell in your body):

"Well, we're here" apparently you wasn't supposed to hear it, but in this tense silence you kept ears open. You raised an eyebrow as if asking him ‘are you going to let me go so easily?’, which, of course, caused him to get annoyed and roll his eyes. "You're home again. London, 2020, April 22nd, 23:48. You can go. I'm not holding you."

'Wow, how generous of you!' you thought.

You looked the Master up and down trying to make sure he wasn't coming up with something and headed for the door. You didn't even say 'goodbye' to him when you opened the door (why would you do that? You two are not friends). Stepping out the door, you didn't notice it wasn't London outside and the TARDIS was surrounded by some guards with spears in their hands. When you closed the door and faced them you realized your mistake and tried to open the door without turning around but the spears immediately went to your throat stopping inches from your skin.

"Hands up!" one of the guards shouted, dressed a little differently from others and you assumed it was the commander. "You are under arrest for stealing his Highness's crown!"

"But I..."

"Silence! I said “hands up!" you slowly raised your hands and mentally damned the Master with every possible word. You didn't even know what was more in you at this moment: fear for what they might do to you or rage because this damn timelord brought you here.

"Y/N, I don't know what's wrong, but the TARDIS just refuses to listen to me today, but you're not on Earth..." he said before he saw your situation. "But you already know that, don't you?"

"Thank you, I noticed." you gave him a sham smile, glaring at him. Well, at least you weren't alone in this situation. That's good, right?

#doctor who #dhawan!master #dhawan!master x reader #The Master #the master x reader #the master imagine #dhawan!master imagine #dw #dw imagine

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emekaemy · 5 years ago

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I used to look down on Mikasa Eren shippers, as I found the ship so cliche and sister brotherly. But strangely, it was this infamous chapter, 112 which made me rethink about their relationship. This chapter has showed that their supposedly sibling-like (?) relationship is more complicated than it seems.

The emotional density of Eren's speech in 112 made me doubt about him seeing Mikasa as a sister. Whether the feelings are positive or negative- I believe a person can not hold those strong feelings towards someone in his sister's position. During the talk, Eren seemed to experience too much tension to be platonic. This way of talk can be adressed to an ex- girlfriend when you know she has feelings for you but somehow she hurt you and you want her to be hurt as well. Because you know that she loves you and she will be hurt.

If Eren really thought that their relationship was only the Ackerbond, he wouldn't tell all these to break her heart. And Mikasa wouldn't be deeply hurt. He well knows that what Mikasa feels for him is more than a robotic tie and she is a young lady who has feelings for him. Eren sure knows this.

Especially one part of 112 drew my attention:

Mikasa: It was all because of you Eren. You saved my life and put this scarf around me-

Eren: I TOLD you to put your hands on the table!!

I think her sentence about the SCARF hit the very soft spot of Eren, her talk was getting too intense for him to handle the situation, he was scared of showing emotion and changed the talk about their memories by cutting her off harshly. I think the harshness of his reaction to Mikasa's sentence gives him away. (Please read ch 121, Eren's fragility while he's watching the scarf memory.)

His hate confrontation was quite passionate. To me, Eren had never looked like some rude opposite gender as he did in chapter 112. I thought I was not reading a seinen, it looked like a scene from a different genre of manga.

It's possible that after Mikasa's almost kiss&confession, Eren's puberty started (LOL) and it could be the very first moment he saw her in a newlight. But later on he was shocked and disappointed because of the Ackerman past. So, his intention was to break her heart as a revenge. (Some say he was just acting in order to break the Ackerman curse but nobody can act that well and Eren was overwhelmed with emotion, he was glaring!) Still, deep inside, he's aware that Mikasa loves him. There's no way Eren forgot what happened between him and Mikasa in ch 50, Dina Fritz scene.

During his absence, though his mind was busy, Eren still must have contemplated on Mikasa and the nature of his relationship with Mikasa.

We don't know if he will show his real motive and apologize, or he is just telling the truth. We know nothing yet. But the moment itself appeared to me that Eren has (or one time had) feelings for Mikasa. The dialogue didn't seem to me like two siblings' bickering. This chapter is the turning point (though it consists of insult and supposedly negative feelings) where I perceived Eren a male and Mikasa as female. (I know this may sound weird.)

They grew up together as play friends (age 9–10) and after the Colossus they bonded for 6 years. Although they had been bickering and bitter sweet there hadn't occured any big change in their relationship for many years. Except ch 50, It had been stable. (Their fans were frustrated because not much happened in 3 seasons yet, they were too young: 9–15 years old, two orphans, especially Eren with PTSD - too immature to feel that way) So I claim that there had to be a huge earthquake moment between them. (Sadly, not leading to a positive way, instead, to a seemingly negative direction for their shippers)

We can be sure that chapter 112 won't be their final interaction. Even if Eren's harshness may continue for a while, they need to face with each other more openly, before Eren dies. (Hopefully he doesn't)

Nobody who can feel wants such a terrible goodbye to the girl he cared.

If this notorious moment is explained and solved in a good way, I have a hunch that their relationship won't be the same. In other words, their bond may deepen into another aspect. Only something reversely positive and heavier can change this, that red scarf has to be rewrapped around her neck by the same person, if you know what I mean. But I'm really curious how Eren will react to the absence of the scarf when they come face to face, if they ever make up.

The- hate you - moment may lead to a change of their long time undefined relationship. They seem to have entered into a different path. In season 4 (and in the flashbacks where Mikasa learns she is royal and when in railway Eren is talking about whom to hand over his power) Eren really behaves like a young man and acts emotional about or around Mikasa. Especially the railway flashback: They stare at each other and blush! There is no need to mention what kind of emotions do cause blushing…

When season 4 is animated, adult Mikasa and Eren's chemistry will be even more distinguishable.

I like the chapter 107, when Historia laughs at Mikasa: Why did you show your wristband only to Eren? And Eren is almost sneering : So what? Eren must have felt that Historia is the embodiment of the audience shipping them. She may have looked like a giggling high school girl. He and Mikasa have given a big piece of gossip to her. Eren's amused expression continues even in the next panel.

Some people shipping Historia and Eren may think Eren is annoyed at Historia for pairing him with Mikasa. But I perceived it a funny moment where Eren was amused at the fact that because of a girly instinct, Historia knew there was something going on between him and Mikasa.

With the commotion in 112, the author has also created some material and reached to a path to make a drastic change in the relationship. I know he hates cliche romances, but with 112, their relationship is now far from being cliche. It has become rather complicated.

I'm almost glad to read 112. Though it was harsh, Eren and Mikasa had their moment. He is sure to have gained emotional depth. To feel something (love or hate) requires emotional depth. Between the ages of 9 - 15, Eren was neutral to all the girls in the series but only Mikasa, a caring, sibling-like figure, was different.

However, she is still different from other girls in his perspective: this time being the figure he supposedly hates, the figure whose heart he intentionally breaks. Gosh, these are very strong vibes, hinting to a reverse position in which his love could be very strong just the same.

In the 4th season when they are drawn side to side, one can feel the chemistry. Mikasa and Eren do not resemble to siblings anymore.

Their shippers must be devastated after 112. I, who despised the ship must admit that I'm now on the verge of shipping. I believe that we will be seeing the red scarf one more time. Its role hasn't finished yet.

Besides, I can't imagine a situation in which Mikasa is in love with another guy and Eren is OK with this. He can not handle being the second important man in her life.

From the interviews, I get that the author respects Mikasa so much that he does not feel like setting her as the hero's girl. And this is one of the reasons he opened the way for her independence. But being independent doesn't necessarily mean abandoning your beloved ones.

Besides, If Mikasa was his love interest in the beginning, her character would be ruined. But the manga is coming to an end. So, if something gets real, it won't ruin Mikasa. Her character depth and her charisma have already been confirmed in many chapters.

They love each other very much. She is clearly shown to have romantic feelings for him. They are not siblings. So I believe, one day Eren will be more open to her and assuming he survives, they will be together.

From now on, we will have an independent young woman and a young man. He had already announced his independency, then she threw away her collar as a sign of her independency. Hopefully, we won't be seeing Mikasa protecting and sticking to him like a mother or an older sister.

I don't want to sound too optimistic. The title question is: does Eren have feelings for Mikasa? And my answer is yes, he does.

Unfortunately, they probably won't kiss or confess, contrary to how the shippers expect. I think it will only be implied to the reader that their feelings are more than platonic and it's all. This could be the best scenario. Still, one can not blame the shippers. It was the same author who created the characters, their bond and wrote their beautiful moments.

As a conclusion; the look on his face, especially his narrowed eyes in ch 121 show whatever Eren feels for Mikasa is rather strong.

Although the chapter showed his eyes generally large with wildness, in this image he is stuck between a sad smile and a cry.

Yes, he is overwhelmed with emotion, again. Whether he says he hates her or sees himself wrapping the scarf around her, he is overwhelmed. When our subject is Mikasa, he is just too overwhelmed with strong feelings.

Everybody says Eren went through so much character development and became very mature in the 4th season. Just the same, this Eren can feel deep love towards a young woman who has always been there when he needed. And her name probably starts with M.

#Source: L. Sonia Nishimiya #Eremika #Mikasa #Eren #ErenXMikasa #MikasaXEren #anti-eremika

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embeanwrites · 4 years ago

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Finding Home Gavin Reed x Reader

Chapter 19

Masterlist

There had been a pit of nervous energy in my stomach since I had woken up this morning, my first day of class. I was on autopilot as I got ready, I was stuck in my head worrying about how class would go. While brushing my teeth, spit had dripped down my chin all over the black shirt I was going to wear. It took five minutes for me to find my purse, which was just sitting on the edge of the couch.

By the time I got to my office, I had bitten down all my fingernails and was worrying at the skin around them. I skipped lunch, half because of my stomach and half because I just spaced it. I had been writing some emails, having sent out my syllabus the night before I couldn’t really edit that anymore.

With an hour left till class and nothing to do, I just paced around my office, writing a little script for myself for how I would start class and introduce myself, muttering the words under my breath. I knew in my head that I was prepared, that there was a very good chance that class would be fine, but it felt like I was forgetting something important.

The past week or so Gavin and I had hung out a decent amount. We spent the first two days of his suspension playing with his cats, going out and getting food, and watching movies. I got him to watch Into the Spider-Verse and he made me watch Robocop in retaliation. Though we didn’t really pay attention to the movies, too busy cuddling and making out. It was easy being with him, but I didn’t know how to make the next move, I didn't want to make him uncomfortable like I had the night of the fight with my dad. So I resolved to let him take it there, but he never did. Since his suspension ended, we’ve avoided meeting at the DPD since I’m not ready to talk to my dad. Gavin hasn’t mentioned anything about him or Connor. I hadn’t heard from Connor either. I’ve talked to Tina a bit. When I told her Gavin and I were dating, she flipped out. Even though Gavin was already invited to the wedding she keeps insisting I should ask him to be my “plus one”.

I was interrupted from my thoughts by three short knocks on my office door. I stopped pacing and looked up, it was Nines.

“Nines! How have you been?” He walked in slowly, staying close to the door.

“I have been well. Chris and I wrapped up the android black-market case.” I nodded. “I have come to ask you a favor.”

“Of course, what’s up?” I sat on my desk and waited for him to continue.

“I believe Lieutenant Anderson has been under extra stress since your fight and Connor is worried it may be affecting his health and work performance.” Nines paused. “Connor wanted me to ask you if you’d stop by tonight to talk with both of them.”

“Why isn’t he asking me?”

“He was unable to get away from the Lieutenant without raising suspicion.”

“Why didn’t he text or call?”

“We both found you would be more likely to comply if one of us talked to you in person instead of over the phone.” I groaned and started rubbing my temples.

“Does Gavin know about this?” He nodded. “Okay, what time?”

“Connor and the Lieutenant should arrive home around 6 tonight. I should be returning to the DPD.”

“Alright, Nines. Thanks for stopping by.” He walked out of my office and I sighed again. Great now not only was I anxious for my class, but now I had the possibility of a fight to worry about. I got my phone out of my skirt pocket, which just this morning Gavin had made fun of me for texting him about how great this skirt was. Looking at my phone I saw I had new texts from Tina and Gavin.

Good luck today!!!! I love you!!!!

Love you too, T! Lock up some bad guys today!

good luck pipsqueak teach them assholes some stuff

Thanks, Gav! Although I doubt all of them are assholes…

…babe its detroit

I laughed and put my phone away, grabbed my bag, and headed to the lecture hall. Since I was going to class early, I took the long way around campus. Admiring how full it was compared to this summer. It felt nice. I’ve always loved being on college campuses, they feel more alive than anywhere else.

My class was located in the General Lectures building on the first floor. I checked my phone, I had about 20 minutes before the class right before ours would be out of the classroom. I stood nervously by the door. There were a few students sitting on the ground on their phones. I decided to text Gavin.

I’m 20 minutes early

lol y

I got too nervous! Nines stopped by and threw off my rhythm

ur rhythm of pacing???

Go call someone else out lol. Did you know about Nines asking me to go to my dad’s tonight?

yea

I don’t want to go.

but u told him yes

I’m going, it doesn’t mean I want too.

i guess

hey almost a crime scene text me after ur class

Will do, be safe

I shoved my phone back in my pocket and took my backpack off, kneeling down I started double checking I had everything.

“Flash drive, class list, pen, hard copy of syllabus.” I mumbled. Students were starting to exit the classroom. I peered through the door and saw the professor was logging off the computer. She was taller than me, with tan skin, long brown hair, and she was wearing a nice summer dress. I walked in and over to the podium and front desk and smiled at the other professor.

“I’m Dr. (L/n), it’s nice to meet you!”

“I’m Dr. Morrison.” She smiled and we shook hands.

“What class are you teaching?”

“Classical literature. You’re the new sociology professor, right?”

“That’s me!” I laughed nervously. “I actually have a minor in classical studies, those were some of my favorite classes in undergrad.” She smiled.

“I’m glad someone else sees the importance.” She continued packing up. “You can go ahead and log in if you want.” I nodded and started getting ready. Most of her students had left and a few students filed in, most sitting in the back. The classroom was tiered, which I hated. It was nice to be able to see everyone’s faces, but these types of classrooms always made me feel so small. “Well, I’ll see you Thursday, good luck!”

“Thank you! See you Thursday!” I turned on the projector, got my slides up, and tested the remote. I looked over at my class list, I was expecting about 50 students and so far there were about 35. Which isn’t bad considering class didn’t start for another ten minutes. I looked around the front of the classroom. I had a podium and a small table at the front of the classroom. I walked over and moved the table, so I’d be able to sit on it and still see the projector screen. I walked back to the podium and got out my phone and hid it behind the desktop. I made sure my phone wouldn’t go off while I was teaching, and I did a last-minute check for text messages. I smiled.

Good luck, you’re going to be amazing!

Thank you, Connor.

I checked the time and took a deep breath and walked out from behind the podium.

“Hi everyone, I’m Dr. (L/n) and welcome to SOC 345: Human and Android relationships. First day agenda,” I clicked the remote to get the slide show going and sat on the table. “I’m going to tell you guys a little about me, our goal for the semester, and what you can expect from this course. We do have the classroom for an hour and fifteen minutes, but I highly doubt we will need all of that time.

“As I said I’m Dr. (L/n). I’m new to WSU. I received my doctorate at (dream/school). A little about me…I really like cats and I was born in Detroit. I enjoy old movies and I’ll probably try to weave some into the class. I’ve been studying android and human relationships before deviancy was known about and I’ve spent most of my life dedicated to this subject. I was recruited by WSU to write an extensive report about the android revolution.

“I’m aware many of you were in Detroit during the revolution and I know you may have some feelings towards what happened whether it be negative or positive. I want you to all know that I firmly believe androids are alive and deserve to be equal to humans. My classroom will be run on that basis. This isn’t a class to debate that, but rather a chance to use a sociological lens to see what led to the revolution, what happened during the revolution, and what the future may hold for both groups.

“This is my first class at WSU, but not my first class I’ve taught. So far in the syllabus I’ve decided that we will have two tests, one in 6 weeks and another in 12. Instead of a final exam we’ll be doing a final project. By project I really want to leave it up to you. You can write a paper, give a presentation, or anything else you want as long as it hits all the points of the rubric. I should have that posted in a couple months.

“Are there any questions about the course I can answer right now?” I looked around. A blonde young man in the front row raised his hand.

“There’s some days on the syllabus that are blank, what does that mean?”

“Those are days I have blocked off for possible speakers to come to the class. Those days will be optional, but if you come and participate you can get up to five points of extra credit on your lowest test for each day. My hope is to have at least two days of guest speakers.” A dark-haired young woman in the back raised her hand and I pointed at her.

“There’s no textbook listed, is that right?”

“Yes! I was a student too and textbook prices are ridiculous. For the most part nearly all the material will come from my lectures, but occasionally there may be a paper you have to read. Those papers will be posted online. Attendance is really important in this class. I have no plans to post my lectures, but if you come to my office, you’re more than welcome to look over the slides.

“Oh! Before I forget there is going to be one assignment, I wanted to tell you guys about it. So, before every class I would like someone to research a topic related to what we’re talking about or something in the news that has to do with androids and humans and bring it for discussion. On Thursday we’ll make the order and talk more about the assignment, but you really just need to read one article and tell the class the issue and then we’ll talk about it.” I looked at the clock. We still had 30 minutes. “Are there any more questions?” No one moved. “Well, I’ll stay here for about 15 minutes if anyone has any other questions, but other than that I’ll see you all on Thursday! Have a great rest of your day!”

The students quickly packed up and started leaving. No one stopped to talk to me, which I get there’s not a lot to talk about. I took out my phone and sent Gavin a text.

Talked to fast and ended 30 minutes early lol

He didn’t respond which made sense, since he was definitely still at a crime scene. I looked up and a young woman was nervously shuffling in front of the podium.

“Hi! How can I help you?”

“Hi Dr (L/n), I’m Lisa Turner. I just wanted to introduce myself and let you know I’m really looking forward to your class.” I beamed at the nervous girl.

“Hi Lisa! I’m glad you’re excited! Please feel free to come to my office hours anytime you want to discuss…well anything! I’ve done a lot of research that we won’t be able to cover in class and I love getting to know my students!” She smiled softly.

“Okay, umm…I’ll see you Thursday.” She quickly ran away. She reminded me a lot of what I was like in undergrad. Nervous, but desperately wanted to learn. I waited another ten minutes and decided to head back to my office to start working on my interview list.

It was about 5:30 and I was nervously biting my lip. I knew if I wanted to be on time to my dad’s I needed to call a taxi within the next few minutes. I looked at my phone, Gavin hadn’t texted me back yet and I had no other messages. I sighed, put in a request for a taxi, and headed outside.

When I got to my dad’s house his car was already in the parking lot. At least I wouldn’t have to wait outside for them to get here. Sighing, I walked up to the door and knocked. It only took Connor a few seconds to open the door. He gestured for me to come in. I nervously walked in and took off my shoes.

“Where’s dad?” I asked softly. I followed Connor to the couch where he sat down.

“He’s walking Sumo. He should be back shortly.” Connor sighed as I sat down next to him. “I’m sorry, I hadn’t kept in touch this past week.”

“You’re fine Connor. Things have been crazy for me too.”

“How did your class go?” He asked.

“I think it well, the first day never really counts because you’re not really teaching anything.” He nodded in agreement. “Connor, are you okay?” I gently put my hand on his shoulder. He gave me a small smile.

“Of course, (Y/n). It’s just been a difficult week at work.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Before I could ask anymore questions my dad and Sumo walked inside. My dad noticed me and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Hey, (Y/n).” Sumo ran up to me and I started petting him.

“Hi dad.” He walked over and sat in the armchair. He shifted in his chair uncomfortably under Connor’s glare. After a few moments Connor pretended to clear his throat, which made my dad roll his eyes.

“(Y/n), you were right and I’m sorry. I’ve known Gavin for a while, but that doesn’t mean I know how you two will be. I shouldn’t have started that fight.” I nodded gently, keeping my eyes on Sumo.

“I’m sorry for what I said. I was angry, but that doesn’t excuse my words.” Connor shifted next to me.

“Hank, tell her about work.” My dad groaned.

“I’m guessing you’re still seeing Gavin?” I nodded and looked at him. “Gavin’s been…less of an asshole since he got back from his suspension and I’m pretty sure you’re the reason.” I smiled.

“He can be nice when he wants to.” I whispered. “Could the four of us grab dinner sometime? I really want you to give him a real chance.” My dad sighed and Connor gave him a sharp look.

“Dinner sounds fine.” I smiled and stood up.

“Both of you give me a hug right now before I lose my mind!” They laughed and compiled. I missed them both this past week and I didn’t even realize how much until I was in their arms.

#gavin reed x reader #gavin reed #hank anderson #detroit become human #dbh #connor has major little brother energy #rk800connor #connor dbh #connor is like a son to hank

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callboxkat · 5 years ago

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Infinitesimal (part 50)

Author’s note: I’m not sure whether you guys should be angry at my internet router for delaying this chapter by a day, or happy with it because the chapter got about 1000 words longer because I kept writing out of spite.

Anyway... I never, never, expected this story of mine to reach 50 parts. It’s really thanks to you guys that it has. So, thank you! Thank you for supporting it, for commenting, liking, reblogging, and reading this little story of mine.

Yes, that was a pun. No, I’m not sorry.

Warnings: Food mention, some envy, fear, injury mention, illness

Word count: 4031

Masterpost!

...

Virgil and Patton were sitting together at Emile’s side, drawing pictures. They let Emile decide what they would draw, since his hold on a pencil was still too shaky for him to draw well, or at least, well enough that he wouldn’t get frustrated; and they didn’t want him to feel left out or bored. Therefore, Patton was drawing a purple hedgehog, and Virgil was drawing the character Stitch. Virgil hadn’t actually seen the movie that the character was from, but he had a pretty good idea of how he looked, and Emile was more or less directing him. He had a very good memory when it came to cartoon characters.

Virgil quickly realized that the dark blue colored pencil that the humans had given them was definitely not the right one for Stitch’s fur, but Emile seemed to find the result more amusing than anything else, so Virgil counted it as a win.

He kept drawing for a while, then glanced over at Patton’s picture, which was almost complete. Virgil thought it was pretty obvious that Patton had gotten the easier task out of the two of them. Virgil’s drawing was a lot more complex, and Emile was bound to scrutinize it more, given that it was based on an existing character, and one that he loved dearly. Virgil was pretty sure this was purposeful, knowing his older brother. But that was okay. The fact that Emile felt well enough to mess with him had to be a good sign.

They kept drawing for a while. Patton technically finished well before Virgil, but he kept drawing little hearts around his hedgehog until Virgil had finished his approximation of Stitch. Once he’d finally finished, he set his colored pencils to the side and put the drawing in Emile’s lap along with Patton’s. His brother grinned in a lopsided fashion, looking at it. Virgil knew that it was objectively not very good, but he was okay with that.

“Demon Stitch?” Emile asked, his tone teasing. Patton leaned over to look.

“So, it’s an improvement on the original,” Virgil concluded slyly.

“I think he’s cute,” Patton claimed.

“You’d say that about anything I drew,” Virgil said.

“Because it’s true.”

“A cute demon,” Emile decided. He thought for a moment. “Like the real Stitch.”

Deciding not to point out that there was no such thing as a real Stitch, Virgil sat up and stretched, his shoulders and back popping in a very satisfying way.

Patton picked up the hedgehog he had drawn and started to show it to Emile, pointing at its cute black nose and nubby little legs. Emile seemed just as happy with it as he had been with Virgil’s drawing.

“I’m gonna get some water,” he announced. He grabbed his crutches and got to his feet, walking over to where the humans had left a pair of water-filled bottle caps that day.

He could feel Patton’s eyes on him as he got up—his friend hand been watching him more closely lately, although Virgil wasn’t sure why. He guessed that it had something to do with his bad foot, but that injury was nothing new. His foot had been hurting him more than usual, since he’d landed on it pretty hard when he caught Patton after his friend fainted while searching for Emile, but that was several days ago. It was better now. And he hadn’t even mentioned it to Patton, or Emile, at all. He was fine. Patton didn’t need to worry about him.

He reached the bottle cap and knelt down beside it, grabbing a sunflower seed shell to use as a cup, a trick he’d picked up from Patton. He had just finished his drink when he heard footsteps; and he looked up to see one of the humans, Roman this time, standing there. He had a blanket around his shoulders and a simultaneously hopeful and guilty look in his eyes.

“Hi,” the human said.

…

Roman was tired of sitting in his room all day. Sure, he’d only been stuck in there for a few days, but he was bored.

He supposed he should be grateful. To Logan, for helping to take care of him, and to his manager, for being amazing and letting him take off as much time as he needed until he was well. She justified that if Roman went to work too soon, he’d just get sicker, and his wheezing might scare customers. Roman loved her. And he was grateful. Really.

But mostly, he just wanted to go outside. It wasn’t his fault the weather was trying to kill him.

Roman huffed, looking down at his phone. The loading symbol spun slowly on the screen where his movie was supposed to be playing. The app he was using hadn’t been working for a while now, not since Logan had stopped by for lunch.

After another minute or two of just watching the loading percentage sit at 99, Roman closed out of the app.

He sat there for a moment, then glanced at the closed bedroom door. Maybe he couldn’t go outside, but he could at least leave his room. Maybe the app would be more willing to load in the kitchen, marginally closer to the router. And if it didn’t… well, Roman couldn’t help but be tempted by another option.

Roman kicked off his blankets, and then got slowly to his feet. He put his phone into the pocket of his pajama pants, grabbed one of the blankets off of the bed to wrap around his shoulders, stuck his feet into his slippers, and shuffled over to the door.

He sat down at the kitchen table at first, and stayed there for a minute while he tried again to load his app. He wasn’t all that surprised to find that it didn’t work here either; and to be honest, he wasn’t all that disappointed. The kitchen table wasn’t the most comfortable place to watch a movie, and now he had more of an excuse for his other option. His eyes flicked towards the living room at the thought.

Hardly daring to hope, Roman wrapped himself up in the blanket and walked up to the other room. He hoped the mouse-men were feeling friendly.

…

Initially, of course, he was flatly rejected. Virgil was predictably against any idea that meant being around the humans for any amount of time longer than necessary.

But the mouse-man’s brother had perked up visibly at the idea, despite his clear apprehension at the fact that Roman would be in the room. And Patton seemed supportive, if shy about that support.

While the three of them debated, Roman shuffled from foot to foot in the doorway, stifling wheezes and only allowing himself to occasionally glance in the mouse-men’s direction.

Finally, probably because of Emile, Virgil caved. He looked up towards Roman, his arms crossed, and simply said, “Fine.”

Roman couldn’t help the small, excited smile that snuck upon his face. He stepped into the living room, careful to move slowly, and sat down on the couch with his legs bundled up next to him. He grabbed the remote and turned on the television, glad that the volume was already set low.

He knew Emile would probably still be too nervous to tell Roman what he wanted to watch, but Roman already had a movie in mind, one that he was sure the mouse-man would like. He’d seen the image of the balloon-carried house on Emile’s blanket, and whether or not he’d actually seen the movie that inspired it, Roman was sure that the little guy would enjoy it. Even aside from already being familiar to the mouse-men, Up was a great movie. It had a love story, adventure, and talking dogs. What else could you want from a film?

…

Emile hoped that he hadn’t made a mistake. But in his defense, the human had promised cartoons. And, well, Emile loved cartoons.

Plus, it wasn’t as if this human had hurt him or his family, right? He seemed nice, for a human, based on Patton’s stories and how he’d treated them since Emile’s accident.

Still, he watched apprehensively as the human turned on the television and brought up the movie he planned to watch. Roman was curled up on the sofa in his scarlet pajama pants, white t-shirt, and slippers, with his hair sticking up slightly and a fuzzy blanket wrapped around his shoulders. His breaths were more labored than Emile thought was normal for a human, which made sense, since he’d heard that the human was sick.

In short, Roman wouldn’t have looked at all threatening, if only he wasn’t so enormous.

The opening sequence for the film started playing, and Emile glanced towards the television. He bit back a gasp, realizing that he recognized what was on the screen. It was Up, one of his absolute favorite movies.

He’d never actually seen it in its entirety, since, as a little, he didn’t get to watch much television to begin with; and on the rare occasion that he did watch it, he had to watch whatever the humans in that apartment happened to be watching. Only on a couple of occasions had he been able to watch this movie, and he’d never gotten to see how it ended.

Emile couldn’t deny that he was excited about the prospect, even if a human was in the room with him.

A voice interrupted his thoughts, large despite its owner trying to muffle its volume. “Is this movie okay?”

Emile flinched despite himself, unable to help being jumpy with a human in the room, sending a small jolt of pain through his injured shoulder and head.

Patton and Virgil both looked to Emile for an answer. Virgil didn’t seem happy, but Patton was gave him a supportive look. Emile swallowed and offered one small nod, subconsciously fastening his hand on the blanket that Patton had brought from home. Yes, he could bear watching television with a human—one who knew he was there—if it meant he got to see Up.

“It’ll be fine,” he whispered to Virgil. His younger brother just sighed and settled in, apparently determined to keep an eye on Roman during the film.

…

At first, the room was still and silent other than the movie, creating a somewhat awkward atmosphere. Roman got as comfortable as he could, keeping his movements slow as he tried to find a position that was both cozy and easy to breathe in. As he lay there, he did his best to not feel offended or hurt by how reluctant the mouse-men had been to let Roman watch television with them; but sometimes they made him start to feel as if he were some huge, disgusting monster. It wasn’t his fault he was so much bigger than them. That, and Virgil kept staring at him.

So, at first, it was a bit awkward.

But soon enough, Roman was drawn into the story; and he was able to forget about the awkwardness and the feeling of Virgil’s stare as it bored into him.

Apparently, the same had been happening with the mouse-men. When Ellie, Mr. Fredricksen’s wife, fell ill, he heard a small gasp from their direction, only for it to be quickly stifled. That had been Emile, if Roman had to guess. All three of them seemed to be trying to keep from getting too immersed in the film with Roman there. But as the movie continued, and Roman kept his eyes firmly on the screen, they seemed to grow more comfortable.

Patton and Emile gasped, laughed, and maybe even cried, reacting at all the right parts. Emile had trouble containing his excitement whenever Kevin was on screen, and Patton quietly gushed about how cute Dug was. After a while, even Virgil (mostly) stopped staring down Roman to watch. Through it all, Roman took great care to not so much as move, afraid that they’d stop if he gave any sign of acknowledging their presence. He just listened, smiling softly to himself as the movie played. Patton so rarely smiled or laughed, and his companions deserved some enjoyment to take their minds off of what they had been through. Even if it was for the hour and a half run of this movie.

…

When the story came to a close and the credits started to roll, Roman finally allowed himself to move. All three of the mouse-men’s gazes turned to him, making Roman feel self-conscious.

He stretched, muffling a cough, and looked towards them.

“Want to watch something else?” he asked. “Or, I guess… we could always watch this again.”

Roman had made that second suggestion mostly as a joke, but Emile’s mouth fell open at the possibility.

“You can do that?” he asked, so soft that Roman barely heard him. He seemed surprised enough that it overrode his fear of speaking to Roman. Obviously he knew that humans could control what televisions played, to an extent at least, but the fact that Roman could just play the same thing over again if he wanted to seemed like almost too much for the little guy to believe.

Roman nodded.

Virgil gave him a sharp, meaningful look, and Roman reached for the remote. “Okay, we’ll watch it again. I’m gonna….” He muffled a cough. “I’ll be right back. Ten minutes, then movie?” He didn’t want to have to get up in the middle of it and bother the mouse-men.

Virgil narrowed his eyes, but he nodded.

Alright, then. They were going to watch Up twice in one day. That was okay with Roman. More than okay, in fact, since it meant getting to spend more time with the mouse-men.

…

It was dark before Logan finally got home, tired from a long day at work. He wished that his boss didn’t take Logan being on break from school as a reason to give him longer shifts. It more or less nullified any sort of respite he might have gotten from his normally busy schedule. He just wanted to put away his things, loosen his tie, and relax for a while with a good book. There was some time before dinner, he reasoned as he trudged up the stairs to the second floor of the apartment building. He could get in some reading first.

He reached the landing, very glad for the sake of his sore feet that he didn’t live higher up in the building. Logan never took the elevator. He claimed that it was for the health benefits that taking the stairs provided; but while that was certainly an added reward, Logan simply hated elevators. It was illogical, he knew, but he couldn’t help it. They were small, and cramped, and smelled weird, and he didn’t like them.

So, this very tired Logan was glad that he had only had to walk up one flight of stairs. He soon reached his own apartment and gratefully unlocked the door. He stepped inside with a relieved sigh and closed the door behind him.

He removed his shoes and set down his bag, pausing as he heard sound coming from nearby. It was fairly soft, but not so soft that Logan believed it to be coming from a different apartment.

When he walked further inside, to the middle of the kitchen, Logan’s suspicions were confirmed. The television was on, playing an animated movie. He could see the top of Roman’s head where he lay on the couch, his curly hair illuminated by the light of the television.

Logan took a few more steps, just until he could see the “mouse-men”. To his surprise, they all seemed to be watching the movie along with Roman. He’d been worried, just slightly, that Roman might have been making them uncomfortable by intruding to watch his frivolous film, but it seemed that that was not the case. Logan should have known better, he supposed. Roman surely would have thought to ask for permission before watching a movie with them. He was the better of the two of them at interacting with the “mouse-men” after all.

He felt unexpectedly sad as he stood there, unnoticed, watching the scene. He was glad that Roman had earned enough trust for something like this to happen, but Logan couldn’t help but wish that it was he who got to watch a film with their guests. For a brief moment, he considered joining them, but he knew that that was a bad idea. He didn’t want to interrupt their guests’ enjoyment of it. There was no way he could walk in and join them without doing so. So, instead, he silently pulled up a kitchen chair, and sat there to watch the movie and pretend that he was a part of this.

He felt like somewhat of an outsider as he sat there, alone in the kitchen. But that was okay. Although he would have liked to feel included, he felt that it was the better choice to remain where he was. The “mouse-men” doubtless would find it harder to relax if Logan tried to truly join their movie watching. They could deal with one human being in there with them, but two would probably be too much. The last thing Logan wanted was to tarnish their guests’ opinion of him by scaring them yet again.

It wasn’t as if Logan was a big fan of cartoons or Disney to begin with. It was fine.

He stayed until the movie ended and the credits began to roll. Only then did he quietly return the kitchen chair to its usual place and walk over to the stove to start dinner.

When he was looking through the pots and pans in the cabinet, he heard a set of footsteps shuffle up behind him.

“Good evening, Roman,” he said without turning around, reaching for the pot he wanted.

He received a mumbled greeting in return. It was not exactly Roman’s usual bright demeanor and clever nickname, but understandable given he was still feeling like less than his usual, colorful self.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, straightening.

Roman hummed, like he was considering his answer. “Fabulous,” he answered finally, in a voice that didn’t quite match the word he’d chosen.

“Oh, fabulous?” Logan glanced over his shoulder at his roommate, who was in his pajamas and had a blanket around his shoulders. “That’s good to hear.”

Roman nodded. “We watched Up… twice today. The movie.”

“Twice?”

“Emile wanted to,” he explained, his mouth curving into a fond smile.

“Well, I’m glad you were able to make him happy,” Logan said, turning back around. He walked to the sink, turning the handle a little sharply. Water gushed from the tap.

Roman was silent for a second, watching as Logan poured water, then rice into the pot.

“Is something wrong?” he asked, sounding confused.

“No, nothing’s wrong,” Logan said, putting the lid on the pot. “Dinner should be finished in about twenty minutes, if you want to get back to your friends.”

Roman coughed into his sleeve. “I don’t know that… we’re friends,” he said sheepishly. When Logan didn’t reply, just opening the freezer to grab a packet of vegetables, he added, “Maybe you could come join us. Em… You should’ve seen Emile. He got all starry-eyed… when he saw what movie we were watching. I bet he’ll… want to see more cartoons.”

Logan hesitated, the freezer door still open. “I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

“Well, I can ask,” Roman offered. “It can’t hurt to ask… can it?”

Yes, it absolutely could, Logan wanted to say. They could say no.

He didn’t say that, but the long silence that stretched between them seemed to convey Logan’s sentiments just as well.

“Just let me ask,” Roman said, his voice softening.

Logan didn’t answer, tapping one fingernail on the counter top.

Roman’s muffled footsteps retreated back to the other room.

…

Logan waited for the rice to finish cooking, watching the steam fog up the lid of the pot. The dishes, including the bottle caps and miniature silverware for their guests, were sitting ready at his side.

He turned off the burner and sighed through his nose.

Within a few minutes, he had each of the plates ready with the rice and veggies. He added some seasoning to all but one of them, since he wasn’t sure if Emile’s sensitive stomach would tolerate that.

As he approached the living room, he realized that another cartoon’s opening sequence was on the television now, which meant that Roman planned to continue their movie night of sorts. Logan sighed, set his own plate at the kitchen table, and took the others into the living room.

“I have dinner,” he announced softly before going in, not wanting to startle anyone. Virgil gave him a mistrustful look, and Emile shifted somewhat nervously. Patton, meanwhile, who was sitting next to Emile, smiled shyly as a sort of greeting.

Logan actually stopped walking at that, sooner than he had intended to. Had he ever seen Patton smile before? He didn’t think he had.

“Thanks, Lo,” Roman said, holding out his hands for his plate.

Logan shook his head minutely to clear it, then handed it over. He placed the dishes for the “mouse-men” on their table, and he turned to leave.

“Can you bring me some lemonade… when you come back?” Roman asked.

Logan paused. When he came back? He turned around, and Roman was smiling knowingly at him.

At first he shrugged it off, but then he realize what Roman meant. The “mouse-men” had said yes? They were willing to watch television with both humans there? They had done that before, with Patton, of course, but Emile had agreed? Virgil had agreed?

“Ah…” Logan faltered. “Yes. I can do that.”

He came back with the lemonade and his own dinner, and he carefully sat down on the couch beside Roman.

“Long day?” Roman murmured, pressing the “play” button.

The “mouse-men”, especially Emile and Virgil, sent occasional glances in his direction, but they all seemed more interested in the show and in their own food. “You could say that,” he murmured back.

“Take tomorrow off,” Roman whispered.

Logan frowned. “What? Why?”

“Because you’re not… a robot,” Roman said, lowering his voice further. “Jokes aside. Take a break. I know you’ve… been stressed, with school, and these guys, and work… and even though finals are done, that doesn’t mean you can’t… be burned out.”

Logan sighed, looking up at the screen for a moment. A pair of children were arguing in a boat, and the girl’s frustration was causing the ice around them to crack.

His gaze shifted to the table to the side, where the three “mouse-men” sat. Patton and Virgil both glanced over at his movement, although Emile’s eyes stayed glued to the screen. Virgil frowned at him, but Patton gave him a small wave.

Logan lifted up his hand just slightly as a sort of wave back.

Maybe Roman made a good point. Perhaps he had overreacted a bit to the fact that Roman had gotten to watch a movie with the “mouse-men”, and he hadn’t. It wasn’t his fault that Logan had been working at the time, or that Virgil and Emile were still wary of the humans. And they were wary of Roman, too, not just Logan.

He’d overreacted. It had been a long day, and Logan was tired, and he grew irritable when he was tired.

He should have been focusing on the progress that he had made with their tiny guests, not on how far they still had to go. Patton was speaking to him, had thanked him, had smiled at him just that day. Regardless of their lack of options, the “mouse-men” had trusted Logan and Roman to bring Emile back to them and to help him recover. They were all sitting together, right then, watching a cartoon and eating dinner.

That was progress.

Logan just had to let himself see it. And maybe that required giving himself a break.

“I’ll take tomorrow off,” he murmured.

“Good,” Roman murmured back.

They went back to watching the show. All five of them, together.

...

Bonus: Patton’s and Virgil’s drawings!

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