#and do NOT go looking at my newest spotify playlist. you will still have no idea who it is.
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priffi · 10 months ago
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that one didn't mean anything it literally didn't wdym it meant nothing it was all fake all fake that was nothing nothing happened huh. anyways bad news again
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dangerous-disposition · 1 year ago
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Hi again! Same newish fellow autistic music follower - and you had me at “music autistic with metal leanings” bc same hat! Lol of the five bands you listed - do you have like most favorite songs by each (or if you had to list a few by each)? I’ve mostly listened to all of them but I’m always looking for MORE and love peoples recommendations, esp if they talk about what makes the song tick for them - ya know? Anyway - MUSIC! Lol ok love you, bye!
Okay so because I know if I went to type out my lists of my fave songs by each, I would waffle too much so I Made More Playlistsssssssss
SLEEP TOKEN
I am not joking when I say the Sleep Token is legitimately my favourite band in my whole life. Like something about them just hits so right. I've already linked to My Sleep Token Playlist but here are my Top 5 songs, like gun to my head, make me choose type shit.
And yes, these are all songs from their newest album, but they are legitimately masterpieces. Like Ascensionism? Might just be? Literally one of the best songs ever made? Like Ever?
GHOST
Ghost is my second favourite band in my whole life. I was introduced to Ghost during a really rough time in my life in 2017 and they became my Comfort Band. Like I go to Ghost when I'm feeling my worst.
This might be the first year since I learned about Ghost that Square Hammer isn't gonna make my top 5 on my Spotify Wrapped.
BAD OMENS
I kinda cheated because this playlist is 6 songs, not 5, but that's because What It Cost and Like A Villain are a bonded pair and shouldn't be separated.
The specific versions of the songs are important too! Like Dethrone, specifically the live version, is so excellent.
MOTIONLESS IN WHITE
So full disclosure, Motionless In White I love love love a lot but I've never spent a lot of like... dedicated time listening to them like I have like Ghost, Sleep Token, and Bad Omens.
Werewolf is such a fun track and I love the way Chris Motionless belts a line near the end. Cyberhex scratches something very very very good in my brain.
DIO
I struggled with with this one a bit because like... Dio has a lot of songs and I love so many of them!!! I'm still waffling about putting Scream in my Top 5 over Fever Dreams...
ANYWAY THESE ARE MY TOP 5'S OF MY TOP 5 BANDS IN MY ROTATION RIGHT NOW!!!!
I hope this like..... actually answers your question laksdjfkljasdlkfj
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iantimony · 2 years ago
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tuesday!
hello tuesday :) i'm going to start crossposting these onto my dreamwidth also just so i have a non-tumblr log of my weekly updates. please friend me on dreamwidth i would love an excuse to move platforms more
listening: OH i listened to SO much this week. i tuned in to my spotify release radar thing and it was a great idea to get exposed to some new music from artists i already know i like! i also peeped the discover weekly one a bit
i haven't listened to the newest paramore album in full but 'running out of time' was on the release radar playlist and i really really like the sounds! it feels very st vincent-y to me in a way that i wasn't expecting from paramore so i wonder if that was a conscious influence at all? or if they were both separately influenced by the same sources? it's really good though. i dont remember following shakey graves but they also rule i've been jamming to the whole album 'deadstock' which i think is just a collection of some of their more popular tracks? plus some live recordings. and tom rosenthal makes me cry still
from discover:
and then i found memi through...instagram reels i think? instagram has unfortunately nailed the type of music they should serve me to get clicks so i do. keep clicking them. anyways i love her
reading: quantum :V
oh wait actually i do have reading this week! i re-opened the slowly app (i downloaded it years ago but stopped using it at some point), which is a real-time penpal app - you can send letters to random people in the world, and it will send in "real time" as if you were actually mailing a letter! so i opened it and the app went oh? you're active? cool! and i started getting letters! so i got one from a guy in morocco, which i replied to right away, and also one in mandarin which i have NOT replied to right away because i had to spend like an hour translating it rip. out of five i put my mandarin proficiency at a 2 on my profile but honestly that may be too high oops. ah well. it'll be cool to try and get my mandarin back up to snuff! it'll also be a great way to learn things like idioms and other stuff that doesn't show up as often in traditional learning materials.
for example, phrase that i learned is 畅所欲言, chang4 suo3 yu4 yan4, which is a standard four-character idiom that means to speak without inhibitions or to just frankly speak your mind. i have like a full two pages of new words and phrases that i had to look up to read the letter which is awesome!
the letter from morocco was very cool and like...poetry adjacent? which im not sure if it's just because of a translation quirk - he said his english isn't the best - but i dunno. "I am writing to you because writing is a companion of the tired". anyways.
watching: i started watching evangelion with my partner!! we did ... i think about five episodes last week? it owns. this is the first time in a really long time that i've, like...gone blind into a media? my only exposure to eva has been through out-of-context memes (shinji get in the robot) and i feel like a lot of the time with TV shows i tend to read the wikipedia page before watching to see if it's really worth it :") i've never really cared about spoilers or whatever because honestly if it's a good enough show it won't really matter if i know what's going to happen or not, it's more about How it happens and how it's shot/framed/acted/etc. but i have zero context for eva and im very much enjoying it! i wasn't expecting the body horror at all it rules
making: making good progress on my embroidery project! this photo is from about two weeks ago but it's the most recent one i have and honestly haven't done THAT much more. i just finished filling that vertical headphone cord in with red, started some other headphone cord...after that all i have left is the letters (rip) and then doing maybe some sort of sashiko stitch/cross hatching as fill for the hair? like some spaced out x patterns in a grid or something like that. because i'm sure as shit not doing a satin or brick stitch to fill all that in and i think it'll still look good that way.
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im also finishing up valentines gifts to mail to people :3
misc: hgg. quantum midterm on march 2. it is Rapidly approaching and im very nervous about it but in a VERY different way - this semester he's having the exams be open note and open book, which could be really good or really really bad. on the plus side i dont have to drive myself insane memorizing equations on flash cards again, most of my studying will probably be uber-familiarizing myself with the layout of the notes so i know where to reference things and also copying out things from online that might be relevant. on the minus side it means i have really no clue on how hard this exam will be. pain.
research is going. i feel like im sooo close to getting shit to work. however i am also experiencing research fomo because a prof that i didnt even know existed gave a presentation on her group for potential new students and i went wait wow that fucks. sigh. i think that's all for this week gang, gonna crosspost to dreamwidth after lunch!
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heartsleevemag · 2 years ago
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Heartsleeve Magazine's Friday Five
by Vi McDonald
Welcome to the first installment of Heartsleeve's Friday Five, a biweekly playlist update where we choose five new (or new-to-us) tracks that get our blood pumping. No genres, no rules, just heart.
1. "FLOAT" – JANELLE MONÁE
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I've been anticipating new music from Black queer icon Janelle Monáe since her 2018 LP, Dirty Computer, gave us dance-worthy, still-introspective hits like "Make Me Feel," and "Screwed." And her new single, "Float," doesn't disappoint; Monáe spends this track bragging about a (well-deserved) newfound confidence. "Fucked around and got more FREE," she shared in an Instagram post on her birthday in December 2022, prior to announcing the song's release. That freedom shines through in lines like, "It's hard to look at my resume and not find a reason to toast," and "My face card don't come with a limit, I swipe it, I spend it, I swear I be doing the most." If this is a preview of what's to come on JM5, I don't think I'll be able to shake off the Monáe magic this summer. And that's a good thing.
2. "BED" – EDEN RAIN
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The new single from UK artist Eden Rain gripped me because of its honesty and relatability, something that she prides herself on infusing into her music. "Bed (For A Year)" is loosely based on the novel The Woman Who Went To Bed For A Year by Sue Townsend, a book that sat untouched on Eden's shelf until she finally read it while depressed and wished she, too, could stay in bed for a year. "I return to the book (and the bed) when life gets hard and I wanted to write an ode to that," she shared. Eden's voice holds many influences, but ultimately feels like being wrapped in a warm, safe blanket. And this track feels like something I'll come back to when I feel like I could sleep for a year.
3. "KILL FOR ME" – AÁYANNA
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Specially released as a Valentine's Day single, Chicago-born Atlanta native Aáyanna delivers sultry R&B darkness on "Kill For Me." Discussing the song, Aáyanna said, "One of the best feelings in my opinion is being with someone who makes you feel safe and protected— somebody who doesn’t play about you, and I wanted to convey that with this song." And with layered vocals over a trap beat, lyrics asking "Put 'em in they place, keep 'em in check," this is a song that knows what it wants and isn't afraid to demand it.
4. "AFTER HOURS" – ALY AND AJ
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Aly and AJ have been making music for a long time. From 2005’s Into the Rush to 2021’s a touch of the beat… they’ve explored pop, rock, electronica, and more. But with “After Hours,” the newest single from their forthcoming album, With Love From, they seem to be moving towards upbeat indie. The song is a celebration of relaxation and releasing stress. “After hours, that’s when I’m out of my head. I’m a live wire, that’s when I’m at my best,” they harmonize over guitars and a catchy drumbeat. It’s a fun track that everyone who enjoys going out and letting loose every once in a while can appreciate, and everything about the song screams carefree; it��ll be a perfect vibe for the spring weather once it finally arrives.
5. "PRAY IT AWAY" – CHLÖE
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The moment I first pressed play on Chlöe's new single, "Pray It Away," I was captivated. Chlöe's range is always astonishing, but on this track she flows seamlessly from her lower register to high notes, blending gospel and R&B influences into something that feels like home but still manages to be surprising and unique. I'm disappointed when this one ends, and find myself playing it two or three times before I'm satisfied.
You can listen to Heartsleeve's Friday Five playlist on Spotify HERE.
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lovingshawn · 7 months ago
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4/23/24
I've never realized... but maybe coffee is my love language? Today I was awake a few hours before you woke up and decided to drag out our old coffee making set that's been sitting untouched on the cabinet for nearly two years. I ground the beans. It was very loud. I was so afraid I'd wake you up too early. You stayed asleep. I smiled after a moment of silence when you didn't stir. The kettle stopped boiling soon after.
6:55 - your alarm went off. The water just stopped boiling. I poured the water into the pour-over coffee maker and wandered my way into the bedroom. I gently patted your leg to wake you up, and you pulled me tight into your arms and wouldn't let go. I panicked momentarily because I still had coffee to make. I didn't want it to get cold.
After a minute.... I didn't care about the temperature of the coffee. I cared so much more about the fact that you wanted to hold me first thing in the morning, placing gentle kisses onto my messy haired forehead and running your hands along my side.
/but your coffee/ I couldn't help but thinking. "hey babe, I have coffee made for you" I look up at you and smile, and you half sleepily smile back at me.
I get up and pour our cups, leaving you in the bed alone again with a twinge of regret for ever leaving your arms. Mine with vanilla, stevia, and coconut milk. Yours plain with a splash of coconut milk.
You groggily get up after a couple of minutes, and I'm sat at the table with our cups worried that yours will get cold - without a care in the word about whether mine gets cold or not.
I happily sit, ready to share the newest "tiktok 10" quiz to see how how much random trivia we know against each other. Which was a little unfair... because I'd already seen the video and sent it to you. I still did worse than you on the first one even though I'd already watched the video and seen all the answers. Between sips of coffee we answer the video out loud trying to beat the video to the answer. I laugh to myself silently.
We finish the video and sip on our coffees. You try mine and I try yours. We mutually agree that they're perfect for the other, but not for us. Yours is too plain and sort of bitter - to me it's the same as the attitude you take on for the day. Mine is too sweet for you - maybe that's how I seem to you?
My mug says "Mrs. est. 2021," a gift from your aunt Heather, and I comment about how it feels like we've been married so many years longer. You agree. It makes me immensely happy that you feel the same as we sip on our coffees.
We discuss the upcoming day ahead of us. You have 8 hours of a work class. I plan to stay awake as long as possible. You plan to do yard work when you return from your work class. I promise to help if I'm still awake when you return. We continue to sip our coffee.
I tell you about a cool new feature I found on Spotify - a "blend" playlist that you can share with your friends. It automatically shares your taste with your friends and builds a playlist for all of you. I tell you about the songs that were added on my behalf and you smile and nod, letting me drone on about how much I love music again. I tend to do that a lot these days. We continue to sip on our coffee. You share a memory about how a specific song brought you closer to a friend when you were a kid. I smile and play the song for you and we share the moment together again. It's nostalgic for you, and I love watching you listen and sing along to it as you're getting dressed.
You finish your coffee, careful not to finish the very last of the cup because of the sediment at the bottom. I give you a hug and stand on the tips of your steel toe boots that I nag about you getting in trouble about for wearing to work.
Luna and I sit outside as I finish my coffee and watch you drive away as the sun finishes rising. I tip my mug all the way up and cough at how bitter the sediment is.
I finish my mug and come inside to wash both yours and mine, smiling about the care you took to not drink the sediment.
One of my favorite things is making you a coffee, because it makes us have a moment together in the morning.
I hope one day we'll have more similar schedules, and we can have this every day. Our little "coffee time" just to us, where we share a memory and a moment. Maybe I'm just sentimental, or maybe my love language is a coffee.
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ear-worthy · 2 years ago
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Spotify: "Discover This” Podcast Explores Korean Music Beyond K-Pop
In recent years, South Korea has become the seventh-largest market for music globally and can be heard every day across television, movies, video games, and more.
The wildly popular K-Pop group BTS were one of two artists to sell half a million copies of an album in the U.S. in 2020, selling 674,000 copies.
Spotify has released the newest episode of its original podcast series, “Spotify: Discover This” — a show aimed at sharing fresh insights on music, podcasting, cultural moments, and trends — amplified in a way only Spotify can. In this episode, listeners head overseas to South Korea to explore Korean music genres beyond K-Pop, including Korean Hip-Hop, Rock, OSTS and R&B.
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Korean-Canadian singer, JUNNY joins host, Lea Palmieri to speak with Korea’s biggest artists across a variety of genres, including Yoon Mirae, TIGER JK, Jay Park, pH-1, Sam Kim, Since, CHOIZA, and Gaeko.
The episode also includes commentary from Korean music critic, Kim Youngdae and Spotify Korea’s Managing Director, David Park. Lea and JUNNY unpack various topics with their guests, including the origins of their genres, their steadily increasing fandom, the importance of playlisting, and what listeners can expect moving forward.
This episode is available in both English and Korean. You can listen to the English episode here and the Korean episode here.
Please see below for interview highlights in the episode.
Yoon Mirae on what Hip-Hop meant to a younger generation of Koreans in the late 90s. “I think for us, hip hop represented freedom — the ability to express ourselves, especially back then because there was no hip-hop and music was pretty much about either breaking up, or love, and nobody ever talked about certain issues that related to the youth. So it was something that was very important for us, and cathartic for us to be able to talk about the issues that were concerning us at that time and that age.��
TIGER JK on influencing Korean hip-hop in the 90s. “When we first started hip hop, we had to go out and hustle on our own by looking for clubs that had open mics. Some booed and hissed, but some also applauded. Rappers do what’s called a “cypher.” And there, we did freestyles, rap battles, and performances.”
Jay Park on the differences between K-Pop and Korean Hip-Hop. “For idol groups, there’s a blueprint and system that exists for them. They get trained, enter a survival audition show, and debut. Then, as they get more fans, the sales increase too. So there’s this recipe for them. But it doesn’t work that way for hip-hop. There is no specific recipe for success in Korean hip-hop. K-pop has become so popular that even in America people of all ages know BTS or BLACKPINK songs but Korean hip-hop still has a long way to go. For K-Pop, they have their outfits, hair and make-up, choreography, and music videos. So even if they don’t know the lyrics, they could still enjoy it. But for Korean hip-hop, lyrics are everything. Unless you’re Korean, it’s hard to relate to the lyrics…So they tend to include stories or experiences that only Korea can offer.”
pH-1 on Korean Hip-Hop fandom. “It’s interesting because even the fans of Korean rappers kind of behave like K-Pop fans. They’re very passionate and they show a lot of support, either mentally or financially, that would buy us lots of gifts, create photo cards, celebrate our birthdays by, you know, like throwing special birthday cafe events, buying multiple copies of our albums or concert tickets and etc. And it’s nice. We’re very grateful.”
Since on developing stage presence by appearing on the Korean television program “Show Me The Money.” “Sweating profusely. Because it’s me on stage. I have to show myself jumping around and having so much fun, so that the audience can enjoy it more. I really think I should be using all my energy to have fun while performing.”
Sam Kim on the artists who inspire his sound and desire to make Korean R&B music. “I mostly dabble in soul R&B because that’s what I grew up listening to, you know, Brian McKnight, you know, Stevie Wonder, Luther Vandross. But I like to experiment. I’m not much of a rapper, but I love rapping. I love hip hop. And just in general, I think my base and my foundation is definitely in Black music.”
Spotify Korea’s Managing Director David Park on what listeners in South Korea can expect this year. “What excites me the most is that Spotify here in Korea is still at an incredibly early stage, and we’re only at a starting point of taking abroad Korean music, its artists and the culture, merging this into this borderless global music and content ecosystem. The prospect of enabling talented Korean artists from other musical genres to discover new audiences worldwide is precisely why I feel lucky working in my current position. We’re truly excited for what comes next.”
Gaeko on Spotify’s KRown playlist and keeping up with trends. “We need the playlist as well because we don’t know all Korean hip-hop songs. So it’s nice that it summarizes what’s trending.”
It’s abundantly clear that Korean music in various forms has influenced the U.S. and world markets. This episode can explain why and where music in Korea is going in the future.
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goldenwitherphoenix13 · 2 years ago
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With the new chapter comes a new drawing. Now you'd think I'd have drawn something relating to the main events of this newest part of cursed Toy, but without a consistent design for our lovely ghost friend, I'm not really sure how to do it. So, I went for... one of the briefer, less focused moments...
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As much as I would of loved to of drawn Pix all tied up in his own mind, I couldn't resist Jimmy trying to comfort himself with the now plush toy Norman (HE DID NOT DESERVE THIS JOEL IS GOING TO PAY >:( ). Personally, im not too happy with the stitches on Normans body, but his eyes are a fun detail I enjoyed doing(if you can see them).
Fun fact, 9 inches is just shorter than my 2 cuboid tissue boxes, so I had an irl reference to get things right (it's still probably wrong but hey ho I tried).
Also I never imagined that drawing a plush cat would be hard, but it is.
Bonus! And inspired cover idea. I was doodling while figuring out how to make the ghost work and this happened instead.
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Really like the vibes of this. @circesays , what's your opinion? Did I do good?
As I humbly sit in my corner of darkness, I shall now look through songs on my Spotify playlist and see how much of a vibe they give off. (No I am not overly obsessed with this AU shut up lol)
OK imma stop talking now bye!
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egg-emperor · 2 years ago
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While I love Mike Pollock I have seen some tweets of him suggesting that he just doesn't want to be known for his work as Eggman and wants to discuss his other works more, he also liked the tweets of Flynn saying the same thing, I feel bad cause I send him a compliment for Eggman, do you know some of his other works? would like to know his other characters
Yeah, he's been trying to emphasize that for a long time and I don't know why some people have a problem with that because of course he'd want people to check out his other work, instead of only acknowledging his Sonic-related stuff and acting like he's just Eggman no matter what he does and nothing more, overlooking tons of his other great work that's entirely separate from it and is absolutely worth checking out. It's great that you have an interest in doing so and I'm happy to help you get started. :D
I've looked at a ton of his stuff over the years but he has hundreds and hundreds so I still haven't seen them all but I try to check out everything that's available to me. I've heard him in a bunch of TV shows, video games, movies, audio dramas, commercials. I have a game where practically every elderly guy in the game has his voice, Just Cause 3 lol. I have a plush that's voiced by him too!
I first heard him in Sonic X, Viva Pinãta, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003 show, and Pokemon around the same time because of 4Kids dubbing. My favorite singular other roles of his that I've heard have to be Langston Lickatoad, the Garbageman, and Adon Coborlwitz. Though he's got a ton of other great roles in a bunch of stuff that's also definitely worth checking out.
Here's what he commonly links on Twitter as a good way to see a lot of it:
That definitely doesn't have everything in it though. There's stuff that isn't supposed to be general public knowledge and other things that haven't been listed on here yet. But it's still one of the ideal places to look! I enjoy picking any character, looking into how to find and listen to it, and the joy of being like "there he is!" when I find his voice in there and get to hear more of his incredible talent hehe.
His pure audio stuff isn't on there, I found out about those through his Twitter and a number of them were available on Spotify and were linked throughout his Twitter.
You can listen to more of his audio with comedy bits, parodies, demos, and other fun stuff on his SoundCloud:
Looking around on his website is a good place for more information and links to more stuff:
He also has a big playlist on YouTube with more things he's been in that have been uploaded there, including commercials!:
Obviously, not all of them are here because he's done so many that haven't been uploaded and some of my favorites were made private by the brand uploaders and I'll always be sad that I can't hear it again lol. He also has some cool stuff in other playlists on his YouTube channel. I also recommend watching more interviews and panels with him uploaded on others' YouTube channels if you haven't because it's really interesting to hear him talk about his work and he's charismatic, funny, and entertaining. ^^
I also recommend putting on post notifications on his Twitter to keep up with him sharing some of his newest work when they're announced and released because they don't get listed on websites after. I have to save stuff to my Twitter bookmarks or else I can't find the information and content again!
And there you go! Have fun. 🌟✨💜
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jikookiekosmos · 4 years ago
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Use My Best Colors For Your Portrait || jjk
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➥Pairing: best friend!jungkook/reader, boyfriend!jungkook/reader, artist!jungkook
➥Summary: After surprising Jungkook with his own studio room for his paintings, he couldn’t be any more over the moon. All’s well and good until he’s struggling to find inspiration...which you happily provide him with. He’s ecstatic to find his muse in you, and painting your portrait brings him so much joy. Things take a turn however, when he suddenly realizes what else he wants to paint.
➥Genre: established relationship, tiny bit of angst if you squint, fluff, smut
➥Rating: 18+
➥Words: ~7.9k (small drabbles don’t exist for me apparently, oops)
➥Content warnings: most of this at the beginning is just cute fluff domestic times (finally not much angst!), blonde jungkook, jk ties his hair up at some point (my weakness), jk puts paints on the reader, making out, slight hair pulling, cursing, shower sex times, jungkook has a big dick, oral (m. receiving), very slight mouth fucking, dirty talk, fingering (very brief), unprotected sex (safe sex is great sex), biting, cumming inside, cute times in the shower, jungkook is actually the sweetest, reader and jk are so in love with each other it hurts, also jk saying ‘only for you’ is a thing i started and can’t stop now oops
A/N: hello! This is part of my Only for You (OFY) Drabble series, but it can be read as a stand-alone! Their relationship will make a lot more sense though if you’ve read OFY beforehand. This fic takes place roughly around six months after the events of OFY (so in between that and the dream drabble I also posted).
Once again, thank you to @dntaewithluv​ for her endless support and always giving me feedback, I forever appreciate you and your friendship is more than I could ever ask for 💜
I’ve written a few other drabbles and will list them below, along with a general timeline:
When I Dream of You - ~1 year after OFY
Stay With Me - a few months after the dream drabble
Also, I hope that if you read this, you enjoy it~
➥OFY Spotify Playlist (songs I listened to for inspo)
➥Series Masterlist
➥All Works Masterlist
taglist: @inlovewiththemoonn​
⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰
You would do absolutely anything in the world for Jeon Jungkook.
Seeing him happy had to be at the top of your list of favorite things in the world, as it had been for many years as his best friend, and now in the several months since the two of you started dating. Some things just never changed, you guessed.
Which is why you took it upon yourself to change one of the spare rooms in the house you two were renting into a space where he could thrive as the artist he was. Initially, the two of you thought it would be nice to use that space as a work area for you, since your job required you to sometimes do work from home. And for a little while, that’s exactly what you did.
But ever since you found out Jungkook liked to paint – scratch that, he loved to paint, and had been doing so for longer than you thought – the gears started turning in your head.
The current space he was using to create his art was definitely less than ideal. The house had a decent sized garage area, so there was enough room for him to store his supplies and be able to paint without it being too much of an issue. The downside, though, was it was cramped and even though Jungkook said he didn’t mind it, you still couldn’t help the frown from masking your features whenever you saw him huddled up so close to his easel.
For the last few weeks, and with lots of help from internet searches, you’d been slowly converting your space into something like a studio. You didn’t have to worry about Jungkook finding out, either, since he very rarely went into that room seeing as he had no reason to. He respected your privacy the same as you respected his, so this made everything infinitely easier for you in the long run.
The day had finally arrived where you would show the new space to Jungkook. Everything was set up as perfect as you could manage it – at least you hoped so – and you were dying of excitement to show him as soon as possible.
You were also, however, incredibly nervous at the same time. What if he didn’t like it? Even worse, what if he hated it?
Of course, you knew deep down that there was no way Jungkook could hate anything you ever did, unless it was something horrible, but you worried about everything because that’s just how you were. So, when the two of you were sitting at the dinner table one night, you tried hard to swallow the lump in your throat as you listened to Jungkook talk about his newest work.
“I really think you’re gonna like how this one turns out, angel.” Jungkook was offering you a sweet smile as he went to grab another bite of food from his plate. You managed to smile back, despite the hammering of your heart against your chest. He was basically handing you the perfect opening for you to segue the conversation!
“I know I’ll love it, Koo.” You watched as his small smile turned into a full grin, his nose scrunching up in that adorable way that had you falling in love with him all over again every time you saw it.
“Speaking of your paintings,” you started off, clearing your throat while he swallowed down his food. He looked at you with his undivided attention and it made your heart skip a beat.
Ok let’s be real, every damn thing this man did made your heart skip a beat.
“Yeah? What about them?” He twirled more of the noodles around his fork while he waited on your answer.
You gulped. “Wouldn’t you like it if you had more space?”
Jungkook chuckled and placed his fork down, shaking his head as he placed on hand on top of yours that was still resting by your plate. You’d barely touched your food and he noticed.
“Baby,” he started, “as much as I would love to have a bigger space, what I have now is just fine. I know you think it’s stifling my creativity in there, but I’m still creating things and am comfortable.” He squeezed you hand gently before returning to his food.
“I get that you think the garage is fine but what if I told you that- that you could have a bigger workspace.” You finally picked up your fork and were poking around at your own food now, avoiding his gaze. You could feel his stare boring into you regardless, though.
“I mean – yeah, hypothetically I could have more space, but it’s not in the cards for us right now and that’s ok, too. Maybe one day.”
The way he always was optimistic about your future together made you feel warm all over. Jungkook liked to look on the bright side of every situation, and it’s been enough to help you keep your own wits about yourself numerous times now.
But this time you wanted to show him that the future could be closer than he realized.
“Koo, can you come with me real quick? I have something I want to show you.”
You didn’t miss the confused look that flashed across his face for a second before his calm demeanor took over again.
“Of course.” He hopped up from the table, that smile you adored now plastered on his face. “Lead the way.”
“Ok but I also need you to close your eyes.” You reached out to take his hand and were rewarded with an eyebrow raise.
He hummed thoughtfully but did as you asked, closing his eyes and grasping your hand tighter so you could lead him wherever you planned to.
You walked through the house pulling him behind you, feeling your heartbeat quicken with every step to where its pace was almost concerning. Whether or not it was mostly from excitement or nervousness, you weren’t sure.
You finally reached your destination and let go of his hand so you could open the door.
“Keep your eyes closed, ok,” you asked. Jungkook simply nodded and you saw a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He had no idea what you were about to show him, but knowing you and how much he loved pretty much anything you did, he was sure it’d probably make him happy.
And he couldn’t have been more correct in his assumption.
At the quiet sound of you telling him he could open his eyes he did so, slowly at first, blinking to adjust to the light the now flooded over the both of you. It took him several seconds to register exactly what he was seeing, and when he did he couldn’t speak. All he could do was stare around the room, mouth agape.
Decorating the walls were the paintings he had given you, beautiful works of various sizes and themes. Alongside the far wall was a tall shelf that housed all his supplies (how had you managed to get them past him without him noticing?), and even some new things like paints he’d been eyeing for a while and other tools he hadn’t had a chance to get himself yet.
But in the middle of the room stood his easel and chair, set up in the similar fashion as it had been in the garage. His apron was draped across the back of the chair, and there was even tarp laid out underneath the workspace. You research had paid off because everything was set up in such a way that it created the perfect atmosphere for Jungkook’s creativity to shine through in ways it hadn’t been able to before.
You weren’t aware of this yet, however, because you were still watching Jungkook’s reaction. He still hadn’t said anything, and as you pulled your bottom lip between your teeth, you started to wonder if this was the right call-
Strong arms were pulling you up from the ground and spinning you around before you could process it, making you squeal with delight as Jungkook twirled you before bringing you back down to pepper kisses all over you face.
“Angel, I can’t believe this, you did all this for me?” He was still holding onto your hips tightly, beaming as he looked down at you. Your nod and giggle was all the confirmation he needed before he pulled you into another kiss, this one slightly more heated than the ones before.
“Do you like it,” you questioned when the both of you pulled away to breathe. Jungkook laughed before taking your face in his hands and brushing his nose along yours.
“Do I like it? Baby, I love it. It’s perfect! Thank you so much.” Another kiss. “I love it and I love you, I love you so fucking much.”
His happiness made your heart soar and you definitely knew that you’d do something like this an infinite amount of times if it meant he’d keep that smile on his face.
⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰
A few weeks passed by and Jungkook had been using his new studio nearly everyday at this point. His creations had been increasing in numbers and he was starting to receive commissions from others thanks to his small online shop he’d set up with your help. He still worked at the bar as his primary job, but he was also grateful to have a hobby on the side that could potentially yield something lucrative.
Of course, Jungkook’s increase in his time spent on his art still didn’t take away from his time with you. If anything, it gave the both of you another way to spend time together, since now there was enough space for you to sit in and observe him paint when you couldn’t before. You often sat quietly and either did some of your own work or engaged in your own hobbies while he painted, and it was always peaceful.
There came a day, though, that you never thought you’d experience: Jungkook had run out of inspiration. He’d hit his first real artist’s block and it was taking a bigger toll on him than he would’ve liked.
You rubbed his shoulders as he sat in front of his easel one night, groaning in frustration about his current work. “It’s not turning out at all like I want it to. I’ve been struggling with finding new inspiration and it clearly shows in whatever this is.” He vaguely gestured to the canvas, prompting you to place a kiss on his cheek as you ran your hand through his pretty blonde hair. You knew that always helped to calm him down and this case was no exception.
Jungkook sighed heavily, turning to place a kiss on your palm that was still lingering around his face. “Sorry, I don’t mean to get worked up. It just sucks, you know? I’d been on this really good streak of creating things and now I just…can’t. It’s weird and I don’t like it.” He pouted slightly and the sight made you giggle.
“I know, baby, but you’ll figure something out. You always do.” You placed a kiss on top of his head before you walked around to sit on his lap. You wrapped your arms around his neck and one of his hands cradled your waist to steady you.
He was humming thoughtfully as he looked you up and down, your hands now playing with the hair at the nape of his neck.
“What are you thinking about?”
He smiled slyly. “You.”
You rolled you eyes before returning the smile. “Ok, what about me? I’m curious.”
His hand was rubbing up and down your side. ���Nothing in particular, just usually looking at you can help me with inspiration.”
His confession made you gasp. “Really?”
He nodded and smiled wider. “Really. You inspire me a lot.” He placed a chaste kiss on your lips before sighing again. “This time though it’s not really working like I’d hoped.”
You watched his eyes close and his brows furrow before an idea popped into your head. “Hey,” you reached down to tilt his chin up so he’d look at you, “It might be a long shot, but: have you ever considered painting portraits?”
He pursed his lips as he thought about it. The simple act made you want to kiss him but now wasn’t the time.
“Honestly…no. I’ve never thought about it before because I usually prefer to paint scenery.”
You searched his eyes as you asked your next question. “Well, if you want to try, maybe you could paint me? Even if it doesn’t go anywhere, maybe it can help spark a new idea or something?”
You watched as his eyes slowly lit up at your suggestion, his face morphing into a smile that you mirrored.
“That’s a great idea! It’s something new and it also includes you, so I already love it.” You chuckled in his lap as he hugged you closer, placing a small kiss on your neck. “Thank you.”
You ran your hands through his hair again before leaning back. “Anything for you. Do you want to start now?”
He thought about it for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, we can do that. Is there, uh – was there something specific you wanted to wear for it?”
You wiggled your eyebrows suggestively. “Are you suggesting you want to paint a nude portrait?”
Even though Jungkook knew your body better than you did at this point, your words still managed to make him blush as he groaned. “No, I wasn’t thinking that- not that I’d mind of course just you know, whatever makes you comfortable-”
You laughed at his flustered nature before hopping off his lap. “You’re so cute. I’ll go find something to change into, it shouldn’t take long.”
“R-right,” he stuttered, still clearly somewhat affected by what you had said. You shook your head with amusement as you went to your bedroom to find something to wear. You settled for a purple dress that you knew Jungkook loved, and considering a lot of his paintings involved shades of purple and blue, you figured it would be perfect.
You knew you made the right choice when you stepped back into the room and saw Jungkook’s face when his eyes fell on you. He looked like he’d never seen someone so beautiful (he looked at you like that a lot and it always did something to you) and your lips curled upwards into a smile before you could realize it.
You stopped in the doorway and twirled, giving him a full view of the dress. “Is this ok?”
You already knew the answer, but it was always nice to hear him say it.
He cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, it’s perfect. You can, uh, you can take a seat whenever you’re ready.”
While you were changing, Jungkook had pulled one of the loveseats from the living room into the space so you’d have somewhere to sit or lay while he painted you. The loveseat was a dark blue color and it contrasted beautifully against the color of your dress. You decided to lay on it in a comfortable pose, and you couldn’t help the small giggle you let out at Jungkook’s reaction to your choice.
You had laid an arm behind your head, turning your face so you were looking at him while the rest of your body was sprawled out on the loveseat. One of your legs dangled over the side, making the skirt of your dress hike up somewhat. You were very comfortable, and Jungkook was very happy with your pose.
“Make it pretty, ok,” you joked with him. He smirked at your comment.
“You know I will. I’ll use my best colors, just for you.”
“Wow, I feel special,” you quipped back. You were rewarded with the sound of his beautiful laughter as it echoed off the walls.
“You’re the most special,” he admitted honestly. You gave him a brilliant smile and he felt his heart stutter.
With the way you were looking at him, Jungkook thought that if he didn’t start painting, he may never start. So, he forced himself to tear his eyes away from you so he could find the paints he needed to get started. He tied up his hair, a few of the blonde strands escaped and framed his face but he didn’t seem to mind it too much as he got to work.
Thankfully, since you’d chosen a good position, the process was easier than you thought it would be. You just had to lie there and watch him work, which you happily did. You enjoyed watching his face scrunch up in concentration before relaxing again as he brushed stroke after stroke onto the canvas.
You were so beyond proud of him that it made your heart swell inside your chest.
Jungkook had been painting for a little over half an hour before he announced it was time to take a break. He could paint for hours on end without stopping, but that was when he didn’t have a live subject he was working with. He walked over to you with a bottle of water so you could sip from it without having to disturb your position too much.
You sat up slightly so you could drink, and while you did so, one of your dress straps started falling down your arm. Jungkook immediately went to move it back into place, but as he did, he couldn’t help but stare at the dark contrast of the purple satin against your skin. He thought it was so pretty, and his mind started wandering to how the paint itself might look-
He shook his head to rid himself of the thought. He may have been covered in paint himself, but that didn’t mean he needed to go putting paint on you.
When you were re-situated on the loveseat once more, Jungkook strolled back over to this easel. Unfortunately, since that thought of you covered in paint first took up residence inside his head, he now found it hard to focus on anything else. While he stared at you to try and resume your portrait, he just kept picturing you with painted streaks covering your skin instead.
You must have noticed he was distracted because soon you were calling over to him. “Kook? Is something wrong?”
He gulped and shook his head. “No, nothing’s wrong! You’re doing great, baby.”
“Do you need me some other way?”
Such a simple statement and yet it was stirring something inside of him. Asking him if he needed you a certain way ignited that desire to once again paint you and he found himself unable to hold back from asking anymore.
“Yeah, I uh, I wanted to try something.” You were confused when he got up and started walking toward you, only carrying his paint supplies. At first you thought maybe he just wanted to get closer, but he didn’t bring the easel with him.
“What are you wanting to try,” your voice was laced with curiosity. He gave you a shy smile.
“I was just thinking about how pretty it would be,” he looked down at the floor then back up at your face before he continued, “if I used you as a canvas instead.”
You felt your breath hitch in your throat at the request. Jungkook was asking to paint you, not paint you on a portrait, but to paint you. The suggestion intrigued you a lot more than you thought it would, which is ultimately what led to you nodding your agreement. “I think I’d like to try that, too.”
Jungkook’s face broke into such a dazzling smile that excited you to no end. You watched as he pulled his chair close to you, as well as some tarp to place around the area. When he was situated where he wanted to be, he dipped his brush into some of the purple paint on his palette and gently lifted your arm. The feeling of the paint as it brushed along your arm was foreign but not unwelcome. There was something about it that was almost calming.
You were now also recalling all the times you’d told Jungkook how pretty he looked even covered in paint. The pretty colors contrasting with his beautiful, golden skin tone never failed to take your breath away no matter how many times you saw it. You wondered briefly if this is what he was experiencing now as he took his time painting your skin.
He was focusing on your with such intensity and taking great care to only get the paint where he wanted it, so as to not stain certain parts of you or your dress. The sight of his caution made that familiar warmth bloom in your chest again.
He took his time painting beautiful designs along your arm before moving down to paint on your thighs and legs. He was alternating between purple and blue hues now, and the swirling patterns reminded you a lot of his tattoos that you adored. You had spent many nights lying next to him in bed, tracing the lines of his tattoos until you were too sleepy to keep it up. Seeing the patterns against your own skin briefly made you think about if you would ever want to get a tattoo. Before you put too much thought into it, your attention was pulled back to Jungkook who was sitting up now and admiring his work.
The time had passed by much quicker than you anticipated, and it was starting to get dark outside as the light was no longer filtering in through the windows of the room.
He seemed satisfied as he nodded and smiled. “Wait here, I’ll be right back. Stay just like this,” he placed a gentle kiss on your forehead before leaving the room. When he returned, he had his coveted polaroid camera in his hands. Jungkook was also big into photography, and every one of his hobbies suited him perfectly in some way.
“Is it ok if I take a photo of you, baby?”
You grinned and nodded, being careful not to move too much from your current position. He snapped the photo and the polaroid was printing immediately after. When he pulled it from the camera, he laid it down on the table next to his easel so it could develop properly.
Jungkook wiped his hands off on his apron before taking it off and drawing his attention back to you. He could stare at you like this all day, but he knew it would probably be best to get you both cleaned up and paint-free.
He offered a hand for you so he could help pull you off the loveseat. When you were up fully, he wrapped his arms around you, careful to not get any of his exposed, paint-covered skin on your dress.
“You look so beautiful like this,” he murmured softly, brushing some of your hair out of your face as his eyes scanned up and down your body to admire his creation. “And as much as I love seeing it, we should probably get this paint off soon. When it dries too much, it can be a bitch to scrub off, and I don’t want that for you.”
You chuckled at that and simply nodded your head. You’d been lying there for nearly 2 hours at this point, so you were pretty tired and ready to just relax for the night.
The two of you hopped into the shower shortly after, helping each other rid your bodies of the remnants of paint covering you both. You always loved taking showers with Jungkook, because whether or not it was a short, regular shower, or one shared after a night of intimacy, these moments were some that you cherished the most and wouldn’t change for the world.
You got lost in the feeling of Jungkook scrubbing shampoo into your hair, letting out soft noises as your eyes slipped closed.
Your noises always threatened to drive Jungkook crazy, and this time was no exception. He couldn’t deny the stirring of his cock as he listened to the little moans slipping from your mouth at such a simple action.
Of course, since he was so close to you, there was no way you didn’t feel him. His cock was hardening against your thigh, and the fact that you were turning him on by not doing much turned you on.
You could feel the wetness start to slip past your folds, but you decided to not make any moves yet, wondering how far you could take this before either of you snapped. You knew that teasing him was one of the quickest ways to get Jungkook riled up.
“Feels so good, Koo,” you shamelessly moaned out as he kept massaging the shampoo into your hair. You heard him let out a small grunt at your deliberate words, feeling him twitch against your thigh as he got harder.
You leaned your head back to give him a better view of your neck, since you knew he loved to mark you up there. His hands were starting to tangle in your hair, but he took care to not pull too hard as he brought his attention back to the task(s) at hand.
He was currently focusing on two things: 1) getting the rest of the shampoo out of your hair, and 2) not fucking you up against the shower wall. Doing the first thing was currently keeping him from acting on the second, but you certainly weren’t helping with that.
Your head lolled around on your neck, your eyes still closed as your sounds got louder. He knew you were messing with him now, so as retaliation he pulled on your hair a little tighter, making you gasp.
“You’re doing this on purpose, angel,” you could hear the dark tone of his voice over the waterfall in the shower clearly, and it just made you more aroused. You chanced opening your eyes to look at him, and the sight you were met with made you moan louder, this time without trying.
Jungkook was staring at you, mouth slightly parted as he let out pants of his own, his blonde, soaked tresses falling in his face and covering his eyes. His tongue darted out to lick his lips as he tugged on your hair again, making you reach out to place your hands on his chest.
“You’re teasing me to get me worked up, hm?” All you could do was nod, his husky voice and the feeling of his hand wrapped in your hair making you wetter by the second. There was no use in playing coy any longer. You wanted him, and he wanted you.
The question now was: who would make the first move?
You realized that you wanted to be the one to make the first move, so you did.
“So, what if I am,” you asked sweetly, wrapping your hand around his length and pumping him slowly. His eyes closed and he leaned his forehead against your shoulder, fingers now digging into your waist.
“You know what happens when you do that,” Jungkook warned. You absolutely knew what happened, and you definitely wanted it to happen.
“Hmm, I don’t know, maybe you should enlighten me.” You teased him as you gently nibbled on his earlobe, increasing your pace as you continued to stroke him. You heard him let out a soft moan against your shoulder as he placed a kiss there.
With no more hesitation, you turned him slightly and sank down to your knees in front of him, delighted by how his cock jerked in your hold when you steadied it with your hand.
Jungkook stared at you wide-eyed as you started moving your hand around his shaft before placing a gentle kiss on his tip, the prettiest groan falling from his lips. “Fuck, Y/N, are you sure you want to do this?”
You peeked up at him as you fluttered your eyelashes, knowing that seeing you like this always aroused him beyond belief. You continued moving your hand in slow, languid strokes, and he was almost fully hard now.
He let his head hit the wall behind him, soft curses and praises for you tumbling from his mouth. 
Seeing him like this had to be near the top of the list of your favorite sights to ever witness. And right then is when you figured it’d be the perfect time to surprise him. Without a warning you opened your mouth and took all of him in that you could reach.
Jungkook’s reaction was immediate.
“Hey wait what are y- oh my God, fuck.” His loud moan echoed off the walls of the room, causing a fresh wave of arousal to pool between your thighs. You sucked harder as you hollowed out your cheeks, ignoring the way your throat constricted around him.
“Y/N, shit, you feel so good, your mouth- fuck, angel, I don’t want to hurt you,” Jungkook was panting hard above you, eyes shut and brows furrowed, jaw slack as he unabashedly continued to moan at your actions. He was reaching behind him to try and hold something, but the smooth wall had nothing to offer him. His fingers were slipping against the tile, so he gave up and instead settled for clenching and unclenching his fists.
You pulled off him with a pop, a string of saliva left in your wake. You smiled up at him as you kept stroking him, not wanting his pleasure to disappear in the slightest.
“You won’t hurt me, Koo,” you reassured him, earning another groan from the man falling apart under your touch. He twitched in your hold, and you stuck your tongue out again to run it along the underside of his length. 
Jungkook chanced looking down at you, only to look up at the ceiling a moment later while he muttered a strained “holy shit.” 
“C’mon baby, don’t you want to look at me,” you taunted him as your tongue played with the head of his cock, swirling around him. The low groans coming from above you let you know that he enjoyed that a lot.
“Fuck, angel, I-” Jungkook’s sentence died as a moan ripped itself from his throat when you surged back down to take all of him in again. This time you continued moving, feeling the tears in the corners of your eyes but not stopping.
It wasn’t like you’d never sucked him off like this before, seeing as it was one of your favorite activities, after all. But it was a rare occasion where Jungkook would let you take all of him in one go for fear of hurting you. So, you took these chances whenever they presented themselves, and the reward was always, always worth it.
Tears along with the water droplets from the shower were coating your face but you didn’t care. All of your focus was on Jungkook and how he was trying so hard to restrain himself above you. You watched his fists clench and unclench and you could feel himself struggle to keep his hips from moving forward so he didn’t fuck your mouth.
Yeah, you weren’t having that. You wanted him to let go, wanted him to know that it was ok, that you wanted this. You reached out to grab one of his hands and placed it in your hair, relishing in the way his fingers immediately tangled themselves into the wet strands. You pulled your mouth off of him again, but not before letting your tongue drag slowly across every inch of him.
You looked up at him again as you pumped him leisurely, waiting until he brought his gaze down to stare at you, only for him to quickly close his eyes again.
“God, I can’t look at you, like I want to, fuck do I want to, but you look so fucking good like this, I’m not gonna last-”
You always found his stammering to be cute and you didn’t want to torture him too much longer. Deciding that you’d teased him enough, you took all of him into your mouth again, intertwining your fingers with his unoccupied hand and giving it a squeeze. The intimacy of this particular action was always enough to get both of you going, and it had Jungkook’s hips stuttering as you sucked hard.
“Fuck, baby, always take me so good like this. Always so good for me, I love you, fuck,” he was groaning as his head hit the wall behind him again, his hold in your hair tightening the same moment you felt him buck his hips like you’d been wanting all this time.
Unfortunately, for you, whenever Jungkook would fuck your mouth, no matter how much you wanted to sit there and take it without issue, his size always proved to be too big for you to handle and it had you coughing around his length in no time. Which, of course, always made Jungkook stop what he was doing before either of you had the chance to enjoy it much.
“Fuck, baby, I’m so sorry, are you ok?” Jungkook pulled you up while you kept coughing, brushing the wet strands of hair out of your face and looking at you with worry. You nodded and tried to reassure him, wanting to get back on your knees for him, but he held you in place.
“You don’t want me to continue,” you asked, your voice a little more hoarse than usual thanks to what your throat had just endured.
Jungkook shook his head. “No, angel, it’s not that. If you do keep going, I’ll cum in no time.” He brushed some of the water away from under your eyes, not knowing if it was tears or from the shower. He bent down to place a rough kiss on your lips, such a contrast from how his hands caressed your face.
“I want to be inside of you when that happens,” he murmured against you, gently biting down on your bottom lip and pulling a whine from you, in turn causing more wetness to gush between your legs. “If you’ll let me, of course.”
You almost laughed. “Koo, you know I’ll let you do anything at this point.”
He chuckled. “That’s a dangerous admission, baby. You sure about that?”
You nodded, wrapping your arms around his neck to pull him closer. “Of course I’m sure. I’d let you do anything you want because I trust you. Because I love you,” it was your turn to kiss him this time, and it was filled with so much passion it nearly made him dizzy. Jungkook could never get tired of the feeling of your lips against his, of hearing you say that you loved him, of feeling your skin pressed against each other during times like these.
Jungkook was hooked on you and he never wanted to go back to a time where he wasn’t.
You pulled him out of his thoughts as you tugged on some of his hair, earning a delicious sounding grunt from him. You whispered your next snarky comment right by his ear.
“You gonna fuck me now, baby?”
Your bluntness had his cock quickly stirring back to life after it had softened some during your coughing incident. He growled low and dark as he started placing love bites on your collarbone.
“Sure you don’t want me to return the favor first, angel?” He was marking up your skin while he asked this, so you almost didn’t realize what he was asking specifically but then it dawned on you.
“As much I love seeing you with your head between my legs,” you responded, tugging on his hair again, “I’d rather have you fuck me up against this wall.”
He moaned against your collarbone, the action vibrating your skin. He pulled off of you and brought your lips to his in a filthy kiss. “Your wish is my command.”
Jungkook lifted you up then by placing his hands under your ass and you got the message, wrapping your legs around him as he held you up. He turned so your back was against the wall, the only things now holding you up being his strong arms and the smooth tile behind you.
He first plunged two fingers inside you without a warning, making you let out a silent scream. He smirked at the way you clenched around his fingers, scissoring them before pulling them out again. You whined at the loss and he shushed you with a gentle kiss on your nose.
“Had to make sure you’re ready, baby.” He had one arm wrapped around your waist, trapped in between your back and the shower wall. With his now free hand, he lined himself up with your entrance, moaning when the tip of his cock was sucked in by your velvety walls.
“Fuck, you already feel so good and I’m barely in yet,” he clenched his jaw as he sank further into you inch by inch. When he finally bottomed out and was filling you up in the best way possible, you clenched around him to tease him further, making him curse.
“Watch it, angel,” he growled. “You’re gonna make it very hard for me to not blow it if you keep doing that, and I want you there with me when I do.”
“Then I guess you’d better start moving,” you teased, wrapping your arms more tightly around his neck. You knew what was coming next; Jungkook would put you exactly in your place, just like you wanted. And for that you needed to hold on tight for dear life because that man could rock you like nothing ever had before.
Jungkook grabbed your hips firmly in his hold as he fucked up into you, making sure you were held against the wall and weren’t in danger of falling down as he did so. Despite this, each thrust had you sliding more up the wall until he would bring you back down again. When he found a pace that was he was sure he could resume without either of you getting hurt, he finally let go.
To say you saw stars would be an understatement. Jungkook was fucking you with so much vigor that you weren’t just seeing stars, you were sure you were seeing entire galaxies. Your sounds kept dying out on your tongue because the feeling was so overwhelming and it had your trembling around him in no time.
“Can’t make any sounds when I’m fucking you this good, angel?” Jungkook was taunting you now and quite frankly, he was right, he was fucking you so good that you were finding it hard to say anything. And the mixture of his dirty words with the sweet pet name you adored had you clenching even tighter around him, causing him to groan loudly and grip your waist tighter.
You eventually found your voice again when Jungkook hit a certain spot inside of you, pulling an embarrassingly loud whine from your throat. You buried your face in the crook of his neck, tears almost brimming in your eyes once again at how good he felt.
“Fuck, Jungkook, feels so good, oh my God-” your praises made him twitch inside you as he moved his hands now from your waist to hold you up by cupping your ass, squeezing tightly in time with his thrusts. He was bouncing you up and down on his cock now with his strength alone, and the thought of it made your orgasm start to approach at an alarmingly fast rate.
“I love feeling you so close like this, I love you, so fucking much, shit-” Jungkook cut himself off as threw his head back to get his hair out of his face, careful not to let his balance falter or his grip slip on you. He had to do it though because his hair was keeping him from seeing your face now that you were leaning your head back against the wall, and he couldn’t have that.
“I love you, Jungkook, I’m close, fuck,” you were breathing hard as you couldn’t control your moans any longer, eyes squeezed shut and tears falling from just how much pleasure you were receiving and also how much you loved this man. Jungkook was the man you’d loved for so many years before you were finally able to call him yours. He always took care of you in every aspect of life, and you reciprocated it as best you could. And it was because of this kind of love you two had for each other that made these intimate times all the more meaningful. You were sitting here, back up against a shower wall in the arms of the man you loved while he rearranged your guts, and it was such an emotional experience alongside being a pleasurable one that the tears actually made sense.
Jungkook bit down on your shoulder and pulled you out of your reverie, making you cry out as he muffled his own sounds against your skin. You could tell by his thrusts that he was getting close now, his grunts happening more frequently and louder, echoing off the tiled shower walls. The water had already started to get cold but neither of you cared. Nothing outside of the two of you existed in this moment, and that was exactly how you liked it.
“Touch yourself for me, baby, I’m close, want you to be there with me,” Jungkook breathed out, his grip on your ass harsher now and you were sure there’d be marks tomorrow. You loved it when he marked you up, and even though he always felt slightly bad about it, you knew Jungkook loved seeing the marks, too.
You obeyed his command and reached down to rub your clit, nearly shrieking at the new wave of pleasure that washed over you. The sensations on your clit, his cock hitting that perfect spot inside of you, the way he was holding you, and all the things he was saying to you was enough to finally push you over the edge.
“Jungkook, I’m cumming, fuck-” you barely had time to utter out your warning before you were cumming hard around his length, your body spasming as he held you through it.
He sped up then, chasing his own high now, the feeling of your walls clenching around him making his eyes roll back. “Fuck, I can feel you, always so perfect for me, I’m close-”
His eyes were closed now so he didn’t see you reach for him. You pulled him closer so you could kiss him, hoping to help him along this way, swallowing down every beautiful sound he was making. “C’mon Koo, cum for me, wanna feel you fill me up.”
“Fuuuuck,” he moaned out, loud and long as that was the last thing he needed to get him there. His hips stuttered a few more times before you felt him twitch and fill you up, just like you wanted. Because gravity was working against you due to your current position, you could feel some of it dripping out of you despite Jungkook still being inside of you. The feeling made you scrunch up your nose, and the action made Jungkook laugh and mumble out ‘cute’ as he placed a kiss on the tip of your nose.
He pulled out of you carefully before moving you away from the wall so he could set you down on your feet. Your legs were a little wobbly, so he let you brace yourself against him as he helped you clean up.
The water was nearing a very uncomfortable cold temperature, but the both of you would rather endure that than leave the shower without cleaning off completely. After the workout you both had, there was nothing more you wanted than to curl up with each other in the bed.
After helping each other get clean again, and stealing quite a few kisses while doing so, Jungkook helped you out of the shower since you still didn’t trust your legs and dried you off before taking care of himself. Your heart swelled at the sight of him as it always did when he would take care of you like this.
You just hoped that you were taking care of him in all the ways he needed as well. You were certainly trying your best and would continue to do so for the rest of your life.
Once you were both snuggled into bed, him with an arm under you and you with your face nuzzling against his chest, you broke the silence first.
“If that’s what happens when I let you put paint on me, we should do that more often.”
Jungkook, who was tracing invisible patterns on your back in between your shoulder blades, laughed so hard you shook along with him. When he finally calmed down, he was able to answer you. “I totally agree. Although, I don’t think that happened because I painted you. It happened because you-” he booped you on the nose “-teased me, knowing full well what happens when you do.”
You shrugged as best you could with his arms around you. “You love it, though.”
Jungkook chuckled. “Indeed I do.” He placed a kiss on the top of your head and resumed his earlier soothing tracing of patterns on your skin. You rested your cheek against his chest and could hear his heartbeat, slow and steady. The combined actions of his hands and the steady thrum of his heartbeat was enough to have slumber calling your name in a matter of minutes.
Jungkook had something more to say, however.
“Hey,” he called gently, making you look up at him with groggy eyes. He smiled at the sight. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For helping me. For being my muse. I’ve got more ideas now about what else to create, and I don’t think I could’ve gotten there without your help.”
You smiled at him before you placed your head down again and shut your eyes once more, breathing deeply. “You would’ve eventually. That’s just how you are. Maybe I sped up the process, but you would’ve done fine.”
“Perhaps,” he sighed and looked at the ceiling. His glance travelled down to look at your nearly sleeping form, laying on him calm and unbothered. Moments like these topped his list of favorite things, and he wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world.
“Goodnight, angel,” he murmured softly, not sure if you were asleep or not yet. You muttered something unintelligible back, but he knew you were telling him goodnight all the same, and it brought a smile to his face.
Jungkook wanted to tackle life with you, the good, the bad, all of it; he wanted to do it with you by his side. He wanted to make sure every day of your life from here on out was filled with happiness and love and everything you deserved in the world, just as you wanted to do the same for him. He knew you’d do anything for him, and he’d do anything for you.
Only for you.
542 notes · View notes
bukojuiice · 4 years ago
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25 lives — katsuki bakugo
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ೃ  pairing: pro! hero katsuki bakugo x fem! reader
ೃ  tags: alternate universe/time traveler au,  a lot of angst, fluff but the sentimental and nostalgic kind, flashbacks, bakugo travels through so many parallel worlds just to find you.
ೃ  warnings: strong language. wc: 4,764 words
ೃ  my nav  →  my mha writing masterlist  → my katsuki bakugo x reader smau 
ೃ i created a spotify playlist for this fic, feel free to listen to it while reading here!
ೃ  please do reblog if you enjoyed!! it really helps writers and content creators on tumblr!  if you want to be a part of my mha taglist. send me an ask!  ♡
 ೃ  Heavily Inspired by one of my favorite written poetry/prose of all time, 25 Lives by Tongari. The poem will be heavily referenced and mentioned in this fic!  The lines from said poem can be identified [❝ like this❞.]
 ೃ After losing the love of his life in a brutal villain incident, Katsuki Bakugo had lost a part of him. Nothing and no one could ever bring her back. He became the shell of a person he once was; fiery, bright, and the driven #2 Pro-hero in the country. He continues to live life with guilt, all hope still lost until he is gifted a time device that can transport him to parallel universes, dimensions and alternate worlds, where he begins his quest to find his lost love. Crossing a hundred of realities and living twenty-five lifetimes just to bring her back into his arms.
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“Stars die. they die and they are not sorry
No matter how much the moon says otherwise.
Stars die and your whole galaxy explodes.”
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For the majority of Katsuki Bakugo’s life, he is the main star of the show.
Then, you came into his life and made everything else feel like a rehearsal.
In a world where he mostly treated everyone in his life as extras, you were the main heroine.
When he put up walls around himself, you brought them crashing down.
To him, the concept of love and loving someone romantically was foreign. It always came to him as a question, If whether or not love was something worth living for and sacrificing for, giving your half to another person to be whole, when he can already live for himself.
It was always a question… until you became the answer.
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 “Use my new baby wisely! Okay, Bakugo-san!?”
Hatsume Mei, a schoolmate of Katsuki back in his UA days, warned him cautiously. She was now an esteemed scientist, one of the best in the country. Katsuki was the first one to come into her mind when she finally completed her new invention, a gadget that can transfer a person’s soul and being to a different body; one in a different space time continuum.
It was as if living a new and different life.
In another universe.
The concept of the device was pretty straight-forward. You are able to go to different dimensions and live the life of your other self; then if it wasn’t the world you wanted to live in, you are free to disappear and go to another parallel universe. It raised skepticism at first and it sounded too good to be true, as how could something as extravagant and complex as this become possible? But they were living in a world full of heroes with the most unique and bizarre quirks, so why can’t it be possible?
This was his chance.
Maybe, with this, he can bring back (Y/N)…
All along, there had been hope.
He was finally going to see her again.
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His thoughts bring him back to the day of the incident.
What was reported to be a regular villain attack, escalated into something that no one could expect.
She was the only casualty-
 And he was a minute too late.
Was he not fast enough? What could have happened if he had gotten there in time? Hundreds of hundreds of scenarios of what could’ve been still continue to haunt him until this very day, what could have happened if he had only arrived there earlier to save her? The things he would do to see her beautiful face and feel her calming presence once more, to see the loving woman he went back to after a tiring day, to pepper kisses on, to be dancing with in the kitchen at 2 am, to be the sharing the first cup of coffee with in the morning, the one to wake up to every single morning…
The one whom you’d share the rest of your life with.
But, now… that life was gone.
Seeing your limp and unmoving body surrounded by debris was the most devastating experience and image he had to see and go through in his entire life.
He could do nothing but hold you in his arms, gritting his teeth, tears streaming down from his cheeks, feeling nothing but frustration and powerlessness as the world came crashing down on him.
 “Dammit (Y/N!) Why you? Why did it have to be you?”
Your resting eyes and dormant body remain steady and… cold. Your boyfriend rests his head on your shoulder, trying to hide that he was bawling in pain and sorrow. Katsuki began to feel the weight of his emotions pulling him down, his thoughts reminding him of his past failures and mistakes, and now that this accident that met your demise became one of those said mistakes, how will he be able to recover? If he was able to overcome his demons and insecurities solely because of you, his friends, and his parental figures to guide him… will he even be able to do the same once again?
He was the #2 Pro Hero too… What will the public think of him?
After he had failed to save the one that he had loved the most?
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It has been a year since then.
Katsuki’s life went on without you. 
Well, of course it did, Of course it does. It was just an ending, they told him. Not the end.
He told the general public that he had been slowly recovering and that he was able to bounce back to his usual explosive self. Still yelling, still being the competitive and pompous ass he is, even as a Pro-hero. But his friends and family weren’t dumb. Kirishima, his closest confidante knew there was something wrong with him. His parents noticed too that he still wasn’t himself. All of them did.
They all knew Katsuki still hasn’t recovered from the incident at all.
I mean, who would right?
It was perfectly normal to mourn. It was part of the healing process. The Pro Hero Dynamight still can’t move on and that feeling was valid. It takes time to fully heal and he had already made it clear time and time again that he will never ever love someone like the way he loved (Y/N).
But, if there was a way to bring her back, then he wanted to take that chance.
When Izuku heard of news from Hatsume Mei’s newest invention, Katsuki’s green-haired childhood friend immediately told him about it.
Although he was unsure at first, the quirky scientist assured him to wait a little bit more for the trials of the device to finish if he wasn’t sure about it. And when her test subject came back safely, bringing home their lost relative from another universe, that was when Katsuki became sure of his plans.
This was the key to bring (Y/N) back.
It wasn’t going to be easy but he would do absolutely everything just to see you again.
And with that, the day of his world-jumping adventure (literally) had finally arrived.
Bidding farewell to his family and friends, a small gut feeling inside of him says that this might be the last time he’ll ever see them again… and so, in the most Katsuki Bakugo fashion ever, he thanked everyone present that day… indirectly. He expressed appreciation to those who supported him and helped him throughout his life.
Now, it was his time to find the girl who had been there for him the most.
(through his darkest times and saddest nights, she was the ray of sunshine.)
He took a deep breath, turning to his loved ones one last time, a solemn nod yet the cheekiest smirk present on his face as he disappears, whisked away to another world.
The parallel universes that he was going through dropped him into different years of his life. So, Bakugo had to adapt to knowing what age his other self was in the timeline he was currently in. He was lucky that most of the time he landed in a world and at the time where he was a student at UA.
The time where he originally met you.
He needed to take note of every world he had been too because not only were each and every one so different. Katsuki wasn’t a poetic person (his vocabulary mostly composed of colorful words.) but as he continued to jump through so many parallel universes, he had begun to take note of the ones that stood out to him the most. In the form of a poem, one that he thought you would appreciate when he finally reunites with you. Another you at least.
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[❝ The very first time I remember you, you are blonde and don’t love me back.❞
✧  This is the first parallel universe in where you were an upperclassman. From Class 3-A. A friend of Nejire, one of the big three. Katsuki was so delighted to see you, only for you to not know him. He was currently one of the most popular students in UA, of course he is, but you paid him no attention, passing by him in the hallways as if he was just another regular freshman, instead, you were seen holding hands with some slimey-looking guy that Katsuki has never ever seen in school. This wasn’t you. Or, at least, this wasn’t the (Y/N) he was looking for. This was only the first parallel world. He wasn’t going to give up.
[❝  The next time you are brunette, and you do.❞ ]
✧ Unrequited love. What a stupid cliché. In this world, he was an idiot too far up his own ass, whilst the entirety of Class 1-A loathed him and did not look up to him like the way they did in his original world. Katsuki was so caught up in trying to change his personality, that he failed to notice you. The girl who was always in the back of the classroom, looking out the window. You were always just there. Never noticed. Admiring him from afar.
[❝ After a while I give up trying to guess if the color of your hair means anything. because even if you don’t exist, I am always in love with you. ❞ ]
✧  This was practically the same world that Katsuki originated from. Only you were missing. Every single event that transpired in his life, had happened in this parallel universe. The USJ Incident, The Forest Camp Training, The Trip to to Nabu Island… everything. There was this huge empty space that you were supposed to fill. Except, you didn’t exist in this universe. It was the quietness and the lack of your presence in this world that bothers him. Katsuki wonders how this other self of his could continue this life without you in the picture.
[❝ I remember most fondly those lifetimes where we get to grow up together, when you share your secrets and sorrows and hiding places with me. ❞ ]
✧  This universe surprised him with puppy love. Here, he was brought back to his childhood. You were his dearest friend and childhood sweetheart. The three of you along with Deku, were a trio. At a very young age, you kept his feet on the ground, never wanting him to think that he was above everyone else despite his powerful quirk. The young Bakugo was able to share his frustrations and insecurities to you, while you always listened. You were always there. He talked about his quirk and his complaints about how the other kids only liked him for his powers, but not for who he actually is. You continued to support him and love him wholesomely for who he was and he was glad to have a friend like you and…. Deku. (as much as he didn’t want to admit it 
However, it ended there. The two of you lying down on the hill, looking up at the stars, and shyly holding hands. Just randomly faded away. And in a blink of an eye, the timeline shifts forward to middle school. His worst years, he would say.
He was so eager to see you again and hopefully remain friends with Izuku after all this time.
Yet, you were nowhere to be found and… Izuku wasn’t his friend anymore.
Apparently, the two of you became distant after graduating elementary because you moved away and never got into contact with him ever again.
This was too heartbreaking for this universe’s Bakugo. To have such a wonderful and healthy social life when he was a kid, only for all of that to just disappear when he started middle school. On to the next parallel world then.
[❝ I love how you play along with my bad ideas, before you grow up and realize they are bad ideas. And in our times together I have many bad ideas.❞ ]
✧  The Sludge Villain. A very traumatizing experience that still haunts Katsuki until this very day. In this world, you were still friends with him. Always following him around and making sure he didn’t get into trouble. He continuously pushes you away, telling you that he didn’t need you and you shouldn’t be controlling of him.
You finally had enough of his arrogance that day and… got into an argument with him.  It was the same day as the Sludge Villain incident.
It happened in this universe too.
After he was captured by said villain, you ran after him, tears welling up in your eyes, wanting to reach out and save him. The sludge villain noticed you, and became more interested in your quirk, targeting you instead. All Might was a little too late and…
The incident led you to losing your quirk and having to live in a hospital for the rest of your years.
It felt like a long bad dream. One that reminded him of your demise in his original world. Bakugo immediately teleported to a different parallel universe. Not wanting to deal with that kind of sadness ever again.
[❝ When we meet as adults you’re always much more discerning. I don’t blame you. Yet, always, you forgive me.❞ ]
✧ In this universe, you were in the same hero agency. Not knowing each other prior to this. Bakugo was the new hotshot that all the other heroes in your agency were going crazy about, just because he was from UA and was attractive. You didn’t get the hype and why everyone else was fawning over him. He was a Pro-hero just like all of you. So, when you finally met him in the flesh, you could immediately tell he was a conceited ass by the way he looked at you and by the way he presented himself.
Unbeknownst to you, Dynamight’s heart was fluttering with happiness at the sight of seeing you again. Your Pro-hero self. Caring, Bad-ass, Confident, and Courageous… It was you.
Almost you.
After being partnered up with him in hero work for the past months, he began to turn soft, a bit annoying, and act flustered whenever you were around which you immediately thought was very out of character for him.
Then he confesses.
You said no.
It just didn’t feel right. First, your hero career was more important to you and you just couldn’t reciprocate those feelings back. The two of you weren’t for each other, and he understood that. He left you for a moment to go get get some “fresh air.”
Bakugo was getting frustrated. His mind going hazy at the thought that he’s gone to so many parallel worlds yet still haven’t found you is slowly beginning to take a toll on him. But he still wasn’t going to give up.
[❝ As if you understand what’s going on, and you’re making up for all the lifetimes in which one of us doesn’t exist, and the ones where we just, barely, never meet. I hate those. I prefer the ones in which you kill me.❞ ]
✧  The next alternate worlds he went to were an absolute mess. One of them where the two of you barely meet. Merely passing by each other in the street, opening the door for you or entering the same convenience store. Fate not wanting the two of you to meet. Like magnets being pulled away from each other. A romance movie without the romance. As if telling Katsuki that the two of you were never meant to meet in this universe. Don’t even bother.
Then there’s the other one where you were a merciless villain and he was a pro-hero who had to defeat you. He couldn’t do that. You overpowered him.
But, hey, at least he got to see you as the girl who didn’t put up with his shit and could care less about him. Not to mention you were a part of the organization that was against everything that he stood for as a hero.
It was a tragedy. Not the Romeo and Juliet kind, but reminiscent of it. With Romeo sacrificing his life, yet Juliet remains the same and indifferent.
[❝ But when all’s said and done, I’d surrender to you in other ways. Even though each time, I know I’ll see you again, I always wonder is this the last time? Is that really you? And what if you’re perfectly happy without me?❞ ]
✧ Bakugo was finally teleported to a reality where he was a high school student again. However, he wasn’t studying in UA. Instead, having to go to a regular high school (which he was totally irritated about because why is his parallel self here going to a regular school in the first place? What happened to him?) The two of you pass by each other on your way home. Going off in different directions. You were a student at UA, laughing and mindlessly chatting with his friends. Mina, Kirishima, Denki, and Sero…
All of you barely even noticing him and acknowledging his presence.
At this moment, he realized that maybe you weren’t meant to meet in this world again. He felt like a simple character in the background. A small speck of dust in your universe. God, why was he thinking this? This wasn’t like him. He slowly lost his confidence as he goes from one parallel world to the next to find you. He couldn’t even motivate and give himself pep talks anymore. Has he reached the breaking point? Is he still even himself? Is he still Katsuki Bakugo?
Maybe, he should just give up trying at this point. Every single alternate reality so far all ended in tragedy. Not once were the two of you able to reconcile and have a happy ending. It was not like him to give up, but the chances at this point were slim and in each alternate universe, Bakugo just become more and more disappointed with how things turned out with your other-worldly selves…
It was as if the only universe where the two of you became happy was in his original world.
Was he going to stop here?
[❝ Ah, but I don’t blame you; I’ll never burn as brilliantly as you. It’s only fair that I should be the one to chase you across ten, twenty-five, a hundred lifetimes.❞ ]
✧  This was it. The twenty-fifth parallel world. Hopefully, the last one that he has to go to and hopefully the one where he finally he finds you.
Bakugo jumps into the portal, expecting the vibrant colors and hues of the city to appear around him, only for him to be transported to a white box.
In the middle of this white void was a cherry blossom tree. Blooming in the prettiest pink colors, and swaying with the non-existent wind. Near it was a small bench. A feminine figure sitting on it, facing the tree.
It was you.
You.
Katsuki knows it’s you because it’s the same dress you wore that day.
A beautiful blue dress that the two of you bought when you were out for some errands. It was the kind of blue that reminded you of the sky, which is why you bought it in the first place. You were saving it for that day, to wear when you visit Katsuki at work and drop him off his bento lunch.
That day.
Instead of a sky reflecting off of your dress, it became grey. Like the color of a storm instead.
He remembers fondly what happened at that same morning. He was getting ready for hero work, whilst you were rummaging for something inside the closet.
“Ahah!” You exclaimed, finally pulling out something to wear. The sound of the wardrobe hangers clinking from the inside.
Katsuki wanted to take a peek of you but you were giving him no chances. You see him trying to take a look when you noticed his blonde hair spiking up more than usual.
“Hey! No peeking!” You giggled, hiding yourself even further inside your closet.
“Gah. Come on! Just one?” He groans, teasing you, trying his best to pull out his puppy tone. “Please?”
“No.” You deadpanned seriously and you could practically feel him pop a vein.
“Hey! What was that for!? I was just joking-“
“I was just joking too you weirdo.” You giggled again, stepping out of the closet. You take a deep breath and straighten your dress, twirling around for him to see. “How do I look?”
He dashes towards you, picking you up from the ground as he begins to twirl you around.
“Katsuki! Put me down!” You chuckle, feeling his strong arms wrapped around you. “You’re going to be late for work!” You tap his back lightly, trying to get him to put you back on the ground.
“You’re beautiful. You always are.” He says seriously. Not a tinge of playfulness or abrasive in his voice. He was still holding you up, but positioned you in a way that the both of your faces were inches away from each other, gazing at each other’s eyes.
The both of you lean in for a sweet and blissful kiss. It felt light and comforting. A feeling that you always have whenever you were with him. A very giddy feeling.
And at that same day, when he saw you again, surrounded by darkness, your eyes closed, your body tranquil and your gentle face looking ever so at peace…
You still looked beautiful, even then.
“Suki-kun.” You wave at him from afar, a solemn smile present on your face. You beckon him to sit next to you but he hesitates.
“(Y/N)…” His voice cracks, not really noticeable, but you could hear it. “Tch… are you.. real? Is this really you?”
“It’s me, love.” You continue to show him your smile. As you blink, you were suddenly caught in his arms. Katsuki was hugging you tightly like there was no tomorrow, his head nestled on your shoulder. His hug felt warm yet cold, like he had been hugging skeletons all this time whilst trying to find you.
You had no words to say to him.
It was just that kind of moment.
Hearing your voice, hugging you tight, holding your hand, and seeing your smile was enough for him at the moment.
This was you.
Actually you.
“It seemed like a lifetime ago when I began searching for you.” He whispered softly, his voice still so rough yet loving all the same.  
A lifetime of pain and sorrow. Of disappointment and missed opportunities.
“Ah…” Your voice trails off. “We don’t have much time left.”
“Huh? What the hell do you mean?” You untangle yourself from his arms, cupping his cheek and rubbing your thumb whilst he holds your hand still.
“I-I can’t go back to our original universe.” You mumble, trying to fight back the tears and continuing to caress his face. “We can’t go back together.”
“(Y/N)!” Bakugo’s face goes stern, as realization hits him. “Shit! (Y/N)! Look, We can get out of here okay!? There’s this device I have-“ The device on his wrist dissolves into nothing as the room around you begins to be consumed by darkness, like sucking you into a black hole.
“Katsuki… no. It’s hopeless! We can’t-“
“Damn it (Y/N)! I’ve traveled through every fucking imaginable universe possible just to find you again! I’ve gone through hell and back just to see you again! I’m not going to leave without you!”
Before you could answer his rebuttal, the bench that both of you were sitting on vanishes and now the two of you were falling in an endless black hole.
As this parallel world around you began spinning faster and faster, the two of you floated upwards, hands locked tightly together, and your eyes sad and bewildered.
The two of you watched as your faces grew younger back to your high school years, like this universe was going in reverse, moving the both of you backwards in time.
You were still holding onto Katsuki’s hands, trying to savor the last few moments with him as you began to say your goodbyes, tears coursing down your face.
“Katsuki… I know you had seen things you wish you hadn’t. You have done things you wish you could take back and I know you’ve been wondering why you’ve been thrown into all of this, why you had to suffer the way you did and why you had to go through so much just to find me. The ghost of me. And as you were going through all these alternate universes alone and hurting, I wish I could tell you that it’s okay. Even if you don’t find me again, I will always be here. My presence will always be lingering. I will live in your heart, Katsuki Bakugo. You deserve the whole world for traveling through twenty-five lifetimes just to look for me. I love you with all my heart, my soul, my being, and all that is left of me… I love you.”
“I-I love you too. Through all these lifetimes I’ve spent with another you, you will always be the one.” Katsuki mumbled, pulling you for one last kiss.
A kiss ever so soft and sweet, worth all the lives he’s experienced.
“Let’s meet again in another lifetime.”
Time continued to reverse back, to the point you no longer knew who you were with. Their face being blocked by a gleam of light. You were grasping the hands of a stranger, but you didn’t let go. And neither did they.
For a moment, there was a calming presence. A whole new world was opening up like a vortex, swallowing the both of you…
Into a whole new universe.
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“(Y/N)-chan! Wait up!”
“Oh? Ochaco-chan!”
The brown-haired girl catches up to you, holding on to your arm as she catches her breath. “Can you believe it’s our first day in UA!?”
“I can’t believe it either!” You giggle along with her, taking in the sight that was the top hero academy of Japan.
It was finally the month of April.
The Cherry blossoms were blooming, symbolizing a time of renewal, a time for change and a time to turn over a new leaf.
Today is your first day in UA  Academy.
You still haven’t even grasped the fact that you even got in the first place.
Everything still feels so surreal.
The entrance exams and the excitement you felt whilst waiting for the results to release and now, you were about to step foot into the school of your dreams?
What an amazing start to your high school life indeed.
You and Ochaco were standing in the middle of the walkway, still in awe of all the pretty sights when someone bumped into you.
“Hey! Watch where you’re going!” You called out.
No response.
You turn to take a good look at the person who knocked against you and it was… a guy.
Blonde. Spiky Hair. Hand in his Pockets. Earphones on. His pants worn loose.
God, what a dork.
“It’s alright (Y/N)-chan! He probably didn’t hear us.” Ochaco assured you, trying to pull you away from him before you could even start a fight.
You sighed, turning to your friend with a smile. “Fine. Fineee. Shall we head to class?”
“Class 1-A! Here we go!” She holds onto your arm once more as the both of you giggle and hop your way into the classroom.
“Ochaco-chan! What are you saying!? You do know I got sorted into a different class right? I’m in Class 1-B!”
“A-ah! You’re right! I’m sorryyyy (Y/N)-chan!”
Bakugo turns his head to look back at your animated figure walking behind him. He stares at you for a good second whilst readjusting the earphone on his left ear, as he too, heads on his way to his Class 1-A.
There is something so delicate about time, so fragile. In a slight moment, you can miss something so pivotal, yet never have the chance to see or witness it ever again.
 Feeling the presence of the person you would be spending the rest of your life with, joining the dots in the sky, and wondering when your stars would align.
Until then, you will dream of him, and he will do the same. 
It was only a matter of time. You will cross paths again.
[❝ until I find the one where you’ll return to me.❞ ]
- Fin.
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ೃ taglist: @chibishae34​ @sparkykatsuki​ @ramunegoddess, @serossimpy @drinktheramune​
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meaty4spicedbuns · 3 years ago
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Headcanon SNK [Modern AU] - What you could find them listening in they playlist.
🌻Disclaimer before reading:🌻
Since I’m in those last chapters in the manga (I’m too nostalgic to finish it), they are all blocked to they last appearance (mostly they 20’s). Since it’s about music of those day, it’s a modern AU; basically, Eldia but in 2021! Everyone is friends, nobody died (because I’m still denying some) and this AU is just for fun,,,
✨This post engage MY opinion, and only MINE.✨
Author note : Little reminder that english isn't my first langage, so this post might contain some (if not, a lot) of mistake (syntax & grammar). I hope it won' bother the reading. And I love writing and sharing about music so I'll write more headcanon like that I think.
Starring : Erwin Smith, Miche Zacharias, Jean Kirstein & Hange Zoe
Those to come (that I'm still writting) : Armin Arlet, Kenny Ackerman, Levi Ackerman, Reiner Braun, Annie Leonhart, Eren Yeager and (MAYBE) Mikasa Ackerman.
You’re in your bedroom, listening some song. Usually when it’s about your music’s tastes, you’re into a little of everything and can switch from the newest song to some older one. But those days, even though your taste include a large variety of music, you’re getting more and more bored of your own playlist. And despite putting a big effort into finding new gold gems, you can’t put a finger on new good song.
You need to renew your Youtube/Spotify playlist.
And what the best way than to ask some advice?
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Erwin Smith:
You are looking all around for him. He’s not answering to his phone, and he’s neither in his office (which is weird because at this point Erwin in an indoor plant). So, you walk along the corridor, hoping to find him somewhere until you saw him through a window, training alone.
He’s so sweety from his training that his shirt draws perfectly his back muscle and you can’t stop yourself to stare at this perfectly cooked French fries. But Erwin is one of those soldiers that can literally feel if someone is staring at them, even in their back, or who is just simply near them. Therefore, you didn’t have a long stare before he turn back at you while you were walking toward him. He had those fancy sporty branded Bluetooth earplug because he like to be free of movement while training, so he took one off and ask:
“Need’ somethings (Y/N)?” He asked.
Since you saw that he was is a hardcore training session, you putted your training outfit to join him. You were bored after all, and it cost nothing to keep you in health when you have no other thing to do. Plus, it would be a cunning way to find some music recommendation from your elder.
“I thought I could take advantage of this well weather and move my ass, you declare.
“Good choice, the man answers with a smile.”
He’s about to put back his earplug when you just left you hand to get his attention.
“Yes?
“I just realized I completely forgot either my earplug or my phone too…” You’re twiddling your fingers together, giving a light smile “You mind letting your music on speaker?
“Well…” It’s a weird request you gave here, completely out of the usual one. He frowns a brow “I’m listening to some old’ music, I don’t think it’s going to suit your taste.
“I don’t mind, I listen to a little bit of everything!
“It at your own risk.”
Erwin lift his shoulder in a shrug moves, not wanting to demand why you ask that out of nowhere. He trusts you enough to do not judge his taste and went continuing his training.
And you couldn’t guess he were that kind of classic guys. The music where good though, made you remember those were existing since they are years old now. But yeah, you can’t judge, you had at least listen one of those when you were in your teen age around the 10’.
Author Note:
I imagine him as a feminist man. He is not into downgrading people nor into pushing women down. Let’s be clear: he like strong women and strong men. And you could find his taste in person into his taste in music. Husky voice, powerful message and strong women. Especially when his training.
I can completely imagine him listening to some Beyoncé’s music.
Playlist :
Beyoncé – Run the World
Beyoncé – Single Lady
Gwen Stephany – The sweet escape
Amy Winehouse – Rehab
Lady Gaga - Judas
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Mike Zacharias:
You know exactly one person who would have cool new music to discover from. This guy that had been, according to the rumour, a nice and cool ‘fuckboy’ during his teen. And, you have to admit, you still find him really cool (and sexy) for his thirties.
You’re running around the castle, going from the favourites spots of him you know. You end up finding him against a tree nearby the castle, all sweety and sleepy. The man just finished his chores and were trying to take a nap.
“Mike!” You call him from far away. The man lifts his hand in your direction, a very slight smile on his lips. When you arrived under the tree he is laying, you just put your ass on the grass and lay you head on his chest.
You both are close enough for you to trust him, and him too. It happens that someday you bring, for you both, things to drink and just casually spend your sleepy rest day together, laying outside and just passively talk.
“I need your help.” You finally say after resting your eyes for a good minute. “And I’m pretty sure you’re a man of good taste.
“Go on, he lazily answers. What’ your problem?
“I’m looking for new music to listen.”
You can feel his chest lift himself in a little chuckle.
“I’m kinda of an old’ fashion man by myself, he purred to himself. Check if you want, but I’m not sure ya going to like everything. Some are kind of out of date.”
He searches for his phone in his pocket, taking it out of one of those with a pair of messy earbuds. He turns it on and put you on his music library from his phone app. And you weren’t even surprise, looking through his music taste, that he had pulled some girl with his good, flirty, taste.
Author Note:
Mike would likely be a sweet guy, but still would impress just by his glare. Everybody think he’s a Don Juan, and of course he had been during his teenage years. He was young and would have played with that. And who know, maybe some song has story linked to it?
So of course, his music taste would had been influence by those years. The early rock time during the 00’ to 10’. He wasn’t as cliché as Liking Park, but let me said to you I’m pretty sure he would have some full album of AC/DC. But for the normal day, just chilling outside and listening to some, you could find him mostly listen to some Bruno mars, Justin Timberlake or The Weeknd between some old hit like Supermassive from Muse or some AC/DC.
Playlist:
Bruno Mars – That what I like.
Bruno Mars – Fall from Heaven
Justin Timberlake – Filthy
The Weekend – Can’t feel my face
Muse – Supermassive
Måneskin – Beggin’
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Jean Kirstein:
You would have look for him the whole damn day, but it feels like he completes disappear from earth surfaces. It only when you received his text that you realized he spend his day outside; it was his off days.
In his text, he proposes you for a drink, adding that they would be Connie, Sasha, Eren, Mikasa and Armin. Not everybody where off day, so when you went back to change yourself from the training outfit to something more ‘city’ vibe, you meet Armin on his way.
You both went to meet up the group at a bar. And the Bartender is pretty chill with everybody. They all aged up enough to drink, and know by the director of the pub so you all have a good seat in a corner far away from the crown. Everything is going so well.
So much you all decided to just go walk around and put your ass on the sand near a lake. Eren, Connie and Armin are the first of who took off they shoe to put they feet in the water. The moon went just up in the sky, but it still bright. At this time of the years, night fall around nine now, so you have more time to spend outside without worrying too much to be caught by the dark. Plus, the moon is bright tonight, putting a sweat atmosphere.
Jean took off a speaker from a little backpack he had with him. He links it up from his phone and put everything on the ground. He’s as excited as his friend to go play in the water, so it’s with his shoes barely took off that he run to them and jump on Eren. At this moment, you just sit on the ground. You were about to take off your shoes before your eyes gotten caught by Jean’s screen phone lighting from a notification. So, you shouted at the group:
“Jean! I’m checking your playlist!”
He turns to you and throw a thumb up at you. He’s about to go back to bother his friend before his eyes open wide and he turn again back at you:
“Wait! Please (Y/N)!”
At the same moment, you were looking through his Spotify before you realized a notification from twitter. Someone was mentioning his twitter account to which name were weirdly remember you one of those really popular account about Taylor Swift.
From the corner of your eyes, you see Jean running back to you. His away of reaction made you think he is trying to hide something, and it made you want to know what. So, you quickly went back on his Spotify. You just go through his playlist as fast as you can like a little sneaky rat, and check with a little smile, feeling he had something to hide. You have the time to see the “hook up” playlist and the “Best Taylor Swift song” Before Jean took back his phone from your hand.
When you lift your eyes to his face, you can guess he’s a little blushy mess. He just sight, seeing your smile:
“It stays between you and me, nobody else.
“Taylor Swift stan eh?
“She’s a Queen!”
You chuckle. It wasn’t obvious he would stan someone like her, but now that you know it, it doesn’t surprise you. Jean always likes strong women, and she’s fitting is the cases of a strong and independent woman.
“So, the twitter acc-
“Yes.”
That’s the only answer you got.
“So, now that I know your deepest secret, you really won’t mind his I keep continue looking through your playlist?
“Why do you want?
“Just looking for some new song to listen, I sand down mind until it’s dry. I need new thing to discover otherwise I’ll run mad.”
Jean rises a brow. He left a flirty smile appear and bend a little over you, he’s about to say something but you just guessed and cut it off:
“Yes, I’d like you to show me your ‘hook up’ playlist one day maybe?” A little wink from you and he lost his livelihood. “But can I get a preview first? Maybe I could add some too?
“Go on, he smiles back, I’d be curious to see your style.”
Author Note:
Let me tell you right now: I’m 99% sure Jean would be a Taylor Swift hardcore fan. He loves strong and independent women. And he is 100% a lover. He would likely defend Taylor in no matter what. In another hand, he would also listen to some classic music too of course. You could find a few The Weeknd (he’s not a very big fan, just save some for a more hotty moment). He’s also into old R&B too, or classic music like some’s of Robbie William music or Olly murs.
Playlist :
Avicii – Addicted to you
Taylor Swift – Look what you made me do
Taylor Swift – Bad Reputation
Robbie William – Candy
Olly Murs – Troublemaker
Estelle – American Boys
Backstreet boy – that way
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Zoe Hange:
You already know where to look at when you’re want to find them. Therefor you immediately go down the corridor, and took the stairs to reach the giant basement of the castle.
You went here so often that those dark alleys doesn’t even scare you anymore, neither those weirds noises coming from afar. And you’re about to scream Hange’s name while pushing the big wooden door, to only find one pair of eyes staring back at you after your entrance.
Moblit’s one actually. Surrounded by dark dust that took the form from the supposedly googled hanging around his neck. He looked like a raccoon at the moment. The poor man is laying on the ground, his hand stuck into a metal jar. You can see pick on a tear pearling a corner on his eye.
“I’m stu~uck, he murmurs in a desperate voice.
“Moblit, what happened?
“Too long to explain, he waggles his stuck hand in the air. Can you be sweetheart and pull that jar for me?”
Without needing any explanation for now, you shrugged and accept; poor Moblit had to pay for being the assistant of Hange.
You stand up on top of him still laying on the floor, and put a foot on his shoulder. Both hand on the metallic Jar, you tried to pull it over Moblit’s hand with him telling you how to turn it or to stop. And you both couldn’t containing you rage while the thing wouldn’t want to come out. Hence you just try to draw it even harder, putting your whole strength into it.
But suddenly, something caught your attention. A big slam caught you out of guard and made you startle. Your sweaty hand slipped of the jar and you fall, ass first, on the ground.
“Found it!” Scream Hanji while slamming the door behind them. “We can break it with that!”
They walk to Moblit and show a Handsaw right under his nose. The man swallows hardly, the metal from the handsaw is shining under the light, making it definitely looking like a thing they would use to torture someone. At this distance he can see his reflexion into it.
“Section commander Hange…” Moblit’s voice is clearly showing that he’s rather unsure of how the issue of this situation is going. “Maybe I should go to-
“What you’re saying ???” State Hange. “We’re going to easily cut it out your wrist with that!
“You know how to use it?
“Of course not, I’ve never handled one like that before, they never let me too…” For a few second, they are pensive, but came back to reality when Moblit click his tong. “But it’s seemed easy! I just trying it outside on a tree and it’s manageable!
“What ?!” He ran his free hand across his face, both done and scare. “Section commander- with respect- there is no way I’m going to let you approach me with this thing!
“Why Moblit ?!
“I don’t want to lose my hand!!!
“You’re not going to!!”
He stares at them without a blink of an eyes. And it where enough for them to forgot the idea. With a victorious sight, the man passes them, patting they shoulder, and went off the room.
“I wanted to try!” Say Hange once he’s gone. “Moblit is to frightens sometimes…
“I mean, he got a point, you say.”
Your voice surprised Hange. It almost like they were back in they thought and you just get them in the middle of it. It often happens that they completely forgot about people standing in the room until those talk. And when they realized the presence of you, they are gladly happy to realized they aren’t alone. After all, they spend so much time alone during their experiences that they learn to close themselves into their mind. You think that it’s mostly why Moblit had been assigned to monitoring them; At least it made them come back on earth from time to time.
“Come one (Y/N)!
“No, no, no, they got a point.” You shrugged.
Hange rolled they eyes, putting the handsaw away (but near enough so they would not forget to try it for some experience). They were about to go back to their office when their phone just ringed. It was a call from Levi, but it didn’t make them pick up the phone.
“He’s gonna come here anyway.” They say while pursing they lips. “Wanna’ help me for now?”
They pointed you. You shake your head with a wild smile which visibly is contagious. Hange, slap they hand together before telling you what to do. And that how you ended up walking around the lab, looking for thing they told you about while they decided to put, their playlist.
Hange is that kind of people that like to work with some sound, and you were also here for that. You love spending time with them, and plus they seem to have good taste; so, you were pretty sure you were gonna have a lot to listen later.
Author note:
As far as I’m concerned, Hange one’s was the hardest to find. I don’t know how to explain it but I can completely see them listening to some electro, slow, sexy music. I completely see seem listening the Queen of Stone Age with their deep voice and sound that made you travel through a sci-fi mood.
I’m pretty sure, in a modern era, they would love Sci-fi things and be impress to recreate what exist in TV show or movie. They would love all those nerds show like Star trek, Star Wars of even Superhero one. That would echo on they taste.
So, it’s either that kind of music, or soundtrack from those kind of movie/ TV Show. They surely would love the vibe which would made them travel far away and tickle they curiosity and imagination.
Playlist :
Queen Of the Stone Age – Make it Wit Chu (virgin magnetic material Remix)
Sohodolls – Ban Bang Bang Bang
Magdalena Bay – Killshot (Showed+ Reverse)
Pursuit Of Happiness - (Steve Aoki Dance Remix)
Two Feet – Fire in My Head
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truglori · 4 years ago
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Homebody (Ch.4)
Summary: Amiyah is the younger sister of local drug dealer (Durkio). Shy and reserved she keeps to herself and stays out the way. But lately she began to find interest in his right hand man/ best friend (Erik Stevens). Wanting to get him to notice her she discovers that he already had her wrapped around his finger without even trying! There was only a few problems that kept her away from her fantasies , her brother that controlled almost every single breath she took and would kill anyone who looked at her that way and lastly Eriks girlfriend, Alexis , who they called the queen of the hood according to her lavish lifestyle as well as being with the next newest top boy in the making. While Alexis was his girl to the streets all Amiyah wanted to do was be his Homebody...
Pairing: Erik Stevens x Thick OC
Warning: Language, teasing
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Her Spotify playlist resonated through her speakers in her room. Going back and forth between baking her face with a setting powder and checking the time on her Alexa, Amiyah prayed that she still had plenty of time to get dressed.
“Why the hell is time moving by so fast today?” She stressed walking to her closet. It was now 6:34pm which gave her lest than half an hour to finish.
Taking in consideration to what Erik asked her, she made sure to go out her way to put together a bomb outfit for the night. Amiyah didn’t want to be extra but she wasn’t trying to look boring either. After taking almost two hours to decide, with her ranksacking her wardrobe and overthinking she settled for a chocolate off the shoulder jumpsuit and paired them with a clear short heel.
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Walking to her body length mirror Amiyah checked both side profiles before standing in the middle.She tried her best stretching out the fabric just a bit to prevent it from making it seem like she had no breathing room. Then going to her breast she pulled it up to not show so much cleavage but contradicted her actions when she slipped it down trying to even it out.
“I want him to see them but not SEE them.” Slapping her hands on the side of her thighs she sighed.
She was overthinking again and her insecurities was starting to show. Reminding herself about the meditation tips she once read on she copied some of the steps that she could remember. Inhaling for three seconds and exhaling for five. She calmed her nerves.
The ringer from her phone echoed in the room. Looking at the caller Id it was Kelley FaceTiming her.
“Okay sis you look cute. Where we going?” Kelley asked as, from what it looked like from Amiyah’s view, she was getting into her car.
Unable to hold back her cheesy smile Amiyah informed her best friend ,with details, about what she was going to look forward to for the night. She felt like she was on cloud nine and she couldn’t come down.
“Wait so he’s taking you on a date?” Kelley asked genuinely happy that her friend was finally starting to put herself out there in the dating world.
“Well...” Amiyah hesitated.
“Oh God! What is that pause for?”
“I mean he asked me to hangout...isn’t that the same thing? Right?” Amiyah, completely oblivious of anything that had to do with dating or relationships.
“I don’t know honestly..but if he wants to see you then he HAS to be interested.” Kelley wanted to make sure that Amiyah would take in her friendly words of affirmation, not wanting to her to stress and end up renigging.
“Okay you’re right. But he should be on his way now so I’ll talk to you later and let you know how it went.” She blew air kisses to her.
“Alright babes have fun.”
Their call ended and it was a minute later she got a text from Erik letting her know that he was ten minutes away. She walked to her dresser and picked up her Carolina Herrera Good Girl perfume and sprayed on all of her pulse points so that the fragrance would emanate from her skin and into the air.
Throwing on her black waterfall duster coat she got one last glance at herself before walking into the livingroom. As she waited on the couch while taking pictures on Snapchat she heard a set of keys. Snapping for head towards the door she watched the bolt lock turn with the handle of the door and in came her brother.
He had his phone squished between his shoulder and ear showing that he was listening to someone on the other end of the call. His hand holding a Versace bag while the other closed the door locking it behind him. Eventually he glanced at her for a good three seconds and then looked away as he walked to his bedroom.
Amiyah sat confused as for the very first time her older brother didn’t bombard her with one hundred questions. But even though this was a first she still kept her guard up.
Hearing his footsteps again he appeared in back into the living. Phone still up to his ear, this time with him holding it. She studied as the expression on his face change from how he looked earlier which was, heedless to now showing curiosity. He stood there staring at her.
Maybe she spoke to soon.
“Hold on..hold on. I gotta call you right back.”
Without even waiting for a response Durk ended his phone call. Placing the phone back into his jeans front pocket he cocked his head to the side taking in the view of his little sister.
“What?” Amiyah spoke nervously as she kept her eyes on her phone and every now and then she would glance at him.
“I’m just trying to figure out where you think you going, and who you think you going with? That’s all?” He sat on the love seat across from her waiting on an reply.
Knowing that there was no way that she was going to tell her brother the truth about her going on a date with his right hand man/best friend, Amiyah had to make up a lie. That was essentially committing suicide for the both of them. Aside from that she wasn’t even sure if it was worth the risk to even tell him about was going on between her and Erik. She didn’t know if this would be something that could turn into a serious situation or ended up to be nothing at all.
“I’m going to dinner with Kelley.” The lie slipped easily through her lips.
“Dress like that?”
“What’s wrong with how I’m dressed?” She questioned really wanting to know from a mans perspective?
“Like you bout to go out to eat just to end up at some random ass nigga place to get fucked.”
Her mouth dropped opened. Tightening the belt on her jacket to close it she stared at her brother, shocked from his words. Taking a couch decorating pillow she threw it at him.
“Don’t talk to me like that Derrick.”
Whenever she would call him by his real name she was upset with him for real.
“Why you hitting me..you the one with ya tittes all out and now you sitting here lying talking about you going with yo friend.” He waved her off.
“I am. We planned this about a week ago.” Amiyah didn’t like to lie to her brother but she had to make it seem believable.
The familiar IPhone ringtone went off and she looked down and saw that it was Erik calling her. Being so occupied with her brother insulting her she didn’t realize that he sent her two text messages letting her know he was there.
Erik 💕: I’m here..ready when you are.
Erik 💕: I see your brother car out here. You good?
‘Oh my gosh not now Erik.’
She quickly declined his call. Amiyah looked at her brother with guilt written all over her face.
“Why you ain’t answer the phone? That’s yo nigga waiting for you? Pick it up!” Durk relaxed against the couch eyeing her.
“I don’t have a nigga and I already told you that I’m going to dinner with Kelley. That was her and she’s waiting for me now. Bye!”
Picking up her purse she walked to the front door. Before she even got a chance to unlock it, Durk was right next to her with his hand against it as he blocked the exit.
“Aight so I’ll walk you down.” He shrugged his shoulders.
Amiyah’s face scrunched up into a scowl.
“No! I don’t need you walking me down like I’m some child. I can handle myself. You’re always trying to control me-“
He cut her off. “Miyah don’t even start that shit. Just because I look out for you doesn’t mean I’m controlling you. I know how these niggas are around here and seen how they treat they shorties. So my bad if I’m helping you.”
“Okay and I understand but you have to trust me too. I’m very responsible and you know this. If I tell you I’m going one place than believe it...damn Durk sometimes I feel like you treat me like I’m your property instead of your younger sister.”
Amiyah expressed her true feelings. She felt as if she had no breathing room. Deep down she knew that her brother just wanted to protect her but she was getting older and due to his overprotective-ness it was causing her missed opportunities.
“Durk I never go anywhere. You know this. All I want to do is just hang out with my friend without you hounding me.” She gave him her best pout.
“I don’t hound you.” Shaking his head he sat back down on the couch.
“You’re right you don’t.” Amiyah stated sarcastically but agreeing just to get his approval.
There was a silent pause for one minute.
“You taking yo ass to dinner and coming right back?”
Nodding her head rapidly. “Yes.”
“Miyah let me find out you lying to me I’ma get my homeboy Erik to follow yo ass and find out who you fucking around with.” Durk scolded her.
“Okay, gotta go!”
‘Boy only if you knew.’
She thought to herself as she bit her lip to refrain from smiling. Unlocking the front door and opening it she wave a quick goodbye and began a fast pace walk to the elevator pressing on the down button. Not taking any chances she wanted to get out of the building as quickly as possible. The doors opened and she walked inside. Picking up her phone she called Erik. It only rung two times before he answered.
“Hey you still alive.” He gave a soft chuckle.
“Whatever. I’m coming now. I’m in the elevator. Can you do me a favor?” She asked with a soft tone.
“Wassup?”
“I need you to park a little bit further down. I’ll walk to you.” The elevator doors opened and she stepped out strolling to the entrance.
“Yeah. I got you. I’ll be two houses down to the right.”
“Okay thank you.” She ended the call.
While in his car Erik reconnected his phone back to the USB charging cord. He sighed as he took his car out of park and moved up to the location where he told her he was going to be. Shaking his head with the realization the he really had to sneak around with this girl. He was a grown man hiding from another grown man the fact that he wanted to take his younger sister out. Never in all his years of dealing with the opposite sex, he had to be this discreet. This was a new level.
Finding a place to park he left his car running and got out. Walking to the passenger side he leaned on the hood and waited for her to reach him. She came into view a minute later. Checking her out he noticed that she had make up on. This was the first time he saw her with it. It wasn’t a need for her though because she was already stunning with her natural features.
“Look who made it out alive!” He grinned poking at her.
Rolling her eyes but still blessing him with the sight of her beautiful smile she hit him playfully.
“Shut up.” Her laughed echoed through his ears.
“C’mere.” He clasped her hand bringing her body into his. His arms embrace her as they found their way around her waist.
Amiyah welcomed the act of affection swaddling her arms around his torso. He chuckled removing her arms. Lightly grasping her wrists with both of his hands he brought them around his neck before returning back to his previous position. It was his way of teaching her how to hug him correctly for next time.
Leaning in her neck Erik whispered against her supple skin.
“Hold me like this mama.” His body rocked them side to side.
Amiyah almost felt her eyes rolled to the back of her head when she felt his lips touch her neck. He was the epitome of being a tease and knowing what he was doing to her body. If this man was to tell her to jump she was going to take off her heels then asked him how high. Erik was the walking definition of having a sex appeal without even trying.
Their movements ceased and came face to face with one another again. Erik’s hands now relaxed on her hips. He leaned against his car to give himself room to fixate his eyes over her body. Her black coat covered her outfit. Taking his hand he began to untie the jacket belt.
Amiyah grabbed his hands halting his actions. She looked around before bringing her eyes back to his.
“What are you doing?” Her voice shaked.
“Let me see you.” His hand went up to her chin tapping it gently.
Being successful this time, he unfastened the waistband and revealed her wardrobe. Erik’s eyes gazed at her figure. Her tittes sat up flawlessly. The way her cleavage showed had Erik tempted to pull the fabric down and suck on the pillowy like flesh.
“You look too good right now.” His dimples appeared as he spoke. He closed her jacket and tied her belt.
Amiyah bashfully looked away. Butterflies being introduced to her stomach.
“Thank you...it was just something I threw on.” She nonchalantly responded pretending to be unbothered from him practically eye fucking her.
Erik’s eyebrows raised. “ Oh just like that make up too, huh?”
“Whatever Erik can we go before my brother come chasing after me?” She slipped her hand into her jacket pocket to make it warm as she waited for his next move.
“My bad mama. Here you go.” Erik opened the car door for her. Waiting until she was inside safely he closed it after her and strode to the drivers side.
“I like your outfit by the way.” Amiyah chose to make conversation once he got settled in.
“Thank you. I can’t even lie I was tryna look good for you.” Speaking honestly as he observed his outfit. His head then relaxed against the seat. “What you think?”
“You look really nice to me Erik.” She shyly retorted but giving a sincere opinion.
Prior to getting acquainted with Erik, Amiyah always found herself intrigued with his sense of style. Making that another reason for her to be attracted to him.
“Damn just nice..I was going for fine but fuck it I’ll take it” He fastened his seatbelt, drove off and en route to the movie theater.
“Oh my God. You are so extra.” Laughing she made herself busy with her phone, going back and forth between scrolling and taking small glimpses of the road.
“Can I ask you a question?”
His deep voice had her melting right in the front seat.
“Yeah but you just asked one.”
He snickered. “What’s your favorite color?”
“Purple, why?”
“ I’m trying get to know you that’s all.”
“Oh okay well it’s purple. What’s yours?” Pressing down on the power button of her phone she place it in her purse.
“Black.”
“Black? Really?” She stated questionably.
“Amiyah don’t start no shit with me.” Erik laughed as he looked at her.
“ Erik, me and you both know that black is the most basic color you can think of-“
“And purples not?”
“No it’s not and it’s actually the color of royalty thank you very much.” She fluttered her eyelashes sarcastically.
“Okay princess, you got it...It’s still ass.”
Amiyah grew warm from the new nickname in spite of the insult he made about her favorite color.
Erik laughed as she rolled her eyes for the umpteen time that night. He wasn’t actually making fun of her color, he just wanted to help her calm her nerves with some light play. She looked tensed to him just sitting there on her phone. If he didn’t know any better he would have thought that she wasn’t feeling him at all but he knew it was just her introverted ways.
Turning on the radio to break the silence, he went to the local hip hop station. Juicy by Biggie Smalls resonated through the vehicle. Bobbing his head to the beat with a little bounce of his shoulders Erik started rapping the lyrics.
“This my shit. You don’t know nothing about this, huh?”
“Whatever yes I do. This a classic.” Amiyah bobbed her head as well grinning.
“Nah you too young.”
He rapped a bit more before Amiyah jumped in and joined him.
“I'm blowin' up like you thought I would
Call the crib, same number, same hood
It's all good
And if you don't know, now you know, nigga”
Erik’s eyes lit up surprised she knew the words. Most of the ladies he been out with in the past always pretended to have the same interest in music as him but would never be able to recite one line from the song. His lips curved into a smile.
“Okay you valid. But that don’t count because everybody know that song.” He joked
“Why you always trying to play me Erik.” Amiyah sighed playfully.
They finally arrived at the movies. It was Saturday night so of course the parking lot was overfilled with cars. Finding a parking spot close to the entrance, Erik turned his car off and hopped out strolling to Amiyah’s side and opened her door. He held out his hand to assist her.
“Thank you.” Her eyes gleamed.
He drew his lower lip between his teeth. “I got you.”
Closing the door behind her, he clicked the lock button on his key fob. Amiyah started to walk to the building. She was stopped in her tracks. Erik grasped her hand intertwining their fingers and began to walk next to her. She peered down at them and beamed.
“What movie you want to watch?”
They were now standing in front of the movie display booth where you could purchase a ticket without waiting in line. Erik kept scrolling until she spoke up.
“I want to watch that one. Monster Hunter.”
He gave her a blank stare.
“What?”
“Do you even know what it’s about?” He chuckled.
“Yes a little bit. All I know is that it has T.I and Megan Good in it, so I want to see it.”
“Wait you said Megan Good. Bet.” His lips formed into a smirk.
Erik’s fingers tapped on the movie icon. Purchasing two tickets he waited for them to print before separating them and handing her one. Amiyah received the ticket as she gave him a dirty look. Jealous about his comment she walked to the concession stand to wait in line without him. Erik felt the feeling of jealousy radiating off her body language. She had a little attitude on her. Following her footsteps he stood behind her invading her space. His chest to her back. Erik’s head dipped down between the area of her neck and shoulder that was exposed laying a soft kiss on it.
“What you mad about....Hm?” The breath from his words bounced off of her skin.
Amiyah felt her pussy jump. Crossing her right leg over the left she clenched her thighs. Too afraid to even speak she bit her inner jaw and shook her head instead. Not long after she felt his strong hand travel around her waist to her front slipping in the inside of her jacket. He gripped her pudge. Amiyah’s small hand quickly wrapped around his forearm bringing it down.
“Erik!” She gasped out loud. Looking around and hoping she didn’t draw any unnecessary attention.
Her head tilted up due to the height difference to stare in his eyes. She was surprised she could even make contact after that stunt.
“I asked you a question so answer me.” His low voice demanded her.
“Nothing.” Hers barely coming out as a whisper.
He knew she wasn’t telling the truth but he didn’t want to push it out of her. Erik wanted her to be the one to make a decision about being honest with him. She had to make that step. But along with that he knew that she would have to trust him first. His hand roamed up to her exposed neck and lightly clenched it forcing her to move closer to his body as if was anymore capable. Amiyah felt the chill of his ice pinky ring as it laid against her skin. The sticky lipgloss that she wore created a tiny saliva string as her lips parted. Erik eyed the full plump flesh feeling enticed to suck on them.
“Chill, aight.” He waited for her to nod before he removed his hand as the line moved forward.
Fuck me. Were the words she wish she could tell him if she had the confidence to. At this moment she felt her natural sticky lubricant attach to her panties. She created a wedged with her underwear between her lower lips from all of the thigh clenching. None of it helped at all, it only generated a small amount of friction leaving her wanting more. She felt the walls of her vagina contract around nothing.
‘Did this nigga just grab my throat in the movie theater?’
She thought to herself touching the area where his hand left. Amiyah kept her eyes fixed on him as he ordered the drinks and snacks for the movie. She watched the way he would point at an item whenever he wanted the employee to get it for him. The way his jaw would tighten every now and then. Not in an angry way but out of habit. She took note of all these things.
“You ready?” Erik wandered back to her handing her some candy and a medium lemonade.
“Yeah. Thanks for buying the ticket and this other stuff.” She moved a piece of hair behind her ear looking away sheepishly. Her mood switched from a few minutes ago.
Erik sipping from the straw of his Powerade observed it.
“Told you I got you.”
_______________________________________
Bendix Diner was one of Amiyah’s top five hidden restaurants in the city where she loved to eat. It was and old fashioned style restaurant that always gave her an aesthetic vibe every time she went there. Currently seated at their table she flipped over the menu searching to see what she might have a taste for. Their family made apple cider donuts were her favorite item from the desert section. It’s been a few months since she had one and now being here she craved it.
Looking up at Erik she monitored his activity. He was checking out the art hanging on the walls seeming to be amused by it. His eyes shifted back to her. Wanting to pretend she wasn’t staring at him like a creep she informed him about a dish on the menu.
“Their Turn Me Loose meal is really good. It comes with catfish and jalapeño hush puppies. You should try it.” She gave him her recommendation.
Erik made a face. “I don’t fuck with seafoood.”
“Oh I’m sorry.” Amiyah apologized feeling embarrassed from assuming.
Erik picked up on. “Don’t stress it. How were you supposed to know I don’t like seafood? Don’t be to hard on yourself mama.” His hand reached across the table and caressed hers lightly offering his reassurance.
She sent a half smile. “What do you like then?”
Erik paused and bit his bottom lip. Deep dimples showing themselves from the action.
“You.”
Her eyes shifted towards the window seeing that it became fogged up due to the pouring rain that was coming down relentlessly. With nothing but the barely audible music coming from the intercom through the restaurant, Amiyah felt as if he can hear her heart beating through her chest.
“I meant food Erik.”
“You can be that too. Ain’t never have nobody eat you like you was a full-course meal before?” He asked her on the spot.
“You..are..” She shook her head. “Ridiculous. You know that.” Not having a comeback, those were the only words she could produce without stuttering.
Sighing and smirking he leaned back. “I’ve been called worst. But how you find out about this place. It’s low key as fuck. I like it.” He changed the subject.
Pleased with the compliment she responded. “I used to come here with my dad when I was younger. That was before he went to-“
“Prison.” He finished her sentence.
The look of confusion approached her face.
“Durk told me about him a few years ago.” He informed not meaning to alarm her.
“Did he tell you he was doing life without parole as well?”
Erik nodded his head.
She scoffed. “They said that he was the head of a drug ring but I don’t believe it. I mean I never remembered him being away from us long enough to even have the time to do that.”
“Sometimes we hide certain things from the people we love so that they won’t get hurt. And I’m not trying to insinuate anything when I say that.” He spoke honestly.
“No you’re right. But the last time we were here together I was thirteen. He took me here after picking me up early from school. It just sucks that I can’t even remember anything about that day but I want to so bad.”
Erik nodded his head totally understanding what she went through. He dealt with his own lost at a young age as well.
“I lost my father too. I was eleven when it happened. He was murdered. So when I tell you I know what you been through I’m not just saying that shit.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Her face soften when she seen his eyes sparked with hurt.
“You gotta learn how to live and heal right?”
Nodding her head in agreement she used her thumb to tenderly stroke his fingers. They were still holding hands the whole time as they shared a moment to be vulnerable with each other. It was intimate. That’s when she realized she had more in common with him than she thought.
“What about your mom? If you don’t mind me asking?” She desired to know more about him.
“I never got to know her. She passed away while giving birth to me.”
Erik felt his mood change with the thought of never being able to experience a true mother’s love. After the death of his father he was tossed back and forth from home to home in foster care. None of the caretakers genuinely cared for him, all they thought about was a paycheck.
“My mom overdosed when I was in high school. That’s why I live with Durk now. He’s been taking care of me ever since. I guess with everything that happened he had to find a way to survive for the both of us which lead him to the streets. Durk had his run in with the law but after our mom he became someone different.”
Amiyah spilled everything out on the table not holding back. She never had someone who she could vent to that would actually listen. Kelley was her best friend but she even kept some secrets from her. Amiyah was always afraid that one day the same person she trusted with everything would turn around and hurt her. From the moment she laid eyes on Erik she never thought that. In her eyes he looked as if he was a walking journal that she could expose all of her deepest darkest secrets to and not have to worry about one of them getting leaked.
“Now I see why your brother protects you the way he do. He just don’t want to see you hurt anymore.” His eyes gazed into hers making her feel small.
“Well, sorry If I ruined the mood. It’s been a minute since I’ve talked to someone for real.”
“I’m here for whenever. Only a phone call away.”
The waitress came around and sat a vanilla milkshake with whip cream in front of her and a water with lemon in front of Erik. Amiyah recognized her from the many times she been there.
“Are y’all ready to order.”
“Yeah, let me get your Turkey wrap heated up with a side of french fries.” Erik picked up his menu handing it to her.
Writing it down she took his menu and smiled.
“Okay and for you miss Amiyah.”
Her lips curled up bashfully.
“I’m going to get the honey dipped chicken with French fries as well. Thanks Stephanie.”
Going back to her pad she marked it down. “None of our famous donuts today?”
Erik looked over and read the hesitation over her face so he answered for her.
“We’ll take four of whatever they are.”
“Alrighty. I’ll be back with your meal in fifteen.”
The waitress disappeared into the kitchen.
“You didn’t have to do that, Erik.”
“What? I wanted to try their famous donuts. Oh you thought I ordered them for you?” He laughed.
Rolling her eyes she heard her phone buzzed. Reaching inside the pocket of her coat that was laying next to her she got a text from her brother.
Durk 🤬: When you comin home?
She sighed and text back.
Amiyah ☔️: I’ve only been gone for two hours..I’ll be back soon.
Placing the phone back in her pocket she put her attention on her milkshake taking her first sip of the night. Erik watched the way her lips wrapped around the straw as her cheeks sunk in whenever she sucked to taste some of the creamy treat. His tongue swiped over his top lip lightly.
“Let me get some..” His eyes darted between the milkshake and her lips.
Laughing she shook her head. “No, why didn’t you order one?”
“Because I was thirsty and I needed some water. But that looks good as fuck.”
“So then just order one Erik.”
He smacked his lips. “I don’t want a whole one I just want some.”
Giggling she pulled her beverage away hiding it from his view.
Erik’s eyes glinted before he got out on his side and slid next to her in her part of the dining booth. His right thigh hitting her left plush one causing it to ripple from the sudden movement. Having one arm behind her and the other reaching for her drink he leaned in.
“Stop playing and give me a sip.”
Now being backed into the corner she was trapped. Still firm with her answer she shook her head sipping once more.
“You not gon give me nun.” Biting that bottom lip Amiyah felt that came out as a double meaning.
Tired of going back and forth she gave in and slid her drink to him.
“Just a sip. That’s all!”
Erik nodded but not really listening, took the straw into his mouth and sucked the liquid. He didn’t have a big sweet tooth but he had to admit that the milkshake was fire. Taking more than what he was told he sat it down after gulping more than half of it. He leaned against the booth. One arm still around her.
Her mouth dropped as she studied that half her drink was already gone.
Smacking her lips she pushed at his chest. “Erik I told you not to drink that much...now look.” She whined picking up her cup to show him.
“Damn you can’t be hitting me like that on the first date, Amiyah.” His free hand rubbed the area pretending that it hurt.
She caught his words that slipped from his mouth. “I thought you asked me to hang out? You didn’t say nothing about a date.”
“What you want it to be?” Erik sized her up with his deep throaty voice close to her ear. Her scent filled his nose making his dick twitch.
She gave him a once-over before looking a way.
He grabbed her chin gently bringing her face millimeters away from his. “What you want it to be baby girl?” His eyes drawing her in with a lustfull gaze.
“I want a date.” Her lower lip quivered and skin apprearing flustered.
“Then let it be that.”
Erik couldn’t hold back anymore as his lips connected with hers. He gave her two soft pecks at first just to warm her up before giving a full lingering kiss. He tilted his head going to left making hers do the same. The taste of the vanilla coming off of her mouth drove him crazy. She was tasting as sweet as she looked. Her kissing compared to his were lighter and didn’t apply enough pressure like they should have.Letting his free hand travel up to her neck for the second time that night, he lightly squeezed before pulling away from her lips.
“Kiss me for real...” He bit her bottom lip and tugged it while watching her reaction. Her body shuddered.
Amiyah’s toes curled. Her stomach filled up with butterflies as she felt his hand around her throat. Her mind at the moment felt high. She didn’t really know what she was doing, just trying her best to keep up with the man in front of her. Mocking his actions she pressed more into the kiss and brought her hand to his cheek to give herself leverage.
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Breaking them apart was the sound of a phone ringing. Erik reached in his pocket and pulled it out. Reading the caller ID he threw his head back blowing out air.
“Fuck..” He stated agitated.
Wiping her lips she looked at him. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s your brother, Durk.”
_______________________________
Please excuse any mistakes!
Tag-list
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iantimony · 9 months ago
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i once again am overwhelmed by stupid busywork. Get Me Out
listening: finished the counter/weight prequel eps! feels good to be listening to a friends at the table thing in-time with when they're released, lol. i fully laughed out loud at the heartfelt moment between aria and hymn being interrupted by austin's fucking ice machine. incredible. no notes. "people are gonna go insane about aria in this one" keith you are SO right.
music for the week was the spotify release radar! just gettin some new tunes. i'm thinking of making a playlist that's just the songs that i like from release radar and the at the end of the year i can have a New Of 2024 list, idk. i AM going to try and be more discerning about what things i post, though - it would be very easy to just drop a huge list of all the songs on there that i kinda liked with no commentary but i think it'll be more fun to do fewer songs and actually talk about them, y'know?
philadelphia (matt maltese): feels like a mug of tea. very soft. nostalgic for something i've never seen. travels (rob blivion): really does seem like it should be playing over some indie film montage of someone travelling through mists in the scottish highlands. harsh truths (lemoncello): another indie soundtrack song. i think there's a bass in the background? although in retrospect i think it's a cello. lemoncello. duh. anyways it's very good. burning down the house (paramore): this is SUCH a fun cover. what can't paramore do for real. oh no::he said what? (nothing but thieves): BOUNCY. toe tapper. i am driving down a neon highway at 10000mph. coming home song (sammy rae & the friends): back to wistful and nostalgic. feels a certain kind of way especially right now because i am in the process of finding a new apartment, entirely alone for the first time. jolene (maneskin & dolly parton): speaking of really fun covers, yes yes yes. everything i would have wanted from this.
honorable mention to love me not (emei). i do not like this song particularly. it is stuck in my head though.
reading: fallow.
watching: just like last week: with the boyf, the newest dungeon meshi, i loved the way they animated the mimic. then some kill la kill. we're up to episode 11 now, almost halfway! also went to a superbowl party sunday. basically what you'd expect. fun socializing though.
playing: only had the one dnd last weekend, the one i run! went well. definitely was kinda sleepy and not as focused as i'd like. sigh.
making: mostly fallow...i cut out some of the border pieces for my handsewing project in a nice matching solid blue during the superbowl but have not attached any of it yet. started idly crocheting a rectangular prism-shaped object to use as a mtg deck case.
drew a little birthday card for my grandma i guess? mostly watercolor pencil, some prisma marker for the background. can't be assed to rotate it the right way, sorry, lol
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pottery-wise, i did not take pictures but i have some fun interesting stuff in the works! biiiiig pot for my mom (got a little busted. but i think it'll make it). mug. glazing a bowl using sgraffito to carve out some waves (my roommate accidentally dinged the rim and i'm incorporating that into the design). did not take any pictures last week but i'll get some tomorrow for the next tuesdaypost.
eating: my roommate made a truly enormous focaccia in a 9x13 glass baking dish to cut into super bowl party sandwiches. they were delicious and we are still eating them for lunch basically every day. she also made a marinated beef bulgogi-type object, served over rice with veg and a fried egg and some spaghetti squash...yumb.
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misc: i can't even be like "i just have to make it through this week" because i know next week will look literally exactly like this one (homework due wednesdays for one class, fridays (plus ANOTHER assignment alternating wednesdays) for the other). really bad vibes. just gotta make it through this week this semester.
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crimsonheart01 · 4 years ago
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Sugarplums (Oliver Wood x Female!Reader)
A/N: This is dedicated to @thegirlwhowritesfics​ and @juniperjane​. No particular reason. None at all. It’s not like they were the ones to anonymously request this! This is just a random dedication of my love to them! 
Prompt: “Are you humming the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy?” Word Count: 1.9K words Playlist: Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy - Tchaikovsky [Spotify] [YouTube] Warnings: None
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“Statistically speaking, that’s impossible!” Her statement rang across several tables in the Great Hall.
She hadn’t yelled, but her voice carried. All the chatter and buzz came to an immediate halt, nothing but the sound of a bench scraping across the floor. She didn’t even bother looking up from the paper in her hand. She ducked her head down, rolling her lips together to hide the smirk growing. She chuckled to herself as she heard the collection of whispers make their way up the aisles between the tables.
He’d been arguing his point for weeks now, and while she appreciated his enthusiasm, it needed to end somewhere. Everyone knew it was impossible, himself included. Today seemed like a fine day to really rile him up. The final day of classes before Christmas hols, it was the perfect storm. It also helped that he was halfway there on his own anyway. His voice had been climbing up over the chatter from the Gryffindor table. She knew they were on his side. True to their namesake, the pride of lions always stuck together.
Regardless, she thoroughly enjoyed a good debate, especially with one such Gryffindor. Logic superseded a lot of their banter, but on this particular topic, he was a dog with a bone. Refusing to let go or give up. The sounds of his footfalls drifted up into the swirl of his robes while he walked. She knew he had a flair for the dramatic when he was on a tangent, and he was in peak form this morning.
Two of her classmates skirted in opposite directions on the bench across from her. Keen to avoid his approach. No one had ever challenged him in general. Not Oliver Wood, the headstrong Gryffindor. Not Oliver Wood, Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Not when it came to the one game he was being scouted for. The one game where his talent exceeded everyone’s expectations. Smarts aside, quidditch was his and most definitely, not hers.
“Strong words coming from someone who doesn’t even follow quidditch.” He accused, his voice low and on the verge of shaking.
She lifted her eyes to regard him, her face a mask of indifference, “You think that just because I don’t obsess over it, it means I don’t keep track of the most popular wizarding sport?”
He scoffed at her, reaching down and pressing his palm flat over the paper she held. Their eyes connected as he hovered over the Ravenclaw table, pushing the paper down so that she would give him his undivided attention. She made a show of blinking innocently up at him. He narrowed his eyes briefly, starting to understand the game she was initiating.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” He determined, licking his bottom lip in irritation.
A collective gasp could be heard amongst the other students, even a few smug sniffs from the Gryffindor table. Head Girl and the Captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team in a tiff. In front of all to see. Every eye in the castle trained on the two of them. Even the teachers were straining to listen in. She chuckled to herself. She wondered how many of them were hedging their bets. It was common knowledge to the older students that the professors got a good laugh out of the typical house rivalries. They joined in on their own terms, always in good fun—a way to keep up morale and to encourage healthy competition.  
She tugged her hand out from under his grip and finally lifted her head to acknowledge him fully. The torch he held for Portree was misguided in his patriotism, believing beyond any doubt that they were taking the world cup this year. It was the only time he became irrational about how the game really worked. She enjoyed his dedication to his country’s national team and his childhood favourite team, but again, this argument was weeks old now, and they weren’t advancing anywhere near the top of the league. Not this year.
“Puddlemere has a higher scoring average. Their Chasers score an average of 215 each game, without calculating in the caught snitch points. Even if Portree won their next game by 150 points, they’re still fourth in the league overall.” She dismissively explained, “You saying that they’re on track to come first is like saying the Canons will win their next game. It’s statistically impossible.”
Everyone knew the Canons were just a filler team. They hadn’t won a game in the last century and weren’t likely to win one in the next. She gave him a smug grin as she laid it all out for him. He narrowed his eyes at her, curling his hand into a fist, his knuckles turning white. He knew she was right but didn’t want to admit defeat. Oh no, not him. Not the quidditch all-knowing, Oliver Wood. He could never.
“Scoring average aside,” He countered, “Their newest recruits for the season have played well beyond any expectations, and they still have chance on their side. If Puddlemere loses the next two games, regardless of points, they drop out of the winning and it makes room for the other teams to move up.”
He stood up, straightening his back and crossed his arms over his chest. Proud of his statement, of his deductions. She let out a condescending laugh at his stance, looking back down at her empty plate for a second. When she glanced back up, she could see his resolve starting to crumble. He was doing the math in his head. He’d figured out that he was off base. That even though he had faith, the numbers weren’t on his side.
“You want to place your faith on the best team in the British league losing their next two games? Even after they’ve won every single one up until this point. You want to ride on the fact that they might choke? A maybe?” She cocked her head to the side, knowing that she had him right where she wanted him, “Care to place a wager on that?”
Her eyebrows lifted into her hairline as she stared at him, strongarming him to make the losing bet or admit defeat.  The hall fell into a tense silence, waiting for the outcome. She was sure others had caught up with the data, the proof that Pride of Portree wasn’t winning any cups this year.
He faltered, and everyone saw it. Everyone saw the fall in his confidence. The whispers grew again, as those who knew about quidditch were informing those who weren’t avid fans. Oliver took a deep breath in and stared over at her, shocked that he’d been beaten at the game. Mostly because he’d been beaten by the least likely person he expected it from.
In hindsight, he should’ve known she’d be the only one to best him. She always did. She was the only person who could. It was why he loved her. She could go up against the best in any debate and come out victorious. Without a chance to rectify his downfall, the bells rang, signalling breakfast over and time to get on to their classes.
Excitement rose into the air as benches scratched along the stone floors and books were scraped up off the tables. She grinned up at Oliver, and he shook his head, a small smile creeping in. He turned around and headed back to his table to gather his effects before exiting the hall. He could feel the stares of the younger students were giving him. All the while, they were murmuring behind their hands to one another. The “it” couple of the year had a public row. Little did they all know, it was a ploy. One that she put into place to get him to see reality. There was never a hint of animosity between them, and even if there had been, it dissipated when she thoroughly bested him in his top subject.
~(HP)~
Students continued to file out of the great hall, the volume of their conversations rising as they retold the events of breakfast. Several versions began circulating, all from a different house’s perspective. She enjoyed hearing the snippets as she travelled along the sides of the table. Every version with its own telling features. Quite a few long sighs from the younger kids about how romantic it all was. A few chest thumps from the older ones who defended Wood’s devotion. Almost everyone with a quiet whispered holiday wish that they would find someone to share in their passions as equally as they did with each other.
She found him standing a ways outside the opened doors and grinned over at him. In her glory, she kept up a quiet tune while she strolled in his direction. Something about the electricity in the air had her feeling light. Upon reaching him, she lifted up onto her tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek.
“Are you humming the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy?” He asked, mystified at how her genuine good mood had him feeling uplifted even after that spectacular defeat, “It’s incredibly ominous considering our current situation.”
She laughed and shrugged her shoulders. He sighed but smiled over at her. She leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder while his arm slipped around her middle and clung to her. He tilted his head so that his laid on top of hers while they stood admiring the snowy grounds.
“I’m never going to live this down,” He murmured to her.
She nodded, “Oh, I know.”
He couldn’t help but laugh. If there was anyone in this castle that could school him in the sport of his passion, it was her, hands down—the only person to be able to keep up with him on statistics and gameplay. Even the most die-hard fans couldn’t retain the same amount of knowledge she did. There were times when even she gave him a run for his money. He had to give kudos to her house. She was most definitely sorted correctly. After a long moment, they both turned together and began walking down the corridor towards their next class.
“I guess I’ll have to get you a new present now,” He sighed, purposely sounding forlorn.
She furrowed her brows as she glanced up at him, “Why’s that?”
He frowned, “I can’t very well gift you with a Portree jersey that has my name emblazoned across the back when you don’t even support the team, now can I.”
She stopped abruptly and grabbed his hand, tugging him around to face her. He trained his face into a cool mask of disinterest, hoping that she could piece it together herself.
“Ollie, what are you saying?” She bit her lip, the shock of his statement settling in.
He smirked at her, and she squealed, jumping up to gather him in her arms.
“They signed you!” She whispered excitedly into his chest, “You got first draft! You’re going to be the Keeper for Portree? To think, the term is barely over, and they’ve already committed!”
He laughed along with her, keeping his arms tight around her back. He held her close to him, enjoying how thrilled she was for his news. It was an anxiety he’d had since the end of last year, but thankfully all the extra training he put in over the summer and with the first few games of the year under his belt, the recruiters were impressed and offered him an early contract.
When she let go of him, she held his biceps tightly and grinned, “I’ll proudly wear the losing team’s jersey if it has your name on it.”
His mouth dropped open in disbelief, but he couldn’t help the laugh that escaped.
He took her hand in his, threading their fingers together and held his head high, “With me as their keeper, we won’t be the losing team anymore.”
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swan-of-sunrise · 4 years ago
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The Winter Soldier (Chapter Four)
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Summary: (Y/N) and Sam worry about their new super-soldier friend after it’s revealed that he’s on the run and wanted by S.H.I.E.L.D., the very agency he’d dedicated himself to.
Pairing: Steve Rogers X Reader
Word Count: 1.3k
Warnings/Disclaimers: None
A/N: Hope you all enjoy!
Chapter Four (Previous Chapter)
“It’s such bullshit! Captain America’s a criminal now?!”
“I know, Greg.”
“They haven’t even said what he’s done!”
“Yep, it’s ridiculous…”
“How can they organize a manhunt for him but not say what he’s supposedly done?!”
(Y/N) pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a frustrated groan. “Greg, you’re my friend and I love you but I can’t keep having this conversation with you.”
The line was silent for a moment. “What do you mean?”
“We’ve been having the exact same conversation for almost a half an hour! You can’t believe that Cap’s a criminal, I agree, you complain that they haven’t said what he’s wanted for, I agree, then you start going all ‘Law and Order’ on me!” She exclaimed, immediately regretting her outburst; with a sigh, she sat down in her desk chair and rubbed her forehead. “I’m sorry, Greg, that was rude. I don’t like what’s going on either; Captain America stands for freedom and honor, he always has, and it just seems…wrong that he’s the subject of a manhunt. I seriously doubt that Captain America of all people did anything to break the law.”
“Wow, when did you become such a big Cap fan?”
“I went to his exhibit when I was at the Air and Space Museum yesterday, and I guess it got me interested.” (Y/N) half-lied, fidgeting with the sleeve of her sweater as she pressed her phone closer to her ear. “Anyway, the reason I called was to tell you that it might take me a little longer to get the draft of my book to you; I still need to look over the last couple of chapters and with everything happening…it might be hard to focus on writing today.”
“Don’t worry about it, Mike’s busy reading through a nine-hundred-page thriller that was sent in this morning so that’ll give you some time. Sorry to cut this short but I’ve gotta go, I have to check on mine and Mara’s dinner reservation for tonight, so I’ll talk to you later, (Y/N)!”
“Talk to you later, Greg!” (Y/N) hung up and set her cell phone down on the desk with a sigh. Ever since she and Sam turned on the television at breakfast and saw the breaking news, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was horribly wrong; Steve Rogers wouldn’t be on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D. unless he had a damn good reason to be. I’m sure he’s fine, he’s probably been through much tougher scrapes than this, she thought to herself with forced optimism as she turned on her laptop and began typing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Humming along to Billy Joel’s ‘Movin’ Out’, (Y/N)’s fingers flew across her keyboard as she typed and she smiled, proud of the fact that her writer’s block from the week before was now officially over and that she was so close to completing her very first novel. Not bad, not bad at all, she thought, hitting the ‘save’ button and stretching her arms over her head to relieve the build-up tension in her shoulders.
“Now this is good music, Booksmart!”
She spun her desk chair around to see Sam standing in the doorway of her bedroom and raised her eyebrow as she turned down her music. “Oh, so Billy Joel’s okay but everything else I listen to is garbage?”
Sam gave her a teasing eye-roll. “I never said that your music was garbage, I just said it was weird. How’s the writing going today?”
“I edited twelve pages and just spent an hour trying to describe a Soviet Cold War-era missile, so it’s been okay. How was work?”
“It was good, I didn’t have any meetings scheduled so I spent most of the day playing chess with the old timers. I swear, I think Gary cheats but I can’t figure out how he does it…”
(Y/N) shrugged. “Or maybe you should just accept the fact that you’re terrible at chess and the old timers take great pleasure in seeing you lose.”
“Ha, ha, very funny. You still cool with driving me to the shop to pick up my car?”
(Y/N) got up, turning off her computer and unplugging her MP3 player from her speaker with a grin. “Of course! Driver picks the music, though!” She laughed and practically skipped out of the room as Sam let out a groan of defeat and followed her. “Oh, don’t be so dramatic, Birdbrain, it’s not like I’m making you listen to a CD of ambient throat singing!”
“Wouldn’t be surprised if you had some of that…”
Five minutes later, they were on the road and the two of them were singing along to her one of Panic! At The Disco’s newest singles at the top of their lungs; out of the corner of her eye she could see other drivers shooting them odd looks but she couldn’t care less, she was enjoying herself far too much.
Sam chuckled as the song came to a finish. “Damn, their new album is good. You know, I didn’t start listening to alt-rock until I met you.”
“Then you should be thanking me for bringing such good music into your life!” Giggling, (Y/N) turned down the volume and glanced over at the cheerful man sitting beside her, her smile faltering as she asked, “Do you think he’s okay, Sam?”
Her roommate’s expression grew serious and he shook his head. “I really don’t know. I saw on CNN earlier that inside sources claim he’s wanted by S.H.I.E.L.D. in connection to the assassination of their director, but I don’t buy it. The guy we’ve met, who’s so dedicated to his job that he hasn’t bothered getting a life outside of it, wouldn’t be a part of something like that. I think something else’s up and I’ll bet anything he’s out there trying to figure it out.”
(Y/N) bit her bottom lip, nodding after a moment. “Yeah, me too.”
“Just you wait, this whole mess with S.H.I.E.L.D.’ll be cleared up in no time. I’m calling it right now, Steve’s gonna ride up to the VA on his motorcycle and dramatically whisk you off your feet, and the two of you are gonna ride off into the sunset together while one of those sappy love songs you pretend not to like plays in the background.” Sam's teasing smirk widened when her cheeks flushed. “C’mon, Booksmart, you both were mooning over each other like teenagers after the meeting yesterday; I felt like I was in the live studio audience of a soap opera taping.”
“You know, I could always kick you out of the car and make you walk all the way to the shop, if you'd prefer.”
“And I'd still get there before you ‘cause you drive like a grandma...”
Soon after, she pulled into the auto repair shop’s lot, parking under the shade of a tree before turning to Sam with a smile. “Did you want me to stay just in case your car isn’t ready yet?”
“That would be great, actually, thanks!” Sam gave her a grin before getting out of the car and heading into the shop.
(Y/N) rolled down the windows and sighed when she felt the soft spring breeze against her skin. Taking advantage of the peaceful moment, she let her imagination wander and began brainstorming different stories and characters in her head. You should probably finish the book you’re writing before you start on another one, she thought with a playful eye-roll. Her childhood dream of becoming a published author was in the middle of coming true, and she couldn’t be any happier about it.
Just then, her eyes drifted to a silver truck that was driving past the parking lot. It was going fast so she couldn’t get a very good look at the driver, but for a split second she could have sworn that the man driving the truck had the same blonde hair and chiseled jaw as Steve Rogers. Chalking it up to worry for the runaway super-soldier, she closed her eyes and murmured, “Whatever he’s up to, I hope that he’s staying safe.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I’ve created a Spotify playlist inspired by this series, and I’ll be updating it every time I upload a new chapter. Enjoy!
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4BenknAqQQnOWY8NmSa23V
Tagging: @mrs-obrien​ @lahoete​ @awkward117​ @cminr​ @momc95​ @awkwardnesshabitat​ @marinettepotterandplagg​ @khuang3​ @supersouthy​ @benakenalove​ @brooke0297​ @hufflepeople​ @becausewelie​​ @outoftheregular @supreme-tantrum​
Chapter Five
“The Winter Soldier” Masterlist
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meowdymista · 3 years ago
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For my first RDR2 event, I was paired with @sunspott / @polybigbang. Their art was for a playlist on spotify called Going’s All We Know, and I’ve tried to incorporate the mood of the playlist into my first impression of the art.
You can read my submission on AO3 or follow through with the read more :)
Still No Rest
Feet are itching again, plus it ain't like we can stick around much longer. Going is all we know, even if we ain't got nowhere else left.
Things had been too steady of late. They had been too safe, had slipped away far too easily, had pulled moneybags out of places that should have fought back but hadn't even batted an eye.
Arthur pushes back his hair, greasy and long, off his brow. The clouds above are smoky and dark - a storm, just as anticipated.
Maybe he jumped a little too far too fast today. Maybe if he hadn't been so on edge waiting for something to go wrong, they could have deescalated the situation. Maybe lives could have been spared, but it’s not like the guilt isn’t scratching the ridges of his brain like a dusty gramophone needle.
What makes you any different? You who's always scraping for a scrap of some sort. Them trying to do the right thing and crossing your path to do it. Better you than them, right? Like Daddy always said, if they didn’t want to die they should mind their own business.
A new start: isn't that what they had promised themselves? A new state, a new town, a new camp: a clean slate that he had managed to bloody in a record three days.
Every bullet that screamed past his ear left his bones ringing with that too familiar dull tired ache. Every blade that snagged his clothes instead of his skin embittered him. The tiniest of voices hummed with the thought that maybe, maybe, he should fight that craving for carelessness and even tell someone about it… but the beast he’s become scowls and reminds him with a low growl that then they would stop him. They would take him off the front line, teach the gangly adolescent John - who is a far worse shot - to replace him.
It's not even jealousy really, he reasons as he slips his journal away and stretches into a stand. They need him. Need his gun, his eye, his blade. Worrying them isn’t an option, especially right now. He doesn’t need to make them doubt his reliability, or question whether they’ve misplaced their trust. He knew in his heart that if anyone in the gang confessed the same, he would refuse their gun, even if he needed it - and afterwards? In the weeks, months, years to come? He would always pick someone else. Someone less vulnerable. Someone he never doubted or needed to protect.
Which is how he ended up going out with the feller Dutch had picked up when they were up North. He’s had a few too many close shaves under Hosea’s watchful eye of late as he struggled to conceal the beast's rearing head. The old man was onto him, his brown eyes still boring into him, even after Copper found his way to him.
Bill, on the other hand, is always game for a ruckus. He has as much of a temper as he does, and can match him drink for drink. Some of the stories he lets slip prickle him - like the beast recognising a party equal, a fellow host. He says nothing. Doesn't validate them, doesn't acknowledge them or aim to empathise, he just accepts the added weight of tar and grudges home with another bottle.
“Arthur?”
"M'tired," grunts Arthur, walking past Hosea, boots scuffing the dry red earth beneath them. “Besides, you know how it is. Sometimes bullets fly no matter what you do.”
Hosea doesn’t dignify his excuse with a response, and despite the poker face, Arthur can feel the guilt twist a little tighter in his gut as he sets about washing his arms and face in the barrel by the food reserves. He knows nothing good would come from trying to explain the truth of the situation... How a glimpse of a little boy in his peripherals is as sure a sign of upcoming thunder as lightning flashing in the distance. His not-brown-not-blond tussle of hair brushing the wind with fat drops of rain… rain that never came, leaving Arthur to water the ground with blood, like somehow it could make him feel less like he’s drowning in the driest desert outside of New Mexico.
He pats his pockets for the cigarette he had rolled earlier, until, retracing his steps mentally, he sighs in disappointment. He had been about to light it when it all kicked off. Or rather… it had been in his mouth whilst he tried to align yet another match to the tobacco when he had caught the eye of another patron and decided to swap the nicotine for some adrenaline.
His fondness for Bill always grew at moments like this. Bastard heard one cross word and his guns were out before he found his balance.
Deflated, he uncaps a beer instead, emptying it, tossing it aside and grabbing another, before spotting the girl devouring a bowl of stew a stone's throw away.
"Who's she?" he asks before Hosea can try to raise the day’s events.
"Your new ward."
Arthur stops, scoffing, growing angry when the elder doesn’t back down. "Nuh uh! No way! I just got rid of Johnny! Get Williamson to do it!"
"You'd trust him with her?"
"Sure! Why not?" He glances back at the girl despite himself. His index finger is itching again. "Or get Marston on it. Ain't like he's doing much else."
"John is still learning how to take care of himself, and Bill…"
"He ain't gonna beat up a little girl." Restless, his feet shuffle beneath him, his beer swapping hands before touching his lips again. "And ain't like he's gonna have interest in her."
"You think he wouldn't do it just to prove a point?" Their eyes meet briefly before Arthur's gaze drops. "People who are insecure are far more dangerous than those comfortable in themselves, never forget that Arthur. Besides, I'd rather not expose her to the prejudices she can get any day of the week. She ought to feel safe here, don't you think?"
He finishes the dregs and tosses the bottle, preferring to change the subject than admit he’s right. "Where’d she come from? She got any family?"
"She left her cousin back east. Came this way looking for her mother but she’d passed meanwhile."
"So… what’s the plan? We taking her back east?"
"Sure as shit you ain't!"
The girl has stepped around the table, legs planted apart, hands folded across her flat chest, her hair as free and untamed as her temperament. She is glaring something fierce, making the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end in a fight or flight instinct.
Hosea chuckles softly, eyes bright with pride. "I reckon she's one of us now."
"Well, does she have a name?" asks Arthur, incredulous.
"Jackson." She jerks her heart shaped face in a defensive greeting. "My name is Tilly Jackson."
"Well, Miss Tilly Jackson, you always so fierce?" He stalks the couple of steps to the nearest crate of whiskey and pulls one free.
"You always this stupid?"
"Hey now, Miss Jackson," interrupts Hosea before Arthur can bark. "We don't talk to each other like that here."
"He started it!"
"And you’re sitting with Mrs Matthews when you’re done so she can keep an eye on you!” He ushers her towards Bessie to keep her out of harm's way before turning back to his first product of adoption with a raised brow.
"You sure know how to pick ‘em.”
"Try coming back just half soaked some time. Might make them go easier on you."
Arthur scoffs, his rebuttal dying in his throat. He dampens the ash with another swig.
"I want you to take her with you when you go out."
His scoff is solid. "No way."
Hosea straightens up, watching him, using his body language to ask the questions.
"I ain't taking her out. You want her shot?"
"You intend to shoot her?"
"No, course not-"
"Then what's the problem?"
Arthur's eyes roll in exasperation, his finger flexing around the neck of the bottle like it's a button that will win the argument if he squeezes tight enough. "The problem is other people shooting at us."
"You intend to get shot at?"
"No, but-"
"Then I see no problem."
"That don't mean we ain't gonna get shot at!"
"Why would you get shot at?"
'Cause that's what I set out to do most days, he wants to counter. And if I ain't likely to get shot, I'm likely in jail or black out drunk in a saloon someplace.
Instead he closes his mouth, any excuse dead before it passes his lips.
"I'm not asking you to take her with you to rob a bank, Arthur." Hosea's tone is firm but still soft - a talent of his. "But while you're out looking for leads, or even looting a homestead or something… She's nifty."
"Hosea, I-" He trails off, distracted by the clip of notes Hosea is picking through, and downright thrown when he passes him the thinned out clip. "What's this for? I gettin' paid to be a nanny now?"
“This-” Hosea holds up a couple of notes before putting them in his pocket. “-is for arguing with me. This is for the box, as it seems you’ve forgotten to pay the camp's share, and this-" He casually holds out the last few dollars to the side like he’s ashing a cigarette. A small brown hand slips it away as both Hosea and little Miss Tilly regard him smugly. "Is for a mark well scammed."
"You mean-?" He checks his pockets, ears growing hot. "You son of a-"
“Ah-ah! Language!” Dutch swaggers up with a smirk like he has been watching the introduction unfold in its entirety. “C’mon, Arthur, you have to give it to her. She’s talented!”
“Might finally have picked up a smart one, eh, Dutch?” winks Hosea. Arthur scowls and turns on his heel, leaving them laughing and praising their newest addition.
****
Arthur remains cool and calm the next few days, hunting local and sticking close to camp. Every time he approaches his horse, the little girl is waiting, watching him with her fierce brown eyes.
"Where we goin', Mr Arthur?" She asks as soon as he's within earshot. "Do I need anything bringing?"
Every time he offers to pay double what Hosea has offered her, and every time she refuses to discuss the terms of their negotiation. Every time he curses everything under his breath, keeping his language savoury for the child nearby. Every time he scowls, and every time he gives her a grunt of "naw, we ain't going far" before mounting up and lifting her onto the rear.
"I can ride myself, ya know?" She shoots one morning as Arthur leads his stead into a trot away from camp, heading towards the softer, greener terrain that’s barely visible on the horizon. "Properly. Not side saddle."
"Good for you."
"If I had a horse I would show you."
"And run off with the money we got, huh."
She bristles. "I ain't no snitch."
"Sounds like somethin' a snitch would say." He pops the cork from a half full bottle of rum and takes a swig. Replacing the bottle, he notices her scrunching her nose in disdain. “Got a problem? I can take you back to camp.”
“You sure don’t drink much water,” she comments drily. “You ain’t worried ‘bout heatstroke out here?”
“Liquor’s hydrating,” he scowls, pushing the horse into a canter.
“Pretty sure it ain’t, but you do you. Besides, I got dibs on your things. We all gotta start somewhere, right?”
Arthur snorts angrily, adrenaline prickling the hairs on the back of his neck. “You sure as hell do not, princess. I ain’t going nowhere!”
Miss Jackson hums sarcastically. “Sure you ain’t. You don’t eat, don’t drink anything under forty proof, don’t talk to no one-”
“If you don’t like it, I can drop you right here!”
“Go ahead.” Her tone is defiant, but it doesn’t escape his notice that she grips his sides a little tighter. “Mr Matthews was pretty explicit about what he’d do to you if you tried.”
He stews the next mile or more, not speaking up until he finally dismounts for a break at the change of terrain.
Wide open spaces always helped to ground him, even though it could make vanishing into thin air difficult. To some extent, it forced him to not be so careless. In others, it made it easier to kid himself that he had never crossed the threshold into civilisation, let alone crossed a kind faced waitress.
Listening out for creeping cougars and restless rattlesnakes, he crouches down by the water’s side and splashes his face, washing off the worst of the sweat and dust that’s caked itself into every pore available. The girl makes no move to dismount, so he takes it upon himself to refill her canteen as a gesture of goodwill.
“You don’t got to stick to us, you know.” She turns her big brown eyes from the sky onto Arthur’s face. He shuffles his feet awkwardly, focusing his attention on brushing out the biggest clumps of dust from the horse’s mane before they continue. “If you need me to take you somewhere-”
“And what’s a girl to do then? Hit the road with a couple dollars?” She fixes him with a look that is too old for her face. “Naw, I think I’ll stay with youse a little longer.”
“That’s alright, but we’re gonna have to be moving on real soon.” He bites the inside of his cheek, trying to ignore the unspoken reminder that it’s because of him and his actions. “It ain’t like we can promise to be back up this way any time in the near future. If you change your mind-”
“I won’t change my mind about them, Mr Morgan.” She shivers in a breeze that only seems to touch her. “No, sir. They had me bound real good for real long, but I don’t need ‘em. I won my freedom, Mr Morgan, an’ I ain’t going back.”
He risks a glance, curiosity getting the better of him. Her eyes are sparkling as bright as the water's surface, but her jaw is clenched tight. He debates riding further, doing what he can to get them set up at the fishing spot Hosea had heard about as they moved through the state to their current set up, but the child looked too old. Too tired. Too existentially exhausted.
Plus, when you get low enough, it's like some things will follow wherever you go.
“Let’s stop here a while.”
As predicted, Miss Jackson double takes. “Don’t you want to get to where we’re headed?”
Arthur shrugs. “Ain’t like there ain’t food to be foraged here. Nothing to come raising any hell or bother us into raising it for them. Reckon this spot’s as good as any.”
He turns his back to her as she dismounts warily, focusing his energy on starting a small campfire they can add to.
"I ain't goin' anywhere if you wanna swim." He grimaces as his words come out gruffer than intended. "I got clean clothes in the saddle bags here if you want 'em for the trip back or to swim in even. Can't imagine that skirt is the lightest when it gets wet."
"You ain't wrong, Mr Arthur, sir. Thank you for the offer but I think I'm just gonna stick to paddling for now."
"Sure."
It's not his first choice. This land is a little too dry for his liking, but that's what comes with being so close to the desert. Money means nothing to nature, besides she provides everything and more than what shops and butchers supply. Who needs civilisation when there's the wilds to retreat into? When there is wild carrots and rhubarb aplenty, fresh meat, shelter, all for the low cost of taking what you need as you need it?
The fire started, he sets out to look for fuel and food. Crouching down to check dung and disturbances in the foliage, he finds the damage is minimal. He swears again, taking a swig of whiskey from his satchel.
He doesn't really remember a time he didn't drink, but he knows this is different. He knows this isn't a choice on his behalf. The demon demands fuel as a child demands milk, and like the fool he is, he provides without much hesitation. Anything for a glimmer of peace from the screaming child in his mind.
He scoffs at himself and straightens up, looking around on the off chance some animal is dumb enough to be caught out in the open - and as luck would have it, a pronghorn buck is grazing a stones throw away.
He inhales deeply, taking aim with newfound focus, and fires.
The pronghorn bolts, but it's no contest for the bullet soaring his way. A mournful cry bleats through the undergrowth as it flees. He follows, as loud as he likes given the rip of the shot would have blasted a warning to anything within earshot. Breaking through a wall of cacti, he spots Miss Tilly aghast in the shallows as the buck splashes into the lake he had washed up in on their arrival.
He keeps going, realising the buck is heading for a wet escape. Shedding his guns as he runs, he wades in after it, shouting.
The buck is swimming in deep water, leaving behind a trail of blood behind with every baleful bleat, leaving Arthur with no option besides taking a spur of the moment swim or going home with an empty stomach.
"C'mere!" he cries, breaking into breaststroke. The buck is slowing, every cry growing more lamenting and mournful. "Stop! I can make it stop, just come a little closer."
It's crying weakly by the time he manages to reach it. He throws an arm over its neck and fumbles for his hunting knife, but the blood proves too thick and one small fumble sends it disappearing into the depths.
"C'mon," he grunts, tugging the wounded animal with him as he kicks his way towards shore. "You ain't gonna get any lighter."
He struggles towards shore, gasping assurances every chance he gets. When his boots finally scrape the bottom, he whistles for his mount with the last of the air in his lungs.
He finally releases the animal, using both hands to search for a knife or a pistol - something to end its suffering quickly. Drowning the thing felt too callous, too slow, too-
"Will this be enough?"
Arthur, still gasping for breath, hair dripping into his blue eyes, pauses, surprised. A small hand is proferring a flip knife, her small face reflecting the distress of his own. Recovering, he nods quickly, thanking her as he takes the tool from her and advising her to look away and cover her ears. Obeying doesn’t lessen the heart wrenching last cry of the animal, but on opening her eyes again, she decides it is less painful than watching the poor thing struggle as it drowned.
Arthur is holding the animal, counting, as though held to some strange code to make sure it is dead before removing the tool of choice. He shakes the knife under the surface and folds it up, passing it back to her with a grunt of thanks. She takes it, still in shock at the unexpected show of violence.
He pushes the carcass out of the water, promising to be back soon before swimming back to where he caught the animal. Watching his head disappear under the surface, she is left with the silence of the cooling body nearby. It looks strangely peaceful staring off into the east.
Arthur swims back, pushing back the sodden mop of brown hair as he wades out with sopping boots and a shiny carving knife he must have dropped earlier. He advises her to leave him to it if she’s squeamish, and she refuses up until the animals guts plume onto the sand.
From a distance, she watches him carry them away from their makeshift camp, covering them up with some leaves and branches to disguise the worse of the mess but leave it readily available to the creatures due a feast. Returning to the body, he begins to carve with care, piling steaks onto canvas. He wastes as little as possible, even wrapping the exposed neck of the head in canvas before tying it onto the horse. He turns to the water, notices her watching and walks over.
“Reckon we’re almost done here,” he calls as he gets close enough. “Just gonna wash up and we can get going.”
“You always butcher your kill before going back?” she asks.
He huffs, a twinkle in his eye. “Sure, when I don’t plan on walking back. Figured you’d rather hitch a ride than straddle a dead deer.”
She shudders, making him laugh as he kicks off his boots and setting them aside to dry from earlier. He doesn’t remove his clothes, just pulls a bar of soap from the saddlebags and asks if she minds if he doesn’t dry off. She herself finally admits internally that she feels grubby. She had washed and washed and washed, and eventually came to accept the grime was not going to wash off her. Too much dirt, too ingrained, too repeated to ever shed properly…
She follows him, still keeping her distance. If he notices, he doesn’t say anything, just keeps scrubbing suds under his nails, over his forearms, into every fibre of his shirt. When she finally feels brave enough to speak up, she takes a deep breath, and on a whim decides to splash him.
He turns around, frowning, before picking up on the giggles and grinning himself. His arms are stronger, thicker, longer - the retaliation engulfs her with a responding tidal wave that leaves her gasping for air. In the small glimpse she makes of him, she notes the guilt and the apology on his lips as he believes himself having gone too far, but she’s too quick. She pushes him in the chest and tries to swim away as quick as she can, squealing the whole way.
Their laughter disturbs the birds in the branches, and they take flight, not that either of them notice. They play until the sun lowers to kiss the leaves around them. They share the bar of soap, and Tilly takes refuge in his disinterest. He lets her wash. She lets him wash. Both of them keep their distance when appropriate.
“Perhaps we oughta ride back in the morning,” Arthur muses when he notices how much she is shivering. "It's only gonna get colder, and at least we've got a fire going here."
“I don’t mind making the ride.”
He chuckles, eyes soft. “Miss Tilly. You’re dead on your feet, and sure as hell will be dead in the saddle. I can fall asleep just about anywhere if you’re alright with the tent and bedroll? Hell, it’d make a nice change to waking up to Susan and Dutch arguing, huh?”
“You ain’t wrong...” She is still hesitating. Arthur tried to shake the thought of what she must have been through and instead tells himself that it's standard practice to be wary of new folk. She could feel safe in camp because there were more people to keep tabs on one another. Out here, it was just him, her and the stars, and since when did the stars ever do anything to help?
“Listen. Choice is yours. I’ll ride through the night if that’s what you want, but I promise you’re safe with me.” He checks the barrel of his revolver, counting the six bullets nestled inside before snapping it in place and holding it out by the barrel. “Here. I can’t give you both in case we get jumped, but I’ll stow the long arms on Wyn if that makes it easier.”
She sits in silence for a long while before nodding slowly.
“Alright then. You get to eating your fill while I set you up for the night.”
*****
She wakes up, well rested and warm. She takes a few minutes to lay there, watching the shadows of the flies buzzing on the canvas above before finally crawling out in search of fresh air.
Owain is grazing not so far away, but Arthur is nowhere to be seen. His long arms are still stashed, the fire just ash now. Panic rises in her throat, torn between the fear of him being jumped and him abandoning her willingly.
She frets, pacing, checking their reserves. No, she has no clue where the hell he has taken her so she doesn’t know where to even start on trying to return to Mr Matthews and Mr Van der Linde. She curses him for being so spoilt as to be threatened by a little girl.
“Mornin’, Miss Jackson.” She flinches, immediately retreating from the greeting. Arthur is frowning under the brim of his hat as he dismounts the small bay coloured horse. “Everythin’ alright?”
“I thought you left me,” she admits, still choked up. He seems surprised, then bashful, trying to hide it by patting the neck of the horse he has with him.
“Naw. There was a herd moving through here early this morning and I remembered about you wantin’ a horse of your own.” He gives her an awkward nod. “Whaddaya reckon? She rides pretty nice. One of the smaller one, but she seems friendly enough. If you wanna keep her, I’ll set you up on mine until we can get this one broke in properly if tha’s alright?”
“Sure.”
“Awesome.” He begins to pack their things away, tacking Owain and bribing both steads with sugar cubes.
“We going hunting again?”
Arthur puts away the brush and pats his horse’s neck. “Naw. Today we’re headed to Greyhound Station.”
“Why?”
“Boring stuff. Check to see if anyone’s tried to write us. Check for bounties and that we ain’t most of ‘em. See if there’s any jobs goin’, keep an ear to the ground in case there’s money to be had. You know, standard outlaw stuff.”
“I ain’t ever been on a wanted poster yet,” she muses. “That I know of anyhow. Knowing the Foreman Brothers, they’ll be tryin’ to frame me for something.”
“The Foreman Brothers?”
“The… gang. The ones I was with when Dutch and Hosea found me.” Arthur hums in acknowledgement but doesn’t press it. It’s like he knows it’s a big bruise still there after months of riding with them. “They was wrestlin’ to hang me or bury me alive. Never did find out which since I managed to wriggle off the wagon without them noticin’. So much for family.”
“Y’all were related?”
“Yeah.” She spits off the side. “Good riddance to ‘em.”
He hums. “If anybody tries to pull that with you again, you lemme know. I’ll get ‘em before they blink.” He rummages in his saddle bag and pulls out a glass bottle of clear liquid. She frowns as he takes a greedy few gulps before offering it to her.
“I ain’t much a fan of the bottle, Arthur.”
He throws her a look of befuddlement over his shoulder before understanding befalls him. “It weren’t my first choice, Miss Jackson, but I’ve yet to learn how best to store water if not in a bottle of some kind.”
“Water?”
“Water,” he repeats with a shake of his head. “Whiskey’s the other side if you want some.”
“I’m good for now, Mr Morgan,” she smiles, raising the bottle to her lips, squinting at the sunburned strip that’s the back of his neck. “Maybe some other time.”
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