#and none of you thought to share this with me?

[blueberrisdove-sideblog]

.（ℱ） LEAVE ME, RUIN ME ?!

✩ tw : nsfw/smut, creampie (vaginal), angst, no aftercare, no fluff, mentions of sexual assault (none happens dw), Possessive mydei, rough mydei, fem!reader, chocking, hair pulling & others. [MDNI]

✩ sum : As Mydei prepares to leave for a dangerous mission, he and the reader share a desperate, punishing night together, knowing it might be their last. Fueled by fear and unspoken love, he takes you with a raw intensity, marking you as his even as he’s forced to walk away. Left alone in the aftermath, your left to grapple with the unbearable weight of his absence, fearing he may never return.

✩ note : short fic since i’m not good at writing angst. not proofread.

The chamber felt suffocating. The air was thick with candle smoke and the scent of something burning, but nothing smelled stronger than Mydei’s desperation. His fingers curled into his palms, his golden eyes stormy as he stood in front of you, his breath unsteady. He was leaving—heading straight into Amphoreus on a mission that could very well be his end.

And there was nothing you could do to stop him.

“You know what they’ll do to you if they catch you,” you said, your voice sharp, your heart slamming against your ribs. “You’ve seen what they do to traitors. To people who go against them.”

You swallowed hard. “To me.”

Mydei flinched. His jaw clenched, his breath hitching. Of course, he knew. You had been captured once before—torn away from him, left in the hands of those monsters. They hadn’t broken you, but the memories of what almost happened never left. You had told Mydei everything, and he had listened. Had held you so tightly you thought he’d break you apart just to put you back together.

But now, he was choosing to walk right into their hands.

“You think I don’t know that?” he rasped. “You think I don’t see their faces every time I close my fucking eyes? You think I don’t remember what they did to you? What they almost did?”

His hands were shaking as he reached for you, gripping your shoulders like he was trying to steady himself.

“I won’t let them take me,” he swore, voice raw. “I won’t let them take me the way they took you.”

“Then don’t fucking go! Stop spitting out random bullshit!”

The words ripped from your throat, but you already knew they were useless. Mydei had made up his mind long before this conversation started.

And it broke you.

He must have seen it—the way your body slumped against the wall, the fight leaving your limbs. Because something inside him snapped.

He surged forward, his lips crashing into yours, desperate and bruising. His hands moved to your wrists, pinning them against the cold stone wall, pressing his body flush against yours as if he could carve himself into you, leave his mark before he disappeared into the abyss.

“Tell me you hate me,” he whispered against your lips, his breath ragged. "Tell me I disgust you."

You stared at him, horrified. “What?”

His grip tightened, his forehead pressing against yours. "If you say it, maybe it’ll be easier to leave." His voice cracked on the last word, his entire body trembling. “Say it.”

Your throat closed up.

“You’re a fucking idiot,” you whispered. “And a coward.”

A broken sound slipped from his throat.

Then, suddenly, he was tearing your clothes from your body, his hands rough as they grabbed at your tits, squeezing, marking. His mouth latched onto your throat, biting hard enough to leave bruises, his fingers moving between your legs, dragging through your wetness.

“You’re soaked,” he murmured, almost in disbelief. “Even when you hate me?”

“I never said I hate you,” you bit out.

His hands gripped your thighs, lifting you, forcing you to wrap around him. He lined himself up, the head of his cock pressing against your entrance, but he didn’t push in.

Not yet.

He let his fingers slide over your slit again, teasing your clit, spreading your wetness.

“I should’ve fucked you like this sooner," he whispered. “I should’ve ruined you long before now.”

“Then do it,” you spat. “Before you run away again.”

Something dark flickered across his expression, and then—he slammed into you.

The stretch burned, but you took him all at once, your back arching, your nails clawing at his arms. He was relentless, thrusting deep and fast, his grip bruising, his breath coming in ragged gasps against your ear.

He needed this.

Needed to feel you, needed to brand himself into your skin before he walked to his own execution.

He grabbed your throat, squeezing just enough to make you lightheaded, his cock driving deeper, hitting that spot that made your toes curl. His pace grew frantic, each thrust rougher, more desperate.

“You’re mine,” he rasped. “Even if I die, you’ll still be mine.”

Tears burned in your eyes, but you refused to let them fall.

His grip tightened on your throat, his other hand shoving between your legs, rubbing your clit in fast, messy circles.

“Cum for me, baby,” he ordered. “Now.”

Your body obeyed before your mind could catch up. Pleasure tore through you, your walls clamping down around him, milking his cock as you came undone.

Mydei let out a broken moan, his hips stuttering as he buried himself inside you, filling you with his release, his breath shuddering. His grip on your throat loosened. His entire body trembled.

For a moment, he just held you.

Then, his arms tightened around you—so tight it hurt. His face buried in your neck, and when he spoke, his voice was barely a whisper.

"I don’t want to go," he admitted. “I don’t want to fucking leave you.”

Your hands came up, gripping his arms. “Then stay.”

But you both knew he wouldn’t.

And before you could say anything else, he was gone.

The door slammed behind him, leaving nothing but the echo of his absence and the suffocating scent of sweat and sex in the air. Your legs trembled as you slid down the cold stone wall, cum dripping between your thighs, your body still aching from the way he had taken you—desperate, punishing, like he could fuck the pain away.

But he was gone.

Your chest rose and fell in shallow, uneven breaths, your fingers clutching at nothing. You told yourself you wouldn’t cry. That you wouldn’t be weak. That you wouldn’t let his absence carve its way into your ribs and settle there like a festering wound.

And yet—

A choked sob slipped past your lips, and then another, and before you could stop yourself, you were breaking.

Mydei had held you like you were his lifeline, had kissed you like he was trying to breathe through you, had fucked you like he was already mourning what he was about to lose.

And now?

Now, he was walking straight into hell.

You curled your arms around yourself, body wracked with silent, shaking cries. You could still feel him—his bruising grip, the way his fingers had tangled in your hair, the possessive, desperate way he had growled mine over and over again.

It wasn’t enough.

It would never be enough.

Because if he didn’t come back—if he didn’t survive—then you’d be left with nothing but the memory of his touch, the ghost of his body pressed against yours, the taste of his lips lingering on your tongue.

You forced yourself to stand, your legs weak, your body unsteady. The sheets on the bed were still a mess, the scent of him clinging to them, and for a moment, you considered crawling beneath them, burying yourself in what little remained of him.

But you knew better.

You knew that if you let yourself fall into that grief now, you would never crawl back out.

So instead, you cleaned yourself up, wiped the remnants of him from your thighs, and dressed. Every movement was mechanical, your hands shaking as you wrapped your arms around yourself, trying to pretend you weren’t still trembling.

The outside was quiet.

Too quiet.

You walked through the dimly lit corridors, your mind a mess of fragmented thoughts, of whispered prayers you refused to let yourself believe in.

He’s coming back.

He has to.

And yet, deep in your chest, you felt it—something cracking, something breaking, something warning you that this time, hope might not be enough.

Bonus : he doesn’t come or cum back, he’s stuck outside of okhema. Oh, also, you get pregnant and he doesn’t know that. ❤︎︎

© 2024-2025 blueberrisdove-sideblog all rights reserved. pretty please, do not steal my dividers, translate and plagiarize any of my works, or either repost my works in any other platform without asking, thank you!

[urstruly-ghst]

the challenge - rook hunt !

in which the challenge you set out for is now in full swing (inspired by epic: the musical with the song, the challenge).

authors note: epic the musical my beloved. i love love love this request submitted by @padf-0-ot ! thank you for waiting; im sorry it took a while, im managing tho

requested ask !

cw: may not understand if you don't know the context of epic/the odyssey

rook hunt

wearing the crown was a heavy responsibility, it had been placed on you since you were born. it was what came to be with the blood you hone beneath your skin. however, that duty carried was always alleviated with rook by your side. he was the one who made your crown a secod thought, contrary to what you grew up with.

but, it soon occured to you it would be heavy on your head once more; rook hunt was lost in a mission, it was supposed to end quickly, but he didn't return. neither did his comrades. there was no word, no letter, not even a sign from any other kingdom. that worried you, that worried the kingdom. each one of your subjects looked at the empty throne beside you, sharing that worry and fear (or perhaps, they all share the glory of seeing you reign alone.)

each men rally up, their thoughts of ascending to the social ranks clouded their empathy. the suitors know how grievous it must be to be alone, holding onto the hope that rook was not dead, but they also seem not to care. there was no king, no one to share your burdens, surely you'd want company?

no matter their attempts to take the throne, you'd stall. it was an array of stalling, you used up every excuse you can try. first it was grief, second was the state was in a crisis, and now.... they've grown impatient. it has been years, yet the throne gets colder as the king fails to return or send a sign. will he ever return?

"i refuse!" you yell as the council all stare. it was you who had the power, why was the council allowing such arrangements to happen?they sat in front of you, the crown, and begged for you to marry a suitor.

how dare they ask that from you? after all your work to keep the crisis at bay, they repay you with a torturous task?

"your majesty, this is what would further benefit our kingdom. you have stalled long enough." the eldest council proclaimed as they showcased data and news from the kingdom. morale is low. especially after the storm that struck your shores.

you glare as you saw the undeniable problem and the solution was clear as day. you couldn't hold onto the thrown nor the crisis forever, but...

you had hope. rook hunt was out there, you could feel it in your bones. there was no way he'd be dead. the council looks at you, waiting on your next word, your plan.

"i have one more challenge. this is the last one. bring me to the armory." you say as you surrendered. but even if you surrendered, you wouldn't allow them, not even for a second, to think they had their wishes granted.

---

you glare as you held your husband's bow as the guards open the gates to your throne room. the suitors chattered amongst themselves but soon silenced as they saw you enter.

"this here is my husband's bow." you say as you raised the bow, it was sturdy, comically large, and a symbol of his prowess. "it has long snapped, but none can restring it. my challenge is this,"

you unveil the axes that were lined up, "whoever strings this bow, and shoot through these axes cleanly..." you hesitate, "will became the new king, my new husband"

"that's what those were for" one suitor said, "it doesn't make sense!" the other proclaimed

the mumurs were loud, each suitor boasting or complaining over the challenge, you glare at them as you see them scramble to get to the bow.

among the crowds was your husband, rook, who stood silent by the pillars. rook laughed at how gullible these men were to believe that they can even string the bow. it takes a wit of the hunt's to know how to string it, it was a family heirloom. it curved weirdly, deceiving those who do not know to string it properly.

but he watched, in amusement. it was all their efforts that made it a comedy. rook watched each suitor try and try as they struggled to even get the string on the end of the bow. rook watched as each suitor soon gave up on even the bow, feeling the dismay build up. in his ragged clothes, rook hid in the shadows noting every weakness and strengths of each man.

“such a shame, these men seem to lack the knowledge to know a deception” rook muttered in sadness as he circled around them. the last suitor dropped the bow and screamed in the room,

“screw this competition. don’t you see we’re being played?!” it was an outraged yell as they point at the throne room, as if they’re trying to yell at you for this competition. and by virtue, they were being played, rook can appreciate this from the man. At the very least, one man knew his queen’s wit. 

as the suitors gather around feeling they’re now understanding the consequences of their foolish parade around the bow, rook swiftly takes the bow and strings it with ease. unknown to him, rook was being watched by the sidelines. you were there, seeing him in silence, not recognizing him and had your heart beat in anticipation as the bow was being strung.

thwack! 

the arrow flew gracefully to the end, hitting the target on the wall. the chatter died down, as the riot that was bubbling over ended. the arrow stabbed firmly on the end of the target, it made the suitors shut up. rook revealed his identity by letting his hood and shadow go, revealing a disheveled man who’s eyes were tired but victorious.

“mon dieu! it was painful to watch this challenge be failed by my country’s men, it is a simple test of wit.” rook smiled as he waved the strung bow, and the men were confused, it looked so normal in the king’s hand. 

“how?!” one yelled, the others were scrambling trying to see if this was a trick, did he hide the other bow? who was he? how dare he win the challenge!

“rook?” you whisper as you open the throne room, the light shining brightly.

“mon amour.” rook replied with a smile. 

[rafesslxt]

𝜗℘ ᶻ 𐰁 ⟢ ݂ drew vs. rafe buying a dog with reader

warnings: none, fluff

note: got inspired by my 4 yrs old dog and my 'new' boyfriend, he said he would never buy a dog blah but let's me move in with mine hahah and guess who's bathing her and cuddling her now? so, the rafe part is literally and completely my bf <3, english is not my first language

౨ৎ .ᐟ .ᐣ ᡣ𐭩 drew

⤻ with drew it was a easy task. he already loves dogs, is always surrounded by them and grew up with them

⤻ "you've got an album in your gallery of me with dogs?" he chuckled when he searched for a specific photo on your phone. "hey! that's private!"

⤻ you started with little hints like pointing at every dog in the streets that you saw walking by with their owners, especially when it was a couple

⤻ "wow, they look like a happy little family." you gushed while turning your head to look after them

⤻ "this space here is so empty. we should find something that will fit in here.", while pointing at a random corner in your shared flat

⤻ downloading an app with him where you have to take care of an digital little dog on your phones "wanna see If you'd be a good dad"

⤻ then one day, out of nowhere, drew would be like "okay love, what kind of breed do you want?"

౨ৎ .ᐟ .ᐣ ᡣ𐭩 rafe

⤻ just at the slightest hint you would get an immediate "no."

⤻ he says he doesn't have time for a dog and doesn't wanna have to babysit it all the time and take care of it's literal shit "but babe, I take care of your shit too the whole time!"

⤻ yeah, guess who didn't thought it was funny

⤻ and guess who also didn't thought it was funny when he came home and found you sitting in the yard with a freaking puppy sleeping on your lap while your left hand caressed it's fur and your other hand googling on your phone 'how to raise a german shepard'

⤻ "bring it back right now!" "I can't! I bought it!" "If you don't I'll do it y/n, I mean it!" "If you touch my baby, I'll rip your head off!"

⤻ it only took two days for rafe to slowly accept the fact that he had no say in this at all even tho it was his house you two lived in

⤻ "so.. what's his name?" "her" "what? you wanna call it 'her'?" "no, you idiot. I meant it's a her. you have a daughter." "oh lord help me."

⤻ two more days passed and when you got back home from grocery shopping, your dog was dripping wet just like rafe's clothes. you looked at them suspicious and before you could say something, he did. "I bathed her after she shitted herself." you looked at him for a second before you started laughing your ass off, almost tripping over with the two bags in your hands.

⤻ "I think I have a name for her." rafe raised a brow at you, currently sitting across from you with her on his lap, sleeping again after chasing birds and ducks in the garden the whole day. "April." "April?" "Yeah. Something cute but simple. We got her in april and I like that her name begins with an 'a' plus it means lively and fresh."

⤻ Rafe was silent for a moment, looking down at April before smiling and nodding "yeah, it fits her good baby, good idea."

⤻ months passed and you two took her everywhere with you. shopping, chilling on the yacht, you even got her on a supboard.

⤻ on some days you took her with you to the Pogues, chilling at the beach and sitting around the fire at night, laughing and having fun. everyone got along with her so well and she soon became a member of the little family you all were.

bonus:

⤻ after about 7 month later, April was already much bigger. you always took a morning walk with her through the streets, everyone greeting you two and smiling and your happy but protective dog.

⤻ the video that you posted in your story at 7:02 am:

hope you liked it boo‘s <33

xoxo sarah <3

[grandline-fics]

Love Potion

DESCRIPTION: Love Potion- You were both only pretending to date. The feelings aren't real...right?

WARNINGS: none

CHARACTERS: Smoker

WORDS: 1,663

A/N: Thank you @missrandomdreamer for requesting this one for the Valentine's Event. Hope you like what I came up with for this one, Smoker deserves the love so hopefully I did him justice on this. As always thank you everyone for your support. Enjoy ♥️

*REQUESTS ARE OPEN*

DIRECTORY | PROMPT LIST | KO-FI | VALENTINES EVENT MASTERLIST

———————

“Is this really necessary?” Smoker grumbled around the cigars in his mouth as he shut the door to your room closed firmly. “I’m in perfect shape.”

“Every active member on this base has to undergo routine physicals, Vice-Admiral.” You spoke up from your desk as you grabbed his file and a pen. Even when he was wounded he protested the need to be tended to and while you were already expecting him to clear all your checks with no issues, you still had your job to do. Apologetically you looked at him as you rose. “No exceptions.”

Smoker made a disgruntled noise and glared at the examination bed he’d yet to approach. He swiftly turned his glare your way when you snatched the cigars from his mouth with ease and stubbed them out on the ashtray you always made sure to have in the room in the event Smoker would be coming by. You accepted his ire with an effortless smile, used to his perpetual grumpy and serious expression at this point. Lightly you nudged him along towards the bed. With all his strength and training he could have remained rooted in the spot had he wished but at your touch he relented and moved, eager to just get this over with.

As he sat down and zoned out, letting you do whatever checks and assessments necessary he began to think about how being here was actually a nice break. You weren’t going to pester him about changing the training schedule or beg to swap missions with another member of the base, you weren’t going to chase him about reports he forgot-or just didn’t care about- handing in for the higher ups at Marine’s main Headquarters. Best of all, any conversation you shared with him was appropriate and never prying beyond clear boundaries, unlike those under his command who thought any facet and avenue in his life was theirs to know and analyse obsessively over. Suddenly you made a surprised hum and he pulled himself out of his thoughts to see you studying his face carefully. “What were you thinking about?”

“Why?” Smoker couldn’t help but become defensive, ready to argue that whatever you spotted or noticed in your tests was false. 

“It caused a spike in your otherwise steady blood pressure.” You explained, lips curving in slight amusement. Lightly you tapped your medical notes. “Can’t clear you if there’s a possibility of an underlying condition affecting your blood pressure or an area of stress that could hinder your work.”

“It’s nothing.” Smoker explained firmly. “Nothing for you to worry over. I’m not going to complain over something insignificant and stupid.”

“Wouldn’t call this spike insignificant. Come on tell me and I can help. It’s what doctors are for right?”

“I was getting annoyed about the subordinates prying into my personal life. They’re like gossiping teenagers sometimes.”

“Is that all?” You asked with a laugh, stepping away from him and unhooking the blood pressure monitor. “What do you expect? They’re bored in between missions and you’re the best source of entertainment on the base.

“I shouldn’t be entertainment, I’m their boss to be respected.” At that you snorted with an undignified burst of laughter causing him to frown. “What?”

“Oh come on! I’ve heard you swear out the higher ups countless times when they annoy you. You call that respect?” You teased, laughing again when he looked away from you and muttered about how even you were disrespectful to him. “So what did the bad subordinates pry into most recently.”

“Recently and consistently they bring up my love life or in their words ‘a tragic lack of’ one.” He scoffed. “Every mission it’s putting up with their incessant questions and on the way back it’s stupid schemes to set me up with someone.”

“It’s sweet that they care.” You reasoned only to hear him being to mutter again. With a soft sigh you grabbed his notes to update them. He was the picture of health as you both knew would be the end result. “But if it bothers you that much, take the mystery away from them and they’ll move on. Tell them you’re seeing someone.”

“Magic someone out of thin air?” Smoker shook his head. He shouldn’t have even entertained the notion. His life was his own, he didn’t need to lie or divulge information if he didn’t wish to. “They might act like fools but creating a pretend lover is something even they’d notice a mile off.”

“Sooo don’t make up someone. Use someone they know?” You advised, moving to your desk to officially give Smoker’s physical the stamp of approval needed. Seeing you move, Smoker fixed his jacket and pulled out two fresh cigars to light but for once he didn’t make his way to the door with a gruff ‘thanks Doc’ like he normally did, he was too caught up in your words as you continued. “Then after a couple weeks, stage a break up and they’ll leave you and your personal life alone while you deal with it in your own way.” 

“Who am I going to rope into this scheme that I know won’t blab what’s really going on?” Smoker asked while stepping closer to the desk. His interest was piqued and it seemed like a solid enough plan but he knew that gossip spread fast in the G5 base. The last thing he needed was to risk extra insult to his pride if his subordinates knew he was lying. Smoker was surprised when you lifted your head and smiled at him expectantly. “Wait. You’d go along with this?”

“Why not? Helps you out from getting your blood pressure dangerously high again.” You shrugged simply. “Besides, doctor-patient confidentiality means I can’t tell anyone. What do you say?”

A few minutes later one of the G5 Marines rounded the corner, preparing for his routine physical only to slide to a complete stop in shock. The sight of Vice-Admiral Smoker, his leader straightening from what was most certainly a kiss with the base’s top doctor. The Marine froze when Smoker turned sharply to glare at him while you bit your lower lip shyly and looked away from the wide-eyed gaze of the Marine who interrupted such a sweet and tender moment. Smoker dropped his hand from your lower back and walked towards the Marine. “Whatever you think you saw. You didn’t.” 

Smoker continued on his way, the Marine unable to see his smirk as everything was already set in motion. By the end of the afternoon it was all through the base, some iterations of the events witnessed exaggerated or completely different but it all got Smoker what he wanted; for his subordinates to have something to distract them from him. Technically they were still fixated on him, but now that they believed he was seeing you, they were now talking amongst themselves about the matter and leaving him alone. 

Throughout the day he’d overheard the conversations both mixed and speculative. Some tried to work out when the romance had started and even that split theories and opinions. It had to have been recent because there was no way you both had hidden it for so long. It had to have been going on for a long time because it would explain why Smoker never looked at anyone else both off and on base. Some even declared they’d always known something was going on between Smoker and you and either way it was about damn time. 

For the next few weeks you and Smoker continued your subtle theatrics of being a couple and as you’d predicted the base that now there was no mystery to work out with Smoker’s love life, the base asked less questions. However when you appeared, even if it was passing by in the corridor the Marines looked your way in curiosity. Sometimes you did steal him away to say something useless or unimportant, just so you both appeared to be sharing a quick moment together when really it was just to keep your audience’s interest sated. One evening you found yourself in Smoker’s office, a new development that had occurred from your joint deception. While he finished reports at his desk, you reviewed your own medical reports from the comfort of the sofa he rarely seemed to use. While you both worked you engaged in idle but content conversation. 

“A friend of mine from one of the G7 base was in touch today.” You spoke up with an amused smile, not taking your eyes from your notes as you worked. “We’re one of the topics of conversation there too.” Smoker chuckled slightly at your report of how far the gossip had spread. 

“The interest in our relationship hasn’t died down at all.” He said with a small shake of his head.

“They’re so invested. They’ll be heartbroken when we end things.” You mused, too busy reading to notice Smoker's hand still in the writing of his own reports. He only now realised that that was the next stage in the plan; breaking up to gain full privacy again. Smoker hesitated to even admit it but he truly did enjoy your company. You were easy to be around, brought him a certain calm that he enjoyed. He tensed slightly when you asked him. “Have you considered when it’ll happen?”

“Uh…no. Not yet.” He admitted, that much he could confess. “They gossip but they're behaving for the most part, might just wait until they start to get bored. If that’s okay?”

“Of course, just let me know whenever you’re ready.” Smoker glanced at you in time to see you finally glance his way and offer him a relaxed but warm smile. The same smile he found himself looking for a little more each day. Whenever he was ready? Something gnawed at him in the uncomfortable realisation that perhaps the only thing he wanted to end with you was the pretending. 

——————————————-

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[kyber-crystal]

the albatross || f.w.

summary: the albatross is the largest bird that can go years without landing; they spend their first 6 years of life flying over the ocean before coming to the land to mate. It is capable of traveling more than 10,000 miles in a single journey and circumnavigating the globe in 46 days. (he's been up in the air his whole life, but is finally able to land when he falls in love with you: alt, 4 times everyone noticed he loved you, 1 time you noticed he loved you too)

words: ~4.1k

warnings: TOOTH-ROOTTING FLUFF, CLICHE, your usual stuff yk 

a/n: i’ve had that snippet above stuck in my notes for a year now and never made anything of it and thought hey i should do something about it. so here were are. also i can’t resist doing the 3x1/4x1/5x1 trope. its so superior. ngl tho writers block hit me kinda hard with this one so i struggled to finish…sorry in advance for my writing, idk how i feel ab the way this turned out 

add yourself to my hp taglist here!

one 

You were looking forward to today’s Transfiguration lesson. 

Up until this point, McGonagall had you continue practicing nonverbal spells; having them carry over from sixth year because she wanted to emphasize their importance. In addition to that, you were set to start learning how to transfigure tortoises into trumpets. It was bound to be a loud but entertaining affair.

“I need you all to remember to focus,” she reminded at the start of class, “and please, refrain from playing your trumpets should you manage to successfully transform your tortoise—I’m looking at you, Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley.”

“Aw, darn it,” you heard the twins chorus in defeat. 

“Now, you will first review what you have in your notes, then practice individually. You may begin.”

A small, dusty green tortoise appeared on your desk, causing you to crack a tiny smile. You heard students muttering the incantation from all around you as they attempted the spell, one of them yelping in pain when their tortoise bit their finger. 

“Careful, Longbottom,” the Professor warned. 

You shook your head and smiled to yourself, patting your tortoise on the head. It seemed to just sigh in response.

Several minutes went by before someone broke your focus, poking your shoulder. 

“Psst! Y/N!” 

“What?” you hissed under your breath, looking over your left shoulder at Lee. “What do you want?”

He shrugged and passed you a slip of parchment. “For you.”

“Okay…”

You unfolded the paper and peered closer, examining the signature scrawl of none other than Fred. 

You look gorgeous today, darling. And it’s quite distracting, if I’m being honest.

Scowling, you glanced over to see that Fred was shamelessly staring at you and shot him a pointed glare. He simply gave you a cheeky grin then looked back down. Scribbling out a snarky reply—I look gorgeous every day, you daft dimbo—you crumpled up the parchment and decided to chuck itat his head. Without sparing another glance, he reached up and smoothly caught it with one hand. 

You muttered to yourself under your breath and refocused your gaze on your work. 

Not even a few moments later, Lee was poking your shoulder again to signal that Fred had tossed the note back.

Your name is pretty, but it’d look prettier next to my last. 

You know what else would look pretty? My fist in your face. -your reply

The exchange continued on, with him sending flirty notes, and you replying with half-flirty, half sarcastic remarks. But just as you were about to aim at Fred’s head for the nth time—

“Miss Y/N, Mr. Weasley, what in Godric’s name are you two doing?” 

You froze in your spot. Professor McGonagall was standing right by your desk, note in hand with her eyebrows raised and arms crossed over her chest. “Er, I—”

“Is there anything you two would like to share with the class?”

“No, it’s—”

“Actually, Professor, there is,” Fred declared, standing up and marching over to where you were, taking the paper out of McGonagall’s hands and opening it. “Since she hasn’t gotten to read it yet, I shall.”

He cleared his throat and began to read. 

“I’d face the storm, the darkest night,

With reckless heart and blazing light.

No cursed spell, no shadowed door,

Could shake the love I hold in store.

For you, I’d charge, both fierce and true—

My greatest courage lives in you.”

The classroom erupted into giggles as he finished with a bow, grinning proudly. It felt like your face was up in flames, if it wasn’t already burnt to a crisp. If Fred looked equally flustered you couldn’t tell at all, and he was masking it with that stupid cheeky look of his. 

You were too mortified and focused on the possibility of receiving detention to notice that McGonagall was trying to hide her smile; taking away House points now in the very back of her mind. 

Flitwick owed her 10 sickles. 

two

“Oi! Y/N, wake up!”

Something fluffy smacked you straight across the face and you hissed in annoyance, sitting up and rubbing your eyes to identify your attacker.

“Okay, I’m—what the hell are you three doing in here? It’s 3 in the morning,” you grumbled. “If you get caught—”

“T’was Fred’s idea,” Lee said innocently and dropped the pillow, holding his hands up in surrender.

“Hey! Why are you pinning all this on me? That’s not fair,” the older twin demanded. 

“Anyways, Y/N, the kitchens are empty.”

“No shit Sherlock, it’s the middle of the night. What do you all want?” you kept your voice down.

“We’re cooking up a storm tonight.”

“I hope you’re not referring to more Canary Creams?”

“No, we mean actual sweets,” Fred explained, taking your hand and pulling you out of bed. “Come on.”

The four of you crept down the staircase and through the halls as quietly as possible; George and Lee quietly talking to each other behind you while Fred remained by your side, hand still in yours. You were too tired and delirious to notice or care that he could’ve let go ages ago, but didn’t.

“Okay, we’re here,” George announced quietly and pushed open a grandiose, wooden door. 

The usually bustling kitchen was dead silent so that all you could hear were each other’s slow breaths. 

“Accio recipe,” Lee muttered quietly, and an old, worn maroon book came zooming towards him. He set it down onto the counter and propped it open, flipping through the pages and stopping on one particular recipe. “I hope you lot are up for some treacle tart.”

“I wish I could stay mad at you for smacking me in the face with that pillow, Lee,” you tried your hardest to suppress a laugh. “But you read my mind.”

“Okay then!” He clasped his hands, “let’s get to work.”

You picked one of the long wooden tables in the center of the room then got to work, quickly but efficiently rushing around the kitchen to collect what you needed. Fred rolled his sleeves up and leaned against the counter to watch you, in awe as you began measuring and pouring the ingredients with near-perfect accuracy.

“Are you just going to stand there or are you going to help?” you finally looked up and noticed that he hadn’t been doing anything. 

“Sorry, you’re just distracting,” Fred sent you a wink, and you scoffed. “Okay, sweetheart, I’m sorry, I’ll help you.” 

You fell into a silent but comfortable routine afterwards, evenly splitting up the work to finish preparing the tarts in less time. Neither of you noticed how you gradually inched closer to one another as you did so, shoulders brushing together every time you reached over to grab something or continue mixing the batter. 

“Hold on a minute, there’s some flour right—” Fred paused, thumb grazing your cheekbone. You felt a jolt of electricity where his skin brushed over yours. “—there.”

“Thanks,” you mumbled, face suddenly feeling too hot even though the kitchens were far from it. 

“Always my pleasure,” he smiled, oblivious to your flustered state. 

Lee was standing with George a few rows away, focus switching between you two and the first batches of treacle tart that were now in the ovens, slowly beginning to bake. The distinct scent of sweet syrup and berries soon began wafting through the air, filling the room with a sweet and tantalizing aroma. 

“They can’t keep their hands off each other,” he grinned knowingly. “They’re standing just inches apart…they have the entire table to themselves and yet they stand like that.”

“And they say they’re just friends. I call bullshit,” said George, watching as Fred said something to you and you rolled your eyes, whacking him with your wooden spoon. Fred tugged you forward in response, trapping you in his strong arms as you let out a faint giggle, protesting for him to let you go. It wasn’t until he tilted his head down and you begrudgingly pressed a kiss to his cheek that he finally released you from his hold, looking as smug as ever. 

“10 galleons says they’re getting married in the next two years.”

“15 galleons.”

“You’re on, mate.”

three

DA practices were now everyone’s sole source of motivation. They had finally started work on Patronuses, which they had been very keen to practice, though, as Harry kept reminding you all that producing one in the middle of a brightly lit classroom when they weren’t under threat was quite different from producing one when under threat, like by a Dementor. 

You exchanged a soft smile with Cho, admiring her silvery swan-shaped Patronus before attempting to refocus on your own work; on the last several tries you hardly managed more than a cloudy, wispy form. 

Closing your eyes, you recalled the time you had Quidditch practice on a snow day. Oliver ended practice a bit early (Angelina did have to convince him a bit though) and you spent the rest of that time pelting one another with snowballs and zipping around in the air, laughter echoing across the space. You couldn’t remember the last time you had felt that carefree.

“Expecto Patronum!” Excitement began to build up in you but your shoulders slumped in defeat when again, just a thin wisp of silver smoke came out of your wand tip. “Damn it.”

“Y/N, you’ve got to think of something happy,” Harry reminded you.

“But I did,” you exhaled, voice strained. “I don’t get it. I thought…”

“Maybe it wasn’t strong enough. Try a new memory,” he suggested, “do you have anything else that might work?”

“Well, there is one…I don’t know if it’s my happiest, but it is one of them, and it is strong…”

“Then try that,” he said kindly. “You can do this.” You nodded and he walked away to help Neville, who was also struggling to cast his Patronus.

Readjusting your wand in your hand,  you closed your eyes once again and allowed the new memory to fill your mind. 

The first few weeks after the end of term and the start of the summer holidays were always the hardest. As badly as you missed home and your parents, you also missed constantly being around your friends and the Weasley family. At this point it had been three weeks since you’d seen Fred; you never went longer than that without seeing him. 

You and your parents had spent three blissful weeks traveling around France. From exploring the lavender fields in Provence, smelling the fresh sea air and seeing the breathtaking Mont-Saint-Michel castle in Normandy, to biting into pillowy soft pastries in Paris, you did it all. But you still felt that distinct ache to be back at Hogwarts with your close friends. 

“The Burrow!” you exclaimed, Floo powder in hand. Glowing green flames engulfed your body and then you were standing outside your third home in mere seconds, giddy with excitement. 

“THERE SHE IS!” you heard several voices shout with delight. Your best friends immediately came bursting through the door and stampeding towards you. Fred was the first to reach you, positively glowing with happiness as he swept you into a tight bear hug, spinning you around. He attacked you with repeated kisses to your temple then cheeks as he said how glad he was to finally see you. He was clutching you so tight that you almost lost your breath, but you were so happy to see him as well that you couldn’t care less. 

“Oi, we’re here too, lovebirds!” you heard Ron shout. You laughed and pulled away from Fred’s embrace to go greet everyone else. As you were hugging Ginny you made eye contact with Fred, that gleaming look still in his eyes. Your heart felt so full at that moment, you thought it would burst. 

“EXPECTO PATRONUM!” you shouted. A flash of silvery-blue light emitted from your wand and a dainty squirrel burst forward. You smiled to yourself as Harry complimented your work. 

But what surprised you more was the small bird swooping in from above—it caught sight of your squirrel Patronus and started chasing it around the Room of Requirement, their forms glowing brightly. Several others stopped what they were doing to watch the spectacle, confused but amazed. 

“Pretty cool, innit,” you heard a voice say from besides you. You turned to make eye contact with Fred, who was looking at you with amusement. 

“Yeah…is that a sparrow?” you pointed up at his Patronus, which was still chasing yours around the room and leaving a trail of glitter behind itself as it did so. 

“It’s a magpie,” said Fred. “Although I also thought it was a sparrow at first.”

“Well, it looks like they like each other…” 

“Art imitates life, right? Is that what they say?”

“Something like that, I guess,” you laughed softly, leaning into him. “It’s beautiful.”

“What did you think of?” he asked. “Beating Umbridge’s arse to a pulp? Just say the words and I’ll gladly help with that.”

You snorted. “No, I tried that last time but I guess it wasn’t strong enough. I don’t know how this one could’ve been happier than that.”

“Then whatever it was, it must’ve been pretty strong.”

“Definitely…” The scene flashed across your mind again, and you felt heat crawling up your cheeks. “it was.”

“His Patronus can’t seem to let go of hers,” Hermione whispered from the other side of the room; hers and Ginny’s otter and horse Patronuses were gracefully gliding around them. “You know what that means…”

“I haven’t a clue,” Ginny responded as she glanced over Fred, who now had an arm around you. “Why’s that so important?”

“Because, Gin!” she whisper-shouted. “Magpies hunt squirrels!”

“Okay…what’s the correlation there?” Ginny was now confused. 

“He’s in love with her, of course! I was reading up on Patronuses last week; when someone has feelings of deep affection for someone else, either their Patronuses change to match or they produce what’s like an opposite to the person they love. Hence the hunter and prey pairing.”

“You just figured out they love each other?”

“No, but this just confirms it,” the bushy-haired girl’s mouth stretched into a wide grin.

four

It felt like hours since you had last seen the light of day. Right now you were waist-deep in assignments, preparing for your mind-numbing History of Magic project that was due the next morning. Sleep was threatening to pull you under and it took everything you had not to slump over and doze off on the spot. 

“Ange,” you yawned and cupped a hand over your mouth, “did you finish the revisions yet?” 

“Almost,” she returned your tired yawn and slid the parchment she was working on over to you. “Do you mind checking this over for me?” 

“Mhm,” you mumbled, peering down at her tidy handwriting and picking up your quill. You rubbed your eyes and drew out a long breath. “Godric’s sake, what time is it?”

“Quarter to midnight,” Katie responded, jotting something down in her notepad, “I think we’re almost done…”

“...these damn revisions are taking bloody forever,” you groaned, placing your chin in your hand, “almost more than the time we took researching.”

“I despise history,” said Alicia.

“Hear, hear,” you and Angelina said tiredly.

All of a sudden you heard a rustle and the screech of someone pulling a chair out next to you. The comforting smell of broomsticks and cinnamon instantly hit your nose, which didn’t help with you already wanting to doze off. 

“There’s my Y/N,” Fred greeted warmly. His hand-knitted maroon Weasley jumper hung loosely off his toned frame, bringing out the color in his eyes and cheeks. He looked painfully attractive in everything, you realized.  

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

“Not when I know you aren’t,” he said plainly. “It’s late, but you’re here, right? So that’s why I’m here as well.”

You seemed to be completely oblivious to the way he kept staring at you as you continued to work. He couldn't help but stare; he found it rather endearing, the way you'd sigh every so often when stuck on a difficult problem and how you'd get this crease between your brows because you were deep in concentration. 

After several minutes you finally glanced up, a quizzical look on your face as you realized he was still watching you so intently. “Is there something on my face?”

“No,” he smiled softly, reaching over to briefly cup your cheek. Angelina, Alicia, and Katie exchanged knowing looks at this. “Just looking out for you, of course.”

The flickering lanterns overhead cast a warm golden light over the room, illuminating his features in a dim and hazy glow. There was an unmistakably soft and wistful sort of look in his eyes and you felt your heart race the longer his eyes stayed on you. Did he always look at you that way? You couldn’t remember the last time he had looked at you with anything other than admiration and delight but then again, Fred was known to be very open with those he cared for. 

Another hour went by and by this point you were fast asleep, head leaning against your arms on the table and parts of your hair spilling across your forehead. If he didn’t know any better, Fred would’ve thought you were an angel, part Veela, or something along those lines. Was there anything better? he thought to himself. If there was, that’s exactly what she is.

Fred slid his jumper off and as carefully as possible, slid it under your head so that you had something soft to rest on and wouldn’t wake up complaining that there were ink stains on your skin. He took the quill from your outstretched fist and set it by your side, and wordlessly began putting your things into your bag for you.

It was another two hours until you eventually stirred awake but he stayed, quietly waiting and watching; relishing in the peace and comfort that he knew only your company could bring. 

plus one

It probably would’ve been a wise idea to heed Katie’s advice and not overwork yourself; even Hermione had said you clearly looked exhausted and needed a break from studying. But being as stubborn as you were, you didn’t listen, and now you were starting to feel the consequences of your actions. 

So here you were now alone in the girls’ dormitory, curled up in bed with a stuffy nose, sore throat, pounding headache that felt like it would split your brain in two, along with crippling nausea. Despite your stomach grumbling after having skipped out on breakfast and lunch, the mere thought of eating made you feel even more sick. 

All you wanted to do in that moment was crawl into a hole and fall asleep for several centuries. 

Realizing that sitting there doing nothing wouldn’t help, you decided to at the very least, open your Charms textbook and get caught up on the past few reading assignments. You mentally reminded yourself to thank Angelina for standing in today and taking notes for you; the girl was saving you hours’ worth of work that likely would’ve had you collapsing all over again.

A loud CRASH from somewhere nearby caused you to jump slightly and almost slam the book closed on your fingers. Glancing around at the sudden noise, you were about to assume it was Peeves being chased by Filch after causing trouble (you definitely didn’t experience this from having helped him and the twins out with a prank in which you chucked a Dungbomb into his office). But then you remembered they never directly entered the girls’ dormitories and laughed to yourself.  

The door creaked open and Fred’s all-too-familiar figure stumbled through, breathing hard with his hands behind his back. He was shifting from foot to foot and he looked kind of…nervous?

“Fred?”

“Y/N, I haven’t seen you all day,” his face broke into a bashful grin, “How are you feeling?”

“I’m…alright…”

“Well, I got you something,” said Fred, and quickly handed you a sweet-smelling bouquet of flowers. “I hope you like these, it took a while to grow them. Longbottom helped me out a bit.” 

“T-these are…” you stammered, pulse racing. The flowers shone brightly under the afternoon light; they were probably the prettiest things you’d seen in, well, forever. 

“—your favorite, I know,” he finished your sentence.

“But how did y—”

“It’s the same kind of flower as the dried ones that are in the bookmark you use for all your classes,” he explained, still slightly out of breath as he sat down at the edge of your bed, reaching for your hand. “It’s the color of your favorite wool hat. It’s the color of the jumper I bought, I told you it’s because I liked how my eyes went with it but really, it’s because it reminded me of you. It’s what I smelled in George and I’s Amortentia in Potions. It’s you, Y/N, it’s all you and it has always brought me back to you. It always will, every single time.”

Suddenly, the realization slammed into you with a force of a Bludger traveling a hundred miles an hour. 

Fred Weasley loved you. You loved Fred Weasley.

And it had taken you forever to notice. 

He sat by your side and reached for your hand, taking it in his and interlocking your fingers together like it was normal; like he had done so dozens of times before. Because he had, but something about this one made your heart skip an extra beat and all the words you wanted to say leave your brain instantly. 

“I look terrible,” you turned your face into his chest so that your cheek was now resting against the fabric of his jumper, “and you might get sick too. You should go…”

“I don’t care,” he mumbled, sliding his arms around you, “I’ve got all day. Snape can take my delightfully dimwitted Potions essay and shove it up his a—”

You chuckled a bit at this and took that moment to glance up at him—he was still gazing at you longingly. You’d never seen him look at anyone or anything that way; unless you counted the excited look he got when Hogwarts had its annual holiday feast and piles of food appeared on the tables. Or that look he got after winning a Quidditch match. 

“I’m an idiot, aren’t I?” you asked, shaking your head. “For taking as long as I did to realize that I’m in love with you. Everyone was practically screaming at me about it and yet I still couldn’t put the pieces together and see.”

That signature grin was back on his face. “You’re in love with me?”

“Don’t let it get to your head, Weasley—”

He grinned, stopping what you were going to say next by closing the gap and sealing his lips over yours. Now it wasn’t the nausea that had your head whirling around; it was the feeling of him kissing you like it was the only thing he ever wanted to do, and it was intoxicating. He was right there all along—your best friend for as long as you could remember—and suddenly you couldn’t seem to register anything else other than the fact that you wanted to stay in the moment until you completely lost your breath. 

“Fred, I told you, you’re going to get sick,” you exhaled as you pulled apart, “I know you don’t want that.”

“And I told you I don’t care.” He brought you back in and kissed you a second, then third time, “all the more excuse to spend time with you.”

(He did get sick the following day, leaving a disgruntled Hermione to take care of not just you, but him as well.) 

a/n pt 2: yes the poem was done by chatgpt. i’m horrible at writing normally, and even worse at writing poetry. sorry yall LOL. also can you tell i love writing cheesy monologues. yeah. and also i’m sorry for the cringe ending

tags: @miissasa @bittermileymilez @daisydark @brinachiii @foreverthemaraudersera @viharbinger @ladyclay @apileofschist @arkofblake @lizzyrose200 @4ngeltrumpettt

[enhanextdoor]

𓂃۶ৎ 𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐄 𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐈𝐓 ━━━ 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖻𝖾𝗍.

西村 力 (n.rk). ─────⠀ㅤ 3,002 (in total) ―୨୧⋆ ˚ 𝗳!𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𓈒 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬. ⠀

부인 성명 (disclaimer) : read at your own risk. there is going to be fluff and angst themes. NOT PROOFREAD

taglist: @choisanswife. @leehsngs. @myjjongie

moving away from home was one of the hardest things for you to do. it was what you had known your entire life, but college was an exciting new time. you thought it would be a fresh start, you would be able to make new friends and not be held back by some of the rumors and different issues that living in a small town held. you wanted to experience the world and maybe you were a little naive, but you thought the world would be good for you. welcome weekend was what really fucked you over. everyone was asked to go around and share a fact about themselves on the auditorium stage and as you were walking up your shirt caught on the stairway and ripped. you were so embarrassed you cried, people recorded and this quickly spread around campus. you were labeled the “cry baby” of campus. so much for getting a fresh start right? nope! 

it had been three weeks since the semester started and honestly you tried to avoid the stares and laughs, you figured that the other students would eventually move on from your little mishap but in the age of smartphones no way. you even became a bit of a campus meme, the worst group of them all had to be the dance team. the first person to post the video to social media? none other than jake. he didn’t think it would get as big as it did and well it even got him a little more credibility on campus. you just wanted to keep your head down and the library was one of the best places to do that, you had been practically living in your dorm and in the library. you were enjoying the silence. enter nishimura riki, the it-boy of the freshman clas, he casually made his way over to you and pulled a book from the shelf next to where you were standing. 

he was the newest member of the dance crew and all everyone had been talking about. ‘jungwon made such a good choice as captain letting him on the team.’ ‘we are so qualifying this year’ ‘he’s just so dreamy’ those are just some of the things you’ve heard. your gaze shifted to him only for a second before you grabbed the book you needed and started to head back towards the table you had claimed. “y/n.. that’s your name right?” ni-ki spoke up. you stopped to look at him and arched an eyebrow slightly, nodding your head. “yeah, that would be me.” you prepared yourself to get the cry baby comment or some kind of joke, but he walked over and examined your book. “oh this is actually the one i need too. think we could sit together and look it over?” he set the book in his hand on empty carts at the side of the column.

you were a bit shocked that he would be wanting to do an optional reading for class, the professor made sure to emphasize that this reading wasn’t required but could help students get a better grasp on the concepts. “sure?” you sounded a little hesitant because you were. maybe ni-ki wasn’t a bad guy and truthfully needed the book for class just like you. the pair of you walked over to the table and you opened it up to the page that you needed. “you need this for intro to society too right?” you questioned to see if he was taking the same basic sociology class you were. “yup and look at that you’ve got the page right and everything.” he flashed a smile. 

the pair of you read the book only speaking to indicate when it was okay to turn the page. it was nice, having an interaction with someone that wasn’t just trying to make fun of you. after two hours of powering through the book you both reached the end and you closed the book. “well that was nice.” he stated as he leaned back in his chair a little. “yeah, it was nice.” you admitted before tapping your fingers on the table a little bit of anxiety building in your stomach. “you know you are pretty cool y/n. we should go out sometime.” 

his words sent a little bit of panic through you mainly because you knew that talking with him could impact his social status on campus or bring on more taunting. then you were fighting with the implication, is he asking you in a friendly way or in a date kind of way? you sat there for a second. “did i break you y/n? shit that was so not what i was trying to do.” he was sat forward now examining your face. “no, no, i heard you and am not broken.” you replied and glanced back to him. “just don’t think it would be a good idea for us to go out.” you stood up to go return the book from where you found it. he stood and followed you right over to the shelf. “oh come on y/n, afraid that people will tease me too? i really don’t care about any of that. you are cool and we shared a book doesn’t that mean anything to you?” he was talking in a bit more of a teasing tone at the end. you couldn’t help but roll your eyes playfully because that was cheesy. “okay then we can go out.” you shouldn’t cave so easily but honestly you are just a girl. “great it’s a date then.” he winked.

you two had exchanged numbers before you left the library and set a plan of when you were going out. everything about this made you nervous but excited. was this really happening? the coolest guy in the freshman class wanted to take you out on a date? it seemed too good to be true. you spent hours getting ready for this date and the pair of you went out. the date was a simple move theater then dinner date. you two had a great time, the conversation at dinner flowed so naturally. he had you laughing, you made him laugh in return. it was nice being out with someone that didn’t just see you as a joke. he walked you back to your dorm and before he left you two kissed. you felt the butterflies in your stomach and the whole nine yards. 

two months passed and several more dates occurred within those months. you never saw this coming, but there you were on the quad with ni-ki laid out under you and your head rested on his stomach as you laid down as well reading your book. the two of you were all the campus could talk about. “we are throwing this party tonight to celebrate winning our latest comp.” he said which pulled you from your book, “oh yeah? well i would love to come with you if that is what you are asking.” you looked up to him with a warm smile. a smile that ni-ki had grown so accustomed to. he had fallen for you and if only you knew everything he knew that you probably wouldn’t feel the same anymore. he sat up which had you sitting up as well and he admired you with a smile of his own, “you make me so happy y/n. you know that right?” you weren’t sure where this was coming from but you leaned in to give his lips a little peck. “yeah, yeah nishimura. i have a class to get to.” you stood and then leaned down to give him another peck on the lips. “see you later?” you asked but didn’t wait for an answer before walking backwards to start heading away from you. “yeah.” he waved you off and went back to laying down to look at the sky. 

he wasn’t sure how he was going to tell you the truth, all of this started with a bet. he was hanging out with all the guys and jake showed everyone the video. they all laughed about it, ni-ki included. “you want to prove yourself to be one of us?” jay said while leaning his arms on his knees and the rest of the guys started to pick up what was about to go down. “get cry baby to go out with you.” he continued and everyone else was laughing. “oh my god that would be so funny actually. you should so do it.” sunghoon chimed in. ni-ki wanting to be accepted by these older much cooler guys agreed. “i could totally get her to go out with me, easy. i’ll do you one better i’ll get her to actually fall in love with me too.” god how he regretted that day now, he felt like he was walking on eggshells. it was only a matter of time before someone slipped and told you and he didn’t want to lose you. while he was trying to get you to fall in love with him he did something that would ruin everything, he fell for you. 

later that night after all your classes and getting ready for what felt like forever you headed to the frat where the party was being hosted. you went inside and started looking around for ni-ki but instead found jay and jake by the drinks table. jake was a little loaded and that made him a little louder than normal. “Y/N! YOU’RE HERE!” he was basically shouting and leaning on jay for the support. “hey jake.. you doing okay there buddy?” you gave a pointed look and jay made a little face while shaking his head to indicate that this boy was long gone. you had gotten to know the rest of the guys and much to their surprise they liked you. the guilt of the bet weighed on all of them too, but they tried to ignore the elephant in the room. heeseung came walking over to see the drunk jake and jay supporting him. “need some help with that one?” he pointed to jake literally just hanging off jay. “you know it we should get him some water.” jay replied and you spoke up. “let me go get him some. you two just make sure he stays upright.” 

you pushed through to the kitchen and came back with bottled water. they had gotten jake seated on a couch. “oh have you guys seen ni-ki?” you questioned. they all shook their heads and jake decided to speak up. “naurr but i am so glad you two are dating. i mean to think this all started because jay thought you were some looooser and bet ni-ki that he couldn’t get you to date him. oh! and im sorry for posting that video of you.” he was pouting and batting his eyes. “don’t hate me.” jay and heeseung’s faces both looked so shocked and heeseung literally put his hand over jake’s mouth. your mouth fell open a little as you tried to process everything that was just said. ‘some loser’ ‘a bet’ those words burned and you felt like your heart was shattering right there. “i should go.” you forced a little smile and handed the water over to jay, backing away from them. “y/n wait..” jay spoke up but you had already turned and started to rush towards the exit. 

you thought that things were different with ni-ki, that he was one of the only people that actually gave you a chance. he made you feel safe and loved, he was someone you could just talk to for hours. was all of this just some silly little game to him? was your heart just something he could toy with? as you were walking out of the party, ni-ki was on his way in. his eyes caught a glimpse of you and he went to take your hand, “y/n where are you going?” you stayed right there your back to him, hand in his and using every ounce of strength you had to keep your tears in. “was it worth it?” your voice sounded so broken and he was confused until his phone buzzed, he glazed over the text from heeseung explaining what just happened. he shoved his phone right back into his pocket and he moved to stand in front of you, his hand still holding yours.  “y/n, baby, i can explain.” 

him moving to be in front of you wasn’t helping because now glancing up at him the tears just started to cascade down your cheeks. “explain? explain what? that you made a bet that you could date me? guess what riki, you fucking did that didn’t you? i bet you are so proud of yourself. god just leave me alone. i never want to see you again.” you shoved his hand away from yours and walked off leaving behind the boy you fell in love with and any shred of hope that people were still good. 

it had been three days since the party and your phone had been blowing up with messages from all of the guys. ni-ki had messaged the first day just a few times asking if the two of you could talk, but when you ignored him for the fifth time he got the hint. he was a mess too and you knew it only because the rest of the guys were messaging you over and over saying that this was their fault not ni-ki’s. that wasn’t helping any considering he could have said no. you had skipped your classes the last two days which is not like you in the slightest, but professors had to understand you just had your heart ripped out so that’s basically a medical emergency right? maybe this would have been easier if you had made some actual friends on campus, but the friends you made were the boys and obviously didn’t trust any of them right now either. 

you did the one thing you could think to do, packed up a bag and took the first flight home. you needed to get away from campus and have a slight reset. home was going to give that to you, there was no ni-ki there, none of the guys to come knock on your door, just you and your family. after the third day home you were starting to feel a little better. the feelings of betrayal were still very much there and you played a card game and when you won your instinct was to text ni-ki to let him know, but you couldn’t exactly do that. a big part of you missed what you had with him. you just had to remind yourself that it was probably all just fake. 

there was a knock on the door and your mom went to get it, you were on the couch reading to get caught up on some of your classwork. “y/n, honey it’s for you.” your mom called out which confused you because you weren’t expecting anyone. you got up and made your way over to the door pausing when you saw none other than ni-ki standing there. your mom had walked away when you made it to the door and you stared at him, “what are you doing here? how did you even find my house?” you questioned in a hushed tone. “well i remember you talking about it when we went on our first date. you said that you lived in the old house with the handprints in the sidewalk and named the street so.. i just walked down the street until i found the handprints.” you stepped outside and closed the door behind yourself, crossing your arms over your stomach. he remembered that? most people wouldn’t care to remember a detail like that. you needed to push that delusion from your head, he doesn’t care. or does he?

“i tried to give you your space, i really did and honestly sunoo told me flying here was a terrible idea, but it’s been almost a week and i am losing my mind y/n. none of it was fake.. nothing i said or did with you was fake. i know it started with not the best intentions and honestly i should have told you the minute i fell for you, but i didn’t want to lose you because i’m an idiot that took a bet.” he was rambling just a little and you were focused on the fact that he said he fell for you and it was real. everything he said and did with you was real. “you mean it?” you spoke finally which cut him off from going to say something else. “of course i mean it. i am so in love with you y/n that i literally hopped on a flight to go to some town i’ve never been to to walk up and down a street in hopes of finding the girl of my dreams.” 

you were hesitating on forgiving him because you weren’t completely sure if he was telling the truth, but your heart was screaming to forgive him because to be honest you are in love with him too. every little moment you two shared, every kiss, all the late night talks, the times you shared books, it was all just so comforting. “if you ever break my heart again nishimura riki i swear i won’t let you back in.” you moved in a little and he did as well. “i swear on everything in this world i won’t break your heart again.” the two of you shared a soft and sweet kiss on the door step. his hands on your waist, yours finding the comfortable spot around his shoulders. when your lips parted he smiled at you and you felt that happiness creeping back in. “so uh.. when am i going to meet my future in-laws?” he smirked as you gave him a teasing glace. 

a/n: thank you so much for reading! i hope you enjoyed this fic. i would love if you commented thought/opinions, liked, or reblogged!

c. enhanextdoor ; do not copy, repost, or translate my works.

[sara-the-wizard]

I had another story about Leo DIEING after the invasion?!?!??!

(I tell ya, I make too many stories...)

Hello! I just found yet another rottmnt fan fiction I wrote about a year ago in my files! I'm gonna share it with you if that's okay!

Warnings! 💔

Tw implied death. Tw implied choking. Tw implied drowning. Tw Implied grave robber/robbing.

Story is under the cut! Hope you enjoy! 💙⬇️

{Fall and Rise}

Sirens wailed in the distance. The sky was stained. And three mutated turtles wept over one of their own. After hours of crying, they took Leo home, laid him in a bed, and placed the sheet over his head. They all stood in the living room, unsure of what to do next. Draxum comes forward and speaks.

"I created him. It is only right that I would bury him."

They all agreed. Knowing that none of them would have had the heart to prepare him for burial. Soon they all attended the funeral they had made for him. There were many tears that fell as the casket was lowered. As months passed. His whole family visited his grave until it was just Donnie. Donnie walked through the hidden city. (Leos grave was in the hidden city right outside of Draxums old lab.) Donnie bought some flowers from a vender. He practiced his speech as he made his way to Leos grave.

"Hey Nardo! I guess you know, today is our birthday! ... I know you can't get me a gift, but I brought you some flowers! And-"

Donnie cut himself off. He looked over at Leos grave in shock. He dropped the flowers on the ground. --- Donnie rushed home and burst into the room.

"He's gone!!" Donnie shouted in concern.

Everyone looked at Donnie with confusion and concern.

"What's wrong, Donnie?" Mikey asked.

"The grave, not there! Gone!" Donnie sputtered in a panic.

"Woah, Donnie. Slow down! Take it from the top."

Raph placed his hands onto Donnies shoulders.

"I went to Leos grave, but he's gone!" Donnie shook his hands.

"You mean Leo?" Raph creased his brow.

Donnie nodded his head.

"Leo's gone?!" Mikey jumped.

"Do you think it was grave robbers?" Raph shook his fist.

"How disgraceful!" Splinter huffed.

"Who would do such a thing?!" April held out her hands. --- Donnie busted the door open to an apartment.

"Draxum! Where is he?!" Donnie shouted.

Draxum sat on a couch sipping on some tea.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Draxum huffed.

"Leos grave is dug up and... Leo's gone!" Raph commented.

"We suspect it to have been grave robbers." Splinter insisted.

"Yeah! So you gotta help us find them and make'em tell us where-" April was cut off.

"It was me." Draxum said, casually sipping his tea.

Everyone was dumbfounded by his statement. "YOU?!?!" They shouted. Splinter growled.

"I've seen you do pretty low things, Draxum. But never have I thought you would stoop so low as to-" Splinters sentence was cut short.

"I know how I can bring your brother back to life. Correction, how WE can bring your brother back to life."

Draxum said while getting up from the couch.

"Come with me." Draxum said as he walked out the door. --- They walked through Draxums old lab. It was a bit messy. Some ruble still laying on the ground when the laboratory blew up.

"I never thought we'd be back here again." April whispered to Raph. Raph sighed.

"Draxum, where are you taking us?" Raph huffed. Somewhat impatient.

Draxum turned to look at the group behind him. He raised his hand and waved it over a secret panel. The wall started to glow with glowing magenta markings. The wall began to shift. It opened to them, revealing a secret tunnel. They walked down the dark and Erie passageway.

"This was where I did my more, "dangerous experiments"." Draxum cleared his throat.

"Draxum? What are you up to?" Splinter looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I have already told you." Draxum huffed.

Soon they made it to another wall. This wall too started to shift. When it opened, shock ran down everyone's faces. Leo floated lifeless in a tube of water. Many wires were attached to him in various places. An oxygen mask was put on over his mouth.

A few days ago:

Draxum dug up Leos grave with the help of his loyal gargoyles. After the gargoyles were done braking their backs, Draxum used his mystic tentacles to take Leo out of his little bed of eternal rest. Soon he brought Leo inside. There was this pattern drawn on the floor with chalk. Leo laid in the center. Draxum sat above him. And the gargoyles hovered around the bottom.

"Are you sure you trust us to do this, boss?" One of them said.

"I don't have much of a choice." Draxum sighed.

"You can count on us sir!" One snapped its finger.

"You won't regret it boss!" The other gave an optimistic air punch.

Draxum squeezed the bridge of his nose. "I'm already regretting this."

The gargoyles then started the memory spell. Draxum was sent into Leos memories. --- Suddenly Draxum appeared in the sewers. He watched as the four turtles floated down the stream on their tubes. Draxum raised an eyebrow. Suddenly, blue floating petals flew around him. Startled, He looked around to see where they came from. He followed the trail. Right when he's about to turn the corner. Something jumps at him from the darkness. Draxum raised his hand to block the incoming attack. It was Leos subconscious self. Pure black with glowing white eyes. Leo backed away and tried to hit him again, but Draxum blocked him.

"Move me to another memory!" Draxum shouted.

Suddenly, he was face down in the snow. He looked around and saw the turtles building a snowman. Then the blue petals flew by again. This time they carried a voice.

"I don't want to be alone!" The petals echoed.

Draxum widened his eyes. But before he could follow it, multiple shadows jumped down from the trees. Draxum looked up and quickly jumped away. Dodging most of the swings. Suddenly a sword grazed past his face, and he was knocked to the ground. He felt his cheek where the sword had hit, and looked up at the petals floating away.

"Please, don't forget me!" The petals continued to echo.

The realization knocked in like how that sword hit his head.

"Quickly! You must move me to-"

Then he appeared in a room. Mikey sat on a throne with Donnie and Leo waving palm leaves. Draxums eye twitched.

"What in the world have they been through?" Draxum thought to himself.

suddenly Draxum was free falling from the sky.

"No! I want you to-"

Draxum was then falling in a very long dirt tunnel. The turtles were riding their bike, complaining something about, 'Why does this pizza week have to be so hard?!'

"Ugh! I ment- oof!"

Draxum landed in a very dark place. There was a checkered floor. A single spotlight lit up. Draxum turned around to see what was there. Leo had his back turned away from him. He sat on the floor, cradling himself, repeating-

"I don't want to be alone! Please!"

The blue petals danced around Draxum and Leo. He walked up to Leo and stopped behind him.

"Leonardo?" Draxum called.

Leo didn't answer. Draxum then came around to the front of Leo and knelt down. He gently placed a hand onto Leos shoulder. Leos breath hitched. He slowly looked up to see who was touching him.

"Leonardo." Draxum said in return, as if he was addressing him.

"B-Barry?" Leos eyes began to tear up as whimpers escaped his lips. "Please, I wanna go back home!" Leo blubbered.

"That is why I'm here." Draxum said with a stern tone. --- Blue petals started to float around them. They swirled round the edges of the chalk circle. The gargoyles were a bit in a panic and surprise. This glowing blue orb started to form in the center, floating above them all. The gargoyles watched In aw. Just as all the petals found their places in this orb. The sphere then quickly started to drop.

"Uh oh! It's falling!" One of them said while waving his arms.

"It's gonna break!" The other said, pressing his hands onto his cheeks.

Just then, A magenta mystic tentacle grabbed the orb just when it was about to hit Leos chest. Draxum slowly brought it over to himself and placed it into his hands.

"Woah, what is it?" One of the gargoyles asked.

"It's his soul." Draxum replied.

Present day:

Leos soul is placed in a special spot just below Leos water tank.

"But the only way to get his soul back into his body, is with a lot of mystic energy." Draxum explained.

"So your saying, that you need our mystic energy to power your machine?" Mikey asked.

"Yes. But there is a chance it could take all your mystic energy, leaving you powerless." Draxum crossed his arms.

"Who cares! Let's do it!" Donnie stomped his foot.

"Woah, hold on a second Donnie. Did you not hear him? Our mystic abilities could be taken away!" Raph held his hands out.

"Raph! This is about our brother! This is about Leo!" Donnie stammered.

"I know! It's just..." Raph gestures with his hands.

"Fine if you're not going to do it, then I'll do it all by myself!" Donnie growled.

"That would be unwise. The amount of mystic energy required is much more than you can possibly handle alone. The decision must be unanimous!" Draxum commanded.

Everyone went to stand next to Donnie and looked at Raph, waiting for his answer. Raph closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then nodded with a sense of determination. --- Donnie looked down at the metal clasps around his wrists. He looked around to see his other brothers leaning on purple control boards with their wrist locked down tight. For a moment Donnie thought maybe this was a bad idea. Then he looked over at Leo in the tube and hardened his emotions.

"Okay, are you all ready?" Draxum turned to them.

They all nodded. "Yes!" "As ready as I'll ever be." "Let's do this!" "All set!" "Let her rip!"

Draxum then reached over and grabbed a lever.

"Oh, I forgot to mention. This might hurt a bit." Draxum hummed.

"Wait, what?- aaAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Donnie screamed as the machine turned on and the terrible stinging sensation went through his whole body.

Everyone groaned and cried in pain. The energy traveled up the swirling lines and entered through Leos soul and into his body. Almost immediately, Leos body started to flinch. His eyes shot open with a blinding bright blue glow. Donnie painfully turned his head to look at Leo.

"Guys, guys! It's working!!" Donnie shouted.

They all looked up to see. Leo looked down at them with his glowing eyes. Leo slowly reached a hand out of concern for his brothers.

"C'mon Mad Dogs! Keep... going!" Raph strained.

Splinter looked up at Leo. Leos behavior was strange. He kept trying to take deep breaths but could never get enough air each time.

"... Something is wrong!" Splinter stated.

Suddenly a small alarm sounded.

"Error! Error!" The computer repeated.

"There's a malfunction in the oxygen system!" One of the gargoyles cried.

"Oxygen levels are at 27%!" The other said as it read a small panel.

"What!?" April squealed.

"How much longer till the procedure is completed?" Draxum demanded.

"Still 30% to go!" The gargoyles answered.

"There is not enough air! He is not going make it!" Splinter said with concern.

"We have to get him out of there!" April exclaimed.

"No! If we stop now, his soul will shatter from all the energy built up in it. Then there will be no chance of bringing him back!" Draxums voice thundered.

They looked at each other nervously. They continued to push harder and harder. Then suddenly, Mikey began crying.

"I... I can't take this much longer!" Mikey sobbed.

"You've got this Mikey!" April tried her best to encourage him.

"It is just a little longer!" Splinter confirmed.

Donnie grunted. Raph looked at how everyone was in such pain. He then turned his gaze onto Leo. Leo didn't look like he was being resurrected, he looked like he was dying!

"3% left to go!" April stated.

A beeping sound came from one of the panels.

"Boss! Oxygen levels are at 0%!" The gargoyles scrambled.

Raphs heart rate quickened as he watched Leo choke on his final breath and slowly pass out in the water. He couldn't control himself. Raph powered up his Ninpo and broke the clasps around his wrists.

"Raphael, what are you-" Splinter cried out.

Raph ran towards Leo and smashed the tube open with his mystic fist. The glass shattered everywhere as the water spilled out onto the floor. Leo fell forwards into Raphs arms. The machines turned off and the clasps opened. Donnie and Mikey fell to their knees.

"You fool! What were you thinking?!" Draxum shouted at Raph.

But Raph was silent. He stared down at the sopping wet and unconscious Leo in his arms. Leos whole body was shaking something fierce. Raph placed his fingers into Leos neck.

"There's a pulse... Leo's alive!" Raph shouted, with a hint of relief in his voice.

Draxum softened his gaze. He quickly rushed over. But there was something obviously wrong with Leo.

"It will be a short lived revival, if he doesn't breathe!" Draxum said with concern.

Raph looked back down at Leo. His shaking turned into slight twitches. Raph placed a hand onto Leos cheek and gently patted it.

"C'mon Leo, C'mon! You can do it! Just breathe! Just breathe..." Raph shivered slightly with fear.

The others gathered around to look at Leo. But it was just silence. Then suddenly, Leo hiccuped! This caught them off guard. Leo hiccuped again! And again. And again. And again! Leo groaned after each one.

"Hiccups?" Donnie titled his head.

"Leos got the hiccups!" Mikey giggled.

They all made soft cooing sounds and laughter of relief and pity.

"Aw, you poor thing!" Raph pulled Leo in closer.

"You just came back to life, and what you get is the hiccups!" April said as she gently stroked Leos head.

Leo hiccuped and whined loudly.

"Shh, shh! It is okay! Just take deep breaths, can you do that?" Splinter said as he placed a hand onto Leos chest.

Leo proceeded to take many shaky breaths in and out. When they thought they were gone, Leo hiccuped once more! They couldn't hold back their snickering. Leo groaned with annoyance.

"It's okay, just keep breathing, alright?" Raph smiled.

Leo sighed and nodded his head. They all gently embraced Leo in a group hug, Draxum included. Mikey refused to leave him out.

_______

Hope you liked the story! Have an awesome day! 💜

[hanniescookie]

too many hobbies - YJH

pairing - jeonghan x f!reader

genre - domestic au, fluff

warnings - use of pet names (baby for reader, hannie for jh), kissing, pure fluff, mentions of mild insecurities, and uhm yeah that's it ig

summary - everyone around you seems to be soaring, traveling and building perfect lives while you're surrounded by the love of your many hobbies that leaves you feeling a little confused at times. luckily, jeonghan is there to not let you feel insecure.

author's note - second fic and i'm sooo nervous even though i've been writing for 7 years already 😭 anyway, this is for the bbangi to my shingi @kissbyoon / baby you deserve all the love 🤍 i'm ltr sharing jeonghan w you so like gimme some love 😔☝🏻

-------------------------**~~**--------------------------

You slump tiredly into your couch for the first time in a while, closing your eyes as the setting sun reflects on your face from the large window. It's not everyday that your energy goes down, but inevitably, there are days like today when you want to isolate yourself from the world just a little bit.

The living room of your apartment is still messy with all the stuff — papers, scissors, crayons, and stationary of all sort — that you were using to make your boyfriend a gift card.

Your eyes scan all the stuff, and most importantly, the pretty purple and white gift card you completed before leaving for the dance studio. It looks meaningless now, not even slightly pretty to your eyes.

All you can think about is how your dance colleagues talked about their life plans a while ago – how their words sent you in a spiral of uncertainty about your own life.

"You all, please pray I pass the audition. Not for another second am I going to waste my time here!"

"You will! Trust yourself. I thought I was going nowhere until I got my job."

"But I have come to terms with the fact that dancing here won't get me anywhere, I'm probably gonna make use of my degree and apply at the law firm."

"Well of course, I just can't sit with my hobby for a lifetime. I'm pushing my age already, so I'm hoping for my promotion."

It isn't like you to ponder over words, but this conversation did make you feel overwhelmed. Maybe you are being sensitive, but seeing everyone else talk about their sorted life makes this mess in your living room a lot suffocating than it is.

You reach out, holding the gift card in your hands and staring at it for a while. It speaks ugly words to you — pointing fingers at you and calling you a loser.

Your fingers involuntarily curl into it, almost about to rip it apart when a pretty voice breaks your reverie.

"Oh my baby!!! Did you make that for me? Show me!"

Jeonghan appears beside you out of nowhere, making you blink at him in surprise as the card is nearly snatched from your hand. The awe on his face makes your heart soften. He reads the card — all silly little messages you had scribbled in there — his contagious smile broadening on his face.

Before you can say anything, he has wrapped you in his arms, squishing you into his large frame. "Why are you soooo sweet? What if I cry?"

You end up smiling against his chest, wrapping your arms around him with a sigh. He has managed to wash away any negative emotions you were facing a while ago so easily. "We all know you're not gonna cry that easily, hannie."

He pulls away just enough to meet your eyes, a constant smile plastered on his lips. "I appreciate that you know me well, but I fear you're not entirely aware of how much I love these little things you do."

Something in your chest flutters as your smile dims slightly, staring at this loveable man and his comforting existence. He didn't even need to give you a whole speech about how it's good that you're on your own pace, and you're doing great in life (he can provide you with words of affirmation if needed) yet you're already feeling like none of people's words matter. Because you're reminded of the fact that you're indeed exactly where you're meant to be, and you'll be where you're meant to be in the future too.

You press a feather-light kiss to his nose, "What little things?"

He grins, returning the gesture with a more firm kiss than yours. "These little gifts you make me. But that's not all I love about you, you know? I love all that you do. Your dance, your impromptu shower singing, those stories you write in your laptop — I love all of it. Never quit on any of your hobbies. They make you, you."

It isn't like you to cry easily as well, but when you feel the sight of your pretty boyfriend blurring a little, you know you have tears in your eyes. He furrows his brows, instant concern spreading all over his features.

His hand cups your cheek softly. "Baby? What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"

You sniff, and close your eyes for a second so the tear residing there falls past your cheek. Then you shake your head. "Never." You breathe. "You can never say anything wrong, hannie. In fact, you only ever say everything right. Everything to make me feel special."

He doesn't seem convinced given that he still doesn't smile. He just continues to look at you, trying to detect signs of distress. "Baby—"

You giggle a little, moving to wrap your arms around his neck. "Don't worry. I just got a little emotional because of what you said. I'm fine."

"You sure?"

You nod, feeling his thumb wipe at the lone tear that had fallen before he finally breaks into his signature teasing grin. "Who's the one easily crying now?"

You roll your eyes despite the smile on your face, "Stop being so cocky."

"You love it." He grins, kissing you briefly because he couldn't resist it. You hum, and chase his lips the moment he pulls away. He wants to tease, but right now he's going to give you what you want so he smiles and kisses you back.

If it's with Jeonghan and his gravitational comfort, you know you'll get everywhere you want to be in life.

[tarotbyjam24]

Describing you through poems

Likes , reblogs and feedbacks are very much appreciated 💗

Disclaimer: this is general reading . It may or may not resonate . If reading doesn't resonate let it fly and choose another pile or simply there were no messages for you through this reading 😊 Take the reading lightly as nothing's set in stone until you believe so 🕊️

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Pile 1 pile 2 pile 3

Pile 1

A WALK

A meadow smiling in the sun,

Cows knee cleep in the stream, An elm tree waving in the wind, A silvery birch's gleam, A long white road, a rustic bridge, A brooklet gliding through, And with the sunlight on Your hair, Coming toward me-You.

DEATH

By Clarence E. Flynn

WHY do you fear me? I am your friend.

I but guide trav'lers Rounding the bend-Lead them to freedom From time and age, Help them start writing On a new page....

Seek for me never, Keep your course true-When I am needed In come to you, Then I will show you Roads without end-Why do you fear me? I am your friend.

Pile 2

i write when

i write when my heart gets too heavy to hold i write about my scars new and old. i write when i have a lot to share, but to hear it out, no one has time to spare. i write when i feel as lonely as one could be, when not tears, but the well dressed smile is what one could see.

i write when thoughts in my

mind begin to sink.

i write to share whatever i think.

i write, not with thr desire of being known, but to know the voice within my soul.

~bhoomika

I Sit Beside The Fire and Think by JRR Tolkien

I sit beside the fire and think Of all that I have seen Of meadow flowers and butterflies In summers that have been

Of yellow leaves and gossamer In autumns that there were With morning mist and silver sun And wind upon my hair

I sit beside the fire and think Of how the world will be When winter comes without a spring That I shall ever see

For still there are so many things That I have never seen In every wood in every spring There is a different green

I sit beside the fire and think Of people long ago And people that will see a world That I shall never know

But all the while I sit and think Of times there were before I listen for returning feet And voices at the door

Pile 3

Beauty

I like simple pleasures, Like wet hair & Clean sheets.. Pomegranate sourness, & the sweetness of ripe peach..

I like contradictions, Like rainbows after rain.. The glittering eyes of happiness, after days of pain..

A cup of hot tea, during a storm.. Living wildly and out of the norm.. I like good hearts, good art, the warmth of the sun.. The days you gave your self power, When you had none..

I like solitude, serenity, The thoughts in my mind.. And how in every tragic thing, Beauty I can find..

-Alethea Spark

Each of us are given a white canvas Some may be smaller than others. But the fact remains that it is pure, With not a single drop of colour.

As the days go by, the amount of strokes grow, With different colours and shapes. Some may be sharp and jagged And others smooth and clean.

You cant erase it or start over, But you can always cover it with a better strokes. You may even give up and want to stop at times, But you keep trying so desperately

And in the end, you can step back and look at what you have created And see that it was beautiful all along.

A masterpiece painted by you.

- C.

I hope you liked the reading . Thank you so much for letting me read for you . Wishing you best ahead . 🎀Bless you and have a nice day🌸🐰

Loads of love , jam\gem ✨

Exchanges : open , collabs for paps : open

[sirxaibs]

Touya Todoroki / Dabi x reader

Summary: As you pick Touya up from rehab, you reflect on how you got here

WARNING: hurt/ barely comfort. It’s a Dabi fanfic so prepare for rude behaviour and a lot of self deprecation on his part.

word count : 9734

FOLLOW ME AND GIVE ME SOME IDEAS!!

RUN BOY RUN - Woodkid

You drum your fingers against the steering wheel, staring at the front doors of the rehab center like they might explode. The car hums softly beneath you, the afternoon sun casting long shadows across the parking lot. You’ve been sitting here for a while, waiting. Thinking.

It’s been weeks since you last saw Touya. Weeks of wondering if he’d actually stay. Weeks of resisting the urge to show up just to check.

And now, finally, here he comes.

The doors push open, and there he is, hands stuffed in his jacket pockets, shoulders hunched against the wind. His hair’s a mess, probably hasn’t touched a comb in days and his scars catch the sunlight in a way that makes them stand out even more. He looks tired, in a way that’s more than just physical. But his eyes? Still sharp. Still him.

The second he spots you, he stops. Just stands there, staring, like he wasn’t expecting you to actually be here.

You push open the car door and step out before he can overthink it. “Hey,” you say, keeping it easy.

Touya scoffs, tilting his head. “Hey.” His voice is rough, like he hasn’t used it much.

You take him in, scanning for any sign of what? A breakthrough? A relapse? Hell if you know. He just looks… different. Not better, necessarily. But different.

“How was it?” you ask.

Touya rolls his eyes. “Awful.” Classic. “Same boring speeches, same awkward group sessions. Food was shit.”

You smirk. “No shock there.”

He exhales sharply, something like amusement, but you don’t miss the tension in his shoulders.

“But you stayed,” you say, watching him closely.

Something flickers across his face quick, almost undetectable. He looks away, shifting his weight. “…Yeah,” he mutters. “Guess I did.”

For a moment, neither of you say anything. It’s not awkward, just… heavy. The weight of everything unsaid sits between you, pressing at the edges. You had spent weeks wondering if he’d bail, if you’d get some shitty phone call, if you’d ever see him again. And now he’s here. Whole.

Touya clears his throat and jerks his chin toward the car. “You just gonna make me stand here, or what?”

You blink, shaking off your thoughts. “Right.” You open the passenger door. “Get in.”

He hesitates for half a second before slumping into the seat with a quiet sigh. As you settle into the driver’s side, you glance at him out of the corner of your eye. He’s staring out the window, absently picking at the frayed edge of his sleeve.

You grip the wheel. “You hungry?”

Touya snorts. “Depends. You taking me somewhere that serves actual food?”

“Yeah, yeah. No more rehab cafeteria mystery meat, I swear.”

For the first time, he smirks just barely, but it’s there. Then, after a beat, he mutters, “…Thanks for picking me up.”

Something tightens in your chest, but it’s not worry this time.

“Yeah yeah,” you say, pulling out of the parking lot. “now don’t get emotional on me.”

Touya leans his head against the window, exhaling as the car rolls forward, the sun sinking lower in the sky. And for now, that’s enough.

—-

When you met him, no one could have guessed that he’d be in your car sharing an intimate bond to intimate so fast.

The first time you and Dabi met, he tried to kill you.

No, really he actually tried. None of that lazy, half-assed, villain posturing. He sent a fucking wall of blue fire straight at you, no warning, no witty one liner. And when you barely managed to dodge, he clicked his tongue like he was annoyed you had the audacity to survive.

“Should’ve just stood still,” he’d said, tilting his head, eyes gleaming with something between amusement and boredom. “Would’ve saved us both a lot of time.”

“You always this much of an asshole, or am I just special?” you shot back, already bracing for the next attack.

Dabi had smirked, rolling his shoulders. “Dunno. Guess we’ll find out.”

That was how it started.

And somehow, for reasons neither of you ever addressed, your run-ins turned into something else. You fought, sure. But over time, it stopped feeling like an actual battle and more like… a routine. A bad habit. A game. He never went for the kill. You never hit him hard enough to stop him. And when the fights ended, more often than not, you’d end up talking.

Which led to nights like this.

Tonight, it was an abandoned lot. He’d set some shit on fire, you’d put it out, and now he was perched on the edge of a rusted-out shipping container, cigarette between his fingers, watching you like he was waiting to be entertained.

“You’re getting slow,” he remarked, exhaling a curl of smoke.

You shot him a look as you stomped out the last few embers. “Or maybe you’re just getting predictable.”

Dabi snorted. “Yeah, keep telling yourself that.”

You climbed up onto the container, ignoring the way he barely shifted to make room for you. He always did that sat like he dared you to invade his space, then acted all put out when you actually did.

“Real ambitious arson job tonight,” you muttered, stretching out your legs. “You only half-commit to everything, or just crime?”

Dabi flicked ash in your direction. “Like you’re one to talk. You had at least three chances to stop me, and you didn’t.” He shot you a sideways glance, smirk twitching at the corner of his mouth. “Starting to think you like having me around.”

You rolled your eyes. “Yeah, because listening to you bitch and moan is so much fun.”

“Hey, someone’s gotta keep you on your toes,” he said, lazily tapping ash off the side. “Can’t have you getting soft. If anything i’m helping a little girl become a hero”

You scoffed but didn’t argue. And that was the thing this was normal now. Fighting, bickering, sitting around after like you weren’t supposed to be on opposite sides. Like you weren’t supposed to be enemies.

Maybe that’s why you started noticing things.

Like how he leaned against walls like his legs were seconds from giving out. Or how his hands shook just a little when he smoked, like the heat didn’t quite reach all the way through him. Or how, no matter how sharp his smirk was, his eyes never quite matched.

And because you were a fucking idiot, you started caring.

Which is why, after another long, pointless fight, you threw a water bottle at him.

Dabi caught it, glaring. “The hell is this?”

“Hydration, dipshit,” you said, wiping sweat from your forehead. “Y’know, because you’re a walking pile of burnt kindling, and I’d rather not have you passing out mid fight.”

He stared at the bottle like it had personally offended him. Then at you. Then back at the bottle.

“You do realize I hate you, right?” he deadpanned.

“Uh-huh. Drink the damn water, Dabi.”

His jaw tightened, fingers flexing like he was debating throwing it at your head.

Instead, he cracked the cap open, took a slow sip, and never broke eye contact.

“…You’re fucking annoying,” he muttered.

You grinned. “And yet, here we are.”

He exhaled sharply, flicked his cigarette away, and leaned back against the wall. For once, he didn’t have a comeback. Just sat there, eyes flickering toward the skyline, quiet for once.

Not as a villain. Not as a hero.

Just as a guy too stubborn to admit he might not hate the company and just maybe a guy learning people can care for him.

Though it didn’t stop there, meetings became a lot more frequent.

“You stalking me, hero?”

Dabi didn’t even bother looking at you as you landed on the rooftop beside him. Just flicked his cigarette, barely missing your foot, and leaned back like he didn’t have a care in the world.

You sighed. “You just torched a building. Kinda my job to show up.”

“Yeah? And yet, here you are not doing shit about it.” He smirked, finally turning to you. “Shouldn’t you be slapping cuffs on me or whatever the fuck it is heroes do?”

You rolled your eyes. “Like you’d let me.”

“Damn right I wouldn’t.” He exhaled a slow stream of smoke, letting it curl between his fingers before he flicked the cigarette off the side of the roof. “And we both know you don’t have the balls to try though you might like the cuffs on you.”

You clenched your jaw but didn’t argue not wanting to entertain whatever thoughts he’s trying to imply, which only made his smirk widen. “That’s what I thought.”

“You always this fucking insufferable, or is it just for me?”

Dabi gave you a slow, lazy once-over, tilting his head. “I save my worst for special people.”

“Wow. Flattered.”

“You should be.” He stretched his arms over his head, sighing. “Not everyone gets to be my personal waste of time.”

You crossed your arms. “You say that, and yet, you’re the one still talking to me.”

Dabi chuckled low, rough, full of something mean. “Yeah. Guess I like watching you squirm.”

—-

You hit the ground hard, barely rolling in time to avoid getting fried. The pavement still sizzled from Dabi’s flames, burning through your sleeves as you pushed yourself up.

Dabi, still standing like he didn’t just try to incinerate you, gave you the most unimpressed look of all time. “That was pathetic.”

You spat blood onto the ground, glaring up at him. “You hit like a bitch.”

Dabi actually laughed at that, crouching just enough to get in your face. “You wish I hit like a bitch.” His fingers twitched, heat curling around them. “We both know I could turn you to fucking ash if I wanted to.”

You swallowed hard but held his gaze. “Then why don’t you?”

He tilted his head, watching you like a cat watching a half dead mouse. Then his grin stretched slow and sharp.

“‘Cause I like this,” he murmured. “Watching you scrape yourself off the ground. Watching you try so fucking hard to be something.” He leaned in just a little closer, voice dropping to something almost amused. “It’s entertaining.”

Your fists clenched. “You’re a real piece of shit, y’know that?”

Dabi smirked. “Yeah. And?”

You shoved yourself up, ignoring how your legs ached. “One day, I’m gonna put you down for good.”

His grin widened like that was the funniest thing he’d ever heard. “Oh, please do.”

——

Dabi was sitting on the curb like he had just clocked out of a long shift at his 9-to-5 arson job. Arms draped over his knees, a half-burnt cigarette dangling from his fingers, and an expression so profoundly bored that you had to take a second to process the absolute wreckage behind him.

The alley looked like a battlefield. Scorch marks everywhere, trash melted into unrecognizable blobs, and some guy still smoking from the flames. He was groaning, which was good it meant he was alive. But considering how crispy he looked, he probably wasn’t gonna be winning any beauty pageants soon.

You let out a long, suffering sigh. “Dabi.”

Dabi tilted his head back lazily to look at you. Then he exhaled through his nose, unimpressed. “Oh. You.”

You planted your hands on your hips, giving him the best I am so fucking tired look you could muster. “What the fuck happened this time?”

Dabi gave you a slow blink, like you just asked him why the sky was blue. “What the fuck do you think happened?” He waved a vague hand at the destruction behind him. “I had a bad night.”

You threw up your hands. “And what, this was your therapy session? You scorched a guy!”

Dabi sighed dramatically, rolling his neck. “And yet, he’s still breathing. How ‘bout that?”

You groaned, dragging your hands down your face. “You have to stop causing problems for fun.”

He snorted. “Wrong. The problems cause me for fun.”

You gave him a long, unimpressed stare. “Did you read that off a bumper sticker?”

Dabi smirked. “Nah. Came up with it just now. Pretty good, huh?”

You ignored that. “Did it ever occur to you to just… I don’t know, go home and watch TV like a normal person?”

“I am watching something,” Dabi said, grinning. “You. Losing your goddamn mind.”

You let out a slow, deep breath, resisting the urge to punt him into the nearest dumpster.

Then Dabi rested his chin on his palm, gaze flicking over you. “And yet, here you are. Again.”

You squinted. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He smirked. “If I had a dollar for every time you showed up to stop me but didn’t actually stop me, I’d be able to afford the therapy that daddy dearest never gave me.”

You jabbed a finger at him. “Listen here, you little shit—”

“I mean, really,” he went on, like you hadn’t spoken. “You could be off doing hero stuff. Arresting actual villains. Filing paperwork. Touching grass. But nah. Instead, you’re here. With me.” His smirk widened. “Kinda pathetic, don’t you think?”

Your fingers twitched. So help me God, you thought, if I don’t get out of here in the next five minutes, I am actually going to commit a crime.

You inhaled sharply through your nose, turned on your heel, and started walking.

“You’re not worth the effort.”

Dabi chuckled behind you, lazy and full of smug amusement.

“Keep telling yourself that, hero.”

——

The drive is quiet. its a warm kind of quiet. No one felt like they wanted break it. It was comfortable.

Touya is slouched in the passenger seat, arms crossed, jaw locked, radiating the kind of hostility that could curdle milk. His whole vibe is very moody teenager who just got grounded, which is impressive considering he’s a grown-ass man.

You let the silence ride for a while, because you know him. You know he’s stewing. Probably pissed at himself for actually staying in rehab instead of setting the place on fire and walking out in a dramatic blaze of glory. Maybe pissed at you for witnessing the fact that he actually completed something for once in his life.

After a few more minutes of unbearable tension, you finally break.

“You want food?”

Touya snorts. “What, we celebrating?”

You keep your eyes on the road. “I just figured you’d rather eat something that isn’t microwaved cardboard.”

“Bold of you to assume I even ate that shit.”

You exhale slowly through your nose. Patience. Touya is like a stray cat he hisses, scratches, and pretends he doesn’t need anything, but if you ignore him long enough, he eventually starts lurking near your door at dinner time.

“There’s a diner up ahead,” you say, because you will be feeding this dumbass whether he likes it or not. “It’s either that or you starve.”

Touya sighs, like agreeing to basic human needs is such a burden. “Fine. Whatever.”

-

The diner you pull into looks like it should’ve been condemned twenty years ago. The neon sign flickers like it’s having an existential crisis, and the parking lot is a graveyard of questionable life choices.

Inside, the place is nearly empty just a couple of truckers at the counter, mumbling over half-eaten plates of regret. The waitress barely looks up as you both slide into a booth.

Touya, being Touya, immediately sprawls out like he owns the joint, kicking his feet onto the seat across from him. He snatches up a menu but doesn’t actually read it just taps his fingers against the table like he’s already planning an escape route.

The waitress shuffles over, popping her gum. “What’ll it be?”

“Cheeseburger. Extra fries. Coffee,” Touya says, snapping the menu shut like he just finalized a business deal.

You squint at him. “Coffee? This late?”

He raises an eyebrow. “Oh, I’m sorry, are you my mom now?”

You stare at him, debating whether or not to slide his menu across the table and slap him with it.

Instead, you sigh and place your own order. The waitress scribbles it down, looking just about as done with this conversation as you are, then walks off.

Touya slouches even further if he keeps this up, he’s going to merge with the booth. “So. You gonna give me some big, cheesy speech about how proud you are of me?”

You don’t even blink. “Do you want one?”

His lip curls. “Hell no.”

“Then no.”

Touya squints at you like he’s waiting for the catch. Like you’re gonna hit him with some life is a journey Hallmark bullshit at any moment. But when you don’t, he just clicks his tongue and looks away.

“You didn’t have to come get me,” he mutters. “Could’ve just called a cab.”

“Yeah, I could’ve.” You lean back in your seat. “But I didn’t.”

His fingers twitch against the table, like he wants to argue but can’t come up with a good enough reason. So instead, he scoffs and mutters, “You’re a pain in the ass.”

You smirk. “Yeah, well. So are you.”

When the food finally arrives, Touya wastes zero time inhaling it like he’s fresh out of a 24-hour famine. Fries? Shoveled into his mouth at breakneck speed. Burger? Absolutely demolished. It’s impressive, really. Borderline concerning.

You eat like a normal human being, sipping your drink as he continues his speed run.

Eventually, between bites, he mutters, “…Food’s not bad.”

You hide your smile behind your drink. “I’ll take that as a thank you.”

Touya glares. “Don’t push it.”

You let the conversation fizzle out after that. No talking about home. No lectures. No big emotional moments. Just greasy diner food and the occasional sarcastic remark.

And when you both eventually leave and get back in the car, he doesn’t argue when you take the long way home. Doesn’t snap when the silence stretches again this time a little less heavy.

And maybe, just maybe, that’s his way of saying thanks.

You’re halfway through your plate when you notice it Touya has stopped inhaling his food like a wild animal and is just… sitting there. Not glaring, not throwing sarcastic barbs, just absentmindedly pushing a fry around his plate with a vaguely thoughtful expression.

You blink. “Oh God.”

Touya raises an eyebrow. “What?”

“You’re thinking.” You point at him with your fork. “That’s never a good sign.”

He scoffs, shoving the fry into his mouth. “Shut up.”

But he doesn’t immediately follow it with another insult, which is weird. He just leans back, arms crossed, staring at you like he’s weighing whether or not to say something.

You tilt your head. “What?”

He exhales sharply through his nose, like this this moment, this entire night is physically painful for him. Then, finally, he mutters, “You look tired.”

You blink again. “Wow. Thanks. That’s what every person wants to hear.”

Touya rolls his eyes. “I’m just saying. When’s the last time you actually slept?”

You shrug. “I sleep.”

He snorts. “Yeah? When? Between your constant babysitting and whatever dumbass hero shit you’re doing?”

You open your mouth, then close it. Because okay, maybe you don’t get as much sleep as you should. But it’s not like he’s one to talk.

Touya notices your hesitation and smirks. “That’s what I thought.”

“Yeah, well,” you huff, stabbing at your food, “not all of us have the luxury of napping through our responsibilities.”

“Luxury?” He scoffs. “I was in rehab.”

“You chose not to set the place on fire and escape. I call that a vacation.”

Touya stares at you for a second, then against all odds laughs. Not his usual sharp, mocking laugh, but something quieter. Real. It throws you off so badly that you just sit there, blinking at him.

“What?” he asks, still smirking.

“You laughed.”

He tilts his head, pretending to think. “Shit, did I?”

“Yes, and it wasn’t even a mean laugh.” You squint. “Are you dying?”

Touya rolls his eyes. “You’re so fucking dramatic.”

“Says the guy who fake-died for three years.”

“Touché.”

You shake your head, still thrown by the fact that he’s being… weirdly chill. Like he’s actually letting himself exist in this moment instead of treating it like some obligatory punishment. It’s suspicious.

Then, just as you’re about to call him out on it, he reaches across the table, plucks a fry off your plate, and pops it into his mouth.

You gape at him. “Did you just—”

“Yep.” He grabs another one. “What’re you gonna do about it?”

You slap his hand away, scandalized. “I fed you! I rescued you from microwave mush, and this is how you repay me?”

Touya grins, all teeth, the corners of his eyes crinkling just slightly. “Consider it a tax.”

You groan, dropping your head onto the table. “I should’ve left you in rehab.”

“Eh,” he says, stealing one more fry just to be an asshole, “but you didn’t.”

And for once, there’s no smugness behind it. Just quiet acknowledgement.

No thank you, no big emotional revelation just a stolen fry and the simple fact that, no matter how much of a pain in the ass he is, you still showed up.

—

The air was thick with smoke, the night split by the wail of sirens and the distant shouts of first responders. The whole block was bathed in flickering orange light, fire consuming what used to be a warehouse now it was just a giant cautionary tale about what happens when dumbasses with unstable quirks play with explosives.

You exhaled through your nose, mask pulled up high, and glanced at the six-foot wall of muscle and arrogance standing beside you. Fucking Endeavor.

“So,” you said, tilting your head toward the raging inferno, “A+ work on the whole ‘subtle infiltration’ plan.”

Endeavor didn’t even look at you. Not surprising. “This isn’t the time for sarcasm.”

You gestured broadly at the absolute catastrophe in front of you. “See, I disagree. Because if we’re not laughing, we’re crying, and I—” You clapped a hand to your chest. “—am emotionally fragile.”

“Focus.” His voice was clipped, sharp, like he was the only professional here.

You rolled your eyes. “Right, right. ‘No nonsense. Only mission.’ Because God forbid we acknowledge that this is a shitshow.”

He ignored you, which was basically the foundation of your entire working relationship.

“What’s the plan?” you asked, already scanning the building for signs of movement.

“Contain the fire and get the survivors out,” he said, striding forward. Flames licked up his arms, rolling off his shoulders like he wasn’t currently surrounded by highly flammable debris.

You sighed, flexing your fingers. “Cool. Love a good ‘rushing into a death trap’ moment.”

Still no reaction.

You followed him in, ducking through the collapsed doorway as heat immediately punched you in the face. Smoke curled through the halls, thick and suffocating, clinging to the walls like a living thing. You yanked your sleeve over your mouth, glaring at Endeavor’s broad back.

“You ever not act like you’re fireproof?” you muttered.

“I am fireproof,” he shot back.

You scoffed. “Okay, but I’m not, so let’s not turn this place into a crematorium before we’re done.”

Predictably, he didn’t dignify that with a response.

You both moved quickly, scanning the rooms, stepping over broken crates and unconscious bodies. Most of the smuggling ring had been handled either burned, unconscious, or very interested in getting arrested if it meant not being roasted alive.

The first survivors were on the second floor, huddled in what used to be an office but was now just another death trap.

You stepped over the threshold, crouching beside a barely conscious man. “Hey, buddy,” you murmured, hoisting him onto your shoulder. “Let’s get you the hell out of here before this place caves in, yeah?”

Endeavor hauled up another survivor with ease, barely even trying. God, so annoying.

“Get them out,” he ordered. “I’ll keep moving.”

You adjusted your grip, ignoring the sweat rolling down your temple. “Awesome. You run headfirst into hell, I’ll play babysitter.”

You turned on your heel, smoke curling at your feet as you hurried back out.

By the time you made it outside, paramedics were already rushing forward, taking the man from your arms. You exhaled sharply, rolling your shoulders, and turned back toward the warehouse.

Endeavor was still inside.

Not that you doubted him. He was the number two hero for a reason. But you’d seen enough missions go south to know that confidence didn’t mean shit when fire had a mind of its own.

Then—

An explosion rocked the building.

Your stomach lurched, heart pounding. For a split second, pure instinct screamed at you to move, to go back in but then, blue-orange flames burst from the second floor, and a moment later, Endeavor strode out of the smoke, dragging the last survivor behind him.

Because of course he did.

You let out a short laugh, shaking your head. “Yeah, yeah. Congrats on being a one man army.”

He barely spared you a glance, brushing soot off his shoulder like he hadn’t just walked through an explosion. “Handled.”

You huffed, crossing your arms. “Oh, for sure. Totally casual. You ever not act like you just expect to survive every dumbass decision you make?”

His eyes cut to you, sharp and assessing. “You don’t take this seriously enough.”

You arched an eyebrow. “And you take it so seriously you forget to breathe. Maybe if you stopped treating every mission like a personal vendetta, people wouldn’t be so quick to call you an ass.”

His expression didn’t change. “I get results.”

You snorted. “And I get migraines every time we work together. Funny how that works.”

Endeavor let out a huff his version of done with this conversation and turned away, stalking toward the police.

You sighed, running a hand through your hair as you surveyed the mess around you. Another night, another catastrophic team up with Japan’s most emotionally constipated man.

You really needed a drink after this.

But before you could make a break for the nearest bar, a voice rumbled beside you.

“…You did well.”

You blinked. Slowly turned your head.

Endeavor didn’t look at you just kept his gaze on the wreckage, arms crossed, face unreadable.

You squinted. “I’m sorry. What?”

His jaw ticked, like saying it physically pained him. “…I said, you did well.”

A slow grin spread across your face. “Holy shit.”

Endeavor immediately looked regretful. “Forget it.”

“Oh no no no, you don’t get to take that back.” You clutched your chest, mock gasping. “Endeavor praised me? I think I might cry.”

He sighed through his nose, very pointedly not engaging.

But you weren’t done.

“Wow. This must be what being a favorite child feels like.” You nudged him with your elbow. “Does this mean I get a ‘World’s Okayest Sidekick’ mug? Maybe a ‘#1 Emotional Support Hero’ t-shirt?”

Endeavor turned his head slightly. “You want a mug?”

You blinked. “Wait. Are you serious?”

He shrugged, which, coming from him, was basically a yes.

You grinned.

Oh, you were never letting him live this down

Now your relationship with the number 2 hero was never your favourite team ups. Though you did feel a strange bit of validation and growth every time you had the chance.

—

You had fought villains, survived explosions, and worked with Endeavor without committing arson (yet), but nothing, nothing. had prepared you for sitting at the Todoroki family dinner table.

Yet here you were, trapped between Hawks, who looked way too entertained, and Shoto, who was sipping his drink like he was emotionally detached from this entire situation.

Endeavor sat at the head of the table, arms crossed like he also didn’t want to be here, and Fuyumi was the only one smiling like this wasn’t the most awkward hostage situation you’d ever been part of.

“So!” she said brightly, setting down a plate in front of you. “How has working with my dad been?”

You immediately froze, a piece of food halfway to your mouth. Slowly, slowly, you turned your head to glance at Endeavor.

He was already looking at you.

Judging.

Daring you to open your mouth and ruin your career.

Hawks, the absolute devil, nudged your side with his elbow. “Go on. Be honest.”

You took a sip of water to buy yourself some time. “Well…” You cleared your throat. “He’s, uh… very efficient.”

Shoto snorted. “That’s a polite way to put it.”

You pointed your fork at him. “See? He gets it.”

Endeavor exhaled through his nose, which, given the fact that his entire body was basically a walking furnace, made it look like he was barely restraining himself from setting the table on fire. “If you have something to say, say it.”

Hawks smirked, leaning closer. “Yeah, say it.”

You shot him a you are so dead after this look before sighing dramatically. “Fine. You want the truth?” You turned to Endeavor. “Working with you is like trying to have a conversation with a brick wall, if that brick wall was actively judging you and could also set things on fire.”

Fuyumi gasped. Shoto took another sip of his drink. Hawks nearly collapsed against the table, laughing.

Endeavor, completely unfazed, just grunted. “You still get the job done.”

“Wow,” you deadpanned. “I am so touched.”

Hawks wiped a fake tear from his eye. “Man, this is so much better than I imagined.”

You turned to Fuyumi. “Blink twice if you need rescuing.”

She actually laughed at that, waving a hand. “Oh, it’s not that bad!”

Shoto, still completely monotone: “It is that bad.”

Endeavor let out the longest suffering sigh of his life.

By the time dinner ended, you were slumped against the doorway, utterly drained. Hawks, of course, was thriving, stretching his arms over his head. “Well, that was fun! Same time next week?”

You whipped around. “Do not manifest that.”

Fuyumi clapped her hands together. “Oh! That would be wonderful—”

“NO.” You pointed a warning finger at Hawks. “This is your fault.”

He grinned. “Worth it.”

As you stepped outside, you exhaled deeply, rubbing your temples. “I need a drink.”

Hawks slung an arm over your shoulders. “Told you it’d be fun.”

You shoved him off. “Keigo, I swear to god—”

—

Fighting Dabi was always a pain in the ass. Not just because of the fire which, yeah, was a huge problem but because he never shut up.

Tonight was no different. Flames roared around you, painting the alleyway in flickering blue as you dodged another wave of heat. The bastard was laughing, like this was some kind of game.

“What’s the matter, hero?” Dabi taunted, taking a lazy step forward. “Too hot for you?”

You huffed, rolling your shoulders as you steadied yourself. “Wow, never heard that one before. You come up with that yourself?”

His smirk widened. “Nah. I save my best material for special occasions.”

Before you could throw back another quip, Dabi’s eyes flickered to your uniform specifically, to the slight burn mark on your sleeve, barely visible but unmistakable.

And then, his entire demeanor changed.

His smirk faltered, replaced by something sharper. More calculating. His gaze darkened.

“Huh.” He tilted his head, stepping closer. “That’s interesting.”

You kept your stance firm, watching him carefully. “What?”

Dabi’s eyes flicked back to yours, his grin returning, but this time it was more… sinister. “That burn mark.”

You frowned, glancing at your sleeve. “Yeah? What about it?”

He let out a low chuckle, but there was something off about it something almost too amused. “Been spending time with other guys? I thought we were exclusive”

Your stomach twisted, but you kept your expression neutral. “oh? and what makes you say that?”

Dabi crossed his arms, the flames around his hands flickering dangerously. “So… you’ve been working with him, huh?”

You blinked. “What?”

“Oh, don’t play dumb.” His voice dripped with something between mockery and genuine intrigue. “You’ve been on missions with Endeavor.”

You still weren’t sure why that mattered to him, but something in his tone made your skin crawl. You scoffed, keeping your voice even. “Yeah, so? He’s the number two hero. I work with a lot of pros.”

Dabi let out a slow whistle, shaking his head. “Man, that’s hilarious.”

You narrowed your eyes. “What the hell is so funny?”

His smirk widened, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “You, hero. Running around, playing sidekick to that bastard.” He let out a low chuckle, stepping even closer. “I wonder… did he finally get what he wanted?”

Your jaw clenched. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Dabi’s smirk twitched, like he was enjoying some inside joke at your expense. “Nothing. Just seems like you don’t know your mentor as well as you think.”

Something about the way he said it sent a chill down your spine. But you weren’t about to let him rattle you. “If you’ve got something to say, say it.”

Dabi just grinned, stepping back. “Nah. I think I’ll let you figure it out yourself.”

And before you could stop him, he vanished into the night, leaving behind nothing but embers and more questions than you wanted to deal with.

—

You had somehow let Fuyumi trick you into another dinner. You weren’t sure how it happened one second, you were wrapping up a mission with Endeavor, and the next, you and Hawks were walking up to the Todoroki house like it was some weekly scheduled event.

“You manifested this,” you muttered, glaring at Hawks as you knocked on the door.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replied, smirking. “I think this is great for you.”

“I hope you get hit by a rogue Nomu.”

The door opened before Hawks could come up with a comeback, and Fuyumi greeted you with her usual bright smile. “You came!”

“Yeah, yeah, against my better judgment,” you muttered as she ushered you inside.

This time, the vibe was slightly less tense than before. Natsuo still wasn’t here (no surprise), but the rest of the family was present Endeavor looked like he would rather be anywhere else, Shoto was neutral as always, and Hawks was making himself way too comfortable again.

As Fuyumi moved to set the table, you noticed something different this time a photo album was open on the coffee table, pages slightly worn at the edges.

You nudged Hawks and motioned toward it. “Look at this. Actual proof that Endeavor has been outside of a crime scene.”

Hawks chuckled, leaning in. “Wow. I can’t even picture him smiling.”

You flipped a few pages, finding old photos of Fuyumi, Shoto, and Natsuo when they were kids. The pictures looked almost normal—almost like any other family.

Then you saw a photo that made you pause.

It was a boy, older than Shoto but still young, with white hair and striking blue eyes. He was grinning, arms crossed with a cocky smirk, like he knew he was the coolest person in the room.

You frowned, tapping the picture. “Who’s this?”

Fuyumi turned from the kitchen and followed your gaze. Her expression softened just slightly. “Oh… that’s Touya.”

You glanced at Hawks, who also looked mildly surprised. “Huh. Never heard of him.”

Fuyumi’s smile dimmed just a little. “He was our oldest brother.”

Was.

You weren’t dumb. That single word told you enough.

Endeavor’s entire posture tensed, but he didn’t say anything, just kept staring at the table like the conversation wasn’t happening.

Shoto was unreadable as ever. “He passed away a long time ago.”

You blinked, looking between them. You hadn’t even known Endeavor had another kid, and now you were learning he was dead?

Hawks, who was usually one to crack a joke, was silent beside you, his sharp eyes studying the photo with an unusual seriousness. “How?”

Fuyumi hesitated, shooting a glance at her father. “An accident,” she said carefully. “A fire.”

You didn’t need a full explanation to understand there was a lot more to the story than she was letting on. The entire atmosphere in the room had shifted like an invisible weight had settled over the conversation, suffocating and heavy.

You looked at the boy in the picture again. Touya. Something about his expression, his posture, felt oddly familiar, but you couldn’t place why.

Hawks leaned back, whistling lowly. “Damn. Didn’t know you had another sibling, Shoto.”

Shoto’s eyes flickered to his father before looking away. “Most people don’t.”

You glanced at Endeavor, who was completely silent, jaw clenched. If the man was already emotionally constipated on a good day, now he looked like someone had shoved a grenade down his throat and pulled the pin.

Yeah. You were not asking follow-up questions.

Fuyumi gave you a sad smile before quickly trying to shift the mood. “Anyway! Dinner’s ready.”

You exchanged a glance with Hawks, silently agreeing to drop it for now.

But as you ate, your eyes kept drifting back to that photo. There was something about it, something that made your stomach twist.

Something that told you this wasn’t the whole story.

—

You’re barely five minutes into the drive when Touya starts fidgeting. One leg bouncing, fingers tapping, sighing dramatically every few minutes like he’s about to say something and then deciding against it.

You ignore him for as long as humanly possible.

Then another heavy sigh.

“For fuck’s sake,” you say, glancing at him. “What?”

Touya smirks. “Nothing. Just love a good awkward silence.”

You roll your eyes and turn down a side street, heading toward an old parking lot on the edge of the city. It’s the kind of place that’s either a sketchy drug deal spot or just an abandoned lot that no one’s cared about for years. Either way, it’s empty, which is exactly what you need.

When you park, Touya squints at you. “Oh, nice. Super ominous.” He leans back, crossing his arms. “So, what, this is where you tell me you’ve secretly been hired to kill me? ‘Cause, honestly? Should’ve done it before you wasted money on my food.”

“Yeah, yeah,” you mutter, digging around in the glove compartment. “I’m playing the long con.”

Touya watches as you pull out a slightly crumpled pack of cigarettes. He blinks. “The hell? Since when do you smoke?”

“I don’t.” You tap the pack against your palm, knocking one loose. “Except when I do.”

He huffs a laugh and pulls out his own pack. “Terrible influence. Hope you know that.”

“You’re literally the last person who gets to say that to me.”

Touya just shrugs, flicking his lighter open. He takes a slow drag, then leans over the console, offering you the lighter with a lazy smirk. “Go on, then. Join me in my terrible life choices.”

You roll your eyes but lean in, lighting your cigarette. The first inhale burns your lungs in a way that’s almost nostalgic, and when you exhale, the smoke curls into the night air.

For a while, neither of you speak. Just sit there, smoking in companionable silence, staring out at the city lights in the distance.

Then Touya, ever the shit-stirrer, side-eyes you. “Soooo… you’re in love with me, right?”

You cough on your cigarette, nearly choking. “What the fuck—”

He grins, leaning back against the seat. “I mean, think about it. You picked me up, bought me food, brought me to this super romantic abandoned parking lot—” He gestures vaguely. “Like, if you’re gonna confess, at least do it with some dramatic flair.”

You take a slow, pointed drag. Exhale. Stare him dead in the eyes.

“Touya,” you say dryly, “if I were in love with you, I’d have worse problems than this cigarette.”

He snorts, tipping his head back. “Fair point.”

Another silence stretches between you, this one lighter. Less heavy, more like… a pause between bullshit conversations.

Eventually, Touya flicks his cigarette out the window, watching the ember fizzle out. “…Y’know,” he mutters, “you didn’t have to pick me up.”

You shrug. “Yeah. But I did.”

He side-eyes you again, expression unreadable. Then he exhales sharply and shakes his head. “Idiot.”

“You’re welcome,” you say, smirking.

He groans, slouching further into his seat, but he doesn’t argue.

And that’s how you know he actually means thank you.

—

The smell of smoke still clung to the air, thick and acrid, curling in the space between you and Dabi… Touya. You didn’t even realize you were gripping your fists until your nails bit into your palms, but you couldn’t help it. You couldn’t breathe.

It made sense now. The way he moved, the way he spoke, the way he never really tried to kill you even when he had the chance. The pieces had been there all along, but now they were clicking together too fast, too loud.

And Dabi- no, Touya- was watching you like a cornered animal, all teeth and venom, muscles tight like he was ready to bolt or attack, whichever came first.

“Say something,” he muttered, voice rough. “You’re staring like a fucking idiot.”

Your throat was dry, words sticking to your tongue like glue. But then, finally—

“You’re Touya.”

His jaw twitched, fingers curling at his sides. “No shit.”

The sheer casualness of it nearly sent you over the edge. “No shit?” You took a step forward, shoving a hand through your hair. “That’s all you have to say? You.. You let me think you were just some guy this whole time”

“I am just some guy.”

“Don’t fucking do that,” you snapped. “You lied to me.”

Dabi let out a sharp, bitter laugh. “Lied? Oh, that’s rich.” He took a step toward you, voice dropping into something low and mean. “You think I owe you the truth? That I was just gonna sit you down like, ‘Hey, by the way, I’m a walking family tragedy with daddy issues bigger than this whole fucking city’?” He sneered. “Be for fucking real.”

Your chest tightened, but you forced yourself to hold his gaze. “I thought we—”

“What? Had something?” His grin was all sharp edges, nothing warm behind it. “Hate to break it to you, but that was your mistake.”

You felt something crack in your ribs, but you ignored it. “I trusted you.”

Dabi’s expression twisted into something ugly, something raw, but it was gone in an instant, swallowed up by that same defensive, sharp-toothed smirk. “Then you’re even dumber than I thought.”

You sucked in a sharp breath, hands trembling. “Why are you doing this?”

He scoffed. “Doing what? Telling you the truth?” He stepped closer, and you could feel the heat radiating off him, warning you to back off but you didn’t. “You wanna play hero so fucking bad, then act like one. Arrest me. Fight me. Do whatever the fuck your little code tells you to do.”

You clenched your jaw. “You’re pushing me away.”

“Good.”

That hit harder than it should have.

Silence stretched between you, thick and suffocating. Dabi wasn’t looking at you anymore he was staring past you, at nothing, jaw tight like he was trying to hold back words that could shatter his teeth.

But you’d had enough.

You exhaled sharply and took a step back. “Fine.”

His head tilted slightly, but he didn’t move, didn’t react.

You swallowed the lump in your throat. “Guess I was wrong about you.”

Dabi let out a short, hollow laugh, shaking his head. “Guess you were.”

The city felt too loud. Even with the distant hum of sirens fading into the night, even with the crackling embers of the smoldering wreck behind you, the weight in your chest made it hard to hear anything else.

Touya—Dabi—was still standing there, arms crossed, head tilted just slightly like he was waiting for you to walk away. Like he expected you to.

And maybe you should.

Maybe you should turn on your heel, pretend like this conversation never happened, pretend like his words didn’t bruise, pretend like your chest wasn’t burning with something ugly and disappointed.

But you didn’t.

Instead, you took a breath. Steadier this time. Then another.

“Okay,” you said, voice quiet but firm. “I’m leaving.”

His shoulders barely shifted. “Yeah. Got that part.”

You ignored him. “But I’m not letting you do this.”

His jaw tensed. “Do what?”

“This.” You gestured at the space between you, at the sharp, jagged edges of this conversation, at the way he was standing like a kicked dog trying to pretend it didn’t hurt. “Pushing me away like it’ll fix anything.”

He scoffed, but it didn’t have the same bite. “And what, you think not pushing you away is a better idea? Think about it, genius. What do you actually want from me here?”

Your fingers curled at your sides. “I want the truth.”

Touya laughed. It wasn’t sharp this time wasn’t even mean. Just quiet. Exhausted.

“The truth?” He shook his head, looking past you again, somewhere far, far away. “I gave you the truth, and you didn’t like it.”

“You gave me a version of it,” you shot back. “The one that hurts the least for you.”

His expression flickered for half a second something too fast to catch, something that almost looked guilty. Then, just as quickly, it was gone.

“And?” he said, like he was daring you to argue. “That’s what people do.”

“No, it’s what you do.”

Silence.

For the first time since this started, Touya actually looked at you. Fully. His eyes were hard, unreadable, but you could feel the tension underneath it all.

He thought this was the last time you’d talk. Thought this was the final thread snapping between you, the moment where you’d finally decide he wasn’t worth the effort.

And maybe you should.

But instead, you exhaled, rubbing a hand down your face.

“Y’know what?” you muttered, stepping past him. “Forget it. Just forget it.”

And for a second, you thought that was it.

But then, so quiet you almost didn’t hear it—

“…I didn’t want you to know.”

You froze.

Turned back.

Touya was still standing in the same spot, still holding himself like his own body was a battlefield—but his fists were clenched, his head dipped just slightly, like this admission was something he hadn’t meant to say out loud.

He let out a breath, shaking his head. “You-” His voice cracked, and he swallowed hard. “You were never supposed to know.”

Your heart twisted.

“Why?”

He didn’t answer.

Instead, he took a slow step back, eyes flicking somewhere over your shoulder—like he was making sure you weren’t blocking his escape route.

You stared at him for a moment longer, waiting.

He didn’t say anything else.

Didn’t take it back. Didn’t try to fix it.

So you nodded, lips pressing into a tight line. “Okay.”

The city air was still thick with the scent of smoke, but the fire wasn’t the problem anymore. Not really.

You should leave. You should let this be what he wanted it to be one clean break, one final cut before you could crawl too deep under his skin.

But then he said it again.

“I didn’t want you to know.”

Barely above a whisper. A confession that sounded like it had been ripped from his throat against his will.

You froze. Turned back.

Touya’s gaze flickered to you, but only for a second before he looked away, jaw locking.

You swallowed against the tightness in your chest. “Why?”

Nothing.

Not right away, at least. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, fingers twitching at his sides like he didn’t know what to do with them. Like he wanted to reach for something, maybe even you, but wouldn’t let himself.

Finally, after what felt like forever, he exhaled sharply, shaking his head. “Because you look at me like I’m-” He stopped himself, mouth pressing into a thin line.

You tilted your head, stepping closer. “Like you’re what?”

Touya scoffed, rubbing a hand down his face before running it through his hair, shoulders tensing. “Like I’m fixable.”

That knocked the air out of you.

“Touya…”

His fingers curled into fists, a sharp breath escaping through his teeth. “Don’t.”

But you couldn’t not. Not when he was standing there like this, when the usual cocky bravado had cracked just enough for you to see what was underneath.

“You think I’m trying to fix you?” you asked, voice softer now. “That’s not—” You hesitated, choosing your words carefully. “That’s not what this is.”

He let out a short, humorless laugh. “Isn’t it?”

“No.” You shook your head. “I just- I care about you.”

His head snapped up at that, eyes narrowing like the words had physically hurt him.

You took another step closer, slow, careful, hands open at your sides like you were approaching something fragile. “You don’t have to push me away.”

His throat bobbed.

For a moment, just one, you thought he might actually let you close the distance. Thought he might let his shoulders drop, let you see him without all the fire and sharp edges.

But then he stepped back.

Not far. Just enough. Just enough to tell you what he couldn’t say out loud.

His head tilted slightly, like he was trying to keep his expression blank, but his voice betrayed him.

“I do have to.”

Your chest tightened. “Why?”

Touya’s jaw clenched, eyes darting away. “Because if I don’t—” He exhaled sharply, shaking his head. “It’ll hurt more when you finally realize I’m not worth it.”

Something in you cracked.

You wanted to scream. Shake him. Make him understand.

Instead, you just let out a slow breath. “That’s not gonna happen.”

He huffed, a small, tired smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “Yeah, well. We’ll see.”

The worst part was he truly believed that. He thought it was only a matter of time. That you’d come to your senses, see him for what he thought he was, and leave him behind before he could stop you.

And you could tell, deep down, that he was already bracing for it.

You hesitated for half a second before reaching out slowly, carefully and letting your fingers brush against his wrist. Just enough to feel the warmth of his skin, the faint, uneven texture of his scars.

His breath hitched.

Not a flinch. Not quite.

But he didn’t pull away.

Didn’t look at you either, though. Just stared at the ground, breathing unsteady, like he was trying to decide whether or not to bolt.

You squeezed, just slightly. “I’m still here.”

A pause.

Then, softer than anything you’d ever heard from him—

“…For now.”

And that? That was the closest he’d come to asking you to stay.

—

Dabi never liked to stick around after fights. He was a hit and run kind of guy burn what he wanted, say something snarky, and disappear before anyone could pin him down. But for some reason, he had been lingering more and more after your encounters. especially after how tense the last encounter everything had been weird. Yes you had found out he was Touya but he had also found out his current chase has been cozy with the thing he missed the most.

You weren’t sure why. You weren’t working together, you weren’t allies, but somehow, you kept running into each other. And somehow, neither of you had killed the other yet.

Tonight was another one of those nights.

You had spent the last half hour chasing him through an abandoned district, dodging fire and insults in equal measure. Eventually, it turned into a weird kind of truce he had gotten bored, you had gotten tired, and now you were sitting on a crumbling rooftop, catching your breath while he lit a cigarette.

He exhaled, watching the smoke curl into the night air. “You’re getting slower.”

You shot him a glare, still panting. “Or you’re getting faster.”

He snorted. “Yeah, keep telling yourself that.”

You leaned back on your hands, staring up at the stars. “Y’know, for a guy who’s so dedicated to burning society to the ground, you sure do waste a lot of time chatting with me.”

Dabi hummed, tapping ash off the side of the building. “Maybe I like watching you get pissed off.”

“Oh, yeah, that definitely tracks.” You rolled your eyes, glancing at him. “So? What’s the next step in your grand villain plan?”

He smirked, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

You shrugged. “Eh. If it’s anything like your usual, I’m guessing ‘fire, explosions, and traumatizing civilians.’”

Dabi let out a low chuckle. “Not a bad guess.”

There was a beat of silence. Then, casually, you spoke.

“Had dinner with your sister again.”

You hadn’t looked at him when you said it, but you felt the way he tensed beside you.

It was subtle. So subtle that most people wouldn’t have noticed. But you had been around him enough now to catch the small things. The way his fingers twitched slightly against the cigarette, the brief pause in his breathing.

His voice was even when he responded, but there was an edge to it. “Oh yeah?”

You nodded. “Yeah. She made this crazy good teriyaki chicken. Even got Hawks to shut up for a full five minutes.”

Dabi scoffed, taking another drag. “Miracle worker.”

“Right?” You smirked. “Shoto was there too. And Endeavor.”

Dabi’s expression immediately darkened at the name, his grip on the cigarette tightening. “Sounds like a real fun time.”

You ignored the bitterness in his tone. “It was something, that’s for sure.” You leaned forward slightly, resting your arms on your knees. “Y’know… she still talks about you.”

Dabi went completely still.

You kept your gaze ahead, pretending not to notice. “Not all the time. Just little things. The way you used to joke around when you were kids. How you’d always eat the last piece of tempura when nobody was looking.”

Dabi let out a short, humorless laugh. “She remembers that?”

“She remembers a lot,” you said, softer this time.

Another silence. Dabi stared at the horizon, jaw clenched. His cigarette burned between his fingers, the embers crackling in the quiet.

You watched him carefully. For all his arrogance, all his cruelty, there were cracks in the walls he had built. Moments like this, when you could almost see past the fire and spite when the boy he used to be bled through, just for a second.

But just as quickly, he shoved it down.

He flicked his cigarette away, standing up. “This was fun, hero. Let’s do it again sometime.”

You frowned, watching him. “That’s it? No snarky remark?”

Dabi gave you a grin, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Don’t worry. I’ll make up for it next time.”

And before you could say anything else, he disappeared into the night.

But as you sat there, watching the last of the smoke fade into the sky, you couldn’t shake the feeling that for just a moment. he had hesitated.

—

You both sit there in the car, letting the last wisps of cigarette smoke curl out the windows. It’s quiet, save for the occasional rustling in the nearby bushes, which based on the location could either be a raccoon or someone plotting a murder. Either way, not your problem.

Touya exhales sharply, flicking his cigarette out the window. “So, what now?”

You glance at him. “What do you mean ‘what now’?”

“I mean, what the hell are we doing? You kidnapped me from rehab, bought me food, let me pollute my lungs in peace feels like there should be a next step in this weird-ass bonding experience.”

“You want a scrapbook?” You lean back against the seat, stretching. “Maybe a trophy? ‘Congratulations, you survived rehab and only complained about it 47 times!’”

Touya scoffs, side eyeing you. “That’s lowballing it. I complained at least 93 times.”

“Yeah, I stopped listening after the first 50.”

He shakes his head, muttering something under his breath before running a hand through his already messy hair. “Whatever. This whole thing is pointless.”

“Oh, my bad, I didn’t realize I was supposed to plan a grand Welcome Back to Society party,” you say, deadpan. “Should I have rented a clown? Gotten one of those shitty banners that say ‘You Did It!’ in Comic Sans?”

Touya huffs a laugh but quickly wipes it off his face, like he refuses to let you win even a little. “Yeah, I’d rather set myself on fire again than be subjected to that.”

You smirk. “Damn, next time I’ll actually do it, then.”

Another silence stretches between you, but it’s not comfortable. You can tell he’s restless, fidgety, like he’s trying to swallow down some actual feelings and it’s making him physically ill.

And sure enough—

“…I don’t know what the fuck I’m supposed to do now.”

There it is. The actual problem.

You tap your fingers against the steering wheel. “What do you want to do?”

He gives you an exhausted look. “If I knew that, don’t you think I’d be doing it?”

“Hey, some people like being miserable. You’re one of them.”

“Fuck you.”

You grin. “There it is.”

He rolls his eyes and slouches further into his seat. “I’m serious, dumbass. Like… what now? What the hell am I supposed to do? Get some boring-ass job? Become a ‘functioning member of society’ or whatever bullshit they kept telling me in rehab? What if I just don’t?”

You shrug. “Then don’t.”

Touya blinks. “That’s it?”

“Yeah.” You throw him a look. “Did you want me to give you a whole therapy monologue? ‘You got this, king! Chase your dreams! Live, laugh, love!’”

He gags. “Absolutely fucking not.”

“There you go, then.”

He mutters something about you being insufferable under his breath before rubbing his face with both hands. “Ugh. Whatever. This whole thing sucks.”

“Yeah, well, welcome to being alive.” You stretch again, popping your back. “Anyway. Let’s go.”

Touya frowns. “Where?”

“I dunno. But if you’re gonna sit there having a melodramatic crisis about your future, we might as well do it while driving.”

He stares at you. “You’re so fucking stupid.”

“You’re so fucking mean,” you shoot back, starting the car. “Buckle up, jackass.”

He groans but does it anyway, muttering complaints the entire time.

And with that, you pull out of the parking lot, heading absolutely nowhere by just you, a moody ex-arsonist, and a whole lot of sarcastic insults to get you through the night.

[tswaney17]

Wildest Dreams - Part 2

She liveeeeessss.

Sort of. I want to thank the incredible @moonfalles for helping to inspire this chapter (I had no idea that this fic needed a second part, but I was desperate for some tender Azriel/Elriel moments). The headcanons we've been sharing with each other gave me that burst of creative energy to write this in one day. So, bless you, my darling, for being my muse. 🥰

Am I back? No. Am I working on stuff to possibly be back one day? Yes.

Remember, writers need engagement to keep going. If you liked this story, please share that with me! I'd love to hear your thoughts. 💕

My fanfic account: @tswaney17fics​​​

My ao3 account: tswaney17

Trigger warnings: None

Word Count: 1,978

This fic will be posted on AO3 only. Read the beginning below or click here to head to AO3.

Azriel landed on the back terrace of his and Elain’s home. It was a beautiful spring afternoon and he knew that his two girls would be spending it in the garden, Elain pruning her various flowers with Rosalie buzzing around her like a little bumblebee.

He smiled at the thought. His daughter earned that nickname a few years back when she was toddling around with her mother. Azriel had said she reminded him of a bee orbiting its flower. Elain had smiled at that, asking him if Rosalie was his little bumblebee.

Without hesitating, he looked at his wife with a broad smile and said, “Yes.” His heart ached at the memory. She was only a bumblebee to her Papa. That was his special nickname for his sweet girl.

Striding through the yard, Azriel took note of the blooming flowers, his shadows flitting between the shaded spots cast by the petals and leaves.

As predicted, he found them in a back corner of Elain’s garden, pruning a section of night-blooming jasmine. It was one of Elain’s favorite sections of her garden, and his too, as it always smelled like her. Azriel couldn’t get enough of his wife’s sweet jasmine scent.

Read More

~~~~~

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My fanfic account: @tswaney17fics​

My ao3 account: tswaney17

[iyoonjh]

Beyond Plus Ultra! – The anatomy of falling in love

Chapter 1: See You, Space Cowboy... Or Not

wc: 4370 words

“That's what I've been telling you, dude! If Kai had just closed the portal, none of this would've happened!” Heeseung repeated for what felt like the thousandth time in the last 48 hours.

“But he didn't close it!” Beomgyu replied, shoving another bite of sandwich into his mouth. Soobin could’ve sworn he heard Beomgyu smirking, enjoying every moment of watching Heeseung lose his mind over a Dungeons & Dragons disaster.

Beomgyu couldn't care less about the stupid D&D portal that Hueningkai failed to close last Saturday. The guy was all about chaos and disruption, and the fate of the fictional world? Well, that was clearly secondary. Heeseung, on the other hand, was serious about D&D as an ancient monk guarding a holy relic. For him, their weekly session was like attending mass... if mass had dice and dragons..

“And that’s why you’re a Bard and I’m a Druid. You suck,” Heeseung said dramatically, stealing a bite from Beomgyu’s sandwich like it was the most important thing in the world. “Don’t come crying to me when the dragons burn the entire city on Saturday.”

Beomgyu grinned. "Not my problem, bro. Kai let them into the portal, not me."

“We're actually fucked,” Leehan said with quiet dread, knowing full well that the responsibility of keeping the gates of Mistfall safe rested on his wizardly shoulders.

Soobin, who usually listens attentively to his friends' discussions, was on cloud nine, his curious eyes following a certain group of girls across the cafeteria. He couldn't help it when his gaze landed on you, it was a common occurrence to him anyway, his eyes always landing on your figure. Soobin has taken a few classes with you since you both started university three years ago. You were a PoliSci major as he majored in Photography, therefore the possibility of you and him sharing an elective or two always lingered. The boy wasn't certain what it was about you that made him always perk his ears up upon hearing your name. But anyway, there he was, yet again, looking at you as you laughed along with your friends. Soobin wasn't into you or anything like that, he knew very well where he stood, therefore he would never as much dare to allow himself to think of you as anything other than the prettiest girl he has ever seen. After all, he was just Choi Soobin, a quiet boy with good grades and legs way too long to not be awkward. 

You, however, were everything Soobin was not. You were the kind of person who belonged in the cool crowd. Your friends consisted of a group full of millionaire heirs and socialites, owners of luxury cars and hosts of extravagant parties - which, of course, he was never invited to. Daughter of famous musicians, son of the most successful CEO in the country or son of a famous footballer, you name it, your friends draw attention in any room they walk into. Everyone knows them and wants to be associated with them for different reasons. 

As he kept staring at the way you attentively listened to Yunjin's story, Soobin couldn't help but over confirm his thoughts about how two people most definitely could belong to entirely different universes. 

“Hello? Earth to Soobin!” Beomgyu snapped his fingers in front of Soobin's face. “We’re talking to you, Soobie. Boobie.”

“Oh, sorry, what?” Soobin blinked and shifted his attention from you to his friends, dragging himself back from his daydreams.

“You’re worse than Sunghoon, man. Thought we lost you there.” Heeseung pointed at him dramatically. “I was just asking if you could cover my shift at the shop on Thursday. Kai needs my Genshin collection for his stupid AV club project, and I will not let him get his greasy fingers on my action figures unsupervised.”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll do it,” Soobin said, gulping his yogurt down like it was the last thing keeping him grounded. Beomgyu rolled his eyes at how nice Soobin was to everyone.

“You're too nice for this world Boobie, if I were you I'd be charging him a pack of ramen per hour, maybe having him do my laundry”.

“Laundry sounds nice... But I guess I could use some snacks for the shift,” Soobin mused, eyeing Heeseung, who tossed a melted Snickers bar at him, the chocolate almost liquid due to the high temperatures late this May. 

“There, have some choco,” Heeseung said, casually.

“I have a straw somewhere,” Leehan said, laughing as he fumbled for a destroyed plastic straw he had stolen from the canteen. “I use it to spit paper balls at people. Good times.”

“I’m good, thanks, Leehan,” Soobin said, turning back to watch as the last few members of their group entered the cafeteria.

Yeonjun marched over, speed-talking to Sunghoon, who was nodding without much care. Taehyun, still in his football gear, sat next to Soobin, throwing his bag onto the floor dramatically.

“He officially lost it” the midfielder said, dropping his bag at his feet, followed by Hueningkai.

“What happened now? Did his favorite AO3 author forget to update their My Chemical Romance mpreg fanfiction?” Beomgyu asked, earning a round of laughs from everyone except Yeonjun, who was too busy fixing his freshly dyed cherry-red hair.

“How can you joke at a time like this?!” Yeonjun screeched, already spiraling.

“Here we fucking go,” Hueningkai murmured from the sidelines.

“I mean, why does Jay Park have it out for me?! Does he spend every single second of his day plotting ways to ruin my life?!” Yeonjun continued, as if the entire world was conspiring against him. “What does he have that I don’t?!”

“I can name a few things…” Soobin said, casually passing Yeonjun a can of diet coke to calm his nerves. 

“Dude’s loaded,” Sunghoon added, eyes narrowed.

“Fuck him and his stupid jawline,” Yeonjun huffed. “What does he do with that stupid side profile, rip guitar strings with it?”

Soobin snorted.

“He’s behind all the bad juju that’s been happening to The Stroker Mucus!” Yeonjun yelled, finally cracking under the weight of his own delusions.

“Are you implying he impregnated Jihoon’s wife just to spite you?” Heeseung teased, and, to everyone's shock, Yeonjun actually seemed to make sense of the statement.

“He could've! It’s so suspicious how Jihoon became a father right when auditions for the summer festival opened!” Yeonjun pointed dramatically, as if he had just solved the greatest conspiracy in history.

“Yeah, okay. You’re delusional,” Leehan remarked, sounding absolutely done.

“I might be delusional but Jay is stupid” Yeonjun finished, audibly gulping on his diet coke. 

Yeonjun was one of Soobin's best friends, along with Beomgyu, Heeseung, Hueningkai, Taehyun, Leehan and Sunghoon. He was currently a literature major but it was just a matter of time until he switched again, knowing very well his true passion lies with his band. The Stroker Mucus was his passion ever since he founded the band three years ago as a result from a drunken night at Leehan's basement. Yeonjun was the front man of the emocore band, as Beomgyu played the bass and Hueningkai was on the drums, and a 28 year old guy named Jihoon used to be their guitarist until he had to drop the band because his second wife got pregnant - which everyone, except from Yeonjun, saw coming. After all, they met at the gas station near the intersection of Pomme Avenue and Francis Street, which by common sense was known as the worst gas station in town, so obviously nothing good would have come out of this partnership. 

Soobin chuckled quietly, wondering if he was in the most dysfunctional friend group ever. Either way, he was definitely happy to be just Soobin in this chaotic mess. The quiet guy, observing, always finding solace in the weirdest corners of the universe... like when you laugh at something one of your friends said.

"Alright, that was very mature, guys," Kai said, finally stepping in to calm the madness. "Maybe we should hold auditions. There are tons of students at this uni. Someone’s bound to come through."

“And if no one shows up?” Beomgyu asked. “We kidnap Jay, ransom him for money, and hire Slash to play guitar for us?”

“Slash as in the curly haired one?” Taehyun asked, brow raised.

“Is there another Slash?” this time Sunghoon looks confused. 

“Yeah, that guy who drives that old Ford Anglia around Papa Johns, he's Slash” Soobin explains. 

“That's the Slash we will be hiring?” Hueningkai asked in disbelief.

“No, you moron, I’m talking about the biblically accurate Slash,” Beomgyu cut in, rolling his eyes like he was tired of explaining things.

“We won’t be hiring any Slash, for God’s sake,” Yeonjun groaned, like he was about to break under the weight of his own absurdity.

On the other side of the cafeteria, you and your friends were engaged in a conversation quite different from the one taking place at Soobin’s table. Summer was approaching, and final exams were closer than ever, which meant it was more than time to start making plans for the break. This year, all your friends were incredibly excited because it would be the first time since you started university that everyone would be spending the summer together in the college town you all lived in. No private jets to the Bahamas or first-class flights to Paris with plans for a quick stop in the Greek Islands. No, this year, the group had agreed to stay in town and, at most, take a trip to the beach at Jake’s family house. 

"That's why I think it's a good idea to start spreading the word that the party will be on June 1st. We can't risk someone else throwing the first party of the summer," Karina said, like she was plotting the world’s most important heist.

"Well, it's not like anyone would dare anyway. Jay, your parents are leaving on the 30th, right?" Giselle, the pink-haired girl who could make eating a carrot look cool, asked him.

"Yup, early morning flight. Alright, Sunoo, you're in charge of spreading the word". Jay said, clearly assigning the real work to the one person who could actually do it. Sunoo started typing at the speed of light, probably already sending invites to everyone in his contacts.

You chuckled as you watched the whole situation unfold. As an introvert, it was impressive to you how your friends handled the preparations for a party that was still three weeks away like they were in some kind of military operation. You found it funny how important being the first to host a summer party was to them, you could not quite comprehend but you always supported them. 

"Thanks, Sunoo. You're a lifesaver," Jay said with a grin. "We're thinking about having, like, a hundred people show up, right?"

"Yep, got it covered," Sunoo replied, still typing furiously.

"Fuck, I'm a bit all over the place, my accounting test is in a week, and I still need to go over the songs we're putting up for the Summer Festival." Jay sighed dramatically, like the fate of the world rested on his band’s setlist for the festival.

“Chill, I'll help Sunoo with spreading the news and just sign us up with All About Words and Dense, it's the bangers dude” Yunjin reminded her bandmate, who rolled his eyes as if they’d had this conversation about twenty times already.

Jay’s band was the most popular on campus, so you believed that no matter what they played, it would be a hit. Even that terrible song Jake insisted was a banger—Turbulence—which no one, no one was brave enough to tell him was a complete trainwreck.

“You guys are a trio” Karina pointed her long nails at Jay and Yunjin “You should wait for Jake's opinion before agreeing to anything”. 

As if summoned by the sheer mention of his name, Jake walked over, freshly returned from soccer practice, accompanied by Jungwon, who, as always, looked like he had pushed himself harder than everyone during training.

“My opinion on what?” Jake asked, his eyes landing on you with that casual smile he always had when he wasn’t pretending to be a David Beckham.

“Please, for the love of everything good in the world Jakey, don’t say Turbulence,” you begged dramatically.

“Your opinion on what songs your band should play at the Summer Festival,” Sunoo explained, like it was no big deal.

“Definitely not Turbulence,” Jungwon muttered from the side, earning a snicker from you.

Your friends continued their chaotic debate, laughing over Jake’s precious Turbulence, while you found yourself trying to keep from being dragged into the whirlwind. But then Jungwon, ever the student body president and your best friend, slid into the seat beside you, handing you a strawberry milk along with a small note like it was some kind of diplomatic peace offering.

"What’s this?" you asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow.

"Strawberry milk, dummy," he laughed as you rolled your eyes, amused by his antics. Receiving strawberry milk from him was something he had been doing for you ever since you became friends.

"The paper!" you clarified, holding up the slip with an address written on it.

“It’s the address of that manga shop Taehyun mentioned last week,” he said, casually as if it were no big deal.

“No way?!" You stared at the address like he had just handed you a treasure map leading to hidden gold.

"For real," he chuckled. "It was such a coincidence, right? I happened to mention to Jake that I was looking for a manga shop near campus, and Taehyun overheard. But hey, I hope you find what you’re looking for!"

You were literally vibrating with excitement. The manga shop. The Jujutsu Kaisen volume you needed.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” you exclaimed, clutching the slip like it was the most valuable thing you’d ever been given. “I should be studying for my econ final, but screw that, I’m going after class! You coming?”

“Nah, can't do it, we're having extra practice, Jake has gone nuts” Jungwon tells you, making sure Jake hears him calling him crazy. 

“Tell Riwoo to score more goals and maybe I'll consider giving you all a day off” he scoffed.

“Yes Cap” Jungwon mocks Jake. 

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂

It was a slow afternoon at the manga shop. The bell above the door had barely jingled all day, leaving Soobin, Beomgyu, and Heeseung to lazily watch the dust settle in the aisles of manga heaven. The summer weather was so hot that the fan across the room could barely do its job. Beomgyu, as always, was entertaining himself by convincing Soobin to participate in an impromptu game of “guess the most absurd manga plotline.” He’d just finished his suggestion: The Adventures of a Samurai Who Also Happens to Be a Pancake. Soobin didn’t even know how to respond to that one.

Heeseung, on the other hand, was deep in a Genshin Impact binge on his phone, which was only interrupted by occasional stares at the piles of manga around him, as though plotting how to restock it in the most logical and “incredibly nerdy” way possible.

The shop was practically empty, save for them. That is, until the door jingled, and Heeseung's head snapped up like a dog hearing a treat bag rustle.

He’d seen her first.

Y/N.

Heeseung blinked, not quite believing his eyes. It was her. Y/N. The Y/N. The one who had practically owned the campus since day one. Not only was she popular—she was untouchable. Her reputation alone walked into rooms before she did.

And yet here she was, stepping into their little manga shop, a world so far removed from her glamorous reality that it felt… wrong. Like a glitch in the matrix.

What is she doing here?

Heeseung wasn’t the kind to make a scene. He sat up straight, pretending to be totally chill, but there was an undeniable twinkle of surprise in his eyes. As casually as possible, he leaned toward Beomgyu, who was pretending to read a manga with absolutely no intention of absorbing any of its content.

“Is that… is that Y/N?” Heeseung whispered, his voice barely louder than the rustling of pages.

Beomgyu, too engrossed in his own self-made chaos, blinked, his head turning in the direction Heeseung was gesturing. It was like he hadn’t processed the reality of it until now.

“Fucking hell that’s her,” Beomgyu muttered, still holding the manga upside down. He wasn’t even trying to hide his shock. "What in the—what’s she doing here?"

Heeseung was already a step ahead, his eyes tracking her as she casually strolled past the aisles. Her eyes flickered over the shelves with the cool detachment of someone who knew exactly where to find what they wanted. But then—there it was—she stopped at the display for Jujutsu Kaisen.

Soobin, who had been quietly observing the whole scene from behind the counter, looked up. He saw Y/N standing right in front of the Jujutsu Kaisen display like it was some kind of shrine, inspecting volumes with the grace of someone who definitely knew what they were doing, and his heart skipped—no, stopped—for a solid 10 seconds. Soobin couldn’t breathe. And then there was the fact that Soobin’s shirt—the one with Gojo's face on it—was probably the most embarrassing thing to wear in front of someone who actually knew the series.

Oh my god.

He thought he was going to faint. Y/N? Y/N, the girl who never even looked at him twice? The girl who was always surrounded by her popular friends? And now, she was here... at his workplace... eyeing the latest volume of Jujutsu Kaisen? Her very presence seemed to make the store a thousand times cooler—which, in Soobin's case, was kind of terrifying.

“Soobin,” Heeseung whispered, his voice dripping with disbelief, “she’s literally right there.”

Beomgyu, still processing, added, “Yeah, I mean, I thought we were dreaming, but… nope, it’s real. She’s standing in front of the Jujutsu Kaisen shelf. Does she… know about it?”

"How should I know?" Soobin squeaked, feeling like he’d just been hit with a truckload of reality. "She probably thinks Gojo is just a cool character or something..."

“Is she a Jujutsu fan?” Beomgyu asked, tilting his head, clearly bewildered. He didn’t know what to do with this information. The thought of someone so… untouchable like Y/N having any connection to the world of manga seemed impossible.

Heeseung, ever the nerd detective, tried to piece the puzzle together. “I mean, she’s probably just here because it's the most popular series right now… but then again, we have a lot of people who don’t know the first thing about the series and still grab it because of the hype. Maybe she just saw the show? Does she even watch anime?”

Beomgyu, after his own shock has passed, took this as his cue to start a disaster. He leaned over to Soobin, whispering, “I bet you $10 you can’t go talk to her.”

Soobin’s eyes bulged. "What the fuck?! No! Why would I—?"

It didn’t help that Soobin's brain was playing a cruel game of freeze-frame. He stared at her from across the store, mentally trying to figure out whether to approach or just hide under the counter and never come out. Soobin was practically dying of secondhand embarrassment. He had no idea what to say, how to approach the situation, or how to stop feeling like his entire life was flashing before his eyes.

Just then, Y/N turned, her eyes catching his.

For a second, it felt like the universe conspired to make everything painfully awkward. Soobin could barely breathe, his palms getting clammy. She saw me looking. Oh my god, she saw me looking!

But then, instead of making it awkward (which, in Soobin’s mind, was always the likely scenario), Y/N did something completely unexpected.

She walked straight over to the counter, clearly unaware that she had entered Soobin’s personal social nightmare.

Soobin’s heart rate doubled. He didn’t even notice that he was gripping the counter so tightly that his fingers were turning white.

Y/N’s smile was casual, and her voice was calm as she spoke, her tone that soft, confident kind that made everyone stop and listen. “Oh hi, is the new Jujutsu Kaisen volume still in stock?”

Did she really just ask me that?

Soobin blinked, trying to gather his thoughts. He had to answer—he had to. This was his chance, his moment.

He reached for the shelf behind him and grabbed the volume, his hands trembling. He handed it to her with a forced calmness, trying to appear like he wasn’t internally combusting. “Here you go... It just came in this morning.”

Y/N took the manga from his hands with an easy smile, and Soobin was certain his face had just melted off. She didn’t seem weirded out at all. She just seemed… normal. Like this was just another transaction.

“Thanks,” she said, and then—before Soobin could blink—she added, “Soobin, right? We had a class together last semester.”

She knows my name? Soobin’s brain nearly exploded. “Yeah! That’s… that’s me! From… um… the Society and Art class. The one about… uh…”

“Right, the one where everyone fell asleep,” Y/N finished for him, her grin widening. “I remember you had a really cool camera though.”

Soobin could barely breathe. “I, uh… yeah. That was me. I do photography. Sometimes.”

“Nice,” Y/N said, nodding as if she totally understood. She slid the manga into her bag after swapping her card, not in a hurry to leave but clearly still with some level of casual coolness. "I'll see you around, Soobin."

She turned to walk out, leaving Soobin standing behind the counter, completely dumbfounded. Beomgyu and Heeseung were both staring at him like they had witnessed a rare, mythical event.

Heeseung’s voice broke the silence, deadpan: “Soobin… Did that just happen? You just had a solid 10/10 social interaction with Y/N and you didn’t spontaneously combust".

Beomgyu looked at Soobin, still unable to contain his grin. "Bro, you’ve officially made it. You're not just the awkward guy who reads manga in the corner. You're the awkward guy who reads manga in the corner and talked to Y/N. Progress."

Soobin was still holding onto the counter, completely shell-shocked. His hands were still shaking, his heart still racing, but for some reason, his chest felt… lighter. Like something had shifted.

Still, all Soobin could hear was the echo of Y/N’s words in his mind: “I’ll see you around, Soobin".

And for the first time in forever, he allowed himself to believe that maybe, just maybe, she would.

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As soon as the door jingled behind her, Y/n exhaled a long, shaky breath. Her hands, still clutching the new Jujutsu Kaisen volume like a lifeline, trembled ever so slightly. She had made it out. She was alive. But—oh god—did she just talk to Soobin?

Okay, Y/n. Calm down. It was just a conversation. You’ve done worse.

The moment she stepped onto the sidewalk, she pulled her hand through her hair, the summer heat sticking to her skin. It was sweltering outside, but all she could think about was the interaction inside. She was still holding onto the manga like it might fly away if she let go.

You’ve gone to parties with friends, been to big social events, but this? This was different. This was… her own decision. A decision to go to a small manga shop on a random Wednesday and buy a manga. Alone.

Y/n bit her lip, walking down the street with hurried steps.

It wasn’t just the place. It was Soobin. He had looked… surprised when she walked in. That much was obvious. He was probably not used to seeing her in a place like that.

She knew she had a reputation. She wasn’t that oblivious. Y/n was popular, yes. But… she wasn’t like them—the loud, outgoing ones who lived for every social interaction. Y/n liked her own company. The thought of meeting someone new, making small talk, stepping out of her comfort zone—it was always a little nerve-wracking. So when she saw Soobin behind the counter, looking all... shy, her own anxiety kicked into overdrive.

But he was nice. She hadn’t expected him to be so normal, so... genuine. And the way he’d been so careful with the manga, how his hands shook a little when he handed it to her—it made him feel real. Not just the guy she saw in the back of the lecture hall or in the hallway between classes, too quiet to stand out. He seemed just as nervous as she felt.

And that smile. When she’d said his name, when she’d mentioned the elective they’d shared, he seemed to light up. Was that… was that for her?

Am I overthinking this?

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and stared at the screen, but it was just an instinct. Her thumb hovered over the keyboard, like it would make her thoughts go away.

Y/n laughed softly to herself. Yeah, he’s cute. I’m probably just imagining things. I’m probably going to be too awkward to even remember what I said in five minutes anyway.

But then, as she passed a small cafe on the corner of the street, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the window. And there it was—her cheeks were actually a little pink.

Stop it, she told herself. But a smile crept onto her lips despite the inner voice trying to shut it down.

Y/n looked at the manga bag in her hand and sighed in defeat. Okay, maybe I am just a little bit excited. It’s fine. I survived. And maybe—just maybe—it’s time for me to come out of my shell a little.

She glanced at the sky, and for the first time in weeks, she felt like maybe, just maybe, she was ready to step out of the comfort zone she’d built around herself.

And next time, maybe I’ll ask him about his photography.

masterlist | next

profiles: d&d saturday mass group | bling bling losers

author's note: heyy guys, sooo first chapter is here! how did you guys like it so far? please let me know what you guys think, and tysm for tunning in really it means a lot <3

taglist: @heejamas @mingyustar @wintereals @mimimiloomeelomi @wonderstrucktae @delirioastral @gomdoleemyson @i03jae @irishspringing

[steven-g-rogers]

Steve dressed, trying neither to rush or dawdle.  He needed a moment to process everything that had just happened.  He had so many emotions running through him right now. Fear.  Excitement.  Joy.  Confusion.  He still wasn’t sure this wasn’t a dream or something.  Really, the only reason he thought he was dreaming and that Bucky wasn’t pranking him was because he couldn’t believe that Bucky would be that cruel.

He dried himself off and dressed in dark blue cargo pants, and one of his compression shirts.  He wasn’t sure if he’d end up making it into work now, but he didn’t know if dressing like he was planning on not going into work would send the wrong signals.

He was well and truly overthinking this.

He came out to the living room to an apartment smelling of coffee, bacon, and maple syrup.  He couldn’t help but smile.  He always loved when Bucky cooked for him.  He took a seat when Bucky pulled out the chair and when the brunet’s hand ran over his bicep, he shivered and his muscles rippled in the wake of his finger. 

“It looked amazing,” he said.  “Thank you.”

He picked up his coffee and took a sip, trying to figure out how to carefully say, BUCKY BARNES I’M IN LOVE WITH YOU AND I ALWAYS HAVE BEEN AND I WANT US TO BE TOGETHER.

He still didn’t have the words when he set his cup back down. “I don’t know what to say.  So I guess I’ll just say how I feel.  But please know, none of this comes with pressure.  I’m sorry I kept this from you.  I just thought - if you knew you’d feel uncomfortable doing things like sharing a bed.  And I never did any of that out of some sexual desire.  It was just that you’re my friend and you needed me.”

He swallowed and let out a breath. “But I am in love with you.  I always have been.  If you feel that way too and you want to be together.  I want that.  I really do.”

@jamesbuch-anon

Bucky paused in the doorway and looked at Steve when the blonde called out to him. As much as Bucky wanted to kiss the other, it just didn't feel right at the moment. A part of him felt so insecure that he was no longer that smooth guy that could pick up anyone. But Steve confessed his love for him too, even after everything Bucky did and had been through. Steve Rogers loved him.

"Okay," he nodded and went off to the kitchen. It felt like a decade went by as Bucky idly made up some coffee and food. He was able to whip up a quick batch of pancakes and bacon and he set up the table for them. The whole time, Bucky thought about what else he could say to Steve. His anxious brain told him that Steve would change his mind and walk away, kick him out of his apartment. Or maybe that he was just tricking him so he could get him vulnerable and then use it to hurt him.

This was Steve. He would never do that. And maybe, Bucky was allowed to have some sort of happiness.

When the other man finally came out Bucky pulled his chair out for him. "I know you need your protein, so I made some bacon and pancakes." He smiled slightly. Would it be okay to touch him? He definitely hoped so, brushing his hand against Steve's bicep.

@steven-g-rogers

[natsredbra]

https://www.tumblr.com/natsredbra/776731062824058880/httpswwwtumblrcomnatsredbra77667302384980787?source=share

This thing about her liking a slow and strong rhythm is SO real to me, she would prefer that most of the time.

Natalie doesn't mind going fast sometimes, depending on her mood I think she could be 100% for a fast and hard fuck, but almost every time you prefer something slow and deep because like you said, it's more intimate for her and she likes that intimacy.

That scene where Nat rides Travis??? Imagine that but this time she's riding his strap on😩😩😩😩😩😩 I think it's cute that even though she's on top she still seems like a sub to me✨️ I mean, imagine her being all needy about it, doing her best to keep a consistent pace and she manages it, at least at first until it all becomes too much and she's so sensitive and just wants to cum but can't do it alone😭 her being stubborn and trying anyway because she's embarrassed to ask for help, you'd probably make fun of her a little for that (in a sweet, not mean way)

Leaving her to fend for herself until she uses her words and thoughts to help (she would probably cry in frustration)

Getting to the point where she's not even riding you anymore and just rubbing herself on your lap because she's so: 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

This would probably be one of the times she squirts

By the way would you be ok if I sent you some Twitter (porn) links because I saw some and they really gave me thoughts of Natalie

ohh, you’re welcome to send them to me pookie! (and i’ll put a warning for everyone, dw)

But ohhh my god, Nat who is all “I wanna ride! I wanna get on top.”

And obviously you let her, because why wouldn’t you? Gives you such an amazing view AND lets you save energy for some other things……..

But for some reason, she just can’t hit the spot quite like you do and it is getting on her last nerve

She’s huffing and puffing, trying everythinggg to come as hard as you make her - bouncing, circles, grinding, but none of it works

Natalie however, is very stubborn and she’d rather die than beg (unless she’s literally forced to) (she likes it, okay?)

“You doing good there baby? Struggling a little?” You ask, and all she does is shake her head quite stubbornly

So you just lean against the headboard and smirk, watching her cry in frustration

By the end she’s literally just humping your lap and trying to get friction on her clit

“Hmph, Please pleaseee!”

At first she doesn’t even realize she said it until you poke at it

Starts finally begging you with actual tears in her eyes

And this is the time she needs it fast and rough, just the way you can give it

Maybe even give her a small vibrator for the clit

Anyhow, she enjoys it much much better, and with how sensitive and wet she is she definitely comes in a matter of minutes (squirts too mhm!!)

[natashaslesbian]

No Matter What | SJ

Summary: You share a secret with your mom and she supports you through it

Request: Could you please write a Scarlett x daughter reader where she has a crush on a girl. scarlett don't know this girl or even know that reader likes girls but when she finds out after reader came out to her, she obviously supports reader a lot. after their date they go back to reader's house and scarlett just being the typical leave the door open mom and very happy for reader

Word Count: 962

Warnings: none I believe :)

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You were curled up on the couch scrolling on your phone, unaware of the figure lurking above you. “What ya doing?” Scarlett said suddenly, leaning over the back of the couch. “Holy sh- mom!” You yelped, pulling your phone into your chest. “Ooo almost got ya!” The blonde giggled. “Okay, if you scare me and I curse that’s entirely your fault” you said, rolling your eyes. “Well maybe I’m just waiting to use my mom powers to ground you, I’ve been waiting for it since you were 12” Scarlett said, settling down on the couch next to you. “You’ve been waiting to ground your child?” You asked. “It’s what every mother dreams of” your mom smirked “not like it’s ever gonna happen with you though is it, guess I got lucky with the most well behaved child on earth” Scarlett smiled. “Yeah” you whispered, pulling your phone back down to your lap and shutting it off. “You wanna watch a movie?” Your mom asked, softly twisting the loose strands from your ponytail. “Yeah sure” you said.

You really tried to enjoy the movie, but you couldn’t help the continuous nervous fidgeting racking your body. Scarlett noticed but she decided not to say anything, until the film ended and she saw the light layer of sweat covering your forehead. “What’s wrong sweetheart?” Your mom asked. You thought about lying, but you were so bad at it there was no point. It’s no wonder Scarlett had 100% trust in you, if you ever tried to deceive her you know it wouldn’t work. “If I tell you something, you promise you won’t be mad?” You quietly asked. “Well I can’t promise that without knowing what is it but you know you can tell me anything” your mom said, switching off the tv. “You’ll still love me the same though right?” You shyly said. “Oh baby nothing will ever make me love you less” Scarlett smiled, shuffling closer to you. You cautiously reached for phone and pulled up the Instagram page you had been scrolling through before the film started. “Is this what you were looking at earlier?” Your mom asked as you passed her the phone, you nodded cautiously.

Scarlett looked down at the picture you had loaded to show her “oo she’s pretty” your mom said, still not fully understanding why you were showing her this. “Oh!” She suddenly said “you think she’s pretty too? Like…like you like her?” Scarlett delicately asked. You avoided eye contact as your mom figured out what you were trying to say, you felt tears well up in your eyes and you desperately tired to hold them back. “Hey, hey, hey, it’s ok” Scarlett said, shuffling closer to you “why are you crying sweetie?” She asked. “Because…because I’m your good girl, the daughter who’s never in trouble, who’s never done anything wrong” you sniffled. “And you still haven’t baby! You’re not in trouble! You’d never be in trouble for being who you are!” Scarlett cooed, pulling you into her arms “you don’t hate me?” You said, voice quivering. “No. I never could y/n” your mom said, squeezing you tightly. “I am so proud of you, thank you for telling me” Scarlett smiled.

You basked in your mothers comfort for a while, relieved at finally being able to tell her. Scarlett allowed you the time to calm down before she spoke up again. “Does she go to your school?” She asked. “Yeah, she’s in my science class” you smiled. “Oooo I hope she’s your chemistry partner” the blonde chuckled. “Mom” you laughed, rolling your eyes. “Okay okay, well what are you gonna do? Could get her some flowers?” Scarlett said, sitting back with a giddy smile. “I don’t know” you shyly smiled. “Well what is she into? Does she like music? Musicals? What about just going out for dinner?” Your mom said, reeling off all of her ideas. “I don’t know okay” you softly smiled “I’ve never dated anyone before what if I make a fool of myself just by asking her out” you frowned. “Listen, making a fool of yourself is part of life, you’re bound to do it one day. But if she really likes you, she’ll accept you no matter what” Scarlett said. “Alright, well, she likes musicals” you grinned, cheeks already blushing. “Ok, I’ve got a plan” your mom said shuffling closer to you.

The day of your date finally arrived and Scarlett was beside herself with nerves, she’s vowed to be the kind of mother who actually allowed you to grow up during your teenage years. But still, knowing her 15 year old was off on her first date was a tough pill to swallow, you really were growing up right before her eyes. Scarlett helped you to get ready and saw you on your way out of the front door, you’d rejected her offer to drop you off at the movie theatre. You had the best time, getting to know your date and growing closer than you ever thought possible in just a few hours. You arrived home hand in hand with your ‘almost’ girlfriend after your mom had offered to host her for dinner. She watched from the kitchen as you snuggled together, clearly still smitten by each other. “We’re gonna head up to my room” you said after introducing Scarlett to your date. She smiled and nodded but couldn’t hold back from making a cheeky comment. “Leave the door open” she smirked. “Oh my god mom” you sighed, dragging your classmate swiftly up the stairs.

Scarlett didn’t know whether this relationship would last, whether or not it would blossom into something more or leave you with a broken heart. But she knew one thing. She would always love you. No matter what.

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A/N: sorry the ending was a little short but I hope you enjoyed it!

- Astara Bell

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[taxideermied]

Hi hi! Thanks all for the respectful discussion on this topic. I've enjoyed reading the notes and additions very much. I want to say, though, that this will be the last time I plan on discussing this topic on this post because I'm not particularly interested in full-time discourse on my blog, and also because it's becoming a little unwieldy for me personally to deal with a super long post lol. I am making this last addition for the sake of clarity as to my claims for anyone reading my blog, not to necessarily sway anyone's opinion.

With that said, I think some of my points have been missed/misconstrued.

Firstly, my original post was about mindful messaging more than anything. Mainly: if you have an issue with something in the community, don't swing a wide net because you risk hurting those adjecent to your problem. That physical nonhumanity was involved was tangential, but nonetheless that's where we went.

So, secondly, and I hope this is clear, I am not advocating for an anti-science approach to nonhumanity, nor am I advocating for blind faith. I specifically avoided the subject outside of my original post where I said the community at large discusses scientifically unverifiable experiences. I think we are all in agreement that self-perception such as Sundragon's "I feel like a dragon" is not scientifically verifiable, but is still "valid" in this space, so I don't feel the need to elaborate on that point.

Where I think my statements are unclear (and for the record, this is on me for not being as specific as I could have been) is in the issue of claim vs expression of personal experience. I think this in conjunction with "subjective verses objective experience" is a little bit difficult to parse so bare with me.

My sense of the community is that those who experience and discuss physical shifts do so because it is an expression of personal experience, not because it is a claim. This is a part of their nonhumanity for whatever reason they may have. It is not a claim because I have not seen anyone trying to prove their experience to anyone else, merely discuss it and relate to like-minded individuals. This does not mean you don't have to be skeptical, but I do not believe your disbelief means that these members of our community should self-censor or be subject to demands for proof. Someone talking about something they feel on a personal blog is not the same as them putting a thought into the "marketplace of ideas" to be debated and verified. While I don't think anyone in this thread did so directly, I feel like the line of thinking suggested here could encourage "proof demanding" behavior.

So what about the tricky subjective vs objective experience issue? Surely physical shapeshifting is an objective experience. Well, again, I think there's nuance here. Is the shifter in question insisting that the transformation is 100% verifiably happening in the reality experienced by others, so much so it could be captured on camera if only one worked properly in the moment? Or are they asserting that they perceive their own physical shifts? All objective experiences are filtered through a subjective lens because you are a brain that perceives the world through sensory organs. You are not experiencing a 1:1 recreation of the world. As a friend eloquently put it: "None of us experience reality-as-it-is. All of us, even people who don't know what a therian is, have some level of disconnect with objective reality. Our experience of the world is imperfect; talking about those experiences is not a claim about shared-truth, it's a claim about personal-truth." See: the parable of blind men touching an elephant. One person's experience of objective truth is not the disproving of another's, even if it conflicts.

Finally, there's the synthesis of these issues regarding how we shepherd the community from within.

If your issues with physical shifters is with those who claim to shift verifiably in a collective reality and claim this is something that can be taught or who otherwise encourage cult-like mentalities, then vis a vis my first point, say that those are the individuals and/or paradigms you take issue with. Nothing wrong with pointing out harmful practices, but lumping harmful ones in with harmless ones is irresponsible.

If your issues are with all physical nonhumans or those who discuss scientifically unverifiable personal objective experiences in a way that harms no one, then I would suggest, I guess, in the kindest terms, to get over it. What is the other option? As far as I can tell, censorship or other methods of driving these individuals out of the community, and I personally don't feel comfortable taking that route. I don't think we as a community would be better off in doing so.

Okay. I think that is everything. Thank you for bearing with me if you read all this, I appreciate it very much! If anyone is still interested in talking this over with me, shoot me an ask and I'll (maybe) respond. Like I said, not trying to be a discourse blog, so I can only do so much.

If you’re going to assert science in a community full of people discussing their scientifically unverifiable experiences I think you should consider what you’re really trying to say. If you’re not trying to call people liars then there’s probably a better way to go about making your point than enumerating the reasons why you think they’re lying.