#anyone in the comp who wants to jump onto this can

[shadowofroses]

Opening Up

Demon Slayer

Might be a part of the Teaching Abroad idea I pitched a while back also will be evolving into a smut, but this here isn't smut. Pairing: Reader x Rengoku Kyojuro Warnings: Insecurities, mentions of stupid pranks, American Education, ex narcissistic lover, angst, Fluff, dark humor towards self.(if I forget anything please let me know if I need to tag it)

Part 2

Summery: As the English Teacher at Kimetsu Academy, you learn to open up more towards your colleagues regardless of what was pounded into your head from the past.

Story:

In the beginning, you were a mousy thing, unless of course you were teaching English that was. You were very inspired by the History teacher’s attitude, speaking loudly, with passion. Infact within the first few months of starting at Kimetsu Academy you saw an increase of grades, None of your students got below a B, and this you celebrated, and at the same time, reminded them, that their mental health is more important than their grades. 

One thing you always vowed to yourself, was to be a better teacher than the ones that educated you. And it certainly helped being around positive charged attitudes of your peers. 

However whenever a fellow teacher tried to strike up conversation you would freeze, unless the subject of discussion was something you were passionate about you were rather bashful of not wanting to interrupt conversations. 

Turns out having a previous lover who was a Narcissist, and the American Educational system can really do a number on one's self consciousness. 

Was probably even better that you were Teaching in Japan currently. 

The two people you opened up to the most was Kyojuro and Kanae. You conversed with the other teachers when spoken to. Which led to one conversation. 

Tengen popped a bubble of gum he was chewing. “So, (Last Name), Been enjoying teaching here in Japan?” 

You nodded with a shy smile. “I’m still in the honeymoon phase, I don’t think I want to go back to America.” 

Something sparked in Tengen’s eyes, and he doggedly gave his friend Kyojuro a look. “Honeymoon phase? Speaking of such, are you interested in anyone?” 

While you blushed slightly, your heart screamed yes as your mind went to the flame haired man in the room. “Even if I was, I doubt anyone would be interested in me anyway.” another bubble gum pop.

Suddenly you were very conscious of every eye on you. “Not very Flamboyant of you! You’re a flashy woman, I don’t see how you don’t have a line of men…or women behind you.” 

You felt insecurity step in, and you snorted out a laugh. Tengen frowned not understanding what was funny. You coughed realizing you made an awkward atmosphere. “Sorry…um, self conscious reflecting, first person that asked me on a date was an April Fools Prank, and the one person that claimed they loved me was married and was using me, so…Easier for me to deal with things with dark humor. Forgive me.” 

You went to stand up to leave but Kanae jumped up. Grabbing your wrist. “Forgive Tengen he is rather a forthright person. He just assumes everyone is a hopeless romantic like him.”

Tengen raised an eyebrow, at that but shrugged “Right, So have you gotten any while over here?” 

Your eyes raised sharply, “what makes you think I…”

Kyojuro’s hand met your shoulder, and he gave a sharp look at Tengen, “Out of Line my friend! This is a School, where we work, not ask about personal lives!”

After that, Tengen apologized and chilled out, he asked you to join the other teachers in their outings outside of school so that everyone could get to know you. Even offering to pay for drinks or volunteering Kyojuro to buy everyone’s drinks. 

But there is no reason for anyone to waste money on me. 

Every time Kyojuro heard something like this come from you his chest twisted. He wanted to embrace you in a strong, warm hug. Take away all of the self doubts, that was projected onto you. He wanted to kick your ex lovers ass. Wanting nothing more than to kiss you, making you feel so loved that you completely forgot everything negative projected onto you. 

It filled Kyojuro’s heart to recognize that he was falling hard for you. What was difficult was asking you out. 

You could do better than me!

Eventually he settled for asking you to a coffee shop to help him grade essays. Not being Stalkerish, but he knew your coffee order already, and would already buy it for you before you showed up. Maybe you just had to feel more comfortable around him one on one. 

You would question, offer to pay, only to resign and accept your free coffee fate. 

Midway through one essay, which was on Medieval Armor, and half way through a muffin, you choked, Causing Kyojuro to go wide eyed, “Are you okay?!” 

You swallowed, feeling your face flush from the attention, and gave him a closed eyed smile, “yeah! I almost forgot something.” You rubbed your neck laughing, “While we were on our way to Japan, you technically placed a couple of orders of chainmaille, which you also bought the Materials, I actually got the four in one shirt done. If you could come to my place to pick it up it would be great cause it’s at least a hundred pounds. Sixty pounds…I mean twenty seven Kilograms….”

Kyojuro’s eyes widened at that, “Wow! So heavy?!”

You nodded, “Mhm, I could have done it in Aluminum but It most likely wouldn’t hold up for a while.”

Kyojuro shook his head as he stood up and gave you a hug, “No, Steel is Perfect! Thank you so much and yes! I’ll stop by your place!” He beamed down at you as you gulped at the closeness of his face to yours. He tilted his head seeing a familiar look in your eyes. 

Longing.

Your heart pounded as his hand lifted to your chin, and raised your face, and he lowered his till his forehead touched yours. “May I kiss you?”  Your heart skipped a beat, You don’t know what sounds came out of your mouth but he only smiled, “If you don’t want me to, I understand…” Kyojuro reluctantly moved gently away hoping you would say yes. 

Respectful, always respectful. 

“Ye..yes…” you whispered, he didn’t hear it, but read your lips, he softly descended onto your lips. Tasting the honeyed chapstick you usually applied to them. 

The two of you forgot where you were, and heard an applause, and a couple of whistles. You broke away and buried your face into Kyojuro’s chest while his face and ears turned red, but the grin on his face never went away.  He brushed his thumb against your cheek, and gave a gentle smile, “Hey, let me finish up these essays, and we’ll head out.”

Kyojuro moved to sit next to you as opposed to across from you this time. His arm brushing yours wanting contact with you. Your heart is still pounding. You shook your head of the sudden giddiness that filled your chest. “Um…I thought you wanted my help with those?” 

Kyojuro gave a mischievous grin, “I…may have asked you to help to hang out with you.” 

“Oh…” Sudden bout of insecurity sinks in. “Are you sure…you…want to…”

Kyojuro frowned, throwing an arm around your shoulders pulling you in closer, and kissing you on the head. “I’m positive.” he continued to work on the last couple of essays. And he paused in thought, “Are you still going to decline dates?” 

You blushed, “I’ve never been on a date, so…It’s not necessary…”

Kyojuro sat straight up in shock. “NONSENSE! I want to spend time with you (Name)!” 

You gave a soft smile, and punched back the negative thoughts. “Alright, if you insist, don’t tell me so I can’t decline.”

Kyojuro’s hair fluffed at that, “Surprise dates?! I like it!” you couldn’t help but to giggle at that. 

Maybe it was time to try to open back up.  

[brainrot-buffet]

Powder gets everyone to play Genshin with her

Powder and Ekko get into Genshin and convert everyone they know into players. Just all of them being happy while playing video games (,,,UwU,,,)

Characters: Powder, Ekko, Vi, Claggor, Mylo, Silco

Notes: Fluff and happiness :)

One day, Ekko found out about a new game coming out called Genshin Impact

He immediately told Powder about it because he knows she’s into anime and fantasy games

Right when the game released, both of them got hooked and have been playing ever since

Powder’s a Klee main simply because they share an aesthetic for bombs and explosives; She only pulls for characters she forms an emotional attachment to and doesn’t care how much damage they deal

Ekko doesn’t really have a main as he makes it a goal to collect and make the best builds for characters that come out, and testing out team comps; The character that RARELY leaves his team, however, is Kazuha

Based on their mains, Powder would love a Pyro vision while Ekko loves Anemo visions; Powder also thinks a Cryo vision would work for her as well

Fast forward to present day

Powder has been begging her older siblings to try the game AT LEAST ONCE for months now; They usually say they can’t because they’re too busy with work or school

Eventually, Vi gives in right when she finally finds an opportunity to spend more time with Powder

She’s a casual player, her favorite quests are when she gets to beat the shit out of mobs and bosses; When she’s out of resin, she just farms mobs

In co-op, she’ll always be down to fight stuff for people at lower ranks or just to flex her skills

Vi: *sees an Inazuma wolf* I’m gonna kill it.

Powder: But Vi we don’t have a healer and you’re on 40 HP-

Vi: I’m gonna kill it.

Powder: The quest is this way-

Vi: *sprints to the mob* DIE DIE DIE DIE

Waifus were what made Vi stay with the game for this long

She's a hardcore Beidou main and simps for Eula; Loves claymore users and Electro visions

Would really love if they added gauntlets as a new weapon if they could

Claggor sees both of them playing and decides to give it a try

He doesn’t play much but he jumps onto the server whenever he’s not busy, or when Powder wants him to join her world

Is a Noelle main from Day 1; Takes time to invest in her build to the point that he’s become super reliable during co-ops

Prefers using support characters as opposed to DPSs; He’s got an amazingly built Bennett and Xingqiu

His favorite element is Geo :)

Everyone would be dead and Claggor would solo the mobs/bosses for them; Vi, Powder, and Ekko cheer him on as his Noelle defeats the annoying giant wolf lord

The best thing about Claggor playing Genshin is that he's a MOBILE PLAYER

He has NO PROBLEMS using archers on his phone and humbly flexes the amazing control he has with just his thumbs

Mylo just watches from the side whenever they all get together to play Genshin at Vander’s apartment; They’d all offer him to try the game, but just scoffs and says he doesn’t wanna get caught “playing a game for weebs”

He’ll never admit it, but Mylo secretly feels left out; That’s why he acts so bitter whenever they talk about Genshin

All it takes is Powder saying he’s probably too scared to play cuz they’d be better than him, and a salty Mylo finally downloads the game on his laptop

He gets addicted

He jumped from Rank 5 to Rank 38 in a span of a few weeks

Speedruns quests and new areas to the point that he saw a yellow traffic sign and thought it was a Geoculous; Sees high ledges and instincts tell him he can glide down from it

Mylo’s a HUGE meta chaser and gets super competitive about it; Regularly flexes his builds in co-ops and makes fun of Powder for being a Klee main

He always rubs it in her face whenever he scores 200k damage or more; They both challenge each other to see who can get all the stars in Spiral Abyss whenever a new cycle starts

Mylo rolls and invests in DPSs and goes after anyone who can do big damage; Mains Eula (his highest damage dealer) and Arataki Itto (his favorite character so far)

When asked what his favorite element to use is / what type of vision he'd want if he was a Genshin character, he says it would be Pyro

He was SO devastated when he lost the 50/50 rolling for Ganyu’s first banner so he’s saving everything he can for her rerun; Got SO salty when Powder got her within her first 10-pull; She ground his gears even more when she built her as a support and stuck with Klee as her main damage dealer

He goes toe-to-toe with Ekko in terms of scoring the highest damage numbers; They're both good at planning out their team comps and they grind for artifacts NONSTOP

All in all, Genshin Night at Vander's is very chaotic and loud, especially when everyone stays up for a big update or banner drop

BONUS:

(Inspired by the CUTEST Jinx and Silco fanart)

In her effort to co-op with ANYONE whenever Ekko's busy, Powder got Silco into Genshin

The English teacher heard of the game being talked about in his classes and downloaded it, with Powder excitedly volunteering to show him how the game works

At first, he was like a very confused old man trying to navigate "new gadgetry"; Was very scared when he encountered his first hilichurl

On the last day before winter break, the kids got Silco to screenshare his laptop to the classroom's TV so they could watch him playing Genshin

The kids expected him to be shit at the game, watching as he cycled attacks through his team comp while fighting a boss

Then, Silco busted out his Level 90 Zhongli and used his ult, bringing down a giant meteor that did over 150k damage, ONE-SHOTTING the boss

The whole room of 7th graders went APESHIT

Gamer Girl Silco is a fond memory that goes down in the legacy of Zaun Southern High

[btxtreads]

Let Me Move You

CHAPTER SIX: MY TIME

↳ Pairing: Choi Yeonjun x Reader

↳ word count: 1.7k words

↳ rating: G

↳ genre: fluff???

Y/N gulped as she stood in front of the white building, hands fidgeting with the blazer of her school uniform. Her eyes fell to the boy with unkempt blonde hair by the glass doors, digging his foot on the cement floor—hands in his pockets and lips formed into a pout as he tilted his head up to the sky. His eyes darted around until it fell on her, shooting her a small smile before zoning out once more. Y/N pushed down her nerves and walked forward, shooting the boy another smile.

“Hi!”

The boy shot his head over to her, eyes blank before straightening up and smiling slightly.

“Hello.”

“By any chance, is this Choi Dance Company?”

The boy shot her a look before stepping aside and gesturing at the big banner behind him.

“I don’t know, is it?” The boy hummed.

“Ah.” Y/N winced, smiling as she wrung her hands. “Do you study here?”

“Yep.”

“Ah,” Y/N nodded awkwardly. “Do you, uh, know where I can find Choi Yeonjun?”

“Yep.” The boy answered, tilting his head. 

Y/N blinked, opening her mouth to reply before a loud voiced called out from inside the building. Another, much smaller, boy appeared with a bright smile as he shoved the doors open.

“Niki, I think we’re gonna have to take a little bit longer.” The other boy grinned.

“Why?”

“Heeseung-hyung forced Jay-hyung to take a shower. You know how long that would take.” The boy shrugged before turning over to the girl. “Oh, hello!”

“Sunoo, why—“ The blonde boy sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Did you at least tell them to hurry up?”

“Jay-hyung will probably move slower to annoy Heeseung-hyung. You know how it is.” The other boy shrugged.

“We’re gonna miss the movie!” the blonde, Niki, sighed angrily before turning back to Y/N. “Yeonjun-hyung has a class right now in room 5, third door down the left side of the hallway.”

Before Y/N could reply, the boy pulled the door open and stomped away—screaming Heeseung-hyung! Jay-hyung! at the top of his lungs. The other boy, Sunoo, just shot Y/N another bright grin, bowing down hastily before running after Niki. The girl sighed, running her hands through her hair before stepping into the building.

The school was well-kept. The white walls were decorated with lights and big block letters that said DANCING. The faint sound of pop music was playing on the overhead speakers at the reception. Tags indicating separate dance rooms were posted at the side of the entrance to a big hall, leading to a long strip of glass doors.

Finding room 5, Y/N peeked in to see a class of teenagers doing advanced and complicated dance moves. The loud boom of a song she heard on the radio resonated past the door. At the front of the room stood a tall man with pink hair and blonde highlights. His brown eyes were sharp, following each and every student as they moved. He crossed his arms, lips pouted in thought as the music blasted. He straightened up and spoke, pushing himself off the mirror and began walking around and clapping to the beat—mouth moving rapidly until his head shot over to the door. As he locked his eyes on the girl, his eyebrows raised.

“Shit,” Y/N cursed inwardly as the boy shook his head with a chuckle.

He glanced over at the clock on the wall and strode back over to the stereo. The music stopped and he said a few words before the teens rushed out of the door with their bags clutched in their hands.

“K-hyung, Hanbin-hyung, hurry!” A boy hissed as he rushed past. “We’re late for the movie—Niki’s gonna murder us!”

Y/N gasped as the boy accidentally bumped past her. Two boys followed out, the other one crying out to the rushing teen.

“Taki, slow down!” the other one cried, rushing past Y/N to chase the younger down. “Hanbin, come on!”

“Sorry about that,” the seond one, Hanbin, apologized, a bright smile on his face. “Niki and Taki really wanted to watch this movie.”

“Oh, it’s fine.” Y/N said, her eyes falling onto the pink-haired male inside the room who was immersed on fixing something in a drawer. “I, uh, think you’re friend is in the shower room with a Jay-hyung and a Heeseung-hyung.”

Hanbin nodded understandably, smiling and thanking her before rushing towards his friends. The pink haired boy inside turned his head over, locking gazes with the girl once more before smiling and waving her in. Y/N steeled her nerves and straightened out her hair and skirt as she stepped inside, eyes widening as the room was surprisingly cold.

“What brings you here?”

Y/N snapped her head towards the pink-haired boy, who was back in his previous position by the mirror. Instead of a sharp glare, his plump lips were now tilted up in an amused smirk—fox-like eyes full of mischief as he tilted his head and allowed his gazed to roam her face.

“Oh, uh—Hi. I’m Y/N. Y/N L/N.” Y/N introduced, voice confident as she continued. “Are you Choi Yeonjun?“

“Yeah,” Yeonjun hummed, winking. “Are you signing up for a lesson?”

Before Y/N could reply, Yeonjun gave her a once-over with a smirk. 

“I hope so.” He hummed, tilting his head. “I wouldn’t mind spending a few days a week with you.”

Y/N felt her face burn red-hot as Yeonjun shot her a small wink. She blinked, wringing her hands once more before clearing her throat.

“Oh, uh, no. Not a lesson—but I was looking for you.”

Yeonjun suddenly stopped, eyes narrowing in hesitation.  His teasing smile dropped as he pushed himself off of the mirror. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he looked at the girl suspiciously.

“Were you?” He answered. “What can I help you with?”

Surprised by the cold tone, Y/N gaped as she looked back up at him.

“Well?”

“Well, uh, I’m starting a dance team and we’d love to have you as our choreograph—“

“No.” Yeonjun sighed, turning abruptly to open a nearby drawer once more.

Y/N blinked as he took a shirt and strolled over to a backpack at the back of the room, ignoring her altogether.

“Wait, but we’re joining the Hit It dance compe—“

“Not interested.”

“Will you let me finish—“

“No.” Yeonjun rolled his eyes, zipping up the backpack and making his way back to the drawers at the front of the room.

Y/N sighed as she followed behind him determinedly.

“Point number one, we are a budding dance team that—“

“Look,” Yeonjun sighed as rummaged through the drawers. “I’m not interested in dancing anymore.”

“You work in a dance school.” Y/N dead-panned as the boy turned to her with a sarcastic smile. “Besides we have strong determination and a will to win.”

“No thanks.” Yeonjun hummed once more, pulling a hoodie out of the drawer and pulling it on.

“I promise this will be worth your time,” Y/N sighed, willing herself to look away from the small patch of skin that appeared when his shirt rode up.

“Stop wasting my time.” Yeonjun quipped back making Y/N groan.

“Okay, fine. Point two—“

“You know, determination is nothing in dance. You need to have talent and skill.” Yeonjun said, turning over to the girl and giving her a once over. “Your posture sucks, you don’t even know how to explain a dance team, and you definitely seem like you don’t even know how to find a four-count.”

Y/N blinked in surprise as Yeonjun made his way back to the backpack, following him fiercely with an angry sigh.

“Look, this is your chance to bring yourself back in the game. It must have been hard for you after you got your injury.” Y/N explained, making the boy freeze. “It’s your chance to get over your trauma and recover—“

“Get out.”

Yeonjun turned to the girl with a glare. Y/N blinked in confusion.

“What?”

“Get out. I told you, I’m not dancing anymore, and I really don’t have time for this.”

Y/N clenched her jaw and crossed her arms. Yeonjun picks up his bag and starts to walk to the door before she huffed.

“Fine, we’ll go get someone else to choreograph, then.”

“Good. Now, get out of my studio.”

“When we do get someone else and inevitably win, you’ll find out and you’ll go crazy because you had a chance at fixing up your dance career, but didn’t.” Y/N smiled sarcastically.

She did a mocking bow as Yeonjun turned over to her, nodding over at him before walking past. Y/N heard him curse under his breath before a hand wrapped around her wrist to tug her back. She whirled around to be face-to-face with him, his steely glare set on her and setting her entire being on fire.

“You’re not a dancer—why is winning Hit It so important to you?”

“Honestly?” Y/N asked, pocketing her hands. “I need it for my college applications. I messed up and now my whole life plan depends on this competition.”

“Time to change plans, babe.” Yeonjun snorted. “Just quit.”

Y/N sighed, her eyes darting over to a chart on the wall next to the door.

Yeonjun’s Room 5 Class — Monday-Wednesday 4-5PM

He has a class tomorrow.

Y/N smiled with a shrug and an amused chuckle.

“I don’t quit, babe.” She replied back, tone mocking as she saluted him. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Wait, tomorrow?” Yeonjun furrowed his eyebrows.

Y/N didn’t reply as she walked over to the door and left, a parting salute as she shot him one last smile behind the glass door before stalking away and leaving him alone in the middle of the studio. Yeonjun’s gaze fell onto his schedule by the door, shaking his head with a chuckle. His phone suddenly rang loudly, making him jump as it broke the silence.

“Hey, Hi. What?” Yeonjun rushed out as he answered. “Yeah, I’m on my way.”

After a moment of hesitation and a determined girl leaving a lasting imprint on his mind, his quirked into a small grin as he closed the lights and made his way out.

“Hey, Tae?” He grinned, biting his lip as he leaned on the doorframe, watching the girl trot down the street. “By any chance, do you know anyone in your school named Y/N L/N?”

Maybe, just maybe, Choi Yeonjun finally found that something worth his time.

[windblumewhale]

Which Gays Know How to Drive: Genshin Impact Modern AU Edition

Can drive:

Venti - learned to drive when he was 14. Rarely ever owns his own car but when he does he has one of those scanners that picks up on upcoming speed cameras so he can drive like a menace without getting caught

Childe - probably learned because everything in his hometown is miles apart, and he wanted to be able to pick his siblings up from school. Has a nice car now, but he learned to drive with the family car

Jean - REAL minivan hours

Xiao - he’s the one people call to jump their car at 2am

Kaeya - won’t shut up about how much better the gas mileage is on his motorcycle 

Beidou - puts a concerning amount of miles on all the cars she owns, and once went through three used cars in a year

Barbara - drives other people around a lot, but is too nice to ask anyone to comp her for gas

Xiangling - parents made her learn so she could run delivery for the family business when their usual driver was out

Ningguang - has an expensive car which she takes meticulous care of

Hu Tao - occasionally drives the family hearse to class because she thinks its hilarious

Characters who can drive because OF COURSE they can, it’s a “practical skill”: Diluc, Keqing, Lisa, Ganyu

Can NOT drive:

Zhongli - how he got so far in life without knowing is anyone’s guess (surprise: the answer is Childe & Xiao)

Kazuha - walks everywhere, is a master at sneaking onto the subway without paying

Xingqiu - has had a personal driver all his life

Ayaka - has also had a personal driver all her life, but unlike Xingqiu she wants to learn, just cant come up with a good reason to

Albedo - people tend to assume he can, so whenever it comes up someone inevitably goes “wait you can’t drive??”

Razor - he’s one of those crazy people that’ll bike along the highway and when someone goes “omg that’s so dangerous?!” he just shrugs 

Bennett - has failed the driving exam three times, none of which were technically his fault, but they were all traumatic enough for his exam proctor that they failed him anyways. usually bikes places with razor

Fischl - also part of the bikes forever gang, because the idea of driving secretly freaks her out 

[mystrangerfics]

You Always Got Me

Pairing: Billy Hargrove x Reader

Description: Anon: 3 , 100 , 57 , 77 crying bill??? Thank you angle 😘

Work Count: 1953

Complete Story Warnings: Language, Sexual Themes, Violence, Suicide

You were done. So done. You had been dating Billy for almost a full year and it had not been without hardships. His relationship between him and his father had always led to him acting out and being hard to understand but you had thought moving in together would help him. It was almost like things had only gotten worse. He drank constantly, he would randomly become angry and distant. You could have gotten past all of it but when you came home to find him with another girl in your bed, you were done. 

"Baby, Baby, please?" Billy begged as you began packing a bag, his mystery woman quickly putting her clothes on behind you. 

"Please, what?!" You hollered as you ripped your bag back from his grasp. 

"I can fix this," he whimpered and shook his head. He stood before you in nothing but his jeans that he had quickly pulled on and hadn't bothered to button or zip. 

"No, you actually can't this time," you argued as you continued to throw things in your bag. 

"But," Billy whimpered and tried grabbing the bag back from you again. "We're meant for each other." 

"Then who the fuck is that?!" You screamed, pointing at the woman who darted out of the bedroom. 

"She's no one! You're the only one I want to wake up next to," he tried to pull the bag from your grasp again. 

"You sure have a funny way of showing it!" You snapped and pulled the bag back again, getting the rest of your clothes in it that you would need for now. You headed across the hall to the bathroom and Billy quickly followed. 

"You can't leave me," he brokenly whimpered, picking at your stoned heart. "You always got me." 

"I'm not doing this, Billy," you said, holding onto your resolve. "I put up with your nightmares even when you hit me or try to choke me in my sleep. Your constant mood swings where you're happy one minute and mad at me the next. I put up with your being jealous and suspicious of everything I do and everywhere I go. And now to come home to this! Go fuck yourself!" 

"I'll do better. I can do better," he pleaded as he followed you down the hall. He saw you going to the door and quickly got in front of you, holding your arms as he dropped to his knees. "Please, baby. I love you. I love you so much," he cried and buried his face against your stomach. "Please?!" 

Your eyes watered and you clamped them shut, cursing yourself. "Billy get off me," you tried and pushed at his shoulder softly. "Let me go!" 

"No! You'll leave me," he cried and looked up at you. "I'll do whatever you want. I'll fix us. Please just tell me what you want me to do?" 

"I want you to let me go," you said quietly after a moment. Billy whimpered in a pained manner before he pulled his arms from around you. "I loved you, Billy. I loved you so damn much and you just let it all go," you told him, explaining how you were feeling. "I want you out by Monday. I'm going to stay with my parents," you said after a moment, no longer able to stand his sobbing that was tearing you apart. 

"Where am I supposed to go?" He sniffled and looked up at you. 

"Maybe you can ask the girl you were fucking if she needs a roommate," you countered before walking around him, doing your best to hold onto your anger so you wouldn't break and give in to him. 

"Please don't walk out that door?" Billy begged as his heart shattered to pieces in his chest. 

You stopped at the threshold, knowing this moment would determine how the rest of your life would go. You hung your head as your eyes watered up and your chest ached with Billy's pain and your own. "Goodbye, Billy," you muttered before closing the door in time to block his loud sob. 

__ __ 

You returned to the house on Monday and debated going in upon seeing Billy's Camaro was still parked in the drive. You sighed before putting your car in park and getting out, you knew you were technically early.  You hoped he was almost done packing and that you could avoid him until he left. You walked up to the door and walked in, glancing around a bit. Boxes were half packed around the living room, Billy's items appeared tossed in without much care or thought. 

You quietly walked down the hall to the bedroom to find a box on the bed. Your eyes flared and you sniffled a little as one of Billy's denim jackets sat on top of the box. You reached out and gently ran your fingers over the material, having touched the jacket many times but you realized this could very well be the last. You looked away from it before you turned, seeing the light on in the bathroom and hearing the shower running. You slowly walked up to the door and rested your hand against it, trying to hear Billy in the room. 

There was silence for a bit and you scrunched up your eyes. "Billy? Are you okay in there?" You asked, clearing your throat a little. "Billy? Can you hear me?" You asked when he didn't respond. "Bil-?" You were interrupted as you looked down, seeing water running out from under the door. "Billy?!" You hollered and violently shook the handle on the door, banging your shoulder against it. "Billy!" You screamed again before you backed up and kicked the door. You were glad it was cheap and gave on the third kick. 

Your eyes landed on the tub and Billy laid in it, seeming to float in the water. A bottle of pills spilled over the floor and the water running over the sides. "Billy!" You tried as you quickly came over to the tub, stepping into it and hoisting his face out of the water. "Why are you doing this?" You whimpered to him as you held him against your chest and leaned back to unplug the tub, trying to drain it. You managed to fit your fingers into his mouth and pushed them to the back of his throat, wiggling them there. "Please, baby? Please?" You whimpered and when your fingers didn't work you felt for his pulse, finding a weak one. You jumped out of the tub and ran drenched through the house before getting the phone and calling for help. 

You returned to the bathroom and knocked almost everything out of the medicine cupboard that was over the sink before finding the bottle you were looking for, Ipecac. 

You crawled back into the tub with Billy, barely noticing the water still showering down on you both as you forced his mouth open and tipped the bottle into his mouth once you got off the cap. You held him to you while you waited and sobbed. You prayed he would wake up and you begged him to, hoping that in some way he would hear you. 

When you had given up and rested your head down against his drenched hair you felt him tense before hearing a loud gag. A warm, thick substance covered your chest and you looked down to see Billy was throwing up the pills. 

"That's it, baby. That's it," you quietly cooed and brushed back his hair, smiling in maddened relief. He groaned in a miserable tone before he weakly sat up and fell back on the tub. His eyes looked dazed as he stared at you, the water running over you both. 

"Did I die?" He asked, seeming confused. "Is this my heaven?" 

You sadly smiled at him and shook your head. "Billy you're going to be okay. The ambulance is coming," you explained. 

He seemed stressed at this news and looked over, eyeing the pills that were scattered across the floor, wet from where the tub had run over. "You weren't supposed to be here til later." 

"Well, it's a good thing I got here when I did. Billy, you could have died," you tried to explain, stressing the last word. 

"What do you think i was trying to do?!" He asked, making you frown. "I can't move back in with my dad. I won't," he whimpered and you frowned. 

"Billy, you could have told me. I can find somewhere else to stay," you offered. 

"I don't fucking want that either. I just want-," he said before looking down, his eyes watering. "I just want you back." You looked down when his eyes came up, searching for yours. "I know I'm an asshole and complete shit to put up with but I love you," he tried. "I haven't loved anyone like I love you since my mom and it-," he cut off and shook his head. 

You glanced back up to Billy now, he had never mentioned his mother or anything overly detailed about his childhood. He had always told you it wasn't your business and you had left it alone. 

"It scares me. But the last thing I want is for you to leave me like she did," he whimpered and looked down, closing his eyes as they burned with tears. "I just need one more chance." 

You frowned a little at him before you slowly crawled forward and rested your head on his chest, laying against his side. "You never told me about your mom," you said quietly and felt his arm wrap around your waist weakly. "What was she like?" 

Billy was quiet for a few moments before a small smile came to his face. "She was a lot like you. She believed in me when no one did. She always loved me. She was really pretty," he said, his voice breaking down to a whisper on the last word. 

"Well, wherever she is. I'm sure she misses you and she raised an amazing son," you told him, making him close his eyes and cry harder. He pulled you close to him and placed a kiss in your hair as you heard the sound of distant sirens.

__ __

Billy was allowed to come home after being under observation all night. You had stayed with him and watched him sleep, not leaving his side. When he was discharged, you were waiting outside in your car. You gave him a smile as he got in and you pulled away from the hospital. 

"So I was thinking," you told him as you kept your eyes on the road. "About everything you said and everything that has happened." You saw Billy look at you out of the corner of your eye. You stopped at an intersection and let the other cars go. "Billy Hargrove you get one more chance to turn things around and if-," you couldn't even finish your sentence before his arms were around you, hugging you tight. 

"Yes. Whatever it is, yes. I'll do anything," he told you as he kept his hold on you. "Thank you, baby." 

You looked at him when he finally pulled back a little before pressing a small kiss to his lips, making him smile. "I love you." 

"I love you too, baby. So damn much," Billy whispered, making you smile. He leaned in to kiss you again before the car behind you honked since you'd been sitting at the intersection for too long. "Fuck 'em," Billy said with a smile before his hand slipped onto the back of your neck and he pulled you into another kiss, bringing a smile to your lips.

[little-boats-on-a-lake]

Part Fifteen (Part Two)

Potential tw: reference to self harm urges

He just didn't feel like going back to sleep. He doubted he even could if he wanted to. It would be better to just get a start on the day's work.

The weather was starting to change again. The harvest work was almost done. Sunny was so fast at it and she seemed to enjoy it. Except for the corn. They both hated corn.

The little fawn who had broken his leg seemed to enjoy corn. Gently petting the fawn’s head, he cracked a small smile as the tiny creature eagerly nibbled at his hand.

As if it could somehow sense his tension, the fawn stared at him before gently setting his head over the wisps of hair resting on his shoulder and licked at his ear. He giggled, a light and airy sound he doubted actually came from him.

"You're a friendly little one, aren't you?" He leaned against the little deer, feeling a quick heartbeat against his own. "Your leg healed ages ago. So why haven't you gone home yet?"

The fawn walked away from him and knelt down, resting against the soft place he had made for any of the creatures who needed help. It looked at him, as if to say, “What do you mean? I'm right at home."

Something flashed in his eyes as he realized he had never seen Sunny smile before as much as he had over the past month. Yes, he wasn't perfect and yes, he accidentally hurt her but they had both apologized profusely, even though she really didn't need to. Could she grow to love their home together like this little fawn had? A strange giddiness bubbled up in his chest as he imagined a life they could have together. He may not have had many things but he was happy. Maybe the two of them could be happy... together?

He left the fawn in his little shed with a quick scratch behind the ears and hiked back to the center around which his life was centered. And also the pantry. Today was bread day and the sun had only just risen. He may not have loved himself but he sure loved baking bread and that was enough for now.

The way the dough stretched out and wound itself around his fingers was a comfortable and familiar memory. Just like how Sunny would reach out and grab his hand when she dragged him to sleep at night. Not the time for that now-

"Not the time for what?"

He jumped back, arms held defensively in front of his dough. A laughter that chimed like a warm beam of sunshine drew his attention.

“How… how long have you been standing there!?” He didn’t mean to scream. But sometimes, a grown man just needs to scream to defend his bread from evil invaders who come to damage the bread.

It was so adorable when he got flustered like that. Felicity brushed off a small bit of flour that had found its way onto his forehead.

“Relax, silly. I live here too, you know?”

“I… uh, you-“ He stammered, trying to enunciate his words with sticky hands.

“Calm down!” She pushed herself up to sit on top of the edge of the table and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“Wait, what are you-“

“Shhh. I’m tired and your shoulder is comfortable.”

“You- you can’t just!”

“I’m sleeping, you can’t just disturb a sleeping person.” She leaned in towards his neck.

He could feel her warm breath ghosting over his skin. It sent shivers racing down his spine, but a bubbly warmth rose up in his chest again. He thought it was going to rush out in an endless stream of words he wasn’t quite ready to say yet. The only word that came to his mind was yours.

He was. He really was. He wasn’t quite sure what exactly Sunny had done to capture his heart and soul like this, but if she asked for it, he would give it to her. Even if she would probably break it a million times over. He would give her everything he had.

What was it about her smile that made him feel like the world would last another day just because it was so beautiful? Why did every one of her freckles match a beauty he thought belonged only to stars in the endless night sky?He look over at her and he was reminded of how the sharp knife had stopped his breath last night. Where it was sharp, she was soft, sleepy smiles and gripped hands. Where the blade was dangerous, she was a source of comfort, warm nights with warm words and even warmer touches that held them through until the morning. How could he have ever thought the two were the same when they were so different in every way? Her eyes, endless pools of an abyss he could stare into for days, held so much emotion it hurt just to look at it. They quirked up, asking what he was doing, and it felt like the world itself dropped from beneath his feet. What was the world anymore, if he could comp-

“Your hair is getting so long.” She murmured, interrupting his trance. Sunny reached for a particularly long strand and lazily twirled it around her finger. He almost reached for it self-consciously until he remembered the dough covering his fingers. The dough! He was baking bread! Not now, obviously. But he was supposed to be!

He ripped his attention away from her and focused it solely on the bread before him.

It was hard when Sunny was right next to him, entranced by something as mundane as hair and looking like a dream from the heavens. Bread!

“It is getting a bit too long.” He said, desperately hoping his voice wouldn’t betray his heart today.

“I could braid it back if you want?” She suggested and oh, the thought of Sunny focused solely on him, tongue stuck out and eyebrows furrowed, was just a bit too much to handle.

“Uh, ah- I was actually planning to just cut it off.” He lied. Nope, nope, nope. He would most likely combust if she wove her fingers through his hair for something so mundane when he could do it himself.

He pushed the dough aside, finally ready to be baked, and brushed his hair back with his fingers. It was actually getting a little too long for his tastes.

“I guess I probably should trim it a little.” He murmured, eyeing the knife on the table.

He still really didn’t want to touch it.

He was staring at it for an awfully long time. Felicity didn’t miss how he was spacing out. And how his side of the bed was so cold when she woke up. And the way he was so jittery and shaky when she startled him.

“Do you want me to cut your hair?” She offered. He looked at her with wide eyes, as if he couldn’t believe what she was offering. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you look as hot as usual.” She added with a wink, watching the pink creep over his face.

“It- me? It’s really, I mean I don’t thi-“ He stammered.

Sometimes when she was bored, Felicity would imagine how much he would stammer if she kissed him. Probably a lot.

“Come on, there’s better lighting outside.” For such a tall man, he was easily moved. She could drag him and he literally wouldn’t fight back. It was a little concerning sometimes.

She took the dark locks of hair in her hand and poised the knife above her fist.

“Wait! I need to.... uh...” Deep breaths, it was just a little bit of responsibility. She could handle something as small as that. “Wash! I need to wash your hair!”

“Huh?”

“You’re supposed to wash hair before you cut it!”

“I… I suppose?”

“Just… wait there!” Felicity dashed inside and came out with a bucket of water and soap. “Sit over on the porch.” She ordered when he tried to get up and help her.

“You’re so bossy.”

“I am, thanks for noticing.” She sat behind him, slowly working the bubbly lather into his black hair. He leaned into her hands massaging the soap into his hair. Heart, you need to stop racing right now. There was nothing even inherently romantic, this was just so domestic and peaceful. Birds were singing in the trees and he was humming along lightly in harmony. The crisp morning air was starting to warm up enough for rays of light to dapple over them. It was beautiful in a way that never needed to try.

It was perfect.

She rinsed the suds out of his hair and wrung the water out of his hair with oddly skilled ease for someone who had rarely touched anyone else’s hair before. Soon enough, she ran out of things to procrastinate with. Deep breath. It’s going to be okay. It’s just hair.

She picked up the knife and held it firmly in her hands. It was extremely different from a sword. Swords were held towards an opponent, defensively drawn. This needed to be held to the side, working in tandem with her hands and his hair. Gah. The knife was placed firmly behind the hair and she held the hair firmly as the blade cut through the hair.

“I did it…” She mused, the lock of hair shining like a trophy in her hand.

“Why do you sound so shocked?” He laughed, but his smile quickly dropped. “Wait, you have done this before, right?”

“Nope!” Felicity chirped, cutting the hair off right below his neck.

“Wait, hold on-“ He protested before turning his head to look at her. Against the knife. Which was still against his neck.

His hand flew up to where her own had been and came away smeared in red.

“Oh…” His voice wobbled as he stared at the blood on his hand. His jaw twitched and set itself firmly, just like when he had an episode and he tried to pretend he was okay.

“Oh, goddess above, I’m so sorry!” Felicity resisted the urge to scream. It was an extremely unfortunate cut, considering how much blood was running down his neck. It... it was a lot.

“He... here. Hold... hold my hand aga-against the... thing.” His hand flickered with magic, but it was nowhere near his usual steady flame. It was crackling and broken and fizzled out before sparking up again.

“You can’t do it, can you?”

“I can! I just need to focus!”

She pushed his hand away.

“Teach me how to do it.”

“What? Now?”

“Yes. Right now. Teach me healing magic. Or may the Goddess help me, I will set my own hand on fire trying.”

They hadn’t tried anything with magic since what she had dubbed “the incident.” She was too scared of losing control again and he was probably still regretting hitting her with a damn frying pan. She didn’t mind. If anything, she was grateful he found some way to stop her before she hurt him.

“Teach me.” Felicity insisted, panic rising in her voice.

“Foc... focus your fi-fire. It... it pushes out the hu-hurt.”

She took a deep breath, feeling the underlying sensation he described as “fire” and thought of how she wanted to wash away all of the scars she had given him, all of the hurt she had caused.

How much she wanted to hold him and apologize for what she had done.

How much she was sorry.

A warm orange pulse lit up her fingers and drew closer to the fresh blood running down his back. It surged through the wound, healing the cut and barely leaving a scar. The change in his face was so clear, now that she knew what to look for. His jaw relaxed so subtly and his tensed hands unclenched. That little breath of relief he let out. When had she learned his tells and signs so well?

“How was that?”

He turned to look at her, studying her hands. Something about how intensely he looked at her made Felicity’s flutter. Even if it was just her hands. Even if she knew it would never be because she was beautiful. She knew she wasn’t. But a girl could dream.

“That was incredible. I don’t think I’ve ever healed like that.” Oh, and now he was holding her hand as if she was something precious and delicate. Wonderful. “Are you okay? Do you need to take a nap or do you want to have lunch?”

“I’m fine?” That… was an odd question…

“You aren’t tired? At all?”

“No? I actually feel really energized. Like I could run for miles.”

“Curious…”

He looked up at her face and oh, her heart had never felt more fragile. He was just so beautiful, it hurt to look at him in this moment, with the sun glowing behind him and his face filled with gorgeous curiosity. If there was a goddess, she had made him by hand. He was too beautiful to be made from the earth.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“…did you miss the part where you almost bled to death because of me?”

“You’re being dramatic. It wasn’t that bad. And besides, it was mainly my fault.”

“Still.”

“You healed it, didn’t you? That takes a lot of energy. I’d call it even.”

“I wouldn’t.” She pouted. Something by the corner of her eye caught Felicity’s attention. “Hold on.”

“What? You’re just going to get up and leave me here?”

“You big baby, you can get up if you want. But you can’t. Not yet. And close your eyes!”

“And yet I’m the childish one.”

“Shut up.” She threaded the strands through quickly, remembering the familiar rhythm.

“Can I open my eyes now?”

“No, and I said to shut up.” She shot back playfully. She stepped over to the porch and sat beside him, holding her gift with gentle hands.

“Now?” True to his word, his eyes were still shut, but the rest of his face seemed determined to make up for what emotion was lost with his eyes.

“Now.” Felicity almost buzzed with excitement.

“For… for me? You… you made a flower crown? For me?” He stared at the cheerful wild orchids braided together.

“Yep!” She fixed it over his hair, which apparently curled as it dried. Why did he have to be so gorgeously perfect? The bright purple was stark against his black hair and fell over his eyes. He touched it in awe, a blush rising in his face. So adorable. She could adore that look on his face for years, never growing tired of his innate allure.

“And now we’re even. You look wonderful.” But then again, that wasn’t too hard for him. He was eternally wonderful, inside and out.

If you liked this, please remember to like and reblog! Every little bit counts! (And yes, the corn was a reference to @notdingalingalingalingrita’s slideshow fanfiction thing, love ya Charles)

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[hex6rcist]

The original ask for this was accidentally deleted so here it is in a post. The ask was along the lines of: Jin meeting reader when they start a conversation with him out of the blue. They go from friend, to FWB, to a relationship. Can be NSFW. I believe the asker was @slobbynblobby​ 

This ended up way longer than I had thought because I went with a weird format that isn’t really a fic but also isn’t really headcanons? So I hope that’s cool. Hope you enjoy. <3 

TW: Alcohol, nsfw, drunk sex 

WC: 4,200+

Jin x [F!] Reader Developing Relationship

First Meeting

Jin isn’t one to strike up a conversation with strangers in public. If he could help it he would actually avoid speaking in public at all. His tic makes it particularly difficult for him to communicate with anyone who doesn’t know him well enough and can often times embarrass him in public, so he’d rather just keep his mouth shut. 

However he won’t be outright cold to anyone out and about who tries to talk to him. He’ll do his best to give lost strangers directions, he’ll excuse himself if he bumps someone, he’ll thank the person at the checkout counter. He’s not a dick. If anything he can just come off as curt as he tries to keep his ticing to an unoffensive minimum. 

When you sit next to him on the late night train he gives a polite bob of his head but that’s about it. It was never a problem for him if he was brusque in a public setting because no one expected much more. But you sat for a while, fiddling with the end of your shirt and letting your eyes wander around the train. Being late it wasn’t as packed as usual but everyone was still seated close together. Idly you two bump knees. 

Jin draws his knees in closer, eyes shifting over to see if he’d bothered you. He was surprised when you were looking right back at him. Your nose twitched in a way that Jin thought was cute but could have possibly been an indication of disgust. His eyes quickly shifted away and he mumbled a short, “Sorry.” 

You give a small smirk. “Never apologize mister, it’s a sign of weakness.” He’s a little taken aback by the response, unsure of what to say to that. “I take it you’ve never heard of John Wayne huh?” He simply shook his head no and your nose gave another one of those cute twitches. “He’s an American actor form the 1940s. He was in a bunch of these cool western films, ya know the ones about cowboys? And he always plays these tough guys who say cool shit like, ‘Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.’” You’d struck your best tough guy face and put on a drawl, making Jin chuckle lightly. A little smile plays on your face too. You like his laugh and wanna hear more.    

You chat for so long Jin is actually surprised when the train comes to a halt and you start to grab your things. “Sorry, my stop. It was nice talking to you. Maybe I’ll see you again.” All he can get out is a pretty lame, “Oh, bye.” before you’re gone. In the silence you left him in he’s not sure how to feel. One part of him is glad that he’d gotten through a pretty normal conversation with a perfect stranger on the train. He felt normal which was refreshing. But another part of him wanted to kick himself for not getting your number or at least your name. 

Second Meeting

Jin wouldn’t want to outright admit that he was looking for you but he would say he ended up on that particular train more often than he would have before. The week passes by without a sighting and he comes close to giving up, he’s really starting to feel a little creepy. But that Friday night just before the train was about to depart you slide through the doors before they could close with a relieved sigh. Jin could feel his heart in his throat. Would you even remember him let alone sit by him again? Maybe you were just being polite that night. 

Sure enough when you recognize the cute blonde guy you’d chatted up just last week sitting in the same spot he’d been in before you don’t hesitate to flop down in the space next to him. “Hey there, good to see you again. I realized I didn’t introduce myself before I got off last time and felt so rude. Especially after you let me talk your ear off. I’m y/n!” Jin really couldn’t believe his luck. “I’m Jin.” “No I’m not!”  He flinched slightly at his outburst. Last time he saw you he had been doing well for a while but things tended to change fast with him. Once again Jin noticed your nose crinkle a bit but you ignored his outburst. “Jin, I like that name. It suits you.” 

Just like last time you spend the whole ride chatting. Jin doesn’t let on that he’d come to take this train every night since you met just to see you but you reveal to him that you work the late shift at a bar in Kamino Ward So you always take this train back home on the weekends. He decides that makes sense for you, the kinda girl who starts a conversation with a stranger on the train, to work at a bar. “Why do you take this train?” Obviously he doesn’t want to tell you what his business in that part of the city is so he settles on saying he also works in the area but takes the late train home because he likes to hang out at the bar after work. 

This time when you get up to leave he’s a little more ready, It’s the same stop you got off at last time. “It was nice talking again Jin! You should come by my bar some time. I’ll buy you a drink. I work tomorrow night if you’re interested.” With a little wave he watches you hop off the train. He can’t help but smile the whole way back to his shitty motel. Sure he hadn’t manned up enough to ask for your number yet, but at least now he didn’t have to feel like a stalker. 

Becoming Friends

The night after your second meeting Jin had decided to come and meet you at the bar. He was glad when he realized it was more of a small dive and not one of the clubs with a thrumming bass. This definitely suited him better. Though it was still a Saturday night and the place was kind of packed he was able to find a seat at the end of the bar. When you noticed him you couldn’t help but be excited. “You came!” You made your way to him, cutting your conversation short with another man. You being so excited to see him and the dirty look the guy shot him went to Jin’s head juuuuust a little bit if he was being honest. 

“Okay, okay let me think. I’m so good at guessing what people like to drink so don’t tell me okay!” He gives a short nod, “Alright impress me.” You stand back and act like you’re framing him up in a camera shot while he makes goofy poses. “Mhm, yeah, that’s good, yup. Okay! I got it!” You throw open one of the coolers and pull out the cheapest beer you got before cracking it open and placing it in front of him. “Oh, you are good.” “Whaddaya think I’m cheap?” You giggle and shrug, “Not cheap, just not one for frills, beer is beer.” This time when your nose wrinkles he realized it for what it was, a little tic of your own.

Jin ends up at the bar with you every weekend and every time he comes you’re just as excited as the first. What had started off as a chance meeting on the train turned into a friendship. He loved to watch you work, effortlessly juggling social situations in a way he couldn’t imagine doing. You really were a people person and he just really liked that about you. 

Though his favorite part of the weekend really had to be when the two of you walked to the train together. It was strangely intimate to share such a casual routine with you. And he was glad he could. He really didn’t like the thought of you making the walk to the train on your own that late at night in that part of the city. He knew you could take care of yourself, he’d seen you break up plenty of bar altercations, but he also knew what kind of threats stalked these streets and with your friendly nature he worries someone might lure you in. 

The biggest thing Jin noticed once he spent more time with you is just how damn friendly you could be. You were downright kind in a way he didn’t often see. You were the kind of girl who’d give a bum your last dollar, your last cigarette, and ask about their day. It always took him aback that in a world like this someone as sweet as you could exist. 

FWB

Jin knew he was attracted to you. He knew as soon as he met you. Though if he was being more honest he’d say it wasn’t as much an attraction as it was a crush. You were funny, smart, beautiful, sweet, the whole package really. and he knows he’s not the only one interested. Plenty of other men at the bar vied for your attention, leaving large tips and their phone numbers or leaning over the bar just to get closer to you. It made him glad you never really drank at work. He didn’t want anyone to try and take advantage. 

That’s why he was shocked to see you downing shots with one of your other regulars when he entered the bar one Sunday night. You frantically gesture for him to come join you and the small group of regulars at that end of the bar, opposite where he’d normally sit. He approached shyly. He knew some faces and some names but never chose to interact much with other customers, much preferring your company. But you happily introduced him to the group before revealing it was one of the patron’s birthdays. Later you two would remember this as the night that Jin met party y/n.

Needless to say you all got pretty trashed, buying the birthday boy, Jin, and yourself shots. By the end of the night you had a hard enough time closing up the bar on your own Jin jumped in to help put up chairs and mop while you focused heavily on counting the till and pulling the money you spent past your comp tab out of your tips. 

It really wasn’t until you two had gotten on the train that you both realized how drunk you were. You head lolled onto his shoulder as you two tried to quell fits of giggles, much to the annoyance of the other passengers. When your stop rolled around you both agreed it’d be safest if Jin walked you home. 

At first it didn’t really hit you but the closer you got to home the more you started to think. Should you invite him in? You looked at Jin from the corner of you eye. He wasn’t the only one with a crush. You knew you wanted to invite him in and you were just drunk enough to take the leap. But then how clean was your apartment right now? Did you leave you underwear from this morning on the floor? Is your makeup all over the bathroom counter? All these thoughts abandoned ship however when you reached your door. Jin shifted from foot to foot awkwardly while you fumbled with your keys. Finally you got them in the lock and opened the door. Moment of truth. “You wanna come in?” 

You two were barely through the door when your lips found his. Neither of you was sure who’d leaned in first and neither of you cared. In an instant your hands were all over each other. Groping, caressing, feeling it seemed neither of you could get enough. Your nails raked through his hair and his strong hands had found their way under the hem of your shirt to grab your waist. The feeling of his hands on your bare skin is all it took to finally get the two of you out of the entryway and stumbling towards your room. 

You both laughed lightly as you guided him by the hand through your dark apartment, tripping over nothing and bumping into walls and each other. When you two finally reach your room he’s pleasantly surprised by the way you push him down onto the bed and climb on top of him. He’s almost thankful for his inebriated state and the confidence it gave him. While your lips pressed to his neck, kissing and nipping, his hands found their way to your ass, giving a firm squeeze. 

Both you and Jin eagerly shucked off each other’s clothing. Once you were naked and laying below Jin you couldn’t help but feel just a little shy, cheeks tinting pink. He let his hands glide along the length of your body before they found your hips and squeezed. “You’re so beautiful.” “I’m gonna fuck you so good.” Your lower lip caught between your teeth as Jin lowered his head to start kissing down your stomach, the tickle of his scruff making you giggle. 

Jin settled himself between your legs, his broad shoulders keeping them spread for him. Just before his lips found the spot where you wanted them most he took a detour to nip playfully at your inner thigh. You gave a little yelp your toes curling as you giggled again. “Jin! Don’t tease me.” Not wanting to leave a pretty girl waiting he finally let his tongue lave up the length of your wet cunt, just to get a taste of you. His tongue found it’s way to your clit, circling around the sensitive bud in a way that made you moan. Your head fell back onto your pillow as your thighs squeezed to trap Jin’s head. Not that he minded. His large calloused fingers probed shyly at your entrance, feeling how wet you are from his treatment. He pulled back just long enough to press his fingers to your mouth. You part plush lips to take his fingers in and suck on them. He moaned, the feeling sending a shock though his system. He loved how you looked right then, eyes glazed with lust and his fingers in your mouth. He slowly thrust them in and out, letting you get them nice and prepped before he couldn’t wait any more. “Good girl.” “You’re such a slut.” Eagerly Jin returned to his spot between your thighs. He gave himself the privilege of watching one of his fingers enter your tight pussy. Even though it was only his fingers he couldn’t stop the satisfied sigh that fell form his lips before he went back to your clit. 

Jin made sure you were well and satisfied before finally standing and pulling you to the edge of the bed. He gave his achingly hard dick a few stroked before slowly pushing it inside you. “Oh fuck!” The way your thighs quivered and your voice hitched was enough to drive him crazy. He wanted nothing more than to pound into you but he held it together. He wanted you to enjoy it as much as him. He locked eyes with you and let his hands cup your face. He thrust slow and hard, groaning softly. “You feel so fucking good, y/n.” “I wanna make you scream for me.” Jin’s cock stretched you so good you could only reply in small whimpers and moans. Your hand found the back of Jin’s head pulling him so close your foreheads touch before you lock lips in a heated kiss. 

When you finally adjust your legs wrap tightly around his hips and you press yourself farther into him. Jin gladly takes the cue and his hips begin to move at a brutal pace. The first hard thrust arches your back and rips a loud moan from you. He sits up, one hand pinning your hips to the bed and the other rubbing unrelenting circles on your clit. You’ve only just started and you can already feel an intense orgasm rippling through your body, making your legs tremble. The feeling of your pussy clenching around him only spurred Jin on further. 

The next morning Jin’s head was pounding. He squinted against the harsh light of the sun and buried his face into your chest. ‘... Wait...’ He shot up with a small gasp before looking around the room. It took him a moment to remember exactly what happened last night but the pieces slowly clicked together. He looked down at your still naked form, snoring softly next to him. He slowly lowered himself back down, laying on his side. He brushed your hair out of your face and took in your sleeping face. 

After that night you two had an admittedly awkward morning. You made coffee and some greasy breakfast food to quell your monster hangovers but you couldn’t ignore what had happened the night before. You also couldn’t ignore the lingering touches and eye contact between you two. Finally after eating and getting a few cups of coffee down Jin trapped you between his body and the kitchen counter. His fingers raked through your hair before cupping your cheek. Any resolve you had to not do this again was quickly replaced by need as you pull Jin in for a deep kiss. 

It would go on like this for the next 3 months. Stumbling back to your apartment on drunken nights, stealing kisses in alleyways, playful pinches and squeezes. You two had both tried to stop what was happening but you just couldn’t keep your hands off of each other after that first night. You’d both agreed to enjoy whatever this casual sexual relationship was for now. You were having fun and there was no reason to read too much into it. 

Relationship

“Hey Jin you going to see your girlfriend? When do we get to meet her?” Toga’s questions threw him through a loop. ‘Girlfriend.’ The word made him nervous but excited. And well at this point he really wouldn’t say that you weren’t his girlfriend. Neither of you was really sure when it happened, but it just dawned on you both one day that things had just gotten more serious. Nights of stumbling back to your apartment to hook up turned slowly into walking home hand in hand to watch a movie on the couch. You now cooked more meals together instead of just breakfast. Hot, passionate kisses turned to slow, sweet smooches. In the end though neither of you minded all that much. It was nice. Comfortable. “Yeah I am.” “You’ll never meet her!” 

That night when Jin met you at the bar he found it hard to keep his heartbeat steady. That word just wouldn’t leave his mind, ‘girlfriend.’ You crack open a beer and place it in front of him before leaning over the bar to press a chaste kiss to his lips. It had become more common for you to greet him with little kisses and sweet hugs. That had to mean you felt the same right? You were both on the same page? 

At the end of the night it took all of Jin’s courage. But once the bar was closed down and you two was sharing one last beer in the dim light he decided now was the best time. “Y/n, you know how I feel about you right?” Your nose crinkled in the way he loved and your cheeks flushed. “I think I have a pretty good idea...” Jin nodded, “Good because I want us to be on the same page. I want you to be my girlfriend.” God that word made your heart flutter. You wrap your arms around his neck and lean in for a sweet kiss. “Mmh, I like the sound of that.” 

Dating Jin most days was like a dream. He was handsome, funny, and loving. He wanted nothing more than to make you happy and you wanted to do the same for him. In a lot of ways he surprised you. A healthy and loving relationship wasn’t an easy find these days. That being said you knew Jin had his problems, you did too. No one was perfect. You two had a long discussion about what exactly to do when Jin had one of his episodes and that’s when he showed you his mask. If he was going to be with you he wanted to be honest. Finding out about the League was a hard pill to swallow but one you were willing to take. You had your own issues with the way this superhuman society was canted and you could understand why Jin did what he did. But it made you worry for him, not just for his physical safety but his emotional wellbeing too.

Jin had decided that the best way to make you feel better about the situation would be to introduce you to the league. They had really become his family and so had you. He figured if you could see firsthand what kind of support he had it’d put you at ease. So that’s how you ended up hanging out in an abandoned bar with some of Japan’s most wanted criminals. It was a little uncomfortable at first but the setting was familiar to you. Your attitude quickly put everyone at ease, and seeing Jin so happy definitely helped. 

Toga was probably the quickest to take to you. She was a romantic after all and she really felt that you and Jin were a perfect match. And you were so cute too! A little fact that didn’t escape Dabi’s attention. He made sure to give Jin a good clap on the back for that though he otherwise seemed uninterested in you. The others regarded you politely but with apprehension. Jin could be a little too trusting for a villain sometimes. Though no one would deny that you were a very cute couple, other than a disgruntled Shigaraki who’d only really agreed to this so Toga would stop asking. 

 After the first meeting Jin’s life fell into a kind of weird harmony. He moved out of his shitty motel and into your small apartment. He liked not hiding anything from you and feeling completely accepted for who he was. He knew his life would never be normal or peaceful but this was fulfilling, and that’s all a guy like him could ever ask for.  

[creativeskullcreations]

Outside chapter 17: Dinner at Home

New chapter, new plot. Plus got to see a little bit of Danny in this 'verse. :D

And plans are in motion now. What's gonna happen? Stick around to find out.

Stacy sighed as she got into the truck, undoing the professional looking bun her hair was in. Scout popped out of her bag when she set it in the passenger seat, gasping over-dramatically.

"Oh stop that. You're fine." Stacy told her, buckling herself in. She started the car, and got ready to back out of the parking spot.

"Says you! You aren't spending eight hours a day in a fucking bubble!" The puppet flopped out of the bag. "Are we going home yet?"

"No, we've gotta go grocery shopping." Scout groaned and threw one arm over her eyes.

"Aw man. I hate Walmart." She grumbled. "There's always too many kids staring at me."

"It'll be fine. We can go look at movies again before we get the food."

"Okay fine." Scout climbed up the door to look out the window. "But I want Pop Tarts this time! Real ones!"

"I think I can do that." Stacy agreed as she pulled into the parking lot. She reached over and grabbed her wallet before grabbing Scout, letting her settle into the hood of her jacket as they entered the store.

They checked movies, though there was nothing new out yet that they hadn't seen, and then went on to collect the items on Stacy's list. A quick checkout later and they were finally on their way home. It could not have come soon enough for Scout.

The way home from Walmart wasn't too long, maybe a ten minute drive on a bad day. So they got home quick enough, and Scout watched as Stacy started to juggle the many bags. She ended up having to sting them onto her prosthetic in order to get them all into the house, but did succeed in getting all the bags to the kitchen.

Will was downstairs, as he usually was at this time of day. Though, whether he was working on computers or his... hobby, was anyone's guess. Scout certainly wasn't going to go down there to check, either way. Instead she Jumped to her room, which was almost more of a closet with how small it was. But, it held a bed(in her own size!), a charging station for the Switch, and sometimes Stacy's laptop when she could be bothered to drag it in there. The walls were lined with multiple shelves  with rope ladders connecting them, giving her a lot of storage space. Most of it was still empty, but she had collected a few things over the past several months.

Including clothes, apparently. Stacy had expressed concern with Scout running around with Mortimer's face on her shirt, and had enlisted Lisa to make her some new ones. Not that Scout could take her "shirt" off, of course, but she could wear other ones over it. Her favorite so far was a green one that said "eat dick and die". It was the best one, no contest, but Stacy wouldn't let her wear it outside the house.

"It's crude, and while I know you love that stuff it's not a good idea to wear that to my job. Someone could go to HR about it." Her Host had told her. Scout thought that was just stupid, but had agreed not to wear it to the workplace.

Stacy, meanwhile, worked on putting groceries away. It was good practice for her arm, especially in not crushing the groceries. She managed to mangle to bread only a little bit this time,  and figured she was probably doing better than she usually did. Scout reappeared a moment later, wearing the green shirt Lisa had made her. She handed over the Pop Tarts to the puppet, who immediately tore into the box to grab one of the foil packets.

"It's almost suppertime, so don't eat too many of those." Stacy warned her, only to be met by a muffled grunt in response. She sighed, and just collected the stuff she needed; Kraft macs n cheese, premade burger patties, and some green beans for a vegetable. Maybe not the best dinner, but Will was still working and they needed some food.

As she got the stove going, a pan of water for the mac set up, and the pan for the burgers got oiled. She selected three patties and put the rest back in the freezer for another day while things heated up. The beans she dumped in a  third pan on the back of the stove, adding a bit of salt for taste.

Scout watched all of this while softly crunching on the Pop Tarts. Months in the Host World, and she still didn't understand why Stacy wanted to cook. It was much easier and quicker to just grab one of the snacks laying around. Then again, maybe it had to do with that "nutrition" shit Will had told her about once.

As Stacy cooked she started typing out a message to Will on her phone, mostly to let him know dinner was done. He may have been just right in the basement, but she didn't want to go down there if she didn't have to. But as things finished cooking and she started to set the table, Will still hadn't come upstairs or even answered her text. And so, with a sigh, she covered the food and made her way downstairs.

"Will? It's time for dinner." She called as she reached the bottom of the stairs. No answer, but the muffled beat of heavy metal and the high pitched whine of a buzz-saw. She went through the door and was greeted with a mess. A wooden doll was stretched on the exam table in the middle, and Will was standing over it with the buzz-saw, shouting over the pounding music and whining noise.

"Hey, bitch! Make your boyfriend turn it down!" A red haired doll in a welded shut dog crate yelled over the music. She ignored it and instead punched a nearby gong with her metal fist. The resulting metal bang startled Will enough that he almost dropped the saw. He looked over and, once he spotted her, rushed to shut everything down.

"Yeah babe?" He asked, like he hadn't been threatening a sentient doll. The puppet in question was gagged, but sending a quite fierce death-glare at him.

"It's dinner time. Finish up here and come up, I made burgers." She told him, smiling a little as his face lit up.

"Score!" He quickly shoved the saw away before turning to take the doll off the table and put it into a cage. It swapped it's glare to her as he shoved it inside the crate, but Stacy just stared stonily back at it.

"Yeah, you keep trying that buddy. Nothing stops these two assholes. Ow!" The red headed doll sent Stacy his own death glare as she kicked his cage, knocking him over.

"Keep quiet." She growled out, not even looking at him. "Be thankful you're not tied up too."

"Yeah yeah. Go back to your favorite toy, Bitch." He huffed out. "Can't believe you keep that thing living up there with ya. If you had any kind of integrity, she'd be down here, in a cage, with the rest of us. Ow! Fuckin' shit would you stop that?!"

"Chucky, be quiet." A nearby doll in a ripped wedding dress scolded. "You know better than to antagonize her."

"What, it's true! That thing up there is just like us, but she gets to live in the lap of luxury! Hey!"

Stacy propped a foot up on the cage, tipping it onto it's edge and leaning down to glare at the toy inside. "You wanna stop talking now? Or do you want me to come back down here after dinner, Mr. Ray?"

The dolls said nothing more and Stacy righted the cage as Will finished up. The went back upstairs, locking the door behind them.

On the table was Scout, with half a burger patty in her mouth. She froze when the two Hosts walked into the room.

"Scout, seriously?" Stacy asked. "You're supposed to wait for us before you start eating."

Scout spat out the half eaten patty. "You were taking too long. I wanted to eat."

"You still should have waited. We only took a couple of minutes."

"But I didn't want to wait."

Stacy just sighed, and grabbed a bun out of the bag to squirt some ketchup onto. This was a fight just not worth getting into, especially when it wouldn't change anything.

Instead they made up their buns and sides, and were sat down to eat. Will prayed, and Stacy waited for him to be done before digging in. Scout didn't even wait, and just finished off her meat patty before digging into the macs and cheese.

The trio ate in silence, too hungry to talk at first. But eventually Stacy swallowed a bit, and decided she was sick of the quiet.

"So, you make any progress with the Gardner job?" She asked Will. Doll torturer or not, he did still have a "real" job, same as her.

"Eh, a little. Gotta ask who usually uses the computer, though. It's full of viruses from porn sites."

"Ew. Do they have a kid, or just a really stupid adult?"

"They've got a twelve year old girl, so she's the most likely suspect." Will swallowed another bite. "Miss Gardner is always away and working, like, three jobs so it's gotta be the kid or a friend she has."

"Who would go on a porn site? It's just naked sweaty Hosts, they're gross."

"Uh..." Stacy wondered how to handle this. And then wondered if Scout had ever gone on one of those sites, to know about that part. "It's... just a thing. Some people like to look at." She coughed. "Don't question it."

"Sure." Scout comped down on a green bean, and Stacy gave a soft sigh of relief. Scout was bad enough with her language already, and Stacy didn't want to risk her learning more words and terms.

Dinner ended soon after that, with Will loading the new dishwasher when everyone was done eating. He went back downstairs to finish up what he'd been doing. Stacy and Scout meanwhile went to play video-games. Well, Stacy played, while Scout watched her do quests from her lap.

"Go down that tunnel! Go! The left!" Scout pointed forcefully, waving her arms when she was ignored.

"No, that's where we came from." Stacy sighed, annoyed yet also a little amused. "Would you rather be the one playing?"

"No. I can't hold the controller." The Puppet waved her off before suddenly yelling. "You're not looting the bodies!"

"And you won't shut up." The Host muttered, looting a single body before going back to chasing the objective. "Are you sure you don't want to play?"

"How would I even fucking do that? Don't answer that."

"Okay." Stacy fought a few more Drauger. She thought about mentioning that she wouldn't really mind it, if Scout wanted to play, but decided against it. The body swap was still a sore subject, and she didn't want to ruin the good mood.

A ping from her phone, and she paused the game to answer a text from her brother. Being the nosy Puppet that she is, Scout tried to see what she was typing. "Who's that? I thought you didn't have friends."

"It's my younger brother, Danny. Doc wanted me to talk to him more, so I am."

Scout blinked. "You have a brother?" She thought back, tried to think if she'd ever seen any pictures of Stacy's family, but couldn't remember. Will she knew had a picture of his mother, but other than that neither Host talked about their families that much.

"Yeah." A couple of swipes, and she lowered the phone to show the Puppet a photo of a younger boy. He had the same reddish hair she did, but with much paler skin and brighter blue eyes. He was also wearing an absolutely atrocious looking sweater. "He's about eight or nine years younger than me, depending on who's had a birthday at that point."

"Oh..." Scout stared at the picture. "Why is he wearing headphones?"

"Those are part of his cochlear implants. He's deaf." She swiped back over to messaging to finish her text. "But he got the surgery at a young enough age that you pretty much can't tell. He's just got a little bit of a weird sounding accent."

"Oh, cool." Stacy finished her text and went back to the game, Scout watching quietly this time. "I have a brother."

Stacy fumbled an attack, but recovered quickly enough that she didn't die. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Yeah. And three sisters." She squirmed a little, playing with the hem of her shirt. "... They probably all have Hosts by now. They were a lot better at... fitting in, than I was."

"Oh." Stacy paused the game, considering. "I'm... uh, do you you wanna talk about it?"

"Nah. I just thought you should know about them." She settled back, and Stacy unpaused the game. "I doubt I'm ever going to see them again, anyways. They were all assholes."

"Sounds like it, if they were able to "fit in" over there."

-------

Canon huffed, doing her best to try and suck in air. This was the... she didn't know how many times she'd been almost torn apart by the spells Mortimer was working on. Not really, of course, but it certainly felt like it. Like there was a scalpel carefully slicing into each stitch, cutting the small threads one by one.

"Hmm, looks like things are going well. I think I'm just about done with this spell." The magician commented, ignoring how the smaller Puppet lay limply on the floor. "Yes this plan has come together splendidly! Soon your sister will be right where she ought to be."

"... Great..." She groaned, trying to force herself upright. She failed, falling back to the floor with a soft thump. "I... can't... wait..." She had to finish the rhyme, at least, no matter how much it hurt.

"Indeed." He smirked, then grabbed a phone off the wall. "Oh Riley, we're just about ready to start! All we're missing now is the star! So gather your tools and a henchman, and go warm up the car."

"Preparations have already begun!" She relayed with an excited giggle. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun!"

[unproduciblesmackdown]

crossposting billions analysis/musings here but now thinking about 5x08 kind of makes more sense with the context of like, whether that could’ve kicked off them specifically being concerned about loyalty / worrying about unpleasant surprises, since they obviously don’t expect to run into rian having another job, and then instead of going “hey so like, what’s up” to rian about it, they apparently start off strong(arming) a bit, since rian is also starting off bothered by the treatment, and, while we don’t have any reason to think that rian apparently possibly having been moonlighting catering the whole time was going to make her want to quit or have any other conflicts with her mase carb job, after taylor again tries to just go right to the flexing authority / applying pressure approach, now rian’s apparently unsure about staying at tmc, which doesn’t seem to have been true before, establishing that taylor’s reaction to “oh shit is rian Not committed to working here” by already sort of taking a somewhat antagonistic / punitive approach, one which was somewhat bemusing in the first place since there was no indication this had or would cause problems or that they couldn’t just like, talk to rian without preemptively taking that stance, and thus not put rian on the defensive as well / Be antagonized from the start, but they sure did, and it showed us that this was counterproductive, and that only when they both decided to start an exchange with a more conciliatory approach (quantciliatory: see: taylor & winston in 3x03, and then in their next meeting in 3x09) was the situation set up to be resolved, also thanks to taylor voicing their actual motivations in a somewhat unexpected offering of vulnerability re: their lore & also not just trying to push rian into this / hold anything over her head here really

also of note that now, despite taylor’s own trust issues clearly at play, they’ve repeatedly told rian she just kind of has to trust them, despite rian knowing she doesn’t have a lot to go on / can’t really do anything but wait and see if she gets burned by that, which, you know, taylor might have to do with wendy, who hasn’t even gotten around to her “then trust me” line. and, in the midst of these points, is outright saying they can’t trust people b/c they get fucked over, so.

and of course thinking about the entirety of s5 here & gaining & losing (& firing) employees.....rewind to 4x11 when taylor’s saying nobody has to argue for comp b/c the results speak for themselves, but is also asking people to defer bonuses &, in doing so, presumably stay at mase cap for another year, & winston points out that this is less just giving them all a choice & there’s pressure to defer & this suggests employees might be expendable / collateral re: losses tmc might take on if taylor’s commiting to an indefinite revenge jag against axe, a journey that requires you to dig two graves and neither needs to be mine....but he also does not quit, and mafee makes it about trusting taylor, which winston acquiesces to. also notable that lauren like, pseudo breaks up with taylor, but doesn’t, but takes her bonus now b/c if they break up she’ll have to quit, and none of these things really seem to bother taylor at all. then there’s 4x12, where they get to tell their employees they’re all the best & sexiest in the business & tmc is getting back on track, but when we see [all of tmc, apparently] in s5, they’ve presumably had to downsize, or who knows if some people didn’t want to go to axe cap....they kept all their named people, so probably it wasn’t necessarily about taylor having to deal with people quitting, but also probably people Had to be let go, which they not only don’t enjoy like, in general, but of course sucks when it’s their own employees & they would rather not have to downsize or be dragged back to axe cap in the first place, just seems like an Insecurity & Vulnerability Issues exacerbating matter overall, and, naturally, specifically about axe fucking everything up for them

then over the course of s5 you’ve got wendy being generally unhelpful in 5x01, making sure to not really put her back into helping taylor & the rest of mase cap out as part of her job without taking advantage of a chance to ingratiate herself to lauren, which lauren goes ahead & names for what it is. then in 5x02 it’s time to take advantage of taylor’s absence, pull a non axe cap employee over to take care of an axe cap mess, aka lauren, refuse to defer to sara at all and then deflect any responsibility for sara’s disgruntlement / feeling out of place as a result onto taylor, and then of course, you have sara’s sort of halfhearted attempt to voice her grievances to taylor, whose response not only highlights their own unhappiness but now sure definitely seems to suggest that despite recognizing lauren’s business decision to do axe cap stuff as A Good Opportunity, that’s included in things they’re unhappy about but also can’t do anything about. and then in 5x03 sara’s still unhappy & despite clashing a bit further with taylor, apparently taylor doesn’t consider that sara might quit, cue their “don’t worry, i’m not going to fire you” line before sara does quit, & evidently being thrown & unhappy about the fact that she has. & shoutout to their outright telling wendy they can’t trust her & she shouldn’t’ve jumped in and decided lauren should do shit for axe cap, which wendy evidently takes to heart by which i mean she passive aggressively deflects the whole thing and i am sure nothing has changed at all with her and she’d do it again if she felt like it. 

then in 5x04 there’s the thing with mafee wanting to switch seats at the lunch table, aka sit with the axe cappers (even if it’s not that clear whether it’s Just a seating change or if it makes him more tied to axe cap re: the actual work he does, seems to at least partially involve the latter, for all intents & purposes) and while taylor does not express anything like “wow really betraying my trust here / this isn’t very loyal of you” they’re clearly unhappy with it, even if we don’t know that they’re actually upset with mafee about it, or anything

5x05 and everyone at least listening to winston about “we can’t and don’t trust wendy” even if nobody particularly cares if he’s fired, who knows if taylor was that concerned, but they at least put in Some effort in the form of stalling for time about it. just a bit odd if they cared enough to put in that nonzero effort but also maybe had no other contingency plan here, and winston’s pointing out that maybe they should be convincing him to stay on....like, yeah, why not? there’s no particular reason for winston to be singled out as Un Impact Fund Worthy, while apparently lauren, & for completely unknown reasons, mafee, are good to go. lauren telling mafee he has “nothing to worry about” to which winston somewhat incredulously goes “he doesn’t but i do??” does kind of sum that up lmfao like, yeah, sorry, but why??? and then there’s the fact that the oil divestment thing which directly led to this impact fund route came from a project winston worked on with taylor i guess, & which taylor decides to run with when, despite sara & mafee both voicing skepticism, winston alone is like “hell yeah we can let’s go for it,” and then, you know, winston also does not quit or anything after axe then invests in the shares that tmc theoretically could’ve. and wendy just got here and isn’t really citing anything about winston about Why he in particular has to be fired, and is figuratively Resting Her Case b/c he doesn’t get her metaphor correctly or w/e?? i see no reason tmc employees shouldn’t think wendy’s trying to isolate taylor / get rid of people who aren’t tied closely enough to axe cap over taylor.....and then spamming F for the fact that there’s this whole subplot that stems from this wherein lauren’s the one pointing out to taylor that they can’t trust wendy & to offer her like, a share of the company in the teens%, and then taylor doesn’t listen to lauren by offering wendy 40% and lauren doesn’t listen to taylor by confronting wendy & telling her she’d better not fuck taylor over, smash cut to wendy fucking taylor over in 5x10 there and lauren Not getting to take it out on wendy, and taylor not doing so either

but here we are still in 5x05, theoretically, wherein winston does just accept not being fired, and wendy’s bailing on the mase carb soiree b/c axe is whining at her to stop doing her stupid bullshit about her stupid life b/c he’s having emotions, so that’s great. and while maybe winston doesn’t need to trust anybody out here b/c apparently, unless ever discussed directly / otherwise, he Is just fine staying at tmc so long as he’s simply not fired, and taylor apparently presumes he will (not like they seem to worried about anyone else even considering quitting either, i guess), he also sure seems to have some people on his radar re: his own vulnerability, like, already Doesn’t trust wendy even if 5x05 is the first time she directly goes after him in any way, can point out that this is about taylor too even if, again, he hasn’t really been directly involved in wendy going after taylor in s4 or prior, & also he still would probably like some validation from taylor themself but will also shrug it off 4 sec later if he doesn’t get it, & for whatever reason may never be brought up in dialogue he sure is committed to working for them or he wouldn’t be here & stay here. & he likes rian, & doesn’t seem too threatened about like, not going “oh heyyy” & acknowledging he likes her actually, as soon as the soiree even, & then there he is in 5x07 having been negged but forging ahead with the determinedly amicability & just kind of tempering the “i’m Just Looking Sometimes, i’m Not Pressing” thing rather than being like “nooo i don’t have a crush on you” or anything. and also, in front of mafee during the soiree lol, and possibly now taylor & lauren if they inferred anything beyond “idk there goes winston operating in the wrong, too literal context / being overly earnest & spontaneous or something” about it....getting off topic talking about winston here maybe but originally the topic was “thinking about 5x08 in an additional/new context as of 5x10″ so guess the post has already gotten off lol

anyways winston’s not really being burned, except also he is (expressing repeatedly he doesn’t feel valued by taylor lol......) but also he doesn’t mind enough to like quit so it’s fine? and mafee might kinnnda have his back at times, won’t narc on him, might intervene if he’s being harassed / threatened, thanks guy. & rian seems to like him in some kinda way and you know, she Did jump in there & apparently truly singlehandedly of her own sole motivation save his employment, i guess? he may as well trust fall swoon into her arms immediately. but guess he’s just vibing out here, and really like, the way billions works, plot focus is dangerous & nobody really just has an episode’s focus of “and here’s [character] just having a great time! they’re so happy! hoorayyy” and even the attention of other characters can be bad. axe shouldn’t’ve looked at him, but do think that was probably just winston off the shits raring to be validated by anything and going “damn i was glanced at? big day for winstons,” and if other characters are writing him off, then they’re probably not also going to come after him (although you know. there’s 5x05!! but she did drop it quick enough i suppose) or be threatened by him in any way and Defensively come after him. i am off track here

anyways then 5x06, things are fine, nobody’s quitting or being threatened with firing, 5x07 they’re fine but also axe is fucking everything up and taylor has to deal with that / know that even [him not being able to be trusted to not fuck everything up For Himself] can fuck with tmc as well as collateral damage, then 5x08, as once stated way back at the beginning of this post, maybe sets off taylor having trust issues re: closer to home threats here, i.e. how committed their employees are, even if it Seems like they are (which, they probably are! i.e. how there probably need not have been any issue w/rian having this side job if taylor hadn’t kind of forced it as an issue) & taylor’s able to resolve it with a bit of vulnerability / dropping the [best Defense is a good offense] insistence

then of course there is 5x09 & seems like maybe it’s A Problem that not only did axe fuck things up for them after saying to their waist that he wouldn’t, but he also said it to wendy & in part b/c wendy backed taylor up, but then also axe went through mafee like well fuck things up for taylor or i’ll fire you, and mafee’s response may have been one that taylor understood but also sure like, had the implication that there’s nothing else he would have or could have done in the face of axe, either then or going forward so long as they’re at axe cap, which can’t be very heartening, and although of course taylor just realizes axe is the problem, when in 5x10 they’re clearly fucked up about not being able to count on anyone truly standing between them & axe / not siding with loyalty to axe vs them when push comes to shove, it’s not difficult to retroactively apply that to this situation with mafee & suppose that like, even if in that moment they didn’t consciously go “wow so i’d better be worried about this from other people too” apparently by the time in 5x10 they learn actually lauren’s Not guaranteed automatically staying with mase carb / them & that wendy, despite again a face to face conversation, is like yeahhhh fuck it i entrusted axe with this and i have no reassurance(tm) for you except bullshit nothing, seems like maybe the first [i’m unexpectedly vulnerable??] internal emotional dustup from 5x08 & then the much more obvious one in 5x09 wherein mafee’s just asserting it as a given that if axe wants to hurt them he will & there’s nothing for it has kinda coalesced & been set off here by first realizing lauren isn’t automatically with them & then that wendy’s just over here doing whatever making them all the more vulnerable to axe & then they’re apparently launched into very defensive mode about all of it, but they’re also clearly personally hurt about things rather than Just like, considering strategy or whatever, or yeah their directing their reaction at their relationship w/lauren & just cutting it off themself wouldn’t be so spiteful & yknow, maybe they’dve simply fired her but been like eh yeah sure go to axe cap but don’t give axe any tmc secrets and also maybe we should break up. meanwhile, if they can have one personal relationship blowup after having tamped down [being bothered] by issues in it for a good while now, it’s like, maybe not guaranteed that just b/c they’re not confronting mafee about anything here they’re not also tamping down [being bothered] which may Potentially blow up later.......do not want that

so congrats i guess to winston if nobody’s really bothered re: him lmfao, like, hey, then they won’t be Bothered(tm) down the line either......again with the like, taylor maybe trusts him to be Loyal b/c they’ve given him the least individual / personal focus here ever so like, if i Don’t trust you, i trust you lol....guy who’s just kinda Around, and is also kinda invulnerable(tm) for it, where rn his most vulnerable thing going on, which is uncoincidentally his most like, involved arc / thread re: character material, is Liking rian, and we don’t know whether that’ll go anywhere. if it’s a joke, that’s kinda underwhelming, but if it’s setting up a romance watch out, that’s where billions concentrates the theme of what’s lost / fucked up in the course of trying to play / compete in / win in this game, but wherein winston is maybe protected by the fact he’s Not really trying to be exceptionally ambitious / at the forefront of things & is instead just kinda out here vibing & rolling w/stuff, which is harder to narratively come down on so as to execute some thematic material....but which may also result in like, his not getting any relationships really, although if he & rian have this mutual affinity / kindred spirituality, why shouldn’t they get to be buddies, which is not so often crushed to make a thematic point as romances are.....also, let’s see him talk to tuk outside just the once, that went great, in 5x08 anyways. i’d say like, as is true of anyone amicable w/him, feel free to kiss but also everyone watch out with that around here. and that brings us back to 5x08 so may as well pretend that’s a definitive conclusion b/c the [series of interconnected billions tangents] that this post has been can go on indefinitely.

[otonymous]

A Moment In Time (MLQC Victor - NSFW)

Description: Things get wet and wild with Victor Warnings:  NSFW/18+:  Explicit/graphic language — reader discretion is advised.  Spoilers for the “Rooftop Date” with Victor, very mild spoilers for main plot Word Count: 3011 words (~15 mins of angst/fluff/smut) AO3: read here

Author’s Notes: I got a couple of requests for something spicy with Victor, and @leoamber66 specifically requested a story inspired by the karma card depicted above, so I decided to amalgamate that scene along with one of the production scenarios and his “Rooftop Date.”  The lines marked with an asterisk were taken directly from the date.  Hope you all enjoy it and happy reading!

Tagging: @leoamber66 @kitsune-mana

All characters & Mr Love: Queen’s Choice owned by Elex

“I miss you…”*

God, I must be drunk, you think to yourself, trying to suppress the sick lurch of your stomach. No doubt you’ve had too much to drink if you’re hearing Victor’s voice in your head, an echo of the phone call he made to you at an ungodly hour that very morning.

Despite your brain fog, you vaguely recall him mentioning something about France before the line went dead, shortly after you informed him he had dialled the wrong number. The memory of the affection in his fatigued voice brought a rush of heat to your cheeks, but you chalked it up solely to the alcohol in your veins.

Carefully stepping around the pool on the roof of the building and moving beyond eyeshot of patrons in the adjacent restaurant, you lean against the ledge, looking out over the twinkling lights of a city too bright to sleep, the breeze blowing off the river below caressing your face.

And somewhere in those neon pinks, yellows and greens, you see Victor’s face: the firm set of his masculine jaw, strong brows furrowed in displeasure...his eyes, cool and assessing, as he tut-tutted at your inability to hold your alcohol.

“Yup. That’s exactly the type of face he’d make,” you say, the night wind spiriting your words away as soon as they leave your lips.

You hoped you didn’t make a complete ass of yourself in front of all those telecommunications CEOs Victor invited you to dine with. But in all honesty, everything after your second shot of Moutai was a blur. That was the one thing you could never get used to in this industry: the hard drinking culture that came part and parcel with sealing business deals.

And as you sat there watching these ruddy-faced men throw back the alcohol like it was water, the respect you already had in spades for your father deepened. How many nights did he spend entertaining those so-called VIPs, his liver and gut paying the price in securing funding for the company? The thought that you could never thank him again for all the sacrifices he made for your family stung like smoke in your eyes.

And what of Victor, who made up some excuse or another to intercept most of the shots that came your way?

You shake your head, chasing the thought away. Victor is a big boy. He can handle himself. He’d just scoff at your concern if he ever learned about it.

So with your mood sunk low by the dull ache of longing for your father and the prospect of a horrible morning hangover, you excused yourself and left Victor behind with the group of middle-aged men, expressly ignoring the look he shot you as you exited the private room of the Michelin-starred restaurant.

You preferred the food at Souvenir anyways.

“How long are you planning to stand there like an idiot? Everyone has already left and you’ve blown a perfect opportunity to forge business connections.”

The sudden appearance of Victor’s voice — this time, outside your head — makes you jump, his sharp tone grating against the headache already forming at your temples. And while you were grateful for his help, tonight was not one of those times when you could stomach his delivery. To your dismay, he was only getting started.

“You really don’t care about the future of your comp-“

“I’m sorry, Victor. You’re completely right. I shouldn’t have excused myself like that. Could you please, just…leave me in peace tonight?”

Sighing, you turn to face him, seeing Victor for what seemed like the very first time tonight: backlit by wavering aquamarine waters, the ethereal glow softened his features, and even you had to admit he was incredibly handsome when his face wasn’t pulled into a frown.

Tall and broad, his white dress shirt lay crisp against a beautifully toned chest, and the entirety of the man exuded an aura of power, wealth, and the determination to have the world in the palm of his capable hand.

Despite all this, the only thing you could focus on was the tenderness that suffused his gaze as his eyes met your own.

“I miss you…”*

In the ensuing silence, Victor’s voice, travelling thousands of miles to whisper in your ear with a single phone call, came back to haunt you at the worst possible time.

Don’t look at me like that.

Throat growing uncomfortably tight, you tug on the satin collar of your red dress — the motion recalling the time Victor had hurriedly readjusted his tie after Chik left his office. But not before the up-and-coming actress had given you a cold once-over.

For all that she was unpleasant however, she was also gorgeous. And standing next to Victor, they looked like they belonged together.

Please don’t look at me like that, not when I’m not the one in your heart.

Perhaps it was the alcohol. Or the fatigue of working endless days and nights, trying to keep your father’s legacy afloat. Whatever it was, the memory irritated you, and you wanted nothing more than to be as far away as possible from Victor and his unsettling gaze.

“I’ll have the progress report ready for you on Thursday. Thanks again for dinner.”

Bidding Victor goodnight, you brace yourself against your wobbly knees, stepping around him in stilettos you weren’t used to walking in as you made for the restaurant’s entrance.

But then he reaches for your wrist, holding you in place - the grip comfortable despite being firm.

“You got a call this morning, didn’t you?”*

His voice is low and gentle, so contrary to the imperious way by which he usually addressed you. And as the heat of his touch penetrated the delicate skin of your wrist, you guessed that he must be inebriated, conveniently ignoring the signs that indicated otherwise.

“What did you hear?”* The LFG CEO pressed on, the strength of his grip not abating.

“Just a few simple sentences. I won’t blab to anyone…”*

Victor’s lips fall open, neither confirming nor denying as uncertainty danced across his face. So sure in the way he carried himself professionally, his vacillation now enraged you for reasons you could not comprehend. And before you could stop yourself, the words spill from a tongue loosened by alcohol.

“Why don’t you go visit her if you miss her so much?”*

Swallowing the lump in your throat, you continue, masochistically twisting the blade embedded so deeply in your heart you liked to pretend it didn’t exist.

“As long as the two of you are in love, nothing can get in the way of that. She…I think she must be a beautiful and gentle person…”*

Blinking, you push back the sting behind your eyelids, ignoring it like you ignored the despondency you felt every time rumours of Victor’s supposed significant other splashed across headlines of media outlets everywhere.

“You talk too much.”*

Gone is Victor's hushed tone, replaced by the simmer of an indignant anger that threatened to boil over. Reflexively, you step backwards as Victor closes in on you. And as the ground disappears beneath your feet, the last thing you see before falling into the pool is the panic in his eyes.

The chlorine burned as it travelled up your nose, adding to the fear that gripped you when you realized that, even in stilettos, you couldn’t touch the bottom of the pool. Desperately trying to surface, you cursed your inability to swim as you fought against the wet drag of your clothes, your frenzied movements carrying you farther and farther away from the edge of the pool.

All of a sudden, the waters around you violently displace as strong arms wrap around your waist, guiding you to safety.

And with that first breath of air filling your lungs, you are struck by such intense nostalgia you cannot help but look around, surprised to find yourself in a rooftop pool instead of a sunshower in the middle of a busy street, the car that would’ve careened into you already speeding off into the distance.

The only thing that hasn’t changed is the sensation of being held tightly in the arms of a man who always arrived in the nick of time: Victor.

He moves you onto the ledge of the pool, and it isn’t until your coughing subsides that you realize everything seems strangely still. The flashing lights that cascade along the length of a nearby tower like falling dominoes had frozen in place. Turning towards the restaurant, you see diners through the floor-to-ceiling windows, utensils raised in mid-air en route to open mouths like some comical tableau. Finally, you look down to see Victor still half-submerged in the pool, head resting on your thighs while his heaving chest gradually slowed.

The glint of his vintage Patek Philippe wristwatch catches your eye.

“You…you stopped time?”

He raises his head, fixing you with an incredulous stare.

“That’s the first thing you think to say after I just saved your life again?”

Snappy retort not forthcoming, you focus instead on the way he combed a large hand through wet strands of jet black hair, unable to tear away from the sight of a water droplet running down the bridge of his nose to rest at the cupid’s bow of his lips.

And suddenly, you burned hot despite the damp clothing laying cool against your skin.

“Or perhaps you’re fine with everyone seeing you the way you are now?”

Of course. Victor was right, as always. Your up-do had completely disintegrated and wet satin clung to your body, outlining every curve in a way that left little to the imagination. And although his tone had been sharp, you were touched to find him attentive to such a detail.

“Wait here and don’t move,” he says, starting to swim towards the pool ladder. But before you can even process your actions, you’ve already grasped his arm, feeling the impressive flex of his bicep under your grip.

“Why did you get angry?”

You did not know where this bravado had come from, for your impromptu dip in the water had an immediately sobering effect. But the surprise that flashed across his face was strangely satisfying, goading you on.

“Did I touch a nerve earlier?”

Victor drops his gaze, seeming to contemplate the question. And although time had stopped, you grew more and more impatient as you awaited his response.

“You tried to encourage me when you thought I was courting another woman.”*

Accusatory. Hostile even. His voice was every bit what you had come to expect from Victor. But the hurt in his eyes was a surprise that filled you with regret, sinking to the pit of your stomach like a stone.

But perhaps it was a diamond in the rough — a glimmer of hope hiding behind the meaning of his words. And if it was, did you have the courage to reach out and touch it?

As intuitive as Victor’s business acumen was, perhaps he had already seen through you, for his lips were on yours before you could even react, water spilling onto the ledge as he hoisted himself onto your body, arms encircling you for the second time that night.

The alcohol on his breath. The scratch of his five-o’clock shadow. The softness of lips that were as endearing as rare when curled up into a secret smile. Victor’s kiss was so intoxicating you desperately searched for signs you weren’t slumped over your desk at work, dreaming in fitful sleep.

But the insistent press of his body against yours told you this was real. And the way you melted in his embrace brought with it the realization that even if you were dreaming, you did not wish to wake.

His tongue drawing slow circles about your own, your world slowly tilted under Victor’s control until all that filled your vision were the striking features of his face amidst the backdrop of an ebony sky. By then, you were already caught between wet ground and the subtle grind of his pelvis against your core.

Slightly breathless, Victor pulls back to study you with naked intensity before bringing your palm to rest against his solid chest. And as his large hand covers yours, the racing heart beneath it beats electric through the fabric of his now-transparent shirt.

“When will you finally get it?”*

The plea in his voice sounds so foreign for having come from his lips, and when his question is met with silence, he continues,

“Dim-witted as you are, let me spell it out for you.”

Free hand reaching for the knot of his tie, Victor removes it with a single yank.

“So there’s no room for misunderstanding.”

Thumb and forefinger deftly undo the top button of his shirt before sliding to the next in line.

“I would never go near another woman…”*

Smooth skin pulled taut over muscle and sinew, more and more of his bared torso gradually comes into view.

“…when all I want is you.”*

Hands finally dropping to his sides, Victor pauses, exposed and patiently awaiting your response. And although you weren’t sure if your pulse throbbed in time to his heartbeat or your own, nothing felt more certain than the compulsion that made you fist your hand around his loosened collar, pulling him down to quench the desire raging through your body.

Surreal, like a scene from a movie, you watched your reflection off the glass panes of the restaurant’s windows, putting on a show for the unwitting patrons within as Victor bent to run his tongue along the column of your neck. And when you gasp to feel him sucking at the tender flesh, he intertwines his fingers with yours, squeezing as he rejoiced in the thrill of marking you for the world to see.

“Mmm, Victor!”

You barely suppress a moan as he kisses down your bare legs, stopping just as he reaches your ankles. Looking up, he taps his watch and says,

“Scream as loudly as you want, no one can hear you. No one…besides me, that is.”

The subtle flush on his cheeks made him even more alluring as he unbuckled the delicate straps of your heels, gently sliding them off before pressing kisses to the sensitive arch of your feet.

And caught up in the eroticism of the moment, you’re barely cognizant of the path the hem of your dress has travelled until it’s resting around your hips, Victor’s gaze falling on the promise beckoning in the space between your legs. His eyes darken with a primal hunger, bottom lip disappearing behind the bite of even, white teeth.

Exacting. Arrogant. Ruthless. You had thought all these things of Victor when he first announced Loveland Financial Group was pulling funding for your company. Never in a million years did you imagine you’d have the CEO between your legs, cheek rubbing against the lace panties looped around your thigh like a bridal garter as he made you tremble with every flick of his talented tongue against your clit. And when your back arched to feel the sure slide of his long fingers deep into your pussy, the wonder in his gaze makes you think that this was something he, too, never anticipated.

But life has a funny way of bringing people together, and there was no denying how right it felt to have Victor penetrate you to the hilt, dropping tender kisses at the corners of your lips as he rode out the undulating flutters of you clenching tightly around his sizeable cock.

“You feel…so good….”

He whispers in your ear, the warm pants of his exertion incendiary against your skin.

“Would it be okay if I didn’t hold back?”

Eyes dark with desire search you, their corners crinkling as he breaks into a smile as natural as it is breathtaking when you nod. And when you almost think to point out that he really is quite handsome with a grin on his face, Victor takes the words from your mouth when he wraps your legs around his waist, saying,

“Hold on tight.”

You had always guessed that Victor had no shortage of muscle beneath those bespoke suits, but your suspicions were now confirmed with the effortless way he bounced you in mid-air, your arms looped tightly around his neck to anchor yourself against the incredible depths he was reaching within you.

And just when you bordered on the verge of exhilarated breathlessness, Victor’s release finds your own, the warmth he leaves behind slowly trickling down the inside of your thigh as he pulls out.

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

“W-what happened to the two of-”

“Goldman, get the car.”

The LFG CEO’s stern command was more than enough to send his assistant scrambling to obey, dropping any further questions as to why the two of you looked like drowned rats.

Drawing the lapel of Victor’s suit jacket closer over your chest, the spicy notes of his cologne recalled the way it smelled on the skin of his neck, and you couldn’t help but steal a glance his way.

But Victor already had his eyes trained in your direction, ignoring the scandalized stares of diners in the vicinity as he reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear, seemingly amused by your attempt to draw back.

“V-Victor! What if rumours start flying about you?” You hiss under your breath, turning away so he couldn’t see you blush.

“So what? It’s not like the rumours are unfounded in this case. You have to stop worrying about what others think. The only opinion that matters is mine.”

You whirl around, incredulous, only to find yourself in his arms again — the world falling silent once more as Victor steals another moment in time, his kiss stretching an instant into an eternity of bliss.

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Thank you so much for reading!  Check out more of my work here! 📚

[watchoutforthefanfics]

I Picked You Up A Date... Literally.

Inspo: this post, (credit to @more-incorect-quotes)

Relationships: Prinxiety, familial Analogical, and a hint of eventual Logicality

TWS: Logan is a cop in this one, and I guess being lost or put into the back of a cop car?

|/◇◇◇\|

It was a quiet night, cold and crisp. The kinda night his breath would utter as fog, if had even stepped out of the car.

Which he had planned not too, at all.

He was just patrolling, a simple task in place of someone else, a favor… if you will. Not that Logan would ever just… do favors, he wasn’t that kinda person; unless you were… Patton.

Strictly because Patton and Logan were partners. Partners as in two officers assigned to each other, not…

He groaned, still cruising through the wonderfully suburban block, keeping an eye out for anything. Patton had said his patrols were typically dry, and Logan wouldn’t have it any other way.

Especially with Virgil at home, on edge almost every moment his father had left the house.

With the whispers of wind trailing across his cheeks, Logan may have just understood why Patton insisted he do it. It was oddly… peaceful, a breath away from the panic of a day; Logan could really see its benefits.

Just as his shoulders finally relaxed, the radio crackled to life. Disrupting his peace, just as soon as he had accepted it.

“Patrol 42? Come in, Patrol 42?”

Logan sighed, picking up the handheld, “Patrol 42, coming in.”

“Uh, someone reported seeing a kid strolling 34th Street? It’s past curfew, can you do a follow up?”

“Will do,” Logan hummed, “-I’ll keep in touch.”

“Roger that, 42.”

Logan rubbed his eyes, adjusting his glasses and picking up his pace, just a dash; it was about 11:30.

Watching as trimmed trees passed his view, his lights a bit brighter than before; as to properly see the kid, of course.

Logan was a little confused at this predicament, wondering exactly what a kid would be doing strolling this streets; but, he reminded himself to be sensitive. (An issue he struggled with, when said person wasn’t his son.)

This kid could’ve been through anything at this point, Logan was in no place to assume things.

Until, he saw a teen with auburn hair laying on a bench just around the block. Logan blinked, watching the kid.

He wasn’t asleep, Logan could tell because a light hum carried through his window, and he seemed to be staring up at the stars.

Logan shook his hands up a bit, and got out of the car to try and be a little more humane. Less… scary.

Something in Logan had just told him this case was a little sensitive, and he’d take any precautions necessary.

“Kid?” Logan spoke gently, but the teen still jumped at the voice his hair ruffled and his eyes wide, “-I’m not here to hurt you, it’s just past curfew around here. It’s time to head home. Uh, my name is Logan.”

“Oh,” the teen frowned, “-uh, would this be a bad time to tell you I don’t know where I am?”

Logan furrowed his brows, a little confused but he figured he’d ask later, “Here, let’s just get you to the car. Alright? We’ll talk about it there.”

The teen nodded, glancing at his badge as if he had inquired about it, but didn’t speak a word.

“Yes, I’m a police officer,” Logan spoke, breaking the silence to the car, “-but I just don’t get out too much. I’m more of a science help then anything else.”

“Have you ever arrested anyone?”

Logan froze, realizing his mistake, “I’m not arresting you, if that’s what you think this is.”

He opened the back door, letting the teen slide in, a little but more extravagantly than expected, but he was in the car.

“Alright,” Logan hummed, “-now, what’s your name and what in the world are you doing out here?”

The teen shuffled, “Roman, I’m… I’m Roman Matthews, and I needed to clear my head.”

“From what?” Logan asked, as the car began slowly moving once more.

“Uh, well-” Roman paused, “-that’s a bit complicated yo-”

The radio cackled up, once more a familiar tone at this point, “Patrol 42?”

Logan sighed, “Patrol 42 responding.”

“Have you found the kid?”

“Yes,” Logan looked back in the rearview mirror, “-I’m taking him home, now. Over and out.”

“Keep us updated, over and out.”

Logan nodded, registering that somewhere in the back of his head, as he continued, “How exactly did you get here? And I offer you to tell the whole truth, as I do want you to get home safely.”

Roman exhaled, wringing his hands quietly, “I, um, I didn’t mean to be out here this long. I just needed like 10 minutes, not… 4 hours.”

Then, Logan felt it. The Dad Instinct.

“You haven’t eaten in four hours?” Logan spoke hesitantly, “That just won’t do.”

Roman smiled, just a bit, “Yeah. I got a little distracted, to be forward with you, sir.”

“I see, in order to help you, however-” Logan spoke clearly and concisely, “-you need to give me something, Roman.”

Roman was quiet for just a second, running his hand through his hair, “I live with Remus, my brother, he’s been taking care of me for a bit now. I just… I got a little upset, after we moved here for his job opportunity; I lost all my friends, everybody. So, I just… left.”

“Oh.”

Logan paused, trying to think of the right thing to say, because this was fragile (as he’d assumed). His eyes glanced to the suddenly very small teen in his backseat, he was curled into himself with a distant glaze over his eyes.

“Although-” Logan hummed, starting up the car and beginning to stroll, “-your method wasn’t very… sound. I think your reaction was a common one, change can be terrifying. Especially for someone your age.”

Roman’s eyes flashed to his in the mirror, Logan could tell he was listening and that he was doing… something right.

“If… Your brother,” Logan stumbled just for a second, “-should understand, Roman. Emotions can get the best of us all, sometimes. Your reaction was comp- er, partially founded in reason. Running away was probably not the best choice, to be fair.”

Roman chuckled, “Yeah, I guess. I’ve just always had a flair for the dramatic.”

“This is no exception, apparently.”

The car fell silent, just for a beat, and Logan wondered what he could say at this point. His Dad instinct was screaming to offer him food, but his common sense fought the idea of a cop offering you food late at night…

Maybe, he’d just ask about home? See if he wanted to go back yet.

“Do you want to go home yet?”

The rolling of the road under the wheels echoed through his head, as he watched the teen bounce the idea around in his head. His eyes darting and his hands fiddling, Roman was seemingly lost in thought.

Just as he opened his mouth, Logan’s phone began to buzz and the two jumped at the sound. His eyes darted to the clock, 11:45 –he was about 10 minutes late, which meant this was probably-

“Virgil,” his voice finished for him, as he held it up to his ear, “Is everything alright?”

“Dad!” his frantic son’s voice echoed, “You scared me, I thought you had gotten hurt or gone missing or… maybe you were in a criminal chase and I’d never get to say goodb-”

“Virgil, breathe,” Logan hummed, his voice calm (yet with a hint of pain because he had caused Virgil such anxiety), “-do we need to count?”

“No,” his son breathed, “-I… I think I’m okay, but what are you doing? If it’s okay for me to ask.”

“Of course it is, Virgil, I just-” Logan spoke with a breath of relief, “-I took up one of Patton’s patrols, and…”

His eyes dashed to Roman, who at the time, was watching him with an eye of envy.

Logan paused, releasing a breath, “I’ve got a seventeen-year-old boy in the back of my cop car right now and I’m taking him to the station, or home… That I’m not sure of yet.”

There was a pause, just a breath of silence: both in the call and car.

“Is he cute?”

Logan blinked, once and then twice, wondering how he could evaluate this situation. First of all, Virgil was asking if a boy was cute -implying he knew that boys could be cute, implying that he wanted to go on dates, and grow up, an-

Focus, he muttered to himself.

With a defeated sigh, Logan spun around in his seat, placing his phone on his chest.

“Hey, my son wants to know if you’re cute.”

Roman paused, a questioning glance in his eyes -just for a second-, before a grin erupted onto face.

He looked like an actual Disney prince, Logan concluded, just dress him up in a prince costume and it would look remarkable.

“I…”

Roman spoke with a bout of arrogance that seemed natural, but Logan had yet to see, “I really wanna say yes, sir.”

Logan spun back around, holding his phone back up to his ear and, with a certain amount of bitterness, saying, “He says yes.”

“DAD! YOU DID NOT TE-”

Logan rolled his eyes with a bit of smirk, as he rushed out, “Goodbye, Virgil. I love you and will see you in a bit. If you need anything, feel free to call me back. ”

Roman blinked, his eyes wide, and Logan looked on in concern, “Did… Did you say Virgil?”

Logan quirked a brow, “Yes? My son’s name is Virgil, why?”

Roman’s face flushed, and his voice squeaked -that was new-, “Are you Logan Roberts?”

He was very concerned at this point, what did Roman have to do with his son, “Correct, why?”

“So,” Roman bit his lip, “-you’re edgy, cute, purple-haired, breathtaking, emo Virgil Robert’s Dad?”

Oh. Oh.

Logan cleared his throat, “What did you say your name was again?”

“Roman Matthews,” he spoke, albeit hesitantly but still with air of trust.

In a blink, his mind had recognized that name -coming out of Virgil’s mouth every other day.

“New kid today.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, he was so stupid with his stupid handsome face… and stupid pickup lines… and stupid disney prince smile. I hate him.”

Logan took a breath, “I’ve… heard of you.”

Roman met his eyes in the mirror and flushed to his ears, this… was not what he expected.

He was definitely going to have a talk with Virgil when he got home.

[nosferatyou]

New Tune: Chapter 5 (Jake Kiszka x Reader)

WC: 3.3k

Warnings: Cursing, mentions of emotional abuse, and some sick guitar solos.

Summary: Two guitarists meet at a Rock Festival, only having a week with each other before they have to return to their own lives. The bond they create is unfeigned and resolute.

“You have fun last night?”

“Huh?” I look up from my guitar to see Asa, sporting a confused look on my face.

He shook his head and laughed to himself, handing his phone to me.

“You must've really gone overboard last night if you don't remember this.”

Some random Greta Van Fleet fan account had posted a video of Jake and I from the night before. The both of us jumping off stage and into the pit, and pictures of us in the mosh.

“Scroll down, there's more.” Asa suggested, waving his hand towards his phone.

I guess all these accounts tagged the whole band to get our attention, and it definitely had mine. Multiple people had taken pictures and videos of us together, some accounts more… professional than others. Many were excited to see Jake with a girl, but all were mostly confused as to why he was moshing in the first place. It cracked me up honestly. I quickly sent some of the posts to myself before handing it back over to him.

“You think this will have any repercussions?” I asked, a worried look creeping over my face.

“I doubt it, at least not for us. We barely have the following that they have, even then our publicist is so used to the shit that you get into.”

“I guess so, I just hope it isn't a problem for him. Id feel awful it was.”

“Well you'll see him later right?” Asa asked. 

“Yeah, I’m sure we are just gonna laugh about it, but I honestly didn't think this would happen.”

“Y/N, everyone will have moved on by tomorrow morning, don't stress too much.

“I'll do my best.” I said meekly.

I don't even want to know if any of the articles have reached my boyfriend Sam. Knowing him he's already well aware, and seen all he can. I just don’t want to think about that right now, or any of this. The both of us should be able to have fun without it being blasted everywhere. 

I glanced over to my phone, which I haven't touched since yesterday, and god knows when the last time I actually charged it was.

 Asa noticed what I was looking and asked “Y/N when was the last time you checked your phone?” 

“During our last practice..” I said hanging my head in shame.

He nodded, staring at his coffee, seemingly lost in thought.

“If you ignore him now he's just going to get more upset.”

“Asa, you think I didn't know that?” I snapped, my voice raising.

I caught myself and took a deep breath “I’m sorry, it's just, my patience is wearing thin, I just need to get home.”

“I don't know why you're with him, Y/N. This is abuse and you know it!” He raised his voice, feelings he was holding in finally getting let out.

“He has never hit me and he never would.” I put my guitar next to me, it doesn't seem like I will be needing it anymore.

“You know that's not what I mean. The way he treats you? The possessiveness? None of it is okay. You just outright ignoring him because its too much to handle just shows me that deep down you agree. You ignore everything that's hurting you, I've known you long enough to realize that much.”

I just stayed quiet, my head hung low. Everyone knew the truth, everything he was saying was true. I always knew it. I just. He’s what I deserve, with the way I treat myself and the life I live. It's not something anyone can handle. I'm not going to find anyone else who can. So I'm okay with Sam. He's the best I will do. At least I think he is, but I don't want to put anyone else through having to love me.

“Y/N I care about you. We all do you know? You're family and to see you put up with everything he drags you through is just…” He stopped to think of his words. “You have such a big heart, he never will deserve you.”

And with that he got up and walked to the back of the bus, not before letting out a huff and running his hands through his hair.

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

I had been a bit shaky all day. Everything Asa said was starting to get to me. His words creeping through my mind every other minute, and then it’s all i could think about. Along with the drama I caused with Jake and his community, but I have to put on a happy face for the boys and it's nothing a bit of liquid courage couldn't help. 

I knocked on their door three times then stepped back. Adjusting the guitar strapped to my back. All of their cheerful voices suddenly stopped before I heard someone loudly clamber their way towards the door. It swung open, almost slamming into the side of the bus. A very excited Sammy was behind it, a giant smile on his face.

“Y/N! You’re here! Come on in.”

 He squished against the wall to let me in and then closed the door behind me. I was greeted with the sight of all the boys at the wrong instruments. Jake on the drums, Josh with a guitar, and Danny playing the bass. Sam ran from behind me and grabbed the mic from the stand. 

“This ones for the ladies.” He said with a smooth voice, wiggling his eyebrows at me.

He counted off and they all started playing “When a man loves a woman.” Sam practically overpowered everyone else with his singing, which was arguably him just screaming the lyrics. The rest of them kept up though, which was unsurprising. Josh tripped up on his part a couple times, but for someone so new to the instrument he killed it. 

They all finished off the song by just wailing on their instruments, and of course, Sam just screaming into the mic. When all was quiet he asked into the mic,

“Well?”

“Fucking fantastic, all of you. I would have brought my trumpet if I knew you guys would be doing this!”

“You play trumpet?” Inquired Danny.

“Been playing for about 15 years. I started back in high school and just never stopped.” I explained while unpacking my guitar.

“Jake you couldn't have brought around a cooler person.” Said Sam, grabbing your case and tucking it away.

“You all are way to nice. But I at least brought my guitar, so let's get to jamming.”

***

“Did you attempt to learn all of our songs before coming?” asked josh, who seemed very impressed with my skills after playing through their set list.

“Found a couple tutorials, so kind of. I also am just a professional at jamming. Don’t forget that I’m also a musician.”

“Oh it's definitely not forgotten.”

Jake stepped into the conversation asking “Think she can handle Black Flag?” A suggestive look on his face.

Him and Josh made eye contact, both nodding and looking back over to me. Man, I hate the fucking twin talk.

“I think it's right up her alley.” Josh said looking back over to me before going back to his spot at the mic stand.

They all talked among themselves for a moment before getting set up again and back in their own spots. Sam sat on the couch, Danny in the back nearer to the bunks, Josh upfront, and Jake and I standing where the table was. The amps were everywhere and kind of evenly distributed. They luckily had an extra for me, and a couple of pedals that Jake wasn’t using. I mean it was just Comp and Reverb, but my guitar already had a funky tone to it.

Josh counted off and Jake went right into it. Tapping his strings faster and faster, Giving me a playful smile. When he got faster I mouthed “Show off.” He just smirked and went into a heavier riff. 

He started playing slower and once the rhythm section joined so did I. I could tell by their nods that they were planning to come in, so in tow I joined with them. Josh joined in with heavy and raspy vocals, with this being a much darker song. He nodded to me and put his pick in his mouth holding it there. Telling me this will be a softer portion. But that didn't last long, because Josh started screaming and Jake joined in with a heavy solo in his typical style. Keeping eye contact with me the whole time. He smirked at me and just kept playing, doing his back bends, wailing on his guitar in the upper register. I played rhythm just to amuse him during his solo, I saved my best for later. I noticed how quickly his hand went back to the position from before and  I joined him for the main riff. We all went back into that flow again through the next verses, and then Josh let out the same scream as before.

 I gave Jake a wink and then stole his solo from him. At first replicating what he did in the beginning of his. He laughed and shook his head, reacting to me showing off. After a bit I broke off into my own, a heavier tone than his. I stepped on the Comp and the delay pedals to add my own personal flair. I'd be kidding myself if I didn’t say I was showing off in that moment. I pulled out all my best guitar moves and licks. I kept with their flow of course, but I put more of a Eric Clapton meets David Gilmour. Bending the shit of of my strings, working up and down the blues scale. Using this moment to get out all of my frustrations and anger. I beat that guitar, wailing away, putting out everything I could. I did just as Jake did, keeping eye contact with him when I could, a smirk on my face. I was playing well, same as him even, but I wasn't going to beat him this way. I threw one more smirk his way and swung the guitar onto my shoulders in one confident swoop. Seamlessly playing with the guitar, tapping in the upper register of my guitar for a bit, then upon hearing Josh start joining in with vocals I swung it back down, and made eye contact with Jake again. He laughed with a smile on his face and we both joined in on the main riff. With the song coming to a close we all harmoniously closed out the song with a quieter tone. But of course not without Josh's expert screams and Danny beating those drums to death. 

 We all let out a huff and sat in silence for a moment. Sam broke the silence by saying

“Jesus Christ the two of you killed that. Jake, you shouldn’t be surprised if your spot in the band is stolen.”

Jake directed his attention back to me, a goofy smile on his face.

“I definitely wouldn't be. She lived up to her end of the bargain, that’s for sure.”

I was full of adrenaline, I felt the same way I did after every show with my own band. The smile on my face and my breathlessness made it clear. These boys gave a new challenge that no one else has provided. Especially Jake, throughout all of tonight we kept our eyes on each other. Only leaving to catch cues, but even then we both merely missed some, which didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the boys. 

His contact doesn't just happen when we are playing. Whenever we are together his attention is all on me. Especially when we are with the boys, hes quieter than when we are alone. He sits back and watches everything unfold. I’ve definitely noticed, but i'm unsure if he has.

I catch his eyes when he finishes his sentence, it gives off a look of intrigue more than anything else. 

Before I could get in my words josh Piped in,

“I don’t know what your talking about, Jake, but you are sure as hell right. She's absolutely fantastic.” His eyes dropped for a moment in shame. “And I admittedly have never heard any of your songs.”

“Well that has to change doesn’t it?” I said with a playful smirk.

I grabbed my phone and an aux plugged into one of the amps. Starting off with one of our earlier pieces, which was heavily blues inspired, but still kept our psychedelic style in it.

We all squeezed onto the small couch and just listened to the music. I was pretty nervous because I knew their musical domain more laid in folk than anything else. They all bobbed their heads along, and their concentrated looks on their faces made it impossible to determine what they were feeling. 

I stopped it after a couple of songs, and turned to face them.

“So? Are we god awful?” I asked.

“Honestly I love how you're truly mixing the new with the old. The organs and the guitar mixing together has a very Doors vibe. It's got something very unique to it all, Y/N. I love it.” Danny said, his focus drifting of to think of the right words. 

“I personally love the way your guitar is standing out. Its tonality is really something else, very you.” Jake reached over and squeezed my hand, and my cheeks burned red. It was like they had a mind of their own. I quickly turned to Sam who was sat next to me so maybe Jake wouldn't notice.

“Okay so.” He said with a very determined look on his face. “ Let's talk organ player, because I really like his whole thought process and-” He was cut off by the sound of my phone ringing over the speaker. Dread filled my whole body and I tensed up. All of the thoughts I had repressed during tonight came flooding back. Jake who still had my hand in his, took notice to that.

“Fuck I shouldn’t of brought that.” I said to myself.

“You gonna answer that?” Josh asked, a quizzical look on his face.

“I-”

“Y/N go answer it, You know you should. We will be here when you get back.” Jake said softly, he looked at me with compassionate eyes. He squeezed my hand one more time and let go. 

I let out a shaky breath and went to go pick it up. I unplugged it and walked off the bus to get some privacy.

The air that was normally dry and burning was now frigid compared to it. I shivered as I stepped off and hesitantly hit the answer button. 

Wow two phone calls in one week that's a new record.” Annoyance extremely visible in his voice.

“You only picked up because you know you're guilty.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose and let out a long sigh.

“ What am I guilty of Sam?” I paused and let out another huff. “I’m honestly confused.”

He spat out “ Your’e fucking sleeping with that jimmy page wannabe.” 

Anger bubbled in my gut. His constant accusations were starting to get on my last nerve.

“Sam are you fucking serious? Honestly I don't know why I put up with your shit.”

“You put up with my shit? Are you fucking serious Y/N?” I get ignored by you every damn day for 

God knows what reason.” He stopped for a moment. His angry tone switching to something more of condescending. 

“I think you owe me an apology if anything.” I could practically feel his judging eyes through the 

phone.

“ I mean you ignore me, sleep with other men, and leave me here to deal with all of it. Alone.” 

God at this point I’m starting to see what Asa is saying. Sams getting on my last nerve.

“I owe you nothing.” I said curtly.

He just laughed.

“Seriously, Sam. I owe you jack shit for all you've put me through.” 

“Ooh is Jimmy Page getting in your head about us? Giving you false confidence?” 

“I’m not fucking Jimmy Page!” I yelled a bit too loudly for how close quarters everything was. But my volume stayed there, if not increased.

“You see one article about me having actual fun and you’re getting so fucking jealous that you throw accusations around to rattle me up and ruin my good experiences at work? I worked so fucking hard to get here and you can’t handle me getting all this attention can you? You seriously can’t trust me can you? Fuck you, Sam.”

Rage boiled in my veins. I couldn't keep still in my spot, I was pacing rapidly back and forth, and my free hand was clamped so tight my nails broke skin.

Even if I wanted to do stuff with Jake I have enough decency to keep it in my pants. 

He stayed silent, his fragile ego probably breaking over the fact that I could finally stand up to him.

“ You really can’t handle your liquor or the truth can you?” He simply said.

That bastard. 

“Oh Fuck off you free loading bitch.”

I hung up and threw my phone to the ground in a plight of rage. 

I marched around in circles, whisper yelling curse words to myself to calm any anger I had. 

I don’t think I can take his abuse anymore, I just feel so stupid for even taking it in the first place. How the hell did I not see any of this? I'm an actual idiot for not seeing his bullshit. 

I took a final deep breath, picked up my phone, and marched onto the bus.

All the boys were standing in positions around the room that could only be described as “Act natural”. All of them gave me a nervous look when I re-entered. 

With gruff tone I said “Who wants to play an Im angry and want to let out steam song?”

All of them very quickly grabbed their instruments and got into position.

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

After a very long (and loud) rendition of “Sweet Leaf” we all collapsed to the couch in exhaustion. Usually one song wouldn't have had any of us beat but prior we had been playing for at least three hours. They all put something into that last song, I obviously let out all my frustrations into that song, and I guess they had as well.

We sat in a peaceful silence for awhile until Josh finally spoke up 

“Well while you were… Out. We all finally discussed an idea pertaining to you and we came to a mutual agreement.”

I gave him an obvious look of confusion, and then looked over to Jake whose entire face was washed in excitement.

“Josh why does that sound like you’re about to murder me?”

He laughed and said “ No need to worry, darling! We were just wondering if you wanted to join us for our encore tomorrow? We all obviously play well together, and we’d love to have the honor of sharing the stage with you tomorrow.”

A huge smile broke out on my face, excitement now evident in me as well. 

“Fuck yeah I want to! What song were you thinking?”

“Well now that's up for discussion, but I have a couple ideas that I think will blow people out of the water.”

“I can’t wait. It'll be a fantastic way to end the week.” 

“The feelings mutual.”

[glassesandkim]

I feel like nico has to hear about link dating stories also I have headcannon that nico was the one who got link out of bike shop and back into medicine.

Hi so I wrote something. It’s probably ooc but DUDE I LOVE YOUR ASK AND THIS IDEA!!! Thank you!!!!!!!

Nico doesn’t think the airplane would let him carry on a bike but here he is, gripping the handles of some super sleek expensive bike on Venice Beach and trying to act casual as he sneaks glances at the typical beach bro talking up a girl in a tight one-piece.

He’d heard of Dr. Atticus Lincoln, or Link as everyone seems to call him, way up in Baltimore. About the orthopaedic surgeon that got up and disappeared into sunny California despite doing amazing work. He wonders how anyone could give up building titanium bones and shooting pins into the tibial plateau for standing behind a desk in a sweaty tank top.

“I ride from Santa Monica down to the boardwalk every day,” Link says, leaning forward on the counter as he flashes a big toothy smile at the girl. She looks like she’s about to jump on to him with the way she stares almost hungrily back at him. “Maybe you’ve seen me?”

Nico would’ve gagged if he probably wasn’t just as desperate as the girl to get to know Link.

They talk for what seems like an eternity. Her giggling at every toss of Link’s golden hair. Him completely effective with that wink of his. Nico files that move into the back of his head, thinking it might come in handy later on.

She finally leaves, wheeling a bike that Nico’s sure she’s not going to ride. Link slams shut the cash register with his hip and waves at her as she leaves, still giggling.

“And that, is how you make a sale.” Link’s talking to him, Nico realizes, so he gives the other man a polite smile and nod. He feigns interest in the bike in front of him, picks at the price tag and quickly puts it down. A thousand bucks? Maybe he’s in the wrong business.

“Anything in particular I can help you with, man?” Link says, walks around the counter towards him. It takes a lot for Nico not to visibly swallow, nervousness building up in his throat. It doesn’t help that Link is all gold and glistening and typically Californian and Nico, after years of suspicion, proven to himself just a few months ago that he is, indeed, gay as fuck.

Why, oh, why did Nico think it was a good idea to use his reading break to fly all the way down here to meet someone who’s probably given up on medicine forever? What did he think would happen? That Link would be so moved by Nico’s grand gesture that he’d go back to surgery? What’s so special about Nico? He’s not even halfway through med school, hasn’t started clinical rotations or even met a real patient.

Somehow Nico manages a shrug, some form of a crooked smirk and says, “Not if you’re planning to take me in as your fellow in seven years.”

Wow.

Link’s eyebrows shoot up and looks a bit shocked. But not as much as Nico who’s sure his own eyes are about to pop out and roll shamefully onto the floor in front of Link. He thinks he’s going to faint. Where the fuck did that come from? The heat must be frying his brain to mush that it’s just letting his mouth word vomit whatever brazenly bold garbage it’s thinking.

Nico starts, stammering, almost knocks over a bike as he raises his hands in front of him, “I-I mean, I— Shit, man, I didn’t mean to say that.“

“Hey.” And now Link’s laughing. “Hey, it’s all good.” He lays a heavy hand on Nico’s shoulder to calm him down. He’s scared to look at Link. “It’s chill. I’m just… surprised. I didn’t think I’d meet anyone here who knew me from… before.”

Nico lets out a much needed breath and stuffs his hands in his pockets. If Link knew how Nico knew… let’s just say it involved a lot of booze, a few handies to convince that jerk in comp sci and one of Nico’s not-so finest moments.

He settles to avoid that explanation altogether and hopes Link doesn’t question him further. “Well, I saw that total joint repair you did at Hopkins. I can’t believe a kid that age could have such a diseased knee.”

“Oh yeah, that was gnarly. Nobody wanted to touch that thing.”

“Yeah, my gross anatomy prof said it was one of the worst he’s ever seen. And you were just a fellow!” Nico finally dares to look up at Link. There’s something like excitement dancing in Link’s eyes, but just as Nico finishes his sentence, it falls away into a frown. Nico continues though, softly, hoping he hasn’t touched a sore spot, “I think total joints are so cool. You start with something so broken, almost beyond repair, and then finish with a straight and shiny new joint. I didn’t even know that was possible. Not until Kinney showed us that procedure.”

“Yeah, it was pretty cool,” Link trails off, head down. It gets quiet. The pause turning uncomfortable before Link suddenly knocks a fist against the bike between them. “So, you thinkin’ of buyin’ a ride today, man?”

Nico’s the one frowning now, cocks his head to the side as he takes in the wide, too-fake smile that Link’s flashing him.

What happened? How could anyone leave ortho for this?

Thankfully this time, Nico doesn’t say it out loud. Just shakes his head and thanks Link for his time. Thinks about professing his ridiculous, fruitless quest to convince some stranger to hammer bones with him in the future but he doesn’t. Says it was nice to meet an orthopaedic surgeon in real life.

Just before Nico’s out the door, Link calls out to him.

“Hey, what’s your name?”

Nico holds the door open, the jingle of the doorbell mixing with the heat and noise from the beach as he stands at the threshold.

“Nico. Nico Kim.”

Link smiles. “See you in seven years, Nico.”

Nico’s shocked but smiles. Nods and is out the door before he makes a bigger fool of himself. And just starts running, in sandals, unsure of how to release the adrenaline and nervousness that had been building up ever since he entered that bike shop. A smile so wide on his face he’s sure he looks crazy.

Seven years. He’ll work his ass off for the next seven years. And even harder when he finally gets to work under Dr. Atticus Link.

Nico can’t wait.

[starlight-drive-in]

Saeyoung Week - Day 5: AU

College Party AU MC’s roommate convinces her to attend a house party hosted by campus charity organization - The RFA. Minor legend and mystery on campus 707 is of course also there. MC thinks he’s weird - and absolutely adorable. Cheesiness ensues. This is my first ever crack at an AU it was really fun to write, I hope you enjoy it!

---

“MC, Are you coming with me or not?!” Her roommate says in a whine as she puts the finishing touches on her lipstick in the mirror attached to their shared closet. 

MC looks up from the textbook she’s had her nose in for the past hour, Although she hasn’t absorbed much of it. Calculus was about as foreign to her as a different language - actually, even more so, she’s pretty sure she could learn another language faster than this. 

“I don’t know, Mei. I’m no fun at parties I usually just go sit in a corner and play games on my phone, or end up in some awkward conversation with some guy who can’t take a hint.” MC responds with a roll of her eyes. 

“Maybe this time will be different! You might meet someone you have something in common with, get into a good conversation, or maybe something even more interesting.” Her roommate says with a strange eye wiggle.

“Ok, first of all. Never do that again. Second of all. I’m not really looking for someone to “have conversations with” let alone anything “more interesting.” MC feels the bed dip as her roommate sits on the edge of it. 

“MC.” Mei says, serious now. “Don’t take this the wrong way but you can’t shut off all possibilities because the last person you dated didn’t understand your worth, ok?”

MC looks to the side. She’s right of course. It’s been more than enough time to have recovered. She was just sulking, constantly. Maybe she should get out for a while, She doubted she’d make much progress in understanding the symbols in her textbook in the next few hours anyway. She needed a tutor, and she wasn't going to find one tonight. “Ok. I’ll go.” MC surrenders.

“YES, This is gonna be so much fun! You wanna borrow something from my closet? I have an outfit I think would look adorable on you.” Mei says, dancing about the room excitedly.

“Sure?” MC surrenders. 

“Who’s party is this anyway?” MC asks a few minutes later as she toys with the rips on her pants Mei picked out for her.

“Some charity organization, costs like five bucks to get in but hey it's for charity. They aren't sponsored by the school though which means tonight is going to be lit.” He roommate says

“Who invited you?” MC inquires. 

Her roommate shrugs “I don't know. Some unknown number texted me the other day, a lot of others got invites too, the guy won’t give his name. You didn't get one?”

“Nah, guess Mr. Unknown doesn't like me too much” MC pouts exaggeratedly. 

“Oh shut up, that's just cuz you never give your number to anyone, ever.” Mei responds, flipping her hand. 

--

30 minutes later they stand in front of a house near campus. Loud music plays from the house and people mill about on the lawn playing beer pong and talking, well more like screaming with how loud the music is. MC’s pretty sure she can see someone’s legs sticking out of a bush probably passed out. 

As they approach the door a blond boy, not too much taller than them stumbles out pushes past MC’s roommate. Then he stops to stare at MC. His wide purple orbs become even wider as he studies her face. He places his hands on her shoulders and looks into her eyes. 

“Whoa,” He says, MC can smell beer on his breath. “You’re like. Really pretty.” 

Before she can respond the blond is being dragged away by a taller man with a platinum white ponytail and piercing red eyes. “Hey, hey come on man, you can’t just grab onto people like that. Sorry ladies, my friends a bit of a lightweight.” he apologizes whilst draping one of the smaller man’s arm’s around his shoulder so he can help him walk. “Come one, let's get you home.” 

“But Zeeeeeeen.” The boy whines in protest as he’s dragged away. 

MC shakes her head as she follows the flow of people into the house. 

As soon as she enters the house she’s struck by the site of a red-headed man standing on the kitchen island, holding a fluffy white cat up above him while a man in a suit reaches desperately for said cat. 

People are gathered around watching the spectacle with assument. 

“What is this, Lion King?” MC says under her breath

“Naaaaaaants ingonyamaaaaaa Bagithi Baba!’ The red-head belt’s out with almost perfectly accuracy.

“Oh ok, that is what he's doing. How drunk is that guy?”

“He’s not.” Her roommate answers. “He apparently doesn't even drink alcohol. Just a lot of Dr. Pepper. That’s 707 or ‘Seven’ for short, he’s always like that. He’s kind of a campus legend.”

“707?”  says questioningly “What in the world kinda name is that?”

Mei rolls her eyes. “Well, that’s not his real name, of course. He tells everyone it's his code name. I don't know, he's a Comp Sci major, probably thinks it's cool or something.”

“What a weirdo,” MC says studying the man and shutting up the small voice in her head telling her weird, but cute. "So what's his real name?" She asks before she can stop herself.

"Luciel?… Something? I think? I don't know, you want a drink?"

"I'm gonna need one with that guy around." MC says watching as he jumps down from the counter, cat still in his hands and darts out the back door in a fit of giggles followed by suit dude. 

---

She has no idea what's in these drinks her roommates been handing her but they taste good and as a result she's completely lost track of how many she's had. She's heard people say you never realize how drunk you are until you're in the bathroom, she's currently finding out how true that is. 

She stares in the mirror and notes how her own reflection rotates and then resets with each blink. 

"Ha. Funny" she says to the mirror. Yup ok definitely drunk. 

She manages to wash her hands and get out of the bathroom without incident. When she opens the door to the hallway she sees someone crouched over, dangling something from a string. It's the same crazy red-head from before. 

"Come on Elly! I'm sorry! You've gotta come out!" He says to someone. Something? 

It takes her drunk brain a moment to process that he's trying to get the cat, who must currently be under the console table he's crouched near, to come out. 

"She'll come out if you jus leab her alone." She slurs out. 

"But then how am I supposed to play with her?" Seven says, pouting. He turns around to look up at her. That's when the full force of his golden eyes strike her for the first time. Her jaw falls open and she stands there stupid for a moment. 

"Uh… you ok there?" He says, noting her unresponsiveness. 

"Me? Yea! Yea I'm fine. It's just your…" she stops herself.

Right then suit dude barrels down the hallway, quickly retrieving what must be his cat from under the furniture and mumbling something about “Elizabeth the 3rd” and “proper names”. 

"My?" Seven repeats slowly, seemingly more focused on her than the cat he was apologizing profusely to a second ago. 

"It just. You have like. Really pretty eyes." She mentally slaps herself. God, she sounds just like that blond kid now. 

“OH! Thanks, Pretty Lady!” He says, flashing her the brightest, most beautiful smile that ever existed. 

Her stomach leaps as she feels her cheeks getting hotter. Did he really just call her that? oh no. No no no This isn't good. She thinks. This is how it starts, and then before you know it’s morning and you’re regretting things. “I uh, gotta go” She mumbles, turning back toward the stairs that lead back down to the party. 

She doesn't make it far though and before she knows it the floor is in her face. How did that happen?

“Whoa, ok you are definitely not ok.” She hears a voice say behind her before study arms lean her gently up against the wall. He sits next to her somewhat supporting her weight along with the wall. 

“Here, sip on this.” He says handing her a bottle of water.

Where did he even get that? “What if you drugged it?” MC says accusingly.

“Smart girl, but no. Not really my thing.” He says before snapping the seal on the bottle, proving to her it’s brand new. She’s sure there are still other ways he could have drugged it but his kind eyes and her already inebriated state are making her care less. She takes it out of his hand and begins to gulp it down.

“Hey, hey, hey no,” He says taking it back from her. “Sip slowly, you'll make yourself sick.” He practically feeds her sips for the next several minutes. 

“Thanks.” She says, leaning into him a little more. “I thought you were crazy, but you’re really nice.”

He chuckles. “What if I’m both?” he asks.

“Mmm. You’re cute so it's ok.”

“You think I’m cute?” He asks, genuinely.

“Mmhmm.” She says nodding into his shoulder. 

“You’ll have to tell me that again when you’re not drunk so I believe you.”

“Mmkay, sounds good.” 

“Did you come here with someone?”

“My roommate, she likes parties. Made me come. I should be studying.” she groans. 

“And what exactly should you be studying?” 

“Calculus. I hate it. I don't get it. I need a tutor.” She whines

“I could tutor you, you know. If you actually remember me tomorrow.”

She stares dumbstruck for a moment. “Whoa. Are you smart?” 

“Sometimes!” he says with a chuckle. “Why don't we call your roommate? See if we can't get you home? I can drive you both if you’re ok with it” 

“Mkay” she says taking out her phone. She stares at her lock screen, touching numbers on the keypad, attempting to unlock it but it would seem she can’t remember her code in her current state.

“Ughhhh she groans out. I changed the lock code the other day and I don’t remember it. It was my ex’s birthday and I was tired of thinking about it. I shoulda just kept it.” She says, defeated. 

“Can I see?” He offers, holding out his hand.

She shrugs and hands it to him. 

“Did you connect to the house wifi when you got here?” He asks, taking his own phone out. 

“Yea, why?”

“This should be a lot easier then.” He says, rapidly tapping his screen, then hers, before handing her phone back, unlocked. “Ta-Da!” He exclaims. 

“Whoa! What the fuck are they teaching you in Comp Sci?”

“Ah-haha” He laughs nervously. “I may have, learned that on my own.”

“You’re dangerous!”

“And don't you forget it Bay-bee.” He says with a wink. 

Shit, he really is cute. She thinks as she pulls up her roommate's contact info.

The phone rings a few times before Mei picks up, Sounding almost as drunk as MC.

“I want to go home,” MC says into the receiver. “Seven says he can drive us.”

“You’re hanging out with 707?” he roommate responds stunned.

“Ya. He’s cool.” she answers, making Seven smile.

---

Soon the three of them are walking out to the line of cars on the street. Seven is helping MC as a nice woman with a cute cropped haircut and a pencil skirt helps her roommate. 

“I didn't realize ‘Charity Organization’ meant ‘helping drunk people into cars.’ The woman says.

“Sorry, Jaehee!” Seven apologizes.

“Do not be, you are doing the right thing Luciel.”

“Spent the day with Elly, the night with a cute girl, andI’m getting praise from Jaehee. I think I died. This isn't real life. I must be in heaven” Seven says dramatically.

“You are so strange.” Jaehee says as they approach a sporty-looking red car. 

MC’s eyes trail over the sleek exterior of the car. “What rich dude owns this thing?” She says.

Jaehee snorts.

“Ah.” Seven says. “That would be Yours Truly, my dear. This is one of my babies.”

MC is feeling a bit more sober now. “One? Of your babies? What?”

“Hehe, and you’re getting the coveted shotgun seat.” He pauses “Just don’t tell Yoosung ok?” He whispers, helping her into the seat and buckling her in.

“Who the fuck is Yoo-” She cut short by the realization that is he is very close to her right now. Oh, he smells good. Her brain really needed to shut up. 

He looks down at her red face. “Come on Cutie, let’s get you home.” He says with a smile before shutting the door gently. 

---

Seven stands in her doorway. MC’s roommate has already crashed in her bed but MC herself must be feeling at least a little better as she stands to say goodnight to him. 

“Would it be too soon for me to ask for your number?” He asks nervously “Ya know, So I can see how you feel in the morning?” He hurriedly adds.

MC smiles, amusedly “Couldn't you just hack the school's database for it?”

“I could. But I won’t. I wouldn't go against your wishes like that.” He says earnestly, eyes darting awkwardly to the side. 

MC smiles at him. He seems sweet. He really does. “I don't usually give my number out to people.” She says shuffling in the doorway. “But people aren't usually as nice to me as you were tonight.” 

He smiles one of those 100-watt smiles again. “Is that a yes?”

She giggles. “Yea, let me see your phone.” she says. 

She takes it and enters her info handing it back to him.

“MC huh? Cute.” He notes “I'll text you so you have my number too.”

The phone beeps a second later with a “Hey Hiya Hey Hey” displayed on the screen.

“What should I put you under? 707? Seven? Luciel?”

“Saeyoung.” He says quietly, his face becoming red as he avoids her eyes, checking the time “It’s late I gotta go I’m sorry! I'll text you in the morning!” he says as he backpedals down the hall waving at her. 

“Why do you have so many names!?” she shouts.

“It’s a secret!” he responds before opening the heavy metal door to the stairwell and disappearing. 

MC shuts the door and plops down on her bed, smiling wider than she has in a long time as she stares at his contact info. 

“I can’t believe you and The Legendary Seven Zero Seven are gonna date.” Mei grumbles out.

“Who said that?!” MC says with a scandalized tone. 

“Both of your faces did just now!” she teases before rolling over. 

MC giggles again, feeling giddy and for the first night in months she falls asleep thinking about someone new.

[jishyucks]

The Boy Next Door  

{Heartthrob Series}

‣ genre: angst, fluff, friends-to-lovers

‣ wc: 7.8k

‣ summary: Woojin’s inability to write love songs leads to a trip of inspiration lead by you 

a/n: First of the series! Also this took a while to write so please leave a like if you enjoyed it :3

series m.list

You rubbed your drooping, tired eyes as you made your way up your driveway and to your front porch. Your job at a flourishing music company as a secretary, and some side songwriting and producing, wasn’t too hard, yet it wasn’t easy. It was the type of work that both motivated you yet made you want to stop and just take a nap on the couch at the back of the studio. Not that you were complaining or anything. The job was perfect for you. A mix of paperwork and work that focused on creativity.

You pulled the keys from your front pocket before doing a double take at the front porch of your long time neighbour, Kim Woojin. He was sitting up on the porch bench, but you can't help but notice the small snore that left his sleeping self. You take notice of his attire. A neat dress shirt and pants. He had a black folder resting on his lap while his guitar case was resting against the wall.

“Woojin?” you called. It wasn’t at a volume which would startle him or one where he couldn’t hear it, but it was loud enough for him to stir. He jolted up upon realizing where he had fallen asleep and turned his head almost immediately at your direction. You giggle at his confused state, eyes looking the way it was supposed to when you’re just woken up. He scratched his head and picked up the folder from his lap, placing it next to him.

Sheepishly, he smiled, “You scared me.” By the look on his face once he sobered up from his nap, you can already tell what had happened and you couldn’t help but feel sympathy towards the guy.

“No luck?” you crossed his lawn and made your way up the stairs of his house. He quickly made room for you, which you took gladly. He nodded with a sad smile, “To be honest, at this point, I’m not surprised anymore. It’s the same reason over and over again. I just want to give up.” You gasped loudly, not content with his thoughts and lack of motivation.

“Don’t you dare give up!” you exclaim, “I find it stupid as hell that no one would hire you just because you write break up songs. They’re letting someone talented go just like that.” He didn’t reply. Woojin only stared down at his lap and sighed. He agreed with you, but he was almost hopeless at this point. With his mom nagging him about getting a job and no one hiring him, his stress level could go nowhere but up.

“I’ll just find a job at a restaurant or something. I can’t go on being jobless.” You turned to look at him, feeling your heart drop at the lack of passion he usually had in his eyes. You could see how tired he actually was with trying. This wasn’t the guy you knew. You believed that he was born to be a musician but for some reason the world was currently against him and his purpose.

You looked at the time on your phone and mentally groaned, “I have to go… I wish I could help somehow…” It was true. If any opportunity came up somewhere, you do anything to help Woojin out.

“No need,” he grinned sadly, “I’ll see you later, Y/N.”

“You too.”

After long hours of hard work, you were finally able to clear up the piles of paperwork left on your desk by your boss. The whole process got tedious over time and much to your annoyance, you were basically the only person who was hired to do the paperwork. When you had finally set down the last folder on top of the finished pile, you couldn’t help but rest your head down onto the cold desk.

The sound of heavy boots steadily increased in volume meaning the person was approaching you. You really didn’t even need to question who it was as everyone else in the company chose to wear light dress shoes or heels. Lifting your head, Chan, one of the main producers in the company came into view with a drained expression. You and him were fairly close since you both were the same age.

“Long day?” he started, placing his backpack down against the desk. You nodded as a response, noticing how he used your desk to support himself, “I’m guessing same with you?” Chan nodded. He pressed his lips into a thin line rested his chin onto his hand. It looked like he was going to fall asleep right then and there but then he suddenly opened his eyes and sighed.

“They’re pushing me to make a whole bunch of love songs which have to be finished in a few weeks. How do you expect me, one whole and very single man, to create that many songs? I don’t do love songs,” he threw his hands up in frustration but made sure to keep his voice down in case anyone heard his complaining.

“Don’t you have people who help you?” you laughed at the ridiculous amount of work the company depended on you both to work on.

“No, just me. Do they think I’m the fucking genie or something? If I were I’d just poof up a bunch of people to help me…” Chan snapped to add emphasis.

You let out another laugh, thinking you were drunk of fatigue, “I would help but I’m too caught up with all this other stuff they’ve given me.” It was as if everything was funny and you just wanted to laugh at anything. Your mind was slower than it would originally be. You just laughed.

He nods understandingly, “I’m about to head home,” Chan sighed, “Finally.” He bent down and picked up his bag.

“Wait, I’m going too.” Quickly, you shut down your computer and grabbed the bag that you had placed snuggly underneath the desk. You were actually excited to go home. You could finally lay down on your couch and watch your shows and basically relax. You could even ask Woojin to come over since he probably needed comp-

Chan jumped at your sudden intake of air, thinking you had gotten a heart attack or something. He whipped his head around to see if you were doing fine. Looking at your state, he sighed in relief, though he was still confused as to why you were just standing with your mouth hanging open.

“Y/N?” You didn’t budge, mostly due to the fact that you realized how stupid you were being at the moment. “Y/N?”

Chan approached you carefully, bending down to match your height in deep confusion. “Please don’t tell me you’re possessed…” His heart started to beat faster. What should he do? He’s never been in a situation like this before. “They’ve been working us too hard.”

As soon as he began to panic, you seemed to gain ‘consciousness,’ being able to blink and breathe once again from your sudden realization. “Oh thank goodness, I thought you were pos-”

“You said you needed help right?” you blurted. Hurriedly, you made your way around your desk and in front of Chan, “I know someone who can help you! He’s been looking for a job… Do you think they’d hire him? They’ll hire him to finish the work right?”

“Woah, slow down.” You and Chan began to walk to the front door, mostly because you were hauling him to the front. “Who, exactly?”

“He’s a friend…” you don’t mention that he’s been rejected by a bunch of companies for writing only breakup songs, “He’s written a lot of songs and they’re all really good!” Silent, Chan began to think about all the benefits that come with hiring someone to help him. With a project that big he could really use the help he can get. “Please?” You practically begged Chan. Your bottom lip was sticking out and held your gaze for longer than a normal person would.

Chan looked back at you and chewed gently on the inside of his cheek. He can talk to his boss about it… it’s not like it would disrupt the flow in the studio. If anything, this person can help the process of completing the job. There weren’t any drawbacks to the decision. “Okay.” Your face suddenly seemed more alive than before, joy taking place of your fatigue. “Just bring him tomorrow morning and I’ll check out what he can do…”

Thanking him, you couldn’t help but hug the boy from the side tightly with enthusiasm. All you could think on the way home was the fact that Woojin can finally get his chance to showcase his talent.

You made sure to wake up right when the sun peeked over the horizon in order to catch Woojin before he leaves to find a good place to busk. This was the only way he could earn his own money and sometimes you found him leaving his place just to get the best spot for tourists to see him. You remember having a conversation with him about how important a busking spot actually was. It had to be crowded or highly populated throughout each hour of the day to get even a bit of money thrown into his case. It made you realize how hard-working most buskers actually were.

You carried yourself across the lawn and onto the Kim’s porch, hesitating slightly because you were afraid you would wake up his parents and not just Woojin. Ringing the bell, you hear it chime inside the house. After a moment of silence, footsteps were heard from what seemed like the second floor making their way to the main.

“Good morning, dear,” Mrs. Kim’s soft face appeared when the door swung open. The tired smile on her face and the glasses barely holding on to the bridge of her nose basically showed her just woken up state. Suddenly, you felt apologetic. “You’re here quite early.”

“I’m sorry for waking you up, but is Woojin here? There’s something important I have to talk to him about,” your hands moved toward your back, crossing.

“Oh! He told me last night that he’d leave early this morning,” she answered softly, “But I think he’ll be somewhere around the plaza.” You quickly thanked her and returned the warm smile she gave you.

It was lucky that the plaza wasn’t too far from where you lived. It was probably the reason why Woojin thought it was easiest to go there for busking. A large amount of tourists and locals would go their everyday since it was densely filled with stores and small shops that were fun to look through. One part of the plaza had plenty of small restaurants that encircled a large area of concrete, a fountain in the middle and outdoor dining like in the movies. It was a given that Woojin would be there. People loved live music, even at the breakfast hour.

When you arrived at the circle, you looked around already seeing a handful of people already seated and eating. At the other side of the fountain, you could see people crowded around a wall, which could mean Woojin. You fast walked to the other end, eager to tell Woojin the good news. You were excited to see the look on his face when you tell him about the opportunity. You were just scared that Chan would turn him away and it would only push Woojin to give up even more.

As you got closer to the small crowd, you could hear the words of “It Will Rain” by Bruno Mars being sung with soul. It was Woojin’s powerful voice filling the silent parts of the plaza. If you were just someone passing by, you would be attracted to the voice too. You couldn’t blame the people who got distracted and just stood and watched.

Instead of elbowing through people for your place to the front, you slowly made your way through the smallest gaps between people, muttering a quiet excuse me if you did come in contact with them. Before you knew it, you found yourself among the people who were lucky enough to arrive there first. You were slightly taken aback at Woojin’s focused character, being the centre of genuine attention. He had his eyes closed, words came to him easily, and his fingers naturally travelled to the chords. No matter how many times you had seen and heard him, you will not deny the fact that you would fall in awe at his talent. His voice was something you would never get tired of listening to. Saying it was beautiful was an understatement.

Once the song was finished, you made sure you made yourself visible to him, waving your hands and directing a psst towards his direction. He looked over, eyes opening.

“Y/N!” he smiled. You waved him over subtly, not wanting to catch anyone else’s attention. Nodding, Woojin gestured to wait a sec before he stood up straighter, announcing to the crowd, “Thank you for watching, that will unfortunately be the last song for now. I would gladly want to point out plenty of stores that have the best breakfasts I’ve eaten and that you might enjoy. Again, thank you.” The crowd applauded, most of then approaching the open guitar case he had laid down. They dropped in any spare change they had, which was, to Woojin, better than nothing. He thanked them again before finally making his way to you.

“I didn't think I’d see you here,” he smiled, “What did you want to tell me?” Woojin was in closer proximity than usual due to the fact that there was a lot of people around you both and it was harder to hear.

“I wanted to tell about a job opportunity,” you started, “My co-worker Chan needs help on some song making stuff and I told him you’d be good help.” You see his face light up and his mouth open, but before he could speak, you continued, “He told me that you could show him your work tomorrow, which means today, and he’ll talk to his boss about hiring you. Chan has a big influence in the company… do you want to go?”

“Of course!” Woojin was suddenly seemingly as excited as you were, “Let me pack my stuff and we can go now!” He swiftly made his way through the crowd, gathering the change had received into a mini bag he had prepared. He locked up his guitar into the case and slung it over his shoulder, running back to you with the biggest smile on his face. So big that his eyes were almost gone.

On the way there, Woojin’s energy started to die down. “Do you think they’d be okay with the situation I’m in right now?” You could tell how worried he was just by the tone of his voice. He didn’t dare make eye contact with you. “What if I just let this opportunity pass? This could be my last opportunity.”

“Don’t worry Woojin,” you assured, “I know… some way, somehow… Chan’s going to do anything to get you this job.” You gave him a few friendly pats on the back. Though you didn’t know if your words were true. You just hoped that Chan would accept the help Woojin would offer. He said it himself that he’d accept any help he’d get and Woojin wasn’t bad at all. The only problem he had was that he, for some reason, only has the ability to write songs that focused on break ups. Last time you heard, Chan had to work on a bunch of love songs.

Chan looked between you, Woojin, and the computer in front of him that played the demos Woojin had created on his own. You sat eager to know if Chan was willing to hire Woojin while Woojin was at the edge of his own seat, watching Chan’s expressions intently, trying to read if he had taken a liking to it or not. It was unclear, but Woojin wanted to only think good thoughts.

“I can’t take this,” Chan finally drew out. He reached for his mouse and clicked the pause button, “Do you have any… love songs? Your songs are good but they’re all break up songs. You must be hurt as hell.” Chan spoke to Woojin directly, as if you weren’t in the room. You gulped. You knew this was going to happen.

“N-no but-”

“I don’t know if I can hire you if you don’t love songs… the project is based on love songs, not sad songs,” Chan explained apologetically. He disconnected Woojin’s USB and pushed it over to the edge of the table where Woojin could reach it.

“I”m sorry but you didn’t let me finish,” Woojin swallowed, “I can make a love song… and I’ll let you listen if you’re willing to.” Chan spun childishly in his chair, stopping once Woojin told him his plan.

“If you can get it to me soon, then sure,” Chan shrugged. Woojin’s face broke out into a determined smile, grabbing the flashdrive, “Then I’ll get it to you soon. I promise! Let’s go Y/N.”  You stood up abruptly and quickly thank Chan before leaving. You were being pulled by Woojin, who had suddenly gained the energy to haul you behind him.

“How are you going to write a love song in that amount of time, Woojin?” you questioned. Did he forget that he was incapable of making love songs or did this burst of energy have that power to do so? Either way, you wanted to hear his actual plan.

“I just will. It’s not that hard right?” Woojin shrugged.

“You’ve been trying for the past few weeks and you have nothing.”

“It doesn’t mean I can’t write one now,” Woojin argued. He slowed his pace and dropped your hand. Deep down, Woojin knew he was lacking, but he figured that if he said he could do it, he could trick his mind into believing he could.

Without thinking, you said something you shouldn’t have, “Ever since she left, you haven’t been able to do so.” You clamped your mouth shut and stared at Woojin, wide eyed. You were afraid he’d get mad at you for mentioning his ex-girlfriend. Even without the details, you could tell by the way he was affected that it was a rough breakup. Maybe if you knew how they broke up, you could help him get over her somehow. To your surprise, instead of telling you to stop, Woojin gave you a sad look before dropping his head, “You’re right.”

You guys were stopped in the middle of the large empty sidewalk. Woojin grew silent, his hands stuffed deep into the pockets of his jacket as if the air was as cold as it was in the winter. You could read that he was thinking about the break up. The way his eyes just looked at one of the cracks imprinted in the sidewalk. You shouldn’t have said that. His energy had suddenly left, all after you had mentioned his ex.

“C-can I ask you something? You don’t need to answer,” you drawled. You watch his head lift slowly, peeking out at you as if he were some shy kid you had met at the park. He nodded and waited intently. “How did you guys break up?”

Even if you guys were best friends, you seriously had no idea how Woojin broke up with Jiyoung. You remembered Woojin reaching what seemed like the peak of his happiness when he was around her, the way he had a little bounce in his step. Sometimes you’d get annoyed by how he’d talk about her when you guys would hang out on a random weekday night, but you couldn’t really do anything about it. Then, there was that one day you guys did hang out. You expecting a night filled with Woojin talking about his girlfriend and short pauses during video games for him to quickly reply to her text, followed by a tiny ‘sorry,’ but none of that actually happened. It surprised you. Instead, Woojin had kept his mouth shut, only talking about the game, maybe cussing over another player’s actions or laughing at something you had said. When you got through one whole game without pausing, you started to think that something had probably happened between the two, but you didn’t have the courage to ask him.

“I think that’s a story for another day,” Woojin knew what you were trying to do. Trying to let it out so that she would disappear from his thoughts. But as of now, he wasn’t really in the mood to talk about past relationships. Not when the end of a relationship was the reason why he currently had no job.

“Okay,” you nodded. If he wasn’t ready, then he wasn’t ready. You weren’t going to force him into telling you anything.

It was like a replay from a scene in a movie when you spot Woojin sitting on his porch’s bench while you were making your way to your front door. Instead of sleeping, you see him staring attentively at the lined paper that he placed on top of a random hardcover book he had found laying around in his house.

You unintentionally laugh out loud, catching his attention. “What?” he furrowed his eyebrows. You didn’t know if it was in frustration or confusion but you just wave your hand, “You look like you’re working hard.”

“I am but look,” Woojin turned the sheet and showed you the empty paper, “Nothing! I can’t write anything. I’ve been sitting here since the morning and I haven’t even written one word.” He slammed the piece of paper back down on the book, “I could’ve gotten some money busking today, but no. Forget it.” Standing up, he gathered his things, leaving you standing there, stunned. Woojin had never been a quitter, but this was the second time this week he had done so. You knew you were the one who had given him this opportunity and that you shouldn’t let him be like this.

“I have an idea.” You were looking across the gap between your houses, tapping your fingers against the wall in some sort of rhythm. Woojin stopped and basically whipped his head towards your direction like a puppy. He had a hopeful look on his face, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly at the idea of help. That’s what he needed. Help.

“I’ll take you to the places that give me inspiration.” You leaned against the wall, waiting for a response, “I don’t have work this weekend so I can help you.” The places you had in mind always helped you. Even if it wasn’t song writing related. At times during high school, you had gone to the same places to hinder the stress that weighed down your shoulders. You just hoped it would work for Woojin too.

“Would you actually?” The boy who had threatened to quit quickly gained spirit once again, showing joy through his eyes. “I don’t want to bother you-”

“You won’t bother me! I promise you. This will be fun,” you turned to enter your house, “It’ll be like a mini road trip. Meet me at my car at nine.” Before you stepped into your house, you sent him a quick wave which was returned with an exclaimed ‘goodbye!’

Pulling up to the first destination, you sighed out happily at the sight of the familiar place that was just a few yards from your car. “We’re here.”

You beamed at the sight in front of you. It was a flower filled park garden with walkways going every direction. Some could compare it to a corn maze, as one could actually get lost within the garden, but this is what you loved about the garden. Rather than stressing over getting out and being hunted by some sort of scarecrow, you could keep walk aimlessly, the only thing you could get lost in was your thoughts.

The lack of response from Woojin caused you to worry about the fact that he didn’t like it. Maybe it was only you who saw value in this hybrid of a corn maze and flower garden. You turned to Woojin with a questioning look, only to find him asleep. Laughing, you gently flicked the side of his neck to wake him up instantly.

At contact, he jumped, flailing his head side to side, curious as to why you had stopped the car, “This place is beautiful… why haven’t I been here before?” He opened the door of your car, you following in pursuit. He jogged to the opening of the garden, his smile expressing emotions of excitement and happiness. He glowed at the sight of all the flowers and you couldn’t help but smile at how he amused he was. Maybe this is what you looked like when you first visited this place.

“I think it’s because it’s out of town,” you retorted, “But this place helps me sort things out when I have problems. The beauty of it all inspires me if I think hard enough.” You joined Woojin’s side and you both begin making your way down the path, not minding which way you went.

“What if we get lost? Should I leave bread crumbs or something?” he joked. He bends down and pretends to drop said bread crumbs like Hansel in the fairy tale.

You laughed and shook your head, “That’s the main reason why I love this place. You can just walk, regardless what direction. You’ll somehow find your way out.” “Wish life was that easy,” he snorted. You nodded and hummed, walking heel-toe-heel-toe. You felt like you were a princess in her garden, waiting for her prince to arrive. This garden just brings you places even if you don’t envision it.

Over the time you and him had strolled through the garden, Woojin purposely let himself fall back behind you. He smiled at how you were being right now. All carefree and happy. He admired the way your cheekbones lifted high when you couldn’t control your smile and the way you automatically looked down when you did. It was a habit of yours that he noticed since you guys were young. He wonders if he had any habits.

“I’m never gonna get tired of this place,” the light breeze carried your voice. You turned back with hair in your face, “Is it working for you? If not, we can go to the next place.” You knew that not everyone liked gardens or would inspiration the same way you do but by the look on Woojin’s face, you knew that it had to help even a little bit.

Woojin looked at you and nodded, “I think it’s working.” He knew it was working, but he didn’t know it was not because of the location or not in the way you thought it worked for you.

“Then good,” you returned to the route and skipped, “If this place works, the next one might work even better.”

By the time you both returned to your car, it had been around an hour so since you had arrived. The sun was high up in the sky and it was beating down on you both radiantly. It was a relief for you and Woojin when you had hopped into the vehicle and blasted the air conditioner. You pulled out of the parking lot and began to drive.

The next destination was not too far away from the garden. It was a small village like area that wasn’t so heavily populated by people, which is the main reason why there were alleyways and buildings decorated with tolerated graffiti.

Vibrant colours, exaggerated pictures of people and characters, the messages behind the artwork, all of this was just astounding to you and your idea-hungry mind. Everywhere you look, a picture painted by a different artist could be seen, even from a distance. Everytime you visited the area, the older paintings would be painted over and a new one would take its place just like a never ending art gallery.

“It’s like those places in the movies or tv shows,” Woojin’s head did not stop turning. He was scared that he would miss a mural if he didn’t look fast enough. He wanted to run, take pictures, and think about the messages the pictures could be telling. He understood why this was a part of your destinations list, as it got his creative mind going like the gears of a grandfather clock. He looked down at you by his side as you had been still amazed at the life and the creativity that was put into the pictures. The smile on your face warmed his stomach, a feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time and one he didn’t think he’d feel again. “It’s beautiful.”

After a while, you and Woojin agreed to take a look around alone, as it would be easier to actually fully appreciate the art and think about what the artist could be saying through the painting. Woojin knew how important a message in any form of art was. One of the murals could spark up some ideas that he knows he has inside his brain.

Woojin’s shoes scratched the rough underdeveloped pavement as he entered one of the last alleys that contained one of the last pieces of art on the street. Though the ones he had seen were beautiful and pleasing to the eye, there was no obvious story told by the paintings. He thought that maybe he was expecting too much of the graffiti but there weren’t any ideas that easily flowed through his head.

“Oh, you scared me a little bit,” you laughed quietly. Woojin hadn’t noticed your presence when had entered the alley way. You were standing almost against the wall, neck stretched back, admiring the painted wall. Woojin just laughed and stood next to you, copying your figure. He folded his hands behind his back and leaned his head back to look at the enormous painting.

The painting was filled with maple trees, its branches hidden behind the thick bunches of maple leaves. At the centre of the painting was a couple, each of them sat snuggly on a swing set’s plastic chair. They had smiles on their faces, they weren’t looking at each, yet the artist decided to paint them still with the smiles. It was a simple painting, but you seemed to be immersed in the art, as if you were watching a movie.

“I think this one’s my favourite,” you start quietly, “The other ones seemed to be more for aesthetic, not messages or stories like the ones I often see.”

“What’s the message behind this one?” Woojin’s smile was evident just by the sound of his voice. He didn’t look at you. He was afraid that if he did, that his eyes would never leave you.

“The maple trees… the leaves signify the sweet feelings of being in love, like syrup. The swing set, it can mean a lot of things, but I like to think of it as a symbol of youth or the feeling when you have no decisions that you have to make. You’re basically free. Now just put those two symbols together… it’s simple but I really love it.”

The message of the mural was actually pretty. It wasn’t too shallow or deep. It can be interpreted in any way desired, but he liked how you depicted it. It somehow related to him when he was dating Jiyoung, and, more importantly, it somehow relates to him now, with you.

Woojin glanced over, only to find you already looking up at him. “I see you’re silent. That means it is beautiful.” You looked down at the time on your phone, you snapped and began to walk, “It’s getting late. We have to eat and then get to the final destination.”

When you had finally reached the third place, it was dark out and Woojin couldn’t help but notice how you had brought him out into the woods like it was normal. The only flashlight he had was his phone’s and it was almost out of battery.

“Are you going to throw me off of a cliff?” Woojin was half scared and half joking. He followed you to your trunk where you could be hiding any sort of weapon.

“No, I’m not,” you scoffed, “Catch.” You toss him a cylinder shaped heavy piece of metal. A flashlight. “Now follow me.”

You guys walked through almost complete darkness before you had finally reached a cliff that looked out at the entire city, as cliche as it sounds. Woojin’s eyes glimmered at the sight of the city lights. It seemed surreal and, as he said earlier, like it was straight out of a movie.

“This part clears my mind. I just kinda stare and drift into my thoughts and ideas that I made from the last two places,” you explained in a hushed tone. There was no need to be quiet, but at a place like this, the atmosphere leaned more towards the quieter side. Being loud would just disrupt the entire feel.

Woojin just sat on the hood of your car and stared off into the distance. Think about the thoughts and ideas from the garden and the murals. Think.

He feels you lay out your spare sweater on the car’s windshield before laying down comfortably. The corners of his lips turn up lightly before he turned back to the breathtaking view in front of him. He knows exactly what he thought about.

On the way back, it was a mutual decision to play some soft tunes instead of songs to turn up to. Woojin was falling in and out of sleep, mostly so you had someone to keep you awake and entertained.

“It’s fine Woojin, I feel awake right now,” you assured, “Just nap. I’ll wake you up when we’re back.” Woojin hesitated at first but if you insisted then mayhaps he should just take the chance. He pulled the lever and pulled his chair back into a lying position. Instead of sleeping right when his head hit the headrest, he had other thoughts that bothered him somewhat. He was so bothered that he decided to sit his chair back up.

“I thought you were going to sleep?”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

Woojin noticed how you guys were getting closer and closer to your neighbourhood. He figured it was best to say it before you both got home, “I wanted to say thank you for bringing me to places that had special meaning to you… I think they actually did help…”

“It’s no problem, for real.”

“And for that… I wanna tell you why me and Jiyoung broke up… like how you asked the other day. It’s stupid how you’re basically my best friend and I’ve never told you how we broke up. I owe you this.”

“Woojin, you don’t need to, it’s okay,” you were telling the truth. It was all good now. You actually believed that you truly helped Woojin find ideas for his song.

“I want to.” The wind outside of the car and the quiet hum of the music filled the short silence. Woojin breathed slowly, “We broke up because of my dream of becoming a singer… songwriter, everything along those lines.”

You did not reply. You couldn’t believe someone as amazing as Woojin was dumped for some stupid reason. But at the same time, different people have different preferences.

“She started to get the idea that becoming an artist was stupid and meaningless. That there was no way in actually becoming successful… She just broke up with me all of a sudden. It came as a shock to me.”

You entered your neighbourhood, less than a few kilometres from your house. No one talked until you had finally pulled up your driveway. Woojin opened the door. He was ready to leave until you had quickly called him, “Woojin!”

He turned back and waited for you to say something.

“She didn’t deserve you if she didn’t support your dream… I think you deserve someone who supports you.”

“Thank you, Y/N.”

It didn’t really occur to you that you hadn’t seen Woojin for the past few days until Chan had gone up to your desk to ask you how he was doing with the songwriting.

“I genuinely enjoyed his songs, but the topic was the only problem,” Chan explained. He leaned against your desk, waiting for an answer, not knowing you actually did not know how he was doing.

“To be honest, the last time I saw him was about three days ago. I’ve been busy doing paperwork, I didn’t notice,” you replied. It was true. Usually you’d see Woojin on the way home or you’d get the daily ‘how was your day’ text, but with the work you had been juggling, you had been closer to a zombie than the average human for the past few days.

“Well, hopefully he’s doing well. Tell him I said hi,” Chan flashed a dimpled smile before getting back to the studio. Once he was out of sight, you immediately went for your phone to text Woojin on his progress. Maybe he’d been absent because of his busy songwriting work. Maybe the plan you carried out actually work and you got his creative juices flowing.

Hey, haven’t seen you the past few days. How’s the song going? Chan said hi

You left it at that and got back to work, hoping your phone would vibrate sometime throughout your shift. To your disappointment, the only reason your phone buzzed every now and again was because of some social media notifications that you didn’t care about at the moment.

On the way home, you had decided to stop by the Kim’s house to see if Woojin was doing fine. It wasn’t like him to completely ignore your text, not even when he was mad at you. Maybe he just needed space because he told you about Jiyoung? No that wouldn’t make sense since he was the one who chose to tell you. It meant he was ready to talk about it. Maybe the song was actually going well and Woojin, being the perfectionist he was, was trying to make the song as best as he could? Nah, he would’ve at least answered your text. Right? Nothing really made sense to you. You didn’t do anything wrong and he hadn’t done anything wrong during the mini trip.

To your disappointment, no lights leaked out of any window, meaning no one was home or everyone was sleeping. At this hour, it could most possibly be the latter. You decided to just come over tomorrow, hopefully catching anyone to ask about Woojin.

The next morning, no one had answered the door like they usually would. Mrs. Kim would always be the one to open the door at this hour of the morning, but when you rang the doorbell and no footsteps were heard. To you it was weird. It was like the Kim family had disappeared all of a sudden but how much of a coincidence was it that it was after your day with Woojin? You hadn’t done anything wrong. Nothing weird happened. This just has you all curious. A part of you wanted to know what’s been happening, call Woojin constantly until he answers, but it’s not like you were dating him or anything. The other part of you decided to just leave him alone until he’s ready to talk. He’ll see your text anyways.

So that’s what you did. You went on about your day doing your usual routine, casually passing the plaza in hopes to see Woojin performing a song and entertaining the people passing by. It went on for about four more days, which was actually the longest time you didn’t talk to Woojin for. At one point you had actually missed him, since the last time you hung out with him was pleasant. It felt like that mini road trip you had with him was cut short, like you could’ve elongated it into the next day. You just wanted to spend your days next to him. Maybe you could plan another trip.

Your day at work was actually relaxing for once. There wasn’t really any paperwork to do, or any work to do in general, so you just sat behind your desk assisting those who need it. You tried to keep yourself occupied with some youtube here and there or you just listening to music to pass time.

You stared at the screen, engrossed in a video that had caught your attention. The people who passed by probably found your amused facial expressions weird and not sophisticated like, but you honestly did not give a crap, especially since you were asked to work on a day where there was barely anything to do.

Heavy footsteps approached your desk, which completely went over your head. The video in front of you was much more interesting than footsteps.

“Excuse me? Is Mr. Bang free,” the voice sounded like it was forced to sound deeper, which somewhat startled you. You paused your video and yanked at the earphones you had plugged in, looking up.

“Woojin?” your eyes widened and couldn’t stop the smile that crept up on your face. You hadn’t seen him in basically a week and he suddenly just appears at your workplace unannounced. His presence was a lot to be happy about.

“Hi,” his grin grew wider than it already was. He had bags underneath his eyes and a tuft of hair was found out of place. He was tired but somehow he still had the energy to get all the way to where you worked, a guitar slung over shoulder and a folder tucked neatly underneath his arm.

“Where have you been this whole week?” you stood up. Woojin thought that you were almost going to hug him, but he didn’t think any further.

“Writing this,” he held up the folder, wiggling his eyebrows. You could tell by the way he moved that he was excited to let you listen, probably with Chan as he asked for earlier. “So... is Chan busy?”

“He’s probably busy writing songs, but this is basically part of job so we could probably just barge in,” you shrugged. Your grabbed your phone and turned the computer off on your desk, guiding Woojin to Chan’s studio.

Knocking, you opened the door ajar and stuck your head in, finding Chan laying on the couch with papers scattered around his person. He had a cup of coffee in his hand and he was staring blankly at the ceiling. Probably taking a break.

“Oh it’s just you,” he said monotonically. He sat up causing the sheets of paper to lose their places, “Don’t mind those.”

“Woojin’s here,” you opened the door to reveal the boy standing behind you. It was funny seeing Chan’s smile appear on his face. He looked so miserable when you had entered but now he was as happy as a little kid at a carnival.

Woojin had explained to you both that he had written the song during the past week, which was why he was absent. He wanted to focus solely on the song without any distractions. Now he was here and he wanted to play it to both of you.

Chan placed Woojin in the recording room, hitting record so that he had a copy of the demo. Woojin cleared his throat and strummed his guitar a few times to make sure it was tuned, not that he messed with the chords beforehand. It was always natural, the way his eyes closed and how his lips kind of perked into a smile when he sang. They were just habits of his, ever since he was young. They just emphasized how much music and singing actually meant to Woojin. It was unfortunate Jiyoung didn’t see that.

Like it was rehearsed many times, Woojin began to sing a tune that was unfamiliar yet you felt that you had heard it a million times. They way Woojin sang it just made you feel that way. The words, though it was hard to focus on both words and tune, somehow hit home. The feeling of a newfound love, or infatuation. Just appreciation and admiration in general. Woojin was able to put all your feelings into an almost upbeat four minute song, which simply touched you more than it should have. You hadn’t noticed the way your eyes drooped in awe and how you were tuning everything else out except for Woojin and his song. It was just beautiful.

Once Woojin finished, he bowed his head and sighed into the mic before finally lifting it backup and giving you and Chan an innocent grin. He held his guitar by the neck and slipped out of the recording room, not knowing how much he just affected the two of you.

“Woojin that was actually...” you tried to find the proper words to use, “I would listen to that over and over again and not get tired of it.”

“Woojin how did you come up with that?” Chan questioned. He was quietly clapping and the dimples appeared on his face with satisfaction. He finally had help on the mind twisting task he was given.

“Easy, I took him to inspirational places,” you answered for him.

“Actually, that was just a part of it,” Woojin corrected. He looked like he didn’t know what he was going to say. He searched the room for nothing in particular and then looked back at Chan and you sitting in front of him

“Then what?” you probably sounded disappointed but you didn’t mean to. He did say it sort of helped, but else could have helped him with making the bomb song you had just listened to?

“I-I found a new muse,” Woojin stammered. He wanted to just leave the room like nothing had happened and come back later when he had his mind made up over what to say at this very second. You, on the other hand, felt sort of… jealous? Woojin finding another muse? You didn’t know why but a part of you was just heart.

Woojin took out the notes and the lyrics and handed it to Chan. At the first look of the paper, Chan gasped almost overdramatically, unable to hide his school girl smile. He looked back at you while Woojin was beginning to spin his chair the other direction. He couldn’t make eye contact with you. Not when he was uncertain about what your reaction could be.

“What?” you questioned.

Chan slid the paper over to you. Reading the title of the song, you feel your heart beat out of your chest.

A Song for Y/N Y/L/N

[aenigmaticdays]

Non-linear Trajectories

A series of significant steps over the next few months since the Mandalorian and the baby became a clan of two post-Nevarro. There’s still a lot Din has yet to learn about the kid he’s taken under his wings, and even if it’s a wild-goose chase to reunite him with his kind, who says space-parenting is easy?

A/N: Inspired by…Yoda, of all creatures, who became a Jedi Master at a hundred years old, and continued that way till he was 900 ish.

If it stands to reason that its ageing must not quite be that linear, what fun then, to know we’re probably standing at a precipice when Dyn Jarren is about to get thrown into a dizzying time of fatherhood with a kid whose sudden growth spurt and accelerated rate of learning will probably happen…quite soon.

Apart from this, all we know of this species is that it’s supposed to remain an archetypal mystery on George Lucas’s orders, though The Mandalorian has pretty much opened this can of worms by introducing the baby on our small screens.

I’m taking liberties here. #Sorrynotsorry

Also on AO3.

9 years, 3 months ABY

What pitiful little Din Djarin knows of parenting is thrown further into dissonance when the ad’ika finally speaks.

“Tion'ad's ogir? See you, I can.”

The high-pitched warble is enough to galvanise Din out of the pilot’s chair to stumble in front of the child who is gnawing at the silver Mythosaur, its attention fully fixed on the inanimate object as though it hadn’t nearly floored him with its casually-spoken but cryptic words.

After all, he’s only a novice at figuring out the ad’ika’s garbled coos, squeaks and trills when the kid suddenly decides to speak.

His own voice, rough with sleep, comes out gravelly, low and bewildered as he’d ever heard. “What…what did you just say?”

The only response Din gets is the slight lift of its disproportionate lift of its green years, a slobbery grin and two raised green arms.

He slumps back into his seat with the kid on his lap, his mind racing. More importantly, the kid’s first word isn’t Buir to his shamefaced relief, because he wouldn’t know how he’d react otherwise.

3 months after leaving Nevarro, the decree that they are now a clan of two still simultaneously terrifies and elates him. But it’s a bond—whether he wants to admit or not—that had been forged long before he’d traded the kid for beskar and hadn’t needed the Armourer’s affirmation or the emblematised mudhorn now welded onto the beskar he wore to give it a name.

The fault solely lies on Dyn’s shoulders which become weightier by day.

Coming to terms with being something akin to the kid’s father requires more than an overhaul in the long-held mindset that he only worked alone and had only himself to look after. It is a change that he tries to welcome nonetheless, according to the creed all the Mandalorians live by—the kid that started out as an asset is now a foundling.

Gone are the days of taking coin in exchange for bounties—that course of destiny he’d irrevocably altered with the split-second decision to get the child back and out of the clutches of the Client.

Theirs is a strange relationship: he’d turned from reluctant captor to reluctant protector to somewhat reluctant dad to a foundling who in its own way takes care of him as much as he takes care of it. There hadn’t been anyone, not even his own adopted parents, nor his clanmates, who’d been as fully attuned to the sweep of his emotions and physical well-being as this child, and maybe it’s because of that sorcery-magic that the green creature wields at moments of its choosing.

The kid is an odd contradiction on its own: small and vulnerable, helpless…yet not, not with the immense sorcerer’s power that he wields at opportune moments when Dyn had thought all was lost.

This is something that he had yet to fully assimilate, despite the daily, round-the-clock reminders of the kid’s dependence on him.

Swivelling the chair around, he turns to regard the kid, who’s still happily playing with his pendant like he hadn’t just upended Din’s brooding. A quick mental calculation about the kid’s development leaves him overwhelmed.

The low-level of panic that accompanies the thought of taking responsibility for the ad’ika hasn’t fully ebbed since the day he’s single-handedly tanked his bounty-hunting career, but he’d be in denial to say he’s taking on this momentous task with the same gusto he’d used to take down bounties.

If the ad’ika is merely a gurgling, teething infant at fifty who has just learned to talk, what then, is its lifespan and what other powers will it develop in the years to come?

“Buir!”

It’s the second time that Din nearly falls out of his chair at that squeaky warble, accompanied by a toothy giggle.

The uncomfortable feeling in his gut grows, but it isn’t one he can put a name to.

oOo

9 years, 8 months ABY

The slight, sharp prod in his mind is the only thing that nudges him upwards towards the light at the end of the tunnel—so sharp that it momentarily erases the lingering, recurring nightmare of dirt roads falling to ruin or of the sudden darkness that envelops him as his parents shove him into a basement storage or of the amplified sounds of broken screams and the whine of Imp blasters.

Amid the chaos and the flames, the intrusive presence twists itself into the well-worn scene, a supporting player in a familiar cast that always ends with him staring into the wrong end of a blaster.

Except that this has the exceptional warmth of someone he recognises by instinct, a warmth that suddenly takes on a rapidly-swelling tinge of green, red and yellow colouring the edge of his consciousness upon which only blackness had once encroached.

Wake up, Buir! Buir! Protect you, I will!

This is must be a hallucination, Din thinks, because the pain that colours his side has just blurred his vision fuzzy and dimmed all else around him.

With eyes that have crusted over, he blinks with difficulty and sits up, the noise of the shootout still loud in his ears, except—

Clarity returns incrementally as time ticks by slowly, as though orchestrated by a three-clawed hand that is waving shrapnel through the air in a miniature tornado that has them sitting in its calm eye.

With a flick of the ad’ika’s little arm, the funnel-shaped shrapnel loses its form and falls into a heap by his feet before arrowing upwards in a spectacular rush of speed and descending impossibly fast onto—and into—their would-be captors.

Only when the last Imp falls does the kid slump in exhaustion but not collapse, its slight wheezes and heaves of breath the only sounds echoing through his earpiece. Still, it’s instinct that has Din catching the kid and clutching it tightly to his chest as the baby babbles a mix of mando’a and Basic distractedly and pushes itself into him, before imprinting its claws into the edge of his armour.

The fumble back to the Razor Crest is a slow one, with the kid snoozing in his carrier bag after Din’s repeated assurances that they’re both fine and that yes—they are well clear of enemies.

The doors shut with finality on this godforsaken planet and it’s not a moment too soon as more Imps suddenly enter the arena.

Din busies himself with the take-off protocols before allowing himself the luxury to think in the silence of the cabin once he makes the jump into hyperspace.

“Bad men, they are.”

The soft squawk and the lifted green ears challenge him to deny otherwise.

He’s used to the kid’s random bursts of sentences by now. The kid’s intent is always understandable, even if his syntax defies correction. But it isn’t a moral issue that Din’s going to engage in right now, especially not with a kid who’s just saved both their hides.

So he nods, swivels around and touches a green ear in a way he knows the baby likes.

“You did good, kid. That was a hellhole we just got out of. And thanks to you, no less.”

As though pacified by the Mandalorian’s words, the kid returns to gnawing at the Mythosaur pendant that hadn’t left its neck since Nevarro.

Verd ori'shya beskar'gam.

The words uttered by the Armourer long ago floods his memory banks—words bestowed with restrained approval when he’d once used his smarts to outwit his trainer-captors and not with his weapons in the Fighting Corps.

A warrior is more than his armour.

The kid had proven that in spades.

Whatever the ad’ika had done earlier, this is the clearest and most overt displays of power he’d seen it wield over space and matter. If whatever the kid has done thus far—from moving pieces of toys for its own amusement or turning the flametrooper’s fire back on him—had baffled him or given him pause, it’s today’s show of power that brought a fuller understanding of how the Mandalorians had found the Jetii a fearsome foe.

If the kid had once collapsed after the fight with the mudhorn and slept for days, the energy that it seems to has right now is a clear sign that it’s capable of much, much more than Din could ever have imagined. That it’s only coming into its own now given the exponential rate of its increasing powers is more than unsettling, making the search for its own kind suddenly made much more urgent.

He continues to marvel at the baby’s growth, if it’s still considered a baby at this point in time. He’s flying blind as always, more so with a species whose unknown past is still hidden within the confines of the kid’s mysterious memory banks.

But the kid had grown remarkably in the months he’d left Nevarro, astonishing Din with its mental dexterity and its ability to…do its thing when it wants to.

Din checks the navi comp, mentally cancelling out the planet they’d just taken off from.

One more down, too many more to go.

oOo

10 years, ABY

How the holovid had found its way into a flea market is beyond anyone’s comprehension, but he’d made his purchase on impulse after hurriedly gathering his rations for the next space run, eager to get back to the Razor Crest lest the ad’ika’s latest brand of mischief involving opening and slamming shut the Crest’s various doors damages something permanently and strands them in yet another godforsaken planet.

Labelled nothing more as a training vid for aspiring Force-users and shoved among renowned fake vids, it’s probably worth fewer credits than he’d paid for, but this is the only hot lead that Din had been tossed in a long, long time.

Only when the child’s tuckered out with a full belly does he play it.

The grainy footage, short as it is, is…mesmerising.

It’s merely a static-filled, shaky snippet of a jetii in training, her luminescent, long, blunt-edged sword moving with a hum to deflect blaster shots before they meet their mark, before cutting to a scene where she leaps across the forest floor and onto the branches of primeval trees, each one higher than the other.

But it’s the last scene that threatens the relative stability that both him and the ad’ika had found.

It’s one where the same jetii grimaces—and trembles—in concentration, the gleaming sword held straight in front of her glistening face as she strains forward but makes no progress, as though resisting an invisible mental and physical probe.

A voice from outside the three-dimensional vid commands. “Steady, you will hold. Feel it. Runs though all living beings, it does.”

The jetii breaks, stumbling backward onto the grass as her chest heaves with exhaustion.

Finally, Din puts a face to the squeaky, raspy voice. A green creature with large, pointed ears and wispy white hair ambles into the side of the holovid, wielding a similar-looking, glowing, green blade in its claws—

Forgotten, you have.

The Force is with you, always.

It’s not so much the green creature speaking as it’s a…a reverberating hum in his own head just as the holovid crumbles into thin air at that moment.

Beneath his helmet, Din is sweaty and light-headed, his mind drawing a blank.

The Force. The jetii.

A creed, possibly, or an order, not unlike the Mandalorian Resol’nare that they live by.

More specifically, the older, jetii version of the ad’ika who is presently rushing around the Crest, babbling in its own curious mix of mando’a and Basic and finding new places to start a game of hide and seek.

A teacher of sorts.

As far as he’s concerned, this could be confirmation of more of the ad’ika’s kind out there, and in this short snippet, he’d learned much more about the mysterious, Force-sensitive jetii than anyone had been able to tell him apart from the stories of the Great Purge and the fragmented tales of ancient Mandalore.

It isn’t without a twinge in his gut when he realises that the answer he’s looking could be closer than he thinks.

oOo

11 years, 2 weeks ABY

They are uncomfortably close to a Mid-Rim planetary system that Din would have preferred to forego when the Razor Crest starts to act up.

It leaves him no choice but to guide the Crest into the icy, buffeting winds on Iridonia, a planet he’d judged too inhospitable for him and the kid to stay on, both for its terrain and its native predatory creatures.

The ship turns belly up, then rights itself, free-wheeling as it breaks Iridonia’s atmosphere even with his hands firmly on the landing controls. Swaying in the planet’s gravity pull, it heads straight for a massive, molten lava field south of its equator—

He’s swept left and right, barely hearing the alarmed screeches of the kid as they are nearly tossed off their seats. It’s the tail end of his cloak that the kid falls onto with a displeased, pained squeal, but he doesn’t even have the time to look at it for any injuries as he scrambles to flip several switches with one hand as a last resort while scooping up the ad’ika with the other.

A low whine indicates that the emergency landing gear has kicked in, but a short explosion a few seconds after that and pitch-darkness in the cockpit says that even that’s out of commission.

This is it, Din thinks.

He’s flat out of tricks of his trade.

The last year of his life with a kid that he probably hadn’t done any justice by is going to be snuffed out in a hot, painful burn. Along with a vulnerable, tiny creature that he still knows so little of. The regret that floods him is immense, along with the desperate panic that he could have still saved the child if he’d only—

Two shaking, green hands stretch past his peripheral vision as the kid strains forward with half-closed eyes.

The Razor Crest shudders to a halt in mid-air as the steaming vapours of the lava field obscures its viewport, then glides serenely past the wind storm and into a stable air flow before hovering unsteadily and landing bumpily on a patch of green near a massive body of water.

Whatever the kid does with the Force these days (and it’s getting more and more impressive by the day), it still stuns him speechless. How it’d gotten to a point where it wields this power over space and matter so instinctively and easily is not something he understands and probably can’t ever.

When Din speaks, he’s breathless with awe. “Once again, you’ve saved us, ad’ika.”

The child sags and fidgets drowsily on his lap. “Sleep…buir.”

The kid’s worn himself out this time around and even Din can understand the sheer amount of strength it’d taken to push a ship out of its path and into another.

He sighs and glances down at the snoozing kid.

The repairs that await him are extensive.

There’re some he can do on his own, but others are beyond him. Din only hopes that there’s a port that will stay peaceful long enough for the Crest to get fixed before they’re on their way again.

Luck barely stays on his side when he stumbles across an isolated workshop near a village, though the hostile stares of the humanoids Zabraks keep his hand permanently stayed on his blaster and the other holding the kid’s carrier bag more tightly.

A tall, grizzled native waits for him at tent flap, her pale orange skin oddly glowing in the light pushing the facial tattoos and horns into sharp relief.

“I have seen your ship.”

Din acknowledges her greeting with a curt admission of his own. “We nearly crashed.”

She merely smiles and gestures him in. “I saw this months ago. Come, your ship will be repaired. For now, rest, Mandalorian.”

It’s only after he’s had a meal and taken care of the kid’s needs that the Zabrak tells him of a jungle-covered moon that orbits a red gas giant.

She leans forward, the intensity of her stare somehow penetrating the toughness of his visor. “You are both ready.”

oOo

11 years, 1 month ABY

An ancient structure comes into view when the stars of deep space disintegrate into thick clouds and rain relentlessly pattering the viewport.

Yavin-4 is a cleverly-concealed habitable planet that has been the heart of the Rebellion for a long time and simply being in New Republic territory when he’s merely operated in the Outer Rim is justified cause for nervousness.

He gingerly puts the Razor Crest down on the landing site next to an X-wing but makes no move to lower the ramp. Behind him, the child fusses and fidgets, squawking when it’s unhappy (which is practically most of the time) and barely using the words Din knows it can speak.

Calming the kid down these days is a monumental task.

The ad’ika seems to have regressed in the last two weeks alone ever since they’d left Iridonia, restlessly chirping and babbling gibberish as though it’s trying to erase all the progress it has made since Nevarro.

The kid’s also clinging more than usual to his armour, refusing to sleep on its makeshift cot and insisting on being near him as much as it can. Even now, it toddles towards him, arms outstretched and eyes wide.

Something stirs on this planet despite its surface stillness: a particular sort of energy that rumbles through the mossy ground and saturates the humid air, the sort that lifts the hair on the back of his neck.

If Din has a slight inkling of it, the kid mostly likely feels it everywhere.

He’s got a bad feeling about this—this is the journey that will change the holding pattern that he’d found himself in for the last year or so.

Whatever happens from here onwards hasn’t yet been written.

The finality of the Zabrak’s words is deeply imprinted on to his psyche; months and months of searching is suddenly culminating in something that Din has no words for.

Maybe both him and the kid are not ready for it.

He gently settles the kid in its carrier bag and hits the ramp’s controls. “Ready to go?”

The ad’ika frowns in defiance. “No!”

The kid’s separation anxiety is rearing its head even before anything happens and he commiserates. The bond between them is a life bond—sacred words have been spoken about this and if anything, it’s his fault for not reassuring the child of it ever since they’ve become a clan of two.

Din sighs in empathy. “Neither am I, kid. But it has to be done.”

It does.

There are so many missing pieces here that he needs the answers to and the cloaked spectre—the jetii that he now knows by the name of Luke Skywalker—who awaits him at the structure’s massive entrance might provide them all.

But…

Din weighs the words he’d heard so long ago in his head and tests them on his lips, the feel of them strange on his tongue.

“Whatever it is, the Force will be with you, ad’ika.”

The kid stills suddenly, its ears lifting as he turns to glance at the waiting jetii and then back at his buir.

He tries again, swallowing past the lump in his throat. “Aliit ori'shya tal'din. And I will be with you. Always.”

-Fin

oOo

Tion'ad's ogir – Who’s there? Buir – parent (either father or mother) Jetii – Jedi Verd ori'shya beskar'ga – A warrior is more than his armour Aliit ori'shya tal'din – Family is more than bloodline