#anyway ily all - report back later!

[musette22]

Aaahhh guyssss, I wanna answer some asks (and maybe, you know, make myself some tea or take a bathroom break lol) but I'm on a writing ROLL and I'm scared that if I do anything else right now, I'll lose it again. So I'm just going to focus for a little bit longer and then hopefully be back to answer some messages and stuff a bit later tonight or otherwise tomorrow! 💓

[wheresurboytonighthelookslikeenj]

quick its still may 6 HAPPY BIRTHDAY TTTYG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tttyg is 20 years old on a saturday today!!! and i can't even post about it

OMG TTTYG ILY!! THIS IS NOW MALLOYS OFFICIAL TTTYG POST

[sendyefrogs]

saudade

a/n: WELL. im back! *confetti pops out*. i mean, kinda hehe, apologies im absolutely swamped with school and my degrading mental health :). n e way, this is LONG, because i’ve missed writing a lot <3  wrote this for @sykuui, this is long overdue babe tw: verbal and (probably) physical abuse, kuroo just being a gigantic dick, dont come after me pls ily, cheating, swearing word count: 2K (word vomit ;-;) pairing: kuroo x gn!reader genre: angst (if it’s not very good, pls forgiveness, internet person)

What keeps you up at night?

Gentle snores, his soft hair brushing your arm, muffled breaths reminding you that the world knew not of the Kuroo that slept by you at night, unburdened by the worldly dilemmas. For just a few hours every night, he was yours, through and through, in your arms while the clouds drifted across the jet black sky with no destination, and the moment seemed to freeze.

Love, love for Tetsuro, is what kept you up, and it would never have once crossed your naïve mind that love is what would break you, keeping you up, not for the love you felt, but the love that was torn from you.

Simple signs would not tell you what happened, it came crashing down on you all too quick, for he was proficient at hiding it, behind his caring smiles and affectionate touches. His love wasn’t as pure as yours, he did not yearn for you as you did for him, and it showed, eventually enough. The cracks in the relationship built up gradually, slowly but prominently, too wide for either to bandage up alone, and that is how you found yourselves; alone.

He did try to provide for the both of you as best he could, being the sole income earner, and it didn’t always end well when you expressed that maybe he was too occupied by his office for your liking, unable to care for you as he once did throughout high school, when he was attentive to you no matter when you beckoned.

“Tetsuro, welcome home!” You’ve had a long day and not nearly enough time with your husband, deprived of his peppering kisses and gentle strokes of your hair. You get neither, receiving just a simple grunt, and it is clear he has had a grueling time as well. “Dinner is ready when you want it.” He nods slightly, not making eye contact with you yet, his hair appearing even less groomed than usual. You stand on your tip toes to kiss his forehead, but he shoves you away, harder than playful, glaring at you.

Maybe it’s just weariness, but he makes no attempt to apologize. You blink back the sting of tears, walking towards the kitchen to serve the food that you had learnt to make for him. He’s just tired. I’m sure he didn’t mean to push me away. That was the first tear, in the loosely woven fabric that was your relationship, that began as high school sweethearts but was now, you realized only later, becoming too stifling for Tetsuro.

The steam rose of the bowl of rice and curry, curling around your jawline as you carried it to the tall figure seated at the table, with his head in his palms. “Do you want to talk now, baby?” Your question is only answered with another sound of fatigue. You seat yourself beside him, curling your arms around his bicep, watching him lift the spoon to his mouth, trying to make him comfortable. You wanted to show him that you’d be there when he wanted to share his exhaustion with you, never occurring to you that maybe, it was exhaustion of you that plagued Tetsuro’s mind.

“Y/n, can you please be quiet for once?” It was barely a whisper; you weren’t sure if you heard him right.

“Huh?”

“Just shut up for once, god.” The tears stung again. What was with him today? He seemed genuinely mad, but you didn’t know what you had done to make him behave like this.

Little did you know, it wasn’t actually you, but the idea of you. Kuroo had grown to be frustrated with his daily routine, tired that every day was the same, that his life had lost that spark it had when he peaked in high school, your presence monotonous and the marriage empty. He didn’t want it.

“Tetsuro, why would you-?” His hand swiped out, knocking the bowl off the table, a gasp erupting from your mouth. In that moment, all you can think about is to get as far away from him as possible. There is an uncharacteristic bitterness in his eyes, directed towards you as you lie in his line of vision. You flinch as he raises his hand to run fingers through his hair. Without a second thought, he spits his frustration out at you.

“Y/n, I’ve had a long fucking day, and I don’t need you to make it even worse with your constant questioning.” The chair slides back with a scrape, not unlike the scrape of his words against your soul. There is, and always has been, an insecurity bubbling away in you that maybe you aren’t good enough for Tetsuro, maybe he deserves better, maybe you are too overwhelming for the calm male that now stands enraged in front of you.

“You need to learn to shut the fuck up sometimes, because no one wants to listen to your endless whining. I get it, you need constant reassurance that you’re the perfect partner, but I couldn’t be fucking bothered. And you sure aren’t perfect with how clingy you’re being right now. So shut up, and leave me alone.”

Kuroo knocks over a jug of water on his way out, slamming the door over the sound of it shattering as your sobs rack through your body, dry but hard enough to hurt.

Being furious wasn’t a thought that occurred to you, and whether this was his fault made no difference, because it was yourself you blamed when you found him the next day, with his secretary, the bento lunch you had packed him, to resolve the night’s arguments, spilled over the wooden floor, much like the shattered pieces of your heart.

What broke you, was that there was no chase; Tetsuro didn’t come after you, didn’t try to convince you to stay, didn’t try to explain that this was a mistake, didn’t even try to salvage a nine-year long relationship that he tossed out the window of his high-rise office building, not a single second glance back at the spouse that had supported him through his struggles, through thick and through thin, comforting him when things got tough, consoling him as he lost matches, lost money, lost old friends.

Gratitude wasn’t something he had ever considered. You were always there after all, there to ensure that he was happy, that he was content with his unchanging life, the responsibility of being his unpredictable little spark of excitement weighing down on you.

You were gone that night, with hurriedly packed bags, worn out spirit and tears streaming down your face, sparkling as they dripping onto the marbled floor, sparkling like the diamond of your wedding ring that you left behind on the counter top, with one last admiring glance. It was worth a lot, but not enough for what you were being put through. And recognition of that fact is what liberated you, to start your own life, without a Kuroo Tetsuro.

What keeps you up at night?

Y/n. Bubbling laughter and affectionate aura. Everything that was gone, that now made Kuroo’s life… empty; as empty as he had left the relationship, as empty as the void that was once filled with y/n’s warm smiles, that he now attempted to fill with anyone who would throw themselves at him.

A different face to wake up to everyday, but none of them yours, the only one he longed to see, heart aching as though it might burst out of his chest to find its rightful place with you.

The day after you left, he had had no idea that his life would crumble without you, the backbone around which he organized his life, the foundation for his happiness. He knew it was unfair to put the expectation of his functioning on you, but he did it anyway, and without you, he couldn’t wrap his head around the concept that was independence.

“Tetsuro”, his seventh secretary in two months waltzed into the room, carrying a stack of files, discovering him with his head in his hands, glaring up at the one who dared use the name that you had so loving adorned upon him, the word only perfect on your tongue. “Do you want me to spend the night again? You seem tense.”

Kuroo growled, at the audacity they had, suggesting that they were even worth attempting to comfort him like you did. With a swipe of his hands, he knocked the files off the table, standing up to spit his frustrations out at the secretary.

But one glance at the look of apprehension on their face made him buckle, reminding him of the very last night he spent with you, broken jug, bowl of curried rice upside down on the floor. You; cowering from him, frightened of what he would do to you, flinching as he raised his hand.

Dry choking sobs left his mouth, you were afraid of him, the person you had loved more than life itself, given up everything to make happy, and he had never even uttered a word of gratefulness.

Realization engulfed him, leaving him on his knees. He hadn’t shown you how much he loved you, forgetting or simply just ignoring you.

No wonder you were gone, because what was there to stay for, in the dead-end life that you lived, without a loving husband or self-contentment? What had he done? Why had you stayed for so long?

Why had you stayed up all those nights for him?

Tetsuro never could forget about you, the absence of you gnawing away at him, slowly taking over his life. The final straw that broke him irreparably was you, at the national volleyball match that you attended, not for him, but as a sports reporter, beaming in pride in your professional outfit.

Your independence is what did it, because if you could live without him, it mean you would never return. And why should you, after everything he had done, why should you when you had finally found yourself, why should you when there was nothing to return to?

His eyes followed you around, trying to take in as much of you as he could. Interviewing people, smiling at them, the warm smile that was once only for him. Suddenly, your eyes locked, and he froze, standing close enough to see the hurt swim in yours as you lay them upon him, and the moment was over just as quickly as it began.

“Hajime!” What? Why were you yelling out his name, jumping into his arms, fondly glancing up at him with that adoring look, completely forgetting about the one man that had been missing you for so long? Why weren’t you running back to him instantly? Did you not love him?

But Kuroo knew the truth.

You did love him, just, not anymore. He had lost you the second he took you for granted. And he wanted to yell that he would never do it again, come back to him, please just stay with him, he will always love you.

He couldn’t. The beam reaching from end to end of your glowing face, words bubbling over as Iwaizumi held you close, it was too bright to interrupt. The sparkle in your eyes not unlike the diamond that sparkled on your wedding ring, the one he still kept in his pocket, in hope that you would one day, return to him, forgive him, love him again. But-

Kuroo knew that he didn’t keep you up at night anymore.

[katierosefun]

convoluted superheroes but make it disaster lineage au, some thoughts on their origin stories and how they would become a team: 

“caroline shouldn’t you be writing or reading for your irish lit class” 

“yes but i had a thought” 

no, this isn’t necessarily a marvel au because i feel like crossing.......the mcu and star wars, which are already big franchises, just messes with my head? plus,,,,the mcu just has such distinct character archetypes that i can’t really fit neatly with the clone wars, so here’s just a super convoluted au that could honestly just work as an entirely different story on its own and probably only has enough in common with tcw by like,,,,a thread, but ANYWAYS I AM HERE WITH MORE THOUGHTS OF AN AU AND YOU JUST HAVE TO SUFFER WITH ME!

okay, so anakin’s story is kinda bizarre: 

i mean, he’s the chosen one in star wars and all that with all these freaky far-reaching abilities with the force so i’m not gonna take that away from him--so idk in this universe i’m just gonna say that he’s gonna be like....a mimic. i feel like he would be the kind of person who just steps into a room and absorbs / can mimic the abilities of any other powered human in the room, only like,,,amplify it. he’s tricky to catch because of that, because no one knows what power he might absorb next. 

but i feel like while anakin can certainly show off with this, i think he’ll also at least attempt to be a little private about this? (lmao we know he’s gonna fail though, because  ily anakin  but you’re the worst at keeping secrets). i feel like he would compensate for all the fancy gadgets + stuff, or sometimes just swing into rooms and be like “anyways guys i came up with a new thing” and everyone always stares at him because for some reason, everyone forgets that anakin skywalker is, in fact, a genius who doesn’t necessarily need his powers to be extraordinarily powerful. there’s more to him than just his weird powers, you guys. 

right, so obi-wan: 

every superhero team needs the wise intellectual, and i feel like obi-wan will always be that one person. i feel like his powers would have to complement anakin’s rather well though, since they’re,,,y’know. the team. oh wait shit-- 

okay okay okay (sorry, this is me really just kinda liveblogging my stream of consciousness), but like?? if anakin can amplify powers, i think of obi-wan being the one to muffle them. like, i feel like just touching someone and suddenly boom, no more powers. you’re now forced to fight obi-wan on even ground (lmao). obi-wan doesn’t necessarily absorb the powers like himself, he just...knows how to quiet them enough so that for the next little while, the opponent is absolutely useless. 

i feel like a lot of people wind up underestimating obi-wan that way,,,at first. everyone makes that mistake, but then everyone realizes that oh yeah, anakin skywalker? dangerous dude. but obi-wan kenobi? if you don’t catch where you’re looking, you could very well end up dead if he wanted. 

our feral gremlin ahsoka: 

well, every team needs the youngster who everyone on the team loves, right? idk maybe it’s because of the togruta biology and something about togruta being more balanced than like,,,humans that makes me want ahsoka to be the ultimate stealth person. when i say this, i mean like duh she’s got incredible balance, but i think it would be super cool if she was able to just like.........move through walls. no one ever sees her coming because first of all, she’s kinda small, but second of all,,,,again: you could just be chilling at your computer and suddenly there’s a short girl standing behind you because she just phased through the wall what the-- 

like most teenage superheroes, ahsoka def. seems kinda excited about being the superhero? also mildly exhausted. idk dude, you try doing calc homework and writing a history paper when you’re also trying to keep the world from being taken over by....robots or zombies or whatever. 

some other thoughts that i have but have yet to flesh out because i should probably actually get back to work now: 

rex also absolutely has superpowers, but don’t you dare call him a sidekick. idk why, but i kinda want rex to be one of those people who creates literal earthquakes, kind of like quake from agents of shield. 

cody’s sole superpower is putting up with all the bullshit the rest of the team has. he doesn’t really care he doesn’t have powers, and tbh, everyone’s mildly terrified of the day cody ever gets hit with a freak accident that might make him have powers. 

well, every superhero story needs some reporter of some kind, right? ceo of some big news company padme amidala, who occasionally talks to anakin skywalker and absolutely knows his secret identity within like 2 minutes. 

actually, i totally forgot about whether the superheroes in this world would have secret identities.

i’ve decided. they all have secret identities. 

anakin’s the disaster engineer research person. no one really takes him seriously at work because he’s so freakishly young, but joke’s on them, because he’s saved everyone from evil robots at least ten times now. 

obi-wan by default is always going to be the tired english professor. he knows anakin because anakin’s research facility is literally within the same radius of the university campus. 

ahsoka goes to the high school nearby the school. she absolutely did not mean to meet anakin and obi-wan and rex, but okay, she just saw the fire in the school library and someone had to pull the students out, so it had to be her, and she might have tried to pull obi-wan and anakin out before obi-wan accidentally muffled her powers and then anakin got her powers, and then they were all SCREECHING AT EACH OTHER BECAUSE 

“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO” 

“I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING” 

“WAIT YOU HAVE POWERS?” 

“WAIT DO YOU?” 

“CAN WE DO THIS LATER???” 

[sweettodo]

waitwaitWAITTT I got an idea👹

sOoo

a hc where Levi / Eren / Armin / Mikasa ‘s S/O was reported missing on an expedition—and about a week (or something idk) later, their S/O came back.

THAT WAS ALL I HAD IM SO SORRY ANYWAYS UHM HI ILY TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF.

HIII how are you? and i hope you’re taking care of yourself as well pls ily. here you go kitten :D

- “get off of me! i told you! i told you something was wrong!” tearing and prying against his fellow scouts. multiple people needed to hold eren down, he was determined to go find you himself. there is no way you’d just not come back with the group, something was wrong.

- warning him multiple times to stay out while a group went out looking for you after getting separated from the group. he was a rabid animal, not stopping until measures had to be taken.

- he ended up being handcuffed so he wouldn’t turn into titan for to jump over the wall himself and look for you, screaming at anyone who came close to him to unlock him.

- day by day eren turns more and more mad, breaking the handcuffs and escaping, prying open the door they were keeping him locked behind.

- soon a week goes by, your boyfriend won’t leave his bed, eat, shower, he doesn’t talk to anyone as he believes that you’re dead- eaten up by a titan.

- he cries almost all day, stuck under the blankets in his room as he refuses to accept his own reality. he doesn’t even know how he can make it through the day at this point.

- the day a group goes out to try and locate you, you find yourself speeding down a trail on the back of your horse, blood all over you, clothes torn, dirt in every crevice of your beaten and bruised body.

- eren’s door swings open, he doesn’t bother moving, you cry out to him and he’s jumping out of bed, arms engulfing you as you finally reunite with eren.

- eren a crying mess, his bones still week from the cuffs, and then not moving at all, he could pass out from seeing you again, like you came, swooped him up and saved his life.

- pacing back and fourth around the room, his hands ripping at his scalp as hes hyperventilating, realizing you were well over your mission time. you should’ve been back.

- no one attempts to talk to him, knowing he will not reciprocate.

- brainstorming on where you are, how long you can go without water, food, are you with your horse? are you hurt?

- he didn’t sleep, constantly on his feet, meeting with levi and some more cadets, he needed to save you as soon as possible.

- although he tried to keep alert, his head was spinning, he didn’t even know if he were really blinking or not, was he even awake?

- day by day, no sleep, repeat, no sleep, repeat, his hands trembling as he imagines the worst, you were gone.

- you fought like hell, trying to avoid titans as you huddled under trees or behind rocks, drinking and eating what you could get your hands on, only knowing what and what not to eat because armin taught you everything you needed to know.

- you were staying strong for armin, but it was hard. no way to get back home because your horse had been hurt, gear demolished, no weapons, a missing shoe.

- only moving at night, you knew that’s when armin would come. if he ever planned on it. you walked silently across a field, shivering, half asleep, praying someone would help.

- armin along with your friends are looking for you, a week later and they execute a plan check the nearby areas to make sure you weren’t dead.

- he sees you first, screaming out to you, horses charging towards you, you begin to sob, seeing armin jump off his transportation and run towards you, picking you up off the ground.

- her body flinging over the wall, no one able to tell her otherwise as mikasa is off to look for you.

- you were gone for a day now, mikasa determined that you were alive, you’re so strong.

- alone, she’s off to search for you, her stomach in twists as she held back tears. she searches high and low, she couldn’t protect you. she wanted to scream.

- this was her fault, how could she not be here for you? why didn’t she come searching earlier?

- she tried to get some sleep when the night came, but as the slightest snap of a branch she was up and awake, not able to sleep. she walked through the trees, trying to look for any human existence out here.

- she beat herself up, every day she was out here alone to think about how much of a fuck up she was, it was her job to protect you and she failed. she needed to find you. now.

- “i’m so stupid. so fucking stupid.” she repeated over and over- every day until she saw that you were close. you were alive.

- another day, nearing closer and closer to you, her stomach begging her for food, how long had it been? mikasa was ready to drop from exhaustion, but she couldn’t. you were too fucking close, you could be alive.

- seeing your enitials carved into the tree, mikasa nearly jumped out of her skin.

- calling out your name until she saw you running towards her, immediately running into her arms, she repeatedly told you that she would never leave you. ever.

- “do not rest until you find her!” levi shouts, scouts on scouts dispersing into groups to search for you.

- an hour after he noticed you were missing, he was sending everyone out, he could not lose you. not you.

- pleading with god- if there was one- to please keep you alive.

- he would check behind every wall, abandoned house, making sure he wouldn’t miss you.

- his mouth dry, commanding orders left and right, the search crew was not to sleep until they found you. there was no way he was going to lose you. not with levi in charge.

- he was far from tired, his eyes and face beat red from the harsh slapping of the wind.

- day and night, they were looking for you. you didn’t know where you were. all you knew was you were huddled behind a rock, fainting in and out on consciousness with no awareness around you.

- around the 4th day, you heard hooves, tons of them, you couldn’t make any notice, but you knew this was when he would find you.

- “y/n! y/n! fire it, Jean!” Connie’s screaming, the green signal flying towards the sky, people surrounding you as you dozed off.

- “where? where is she?!” levi’s shouting, leaping off his horse to head towards everyone, Connie holding you as he’s meeting outside the line of trees, shoving your weak body into levi’s shaking arms.

- “it’s okay. you’re okay, don’t worry y/n.” he kissed youre forehead, thanking god he didn’t lose you, he wouldn’t know what he would do if he lost you, the love of his life.

[krabstick32]

MWAHAHA I'VE BEEN WAITING (✷‿✷) Can I ask for a Giyuu who decided he wants to try befriending the newest Pillar since she's pretty quiet (and also pretty cute UwU haha jk) but whenever he tries to come forward and talk to her she either doesn't respond or runs off looking embarrassed. Finally he asks one of the Pillars for help and they sort of break it to him that Reader just lost her voice in a battle before being a Pillar and is very shy because she doesn't know how to talk to people. Thanks!

Demon Got Your Tongue?

Requested by: @trueblueoceaneyes​​

Pairing: Giyuu x Reader  Synopsis: Giyuu wants to make a friend. Who knows, maybe you’ll end up as more.

Tags/warnings: I don’t think there are any, but reader isn’t able to talk (i’m very sorry if I wasn’t able to portray that properly!) and there are also references to the Giyuu Gaiden—but its not necessary to read that to understand this

A/N: WAAAA Thank you so much for being my first request girl!! As expected, your ideas are just *chef’s kiss* magnifique. ily, hope i did your request justice and that you like it uwu. 

I had so much fun writing Giyuu just being an awkward dork, and the bonus - especially the bonus. (also, pls excuse any mistakes, i feel like i passed over some) Anyway, please enjoy!!

edit: so i reread it, and there were some mistakes. apologies to the people who have read this prior the edit—the edits are very minor, but again, i am sorry _:(´□`」 ∠)_

Giyuu was a man who valued his silence and solitude.

From the start, he made it pretty obvious to the other Pillars that he wanted to be left alone and wanted nothing to do with them. And from that sort of attitude, they were able to conclude that while he was an amazing swordsman, he preferred to work alone, go on missions alone, and just generally be alone.

They knew next to nothing about the man, apart from his breath style and stoic personality—and he preferred it that way. Giyuu knew that getting close to others was a troublesome affair, and it always ended up in someone getting hurt. 

When he saw you though, it’s like he knew that the cold facade he put up was a lie.

Normally, Pillar meetings only happened at the end of every other month for regular reports and for the others to catch up and to exchange information. This time, however, Oyakata-sama called for them to introduce a new member that would stand among them as a new Pillar. 

Oyakata-sama introduced you as he did the others, stating your name, and your position as the Thunder Pillar, as well as telling you the names and positions of the current Pillars.

You seemed to be more on the quiet side, with only a soft, somehow strained smile painting your face set with admittedly attractive features. A young woman who was most likely around the age of nineteen or twenty, with a slightly hunched frame, and a death grip on the hem of your (f/c) haori sleeve. You seemed shy and nervous, but all of them knew that you must have possessed extraordinary skills to be able to reach the rank of a Pillar.

Giyuu stamps down an odd itch to stand and walk over to you, staying still as Oyakata-sama calls out his name for you.

Your introduction ended with a kind smile, and a question from the master. He asked if you were willing for a demonstration of your skills, to which you agree with a shy smile and a soft nod.

Unsheathing your sword, you took a deep breath—a loud whistling sound that seemingly shook the air and shocked the Pillars. For the shy woman they saw mere minutes ago to make such a loud sound with just breathing was a curious sight… but then suddenly, you were gone, only faint images of you visible all around the Ubuyashiki’s garden as you performed all six forms of the Thunder Breath.

You were quick and agile, possibly the fastest among all ten of you.

Everyone could hear the loud roll of thunder, but a quick look at the sky showed them that there was no storm—only you performing in the clearing, a dance so graceful and deadly. Despite having a hard time catching your movements, everyone was absolutely mesmerized by the sheer power you displayed, accompanied by the palpable static in the air. 

When you finished, everyone was staring with large eyes—even Giyuu was a little slack-jawed at your performance. You blushed with the weight of everyone’s stare while the master thanked you and urged you to take a seat.

You didn’t want to force your presence or insert yourself between anyone, so you resolved to take your place at the edge of the line-up. It was a tough choice though because one side had two men who seemed to scowl at the ground or at you, while the other had a man who looked impassive with blue eyes and black hair that contrasted well with his pale skin.

He seemed like he wanted to be left alone, but you’d rather sit beside him than feel the sharp glares of who you recalled were the Wind and Serpent Pillars on the other side.

Even if you made up your mind, you still flush as you kneel beside the attractive man; Giyuu wonders why his heartbeat seems to pick up.

The meeting didn’t take long, as the sole purpose of it was to introduce you and let everyone get acquainted, so Oyakata-sama ended it without any excess fanfare, taking his leave to allow the ten of you to mingle.

All of the Pillars rushed over to you, and Giyuu noticed how you jumped at their enthusiasm. There wasn’t any ill-intent—they were only eager to meet you, but you didn’t seem to be used to having eight people talk to you all at once, with how your mouth seemed to open and close like a fish.

The Water Pillar really wanted to talk to you for some odd reason, but seeing as how you already seemed extremely overwhelmed, he decided to do that later—maybe once the others let you breathe—and opted to stand by the sidelines. Not a minute later, however, three crows came flying by, one perching on his shoulders, one on Muichirou, and the other on Sanemi.

“Head to the forest by the town up… northeast!” His crow, Kanzaburo, squawked. “By the town northeast, children disappear! children disappear!”

He wasn’t able to hear what the other crows assigned to the Wind and Mist Pillars, but he was a little disappointed. He really wanted to talk to you, for a reason he could puzzle out later, but that would have to happen on another day.

He still had a job to do.

The next time Giyuu sees you is a couple of weeks later at a decently sized town.

He received notice from his crow that there was a demon trying to make this village its territory, which left him where he was now. The sun was out shining brightly, so he was using the time to gather intel by listening around for any mention of strange disappearances or odd sightings. He didn’t want a repeat of what happened to him at that town with the Matagi Hunters and Shinobu, so he stayed within hearing range, acting as inconspicuous as he could with a sword strapped to his side.

From the corner of his eye however, he catches something familiar—a trail of (h/c) hair and (f/c) haori.

Was that…?

Moving at a reasonable pace, he weaves around wandering merchants and people, slightly hoping for any other sign of you. He tried to be as polite as he could in moving around, but it seems that he already lost you once he reached the end of the crowd.

He heaves a heavy sigh after taking a seat on a bench far from the bustle, and the information, but it was about time for a break anyway.

What was it about you?

Why was he so curious to talk to you? Why was he so drawn as to chase after what he thought was you? There was something about you that made him want to get closer, to get to know you, even though he stopped himself a long time ago from forming connections to others.

Was it the strength you displayed? Was it your quiet disposition? Your pretty face?

He hoped he wasn’t as superficial to be drawn by that last one. You were pretty yes and he was willing to admit that, but he hoped that he wasn’t as shallow to want to talk to you for your looks. And yes, you were strong, but so were the other Pillars, and a lot of other demon slayers, but he didn’t feel the same pull to them as he did to you.

Giyuu throws his hands in the air. Making friends and thinking about you was making his head spin. “Focus, Giyuu.” He scolds himself and opens the wrapper of his salmon-filled rice ball.

He was about to take a bite when again, from the corner of his eye, he saw a trail of (h/c) hair and (f/c) haori. Giyuu immediately whirls his head to make sure if it was actually you and calls out before he could think about his actions. “(L/N)-san!”

When you turn around at the sound of your name, you gripped your sword in surprise only to face a pair of familiar blue eyes, and a haori split in two.

Giyuu turns back to his opened rice ball, quickly wrapping it back closed, and stands abruptly, jogging to where you were standing.

“I’m not sure if you remember but, I wasn’t able to personally introduce myself last time. My name is Giyuu Tomioka, and I’m the Water Pillar.” Giyuu wanted to give himself a pat on the back. He sounded literate.

Of course, you remember him. You kind of wanted to say that it was stupid of him to think that he was forgettable. You remember feeling a little disappointed when he left before you had a chance to talk to him. But you immediately squashed down that feeling because you could talk to him now—!

Giyuu pauses, waiting for you to reply as you seem to look for something at your side, but your eyes widen and seem to look at everywhere but him. “Is there anything wrong?” He asks and worriedly watches as your face turns into a deep red.

You raise both your hands in front of you and shake your head, even if there really was something wrong. You start to amble backward—and Giyuu couldn’t see it, but you could feel your palms and your forehead sweating bullets—an apology at the tip of your tongue, that would never be heard.

“(L/N)-san?” At the sound of his voice, you bowed deeply, almost at a ninety-degree angle from the ground. Giyuu was trying to process the reason you were bowing so deeply that he didn’t even realize that you’ve already turned around and scurried out of there.

The Water Pillar was confused out of his wits. He rubs the back of his neck, his eyes blinking and squeezing shut, before ultimately collapsing back at the bench he was sitting on. “Was it something I said?”

Maybe his habit of pushing others away was catching up to him.

The sun sets not long after Giyuu finishes his salmon rice ball.  He pushes his encounter with you at the back of his mind as he places the folded wrapper into his uniform pocket and moves towards the portion of the forest he heard townspeople gossip about. On the way, he could see that people were already closing up shops and walking hurriedly to their homes.

At the edge of the forest, Giyuu feels the tangible difference in the air and tenses up once he senses the demon. The presence felt so thick, that the raven-haired man was itching to cut the air with his Nichirin blade.

This isn’t good.

He fastens his pace and he grips his sword tighter, his heart already pounding a mile a minute despite keeping his stoic expression. It almost felt like the demon was already there at his side, surrounding him with its presence.

He stops at a clearing, a round opening with barely any moonlight seeping through, and stops when he spots his target. He unsheathes his blade and rushes in with his sword held high.

Not even a meter from the demon, he hears a growl, and a hand darts out managing to snag the exposed sleeve of the skin of his face. Immediately, he twists his body into a flip, before landing deftly on his feet, safe from a distance away. He wanted to scold himself for being caught off guard by something he should have easily sensed.

So there were tw- no, now there were three.

As he was moving into a defensive stance, he didn’t notice the two demons regroup and he sure as hell didn’t notice a third one join in.

Giyuu parries an incoming attack and dodges a cheap hit they tried to land. He sees an opening when the three try to surround him, breathing quick and deep as he jumps up and slashes one body into multiple parts.

Water Breathing Fourth Form: Striking Tide!

The head drops with a loud thump, and when two more appear in place as the severed body parts start to disintegrate, Giyuu just wants to groan out loud.

There were now four when there were previously three, and at this point, Giyuu was certain that there were more hiding in between the trees and the blind spots of his vision. He couldn’t stay on the defensive forever, and going on the offensive when there were others left too many openings for his liking.

One of the demons was about to try and swipe a hit while Giyuu was distracted with parrying. The arm was an inch away, but with the roll of thunder and a flash of lightning, the arm previously reaching for him sat torn on the ground.

You rushed into the clearing in a blazing glory once you sensed a demon on your patrol around town. In the heat of the battle, you leave your embarrassment and stand defensively against his back, and in an impulsive thought, Giyuu connects the fact that you might have been sent to the same mission he was on.

Ah, maybe that was why he saw you in town.

You were sent on the same mission; perhaps to cooperate—he did go on missions with the others Pillars at times despite wanting to work alone—but if that was the case, it didn’t explain why you ran from him earlier. Maybe you only realized it now too?

Regardless, he was incredibly grateful you arrived when you did because about fifteen more dropped into the clearing.

One ordinary demon was usually no trouble for demon slayers, but having multiple of them like this was a little trickier. They fought dirty, desperate for survival, and it was so, so easy to make mistakes in the heat of the battle—even for the higher ranked and, in extension, more experienced members of the corps like them.

Having a large group of demons like this was strange though because demons preferred to move alone or at least in smaller groups of two or three, at most six. This is probably the most Giyuu has seen in one place.

The two of you were a blur as an unspoken agreement passed. He’d deal with half, and you would deal with the other, and with that all sorted out, the fight was over in a little less than twenty or so minutes, both your swords being sheathed into its respective scabbards.

Giyuu gulps in a breath of air, his hands over his knees as he wheezes out a few words. “Thank you for the help (L/N)-san, one of them almost got me.”

Your heart beats a little faster—not from the battle but from the soft, relieved smile on Giyuu’s face. Why didn’t he smile more often? He looked absolutely beautiful.

“Oh, are you alright?” His eyes widen at the bleeding cut on your right arm. You almost wanted to laugh, because he looked much worse than you did with bleeding scratches that marred his handsome face. 

A chuckle escapes your lips and you dust off your right hand on the fabric of your uniform, reaching down the pocket of your skirt to pull out a pristine handkerchief. Gently, you press it to his bloody wound, and the warmth from his skin seeping through the fabric felt pleasant against your cool fingers.

You hold it there, discreetly checking over him for any more wounds and time seems to pass by the both of you.

Giyuu swallows nervously. His stomach was flipping around, but he was sure he had no wounds around that area. “(L/N)-san?” 

You seem to snap out of it when he calls your name, your hand flinching away from his face and the handkerchief sticking from the blood. He could see the red rush to your neck and up your cheeks, to the tips of your ears. You looked kind of cute.

He stares at you as you move forward in your odd ninety-degree angle bow, and was about to ask why you were bowing, but only realized too late what you were doing once you ran off. Again.

His old crow perches wearily on his shoulder, seeming to huff before delivering a message Giyuu had already anticipated.

“Pillar Meeting! Pillar Meeting! Arrive three hours before noon!” He was aware that the Pillar Meeting was today. The only reason he wasn’t rushing to get there was that he didn't want to arrive only for it to be canceled, or moved at another time. That would be a waste of time.

“Thank you, Kanzaburo.”

Pillar Meetings usually happened in the daytime, mostly in the morning. Sometimes it’s at high noon, or when dawn breaks, maybe even before the sun sets, but rarely at night. That was when they were on duty after all, and those only happen in the direst of situations.

He arrived just on time. The others were already gathered loosely in the line-up formation they unspokenly kept, making small talk over matters Giyuu couldn’t hear. You weren’t there though. You were most likely late, but that didn’t stop him from letting his shoulders sag in slight disappointment. He was hoping to talk to you before the meeting started.

It was just his luck that you arrived a minute before Oyakata-sama did when he was already making a move to walk over to you.

He swallows down a sigh as he kneels at his spot at the edge of the line-up between Uzui and you. Giyuu liked being at the edge or at the farthest side of any kind of gathering because it always provided him with an opening to leave when he wanted, but with your newfound presence on his left side, he finds himself not minding as much as he thought he would.

The meeting carried on as usual, almost as if you were always there in the first place. One by one, the other Pillars gave their oral reports of the past month, and when Giyuu was done relaying his information, including that mission with you, he was a little surprised when you stood from your position beside him and walked towards the master’s seat when he gave a nod with his comforting smile in your direction.

You reach in your pocket and pull out a pristine roll of paper with the barest mark of black ink bleeding through. It was tied with a red braided cord that the master pulls when you hand it to him with a respectful bow. The master asks one of his children at his side to take it and read the contents.

Giyuu was a little confused. The others didn’t seem to find it odd, he notes when he takes a quick glance at his comrades. But he wonders why you didn’t speak choosing to hand in a written report. He decides to push it out of his mind. It wasn’t his business anyway.

Everything continues on, the meeting ending not long after that. All of the Pillars stood and bowed as Oyakata-sama left with the help of his children, as per usual, but Giyuu has never felt so relieved when the meeting finished as he did now.

The others were already talking among themselves while four of them left for missions assigned directly during the meeting, leaving him, you, Gyomei, Kyojurou, Mitsuri, and Muichirou. Normally, this is where Giyuu would take his leave, with or without the excuse of a mission, but to everyone’s surprise, he stays and walks up to you.

He stops at a respectable distance from you and nods politely at your right arm. “I hope your arm is okay.”

The Pillars pretended that they weren’t listening in (though Muichirou didn’t have to because he was already busy staring at the clouds) and they were doing their best to carry on a half-hearted conversation to keep up with the guise that they were minding their own business.

Your slightly spooked expression morphs into a small smile—Giyuu couldn’t help but think that you had a lovely smile—and your mouth opens, almost on its way to producing a word towards him. He didn’t notice it, but he was leaning a little closer in anticipation of the sound of your voice.

It immediately shuts back down, however, and your cheeks flush a charming shade of red as embarrassment flits across your face. Instead of speaking, you give him a respectful nod, pointing to his bandaged face, and giving a thumbs up. Then you turn back to the others with a small wave of your hand before you’re suddenly gone, your body bowing yet again as you move incredibly fast to the garden gates.

Everyone watches the gates you pushed open swing back close with a creak that sounded all over the garden.

Giyuu wanted to slap himself.

His mind flashes back to the conversation he had with Kyojuro and Mitsuri as he was walking at a bustling street in a village on the way back to his estate. He felt incredibly stupid that he was only able to connect the dots when someone spelled it out for him.

Giyuu, Kyojurou, and Mitsuri sit around the training room of the Love Pillar’s estate.

Giyuu wandered into Mitsuri’s home after he decided to ask for advice, help, anything at all to understand what he was doing wrong. You seemed close to the pink-haired woman—you two were always beside each other before and after meetings after all—and he thought that Mitsuri was nice and cheerful, so maybe asking her for advice about you wouldn’t be so bad.

When Mitsuri opens her door, she’s shocked to see the Water Pillar standing there. “Wah! Tomioka-san!”

“Uh, hello, Kanroji-san,” Giyuu greets awkwardly. “I have a question to ask you.”

“Oh, of course, no problem, come on in! I was about to make some food for us!”

He didn’t account for the fact that Mitsuri might have company over so when he sees Kyojuro after Mitsuri leads him to her training room, it seems that he would have to settle for talking to both the Love Pillar and the Flame Pillar. Oh well, having two opinions was better than one. He hoped that saying was true.

“Oh, Tomioka! Did you come to train? Kanroji and I are just taking a break if you want to spar.” Kyojuro asks when the Water Pillar takes a seat.

“No, I… just wanted to ask for some advice.”

Mitsuri must have heard all the way from her kitchen because not a moment too soon, she barges through the door with three plates in hand piled high with food. “Advice?! Is that related to your question?” Giyuu nods and takes the plate she offered. “Well, ask away—I love these kinds of things!”

He starts by recalling the day of the mission he had with you. How he called out for you to formally introduce himself in the afternoon, how he asked if you were alright in the evening after the battle with nearly twenty demons, and how you ran away from him both times with your tail between your legs. He ends with his painfully one-sided conversation with you after the meeting a few days ago, and the ever-present question of why you keep running away. (But Mitsuri and Kyojuro already knew about that part—Tomioka speaking to anybody on his own volition was a rare sight. Of course, they listened in.)

This was the most Mitsuri and Kyojuro ever heard Giyuu speak, though and they reckon it was the most he’s ever spoken at all. But they brush that off and look at each other, deciding if they should tell him what they thought everyone already knew.

“Well, you see…” Mitsuri plays with the hem of her uniform. “Tomioka-san… (Y/N) lost her voice in a battle with a lower moon. She won and became a Pillar because of it, but…”

By the slight widening of his eyes, they were able to confirm that no, he didn’t know.

Kyojuro draws his brows together, swallowing a bite of food from the plate Mitsuri handed him. “Though, it’s odd that she keeps running away. (Y/N)’s shy—that much is obvious, but she was able to talk to us. She uses this large notepad, almost the size of my arm, but she rarely uses it because she says it’s a bother to carry around.” 

“Maybe she was embarrassed?” Mitsuri hmm’s for a moment at her mentor. She taps a finger on her chin, her head tilted slightly to the side as she suggests. But then she gasps, leaning closer to inspect Tomioka in a new light. “Or maybe she likes you! Wahh~”

“Oh gods,” he says, ignoring the last bit before dropping his head on his hands. “(L/N)-san can’t speak?”

You couldn’t talk.

He felt like the biggest asshole in the entire world and felt absolutely terrible for the many times he expected you to reply to him—that was rude and thoughtless of him. 

Ignorance would never be an excuse for his insensitivity, but It was just like him to mess up this badly the first time he genuinely wanted to talk to his peers.

Though, he could only imagine what you felt.

Banging his head on the wall sounded like a mighty fine idea, but doing that in the middle of a busy street might make people think that he was crazy. Not that he really cared for what people thought of him but that might get him tied up for prison. He still wasn’t over that mission.

On his way back to his estate, he sees a man his age gesturing in strange motions with his hands towards a kid, around eight or ten years old. He watches as the man and the kid form figures with their palms and fingers, letting them move towards their mouth, their chest, parts around their faces, in turns. The Water Pillar has seen it before, but only now, with the revelation he just had an hour prior, did he ever question it. What were they doing with his hands? It’s almost as if they were…

“You need something, Boy?” A lady behind him speaks.

The raven-haired man jolts in surprise, and the voice laughs. He didn’t notice that he was staring, nor blocking the entrance of a shop.

Giyuu turns to find a kind-looking elderly woman, leaning over the stall of her shop watching the kid interact with the man who he presumed was a relative.

“Ah no, I’m sorry.”

She waves off his apology and grins when she notices that she got the attention of the fine-looking young man standing in front of her shop. “It’s amazing, huh? Talking with the use of hands. Pretty useful if I do say so myself.”

Getting out of the way and moving to a polite distance, closer to the shop, Giyuu asks politely, “What are they doing exactly?”

“You must be new around here huh? Explains why I’ve never seen that face.” No, he just didn’t leave in the day that often, even if the village was right down the hill of his estate. “They’re talking, I reckon—‘bout what can’t say for sure. I’ve only caught a few gestures when that little boy drops by.”

“Oh.”

“It’s a shame though, his brother—the young man—can’t speak, but on the bright side, they can communicate at least. Those fancy gestures they’re doing are pretty fascinating, you’d have to admit.” Both of them turn back to the kid and his brother.

“It is.” Giyuu agrees because it is amazing. Talking without the use of voices, only with the use of movements. There was something elegant about the way their hands would move around, how the expressions on their faces seemed to also be included in how they communicated. He found it absolutely mind-blowing that the way they gesture around carries an entire language.

When he turns back to the old woman, only then did he notice her wares and the items on display around the shelves. Maybe he could make it up to you.

“Is this for sale?” He asks, and the woman laughs loudly.

“Of course it is Boy, this is a shop after all.” She ushers him further into her store. She knows that look on his face, and old women like her were always eager to help a young man in love treat his lady right.

You were training in the courtyard of your estate when a loud knock stops you from swinging.

The training sword in your grasp drops unceremoniously as you grab the small towel on your engawa, wiping at your face. You would normally shout that you were going to get the door but there was the issue of your voice, and the Thunder estate was too big…

You try to drown out your negativity by rushing to the door before your visitor left. The door swishes open, and to your complete and utter embarrassment, the Water Pillar was there.

Oh Gods, was he here to call you a total dunce for running away from him?

“Ah, (L/N)-san, sorry to barge in on you but I wanted to a —um… t-talk? Just for a bit. It’ll be quick, I promise.” He sounds nervous—even if his face was still a little blank—but you give him a nod, and timidly move aside to let him in. He says a quick thank you before setting his zori to the side of your entrance.

As you lead him to your engawa, you could feel your nerves start to fray and short-circuit. You gesture for him to take a seat while you point to your home, wordlessly telling him to wait.

When you come back from the kitchen with a tray of tea, you hand him a cup before taking a seat a few feet away from him. You faintly hear his sharp inhale before he turns to you and speaks. “Um, I’m really sorry if I offended you on our past encounters. I didn’t know that you couldn’t… couldn’t speak.”

You were relieved that he didn’t seem to be here to call you out, but you were quick to move and shake your head and your hands from side to side. No, it’s not your fault! you would have said, but you hoped that your actions were enough to speak for you.

“No, it is, I’m really sorry. It was rude and inconsiderate of me, and I hope you could forgive me.” He bows a little, and you were starting to get a little flustered. “I know it’s not much, but I hope you’ll take these as a token of my apology.”

You watch as he fumbles with his pocket, and brings out a nicely wrapped paper bag. Gingerly, you take it when he offers it to you, and wordlessly ask if you could open it.

He nods and you peek into the contents. Inside was a stack of small paper bound together by string and designed with fabric the same pattern as your haori, and a small metal pen set with simple but delicate carvings.

“It’s a small notebook and a fountain pen,” Giyuu explains, rubbing the nape of his neck with his hand. He could feel the skin burning along with his ears. “It’s small enough to put in the pocket of our uniform, so you could bring it around. I thought that you could use it to talk with others, but in hindsight, maybe you already have one of those. You don’t have to use it of course, but it would be nice if you did, but you don’t have to feel obligated to or—!”

A small giggle escapes your lips, and you flip open the pretty notebook he gave you and uncapped the pen, writing down words in your neat script. You show what you’ve written to him, a pink blush coloring your cheeks.

[Thank you, I love it! This is so much easier to bring than a large notepad and a bulky bottle of ink. I’ll be sure to bring it with me always!]

The Water Pillar lets out a breath he didn’t know he’s been holding and his face unconsciously morphs into a small smile, warming his cold facade by a mile. “I’m glad. I could bring you there if you run out of pages. If you’d like.”

The blush deepens as you turn back to the notebook.

[I would like that.]

BONUS:

The Pillars were no longer surprised when you and Tomioka entered the Ubuyashiki’s garden together. It’s been like that for the past couple of meetings, and finally, they were able to get used to the cold, stoic, normally silent Giyuu Tomioka talking to the warm, shy, and more social (Y/N) (L/N). Everyone found it ironic though that the Thunder Pillar who could no longer speak was more talkative than the Water Pillar who could.

These past few meetings have also been different than the first two you participated in. You were more open and seemed to be smiling more. You even showed them the thoughtful gifts Giyuu gave you—though that was more of an accident than anything.

“Oh, (F/N)-chan!” Mitsuri squeals when you habitually pull out the notebook and the pen from your pocket to answer a question Uzui asked you. You were used to using the notebook to talk with others now. “That’s a really pretty notebook! Where did you buy it?”

The answer you were in the middle of writing sits unfinished as you move to answer Mitsuri’s question first.

[Ah, I didn’t get it, Giyuu gave it to me.]

Everyone was paying attention to your little notebook — it was actually really nice of them to be paying such close attention to your words when you couldn’t speak — and their eyes seemed to bug out of their sockets when they read the name ‘Giyuu’.

The Pillars’ heads immediately dart over to the man in question, and Giyuu immediately turns his face to the side, pretending like he wasn’t embarrassed. He wasn’t fooling anyone, with how red his ears appear to be.

Mitsuri inwardly screeches at the Water Pillar’s expression (but Obanai seems to have noticed anyway). She couldn’t keep it in though when she and the others turned back to you, your cheeks painted a charming shade of red.

When you arrived early or had no mission after a meeting, you would even show them a few signs from the new language you’ve been learning. Japanese Sign Language, as you and Giyuu would call it. Sometimes, he would join in if there was one you forgot.

“That’s interesting,” Muichiro says, actually looking at you instead of the clouds.

”I never knew you could talk with your hands!” Kyoujuro looks down at his hands, as he repeats one of the signals you just taught them. “It’s spectacular!”

“Yes, it is.” Shinobu agrees, an idea forming in her head—maybe she could suggest sign language to some of her patients who lost the ability to speak. “You should teach us any more you learn (F/N)-chan. It would be nice if we could talk that way, and I could teach some of my patients too!”

You would pull out your notebook though when you didn’t know how to sign what you had to say.

[It’s all thanks to Giyuu! When we’re both free, we go down together to the village close to his estate and learn from one of the people there. Oh, that’s also the village where he got this notebook for me!]

That was news to them. First, the gift, and now the two of you were together even in your spare time? Though, they had to admit that it was incredibly sweet of him to accompany and learn along with you, even if he didn’t have to. And they also found it cute when he would unconsciously turn to you, touching you gently, and moving your hands to the proper position. But Obanai and Sanemi would never admit that. They would rather fight an upper moon.

Occasionally after meetings, they would spot the two of you standing off to the side. Both of your hands would be moving around, a little too fast for them at times to really analyze what you two were talking about, but there were moments—and Mitsuri would swear on her life with this—where those hands didn’t move.

They would only hold onto each other, calloused thumbs brushing past each other’s knuckles. It was like the two of you were absorbed in your own world.

There was even this one time when she thought she saw Giyuu kiss your forehead. (Later on, you two would explain that you thought no one was looking. You were hiding behind your notebook in embarrassment, while Giyuu’s face was flushed— as red as an apple).

Nobody knew this (well maybe you did — you had a knack for being able to understand Giyuu, with or without the help of signing or speaking), but Giyuu craved for interactions, even if he was successful in making others believe he didn’t. He was glad you saw through him though, and you were glad he let you into his world.

But no, what got their attention wasn't the two of you walking in together, it was your hands—your hands that used to be a few feet apart in constant movement were now all joined and tangled fingers. And what’s more, was that Tomioka was smiling. It was probably at something you said, nothing new, but a closer look told them that he was smiling, because you were holding his hand.

The meeting started later than usual. Not even Oyakata-sama’s presence was enough to stop the questions his cute little swordsmen have been dying to ask the two of you for months.

It was further pushed when Mitsuri screamed looking away from the huddle she and the other pillars were in, pointing to you who just pulled away from kissing Giyuu’s cheek (you two thought you were being discreet). “See? I’m right, now pay up people! And stop calling me crazy!“ 

She was 5,000 yen richer by the time the meeting started, and she fully intended to spend it on sakura mochi.

A/N:  Even if it was in the tags and the ask, I tried to reveal that bit of info as giyuu discovered it, so I hope some of you were still surprised (even just a little!!) when it was revealed that Reader couldn’t talk. Again, I hope you enjoyed, and thank you to @trueblueoceaneyes for the request uwu (requests are still open!!)

[aitarose]

hi! i’ve been so inactive lately and wanted to post something today, and i realized i haven’t made an appreciation post for my moots in a hot minute—so hey hotties, here’s some cute words about uu. oh and this isn’t all of my mutuals, just the one’s i’ve spoken to outside of the discord lol asjfdkl

@hesthermay —❥ you’re one of my best friends and ilysm and i hope that we get to meet in person one day, so you can endlessly hear me talk about how much i love jimmy woo. also i want to get matching marvel bracelets or smth, gonna look on etsy later for us ajskdlf

@probablydisgusting —❥ you’re like actually so funny and sweet, whenever you pop in the gc on snap just to say goodmorning or goodnight—it really makes everyone’s day and we love having you around. plus, you were one of the first people to pop into my inbox when i was an atla blog and i think that’s so nice.

@imarizaki —❥ i literaly love you sm mari, like you’re adorable and i want to give you a hug, i feel like you give rlly good hugs. and congrats on 400!! you deserve it and i hope 500 comes rolling around fast so you can hit another milestone in the near future ajskfdl

@tsukishumai —❥ cam i swear i know your name like I SWEAR I DO! you’re like an older sister to everyone in the discord and you bring such a comforting presence like it’s so nice to have you in the chat whenever you choose to pop in. you’re quite literally the calm to our insanity

@fukurodianthus —❥ dani you’re asleep rn but when you wake up and see this i want you do know that ily wifey. pls i love it when you harass me in my inbox, i think it’s so funny AND IM GOING TO FLOOD YOUR’S EVENTUALLY I JUST NEED TO BECOME ACTIVE AGAIN ASDJKL

@missmorosis —❥ you’re literally one of my favorite moots ever and you’re always so sweet to me and everyone else around you, it’s so heartwarming to see your positivity and happiness on tumblr and how hard you work! pls ilysm

@ray-ofmoonlight —❥ I LOVE TALKING TO YOU ABOUT THE BACHELOR. i haven’t responded in a hot minute, but dw i’ll answer in a bit i have to go through my messages jaksfld. you’re so nice and fun, and literally the sweetest ever

@diorzumi​ —❥ hi rheya! i’m so glad you took the time and all that hard work to make the server, like that’s insane and i still can’t believe you did all of that. pls the amount of effort you put into keeping it up is so evident and amazing!! also ur rlly pretty, like RLLY pretty

@luvoikawa​ —❥ gigi!! my face literally lights up whenever i see you in my notifs or on my dash pls. i love your energy sm and the presence you bring to the discord. like idk, you just seem really cool to me, does that make sense? like you have cool girl energy.

@sugas-cookie​ —❥ hello rissie. you should be sleeping rn, but ily and you’re my favorite and only child, and no matter what i say i would never bring you back to the ditch. but like...the frogs? i fucking hate the frogs, abolish all frogs they make me physically cringe i cannot.

@kei7ime​ —❥ CHLOEEE!! every time i see your theme i feel so satisfied, like it’s so pretty it rlly is. you’re so fun and i love talking to you or just popping in your inbox to say hi. omg hi chloe!! ok ok ily

@pxnk-velvet​ —❥ angie your drawing of us are so cute and i love them sm, and i can’t wait to read the story that you’ve been writing of our gc as a volleyball team, like pls i’m so excited. also the line “just shut up already, angie” lives in my head rent free

@miyalove​ —❥ hi dylan! i haven’t popped in your inbox in a while but i just wanted to tell you that i love u and you’re so nice and sweet and ilysm. you give off hot girl energy dylan, like for real, you rlly do.

@iwaizoom​ —❥ HI JADE. you’re so nice and your blog is so pretty, like the light green jaskljl PLS ITS SO PRETTY. i love the vibes you give off like you’re so chill and so easy to talk to sjakljdkl pls ilysm

@kageyuji​ —❥ lore i love you. like i love you. every time i talk to you i just feel happy like idk it’s this overwhelming feeling, you just have this gift where people feel comfortable when they’re talking to you. and your blog is so pretty pls asdjl

@hikariakaashi​ —❥ you’re one of my favorite moots, firstly bc of our interactions on tumblr in the early days of the discord and now on snap too. you have rlly good style, like rlly good style—and whenever you do your voice asks, your voice is like rlly pretty! girl you have a rlly pretty voice!

@ceci-chan​ —❥ hi twinnie! pls i think it’s so funny that we have literally the exact same nose, that’s actually wild. it’s so fun to watch your blog grow and your events are so cute and ily

@nekomabvc​ —❥ i buried you in here so you’d have to search for your part. literally going to say nothing i’m tired of writing about you goodbye. you called me a whore this morning. that’s not very swag of you, i’m going to report you to mab and cancel you on corpse tumblr.

@bellesowl​ —❥ hi isa! we haven’t interacted all that much, but in the times we have you’ve been so kind. and you’re rlly pretty, just sayin. you’re blog is also super aesthetic and i literally live for it, pls the muted tones are everything ajsdlk

@gellysticks​ —❥ angela pls you’re actually so funny like you’re so funny. every time your tiktoks come up in my suggested they literally make me laugh pls—but the frogs are terrible. abort frogs. this is a frog slandering blog. me and all my homies HATE frogs.

@cafemiya​ —❥ issy you give off such hot girl energy (and you are a hot girl anyways) and your energy is so contagious, like idk how it just is. you bring this positivity to the discord just by being there and i know everyone is so thankful that you’re so interactive with us jaskfdl

@biqherosix​ —❥ DANIZA I HAVEN’T OPENED YOUR SNAP YET BUT I RLLY WANT TO HEAR YOUR BAND PLAY. pls that’s literally so cool, like i wish i was in a cool band with my friends jsakdljkl. i love talking to you and we’ve been friends for like a good three months now which is crazy

@velvetfireworks​ —❥ rach i literally never read fics but yours are so good and they live in my head rent free. PLS THE SAKUSA ONE FOR THE BROKEN HEARTS CLUB AUDHS. you’re so nice and so talented and i reread your masterlist OMG I JUST REMEMBERED THE MOB AU ONE THAT ONE IS PERFECTION.

@hajiswife​ —❥ hi gabbie! your blog is gorgeous and your so nice pls!! like i literally can’t believe we’re mutuals it hits me like a brick. i love your works and your energy sjaklfdjl i’ll probably be popping in your inbox later just to say hi lol

@svgashi​ —❥ NIKE!!! omg we’re literally sister wives. you’re the first moot i had on tumblr that understood how great sugawara is and it’s like a breath of fresh air from the constant slandering my friends give him. ILY

@sexy-bee-juice​ —❥ aja!! i love getting your messages and just saying the most out of pocket things with you, and your reblogs make me laugh so hard like you’re rlly funny. also my broken french is terrible but i’m glad it makes you laugh ajskfdl

@koutarousangel​ —❥ MICKEY PLS YOURE SO FUNNY. I LOVE YOUR VIBES AND EVERYTHING LIKE YOURE FUNNY. and ily too. just putting that in there in case i haven’t said it in a while <3

@hvnlydmn​ —❥ hi ains! congrats on 5k!! that’s literally so insane like omg you must be reeling rn jadskfl you really really deserve it tho, everyone sees how hard you work and how much content you produce in such a short amount of time CONGRATS ILY

@akaashi-bby​ —❥ victoria you were the first person i talked to teen wolf with in like three years pls. i’m listening to a song from the show atm and it’s making me sad but ilysm and i love talking to you about literally anything

@laineywritesstuff​ —❥ LAINE!! hi! you’re so pretty like you look like you give the warmest hugs and i feel like if i ever met you in person i’d just get engulfed does that make sense? you’re so nice and ilysm and i hope you’re have a fantastic day!

@kiyoalex​ —❥ you’re rlly funny. like rlly funny. and i feel like we match each other’s energy pretty well in pms. pls my insanity is too real back there BUT IT’S OK I THINK BC YOU SEEM TO UNDERSTAND IT LOL ILY

@shoutamajiki​ —❥ hi nana!! you’re so nice and i’m so glad you joined the discord! and i’m so sorry i added you to my terrible private story on snap pls it’s so bad i’m very very sorry about that jksalfjdl

@sunacity​ —❥ nea i love your works so much like literally they LIVE in my head. you’re so talented and i can’t believe we’re mutuals that’s literally insane bc i love your stuff pls. and on top of being talented you’re so nice, like the nicest jaskdflj i can’t

ok ok i think that’s it for now, this isn’t all of my mutuals—but it’s the one’s i interact with the most and if we are moots and i didn’t include you pls my inbox or pms are always open to just like go insane in. ok have a great rest of your day!!

[trashlie]

I'm loving all your ILY posts! I've also seen your comments on reddit and I enjoy reading your insightful analysis there, too. I would like to know your thoughts on Kousuke and Alyssa. Do you think they will become narrative foils? I noticed they were acting awkwardly around each other too (it kind of reminds me of how annoyed Soushi reacts around Maya) and she seems to have a crush on him 👀 I think she'll be used to contrast how he's still capable of redemption. 1/?

I mean Yui groomed them both successfully. They have shown to emulate her behavior, value their reputation over other people's feelings, and refuse to take accountability for their actions against Shin Ae and Nol. But unlike Kousuke, Alyssa has shown no hint of remorse or even guilt. 2/?

Waaahh thank you so much, anon! Isn't it silly that I still go :O when I realize people actually enjoy what I have to say? I started yelling into the void on tumblr because I got worried I was too active on reddit and I was possibly annoying people lmaooooo so I'm actually really glad you're able to find me on both platforms! It means a lot that I'm not just yelling into a total void.

If you don't mind, I'm breaking your ask down into two parts, because I might leave somethin off/this will get too long if I keep it all in one lol. BUT you bring up things I love to think about!!!!! So!!!!!

I think we are deliberately kept in the dark about Alyssa - whether it's to subvert the scheming girl trope, I'm not sure, but there's a lot of things we don't know about her and that's definitely on purpose. She's a character who probably won't be revealed more to us for a while yet, too, which is frustrating if only because I want to know everything NOW, but it does serve to make her more interesting.

Alyssa's interest in Kousuke is so obvious I can't believe I never noticed it in my original reads. I've seen this brushed off as "She just admires him" and I'm just like... she actually sulked for a moment about Kousuke leaving! Meanwhile she was straight up all but telling Nol she'll help him pack his bags lmao.

I feel like the cast of her shadow is deliberate, too, but look at that face. Sulking.

Compare with

There's room to argue that we can't see Alyssa's face when she first tells him she won't stop him, but she kind of makes it abundantly clear that Nol being away doesn't really affect her. And, I mean, look at how their relationship is conducted. She's bragged to Meg that she and Nol are so casual and cool and easy breezy.

(I guess that means there ALSO is room to argue that Alyssa is putting on a front and just saying this to make sure people think her relationship is great, but the only People who know is Meg. And as a people pleaser, if Alyssa felt uncomfortable with the casual nature of her relationship with Nol, wouldn't she actually do more to make the relationship more of what she wants? Notably during the conversation on the balcony, she basically tells Nol this isn't really her dream relationship, which leads to the admission that they are together not for each other but for the benefits they each get so......)

Kousuke is the one who confuses me the most, because it strikes me as really weird that Yui has used Alyssa as leverage before against Kousuke. "You should bring a date, Kousuke, Alyssa will be there." What does this mean? What does it have to do with him and why would it entice him to bring anyone, anyway? I'm still really baffled on this one, tbh. Something that really stood out to me was during the dinner when Nol finally revealed he was planning to attend Oxford, Kousuke was distracted by his own news that the CFO position would be opening. In fact, when Nol mentions attending Oxford later, Kousuke seems to act like this is his first time hearing it.

Nol takes note of Kousuke's state of distraction before he finally starts talking about his plan.

The way quim does the dialogue and suddenly Kousuke's interest returning is.... interesting isn't it? From the moment Nol notes Kousuke's disinterest, we don't see his face again until Rand brings up Alyssa. Quim doesn't do anything without reason - in a movie, you wouldn't waste film on Kousuke's interesting returning at the mention of Alysa unless it meant anything, right?

There's so many little moments that make me go what the heck is going on here, too.

What the heck is up with THIS? Why does Kousuke deliberate SO LONG before he calls Alyssa? Like, do I think he's really so weirded out about calling his younger brother's girlfriend, considering he has one of his younger brother's own friends reporting on him and at his beck and call? You can't convince me that he's hesitant only because Alyssa is the sister of Meg. It just seems too wary.

And yes, this moment here?

It really does have the same tone as Soushi's wariness of Maya, except is Kousuke wary of Alyssa in the same way? Is he wary of her intentions? This one is so hard for me to read, because frankly, at this point it's hard to tell if Kousuke even cares about Nol as a brother or because he was forced to and he feels deep-buried remorse for the way he treated him and doesn't know how to handle it. Is he just aware of Alyssa's keen interest in him and that puts him on edge? Would he even care about Alyssa's keen interest unless she starts to get pushy?

I HONESTLY HAVE NO IDEA and frankly, it drives me nuts, so I love to discuss this and see what other people have to say. I'd never even noticed how long he deliberates before finally calling her until someone on reddit pointed that out.

lmao this so much preamble to get to the point but anyway YES they are absolutely parallels and I do wonder if they would become foils. Again, it's hard to know with Alyssa because we've been deliberately shielded so much of her personality right now and it's hard to tell what's real and what's not with her. The way that she worries about Shinae telling Nol what she did absolutely reads to me as a lack of remorse, but maybe I'm just projecting because we haven't been given much reason to like her lol. Shinae definitely makes it seem like Alyssa never actually apologized and the way Shinae just brushes it off makes me feel like there was never actual, proper closure. What Alyssa did is worse than just causing her injury: it was why she did it and how she reacted like Shinae was something dirty and how dare she even talk to her even though Shinae probably just wanted to know why Alyssa stopped being friends with her. Maybe she was even seeking closure at the time.

In the same way that Nol and Shinae are mirrors, Kousuke and Alyssa are their parallel abusers, grooming victims of Yui, those who care more about their image and reputation than anything else and have hurt others (Nol and Shinae) in their quest to fill the role. We still don't know if Alyssa dated Nol because she genuinely had a crush (doubtful so far) or because she figured out the family he's from and wanted to get closer. I try so hard to give her the benefit of the doubt but narratively we aren't privy to that yet. Also, have you noticed that Nol and Shinae both have a relationship of some kind with each others' abuser? This mirror and their parallel abusers thing is INTRICATELY woven.

That's what makes it so difficult to tell if she'll become a foil or merely a parallel that highlights what Nol and Shinae have been through. We know Kousuke will receive a redemption arc, because he's a main character, and also because I think part of subverting his trope is that he has to take responsibility for his past actions, rather than being loved in spite of the things he's done or whatever. In order for Kousuke to proper and develop further, he has to be held accountable and he has to break free of his family. Can we trust the same for Alyssa? At this point, she doesn't want to lose Nol because she knows if she loses him, she can just as easily lose her career and access to the world she's only just gained access to (and if she were to lose it all right now, it would be worse for her because she'd have all those trainee fees to pay back).

I think both Kousuke and Alyssa are likely in for a very public airing of their sins; for Kousuke it may come in the form of the expose YuJing is working on, collateral damage in the quest to take down Yui. I also think the only way to nudge Kousuke to change is that his image has to take a hit in some form. Is it that Rand isn't his father? Is it a reveal that he abused his brother? Is it whatever happened in the past that Nol got in trouble for was caused by Kousuke and he let Nol take the blame? Likewise, I think the fact that people knew Alyssa in middle school means she's not so safe, either; what if one of the girls from after school duty reveals what happened? Surely there were rumors going around school about what happened - Shinae is out of school, Alyssa is pulled from school, kids talk. Frankly, a scandal like that could ruin her career, and worse, if Nol knew what she had done, would he be able to remain shackled to her?

While I know Kousuke won't immediately take responsibility for his actions, I've always believed that such a catalyst would at least make him start thinking about it and force him to admit it. It wouldn't happen over night, but in time it will. But will Alyssa? Would she deny the allegations? Would she just shift blame, insist that it was all an accident, that it wasn't bullying like you think? (Cos look, I do believe it was an accident, but there's a way to call it an accident and still admit fault and blame; but just as easily you can call it an accident and try to shirk responsibility.)

I do love the idea of her being a foil for Kousuke, an Aesop's fable, if you will, of what happens when you barter with the devil (Yui). I'm not opposed to the scheming female character type, but I do oppose it when they take down others to raise themselves up, and if that's the way Alyssa will end up doing it, then I'll be happy to watch her fall. If she can scheme and use her connections without hurting people then hey power to ya. Unlike Alyssa, Kousuke never had a chance to evade Yui, and being able to walk away from her as an adult will be a choice he can make. Alyssa loses... so much if she breaks her deal.

I guess that's the thing about where she and Nol are in their relationship now - it's been made clear he's hanging in here because he's forced to and as a sort of act of self-sabotage, full well knowing she's here because she's taking advantage of the opportunities that "dating" him brings so... if they're in an agreement, is it okay to watch her climb right now? She leaves me conflicted and I know it's largely because she's one of the characters we know just enough to hate but so little to justify. Could it be that it all just got out of hand for her? At first she just wanted friends, was trying to find a place to belong, something good in a life that deprived her of social connections. And then comes along Yui, seducing her with ideas of fame and fortune? Was the desire to be loved and admired so strong it powered over the need to fit in with friends and she readily cast them off? Did she not anticipate what it would actually mean, thought she could have her cake and eat it, too? The way she responds to Nol's texts, and the fact that Dieter and Soushi ask him about her, means she probably isn't even in touch with them at all anymore. Idk, I really look forward to seeing their dynamic pre-idol Alyssa, because I want to know how she fit with them, what was it like?

And then, because this was supposed to be about foils lmao you have the fact that Shinae basically foils both Alyssa and Kousuke in regard to Nol, both as a person who cares about him and also as "a good friend" vs "the person I'm currently seeing" lmao like, everyone is literally set to juxtapose each other and man, I'll never get over how well this has been done lmao. Compared to Kousuke and Alyssa, Shinae is the one who accepts responsibility even when it's difficult, who knows when and how to swallow her pride (even if she's not the one who should) and I think it's why she is the one seen a the champion at Nol's side - they are the ones who care little for their images and who know how to apologize (even when they aren't the ones who should be) and that's why they are at each other's sides.

So yes, this is a very long essay response lol to essentially say: I'm still undecided if I think Alyssa will become a foil or merely remain a parallel. I would love to see her redeem herself but something tells me not all characters in this story will be redeeamable. Maybe one day we'll understand her motivation, even if we don't agree with it. I hope at the very least she makes peace with Shinae, but I get the feeling she'll be forced into it (as in, her secret gets ousted) and that's not as satisfying, but hey, if it helps Shinae then I'm for it.

A friend of mine has mused that maybe Alyssa will be the one to oust the secret herself and I'm ngl, I like that idea though it does feel kind of vindictive towards her character. Maybe accidentally spilling it to Nol would be the segue to a couple episodes from her POV though!

Gosh this was so long I'm so sorry lmao but please follow up with your thoughts and feelings, too, or if this made you think of anything or what! I think at this point in the story we've been given a lot of information but we just don't have enough of it to totally piece together what we're supposed to be seeing. I think Kousuke and Alyssa's weirdness around each other is very deliberate, though, and I'm not sure "She's Meg's sister" is enough to warrant so many panels of Kou being SO WEIRD about her, you know? Am I missing thing? Is there more to be revealed? Are we just blind? lmao Aaaahhhhhhhhhhh

[olivonie]

biggest fan ; atsumu miya

(1) "maybe he's my laptop wallpaper"

synopsis ; you are the youngest bokuto, and the biggest atsumu miya fan in all history (self proclaimed) so just your luck that a threat from your older brother to go to his game ends in you meeting your celebrity crush, and trying to not freak out, but oh what chaos ensues...

perfumers guide ; is the best friend literally just me inserting into my OWN FANFIC?? W A BOKUTO LOVE STORY? yeah fuck off let me have what i want its my fanfic motherfucker,, u, our beautiful mc, are a fangirl/boy/them/idc,, also i referred to ur friend as ur friend the whole fic, might give them an alias later on but idk for now,, tysm to my loves @scouts-ahoy and my bestie indigo for betaing for me <3 ily guys sm <3

perfume ingredients ; light cursing, rlly funny friend, fanperson-ing???, idk tw atsumu miya/j, bokuto being a butthead brother, gn reader (hopefully it comes across as such), omi being a bad friend/j,, cheesy corny romance movie esc love story <33,, written like a wattpad fanfic so sucks for u

word count ; 1388 words

“I can’t believe he blackmailed me like that!” You cried out, standing outside the building of the volleyball game you were attending.

“Don’t pretend you weren’t gonna show up anyways. Besides, he got us front row seats! Isn’t that awesome!” Your friend of many years squealed, adjusting his shirt before turning to you with a smirk, “Plus~ after, we’re going to dinner with your future boyfriend~” They teased, and you squeaked, chasing after them as they laughed. You both got in line and entered the building, packed full of people as you talked while walking to your seats according to your tickets.

A week prior your brother, Kotaro, had burst into your room in the apartment you shared, jumping on the bed and shoving two tickets to his next game. You had said you would buy your own tickets, since you wanted to be independent and were sick of relying on "big bro ko ko" but he interrupted you, threatening that if you didn’t take them he would tell Atsumu, his teammate, about your “big fat enormous super fan googly disgusting mushy gushy crush” on him and so you begrudgingly took the tickets. You decided to go with your friend, who was more excited to see your brother than the actual game.

“I can't believe you’re a brother banger…” You murmured. Your friend turned to you, a look of mock betrayal on their face.

“Honey Boo Bear! You dare think I’d cheat on you my beloved snookums?!” They said overdramatically and very loudly. You giggled, playing along with their antics with a smile.

“Pumpkin wumpkin! I can see you have feelings for another who is not me!”

“No! My cuddle wuddle baby poo I would never!-” They said, cut off by your laughter, followed by their own. Of course, even if you were pissed at Ko for blackmailing you into going, you couldn’t deny your excitement to see the Atsumu Miya, who had been the apple of your eye since you first saw him play with your brother. You had created a fan twitter for him for christs sake! That fucking enamored. But, even if he was on the same team with Kotaro, you had never met him face to face.

You had dazed off and couldn’t see nor hear your friend, before they had shaken you back into consciousness.

“Oi! The game is about to start, dumbass!” They said, and you turned to look, seeing both teams enter the court. Your friend screamed and chanted when they saw Kotaro, who waved at the both of you with energy filled motions. And then, as if in slow motion, entered the “love of your life.”

He was like a renaissance statue, carved from the finest marble and shaped into this beauty. His eyes were filled with life as he waved to all his fans, and when he swept his gaze over to where you were standing, it felt as if time stopped. It was like that scene from every cheesy romcom movie where the main character’s heart pounded erratically, and just like in a movie, the breath from your lungs was stolen away. Were you in heaven? This is totally heaven right?

His eyes. Oh, his eyes. Like molten gold, the sun's reflection on a lake. Like the sweetest caramel, that you could practically taste on your tongue. Atsumu seemed frozen as well, before Shoyo came over and shook him awake, turning to the court with a single glance back at you.

“Oh my god I think I might die.” You said, practically falling into your companions arms, who raised a brow at you.

“Are you okay? What happened?” They asked, a concerned expression on their face.

“Did you not see?!?! We made eye contact!! For like! A minute! And now I’ve fallen in love with him and I want his children!” You screamed, and they clasped a hand over your mouth quickly.

“One, crowded area, don’t say that shit out loud. Two, what’s the big deal? Weren’t you already in love with him?” They said, tilting their head to the side to look at you.

“Yes but like we’d never made eye contact! And I’m like! His biggest fan!” You squeaked, your voice cracking as you cleared it, looking desperately at your friend.

“How big?” They asked, and you gave an exasperated sigh.

“Maybe he’s my laptop wallpaper..” You murmured, twiddling your hands together. “Laptop wallpaper” had been an inside joke between you two to measure the depth of your obsession. Laptop wallpaper being the biggest, and twitter profile picture being the lowest.

“Oh my god big big…” They whispered, and you two continued to talk over your dilemma as the game went on.

As the game came to an end, with another victory for the Jackals, the two of you ran down the steps with special access passes, also gifted to you by Kotaro, and ran to congratulate the team. There was a sappy moment where your friend jumped into Kotaro’s arms rambling about how amazing he was, as he walked over to you and raised his hand for a high five, which you begrudgingly gave.

“You suck, butthead.” You said with a smile, and he grinned at you, as you walked off to a brooding black haired man, who was staring off in another dimension before you called his name, “Hey Omi! You did great!” You cheered, and he turned to you with a semi-smile.

“Thanks little Bokuto.” He said, and you rolled your eyes.

“The least you could do is say my name!” “I think little Bokuto works just fine.”

“Omiiii! That is so cruel and mean! I am going to report you on Stop It!” You said, and he laughed. Kiyoomi has been your friend since high school. You didn’t like the idea of being overshadowed by your brother, so you chose a school where no one would recognize you as his sibling, and bumped into Kiyoomi. Literally. And decided to stick around the brooding loner who preferred to eat lunch on the rooftop away from the hordes of people.

“So, did you totally fitz out when Miya came on court?” He said with a knowing smirk, causing your face to heat up as you cried out in protest.

“I did not!”

“They totally did.” Shoyo interrupted, and you spun around to throw a fake punch at him. He dodged with ease and stuck his tongue out at you, and you did the same.

“Shut up!” You yelled, groaning when the two laughed at you, “I’m gonna wait outside for you guys! And Omi! You smell horrible!” You cried, grinning in triumph at his annoyed face, looking at himself covered in sweat and sighing.

You walked out of the gym, waiting outside the doors as you said you would, opting to scroll through your phone idly.

“Yer Bokuto’s sibling right?” A light voice asked by your ear, which caused you to jump and throw a punch out of instinct. A groan and head of blonde hair that you’d seen hundreds of times in twitter edits and your dreams made you gasp. “You sure know how to throw a punch huh? Yowch,” Atsumu grunted, holding his stomach as you panicked and apologized, to which he laughed, “It’s okay! I didn’t give no warnin’ so I scared ya! I get it!” He said, and you blushed profusely.

You just punched your celebrity crush in the stomach, there goes your dreams of a fanfiction type first meeting. You sighed, putting your hand out to shake his as you introduced yourself.

“I’m Atsumu Miya.” “Well obviously.” You said and then gasped at how rude that must’ve sounded. You were about to apologize again until he laughed. He looked at you with those eyes again.

“Yer real funny! I hope yer goin’ to dinner with us, it’d be totally boring without ya.” He said, and you nodded.

“Of course, I promised my brother.” You said, and he did a small fist bump, before pausing and taking out his phone, passing it to you.

“Put yer number in there, pretty please.” He said, and you nodded, typing your phone number and name. He smiled when you handed his phone back, checking the time before whispering curses, “Fuck, I still gotta change, but I’ll see ya at the dinner kay? See ya round pretty!” He called and you waved goodbye blushing at the compliment and chuckling before the realization set in.

“OH MY GOD I JUST GAVE MIYA ATSUMU MY NUMBER HOLY FUCK”

extra;;

"you are so loud..."

"shut up ko you're fat."

olivonie 2021

reblogs are welcome !! pls !!!!

[hazygrains]

August -  Hi, hello. How are you? I feel like writing about what's been happening in my life lately. A lot has been going on, and at the same time, not much has changed. I honestly feel like I'm going through a period where I'm pretty much stuck in a rut. I'm tired, stressed, and dealing with a Psoriasis flare-up. I'm itching all over and easily annoyed. I miss being outside with my family and friends. Constant bad news from around the world makes me sad, angry, and helpless. There are just so many deaths, and the number keeps growing every single day—deaths of a friend's loved ones, friends of friends. It's just heartbreaking. We have wasted almost two years of our lives being stuck at home. Children should be playing outside, youths should be in school, and we should all be doing things we want without any restrictions. I just hope we can all cope with all the uncertainty right now.

“But by throwing yourself into these emotions, by allowing yourself to dive in, all the way, over your head even, you experience them fully and completely. You know what pain is. You know what love is. You know what grief is. And only then can you say, ‘All right. I have experienced that emotion. I recognize that emotion. Now I need to detach from that emotion”

― Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie: An old man, a young man, and life's greatest lesson

Anyway, I just finished rereading 'Tuesdays with Morrie,' and this quote really resonated with me. It was a very timely read. I know it's hard to always be positive during this difficult time, but this quote is a great reminder that it's okay to feel all these emotions. Once you recognize these emotions, you can detach from them, step away, and move on. Easier said than done, right? But there's no other way we can continue moving forward if we don't let go. That's what I'm trying to tell myself every time I feel down. It's not easy, to be honest. I can't make all these negative emotions go away in a day, so I let myself swim with these negativities but also not let myself drown and be overwhelmed by them. That's what I'm trying to do now.

I also have this goal to reread all the books I have here with me since we moved, and I already finished one. I got my ordered books from Fully Booked today, and I can't wait to get my other pending order. I pre-ordered the new book by John Green ('The Anthropocene Reviewed') and a book from a Korean author ('Almond: A Novel'). So, yes, I've been wanting to get back into reading because it has been years since the last time I've been so engrossed in a book. I'll start 'Kite Runner' later!

Also, here are some random unimportant lists:

Finished:

Books/Online Fanfic Stories: Chasing the Sun & Taming the Waves by inksteady (wattpad.com), Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Korean Series: Designated Survivor: 60 Days

English Movies: The Green Book, Whiplash, Last Letter From Your Lover

French Movie: The Intouchables

Japanese Series: Kotaro Lives Alone, Asuko March!, Legal V: Ex-Lawyer Shoko Takanashi, Border & Border Redemption

Bought:

Greg mug & boob mug @midoridori_

Albino mug & shokoy mug @bijincraft

Pre-ordered an ili-lustration mug @ililikhaanceramics

Curvy mustard cup @andy.studioph

Pre-ordered another face mug @ioridori

Maga (taupe) @bumi.and.ashe

Mermaid mug @chineramics

Dates:

Aug 3 - Celebrated Mama's birthday. Stayed at my parents' place for 3 days. I missed them!

Aug 13 - Got my Balance board (August incentive)! I also received a free milk tea from one of my workmates!

Aug 17 - My first quarterly review

Aug 20 - Tamtam's birthday! He also gifted us a game, The forest. // Also my turn to report the accomplishment of my team during our EG Manila staff meeting and I also presented my family. It was nerve-wracking for me to present even if it was just virtual. So I'm really working on overcoming my fear of public speaking. So good job, self. (⁀ᗢ⁀)

Aug 24 - Received my BIGBANG x Kwon Ji Yong CSE package kit. I also bought a BB phone case!!! VIP forever. Can't wait for their comeback.

[blush-and-books]

🥳🎉 Congrats on 1.5k followers!!!🎉🥳

My four word prompt for you is

One: famous au

Two: fluff

Three: meeting

Four: autographs

And anything you come up with will be amazing 💕💕ily

once again i got carried away. but who is surprised??? this was so much fun!!!

Luke Patterson was excited to be at the Grammys for many, many reasons -- but only part of it (a big part) was because Sunset Curve was nominated.

Best Rock Album, Record of the Year, and Best Rock Performance were their three nominations for their third album, Demo Tapes, and specifically their singles Now Or Never (rock performance) and Unsaid Emily (record of the year). It was all that the boys had been working towards, seeing as this was their first time around after a near revolt towards the academy last year for snubbing their sophomore, self-titled album. The four of them were beaming with excitement in their custom suits -- God, custom, as uppity as it was, Luke couldn’t deny he looked hot. 

However, besides the fact that the four boys were rocking their suits and were going to be honored to perform Now Or Never on the same stage that their inspirations had done decades before -- Luke couldn’t help the bubbling in his stomach that he might run into Julie Molina on the red carpet. 

Yes, the Julie Molina. 

After revealing during a round of Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts on the Late-Late Show that Julie was Luke’s raging celebrity crush, and she exposed the same truth about him while playing Plead The Fifth on Watch What Happens Live, Luke had been itching to meet her in person. 

Both of them seemed to be on the other sides of the country -- hell, even the world -- at different times, from running the talk show circuit to world touring. He knew they were both from LA, but it never felt like they were home at the same time. 

Tonight, she was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Pop Vocal Performance, and yes; Record of the Year, too. And this was only for her sophomore album, Wake Up, and her leading single of the same name. The single had debuted at #1 on the charts and knocked Now Or Never to #3 (it was competing with All Eyes On Me, by Dirty Candi), while the album had been switching with Demo Tapes on the charts for the last month. 

He was honestly hoping that they would get the chance to communicate, or even collab, at some point -- as many avid fans online were urging -- because he was pretty sure she was one of the most talented songwriters in the next generation of the music industry.

He thought they could make each other even better. 

His plan was honestly to try and track her down on the red carpet, and if that didn’t work, he would find her in the auditorium. She would probably be in the front row next to Adele or Beyonce anyways, seeing as how she was (as deserved) America’s Darling. 

“Dude,” Alex elbows him in the gut and gestures to the line of paparazzi and reporters with flashing cameras in microphones. “Stop staring into space and smile. And walk us on, lead guitarist.”

The nickname is said with spite and a smirk, but Luke is overall grateful that Alex centered him in the moment once again and got him to quit looking for Julie. 

She probably wasn’t even there yet, so he shouldn’t worry about it. 

(Even though he’s definitely been fantasizing about how stunning she’ll look tonight.)

Him and the boys walk up to a few reporters to hyperactively answer a few questions while finding time in between to pause for photos of all of them together, and some individual shots. They are in the middle of being ushered down the red carpet when he hears it:

“Julie! Julie Molina! Come here darling, I would love to talk to you!”

There are a few people in between them, but she’s there -- in a stunning, bright purple dress covered in sparkles and small diamonds. Her curls are flawlessly pulled back but still twirling down behind her head, and to be blunt -- she takes his breath away, even though he can’t see her clearly. 

“Luke! Luke!” A photographer is calling out to him, so he is sure to face back and sling his left arm around Reggie as the band poses for a few more group shots. Once again, a technician is guiding them to walk right to proceed along the carpet, and Luke catches that Julie is still being interviewed. 

He doesn’t realize he’s staring when a reporter, the same reporter that’s interviewing Julie, is calling him over. 

And Julie is still standing there, visibly blushing under layers of makeup and sending him a sheepish, apologetic smile. 

Without hesitation, he jogs over, and hugs the reporter. 

“Hi, Grace! It’s good to see you!”

“Luke Patterson, you are the talk of the night -- besides my other guest, Miss Julie Molina, of course.” Grace gestures to both of them, and Luke sees that Julie is still avoiding her eyes, and even though they are currently broadcast on national television he just wants to talk to her. 

“Yes, of course, I’ve been looking forward to getting to officially meet her all night.”

Julie’s head whips to the left to look at him -- he meets her eyes with his classic, joyous Luke Patterson grin. When she reflects it, he feels like the final nail has been hammered into his coffin. 

“No, you have not!” She slaps his arm playfully. “I should have known you’d be a flirt when I met you.”

“So what you’re saying is… You’ve thought about meeting me too?”

Their moment is interrupted by the reporter. “Wait, you two haven’t met before? That’s impossible!”

“And incredibly disappointing,” Luke jumps in. “All of our fans keep asking us to meet but we’ve been touring at the same times, and the timing’s just never been right.”

“I just told Marie Claire last week that Lu- Sunset Curve, sorry, was my dream collab for the future. Our sounds could blend so well!”

Luke’s heart just about shoots out of his chest, so he tries to control himself by biting his lip with a smile. The reporter doesn’t miss it. “Luke, you look happy about that!”

“I- I-” His stutter emerges, but he quickly swallows and changes directions. “It’s just really cool to hear that, we listen to Julie’s music all the time at home, and I have spent an unhealthy amount of time imagining a collaboration, so hearing she feels the same way tells me already that we would creatively blend really well.”

At his side, Julie beams at him. His cheeks hurt from smiling so much, and she’s giggling at his sweet words, and in the split moment that the reporter tries to regain their focus -- their hands brush together as they spin back to face Grace. 

In a bold move, Luke raises his fingers towards hers like they are magnets, and holds his breath while he waits for a reaction. 

He can finally breathe when her fingers link in his; her soft skin brushing along and sending sparks up his arm. 

“Well, I should let you guys go,” Grace says with a sigh, “but thank you both so much for taking the time! Can we expect a possible Julie Molina/Sunset Curve collab anytime soon?”

Surprisingly, Julie takes the lead on this one, her fingers tightening around his hand. 

“If it’s not the next song that I release, then somethings wrong and you guys will need to send help.”

You have a band, Luke tells himself, a band that you need to talk to about-

“I second that,” he finds himself saying with a squeeze to Julie’s hand. 

As the reporter hypes up their announcement while facing the camera, they start to walk away, and Luke realizes he has to rejoin the band on the carpet and not get to stand here and hold Julie’s hand and tell every reporter that he is holding Julie Molina’s hand! 

Julie turns to him. “See you in there?”

“See you in there,” Luke smirks, “I’ll be the one on my feet when you sing.”

“And I’ll be the one holding the Grammy.”

And with a wink, as Luke shakes his head with an awed grin, she makes her way back to the carpet.

--

As it turns out, they do find each other later. Shockingly, Julie asks the band for an autograph, because -- despite Luke’s teasing -- her little brother is apparently a huge fan.

She is the victor in the competition for Record of the Year, but Sunset Curve pulls away with two trophies from their other nominations, and Luke can’t find it in him to be anything but overjoyed for themselves and Julie -- especially as he watches her sing, captivate the entire audience, and get everyone on their feet at the end. 

In a burst of impulsiveness, she joins them in their van after the ceremony; but instead of going to an afterparty, they drive to the boys’ house on the beach and Luke finds himself curled up on the couch in his custom suit right next to Julie (who is almost on top of him), furiously writing down new songs and beginning their collaboration then and there. 

It turns out, they were wrong about one thing. 

The next song released by the two artists isn’t the collab -- the next album is. Julie and the Phantoms becomes their official collaboration project, and spirals into more of a hit than their individual groups. 

Twelve months later, they are back at the Grammys, and everything is the same -- only they are no longer competing. They are a team. And Luke couldn’t be happier about it; especially when he shows up on Julie’s arm.

@willexx @unsaid-emily  

[ri-ahhh]

Ooooh but like what if it's gray getting jealous and a teeny but insecure too when MJ mentions some of her work mates and other close guy friends w whom she hangs out and drinks and parties yk?And when he finally meets them he might not be able to get some inside jokes or be pissy on how touchy one of her guy bffs is?!And just goes like"baby am I too young for you?"🥺maybe some cute fluff and hot makeup sex?? ;p Sorry if this too much or straight up lame It's cool if you don't wanna concept this

Ok, first of all, I love this. Second, this is my first MJ concept and I’m soft af🥺

If there’s one personality trait Grayson Dolan wouldn't normally attribute to himself, it’s that of being easily jealous. Why would he be? His life, despite it’s occasional heavy downs, is relatively picturesque in the grand scheme of things. He’s got a loving family, an amazing career, a beautiful girlfriend, and he’s narcissistic enough to proudly say he’s a good-looking dude.

But the little green monster first starts to stir in chest when said beautiful girlfriend lays back on his chest one morning, scrolling through Instagram while the two of them laze in bed. MJ is looking through the pictures she had been tagged in at a company dinner the night before, double-tapping her phone screen occasionally and diverting his attention away from his own phone when she does.

“Who’s that?” he asks, trying to sound as casual as possible as he eyes a certain picture with slightly narrowed eyes.

“Hm?” MJ had already scrolled down to the next photo, but she goes back to the one in question. Grayson points to the guy standing next to her. “Oh. That’s Jesse. He’s one of my teammates.”

Grayson doesn't respond right away, his gaze focused on the way the attractive young man has his arm wrapped tightly around MJ’s waist in the group photo. MJ is leaning away from him, but it still gives him a bad vibe — not from her, but from him.

“He looks friendly.”

MJ glances up at him and slaps the other side of his bare chest with the back of her hand jokingly. “Relax, we all had to squeeze in to get the picture. He’s just a colleague.”

“Yeah, to you,” Grayson mumbles. He tosses down his phone and turns on his side so he can throw his arm over her middle, nuzzling into her hair.

MJ smiles and scratches her nails up and down his sculpted arm, his warm breath tickling her ear. He’s not really the possessive type, too confident in himself and trustworthy in her for this to have ever been an issue in their relationship, but her work world is one entirely separate from him. She doesn’t think it’s too irrational for him to be suspicious, especially since she can admit feeling a little iffy about the way Jesse had so easily sidled up to her for that photo.

She shifts her head on the pillow so she’s facing him, kissing his lips softly but soundly. It’s an unspoken reassurance between them, and they both let the topic go.

A few days later, they’re in the kitchen together, a pass only she is allowed while Grayson cooks. MJ sits on the island, her feet dangling over the cabinets as Grayson stirs the vegetables he’s sautéing on the stove, when her phone buzzes on the marble countertop beside her. She picks it up and chuckles, her manicured fingers typing away.

“What’s so funny?” Grayson asks nosily.

MJ hits ‘send’ in the text response she wrote. “Jesse sent a stupid meme that reminded him of this super difficult exec we have to deal with for one of our clients.” She holds up her phone so Grayson can see it, but without the further context he doesn’t really see the humor in it. It causes a weird sensation to bubble in his stomach, one he can’t quite place, but it definitely makes him give the veggies an extra vigorous stir that has some of them flying out of the pan on accident.

He draws the line on this guy in his head when MJ sends him a text the next afternoon while he’s in a Wakeheart meeting downtown, just a few blocks from her office.

ugh baby i’m so sorry i have to cancel our lunch date :/ jesse wants to keep working on this report we have due this afternoon and i’ll look like a dick if i leave.

Grayson huffs and feels the back of his neck flush with anger. Why is Jesse controlling whether or not she can take her lunch break? She has a habit of skipping it to begin with, which Grayson can’t stand and actively tries to make sure she doesn’t do, so his irritation with this dude is through the roof now. His mind can’t help but wander to the possibility that maybe Jesse is doing it on purpose; he knows for a fact all of her coworkers know about him, so who’s to say he’s not trying to keep her to himself today? Before he can type out a heated response, however, MJ double-texts.

i promise I’ll make it up to you tonight. whatever you want, on me. literally and figuratively ;)

She knows him too well, can probably sense his frustration a few streets away. Grayson sighs, but his mouth lifts in a little smile, because he loves her and he’s low-key looking forward to that promise now.

Alright. I’ll be thinking about that to get me through this meeting. Pls eat tho baby, it makes me worry when you don’t.

me too lol. and gonna order some kreation now, don’t worry. ily

She punctuates her message with a few heart emojis, and Grayson returns the sentiment before pocketing his phone once more. His mind is far from the financial projections he’s supposed to be paying attention to, but luckily this is much more Ethan’s territory in the business than his, anyways.

Friday, he and MJ are cuddling on the couch watching a movie when out of nowhere she gasps a little and sits up from where she’s leaning on him. “Oh, I almost forgot to ask. You and E doing anything tomorrow?”

Grayson chuckles and shakes his head, amused by the suddenness of her question. He pushes a lock of her hair, damp from their shared shower, behind her ear. “Not that I know of, other than we might go to the skatepark.”

MJ grins. “Well, my boss is making us do our monthly team-building workshop at a climbing gym, if you want to tag along. I don’t think you’ll be able to join us during the middle of it, obviously, but afterwards it would give you the chance to meet some of the people I work with, if you want.”

He considers it. He hasn’t been climbing in a while, and he’s actually been itching to get back into it. Not to mention, it’ll give him a chance to keep an eye on Jesse while he’s around MJ in the skin-tight lycra she wears to work out in.

“Yeah, I’m down. I’ll ask E if he wants to come, too.”

The next day, the three of them roll up to the gym in Ethan’s Tesla. Grayson wastes no time in taking MJ’s hand in his as they walk through the parking lot, just in case a certain set of eyes are watching. MJ squeezes his fingers reassuringly; she’s not dumb, not impervious to the fact that when he kisses her goodbye once they step inside and before they go their separate ways that he had caught a glimpse of the man from the picture that put his guard up to begin with.

When he pulls back but makes no move to join Ethan on the other side of the gym, MJ shakes her head with a grin and cups his cheek softly.

“No need to stake your claim, Neanderthal,” she says.

He looks down at her with a pout that makes her heart and her panties melt. His wide hands plant themselves on her hips and tug her a little closer to him, anyways. “Am I being obvious?” he asks.

“Only to me,” she winks, rising on her toes to give him one more chaste kiss. “Now go with E, before Chanel gets here and I have to reverse the roles.”

Grayson laughs but does as he’s told, giving her waist a gentle squeeze before they part ways. MJ’s company had rented half of the gym, which was roped off for them. He chooses the open wall closest to the one they're using, eager to keep his girlfriend as nearby as possible for the couple of hours they would be separated.

As he sits on a bench and slips on his climbing shoes, Grayson can’t help but search out where Jesse is. He’s easy to spot, that’s for sure. Not only is he already next to MJ, chatting animatedly while she smiles and nods politely in return, but he stands out with his curly mop of hair, caramel-colored skin, and pale blue eyes. Maybe his attractiveness is part of the reason Grayson is somewhat intimidated by his obvious interest in MJ, but he’s also part of her everyday life, one he knows nothing about other than what she shares with him.

It’s never been something that bothers him, because it’s healthy to have a life outside of a relationship, but he’s always dated — hooked up, whatever you want to call it — in his industry. There was always a mutual understanding of what work and life in general entailed with those flings, and it’s taken Jesse for him to suddenly realize he doesn’t have the experience or the knowledge of how to handle his feelings with that not being the case with MJ. It makes him feel out of control, not good enough somehow.

Grayson Dolan does not like to be out of control and he most certainly does not like being below his own standards.

“Who’s that?”

Grayson is brought out of his daze by his brother’s voice and the hand he had clapped to his shoulder. If he were able to laugh at himself in this moment, he might have found Ethan’s question funny, since it was exactly what he’d said when he first saw Jesse, too. Ethan’s gaze is fixed on MJ and the man in question, who had placed his hand on her elbow as he talked only for MJ to duck down to ‘tie her shoe.’

“Jesse,” is all he says, standing up to buckle his chalk belt around his waist.

“Oh,” Ethan replies, nodding his head a little. “Do we like him?”

“Nope.”

“Cool.”

Ethan becomes another set of eyes for Grayson while they climb, giving him nudges or a little whistle every time he catches Jesse standing a little too close to MJ, or finding a reason to touch her, or to ‘help’ her as she climbs up the wall. Grayson glowers over every time, trying his best but probably failing to not to come off as the jealous boyfriend. Every once in a while MJ will catch his eyes, giving him a quick wave or a thumbs-up with a pretty smile just for him. It makes his heart settle some, only for his chest to tighten again when Jesse starts cheering for her a little too loud.

The two hours pass by a little faster as he settles into the rhythm of climbing, trying to put her touchy coworker in the back of his mind. He trusts MJ with everything in him, but he knows how men can be — ignorant either by choice or by idiocy to a woman’s obvious signals of disinterest.

“Gray!”

He’s just reached the top of the wall when his girlfriend’s voice cuts clear through the loud chatter around them. He looks down and sees her on the mat, hair pulled back in a cute high ponytail, freckled cheeks flushed from the exertion of the day, as she waves him down with that same bright smile.

He grins, excited to have her to himself once again. “One sec!”

Once he’s made it back down the wall, he greets her with a kiss. She’s tied her jacket around her waist, leaving her top half covered only by a pretty green sports bra that happens to be both his favorite color and one that makes her eyes pop beautifully.

“I like this,” he says suggestively, hooking his finger in one of the straps and tugging gently.

MJ rolls her eyes and reaches up to adjust the center of the Wakeheart cap he’s got backwards over his hair. “Come on. You can meet the idiots I have to put up with every day.”

She leads him to the group, who are all standing around chatting, gulping down water, gathering keys and such as they prepare to leave. He gets introduced to them a couple at a time. Some of them he recognizes by name, such as Valentina and Jude (both of whom MJ actually likes and considers friends), MJ’s intern Alessia, and Chanel, of course, who bats her eyes so obnoxiously it’s almost comical.

And then there’s Jesse, who’s immediately sizing Grayson up with those striking eyes as soon as they approach him standing in the corner on his phone. Grayson doesn’t back down in the slightest, a smirk fixing itself on his lips when MJ leans into him and wraps her arm around his back. He drapes his own over her shoulders, pulling her that much closer to him.

“Hey Jess. This is the famous boyfriend I’ve told you all about,” she introduces, patting a hand on his hard stomach and smiling up at him for a moment.

Grayson lets go of MJ long enough to extend his hand. “Grayson.”

Jesse accepts and shakes his hand politely. “Jesse. MJ and I are teammates.”

“So I’ve heard,” he says, keeping a tight smile on his face as Jesse continues to square up to him, like Grayson has posed some kind of challenge.

Jesse nods, a grin of his own popping up as he gets the idea that MJ has maybe talked about him before. Grayson wants to roll his eyes, but he stays trying to be the bigger person here.

“So what do you do, Grayson?” Jesse asks.

Another hot flash overcomes him. He’s heard the question often enough to know there are two ways people ask it: innocently and genuinely; or knowingly and almost maliciously, like Jesse is now, waiting for him to say the ‘i’ word and berate him for it passive-aggressively.

MJ tightens her arm around him some, and it calms him down enough to answer with an even tone. “I do social media.”

“That’s just the tip of the iceberg, though,” MJ steps in for him with a grin. “He and his brother have a whole production team under them. And they're CEO’s and part-owners of a fragrance company, Wakeheart. I think I’ve told you, whenever you compliment my perfume, that it’s Grayson’s, right?”

She’s incredible, really. Grayson smiles and shows off the diamonds in his teeth, which glint in the harsh artificial light. “Well, Jesse, if you like MJ’s perfume so much, I’d be glad to send you our whole collection. Maybe you’ll find one that’s right for you.”

He can see Jesse’s resolve start to waver, especially when MJ stands on her toes to kiss Grayson’s stubbled cheek. “Very generous, huh Jesse?”

Jesse clears his throat and digs his keys out of his pocket tellingly. “Ah, yeah. Thanks, man, good to meet you. See you Monday, MJ.”

He brushes past the couple without another glance, and he at least has the decency to blush a little from embarrassment. MJ turns and wraps her arms around Grayson’s middle, staring up at him with big green eyes that sparkle with amusement.

“Do you think he got the picture that I’m completely, totally, head over heels in love with you?” she asks, swaying slightly as he wraps his arms around her as well. “And that he has no chance in this universe whatsoever?”

“I don’t know, I feel like you could’ve laid it on a little thicker. Hyped me up a bit more,” Grayson jokes, dipping down to brush her lips with his. A blonde statue glares at the pair of them when he pulls back and glances over MJ’s head. “Chanel is staring daggers at us. Should we make out right here so she can see how I feel the same about you?”

MJ giggles and shakes her head. “Unfortunately, nothing will faze that bitch.” She nuzzles his nose with hers affectionately, the chaste display a perfect disguise for the dirty whispers that comes out of her mouth next. “Mm, my CEO boyfriend can take me home, though, and fuck me nice and hard in the shower.”

Grayson’s eyes turn a shade darker, and he bites his plump lower lip. He wants to slip his hands down to her ass, but he’s also very aware of how public they are right now. “If we even make it to the shower,” he murmurs.

MJ scrunches her nose and raises her brow in a look of mild disgust. “Gray, if you think I’m sucking your dick after it’s been in a cup for nearly three hours, without you taking a shower, you better think again. I don’t think even Chanel is down for that.”

Grayson lets out a belly laugh and releases her, taking her by the hand instead to go find Ethan. “Noted, baby. Noted.”

[the-halo-of-my-memory]

Nitpicking & Picnicking (DA Gift Exchange 2020)

Paring: OC Female Inquisitor (Marzeyna Lavellan) x Cullen Rutherford

Word Count: 4,9k

Summary: The Inquisition overhear that Cullen and Marzeyna are courting but have yet to spend some time together outside of Inquisition hours. They decide to help them out with a picnic, much to the chagrin of Cullen. 

Warning(s): language, second hand embarrassment, Cullen nearly having a stroke, the usual Inquisition shenanigans, and fluff. 

A/N: This is a note to my future self. Future Jess, never sign up for another Secret Santa thing here again. You got so distracted by bullshit this year, you nearly forgot and then panicked for the last 48 hours of this. Nice job!

Anyways, @crqstalite this is my gift for you for the @dagiftexchange! I figured a sorta crack fic with fluff would be perfect for your Marzeyna and Cullen. And naturally, the rest of the Inquisition came with lol. I seriously hope you like it. 

I also wanna thank @dorathedestroyer64 and @callthedarknessdown for helping me a million by beta reading this and just being all around sweet friends (ily you guys <3) 

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

When she wakes the sunlight is in her eyes, and in the not so far distance, the noise of the men and women of the inquisition sparring rings. Swords striking, armor crashing, and the voices of many speaking, yelling, and giving orders. 

Nuzzling the corner of her pillow, Marzenya recognizes one voice among the others.

It’s Commander Cullen Rutherford. 

Her Commander Cullen Rutherford. 

The kiss on the battlements. . . it still leaves her breathless a week later. 

It was everything she wanted and so much more. 

Yes, she had been kissed before. It was some years ago, back when she was with the clan. It was with a fellow elf and it was just a kiss for the sake of kissing. There were a few others as well. 

But with Cullen, she understood why people did it. To have him near her, hands on her cheeks, and his warm lips upon her own...it stopped her embarrassment right in its place after being caught by that scout. Jim was his name. 

Nevermind him. The kiss! The kiss was what she wanted to think about at this moment. 

When they connected, she forgot to breathe. That kiss robbed her of breath and the burning in her lungs was worth it. 

It was becoming a part of her schedule. She would always come up to see him before breakfast, before going off on her duties. To see him not yet the commander and her, not yet the inquisitor. But simply as Marzeyna and Cullen. To say his name without speaking of war tactics or about Inquisition affairs is almost like singing  a melody. She can and will say his name whenever she likes when she’s at his office. 

And when he says her name, it’s like the winds have said it, biting at her skin, and giving her chills up and down her spine. It makes the blood in her heart run warm and gives her butterflies in her stomach. She’d be lying if she denied that one of the main reasons why she runs to see him was just to hear him say her name. 

Marzeyna. . . 

And so here she was, in his office. His face lights up at the sight of her, like the sun rising. 

“Good morning, Cullen.” 

“Good morning, Marzeyna,” he smiles back at her. Oh, the butterflies are back. 

“Are you busy at the moment?” she asks. 

“Not quite yet,” he says. “But I can spare some time if you’d like.” 

“I would, thank you.” 

And so they carve out that little space and time talking to one another. Nothing about the Inquisition. That could wait for the time being. Cullen would sit at his desk and she would sit atop it, next to his paperwork. 

The moment was only that: a moment. And it had to end eventually. 

Usually Marzeyna would usually slip off the desk and give Cullen a kiss on the cheek before leaving, but this time they were interrupted.  

“Commander Cullen, we need to make preparations for today’s—” 

It was Cassandra. She entered the room with a board in hand with papers clipped on it. Her eyes, glued to the ink, failed to notice the two at first. When she did, she trailed off. 

An uncomfortable silence settled in the air. It was awkward, no doubt. 

Although caught in only a chaste moment of closeness, it felt scandalizing all the same. This time they spent together was for them alone, and to be interrupted turned the pure intimacy of conversation into an act far more compromising and less innocent than the simple poetry of their enlaced fingers. 

There were already rumors circulating around the barracks and the rest of Skyhold as it is. They just had to kiss outside for some to see, didn’t they? 

And now Cassandra knows. Great. 

Well, she already had her suspicions. Cassandra always kept an eye on Marzeyna (which she was always grateful for) and no doubt she caught the dopey smiles and doe-eyes she subconsciously made when she looked at Cullen during war table meetings. 

Yeah, Leliana and Josephine probably know too. 

“I beg your pardon,” Cassandra says, “am I interrupting something?” 

“Oh! No, seeker,” Marzeyna can feel the heat coloring her cheeks. “I was just heading out,” She slips off the desk and gives a nod to Cullen, who nods back with that crooked smile she adored on his face. Too bad she couldn’t kiss him with Cassandra here. She bids them both a good morning before leaving.

*********

The moment had to end. And so be it. 

If only it was a moment longer, Cullen sighs. He didn’t get the kiss he found himself looking forward to every morning, but it was obvious why she didn’t give him one. 

Back to business. 

The seeker steps forward and lays her board of papers on his desk. 

“I know it is none of my concern,” she says, carefully picking her words, “but I must ask. Are you courting the inquisitor?” 

“Uh-” 

It was a simple yes or no question and yet he did not know how to answer it. 

Courting. It was such a strange word. It felt too proper for him, the son of Fereldan farmers.  A word meant for royals and nobles. He was neither of them. 

But technically speaking. . . 

“Er uh . . . yes, I am courting the Inquisitor.” 

Cassandra raises a brow, a smirk pulling aside her lips.

"But I assure you, seeker! We are keeping our personal affairs away from our duties with the Inquisition. We will not shirk our duties and—"

"Cullen, that's enough."

She hides her smile with a fist and she's laughing? At him?

"I know you two will not neglect your duties and will remain professional when necessary."

Oh.

"Oh."

"Another question, if I may?"

"Go ahead."

"Have you spent some time with her?"

Cullen’s brows draw together. "Some—some time with her?"

"Yes. You are courting here." She reminds him, amused to have to elaborate further. 

"Y-Yes, I am."

Cassandra’s head tilts to the side. "Have you not spent some time with her after hours? Perhaps have taken her outside of Skyhold?"

If there were words in Cullen's head, they seem to have leaked out of his ears.

"I uh. . . haven't had the chance." He realizes. 

“A chance?"

"You do remember that we have an Inquisition to run?”

"Of course I do," Casandra scowls and crosses her arms. "But you must make time for Marzeyna if you expect this courtship to be successful."

"Excuse me?”

"Do not worry. Myself and the others shall help." And with that she picks up her board of papers and heads for the door.

Cullen was struck by a bolt of confusion.

"What in the blazes....”

****

Early evening arrived, the sun soon setting in an hour, and candles would need to be lit. 

With a familiar ache in his neck and shoulders, Cullen sits hunched over his desk with stacks of paperwork that needed his attention. 

Scout reports, operations that require his permission, requisitions, letters, etc. 

He could feel a headache coming on. The dull, slow creeping from the back of his skull. Having had so many since withdrawing from lyrium, he knows too well that it will soon spread and pulse along to the beat of his heart and grow sharp, clawing at his mind from the back of his eyes. 

A sigh escapes his lips. 

Maybe he needs to eat something. It was time for dinner. Perhaps he could find Marzeyna and have a meal with her in his office. Or maybe the garden, have a little picnic there. Watch the sunset together. 

Yes . . . that would be nice . . . 

Just as he’s about to get up from his seat, the door opposite his desk opens. 

“Commander Cullen, may I have a moment of your time?” 

It was that Tevinter mage, Dorian Pavus. 

This cannot be good. 

“Uh, you may.” 

“Wonderful!” The mage walks over and puts his hands on his desk. “A little birdie told me that our dear commander is courting our sweet little inquisitor.” 

“Was the little birdie perhaps Cassandra?” Cullen makes a face. 

“Perhaps,” Dorian says with a knowing look. “Though if I must be frank, we all had our suspicions before the little birdie came flying.” 

“We?” 

“Don’t be foolish, Cullen. We’ve seen the way you two look at each other. It’s so sweet and innocent, it makes me ill.” Dorian gives a sort of dreamy sigh. “Reminds of my youth.” 

Meanwhile the commander had grown two shades pinker. He doesn’t need a mirror to know that. 

“It-It was that obvious?” 

“I’m afraid so. But nevermind that. The same little birdie also told you that you have yet to spend some time with her outside of Inquisition affairs. Is that true?” 

It occurs to Cullen that he wanted nothing more in this moment than to bury his face in his gloved hands and scream. 

“Yes, that’s true. Look, Dorian. I don’t know if you noticed, but we are part of the Inquisition. We are in the middle of attempting to close the breach in the sky and defeat Corypheus, all while in the middle of mage/templar war.” 

A moment passes for his words to settle in.

“Alright, I see your point.” Tucking a fist under his chin, Dorian appears to be deep in thought. “Have you thought about it nonetheless?” 

“Of course I have, it’s just—” Cullen sighs. 

“Just what?” Dorian prompts. 

“It’s just. . . we have business to conduct. We can barely see each other outside of meetings.”

“Have you thought about making time?” 

Wait a minute. . . 

“Making time?” 

“Yes, making time. Cullen, I know you and Marzenya are busy people. I know we are in the middle of something awful and the two of you and the rest of us are trying to fix everything. The issue here is that you need to spend some time together or your work will consume your relationship. At the end of the day, you’ll want you to remember the memories you made with her, not with all this shit paperwork.” 

For a second, Cullen doesn’t know what to say. 

“Dorian, that was  . . . incredibly touching  of you to say.” 

“I know it was. People think I like to talk just to hear the sound of my voice, which is true. I have a lovely voice. Now come on!” 

By now, Dorian had walked over to the other side of the desk and was pulling the commander up and out of his seat by the arm. 

“Where are we going?” Cullen asks. 

“To make memories.” 

“I can’t I have reports to-” 

“What did I say about making memories?” 

****

The magister ended up taking the commander to Skyhold’s own pub, the Herald's Rest. Inside, the pub was packed with familiar faces, all engaged in banter and drinks sloshing in their hands. The music was lively and there was not a sad soul in sight. 

At least the morale was looking high, Cullen thought. 

Dorian takes him near the back end of the pub where the Iron Bull and his Chargers sat and made their new home. 

“Dorian! Commander! It’s nice to see you here! Come, take a seat!” Bull did look happy to see them. As Cullen takes a seat with the group, one of them, Krem, hands him a drink—though drinking is the last thing he wants to do while this headache continues to grow. 

“So what brings you here?” Bull asks after taking a swig of his drink. 

“I did,” says Dorian, “and you can thank me for that. And also, it turns out Cassandra was right. Our dear commander is courting our little inquisitor.” 

The incredulous look on Bull’s face says it all. 

“Shit, really?! Hey Cullen, congrats, man! Didn’t know you had it in you.” The “pat” on the shoulder he gave him nearly knocks him off balance in his chair. 

“Er uh, thank you.” 

As Bull is about to say something else, something across the room catches his attention. 

“Varric! Blackwall! Get over here! We gotta talk.” 

Oh, Maker take him. 

The warden and the crossbow dwarf take with them, and Blackwall obliges to take a drink while Varric denies. 

“Curly, it’s certainly a surprise to see you here.” 

“I could say the same, commander. What brings you here?”  

“Nevermind that,” interrupts an impatient Dorian. “What matters is this: the seeker was right. Cullen is courting Marzenya.” 

The two men’s eyes go wide and turn to Cullen. 

“I knew it!” Varric had a large smile on his face. “Who made the first move?” 

The commander’s face felt as hot as a kiln. 

“I-I guess it was technically I did-” 

“Ha! You owe a sovereign, Tiny.” 

Bull groans as he digs in his pockets. “Dammit. I was hoping Zey would be the one to grow balls.”

“I was thinking the same,” Dorian hands  a sovereign of his own to Blackwall. 

“Excuse me, have you all been making bets on my personal life?” Oh, that headache is coming along quite nicely. 

“Relax, Cullen,” says Blackwall, putting a hand on his shoulder. “We mean no harm. It was just you two were quite the spectacle, even back in Haven.” 

“He’s right,” Varric nods. “I know a romance in the making when I see it.” 

“Alright now, this is the important thing. Cullen has yet to  properly spend time with Marzeyna .” 

“Oh yeah?”” Bull raises a brow. 

Cullen sighs as he feels a blood vessel near his temple about to burst. 

“There is a giant hole in the sky we need to worry about first.” He points out. 

“That can wait.” 

Now that blood vessel is really going to burst. The commander stands abruptly from his chair, nearly knocking it over. His mouth is open, ready to debate, when a hand lands on his shoulder and pulls him back down. 

“Dorian’s right,” it was Blackwall. “This is more important.” 

“How?!” 

“This is a chance of love. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and you can’t neglect that opportunity.” 

“I don’t-” 

Dorian interrupts him.  “We need to come up with some ideas for him to spend some time with Zey, any suggestions?”

“Have you thought about having drinks with her here?” Varric asks. 

“This isn’t the most romantic or intimate place for us,” Cullen rubs the back of his neck. 

“Have thought about having dinner with her in her quarters?” gestures Blackwall. 

The room is suddenly warming up. 

“That’s far too intimate for the time being.” 

“Mm!” Bull wipes his mouth after taking another swig of his drink with the back of his hand. “Have you thought about having sex with her?”

The room is now on fire. 

“I-! We’ve barely started!” Cullen says through his teeth. 

“No no, that’s a brilliant idea,” oh Blackwall, please no. “Sleeping with her will give you a good outlook on how your relationship is and will be.” 

“Hell yeah!” Spilling his beer, Bull is adding fuel to the metaphorical fire. “Take those damn gloves off for once and show her a good time!” 

Cullen knows his face is as red as apples and he blames the blood vessel that has surely now burst and his hemorrhaging underneath the surface of his skin. 

“Knock it off, the both of you,” hisses Dorian. “You know damn well the two of them are not like that. They can barely kiss as it is. We need to keep coming up with ideas. Cullen, have you thought of any yourself?” 

Rubbing his chin, the commander gives himself a moment to think. 

“I was thinking about having a picnic with her in the gardens.” He divulges. 

“Hey,” Varric crosses his arms, “that’s not a bad idea. A little fruit, cheese, and some wine and there you have it.” 

“Now that,” Dorian puts a hand on Cullen’s shoulder, “we can do.” 

“We?” That doesn’t sound good. 

“Yes, we shall aid you in your romantic endeavors.” 

“I don’t think-” Bull shuts him up with a wave of his hand. 

“Please, it’s just a picnic. How hard  can it be to set up?”

Dorian leans over in his chair toward the commander. 

“Just ask her to have a picnic with you tomorrow morning and we’ll have everything set up by evening.” 

It was honestly difficult to trust these men with personal affairs. Considering his schedule, to have everything set up tomorrow was a gift. 

So he sighs and agrees. 

****

It was barely mid-morning when Marzeyna’s heart burst out of her chest. 

Alright, not literally, but still!

When she went to see Cullen, he had just asked her to have a picnic with him in Skyhold’s garden this evening. 

Yes, they’ve shared a fair share of kisses and warm embraces. . . but everything was still so new and so precious, like a newborn babe. So full of love. 

She is still in the state that she was in when they first talked at Haven, long before the kiss. Now, her affection is acknowledged by the weight of his own affection. 

Marzeyna said yes to the picnic, of course. 

Much still needs to be done today and the picnic lingers in her mind in the meantime. 

She needs to seek some consultation. And she knows the perfect person. 

****

“Oh Vivienne, I’m so glad you have the time to help me.” 

“For you, my dear inquisitor, I’ll always clear my schedule.” 

They were in Vivienne's room above the court near the library. Evening was in a few hours and Marzeyna wasn’t exactly calm about this. 

It was just a picnic with Cullen. No big deal. Noooope. 

Oh, there goes her imagination. 

“I’ve never properly courted before. I’ve shared a few kisses back when I was with the clan, but nothing as serious as this. I’m afraid I’ll say or do something and he won’t be interested in me anymore.” 

Vivienne chuckles as they take a seat on the settee together. 

“Oh my dear, you’ve only just started. Do not worry about making mistakes. In fact, this is the perfect time to make mistakes. It shall aid you on how to improve both yourself and the relationship.” 

“Really” 

“Of course, really. Besides, I doubt a few ‘mistakes’ would deter the commander away.”

As the inquisitor spoke about her conversation with Cullen from earlier, their heads swiveled towards the sound of the door opening. 

“Did you two really think you could make plans without us?” 

It was Leliana, and behind her were Josephine and Cassandra. They walk over to them and take seats on Vivienne’s bed and a stool. 

“What are you three doing here?” Marzeyna asks. 

“We thought we’d come and help you with the picnic with the commander,” Josephine said with a smile. 

“Help me? How do you all know?” 

Cassandra clears her throat.

“We overheard Dorian speaking with Varric about the picnic and gathering things for Cullen. We three thought we would do the same for you.” 

Marzeyna swears that though her heart has yet to burst from her chest and out her ribcage, it certainly swells right then and there. 

“Oh, you lot are going to make me cry.” 

The five of them start to converse and throw ideas of what to do. 

“For starters,” Leliana speaks, “We need to figure out what you will wear.” 

“Wear?” Marzeyna shakes her head. “This is just a picnic, not a ball. Isn’t what I’m wearing right now just fine?” 

“Sure,” said Josephine, “but it doesn’t hurt to dress up for a small occasion like this. It will show the commander that you care and that you want to look good for him.” 

“I guess. . .” Humans are a weird race sometimes but that line of reasoning doesn’t sound absurd. 

Josephine continues. 

“I think I might have some simple skirts in quarters you could try on if you like.”

“I believe I may have some blouses you borrow as well,” Cassandra smiles at her. 

“I also have some jewelry if you’re interested,” Leliana said. “Something light like small earrings and a simple necklace. Maybe even a bracelet.” 

“And I shall aid you with a little hair and makeup,” Vivienne already had compacts of face paint ready for her. 

Okay, now she really is going to cry. 

****

Cullen made his way to Skyhold’s garden as the sun was about to set. Soon the sky would turn to different shades of colors and the stars would make their way in the dark. 

And to have Marzeyna with him when that happens would simply be a gift for him. 

When he arrives, the gardens are eerily empty. Nobody is there except for Varric, who holds a small basket in his arms. 

“Curly! I was wondering when you were going to show up. Got everything set up for you.” 

Walking over to him, Cullen spots the display before the both of them. 

On the grass lays a plain worn blanket, threading at one side. There’s a plate in the middle that holds fruits, cheeses, and sweets. Varric sets the basket down and reaches in and pulls out a bottle of wine and two glasses. 

“There’s also candles and matches in here in case you want to stick around past sundown.” 

For a moment, the commander loses his words. 

“You alright there, Curly? We didn’t forget anything, did we?” 

Cullen snaps back to reality. 

“N-No. No, this is . . . perfect.” 

“Good ‘cause it’s not gonna get any more perfect then this.” 

As Cullen takes a closer look at the display, he expects Varric to walk away, giving him the much needed space and quiet he’d like to share with the inquisitor. Instead, the dwarf walks over to the ledge a couple feet away. 

Just as Cullen is about to call out to him, he hears the sound of one of the doors opening. 

“Dorian, what are you-” 

“Oh, I’m just here to take in some fresh air,” the mage brushes off. “I’m also meeting Cassandra here for a game of chess. Don’t mind me.” He walks past him to the chess board where he once shared a game with the commander not far too long ago. 

Again, why is he here? Cullen goes to open his mouth to say something when the door opens again. 

“Good evening, Commander.” 

“Er uh . . . good evening, Cassandra.” 

The seeker walks past him to join Dorian at the chessboard. They speak in hushed tones that he cannot decipher. 

And then the doors open again. 

It’s Leliana and Josephine who also say “good evening” before rushing towards one of the garden benches and sitting themselves down. 

And then Blackwall walks in and utters his good evening and joins Varric by the ledge. 

And then another door opens, but it’s not from either entrance to the gardens. Instead, it’s from the upper level where the bedrooms are. There stood the tall forms of the Iron Bull and Vivienne in her headdress, arm and arm taking what appears to be...a stroll?

The blood vessel from last night suddenly wants revenge. 

“What in the Maker’s name-!” he starts but then the door opens again. 

Oh . . . 

It’s her . . . 

“Good evening, Cullen,” Marzeyna says, “I got your note.” 

Oh, that's right. He left a note for her in his office that told her to come meet with him in the garden at her earliest convenience. 

“Good evening, Marzeyna. . .” he breathes out. “You look beautiful tonight.” 

It’s true. He rarely saw her outside of her armor and indoor inquisition clothes that she wore to look the part. But tonight, she wore something else. Her hair is done up with strands of wavy hair outlining her face, showing off the earrings with red gems adorning her ears. Her face itself is painted, her eyelids swept with a glittery yellow, almost gold dust, and her mouth painted a brilliant shade of red that complimented her vallaslin. Her blouse hugged her exposed shoulders and from her neck hangs a simple gold necklace. The sleeves are long and rolled up below the elbow. Below that is a long skirt that exposes her ankles, revealing bare feet half wrapped in cloth. 

It wasn’t much, and yet it still steals his breath away. 

“Thank you,” she says and walks closer to him.

Their hands meet and he leans over to her to give her a kiss. 

Until that is when someone coughs and reminds him they aren’t alone. 

Without speaking, Cullen gently pulls her over to their little picnic and sits themselves down on the blanket. 

“I am sorry,” he says while pouring her a glass of wine. “But apparently the Inquisition wants to witness our little picnic.” 

“Inquisition?” Marzeyna looks around, her eyes widening at every angle. “Oh hell, almost everyone is here. Why?” 

“I don’t know,” Cullen rubs the back of neck. He’s seriously going to rub it raw one day. “I was about to tell everyone off when you arrived.” 

“Oh shit,” she murmurs into her wine. “They expect some kind of show from this, like a play. Maybe if we just sit here and whisper they’ll eventually get bored and leave.” 

“Let’s hope for it.” 

Conversations were attempted, but just as they really get into the meat of it, someone whispers, someone coughs, someone giggles. A near dozen pair of eyes were on them and Cullen could feel them burning into him in all directions. 

“They really are a persistent lot,” he mutters mostly to himself. 

“I’m afraid so,” Marzeyna replies as she takes a bite from a sweet tart from the plate. 

Time passes. It feels like an hour, but it’s really closer to twenty minutes. 

“Any minute now,” she says, her smile waning away, “they will all pick up and leave and it’ll be just the two of us.” 

They both sigh. 

Another moment passes. Nothing happens. Cullen’s pretty sure now that Dorian and Cassandra have yet to even make the second move in their game. Varric and Blackwall pretend to be interested in both the sky and ground. Leliana and Josephine appear to lean against one another, ready to fall asleep. The Iron Bull and Vivienne have long since gave up pretending to walk up and down the balcony and now lean against it. 

Cullen and Marzeyna no longer stare at each other as they space off into the distance, near tipsy on wine and full of fruit and sweets. 

“Alright, I give up.” Marzeyna takes in the rest of her wine and stands up. Cullen joins her as well. “Have you lot gotten bored yet? Nothing’s gonna happen. I don’t even know what you all expected.” 

“Honestly, neither did I,” says Dorian getting up from his seat to stretch his legs. “I’ll be off now.” 

“Dammit Cullen, take the gloves off already!” Bull yells from the balcony while making obscene hand gestures that Vivienne does not approve of. 

“I am not taking my gloves off!” Cullen yells back, his face quick to turn red. 

“Prude!” 

With that, everyone got up and made their way out, some laughing along the way. 

When silence finally fell and the two of them were the only ones there, they sat back down with a sigh of relief. 

The silence is broken when Marzeyna starts to laugh. 

It starts off as a small giggle and then it builds up to a good chuckle and soon enough, she’s cackling like a child does at inappropriate jokes. 

And he laughs with her. They laugh hard and loud until Cullen can feel another headache off in the distance. One he won’t complain about too terribly much. 

“I have to say, Cullen,” she speaks as she winds down, “this was the worst picnic I’ve ever had.” 

“My apologies,” he replies, clearing his dried throat. “I had a much better idea in my head. It was much more romantic and intimate and not full of witnesses.” She scoots herself closer to him and puts a hand on his shoulder. 

“It’s alright, it’s the thought that counts.” 

The commander puts his hand over the Inquisitor’s and holds it closer to him so he can kiss the knuckles of her hand. 

“I appreciate that very much.” 

Marzeyna leans towards him and he wraps an arm around her shoulders and holds her other hand in his. 

“Let me make it up to you,” she says. “Let’s have breakfast in my quarters tomorrow morning. Just me and you. How does that sound?” 

Just me and her . . . 

“Dearest, that sounds lovely. . .” 

“Good, I prefer the sun rises than sunsets, to be honest.” 

“And why is that?” 

Marzeyna shrugs. “It's something I've always enjoyed since the clan. I like watching the world wake up with me. It’s a beautiful sight that reminds me I am alive and have a day ahead of me to live. And it reminds me of you, when I see you in the morning before breakfast. You are the first thing I think of when I wake up with the sun in my eyes.” 

She’s robbing him of words and breath again. He can’t help himself. 

Taking a hand to cup the side of her face, he leans in, closing his eyes, and catches her lips with his. 

With her, everything is perfect. With her, everything he’s been through is almost worth it. 

They part and she starts to laugh again. 

“What is it?” He can’t wipe the dumb smile he knows he has on his face. 

“Nothing,” she shakes her head. “It’s just that my lip paint is now all over your lips.” 

“Is it now?” 

“Yeah. Here, let me help you make it worse.” 

And she kisses him again. 

[constablegoo]

@astralglam​​​​ filed a report .

mint: does your muse view themself as virtuous & moral? what do these words mean to them?

OHOHO. hey hi ily. this is, of course, one of odo’s deepest ongoing battles, and the moment he stops questioning it is the moment he becomes a founder.

the founders grant themselves god status.  GOD!  status. they just reach out and pluck it. Within their range of power, the founders become unquestionably Just and Virtuous and Moral, their Word becomes Law, it becomes “the way things are” and “fact” and they create their own reality stemming from thousands of years of intense xenophobia. they’re above it all. gods don’t make mistakes, right? sure, maybe changelings were hunted and feared ages ago but they still fear it, and that drive for Order and Control over the galaxy is now encoded into their genes and they place a companion structure into the genes of every other species they control, subjugating them to the founders’ own cozy position as Gods, or-- ‘gods’. the founder (i rly don’t like saying “female” founder so she’s THE Founder. she speaks for the link.) makes it quite clear on many occasions that the founders are not here to negotiate. they fully intend to control EVERYTHING at any cost. it is absolutely  chilling  when she cuts garak down with: “they’re dead. you’re dead. cardassia is dead.” and draws the line between the dominion and everyone else miles deep into the sand.

that same genetic coding is one of the first semi-concrete things odo comes to understand about himself and, horribly, he’s landed into conditions under the occupation that very easily could have taken advantage of a less meticulous or stubborn changeling. no, odo says initially (and incorrectly), i am not bajoran** and i am not cardassian and i stand apart from either side of this conflict and so i am bound to PURE Virtue and Morality because of it. he can’t be bribed or bought or won over, and he won’t allow for anything less than a kind of incorruptibility. this effectively wins him allies (and enemies) on both sides, however -- that’s just not how the universe works. the truth of it is that no matter how much he tells himself he is not a part of their regime, his working with the cardassians makes him a collaborator in that he has then recognized their authority and ultimately upheld their legitimacy, even if he never agreed with the cause, even if he was also on some level a casualty of it. at some point when he moves past ‘contract’ investigation and begins to work permanently, he falls into the trap of thinking Order is the same thing as Justice... huge yikes. in that moment he becomes a true and apathetic villain, but he’s subsequently haunted by the resulting execution of innocents. it shakes something up in him. years pass and he still wonders, what other mistakes has he made? what other less direct consequences of his ‘neutral’ arbitration exist? he (and everyone around him) has to live without really knowing, and it’s a constant reminder to him of the power he holds and it informs his understanding of what Real (and imperfect) Justice Means.

**sidenote but later in s7 he introduces himself as ‘from bajor’ and AAAAAA. its good. very good. yeah, you’re bajoran, odo. he gets it now.

Mirror odo is really the ultimate example of an odo having taken those instincts to extremes in an environment that rewarded him for them -- there is no guilt there, and even a sadistic kind of pleasure in it. i’d argue that gaia!odo is another, less extreme example of an odo who’s been alone too long and lost sight of things when he single-mindedly (and against kira’s wishes) chooses her (one person) over 8000. like holy shit? NOT ok? uhhuhhhhfff. anyway. very fortunately, neither of these are OUR odo, but act as great foils to reflect on the worst (bastard cop) qualities or potential qualities of our goo pushed to highly visible extremes, which star trek just loves to do all the time.

but regular/prime odo isnt exactly a rule-follower, either. throughout his life, he frequently takes things into his own hands, uses his abilities to his advantage, spies, wiretaps, eavesdrops, and yes, harasses [quark] sometimes -- he develops his own set of values and personal rules and follows them; even starfleet comes in wary of him and how he operates and hes on thin ice. but because of possibly his most redeeming quality, odo is able to adapt those self-ordained values toward something increasingly honest: for how rigid he can be in personality, he is HIGHLY influenced by the world around him,  listens hard  to what his friends and allies have to say and adapts that feedback; this allows him to evolve and grow and take important matters to heart. he becomes more flexible and better able to hold onto what’s really most important after locking into a decision, because above all else, he is passionately committed to doing the Right Thing. he PLEADS with himself in things past, “your job is to find the truth, not obtain convictions.” by his tendency to push back against what is laid down as ‘law’ (something he becomes more and more aware of and effective at doing) as not always being good or right, or necessarily even creating Order (the thing he’s driven genetically to want), he prepares himself to challenge the most deadly voice of authority -- that of his own people.

so... yes and no. odo’s role and persona as ‘your average security chief’ might dictate that he be virtuous and moral, but he so obviously can’t fit the same exact mold as others in his position -- he has these insane abilities and this mind-consuming nature and it requires he tread with extra care, but he also has a potential for more adaptive, more nuanced morality. he has to build up his own definitions to the words, constantly examine and tease and test them, or else he risks straying too far from what he really wants to achieve -- harmony, honest justice. he has to accept that he’s a part of the system he operates in (not, in fact, alone or isolated! something he actually wants), and know that he is not exempt from making the wrong choice, just like anybody else.

carnation: what is your muse’s relationship with their gender? how do they express or not express this relationship?

ODO AND GENDER!!! i love odo and gender. let’s take this one step at a time. he starts out as an amorphous glob -- he has no gender. there’s no basis for assignment, no culture of difference, and all the goos are goo. odo takes on the shape of the first living thing he sees / the thing he sees most frequently: dr mora. he adopts an image of masculinity from mora and he adopts the hair. that’s about it, and it’s pretty much arbitrary. (maybe the hair is simple enough for his skills, too?) the next people odo meets are also these very masculine, military, cardassian leaders, so again -- this is all he knows! this is neutrality. i imagine it takes him some time to work out what the differences in gender are, and sex, and orientation, romantic vs sexual stuff, all of that. it’s all got cultural baggage he knows nothing about and does not experience, and he’s also dealing with multiple, clashing cultures to boot. since he doesnt have any strong inherent leaning, he simply opts out. he/him becomes his default because thats where he started, thats what he’s been able to successfully present and how people know him, and, terrifyingly, under cardassian rule, it probably offered a bit of safety, too, which was obviously something he needed at the time.

way way way way way down the line in season seven, odo asks kira to (paraphrasing) look at me. what do you see? [i see you.] but this is NOT me, this is only a shape ive assumed in order to fit in. she says, yes, i know that. but this is who you have chosen to be. “a man. a good and honest man.” (i knowww shes not really talking abt gender here BUT) its hard as a trans person not to read the metaphor. he’s chosen to express SOMETHING. he’s chosen something other than what he was given (neutrality) and although he doesnt personally buy into what ‘masculinity’ “should be” (ie the ferengi, smh) / would certainly not argue he doesnt feel non-binary, this is how he has presented all his life, its how hes been treated, and it is what he has chosen to adhere to. there’s a choice in that, kira’s right, and now it reflects something about him.

parallel this, i’ll mention the “female” founder again bc of course there is no discernable reason for her to have a gender -- other than to appeal (im not talking sexually here although there’s,, obviously weird shit happening with the link... yike) to odo in the sense that until that point odo has lived with “gendered” individuals and, i think importantly, kira is with them when they first meet. i think its safe to say the founder saw her, figured she was a friend/ally to odo or at least familiar to him, and took her general representation to appeal as a friend/ally.

otherwise... why, honestly? the founder’s got NO love of humanoids lmao why would she bother.

anyway i’d like to see odo experiment a bit. because when hes safe, he can!! aside from his own doubts and insecurities about shapeshifting, at some point he really has no reason not to, at least a little bit. really, it should just be another thing to practice, much like becoming a convincing rock or a leaf, its just that there are other significances in the cultures around him. i’d just like to see him loosen up a little. have fun. grow ur hair out a bit, odo, why are u still looking like ur terrible dad.

[8zs]

Library

(gif is not mine)

Pairing: Seonghwa x reader

Genre: Enemies to lovers au, Fluff

Words: 1.066

Song: Looking Out For You - Joy Again

A/n: listen to that song PLEASE it screams hwa.... also ignore that this is my worst work yet im rly sorry.... if u want me to rewrite it or do something completely different just lmk.... ily ): 

You hadn’t always hated Seonghwa. But when he broke your friend’s heart in sixth grade, you couldn’t help but resent him. It was kind of lame, really.

You still treated him poorly for what he did so many years ago. You weren’t even friends with that girl anymore.  She dropped you for other people, ‘prettier and more popular people’ she had said.

So you blamed all of that on the raven haired guy. It’s not like it was one sided, though. He hated you, too. You didn’t know why, but you could care less.

You just got your report card, and you were failing math… You got an F. Your teacher told you that you were getting a tutor. You still heard her voice when she told you the most unpleasant thing.

“You’re gonna get a tutor for math, we’ve already discussed it with him and Park Seonghwa will be tutoring you starting next week. Okay?”

You had simply nodded and told her it was fine.

“Can you believe this shit, Wooyoung? Seonghwa is gonna tutor me. Seonghwa out of all the people in our class. That Yeosang guy is smart, right? I heard he got straight A’s in math. Why can’t he tutor me?!”

Wooyoung snickered and shook his head. “Stop being so dramatic, (y/n). Maybe you can over your dumb grudge and befriend him.”

You laughed. “No way! Just because he’s extremely good looking and popular and, soon, tutoring me in math doesn’t mean anything. He’s still a fucktard, I don’t care.”

“So, you think he’s good looking?” Wooyoung winked at you.

“Shut up, Woo. I’m not gonna deny the facts, everyone knows he’s hot and I bet he knows it just as well.”

The weekend came sooner than you liked, and it was over just as quick. You were walking to the library where you were supposed to meet Seonghwa every Monday, Thursday and Friday. You grimaced, this was gonna be a disaster.

As soon as you walked in, you saw he had company. You rolled your eyes and walked over to him. You sat down next to his friend, who you recognized to be Mingi.

Mingi was actually pretty nice, he always sat next to you in history and often made small talk with you before class started.

“Hi Mingi, Seonghwa.” You said and they turned to look at you. Mingi grinned and patted your back. “Hey (y/n), nice to see you here, but I promised Seonhwa I would leave when you came. So! See you guys later!” He said and winked at Seonghwa.

Seonghwa rolled his eyes. “Anyways, what do you need help with?”

It was your turn to roll your eyes now. “Shouldn’t you know that? You and Mrs. Lim discussed it.”

He scoffed. “Just give me your tests from this trimester.”

You got the tests out of your bag and handed them to him. He looked at them and a hum left his throat. “Okay, so what I get from this is that...”

It’s been two months since Seonghwa started tutoring you, and it was safe to say you didn’t hate him anymore.

You hated to admit it, but you might even like him a bit. Disgusting! How could you?

It wasn’t like you wanted to like him, but as you worked together and your grades got better you started to notice little things. Like when he’s struggling to explain something he sticks his tongue out from between his lips. When he’s unsure about something he tilts his head a bit to the side and gives a nervous smile.

It’s those little things you started noticing, and those things made you realize just how enchanting he was.

Seonghwa on the other hand, he had never hated you, or had any negative feelings towards you. He had liked you since sophomore year. Kind of embarrassing, he thought.

But you’ve never showed interest in him, you’ve never been nice to him. He didn’t know why you hated him, or acted like you did.

You really had no reason to hate him, you had quickly realized that. He was so sweet and caring and it seemed like he wanted you to pass.

“Hey.” You plopped down next to Seonghwa in the library chairs. “Hi.”

He started explaining the new subject matter and you two got to work.

It was almost 5PM when you looked at the clock. “Oh, it’s kind of late… Do you wanna go home for dinner?” Seonghwa just looked at you. “(y/n), why do you hate me?”

The question caught you off guard. You looked down and started playing with your bracelet.

“I don’t- I don’t hate you… I mean, I know I act like I do. But I don’t , well not anymore actually…”

“Why did you hate me, then?”

“It’s a dumb and stupid reason, it’s embarrassing…”

He looked at you, giving you an encouraging look to continue.

You sighed. “Remember Minjoo from sixth grade? Yeah, you broke her heart and she was my best friend at the time. So I guess that’s why I started hating you, and I just… I don’t know, I’m sorry”

Seonghwa just chuckled. “Is that all?”

You playfully hit his arm. “Hey! For a sixth grader that’s a valid reason!”

He hummed in response. “I guess you could say that.”

“I don’t hate you anymore, though.” You said in a soft voice.

He looked you in the eye and raised an eyebrow. “Hm? And why’s that?”

“I’ve become used to you.”

“Is that a good or bad thing?”

“I guess it’s a good thing.”

He smiled. “Do you maybe wanna get dinner together?”

You looked down to hide your blush. “Yeah, that’d be nice.”

The rest of the evening went by pretty quickly and you two had lots of fun. He walked you home and when you got to your door, you turned around to face him.

“It was fun with you, Seonghwa.”  He nodded. “Yeah, it wasn’t that bad hanging out with you.” He joked.

You giggled and looked at his face. When did he get so handsome? And since when did his eyes sparkle that prettily?

“(y/n)? Do you maybe wanna do this again sometime?”

You nodded. “I’d love that…”

“Okay, it’s a date.” He winked.

You smiled, looking down to hide your blush. He gave you a hug and pecked your cheek.

“See you tomorrow at the library~”

[exasperatedmoron]

5+1 times Barry says he has a boyfriend and the 1 time they realized he wasn’t kidding

*1*

Cisco walked into the lounge with his arms full of chocolate, movies and those sappy scented candles. It was Valentine’s Day and him, Barry and Caitlin had a tradition of spending it together since they all had very, very miserable love lives.

“Who’s ready to cry over a dying dog!”

Caitlin was already sitting on one of the beanbags Barry placed in front of the mini-movie screen. She raised her glass of wine towards Cisco, already dressed in her sweats without makeup on. Barry, however, was dressed up in a maroon button down and hair gelled up. He was setting the stereotypical ‘ILY’ teddy bears on Cisco and Cait’s beanbags.

“Why do you look like you’re going on a date, Sonic?”

“Erm. Cause I am?”

“With who?” Cisco tried to think back to anyone Barry has interacted with recently, assuming it was someone new. The only new friends he’s made so far were Ralph and Julian. “Oh no. It’s not Ralph, is it? You always seemed to be in each other personal spaces”

Barry looked affronted, even holding up his hand to his chest. “Cisco, no! I- What- Cisco!” Barry’s face contorted as he tried to come up with words. “It’s not him! It’s... someone you guys know. But that’s all I’m saying!”

Barry stood his ground and seemed very insistent on keeping quiet, but Cait and Cisco were invested now. Barry’s last crush was on Iris and that ended years ago before she and Eddie got married. In those years, Barry has only gone on two dates - with Patty and Linda - and both didn’t work out so well. But even in those cases, Cisco and Caitlin were updated (like best friends were supposed to be).

Huh. “Why didn’t you tell us about this date?” “It was very last minute. I didn’t even know he was in town today. Turns out he was so... yea.”

“So, he travels out of town?” “Yeah, he does.”

“Huh. What’s his job?” “Oh, you know. A little bit of this and that. He deals with... uhm... artefacts? and... problem... solving?”

Wow. Pinocchio would be disappointed.

“Okay. Have fun on your date.

Barry nearly stumbled on his own two feet getting out of there, yelling a ‘Bye Cait! Cisco!”. Cisco picked up a beer from the chiller and sat beside Cait as she pressed ‘play’ on the remove.

“He doesn’t really have a date, doesn’t he?”

“Nope.”

*2*

Iris barged into Barry’s apartment, hands full of take-out and ice cream. Normally, she’d pick the lock to get in, but for some reason, Barry upgraded his lock. It was the same as before, so she could still use her key but it couldn’t be picked so easily anymore. Barry must have listened to her, for once.

“Barry! Eddie and I are fighting so I need to have a Disney marathon! Get your lazy ass out of bed!”

Iris heard him squeak, followed by a ‘thud’ as he fell out of his bed. She smiled to herself and placed the take out on the table, knowing that the speedster would be less grumpy once he saw the food. She made her way to the kitchen to put the ice cream in the freezer for later when he saw that his freezer wasn’t empty. Her eyebrows scrunched up as she opened the fridge and saw that it filled too.

Barry never had a filled fridge. Not even a half-filled fridge. Even before he was a speedster, he survived of ramen and pizza. The most his fridge would contain was leftovers from his junk or from whatever meal Iris brought over. It was even worse when he became a speedster, almost causing his fridge to be obsolete.

“Iris? Why are you staring at my fridge?”

Iris snapped out of her thoughts and turned around to stare at her foster brother with bed hair. “Since when did you have food?”

Barry looked confused for a second, eyes going from her to the fridge. As soon as his eyes saw the contents of it, a small smile grew on his face. “Oh. My boyfriend must have left some last night.”

Iris’s thoughts on food and Eddie were completely pushed back. “Boyfriend? Bartholomew Henry Allen, are you having secret rendezvous with a man and not telling me?” “Geez Iris, you’re almost as dramatic as he is. And no, I told you about him, remember?” 

Now it was Iris’ turn to be confused. “When?” “On Valentine’s Day? I asked you to fill my place with Cait and Cisco since Eddie had work and I had a date?”

Ohhhh. “Barry. You don’t need to use your imaginary boyfriend as an excuse to have your fridge stocked. You could just say it as it is. You finally decided to act like an adult instead of a bachelor.”

“What? What do you mean bachelor? Wait - What do you mean imaginary?”

“Cisco and Caitlin told me you made up a fake boyfriend so that it’d hurt less when you stood them up. It’s fine though, they took pity on you so they aren’t mad.”

“Fake?! I-Wha-They-”

“Barry relax. Come on, heat up your ‘boyfriend’s’ leftovers. I wanna taste it while telling you about how much of an overprotective husband Eddie is being again.”

Hours later, the two were stretched over the couch with cartons of ice cream balancing on their torsos while watching Singin’ in the Rain.

“I really do have a boyfriend, you know?”

“Sure you do.”

*3*

Barry was late for work (again) and Joe had to cover for him (again). He needed the results for a case so he sat on Barry’s chair and waited for the CSI to arrive. Soon enough, said CSI ran into the lab, clutching onto his messenger bag and a mini-cooler.

Julian took one look at him and snorted, “You sure that’s enough food, Allen? I can call a caterer if you’d like.” “Shut it, Jullian.”

“Joe! Hey I -” “You woke up sick, so I sent you to a doctor to get you checked up. I’m assuming you’re feeling better and ‘bout to give me the results for the Williams case I needed two hours ago?”

Barry nodded and tossed his bag to his chair as he frantically sifted through his desk, ignoring Julian’s comment about tidiness. He plucked out a file from the bottom of the clutter and passed it to Joe. “Thanks Barr. Now, why were you really late? Mugging? Little ol’ lady bein’ robbed?”

Barry started to scratch the back of his neck, face turning a light shade of pink as he avoided eye contact with Joe. “Ah. Actually, I overslept. I stayed over at my boyfriend’s place last night so... yeah.”

Joe’s eyes went wide, almost popping out of his head, “Boyfriend?”.

“Dear Lord, not this again,” Jullian mumbled from behind Joe as he continued writing his report. Joe turned around to look at Julian with an incredulous look. “You knew Barry had a boyfriend?”

“I knew Barry had an imaginary boyfriend. Cait told me about the Valentine’s Day Ditch.”

“Imaginary - What?! And seriously? You guys are putting a name to it?!” Barry nearly dropped the things he was holding on the floor.

“Ah. Iris told me about him too.”

“Joe, I really - “

“Barry, if you overslept, that’s fine. You didn’t need to lie. We know you’re workin’ hard on Flash duties anyway.”

“No, Joe. Really I-”

Barry was interrupted by Captain Singh’s appearance at the door, spurring the three back to work. Before Joe left though, he patted Barry on the back.

“You gotta work on your lying skills. Caitlin, Cisco and Iris saw right through you.”

Barry sighed.

*4*

Felicity and Barry were watching a movie marathon in the Arrow cave while Oliver was busy doing mayor stuff. The team needed Barry’s help with a meta who moved to Star City, so Barry ran over and even after the threat was cleared, he stayed for a while to catch up with his best friend.

Barry was finally starting to relax until Felicity just had to bring up a certain topic. “So what’s this I hear about you making up a fake boyfriend to get out of situations?”

Barry groaned into the popcorn.

“He’s not fake,” Barry asserted. “They just think he is because I won’t give out any details.”

“And why not?”

“Because he... well... it’ll be a disaster.”

“Okay,” Felicity sighed, setting down her popcorn, “I’ll play along. Why would it be a disaster?”

“They... Well, he doesn’t have the best reputation?” “Uh huh. And what kind of ‘reputation’ does he have?” Felicity leaned forward, eyes staring into Barry, trying to get him to slip.

“Well. You know, it depends. A bad but good one. But to some people, it’s a good one with a little bit of bad. He’s in the middle of good and bad? Or kinda like a see-saw, what side he’s on depends on the day.”

“Barry, this is why people don’t believe you.” "Not again.”

“You either need to work on your lying skills, or give out details that aren’t so vague.”

Barry groaned. He was so done. He picked up his popcorn and tossed one piece to Felicity’s head.

“Just eat your popcorn.”

*5*

Captain Singh was reading a report when Barry knocked on his door. “Come in, Allen.”

Barry walked into the office and placed a file on David’s desk. Just as he was about to leave, he stopped and turned to David. “Captain?” he asked.

“Yes, Allen?” “Can I request for a day off on the 18th?” David checked the calendar on the desk and saw that most of the other CSIs will be in.

“Okay, submit a proper request and I’ll approve it. If I may ask, why do you need to take it? Albert seems to be less of a pain as he was before.”

Barry chuckled as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt. “Actually it’s my boyfriend and I’s one and a half year anniversary. Our one year didn’t end well, so I wanted to make it up to him.”

David sighed and removed his glasses, turning to face Barry properly. “Barry, I’ve known you for over 10 years now. I think by now, you would know that excuses like that wouldn’t work on me.’’

Barry looked confused and a little bit upset at his words. “Sir? I...’’

“If it didn’t work on Joe, Iris, or your other friends, it won’t work for me too. I know you’re the Flash, Barry. You didn’t need to come up with an elaborate fib like that.” Barry looked like he was about to protest or deny any allegations, but his shoulders just slumped. Barry looked like he wanted to roll his eyes at the world. He nodded and turned again to walk out when David mentioned something.

“Also, if you ever used that excuse again, one year anniversary sounds more believable than one and a half.”

“Of course. Sure thing, Captain.”

+1

Since Joe found out Captain Singh knew about Barry being the Flash, he decided to let his old friend around the labs, re-introducing him to Cisco and other members of the team. David was slightly surprised at how many people he knew were in the team (”Albert and Dibny? You guys are involved in this?”). He was surprised at their involvement, but at the same time, he wasn’t. Barry had the type of personality that just drew people in.

Just as he was talking to Caitlin in the med bay, a series of beeps emitted from the computers in the cortex. “What’s that? Is that some kind of Flash alert?” he asked as him and Caitlin walked into the cortex where the rest were in, excluding Barry, who was patrolling the city.

“Nah, that just means the waverider landed on the roof. The Legends will probably stop by here to say hi before visiting their families.” Cisco answered as he had another lollipop in his mouth. Caitlin scowled at him and he removed the sweet from his mouth, not wanting her to go into another tirade about dental health.

Minutes later, a group of nine walked into the cortex, exchanging pleasantries with team Flash.

“Didn’t know the Captain of the CCPD is now on team Flash.”

David turned away from his conversation with Ray Palmer and saw Leonard Snart leaning against a wall, smirking. Beside him was his partner Mick Rory, who was being fussed over by Caitlin (”You keep letting your burns heal like that and I’ll cover it in ice until it reaches your bones.”) “Leonard Snart. Didn't know you played on the hero’s side now.”

“Well, I tend to swing both ways.” He turned and sauntered off to Cisco, but not before giving David one last smug look, causing him to think that there was a double meaning behind what Snart said.

“Hey, where’s Barry?” Sara asked Joe, who was catching up with Stein. “He’s on patrol. I can call him back.” Joe went over to the computers and patched in through Barry’s comms.

“Hey Barr, the Legends are here. Come over and say hi.” “The Legends?” Barry sounded excited, but team Flash thought it was because he got to catch up with his friends. The Legends, on the other hand, gave Len a quick look before returning to their conversations.

Five seconds later, a figure appeared in the middle of the cortex, followed by a lightning trail. “Barry!” Sara exclaimed as she threw her arms around the speedster, still in his Flash regalia. “Hey Sara, how was the 1800s?” “Sexist. But I kicked some bigots into a river, so I’d say it went well.” Barry and Sara exchanged a few words before someone in the corner coughed.

“Lenny!” Barry exclaimed and sped over to the reformed criminal. He kissed the thief in front of both their teams, unaware of the heart attack he gave to the members of his own team.

“Bartholomew Henry Allen!” Iris shrieked, causing everyone in the room to wince at the octave she reached, “Since when were you dating Captain Cold?!”. Barry opened his mouth to respond when Nate beat him to it.

“What the hell, man? You didn’t tell your team about it? It’s been years!” Barry sighed and put his head on his hands. Len’s arms were still around his waist, his back leaning on Len’s front. “No. I did. Multiple times. No one believed I had a boyfriend.”

The Legends half of the group burst into hysterical laughter while team Flash was still frozen in disbelief. “Wait a second. Your ‘fake’ boyfriend is Leonard Snart?!” Joe pointed from Barry to Len, taking a moment to process it. He wasn’t as mad as he thought he’d be, but definitely surprised.

“To be fair, they aren’t dating anymore.”

That caused the team to snap out of their stupor. “What do you mean they aren’t dating anymore?” Cisco questioned, trying to comprehend how this all happened. “Did you guys break up?” Caitlin asked from her position beside Mick, who was laughing so hard that he held onto her shoulder for support.

Barry blinked at all his friends and family, asking himself how massive of a situation this led to. He shook his head and removed his gloves, taking Len’s hand and doing the same.

“Guys. I've been wearing a ring for the last 2 months. I haven't been hiding."

"We thought it was part of your... psuedo boyfriend scheme..."

Captain Singh was the first to get over the shock of everything and put all the information together. "So. For the last 2 years, you actually do have a boyfriend. Who's Leonard Snart. And not only did you tell us you were dating someone, you also flaunted your ring around, showing us you're engaged, and we didn't even believe it."

"Most people think the superspeed is what's unbelievable about me..."