#anyway you said everything and i definitely blabbed on for a bit sorry about that 😅

[corcracrow]

Elucien PotO????? Plz tell us everything

Hi nonnie! Well, it started ages ago. I had the idea sitting in my drafts for about a month, then I saw a post mentioning a wish for the same idea. So I of course volunteered to write it, with Elain as Christine and Lucien as Raoul. (and Vassa as Meg)

Unfortunately it’s been sitting in my drafts for a while because I started thinking too in depth about the Phantom and the details and it was suddenly rather stressy and depressy.

But especially with winter coming I’ve been checking on it and thinking about it and stirring it in its cauldron, Macbeth’s witches style. I think I’m going to actually finish making that moodboard and let it out into the interwebs. Hopefully by the end of November :) we’ll see.

Here’s a snippet for you, if you’d like it!

“You’re saying you and that gorgeous vicomte were sweethearts? Why in the Mother’s name did you let him get away?”

“He moved, Vassa. Before we lost our fortune. After that, I couldn’t exactly hop in a gilded carriage to visit, could I? Besides, he probably doesn’t even remember me.”

Vassa snorted. “Who could possibly forget you, Elain?”

“It was a long time ago.” Still, Elain’s gaze couldn’t help following as the Vicomte began a hasty retreat, citing some urgent business. He was followed by a chorus of sighs.

[queenofbaws]

Is this a prompt or is this just me blabbing nonsense words as I spew vast amounts of word vomit into your inbox? Who knows! All I know is that I've apparently decided that I needed to share this with someone, and that (un)lucky someone is you lol.

Anyways, for some reason I can't stop thinking about trash trio sleepovers. But not the events that take place during the sleepovers, just that little bit when they've all gotten into bed at the end of a busy night and are actually trying to go to sleep.

Specifically, those all too rare nights when Josh is actually the first to fall asleep, leaving Chris and Ashley as the two still awake. And I just feel like on those nights, they spend a frankly insane amount of hours forcing themselves to stay awake as they just talk. Bundled up under borrowed blankets and thankful for the darkness of whatever bedroom or livingroom they've crashed in for the night hiding tired yet utterly besotted smiles and completely enamored faces as they do their best to stay quiet so they don't wake anyone up, even as they can't stop giggling and laughing every couple of minutes. Just, like, taking about everything and nothing as they both selfishly not allow the other to go to bed, not wanting to put a stop to these oh so rare moments when it's quiet and soft and private. It's just *them*.

So they can't help but stay up way too late, until the point hits where they're both so overtired that their once carefully constructed and guarded filter starts to crumble and one or both of them is like seconds away from blurting out 'so I think I'm maybe in love with you.'

I've also decided that this is probably the closest that either of them get to actually saying anything about it, and yet it happens more often than either would like lmao. Like they probably get out the first couple of words before their brain finally catches up to their mouth and then they're making flustered and mortified excuses/realizations about how it's like 5 in the morning or something so they should definitely absolutely go to bed as they roll over and end whatever conversation they were having abruptly and seemingly out of nowhere lol.

And yet, when they get up grouchy and grumpy in the morning, you know that neither of them regret even a single hour of it 💖

(i am very sorry about this word vomit you are about to wake up to lol. Haven't been able to stop thinking of this for weeks cause I love how warm and gushy it makes me feel fhdkskdhdkshd)

There were a lot of downsides to Josh being a heavy sleeper - and 'a lot' meant a lot, the list running the gamut from the relatively harmless (e.g., having to find a way to wrestle your arm out from under his dead weight if you made the mistake of falling asleep in his general vicinity) to the downright torturous (e.g., the snoring) - but as the prince of horror taketh, so too did he giveth, at least in a sense.

Him being able to sleep through a mass extinction event meant they only had to pretend to whisper.

"It's really not all it's cracked up to be, y'know," Chris said, was saying, had been saying, the conversation about college life having long-since turned into something else by virtue of how many times they'd circled around it, turning it over and over again like a craggled rock thrown into a polisher until it became smooth, "I mean, don't get me wrong...there's a certain kind of beauty to just having to swipe your ID at the dining halls and not having anyone raise an eyebrow when you say, like, 'Why yes I do think I'll be having another burrito for breakfast, my good sir,' but...eh, sometimes I wish I was still here."

In the half-light of the basement, only the ambient glow of entertainment center lights there to cast a bluish cast about the place, he couldn't see Ashley so much as imagine her there, a faint rustle from the couch suggesting she'd rolled over or tugged her blanket up. "Awww," she teased, "sounds like someone's homesick, huh?"

That was one word for it, he guessed, though it wasn't quite the right one; neither was it the wrong one, it just...it was too vague, too open, too, too, too nonspecific, because 'homesick' meant you were missing home, but did it mean the same thing when the home you were missing was a person and not a place?

"Or maybe I just don't know how to function when you're not around to roll your eyes at me, you ever think of that?" he asked, and he smiled when she laughed, Chris did (because that, in a way, was its own sort of home, and another one he'd been sick for, if he was being honest), but he wished he could find courage enough in that darkness to admit aloud to her that he hadn't been joking at all - not even a little bit.

six sentence sat(or)sunday!!!

[teawaffles]

The Adventures of John: Chapter 4, Part 2

TW // Mention of abuse

Also, a note for language.

Without even an opportunity for Laura to resist, Sherlock pulled his hand out — and revealed a gorgeous necklace. It wasn’t as if John could remember that necklace itself, but from its elegant sparkle, he judged that it’d been one of the items from their flat.

The despair on Laura’s face only deepened. Beside her, the detective spoke.

“This was stolen from my flat. Since the jewellery was in such a mess, you probably thought it wouldn’t look amiss if just one piece went missing — but that was naive of you,” he said. “Because I have a full grasp of everything that was put there.”

When Laura arrived at their flat, Sherlock had made a show of being indifferent to her request, while making sure that she had taken one of the stolen goods.

To have fully comprehended that chaos — John marvelled at the strength of Sherlock’s memory. During the conversation in the flat, he had persisted in looking out the window, away from Laura: that must’ve been to create a deliberate opening, and test if the girl would help herself to the pile.

Laura had stolen a piece of jewellery from their apartment. Moreover, she’d made up the request to find Dolly. Inevitably, from the two points above, it followed that her goal from the start had been to steal the jewellery. Hence, it formed definite proof that she was one of the thieves’ accomplices.

Confronted by that irreversible reality, Laura was stunned. As for the man, his eyes went bloodshot from anger.

“Y-You’ve gotta be kidding me, you good-for-nothing……. I told you to do it without exposing us—”

Hearing that, Sherlock piped up in a cool voice.

“Shall I take that as a confession? Though, there is still the argument that this kid Laura here is just another one of you vagrants, and you guys have nothing to do with the ring of thieves.”

The man spat on the ground.

“Hmph, I’ve no interest flogging that argument anymore. ——Let’s settle this the fast way.”

Saying that, he drew a small revolver from his pocket, and levelled it at Sherlock. Following suit, a few men among the group also whipped out knives and guns. The remaining crowd cried out softly in fear.

“If we dispatch the both of you right here, the truth’ll remain buried, eh?”

At that unsettling line, his armed accomplices also broke into twisted smiles.

But despite being held at gunpoint, Sherlock seemed particularly unmoved. He observed their actions, and narrated his own view.

“From the looks of it, you lot are the ringleaders, while the rest seem to have been threatened into compliance.”

“Yeah: with just a little bit of a beating, they’ll do anything we ask,” the man smirked.

But Sherlock was calm as he replied.

“From that, I gather not all of you are friends. And seeing how you resort to violence to settle things right away: you’re probably a hoodlum accustomed to crime, aren’t ya?”

“Hoodlum? You’re not wrong, but call us a group of clever thieves if you can. After all, I’ve skilfully manipulated these scum and carried out some brilliant thefts.”

Drunk on his own accomplishments, the man threw a glance at Laura. She hadn’t budged from where she stood; protecting her head, she cowered on the ground in sheer terror. From that, one could easily imagine what maltreatment she and the others had suffered at the hands of these thugs.

His heart filled with rage, John glared at the man.

“That means you forced them to commit crimes, didn’t you?”

“Call it making effective use of them, Doctor Watson,” he drawled. “These people all live on a pittance of a daily income. No one would care if they’re gone. I’ve given them a rather fine job until now, but this time, she just had to screw up. ——As I thought, brats are useless after all!”

“……I-I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

He shouted at Laura, and she repeated that apology over and over as she sobbed.

“You……”

“John, you’re right to be angry, but please calm down.”

At the unforgivable sight before him, the detective’s assistant had balled his hands into fists, but Sherlock persuaded him to keep his cool.

“Ah…… Sorry to get back to the topic, but let me give you some clarity on this case.”

“Huh?”

As before, Sherlock’s demeanour lacked any sort of tension, and his opponent frowned. But the detective paid no heed to that as he continued.

“To sum up the story thus far: the bunch of louts brandishing their weapons here are the ringleaders behind the thefts, and the other vagrants and street merchants were forcibly…… ‘used’, if I were to borrow your words?”

“Yeah, that’s right. You could say that they’re all expendables to be exploited as I please. To have so skilfully manipulated them — I bet my abilities rival those of that rumoured ‘Lord of Crime’ or something.”

“……Well.”

At that name, Sherlock’s eye twitched. But he showed no further reaction than that as he replied.

“In other words, to you guys, their names and faces aren’t even worth remembering?”

“That’s an odd way to put it, but exactly. They’re all disposable — do you really think I can remember all of them? ……That said, how long are you gonna keep prattling on like that? I don’t know if you’re just trying to buy time, but it’s time for you to die.”

Running out of patience, the man broke off their conversation, and moved to pull the trigger: fully intending to shoot the detective and his assistant.

However, Sherlock’s smile remained bold as ever.

“——That’s it then. I’ve gotten your word.”

That instant, John couldn’t believe his eyes.

Among the crowd of vagrants, the ones who were shrouded in hoods — separate from the ringleaders — were now aiming guns at the criminals.

“……Huh?”

“——Don’t move.”

One of the mysterious figures commanded sternly, keeping his gun trained on the lead criminal. Stunned by this sudden development, the man complied; and with his other hand, the figure slowly drew back his hood.

“……Inspector Lestrade?”

Out of sheer astonishment, John murmured the person's name.

The man in the hood, was Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard. Facing the lead criminal, he spoke in a determined voice.

“From the conversation earlier, it’s clear that you have threatened the poor and coerced them into crime. I’ll hear the details at the station. Don’t even think about resisting.”

Then, the other figures removed their hoods and revealed their faces. One after the other, they confiscated the weapons from the stunned hoodlums. Though they weren’t wearing uniforms, from their practised actions, it was clear that they were police officers.

“W-What the devil is going on……?”

Tonight had been a night of many surprises for this detective. John was yet unable to wrap his head around the situation, and once again, he asked himself a question he’d thought about countless times today.

“Everything’s exactly as you’ve witnessed, John. When I identified this place, I contacted Lestrade at the same time, then got the officers to disguise themselves as tramps and hide among the crowd.”

“But why?”

“If I’d just called in the Yard as usual, we wouldn’t have been able to identify the ringleaders among this large a crowd.”

Sherlock stated that conclusion in brief, then began to explain.

“As I thought about the thieves’ actions, I judged that there was probably a mastermind separate from the ones committing the actual crimes, who was controlling them from behind the scenes. Hence, there was a need to identify this mastermind; but even if the Yard were to round up the entire group of vagrants, like what that ruffian told me earlier, they could just say that they had no relation to the ring of thieves — and that would be the end of it. Moreover, it still wasn’t clear who the ringleaders were, and the ring members who were being threatened would’ve likely been warned not to blab. So, in order to smoke out the ringleaders and elicit a confession, I added a bit of an act.”

Then, the detective looked at Lestrade, and the corners of his mouth twitched upward.

“——Well, about the disguises: I’d thought about where the police squad could hide themselves, and decided it would be better for them to mingle with the crowd, so they wouldn’t have to sneak about all weirdly.”

“W-Wha— What a stupid……”

Upon hearing the truth, the man’s earlier triumphant attitude had devolved into a disgraceful, incredulous one. This time, Sherlock laughed out loud.

“Sure, you can make people follow you, but you’ll also have to keep tabs on them properly. In the first place, when this location was discovered, didn’t it occur to you that I would call in the Yard? You can pretend to be a mastermind, but with your lack of foresight, even the Lord of Crime would laugh.”

“S……Shite.”

“Oi, watch what you say from here on. It’ll be used as evidence against you in court.”

Lestrade warned the man as he clapped him in irons; accepting his defeat, he hung his head bitterly. For a villain who’d exploited people in poverty, and boasted of rivalling the Lord of Crime: it was a downright dreadful ending.

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

“I’ll always be in your debt, Holmes. And the same goes for you, Dr Watson.”

As he watched the arrested criminals being taken away, Lestrade thanked the detective duo.

However, in contrast to the inspector’s earnest attitude, Sherlock put a hand over his mouth as he tried to suppress his laughter.

“Lestrade. Sorry for saying this when you’re being so serious, but…… you looked surprisingly good as a tramp.”

“H-Hey! That’s rude, Sherlock!”

“By Jove, Sherlock……”

John chided the detective, and Lestrade let out an astonished sigh.

“……Anyway, I’m grateful for your help in resolving this case.”

“Yeah, let me know when you have another interesting mystery next time.”

After that simple exchange, the inspector left to join the other police officers.

Then, Laura — the central figure from today — and an old woman from among the vagrants walked over to them.

“——U-Um, Dr Watson.”

The girl stood right before John. She bit her lip, and sank into a deep bow.

“I’m so sorry for tricking you!”

Laura blurted that out in a loud voice. Then, the old woman also bowed solemnly.

Met with their sincere apologies, John spoke up in a kind voice.

“It’s alright. You had no choice — all of you were being threatened.”

“B-But…… I……”

“Don’t worry about it. In any case, won’t it be tough for you all from here on?”

With a start, Laura realised what he meant, and dropped her gaze. Though they had been coerced into thievery, it was still a fact that they had broken the law. Hence, in order to furnish the details to the Yard, all of them would be taken in for questioning.

The atmosphere turned slightly gloomy, and Sherlock piped up.

“You don’t have to be so serious about it, y’know. Seeing as all of you had been forced into those crimes, the Yard’ll treat you more leniently.”

“Y-You’re right.”

John knew that Sherlock was deliberately being optimistic, in an effort not to worry them both. Hence, though it was a little awkward, John agreed with him.

Perhaps the matter wasn’t as simple as Sherlock had described, but the events from now on would be out of their hands entirely. Hoping that Lestrade would speak well in their defence, John changed the topic somewhat forcibly.

“……By the way, is this lady a relative of yours?”

Hearing that, Laura brightened up, and introduced the old woman.

“Yes, she’s my grandmother; we’ve been making a living together selling food.”

“Truly, please accept my sincere apologies for what happened.”

Hearing the old woman’s husky voice, John finally understood the awkward exchange he had witnessed between them at the park. Seeing as they were family, it was only natural for Laura to be more relaxed around her; moreover, the old woman’s faltering tone had surely been due to her guilt at deceiving him.

John nodded in understanding. Then, Laura took out a small pouch.

“That and this…… Here’s the full amount we’ve taken from you, Dr Watson. Please accept it.”

“Ah, I see. I’d forgotten all about the money. Thank you.”

John was about to reach for the pouch, when all of a sudden, a thought struck him — and he stopped.

“……Um, is something the matter?”

Seeing him freeze up, Laura tilted her head. Then, John withdrew his hand, and instead held up the bag full of items he’d bought from the street merchants.

“‘Taken’? What’re you saying? I bought these of my own accord. I can’t see any issues with them, so I’ve no intention of getting a refund.”

“……Eh?”

“Isn’t that right? I negotiated properly with the merchants in the parks, and bought these items as a customer. There was no trickery at all.”

John asserted that proudly, and beside him, he heard Sherlock chuckle.

Of course, what John said was by no means a show of bravado that he hadn’t been tricked. Laura had been moved by his kindness throughout the day; in an instant, she sensed the emotions imbued in his words. But even so, she knitted her brows, looking troubled.

“Still, I really should return this to you.”

She then offered him the pouch again, but John gently pushed it away.

“Laura, in all honesty, the walnuts your grandmother sold me were delicious. For products that good, it’s only right that I pay a fair price for them.”

His smile was full of warmth as he continued.

“If I happen to see your stall again, I’ll be sure to buy from you.”

“Dr Watson……”

This time, Laura did not press the matter.

She held the pouch as if it were a treasure, and her face brimmed with smiles.

“——Alright. When we see each other again, I’ll be sure to prepare lots of walnuts for you.”

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to that.”

Then, John bade goodbye to Laura and her grandmother; and with his “loot” in hand, he left the scene with Sherlock.

[theydontknowaboutusimagines]

This Christmas - A Harry Styles Christmas Series (Part 5)

Two life long friends. Secretly in love. Home for the holidays. Will they risk everything by telling the other how they feel? Or will they spend another year loving from afar?

Read these first    Prologue   Part 1    Part 2   Part 3    Part 4 

**

“Well, well, well, look who finally decided to show up,” your mother smirked as you walked into the house. “I can’t believe you’ve been here almost a week and you’re just now coming to visit your mother.”

You rolled your eyes putting your coat on the hook and heading into the kitchen, “I’ve been here like three days… four at the most and I already told you. I have a deadline.”

“Yes, yes, I know,” she sighed. “How’s that coming along?”

“I’m better off now than where I was before I left,” you said.

“Hm, maybe that means you should come home more often,” she raised an eyebrow.

This was a constant thing between you and your mother. She always claimed you never came home enough even though you made sure to visit a least a couple of days every other month. She would much rather you live here in Holmes Chapel, which technically was possible, but it made more sense for you to be in London.

“Anyway,” you said. “What do you have on the agenda for today?”

“Oh, I thought we could grab some breakfast and go do a little shopping,” she smiled.

“Oh, that would be great. I have some last minute shopping,” you said.

“I figured you did,” she laughed. “You definitely get that from me.”

You giggled, “So, ready to go?”

“Yep,” she smiled.

The drive into town where the main shops were located was mostly quiet. However, you could feel your mother glancing over at you.

“Just spit it out, already,” you said looking over at her.

“What are you talking about?” She smirked.

“You’re acting suspicious. There’s something on your mind, so spit it out,” you said.

“Oh, I’m just wondering how things are going over at Anne’s,” she said. “I heard Harry came home early.”

Your cheeks flushed red at the mention of Harry’s name. You were itching to tell your mother what had happened between you and Harry. Maybe not all the details, but that you two had confessed your feelings. But you and Harry had yet to establish what that meant for the two of you and you didn’t want to go blabbing about something that may not even workout. You hated having doubts, but there were very good reasons on why you did.

“Yeah, he came home the day after I got there, I think,” you said.

Speaking of when he got home, you couldn’t help but go back to the moment he walked in on you in the tub making you blush even more.

“Hm… have the two of you spoken at all?” She asked.

“We have,” you nodded, wondering where she was going with this.

“Hm,” she says.

“Okay, what are you doing?” You asked. “You’re being weird.”

“What? I’m just catching up with my daughter. What’s weird about that?” She asked.

“Your body language,” you said. “You’re tense and dragging out your thoughts. Your tone is one of those where you’re saying one thing, but have a whole other meaning behind it.”

“Look at you miss writer,” she joked. “But since you’re so aware… I was just wondering about you and Harry.”

“What do you mean about me and Harry? Just that we’re talking again… or that we’re working on our friendship?” You asked.

“Well, that but also… I didn’t know if maybe… you know,” she said.

“No, I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking what you’re getting at,” you laughed.

Although, in all honesty, you probably really did know what she was getting at, but you weren’t about to tell her that.

“I’m just wondering if you know… still are in love with him,” she said.

“Hold on, what do you mean still in love with him?” You asked.

“Y/N, darling, you’re my daughter. I know you. Yes, you and Harry were inseparable as best friends, but I saw the way you looked at him and the way you lit up whenever you were around him. I knew how you felt about him before even you did,” she said. “And I know things have been weird and distanced between you two the past few years, but that sort of love doesn’t just go away.”

You sighed looking out the window, “Then I guess you know the answer to your own question.”  

“Are you going to tell him?” She asked.

You bit your lip, still debating on telling her, but you couldn’t lie to her. She was your mother and plus she would have seen right through you.

“Weeelllll,” you said. “I kinda already told him… after he told me he was in love with me.”

As soon as the words left your lips, she slammed on the brings, pulling to the side of the road.

“And you’re just now telling me this!” She gasped. “Does Anne know? We’ve been waiting for ages for the two of you to come to your senses! What happened next? When did this happen?”

“Breathe, Mum,” you laughed. “One question at a time, please.”

“I’m sorry, now tell me details!” She insisted.

“I don’t know really, it just kinda happened. We’ve been talking and spending a little bit of time together the past few days in between my writing sessions. Then next thing I knew, he showed up at my door in the middle of the night telling me he was in love with me. That’s pretty much it. We haven’t even had a conversation about what happens next or what we want to happen next yet. We’re supposed to talk later tonight,” you said.

“What do you want to happen next?” She asked.

“Well, I obviously want to be with him. I want to give a relationship a try, but that doesn’t mean I’m not a little hesitant about it. There’s so many unknown scenarios and plus, we have really spoken in years. What if we’ve changed and we’re not the same people we fell in love with. What if it’s just the idea of us that we love and not each other,” you said.

“Those are all completely valid reasons, but honey, those can apply to anyone and every relationship,” she said.

“Okay, what about the whole long distance thing? It didn’t work out for us in regards to our friendship,” you sighed.

“Again completely valid,” she agreed. “But you two are older and in different places in your life. Plus, he’s not on the road for as long or as often.”

“That’s true,” you nodded.

“Look, whatever happens with you and Harry is up to you and Harry, but don’t let the fear of the unknown and what ifs keep you from letting you be with the one you love,” she said. “Would you rather live with the regret of never giving it a try and always wondering what might have happened, or would you rather live knowing you did and maybe it didn’t work out… or maybe it does. You just have to look at what decision you’ll be ready to live with.”

“You’ve been watching Dr. Phil again haven’t you?” You joked. “But seriously, I might use that line in my book.”

“Go right ahead, love,” she winked. “But in all seriousness, you and Harry really need to sit down, talk, and listen to one another.”

“I know,” you said. “We will. I promise.”

“Good,” she smiled. “You know I just want you to be happy.”

“I know and I love you for it,” you smiled.

“And I love you,” she smiled.

**

Harry did his best to sneak back into the house, but it didn’t matter how quiet he was because Anne was sitting in the chair in the living room sipping tea and reading a book.

“A bit early for you innit?” She smirked.

“I uh… I um.. “ Harry coughed. “Went for a run.”

“In your slippers?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.  

Harry’s face blushed red, “I can explain,” he answered.

“You were with Y/N,” she stated. “Were you safe?”

“What? Oh my god, Mum,” He said, running his hands over his face. “What are you on about?”

“Hey, you two are adults. I just want to make sure you’re safe unless you want to make me a grandma already, which I’m not entirely opposed to,” she said.

“Mum seriously, stop,” he groaned. “We didn’t… I just slept out there.”

“Riiight,” she said.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” he mumbled. “It’s the truth.”

“Well either way, this must mean you finally told her how you felt,” she said.

“I did,” he nodded.

“And I take it she told you how she felt too?” Anne stated.

“Yep,” he nodded.

“So, when’s the wedding?” She smirked.

Harry rolled his eyes, “You need to chill.”

“Oh, come on,” she laughed. “Y/mom’s/name and I have been waiting for this day for ages. Ooh, I wonder if she knows?”

“Y/N’s with her now… so maybe,” Harry shrugged.

“How does it feel now that you’ve told her?” She asked.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I thought.. I don't know...maybe it would feel like this huge moment… but I still feel the same.”

“Do you regret it?” She asked.

“No, I don’t,” he said. “I’d never regret telling the woman I love that I love her, but that was only the first step. I don’t know what this means for us now.”

“What do you want it to mean?” She asked. “What do you want to happen with Y/N?”

“I want to be with her,” he said. “I want to give a relationship a chance, but I kinda get the sense she’s a little apprehensive about.”

“Why do you think that?” She asked.

“Well for starters she kept putting off having the ‘what now’ conversation,” he sighed.

“Or she could just want time to let what happened soak in,” she said. “You and Y/N have been through a lot and have kept these feelings inside for so long, now that they’re out that’s going to take some getting used to.”

“That’s true,” he sighed. “I guess… I just pictured it to go a little differently.”

“You wanted your rom-com moment?” She asked.

He rolled his eyes at her, but didn’t say anything.

“Harry, look at me,” she said. “I know you and Y/N have missed out on a lot of time together, but you’re still so young. You don’t have to rush into anything. You have plenty of time. Everything doesn’t need to be figured out in a day.”

“I’m afraid I’m gonna lose her again, Mum,” he whispered. “Just when I’ve gotten her back.”

Anne got up from her chair, walking over to sit next to him on the couch, “You never lost her, sweetheart. She was always in here,” she smiled, placing her hand on his chest.

“I know,” he sighed. “But I fucked up when I let our friendship go… what if she can’t trust me to have a relationship?”

“I mean, she would have valid concern over that,” she said. “But that was years ago and if she wants to be with you, she would have to move on from that. And you would have to make sure what happened last time doesn’t happen again.”

“It wouldn’t,” he whispered.

“That’s good to hear,” she said. “But ultimately, in the end, you just need to talk to Y/N, whenever she’s ready. And you need to be ready to listen to her and accept that she may not want a relationship right now. You two aren’t as close as you used to be, things have changed, you’ve grown up. Take the time to get to know one another before you make this big decision, alright?”

“Says the woman who thought we had sex and asked when is the wedding,” he joked.

“Oh hush!” She said, slapping his arm.

He laughed, “No, I hear you, Mum and thanks for the talk… even if it started out a bit much.”

“You’re welcome, that’s what I’m here for,” she smiled.

Harry laughed wrapping his arms around her in a big hug. He definitely felt better about going into the conversation with you. He just hoped he felt the same way after it.

**

Dun. Dun. Dun.

How do you think the conversation is going to go? How do you want it to go?

Let me know! :)

Part 6 will be posted tomorrow at Midnight CST!

[silverlightqueen]

Fallen

silverlightqueen’s SKZ Scarefest

angel!felix x demon!reader - comedy, fluff, felix worrying about losing his job as an angel lmao 

Word Count: 2.4k+

Summary - Felix is an angel. Literally. Like, from Heaven. And he’s the best at being one. Never has he let temptation lead him astray. Never has he stopped before doing what is right. Never has he abandoned his assigned humans, even those that provide the most challenge. He’s never stepped a toe out of line, always kept his crush on a particularly annoying demon a secret. That is, until, he wakes up in the bed of said annoying demon with lipstick stains on his skin and his halo a little crooked.

Warnings: explicit discussion of sex, making out, that’s it I think but let me know if I missed something please!

this is dedicated to the lovely @brinnalaine​ for being such a supportive sweetheart, so I hope you enjoy this little fic about our sunshine!

a/n: and here is the sixth instalment of my SKZ Scarefest! I’m sorry it’s so late in the day but I’ve spent all day at a theme park scarefest getting terrorised by clowns and dolls in terrifying mazes lmao. @silverlightprincess​ hasn’t actually proofread this but she proofreads everything else so I still want to thank her for being the best! I really hope you guys enjoy this bc it was really fun to write. please be sure to check out the previous parts and keep an eye out for the next parts too x

taglist: @kodzu-ken​ @cloudsgathering​ @silverlightprincess

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I wake up with something heavy on my face and a dizzy head from my mouth and nose being blocked. I try to take a deep breath and, instead, end up inhaling something soft and wispy, making me choke. I sit up suddenly, pushing the heavy thing off me with effort as I splutter, trying to empty my mouth of whatever it is that’s invaded it. And then I reach a finger into my mouth and end up pulling out feathers. Pure white and fringed feathers.

‘Did you just shove my wing, y/n?’ I hear Felix’s deep morning voice mumble into his pillow, and I shoot his back a dirty look, fishing his stupid feathers out of my mouth and trying to ignore the way I get butterflies in my stomach at hearing him say my name with that voice of his. He’s got his massive wings out for some stupid reason, one of them taking up my side of the bed whilst the other hangs over onto the floor. His hair, a lovely soft blond colour, is a fluffy mess on the pillow, and I can feel the heat that his body radiates despite only having the covers up to his hips, the band of his underwear just about visible.

I’ve been running into Felix quite a bit in the last few months – somehow he was always being assigned to humans in areas that I was… terrorising people in. Angels and demons have always had a… rocky relationship, but Felix was too pure, too kind, too sweet for me to be a bitch to him like I’ve been to all the other angels I’ve encountered. So I put up with his annoyingly sunny presence and his random acts of kindness and him stopping me from feeding on humans because ‘they haven’t done anything wrong!’ After him starving me for months, I got fed up and made a deal with him. I would scare the shit out of people to feed on them, and he would erase their memories so they wouldn’t be scarred for life. We became a… partnership of sorts, making me the most well-fed demon and him the highest achieving angel. To celebrate our successes, I took him to a new trendy bar last night and we got super drunk on fruity cocktails. And here we are now, with my cute red dress on the floor next to his black jeans.

‘Yes. I did. Because it was on top of me, suffocating me, and now I have a mouthful of your dumb feathers. Why are they even out? Put them away please?’ I ask harshly, injecting more annoyance into my voice than I feel, and Felix sighs, rolling his shoulders without moving from his position of being sprawled out on his front in my bed, and his wings slowly shrink, diminishing into his strong back, the only trace of them the two small bumps between his shoulder blades.

‘Don’t call my feathers dumb. I put a lot of effort into looking after them,’ he mumbles, voice still muffled in his pillow, and I roll my eyes, letting myself fall back against the bed. ‘Wouldn’t be able to tell. Coarse and ratty, they are,’ I tease half-heartedly, both of us knowing his feathers are softer than silk. ‘Like your hair,’ he replies in his wickedly deep voice, his amusement obvious in his tone, and I let out an outraged noise.

‘My hair is beautifully healthy, thank you. You should know – had your hands in it for hours last night,’ I pout, annoyed, as I pull the covers up around me, shivering. The room is absolutely freezing, due to the cold weather and the fact that I’m only in Felix’s thin white shirt and a pair of pants, so I can’t help but inch closer to him, his body radiating warmth. He doesn’t reply, but I don’t have any objections. I like my lazy morning lie-ins and it’d be nice to get a couple more hours of sleep.

‘Oh, shit,’ he says a few minutes later, sounding wide awake now, just as I’m beginning to drop off back to sleep, and I let out a loud huff of annoyance. ‘What?’ ‘I slept with you,’ he says as though he’s just found it out, lifting his head up from the pillow and looking at me with wide eyes. ‘Did you forget? I thought it was pretty memorable,’ I say offhandedly, amused. ‘It was. But I… I slept with you,’ he says, turning over and staring up at the ceiling, blinking in disbelief. ‘Right. I’m confused,’ I say, wondering if he’s lost his mind or something. My pussy’s good, but not that good. Or maybe it is? God knows. Actually, let’s hope God doesn’t know. She’ll probably kill Felix. Oh, right. I get why he’s freaking out now.

‘Oh, no. Angel boy’s having a mental breakdown because he fucked a demon, and God’s not gonna be happy,’ I tease in a light voice, holding back my laughter, and Felix sits up in bed, looking distraught. ‘She’s gonna kill me. She will actually kill me,’ he says quietly before dropping his head into his hands with a dramatic fake sob. ‘Oh, calm down. She doesn’t even need to know,’ I say, immensely amused, and Felix turns to me with distraught eyes. ‘She’ll know!’ ‘How? Unless one of us tells her, she won’t know,’ I say pointedly, telling him to keep his mouth shut but in nicer words.

‘But… she’s God. Won’t she just know?’ he asks, eyes wide like an innocent little kid, and I raise an eyebrow. ‘You’re not the first angel I’ve fucked, Lix.’ ‘I’m not?’ he asks, sounding sceptical, and I shoot him a dirty look. ‘Don’t sound so disbelieving. But, anyway, she’s never found out about those before. As long as you don’t blab, it’ll be fine,’ I say, and he nods, looking like he’s on the verge of tears.

‘Lix, relax. Stop panicking. You’re ruining the morning-after mood,’ I say softly after a minute of him just staring at the wall unseeingly. I slide my arms around his waist, pulling him down to lie beside me, and I curl into him instantly, revelling in the warmth of his bare skin. His arm comes around me, holding me against him, and I can sense him relaxing a little. I lay a hand on his chest, over the red lipstick marks that stain his skin, drawing patterns with my fingers, and after a few minutes, he puts his hand over mine, making me look up at him.

He takes me by surprise when he leans down and presses his lips to mine in a gentle kiss. My eyes flutter shut after the initial surprise, and I melt into him, hand sliding up from his chest to around the back of his neck, the short soft hairs at the nape of his neck tickling the pads of my fingers. His velvety lips are firm against mine, our mouths moving in sync, and I let out little breaths and whines against his mouth as his hands leisurely travel over my body, giving me butterflies in my stomach when his tongue slides into my mouth.

We break apart after a few minutes, the kiss leaving me breathless, and his lips quirk up in an amused grin. He might be the most angelic… angel in Heaven, but he touched me, kissed me, fucked me like a demon. ‘You’re cute,’ he murmurs, briefly pressing his lips to my forehead, and I try to ignore the little thrill in my chest, pouting at him instead. ‘I’m an evil demon that feeds on human fear. I’m not cute,’ I mumble, and he lets out a gentle chuckle. ‘You are. You’re a cute evil demon that feeds on human fear,’ he replies with a grin, and I roll my eyes. ‘Shut it, angel boy, you’re the cute one here.’ ‘Here I was thinking you found me sexy.’ ‘In your dreams, Lix,’ I murmur amusedly, and he raises an eyebrow. ‘Not what you were saying last night.’ ‘…Shut up.’

He laughs at me, pulling me closer to him, and I feel warm and secure in his arms. His angel aura is definitely shining through – it feels like nothing could harm me if he’s here. We cuddle in a comfortable silence, his fingers running through my hair soothingly, and my eyes flutter shut after a little while, slumber beginning to take me. ‘What happens now?’ he murmurs, bringing me back from my snooze, and I resist the urge to put my fist through his chest.

‘What do you mean?’ I ask, suppressing a yawn, and he sighs gently as I move off him, lying beside him so I can look him in the eyes. ‘Where do we… go from here?’ he asks, and I raise an eyebrow. ‘Um… you go back to Heaven and I go back to Hell,’ I reply, knowing that that’s not the kind of answer he’s looking for, and he rolls his eyes. ‘You know I don’t mean location. I mean… with us,’ he says tentatively, and I don’t react for a moment. ‘Are you asking me what we are?’ I ask, a little stunned, and he nods, looking like he wished he never asked.

‘We’re an angel and demon that have teamed up for our own interests, and we got drunk and slept together, which won’t affect our business partnership. Right?’ I say slowly, and I feel guilt twist in my heart when the hope disappears from his pretty brown eyes. ‘Right. Yeah. I just thought…’ he trails off, turning onto his back and not looking at me. ‘Thought what?’ I ask carefully, and he’s silent for a moment before sighing. ‘I thought that maybe it was something more. I mean… we’ve been spending a lot of time together, and I guess I have a bit of a… crush on you?’ he stammers, ending his sentence as a question as though he’s not quite sure.

He’s still not looking at me, and the words hit me like a ton of bricks. Felix, God’s favourite angel, has a crush on me, Lucifer’s favourite girl and a princess of the 9th circle of Hell? I’m not quite sure how to react to the words, just blinking in surprise for a moment. ‘You have a crush on me? Are you sure?’ I ask, and he lets out a little laugh, eyes still on the ceiling. ‘Yep, pretty sure. I’ve had a few months to think about it,’ he says offhandedly, and my mouth falls open. ‘You’ve had a crush on me the whole time?’ I demand, and he finally looks at me, nodding sheepishly.

‘Why didn’t you say anything, stupid?’ I exclaim, hitting his chest gently, and he lets out a light chuckle. ‘I didn’t want to ruin our friendship.’ ‘What friendship?’ I ask jokingly, and he looks at me deadpan. ‘Sorry. But seriously, are we, like, high schoolers? No. We’re centuries old supernatural beings. If you had a crush on me, you should’ve just told me, and taken me on a date. What is wrong with you?’ I demand, and he blinks at me several times. ‘Did you just say I should’ve taken you on a date?’ he asks, stunned, and I let out an annoyed noise. ‘Yes, keep up.’

‘But… you’re a demon, and I’m an angel.’ ‘Forbidden romances are better than normal ones. Like Cleopatra and Mark, Tristan and Isolde, Pyramus and Thisbe, Romeo and Juli-’ ‘Every one of those couples had a tragic end,’ Felix says dryly, an amused smile on his face, and I roll my eyes. ‘They were mortal, and were forbidden by their parents. It’s different.’ ‘Oh, yeah, we have God and Lucifer to deal with instead,’ he says sarcastically, making me raise an eyebrow. ‘Lucifer won’t care. It’s God that’s the issue. An easily solvable issue,’ I grin, and his face falls.

‘Are you plotting against God?’ he demands, looking completely outraged. ‘Don’t look so shocked, it’s not blasphemy for me. I’m a demon, stupid. But, no, I’m not plotting against her. I’m just gonna… talk to her,’ I say mildly, and he raises an eyebrow. ‘You’re gonna… talk to God? To get her to let us date?’ he asks, sounding disbelieving, and I nod simply. ‘She’ll kill you,’ he replies, eyes sparkling with mirth, and I just grin. ‘I think you’ll find I can be quite… persuasive,’ I reply, dragging my fingertips across his chest gently, the feeling of my long red nails lightly scraping his skin making his amusement disappear, a shaky breath leaving his lips. He blinks a few times, knocking himself out of his little trance. ‘I’m not sure trying to seduce her will work,’ he says lightly, and I smirk at him. ‘Oh, I know. I’m planning something else for her. It’s you I’m trying to seduce,’ I murmur, resting my thumb against my lower lip with a small smile, making my eyes all big, and I see him visibly gulp.

‘It’s working,’ he says distractedly, sliding his arms around me and pulling me on top of him, and I meet his mouth in a kiss, unable to keep the grin off my face as our lips move against each other in a way that numbs my mind. ‘Wait, wait,’ he says after a few seconds, breaking away from me. ‘Does this mean you like me too?’ he asks, looking hopeful, and I think for a moment. ‘You’ve got potential. You’re… handsome, and your personality isn’t totally annoying,’ I admit begrudgingly, heart skipping a beat at the big smile that comes across his face. ‘But,’ I add, making his smile fall a little, ‘some of the appeal is the fact that you’re a pure soul, a heavenly little angel, and I’m quite the opposite. I wanna knock your halo off, angel boy, so you better hope I don’t get bored when I’ve done so.’

He doesn’t react with the hurt I expected, a small smirk playing at his lips instead, and before I can realise that we’re moving, he’s rolled us over, his body hovering over mine. His locks fall over his eyes, casting shadows across his face, and his grin makes him look more like the demons I walk among than the angel he truly is. ‘Don’t worry about getting bored, y/n,’ he murmurs in his sinfully deep voice, one of his hands coming to rest at the base of my throat and making my skin burn hot with desire. I can’t help but mirror his grin, impressed at this very out of character behaviour. ‘Why not, Lix?’ I ask teasingly, and he just smirks, hand tightening at my neck, his sparkly eyes locking with mine. He captures my mouth in a passionate and desperate kiss, murmuring against my lips; ‘I’ll keep you entertained.’

[tuanhood]

the property manager

pairing: landlord’s son!mark tuan x reader

genre: smut, angst, fluff, kinda everything, strangers(?) to lovers

warnings: 18+, language, power imbalance (kinda yes?), oral sex (male receiving), face f*cking, thigh riding, dirty talk, unprotected sex.

word count: 7,400+

summary: when you get a letter from your landlord about a rent increase, you decide your only option is to try to talk to his property manager and son, Mark.

a/n: um i have nothing to say. actually yes i do. this is kinda of ALL over the place so i’m sorry about that and if it doesn’t make much seNSE but i just had a craving to wrITE THIS! leave me alone. thx bye.

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It had been a stressful day at work. You wanted nothing more than to go upstairs to your apartment and climb into bed.

You had been all over the city looking for a specific kind of cake that your boss had consumed almost a year ago and couldn’t remember where it had been. More often than not, you found yourself doing ridiculous chores as a personal assistant and after the first year you had told yourself it would get better, but it hadn’t. You thought you could prove yourself and get more recognition, possibly working your way to a bigger role at the entertainment company you worked for, but as time passed it seemed more like a dead-end. 

Which is why you were considering quitting and looking for something else. You had connections through friends and old contacts, but you weren’t sure if it was worth it to see if they would ultimately pan out or not. 

Checking your mail, you flipped through the letters finding mostly bills, until your eyes settled on a letter addressed to you from your landlord and his son, the property manager. 

NOTICE OF RENT INCREASE 

Dear Tenant, 

Due to general cost increases, we are required to increase your rent. This letter is to advise you formally that your rent is being increased to $1,250 per month as of next month. 

This increase does not affect any of our mutual obligations under your lease. For example, your rent due date will remain the first of the month or before.

Thank you for your understanding of the cost pressures on us as we do those upon yourself. We appreciate your tenancy and hope you will remain for a long time. 

Best regards, 

Raymond Tuan | Landlord 

Mark Tuan | Property Manager 

You read the letter three times. How could they increase your monthly rent by almost three hundred dollars? You had just enough each month to pay for your already overpriced apartment. But perhaps what annoyed you the most was the short notice and their attitude in the letter. They thank you for your understanding and appreciate you, and yet gave you barely any notice for a $250 increase in rent. 

It took you a moment to collect yourself, especially after such an exhausting day, but somehow you found yourself marching upstairs to the second floor and angrily knocking on the door of Mark, the landlord’s son and property manager.

There’s no response at first, and you swear you hear noises coming from the apartment, but soon all that’s heard is silence. All of a sudden you hear a “Just one sec!” being yelled through the door along with shuffling.

Before today you hadn’t really paid much attention to Mark. Being the property manager, you of course had met him when you first moved into your apartment over a year ago and often saw him in the building. You would exchange pleasantries when you passed him in the hallway or ran into him when he was getting his mail. But you had never really known much about him besides the fact that his father was the owner of the building and he was there to make sure things ran smoothly in case tenants needed anything. 

There was supposedly one interaction you had with him that you found yourself barely remembering. It had been a late night after drinking and your friends had decided to dump you in the hallway of your building, leaving you to fend for yourself and make your own way upstairs to your apartment. The memories you had were hazy, but you could picture yourself sitting on the floor inside of the building’s entry way, drunkenly sobbing about how you were never going to make it home. 

The only reason you thought you had interacted with Mark was because the next thing you knew you woke up in bed with a note resting on your bedside table. 

Y/N, 

Remember to take an ibuprofen or two when you wake up, along with A LOT – and I repeat – A LOT of water. Thanks again for the… uh compliments and I hope you feel better. 

- Mark 

That was months ago and you had no clue what “compliments” you’d said to him or he fact that Mark was even the one who helped you up to your apartment and into bed. After that you were very adamant about avoiding conversation with him. 

When the door finally swung open you were met with Mark’s sweaty face, some of his hair sticking to his forehead and his breath a little shallow. You wondered if he had been working out based on his appearance. Craning your head, you attempted to look past him into his apartment to locate any evidence that could confirm or deny this suspicion, but he followed your motions, blocking the view inside. 

“Um what’s up?” He asked. 

“It’s about this letter,” you began, but Mark soon stuck his finger out and began shaking it as if remembering something. “Apartment 8A right?” 

You nodded simply, “yeah… that’s me. Anyways-” 

“You have that cute doormat out front with the kittens on it,” he stated more as a fact rather than a question. You found yourself nodding again and his interruptions led you to believe that he may never let you speak. 

“Listen Mark… I got the letter from you and your dad-” 

“The landlord,” he corrected and you felt your teeth clench at another intrusion of your sentence. He waved his hand as if to say “go on,” which inherently caused you to crack your knuckles in frustration. 

“I got the letter from you and the landlord,” you repeated, this time correcting yourself which Mark smiled at, “and I don’t see how you can increase rent starting next month.” 

He furrowed his eyebrows and crossed his arms, leaning against his open doorway, “what do you mean you can’t see it? We wrote it in the letter.” 

You looked at him blankly, and couldn’t understand if he was teasing you or if he was actually dumb. Judging by the way he had a slight frown on his face, head tilted to the side and lines forming between his eyebrows, you had your answer. 

“No yes, I see that. I just don’t understand how you would even decide to increase the rent $300.” 

“We didn’t. It’s only a $250 increase.” 

Only? 

That made you angry. 

“Do you understand that to some people that’s a lot of money? It’s not easy for everyone to just find an extra $250 a month. I already overpay for my shoebox; I don’t see how I’m going to be able to give you an extra $250 this month at such a short notice or really… every month for that matter.” 

Mark clicked his tongue as if thinking of some sort of solution for you until he simply shrugged, “then find a new place to live I guess?” 

The tone of his voice didn’t come off as rude or with an attitude. More or less, he said it as if he was just thinking of an “easy” solution to your problem. It almost seemed like Mark had no perception of actual issues that people are often plagued with. 

“Mark how the fuck am I supposed to find a new place to live by the end of the month?” He doesn’t flinch at your tone or language, but simply countered back, “okay then… so stay.” 

You groaned in frustration. You couldn’t imagine how the other people in your building dealt with broken appliances or faulty plumbing if this was who they had to come talk to. 

“Can’t you talk to him about it? Or at least give more of a notice?” You found yourself willing to even be okay with just an extension of the increase. Maybe you’d finally get a promotion or recognition at work, or maybe you could look into getting another job as an assistant. 

“Sorry… My hands are tied,” Mark murmured, uncrossing his folded arms as if he thought the visual of seeing his hands would make the statement more believable. 

“He’s your dad! He owns the whole goddamn building. What do you mean your hands are tied?” You jabbed. 

His face shifted, and it almost seemed like he felt sorry for you, “that stuff isn’t really up to me… It’s up to him.” 

You found yourself tapping your foot in irritation and as you found perhaps a new way to reason with him, “I mean you don’t really want to pay that much more a month, do you?” Mark just looks at you confused, once again, “I live here for free… I’m the property manager.” 

“Okay yeah or do you live here for free because he’s your dad?” 

He shook his head in protest, “No I definitely live here for free because I’m the property manager.” 

“Listen let’s just talk about this more. Can I come in? I’m sure I can convince you that it doesn’t make sense to raise the-” Just as you were about to push yourself past him, he positioned himself forward to stop you. 

“Is there some kind of problem?” You asked. 

“I- You can’t come in,” he frowned. 

“I just want to talk!” You explained, throwing your hands up in desperation. What was this guy not understanding? Wasn’t he supposed to be here to answer to the tenants needs and make sure things were running smoothly? Even if it meant you having a nice sit down in his apartment to chat about how you were going to murder him if he kept acting so clueless about the rent raise?

“We can talk out here.” 

“Well I have a lot to say.” 

“Oh, I know that,” Mark pressed, rolling his eyes a bit. He thinks back to when he found you drunk in the hallway crying. He panicked because he thought you had been hurt or something bad had happened, but you were just completely wasted. As he had hoisted you up off the ground and into his arms, carrying you – not completely willing – to your apartment, you had begun to talk his ear off. 

Most of what you had blabbed on about was how miserable you were at your job and how much you just wanted to quit, but soon as he reached the second flight of stairs, he heard you change subjects. Instead, the topic of conversation became about him and his dating life. 

“Do you have a girlfriend?” You had asked. Mark remained silent, using that as his answer, “because I never see you with one. Which is crazy since you have such a well-defined jawline.” 

“Um thank you?” Was the only response he had found to be acceptable. 

You continued, “If you were my boyfriend – but you’re not don’t worry – I would tell you how good your jaw was all the time. Aren’t I nice? Wouldn’t I make a nice girlfriend? I think so, but some people don’t think so…” You drifted off; the sadness evident in your voice. 

Mark had found the conversation you were having – pretty much with yourself – funny and by the time you reached the front door of your place, he realized he didn’t want it to stop. You had begun to search your bag for your keys, which you would stop doing ever so often to begin talking about something else, getting distracted and ultimately forgetting about the task at hand. 

By the time you had both made it inside, it felt like hours had passed and you wandered to the kitchen, Mark following behind closely, wanting to make sure you were okay. “Do you want something to eat? It’s around that time, huh? Like for a late-night snack?” 

He shook his head at you, “Y/N, I think you should head to bed,” Mark was concerned to say the least for your body as you had told him somewhere between the first flight of stairs and the second that you had work in the morning. You had ignored him, “what kind of animal do you think you are in a relationship? For me I think I’m… a cat. No, no actually I’m more like a kitten, because I can be playful and energetic, but I still have that “leave me alone” energy, ya know? I bet you’re something cute like a puppy or I don’t know gopher?” 

He hadn’t even argued with you about what being a gopher in a relationship meant or how it was a cute thing to be. Somehow, he had convinced you amidst your next rant that heading to bed was indeed a good idea. As soon as your body had hit the mattress, you were fast asleep and he managed to find a piece of paper to leave you a note for the next morning. 

After that, Mark thought maybe the two of you would become friends. Which looking back at, Mark suddenly thought it was a lame thing to think. He didn’t have many friends or people he truly knew in the building as most tenants just saw him as an extension of the landlord – his father – and didn’t really treat him like an individual. More like a spoiled brat. 

However, as months went by and you avoided his gaze in the hallway, he could tell that your drunk escapade had been forgotten altogether. Now looking at you frustrated, a raise in rent being the only reason for you to come and talk to him, he felt sick to his stomach, because he thought you were different somehow. 

“It’ll only take a second I swear,” you muttered, and somewhere lost in his thoughts, Mark didn’t have a moment to react at your swiftness to push pass him into his apartment. “Wait stop, don’t!” He protested, turning around quickly to see you looking around his place. 

You took it in and you were surprised. For some reason you had pictured it to be much bigger since he was the landlord’s son, but it was probably only a few square feet bigger than your own apartment. The next thing that left you bewildered was how clean and organized it was. Every apartment that you had been that belonged to a male, often looked ransacked as if a thief had been through. However, when you turned your head towards his living space, a simple couch and coffee table positioned in front of a TV, that was when you felt your eyes widen the most. 

Up on the screen of the TV was a paused video of a woman on her kneeling in front of a man, mid blowjob. Okay so he wasn’t working out when I knocked on the door, you conclude. Seeing the image on the screen and Mark’s bright red, panicked face looking for the remote on the couch, surprisingly doesn’t make you feel disgusted or awkward. It makes you feel… intrigued? 

“I- uh, fuck- I- I’m sorry. I don’t- I don’t know what to say,” Mark stuttered after he finally finds the remote and switched off the television. 

“I’m guessing that’s why you didn’t want me to come in?” 

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, clearly nervous, “yeah…” 

You suddenly felt bad for barging into Mark’s place uninvited when he had clearly been in the middle of a personal moment, so you figured it would be best to make the situation as uncomfortable as possible. You wanted to show him that you didn’t care about what he had been doing before you knocked on the door, and there was no reason to feel weird about it. It was natural after all. So somehow you found yourself flopping down on the armchair perpendicular to the couch, making yourself comfortable, attempting to “lighten the mood.”

“Sorry,” you apologized, “but don’t worry, I don’t care. What you do on your own time is your own personal business, not mine.” Mark brought one of his hands to the back of his neck and massaged it as if the new found situation causes him enormous amounts of stress. Which he certainly believed it did. 

You didn’t want to come across as rude or nosey, but for some reason that original impression of being intrigued finds its way back into your mind, “aren’t you supposed to be available 24/7? Shouldn’t you be prepared for something like this? I don’t know shouldn’t you always be expecting someone to knock on your door?” 

For the first time since entering the apartment, Mark gave you attitude, “It’s not like I’m expecting them to barge their way into my place.” 

“Still you should at least turn off your TV! Or I don’t know watch it on your laptop or phone? I honestly don’t know anyone who watches porn on their TV anymore,” your back and forth diffuses the situation somehow as Mark finally moved closer to where you’re sitting and he leaned against the side of the couch. 

“Well why else would I use the TV?” 

“I don’t know to watch literally anything else?” You yelled out to him. He moved around the couch to sit down, “that was a joke,” he explained. 

You laughed and he joins you, grateful that this isn’t as terrible as he expected it to be. It’s when the laughing finally subsides that you feel your eyes drift down to the crotch of the grey sweats he’s wearing. You know it should be the last thing you’re thinking about in this moment, but as he shifts his weight on the couch to get comfortable, you swear you can just make out the outline of his cock. It causes you to squirm in your seat and you instinctively pressed your legs together not wanting to think about it. 

After a moment, “Um… back to the rent… Like I said there’s really nothing I can do Y/N.” 

As he brings the discussion back to the original topic at hand, he runs his hands through his hair once again, and it’s then you take notice of the veins that are clearly on display on his forearm. The sight of them makes you press your legs together even more, your mind soon drifting to how breathless Mark was when he first opened the door. You wonder how close he had been before you had interrupted him, how his hair had probably stuck to his forehead and how hard his hand must have been working to pump himself at the sight of the porn actress blowing the guy she was in the scene with. 

What was Mark into? What kind of porn was it? How did the woman in the scene find herself in that position? So willing and compliant? Had she needed something from him? Like you needed something from Mark? 

You feel yourself grow wet at the thought of what situation you and Mark would be in if this was porn. He would be your only option to getting what you want and being able to stay, so you’d put him in your mouth and let him fuck your face to convince him. 

“Hello? Are you there?” Mark asked suddenly, waving his hand in front of your face from the couch. 

Getting lost in your erotic haze, you feel as though you should think twice for what you’re about to do, but you feel so turned on by the idea and sitting here knowing what Mark had been doing right before you entered couldn’t make you stop yourself. 

Mark watched you get off the chair you had been sitting on and slipping yourself in between the couch and coffee table. He looks at you with his head tilted to the sight and eyebrows furrowed, unsure of what you were doing. As you sink down to your knees in front of him, he feels his cock twitch in his sweats. He thinks he surely must be mistaken. 

“W-What are you doing?” He asked, his breath hitched. 

You looked at him innocently, placing your hands on his thighs, “what does it look like I’m doing? Let me convince you that you shouldn’t raise the rent.” 

He feels like his heart has stopped beating and that maybe this is all a dream, an erotic fantasy and his mind is just drifting off. That he’s actually still fixated in front of the video he was watching earlier with his hand rubbing up and down his length. 

Mark had to be honest with himself, he had never been a situation like this before and his mind was running a thousand miles a minute trying to figure out what the right way of going about this was. Not that there is a right way, he thought to himself. 

He knows that he shouldn’t even be in this situation and that it’s his own damn fault for somehow not stopping you from entering his apartment, but he can’t help but look at you so willing for him and wonder what if? 

Immediately he shook his head and decided to put a stop to this. He didn’t want this to take advantage of you. 

“Y/N, I-I don’t think we should do this. I don’t want you to think that I’m using you or taking advantage of you because of-” you cut him off, sharp as a knife. “If you don’t think we should do this, then why are you hard?” 

At your words, Mark finally acknowledges how hard he’s become at the sight of you being so obedient for him and he feels his cheeks grow red, “I-I-” he began to stammer, perplexed by the uncertainty he felt. 

He wanted this, oh god how he wanted this, but he didn’t want you to feel like you had to do this. 

As if you read his mind, you interrupted his daze, “Mark I’m doing this because I want this, trust me,” you found yourself rolling your eyes at him, “just let me play the role of desperate tenant who’s willing to do anything to stay, okay?” 

Mark nodded wordlessly, and realizes all he can do is take your word for what it was and trust you. Allowing himself to do so, he felt freed from his thought filled head and finally be in the moment. The moment where all you wanted was to suck him off. 

At this allowance, you drifted your hands up Mark’s thighs to the elastic waistband of his sweatpants to finally expose his hard cock. Your tongue darted out to lick your lips instinctively, feeling a pulse in your core at the sight. He positioned himself closer to the edge of the couch as you moved forward enough on your knees to breathe on the head of his cock, “fuck,” he hummed.

Licking your lips one last time, you parted them to suck lightly at the tip. Your tongue slipped out from your lips to lick around the head, moving in slow strides and glancing up to find Mark staring down at you. At his gaze, you felt yourself involuntarily whimper at how innocent he looked as if he couldn’t believe that this was happening which to a certain degree you couldn’t either.

Never had you imagined in all the times you passed by him in the building that you’d be in this position, your tongue dragging up and down his length slowly. Now, you would let him fuck your face however much and however hard he wants. 

You take more than just the head into your mouth, coating his length with saliva and letting your lips glide against the sensitive skin. “So good,” you heard Mark softly murmur and the quiet praise made you want to take even more of him into your mouth. 

It doesn’t go unnoticed to Mark at how you move a little faster or take more of his length in every time he words how good you are. He wonders what else you would want to hear. You continued your rhythm, bobbing your head up and down, forgetting about everything else. All that mattered to you was hearing Mark’s moans and his praise he hoarsely whispered. You were pulled out of your trance as Mark gripped a handful of hair to pull you off of him. You whined, but liked his sudden force. 

He chuckled and you noticed how different his eyes now looked. Before, his hesitancy to the situation shined through them, but now they were glossy and much darker. It was almost as though Mark had been replaced while you had him in your mouth. 

“Just look at you, so fucking eager. So ready to get down on your knees for me to get what you want… so greedy to have as much of me as you can. As much as it takes.” 

This new Mark was certainly doing things for you. 

“Mark fuck my face,” you practically groaned. For a moment you see a glimpse back to the Mark who had been looking down at you innocently just a little while ago, but soon you’re once again met with this new Mark who was so sure of himself and seemed like he enjoyed being in control. 

He smirked, “what did I do to deserve such a good girl?” 

Without hesitation, Mark stands up in front of you and shoves himself back into your mouth, slowly wanting you to feel him in every part of your mouth the same way you would feel him later. 

“How bad do you want to stay?” He asked, pushing himself in further until all of him was in your mouth, feeling him at the back of your throat “I know you can take it all kitten.” 

At the pet name, you moaned around him, not being able to hold it back. Your reaction caused him to begin thrusting himself into your mouth, his hand going to grasp the back of your head, setting a harsh pace and thrusting quickly, he groaned at the sound of you choking on him. As tears began to form in the corner of your eyes, Mark wondered if he should ease up and began to slow down. You noticed this and simply reached your hand up to rub his leg gently as a sign for him to continue. 

He soon returned to his original pace and kept his eyes fixated on himself going in and out of your mouth. He felt himself grow closer and closer to release, especially when he thought about how compliant you were being for him, how you had been the one to initiate this and how if your mouth felt this good, your pussy would feel even better. 

The thought brings him to cum in your mouth, and he becomes embarrassed at how sudden his climax was. Part of Mark thinks you’ll be mad, but part of him also thinks that maybe that’s what you wanted all along. 

The latter thought proved to be correct as you took all of his release in your mouth with ease and swallow, showing him your tongue as proof of a job well done. 

Mark’s heart skipped a beat. 

You smiled at the bewildered look on Mark’s face and used the back of your hand to wipe the saliva and cum that had dripped onto your chin and lips during Mark’s brutal plunge into your mouth. 

Mark felt overwhelmed with exhaustion as a result from his orgasm and collapsed onto the couch behind him, spreading his legs and shutting his eyes after pulling his sweats back on. At his actions, you stood up from your space on the floor in front of him and watched him for a moment. 

Fuck, he really is beautiful, you found yourself thinking. How peaceful and pristine he looked post-climax made you want to take care of him and just run your fingers through his hair until he was fast asleep. 

The sudden want caused you to feel like that maybe it was your cue to leave Mark’s apartment. However, just as you turned to go, you feel Mark grabbing your wrist from his spot on the couch. “Hold on just give me a minute,” he mumbled with his eyes still closed. 

You scanned your eyes back and forth around the room, and noticed the “best uncle ever!” drawing sitting against one of the bookshelves in the corner. You took this as your second sign to leave this man’s apartment. 

“Fine if you can’t wait one minute while I put myself together, just have at it I guess,” Mark stammered, gesturing to his lap as he felt your attempt to leave once again. 

His eyes are still closed, therefore you’re not sure if he’s even aware of his words and movements, “uh… what?” In that moment, Mark shot his eyes open quickly, “My thigh. Ride it,” he said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

Being honest with yourself, you hadn’t expected this little rendezvous or whatever it was with Mark to include more than him fucking your face. When you had seen the length and size of him through his sweatpants along with what he had been watching before you angrily knocked on his door, all you could think about was getting him in your mouth. You hadn’t considered your own needs for even a second. The sudden realization of this made you think you were going insane. 

Mark pats his lap and set you into a blur of removing your pants, hesitantly setting yourself down on his thigh. It’s almost as though he could sense your uncertainty and he positioned you down onto him, grasping your hips to move them back and forth slowly. He does this for a moment and you let out a groan at the friction you feel against your core. “Can I kiss you?” Mark asked you with his head leaning against the back of the couch, hands still grasped on your sides. 

Your practically snorted at his request, “asks the guy who’s already had me swallow his cum.” He brings his head up instantly as if shocked and ready to defend himself to you, “I’m sorry okay!? I couldn’t help myself,” he paused and quietly, “you were too good.” 

You feel yourself smile at his praise once again and you nodded your head, “of course you can kiss me Mark.” 

“Okay I just had to make sure!” 

“You know I’m not a prostitute, right?” 

“I-I know! That’s not what I meant! I meant-” You cut him off laughing, stopping your movement on him completely to collect yourself, “Mark I’m fucking with you. Don’t worry.” 

“That’s not very nice,” Mark huffed. 

You placed your hands at the back of his neck and pull him closer to you, “now kiss me you idiot.” You could have sworn you heard him mutter something like “that’s still not very nice,” but as soon as his lips reached yours for the first time of the night all other thoughts left your head. The contact was enough to leave you lightheaded, and with every lick and bite of your lips you felt yourself instinctively begin to move your hips again. 

Mark’s kisses trailed from your lips to you jaw to your neck, and his soft sucking, along with the feeling of your clit rubbing against him through your panties caused you to forcefully grip onto Mark’s broad shoulders. The feeling overcoming you from the way grinding on just Mark’s thigh felt and the way he was sucking that spot on your neck, caused you to what nothing more than to reach your high fast and hard. You wanted to completely fall apart from riding this gorgeous man’s thigh and let him know how good it felt. 

Mark unattached himself from your skin and simply laid his head and arms back down on the couch as he had done when he was exhausted. He became so transfixed in your grinding on him and all he wanted to do in the moment was enjoy the show. 

Arms still on his shoulders, “Mark,” you moaned, suddenly wishing you had even less than just your panties between and his sweats between the two of you. 

“Show me how much you want it. Show me how much you want to stay so you can ride my thigh every single day,” at his words, Mark tensed his thigh and your eyes immediately shoot open at the new feeling that overwhelms you further. Mark is already hard again at the sight of you getting yourself off by using him and he realizes that he would be okay with you using him as much as you want, whenever you want. 

Mark’s hands wander forward from the couch and begin to trail themselves up and down your body, playing with your breasts through your shirt and palming them softly. It’s when he reaches around to the back of your panties and pulls them tighter against you body that you feel the high you had been chasing begin to hit you. The material riding up, gives your clit the final bit of friction you need to send you spiraling into an orgasm. 

You let out a final “Fuck!” as exclamation as your fingernails dig into Mark’s shoulders, your head falling backwards and causing your breath to catch in your throat. Mark’s hands returned to your hips, grinding you down onto him to make you ride out the aftershocks that course through you. 

“Fuck,” you heard Mark say as you fell forward into his arms, “that was so fucking hot.” 

He rubbed your back soothingly and you smiled into his shoulder at his response to you just having an orgasm from his thigh. “Hotter than the porno you were watching?” 

He playfully hits your back, “Way hotter, trust me.” 

When you finally regain strength, you lifted yourself off of Mark’s chest and looked down to notice the dark patch on his grey sweats where you had been pressing yourself against him. You looked away from him, face growing hot from embarrassment. Mark tilted your chin towards him, “aw did my kitten leave behind a mess?” he asked you cooing in a soft voice. 

Despite reaching orgasm only moments ago, you feel the space between your legs begin to drip with arousal once again and judging on Mark’s demeanor, he can sense it. 

He pressed himself further against you until you can feel his hardness against the side of your own thigh, “does she want more?” Once again in a Mark Tuan induced trance, you nod your head mindlessly. 

In a haze of motions and movement, Mark pulled you off of his lap to remove his sweats, his cock springing free and looking painfully hard and ready to be inside of you. You lick your lips at the thought and it’s not until Mark pats his lap for you to get back on that you realize he wants you to ride him. 

Any other situation you would jump at the opportunity, loving the control, but you whined at him still feeling a bit spent from working yourself against him before, “can we do more of a ‘you put most of the work in’ kind of position?”

He puts his hands up jokingly as if surrendering, “okay, okay, okay.” 

You lay down with your back against the couch, removing your shirt and bra as Mark goes to the bathroom to retrieve a condom, but to your dismay he comes back holding an empty box, flipping it upside down to show you the issue.

“Wow are you that busy?” You asked Mark, then suddenly it occurs to you that maybe you should have asked if he as a girlfriend. Mark didn’t really seem to be the kind of guy that would do that to someone. 

He shakes his head, “no, it’s just… It’s been a long time okay? And there used to be more than half a box left, but I’m pretty sure all of my friends have secretly been taking them when they’re here, because how else could they disappear if I haven’t had sex with anyone in forever?” 

It’s clear that Mark’s worked up by the situation and isn’t sure what to do, so you try your best to calm him down, giggling at his demeanor, “Mark it’s fine. I have an IUD, don’t worry.” 

“What?” He asked. 

You rolled your eyes at him, what was up with this kid? “An IUD… an Intrauterine d-” 

“I know what an IUD is! I just meant… you still want to have sex with me even though I’m dumb and all my friends apparently take my condoms?” 

You swear your heart swells at innocent Mark appearing in front of you once again and you laugh again, “well I have to show you how much I want to stay, right?” You wiggled your hips at him from down on the couch and sighed contently, “plus I just really need you inside of me or else I feel like I’m going to explode.” 

Mark laughed at you and throws the empty condom box to the side of the couch, which he climbs back on positioning himself in between your legs, “yes ma’am.” 

He gently ran his index finger up and down, over your clothed entrance, the feeling causing you to shiver. Mark smirked at your reaction and pushes underneath your underwear until he rubs his finger directly over your slit, letting it collect your wetness. When he removes it, you whimper at the feeling and he places his digit into his mouth to taste you. 

He let out a lustful sound at your taste, “my kitten tastes just like candy. I could spend all day with my head in between your legs and I will, but I need to be inside you. Now.” At his emphasis on wanting to sink into you, Mark for some reason decided that it would make more sense to use his hands to rip apart your underwear to grant him entrance rather than simply taking them off of you. You made a mental note to give him shit for it later. $250 and new underwear? No thanks. 

Delicately, Mark lifts both of your legs up until they’re situated on each of his shoulders. You feel yourself exposed to him in a new way, his cock brushing against you slit, making you feel the need to beg for him to enter you. At his pause, you tried to slide yourself down towards him impatiently, but he holds in you in place, “I thought you were tired?” Mark smirked right before he enters you slightly. Only part of him is in, but you groaned at the stretch. 

“Fuck kitten, are you even going to be able to take me?” Mark wondered out loud. 

He continued to push into you, and your body adjusted itself to get used to the way he was stretching you and the way he was filling you so deliciously. You barely ever went without a condom despite your IUD, but with a lack of barrier separating you and Mark and the sensation it brought, you found yourself wanting him to enter you like this as many times as he wanted. 

He pushed himself forward until he bottoms out, fully inside of you and groaned. He starts off slow and you whimpered, just wanting to feel him pound into you already. You think you’re going to cry at how you can feel him practically everywhere and in every single part of your body, when he has barely even moved. Mark feels himself go dizzy at how tight you are around him. It’s bordering on painful, the squeeze of your walls around his cock, but he doesn’t really care as he listens to the sounds leaving your mouth asking him to move faster. 

Mark’s pace picked up and as he thrusts into you at a faster and faster rate, your lifted legs move with him and your knees practically begin to hit your chest every time he pulls back to delve into you again. With the angle his plummeting into you at, it’s not long before he hits your sweet spot and as you shutting your eyes tightly, unable to focus on anything except how good it feels. It’s when Mark’s hands leave your hips and wander to your breasts, cupping them, swirling your nipples in between his thumb and index finger that you feel yourself clench dangerously hard around Mark. He moaned, feeling like he could cum again at any minute, but he held himself off wanting to make sure he had taken care of you first. 

“Are you sure you don’t just want me?” Mark asked in his gruff, low voice, his probing into you giving no sign of stopping, “Are you sure you just didn’t want to feel me inside you this whole time? You don’t care about staying or going, you just wanted to feel yourself wrapped around me. Be honest.” At his words you let out more lustful sounds, unable to form any real response due to how fucked out you felt. Mark, however, wouldn’t take your silence at an answer as he thrusts in even harder, “Be. Honest.” 

It’s then when he pushes you over the edge, and you feel your second orgasm of the night course through you. “Mark… F-fuck Mark, oh god I- fuck,” you pant at the same time your walls squeezed around Mark one final time, your lower body arching off of the couch. For Mark, that’s all it takes for him to reach the peak of his own orgasm, the sight of you falling apart in front of him. You feel him release himself inside of you, feeling him make you so full with his warm cum coating your walls. 

As you caught your breath from your own climax, you watch Mark come down from his, making note of the final noise he lets out before he almost collapses himself on top of you. He pulls himself out of you and lowers your legs from his shoulder, a soreness that wasn’t present during the fucking starting to make itself known in your body. 

You feel more exhausted than you had after your first orgasm and you don’t even realize you closed your eyes until you feel Mark nudging your shoulder gently with his hand, “huh?” you mumbled, half-aware. 

“I’m going to clean you up, is that okay?” Mark asked tentatively. 

For probably the hundredth time of the night you wanted to laugh at the boy. He had already fucked you, but he still felt the need to ask if it was okay to do things like clean you up. 

Okay he was cute. 

Nodding at him, you feel Mark wiping up the mess he made inside of you that was beginning to seep out. When he’s finished, he lifts your legs and sits down on the couch beside your laying body, dropping your legs over his lap. He caresses them. 

There’s a peaceful moment between the two of you and it’s nice, it soothes you and you feel yourself drifting off once again, but Mark interrupts your fall into slumber, “you know I probably could talk to my dad about everything.” At this point you didn’t care about the money anymore, and you hoped Mark truly knew that the rent wasn’t the reason why you fucked him. 

Using your legs, you playfully kick Mark, “I really don’t care about that anymore. This was worth way more than $250.”

He chuckled, “Like how much? $500?” 

You hummed in thought, ��I honestly couldn’t even put a price on it if you held a gun to my head.” 

“Dark… but I get it.” 

There’s another moment of silence and you take this as your chance to fall asleep, but suddenly you feel yourself being lifted off of the couch and into Mark’s arms, “where are you taking me?” 

“My room, so you don’t have to fall asleep on an uncomfortable and overpriced couch.” 

Your eyes shoot open, “so you think it’s overpriced too!” He shakes head at you playfully in protest and lays you down on his bed when he enters his room. You can’t help but inhale the scent around you. It smells like him. 

He sits down beside you and places a kiss on your forehead, “I’m still going to talk to my dad regardless. It’s kind of ridiculous.” A smile slowly starts to creep up on your face just as you agree with him, “Okay, okay. Fine!” 

“Now get some rest.” You felt the weight shift up on the bed, signaling Mark’s departure, but instantly with your eyes still closed, you reached out to grab his wrist, “wake me up in twenty minutes for another round, okay?” 

He clicked his tongue at you, “It’s going to cost you.” You opened your eyes and smiled up at him, thumb gently stroking his wrist. 

“I’m not worried, you’re priceless after all.”

[peanutpinet]

Nine Percent 3rd Year Anniversary Scenario

Yes, yes, I know, it's been 3 days since their actual 3rd year anniversary. Yes, I had a brainfart and knew that I forgot something and didn't realise until late at night (like 10pm or 11pm). But hey, better late than never, right? RIGHT?! (My inner self: funny). Anyways, I wish them all nothing but the best for both their career and personal life. May they be able to do whatever they want and not be judged or be commented anything negative. Alright", scenario time!!

Pics are from: @ninepercent._.forever on Instagram

Cai Xukun

A.N: yes, yes, finally got some more soft pics uwu, thanks Aliya, okie" scenario

I imagine that you were rushing to get this limited edition record/album from your local music shop because not only was it limited edition, but the artist also signed them personally and not the ones where they just copy 1 signature for all the copies but they actually signed them with a pen and all but no one knew about it because they just came out with it but you were lucky because you had a friend working at the music store. You immediately texted your friend, telling them to keep one for you as you were now rushing out the door in your hoodie and sweats with sandals.

Upon arriving, you were wondering where your friend was since you just wanted to pay for the album and leave. You quickly texted your friend which they mentioned that they had to run a few errands for a bit since it was exactly lunchtime when you came.

Sighing, you decided to just look around but stopped at your tracks when you saw none other than Cai Xukun, the very artist whose album you asked your friend to keep. Not wanting him to notice what a mess you look, you hid behind the shelves and peeked through, observing what he was doing. It wasn't until Kun suddenly called you out that you completely blew your cover.

"You know, I'm not that scary to approach" Kun blurted, not moving his gaze away from the albums

"I--I'm sorry, I didn't mean to st-stalk you. It's just that, I'm a fan and I'm waiting for my friend, they work here and I've asked them to keep one of your albums that you personally sign and, what am I even saying?!" you blabbed, covering your face with your hands and hoodies

"I can sign it specifically for you, if you'd like" Kun smiled, looking up to face you

"Oh my, yes, umm, thank you so very much" you blurted, bowing at him

"Relax. You don't have to bow. C'mere, we can take a picture as well :)" Kun exclaimed, nudging you to go there

and let's just say, you and Kun had a nice lil chat after your little meetup session whilst waiting for your friend to come back. You also made a lil note to thank your friend for leaving

Chen Linong

For this one, I imagine that you, Nongnong and some old school friends were going on a road trip together and stayed in an Airbnb. During the first night, you were supposedly sleeping with your friend (girl) but that night, you guys just finished watching a horror/thriller movie (which you just cuddle up in Nong's arms since you were terrified, if you actually like watching horror, just pretend that this one terrified you quite a bit). After the movie, you couldn't really sleep and it was already nearly 3 in the morning that you went out of your room and to the kitchen to grab a light snack and heard some footsteps.

Scared, you unconsciously grabbed the kitchen knife and turned around to face the person that crept up on you; which turns out to be Nongnong. He immediately held his hands up in defeat but the same time chuckling on why are you holding a kitchen knife. You shyly admitted to him that you couldn't sleep because of the movie you watched; it also didn't help that your friend sometimes talks in their sleep.

Humming, Nongnong asked if you didn't mind sleeping with him. He said that he'll definitely make sure that you'll be asleep before he sleeps and he also suggested that you guys watch some cartoon. Since you and Nongnong have known each other for years and occasionally have sleepovers (of course in different rooms), you didn't mind sleeping with him since back in high school, you had a trip and you slept on his shoulder whilst being on the bus.

Because you were also quite tired and really wanted some rest, you agreed and the both of you went to Nongnong's room. Nongnong then allowed you to sleep on whichever side of the bed as he grabbed his iPad and opened your favourite cartoon. In a matter of a few episodes, you were finally asleep and Nongnong tucked you in before patting your head and sleeping as well.

In the next morning, you woke up surprisingly well. You didn't know if it's because you were watching cartoons with Nongnong or that it was just Nongnong in general making you safe. You decided to head to the kitchen to grab something to drink but then your friends teased you to call your "boyfriend" out to have breakfast all together.

You then blushed and head back to the room, seeing Nongnong yawning as he sat on the bed, asking you if you had a good night sleep which you nodded and told him that the others are waiting for you both to have breakfast.

"Did you have a good night sleep (Y/N)?" Nongnong asked, still yawning

"Y-yea, I owe you Nong, thank you" you stuttered, looking away

"Oi, lovebirds!! Hurry up or you won't have any breakfast" your friends teased

"Let's not keep them waiting shall we sweetie?" Nongnong commented, getting up and stretching

"Wh-what?" you mumbled

"Oh, I thought you already know that I like you since I know that you like me" Nongnong mentioned

"Wh-what?! When?! Wh-when did I?! OH NO!!" you blabbed, covering your blushing face

"In your sleep, last night, right before I fell asleep. There's nothing to be shy about. I like you too (Y/N) <3, let's go eat!!" Nongnong exclaimed, grabbing your hand and dragging you out of the room

Fan Chengcheng

For this one, I imagine that you and Chengcheng were friends in high school. You knew him since back in junior high and while your first impression of him wasn't all that good since you thought he'd be a spoiled brat since he came from a wealthy family and the younger brother of one of the country's famous actress. But as it turns out, he was very hardworking despite not paying that much attention in class.

A/N: let's rewind a bit how you both got close

You were stuck as his lab partner for a whole year back in junior high which at first you didn't really want to since you knew he didn't pay attention in class that much and you'd worry that in the end, you'd have to do all the job while he just gets the credit. But nope, big mistake.

As soon you were paired up, Chengcheng didn't waste time asking for your contact after school and told you that you guys should stay at the library after school on the day of your lab so you can get the job done that day as well. Now, to say you were amazed was an understatement. You were practically impressed that Chengcheng understood most of the job and even concluded the paper.

But one time, you guys had to stay at the library till late at night and Chengcheng even ordered food the minute he heard your stomach grumble (cue you being embarrassed). Afterwards, you guys just talk over things like your likes and dislikes and Chengcheng even brought you home up till your doorstep. Ever since, the both of you have been inseparable. Well, that is until Chengcheng said he had to leave to join Idol Producer.

It was rough. He wasn't able to contact you since his phone was taken from him. However, you did try your best to send actual letters to him which surprisingly, he received and even send you back some letters as well. You wouldn't admit it but you miss him and actually have a crush on him. You were going to tell him but when he actually made it into 9%, you knew you wouldn't be able to stand a chance against all the other female artists so, you texted Cheng, saying your congratulations and the same time cut off your friendship, to the point you even blocked his number. You couldn't deal with heartbreaks because it was just too much and you really wanted Chengcheng to focus on his career.

Unfortunately, the past few days were not easy for you. It was very painful, especially seeing how happy Chengcheng was in L.A. You're sad and wasn't focused on school at all. But one Saturday morning changed everything for you. You had never been so thankful to be awake so early in the morning until this day.

It's been 2 weeks since you cut your friendship and any sort of communication with Chengcheng and during those 2 weeks, your sleep schedule was a mess to the point that today, you slept at 1 and suddenly woke up at 5(ish) in the morning. You twist and turn yet you still couldn't sleep. Eventually, it was 6 in the morning and you decided to just get up and have an early morning walk to clear your mind.

You got changed and pulled on your favourite coat (which was actually one of Chengcheng's but you forgot) and head out to walk around your neighbourhood. Until you stumble upon a familiar stair walk. It was one where you and Chengcheng hung out after you finished your report and heading back home. The memory caught you off-guard that tears started to stream down your face and you tried your best to wipe them until a familiar voice startled you.

"Are you crying because of stress because finals are in a month or because you haven't seen me in so long? Because I sure as hell miss talking to you, too" a familiar voice exclaimed

"OMO, Ch-cheng?! FAN CHENGCHENG?!" you blurted, whipping your head to see Chengcheng just a few flights below you

"I miss you too (Y/N). It was tough not being able to talk to you through those 4 months and even when I was in L.A." Chengcheng mumbled, walking towards you

"I--I'm sorry Cheng. I didn't want to interfere with your life. I know that you've wanted to become an idol/artist and I know I wouldn't exactly match the people you'll be hanging out, I--" you blabbled until Chengcheng pulled you into a hug, patting your head

"I don't care. Sure, I may meet lots of new people. But no one can replace you. Plus, who am I going to take with me to night markets when I'm hungry and take pretty pictures together with? Of course, that's you!! I wouldn't switch you for anyone or anything in the world. I don't care that you blocked my number because I can always put in my numbers again. So please, don't leave me. Now, let's go have breakfast, hmm?" Chengcheng grinned, pulling away from the hug, smiling as he tucked a hair behind my ear, caressing my cheek in the process

Justin Huang

aFor this, Imma do something slightly different than previous Justin scenarios. So, I'm going to imagine that you're Justin's senior back in primary school. Justin has a vivid memory of what you did for him (which was standing up to the bullies) but you didn't remember him that well since you had a 2 (almost 3) year gap.

*Also, let's say that you were in campus (3rd year) whilst Justin had just turned 19

You were just trying to have a nice "normal" day in school since finals were just right around the corner. Everything was going so well and finals were not bad at all. It was the studying process that was annoying to you because your dorm were filled with either parties or gossips all in the halls whilst the library of your campus was always hogged by random people (like hello? are you here to study or to live here?). Anyways, lucky for you, a small studying cafe just opened near your dorm and so you decided to just stay there and study.

The past few days were nice. The cafe was calm and everyone was either actually studying or chatting (but they weren't loud and unreasonable like those in campus). Until one time, there was this boy, looked like he's in his teens and forgot his wallet to pay since it seemed that his phone ran out of battery. Because the drink was already being made, he couldn't exactly cancel or anything. Sighing, you got up and decided to pay for the boy who turned to bow at you, thanking you. Until the boy looked up and immediately recognised you.

"Eh?! JIEJIE?! It's me!! Just....uhhh, how bout we sit down and talk" Justin softly exclaimed, grabbing you and went to sit back at your table

After a bit of talking, you were taken aback that the boy/junior you helped back then was now this handsome tall young man. The both of you talked quite a lot since it has been years since you last saw each other. The two of you exchanged contacts and Justin proposed that you'd meet up again since he was in town for a few weeks.

But that plan somewhat backfired since Justin couldn't wait to see you again so he just straight up went to meet you since you told him where you lived. Instead of being a "brat" like most kids his aged, he was very polite with your parents, telling them that whilst he was younger, he'll protect you and bring you back before 10pm.

It was nice to catch up with Justin. You realised how mature he is for his age and even had to miss out on normal teen stuff like going out with friends, struggling with assignments and finals together. But Justin said that while he does feel sad for missing out on lots of things, he said that he loves what he does and he learnt so much.

Everything was going well with the both of you until Justin's sasaengs finds out about you. Some made fake accounts, threatening you to stay away from Justin. You know better than to deal with those immatures so you just blocked them from your social media and went on with your life.

But damn the universe is testing you because some of the sasaengs actually go to the same campus as you do. The first few meetings with them were still manageable. But they aren't called sasaengs for nothing. Because it slowly escalated and things got more physical to the point you started to distance yourself from Justin.

But Justin noticed your change in behaviour. He was so fed up one day that he went all the way to your campus to figure out what has made you like this. He didn't care about the amount of ppl suddenly paying attention to him because all he cared about was finding you; which he found you exactly when the sasaengs attacked.

Immediately, he didn't waste any time and called mama Ting, telling him about the sasaengs and have him report them to the police or something. Justin then immediately called out the sasaengs, threatening them and telling everyone who was watching to never bully anyone ever again; regardless of the reasoning.

Justin then took you out of your campus and to the cafe where you guys first reconnect again. He apologised for getting you involved in this mess but the same time that he doesn't want to be separated from you; adding that he'll always be there like you did when you were young.

"Jie, why didn't you tell me? I know you're strong enough to take care of yourself. Heck!! You helped me back in primary school!! I grew up, getting stronger so one day when we meet again, you wouldn't think of me as a whimp" Justin exclaimed

"I never thought of you as a whimp, Justin. But sometimes, you just need an extra hand" you replied

"Look who's talking? But I'm serious jie. Please tell me whenever this happens. I'll show no mercy!!" Justin boasted

"Ya!! Just because you're famous and all, you shouldn't be like, especially towards women" you complained

"Hehehe, it's not that. It's just that ppl should get what they deserve. Anyways, I'm hungry, let's eat!! My treat!!" Justin exclaimed

Lin Yanjun

Help, I miss Yanjun so much :(( but for reals though, I don't want to pressure him or complain much because honestly, I can somewhat understand him since I'm an introvert too. Alright, I don't want to give off this negative energy so let's jump into the scenario :)

Alright, for this I'll imagine that you're visiting Yanjun who's in Taiwan because he was taking some rest. Honestly, you were quite nervous since you had never been to Taiwan and met Yanjun from work (this is a story for another time). One of the main reasons why you were nervous is because you were going to meet his parents and even spend your time living with him and his family when you don't really know their culture that well.

But honestly, there was nothing to worry about since Yanjun's parents heard nothing but good things from both Yanjun and even Zhangjing (since you were quite close with Zhangjing). When you arrived, you tried your best to be polite even though you were very awkward and stuttered a lot. But when Yanjun's sister came, she helped make you feel at home and ease despite being slightly younger than you.

Within hours, you and Yanjun's sister became close and she even shared some embarrassing moments of Yanjun to you (which Yanjun found out and deal with his siter later on). And within days, Yanjun's parents showed no signs of disliking you at all. Instead, you and his mom actually went to the market a few times together and even cooked together.

Time skip to a few days before you have to go back to your country

Yanjun's parents thought that it was a good idea for both you and Yanjun to go out, just the both of you since you had been spending so much time with his family and rarely went out with just Yanjun for a whole day. So, they set things up and made sure that it would just be the two of you; they even went as far as letting Yanjun use the car.

Yanjun already knew where he would take you; the ocean (one of his favourite places to be). When you arrived, you wasted no time and getting out of the car, taking off your shoes and running on the sand, barefeet; which of course, Yanjun chuckled whilst taking pictures of you.

The two of you left your shoes by the rocks so they wouldn't get taken by the ocean and walked hand in hand along the shoreline. Stopping right where the sun was setting and just lean on each other, enjoying the moment, until you noticed your shoes were getting taken by the ocean. You immediately rushed to get your shoes; forgetting that you couldn't really swim that well.

Eventually, Yanjun caught up with you and held you back, reminding you that you couldn't quite swim. Chuckling, he took off his jacket and handed it to you before going towards the ocean to get your shoes.

"Jun...be careful!!" you exclaimed

"I'll be fine (Y/N). You should be careful. I wouldn't want you to get wet and sick later on" Yanjun reminded you

"Hmm. OH!! You got it!! Thank you so much!!" you giggled, jumping a bit

"Hey, hey, be careful!!" Yanjun reminded as you jumped to hug him

"You know, you're similar to the ocean. You're as cool, calm and collective when you need to but the same time you're there whenever people needs you just like how humans need water. You also help people calm down when they feel frustrated. You make me feel safe. You make me relax when I feel nervous" you blurted, hugging Yanjun tightly as you inhaled his scent

"(Y/N)..." Yanjun muttered

"Which makes me confused why would you choose a child-like, hard-headed, weirdo..." you mumbled, but Yanjun shut you up by pecking your lips

"Because, isn't that how magnet works? Opposites attract each other. Though I'd say that we are quite similar in the hard-headed side but at least we're willing to tone that down. But for reals, while I make you calm, you make me excited. You burst me up. You're like a happy pill and I'm addicted to you. Now, let's head back, mom and dad made hotpot for dinner. C'mon, I'll carry you whilst you just hold onto our shoes" Yanjun chuckled as you went on his back, leaning on him whilst talking about where you guys should have a date next

Zhu Zhengting

For mama Ting, I imagine that you have this upcoming show which was your first live stage show. And while you were just a backup dancer, you were still one of the best dancers in Yuehua despite only being hired for a couple of months.

You were so excited and can't wait since you've been practicing very hard the past few days, along with helping Zhengting since he asked you to be his dancing partner for his new mv that's coming out in a month. Speaking of Zhengting, it was him that actually recommended you to Yuehua and him that got you hired in the first place.

Anywho, it was finally showtime and you had just finished getting ready with the rest of the backup dancers. And ofc, you, along with the other backup dancers helped kill the show that the crowd was cheering loudly.

After the show was over, you all took pictures with the artist and a few individual pictures before the stage manager called it a wrap. You then went to go get changed when Zhengting texted you, asking to meet up in the dance practice room you guys normally used.

You told him that you just finished changing and will be there in 10 minutes. Upon arriving, you looked around to find Zhengting and was shocked when he softly called you out whilst holding a boquet of flowers.

"Ting? What's all this? Are you gonna meet up with someone?" you questioned, tilting your head slightly "This is for you!! Congratulations on your first live stage performance!!" Zhengting mentioned, handing you the flowers

"Ahhh, isn't this a bit too much? I was just a backup dancer anyways..." you muttered, looking down at the flowers, avoiding Zhengting's gaze

"Well, you won't be for long. I want you to dance with me, live. Roughly a month or two after the mv comes out. If you don't mind that is" Zhengting asked, scratching his head

"Wh, what? Are you serious?! Like legit? Not joking?! Cause if you're serious then ofc I would love to!!" you exclaimed

"Re-really?! Oh I feel so relieved. I was afraid you'd reject me. I mean my offer. I uhhhh...." Zhengting stuttered

"Relax. I'd never reject your offer. Or even you, Ting. You helped me get this far. Plus, I think I'd be the one to worry if you'd reject me..." you mumbled, fiddling with your fingers

"What?! No, why would I ever reject you, (Y/N). You're pretty, smart, talented, kind. You're an amazing person. If you don't believe me then let's go have dinner, I know you must be starving, c'mon, my treat!!" Zhengting mentioned, grabbing you and dashing off to eat hotpot

Wang Ziyi

For Ziyi, I imagine that you guys were spending the day to the amusement park that was near the beach as well. So, the plan was for you both to go to the amusement park as soon as it opens and ride as much rides as possible before 4pm then head to the beach and jusy chill till dinner time.

You were so excited since it's been so long since you went to an amusement park and beach. Now, the reasoning why you chose this specific amusement park wasn't just because it was right beside the beach. But also where you and Ziyi got to actually know each other.

Let's rewind a bit shall we

So, you guys were high school friends and one time your squad wanted to go to the amusement park so ofc, you joined in. But what you didn't know was that Ziyi (the school's best basketball player) and his squad were also joining (mainly because 2 of his friends and 2 of yours were dating).

Anyways, the whole day wasn't that bad until sometime before you all decided to leave for the beach, your friends sorta ditched you; even when you tried to text/call them. Now, you were left right by the food stands, sitting on one of the benches whilst waiting for any news you get from your friends.

But it wasn't just you that was "ditched" by your friends. Because not long after, Ziyi came and sat beside you, asking if you were also "ditched" by your friends to which you chuckled, telling him that they must've went on other rides. But you were actually grateful that they did. Because now, you were Ziyi's close friend.

To present time

After riding on several rides, you guys went to have lunch at the nearby food court before going back and playing the rides up until it was almost sundown.

Realising what time it was, you asked Ziyi if there were anymore rides he wanted to go on which he shook his head and instead, asked you if you wanted to go on anymore rides. To which you also shook your head. Ziyi then asked if you wanted to go to the beach which u instantly nodded.

But as you guys were walking, you saw a small food stand, selling one of your favourite snacks to the point you instantly rushed over to the food stall and grab some food, nudging Ziyi to hurry and come choose what he wants.

"Ziyi!! Hurry up!! Choose which one you want!!" you called out

"I'm coming (Y/N), don't buy too much things. We need room for dinner" Ziyi chuckled, rushing to your side

"I will always have room for dinner!! Food is life!!" you exclaimed, as you choose your snacks while Ziyi looked at you and chuckled

Xiao Gui

For Xiaogui, let's say that you guys have been friends since young and he would always be there for you since he's always so hyper while you were so shy in making friends.

Throughout your school life till high school, Xiao gui has always been there to help you make new friends and study (ocassionally). Not to mention, you were the one to come up with his nickname, Xiao Gui. But unfortunately he had to leave to join idol producer. But that never stopped you guys from sending each other letters/text (when he got his phone).

Time skip to your university graduation

While Xiao gui was busy with his idol life since he debutted in 9%, you were busy with school and now, after so long, you were finishing your degree.

After the ceremony and getting your actual degree, you and your friends were heading to take pictures. But as you were taking pictures, your friends told you to stay there for a bit whilst they go grab a quick drink.

But as your friends left, you saw a familiar figure, holding a boquet of flowers, heading your way. As they got closer, you realised that it was actually Xiao Gui.

"G-gui? Is that you? What are you doing here? Don't you have an event or something to attend?" you asked in shock

"Of course I do. It's your graduation. You didn't think I'd miss this out now did you? Look at you, dressed up like this. Last time I saw you all dressed up was...." Xiao gui commented

"The day you debutted with the other 8 as 9%" you replied, giggling at the memory

"Yea. You were with me since the beginning even until I debut and now. I'm sorry I couldn't have come sooner but here, happy graduation (Y/N)" Xiao Gui muttered, handing you the flowers

"Th-thank you, Gui. How bout we catch up over dinner?" you mumbled

"Of course, then we can go get dessert at your favourite place!!" Xiao Gui exclaimed, holding your hand as he slowly pulled you with him

"I miss you so much, Linkai" you admitted

"I miss you too (Y/N)" Xiaogui replied, a big grin formed on his face

You Zhangjing

Tbh Zhangjing's one is quite hard but I tried my best :"

Alright, for Zhangjing, I imagine that he asked you to join him to shoot for his new mv which of course you quickly agreed, not thinking twice on where, when and what is it.

You can say that it was somewhat of a mistake since the mv is a more romantic one than his previous mv(s). Not only that, on the day of the actual shoot, you were stunned on how good Zhangjing looked since he mostly wore a baggy T-shirt with sweatpants.

But this time, he dressed up so good that your mind can't comprehend. Even when it was time to shoot, your mind wondered off elsewhere until Zhangjing actually called out to you.

Thankfully, throughout the entire shoot, there were minimal errors and you didn't have to reshoot so much. And it was the final shot where both you and Zhangjing were hand in hand walking together.

Right as the camera was rolling, you were a bit distracted by the scenery of the place you were shooting that Zhangjing had to call you several times which makes you shock but Zhangjing just chuckled and extended his hand out to you which you shyly took, and as Zhangjing faced the other side, you couldn't help but blush to see this amazing view.

"(Y/N)?" Zhangjing called out

"Hmmm??? Oh sorry, the scenery was so pretty that I couldn't help but get distracted" you admitted

"It's alright, c'mon, let's just enjoy the view then" Zhangjing mentioned, extending his hand

"Hmmm. It's nice, we should go out more often" you mumbled, taking Zhangjing's hand then facing off to the scenery together

.

.

.

Once again, happy late 3rd year anniversary Ninepercent!! I wish you nothing but the best and may you always be happy 💕💕

[quickspinner]

Month of Miracles Day 9 - Tradition

Find the prompt list here!

I’m mixing up the prompts a bit here because I had a plan for ‘Moments of Wonder’ that can’t happen until a little bit further on in the Hallmark AU. I was just gonna do the next prompt while I got a little bit ahead on the Hallmark ones since they tend to be longer, but...this one wouldn’t leave me alone and I didn’t have enough time today to do both. Honestly, I might not be able to keep up the one a day through the next week, but whatever I miss, I’ll catch up on Christmas week where we have some planned time off. 

Hallmark Movie AU Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 (end) | Read Month of Miracles on AO3

Marinette understood why her mother thought this trip would do her good, but the truth was that she felt at loose ends rattling around in Gina’s old-fashioned but large house, all alone. At home, there was always somewhere to pitch in, something that needed doing. Gina kept her life pretty streamlined, and when she was home, she delighted in fixing up anything that might be out of sorts in her home. Gina was just too efficient, so other than keeping her plants alive, which really wasn’t that difficult since Gina kept mostly hardy breeds that could survive being left under the care of a neighbor for weeks at a time, there just wasn’t much for Marinette to do. 

Finally Marinette planted herself on the couch, set the TV to a channel covering the most recent fashion shows, and sat down to sketch. She’d have a lot of work to catch up on when she got home, so she might as well take advantage of some of this quiet time to get ahead. 

She sketched a few basic silhouettes to warm up and get the juices flowing, but after that...nothing came. Every time she started a line, she quickly rubbed about it again. Stop editing yourself, she scolded. Just get it out, and you can fix it later. 

It didn’t work. Everything she did felt wrong. Audrey’s complaints echoed in her mind. Too derivative, too pedestrian, where’s the art, Marinette? That’s why I hired you, and all you ever give me is this trash! Did I make a mistake bringing you on?

Did Audrey make a mistake? Marinette put down her sketchbook and pulled her knees up, wrapping her arms around them as she dropped her face against her legs, fighting down the tears that threatened to overwhelm her. She swallowed hard and tried to breathe. 

Okay. So she couldn’t draw right now. That was okay. She’d do...something else.

She got up, leaving her sketchbook on the couch and the television on, and went into the kitchen. She started pulling out ingredients without conscious thought, the spiral in her mind continuing until she actually stood in front of the mixer, measuring cups in hand. 

Marinette took a deep breath. She began measuring out ingredients, repeating the recipes in her head as she worked. This, at least, was something she could do. Nobody got all twisted up over cookies, after all. 

Well. Except Audrey are you trying to destroy my figure you’re FIRED Bourgeois. Marinette pushed that thought aside. Rose would appreciate cookies, she was sure. Gina’s neighbors would too. Maybe even Sally...would it be insulting to take some to Sally? She tried to remember if she’d seen cookies for sale in the café, and finally gave up. She’d just make some, and figure out who could eat them later. 

This was something she could do, and nobody could say she didn’t do it well, and that...that mattered to her right now. She could feel herself relaxing into the process, and she began to consider what she could make. Gina’s supplies weren’t as extensive as Tom’s, but there were still plenty of options to choose from…

Her first batch was in the oven, and she was making some simple Russian teacakes for a breather, when Gina’s old-fashioned doorbell rang. 

Frowning, Marinette grabbed a towel from the oven and went to the door, wiping at least one hand as clean as she could get it before she opened it.

If she’d expected anything, it was a package delivery, or maybe even a neighbor stopping by with some cookies of their own—this seemed like the kind of place where that stuff happened. 

On the doorstep stood a grey-haired woman with a bright smile, glasses that made her blue eyes look huge, feet well apart, and her hands solidly on her hips. Behind her stood Luka Couffaine, his lips pressed together in exasperation, propping up a large Christmas tree. He gave her a tight smile when her eyes flicked over him, but the woman in front of him had a presence that was impossible to ignore. 

“Um,” Marinette said, smiling uncertainly. “Can I help you?” 

The woman stuck out her hand. “Hello, lass. Marinette, isn’t it? Anarka Couffaine! Yer grandma be a friend of mine. When I heard you were keeping house for her while she’s away I thought we’d best be bringing over her tree!”

“Her tree?” Marinette asked, mystified. She glanced at Luka, and couldn’t help a smile when he mouthed I am so sorry at her over his...mother? Surely she must be his mother. Only a parent could put that look of embarrassed frustration on a grown man. 

“Aye, Gina always gets a tree from us,” Anarka was saying. “Thought she wouldn’t be needing one this year since she’s gone. Hated to think of her not having one when she gets back, but it makes sense, no one here to take care of it and all. But since you’re here, all’s well. You can decorate it and have it ready for Gina when she comes home. She’s still planning t’be back for Christmas Day, aye?”

“Uh, yes,” Marinette said, reaching up to tug a pigtail and remembering just in time that she’d pinned up her hair, and that her hands were still dusted with flour despite the wiping. “She and my parents and all were supposed to meet back here for Christmas Eve, so I guess—but I don’t know if—”

“Ah, that’s what I thought,” Anarka burst out cheerfully. “She’ll definitely be wanting her tree, then. No worries, lass, we know where everything is. We won’t be in your way but for a moment.” 

She didn’t push past Marinette, but it was clear she intended to move forward, and Marinette backed out of the doorway on instinct.

Luka gave her a kill me now look as he hoisted the tree and followed his mother. Marinette giggled in spite of herself, and closed the door behind them. 

True to her word, Anarka knew exactly where to find Gina’s Christmas tree things, and ordered her son around with a brusqueness that left no room for argument or debate. Marinette hovered, a bit at a loss for what to do. She wondered if she should go change into clean clothes, but Anarka said they weren’t staying long, and she still wasn’t done in the kitchen—

The oven timer chimed, and she automatically turned to tend to it. She hesitated in the door to the kitchen for just a moment, but Luka was half under the tree, getting it adjusted in the stand while Anarka barked orders. Neither was paying any attention to her, and even if she wasn’t cooking for anyone in particular, she couldn’t stand to let perfectly good cookies burn for no good reason. 

She’d just gotten everything settled when Anarka’s booming voice behind her made her jump. “I’ve got to run, lass, but Luka can finish getting things set up. I’ve already told him what to do and where to put everything. We left the box of decorations out for ye, so ye can get things all nice for when Gina comes home. I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again, so, goodbye for now. Don’t forget to check the water in the tree every day!” 

Marinette didn’t even have time to answer before Anarka was seeing herself out. 

As soon as the door banged closed behind Anarka, Luka made a beeline for the kitchen. Hands against the doorframe, he leaned in. “Hey.”

Marinette turned to look at him from where she stood rolling some kind of round cookie in powdered sugar. “I swear I tried to talk her out of it,” he told her, ears burning. “I’d have had more success wrestling a bear.” 

Marinette laughed, blushing, and Luka couldn’t help his grin. She looked adorable, with her hair pinned up and her sleeves pushed up to her elbows, flour streaking the red and green, frilled apron she wore. “I can imagine,” she replied, placing the sugar-coated ball carefully on a pile of others already in a dish on the counter. “She seems like someone it’s hard to say no to.” 

Luka shrugged. “That’s my mom.” They looked at each other for a moment, Luka thinking about what a sweet picture she made and her thinking—probably that he was completely weird, standing here staring at her. “Anyway,” he said hastily, pushing himself back upright, “I’ll get this finished up and get out of your hair. I just wanted to say I’m really sorry and I had nothing to do with this...whatever this is.”

Marinette giggled. “It’s fine.” Her shoulders came down a little, and Luka gave her one more grin before he went back to setting up the tree. He was starting, he reflected ruefully, to have some dangerous if only thoughts. If only they’d met sooner, if only she weren’t leaving in a couple of weeks...

If only the people in his life weren’t so damn pushy, so that he wasn’t sure how much of the attraction he felt was sincere or mutual. If only he could be sure he wasn’t seeing things because Rose put the idea in his head. 

Luka wasn’t sure what had put his mother on the scent. It was, just barely, possible that her motives were exactly what she said they were. Gina did buy a tree from them every year, and since they were friends it was usually more of a visit than a delivery, and Anarka had more than once hauled Luka out to help set the thing up when he was home. 

Luka doubted it though. Either Rose had blabbed, or someone else had. Sally, maybe, who might have seen him holding her hand at the café, or maybe one of the townspeople who had seen them say goodbye outside afterwards, smiling and friendly. Marinette blushed so easily, and he did find her extremely pretty. it might have been easy for someone to get the wrong idea. 

The television was on, but Luka hadn’t paid any attention to it until Marinette’s name caught his ear. He looked up, and saw a good-looking blonde man on screen, waving to the crowd before he turned to help a lady out of the limo he’d just exited. There was a smaller picture of Marinette on the arm of the same handsome blond in the corner. 

Luka put it together with what Marinette had told him at the café, and pressed his lips together, irrationally angry at the man. Clearly he has a type, Luka thought sourly, looking at the new woman on his arm as the couple proceeded down the red carpet. Luka glanced back at the kitchen, and then walked over and turned the television off. Marinette didn’t seem like she was watching it, and she certainly didn’t need to see something like that by accident. 

He finished up, making sure to clean up after himself as best he could, stacking the boxes that had held Gina’s things neatly where his mother had found them. Conveniently there was a broom in the same closet, so he was able to sweep up the needles he’d inevitably tracked all over the house. 

He put the broom back, and went back to find Marinette. Whatever she was making smelled amazing. Luka paused in the kitchen doorway. Marinette was concentrating hard, piping icing onto cookies laid out in front of her. Even focused as she was, he couldn’t help but note that she looked more content than he’d ever seen her, smiling and at peace, humming softly to herself. She leaned back to study what she’d done, and the humming turned to singing. 

Luka took a quick step back and turned, putting his back to the wall next to the door, one hand going to clutch at his heart as it suddenly decided to gallop away. 

She was singing one of his songs. 

So she’s a fan, he scolded himself. I knew that. And why should he care? By the end, Luke Stone had been almost an entirely separate entity from himself. An illusion created to sell music, not a real person. 

Except Luke Stone still played Luka Couffaine’s music. And it was one thing to know Luke Stone had fans, to see them screaming in a crowd or throwing themselves at the security ropes to get to him, but...it was entirely different to hear sweet, sincere Marinette, thoughtlessly humming Luka’s songs just because she was happy and she enjoyed them. It was what he’d always wanted, wasn’t it? To know that people appreciated the music, and not just the image. It was no wonder his pulse was racing. 

Luka sighed and closed his eyes.  I’m in trouble, he admitted to himself. 

Fiction Master Post | Month of Miracles 

[plinkcat-gif]

Yes hello pls do tell abt ur flower symbolism thoughts 👀

Like, which flowers do you associate with which Naruto characters and why?? What flowers do you think reflect your fav relationships (platonic or otherwise) the best?? AUs??

Honestly homie I’ll take anything just go off abt flowers I am starving for more symbols & secret meanings here…

jesus christ i went off i’m so sorry but enjoy i guess

kks:

- belladonna (silence)

i briefly explained this before but this applies to kakashi in his silence about,, a lot of things, really. he’s been so influenced by what broke him and he obviously doesn’t know himself, and the easiest way to get through life without knowing yourself is by following orders blindly. therefore, he never told naruto about his parents because the hokage said so. he never fought back against the nickname friend killer because of a multitude of reasons, but one would probably be the lack of authority in the situation. kakashi sure isn’t gonna be the authority and tell them to stop unless authority tells him to be authority. same with the rumors about his father.

he was also silenced by force as well, most notably in his ANBU years. i think as a shinobi, there’s a sort of silent oath taken that hey, maybe don’t go blabbing about your traumatizing missions to your civilian friends, yes (which also reminds me that fun fact: a lot of firefighters don’t talk about what happened on calls and stuff with their s/os because they’re so traumatizing and their s/os can’t relate to that. it’s why firefighters talk to each other ab it and cope through dark humor ANYWAY tangent much girl??) but also, in ANBU and ROOT, you don’t talk about anything to anyone ever. recap it once on the report and you’re done.

he never told anyone about rin or obito until,,, god, like naruto? when he showed them the KIA stone and even then he didn’t mention obito explicitly he was just like “idiot child don’t end up here.” so yeah. lots of metaphorical-turned-literal silence in that bit.

to the victorians, belladonna may have also been taken as a meditation on the nature of good and evil, which is particularly interesting to me. in the original post i mentioned that goodness is measured by society, and kakashi’s goodness changed throughout the series. he’s always hailed as a hero for story purposes, but i think digging a bit deeper here, it’s interesting to see the difference between his child and anbu self and his hokage self. as a child and in anbu, he was Good. good at everything he did, efficient and reliable. he was good because in the middle of a war during their time, killing people was necessary to keep the village safe. hence, kakashi’s amazing. he’s a feared hero; a legend. but his self hatred is ever-present and it grows, especially in his anbu years. it never disappears. once he’s hokage, he can essentially bend society to his will. and with naruto as the future hokage and village hero, who’s the opposite of kakashi in nearly every light and shadow, who hasn’t killed anybody…well. it’s easy to redefine the definition of good as somebody who makes peace with words, not violence. voila, justice is served and kakashi’s self hatred is justified, naruto (and his delusional version of obito) are worshipped as heroes and the model idol.

- butterfly weed (let me go; dignity)

honestly. kakashi needs to let tf go of his regrets and his guilt. i imagine that obito and rin would be giving him this of course, but mainly rin. kakashi only idolizes obito so desperately after he’s broken his promise to him, and he needs to forget that and move on to build himself, instead of taking pieces from other people and stacking those on top of one another to make some amalgamated ideal version of himself.

but in another sense, i think kakashi would also very much be the type to want to be forgotten in the afterlife. he sees himself as so insignificant to other people (before given the responsibility of three developing preteens of course) and he wouldn’t want people to cling to him like he clings to rin and obito. he would want the people close to him to keep the dignity that he couldn’t. i also think he knows his obsession with rin and obito is unhealthy, but it works and it satisfies and so he doesn’t really care to stop.

- orange lily (hatred; disdain)

the self hatred is strong in this one. nobody gives this to him of course, i’d b throwing hands if somebody did that, but i think that he’d actually give this to himself (hence why he holds it in the original post). he hates himself so much for the things he’s done, especially when he has the power to redefine society and he can guilt trip himself because of that as well. what would obito think, seeing him sitting in that chair, making a better world? he doesn’t deserve that. he doesn’t deserve that ability and he shouldn’t be able to shape such a thing with these bloodstained hands.

- zinnia (thoughts of absent friends, lasting affection)

literally all this man thinks about is rin and obito he like. has a crush or smth idk.

lasting affection applies to what i see as his affection for obito bc hi, kkob shipper. there’s obviously affection after the kamui battle, and i imagine a lot at the memorial stone when he drops off dango and flowers and treats. pretty simple, but i think it means a lot, especially when phrased as “lasting affection for absent friends.”

obito:

- anemone (forsaken (abandon))

so obito’s are more centered around the world because that’s what he built his ambition off of (the opposite of kakashi, who built his on the people around him. could write an essay on this).

obito so obviously forsook the world when rin died. he decided then and there that it wasn’t worth it anymore—not because rin was dead, but because rin was dead. i will always say obkkfkr’s post about why obito started a war for this lol, but essentially, the world just kept on taking and killing and breaking and all that was left behind were people like kakashi, who brought dango to a grave for somebody he supposedly never even liked.

obito abandoned the world and its ideals, which is why he never returned to konoha. konoha was killing its people from the inside, and the same applied to all the other villages. the best way to get rid of that is to destroy them all.

but i also think his resolve is rather weak. the second naruto talk-no-jutsu’d him, he was abandoning ship faster than you can say “infinite tsukuyomi.” he quit the plan and said “nah. this is dumb i’m sorry” and helped save the same world he tried to destroy instead. i sk probably has something to do with abandonment issues that developed after he was left alone in a cave with an old man forever lol idk

- black-eyed susan (justice)

oh boy. justice to the shinobi system. obito was the judge, jury, and executioner in this whole plan. he wanted to bring konoha and the hidden villages to justice so badly that he hid his identity for twenty-odd years and manipulated things behind the scenes so effectively. it was his goal and why he started a war—justice for rin. justice for kakashi. for itachi. for all the shinobi who were forced to fight and kill, injuries and psych evals be damned.

- edelweiss (devotion)

this one’s pretty obvious, i think despite his quickly-changing-allegiance, obito’s very devoted to whatever he does. as a child, he was set on being hokage and that stayed unchanging until rin’s death. then he spent twenty years carrying out madara’s plan, unchanging until naruto talked to him, when he returned to his roots and helped the shinobi alliance win the war. he’s very devoted to his beliefs and to the people he loves, hence why he stuck with madara’s plan for so long.

- orange lily (hatred)

that being said, obito’s love is interesting to me. i think in canon, it’s so influenced by the hatred he feels for the world and for certain people (hiruzen, danzō, etc.) that his love is more twisted. because obviously he doesn’t really love rin, i don’t think. he harbors a more childish love for her throughout his life, but that ends up tainted when he tries to brainwash the whole world in an attempt to make it all better. he doesn’t really love kakashi until after their kamui battle, but that’s tainted by his and kakashi’s self hatred (hence why i don’t ship them in canon—unrequited, if anything). his obsession and his love are two very different things as well, which is why i don’t think he actually ever loved kakashi until he was brought back from the Dark Side.

also obito in general just harbors a lot of hatred for himself and the way the world treats people, so yeah.

as for kkob flower, i would say zinnia. whether in canon or in aus, these guys have always lost something. there’s always something to lose, whether it be each other, sakumo, rin, or the village, or whatever it may be, but they always center their lives around what they lose. in different ways, that is.

i mentioned this is the replies of one of bluefisted’s post but basically what i think is that obito centers his sense of self around the world. he blames his problems on the world, he hates himself because he can’t fix it. how the world affects the people he loves, basically.

for kakashi, he centers himself on the existence of other people, how he affects them and how he can help them. he doesn’t care about the world nearly as much, because he’s accepted that they all have to live in it. so he’s going to help his friends to the best of his abilities, because that’s in his control. (moments where it isn’t and hasn’t ever been, like when he faces obito in the war, are times where he panics and breaks down ;))

and so yeah their affection for absent friends is strong and actually really interested if we ever went past “heehoo angsty guys love each other a lot” (*shoves all my fics off a cliff* we’re not using those as examples)

ok i’ll do these for more characters if y’all want but fair warning: i literally did not care about another character in naruto i took these two in hand and said “you will be my special interest” and i haven’t let them go since SO. maybe yamato and gai can b next i like them a lot as well. and rin.

[towerfandoms]

Hanahaki Disease

“When the victim coughs up petals from one sided love”

A/n: Ok so I know I have a bunch of requests to get through but I was reading about Hanahaki disease and thought about Khun and one thing led to another. Regardless I hope you enjoy this even though it’s longgggg. I just feel like this will help me get out of my writing slump so yeah enjoy. And please feedback is always appreciated. Part 2 is now up here

Genre: ANGST, ANGST, ANGSTY ANGST. idk did I mention angst?

Warnings: mentions of death

Word Count: 2.2k

Aguero made it impossible not to believe in love at first sight. His angelic smile, velvety laugh, porcelain skin and his piercing, bright blue eyes. He was the definition of perfection. When you first met him you questioned if he was hand-carved by the Greek Gods themselves.

Khun was a reserved man. He didn’t let many people in. Despite his cold and harsh exterior you had seen something else in his eyes; exhaustion, pain, a little bit of weariness. He was hurting, badly. That’s why you made it your mission to break down those barriers and offer him a little kindness. Try and ease his pain.

Your efforts eventually paid off. Khun considered you as one of his closest companions and cared deeply about you. Although he still couldn’t fully open up to you he let his guard down more around you. And in that moment that was enough.

With each test, every fight, every loss you two went through, the pain lessened knowing you had each other by your side. At first your attraction to him was purely superficial. Nothing more than a typical “high school crush”. However as the years went on these feelings developed into something much bigger. Every time your shoulders brushed it sent a fizzle of electricity down your spine. Or how the blood rushed straight to your face whenever he leaned down to inspect your wounds.

Slowly, everyone around you began to notice. It was to be expected really. Hell, you couldn’t even look at the blue haired man in the eye anymore. Even Bam, who was as dense as a brick, noticed your lingering eyes on Khun whenever he turned his back. If Bam noticed then there was no doubt Khun knew or at the very least had an inkling suspicion. Of course he stayed true to his ways, never letting you know whether he knew about your crush on him or not. Soon these feelings became something much harder to control. They were threatening to explode, crush you. You knew this wasn’t healthy. You had to do something about it. And soon.

So you did what you decided to be the most rational idea. You were going to confess. You were pretty sure he didn’t like you romantically. He never flirted or showed interest in anyone. You supposed he was much too busy trying to survive to court anyone but you still had a little shred of hope. Maybe you’d be the exception. Maybe he was waiting for you.

You shook your head trying to shake away these thoughts as you walked to his room. Getting your hopes up was far too risky especially as you were 99% sure of the outcome. Still it did ease your nerves and even added a light spring in your step as you walked through the hallway.

You slowed down as you neared Aguero’s room. Come on y/n. Now is no time to chicken out. You reached his door and breathed deeply. It’ll be ok no matter the answer. He likes you back, yay. If he doesn’t then that means you got closure and can finally go back to normal. So just knock already damn it. With that, you knocked sharply on the door three times.

You wanted to curl onto the floor and die. Why were you doing this. What if you ruined the friendship. Damn it, damn it, DA-

Your thoughts were interrupted by Khun opening the door. His face contorted in worry when he saw your scared expression.

“Y/n, what’s wrong?!”

“Can we talk inside please,” you barely managed to squeak out.

“Of course.” He opened the door further to let you inside.

When you stepped in, you knew it was now or never. So you let out a shaky breath and tried your best to speak normally.

“I know this is completely out of the blue but I came here to confess. I really like you, Khun. A lot more than friends do.” You nervously chuckled and looked down at the floor, avoiding his face. “Actually it’s be better to say I’m completely in love with you but i know you probably don’t feel the same way about me but i just felt like letting you know”

Only when you finished your tangent did you look back up at him. You expected to see a blank face, maybe surprised. Even a small smile. Not this. Not like he was in agony.

He looked like he was in so much pain it was all you could to stop yourself from reaching out and comforting him. There was something else though mixed with the pain. Pity. Complete and utter sadness… for you. You felt a sense of dread blossoming in the pit of your stomach.

The air felt heavy, it was a struggle to even breathe. Time felt so slow. What was happening? When did it get so cold? Why isn’t he answering?

However Khun smoothed out his features just as fast, quickly replacing the pain with a blank face. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking. You always prided yourself on being one of the only people who could tell what Khun was thinking and be able to read his face. But now, you couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

You were afraid.

You swallowed thickly, waiting for his response.

Time ticked by slowly. How long had it been? It felt like 10 minutes though you knew it couldn’t be more than 30 seconds. At last it seemed like Khun finally knew what to say. He opened his mouth to speak. You braced yourself for his harsh words. In fact you prayed they’d be cruel. Anything to help you get over him faster.

“I’m sorry. I appreciate your words and I do care a lot about you but… I’m sorry I don't feel the same. I know this sounds stupid but it would probably be the best for you to get over me.”

Quick answer him now so you can get out of here.

“Of course, I expected this. Thank you, Khun and have a good evening” You surprised yourself by giving him a big smile and quickly walking over to the door before you could hear if he said anything back. You half hoped he would run after you and tell you he shared the same feelings. But you knew this would never happen. Aguero was not this type of man.

He was kinder than expected when rejecting you but still. It hurt so much more than you would’ve thought. Although you expected that answer why was it not the closure you needed. Why did your heart still quicken at the thought of him. You felt tears threatening to spill and you raced to your room before you could see anyone.

Every day was becoming more and more painful. Even looking at Khun hurt. He treated you more or less the same way acting as though the confession never happened but there was a noticeable distance. He was probably trying to give you space and you hated it. Every second of this. Every step was excruciating pain. It took everything in you to hold it all in. To not break down at any second.

Then after a week when you thought you would’ve been over it, came the flowers. You didn’t notice at first how the pain in your lungs wasn’t normal. You chalked it down to heartbreak but when you began coughing up blue petals mixed with blood you knew this was far from normal.

The petals seemed oddly familiar. Blue Himalayan Poppies. Your favourite as they reminded you of Khun’s bright blue hair. Your chest hurt more at the thought. No matter what you did there were always constant reminders of him. You couldn’t escape. You let out an empty laugh. When will this pain end?

Wait- choking up petals??? It sounded familiar. Almost like an old tale your mother used to tell you about. You quickly searched up the symptoms on your pocket and found what you were looking for- Hanahaki Disease.

Hanahaki Disease: It’s a disease in which the victim coughs up flower petals when they suffer from one-sided love. It ends when the beloved returns their feelings (romantic love only; strong friendship is not enough), or when the victim dies. It can be cured through surgical removal, but when the infection is removed, the victim's romantic feelings for their love also disappear. There is also a chance the victim may forget their old lover.

Your eyes widened when you read through it. It described your predicament exactly. It was obvious you’d have to get surgery but the thought of forgetting Khun, forgetting your love for him seemed too real. You knew it was stupid clinging on to one sided love like that. But your love for him was one of the main things that had driven you up the tower. Now what. Everything seemed so bleak. You felt so lost and confused.

Stop it, stop it, stop it! You weren’t thinking properly. You had to get surgery. If you didn’t and died, Khun would blame himself. And besides you were in so much pain, it physically hurt to breathe. And these damned petals. Blue. Never letting you forget about your love for Khun. You tried not to think about how you could potentially forget about Khun. Those were just rare cases anyways. Best case scenario you’re fixed and can go back to caring about Khun normally. Like the old times. So you went to the hospital in the tower to get the surgery done.

You decided not to tell anyone about this. Maybe you’ll tell Endorsi after the surgery but she couldn’t be trusted not to blab. You didn’t tell Khun because you didn’t want him to blame himself. You never blamed him for a second. He was allowed not to love you back, as much as that thought hurts. Khun was driven by his desire to get you, Bam, Rak and himself to the top of the tower. Of course he wouldn’t have time to court anyone. You tried to console yourself with the thought that at least you were one his cherished companions. But now, it was ruined. You slapped the sides of ur head trying to get rid of these thoughts. No. after the surgery everything will be ok. You kept repeating this as you walked to the hospital, barely convincing yourself

The surgery was successful. All the roots were removed from your lungs and you could take deep breaths again without feeling like your chest was going to rip apart. However there was something off… you felt like you were forgetting something. But you just had surgery so it was to be expected with the anesthesia.

You didn’t remember the last time you felt this good. The air felt so light. You skipped along, feeling so happy and free. Breathing had never felt better and all you wanted to do was run and around and play like a kid again. Your thoughts were so positive and you couldn’t wait to go back. You had to hurry up though as you had another test soon and you needed to train. Maybe you’ll get Hatz to show you how to use a sword properly. He may seem rude and stand-offish at first he was a sweet boy deep down and you knew he’d be glad to help. Yes everything felt so much better after the surgery. You didn’t know why you hadn’t confessed earlier.

Confessed to who?

You brushed that thought off with still being groggy from anesthesia and nearly skipped up the steps of the penthouse. You felt so giddy and all you wanted to do was laugh and talk. You had a big smile on your face as you rooted through the fridge looking for something to eat. You were so lost in carefree thoughts that you didn’t hear someone creeping behind you.

“Y/n!” came a foreign voice startling you out of your pleasant thoughts. You stood there confused as you couldn’t pinpoint exactly whose voice it was, thought it was familiar.

You turned around, still with a smile on your lips.

“Hm?” you replied, taking in the sight of the person in front of you.

He had an angelic smile, velvety laugh, porcelain skin and piercing, bright blue eyes. He was the definition of perfection. You questioned to yourself if he was hand-carved by the Greek Gods themselves.

“Are you ok? I haven’t seen you in a couple of days?”

“I’m so sorry if this sounds rude but do we know each other?”

[sardonic-courtney]

Crowley x Reader. We Met Before. P3/7

Summary: You end up living with Bobby after your parents die. You go to church and meet Priest Crowley and you end up getting along (if you know what i mean). A few years later when Bobby passes you move the the bunker with Sam and Dean and end up meeting Crowley again.

Part 1  Part 2  Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

Warnings: Mention of loss, Spelling mistakes, you go to church?

Around 2500 words.

Let’s Get Coffee.

“Yay thank you” You yelled heading up the stairs to get changed…

Training went well, although you didn’t really do much. Bobby who was still reluctant helped you to shoot inanimate objects and some basic hand to hand combat with no weapons, because in his words “you won’t always have a weapon on you so that’s the best place to start.” You are pretty sure it’s just because he is buying time before the brothers come into town so they can deal with the more athletic training. Not because Bobby wasn’t good, he was but he was quite impatient and not the best Teacher.

Time Skip to the Next Saturday Night brought to you by Juliet.

The last week consisted of a few training lessons here and there, you were starting to get really good with a gun, and to Bobby’s ‘luck’ he did some blade training and you actually weren’t half bad. Right now, you were eating takeaway, 8pm, on the sofa with Bobby watching some old tv show.

“So kid, Winchesters are coming round tomorrow. Want me to pick you up from church to save you walking so you can see the two idjits sooner, I know you miss them”. He said emphasising miss in a teasing manor.

“Oh yeah soo much” You replied rolling your eyes. “But no, I’m good, I’m actually going out after for some coffee”.

“So, you and Lena finally meeting outside of church?”

“Nope”

“Wait so who are you meeting with then? A new boyfriend of yours? If so, I want to meet him first.”

“What? No, I’m not completely sure, just a group of us meeting up after church.”

“What do you mean you don’t know. Who asked you? That old woman that lives next to the church because if so, I wouldn’t go she will just talk everyone’s ear of about her cats”

“No, the Priest actually just to share ideas about the bible after.”

“Right well err have a good time?” He replied unsure

“Thanks Bobby I’m gonna head up now and sort everything out and go to bed”

“Don’t use up all my water, I’ll see you after your coffee, call me if you want a lift.”

“will do, night”

“Night kid.”

*Beep Beep* Your alarm read 8:30 Sunday. You go up and got showered and dressed. You opted for an outfit which made you look good but it was still simple and casual, whether you were trying a bit harder because you were seeing Crowley or because the boys were coming you wouldn’t say. You grabbed an easy snack and decided to take the scenic route as you had 30 minutes to get there and you didn’t want to wait around. You arrived exactly at 9:32 and waited a few minutes before walking in, no sign of Lena anywhere, strange. Your seats however remained empty, so you sat once again on the seconded row back. Just as you received a message.

Lena- Sorry my mums not feeling well so I’ve had to take my brother to football. Hope service is good.

(Y/N)- No problem, have fun at football.

You replied before muting your phone and sliding it away just as Crowley came out.

“Good Morning…………………………………Thank you all for coming. Bless you all and I shall see you next week.”

Looking up at the clock reading 10:30, everyone stood up and headed out the door, you however being unsure of where you were going for coffee waited at the end of the pew, letting other passed. You didn’t really focus on the topic at hand but hoped you could blag your way through the teachings of rich man and Lazarus. As everyone left Crowley once again was behind you smiling.

“(Y/N) how are you?”

“Hi, I’m good thank you, how are you doing?” you reply, once again you feel strangely flustered.  

“Better now that’s over and we can go get coffee.”

“Oh yeah about that where are we meeting?”

“I was thinking the little café down 3 blocks over. Small and easy to find a table.”

“Mrs Wolowitz’s?”

“Yes, That’s it”

“I think I know the way; well you better go, and I’ll meet you guys there” You say about to head off.

“I’m sorry love, you must be mistaken I meant just the two of us. If that’s alright”

“Yeah no sorry that more the fine, I just assumed.” You stuttered out. You hadn’t meant to jump to a conclusion but that seemed more likely then just you two going out for coffee. Alone in a small café. Damn it (Y/N) stop thinking again.

“Do you want to follow me in my car? In case you get lost?”

“Oh um.” You awkwardly laughed. “I actually walk here so I’ll get it up on my phone”

“No, no don’t be stupid you’re going in my car.”

“I wouldn’t want to intrude”

“No come on let’s go.”

The car ride was short and pretty much silent but not awkward. You were nervous but also happy you weren’t going to be stuck with a bunch of old Christians arguing about meanings. Before you got out the car, he took his clerical collar of leaving him in a normal black shirt. You got out, got a table and ordered your drinks, and reluctantly allowed Crowley to pay.

“So, Y/N how did you find todays service?” Crowley asked looking straight at you for an answer.

“Oh um, it was good” you replied suddenly feeling nervous and unsure of how to answer. You were sat in a café, with an attractive Pastor whose stare seemed to go straight through you.

“Anything to add? Any views on the passage?” Crowley said seeming slightly distracted.

“Not really no. Sorry maybe you start an idea and I’ll add?”

“I don’t really have any either, well to be honest with you I would rather get to know you then your views on the bible.”

“Me?” you smiled, this just got better now it’s apparent you probably aren’t going to be sat discussing the bible over the next half hour or so.

“Yes you” he replied a small smile resting on his lips.

“Well what do you want to know?” you didn’t really know what sort of thing to tell him so thought it best to just ask.

“Well how about we play a game?”

“A game?”

“Yes, a game, you know an activity one engages in for fun?” his smile turning slightly into a smirk.

“Oh, thanks I didn’t know what a game was, what sort of game?”

“I ask a question and you ask one back?” he paused “if you would like, if you wanted to sit around and talk about bibles, we could ask biblical ones”

“No normal questions are fine; you can start since I don’t know what games are” you say sarcastically.

Just then the waiter came and delivered your drinks, nodding his head slightly at your companion before he left. You took a sip of your drink as Crowley moved on; this wasn’t what you though this evening would be but it’s definitely an improvement.

“If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go?”

“(Y/A) {your answer}”

“Why?”

“It just seems perfect. I could see myself walking around and just admiring everything there you know?”

“Well hopefully one day you’ll go.” Crowley took a sip of his steaming drink and returned to looking at you. Really looking at you, it was weird, like he was genuinely interested in what you were saying. “I’ve been a few times and I must say the {landmark} is beautiful to visit.”

“One day I will see it, anyway you seem like you’ve been to loads of places where have you been?”

“Pretty much everywhere, I do enjoy travelling.”

“wow, I wish” you sigh out.

“Do you travel?”

“Not really, when I was younger me and my parents would move around America but that stopped a while ago.”

“Oh, how come?”

“They died so I moved in with my godfather and haven’t left town since, I know if he could we would go but he needs to stay here for work and everything and now I’m blabbing on again sorry.” You said it more as a fact mentally ready for the normal oh I’m sorry and what happened and are you okay to come.

“No don’t apologise I’m interested and I’m sorry to hear about them but your godfather sounds like a good man, and maybe one day you can travel again, maybe even the world, what do you plan on being in the future?”

“Definitely the plan, and I’m not sure yet. What about you have you always dreamed of being a pastor?”

“No, definitely not. I’m only a substitute pastor anyway if there’s such a thing.”

“what do you do then when you’re not?”

“I guess you could say I’m a businessman, I mainly make deals and such.”

“oh, is that why you always travel?” You say looking down at your drink and sipping.

“Exactly why my job requires a lot of popping to places. Now if you will humour me, I’m curious, you go to church but don’t seem completely religious, is that so?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t mean to offend you, but I notice you zoning out during teaching and you just seem… I don’t know how to put it.”

“Well if I’m honest I’m not sure about it really. The whole believing in God thing. I mean I’m sure he’s there, but I don’t think there’s much he can do.”

“So why go?”

“Well my mum used to always take me and well it makes me feel closer to her, I’m sorry if that offends you.”

“Not at all, not at all” he said a slight smirk on his face again.

This was weird, not in a bad way but weird. As the time passed, he started to become even less like a pastor and more like a friend. You continued sharing random stories finding out how he grew up in Scotland and all about his random like and dislikes. He was a nice guy and you no longer felt nervous. Time went by and you both ordered another drink. Now your cups were sitting empty and you were discussing what the best era would be to live through, when your phone beeps.

12:51

Bobby: Hey, hows the discussions going, what time do you think your going to leave I dont know if I can deal with them alone any longer and theyve only been here 3 hours as it is.

You: oh, sorry I didn’t realise the time, um ill finish my drink and leave soon. Tell them I say hi.

You slid your phone into you pocket and looked back up at Crowley. Wow you had been sat talking for over two hours.

“Everything okay?” he asked

“Yeah everything is fine just didn’t realise the time. Sorry I’m going to have to go in a minuet I have guests over and completely forgot.”

“No problem, would you like a lift back?”

“I can walk it’s fine.”

“Please at least let me drop you of at the church, I need to pick up some things there anyway.”

“Okay.”

With that the two of you got back into his car and arrived back at the church both getting out and standing in the completely deserted parking lot.

“Thank you for the lift, and the drinks.” You smiled checking you had everything and looking up at him.

“No problem I had a good time, and maybe if you would like I could get your number and we could do it again sometime, get to know each other a bit more, maybe over some food.”

If you didn’t know any better it would sound like a date offer, in fact part of you wishes it had been but pastors don’t date, do they?

“Yeah sounds good today was fun.” You grab your phone pulling up your number.

“I’m sorry that may not have been clear enough” he said looking at your phone and entering your number into his. “I was referring to going out on a date.”

“But you’re a priest?” you blurt out before thinking. Mentally slapping your head.

“A substitute priest love, and like you I don’t hold religion too close to my heart” he said chuckling and putting his phone away.

“Well in that case that sounds great. I better start heading back but text me.”

“I will, safe walk home, if you’re sure you don’t want a lift.”

“I’m sure, goodbye Crowley”

“Goodbye Y/N”

And with that you left. What just happened?

*Times Skip Home*

You walk through the door into the lounge greeted with the boys and bobby drinking beers and talking, coming to a halt when you walked in.

“Y/N, hey how have you been” Sam asks looking up at you smiling. Before you could answer Dean butted it.

“Y/N Bobby here tells us you’ve been out talking about the bible, please tell me you haven’t it’s like half one.”

“Nice to see you to Dean, and no I haven’t I met with a friend. I’m great thank you Sam, how are you?” you reply going to sit down before realising a pair of legs in the way. “Deans move your legs”

Reluctantly he swung them over the coffee table allowing you to sit down.

“Good thank you” you’re not sure if Sam would have continued but bobby spoke up.

“A friend? You said you were meeting with a group of you, lying, now are we?”

“what? No, I just got a bit confused we were going to talk about the service but we got distracted. But what’s more important is what you two have been up to.” You reply casually leaving out the fact you had spent the last two hours with a male and had half planned a date.

“No, what’s more important is you are 18. And we have something for you.” Sam said poking his head around Dean.

“Sammy’s right Dean said pulling something out his duffle bag. It was neatly wrapped and slightly battered around the edges. Sam definitely wrapped it.

“Guys you shouldn’t have.” You said unwrapping it. At first you saw a leather-bound book. It was bound with a rope wrapped around and decorated with a light house on the front.

“Open it up (Y/N/N)” Sam said.

Unwinding the rope, you opened it up to find postcards and pictures from the boys, all in Sam’s writing.

“We, well I thought you could have a journal to note down anything you want its always good to have one. The postcards and stuff are from each of the places me and Dean have been. We knew you wanted to go, and you always want to here stories so I thought it would be a good way to make it seem like you were there.”

“Sam it perfect thank you so much.” You stood up and hugged him before taking a seat back down noticing Dean had a scruffier package in his hand.

Accepting it and opening it Dean began.

“I’m not as thoughtful as Sam but I saw this, and thought would like it.”

It was a rope necklace with a stone on the end. Under the stone was a small piece of card with a handwritten message explaining the stones properties of protection and healing. You read it and put it on twiddling the stone in your fingers (You can change stone to your liking).

“It’s beautiful Dean thank you very much” you say leaning over to hug him.

“I’m glad” he says pulling back smiling.

The evening goes on, you order food and joke with each other, Bobby leaving to go to bed and the three of you falling asleep sprawled out on the couch and armchair around 11pm

Wow that was long and mainly build up, but don’t worry romance will be in the next one.  I hope you enjoyed this though, thanks for reading.

[imagining-supernatural]

The MET Date

Part 20 of Seventy Percent

Series Summary: When you left on your trip to Vegas, you’d planned on letting loose for one last weekend before heading back to reality and getting your affairs in order so your best friend wouldn’t be left cleaning up your mess when your cancer finally ended your life. What you hadn’t counted on was waking up married to a celebrity who has a knight-in-shining-armor complex, connections with an oncologist, and amazing insurance…

Chapter Summary:  You and Seb have a date. Like a date-date!!

Word Count: 2,258

“I’ve lived here for over a month, you know,” you pointed out on Saturday morning.

Sean pulled to a stop at a red light and tossed you a confused look in the rear view window. “Yeah. I’ve been driving you for over a month.”

“And you’ve been living in my apartment,” Seb pointed out. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

“It means,” you said, “That I know New York pretty well.”

“Ah.” Sebastian settled back into the seat. “You think you know where we’re going.”

From the front seat, Sean laughed, making you glare at him. “You never pay attention to where we are. I could kidnap you and you wouldn’t know until we passed a Welcome to New Jersey sign.”

“So if you kidnap me, you’ll head towards Jersey. Seb, take notes so you can tell the police where to look if I go missing.”

“Noted. Anyway. Back to the original conversation. You think you know where we’re going?”

Sebastian turned in his seat to face you and waited for your answer with an amused look.

“We’re… well, we’re headed towards the hospital.” That much you knew. But you were sure Seb’s date idea didn’t include the building where you spent most of your time. In the last month or so, you’d only been to the hospital, the apartment, the diner, and Broadway that one time.

Of course you had no idea where you were going. But it annoyed you that you neither man would tell you where you were going.

Surprises were never high on your list of things you liked.

“You’re not wrong about that,” Seb said. “But that’s not where we’re going.”

Alright. So you’re headed to Washington Heights… What things were near the hospital that you’d seen? There was a BBQ place you’d been wanting to try. But Seb said there would be walking…

“Oh god. You’re not taking me to Planet Fitness, are you?” Laughter from both men filled the car and you got defensive. “What? You’ve threatened to make me go to a gym someday.”

“Yeah, once you’ve recovered from a successful surgery. Babe, you can barely walk up two flights of stairs.”

You were not about to tell him that you were winded after two flights of stairs before you found out you had cancer. “Okay, so if the walking we’re doing today isn’t at a gym, where is it? Central Park? If this is your way of telling me I’m a shut-in who needs Vitamin-D, I can talk to Dr. Chowdhury and have him suggest a multi-vitamin or something. I mean, I definitely wanna see Central Park, but it’s huge. Like, if you have a plan to, like, have one of those bike carriages or something for us, I can see that. But—”

“Hey, hey, hey. You’re blabbing like you were doing when we woke up in Vegas.”

“Blabbing? Excuse me, Mr. Stan. I am sharing my opinion.”

“Well, Mrs. Stan, you sure are doing it in a blabbing way.”

“I—” am being way too defensive. Sebastian didn’t know about everything in your past. He didn’t know why you hated surprises. He was doing something nice for you and it was time you started getting past your hangups. “Sorry. Yeah. I am. I just don’t like surprises. I like to know things, you know?”

“So you know how to protect them. I know, Y/N.” Sebastian took your hand and gave you a soft smile that damn near sent you into cardiac arrest. “Why don’t you just trust that I know enough and can protect you today? You’ve leaned on me for dealing with the press. Lean on me for today, okay?”

You let out a deep breath, trying to relax. “If we’re doing enough walking today, I don’t think I’ll have much of a choice but to lean on you. You might even have to carry me.”

“I give a hell of a piggy back ride.”

This time it was your laughter filling the car. “I’m definitely going to have to take you up on that.”

The car pulled to a stop and you jerked out of the tunnel-vision conversation you’d been having with Seb to look out the window.

“This is the Met,” you stated, trying to think of how Sebastian would know that this was your number one place you wanted to visit. “The Metropolitan Museum of Art.”

“Yeah,” Seb had that stupidly soft smile on his face as he took in your reaction.

“I… Wait. I told you the first day we were here I-I-I wanted to come. Like, in passing. How the hell did you remember?”

Rather than answer your question, he asked one of his own. “Think you can handle walking here?”

“Uh, yeah. Definitely.”

He grinned and squeezed your hand once before letting go. “I know you’re all independent and shit, but you’re going to sit in this car and wait for me to come around and open your door, okay?”

“Oh wait,” you pretended to be shocked. “Is this, like, a date-date?”

“Oh, shut up.” He playfully shoved your shoulder before getting out of the car. Before shutting his door, he leaned down. “You stay put.”

He waited until you held your hands up to prove you weren’t going to move before shutting the door and heading around the car.

Sean slung his arm over the back of his seat and looked at you with a smirk. “Wasn’t it just last week you were trying to convince me that Sebastian wasn’t really your man? Huh, Mrs. Stan?”

“You,” you said bluntly, “Shut your damn mouth.”

He chuckled and raised his hands in surrender. “I’m, just saying… babe.”

“I don’t pay you for this abuse.”

“Your man is the one who pays me.”

Your door opened and you shot Sean one last warning look before taking Seb’s hand and climbing out of the car.

“Have fun you crazy kids!” Sean yelled just before Sebastian closed the door.

As Sean pulled away from the curb, Sebastian gripped your hand tight in his and started walking towards the impressive building.

For the first time since you woke up next to Seb back in Nevada, you weren’t worried about being out in public with him. For the first time, you were looking forward to spending a day out of the apartment with him.

“You know, I saw that interview you did,” you said hours later as you wandered the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas exhibit. “The one where you’d told your mom that you were in Black Panther, but she left before the end credits scene where you actually were.”

“Yeah?”

“I like that story. These masks just reminded me of the scene where Killmonger steals the African mask. Also, I’m blaming you that I can’t think of a Marvel movie without thinking of some sort of connection to you. Even the movies you technically weren’t in.”

His arm tightened around your waist and he kissed your head. “Risks of being married to me.”

“It’s a pretty good risk if you ask me.” You tilted your head up to look at him. “And the perks are pretty good too. I mean, I’m standing in the Met. Something I’ve always wanted to do. Because of you.”

His lips pressed to your forehead. Against your skin, he murmured, “My pleasure. Now let’s go find somewhere to sit down for a bit.”

“Please.” You hated to admit it, but you were almost ready to pack it up and head back home. You hadn’t even seen a quarter of the museum yet.

You decided to lunch at the café in the European Sculpture section, which gave you enough energy to tackle the Modern and Contemporary Art corner.

Half an hour later, you came out of your ‘Sebastian Bubble’ enough to notice some girls whispering a few exhibits away. They kept glancing your way. In such a good mood, you elbowed Seb and nodded towards them. “Looks like some of your fans are here.”

“They’ve been following us for the last ten minutes. Are you just noticing them now?”

“Hey. I’m focused on the art. One-track mind. You know me. Anyway, they probably want a picture with you or something.”

He nodded, considering. “You cool with that? I mean, today’s supposed to be you and me.”

“Yeah, it’s cool. I’ll take the picture. You know those girls will be kicking themselves for weeks if they pass up this chance to meet you. I was once a young teenage girl in love with the Jonas Brothers.”

“Jonas Brothers?” Sebastian gripped his hand over his heart dramatically, groaning. “Geez, woman, you keep saying things that make me feel so old.”

“C’mon, Old Man. Let’s go make those girls’ day.”

As soon as the girls realized you were walking their way, they started tittering excitedly. Their excitement turned to apologies for interrupting your day, but you quickly brushed aside their concerns.

“Hey, don’t apologize. Trust me, if we ran into Kelly Clarkson, it’d be Seb taking my picture with her.”

Between their excitement, random questions, and small talk, you spent a good five minutes with the girls before parting ways. Fully aware that they were still watching you as you walked away, you felt slightly self-conscious when Sebastian pulled you into his side, but you were fast to ignore that feeling. Their attention wasn’t vicious, like the press’s attention was.

“You know they’re going to post those pictures all over their Twitter accounts and stuff, right?”

With a shrug, you replied. “Yeah. But it’s fine. They just want to share. They’re not looking for a paycheck. They’re just excited. It’s different.”

“It’ll probably entice the media to start up again.”

“We’ll deal with it. Did you see how happy those girls were? I don’t see much of that in the hospital. It felt good.”

“Mmm, maybe you do need some of that Vitamin-D, you ol’ shut-in.”

It had been a long time since you’d woken up hearing Jasmin’s voice. For a moment, you just laid there, curled up with Sebastian and wondered if you were dreaming. It took you a few seconds to open your eyes, and when you did, you were even more confused.

“Why are you Skyping on my phone?”

“She’s awake!” Jasmin sang, grinning at you as you blinked, trying to wake up.

Seb pulled the phone back enough to capture both of you in the frame. “She was calling and I figured why not.”

“Mmm, I wish I could have seen your face when Seb popped up on your screen instead of me.”

He laughed. “It was pretty great.”

“Look, when I was calling to see if you knew about the tweets, I was not expecting Sebastian Fucking Stan to answer.”

“Not my middle name,” he mumbled teasingly, earning him a nudge from your leg to his.

You were feeling awake enough to finally sit up, so the two of you took a minute to re-situate and you ignored the bright look in Jasmin’s eyes. She and Sean were the worst. Sure, napping together and teasing each other like you and Seb did definitely cross the lines of just friendship, but those two were so damn into teasing you about it.

So you herded off any comments by taking charge of the conversation. “What tweets? Oh! Did those girls post something?”

“Yeah,” Seb started clicking around on your phone, but you quickly took over since he seemed intent on keeping one arm around you and he was definitely not the best at one-handed phone usage. “She texted a screenshot to you.”

“Because both of you are living in the stone age and don’t have Twitter accounts. Seriously, you guys.”

You could only see her in a corner of your phone, now that you were out of the Skype app, so you didn’t really see her reaction when you stuck your tongue out at her.

“Here we go,” you muttered under your breath, waiting for your phone to load the picture.

It finally pulled up the post. Of the few pictures you’d taken, the girl had chosen her favorite and posted it with the caption:

Met Sebastian Stan at the Met today! DREAM COME TRUE! #stillfangirling

“See?” you said to Seb, turning to him with a smile. “You made her damn day.”

He nodded toward your phone. “Look at the first picture Jaz sent.”

“Is it a post from the other girl?” you wondered aloud as you clicked back.

“No. Actually, the girls found me again while you were in the bathroom and asked if they could post this one.”

Your brow furled. Why would they have to ask permission to post a fan picture? You’d taken those pictures for them.

Then you saw it and understood.

It was a picture the same girl had posted on Instagram of you and Seb, taken from a few feet away. You were facing away from the camera, looking at an exhibit. His arm was securely around your waist with his head turned just enough to be kissing your hair. Without the caption, it could have been anyone in the picture.

11-2-2019 Sebastian Stan and Y/N Y/L/N at the Met. They are both so unbelievably nice and thoughtful. Shandra and I weren’t expecting them to come over to say hi and take pictures with us. Between Sebastian filming and Y/N’s cancer treatment, I’m sure they don’t have much time together, but she made sure we got our pictures anyway! All those articles twisting around her past to make her into some sort of monster can go screw themselves! Unless you’re Kelly Clarkson, you can leave her alone! #shesafan #saidsoherself #cancersucks #prayingforY/N

You hadn’t expected the girls to say anything about you. Beside Sebastian, you were practically invisible, which was always fine with you.

But reading those words brought a smile to your face.

All that fluff!! And an actual date!! Can things get any better than this??

CHAPTER 21: THE FOURTH CHECK-IN

[beautifuldarkmind]

tw // s*lf harm, su*cidal ideation (sorry)

Hey, it’s the creepy NHS anon here.

Thank you for responding to my ask! I’m sorry you had such a rough time getting a diagnosis. You shouldn’t have had to go through all of that. Honestly it sucks that the NHS is so reluctant to diagnose anything mental health related.

When I was 14 I thought I had depression and anxiety. I finally convinced my mum to take me to the doctors when I was 16. The doctor was super nice. She tested my thyroid function just to make sure nothing else was causing my feelings, then referred me to CAMHS. That was…an interesting experience. I remember asking my counsellor to diagnose me, but then at the next session she said she couldn’t, that it “wouldn’t be helpful” because I was still growing. Now that I think about it, one of the days I was at school and during a class I was furious for some reason. I even said to a classmate that I was willing to fight anyone who got in my way. Despite my mum disagreeing with me, I cancelled my appointment that day. (My mum was worried they’d stop my sessions all together if I cancelled, but they didn’t.)

Fast toward to recent years and I’ve been on and off attempting to get a diagnosis. Last year (so when I was about 18) I asked to be referred to the autism clinic, and thankfully the GP accepted, but the clinic is still closed and even when it’s open I’ll still have to wait, possibly several years. Then I made another appointment (different GP) to be referred to a psychiatrist. She refused, saying that GPs are trained to deal with mental health issues. I brought up OCD, so she asked where I got my information from. When I told her I researched it online, she just brushed it off and then did the typical depression/anxiety test and she said both were severe, then said “take some drugs” (which is didn’t because I didn’t trust taking drugs prescribed by someone who did a 3 minute yes/no type quiz without actually fully exploring my issues).

I spoke to a different GP just over a month ago to get a fit note for my Universal Credit. It was supposed to just be to make adjustments to what I was supposed to do, but he didn’t ask what the note was for, so he marked unfit for work. Which is great because that’s secretly what I wanted but feared being judged by people around me for thinking I needed that (particularly my parents). I mentioned that I thought I could have OCD and CPTSD, and he didn’t deny it but he simply said CBT helps for both. He then asked if I was currently doing CBT and I said I’d done it before but I quit. (That’s a whole other story but tldr I really don’t think it was for me, or at least the “therapist” wasn’t.) He said he would send a self referral link.

Fast forward to a few days ago and I had another appointment with him to discuss my fit note (because it only lasts for a month and you have to go back to renew it, which sucks). He asked if I had referred myself to CBT and I said I hadn’t yet because I didn’t want to, and he said “please do that for me” in a somewhat stern voice. I then brought up BPD and I think he said he would refer me? Honestly I was a bit overwhelmed because he called 40 mins early and I was in the car with my dad, so I was super weary of him asking questions about what I was saying to the doctor (but he didn’t). He then brought up PD support groups, which I’m considering doing, but you have to call up the place and I literally hate phone calls. Oh, speaking of which, all the appointments from the autism one onwards were all on the phone, so not only was I struggling to process what they were saying to me most of the time, but I was also so anxious that I couldn’t articulate my feelings properly. :)

Anyways, I am 20 now, which I only mention because I feel the same as what you mentioned. My brother is married, my childhood crush is married, my friend who I introduced to my friend group who then proceeded to discard me is getting married. Everyone seems to know exactly what they’re doing. They all have friends. But not me. I haven’t had friends since I was 14, and even then I don’t think that friend group was entirely wholesome. They made me feel like an outcast, like I was weird, that I needed to be more like them and not be like me. Which has probably contributed to me having a very vague sense of identity. And I feel like I’m still 14 and yet everyone is expecting me to behave like an adult. I’m supposed to know what I’m doing with my life even tho I literally cried in the shop when I was pressured to choose between 2 pizzas.

I have no support system. My own parents seem very dismissive of my problems, equating everything to social anxiety. When I’m stressed out of mind to the point of feeling suicidal, my parents say “that’s just life”, which…well, feeds into the feelings. For years I’ve felt stressed. Then if I’m not stressed I feel absolutely nothing. And if I’m not feeling empty I am angry, sometimes for no reason. And if I’m not angry, I am curled in a ball trying to bottle up the urge to self harm and batting away suicidal thoughts.

It’s like I have a huge chain pulling me down underwater and everyone else is in the beach drinking cocktails or something. Sometimes I thrash and try to get people to notice, but people think I’m just having fun. Other days I just feel like letting the chain pull me down.

Please forgive me for rambling and probably not having a very consistent train of thought in this post. I have a tendency to blab on about my “problems” (if they even are that), I guess as a way to connect? Idk. This post makes no sense.

I hope you’re having a good day. <3

- 🌸✨ (in case I send another ask again, but I’ll try not to because I don’t wanna bother you)

So sorry you're going through something similar. My GP sounded exactly how yours was, the typical anxiety/depression test and then just throwing those at you.. they dont seem to be trained in diagnosing and they dont want to hear anything more either. It's honestly almost impossible getting a diagnosis through them, the system here is really messed up... its just disappointing and seems to be failing so many people including you.

It does sound like you're going through a hard time, it's not nice especially when you feel a loss of self identity, you dont even know who you are and just feel lost in life. I think that was definitely the main point of realising something was up.. I had a VERY distorted view of myself and others around me and that was why I'd often self sabotage everything and then I'd feel so empty and angry at the world and just explode...

If you can go privately then do so, therapists are not able to diagnose and they will usually tell you 'we don't like to label' but even without a diagnosis you can still see if you can access DBT therapy. Amazon also has lots of DBT workbooks that I've used and its helped me to really understand myself!

If you often feel invalidated by your parents then that is known to cause BPD or borderline traits, especially if you've been suffering with mental illness in childhood and they tried to claim that it was nothing....you mentioned anxiety and I was told the approach my parents may have took to my severe anxiety is what brought on many of my symptoms of BPD. You start to feel ashamed of yourself for feeling that way because your caregivers make it seem like the issue isnt important and you feel as if your feelings dont matter also because that is how you have been made to feel.

I'm not saying this is definitely the cause but in my case I was told that the constant feeling of invalidation may be why I have such a warped idea of myself and why I cannot regulate my emotions. I was never told HOW to regulate or shown how to, just told to ignore my emotions and now I dont know how to deal with them😀

but yeah I'd really recommend taking a look at some of those dbt books online or reading more into it so you have a better understanding of yourself. You've already taken the first step and that's identifying that something may be wrong so you are self aware and clearly want to change for the better 💕

I hope everything works out for you, it's not nice feeling this way but you've got this 🥺🙌

[lifeofroos]

Part 34: This chapter is made up of two parts: The first part is just your dose of This Might Be Crazy. The second part is a story I wrote years ago, which I think fits the main story. 

In short: Nico gets therapy from Dionysus. In this chapter, sits down for a talk with Hephaestus. The rest can be found on AO3 and FanFiction.net! Also in Tumblr tags like Nico di Angelo, Dionysus, fanfic etc. 

This Might Be Crazy: Chapter 34: Cappuchino 

I knocked on the gates to Hepaestus’ workshop. The doors opened without making a  sound. I peeked inside. There was no-one to be seen, but I did hear the sound of a hammer hitting an anvil. I didn’t know whether that was because Hephaestus was working on something or if it was just for dramatic effect. 

Slowly, I walked inside. As soon as I was a few metres in, the gates began to close, causing me to quickly jump further into the workshop. With a slow thud, the doors closed behind me. 

A little shaken through, I looked around. ‘Eh…’

Out of nowhere, an automaton in the shape of a giant insect appeared in front of me. ‘Do you have an appointment?’ 

I stared at it. ‘Not exactly…’

‘Then you leave.’

‘Hey! I did not come without cause! I got something for Hephaestus!’

The automaton did not budge. ‘No appointment…’

‘Let him in.’ The automaton dissappeared at once, while Hephaestus limped into the room. In the background, the hammering went on (Which meant that it was definitely for dramatic effect). 

Hephaestus studied me from head to toe. ‘Nico di Angelo, right?’

I nodded. ‘Yes.’ I could not see his entire body. There wasn’t enough light. I wondered whether Hephaestus had done that on purpose. 

He scratched his ear. ‘What is it?’

‘Eh… I need decorations for a cabinet.’ I wasn’t going to mention that I got it from IKEA. 

‘I can do that. Is it at camp?’

‘Yes, in my cabin.’

Hephaestus nodded. He snapped his fingers and in a second my cabinet appeared. 

He laid his hand on the top for a second. ‘Hm. I know what I can do with this.’ He looked back at me. ‘Maybe you should come with me while I work.’

I nodded while I walked after him. 

After five minutes of watching Hephaestus work fast as lighting, I scraped my throat. ‘You know I get therapy from Dionysus, right?’

‘Therapy, is that what you call it?’ The blacksmith looked up from his work for a second. 

‘Yes.’ 

‘Hm. When I had it, they just called it ‘dragging you back to your senses.’’

‘Ah-ha. Eh, that is what I came here to talk about, actually.’

Hephaestus let his work rest and leaned back for a second. His metal brace clicked. 

‘I am not ashamed that I needed his help. But neither am I ashamed of what I did that made him realise I needed it. It might have been wrong, it might still be wrong, but I am not ashamed.’

He meant tying Hera to her throne as revenge. Right. ‘I think I understand.’ 

‘I don’t think you do.’ He coughed and adjusted his leg brace. I did not see what needed to be adjusted, but okay. 

‘You probably know the story. All the gods try to get me to free Hera. They all fail, except for young Dionysus, who managed to get me so drunk that I willingly came along. Except, no.’

I was confused by the last sentence for a second. ‘He… you mean he didn’t get you drunk?’

‘Does he intoxicate you? Of course not. Neither did he intoxicate me. The other gods just couldn’t fathom the fact that he had been a puny mortal so soon before.’ Softly, his hands stroked the silver decorations he had just attached to my cabinet.

‘Eh, this does not surprise me,’ I said after a pause.

‘I am not surprised it does not. You seem clever enough.’ He coughed again. I moved back a little. 

‘Hm.’ He snapped his fingers. A table came walking over, with two cups of cappuccino on top.

I took my cup, even though I had little interest in drinking it. The last cup of coffee I had gotten from Hephaestus was abhorent. I did not expect this one to be much better.

‘I don’t think he knew what to expect when he came to see me,’ Hephaestus continued, ‘Maybe someone in a fury, maybe someone who was depressed. Probably something in between. But no matter what, he treated me like it didn’t matter. The way he would treat any other guy. Came by, helped out in the workshop…’ the blacksmith rolled his eyes for a second, ‘... So called help, at least. Half of the time he was ‘helping’ me, he was an inconvenience. But when I needed someone to talk to…’ he shrugged. ‘You know that yourself.’

‘Yes.’ I did. 

He took a sip of cappuccino. ‘Well, slowly, we get onto the subject of Hera. Why I had chained her up, what it did with me to live with my actions, and what would be the best thing to do next.’ He took another thoughtful sip. ‘Dionysus did not want to talk about what would be best for the universe. He meant what was best for me.’ Hephaestus shrugged. ‘Now, that turned out to be the best for the universe as well. Yet, I know I would have been worse off if I had kept Hera chained up.’

I raised my eyebrows. The universe would have been worse with Hera chained up?

‘You can look at me like that, but it is the truth, young man.’ 

Sure, sure, balance and all that. I took the tini-tiniest sip of my cappuccino. And would you have it, it actually tasted good. 

‘Eventually, I was the person who said we should go back to Olympus. Now, that wasn’t easy for two outcasts. We had to travel by donkey, which…’ he sighed. ‘But still, he kept helping me. Kept talking to me. And I began to feel like we would get to Olympus, and it would be fine.’ 

There was something in his tone that got me concerned. ‘What happened next?’

‘You’re an observatory young man. What happened is that your therapist, as you call him, caught a horrible fever, so that I had to take care of him instead of the other way around.’ 

Wait. What? Dionysus had been immortal at this point. ‘How did he even catch a fever?’

‘He must have been more mortal then he seemed. I…’ the god sighed, a little sad. ‘I was worried. It might have been the most worried I have been in my entire life. He was terribly ill and I was afraid I would lose him. After all that happened, I couldn’t afford to. If he would have died, I would have gone back.’

‘But… he didn’t.’

‘No, he didn’t. That is why I am the blacksmith of the gods, Hera is free, nature grows as before and my friend got to live his life.’ 

The god took a sip of his cappuccino.

‘Sorry for asking,’ I muttered. I stared into my cup.

‘It’s okay. I was actually expecting you to come over someday, after what I said when you were here with Hades.’ He narrowed his eyes. ‘And I know you won’t blab.’ 

‘Of course not!’ 

‘Good.’ He looked at my cabinet. ‘I just need a few more minutes.’

‘Take all the time you need.’ 

Indeed a few minutes later, my cabinet was just the way I wanted it. ‘Here. I hope you get some use out of it.’

‘I will.’

‘Good.’ He wiped his hands on a cloth. ‘I also hope you learned something today.’

‘I think I did.’ 

‘Hm. If you take away anything, please let it be that Dionysus wants to help you for you. Not for anyone else.’

I nodded, a little slow. 

Hephaestus gave me a single nod. ‘Okay. Then Sierra will see you out.’ 

The automaton from earlier appeared in a second.

Swiftly, I stood up. I scooped up my cappuccino and took a large gulp. ‘Okay, Thanks, bye!’

‘The cabinet will follow you.’

Thanks, that is horrifying. I walked after the automaton, to the gates of the forge. 

When I was back in my cabin, I stared at my cabinet and thought. Yes, I learned something today. 

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

A/N: Bonus chapter, maybe? Anyway, Leo and Hephaestus story, which I wrote ages ago and I thought fitted the This Might Be Crazy chapter. 

Leo was alone in bunker 9, repairing something for Frank which he had promised to repair ages ago. It didn’t go so well, even though repairing a sword was usually brainless work. His mind was constantly trailing off. A lot of things went wrong the past few days. Aside from screwing a few screws the wrong way and latting a vat of mild greek fire explode, he had forgotten Annabeth’s birthday, camp half-blood’s 3900 year anniversary and the weekly get-together of the Hephaestus cabin, and who knows what else that people just had not told him about yet. 

The third time Leo accidently hit himself with his hammer, he screamed and angrily threw it across the room. ‘Curse this whole damned world and everything that can go wrong in it!’ He screeched. 

‘That’s not very nice. I didn’t expect to hear that from you.’ Leo gasped and turned around. Hephaestus had appeared behind him. 

Leo lowered his arms. ‘I am sorry if....’ 

Hephaestus shook his head.  ‘I think you are having some problems with the world around you.’ Leo nodded.

‘I just can’t seem to remember my appointments, I drop everything I hold and now my thumb is bleeding as well.’

‘We can fix your bleeding thumb.’ Hephaestus pulled a band-aid out of thin air and put it around his sons’ finger. ‘So. Slightly better?’ 

Leo shrugged. ‘I guess it is one issue less.’

Hephaestus nodded a bit. ��One step at the time. Someone told me that once.’

‘Someone did?’ Leo looked up when there came no answer. The gods’ gaze was muddled, as if he was somewhere else with his thoughts. 

‘Thetis, I can’t tell you how thankful I am that you allowed me to live in your house but I have to leave. I need to get back to Olympus.’

 Hephaestus looked at the nymph in front of him, who was rubbing her hands together.  ‘Are you sure about this, Hephaestus? Your mother threw you out, back when... aren’t you afraid she’ll do it again?’ The god shook his head. 

‘I have a plan. It will be okay.’ The nymph sighed. ‘Take care and don’t forget that if things go wrong up there, you’ll always have a place here, where I live.’ She gave him a small smile. 

‘I will. And I’ll never forget that you were the one who raised me and cared for me, I promise.’ 

Thetis’ smile became broader. ‘Have a save trip, Hephaestus.’

‘Dad? Dad!’ Leo’s voice brought Hephaestus back to reality. 

‘What? Oh, I was just thinking about something.’  the god scraped his throat. ‘Have you taken a moment to think about why you have been forgetting your appointments?’ He asks. Leo shrugged. 

‘Not really, I guess. It just keeps happening.’

‘Maybe you should think about it for a little while.’ 

‘Alright.’ Leo looked at his hands, and quickly trailed off in thought, not realizing that the same happened to his father.

The other Olympians stared at Hephaestus with wide eyes. Some of them backed away. Hephaestus was looking at his mother. She was furious, afraid and a little sad at the same time. Hephaestus took a deep breath. ‘Once again, thanks for the way you treated me, mother. And to the others: don’t try to release her, because nothing will work.’ He looked around the room one more time, before walking away. No-one dared to say anything.

With a start, Hephaestus looked up. Leo was talking.

‘I did have a lot of appointments the past few weeks and I must confess that I didn’t write those down anywhere. Yet, that doesn’t explain why I forgot our cabin meeting or the anniversary of Camp Half-blood, because everyone was talking about those all day long. It is not like I had a lot of projects that were distracting me. I mean, maybe…’

Four gods had already tried to persuade him into freeing Hera. Ares had threatened him, Athena had tried to reason, Poseidon had told him he would flood the forge and Demeter had said she would let all the plants around the forge die. None of it had had any effect. 

Hephaestus looked over at the door, just as the fifth ambassador walked into the workshop. He looked extremely young and somehow didn’t feel like the others. He wasn’t mortal, but he wasn’t fully immortal either.

He didn’t say anything, until Hephaestus spoke: ‘If you are here just to ask me to free Hera, just go away already and don’t waste my or your own time.’ 

‘That’s not why I am here.’ Hephaestus shook his head. 

‘Then why are you? Listen, kid, four gods have tried to persuade me the last few weeks. So just get onto that, alright?’ The stranger chuckled.

‘My lord, I am not here for that, and even if I was, I do not think there is a lot I could do. I do not have Athena’s wit or Poseidons’ power over the sea. And I could not try fighting you if I wanted to. Why, you are at least fifty centimetres taller than I am.’

‘I…’ Hephaestus stopped talking. He hadn’t realized that this stranger was, in fact, very small compared to him. Actually, he seemed to be the same height as most mortals (maybe even on the slightly short side), which confused him even more. He narrowed his eyes. ‘You might be right. Tell me your name and what you want.’

‘... and I think that might be why I have forgotten nearly everything in the last few weeks.’ Hephaestus jerked his head up. He hadn’t heard anything Leo just said. His son sarcastically raised his eyebrows. ‘So I think I might get a diary, ask people to remind me of my appointments and make sure I work extra carefully the next couple of days.’ Leo smirked. ‘You know, dad, you were right. This whole thinking thing really works. Now, can you tell me what you were thinking about?’ 

Hephaestus shrugged. ‘You notice more than people think.’ Leo nodded.

‘I tend to.’ 

‘We are really walking all the way from Lemnos to Olympus, so I can free Hera from her throne.’ 

Dionysus sighed. ‘True. It is strange that we are technically helping the other Olympians now. I mean, what have they ever done for us? We are outcasts, we don’t have any fancy flying chariots or great magic like they do and they are still relying on us for help!’ 

Hephaestus laughed. ‘I guess that is the Olympians for you!’ He sighed. ‘Another thing. Deep inside, I want to be an Olympian and I don’t know why. Maybe it is the feeling of inclusion?’ Hephaestus turned his head to his companion, who had stopped walking. ‘Dio? What do you think?’ The other god sighed as well. 

‘Could be. For me, I think... I just became a god, you know. No warning, no-one asking me if I even wanted to, nothing. Maybe I am reaching for Olympus because if I have to be a god, why not go the full way?’ 

Hephaestus nodded. ‘You might be right. So, how far do you think we can get today?’

‘I was thinking about my own past. I was cast out as a small child and it didn’t seem like I had anybody I could trust on Olympus.’ 

Leo slowly nodded and beckoned his father to continue. ‘After chaining Hera up and retrieving to Lemnos, I only really cared about my forge, not about anything else. Not even myself.’ Hephaestus thought for a second. ‘Well, I think I cared about Thetis and about my donkey. Yet, Thetis wasn’t there, and my donkey… was a donkey. The person who showed me how to care again was Dionysus. He hung around the blacksmith just because he appreciated me and he was the one who got me so far that I admitted I wanted to go back to Olympus and right what I did wrong. He showed me some people did care about me. About me, and not just about what I did. It made me care for him as well.’ 

It was nighttime, but Hephaestus was wide awake. A few metres away from him, Dionysus was finally asleep. They were close to Olympus now, only about two days of walking away, but they had not moved forward at all in a week. Dionysus had caught a fever, and there was no way he would be able to climb Olympus in his current state. 

Dionysus moved and yelped in his sleep. Hephaestus sighed. He didn’t know if fever dreams were always this bad, or if they were worse because of Dionysus’ relation to madness. With a scream, his friend woke up, just half an hour after falling asleep. Hephaestus quickly moved over. Dionysus stared at him with damp eyes. ‘Dionysus….’

‘It will go away, it always does.’ He shivered and Hephaestus quickly put another blanket over him. ‘Are you sure? I did occasionally meet mortals every now and then, back on Lemnos, you know. A lot of them had relatives or friends who had caught a fever, and they had...’ Hephaestus swallowed. ‘I don’t want you to die, Dionysus. Please, you can’t die, you can’t.’ Dionysus closed his eyes. Yet, he was smiling. 

‘I probably could have gotten that from anybody else as well. But I didn’t. I began to trust Dionysus and he never broke that trust once during our entire trip from Lemnos to Olympus.’ 

Hephaestus walked into the throne room, with Dionysus by his side. The gods turned their heads, every single one of them surprised. Hephaestus didn’t say anything. He walked over to Hera’s throne, spoke a few words and the cables loosened. It took a few seconds before she felt comfortable enough to step down. ‘Thanks...’ 

‘Keep your thanks,’ Hephaestus muttered. The other Olympians began crowding around Dionysus, glad that there was someone they could safely call a hero. The wine god looked over at Hephaestus, who nodded. 

‘After I got back on Olympus, the other gods quickly got used to me. Hermes and some others made the effort to get to know me, and slowly I found my place. Sometimes, I still feel like I don’t belong, or that I am just a nuisance. But then there is always Dionysus, who is there to support me.’ Hephaestus stopped talking. Leo was listening with his mouth open.

‘That was a wild history lesson, dad.’ Hephaestus smiled. 

‘I hope you learned something from it.’  

‘I sure did.’ He jumped up. ‘But now I have to go buy a diary in the store and apologize to a few people. Thanks again, dad. I hope you’ll come visit me some more.’ Leo ran out of bunker 9, leaving his dad behind. Hephaestus hardly noticed his son was gone at first, until he sighed, with a little smile. 

‘You are a god.’ Hephaestus nodded, while he looked into the gorgeous eyes of Esperanza Valdez. The woman stayed calm, as if she knew all along.  Hephaestus laid his hand on her cheek. ‘I can’t stay for much longer.’ He tried to smile. ‘Please stay safe, Esperanza. I want you to live a happy life.’ She laughed. 

‘I hope so, too.’ She gave him a kiss on the cheek, before he left. 

From up on mount Olympus, he could see her. She stood by the door for a long time, with a hand on her belly, before she walked back into the house. 

A/N: I freakin’ love the tale of Dionysus and Hephaestus. If I ever write a retelling of greek mythology it would be about the tale of Dionysus and Hephaestus. They are my boys.  

Okay so, myth-accurately, Dionysus gets Hephaestus drunk. Except I dislike that version so I made my own (sue me). Also Dionysus didn’t catch a fever, that is just for the drama (again, sue me).

I must have written the second part at least three years ago. Of course, I re-wrote it for a bit, but it surprises me how many elements of it survived the test of time. 

[imnotwolverine]

The marriage pact - A little madness

Henry Cavill x OC Alice - multi-chapter

< Part 8 | Part 9 A little madness | Part 10 >

Disclaimer: some strong language, mention of heavy drinking, bachelorette

Author’s note: Ever sent a drunk text? I did, and girl was it interpreted the wrong way...*woops* 

Word count: 1.912

(Link to my Masterlist)

--

Dear readers,

I am glad to inform you that my on-going attempts at becoming a published novella writer are finally starting to pay off. I cannot blab just yet, but oh my dear I AM SO EXCITED! Everything is so exciting! Life is exciting!

After years of hardship, toil and pure struggle as I crawled through the thick mud of adult life, I can finally see the well defined sparkle of hope on the horizon. Dramatic much? Maybe a little. But also; perhaps, just maybe, I can make one of my dreams come true. And for the hell of it, maybe even more! 

Now you may wonder why I am so particularly enthusiastic today. Is it the London air? The existence of chocolate cake? Or perhaps the knowledge that I can make things happen in my life, if I set my mind to it? I think it might just be all of the aforementioned.  

My cake baking nan had a simple saying: “Nothing just happens, until I make it so.”

So, dear reader, here I am, making it so.

I hope you have a most wonderful weekend my fellow dream-catching souls.

Ali

‘Ali!! Over here!’ Maddie waved at me from across the busy lunch room, the Jersey seaside casting a warm, salty morning glow through the high paned windows. I waved back at her and weaved my way through the room until I could sink down on one of the chairs with a relieved sigh, my face turning to receive her enthused greeting kisses.

‘Hi Mads.’ I grinned at her teethy smile. ‘You are.. glowing!’ She pointed out, her pearly whites so very straight and shiny that she could probably star in one of those toothpaste commercials.

‘Oh, it’s probably because I went for a run this morning.’ I brushed my hand over my cheek, to check if I was feeling hot - nope. 

’Naa...’ She shook her head. ‘It’s definitely not that.’ She reached for her cup of tea as a waiter appeared at our table, my order quick and simple: tea, no milk, no sugar.

Turning back towards Maddie I was welcomed with a knowing raised eyebrow. I sighed. ‘Fine..yes..I’m kind of dating Henry.’ ‘I KNEW IT! Ha! YES for all that is holy!’ She exclaimed, making some people turn around in their chairs, curious glances directed our way as they felt the sudden burst of energy coming from the rather chic looking middle class lady that was Maddie Smith. 

‘Madss…’ I warned from between clenched teeth.

‘Haha. Oh sorry. I’m just happy, truly. Besides..I am SO winning this bet.’ She wiggled her eyebrows as mine furrowed with worry. ‘..Bet?’ I gulped. 

‘Oh, no worries. I didn’t share my thoughts with our friends yet. Just Frank. And you know me and Frank..’ She shrugged, laughing heartily. ‘Yea..’ I murmured, looking up again as my cup of tea was placed before me. ‘Thank you, sir.’ I smiled at the waiter, then turned back to Maddie, studying her with a curious gaze.

‘So..what’s the bet about?’

‘Oh I can’t say that!’

‘Ugh..Mads! You are the worst. Anyways, we’ll see where it goes. You know how it went the other times, so..’  I shrugged, wishing to not get her hopes up.

I, for one, didn’t want to get my hopes up. This was all just too good to be true, right? An old lover returns to his home town and sweeps me right of my feet. It was too perfect. There had to be a catch. I mean, this was pure madness.

—

‘Yihaaa!!’ Stella walked in with another tray of fluorescent shots, my intoxicated girlfriends either exclaiming full-lunged odes-to-joy or swallowing back a silent protest. It was Loïs’ wedding in a week’s time and as the tradition went, there was to be had a bachelorette. 

Fully emerged in litres of strong liquor, dancing sweat and penis-related jokes, the night was running late and we had ended up in a sleazy shots bar, the theme most probably being radioactive drinks, as every new glass seemed to carry an even more chemical looking liquid than the previous one.

Bright pinks, blues and yellows were tipped back in our burning throats, relieved female sighs wavering through the noisy air as loud dance music bounced with a fat bass through the small bar.

‘Ooh oooh Ali Ali. Don’t look, not yet. Behind you, 11 o-clock. Hot HOT guy.’ Ginny nodded excitedly, her eyes wide as she looked over my shoulder. ‘Gin, girl. I’m not really..’ I was already starting to protest, but without further ado Ginny twirled me around by my shoulders, a tall blond man approaching me.

‘Hello angel. Havin’ a good time?’ He bit the lip of his bearded chin and I quite instantly felt appalled by him. Not that he was hideous to look at, or that he smelled bad. He was rather sexually attractive actually..and well..clearly into me. 

In this case, I think it was just me. I simply wasn’t in the mood for this. 

I swallowed back the remains of the bitter liquor in my throat and smiled at him, not wishing to seem rude. ‘Sure.’

He raised an eyebrow and eyed the rest of the girls, the whole group now quick to step back and form a new circle, excluding me. ‘Looks like I have you all to myself.’ He grinned wolfishly. 

Then I felt Maddie’s hand on my shoulder, her sassy tilt of the head catching the attention of the handsome blond stranger. ‘Sorry mate. Looks like she’s taken.’ She said simply, and with a tug on my arm I was dragged back into the group, leaving a confused blond hottie behind. I sighed a quiet thanks to Maddie, but received a firing squad of confused and disdained looks from the other women.

‘Wait..MADS! Come on, you can’t just..-’ One exclaimed.

I quickly interfered. ‘No no! Please. Eh..I AM dating someone actually.’

‘YOU ARE?! ALI?! Why didn’t you say so? You’re like the whole reason we are..’ Stella pointed at the neon lit bar behind her. ‘..here.’

‘Really now?’ I raised an eyebrow, then started to giggle, the alcohol buzzing happily through my hot veins, my usually well contained happy personality bursting out at the seams. I had forgotten for the slightest moment that I really was the last “single” woman left in this group, and as Stella gave me a most exasperated look it became clear that nobody - literally nobody - in the group wanted to be here.

They had thought it would help..me. Me! 

‘Who is it? Do we know him? Do we? Tell US!’ Ginny squealed, stepping closer, not wishing to miss a single word escaping my lips.

‘I ..eh…’ I glanced at Maddie and she shrugged, her mouth sipping on yet another alcohol beverage - oh dear we were going to be so hungover tomorrow. 

‘It’s Henry.’ I gulped.

‘WHAAAATTTTT?! REallyy?! Oh my word! OH MY!’ - ‘GIRLLLLL YES! Oh that is just..’ The whole group erupted in loud squeals, the excitement further fuelled as yet another round of drinks was delivered to the squad of 30-something-moms-on-a-cheeky-night-out.

Except for me of course. I wasn’t a mom. The odd ball.

‘Ohh..’ Loïs, the bride-to-be, pulled me in for a tight hug, her well coiffed chestnut brown hair smelling of fresh shampoo, the scent mixing with the heavy drop of hard liquor coasting through the air as new shots were being downed. 

‘Bring him.’ She said, keeping me in the lock of her arms until finally she leaned back a bit. ‘I mean it, Ali. You gotta bring him to the wedding.’ Her finger brushed a lock of my hair behind my ear - she was so very motherly, even when drunk.

I bit my lip, my alcohol hazed mind not keeping up with the turn of events. It was then that I noticed my phone in Maddie’s hand, the device easily recognisable by its bright blue casing.

‘Anndddd sent!’ She exclaimed, returning my phone to me, my mouth falling down in a quiet gasp. Did she just..did she..? I opened my Whatsapp and saw she had sent Henry a message, my blurry eyes no longer managing to fully focus on the words on the brightly lit screen.

Oh..oh..crap.

—

* Thuthumb..thuthumb *

In the history of headaches, this one was certainly about to set a whole new standard. It was..bad. 

With a soft groan I rolled over in my queen sized bed, looking at the alarm clock. 10.30 AM - okay, it could be worse. I grumbled a little as I reached for the glass of water on my night stand, then, after a few large gulps of the cool drink, picked up my phone.

> 15 Unread messages.

Mmmkkkey...

Frowning slightly I pushed myself up against the headboard, blinking the last remains of drunken sleep from my eyes as I scrolled through the flurry of words. I had nearly forgotten about the fact that Maddie had confiscated my phone to send Henry a message. And, well, apparently it had not been just any message.

Me: “Hey sexy beast. How about you, me, and a wedding? Keep the 16th free.” Followed by a wild mix of totally inappropriate emoticons.

I felt my heart rate speed up as I started to read Henry’s messages.

Henry bear: “Hey you. Having a fun night I presume?” - “Ali?” - “Just for inquiry’s sake..is this OUR wedding?” - “Alright I think you’re probably not reading this.” - …

* Knock knock *

Quickly I put down my phone, expecting to see my mom’s head pop around the door of my room. But it wasn’t. 

Seeing who it was, made me wish I could just disappear and let myself be swallowed by my pillows. But I couldn’t. And here he was. Henry’s head poking around the corner of my door, his lips curling in an amused smile.

‘Hello party girl.’ He smirked, stepping inside and apparently carrying a tray with some fresh juice, tea and a bowl of fruit with him. I felt my heart stumble, tumble and roll at the sight of this bear of a man carefully carrying my mom’s dainty tray in his hands, his well rounded bum pushing the door closed behind him. 

I sighed, laying there like a sickly patient in a mountain of propped up pillows. ‘Morning.’ I grumbled. 

His smile grew as he placed the tray on my little writing desk, then sat down next to my hip on the edge of the mattress. ‘Had fun?’ - ‘Mmm..a little too much I’m afraid.’ I sat up a little more, my head immediately starting to protest with loud, dizzying thumps. I groaned. ‘I’m sorry by the way about the text message, I eh…’ I frowned, looking at my phone as it lay there half-hidden between the soft blankets. 

I didn’t even read all his messages.

Henry tweaked up an eyebrow and moved up a hand to brush some of my bed hair out of my face, his finger tips riding over my smooth skin with utmost care and gentleness. ‘Mhm.’ He simply nodded, eyebrow still raised in silent question.

‘We had a bachelorette yesterday, you knew that. But eh.. Loïs, the bride caught air of you and I eh..dating.’ Our eyes met and his blues started to shimmer with happiness, making my heart flutter and fly again. ‘So eh..yea..she..invited you, too? I guess? And then Maddie took my phone and sent that message.’

Henry let out a hearty chuckle. ‘Yea right.’ He winked, then smoothed his face back into a warm smile. ‘I won’t judge you for some cute drunk texting, baby.’ He said.

’Noo..Hen. Really. It was Mads.’

‘Mhm.’ He hummed again, not believing a word of it, his face leaning closer to brush his lips against mine. ‘Ah. Whisky morning breath, my favourite.’ He chuckled.

I blushed fiercely, wishing to roll away from him and hide, but, of course I was too slow and my small frame was instantly caught in the cage of Henry’s large arms. ‘No getting away from me now, bridey.’ He whispered huskily, his mouth eager to lay its claim on me.  

--

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[deans-mind-palace]

Suspirium (Pt.6)

Pairing: Prof!Sam x Reader

Summary: You’re in your last year of your Classics and Mordern Languages studies and you’re majoring in Latin and English. Then you get assigned to a different Latin teacher. And damn, he loves his subject. Too bad that he’s also hot. What is just a childish crush soon develops into something way more complicated.

Word Count: 1,748

Warnings: Fluff and not-so-slowburn-anymore

Author’s Note: Chapter 6. Just had a look at my notes. If I want to get that all into twelve chaps they’ll definitely have to be longer... We’ll see...

Like always, my tag lists for Sam (thereby also for this story) are OPEN

Or you catch up here: Suspirium - Masterlist

"Sorry, I can't come to Ash's housewarming party," you declared when you sat with your tray across from Brooks and next to Maddie. You stole some fries from Brooks while continuing your explanation. "I have an appointment with Professor Winchester later today." Brooks and Maddie moaned at the same time. "Since you took this job as teaching assistant, you've hardly had time for us." Maddie complained and your heart grew heavy. It wasn't because you felt bad about spending so little time with your friends, but because you realized you didn't want to spend any time with them at all when you could be sitting on the green sofa at Sam's office at the same time. "Guys, hey! That's not even true. Only Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The other four days of the week are all yours." You smiled at your friends. Brooks watched you prudently, but Maddie changed the subject and blabbed on happily. Brooks' eyes never left you.

"Hey, Sam." you greeted the young man and threw a smile at him as soon as you closed the door to his office behind you. He responded immediately. "Hey." As usual, you took your place on his couch. The springs squeaked under your weight as it was an older model, but Sam still had it from his student days. He'd told you how he stole it with his brother from a dumpster and hauled it all the way back to the dorm with him. He just couldn't get rid of it after that.

"What's on for today?" you asked and Sam lifted his eyes from some papers he was grading. Your eyes fell on your manuscript, which was on his desk. Colorful sticky notes stuck out between the pages. "It would be nice if you could help me grade some of the freshmen's papers today. I would also need a PowerPoint presentation. I have sent you the materials by e-mail. Maybe you could copy a stack of handouts? Only if that's all right." You laughed. "Sam. I'm your teaching assistant, that's what I do." Sam nodded in relief and a smile spread from his lips.

The rain pattered against the windows and poured down the glass in tiny trickles. The sky outside the window was grey. You worked side by side in silence for some time. You on the sofa,Sam at his desk. You had already copied the handouts and were now busy designing the slides of your presentation. Meanwhile, Sam went over some of the homework with a red pencil and scribbled notes on the edge of the paper in his small, neat handwriting. Soon he had finished the first stack and put the pen aside. He rubbed his forehead and sighed. You looked up in surprise. "Are you all right?" "Hm?" he asked. "ls everything all right?" "Oh, yes yes. How's the presentation going?" he asked. He stood up in one motion. He suppressed a yawn, stretched, and his back popped loudly. Sam grimaced. Then he crossed the room and bent over you to get a look at your laptop. His arms were resting on the back of the sofa, left and right of your shoulders. The soft filling was seeping out under the man's weight and his aftershave was getting up your nose. His chin hovered just inches above your hair and brown streaks fell into his face.

"You look tired, Sam," you said, looking anxiously at your professor. Sam turned his head and you looked into each other's eyes. Your noses were just a little bit apart. He smiled tired. If you'd just stretch a little, you could - "Just a little exhausted, that's all." You felt sorry for him when you saw the bags under his eyes.  The rain was pattering against the glass in a monotonous melody. The sound slowly lulled you in. "How about we stop for today and start over some other time? I'll take the essays home and correct them there and you go home and rest." Sam seemed to wrestle with himself, rubbing his forehead with one hand. Then he shook his head. "No. I promised to go over the first few pages of your manuscript with you. I don't want to break my part of the bargain." That statement put a smile on your face. In a burst of courage, you reached behind you with your hand and put it on Sam's. He didn't pull it away.

"It's all right, Sammy," you replied, biting your tongue as the nickname slipped from your lips. Actually, you only called him that in your mind. "Sammy, huh? Only Dean calls me that." He smiled. Dean was his brother. You knew that much now. He had a picture of himself and his brother in a drawer of his desk. "I - um" Shit, that was embarrassing. "Sorry, Sam - I didn't mean to -" But Sam interrupted your rambling. "No, no, it's okay. Sammy's okay." He smiled warmly at you. But even the smile couldn't take the weariness out of his eyes. "So how about it? Why don't we just take some time and go over my manuscript sometime? It doesn't have to be today." You were still very close, and your neck started to hurt from looking up all the time. Sam was taller than you and you always had to look up anyway, but you liked it. You loved his height. You wondered if he was that big everywhere. You blushed from your own thoughts. What was wrong with you? Sam looked at you questioningly and you were glad he couldn't read your mind. "Let's do it this way. Do you have any plans for Sunday? I mean, Sunday's probably stupid because you're studying or partying or dating your boyfriend or-" "Sam, I don't have boyfriend." Did you remind him, albeit a little too quickly, to pause for a moment, confused. "Sunday's okay," you hurriedly declared. Sam nodded. "I'll give you my number anyway, in case something comes up." Then he fell silent. "I'd forgotten the department's not even open on Sunday." Sam suddenly remembered. "But if it's not inconvenient, we can go over the manuscript at my place and maybe order Chinese food for the nerves." "Sounds like a good plan. I'm in." Sam scribbled his number on a piece of paper and handed it to you.

"All right, I'll go now." You were gonna say goodbye and pack your bag. Sam took one look out the window. There were still big drops running down the windows. "Did you come by car?" Sam asked you. "No, I walked." Sam immediately grabbed his car keys. "Come on, I'll give you a ride." You tried to refuse. "No, it's okay. I can walk. It's not that far." "Y/N, I'm definitely not gonna let you walk home in this weather." Sam replied, looking at you seriously. "Think of it as reparations." he asked you. You sighed and admitted defeat because you felt how important it was to him. "Very well." He took your bag with a smile and grabbed his leather jacket off the chair. "Let's go."

Your spirits stopped you as soon as you were under a ledge outside the building. The rain had gotten heavier again and the drains of the street overflowed. Streams of water started flowing over the road. Cars pushed themselves over the asphalt in slow queues and stirred up the water again. "I guess we'll have to run." Sam snorted at your comment. "By the time we get through there, we'll have had three showers. Let's take my jacket." He spread his jacket over his head, telling you to come closer. He held his jacket over both of you and you ran. The water splashed under your feet as you ran across the parking lot.

In a hurry, Sam unlocked the car. You hopped in. Your hair dripped down your faces and then you looked at each other. The moment your eyes met, you burst out laughing. His eyes sparkled in the dim, gray daylight that slowly faded. They crinkled at the corners when he laughed and dimples appeared on his cheeks.

Sam started the car and the wiper moved across the windscreen. In the rain the headlights of oncoming cars were blurred, the rain pattered on the roof of the car and otherwise there was a pleasant silence. Sam stopped at a traffic light and looked over at you. As soon as your eyes met, you burst out laughing again. Suddenly you fell silent and looked at each other intensely. You didn't know who started it, but suddenly you came closer and closer. Sam's eyes left yours and moved to your lips. Only a few seconds before your lips met, the sound of honking tore you away from your magic moment. As suddenly as the moment had come, it vanished. Sam cleared his throat and you looked ahead in surprise to see that the light had turned green.

Neither of you said anything until Sam arrived at the address you had given him. He turned off the engine and for a moment there was complete silence. Nothing but the rain and your breathing could be heard. Your heart was pounding hard and you were afraid he could hear it.

"Well... here we are," Sam muttered, avoiding your gaze. "Hmm. This is it," you replied, but made no move. "Thanks for the ride, Sam." You thanked him. "No problem." There you go again. "Well, I'll be off." You didn't know what you were waiting for, so you unbuckled your seat belt. "Get home safe, Sam." The rain had turned into a downpour, and you were worried about Sam. " Text me when you get home." That might seem strange, but it was important for you to know he got home safe. You opened the door of the car to get out, when Sam's hand suddenly grabbed your wrist and pulled you back. With a jerk, you landed back in the seat. Even before you could open your mouth to ask what was going on, Sam's lips pressed against yours. They moved softly against yours and you sighed comfortably into the kiss. The taste of coffee, chocolate and mint blended into a mixture you couldn't resist. Gently, Sam pulled you closer, while the kiss gained fire. Your hands buried themselves in his hair and he stroked your cheek while his other hand rested on your waist. Sam's tongue brushed across your lips and you let him in. He teased you and you smiled into the kiss. His soft lips gently caressed yours.

None of you noticed at that moment how your phone lit up because a new message had arrived.

Adam: We need to talk.

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