#anyway. do u think this is when the dread set in for silver. the dread like u know The Dread???

[cashmere-caveman]

tfw u realize that a triangle has three sides and one of them has nothing to do w ur corner at all

[moneymasnn]

The holiday fling| Mason Mount Part 1/2

Notes: To start this off THERE WILL BE A PART TWO!! lol it will be posted on Saturday, so only two days! This has been sat in the drafts for so long until I though it was good enough to post lmao. I hope you all enjoy the fic, I haven't written in literal months, but I'm really happy to be back on mason Tumblr again!!! Ive missed u all, thank you for all the kind messages I love every single one of you! And also I wanna say another thank you for 1k!!! When I saw it I was so shocked I honestly cried lol... but anyways enjoy the fic my lovelies🤍 gif credits too @goalkepa

Blurb: One where y/n meets a stranger outside of a bar and they both decide to be someone else for the night, until this backfires on them.

Warnings: Just mild swearing!

The request

Fancy holidays weren't your thing. You didn't really fit in with what people call the ‘riches’. The constant cameras, lack of privacy. It was honestly the last thing you ever wanted to experience. But with your brother in constant limelight, you almost were forced into that way of life.

You had just finished your degree in journalism in London, and right now was a better time than ever to have a well deserved break. 

Your brother had willingly been on the other end of all of the phone calls you had made. Crying in your university's toilets, telling him you were homesick and couldn't deal with the stress. 

You loved your brother, and you knew he only ever wanted the best for you. But what you needed was words of encouragement, not “drop out and come say with me.”

Now, to anyone, yes I get it. That does sound like the life, am I right?

Traveling around with your brother, he's a F1 racer, so the traveling would be set to a maximum, amazing views, beautiful cities, everything paid for. Yeah it was very appealing, but you weren't going to settle for that. You wanted to do it on your own.

So let's say hypothetically you did go travel the world with your brother, you wouldn't have anything for yourself other than following his career and you don't think you could deal with another phone call from your parents asking you what you were going to do with your life.

But now that you have finished university, you have some jobs on hold. But for the time being you decided to join your brother on his lads holiday to mykonos, fun. 

That's also how you ended up in the situation you were currently enduring. You and Lando had left the villa a while ago to go have some well needed drinks, and to celebrate the fact you actually managed to graduate.

But long story short, like everyone else in your life, Lando had brought up the dreaded question, “what are you doing with your life now you have finished uni?”

A question you couldn't exactly answer...yet.

“All i'm saying is-” 

“I get what you're saying, lando, but I want to do something for myself.” You couldn't help but let out a sigh of desperation, fiddling with the black straw in your drink.

“I could get you a job with mclaren? You could be an interviewer or something, and on the plus side you'll be with me for a year, traveling the world.” He smirks at you, bumping your shoulder.

He would love that, for him to be the hero. He's had everything handed to him on a silver plate, and you hated that. For once in your life you just wanted to be your own person.

“Oh because mum and dad would love that.” You mumble rolling your eyes.

“I'm sure they would, finally being able to see their child with a stable job, and maybe a stable life.” He snaps back at you.

You let out a breathy laugh. You might not be stable, but who is after they've just finished uni?

“You're being unreasonable? I don't want to live in your shadow, lando.”

“And you're being ungrateful.”

His words hit hard. You hated passing up his incredible opportunity, but you just wished he understood why you were doing it.

“I'm not being ungrateful, but you making one or two phone calls to get me this job defeats the point of what I'm trying to tell you. I want to get a good job because I'm talented and smart, not because Lando Norris is my brother.”

You watch as Lando rolls his eyes at you before he waved over the bartender to probably order another drink in hopes it kills the tension.

A silence loomed as you sat back in your chair, playing with the rings on your fingers.

The thing is, he doesn't get it. You love that he wants to help, but he needs to let you figure things out on your own.

You watch as some of landos friends start to approach him from the entrance,all dressed in fancy over-priced shirts, crisp white shoes and embarrassingly sunglasses on in the club. 

You eye up the men that only acknowledge your brother, ignoring your presence completely, and you suddenly think that going for a walk and getting drunk by the beach sounds like a good idea.

Lando wasn't paying any attention to you as his back was now turned, greeting the young boys that had just walked over.

You grab your drink, smiling at the bartender before swiftly getting out your chair and walking out of the bar, leaving Lando with his friends. He was too distracted to notice you had gone anyway.

You really should keep your head up when you're walking, fiddling with the black straw in your drink, it becomes a slight distraction as you go to make it to the exit door. Although, for you it wasn't only the cold mykonos air that hit your body.

Your body collided with another that was also trying to make it out of the door, you smiled up at the young boy, he looked about in his twenties, gorgeous brown eyes, eyes that complemented his dark brown hair and his short, stubbley, beard.

“Sorry, you go.” he said. 

“No, it's fine you go.” You ushered him with a quick smile.

“No honestly, you can go first.”

Your eyes narrow at the man, he swiftly smirks, scratching the back of his neck as you take up his offer and walk through the door first, smiling as you soak up the warm fresh air from outside.

“Sorry, about that.” he catches up to you, deciding to stand next to you. 

It took you a moment to catch what he was on about but then you realized that your drink had split when he bumped into you, luckily missing your outfit, but your toes looked kinda sticky.

“Wait here?”

“What?” You look up at the odd stranger in disbelief, before he takes the now empty drink from your hand, pointing to the concrete slab that was made to look like a bench by the door.

“Just sit and wait, please.” Honestly, your day had been awful, and I don't think Satan could say no to his eyes.

He goes to push the door to the club before he turns around again, “Vodka lemonade?” You silently nodded before he wisped around the door.

You stood for a second before deciding to actually sit and wait.

The back of your legs hit the cold concrete slab as you sat, crossing your legs staring at the palm tree that calmly swayed above you.

You didn't have a moment to contemplate what the hell just happened with the stranger when your phone dings in your pocket.

Lando

Where did you go? Sent 22:15

Y/n???????? Sent 22:16

Did you go back to the villa? Sent 22:17

I'm sorry if i've upset you i was just trying to help Sent 22:17

Y/n

I'm fine, don't worry. Gone back to the villa i wasn't feeling too good talk 2 u tomo. Sent 22:20

Lando 

Get back safe x sent 22:20

You couldn't help but roll your eyes, but you knew you needed to get out of here in case Lando notices you haven't actually gone back to the villa, but your trail of thought crashed when an almost familiar body was lingering over you.

It was the guy from earlier.

But this time he was holding a black round tray with a set of drinks on it, a wide grin plastered on his face as he placed the tray down next to you with what looked like two vodka lemonades, and two shots of tequila.

“Drink?” He asks you with a smile. “The least I can do after I practically spilled yours.”

“How do I know you won't spike me?” You squint at him, he didn't seem like the type to be honest, but what do you know, he's a stranger.

He furrows his brows before placing a hand on his heart, before smirking and picking up one of the drinks, he sips from the straw, before taking a dramatic gulp. He lets out a breathy laugh before passing the glass to you.

You tried not to giggle at the stranger's antics, but the couple drinks you had with Lando earlier were already doing you dirty as you quietly slipped the drink the stranger had bought you.

“Also the ice is floating.” He added, taking a sip of his own vodka lemonade.

“What?” 

You turned to face him, his cheeks tint a pink shade before he pointed to your glass, “When a drinks been spiked the ice usually sinks.”

You stare at your floating ice for a moment, if he is a serial killer he's pretty damn good at luring in his victims, because it's been roughly six minutes and this boy has you captivated.

“So what's your name?” he smiles, passing you a shot.

The smell of strong tequila invades your nose as you watch him lift up his shot to cling it with yours.

He can sense your closed off demeanor as he sighs, but his smile never fades, “Fine, okay then, maya.” He winks at you with his shot in the air as you copy his actions in swallowing the tequila, the sensation burning your throat.

You winced slightly at the taste, before slamming the shot back down on the tray.

“Maya?” You question him, wiping the dribble from your bottom lip.

“Maya… Everdeen? Yep, you definitely look like Maya Everdeen.” He nodded to himself as he placed his shot glass back on the tray.

“Been watching the hunger games have you?” You smirked at him, picking your drink back up to fiddle with the straw.

He smiled before his cheeks turned pink again, he was kinda cute when he blushed.

“Hmh, if we're being serious, you definitely look like a charles.” You added, gazing over his long brown hair and his gorgeously glossy brown eyes. Your gaze linkers around his neck for a little while, noticing the small chain loosely hanging down the tip of his chest.

“I don't think I grew up posh enough for my mum to call me charles.” He smiled down at you.

“Where did you grow up?” Your eyes were watching your floating ice, as he giggled at your question.

“Trying to get to know your victims?” 

“Simply making conversation.” The corners of your mouth slightly moved upwards.

“Portsmouth.” He replied, he did have a south east england kinda accent. “You?”

“Bristol.”

“You don't have a bristolian accent though?” He questioned.

“I did a lot of traveling growing up, I live in London now so it's not like I'm around the accent a lot, it really pops out when i'm with my parents though.” You smile up at him, but when your eyes meet he was already looking at you, the silent moment of eye contact was cut off when your phone screen lit up.

Lando

Did you get back to the villa alright? Sent 22:41

Shit.

“Hey Charles, fancy getting out of here?” You quickly stand up, brushing off the dirt from the back of your thighs.

“Go where? Somewhere quiet so you can murder me, i dont think so.” He smiles, you roll your eyes at his attitude before looking at the glistening reflection from the moon on the sea.

“Exactly that, the beach will do perfectly.” You smile already making way to cross the road.

This was very out of character for you. You don't do one night stands, not that this was a one night stand, or even anything close, but you knew it wasn't the safest of situations to have put yourself in. And the fact your brother would be pissed if he could see what you were doing right now. 

You pulled your heels off on the side of the road, watching ‘charles’ pull off his socks and shoes as you both took a stroll along the beach.

You spent the long walk talking about everything and nothing, it was nice, talking to a stranger. You and the boy never once spoke about your own life or its problems. You just spoke about the world and had an odd conversation about planes. He told you about his fear of heights while you compared it to your fear of spiders. You spoke about the future and how one day he hopes to have a family, you couldn't say the same, sure you would love to have a family, but you wouldn't do that with just anyone. After the conversations died down, ‘charles’ had suggested a game he liked to call ‘rapid questions’.

“Summer or winter?” he asked you.

“Autumn.” You quickly say.

“Good answer.” He smirked as he looked down at you.

“Okay I have one, are you a cat or dog person?” You asked him.

“What do you think?”

“You look like a dog person.” You bump his shoulder, smiling up at him, watching how his eyes lightley shone from the reflection of the sea..

“Correct. One place in the world you would love to visit?” He asks you.

“New york. You?”

“Vegas.” He sheepishly smiles.

“Best present you've ever received?” You asked him, he smiled as he thought about his answer.

“Hmh, my great nan she knits jumpers for all the grandkids every year at christmas.”

“That's your best gift you've ever gotten?” You question him, trying to suppress your smile from his answer.

“It's the same routine every year, but the best part is the smile on her face when she sees you wear it on christmas day.”

“That's cute.” You bump his shoulder as you continue to walk along the sandy beach.

“What about you?”

“The best gift I've ever received… probably flowers.”

“Flowers?” 

“Yeah, I love getting fresh flowers.” You shrug.

There was something about you that the boy couldn't help but be captivated by, he wanted to walk along this beach all night and ask you questions.

“Something you hate?” You said, interrupting his thoughts.

“Losing.”

“Competitive are we?” You smirked at him, your eyebrow furred as you watched him scoff slightly.

“Very.” He winked.

“Not a sore loser are you?”

He laughs, “I try not to be.”

“What about you? what's something you hate.”

“Expectations.” You shrugged, facing forward as you threw your head back slightly, feeling the sea breeze on your neck.

He looked at you confused, you took note of the expression so you decided to elaborate on your answer.

“There's nothing worse when you try your hardest and someone still expects more of you.”

“Yeah, that sucks.” he smiled down at you, but his smile widened as he thought of another question.

“Favorite swear word?”

“Bolacks.” You said with a confidant smile.

“Really?” He laughs,

“It can mean so many different things, good food, it was the bollocks, just kicked you in the nuts, sorry about your bollocks?” The stranger couldn't help but laugh at your answer.

“Mines definitely bastard.” He said.

“Bastard?” You repeated back to him.

“No, you've got to say it with sass, like bastard.” 

You both walked along the sand for a while longer, giggling as you both kept repeating the word bastard.

Your empty glass was still clutched in your hand as you both continued to slowly walk, you had no idea how far you had both walked, but judging by the complaining from Charles it was probably quite far. 

You turned around at the noise of Charles groaning, he fumbled down on one of the sunbeds laying across it as he looked up at you.

“I don't really drink a lot, so I'm basically a light weight. I just need to sit down for a moment.” 

You can't help but giggle at him as he sprawls out along the sandy sunbed.

You situate yourself at the bottom of the sun bed, your eyes focused on the view of the sea and moon rather than the clearly drunk man whose head was now placed on your leg.

“Maya?”

“Yes charlie.”

“I thought my name was charles?” He smirked, his eyes never leaving yours.

“It is, but charlies a cute nickname.” You had to take a second to look away, even with the alcohol his stare was intense to you.

He turned his head so he could look into your eyes better. But you broke eye contact again by pulling out your phone, you checked the time and it was currently one am. You knew you should probably get back to the villa soon, really risking it with Lando going home and not finding you all tucked up in your room.

“Tell me about maya.”

You smiled down at the boy, fiddling with your fingers for a moment, as you leant forward, gently leaning on his thigh.

“Well for starters, she loves books. Oh, she's a dog person. Her favorite color changes every week.” You pause for a second to think about what else you could say, but your mystery man was just soaking it all up.

“And she can't tell you what her job is or she will get assassinated, and so will you.”

The stranger fake gasps at your words.

“Tell me more.” He sits up, cross legged as he faces you.

“Hmh, she works for the FBI.” Your heart melted at the boyish smile plastered on ‘Charles' face.

“I've already said too much.” You say dramatically, hiding your face on his leg before you look up again.

“What about you, what does Charlie do?”

“Okay, but you've got to promise not to tell.” You silently nodded before taking his pinky finger in yours, he leans forward to whisper in your ear.

“I'm spiderman.” He smirks.

You pull away and gasp slightly, trying to keep it serious before you burst out in giggles. 

“Why are you laughing?” He frowns at you, but you can see the smile behind his eyes.

“Shoot a web.” You demande though your laughs.

“I cant.”

“But your spiderman?” You whine at him.

Charles huffs as he sits up more, “It's the suit, it doesn't come out of me, duh.” 

Your initial thoughts to this man was that he looked kinda sporty, like an athlete, a little bit cocky too, but the more time you spend with him the more you realize he's a literal nerd.

Your heart swelled as you wanted to spend more time with him, but you knew you had to get back to the villa soon.

“Thank you for trusting me with your secret Charles, but duty calls, i've just been made aware of a threat against the queen, i have to leave mykonos as soon as i can.”

You sit up but the boy gently grazes your legs.

“Wait, Maya.”

You stand up in the sand, looking down at the boy, especially his hand that was clutched around your knee.

“Meet me again tomorrow, please.” You thought about it for a moment, you leave in two days, and his company had made you smile more in the last few hours than you have in months.

“I can't make any promises, the jet leaves in an hour.”

“Well, the queen can wait, she's about to kick the bucket anyway. Tomorrow, should we say six?” You can't help but laugh at his comment.

“Where?” You ask him, watching how he lets out a sigh of relief at your answer.

“The caster hotel.”

“I'll see what i can do, spiderman.”

“But you were fine this morning?” Lando questions as he follows you through the hallway.

“That's because I didn't feel sick this morning, and now I do.” You huff.

“Why don't you want to come?” He leans in the doorway to the room you were staying at, he knew you weren't ill, but he would never suspect you sneaking out to meet a man whose name you still don't know.

“I just don't.” You sat on the bed, your arms folded as your dressing gown was tightly wrapped around you, hiding the dress you had on underneath.

“Are you depressed?” He cocked his head to the side, a questionable look on his face.

“Lando, for fuck sake, i have a headach, and your making it worse!”

“You left the bar early yesterday y/n, and you don't want to come again today? After everything you've put me through, sorry that I'm worried about you.” His words hurt, but not as much as the time on your phone that read 5:46.

“You don't need to worry about me.” You mumbled.

“But I do, I'm your older brother?”

You sigh before raising your head to look at your brother. 

“I'm fine, just please let me have the night to myself.”

“No.”

It was times like this where you felt like just crying, crying until the floor swallowed you up. It was currently 6:22, you were sitting in bed with lando. You were both watching old love island episodes with some snacks that were left in the fridge. Lando canceled on his mates for dinner, meaning you couldn't sneak out and see charles. You were going home tomorrow, and the chances of bumping into your mystery man were slim, but you let it go. Guess it wasn't meant to be.

Part two will be posted on 16/7/22

[nalgenewhore]

anything and everything

elide x lorcan, modern au, sick fic/domestic fluff, word count: 1874

The clock at the back of his classroom showed that there was two minutes left until lunch. The history teacher knew he’d lost his students three minutes ago, and tossed his printed copy of the PowerPoint onto his meticulously organised desk. “Alright, guys, I think that’s enough for today. Pack up and get out of here, yeah?” 

The sounds of rustling paper and shuffling bags filled the room. Lorcan unplugged his laptop from the projector and clicked it off, pushing the cart back to its corner. He heard his grade twelves’ easy conversations and jokes as they filed out, bidding him good-bye. 

“Bye, Mr. S,” Evangeline called, waving as she walked out, “thank you!” 

“You’re welcome, Evangeline. Have a good day,” Lorcan replied. No one else was in his classroom, so he pushed in the chairs and picked up the stray pencils that had been left. 

He slid his laptop into his bag and slung the leather strap over his shoulder. Lorcan left the blinds down from when they’d been drawn for the video he’d shown and flicked the lights off before he closed and locked the door. 

His hands were shoved in his pockets as he walked to the teacher’s lounge. Lorcan was the first there and he decided to call home, his phone in his back pocket.

As the phone rang, Lorcan grabbed an apple from the bowl of fruit and rinsed it before he ate it.

His fiancée picked up after two rings and sounded even more congested and hoarse than she’d been in the morning, “Hello, love. How’s your day going?” Elide coughed loudly, the sound deep and from her chest, “I’m feeling so much better, honestly, baby. I think I’ll just pop in and teach my last few class–” 

“Lee, you're sick. You'll collapse before you get to the front gate and you know it,” he said, nodding to Rowan, who walked in with Aelin and Lysandra. Nesryn couldn’t have been that far behind them. 

Elide huffed, knowing he was right and hating it, “I’m not sick, I’m not even barfing! I’m just achy and I have a cough, I’m fine.” 

“You have the flu, Elide. You do not have the energy to teach two classes - stay home.” 

She muttered something and Lorcan could practically hear her eye roll. “Fine. I can do video calls anyway, bye-bye, L, love you!” 

“That is not what I meant, Elide,” he protested, but Elide hung up. Lorcan sighed through his nose and put his phone in his pocket once more. The rest of the apple was gone in two bites. 

From one of the tables, the blonde science teacher looked over at him, a bite of leftover risotto and pink salmon on her fork, “Was that our Ellie dear? How is she?” 

“Stubborn and petty,” Lorcan grumbled in good nature. He tossed his apple core into the compost bin, “I’m done for the day, so I’m going home. Please don’t call me if you need help.” His colleagues laughed mockingly at his inconsiderate remark and Lorcan smirked, saluting them as he walked out. “Bye, guys. Have a good day.” He walked down the hall, waving and nodding to students he recognised. 

Lorcan passed two of his favourites, Luca and Evangeline. They stopped him to talk and they chatted about Luca’s upcoming debate and Evangeline’s English presentation. He wished them both luck and continued on, all but refusing to acknowledge any of his other colleagues. Lorcan didn’t have anything against them, save for a few, but he didn’t want to be dragged into a long conversation with them when his girl was home sick and miserable. 

Outside, it was raining, but light enough that it was more of a mist than any noticeable precipitation. Lorcan got into their old Volkswagen Jetta - the car that Elide had saved for during her last year of high school to buy - and pulled out of the parking lot, going slowly around the meandering students and teachers alike. 

Since he hadn’t eaten lunch yet and he had been dreading his tuna salad sandwich all day, Lorcan stopped by the local Blackbeak restaurant. He bought pierogies, borscht, sausage, and cabbage rolls. Knowing Elide loved them so, he added on an order of sweet, apple-filled piroshkis and sweet tea. 

Luckily, the wait wasn’t long and he tipped them well when they handed him the containers in two plastic bags, including a tray for their tea. Lorcan carried their food back to the car and put it on the passenger seat, carefully fitting the cups of tea in the cup holders. 

Lorcan got back in his seat and drove on, more slowly this time so the food would remain untouched. He’d tossed his phone onto the dash and it rang. He glanced over at it and saw Elide calling him. Since he was driving, Lorcan didn’t pick up and he would be home soon enough. 

He came to a stop at a red light and looked over at the text she sent him. 

princess: r u too busy to answer me cause ur with ur new WHORE. 

princess: dont even come home tn im so over ur disrespectful ass. smh. 🙄. cant believe i ever trusted a MAN. 

princess: bby im so hungry tell me what to get i cant decide 🥺 pls help me ill b so nice to uuuuuu ❤🖤🥰🥰😘 

Lorcan laughed and shook his head, driving on home. He pulled up in front of their townhouse a mere five minutes later. Carefully, Lorcan balanced everything and locked the car. He walked through the front gate and up the stone pathway. 

Somehow, he managed to carry everything and unlocked the front door. When he walked in, he heard someone’s long nails tapping across a laptop keyboard. Lorcan chuckled quietly and put his bags down. He hung up his jacket, put his keys in the silver dish next to Elide’s, and toed off his shoes. 

Lorcan walked down the hallway and passed the staircase, putting their food on the kitchen counter. Then, he rolled up the sleeves of his wool sweater and white shirt. He walked upstairs, “Lee? You in bed?” 

He passed their shared office and leaned against the doorframe, eyes landing on his fiancée. Elide had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, her dark hair pushed up in a messy bun. Her thick glasses were perched on the edge of her nose and when she looked up at him, Elide pushed them back up, “Oh, hi, love.” She looked back at her laptop and colour-coordinated lesson plan, still typing. “I didn’t know you were coming home, you didn’t have to do that.” 

“Evidently I did because my fiancée refuses to rest,” he said, shoving off the door and walking in. She rolled her eyes and frowned. Lorcan walked around to her side and crouched, twisting her chair around, “Elide. You’re sick. Your students are not going to be affected if you take a day or two off, now please. Can you just get back in bed? For me?” 

She clicked her tongue and sighed, “That’s cheating. You can’t say it’s for you when you know I’d do anything for you.” 

Lorcan smirked and cupped her face, his thumb stroking over her cheekbone, “Just doing what I can.” He surveyed her, his eyes not missing a thing. There was a slight sheen of sweat on her brow and her eyes were tired. Her skin was paler and more pallid than usual, the only spot of colour on the tip of her nose. She was restraining herself, but Lorcan could see her shivering. “How are you feeling?” 

“I’m… fine.” 

He arched a brow. Elide sighed through her nose and looked to the side. 

“Fine. I feel like shit. I’m tired and I have a headache and I’m so, so tired,” she whispered, tipping herself forward and leaning into him. “I hated that you left this morning. I wanted to be with you and… and let you take care of me.” 

Lorcan smiled softly and got to his feet, picking her up as well. Her head fell against his shoulder and he held her with one arm banded beneath her thighs. He cut off the camera and sent a bland message before signing out and turning it off. As he carried her out, Lorcan asked, “Are you hungry? Have you eaten anything?” 

Elide shook her head, “No… I was sleeping.” 

“I got food. Blackbeak,” he told her, smiling when she gasped wondrously. 

“O-m-giness.” Elide said softly, dancing her shoulders around. “You’re the best, baby. Did you get piroshki? The- the sweet one. With apple.” 

“Mm-hmm,” he said, pushing her hair back again. “And pierogies, tea, sausage, and cabbage rolls. Everything, even soup.” 

“I love you so fuckin’ much, man,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck. Elide’s face was comfortably hidden in the crook of his neck. She could smell his cedar cologne, the lavender dryer ball on his sweater, and the sweetgrass he’d smudged with. “We should watch When Harry Met Sally.” 

Lorcan huffed a laugh through his nose and kissed the side of her head, “Yeah. Sally’s a spaz.” 

“And Harry’s an inconsiderate asshat,” Elide replied, squeezing her thighs around his hips. 

They crossed through the door of their bedroom and Lorcan set her down on their bed. He left her be, letting her manoeuvre into her little nest of blankets, quilts, and a duvet. 

He changed into sweatshorts and a hoodie with their university’s logo before going downstairs. On his way, he re-did his hair in some tiered, sloppy and loopy bun. 

In the kitchen, he played some random song from his phone and bobbed his head as he served them both food. 

Lorcan carried their plates and bowls back upstairs. Elide got up to help her when he got to their room. On the TV that opposited their bed showed the main menu of When Harry Met Sally. He laughed quietly and shook his head, sitting down beside her and getting comfortable. 

Elide hummed delightedly and pressed play from her phone. She took the tea first and drank it quickly, suddenly ravenous. Lorcan passed her water and medicine. Elide took it and ate her beet soup, sans sour cream. 

The movie played and Lorcan ate his pierogies, gently sipping on his own tea. 

Done first, Elide put her dish to the side and leaned into him. She mouthed the lines, her eyes slowly falling shut. Lorcan grinned and finished the cabbage roll before easing out from under her and taking their things back downstairs. 

He got her more citrus tea and went back upstairs. The flu-ridden woman woke up when he got in bed and resituated herself. 

“I got the vaccine, baby,” Elide muttered, her arms wrapped around his neck, “and I’m still sick. I’m anti-vax now. They’re hoaxes.” 

Lorcan sighed through his nose, still adoring her dramatics. “You can’t say that to your students, Lee. They believe anything.” 

The chemistry teacher smacked his chest, “They arent dumb! They’re just…” 

“Stupid,” Lorcan finished her sentence. “C’mon, I had a student who didn’t know Terrasen’s capital. He was born here, Elide.” 

She snorted and hid her face in his neck. “I love you.” 

“Forever and always, Lee.”

☽ ☼ ☾

an: i luv them. omg. 

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[btssmutficslovingfan01]

When in Rome: TA Edition

This is a sequel to When in Rome: Frat Edition.

Summary: You’re the ambassador of the celibacy club, forced to go to a Roman-themed frat party to find your club members before they lose their purity. Among the faces you see at the party is your biggest enemy, Namjoon Kim, who also happens to be a TA so you have to meet up with him for dreaded tutoring sessions. What happens when you run into him at that same party on the night you’re supposed to be hosting a club meeting? You’re in luck, today he’s feeling slightly more submissive than usual...

Words: 4.4k

Pairing: Namjoon x Reader

Genre: Smut, pwp, enemies-to-lovers (low-key)

Warnings: Masturbation (m & f), voyeurism, riding, graphic descriptions of straight sex, dom/sub dynamics, sub Joon, dom reader, choking

You stare at your reflection in the mirror in the back of the room. It doesn’t look like anyone will be attending your meeting today. It’s half past 7 and the sun is already setting. You were supposed to meet your three other club members 20 minutes ago, what was taking them so long? Your phone chimes with a text all of a sudden, your attention focused on the single text it reads: 

Suddenly, you’re determined to go to that party and find those girls who decided to take back their vow of innocence. You knew you should’ve forced them to wear the chastity belts.

The reason why you’re so keen on finding them before it’s too late? You experienced the loss of losing your first partner. Your boyfriend, who was the leader of a gang ended up dying in a motorcycle crash, he was your first love and your first sexual partner.

After he passed, you felt dirty. You kept craving sex, every day, every second, every hour. Even when you were eating dinner with your family, that’s all you could think of. Maybe even making eye contact with a stranger. Sex. You needed it, your body was yearning for it.

Finally, you gave in. You decided to select a random as your second, and you felt relief from something being inside of you. The numerous trips to the club ended with you in a hotel room with a man who could do the job. Slowly, you had become numb. The sex was starting to feel boring, you were craving an emotional connection. So, you decided to stop for a bit.

That’s when you met Hyerin. She was handing out flyers and stopped you while you were passing by. She told you to come to the Celibacy club orientation and you felt strange. You never once thought of shutting your legs completely, you thought you were ruined after sleeping around so much. She also revealed she wasn’t a Virgin, and she had the same problem in high school. She decided to take a vow of no more sex before marriage and she joined the club two years ago. You missed her guidance. She was like a sister to you and you couldn’t think of what she would say about your leadership. 

You regretted taking it so lightly at first, since you couldn’t even keep three recruits in line. Luckily, the party was close by, so you could walk to the house.

You liked the environment, surprisingly. Even if it brought back memories of the club, you felt like you were facing your fears again. You didn’t avoid parties on purpose, you just felt like you always had something better to do.

“Isn’t this a pleasant surprise?” That voice. You knew that voice anywhere. It was Namjoon. Blech.

“Namjoon? What are you doing here?” You fold your arms as he reaches past you. You close your eyes, slightly uncomfortable from his close proximity.

“I’m grabbing a snack. You’re standing in front of the snack table, if you want drugs you should head over to table two in the back. Ricardo’s selling some good stuff over there.” You can’t believe Namjoon is actually letting people do illegal stuff at this party.

“I don’t want drugs. I’m looking for three girls, all freshmen. They’re actually triplets, Misa, Lisa, and Keisha. Do you know where they might be?” The tall blond shakes his head, popping a pistachio into his mouth.

“Sorry, I have no clue. Although, I might have seen Lisa around. Is she the brunette with that silver streak in her hair?” He describes the girl perfectly. The girls have that one trait which is prominent, even if they dye their hair different colors. Lisa has a natural hair color, different from her sisters since they dyed their hair and she didn’t. Keisha and Misa were easy to pick out because they had silver streaks in their hair too, and Keisha dyed hers blue while Misa dyed hers blond. They were all born with natural brown hair, you remember it from their introductions on the first day after they joined the club. You didn’t realize you’d miss them this much.

“Yes, it’s a trait that runs in her family! You have to come with me, show me where you saw her last.” You pull Namjoon along with you, despite hating his guts. He was a player and for some reason these stupid girls think of him as a heartthrob. Those dimples are attractive, you have to admit, but that doesn’t mean you should crawl into bed with them! You respect your body.

“Wait, I don’t want to find a freshman. I wanna get laid with one of those hot senior girls.” You glare daggers at the boy as he peers down at you. You were a couple inches shorter than him, taller than the average height as well. At least he couldn’t call you short. Being tall did have one downside though: you were flat chested.

“Was it in this hallway? Where the fuck are the stairs?! Ughhh what if we’re too late? I don’t want to have any blood on my hands. She’s gonna regret this…” You look around the room, eyeing every girl carefully before Namjoon turns you around. “What?!” You snap at him, as he puts a hand on your cheek. You didn’t know why but it calmed you down. 

“Take a chill pill, relax. If they’re with one of my boys, they’re safe. Why are you so worked up about them anyways?” You play with the strings of your hoodie as Namjoon stares at you intently. A man’s gaze has never made you feel butterflies. So why were you suddenly all light and floaty standing next to him?

“I’m the leader of the celibacy club. If I don’t protect them from losing their virginity, who else will? They made a vow when they joined but it seems that they’ve decided to do a full 180 and come here of all places for their first time,” You sound like you’re talking about one person when in fact you were talking about three. Namjoon understands your worry. He does the same with his students since he’s a tutor. “So why are you not dressed up like the others?” You ask out of courtesy, not because you’re actually curious.

“I just came from practice. I’m actually part of Yoongi Min’s band, so I have practice outside of office hours.” You wondered how he still managed to take time out of his day to tutor you. If this had been any other situation, you might have developed a crush on him. Now, you aren’t so sure about your feelings since your heart is in your stomach from worrying about the girls.

“It’s good to know that there’s someone here like me,” You share a brief 3 seconds staring at each other before you spot Misa behind the kitchen island. “Misa! Where are your sisters?” Namjoon follows closely behind you as you turn to the triplet with worry.

“They’re getting laid. I just finished a round of beer pong with this guy. Don’t worry about me, I’m not giving my virginity to some sweaty oaf that thinks he can get girls by flashing a smile at them.” You suddenly realize that she’s talking about Namjoon who is grinning widely at her from behind you. You punch him in the gut, leaving him hunched over as you say goodbye to your club member.

“You’re disgusting. Come, you’re gonna help me find the other girls.”

“No,” You whip your head around, seriously pissed at how he’s suddenly acting like this. Why do men always act the opposite of what you want them to act like? (It’s called free will duh) You always have to take it a step further and spell things out for them. Namjoon, however, is a fellow intellectual. He must understand when you tell him “Go,” and “stop.” Why was he suddenly protesting? What reason could he possibly have to—“Why are you trying to stop them from doing something they want to do? It’s not like they’re doing this because they’re pressured to. You said you’re the leader of the celibacy club, right?” He takes a step forward, taking your hand in his before leading you to the basement. You were surprised a house like this actually has a basement, and luckily no one else was here to interrupt you as you spoke. The party was loud and the music was booming loud enough for you to hear it even down in the dark.

He switches on a single naked bulb before plopping down on a vintage brown couch, patting the spot next to him. You sit down, silent as he continues lecturing. “A leader should guide, not rule. You were supposed to guide those girls to make the right decisions for themselves. Even if it seems like the wrong one, in the end I’m sure you taught them well.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You ask, knowing exactly what the answer to your dumb question was. 

“You taught them the benefits of celibacy. I’m sure they took that information, processed it, and decided to proceed with doing what any teenage girl would do. I’m not saying all teens sleep around, but some people are curious. At this age, you can’t stop them from making their own decisions. Maybe this is a good thing, they’ll learn from their mistakes and grow. It’s a human thing.” You purse your lips to keep the tears from falling.

“I know. You’re right, you’re right. I think I should just leave now.”

“Wait! You should stay, please. Just stay with me and drink some Pepsi.” You take the cold drink from his hand as he shuts the mini-fridge door and switches on the t.v.

“I suppose I can stay longer. I finished my homework and I was supposed to have a club meeting but I guess that’s not happening now so…” You notice how Namjoon’s Adams’ Apple bobs up and down as he drinks the dark liquid in one go. He notices you staring, asking you what’s wrong as you quickly pull your eyes away from him, staring at the floor as you sip your drink lightly.

“What’s your position?” 

“Pardon?” 

“Are you a dom or sub?” You didn’t expect your conversation to take this turn but after conversing with all the boys in your high school you knew they would start talking about something dirty the moment they started a conversation with you at some point. This wasn’t dirty, though. It seemed that your tutor/TA actually wanted to know your stance.

“I don’t know. I guess I’ve always just laid down and let the guy do all the work. No foreplay, no kinky stuff, just me, the guy, and a bed.” Namjoon clicks his tongue in disapproval.

“Aw really? That’s too bad. I would’ve taken you as some sort of sex freak but I guess the boys were wrong about that…” Your heart drops.

“What boys?!” It couldn’t have been anyone else, you knew the men from the club seemed too familiar. Had you been sleeping with frat members since you were in high school?

“I’m just messing with you, no one said anything about you but if they did, I would’ve won the bet.” You sigh in relief, feeling more at ease around your TA now. Before, you just thought he was a snobby jerk who sweet-talks women into bed with him.

“Don’t joke around like that again. Plus, you haven’t told me what your position is yet, either. So what are you? Dom or sub?” He scratches the back of his neck.

“Geez, this is embarrassing. Okay, so I like taking charge but I also like being controlled. I guess you can call me a switch?” Now you were interested. You wouldn’t take Namjoon as the type of guy that let a woman do all the work in bed. Of course, there was something exhilarating about that, too. 

You were curious as to how the dom/sub dynamics would work if you were in bed with him. For a moment, you actually imagine yourself in a sensual situation with him. His big hands sliding down your back as your hips snap against his, you riding him as he squeezes your thigh, or fails to since you handcuffed him to the headboard so he can’t move from that one spot as you suck his skin on various parts of his body, hickies bright red and fresh as you—“Y/N? Do you like taking control?” 

Yes.

“Um, I don’t know? Yes?” You can feel the sweat beading across your forehead. You’re suddenly very hot, despite it being cooler down in the basement. 

“You’re sweating, why don’t you take off your shirt?”

“What?!” You exclaim as he yawns and rubs his neck.

“I said you should take off your sweatshirt.” You smile anxiously at him before pulling your sweatshirt above your head. You were currently feeling very sensitive, and you were sure that if he touched you, you would pounce on him like a lioness. 

You’re sure he can smell your arousal, as he slides an arm behind your shoulder as you lean back on the couch while he changes the channel. You aren’t paying much attention to the t.v before he switches the channel enough times to the point that you’ve reached the adult channels. 

If you weren’t blushing before, you certainly were now. A video of a woman getting on her knees to suck off a man with a ridiculously gigantic cock begins to play, the moist sound of her lips wrapping around his cock resonating around the room as it plays on the speakers.

“What the hell, Namjoon?! Have you no shame?” He laughs as you throw a pillow at him. 

“Wait, Wait, this is my favorite kind of porn, Wait for it,” You turn back to the screen reluctantly as the video fades to another one, this time the same woman is dressed in lingerie from head to toe, as the man is fully naked.

You watch as the blond wrings her hands around his neck, choking the man as he struggles to breathe but he still maintains that expression of obvious arousal. How was he actually into that? You weren’t into pain play and you knew Namjoon couldn’t possibly like being choked out either. “I love being choked. I’m into that kinky shit, handcuffs, blindfolds, you tell me.” 

You didn’t expect those words to come out of his mouth. At least now, you know there is such a world like that. One where women actually possess power over men. 

Your eyes wander down to Namjoon’s pants as he actually starts palming himself, one hand still behind your shoulder as you lean forward on the couch.

“What are you doing?” You finally break the awkward silence as the moans of the man on the screen continue, fogging your mind up with possibilities as the porno continues to play.

“Haven’t you masturbated before? This is the same thing. I’m just trying to get some relief,” At least he was honest.

You watch the porn in silence, with the exception of the moans on screen, and the ridiculous acting displayed by the porn stars. Why do they even bother trying to act? They should just have sex and that’s it.

You eventually find yourself mirroring Namjoon, trailing a finger up and down your jeans before Namjoon comes right out and says it: “You can take off your clothes if you want. I won’t touch you,” You start kicking off your jeans. “You can watch me too...if you want.” You don’t know where this sudden shyness from your TA was coming from. Normally he’s bossy, demanding, and very outgoing. Now, he was suddenly shy? You’re sure this has to do with the dom/sub thing he was speaking of earlier.

Your attention is half on the screen, and half on Namjoon as he pulls his dripping cock out of his boxers, languidly stroking the erection despite having you right in front of him. He wasn’t going to take advantage of you, he decided in his mind. He wanted to see how this played out, if this voyeuristic showcase would lead to something else.

You slip your fingers into your panties, letting out a cross between a moan and a whimper. You are so lost in your own pleasure that you fail to notice your yummy TA undressing you with his dark and mysterious eyes, his lips curling into a small smirk as he watches you toy with your pussy.

“What am I doing here? This is so wrong but it feels so good-ah.” You stare down with a dry mouth as your breath escapes you. You did not just cum. From watching an awful porno. Well, it wasn’t awful but you didn’t want to acknowledge it as a work of art, either. The actress gave you an idea of how to properly dominate a man. You’d never been one for loads of sex but you were willing to indulge in the pleasure for one night only since your club members were probably losing their virginity as you stay seated on the couch of a frat boy that you were pretty sure had some sort of STD.  

“You came already? Awww, dammit, I was so close to finishing.” Namjoon’s voice snaps you back to reality just so you can act on your impulse again.

“Uh-oh, looks like these are ruined. I’ll have to toss them aside. You don’t mind, do ya Joon?” Namjoon’s eyebrow twitches as he tries to figure out what your aim is. He knew you were innocent but it seems he has a case of ‘good girl gone bad’ right in front of him. As you turn your attention back to the t.v, every once in a while stroking your very wet labia, Namjoon’s cock seems to grow a little longer. 

“Okay, I can’t take it anymore. Please let me fuck you!” You’re surprised by how he snapped so quickly. Here you were thinking he didn’t want you anymore. How silly of you.

“Uh-uh. Let’s play a game first. You said you were into dom/sub dynamics, right? So how about you let me dominate you tonight and we can see where it goes from there?” Namjoon’s gaze softens as he decreases the volume, and you’re certainly sure that he can hear your racing heart by now as he manually switches off the television. He then undoes his pants and lets his boxers fall to the floor before turning his attention back to you.

“Okay, I’ll bite. What do you want me to do first?”

“On the floor, baby boy. I’m gonna ride you.” He groans as you slip him inside your throbbing hole, and you let out a sigh of pleasure before bouncing yourself up and down on his cock. His dick felt even better inside of you, since your walls took him in so well. He couldn’t believe you were actually doing this to him, you who supposedly hated him.

“What happened to hating me?” You bite your lip as he places a hand on your bare ass, your panties are lying on the floor next to you as you continue using Namjoon like a grade-A dildo.

“Who says you need to like someone to fuck them? You know what they say about angry sex, it’s supposed release tension. Fuck your problems away, fuck it all.” You both moan in sync as his cock twitches erratically and right before he cums, you pop off with a squelching sound and you quickly get to work with your hands, his cum splattering all over his belly and your fingers. 

He pulls you down for a quick kiss before you instruct him on what to do next.

“Next, I’m gonna put that mouth of yours to good use. Suck my clit, and do it as thoroughly as possible.” He quickly takes to your pussy, cupping your heat before giving small kitten licks to your labia. You were against the couch while he was hunched between your legs, eating you out like a good sub.

“That feels good. Don’t be shy, fuck me like you mean it, smartass,” He winks before pushing his tongue deeper, deep enough for you to feel it rub up against your cervix. Somehow, his tongue felt way better than his cock. “Yes, nnnngg, I’m cumming.” You feel a familiar knot in your core as Joon tongue-fucks you, saliva dripping down your inner thigh but you don’t care. You just feel too good to care.

So what if you were the leader of the celibacy club? It wasn’t like you had sex often. You were also losing your footing. You had become devoid emotion because of how much you were craving sex. Now, splayed out on your back, your TA delicately licking your folds, you felt relieved.

Your cum dribbles down his cheeks, and sweat beads are glistening on his forehead as he looks up to you, as if asking “did I do enough?” As you dab his head with a tissue.

You decide that wasn’t enough, you needed to have him inside you once more. 

“You said you liked being choked, right?” Namjoon nods, biting down on his lips hard enough to make them bleed as you wrap your hands around him and you sink back down on his dick. Now he was the one being choked on the ground while you were hunched over him, kissing his smooth chest and tracing his nipples gently with your nose. He lets out the most delicious moan you’ve heard all night, before whispering hoarsely, “Fuck me harder, mistress.”

You pounce on him, your greedy pussy lips salaciously devouring his erection as he hardens inside you once again. Even Joon was surprised by his own dick. He had never been so quick to bounce back but you were an enigma. You lighted a fire inside of him that he didn’t even know existed.

You lean forward, your breasts warm pressed up against his chest as you continue riding his cock like your life depended on it. You grow tired, panting heavily as Namjoon takes things into his own hands, gripping your ass tightly as your hands snaked down from his neck to his hair. You were curling your fingers into his hair so intimately like you owned him. He’s not your man. Which makes things a hell of a lot more sexy. 

His bleeding lip was dry, as you leaned in to steal a kiss from him, but he simply turned his head, your soft lips making contact with his left cheek instead.

“You don’t wanna get involved with me. I’m a bad guy, remember?” You respond by dragging your legs forward, sitting back as Namjoon stares back at you with darkened eyes, devoid of any emotion. He looks different compared to the playful preppy student you met earlier. You found yourself still crawling back to him, wanting to know more. You’re reaching...reaching...reaching. 

“Lighten up. Your cock is literally inside of me, Joon.” He growls in response, stimulating a carnal instinct within you to fuck. You’ve never felt it before, never felt so good on a cock quite like this one. What’s different about him? 

“Fuck, you take my dick so well. Why didn’t we do this sooner?” He grunts, your sexes squelching against each other as he holds you in place as he fucks his dick up into you. 

“Shit, Namjoon I’m cumming.” He grips your fingers with his big, warm hands. As your fingers intertwine, he kisses your neck. You lean into him, groaning as he continues bucking his hips up. You were truly fucking on the floor like a couple of horny animals.

It feels so good, I can’t help it. You thought. Your pussy squeezes his dick for dear life as he thrusts up into you. You feel the pinch, as your walls continue clamping down on him as he moves inconceivably slow. He slows down only because of your clenching, you know since he does his best in moving as quickly as your walls would allow, tossing you around like his own personal fuck doll. “Baby, cum with me.” You let out a mewl as he groans simultaneously, filling up your hole with his juices. After hours of fucking, you were both content with the end result.

He gives you one last docile kiss before we both get dressed. You throw your clothes back on, feeling fuzzy and sated as Namjoon stares shamelessly at your ass.

“I enjoyed it.” He comments as a wave of emotions hits you. You had forgotten about how much I hated him and his stupid smartass remarks when you couldn’t understand basic calculus. You were confused, the only thing you could do was pray something like this wouldn’t happen again and if it did you wouldn’t mind.

“Do you think you know my position now?” You ask, not really expecting much aftercare since you weren’t in a relationship with him.

“You're a dom. And I am your sub. Maybe, if you think of me differently now, we could go out for a midnight snack at the nearest fast food place?” You liked the way that sounded. Although towards the end Namjoon overpowered you since you were too hazy to think while impaled on his cock, he still was captivated and enraptured by you. You were like a math equation to him, after all he just did you. 

He also couldn’t deny the unrelenting sexual tension between the two of you whenever you hurled insults at him or when he said something about your academic abilities in a goading manner. He loved seeing how huffy you got whenever he said something about your club and how “interesting” it sounded when he heard you took over as the ambassador.

You didn’t know how he felt either, the underlying affection discarded as you focused on your anger for the man. However, you would rather die than admitting you had a tiny crush on him. 

“Sounds good, um...are we good here? Like all jokes aside you know I don’t actually hate you, right?” He nods, rubbing his neck as you wipe your sweaty palms on your clothes.

“I know. And you do know I have a big fat crush on you, right?” You feel heat rushing to your cheeks at that, your body significantly hotter than it was a couple minutes ago.

“No, actually, I didn’t know that.” You had a hunch he did.

“Wow, did it get hot in here or is it just me? Let’s go.” He pulls you towards the party upstairs, claiming you as his for the night as you push past the crowd of drunk teenagers.

[ask-anti-cosmo]

The return of Anti-Cosmo part 2

Part 1

Anti-cosmo stayed in the suite, knowing you had to come back sometime, especially since you told him you were a day out to land. You dreaded coming back to your room but found him on the computer on a social media site.

“Is there a Anti-fairy Facebook page?” you asked sarcastically.

“Anti-Fairies, as well as Fairies, are very well connected believe it or not. You just need to know the right sites to look for. And even then, only magical beings can use it, if you’re mortal you only see a blank page.” He explained, not looking up at you. “Won’t be long now.”

“Won’t be long till what?” you frowned.

“Till my wand comes to me. My subordinates are going to help bring it back here, by magic or whatever means it takes.”

“Where were your subordinates when you were in the safe?” you folded your arms.

“I go off on my own a lot, they probably assumed I was following a chosen victim.” He shrugged and turned away from the screen for a minute to face you.

“Is that how you got in that safe in the first place?” you asked expectantly.

His eye twitches slightly. “Hunting requires risk, surely you know that. They had just set up an…elaborate trap I was completely unprepared for. A descendant from one of my victims. One of the only victims I left alive. No matter, I won’t make the same mistake.” He insisted with dignity.

“Why did you let them live in the first place?” you asked curiously.

He sat quietly before picking up a pencil and started doodling on a nearby notebook. He drew a young girl with ringlets and a frilly dress. She looked almost like a sweet porcelain doll.

“My perfect little Doll…in her perfect little dollhouse...” he said fondly.

“Why did she need your help if she was perfect?” you frowned.

“Her family was so painfully flawed, she was trying to save them from their own stupid actions.” He explained. “Then one day, she decided she was done cleaning up after them, left to make her own perfect house, and sent me away. Most of the time my victims call me back, whether conscious or in their hearts, but she never did. The last I saw her was at a ball she threw. I had a lovely time.” He said, looking at the pictures longingly before starting to sketch another woman.

“Who’s that?”

“She was my date to that ball…” he sighed. “I actually might have fallen in love with her…alas, she was human and it didn’t last. I probably could have granted her my immortality but…” he sighed and set down the pencil. He glanced at the computer screen, looking for a response or message for him.

“But…?” you asked expectantly.

He sighed at your persistence, but smiled. “She slit her wrists one night. Humans have such limited mental capacities, and Misfortune follows in my wake. It was probably inevitable.”

“You couldn’t bring her back with magic?” you asked curiously.

“I am not so cruel, I let the dead stay dead. After all, there are plenty of living to choose from.” He shrugged.

He stayed by the computer for the rest of the trip to the harbor. You found a trench coat to wear that you cut the bottom off to fit him better, and hide the fact that he wasn’t wearing pants. You felt he was your responsibility and lead him to your penthouse in the busy metropolis.

“My my my, not such a fancy pants that you own your own place eh? Just a simple flat?” he teased.

“It’s the best you can get in such a place jack*beep*.” You glared. “Besides it’s not my only one, and I do have a house, just not here.”

“Boring.” He rolled his eyes and checked the phone you gave him to monitor his messages. So far there was still nothing, making him huff.

“Alright now, what is there to do around here?” he asked carelessly.

“Why don’t you go check out my closet? You’d look lovely in one of my ball gowns.” You smirked as you greeted your cat.

Anti-Cosmo rose an eyebrow. “You’re just jealous cause I probably would.” He mumbled. “I doubt you have my color.”

“Why don’t you tell me more about yourself. Like, what’s with the Anti in front of everything?”

“We are Anti-Fairy dear, we are the equal and opposite forces of the regular fairies. Spelling our names backwards to prove that doesn’t always work. For some it does, but it’s often just easier to say Anti.” He stated simply.

“What, so there’s a regular fairy version of you?”

Anti-cosmo cringed slightly. “He’s an absolute idiot. A goodie goodie nuisance to all he meets. I want nothing to do with him.”

“So if you’re opposites, and you’re the annoying one…” you smirked as he shot you a glare. “Also, if you’re an all powerful magical being, why do you need to drink human blood?”

“Mostly to prevent a magic crash.” He shrugged.

“A what?” you frowned.

“Oh dear, do I need to explain what a crash is?” he sighed.

“No I know how drugs work.”

“Not those kind of drugs!” he insisted with annoyance. “I told you I am full of magic in my veins, correct? So are Fairies. Only they can only let so much build up before exploding. So it’s just called ‘magical build up’. They use the wands and become godparents to help expel the magic as well as do, what they hope is good, by making children happy.” He said with disgust.

“And you what? Use your build-up for evil?”

“Have you not been listening? I am the equal and complete opposite power that is my fairy counterpart! Meaning, my magic regenerates when used, but it is usually at max capacity, that’s normal for an anti-fairy. That being said, when I cast a spell, it takes longer to build back up. If I use too much magic, I will run out, causing a magical crash.”

“Do you explode from mortality?” you teased.

“No.” he huffed then stayed quiet for a minute. “…I implode. It is reversible so it’s not possibly to kill us that way.”

“And you drinking blood comes into play where?”

“I’ve discovered that nothing makes ones magic regenerate faster than human blood.” He licked his lips. “ESEPCIALLY the blood of the misfortunate. Just the thought of meeting a poor soul who’s never succeeded in anything makes my mouth water! Anyways, I always use magic, for everything, so it’s convenient to have a blood supply nearby. However I doubt you’ll have the same effect, so after I get my wand back I will be bidding you a fond farewell.”

“Sounds just fine to me.” You huffed.

“So, what to do till then?” Anti-Cosmo said thoughtfully. “Go to a rave? Go night shopping? Hunt for ghosts in the park~?” he smirked and waved his fingers at you.

“How about sleep? It’s been a long exciting day and I’m exhausted.” You huffed and started getting ready for bed.

“Oh, you can sleep when you’re dead!” he whined and pulled at your sleeve.

“Why don’t you get back online and catch up on the past 15 years worth of memes?” you said and got into bed.

“Oh please, nothing could be funnier than the troll faces that say “u mad?”” he waved his hand at you.

“Oh buddy, you’ve got a lot to learn.” You smirked and went to sleep.

He stared at your sleeping form, his eyes gleaming mischievously. “Soon my sweet…so I will have my way with you, you lovely immortal thing~” He licked his lips. He then checked for messages for his lackies and found nothing. “*BEEP*.” He pouted.

In the morning, you laid on your back and Anti-Cosmo was flouting above you. You frowned at the sight of his face and turned over. “Its bad enough I’ve had to deal with you till late last night, but now you have to flout over me while I’m asleep like a creeper?” you huffed.

“What can I say? You enchant me.” He said and started walking his fingers up your back. You shivered and swatted his hand away.

“Still nothing from your people?” you asked and sat up

He sighed and leaned back. “No…which is really odd.”

“Maybe you can try again? Post something else?”

“That would make me look whiny and desperate, then more of them would be less inclined to help me.” He huffed. “Besides, I’d much rather wait and possibly get some breakfast.” He said, looking at you hungrily.

“Oh for crying out…don’t even think about it!” you glared and got up. “You want blood, you’ve got to go to the fridge for a bloodbag.” You said as you walked to the closet.

“People healthy enough to donate blood rarely have enough misfortune to satisfy me.” He pouted.

“Boo hoo, you’ll have to have your cocktails AIDS-free then.” You rolled your eyes. “And if that’s the case, my blood would be nowhere near satisfying.”

“You think living eternally alone is a blessing?” he asked with his eyebrows raised. This did stop you in your tracks.

He drifted towards you, suddenly shrinking down and sitting on your shoulder. “Come on now, you got to taste my blood! I’ve never had Vampire blood before, I’m curious!” he urged.

You hesitated dispute knowing you’d get no benefit from this exchange, as well as you know darn well you owed him nothing. Before you could decide however, a ding came from the phone on the bedside.

Anti-Cosmo zoomed to it, growing to his original size as he snatched it up and read the notification. His mouth grew to a twisted grin, his eyes shimmering with joy.

“Ah, Anti-Juandissimo, you never fail me dear friend.” He smirked.

He suddenly stood up and held up his hand. A black wand with a star at the end appeared in his blue skinned hand. His face broke into a villainous grin as he spun it around and gave it a wave. Magic erupted from it and made his old clothes appear on his body, but they were new and pristine. His monocle returned, dangling from his earlobe before swinging up to it’s place over his eye. Small silver jewelry were placed on his clothes, ear, and wing. Lastly a bowler hat flouted above his hair.

He sighed with relief and stretched slightly. “Yes…perfect. I feel whole again~”

“You look like a Magical girl transforming.” You chuckled.

He looked back at you before waving his wand at you. Suddenly, there was a flash of light, smoke surrounded you, and your clothes changed into a vampire themed Magical girl outfit. Short skirt, a cape, even little bat wings on your head. Your costume was also adorned in silver jewelry and mirrored Anti-Cosmo’s black and blue.

“There, now we match.” He smirked.

You tried to pull the skirt down to cover your legs. “What the *Beep*?!” you yelled at him.

“What? You look cute~ oh yes, I have a wish to grant, be right back.” He grinned and vanished.

You huffed in irritation and immediately started stripping the cutesie outfit off. “What an *beep*!” you whispered angrily. “I thought he was awful before the wand…”

Part 3

[crash-cinematic-universe]

Holographic Sand is a Kickass Band Name

pairing: peter maximoff/OC(graciella decuerpo) (high school AU/not canon)

summary: peter learns that a fuckton can change in the course of a week

warnings: none? bad language and peter is simp but thats it

notes **please read**: Heyyyyy how are you doing? good? that’s great. so ik this fic is a peter/oc fic, but honesty i only use her name a few times and a few defining features but like. thats it. so you can totally just imagine urself in her position. also this fic is 5,550 words exactly. that’s the most ive ever written and I am SUPER fucking proud. I think i might become one of those blogs where i write super huge monster fics that im proud of instead of just writing to fill requests.if u dont want that then just lmk and i will not do that. i dont know. maybe. also this fic is peter centric because uh it is. anyways enjoy <3

taglist: @creator-appreciator, @simonsbluee

--------

Monday

           Peter sat across the room, his arms crossed neatly on top of his knees as he rested his chin on his forearm. He wasn’t paying attention to the lesson being taught in front of him, in fact, he wasn’t paying attention to anything at all. No, Peter was lost in his head again. Peter’s mind was a chaotic minefield of music and cheesy one-liners and random facts that he seems to just know. But this time, he wasn’t envisioning himself beating up a police officer or playing with Pink Floyd. This time, he was picturing a perfect world where nothing ever happened yet nothing was ever boring. Peter had built a utopia in his mind-- a kingdom created to his exact preferences. A blissful tower of joy and happiness and energy and satisfaction. A paradise where he stood on top of the world with Graciella DeCuerpo, the pretty girl from algebra  class, standing right next to him.

          Now, Peter was well aware that the pretty girl from algebra  class had no idea who Peter was. The pair had never exchanged more than a few words, but somewhere within those few words, Peter managed to decide that she was his soulmate. He’d created an image of her in his head that would make God weep tears of envy, the perfect personality for the perfect person.  Peter willfully ignored the fact that he was setting himself up for heartbreak as he imagined how nice it would feel to have her fingers intertwined with his. 

           All of Peter’s friends thought he was ridiculous, ‘you can’t love someone you don’t know,’ they’d say. Peter would only scoff and shake away their words. He absolutely can love someone he doesn’t know, it’s getting the other person to reciprocate those feelings that’s nearly impossible. However, that doesn’t stop him from fantasizing at night. That doesn’t stop him from imagining the various ways he’d confess his love to the pretty girl who doesn’t love him. Or maybe she does. Peter doesn’t know, he could never know; unless, of course, he worked up the courage to talk to her. 

          Scott constantly teased Peter about his one-sided infatuation, but Peter paid no mind to him. He was 100% content with his perpetual pining for someone who probably didn’t know his name. He was totally okay with the unending ache in his chest that would appear any time she walked by or met his gaze. Peter was alright with his ceaseless yearning and the eternal feeling of disappointment that overtook him every time he snapped out of one of his fantasies. He was a-okay with all of that.

          So, there he was, spacing out during biology class as Professor Hargreeves struggles to teach the silver teen about photosynthesis. The Professor looked at Peter with desperate eyes, soon deciding that having his usually energetic student be quiet and still was the silver lining of the situation-- no pun intended. Professor Hargreeves droned on as Peter glanced at the clock, counting down the minutes until 7th period. Counting the seconds until he got to see the pretty girl in algebra  class once again.

Tuesday

          6th period was always the worst part of Peter’s day-- the dreaded english class. There were many contributing factors to Peter’s hatred for this class; the professor was a bore, the material itself was uninteresting, and Peter could never seem to sit still or retain any of the words he read in english class. Worst of all, english class seemed to go on forever, leaving Peter to impatiently wait for the bell to ring and release him to 7th period. At the end of the period every day, he was practically vibrating in his seat. 

          “Can anyone tell me what Juliet’s suicide is supposed to symbolize?” the Professor asked expectantly. Peter couldn’t care less about the symbolism of some chick’s suicide-- he’d much rather be studying the features of his algebra  class infatuation. 

          She sat next to him yesterday. There were at least 5 other open seats and she sat next to him. Yes, Peter read too much into it and yes, Peter spent the entire class period trying to make himself seem naturally cool, but he didn’t care. Peter would act like the most desperate, pathetic, lovestruck loser in the world if it meant that she would like him. They didn’t talk, they didn’t exchange a single word, nevertheless, Peter was in a state of euphoria for the entire class period. 

          Sometimes Peter feels like a stalker. He watches her whenever he can-- he doesn’t follow her around or anything, but if she’s around, he’ll stare at her. He has her features memorized, the curve of her nose, the dark brown irises surrounding her pupils, the way that she always seems to have chipped black nail polish on. He sees the small things. He sees the way she bites her nails when he gets bored and he sees the way her leg never seems to stop bouncing. She hums the basslines to songs as opposed to the melody. 

          English class came to an abrupt end as the bell cut off the Professor’s teachings as well as Peter’s distant daydreaming. Peter was out of his seat within seconds, his notes and books quickly being swept up in his arms as he walked out of the room. The hallways are crowded and chaotic and busy, each individual student attempting to get to their locker then to their class on time. Peter watches as kids swing their lockers open, fatigue and weariness apparent on their faces as they disappear into their classrooms. Peter reaches his locker hastily, the few small posters of classic rocks bands adorning the inside of his locker door. A playful giddiness overcame his body as he made his way to algebra  class, a small smile left on his face.

          Graciella shows up across the hallway, her bright red hair catching his eye in a sea of brown and blonde and blue. His stomach flutters as they get closer and closer to each other, finally meeting outside of the classroom. Her eyes rise to meet Peter’s, and instead of pulling away, Peter keeps looking. She smiles at him before disappearing inside the classroom, and Peter felt his knees get weak. With a deep breath and a triumphant smile, he walked into the classroom.

Wednesday

          Lunchtime; possibly one of the most enjoyable parts of Peter’s school day. Peter is free to kick back and stuff his face full of whatever junk the school board deems nutritious enough for highschoolers. Usually, he ate lunch under the bleachers with his friends, but in some sick twist of fate most of them were absent. So, Peter was left to eat alone in his usual spot.

          The quiet was comfortable, refreshing. The gentle summer breeze would blow every few minutes and Peter would listen to the rustle of the leaves. There’s a certain tranquility to being alone; Peter can lay back and relax and just… think. No stress, no panicking, no--

          “Hey, uh, Peter, right?” Peter’s eyes snap up so fast he’s afraid they would detach from his head and fall out. His breath faltered and his hands began to shake a bit-- why was he so freaked out? She was just a girl; sure, she was the prettiest girl he’d ever seen, and yeah, he was madly in love with her, but that’s besides the point. 

          “Uh-- uh, yeah, P-Peter. That’s, uh, that’s me,” He chuckled awkwardly, desperately trying to stay cool. Peter was an awkward person, but he’d rather die than fuck up his chances with Grace.

          “You dropped this on your way out of class yesterday, I, uhm, didn’t get to return it to you until now,” She holds out a small key chain with three small keys hanging off of it-- Peter’s house keys, along with the key to his mother’s car. He quickly takes the key chain from the red-haired girl in front of him.

          “Holy shit, uh, thanks! I couldn’t get into my house yesterday so I guess you saved me from another broken window,” Peter held up his hand and showcased the scattered pattern of small cuts on his palm. Grace laughed lightly before gently running her fingers over the cuts on Peter’s palm.

          “Oh fuck, dude, these look pretty bad. Maybe keep a spare key hidden under your welcome mat or something,” Peter doesn’t fully process Grace’s words; he’s too preoccupied with trying not to collapse at the feeling of her fingertips on his palm.

          “Hey, you okay? You look… pale,” Grace pressed the back of her hand on Peter’s forehead in an attempt to check for illness, but that just made Peter’s skin erupt in goosebumps. 

          “I, um, I’m fine. I’m just st-stressed about the algebra  t-test on Friday, I th-think,” To be fair, Peter was stressed about the algebra  test. Peter may or may not have spent the entire class staring at Grace instead of, you know, learning the material.

          “Oh! Well, if you want, I can help you study. I’m also kinda worried about it, and I study better with other people,” Peter silently thanked god for what was happening to him.

          “That would be fuckin’ fantastic,” Grace smiled a smile that made Peter shiver.

          “Cool! Uh, I’ll give you my phone number and we’ll meet up tomorrow. One day isn’t much time to study, but it’s better than nothing.” She pulls a pen out of her backpack and rips a small piece of paper out of one of her notebooks. Peter watches as she scribbles down her phone number and hands the paper to him.

          “Thanks. For everything, the keys, the studying-- everything.” Grace smiled.

          “It’s no problem, Peter, really. I’ll call you later,” And just like that, she walked away. Peter was left alone under the bleachers, a wide smile plastered on his face as he read the piece of paper in his hands over and over and over again.

Thursday

          30 minutes. 30 minutes until Grace Reaper DeCuerpo, the prettiest, nicest, funniest girl Peter had ever met would show up on his doorstep. She would be inside his house for god knows how long. She would sit next to Peter-- either on the coffee table in the basement or on the floor of his bedroom. Needless to say, Peter was freaking the fuck out.

          The plan was simple: Grace shows up, they study, they get comfortable, and she goes home. Yet, in those four simple steps, so much could go wrong. Wanda could interrupt, his mother could lose her temper, Lorena could start crying-- worst of all, Peter could embarrass himself and drive her away. 

           Peter was in the middle of reorganizing his record collection for a third time when he heard a knock at the door. His blood went cold and an electric excitement ran through his veins. Peter checked his hair in the mirror one last time before running to the door. He stood silently, staring at the chrome handle hesitantly. This was his one chance. His only chance to make his perfect kingdom real-- Peter really, really, really didn't want to fuck it up. With a deep breath, he slowly opened the door.

          "Hey, Peter!" Her voice was smooth and melodic and it made Peter's heart light up. He’s about to respond with something smooth and witty when a squeaky voice chirps behind him.

         “Hi!! Are you the pretty girl Peter talks about?” Peter can physically feel his face turn bright red as he turns to see his six-year-old sister, Lorena, standing behind him. She’s wearing a purple princess dress that has a syrup stain on the sleeve. Grace laughs before stepping through the doorway. 

          “Lorena!” Peter groans in annoyance, a pleading look on his face. The young girl just giggles before scurrying away, her dress flowing behind her.

          “‘The pretty girl Peter talks about’, huh?” Grace grins at Peter cheekily. Peter runs his hand through his hair before motioning to the staircase.

          “God, Lorna is quite the kid. Well, uh, we can work in my room,” He sighs. “And Grace? Uh, m-maybe don’t let Lorena change your opinion of me,” She just smirks before walking past Peter.

          “Too late,” She called before disappearing down the stairs. Peter could hear the faintest trace of a smile in her voice. His heart skipped a beat as he quickly followed after her. 

          She was wearing a Pink Floyd t-shirt and holding a backpack with various pins on it-- her left ear was pierced in three places and her right in five. The earrings she was wearing were black, or maybe grey; her bright red hair blocked Peter’s view of them. She was wearing rings, some odd words engraved in the metal. Peter couldn’t read them from where he was standing. She was wearing a skirt with fishnets, her hand buried in the pockets that seem to have been sewn in herself. She has callouses on both her hands, but Peter knew that already. Her appearance would put Aphrodite to shame-- suddenly, Peter was much less confident in himself than he was before. He ran his hand through his hair again before reaching the basement.

          He held his breath as Grace looked around his room, her gaze lingering on the plethora of stolen signs and band posters covering the walls. She placed her backpack on the floor and walked over to Peter’s record collection, her fingers carefully flitting through the different albums. She seemed… impressed. It was then that Peter realized it had been silent for much too long.

          “Y’know I can, uh, p-play some music if you want me to. You can just pick a record and, uh, I’ll... play it,” Peter winced at his words, cursing himself for being so awkward in front of the girl he’d been pining after since the beginning of the year. He felt like everything had spiraled out of control, and he watched idly as it happened. Then, Grace shot him a smile and pulled out a record.

          “You have a good taste in music, Silver,” No one had ever called Peter ‘silver’ before. He liked it a bit more than he should. “Although, that’s not really a surprise. I had a feeling you were cool.” 

          “You think I’m cool?” Peter asked, shocked. He wasn’t sure he heard her correctly.

          “Oh, totally. I see you in the hallways sometimes and you always seem so… carefree. Genuine. I don’t know, I guess it’s just… you, ya know? You’re naturally cool.” Every syllable that rolled off her tongue shot euphoria through Peter’s veins. Grace DeCuerpo, the girl Peter Maximoff had dreamed of for almost a full year, was telling him that she thought he was cool. Naturally cool. 

          “I know a lot of people who would disagree with you on that one,” Peter joked. There was truth behind his humor, but of course, he didn’t want to get into his insecurities now. “They think I’m a total loser, which isn’t totally wrong I guess.”

          “Well those people are stupid,” She stated matter-of-factly with a smile. “Speaking of stupid, we should probably get to work.” Peter nodded before sitting beside her on the floor. 

          For three hours they poured over their algebra  books. They quizzed each other and checked each other’s work; Peter’s proficiency in simplifying radicals aiding them both. Every now and then their hands would brush against each other, or the conversation would stray away from school and into their personal lives. Peter learned that Grace had two brothers, one of which passed away when she was younger. Peter talked about Lorena and Wanda and his miraculous abilities in the same way that she talked about her hometown and her own abilities. The conversation was smooth and natural-- Peter didn’t feel like he was being too annoying or too chatty and there was seldom an awkward pause. The pair were content in their time together, not a single moment went by where one wished the other would leave. 

          Eventually, Grace had to go home. Peter wished that she could stay forever, but of course, that would be considered kidnapping. He walked her to the door, although Peter didn’t feel like he was walking. He felt like he was floating.

          “Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, Silver,” Grace said softly as she turned to face Peter. She looked him in the eye and he could feel his stomach flutter. 

          “Yeah, I guess so,” She opened the door, but before she left, she froze. She turned to look at Peter once again. 

          “Peter?” she said. “You’re not a loser.”

Friday

          Peter could tell the second he walked through the front door of his high school that something had changed. The energy that radiated in the halls shifted from a dull buzz of boredom to a rush of anticipation. The students in the hallway looked the same as always; tired and anxious and wishing for the day to go by quickly. However, Peter wasn’t wishing for the end of the day, and he certainly wasn’t tired. He was determined and energized and absolutely terrified, because that morning Peter Maximoff made the most important decision a seventeen-year-old could. He decided that he was going to ask Grace out on a date. 

          Peter made the choice to keep this from his friends-- it’s not that he didn’t trust them, it’s just that Peter knew he would be teased for his infatuation. It’s happened before and it will happen again. He walked down the hallways with a brave face on, his eyes forward and his heart racing. Truthfully, the silver teenager was terrified of… well, everything. The looming image of a harsh rejection forced itself into his mind; the idea that she would laugh in his face made his heart break a tiny bit, even though it wasn’t real. Peter simply shook those images away and walked on. 

          The day flew by much faster than Peter was comfortable with, and for the first time ever, he was dreading algebra  class. He was terrified that he would walk through the door and have everything be exactly the same-- he feared that Grace would go back to not knowing who he was, just like before. Peter was alright with never being her boyfriend, but he didn’t want to be a stranger. He didn’t think he could take being a stranger anymore. 

            So, there he stood, staring at the door to his algebra classroom from across the hall. He felt confident and prepared himself for the task at hand. In four long strides, he entered the classroom. Grace was sitting next to an empty desk, her eyes stuck on the small notebook full of doodles on her desk. Peter watched as her eyes raised to meet his, a wide smile forming on her face as she motioned him over. 

          “Hey, silver! I saved a seat for ya,” she called, and Peter felt his knees get weak. He then decided that he would wait until after class to ask her out. 

          “You did?”

          “Of course,” She grinned. “I like you, dude, you’re my friend,” Peter’s heart fluttered as he sat down beside her. Grace shot an odd look his way before reaching out and placing a hand on his arm. “Hey, you look stressed. Don’t sweat it, silver, you’ll do fine. We studied for, like, 3 hours yesterday. You’re gonna ace it,”

          To be frank, Peter had forgotten all about the test. The real reason he looked so stressed was because he happened to be sitting next to the love of his life, and the love of his life happened to be touching his arm. 

          “O-oh! Uh, yeah, thanks. I was just nervous because of… the test,” The bell rang and class began, the professor strictly laying down the rules that were to be followed while the test was in session. Peter could feel the lingering touch of her hand on his skin. It made his head feel fuzzy.

          Peter soon came to learn that sitting next to Grace during a test was a huge mistake. He couldn’t focus on anything other than her-- it didn’t help that she kept shooting him glances from where she sat. The numbers and letters on the paper in front of him seemed to rearrange before his eyes, instead spelling out various taunts. He feels a little pathetic for how easily Grace can unravel him, but hey, he’s a teenager. 

          The silver-haired boy’s eyes were struggling to decipher the words on his page when a small folded square landed on his desk. It came from Grace’s direction, and a small smirk had formed on her lips as she solved equations. Hesitantly, he unfolded the paper and read the neatly written message.

          Hey silver :)

          Peter smiled softly. He quickly pulled a pad of post-it notes out of his backpack and scribbled down a quick reply.

          I have no idea what I’m doing. I think Professor Stedman decided to write our tests in hieroglyphics this time.

          He flicked the note onto her desk and quickly turned his face downward. Class would be over soon, and Peter knew he couldn’t turn in a blank test. He uses his enhanced speed to do his assessment in seconds. Sure, he was almost certain he’d barely reach a passing grade, but hey, he had bigger matters to focus on. By the time he finished, another note landed on his desk.

          That bad, huh? Looks like we better study longer next time. 

          Peter’s heart swelled a bit. He really thought the study sessions were a one-time thing. He’s overjoyed to know he’ll get to see Grace semi-regularly, even if he never manages to ask her out.

          I think I’d rather hang out with you without the looming threat of schoolwork. 

          That’s the closest Peter could get to asking her out. He put deep thought into every word, he examined the phrasing and checked the spelling of every word. His english teacher would be proud.

          That can be arranged ;) 

          Peter had no idea that four words could make him feel so much. He had no idea that 17 letters could make him want to scream in the middle of a silent testing period. His hand was shaking and his careful planning was abandoned as he scribbled back a reply.

          Oh yeah? What did you have in mind?

          Patiently, he waited. He waited for Grace to finish writing her response and he waited for her to toss the note back over. He didn’t wait for more than a few minutes, but it felt like hours. He was panicking, and he was sure she could tell. She was probably joking, right? She was probably writing an awkward clarification-- she was probably explaining that she would actually rather die than be around him for non-academic reasons. He braced himself as the yellow post-it landed on the center of his desk.

          My aunt owns a drive-in a few miles from here and she gave me keys to the projector room and the gate. She managed to snag a copy of The Exorcist-- I thought you’d like to join me during my midnight escapade tomorrow night.

          Peter’s heart stopped. For a moment, he thought his eyes were fooling him. Maybe this was all some sick joke. Maybe he was being set up. Maybe he’ll get in her car tomorrow and she’ll drive him into the woods and murder him. To be completely honest, Peter wouldn’t mind if she murdered him. Peter wrote his reply.

          Really? You want me there? I might be a drag. You could probably find at least 20 other people who would probably be more interesting than me.

          Grace frowned at his response, and suddenly Peter decided he never wanted to see her frown again. She wrote confidently, her words solid and sure.

          You? A drag? Impossible. I don’t want to be alone, and I don’t want to be with anyone other than you, Maximoff. 

          This note was his undoing. He couldn’t help himself, he read it over and over and over again-- he almost forgot to respond. He wanted to hold onto it forever, he wanted it to be framed and hung on his wall. Hell, he wanted it tattooed on his arm. Peter had never been so happy while taking a test, that’s for sure. He wasn’t sure exactly what to say; he went from heartfelt responses to witty retorts. Finally, he decided to be totally and completely honest.

          I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

Saturday 

          There was seldom a time in his life where Peter Maximoff felt wholly content. Even in the most peaceful moments, there was always something bothering him, there was always something to pull him back to reality. However, sitting in the back of Grace’s dad’s convertible with the seats down and the roof pulled back, his head resting on her shoulder as they watched a cheesy horror movie, Peter was as close to nirvana as he’d ever been. 

          Life had always been so hard for Peter. He’s always had to fight for his seat at the table, to claw his way into a state of mind that wasn’t a hellhole. It seemed as if the world was plotted against him; he was ostracized from society and taught that he, along with his closest family and friends, were monsters. He never met his father and his mother spent so long fighting her own battles that she forgot to love her kids. Peter had to steal to stay fed, and he had to do his best to raise his little sisters to be good people. But right there, right then? That wasn’t hard. Peter didn’t have to be anyone or do anything-- he just had to exist next to someone who wanted him. That was the easiest thing Peter had ever done.

          Peter wasn’t exactly sure how he got there. Of course, he knew that they had driven to the drive-in, but he wasn’t sure how he was the person next to Grace. They had spoken for one day, maybe two, and somehow he landed himself in the most perfect spot in the entire universe. Less than a week ago, she didn’t even know his name. Or, maybe she did. Maybe she was just like Peter-- maybe she had spent the past year pining for him, and finally she worked up the nerve to just talk to him. Maybe. Peter isn’t complaining either way.

          “Can I ask you a kind of cheesy question?” Peter is startled by the sound of his own voice. Grace sits up and glances at him.

          “Shoot,”

          “Do you-- well, uh, don’t read too much into this, but, do you believe in love at first sight?” God, he sounded awkward. 

          “Nope,” She said bluntly. Peter wasn’t expecting that answer, but he wasn’t exactly disappointed by it. “I mean, it’s kind of a stupid idea, ya know? Like, isn’t there a million poems and sonnets and books written about how love is this weird complicated monster of a feeling? I don’t think you can really love someone just by looking at them. You can love the idea of a person, sure, or maybe the look of a person, but you can’t love that person. Because a person is so much more than ‘first sight’,” she sighs. “I don’t know, maybe I’m being a killjoy. It just seems dumb to me-- dumb and, I don’t know, exclusive,”

          Peter stops to think for a moment. He steps out of his lovesick chaotic hellbrain and looks at his feelings from an outside perspective. He thinks back to the kingdom he created in his brain-- a kingdom built on a foundation of sand. Or, less than sand. Holographic sand, because the sand he built his kingdom on wasn’t real. He made a mental note that ‘Holographic Sand’ is a kickass band name, then resumed his impromptu soul-searching. She was right-- he could see  that now. Scott was right, too. You really can’t love someone you don’t know, because if you don’t know them, you fill in the gaps. You fill in the gaps with what you think fits, and then the other person stops being them and starts being parts of you. Peter suddenly felt weird.

          “I’m sorry if I said something wrong,” Grace interjects after a while. Peter hadn’t realized he’d been silent for so long.

          “You didn’t say anything wrong. On the contrary, you, uh, you made things a little bit more… right, in my brain. You somehow managed to take a little chunk of chaos and tame it, which is scarily impressive,” he joked. “Remind me to ask you your opinion on the meaning of life and the root of true happiness,” They’re joined in a chorus of laughter and Peter realizes that his little brain kingdom didn’t hold a candle to the red convertible he was sitting in. She slings an arm around his shoulders.

          “Y’know, I might not know the meaning of life, but I am pretty close to true happiness right now,” She says, softer than before. “Maybe the root of true happiness is you, Maximoff,” She chuckles. Peter smiles. He doesn’t want the ruin the moment-- god, he is desperately trying to keep himself from fucking it up, but he feels obligated to tell her about his year of pining.

          “Hey, uh, can I tell you something kinda pathetic?” He cringes at the way his voice trembled on the last word. 

      ��   “Go ahead, Peter,” She used his name this time. Peter thinks she knows he’s about to say something mildly serious.

          “I’ve liked you since, like, the beginning of the year. You seemed so… cool. So nice. I saw you in the hallways and my stomach would get all twisted up and my head would hurt a little bit. It was like I was allergic to you, but I enjoyed it. That sounds weird. I’m sorry,” He stopped for a moment, attempting to take the buzzing mass of words in his brain and string them into a sentence. “I was too afraid to talk to you, so I, uh, asked around. I got other people’s opinions of you and then built a little version of you in my brain. I realize now that, uhm, the little brain version of you is like, way way worse than actual you,”

          When you talked to me the first time, you threw me off. I wasn’t really nervous about the test-- I mean, yeah I was nervous but that’s not why I looked so pale. I just wasn’t expecting for you to talk to me, like, willingly. So I lied because I was embarrassed. And I lied again in class yesterday. Because I was embarrassed,” He stopped talking. Peter felt like he was digging himself into a hole-- he felt like he killed the sweet sugary mood. 

          “Why are you telling me this?” Grace asked. She didn’t sound angry. She sounded a little confused, and she sounded like she was trying to help Peter decipher his brain. 

          “I don’t know, I guess I just feel bad. I feel bad for, uh, for not being honest I guess. I feel bad for being a coward,” Yep, definitely killed the mood.

          “Peter, you shouldn’t feel bad for being afraid, you know,” She assures. “I would’ve done the exact same thing in your position. Hell, I did do the exact same thing in your position,” That caught Peter’s attention.

          “What?”

          “You didn’t drop your keys in algebra. You dropped them somewhere in bio and my friend found them. She was gonna take them to the office, but I wanted an excuse to talk to you, so I said I’d return them,” Peter couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He was being pranked, he had to be. “Being awkward and weird is like a requirement in high school. Don’t sweat it, Maximoff, really. We’re all the same in that way, I think,”

          Peter felt a wave of relief wash over him. He was feeling too much at that moment, he was letting the bad drown out the good. He didn’t want to remember the day in a sad light.

          “I like you. A lot. Even if you are awkward and weird,” He smiles softly. Slowly, ever so slowly, he intertwined his fingers with those of the girl beside him. It was a simple display of affection, but it made Peter feel like he was floating.

          “I like you too, dork,” Peter smiled widely before placing his head back on Grace’s shoulder. Peter wasn’t paying attention to the movie, in fact, he wasn’t paying attention to anything at all. No, Peter was lost in his head again-- but this time, he wasn’t standing on a false kingdom with a false version of the girl he liked. No, this time, he was thinking about the very real girl beside him. He was thinking about the perfect world they had created in the small car they were in; a perfect world where he felt so much emotion and so, so safe. They had built a utopia in the back seat- a blissful tower of awkwardness and comfort and clumsy confessions. A paradise where he sat in the back seat of a Ford Galaxie with Graciella DeCuerpo, the pretty girl from algebra class, sitting right next to him. 

[thedappleddragon]

hooooo my fucking god I don't know why but recently my anxiety/sence of dread has SKYROCKETED in the last 3 days, I haven't been sleeping great and last night I had an anxiety dream about manning the register at work. idk I guess today was fine but im so fucking overstimulated I guess?? I seriously just dont fuking know. but anyway here’s a summary of some days that I may or may not remember. putting it under the cut

Wednesday I was exited to work, they didn’t need me, I hung out with my friends at their outdoor band concert and had boba and it got super cold out

Thursday I went with my dad to drop off a car, then we had breakfast together at a little restaurant I had never been to before. He told me about his childhood n stuff. Then I went to work and priced things outside and felt good about helping some people buy plants even tho I didn’t know exactly what I was doing and ended up handing them off to Becky anyway. Got off work, came home, hung out waiting to be able to go visit my friend but she took a while so dad and I made the snack he had a lot as a kid which was just handmade chocolate frosting on graham crackers. Eventually my friend got home so I grabbed one of those graham crackers in some Tupperware and some other stuff and headed out. It was a longer drive than I was expecting but eh whatever, I got there no problem with a bunch of dad’s shit in the back of the car. We had awkward hellos in her apartment and I pet her fat ass cat until she suggested we go thrifting and oh my god I had never wanted to go thrifting more in my life than right then. I had one of those moments where I realized oh I’m an adult who can go out and just DO things :D so we walked around and gossiped in goodwil and had a great time until they closed, whereupon steph frantically looked for anything that was open near us while I drove around. We settled on going to a little park nearby, where we climbed on the tube with holes on it and swung on the swings. Then we walked around a dense tree/brush like and into the middle of a field, having our main character moments as we walked to the top of a hill with a cross on it. I took a picture of the sunset and a selfie with both of us before we walked back through the field and drove back to her apartment. I gave her 2 tiny flower jars and she let me borrow her container of earring hardware and a bunch of different tiny things to make into earrings. I had a great time and I’d love to hang out again, maybe when everything isn’t closed lmao. We joked a lot about understanding why people do drugs lmao since there’s nothing else to do! everything’s closed!! Also some joke flirting mixed in for flavor. We have an excuse to hang out again so I can return her earring supplies and she can return my Tupperware lol. I thought my phone was going to die on the way home before I realized there was a charging cord in the car! Nice. Got home, watched my friend stream plasmaphobia for a bit while I finished a birthday gift, and hung out and slept when she quit streaming. 

Friend’s birthday party day!! Also dad moving day!! The first task of the day was to drive with my dad down to the nearest uhaul to pick up a big ol’ truck, and follow him home in the car while he lead the way in the truck. Then we brought his car full of shit to the apartment, got his key and paid his first month, and looked through everything to do inspection. Tbh it’s a pretty nice apartment, I’d love to spend some time there once it’s a bit more furnished. My favorite part is a Harry Potter style hidey hole closet that’s meant for storage, but it’s the perfect size for a secluded hangout spot for me. I’ll totally let him use it for storage if he wants, I just like sitting in there. I joked that I would let Emily hang out in the spare bedroom and I could get the tiny room. But we spent time cleaning and looking around and bringing in boxes before dad sent me to pick up lunch, my sister, and another car load of boxes. I left to do all 3 and came back with Mcallisters, and we all sat on the floor and ate together. A very nice way to break in a new apartment. We brought in boxes and dad sent us on a quest to pick up a car part and drop it off where the car we dropped off the day before. We got there just fine, but getting to the second location was a nightmare because of all my wrong turns and u turns and no left turns, it was awful. I mean we got there eventually but still. By then it was time for me to get home so I could wash my hair and get ready for the party!! I got everything ready, but my sister wouldn’t be home with the car on time, so I just took my mom’s van. I was on time for once!! But in exchange I didn’t realize I had forgotten Cassidy’s gift until I was like 3 minutes away. But also I found driving my moms van very easy compared to last time I tried to drive it, and I think I’m a much more confident driver now :) but I was one of the first to arrive, accidentally twinned with cass, waited for everyone to show up, met her new dog, and then we all packed up the picnic basket and walked to the top of a hill to have our little sandwiches and play cards against humanity. On the walk there we passed by a park where little kids were asking why we were all dressed up if it wasn’t Halloween, so I shouted at them that it was her birthday and handed them the branch I was carrying. We played CAH on the hill and ate little sandwiches and meatballs and drank sparkling juice and had a lovely time, and when we were done, we walked back to her house where there was pizza and we all changed out of our formal wear. My bra was sewed into my dress with 6 stitches, so I grabbed some scissors and flashed my friend’s cat as I cut my bra free of the dress because I forgot to bring an extra. I changed into my ghostbusters shirt and snake onesie and joined everyone outside for pizza and lots and lots of stories and ice cream cake and gossip and quiplash and balloons and gifts and CAH and friends leaving and new friends arriving and more quiplash and then the grass getting cold and wet and going ham on keeping the balloons up and then playing that’s what she said (basically CAH but ✨for women ✨) and by this time there was a dude I didn’t know but he was very nice and cute and already taken. Tbh I didn’t know half the people there, there was a group of 4 cool alt people I had never met and then the 4 band kids I already knew but everyone else seemed to know each other and they all had great energy so I yelled a lot and joked a ton and had an amazing time. As the crowd dwindled and the night got cooler, I helped put things away before I left so I could be a nice guest, said my goodbyes, gathered my things, and drove home past midnight. Ask walked around the house turning off lights like my mom asked, I realized that my dad wouldn’t be sleeping here anymore, and I felt bad that he had to spend the night all alone in his new apartment :( and this is going to be a huge financial burden that idk if he can afford, rent for the apartment is almost as much as my mom pays for the house. Jejdjgjt this is all a mess and I would like to go back to ignoring it all <3 Listened to a lot of two trucks by lemon demon lmao

Hoo boy howdy I did a lot of shit today. Basically as soon as I woke up I got a text from dad about us helping him move with a promise of donut holes and a fruit platter. I walked out to the garage to find our family friends the drakes helping to move boxes, so we all spent several hours loading boxes into our cars and driving back and forth from the house to the apartment, with emily and I avoiding the drakes as much as possible lmao. When we had moved as much as we could in the car, we started loading up the uhaul, shoving as much shit in there as possible so we only had to do one trip there and back. Partially through unloading the truck the drakes stopped cleaning things before we brought them in left and some randos from dad’s work came to help unload and somewhere in the middle of all this our aunt and uncle and her service dog came to visit?? Bruh idk so much stuff happened. Emily asked me to take her home so she could work on school stuff and we put things back into the garage and I went back to the apartment to help with stuff and hang out with my aunt while my dad and uncle returned the truck. We made a list of stuff I might need for college and I wrote it down on a notepad and most of the page space was taken up by ponies tbh. The men brought back burger king and eventually my aunt and uncle left. I helped my dad clean up and set up his wifi and we watched mama Mia. It was my first time seeing the film, and it was really dang fun. Then I made dad drive me ho e since emily was still gone with the silver car. I’ll spend he night over there eventually, but not yet. I’m exited to eventually invite friends over since I’ve never been able to do that before. So now I’m home trying g to go to sleep so I can work tomorrow. I keep thinking about smoking weed and making out with someone in the hidey hole in dad’s apartment............ even tho I have literally no one to do that with afsagssg I’m a CHILD. 

Had dreams last night about being stuck on the infinity train again, except there was a mechanic of switching the world between 2d and 3d and the cast of Bluey had to help bingo go through stages of grief / character moments to help her get off the train or something. I was tossing and turning for a few hours anxiously waking up thinking I was gonna be late and going back to bed so I could sleep/dream more. But then I finally got up, fed my cat, fed myself, helped clean the kitchen a little bit, got ready for work, arrived 15 minutes late on accident, worked register for 6 hours, got more comfortable with register and learned how to do stuff, lots of friendly people, lots of me struggling and my bones hurting, dad brought me food but I couldn’t get to my lunch break until everything was room temperature. The chicken sandwich reheated well but the fries did not. After work dad and I stopped by the house, I got an info card to fill out so I can be called in for jury duty eventually, dad handed me $50 for dinner for us and my sister, we laid on the floor and looked at the noodles and company menu, drove there, picked up our food, had a lovely dinner at dad’s apartment, laid around while he talked to Greg on the phone, went to target to pick up small apartment things like a clock and a trash can and some small groceries but it made me nervous because I hate spending money and watching my dad spend money he may or may not have, and by then we were tired as shit and after dropping his stuff off emily and I drove home and I tried teaching her how to crochet for a school project. Now I’m hanging out wanting to go to bed and thinking about how everybody else my age working at ACE is doing like 60 hours a week with 2 jobs and saving for college and I’m just sitting here with probably 14 hours a week and fuck. I don’t want to spiral into shit, I just want to keep busy as much as possible. Maybe I’ll ask for as many work hours as possible, maybe I’ll ask my friends to hang out, idk. Right now I jut want to be busy so I don’t have to think about anything. I’ll spend as much time as possible helping my dad set up his apartment, I don’t care.

WAAAAA TODAY AT WORK WAS SO STRESSFUL, I LEFT FELLNG SO FRAZZLED IT SUCKED. basically I worked register for 4 hours but they’re all trying to ween me off asking for help to get me more comfortable, and we were surprisingly busy, and my garden boss becky asked me to do 2 extra things and my boss boss kept asking about paperwork that I couldn't fill out because I needed my sister to text me something, and an old man got mad at me over the phone because no-one was out there to fill his propane tank and I had a lady waiting for 10 minutes for someone to help load salt into her car and a middle aged man tried to use sarcasm at me while I was in friendly cashier mode aND IM SORRY I HAVE ADHD I DONT GET IT PLEASE S T O P and I tried answering the phone more and I didnt get the things done that becky asked and I left shit there because I just wanteD OUT. afterwards I went to target to get something, idk im writing this afterwards so I not really remember 

and today, my day off. ugh god I dont remember what I did, I know I picked up a vent for my mom’s bathroom and I just went to go get Taco Bell with my sister and bought her some more about crocheting and she’s making progress :) tomorrow is my friend’s birthday and last year I made her a felt doll of her fursona, so today I started making a crochet doll for her. so far I have the body and libs, but I still need to make the muzzle, tail, ears, attach everything, and hand-sew on all the markings and glue on button eyes. or maybe felt eyes, idk. my stomach hurts and I got upset because I told my mom my cat may be sick because her pee looked suspicious so I crocheted and watched my little pony and now I have a headache and im just trying to listen to music but really I just want to watch 50 arms videos at once but it wasn't loading right and idk man I dont know what’s happening, I may be going into work tomorrow. I think now that I have a job to do 3-4 times a week, I dont feel like I can just chill and wing it anymore, it’s like I have plans forever now. and oh god I still have to sig up for college orientation night or whatever, but my mind hasn'tt been on college for like a month or longer. I think im just going to take some Advil and try to relax with my cat and my music. holy shit dude. I know none’s gonna read this but just. fuck. also I should really post these more frequently rather than let them pile up in my texts. thinking about going back and adding all the dates like I did with my early quarantine diary, but that feels like a lot of work

[lilchairstacker]

For Margo (Original 2018 Version)

This was a story I wrote almost four years ago, that's crazy to think about. It's fourth anniversary is coming up in March, but I don't remember the day I finished it. I've shared this on DeviantArt and with @wyldespiderraptor and that's about it, so I'm glad I'm able to share it here. This is very old, so it might be a bit rough, but I'm going to rewrite it too. Hopefully it will be much better, but I hope you enjoy.

February 16th 2063.

For years now, Mount Everest has been a restricted area. The area has been polluted with dozens of dead bodies and equipment from previous ventures. 

Now, the Mountain has been reopened to the public.

But now, everyone has lost interest. The summit is dead. 

Except for one man. Everyone stopped climbing up the mountain, until Ulysses Zoltan did it. Alone.

~

Climbing up the massive mountain took several weeks to do, so that they could get their body used to the altitude. But that was for a group. For Ulysses, that was a few months…

No one had been that close to the mountain as him in twenty years. 

He had no idea what was up there. 

Since the shut-down, the tectonic plates of India and China have continued to press against each other, making Mt. Everest a few centimeters taller every year. And it had been twenty years since anyone had measured it. 

No one had ever climbed the mountain alone, and it was dangerous to do with seven people. 

If he was hurt, there was no one to save him. But he wouldn’t have been alone… if Margo Shure was still there. 

Ever since they were children, they had dreamed of climbing up the mountain, until it was restricted. When they were both twenty-five, they got married, and they were only married for four years when she was diagnosed with cancer. 

A month before that, the restriction on Everest had been lifted. That was when Ulysses pulled out their old plans to climb the summit, before she got any worse. 

But they didn’t make it…

Now he was there, alone, in the weather that was hundreds of degrees below zero. He had no way of knowing how close he was, or anything. He had the old standard tools. No technology. He had sold as much as he could to make it this far. Plus, in those times, technology for people in his class had no use for it anymore. 

He had a tent, a compass, and old map, and a journal to keep track of everything he did, so if that anyone found his things, or when he got back, he could possibly publish it to show to the world. 

Ulysses laid in the warmth of his tent, or little warmth. Somehow, he had managed to keep a fire in his lamp alive. He had an oxygen mask on his face, and he kept two large tanks with him. 

He was doing this for Margo, and he was taking her with him. He was taking her bottle of ashes up to the summit.

He opened up his journal, which in the front he had tried to shove every picture of them he could to keep with him. 

He had written a lot, he had started writing in it ever since Margo… passed…

He began to write in the journal:

‘Day 104.

I think I’m close to the summit, but I’m not sure how much farther. It’s lonely and dead up here, it’s so quiet that it sends a different kind of chill up my spine. The headaches are getting worse, I may catch severe altitude sickness before I make it. But I can’t, or I won’t make it. I don’t have much food left, and my oxygen is running low. I just hope I make it. 

I don’t care about making it back anymore, I want to make it up there for her.

All of this is for her.’

       ~

The next morning, the wind was extreme. Ulysses quickly gathered his things and shoved them into the massive back. He threw it over his shoulder onto his back. He quickly pulled his hood over his head and his mask over his eyes. 

Once he stepped outside, he was almost blown onto the ground. He held his lamp with a shaky hand as he tripped out of the tent. 

And it blew away.

He watched with dread as the tent was thrown far away by the vicious wind. 

He took a few moments to realize what had just happened. No tent. 

That meant he couldn’t rest. It would take him almost another month to get down, this time, with no tent… 

He slowly turned to face the wind and snow coming at him. He couldn't see anything anything… 

All he could see was the ground. And he could barely see that. He began to slowly stumble forward, the wind almost blew him over several times. 

He continued for hours, hiking up the mountain. 

Ulysses passed several frozen-solid tents and equipment that hadn't been used since he was a child.

As he climbed through the vicious storm, several memories came back to him of him and Margo as a child. 

They loved to play like they were hiking up the mountain, but back then, they had no idea about the real struggles.

But it was still cute. 

Ulysses was often a bit nervous around her, but Margo didn't mind his nervousness. 

She helped him through his fears and helped him with everything. Ever since she passed away, he had barely been able to keep their house. 

He wasn't paid enough to pay the bills, especially in that time… 

He looked up after a while to see that it was getting brighter. 

The storm was clearing up. 

When the snow dissipated, he saw the true horror… 

Bodies, dozens of bodies. Everywhere. 

Ulysses stood in front of the bodies in shock. He had no idea how bad this was…

All of the bodies were coated in frost and snow, some were barely visible under the snow. 

Several flags from other countries were stuck in the ground next to the bodies. 

That's when he realized it was deathly silent. 

He stayed silent, as if he was waiting for something to happen. 

He didn't know what, because he didn't know what to do… 

He began to slowly began to trek around the bodies as much as he could. It was very challenging. He sensed he was probably stepping on buried bodies from years ago. These bodies must’ve been twenty years old. 

He hated to disrespect their deaths… but he had to get up there. Now, he knew he was close.

~

He thought he was close, but he was about two hours away.

It had been the longest day of his journey to the summit. He had nowhere to rest anyway…

He had gone through one tank now. And he was running low on the one he had now. He wouldn’t make it down…

He was wheezing a bit now, since it was getting hard to breath. And he couldn’t get fresh air. 

Suddenly, he managed to make out and edge. He saw the summit. It was there, almost 500 feet away. 

A small bit of hope arose within him when he saw it. He smiled under the mask.

He shoved off his backpack and began to run to the summit to the best of his abilities. It was more of a limp  at that point. 

As the mountain got more steep, he began to slightly crawl up it, since he would fall backwards if he tried to walk up it. 

As he came within two feet of the summit, he caught a glimpse over the edge of the summit.

He stared in amazement for a moment, and then finally stood on the top. 

The highest point on earth. 

From that point, he could see the entirety of the Himalayas. And he could see the curve of the earth, concluding that the earth was a globe. 

Over a few mountains he could see the sun slowly setting, as it cast a pink and orange glow across the clouds below him. 

The sky was a blueish black, since there were no clouds outside of the atmosphere. He could see the many distant stars, he could make out a few of the planets in that solar system. Below he saw a large drop, and then the mountain disappeared down into the clouds he was once in. 

A few tears dripped down Ulysses’s face under his mask.

Margo would’ve loved this…

He slowly took out his journal and began to scribble something down quickly before he put it back in his pocket. 

He took out a large silver jar.

Her ashes. 

He opened the jar and threw the ashes out all at once. 

They slowly floated down beneath the clouds, and it was done. She deserved this. 

Margo was a great person, she didn’t deserve to die so young. But her body deserved a good resting place. That was on Mt. Everest.

Ulysses pulled out a folded up flag from his pocket as well and tied it to a stick. It was a flag he had made for her when they were little. It was when he admitted to her he liked her, and that was when they began to date. 

He stuck it in the ground on the summit. Originally, it said: “Margo.” Now, he had modified it. The flag now said: “For Margo.” 

He had taped several pictures of them to it from the journal the previous night. 

Ulysses stayed there for a moment, he was getting dizzy, because he no longer had oxygen.

But it didn’t matter. He made it.

He was okay with death, death was a habit with humans. 

And he had finally done it. Margo deserved this, and she deserved more…

Ulysses began to sway a bit.

And he fell forward. 

His body smashed into the hard rock, breaking several of his ribs and ripping off his hood, mask, and goggles. 

His body came to a stop on a clearing in the cloud. 

His blood began to soak into the snow and stained his clothes. 

Pain. He was in excruciating pain. He had never felt that much pain before. But, it was beginning to numb from his lack of oxygen. The altitude sickness was beginning to bring in pain as well. As his brain felt like it was swelling, and his blood began to burn. 

The wind against his face was viciously cold, he would surely die of hypothermia before anything else. 

His eyes began to flicker closed as his movement came to a stop. 

That’s when the pain went away. 

He opened his eyes slightly, he felt very confused. It was no longer cold, and there was no pain. 

He closed his eyes again when there was a bright light in front of him. 

He put his hand up in front of his face and began to stand up. And somehow, he was standing again. 

Ulysses pulled his hand away when something blocked the light a little bit. 

It was a person. 

But no one could be alive there… no one. He was alone.

As the figure walked closer, he could make out who it was.

It was Margo. 

Several tears began to run down his face when he saw her, he smiled a little bit.

She held out her hand to him, which was something he was waiting for for a long time. Ulysses slowly grabbed her hand with his own. 

She smiled, “Come on, I have a few things to show you.” 

~

‘Day 105 

I did it. 

Rest in peace Margo W. Shure, 2039-2058. 

I can’t wait to see you again.’

Ulysses Zoltan climbed Mt. Everest alone in 2063. He was the first man to ever climb Everest alone. A few months after his death, an expedition group climbed the mountain, and the journal was found and was published in 2064. 

[sufferingsoup]

Listen I’ve been fucking ~obsessed~ with @thenerdyalchemist ‘s pirate AU (I’m sure nobody could tell bc I definitely don’t reblog eVrY dAmN pOsT of it nope not me never😂😂) and I just needed to write this scene. I’ve had it in my head since I read all the HCs for this AU and I needed to put it on paper lol. I’m not great at writing whatsoever, I’m v out of practice and def didn’t edit this, but I wrote it and it exists so I might as well post it right? Lmao. Anyway here it is hope u enjoy 😩 (Also sorry in advance abt the wack ass formatting lmao. I never make posts on tumblr and I highkey wrote this in a note on my phone and then pasted it in here lol)

Runaan grinned as he practically hung over the side of his ship, watching the familiar dock inch closer and closer. It felt like years since he had been back to this town, /his/ town. He was finally in the home stretch, and his crew couldn’t dock the ship fast enough for him. Before, he could stay out at sea forever. If it weren’t for the need to restock supplies every once in a while, he probably would. The open ocean was his home town, his crew was his family, his ship was his home, he didn’t need anything else before. But now? Now he had a reason to /want/ to go back to land.

/Him./

It had been an absolutely agonizing few months. When he had first set sail, he figured it would be like every other quest. Of course he would miss Ethari dearly, but they would both be busy with their respective work, and they could write to each other in the mean time. But this time was different. The moment he left his heart had sunk, leaving a gaping hole in his chest that widened further as he watched Ethari sit on the dock and wave until he could no longer see him. The first thing he did was write a letter to him. Even though he had only just left, he felt like a huge piece of him was missing without him there by his side. He found that he could not enjoy himself as much as he normally would.

The salty smell of the sea and the rhythmic pounding of the waves that used to calm him no matter how upset he was now served only to fill his thoughts with memories of midnight walks along the beach. The sand between his toes and rough, yet gentle fingers interlacing with his own, shoulders knocking against each other every so often. Looking into those bright amber eyes reflecting the moonlight back at him, putting all of his emotions clearly on display for Runaan to see.

The beating heat of the sun that would warm him through to his bones after a stormy night now reminded him of the forge, his mind replaying all the soft, intimate conversations they had while Ethari tinkered away on whatever his current project was. That thick accent of his, and his deep voice that could command the attention of an entire town if he wanted to, clashing oh-so-beautifully with his gentle laugh and sweet words.

The sea shanties the crew would sing in celebration of a successful mission, the dancing that accompanied them, the merriment he once found endearing and joyous and hilarious now dragged Ethari’s ethereal voice through his mind, reminding him of the many dances they shared during the festivals Ethari would drag him to when he visited. The brightest, purest of grins gracing that magnificent face as they held each other close, moving together to the beat and singing along with the familiar lyrics.

Everywhere he looked he only saw Ethari. All the sounds he heard, the scents he smelled, the touches he felt, the flavors he tasted, everything came back to him. /Oh, Ethari would love these jewels, he would make the prettiest necklace out of them!/ ... /The fire smells just like his workshop tonight, I wonder what he’s working on right now/ ... /Ethari so adores the sound of the seagulls calling out over the beach, I’ll have to tell him how many have followed us!/ All of his thoughts were consumed by /him/. It was driving him mad not being able to see him, hear him, touch him for himself.

But today was the day. /Finally/ he would be able to hold him again, and this time he would not let him go.

Ethari hummed softly as he carefully shined thin wires around the glittering stone. He wanted to make a unique little ring as a returning gift for Runaan. The shiny silver wires braided together and held a small, elegant opal in the center. Runaan’s last letter had informed him that he was almost back again, he was expecting him any day now. He had made sure to clear his schedule for a few days so he could welcome him back properly. He had so many things to tell him and show him, and Runaan always brought him lots of sparkly things when he returned from his quests.

He has been terribly lonely while Runaan was away. He was always a bit uneasy when he left, always worrying for his safety and missing his presence. Working on his projects was much more fun when his heart was safe and sound right next him to tell him stories and laugh at his awful jokes. But this time was much harder.

He was gone for a long time, and even though they wrote each other frequently, nothing could quite fill the hole in his heart. He decided he hated sleeping alone ever since Runaan had begun to stay with him when he would return. Every morning he would awaken to find himself disappointed at the empty silence that met him. Runaan would always be up bright and early, practicing his sword-fighting in the living room or getting chores done for him before the sun even had the chance to peak over the horizon. He would have tea and breakfast ready for him every morning, and Ethari was convinced that there was no better sight than a messy, early-morning Runaan bustling away in the kitchen with his hair down.

No, he didn’t like having breakfast without Runaan at all. Just like he hated walking the market without their arms linked together, Runaan haggling over everything Ethari tried to buy. Just like he hated wandering the beaches alone, without his hard-ass, pirate-king lover to playfully kick sand at and push into the water. Just like he hated coming across a new merchant with fun new foods and goods he had never seen before without Runaan to explain what they were and eagerly buy the lot for him. Life was utterly dull without Runaan by his side.

But soon he would be back. Soon he would be back in his arms.

Runaan pulled his hair out of its messy bun as they approached the dock, allowing it to flow in the breeze as freely and lightly as he felt. The moment the ship was close enough to the dock, he leaped over the side and climbed down.

“Make sure she’s tied down good, lads! I’ll be back in a bit to help with the unloading!” He called to his crew as he ran towards the street.

His heart fluttered as he felt the little ring hidden in his coin purse bounce against his leg. Today was the day. He sped through the market on the familiar route he had taken hundreds of times before. People jumped out of his way as they saw the tattoos on his face, gazing after him questioningly. It wasn’t very usual to see the dreaded pirate king running through town like a giddy schoolgirl. He didn’t care, though. He was on a mission of utmost importance. His body was leading him to his heart as fast as it could carry him. Before he knew it, he could see the familiar old door with the splintering old sign dangling above it, swaying in the light breeze. His grin widened as he picked up his pace for the final few strides. He skidded to a halt in front of the workshop door and kicked it in.

“Ethari!” He shouted, ready to combust from the pure excitement and the slight nerves zipping around throughout his body. The tinker gasped in surprise from his position at his worktable, whipping around to see the most beautiful man he had ever laid eyes on grinning in the wide-open doorway. He gasped again and slapped a hand over his mouth as hot tears began to sting at the corners of his eyes.

“Runaan!” He replied, getting up from his stool and running toward his lover, “I didn’t know you’d be back so-“

He stopped hard in his tracks a few paces away from him when Runaan suddenly dropped to one knee, staring up into his eyes with the softest look he had ever seen on his hard features. Ethari watched silently with wide eyes as Runaan dug in his coin purse and retrieved a shiny golden band adorned with tiny, glittering aventurine crystals around the middle, holding it up to him.

“Marry me, Ethari.” He breathed. The tears were flowing freely down Ethari’s cheeks now.

“Are you sure?” He asked, voice small and quivering. Runaan nodded hastily, grabbing Ethari’s hands tightly.

“I don’t want to be without you for another second, my darling heart. I want to travel the world with you by my side. I want to show you all the amazing things I get to see. I want you to sing to me while we lay together in our hammock and let the waves rock us to sleep. I want to make you tea every morning for the rest of my life, just so I can see that beautiful, sleepy, lopsided grin of yours first thing every day. You are all I need in this life. Please, my love, my /heart/, be my forever.”

Ethari fell to his knees in front of him, sobbing into his hands. Runaan pulled him into a tight embrace, tangling a hand into his messy hair as Ethari buried his face in the crook of his neck. They stayed that way for a moment, Ethari crying onto his shoulder as Runaan comforted him gently. When Ethari had calmed down enough to think, Runaan chuckled softly.

“Is that a yes?” He teased.

Ethari pulled back, cupping Runaan’s face in his hands and staring deeply into his eyes.

“What else could it possibly be, my shade?” He sniffed before crashing their lips together desperately.

After a moment of passionate kissing, Runaan pulled back and took Ethari’s hand gently in his own, sliding the sparkling ring onto his finger. Ethari lifted his hand to admire it. The gems were the color of Runaan’s eyes, and they sparkled beautifully no matter which way the light hit them. Suddenly, he remember the little ring he had dropped on his table when his door had been busted in. He gasped and ran over to grab it. Runaan followed him curiously, trying to peek over his shoulder before Ethari turned and held it up to him.

“It was just supposed to be a ‘welcome back’ gift, but it seems it might be a bit more than that now.” He giggled as Runaan stared at it in awe.

“It’s beautiful...” he said as Ethari took his hand and gently placed it on his finger. He turned his hand over and over again, taking in every bit of the artistry and craftsmanship that went into the tiny piece of jewelry before grinning up at his newly betrothed. He fell into Ethari’s strong arms and kissed him again - more gently this time - before resting their foreheads together.

“So,” Ethari started with a mischievous grin, “does this mean I finally get to watch you swab the poop-deck now? I was never on the ship long enough to see it.” He teased. Runaan groaned, but he couldn’t mask the laugh that bubbled up from his belly.

“No,” he sassed back, “it means /I/ get to watch /you/ do it. The /king/ never does hard manual labor.” He grinned, pinching Ethari’s sides. Ethari snorted and grabbed his hands, wrapping his arms around him again and pinning them behind his back firmly. He smirked at him and brushed his nose lightly against Runaan’s.

“We’ll see about that later tonight now won’t we, my /king/.”

[neonlights92]

CHARRED: CHAPTER VII (Epilogue)

Jung Hoseok never thought he would find love.  So when his wife - the woman he has somehow fallen madly in love with - leaves him for somebody else he is heartbroken.  Of course, Bangtan waits for no-one.  Soon Hoseok is roped into yet another marriage, and this time he’s determined to keep himself safe.

When the man you thought you would spend the rest of your life with runs away with Jung Hoseok’s wife, you find yourself suddenly tied to a man you think is a monster.  But beneath the darkness in Hoseok’s eyes is a warmth you can’t help but yearn for.  Perhaps love truly does work in mysterious ways.

A/N: ENJOY!!! That’s it for Hoseok’s story... And it’s pretty obvious who’s next by the end of this!!! Also, hope you guys enjoy a little bit of husband POV in this! Might include more in the upcoming stories, let me know if u like :) OKAY BYE LOVE YOU ALL THANKS FOR STOPPING BY

Things were not simply over after that dreadful night.

Bangtan had taken major losses with the betrayal of both Jinyoung and Irene, and they were still reeling from the betrayal of Jin’s ex wife, Seul.  After months of attempting to set things straight, Taehyung finally decided upon a plan of action.

One he hadn’t always been very sure of.  But one he knew had to happen.

And so he called the inner circle into his office.  The special seven.

“I’m sure you’re all aware,” Taehyung started, leaning back into his leather chair, “But things are not running as smoothly as I’d hoped.  Since my father’s death, I’ve had to deal with three rats.” Both Jin and Hoseok flinched at his choice of word. 

He was talking about their ex-wives. 

“Maybe you should stop marrying off your friends then,” Yoongi spoke up, rolling his eyes at the severity of Taehyung’s glare. 

“I have not finished.”  Taehyung shook his head at his friend’s insolence, “Those marriages were set up by my father.  Not me.” 

“What’s this about, Tae?” Namjoon spoke up after a moment, “We’ve all got important work to get to-”

“We need an alliance with EXO.”

The words fell flat on the ground.  The six men stared at Taehyung, mouths practically hanging wide open.  

“An alliance?” Jungkook practically spat the word out, shaking his head vehemently, “Tae you’ve got to be kidding us.  EXO are a bunch of two-faced motherfuckers who would sell their own mother out for a piece of Gangnam.” Taehyung nodded at his friend’s words, aware that he was probably right, “Be that as it may, it has come to my attention that Bangtan is no longer as powerful as we once thought.  If an organisation like GOT7 thought they had a chance at wiping us out, what’s to say someone else won’t get to it first?” 

The atmosphere in the room dropped.  

“So what are you going to do?” This came from Hoseok, eyes widened in shock, “Send Xiumin an email?  A commiserations card?” 

“No.  I’m going to offer him a percentage of Gangnam.” “Woah, woah, woah!  Hold up there pal, Gangnam?  You’re kidding right?  That piece of shit will snatch it right out from underneath our noses if we give him any of that.”  Yoongi crossed his arms angrily and clicked his tongue, “You’re joking, Taehyung, right?  You’ve got to be.”

But Taehyung had made up his mind long before he called this meeting.  It was time for him to be a Capo.

“I will give him a percentage of Gangnam, in exchange for his sister’s hand in marriage.  That will form an alliance between both Bangtan and EXO that is unbreakable.  Even Xiumin can respect that.” 

Hoseok quirked a thick brow, “And who’s the lucky groom?” 

“Jimin.” 

Suddenly, all six gazes fell on the man who had been sat at the very far left of the group, silently watching the action unfold in front of him  As usual, Jimin didn’t say much.  He just observed carefully, waiting to be called upon. 

“Me?” 

When Taehyung nodded at him, he took a pause.  After a moment, he nodded. 

“If it’s what’s best for Bangtan,” He answered solemnly. 

There was a moment of silence.  Everyone watched Jimin, waiting for a crack in his perfect veneer.  But as usual, he was completely unreadable.

Different to Yoongi and Hoseok.  Not as cold, or calculated. 

Indifference painted his beautiful features. 

“You’re sure you’re okay with this Jimin?” This came from Jin, who’s eyebrows were furrowed in disbelief. 

The seven men in the room had heard stories about Xiumin’s little sister.  How she fiercer than him; angrier and more volatile.  Jimin wasn’t a fighter.  Not really, anyway.

“I’ll be fine.”  He answered quietly, “Like I always am.” And they had to believe him.  For the sake of Bangtan.

Because Bangtan always came first.

//

Hoseok watched you sleep. 

You were beautiful like that, sprawled out beside him, your hair fanning out across the pillow, your mouth hanging open slightly to allow your breathe in and out.

He was so incredibly in love with you, he was unsure how his heart could stand it.

What had he done to deserve you?  He wasn’t sure.  He would probably spend his whole goddamn life asking himself that same stupid question over and over again. 

He lifted a hand to your face, caressing your cheek gently, and pressing a kiss against your forehead.  When you stirred awake, his heart turned.

You were stunning.

“Hey,” You whispered, eyes blinking open slowly.

It was early morning - sometime after six - and there were still a few peaceful hours where the two of you could just lie together, like this.

It was Hoseok’s favourite part of his day. 

Yours too.

“Hi,” He answered, slipping his bottom lip between his teeth, “How’d you sleep baby?”

You licked your dry lips and laughed gently, “I think I’m still sleeping.” He chuckled too, and brought a hand to your swollen belly, “And the baby?”

“She’s good.”  You breathed out, placing your own hand on top of his, “You know we still have to decide on a name.” Hoseok pushed some hair away from your eyes, his own dark brown orbs probing your face carefully.  He could stare at you all day long and never get tired. 

“I like Mina.” You pulled a face, “I knew a girl in high school called Mina and she was horrible.” Hoseok frowned and shook his head softly, “Well that just won’t do.  We need something else then.” “What about Amaya?” You suggested, eyes flickering towards your interlocked hands, “It means night rain.  It’s Japanese.”

Hoseok watched you carefully.  He brought his face towards your own, and dropped a kiss on the end of your nose. 

After a moment, he smiled, “That’s perfect.  I love it.” You ran a hand through his dark hair and shook your head.

“You’d agree with anything I said, Hobi.” “Of course I would,” He agreed in a heartbeat, “I love you.”

“You’re impossible,” You teased, pressing a kiss against the side of his mouth.

“But you love me, right?” You nodded, eyes closing as he dipped his head towards yours and pressed the softest of kisses against the column of your throat.

“I do.  I love you, Jung Hoseok.  Forever and always.”

There was a moment of silence, before Hoseok cleared his throat, “Taehyung’s forcing Jimin to marry Xiumin’s sister.” He wasn’t sure if he was allowed to tell you, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. 

You quirked a brow, “Really?  Is she nice?” “Probably not, considering who her brother is.”  Hoseok grunted and you nudged him playfully, “What?  It’s true.” “Don’t say that.  She could be a nice girl.” “We’ve heard stories about her.  She’s one of EXO’s sharpest shooter.  They call her Switchblade.  Never had the pleasure of meeting her in person, though.” Hoseok would never admit it out loud, but he was worried for his friend.  Despite Jimin’s carefully constructed mask, he knew that vulnerability hid beneath. 

In fact, the truth was that physically Jimin was weaker than most men in Bangtan. Taehyung  valued him because of his silver tongue and not his ability to fight.  If the stories were true, and his new wife was a nightmare, they’d only have themselves to blame for setting Jimin up for failure.

“You know, considering the current Bangtan wife track record, I reckon Jimin might be alright,” You tugged a hand through your husband’s hair, “Trust the universe darling.  Things will work themselves out.” Hoseok sighed deeply, “I hope you’re right, Y/N.  For Jimin’s sake.”

“I’m always right.  Now c’mon.  I need some more sleep.” 

He nodded at your words, moving towards you and wrapping you up in his arms.  

Hoseok had spent so long living with a dark, ugly version of himself.  And you brought out the best in him. 

He wasn’t ashamed of how he felt for you.  Could never feel anything but love for the beautiful woman he was holding. 

“Goodnight baby.”  You whispered against his chest, “I love you.” His heart settled. 

“I love you too, sweetheart.” And the rest, as they say, is history.

//

[momostodoroki]

the better half of me (pt.2)

i forgot this was already written ksksks me??? dum??? it’s more likely than u think.

anyways now we got shouto’s pov

-

Shouto does not like soulmates.

From a practical point of view, a soulmate is a hero's biggest weakness - and because of the public nature of heroes' lives, keeping a soulmate's identity private is quite difficult. He does not enjoy the idea of someone specifically picked by the universe to be used as leverage against him. And from a personal standpoint…

Well, if soulmates treat each other the way his poor excuse of a father treated his mother, then he wants nothing to do with it. To this day, he's still surprised his parents are soulmates in spite of ending up together through an arranged marriage. Fate, he thinks, works in odd ways.

He remembers being a child and staring at the constellation circling his left eye, the tiny dots scattered around his blue eye, and wondering who would share such a pattern. Now, when he washes his face in the UA dorm's bathroom, only his scar stares back. He still remembers the exact placement of every single star, but they are harder to find under the scarred skin. He doesn't normally rejoice in having a permanent mark on his face (and the baggage it carries), but if there is a silver lining, it is that it does a good job of hiding his soulmark.

It could be much worse.  He thinks sometimes,  I could have Midoriya's mark. His mind conjures up an image of his friend's face, with his own constellation scattered across his face. He often catches Uraraka staring at it, and he wonders whether it's because she shares it. It feels too soon, too coincidental, too fortuitous that they would meet when they are both so young. But then again, most soulmates end up meeting at some point or another. The universe just works that way.

-

Shouto wakes up shortly before nightfall, in the familiar but unexpected surroundings of the Yuuei hospital wing. As the fading sun clings to the sky with weak rays creeping through the windows, he sits up and finds Recovery Girl tending to a dazed Kaminari. By the looks of it, the electric hero-in-training has exceeded his voltage use yet again. His intuition tells him he's probably better off not asking, so instead he waits until she is done to beckon her attention.

"Excuse me," he says in what he hopes is a polite tone. "How did I end up here? The last thing I remember is apprehending a shapeshifting villain down by the south side of the school grounds, then nothing." After a pause, he adds: "Is Yaoyorozu okay? Where is she?"

There's a glint in Recovery Girl's eyes that makes him mildly uncomfortable. She checks him out thoroughly before offering him a response.

"You lost control of your quirk and fainted. Momo-chan brought you here and helped me set you up, but she said she had schoolwork to attend to and left." She recounts. Shouto feels a sudden flare of irritation at himself for still losing control of his quirk despite his years of arduous training. He hates that he left Yaoyorozu to wrap things up by herself and that he imposed on her time and energy by making her take care of him. He's indulging into this sort of mental self flagellation when the school nurse adds: "Poor thing, she looked so worried. That girl works too hard."

Silently, Shouto agrees. Being privy to Yaoyorozu's personal feelings of inadequacy over her place in class 1A and Yuuei in general, he's especially acquainted with how ragged the black-haired creation hero runs herself. It's one of the reasons why he admires her as a hero and as a classmate, and it's also why he tries to look out for her in subtle ways. If only she wouldn't try to repay him every single time…

After a final check up, Recovery Girl clears him to go back to his dorm, not without telling him to stop overdoing it and to eat well. Shouto's stomach emits a rumble then, and he wonders whether their dorm's kitchen has run out of cold soba. His walk back to the dorm is thankfully eventless, and he makes it back in under ten minutes. When he walks in, he finds most of his classmates in the common area.

"Oh, Todoroki, you're back. Are you alright?" Midoriya asks him, looking up from the table, where a big game of monopoly is stretched out for most of the class to play. Given the standard size of monopoly games, he supposes this one must have been especially crafted by Yaoyorozu.

"I'm fine, Midoriya. Is Yaoyorozu doing well?" He asks, hoping not to sound too concerned. He doesn't care about what his friend might or might not think, but Ashido tends to be nosy and assume things that, although well-meaning, can be quite bothersome. The same goes for Sero and Kaminari, although he doesn't have to worry about the blond guy for now.

"Well, as well as someone who came rushing in like some villain was trying to kay-word her would be." A different voice interjects. As if summoned by his dread, Ashido stands in front of him, facing up in a way that the line of stars outlining her eyebrows is staring right at him. He's confused by her statement: while they do have upcoming deadlines, no assignment is in need of immediate attention, and it is quite unlike Yaoyorozu to just leave the way she did. Did something happen while he was unconscious?

"I don't understand." He replies. His confusion must show in his face, because Ashido only rolls her eyes at him and goes back to the board game, where Koda is exacting fake money from Uraraka after she fell on his property. He reassures Midoriya and Iida (who has walked over to congratulate him for upholding their school's honor by getting rid of that villain along with their class' vice-president) that he is alright, then goes on to the kitchen to procure something to eat.

Later, as he exits the elevator to go back to his room, he's met face to face with Yaoyorozu who, judging by the towels, clothes and hair care products she's holding, is on her way to take a bath. When she sees him standing in front of her, her eyes widen in… alarm?

“Todo-Todoroki-san!” she salutes. Her eyes dart around in a manner much unlike herself, who usually holds his gaze steadily. “A-are you feeling better?” She asks.

“Yes. I apologize for not being of greater help. I hope you will let me repay you on our study appointment next week?” he finishes in a questioning tone. He notices she flinches at the mention of their study meeting, and realizes with a start that the source of Yaoyorozu’s odd behavior is, in fact, himself.

“Ah, yes, thank you.” She replies softly, moving as if to enter the elevator. At this, he rushes to offer her space. “I’m… a little tired. Can we talk tomorrow?”

At a loss, he only mutters: “Of course.” and watches as she disappears behind the elevator doors.

He has no idea what he did to make her like this, but whatever it takes, he’s going to fix it.

[lumiereswig]

hey all so i just saw ‘hadestown’ and feel duty bound to tell you fools everything about it because i, too, remember what it is to be lonely and on the internet and too poor to see some snazzy broadway shit

there’s no fanfare or anything. the show opens with all the cast coming on—and obviously the audience is going buckwild, especially with amber gray. (u can tell there’s a lot of great comet fans in the audience.) only once everybody is settled does hermes really TAKE THE STAGE.

and boy does he take it. sassy lil shit knows he owns it and just stands there taking in his audience, before flipping his jacket back with dramatic flare (to show his SNAZZY-ASS SILVER THREADED VEST) and starting to sing. (cue noisy wah-wah trombone.)

the setting is p. clearly a bar; orpheus p. clearly works there. he’s like being artsy with the napkins and shit, blossoming them into roses. eurydice is a traveler; she carries with her, wrapped in brown silk, an alter candle that she lights. (after sassing hermes into giving her a match to light it with.) eurydice balances her candle with the paper rose orpheus later makes and gives to her.

orpheus is pretty childlike and dreaming in this version. (not the cocky boy from the off broadway production.) he comes off as kind of lanky and awkward and not quite there; naive is definitely a defining adjective for him. everything about him is soft and gentle and in a dreaming world.

eurydice is kind of a classic tough girl but she’s got a strand of helplessness to her. she puts on a show of not being impressed by orpheus until he sings her the song he’s working on, and manages to bring a rose into his palm.

environmental collapse is a HUGE theme thru this—bigger than i thought it would be. eurydice’s first lines are about how there’s no spring or autumn anymore; everything is winter or summer, too hot or cold to live. the fates sing of the winds—the fates sort of torment her throughout this—but climate change looms as a dread through the show. orpheus hopes his song will bring back summer, put the seasons back in tune.

anyway, everyone’s hanging out at a new orleans style bar. even hades and persephone are there, though above it all in a balcony of their own

did i mention bradley king is a god among lighting designers?

because that will come back a lot

anyway hermes is sort of an uncle figure to orpheus; he was friends with orpheus’s mother, a muse. as soon as orpheus sees eurydice he wants to talk to her, and hermes advices him not to ‘come on too strong’—

and well that plan goes immediately out the window : ‘come home with me!’ [eurydice: ’what?’]

orpheus is just intensely awkward. skinny pale child doesn’t know how to interact with the world

they have kind of an argumentative relationship from the start—they don’t face each other very often; there’s a push and pull as he longs for her and she, kneejerk tough girl, tries not to go for this. but the rose from his palm enchants her, and she holds on to it. ‘you have to finish your song.’

GODDDD AMBER GRAY IS JUST LIIIIIIIFE. her persephone is a total lush and frequently staggers through act 1. she also has a fabulous white coat that gradients to green at the sleeves. when she dances you can’t tell if she’s about to pass out or float up to the ceiling.

when orpheus gives the toast he’s just so awkward it’s appalling

(and everyone toasts except eurydice)

hades wears sunglasses when he comes to the world above to bring persephone back to the world below. he descends from his balcony to get her, and brings her to the center of the stage—and then, oh, SHIT, there’s a fucking perfect round trap door right where they’re standing, and they descend below. (amber gray looking up to the slowly disappearing sky with the face of a martyr who’s used to the gig.)

winter’s hard. eurydice has to bust back out her old ass coat (instead of the winsome black slip thing and brown vest thing she was wearing), and the Fates, bitches as they be, try to fuckin rip it off her. (and succeed. the choreography looks like wind! also chairs and tables looked like they were floating earlier but i forgot to mention that.)

eurydice is trying to get ORPHEUS’S FUCKIN ATTENTION bout the fact they got no food and, uh, three bitchy old ladies dressed all in gray just took her coat, but he’s submerged in writing his song to bring back the weather. and while this is all going on, hades and persephone are having their age-old argument about how hell is too hot and too loud and IT AIN’T RIGHT, IT AIN’T NATURAL.

because, get this, after descending to hell they descended /back up/ into it, and u can tell cuz the lighting is fuckin genius. i’ll explain later except i won’t.

orpheus is just OUT OF IT and not hearing anything at all eurydice is tryin to fuckin say. (the tune keeps going wrong.) hades is sick of persephone not being with his electric shiny no-good shittiness and lays his eyes on eurydice as easy prey.

he puts on his sunglasses again and u know it’s bad news.

he talks her over and gives her her ‘ticket’—two silver coins that she momentarily holds up over her eyes as she looks at us, letting us know that this is some death imagery. she holds both hades’ coins and orpheus’s flower—and, making up her mind, calls out orpheus’s name one last time and descends into the underworld through that same miraculous trap.

and then, fuck me, the trap comes back up but just the red flower is on it. fuuuuuck meeeeeeee i may have wept.

orpheus finishes his damn song and hermes lets him know that hE FUCKED UP HIS WHOLE DAMN LIFE SHE GONE, BITCH, and orpheus sees the flower on the trap door and then he’s weeping, too.

and then we get to ‘wait for me’ and holy shit, y’all, i never been so fully into something in my life? it was so physically intoxicating i almost wanted to throw up. like, wonder as a liquid beverage. tHE LIGHTING? ? i fuckin felt awe on this earth today, i saw god and he’s lit by bradley king.

because! hades’ workers bring on these industrial metal lamps, and they hook them to the wires in the ceiling, and they SEND THEM SWINGING OUT INTO THE FUCKIGN AUDIENCE. they fuckin—they—they they they!—they fucking did! that! sent them swinging out in perfect rhythm and time, fully lit, swinging around orpheus and into the audience. and tHEN! THE FUCKIN SET! BEGINS TO GROW!!!

remember the first time u saw the nutcracker as a child and the growing christmas tree fuckin ripped ur world apart? it’s like that except times ten thousand

like it felt like. like the fuckin world was coming apart. the bar set is slowly ripping open and golden light is just searing into your eyeballs and the golden lamps are still swinging around orpheus and it literally felt like god had opened up a cold one and was just singing something horrible into being. it was wonder. i want to see it again.

like. stagecraft, babyyy

and u think act 1 will end on that because why would it nOT but no, we get ‘why we build the wall,’ which is a sort of chilling propoganda thing where everybody is facing forward and just telling back to hades whatever he’s yelling about, and persephone is there and i’m not sure why (like does she believe this? is she the unwilling consort? what’s the deal?)

and at the end eurydice comes in, and sort of picks up on the gestures everybody is doing—in that way everyone does when they come into a room and they want to vaguely pass as with it so they try to sync in to the general vibe. ‘uhh sure everyone’s waving their hands and talkin about walls so i guess i will too’, that kind of thing

hades shows her up to his office (the balcony door) to sign the papers. as soon as he’s gone, amber gray whips round to face the audience. ‘anybody want a drink?’

it’s intermission and i’m still trying to catch up on all the gasp-crying i started during ‘wait for me’

we also get an overpriced hadestown cup cuz get while the getting’s good, right?

back in act 2 and it’s our lady of the underground, ie amber gray in her exact outfit from above except instead of lurid green it’s savage black. (and instead of a bouncy curly brown wig it’s a black sparkly snood.) she dances and pivots and rivets her way through it, introducing the band, being winsome savage bite-your-face-off-and-offer-to-share-it-with-you amber gray. she’s got a neat little ring-shaped silver flask that hangs from her hand like a purse, and i want one.

eurydice emerges from the office dressed in the same overalls as the other workers—though she looks sexy af in them, ngl—and sings ‘flowers,’ and talks about how nobody down here looks at her, and how it’s like they don’t even see her. the underworld is not what she thought it would be. she wants to go home but can’t. she can’t remember orpheus’s name.

uNTIL HE SHOWS UP! Punk ass bitch made it, somehow, and stumbles onto the stage with guitar in hand. she knows his name immediately. but she can’t leave, because she signed her soul away.

u knew all this. it’s classic myth. did i mention patrick page as hades sounds like the combined harmonics of every rumbling truck on the george washington bridge every time he decides to sing?

orpheus has A Moment™ where it’s like, if this is what the world is, if people sign their names up for shit and i can’t save them, i guess i’ll just go home. but he talks himself out of it (apparently his magic vocal cords work on him, too), and actually talks himself (and the stone workers of the underworld!) into activism.

amber gray and patrick page share a duet i’ve never heard before, and it’s fine, and i think it still needs fine tuning cuz im not sure exactly how persephone feels about hades in this bit. it’s fine. what matters is that at the end of it, hades is FUCKED because rebellion is brewing.

he gets orpheus to sing his song. and holy shit, is it a doozy. holy shit, but were we all crying. hooooolyyy shiiiiiit.

holy shit.

when hades sings the refrain at the end, amber gray looks like she’s experiencing the most visceral, exquisite, heartfelt, heartbroken pain of her life. she literally bends as if she’s felt this pain in her stomach—this pain, this anguish over the song she hasn’t heard for so long from this one man she loved so well.

and when a rose blossoms from hades’s palm, persephone is both crying and laughing. it’s like the old times have bloomed again.

and then they dance.

also, should have mentioned earlier, it’s implied it’s not an og song orpheus is singing; he’s actually stumbled on an ancient one, perhaps one hades used to sing, and THAT’S why it’s so devastating—not just his talent and voice, but the memory of it, the memories it brings back. it’s an ancient song, almost a spell, that can heal the seasons.

hades and persephone hold each other close, nuzzling almost, and eurydice faces orpheus, and for a second u think it’s going to be ok because eurydice is so joyful and persephone and hades have healed. o & e  think they’re gonna leave. they think everybody can leave.

but nope, hades can’t have that. damned if he does, damned if he don’t—so he sets the test for orpheus, but u really get the sense that he’s not doing it from a sense of cruelty any more. it almost pains him to do this shit. but the rivet of steel in his character won’t let himself become king of nothing.

hermes presents the challenge: ‘ive got good news, and bad.’ orpheus keeps asking hermes if it’s a trick; hermes keeps saying it’s a test, a trial. (it’s really a TRAGEDY.)

persephone is wooed by the fact that hades even let them try.

ugh, doubt comes in is. devastating. every single person in the audience audibly gasped—u FELT the air leave the room—when he turned around. we all genuinely believed it would end differently this time. we thought it would. i knew it was coming and i still was DEVASTATED.

eurydice is, too. she started as the doubter, and she had so much BELIEF they were gonna get out of this. ‘it’s you—it’s me—’ she says. she’s already sinking through the trap. fuckin hell, they were on the last few steps. i’m still fuckin emotional about it

orpheus just crashes to the edge of the trap, staring down into the abyss. hermes is singing, softly, about how it’s an old song—it’s an old tale—it’s a tragedy. and then he roars—in a way that cheers me up��WE’RE GONNA SING IT AGAIN.

because that’s the power of it! it happened, it was horrible, but we’re going to SING about it—and maybe change the ending this time—the way orpheus tried to, when he sang his way to hades and sang his way to the stones. it’s the singing of the event that matters, that might matter.

and eurydice is back at the bar, wanting matches—orpheus is back at the bar, seeing her for the first time across the room—and the story goes on, like the seasons .fuckin incredible. everybody in the auditiorium now is tear-stained.

APPLAUSE APPLAUSE APPLAUSE

lasted for like.....seven minutes?? it took ages and the actors were just soaking it up, looking exhausted, because DAMN it is exhausting to chart anguish and joy and victory and determination and love in two hours and 25 minutes

and then hermes shushes the house—because of course he does—and amber gray leads the final toast. it’s acoustic—it sounded to me like she wasn’t even using her microphone? it wasn’t brash at all, just raw—and a simple, honest, kind of homespun way to end the show. and it finally ended, and we cheered one last time, and then we went home sobbing and shaking and wanting to do the whole damn thing again

it was great and the stagecraft was some of the best i’ve ever seen and i’ve literally felt maybe only 3 productions like this, where this emotional shit is actually sitting in your lungs, and u should go, the end

[chequeredwhitpost]

🔮 Hidden Magic! 🔮 💙💙Douxie X Oc💙💙

>>>>

Oc=  Spencer.

>>>>

“DOUXIE!” I shout, jumping onto his back. 

He fumbles forward, almost falling over, but I use my magic to post him back on his feet. He laughs and looks over at me. 

“Hi~!” I chirp.

He laughs and sets me down on the ground.

“Good morning, Fair Lady Spencer.” He does a polite bow. 

I do a polite curtsy. We look at each other and laugh. 

“Anyways!” I punch the air, “Do you wanna go with me to the woods? I have an enchanted bottle and there’s a storm coming. I thought ‘what the hell, let’s get a storm in a bottle.’ You wanna help?” 

I smirk at him, trying to sway him into saying yes. 

“Oh, I really wish I could, but Merlin’s having me run errands for him right now. It’s all right here, on his list.” 

Douxie pulls out a list… and when he unrolls it, it uncurls down to my feet. I drop my jaw, shifting my weight onto one foot. 

“That’s a lot of errands.” 

“Tell me about it.” Douxie groans. 

I bite my lip while in thought. 

“Hey! What if I help you with the chores to help speed things along?” 

“You’d really help me?” 

“Of course! That’s what friends are for!” 

Douxie turns his head and lets out a nervous chuckle--- not sure why, though. I snatch the list out of his hand and take a look. 

‘Cobweb shreds,

Dragon blood,

Toad stew,

Mermaid tears,

Wolf teeth,

Peacock feathers,

Crow toe,

Star dust?’

“What kind of a list is this?” I stress.

“Potion ingredients mostly. That’s why there’s so much.” 

“Oh. Right. You wizards and your potions, haha!” 

“Ok, ok. Just because you don’t have magic doesn’t mean you can tease us who do.” Doux crosses his arms, smirking. 

“Oh you.”

He takes back the list. 

“Alright! Helping out!” 

“Wait, are you still sure? You might miss the storm if you help me out.” 

I wave my hand through the air like I don’t care. Even though I do. 

“Pffft! I would much rather spend time with you doing something boring, than doing something cool and experiencing it alone. Make sense?”

“Yes. But if you’re sure, then ok. Come on, the next on the list is Ecto-goop.” 

“Ecto-goop!!” I howl. 

He playfully rolls his eyes and drags me along by my wrist. I laugh and follow his lead. 

>>>>>

“Ok! Last one on the list!” 

I peek over his shoulder and read it.

“Butter?” I snort. 

“Why BUTTER??” 

“You’d be surprised how badly some potions need that buttery feel to them.” 

He winks at me. 

I nudge him in the arm with my elbow. 

“Ok, mister ‘Buttery Feel’. Where do we get it?”

“The cooking market. Duh.” 

“Oh. Right. Hehe.” My shoulders slump. 

He leads me to the cooking market, where we approach a blue and silver stand. I light up upon recognizing the maiden at the counter. 

I slam my hands down on the counter and lean in closer, excited. 

“Pat!! What are you doing here? I didn’t know you got another job!!” I squeal.

She bolts up, startled by my energy. 

Once she sees that it’s just me, though, she eases up.

“It’s just you,” She sighs, “Hello, Spencer.” 

She weakly waves to me, before spotting Douxie at my side. 

“And you? Wow. I’m just running into everyone today.”

“What’s at’ mean?” I ask.

“You aren’t the first one to bubble by today. Reed came by, too. And Jade. And Mike. And Joe. And on and on.” 

“Lacking enthusiasm as always, ey, Pat?” Douxie jokes. 

But in response, Pat glares at him, not appreciating his humor. I laugh off the tension and lean my body against the counter. 

“Ok, Pat, babe,--”

“Don’t call me that.” 

“OK. Pat, my friend. We need butter.” 

“Lots of butter.” Notes Douxie. 

Pat sighs, “How many pounds?” 

Douxie shrugs, “Like… five?” 

“Fine. That’ll be nine gold coins.” 

NINE GOLD???

“Geeze! Why so expensive?”

“Butter is getting harder to come by. Whales, you know?” 

Pat turns around to a bucket behind her. She fills it with just pure, sloppy butter. She brings it to the counter and Douxie grumbles, trading the bucket for nine gold coins. 

I make the mistake of peeking into the bucket. I instantly recoil in disgust.

“That does NOT look like butter.” I gag.

“You have to process it first for eating. Duh.”

“This is how wizards use it.” Informs Douxie.

“Then damn, I feel sorry for you. Having to touch THAT. Gross.” 

I shiver in disgust. Shaking my head, we bid Pat a goodbye, and walk away. 

“Where to now?” 

“Merlin’s tower. Need to drop everything off. After that, I’m off for the day, and we can go do the storm in the bottle-- or whatever.”

“Sweet!” I hug him really quick and we get going. 

>>>>

(Merlin’s Tower)

>>>>

We ‘burst’ through the door dramatically and announce our presences. 

“Hisirdoux has returned!” Douxie rallies. 

I enter beside him and smile.

“Don’t forget about me!” I pop. 

Merlin turns to face us and folds his hands together nicely behind his back. He walks this way as we enter into the room further, Douxie being greeted by his familiar-- Archie. 

I help Doux lay out all the list’s ingredients on the wooden round table, but there’s so much that it’s pretty hard to keep it all there. Once we’re done, I step back and come face to face with Merlin, while Douxie has a conversation (/scolding) with Archie. 

Merlin hums, staring into my soul and very being. I instantly feel a layer of dread come over me. 

“U-Uh, hi? Sir?” 

“Yes… hello.” He says, starting to circle me… like a bird. 

Um, creepy much?

“Is there something I can help you with, Mr. Merlin??” 

“No. Not really. Just checking something I thought might be relevant to a vision I had.”

“And that would be?” I ask.

“Well I can’t tell you, now can I? That would ruin the fabrication of the vision!” 

“Ok. Douxie?” 

The young wizard turns to look back at me.

I gesture with my thumb towards the door.

“Ready to get going?” 

“Yeah! Just about!” 

“And where do you two think you’re going?” Archie interviews. 

“Give us a break, Arch! We’re going out!” 

“Well then I’m coming with you!” Archie declares. 

“Ugh…” Douxie groans.

Archie bonks him on the head.

“Who else do you expect to keep an eye on two teenagers? You might do anything!” 

I blush a bright beet red.

“ARCH!!” 

“Relax I was only kidding. Oh, but I am still coming.” 

“UGH…!” 

>>>>>

End Chapter One ;>

[dawnofdaybreak]

Title: Another Cliche’ Love Story

Pairing: Jongho

Rating: NC-17

Summary: In which Minho and Jonghyun are best friends but things get complicated.

[aff link] [ao3 link]

[part one] [part two]

Part Three (Finished)

Minho isn’t quite sure how to describe the feeling he experiences when he wakes with Jonghyun’s naked body pressing back comfortably against his. The feeling is reminiscent of the feeling he gets when he scores the winning goal for a soccer game or aces a test he didn’t study for. It’s so much more self-satisfying than that though, the content emotions running through him right now are so intense, Minho’s sure he’s never experienced this before.

 He watches Jonghyun’s flawless face as he sleeps, the way his chest moves up and down with tiny breaths. Minho brushes away a few silver strands of hair that were covering the other’s forehead. Jonghyun is so beautiful and Minho’s so unbelievably happy to be able to call Jonghyun his.

 The elder male begins to stir a little, causing Minho to pull his hand back, but he doesn’t move away from Jonghyun’s warmth.

 “Were you watching me sleep?” Jonghyun asks groggily.

 Minho tries to suppress his smile. “No.”

 “Liar.”

 “Okay, you caught me.”

 Jonghyun inches closer and presses a light kiss to Minho’s chest which is heaving a bit with laughter. “Minho-yah.” Jonghyun uses his index finger to trace small circles around Minho’s left nipple which is very distracting in the brunet’s opinion. “I’m hungry.”

 Minho bursts out laughing at what Jonghyun is suggesting he do for him. “Fine hyung, I’ll make us something to eat.”

 Jonghyun smiles in triumph as Minho gets out of bed, dressing himself in a pair of discarded boxers on the floor, completely unsure if they’re his or Jonghyun’s – not like it matters anyway.  

    It doesn’t take long for Minho to maneuver himself around Jonghyun’s kitchen and prepare sandwiches for them both. When he returns to the elder’s room with said sandwiches and a glass of orange juice, Jonghyun is nowhere to be found. Minho frowns until his ears pick up on the sound of water running. He smirks as he sets the food and beverage onto Jonghyun’s small bedside table.

   The pair find themselves quenching their passion yet again, as lukewarm water cascades all around them. Jonghyun’s legs are wrapped tightly around Minho’s waist as the latter’s skin burns from the feel of the elder’s lips moving across his body.  

 “Oh God Minho.”

 Their pace is slow, languid almost, but satisfying all the same.  Minho moans out his hyung’s name as he feels that familiar twisting in his gut. He grunts as he climaxes into Jonghyun’s heat, ungracefully locking lips with the shorter male.  Jonghyun comes right after, hand curled around his own member as the water begins to run cold.

    After the intensity and shock of their first night spent together passes over, words that Minho dreaded hearing left Jonghyun’s lips.

 “We need to talk about this Minho.”

 Minho sighs, burying his face into Jonghyun’s shoulder. “Babe please, let’s not do this now.” He hopes that this conversation will be dropped, not really wanting to think about Taemin and the consequences of his and Jonghyun’s actions last night.

 “Minho-“

 The sudden sound of Minho’s ringtone cuts Jonghyun off much to Minho’s silent relief.

 “Hello.”

 “MINHO!”  It’s Kibum and Minho cringes at the volume of the other’s voice. “You were supposed to be to the airport to pick me up 20 minutes ago. Where the hell are you!?” Minho drags his hand over his face in pure exasperation. Kibum’s return to Korea was remembered up until last night. Now, all he can think about is the little whine Jonghyun makes when he pushes into his-

 “Well?! Minho, where the hell are you please tell me you’re on your way.”

 “Give me 20 more minutes please, I’ll be there.” Minho ends the call before Kibum can reply.

 “Taemin huh?”

 Minho winces at the sadness lacing Jonghyun’s tone. “No. It was Kibum. I have to go.” Minho tries to press a kiss to Jonghyun’s lips but the elder shifts his head. Minho sighs, settling for Jonghyun’s cheek instead.

 “I’ll come by later, we can talk then okay?”

 Jonghyun doesn’t respond.

        “I’m sorry Key, I went out last night and got a little drunk and woke up super late this morning.” Minho apologizes the minute he’s in speaking distance of Kibum. The other simply glares at Minho, shoving his suitcase into Minho’s hands and storms off – much like a spoiled child – to Minho’s car.

 Minho sighs, knowing that Kibum’s not usually subject to having to wait on people.

    “Seriously Kibum, I’m really sorry.” Minho apologizes for the 6th time once they’re making their way through the heart of Seoul. “Are you seriously not going to talk to me or even acknowledge my apology? Come on Bummie please…I can’t say I’m sorry enough.”

 Kibum groans at the nickname. “Fine, Minho, I know you’re just gonna keep nagging me until I forgive you so fine! You’re forgiven.”

 Minho gives a small smile of triumph, reaching with his right hand to pat Kibum’s cheek. Key swats Minho’s hand away, still looking somewhat annoyed.

 “I’m just peeved because I had some things I had to get done today before Tae’s big dance recital tonight. Now I’m falling behind on my schedule.”

 Minho’s mouth immediately relaxes. He pales. Oh shit! He totally forgot about that. His eyes lose their focus as he chastises himself. How could he forget?! Taemin’s been talking about this for months for Christ’s sake! Thousands of scouts from professional agencies would be looking for future dancers and choreographers tonight. This would be an important moment in Taemin’s future career as a dancer and it completely slipped Minho’s mind.

 “You didn’t forget did you?” Kibum looks at him with narrowed eyes.

 Minho forces himself to chuckle, looking at Kibum as if he’d just asked him something stupid. “No, of course not.”

        The performing arts center of Taemin’s school is filled to the brim as Minho and Kibum settle into their seats. Kibum complains about how far they are from the stage, frowning when Minho doesn’t agree with him. The younger man is too absorbed with his cell phone to pay attention to his surroundings – checking for mixed calls or messages from Jonghyun. He’d texted the older man earlier to let him know he wasn’t sure he’d be able to come over tonight, but there’s still no response. Minho turns his phone on silent and sinks into his seat as the lights begin to dim.

 There are about nine performances before Taemin along with his best friend Jongin, take the stage as the final act. They would be dancing to a mashup of songs, a piece Taemin choreographed himself. Minho’s seen this performance hundreds of times during Taemin’s practice sessions. However he feels a sense of pride watching his boyfriend perform the piece he’s been working on for months in front of hundreds of people.

 “Wow, they’re really doing amazing. They haven’t missed a beat.”

 Minho nods in silent agreement, watching with proud eyes as the music transitions from dubstep to a lighter less gritty sound. Minho knows the end is nearing. Instead of ending abruptly like most of the other performers tonight, Taemin and Jongin were ending their performance on a graceful note.

 Minho smiles as he watches the two men spin on the tips of their toes and then collapse onto the stage as the chillstep song comes to an end.  He knows that move was difficult for Taemin, especially since he doesn’t have the extensive history in ballet that Jongin has.

 The crowd erupts into a standing ovation, cheers and hollers echoing all around the room. Minho and Kibum stand as well, with Kibum doing enough yelling to rival everyone else in the building.

    “He’s gotta get recruited by at least 10 companies after that performance,” Kibum comments as he and Minho wait for Taemin to emerge from the dressing rooms.

 “I’m sure he will be.” Minho takes his phone out of his pocket to check the time, and then grows worried as he sees one missed call and 7 text messages from Jonghyun.

Texts from Jonghyunnie♥♥♥, 2 hours ago:

Hey

 are you still coming over so we can talk?

 minho? it’s getting late and I still haven’t heard from u

 …are u ignoring me?

 im sorry, we don’t have to talk about taemin if u don’t want to

 please don’t be mad at me

 im sorry

 “Are you okay?” Kibum asks as he takes in Minho’s expression.

 “I’m fine,” Minho says a little too quickly to be true. He sighs and pockets his phone. “Really, I’m fine,” he rolls his eyes at Kibum’s disbelieving look.

Taemin joins them a minute later. He’s freshly showered and all smiles as Kibum reigns down the praises.

 “Oh my God Tae that was fantastic! I’ve known you for almost eight years and I didn’t even know you could move like that!”

 Minho gives a tight lipped smile when Taemin turns to him. “You knocked them dead babe,” he says as he places a kiss on Taemin’s cheek.

 Taemin giggles in response while Minho wraps an arm around his waist.

 “Thanks guys. We’re having a small get together at Jongin’s house. You guys are coming right.”

 “Um I-“

 “Of course we are,” Kibum cuts Minho off.

 “Excuse me.”

 The three men look to the older man who addresses them.

“Are you Mr. Lee Taemin?” The man looks at Taemin.

 Taemin nods and slips out of Minho’s grasp.

 “That performance you and your colleague gave tonight was amazing. If you don’t mind, can I speak to you in private?”

 “Sure.”

    “So, you wanna head straight to the party or you wanna go home and change first?”

 Minho glances sideways at Kibum. “I think you should head to the party with Tae. I’ve got something to do first.”

 Kibum narrows his eyes. “Does this have something to do with the text messages you were reading earlier.”

Minho sighs. “No. Something just came up that I need to take care of first.”

 Taemin comes practically skipping to the pair, with a huge smile plastered on his face.

 “Good news I presume…” Kibum murmurs.

 “You guys, that man is the head of recruitment for a choreographing company and he wants me and Jongin to come and work with them!”

 “Oh my God that’s amazing Tae,” Kibum squeezes the younger man tight. “Did you already accept?”

 “No, he said to just think about it for now. Jongin and I are gonna go to his company later on this week and talk about all the details.”

 Minho ruffles Taemin’s hair. “I’m so proud of you.”

 Taemin blushes hotly. “Jongin’s bringing his car around front so we can get going.”

 Minho frowns. “About that…there’s something I have to go and do first.”

 “Oh.”

 Guilt wells up in Minho as he sees Taemin’s smile replaced with sheer disappointment.

 “I’ll be there don’t worry, I just gotta go take care of this thing. Kibum will ride with you guys.” Minho gives Taemin a kiss on the cheek for good measure, and nods to Kibum who gives him a scathing look.

 He’s barely out of earshot when Kibum mumbles, “How dodgy.”

         “Hyung, open up, it’s freezing out here.”  Minho knocks on Jonghyun’s door for the fourth time. It’s just past ten, he didn’t expect Jonghyun to go to bed so early. He grabs his phone and opens up his chat log with Jonghyun just as the older man opens the door.

 Jonghyun is dressed in only boxers with his hair dripping wet, which Minho assumes is from a recent shower.

 “Minho?” Jonghyun pulls the younger man inside and wraps his arms tightly around him. “I thought you weren’t coming I-I thought you were mad at me. I’m sorry.”

 Minho chuckles at how panicked Jonghyun sounds. He pulls away to kiss the shorter man. “It’s okay baby, I wasn’t mad.”

 “Where were you tonight?”

 “T-Tae had a dance recital…”

 “Oh.” Jonghyun gives Minho that same disappointed look Taemin gave him earlier. But then Jonghyun kisses him with such passion that Minho forgets all about Taemin. His head feels light, like he might just float away. “Let’s not talk about him. Not now at least.”

 Minho smiles as Jonghyun leads him to the couch in his living room and begins an assault on his neck.

“I missed you.”

 “I m-missed you too baby, but I ahh…can’t stay.”

 Jonghyun pouts as he untucks Minho’s dress shirt from his pants and begins unbuttoning it.

 Minho groans as Jonghyun’s lips latch onto his chest. He feels Jonghyun’s finger toying with the button on his slacks and all his resolve disappears. He’s unable to tell Jonghyun to stop now.

 “I’ve wanted to do this from last night,” Jonghyun breathes as he pulls Minho’s cock out into the warm air of his heated apartment.

 Minho lets out the most unmanly whimper as Jonghyun takes him into his mouth, teasing at first, but growing more and more firm and enthusiastic as time draws on.

 “Fuck hyung,” Minho moans as Jonghyun pumps him with his hand before taking him into his mouth again. He’s got his head tilted back, teeth digging into his lower lip as his fingers dig into the cushions.

 Jonghyun lets him out of his mouth again with an obscene pop. “You can grab onto my hair, I know you want to.”

 Minho bites his lip and grabs onto Jonghyun’s silver locks. He tugs lightly, helping guide the movements of Jonghyun’s head up and down his cock. “B-Baby, you’re s-so good,” Minho moans as Jonghyun’s tongue works wonders up and down his shaft.

 Minho’s words spur Jonghyun to suck Minho harder until the younger man becomes a whimpering mess beneath him.

 “B-Babe I-I’m gonna – f-fuck, I’m gonna cum,” Minho moans out before coming suddenly.

 He half expected Jonghyun to gag and spit it out – but when Minho sees the bobbing of Jonghyun’s adam’s apple, he looks at him with blown pupils.

 Jonghyun pulls off of Minho’s cock with a smile. “Was it good?”

 All Minho can do is nod, unable to form words just yet.

 “Good.” Jonghyun pecks Minho’s lips and pulls his underwear and pants back up for him. He sits down next to Minho and laces their fingers together. “I guess I understand if you have to leave…but can you stay with me for a bit, at least until I fall asleep?”

 Minho can’t possibly say no – not to Jonghyun.

   ��Minho ends up staying longer than a bit and much longer than after Jonghyun falls asleep. How could he leave with Jonghyun snuggled onto his chest and looking so damn peaceful in his embrace? Minho sighs when he hears his phone vibrate on the nightstand for what he thinks is the 10th time that night – the light from it casting a dim glow in the room. He reaches over and turns it off, before he pecks Jonghyun’s forehead and closes his eyes. He’ll just deal with everything tomorrow.

        “Where were you last night?” Taemin asks as soon as Minho lets him into his apartment. “Key hyung and I called and texted you a bunch of times and you didn’t answer anything. We were worried Minho!”

 Minho sighs. “Something came up Tae…”

 “What do you mean something came up?! Something so important that you missed the after party of one of the most important nights in my life? It couldn’t wait?”

 Minho runs a hand through his hair. “I’m not about to fight with you Taemin. Something important came up that I had to deal with. I’m sorry that it took so long and I missed the party and I’m sorry I didn’t call and let you know I was okay. M-My phone was on low battery and then it died,” Minho lies.

 Taemin sighs. “I j-just really wanted you to be there Minho. I wanted to celebrate my achievements with you. And I hardly even talked to you last night. I saw you for two seconds and then you were gone.”

 Minho feels guilt rise up in him. “I’m sorry baby. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

 “O-Okay.” Taemin leans forward and presses a gentle kiss to Minho’s lips. Minho forces himself to kiss Taemin back – mind registering how wrong this is, considering that he just kissed Jonghyun goodbye this morning. When Taemin tries to deepen the kiss, Minho pulls away.

 “What’s wrong?” Taemin looks at him confused.

 “Nothing baby,” Minho forces a smile. “I’m just tired.”

 “Oh.”

 Minho pretends he doesn’t hear the feeling of rejection in Taemin’s voice.

        On Thursday after his last final, Minho and a few of his soccer teammates decide to have a little scrimmage before they part ways for the break. Minho invites Jonghyun to come and watch, eager to show him how much he’s improved since the last time Jonghyun watched him play soccer.

 Jonghyun gives Minho a big wave when he arrives and Minho gives him an even bigger one back. He smiles at how cute Jonghyun looks in his oversized jacket, along with a beanie on his head.

 “Who’s that?” Jihan – one of Minho’s teammates – asks.

 “He’s a close friend of mine,” Minho says as he stares at Jonghyun with a smile.

 “He’s cute.”

 The smile disappears off of Minho’s face as he looks at Jihan. “He’s taken,” Minho says with more force than he’d intended.

 “Woah man, just saying he’s cute. Never said I wanted to date the guy.” Jihan pats him on the back. “You shouldn’t care anyway, aren’t you in a relationship with Taemin?”

 Minho groans and grits his teeth. “Let’s just start the game.”

    Minho’s team ends up beating the others 3-1 by the time it starts getting dark. He runs over to where Jonghyun’s sitting on the bleachers, clapping for him. “So Jonghyun hyung, what did you think?”

 Jonghyun smiles at him. “You were really good. You’re like a pro now,” Jonghyun says honestly. “But I must say it was hard to focus watching you run up and down the field in those shorts of yours. It was pretty sexy.”

 Minho blushes. “Oh really?”

 “Yeah.”

 Minho grins. “Let’s go back to your place.”  

    Minho takes a quick shower at Jonghyun’s apartment and borrows some of his clothes – they’re a little tight on him but he doesn’t mind that much.

 “Hey Min…which one do you like more?” Jonghyun holds up two shirts, a red plaid one, and a cream coloured one.

 Minho looks at both shirts and eyes Jonghyun. “The red one. Red is your colour hyung.”

 Jonghyun smiles softly. “Okay, red it is,” he says before taking the shirts back to his room.

 When he comes back and plops down next to Minho, Minho looks at him strangely. “Why are you asking for my opinion on clothes? You got a date?”

 Jonghyun giggles. “Maybe.”

 Minho frowns. “Don’t say things like that hyung, you’ll make me jealous.”

 The grin falls off of Jonghyun’s face. He scoots away from Minho. “It was a joke Minho, and you’re not exactly in the position to be possessive don’t you think?”

        Minho finds out on Saturday why Jonghyun had asked for his opinion on his clothes. It’s his 21st birthday and Kibum had somehow managed to plan an entire party without Minho knowing anything of it. It’s not a huge party but there are a nice number of Minho’s friends and family in attendance. The music is lively and whichever catering company Kibum hired did an amazing job. Jonghyun arrives about an hour into the party, dressed in the same plaid shirt he’d shown Minho the other night and a pair of ripped black jeans. Minho’s eyes don’t leave Jonghyun’s body the minute he spots him, even though Taemin’s body is pressed tightly against his as they dance in the middle of the living room of Kibum’s apartment.

 He watches as Jonghyun converses with Kibum and then Jinki before sitting idly in a corner and watching everything going on around him. Their eyes lock suddenly and Minho freezes. He starts gently prying Taemin’s body away from his.

 “I’m staying over at your place tonight…” Taemin whispers suggestively in Minho’s ear.

 “Y-Yeah sure,” Minho says absentmindedly before completely letting go of Taemin. “I’m gonna go say hi to Jonghyun hyung okay.” He leaves before Taemin can respond and goes over to where Jonghyun’s sitting.

 Jonghyun looks up at him with a small smile. “Happy Birthday Min.”

 Minho smiles. “Thanks hyung.” He leans down to whisper in Jonghyun’s ear, “Come with me next door, to my apartment,” he says before leaving.

    “This is the first time I’ve been in your place since I got back,” Jonghyun says as Minho closes the door behind them.

 “Yeah…Do you like it?”

 “It’s cozy,” Jonghyun says.

 Minho smiles softly and sits next to Jonghyun on the couch. He brushes a few stray strands of hair away from Jonghyun’s forehead before leaning in for a kiss.

 Jonghyun gently pushes Minho back by his chest. “Are you really going to try and kiss me, after you’ve been dancing with your boyfriend all night?” Jonghyun asks with a sense of bitterness lacing his words.

 Minho sighs. “Jjong…you know…i-it…it’s complicated.”

 Jonghyun shakes his head. “It’s not right Minho. Y-You can’t date me and him. You need to break up with him…”

 Minho looks at Jonghyun with sullen eyes.

 “O-Or stop seeing me.”

 Minho’s eyes widen. “No. I’m not going to stop seeing you Jonghyun. I just got you. I-I’ve been in love with you for years…”

 “Then you know what you need to do.”

 Minho looks away from Jonghyun and bites his lower lip. “I feel like shit because of this hyung,” he whispers, to himself almost.  

 Jonghyun’s eyes soften. “I’m sorry Minho. It’s your birthday, you should be celebrating instead of talking about this.” Jonghyun reaches out to gently comb his fingers through Minho’s hair. “I got you something.”

 Minho looks back at Jonghyun. “You did?”

 He gives him a small smile and a nod. Jonghyun passes Minho a small gift bag he’d brought with him.

 Minho takes it and can’t help the small smile that grows on his face, knowing that Jonghyun had bought him something. He opens the bag and pulls out a picture frame, encasing a drawing of his much younger self. “W-What’s this?”

 “It’s a drawing I did of you back when we were teens. I think it was then I started realizing I had feelings for you,” Jonghyun says quietly. “I kept it with me all this time but I think you should have it.”

 Minho rubs his thumb over the drawing, in awe at the amount of detail put into it. “I-It’s beautiful hyung. Thank you.”

 “I have another gift for you too…”

 Minho turns to face him and before he can ask what it is, Jonghyun’s pink plump lips are pressed softly against his. Minho closes his eyes and melts into the kiss. He rests the drawing down at his side and cups Jonghyun’s face.

 Jonghyun pulls back briefly to whisper “I love you,” against Minho’s lips before kissing him deeply.

 Minho kisses Jonghyun back just as deeply. He presses Jonghyun’s body close to his before sliding a wet tongue into Jonghyun’s warm mouth. Minho receives a low moan in response to his actions and it just spurs him on. He starts kissing Jonghyun more forcefully, trying to pour all his passion and desire for him into the kiss.

 A sudden knock on the door forces them to separate.

 Minho pulls back from Jonghyun’s lips and looks at his apartment door with a sigh. He reluctantly gets up to answer it.

 “So this is where you snuck off to,” Kibum says when Minho cracks the doorway. “Are you seriously trying to ditch your own party?”

 Minho chuckles. “I just needed a breather Bummie. I’ll be back over in a few minutes.”

 “No no no breathing time is over, I’ve been looking everywhere for you. It’s time to cut your cake.”

 Minho inwardly groans. “I’m coming over right now Kibum I promise. It can wait five more minutes.”

 “Minho. Get your ass back over to YOUR birthday party right now. And have you seen Jonghyun? Taemin said that you were gonna go and say ‘Hi’ to him before you disappeared to here.”

 “U-Uh,” Minho starts.

 Jonghyun stands and moves towards the door. “I-I’m here. I w-wanted Minho to show me his apartment,” he says, voice still sounding a bit shaky after the kiss. “I haven’t gotten any chances to visit yet.”

 Kibum’s eyes flicker from Minho to Jonghyun closely, before he smiles. “Well it’s nothing special, you can come back and check it out later” he says before pulling them both back along to his apartment. “Now come, cake time.”

    Minho doesn’t get the chance to take Jonghyun back to his apartment later, nor does he get the chance to sneak in a kiss or even a friendly dance. Once he’d gone back to the party and cut and shared out his birthday cake, Taemin latched onto him like a parasite. Minho couldn’t even go to the bathroom without the younger man waiting on him by the door. In the end when the party dwindled down, Minho settled for a quick hug with Jonghyun – but made sure to whisper in his ear that he’d see him in the upcoming week and they could continue their kiss. Jonghyun left with a slight blush on his face and after seeing that Minho made peace with the fact that he didn’t get to kiss him goodbye.

 “Minho, let’s go back to your place. Key hyung said not to worry about the mess,” Taemin says while clutching onto Minho’s arm.

 “You’re sleeping over tonight?”

 Taemin tilts his head and looks up at Minho. “I told you this…earlier.”

 “O-Oh,” Minho says. “Y-Yeah, you did. Sorry. Let’s go.”

    Minho feels awkward when he and Taemin get undressed together. Taemin takes his time, trying to be sexy. Birthday sex is obviously on his mind.

 Minho wants to tell him to stop, to put his clothes back on but he can’t bring himself to, not when Taemin looks so determined.

 It’s when Taemin gently pushes Minho onto the bed and starts straddling him that Minho realizes he can’t do this. He presses a hand to Taemin’s bare chest. “Stop…”

 Taemin looks at him confused. “What do you mean ‘stop’?”

 Minho looks away from him and sighs. “I mean stop. I don’t want to have sex. I don’t feel too up for it baby…”

 “You’ve never refused sex before?”

 Minho bites his lip. “I don’t feel well,” he lies.

 Taemin tilts his head. “I don’t understand.” He looks down at Minho’s crotch and then looks back up at him with watery eyes. “O-Oh…you’re not even hard…?”

 “It’s not you Tae,” Minho says. “It’s just I don’t feel well, I drank too much. You know alcohol makes me sleepy,” Minho lies again, knowing that he only had two cups tonight.

 “Yeah…okay, sorry,” Taemin says as he gets off of Minho’s lap. He gets under the covers and lays down with his back facing Minho.

 Minho sighs as he looks at Taemin’s back, feeling guilty.

 He turns away from him, mind overflowing with various thought before he falls asleep.

    The next morning is awkward as they eat breakfast together. Taemin does not make much eye contact with Minho.

 “…So…” Minho clears his throat. “D-Do you wanna do anything today…baby?” Minho asks.

 Taemin looks up at him and then shakes his head. “I can’t. I needa meet with Jongin to discuss some stuff about our choreography deal.”

 “Oh okay,” Minho says quietly. He sips at his orange juice.

 “I’m gonna get going,” Taemin says when he finishes eating. He puts his plate in the sink and grabs his things.

 “Okay,” Minho says. “I’ll see you later?” Minho looks up at Taemin, expecting the man to give him a kiss before he departs.

“Yeah, later,” Taemin says before leaving.

        “Oh fuck,” Jonghyun gasps as Minho strokes deep inside of him.

 Minho’s got him bent over his work desk as they’d been too impatient to move to Jonghyun’s bedroom when Minho came over.

 “A-Ah hyung…s-so tight,” Minho pants against Jonghyun’s neck. “I-I’m so close,” he groans.

 “M-Me too,” Jonghyun whimpers as he pumps his dick in tune with Minho’s thrusts.

 Minho cries out when he finally climaxes inside of Jonghyun, with the man following with his own cries not too long after.

    “Oh shit,” Jonghyun says as he gets a good look at Minho’s neck in the shower. “I marked you.”

 Minho touches the mark on his neck and then shrugs.

 Jonghyun bites his lip nervously. “I’m sorry, it’s really visible Min. I c-can cover it for you with makeup.”

 “Baby it’s fine, no need to cover it.”

 “But what about Ta-“

 “Shh, we’re not talking about him remember?” Minho gives Jonghyun a kiss on the cheek. “Now come on, let’s rinse off.”

    Minho’s never been particularly religious, finding thoughts of a higher deity rather silly. But that doesn’t stop him from celebrating Christmas with his family. The holiday itself has loss much of its true intent, rather becoming capitalism’s grand finale every year. Despite being very aware of this fact, Minho finds himself in front of his childhood home with gifts for his parents and brother tucked under his arm.

 He knocks on the front door while Taemin stands beside him.

 “Hello boys,” Minho’s mother answers the door with a smile. She pulls Minho in for a hug and smiles warmly at Taemin.

 “Taemin, it’s nice to see you again.” She’d met Taemin in Minho’s apartment early on in their relationship when she’d made an impromptu visit to surprise her son.

 “It’s nice to see you again too Mrs. Choi,” Taemin says politely.

 “Come on in boys, the Kims are already here.”

 Minho follows behind his mother visibly confused. “The Kims? They’re having Christmas dinner with us?”

 “Yes, it was a last-minute decision. Sodam just brought over their dishes.”

 Minho inwardly sighs. Jonghyun had mentioned spending Christmas with his mother and sister but Minho had no idea that their parents would decide to have dinner together. He was hoping to avoid being around both Jonghyun and Taemin again.

 “Taemin, you know Jonghyun don’t you? He’s Minho’s best friend,” Mrs. Choi says when they finally reach the dining room.  

 “We’ve met,” Taemin says. “Hey Jonghyun-hyung. Merry Christmas.”

 Jonghyun looks at Minho and Taemin standing near the doorway wearing their matching sweaters and then looks down at the table. “Merry Christmas,” he says quietly.

 Minho finds that he can look everywhere but Jonghyun’s eyes.

 “Are you boys ready to eat?” Mrs. Choi asks happily.

 They sit around the large dining table, Minho between his brother and Taemin. Jonghyun switched seats with his sister a few minutes after Minho and Taemin arrived. Minho would have to crane his neck if he wanted to catch a glimpse of him.

 Minho feels but isn’t sure if he looks visibly uncomfortable throughout the entire dinner. With his parents asking questions about his relationship with Taemin while simultaneously reminiscing over how he and Jonghyun were attached to the hip growing up, Minho doesn’t know which one is worse.  

 “So, how long have you two been dating?” Mrs. Kim asks Minho and Taemin halfway throughout the dinner.

 “O-Oh um around six months,” Minho says.

 Taemin gently kicks him under the table. “It’s been eight hyung.”

 Minho smiles sheepishly, slightly embarrassed. “Time flies. I forget sometimes.” The table takes pity on him as the elders laugh at his statement.

 “It’s too early to be forgetting dates little brother,” Minseok says. “Save that for when you’re married,” he says with a nudge to Minho’s elbow.

 Minho rolls his eyes, knowing his brother wanted to get a rise out of him.

 “What about you Jonghyun?” Minseok directs his question down the table.

 “What about me?” Jonghyun asks.

 “You’re the only single young adult at this table.” Sodam had brought her boyfriend along and Minseok’s girlfriend was also gracing the Chois with her presence. “Any girlfriend back in Japan?”

 Minho visibly stiffens.

 Jonghyun snorts. “No. I haven’t had any luck dating since I’ve been back yet either.”

 “Oh?” Minseok looks at Minho then back down at Jonghyun. “You’ve been looking?”

 “Yeah,” Jonghyun says.

 Minho’s face starts to feel hot. He knows he has no right to feel like this but Jonghyun’s words hurt.

 Minseok rests a hand on Minho’s knee and smiles knowingly. “The least you could do is play wingman for Jjongie.”

 Minho pushes his brother’s hand off and grits his teeth at him. “Stop it,” he whispers.

 “Who wants dessert?” Minho’s mom asks.

    Minho’s brother corners him outside the upstairs bathroom after everyone’s finished eating dinner.

 “So. I’ll give you a chance to come clean,” Minseok says.

 “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Minho says and pushes past him.

 Minseok grabs onto his arm. “I know something is going on between you and Jonghyun,” Minseok says loudly.

 “Shh!” Minho demands and pushes his brother into his old bedroom. “What the hell are you talking about hyung,” Minho says and closes the door behind them, a nervous feeling rising from the pit of his gut. “There’s nothing going on.”

 “Oh, come off it Minho,” Minseok says. “I’ve known since you were kids that you had a crush on him. Now you show up here with your boyfriend and you can’t even look Jonghyun in the eye.”

 Minho shakes his head. “That’s not true. You know nothing.”

Minseok folds his arms. “You’re sleeping with him, aren’t you?”

 Minho’s eyes widen. “W-What…N-No!”

 “Fuck, Minho!” Minseok says. “Does Taemin know? Wait of course he doesn’t know, he’s fucking oblivious to it all isn’t he?”

 Minho sighs heavily. “Y-You can’t say anything hyung. I’m going to tell him eventually.”

 “E-Eventually?” Minseok asks, eyes wide in disbelief. “Minho what the fuck? That’s not right. None of this is right. Y-You’re cheating.”

 “Lower your voice!” Minho shouts back at him. “I n-never meant for this to happen hyung,” he says in hushed tones. “J-Jonghyun came back home and all the feelings I thought were buried just rushed to the surface again. I don’t want to hurt him or Taemin. I promise I’m not a bad person,” Minho says as tears well in his eyes.

 His older brother sighs heavily and rests an arm on Minho’s shoulder. “D-Don’t cry. But just…you know this is wrong. And you know what you need to do to fix it.”

 Minseok pats Minho’s shoulder before exiting the bedroom.

    When Minho and Taemin are on their way back to Minho’s apartment, Taemin asks him a question.

“Is something going on between you and Jonghyun-hyung?”

 Minho’s hands grow rigid on the steering wheel. “W-What do you mean?” He asks nervously.

 “I heard your hyung ask you that.”

 “Oh? O-Oh…Um there’s nothing going on,” Minho rambles. “Hyung was just wondering why we weren’t talking much at dinner,” Minho lies.

 The car grows quiet. Minho slowly relaxes his grip on the steering wheel.

 “D-Did you hear anything else?” He asks softly.

 “Oh no. That’s all I heard,” Taemin quickly replies.

 “Okay.”

 “Jonghyun-hyung is straight right?” the younger man asks. “You said he was dating a girl when you guys were younger?”

 “…H-He’s,” Minho doesn’t really know. “I don’t t-think he has a preference. He’s mostly dated girls but he’s dated guys too…”

 Taemin hums and turns to look out of the window.

 “Why are you asking?”

 “Oh no reason. I was thinking of setting him up with one of my friends. Her name is Soojung and she’s really pretty.”

 “Oh,” Minho says. He’s seen pictures of Soojung before. She is indeed pretty. “Y-You think they’d b-be a good match?” Minho prays to that deity he barely believes in that Taemin doesn’t notice the quiver in his voice.

 Taemin shrugs. “I think they’d be a great match. They’d look really good together. But you do know him better, so I figured you’d have an idea.”

 Minho shakes his head, not liking the thought of that at all. “I don’t think she’s what hyung is looking for right now,” he says a bit firmer than necessary.

 Taemin stares at him for a few seconds and then looks back out the window. “Well, it was only a suggestion.”

    “What are you doing here?” Jonghyun asks as Minho stands on his doorstep two days later.

 Minho frowns at him. “Is something wrong? I tried to call you and you didn’t answer.”

 Jonghyun steps aside and lets him into the apartment. “Oh no, nothing’s wrong. Not thinking about the play by play I got of you and Taemin’s relationship the other day.” He shuts the door behind Minho louder than necessary.

 Minho sighs. “H-Hyung…you know…it’s-“

 “Complicated?” Jonghyun asks. “How long is it going to be complicated Minho?”

 “Hyung…”

 Jonghyun rubs his hand over his face in exasperation. “Why are you here Minho?”

 Minho bites his lip. “I…I got you a present.”

 “O-Oh,” Jonghyun says quietly. “I d-didn’t get you anything…”

 Minho hands him the small box with a smile. “That’s okay. We’ve never really celebrated Christmas. Besides your birthday present was enough.”

 “What is it?” The blonde asks curiously.

 “Open it and see.”

 Jonghyun unties the pink bow on the box and discards the wrapping. He opens it to find a small silver ring – not small enough to fit on his ring finger, but rather appearing to be the width of his thumb.

 “Is this a thumb ring?” Jonghun inquires.

 Minho raises his hand to show a matching one. “Yeah.”

 Jonghyun’s mouth falls open in surprise. “M-Minho, I…I can’t wear this. Not if you’re wearing one too. It’s too obvious.”

 Minho shakes his head. “No, these are really popular right now. People won’t notice it hyung. Besides, don’t you like it?”

 “O-Of course I do.” Jonghyun slides the ring onto his thumb. “P-Perfect fit…”

 “I thought it would be,” Minho says.

 Jonghyun looks up at him with a wobbly smile. “T-Thank you Minho.” He gets on his tippy toes and presses a kiss to Minho’s lips.

 Minho kisses him back deeply. “I love you,” he whispers against Jonghyun’s lips.

 “I love you too,” Jonghyun replies after a slight pause.

 Minho pulls Jonghyun into a tight hug. “I-I’m sorry hyung. Sorry that I haven’t addressed everything yet. I p-promise I will, soon.”

 Minho feels Jonghyun sigh against his neck. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep Minho.”

 Minho pulls back, looking slightly offended. “I will keep this promise hyung. I l-lo-“

 Jonghyun shuts him up with a harsh kiss, teeth digging into Minho’s lip. Minho yelps in surprise but quickly recovers, kissing Jonghyun back just as passionately. He wraps his arms around Jonghyun’s tiny waist and lifts him up against the wall.  Minho begins kissing Jonghyun’s neck, working on the spots he knows the other likes. The shorter man cries out as Minho leaves light marks along his collarbone. Minho carries Jonghyun to his bedroom and deposits him onto the bed, pulling off the elder’s shirt as soon as his back touches the mattress.

 He pulls his own shirt over his head when a firm hand touches his chest.

 “Can we just cuddle tonight,” Jonghyun says quietly, unable to make eye contact.

 Minho pulls his shirt back on. “O-Of course baby. Of course. Do you want to be held?”

Jonghyun nods, pulling his own shirt back on and shifting onto his side.

 Minho spoons him from behind, watching as the man twists the ring around his thumb but says nothing.

       New Years Eve finds them at Jinki’s restaurant, sitting around a table filled with various dishes and lots of beer.

 Kibum’s a bit tipsy, his tolerance for beer being very low. Minho rolls his eyes as Kibum entertains the group with his forced acts of cuteness – committed all out of spite because he knows Minho hates it. Taemin records key with an amused smile on his face. He had plopped down, right next to Jonghyun when they’d arrived, forcing Minho to sit to the left of him.

 “This will be perfect blackmail material,” Taemin says with a wicked grin as he finishes recording.

 Those words seem to sober Kibum up. “You wouldn’t dare! I have a public image.”

 Taemin laughs at him. “Just be a good hyung and you’ll have nothing to worry about.”

   “Any goals for the new year?” Jinki asks at quarter to twelve.

 Kibum mumbles something about settling down, Taemin says he wants to work with foreign choreographers and Jonghyun plans to register more than ten songs.

 Minho remains silent as the conversation quickly shifts to something else. He has no idea what the new year has in store for him especially with such a dark secret looming above his head.

 “So Jonghyun-hyung,” Taemin says. “Are you still looking to date someone?”

 Minho snaps out of his self-reflection.

 “Oh um…kinda?” Jonghyun replies.

 “Kinda?” Kibum chimes in. “Have you gotten laid since you moved back home?”

 Jonghyun visibly squirms.

 “Bum!” Minho shouts. “Don’t you think that’s a little personal.”

 “What? We’re all friends here. We’re always talking about each other’s sex lives.”

 Minho frowns. Kibum’s the one that does most of the talking in those conversations.

 “Anyway,” Taemin practically shoves his phone in Jonghyun’s face. “This is my friend Soojung, she’s super nice and is into music too. I thought you two would be a good match.”

 “O-Oh really?” Jonghyun nervously glances at Minho.

 “Yeah. I could give her your number if you’d like. I think you’ll hit it off really well. She gives off a cold vibe at first but she’s really down to earth.”

 Jonghyun stammers, “O-Oh um…”

 Minho grits his teeth. “Tae…don’t you think you’re putting a bit of pressure on Jjong right now? He’s never even met her.”

 Taemin looks back at Minho. “Jonghyun can answer for himself. Besides most people text before meeting each other these days anyway.” Taemin turns back to Jonghyun. “What do you say?”

 Minho’s eyes burn at the back of Taemin’s head.

 “Um sure,” Jonghyun relents. “You can give her my number.”

 “Great. I think you’ll really hit it off, oh um,” Taemin looks down at Jonghyun’s hand. “Nice thumb ring.”

 Jonghyun touches it instinctively. “Oh yeah thanks.”

 “It looks just like the one Minho started wearing recently.”

 Kibum perks up. “Lemme see.” He grabs Jonghyun’s hand and examines the ring. He looks back to Minho’s to compare but Minho’s fingers are bare.

 “I’m not wearing my ring,” Minho says.

 “But I have a picture,” Taemin adds in. He hands his phone to Kibum.

 Kibum glances at the ring on Minho’s thumb in the photo and the one on Jonghyun’s actual thumb. “They look pretty identical to me.”

 “O-Oh,” Jonghyun chuckles nervously. “What a coincidence.”

 Taemin narrows his eyes. “Yeah…a coincidence. Where’d you get yours Jonghyun-hyung?”

 “Huh?” Jonghyun looks up at Minho as if he’s asking for help.

 “Where’d you buy the ring?” Taemin rewords his question.

 “Oh, I have no idea. My sister bought it for me. It was a gift,” he lies with a chuckle.

 “Hmm,” Taemin hums and looks back at his photo of Minho.

       Minho doesn’t share a new year’s kiss with Taemin or Jonghyun that night.

       Minho knows what he’s doing is selfish. Cheating is something he always frowned upon, hating when it was a plot point in a movie and shunning the topic whenever his friends brought it up. But now that he’s in this current predicament, he finds himself actually understanding why people do it.

 It’s not right.

 But is it wrong?

 He loves Jonghyun with his entire being. But at some point, in his and Taemin’s now eight-month long relationship, he was sure that he was love with him too. He doesn’t want to hurt the younger man’s feelings.

 He finds himself unable to do anything while Taemin and Jonghyun both begin pulling away from him. It’s as if there’s rope attached to both of his hands. But instead of being pulled in either direction he remains set in place while Jonghyun and Taemin pull farther and farther away.

       It all comes to a head in the new year.

 Kibum confronts him in his apartment early February – much like he’d done when Minho had forgotten his and Taemin’s six-month anniversary.  

 “I know what you’re doing Minho,” Kibum says, sounding very much like he knows something that Minho doesn’t.

 Minho looks visibly perturbed. “What are you talking about Kibum?”

 “I know you’ve been cheating on Taemin.”

 “W-What?” Minho says all too quickly. “That’s not true.”

“Oh? So you haven’t been sneaking around with Jonghyun behind Taemin’s back?”

 Minho opens his mouth and then closes it sharply. “…J-Jonghyun is my best friend Kibum. I can’t spend time with him now?”

 “Oh please,” Kibum says. “Taemin told me you haven’t touched him in weeks. He’s seen the marks you know.”

 “I don’t have any marks.”

 “Yeah cause now Jonghyun’s caught a clue and has stopped fooling around with you too.”

 Minho’s anger flares at the harsh truth behind that statement. “You need to leave,” Minho says, his tone matching the chill of the air outside.

 Kibum heads towards the door. “Just for the record, we’re not friends anymore. I’m not going to be friends with a cheater! You broke Taemin’s heart Minho and I’ll never forgive you for that!” He slams the door as he exits.

 Minho stares at the door for what feels like hours after Kibum leaves.

    Hours later he finds himself at Orgel, in desperate need to see Jonghyun. The older man had ignored his texts and calls and when Minho had pulled up to his apartment complex, Jonghyun’s car was nowhere to be seen. The club was the only place Minho figured he would be.

 But Jonghyun isn’t alone.

 Minho watches as the man walks off the stage after his set and heads to a small table in front where a pretty blond claps enthusiastically for him.

 Minho feels his heart crumble in his chest, the sight far too similar of an experience he’d repressed from his teenage years.

 Before he can stop himself, he’s already crossed over to the table with fire in his eyes.

 To say Jonghyun is startled to see him would be an understatement. The older man’s eyes practically bulge out of his sockets. “M-Minho, w-what are you doing here?”

 “W-Who is she?” Minho asks bluntly.

 Jonghyun looks at the girl apologetically, before grabbing Minho’s arm roughly and tugging him outside.

 “What are you doing here Minho?” He asks in hushed tones.

 A group of bystanders look at them suspiciously. Minho doesn’t care.

 “Who’s the girl hyung?! Why’s she looking at you like that?”

 Jonghyun looks away from him with guilt etched on his face.

 “H-Hyung. Who is she?”

 “She’s my date!” Jonghyun says. “And now she probably won’t go out with me again because you were so rude in there.”

 Minho’s so focused on the word date that it takes him a few extra seconds to process the remainder of what Jonghyun had said.

 “Hyung…w-what do you mean she’s your date?! G-Go out with you again? W-What about us?”

 Jonghyun sighs heavily. “M-Minho. There’s no us! There can’t be a us! I can’t just be your side piece, your mistress. And Taemin deserves better. You know that.”

 Minho feels his heart deflate in his chest. “S-So w-what? You’re giving up on me? Are you going to act like it’s all my fault! Like I was cheating on Taemin by myself?!” He says angrily.

 Jonghyun looks visibly hurt by his words. “I will not be complicit in that anymore. I-I’m done Minho. I don’t feel good about myself knowing I’m ruining someone else’s relationship.”

 “I-It’s not a relationship anymore. T-Taemin…h-he knows.”

 Jonghyun raises an eyebrow. “He knows?”

 “Y-Yeah. He knows…It’s not a thing anymore.”

 “So, you came clean to him? You told him everything?”

 Minho doesn’t answer.

 Jonghyun scoffs. “…I…I can’t do this anymore Minho. Even if you had ended things with Taemin, I would’ve still felt like shit about it. I c-can’t have that on my conscience more than it already is. I-I’m going back to Taeyeon. At the very least, I deserve someone that’ll be with just me.” He wipes away the tears gathered in the corners of his eyes before heading back into the club.

    Minho feels numb as his car drives him home. Cause surely, he isn’t driving, not when he feels like his heart’s been stepped on and his mind is playing a loop of Jonghyun’s retreating form. He makes the short trek from the parking lot to his apartment building and gets in the elevator. It takes severe willpower to not knock on Kibum’s door and go to him for comfort like he’s done so many times in the past. Instead he opens the door to his apartment and sees Taemin sitting on his couch.

 “Hey,” Taemin says.

 Minho wipes his hand over his face, trying to remove evidence of tear tracks and heartache.

 “W-What are you doing here Tae. How’d you get in?”

 Taemin shakes his head with a mirthless laugh. “You gave me a key, awhile ago.”

 Minho crosses over to the kitchen to pour himself a much-needed drink. “Oh…yeah right.” He takes a swig of the amber liquid, feeling uncomfortable as the silence grows thick between them.  

 “So-“ Taemin starts.

 “I-I’ve been cheating on you with Jonghyun,” Minho blurts in one breath.

 Taemin closes his mouth.

 He doesn’t know what he expects from Taemin. Shock? Sadness? Anger? Rather, Taemin looks as if he knows.

 “I know,” Taemin says after a few minutes. “I’ve known since Christmas.”

 Minho rests down his glass. “…Oh.”

 “I eavesdropped on you and your hyung’s conversation. So, yeah I knew.”

 “Why didn’t you say anything?”

 “I wanted to pretend like it wasn’t true. But then it became too apparent to ignore. The way you’d disappear for hours on end, refuse to have sex with me, the marks I didn’t give you, the matching thumb rings,” Taemin scoffs. “Your face would light up every time you saw Jonghyun. It was obvious from the beginning that something was going on between you two and I didn’t want to believe it.”

 Minho fidgets uncomfortably. “…Why tell me this now?”

 “Because Jonghyun told me everything. Said he felt like such a huge asshole for getting between you and me.”

 Minho swallows. No wonder Jonghyun knew he was lying when he said his relationship with Taemin was no more. “Are you upset with him? Please don’t be it’s not his fault.”

 Taemin laughs. “Fuck, I just admitted that I know you’ve been cheating on me and still your only concern is Jonghyun. Wow Minho. I didn’t have a chance, did I?”

 Minho frowns.

 “The moment Jonghyun moved back here. I-It was all over for us wasn’t it?”

 Minho can’t bring himself to answer that question. “I…I didn’t want to hurt you Taemin. I-“

 “Bullshit. Don’t you think getting cheated on would hurt me more than you just being fucking upfront with me from the beginning?” Taemin asks. “You’re a selfish asshole. You only cared about what you wanted. You didn’t give a shit about my feelings and you got Jonghyun in the middle of it too. And you did hurt me, no matter how much you claim you didn’t want to, you hurt me. You hurt me so fucking much.”

 “T-Tae I-I…”

 “And I don’t think anything you say can erase that hurt.”

 Minho swallows heavily, feeling like anything he says won’t have an effect. “I-I’m sorry,” he offers weakly.

 Taemin shakes his head before exiting the apartment with a duffel bag filled with presumably his things.

 Minho downs the rest of his alcohol and sinks to the floor.

       Minho finds himself sinking into something akin to depression. He still manages to go to his classes, to put on his usually happy act while around his teammates – but when he’s home alone in his apartment he feels himself growing empty, looking at old pictures of him and Jonghyun and deleting the ones of Taemin out of pure guilt. His attempts to contact Jonghyun are futile. The man doesn’t reply to his texts or answers his calls – arriving to the point where Minho’s convinced his number is blocked. Minho doesn’t know what he could possibly say if he ever approached him in person. Kibum avoids him as well, effectively ignoring him whenever they wind up in the elevator together and by foregoing their previous spots.

 He shows up to Jinki’s shop one day, attempting to find solace in one member of their squad not directly involved in the drama – but the man looks visibly pained talking to him.

 “Kibum told me what happened. He told me not to be friends with you anymore.”

 “So, you’re going to cut me off too?” Minho asks, sounding incredibly hurt.

 Jinki gives him a look of pity. “I’m sorry Minho. Kibum and Taemin are two of my closest friends and what you did really hurt them both. I c-can’t hang out with you.”

 Minho gets his food to go.

        “What did I tell you,” Minseok says over a glass of beer.

 Minho groans, not interested in being lectured by his older brother.

 “I said, you needed to come clean before shit hit the fan. But you didn’t listen and now look. Shit hit the fan.”

 Minho sighs heavily.

 “How long has it been?” his brother asks.

 “T-Three months,” Minho says under his breath.

 “And you’re still this fucked up over it? Shit.”

 Minho takes a sip of his drink. “It’s not that fucking easy to forget about hyung. J-Jonghyun, he…h-he was my everything,” Minho’s eyes grow misty.

 Minseok sighs. “Maybe you should try talking to someone else. Go out there, get laid. Forget about it for a while.”

 Minho shakes his head. “I don’t want to. I only want Jonghyun.” Minho stares down at his lock screen, a picture of him and Jonghyun sitting on the elder’s couch with their faces smushed together.

 Minseok peers over Minho’s shoulder and groans. “Well you’re not going to get over him if you stare at his picture every day. Change your fucking lock screen and delete those pictures. Besides, you know it’s really fucked up how you don’t mention Taemin when he was the one you were actually dating.”

 Minho pushes his phone back into his pocket, feeling the alcohol begin to catch up with him. “T-Tae hates me. S-Said I’m an asshole, w-which I am,” Minho slurs. “B-But Jjong and I…W-We were so r-real.”

 “Woah there,” Minseok says. He takes Minho’s glass away from him. “Enough drinking for you.”

    His brother drops him home, making sure he makes it safely into his apartment before leaving with the promise to check on him tomorrow.

 Minho stares up at the ceiling of his apartment for the longest. The spin of the ceiling fan keeps his drunk mind entertained for the longest. After a while, he grabs his phone and opens up Taemin’s contact information. He starts typing a text but finds himself squinting at the keys, unable to type properly. He settles for a voice note instead.

 “H-Hey Taemin. I-It’s me, Minho. I’m kinda d-drunk right now and yeah, I wanted to r-reach out to you for the l-longest but I didn’t k-know what to say. B-But maybe my t-thoughts will come to me e-easier right now. A-Are you doing well? I saw that y-you and Jongin went to L.A on your socials. I hope things are going great, I always believed in your potential.” Minho sighs. “I-I’m stalling cause I want to avoid talking about s-serious things. But I do really wish you all the best with your career. You’ve worked so hard. I’ve always liked that about you. N-No matter what you may think, I always genuinely cared about you Taemin. You were my first real relationship, y-you were literally my first and I’m glad that I was able to experience t-that with you. I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to love you as fully as you deserved. J-Jonghyun held a piece of my heart from we were kids and I didn’t realize that until it was too late to act on it. I-It was never my plan to start seeing him when he came back home. I-It just sort of happened. I k-know that’s not an excuse. But it was never my intention to hurt you as much as I did. But I understand that I did hurt you, I hurt you a lot. A-And I’m sorry Tae. So s-sorry. It tears me up inside knowing that I hurt you that much. I hope one day you c-can find it in your heart to forgive me. It doesn’t have to be now or even a year from now…b-but just someday.”

 Minho sends the voice note and then hovers over Jonghyun’s number. He presses call but immediately ends it when the phone starts ringing. He sighs and chucks his phone elsewhere on the couch, not knowing what he could possibly say to Jonghyun at this point.

        A few months later, Minho finds himself finally taking his brother’s advice. His phone background has been changed to a photo of a palm tree and he’s sitting across from Jihan on their third date.

 “You know, I never thought you were interested.”

 He isn’t – well not entirely. Jihan’s a handsome guy and they get along well, but Minho would be lying if he said he was truly vested.

 He chuckles slightly. “Well. You’re handsome. You know that.”

 “It’s different knowing that you find me handsome though,” Jihan says with a smirk.

 Minho waves him off with a smile and finishes up his meal.

 After their date Jihan asks if Minho would like to come over to his place and he reluctantly agrees.

 Jihan’s apartment is a one-bedroom, very small and tidy – but Minho can’t help feeling uncomfortable as they sit on the loveseat with drinks in hand. After small talk about soccer and the conclusion of the semester, Jihan leans forward for a kiss. It’s not their first time kissing each other – Minho had given him a short peck on their second date – but it does feel strange. At this point, Minho is practically starved for human contact, but kissing Jihan doesn’t make him feel anything. When the other man presses a hand on Minho’s chest and attempts to deepen the kiss, Minho pulls away.

 “F-Fuck, I’m sorry,” he says, knocking over one of their bottles in his haste to get as far away from the man as possible. “I c-can’t do this. I thought I could, I thought I was ready, but, I…fuck!” Minho grabs his wallet and keys and scrambles up. “I have to go,” he says before fleeing from the other’s apartment.

 He gets in his car and drives straight to Jonghyun’s apartment, jolted by the realization that his love for the other has not ceased at all in the six months they’ve been apart.

 Minho knocks on the door loudly, asking out loud for Jonghyun to answer it.

 When he finally does answer the door, Minho meets pink hair where there had previously been silver.

 “M-Minho?” Jonghyun says in surprise.

 “P-Please don’t shut the door on me and hear m-me out please,” he begs. “I just went on a date,” Minho says. He inhales deeply. “I went on a d-date and I t-thought it’d been long enough. I thought I was ready. I mean we only spent two months together. Two g-glorious and unforgettable months and here I am six months later freaking out because someone t-tried to kiss me.”

 Jonghyun looks at him with eyes of concern mixed with pity.

 “B-But I can’t move on because I still love you. I love you so fucking much hyung. I-I’m sorry I didn’t do right by you. I wanted you s-so bad but I wasn’t even the boyfriend you deserved. I had you as my s-secret on the side and I’ll always regret that. I love you and I want to treat you like the boyfriend you deserve to be treated. I w-wanna scream your name from rooftops and let everyone know how much I adore you. B-But I ruined that chance and I-I’m sorry. You’ve probably moved on. I j-just, I h-hope you can forgive m-me. I hope you haven’t spent the last six months h-hating my guts.”

 Jonghyun stares up at Minho for the longest. “M-Minho-“

 “I-I’ll just go hyung,” Minho says softly. “Thanks for hearing me out.”

 He scrambles away from Jonghyun’s apartment as quickly as he had arrived. He drives home, texts Jihan a lengthy apology and passes out on his couch.

        When Minho finally wakes up the next morning, he sees a text from Jonghyun.

 Text from Jonghyunnie♥♥♥, 9 hours ago:

Meet me at the café today, at 3.

        Minho isn’t sure what to expect as he taps his foot anxiously under the table. He’s sitting in the same seat he’d sat in last year when he and Jonghyun had made promises to catch up and give being best friends another go. It feels odd, knowing that it’s almost a year since that happened. They’ve spent more time apart than they have together since Jonghyun’s return.

 Jonghyun saunters in at just seven minutes past three and sits down across from Minho.

 “H-Hi,” Minho says quietly.

 “Hi,” Jonghyun says.

 “Why did you ask me he-“

 Jonghyun cuts Minho off by motioning a waiter over to their table. He orders a lemonade and a sandwich for himself. Minho orders a water, too nervous to consume anything else. The waiter writes down their orders, promising to be back shortly before leaving to tend to another table.

 “So,” Jonghyun begins. “Taemin told me he got a voice message from you.”

 Minho furrows his brows, utterly confused at the notion of Taemin keeping in contact with Jonghyun. “O-Oh. Um, yeah. That happened a few months back. I didn’t think he listened to it. He never responded.”

 “He messaged me instead,” Jonghyun says. “He doesn’t hold any resentment towards you anymore and he gave me his blessing to date you.”

 “Oh? Oh. Um…”

 “I had to think about it for a while,” Jonghyun continues. “Actually, it made me feel even worse. That he could be so forgiving. Neither of us deserve that. I-“ Jonghyun pauses while their waiter rests down their drinks. He gives her a small smile after she promises to be back with his food soon.

 “I dated too,” Jonghyun resumes. “Taeyeon and I went out a few times. We even fooled around once.”

 Minho swallows in attempts to stifle the burning jealousy coursing through him.

 “She was really pretty and such a sweet person. But my heart wasn’t in it either. I couldn’t give myself to her fully. I’ve spent the last few months writing sad songs about relationships that can’t seem to work out for whatever reason.” He sips at his lemonade. “I guess what I’m trying to say is I still feel like shit about what we did…but I still love you and despite all the time that’s passed it hasn’t gotten any easier not having you in my life.”

 Minho takes a deep breath, feeling like it’s the first one he’s taken since he sat down in this café.  

 “I love you too. I l-love you so much hyung.” He reaches for Jonghyun’s hand across the table.

 Jonghyun holds onto Minho’s hand tightly. “B-But I don’t think we can just go back to the way things were before.”

 Minho frowns at him, slowly pulling his hand away. “Oh?”

 Jonghyun snatches his hand back and laces their fingers together. “You could at least court me first.”

        Courting Jonghyun proves to be an easy task. With his years of knowledge of the shorter man’s preferences, it’s not difficult to plan dates that the other will like or perform gestures that are guaranteed to make the other swoon.

 With the older man’s advice, Minho manages to pick out an excellent gift for Kibum’s birthday. A pricey bracelet accompanied with a letter apologizing for all his wrongdoings.

    It takes a while, but Kibum eventually returns to his post as Minho’s best friend.

    “I mean I guess I should have known,” Kibum says over a glass of wine.

 He’s currently sporting a buzzcut with patches dyed a bunch of different colours. Minho thinks it looks ridiculous but Kibum swears it’s the height of style.

 “You were way too sad when Jonghyun-hyung wanted nothing to do with you and then way too excited when he came around. I had my suspicions all along.”

 Minho snorts. “Yeah well-“

 “And then the disappearing acts. So obvious. But you had to top it all off with the matching rings.”

 Minho sighs heavily, not wanting this reminder of his wrongful actions – but unable to blame Kibum nonetheless.

 “It’s a good thing Taemin has moved on, or we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now,” Kibum says as he takes another sip of his wine.

 Minho hasn’t spoken to Taemin, it seems as though there was a silent agreement that they would keep their distance. However according to his Instagram and updates from Kibum, he’s currently dating a girl named Seulgi.

 “I-I’m so sorry again Bum-“

 “Yeah yeah, I know,” Kibum cuts him off. “So back to Jonghyun. Things back to what they were?”

  Minho shakes his head. “We’re taking it a little slow. He doesn’t want to be called my boyfriend just yet. We haven’t been sleeping together either.”

 “Oh? And you’re fine with that.”

 Minho nods. “I’m just happy I get to be in his presence.”

        Jonghyun does eventually come around.

 Minho takes him on a trip to the Hallasan Mountain and Jonghyun agrees to be his boyfriend – properly this time – right before he dumps snow down Minho’s jacket.  

        The revelation of their relationship does not come as a surprise to either of their families. Mrs. Kim and Mrs. Choi look at each other knowingly when the two boys admit to their relationship, commenting that they’d had their suspicions all along but thought that they’d let them figure it out on their own without any pressure. Minho’s father doesn’t comment, but he does smile at the couple fondly a few times over the course of the shared dinner.

    “Even though he doesn’t deserve it after the shit he pulled,” Minseok teases. “I’m glad you decided to give Minho another chance Jonghyun. He really cares about you.”

 Jonghyun nods with a shy smile.

 “But, if he ever pulls any shady business again, I’d be happy to kick his ass for you.”

 Jonghyun laughs heartily at that. “I will definitely keep that in mind hyung.”

        It’s amazing when you find true love and all your needs satisfied by merely being in their presence. Minho never thought it was possible, but he and Jonghyun have made it official for a month now and he hasn’t felt the urge to ask the man for sex. He misses it, he wants it, but he’s also perfectly content simply curled up on his couch together with the shorter man.

 “Hey Minho,” Jonghyun looks up at Minho after noticing him drifting off into his own thoughts.

 Minho looks down at him, smiling as he sees the ring fit snugly around Jonghyun’s thumb. “Yeah baby?”

 Jonghyun presses a warm kiss to his mouth, before shifting on Minho’s lap so that he’s straddling Minho’s waist. He kisses Minho deeply, hands rubbing all over Minho’s warm skin.

 “I-Is this okay?” Jonghyun asks breathlessly. “D-Do you want to?”

 Minho nods, unable to find the words.

    They move into Minho’s bed. The lights are off, making it difficult to see each other. But Minho finds that he doesn’t need to see the other man to know what expression he’s making. He doesn’t need to see him to please him.

 They take things slow, thoroughly exploring each other’s bodies. Minho works his mouth over the entire expanse of Jonghyun’s skin, like it’s the first time he’s ever gotten a taste.

 “Shit, you’re killing m-me,” Jonghyun whimpers as Minho’s tongue works over his most intimate spot. Minho doesn’t have much experience doing this but from the sounds Jonghyun’s making, he’s certain it’ll make its way into their routine.

    Minho whimpers as he interlocks their fingers above Jonghyun’s head, rocking into him at a slow pace. It feels so good, being able to express his love in such a raw and passionate way. He peppers kisses all over Jonghyun’s face while he moves inside of him. “I l-love you,” he repeats over and over like a mantra.

 Jonghyun cums first with his legs tightening around Minho’s waist while his voice reaches pitches Minho’s only ever heard in song. Minho follows soon after, unable to contain himself after feeling the way Jonghyun tightened around him.

 Minho can’t see it, but he feels the love and adoration pouring into him from Jonghyun.

 “G-God I love you. I wanna spend the rest of my days with you. I wanna write sappy love songs that I’m too embarrassed to play for you and be in the bleachers for every one of your soccer games. And I fucking hate sports. I-“

 Minho lets out a breathless laugh before shutting Jonghyun up with a kiss. “I k-know hyung. I k-know. I-I’m sorry it took so long for us to be t-together like this.  Y-You know I feel the same. I’ve felt this f-for such a long time. I w-would have waited years for you if I had to.”

 Jonghyun kisses Minho deeply and Minho knows that now that he has him fully, he will never let him go.

        “So,” Minho starts.

 “So,” Jonghyun echoes.

 “T-This is awkward,” Minho says apologetically.

 “Only if you make it awkward hyung,” Taemin quips.

 They’re gathered in a small restaurant – Minho and Jonghyun sitting across from Taemin and his girlfriend Seulgi. Seulgi is even more beautiful in person and has an addicting laugh. Minho can see why Taemin is attracted to her. She and Jonghyun seem to get along well, sharing conversations about books and music throughout the dinner. Minho finds it hard to talk to her, considering he doesn’t know just how much of his and Taemin’s past the girl actually knows.

 Minho clears his throat. “I’m sorry. It’s hard for it not to be awkward?” His words come out sounding like a question rather than a statement.

 “There’s no hard feelings hyung. You and Jonghyun-hyung are back together and I’ve moved on. I just wanted to meet up with you guys so it wouldn’t be uncomfortable in the future.”

 “I’m really sorry again,” Jonghyun says. “Truly.”

 “I know,” Taemin replies. “I was never upset with you Jonghyun-hyung. You, on the other hand,” he looks at Minho.

 Minho looks away, embarrassed.

 “Well…we can let a dead thing stay dead.”

 Jonghyun rests a comforting hand on Minho’s knee. “So…Are you moving back to Seoul?” Jonghyun asks in attempts to change the conversation.

 “Oh no, we’re only visiting,” Taemin says. “There’s still a lot more of the world I wanna see.”

 Minho nods, knowing that Taemin had ambitions that could not be confined to South Korea.

 “I know you’ll do well,” Minho says quietly.

 Taemin gives him a small smile.

    After dinner they decide to go to a karaoke bar. Jongin shows up halfway through the night along with his girlfriend. Jinki joins them later followed by Kibum and his new boyfriend Donghyun.

 “Are you okay?” Jonghyun asks Minho when he sits down after belting out a TVXQ song. “You don’t look like you’re having a good time.”

 Minho’s the only one who hasn’t sang tonight.

 “I-It just feels…weird,” Minho confesses. “Being around everyone like this. It almost feels normal. But I still feel like an asshole for what I did. And everyone knows.”

 Jonghyun rubs his hand gently. “Why don’t you talk to him…alone.”

 Minho chews on his lip nervously. “You’d be okay with that? After everything?”

 “Of course. I trust you Minho. I know you’re not that person.”

    Spurred on by Jonghyun’s declaration of trust, Minho approaches Taemin and asks if he can talk to him alone.

    “You look happy,” Minho tells him as they stand out on the balcony of the establishment. “Is it real or is it just for show?”

 Taemin scoffs. “Over a year later and you expect me to still be crying over you?”

 “N-No that’s not what I meant, it’s just-“

 “Calm down. I’m just fucking with you,” Taemin says. “I am happy. Genuinely. I love Seulgi and entering a partnership with Jongin was the best decision I made career wise. I have lots to be happy about.”

 Love. Minho can’t recall ever saying that word to Taemin and really meaning it. “You love her?”

 Taemin nods. “Yeah, I do.”

 He says it with so much conviction. “That’s good. I’m really happy for you Tae.”

 Taemin hums. “I don’t have to ask if you’re happy. It’s so apparent with the way you look at Jonghyun. It’s almost disgusting.” He takes a sip of his beer.

 “Does that bother you?”

 “At first it did. I spent so many nights wondering why you would look at him like that, and not me. But it doesn’t bother me anymore. I can see now that the love we had for each other or at least thought we had doesn’t compare to the real thing. You know? I still care about you. I always will. But I’m not in love with you.”

 Minho nods, not at all hurt by those words – rather feeling a sense of peace that Taemin has been able to move on.

 “I’ll always care about you. I know I was drunk in the voice memo, but I meant everything I said. I know we probably won’t ever be friends again, but I just want you to be happy and to take good care of yourself.”

 Taemin gives him a small smile. “I will.”

 Minho pulls the younger man in for a hug. “Thank you Taemin.”

 Taemin hugs him back. “For what?”

 “For forgiving me. That means more to me than you know.”

 Taemin pulls back. “I know you’re not a bad guy Minho. I never thought you were. You let your heart get the best of you. It also sucks cause Jonghyun-hyung is so hard to hate. He’s really sexy too-“

 “Hey, are you trying to make the moves on my man?” Minho teases.

 Taemin laughs with him.

 “There you guys are,” Kibum says as he joins them on the balcony. “Come back to the room, we’ve only got 10 minutes left and Minho has yet to sing a song.”

 Minho shakes his head as he and Taemin are both pulled along by Kibum.

        He sings a song that he thinks both Jonghyun and Taemin will enjoy.

        “Hey Min…”

 “Hmm?”

 They’re lying in their shared bed, huddled under the covers for warmth, with Jonghyun’s unbelievably cold toes tickling Minho’s ankles. It’s late December, with Christmas right around the corner. They both want to make the most of their first Christmas living together in their own home.

 “What do you think about getting married?”

 Minho pitches up at that, rolling over on top of Jonghyun so he can look at the other clearly.

“What did you just say?”

 Jonghyun averts his eyes, suddenly feeling shy under Minho’s intense gaze.  “I-I’m asking you to marry me.”

 “N-no Jjong why…”

 Jonghyun visibly deflates. “You don’t want to get married?” His eyes well up a little bit.

 “No no Jonghyun, of course I do baby,” Minho chuckles at how easily emotional his boyfriend can get. He squishes Jonghyun’s cheeks together. “Idiot. Of course I do. But you ruined my surprise.” Minho sighs and rolls over to his original position.

 Jonghyun sniffles. “Surprise?”

“I was gonna propose to you next spring.  I had this big thing planned. I was gonna take you out to a nice hotel for the weekend, one with a view of the beach. And on our last night, I would lead you to the balcony of our room and you’d look down at the beach and there would be ‘Will you marry me Jjong’ in big letters in the sand.”

 “Are you serious?”

 “Of course I am hyung! I was gonna book the reservations this week.”

 Jonghyun chuckles and then presses a kiss to Minho’s pouting lips. “You’re so cheesy.”

 “Shut up, you would’ve cried if I did.”

 He kisses Minho again. “Maybe…But still, will you though? Will you marry me?”

Minho grumbles. “Of course I will,” he pulls Jonghyun against his chest. The shorter man sighs in contentment as he wraps his arms around Minho’s waist.

 “We should start planning the wedding. Maybe a beach wedding so your fantasy will be fulfilled.”

 Minho smiles, and laces his fingers with Jonghyun’s. “Yeah? And after we’re married what are we gonna do next? Adopt some kids?”

 “Ooh ooh, two boys and a girl. Or two girls and a boy. We can start a cute little family.”

 “The cutest little family.”  

 Jonghyun grins and kisses Minho’s chin. The latter’s cheeks hurt from smiling at the idea of marrying his best friend and starting a family with him. And it would be the best family ever. They’d love and nurture their children just as much as they love and care for each other. And their lives will forever be filled with constant happiness.

 Jonghyun yawns and snuggles more into Minho’s embrace.

 “I love you Frogho.”

 “I love you more Dinoboy.”

 The End.

[jichew]

college!hyunsuk au♡part one

a/n: hello!!! this is my first fic on here so please go easy on me bc it’s kind of slow and long :,) I rushed it a bit bc i wanted to get it up before the last episode airs :/// also feel free to leave requests or just drop in to talk! i would love more ygtb mutuals! (also i was going to make this a full on lovers au but it got too long so i just left it like this, but if i get enough requests, i will be more than willing to make a part 2!)

so you’re a freshman at college(✿◠‿◠)

while you’re absolutely in love with what college has to offer,,,,you’re dreading the start of classes

esp when it’s your first semester and you have no idea how to navigate the campus

and that, my friends, is how you realize it will take 15 minutes to get to a 9 AM that starts in 10 minutes (a/n this is a true story lol)

and while you could easily just skip this class and call it a day, you are A GOOD STUDENT ＼＼\\٩(๑`^´๑)۶//／／

so you double knot your shoelaces and run across that mf campus

thankfully, you make it right as the clock hits 9... though you didn’t realize that this was a 300 student general chem lecture

it really b like that sometimes y/n ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

so you’re left to slide into one of the rows at the very back of the hall, which is thankfully empty

...

save for the mop of blonde hair that is passed out in the seat next to you

of course, you don’t have the time to pay attention to the boy beside you because you’re prof has already started lecturing

before you know it, class is over

surprisingly enough, at 9:50 on the dot, the boy shoots his head up, ruffles his hair, grabs his backpack and briskly exits the lecture hall room, sparing you a brief nod

if you weren’t stressed enough that you have 20 minutes to grab breakfast and run back across campus for class, maybe you would have taken time to notice how cute the boy was - but you have a class to get to

so fast fwd two days,,, you’re basically a pro at this whole college thing

or so you thought

you find your self double knotting your shoelaces again and running across campus to reach your 9 AM chem lecture again

at this point,,,you’ve accepted your fate and you dejectedly slide next to the passed out boy in the back row

so now that this is your second class, you’re prof is actually lecturing (and blondie beside u is still asleep)

after a grueling hour of basic chem review,   you have about three pages of notes

and it isn’t until 5 minutes before you’re dismissed that blondie finally takes the time to wake up

you resist the urge to giggle seeing his slightly frazzled state - hair puffed out, half lidded eyes and pouty lips (✿´ ꒳ ` )

and maybe you would have,,,if he didn’t hurriedly look over at you and ask if he could borrow your notes

and as much as you despise people who don’t pay attention in class and ask for other peoples’ notes ,,,,, who are you to resist those puppy dog eyes                    

。・°°・(＞_＜)・°°・。

so,,,, you reluctantly hand him over the notes

but not without giving him a piece of your mind ＼＼\\٩(๑`^´๑)۶//／／

“don’t forget to bring them back next class,,,and maybe a coffee too so you can stay awake”( ◠‿◠ )

y/n, you really are too nice

so it’s finally friday,,,,but you have that cursed 9 am yet again

and while you’re able to make it early this time around, you willingly sit in the back row

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

and much to your surprise,,, in comes blondie, fully awake, an iced coffee in each hand

he moves into his seat beside you, setting down one of the coffees on your desk

“i don’t really know what girls like, so i just decided to get you the same thing as me! as a thank you for letting me borrow your notes”

speaking of notes, he quickly sets down his coffee and his backpack and takes out your notes, setting those on your desk as well

and this whole time, you’re just like,,,,,,,,, (●´ω｀●)

and he’s staring at u with this goofy smile on his face like,,,,(๑･̑◡･̑๑)

if it were socially acceptable, you would have squished his little cheeks right then and there

but all you can manage to get out is a small smile, mumbling an “anytime” under your breath

and as much as you enjoy the company of another person in this large lecture hall,,,blondie talks a lot

but also you can’t bring yourself to mind bc he’s not all that bad at chem (and he looks cute when he talks with his lips all pouty but don’t tell him you said that(๑>◡<๑))

so it’s been about a month at college and you’re actually getting the hang of things this time

also,,,blondie has officially stopped falling asleep in class

surprisingly, you both have become quite the pair ٩( ᐛ )و

you learned that his name is hyunsuk, he’s a sophomore, and he’s part of a dance team (hence why he can’t help but fall asleep during chem lecture)

while you guys don’t interact outside of class, it’s nice to have someone to make small talk with in the morning

and you’d be lying if you said you didn’t want to boop his cute nose on several occasions (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)

so while studies are great and all,,,,it’s been a month and you have done next to nothing besides stressing over classes and sleeping

so, your friends (yes y/n, you do have friends) decided to have a little gno to celebrate surviving a month of college

shimmying into a pair of black jeans, a cute top, jean jacket and some heels, you’re ready to TAKE ON THE TOWN

and like not to brag but u look hot

you really know how to strut your stuff y/n

so when ur friends were like gno!!!! you expected something cute like going to get dinner in the city or something

you did NOT expect to find yourself in a frat party

like,,,,,you’ve never been to one of those cheap high school parties much less a college frat party

so like,you’re kind of freaking out inside bc tight areas filled with sweaty bodies and the stench of alcohol are NOT your thing

(　˙-˙　)

your friend mina is like,,,

“come on y/n, it’s part of the college experience!!!”

but you’re like,,,

“the only experience i need is sleeping past my alarm” ＼＼\٩(๑`^´๑)۶//／／

nonetheless, mina resorts to dragging you into the house

so somehow, you guys make it to the kitchen

and while you’re still against the idea of being here, at least it’s slightly more breathable in the kitchen

while u can finally breathe, you also realize mina is GONE

u quickly scan the kitchen and thankfully find her ,,,,, w some tall dinosaur looking dude??

she motions you over so you slide through some bodies to make your way over to the pair

“y/n!!! this is my friend byounggon! he owns this place!”

“hey, you can call me gon!”

the dude does a little nod and smiles at you ,,, and then u notice how close him and mina are actually standing next to each other

her hand on his arm...the little smile he gives her...

and you’re like

“OH ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)”

“you know,,,i’ll leave you guys to hang out for a bit while i go explore the place”

but not so fast,,,you have friends who care about your safety :,)

gon is all like

“no wait! mina told me this was your first party so i’ll have one of my frat brothers watch over you”

he turns his head back calling out a name that’s unintelligible over the sound of the music playing throughout the house

“y/n! this is my friend -“

“HYUNSUK???”

“Y/N!!!”

obviously you’re a bit startled to see the blonde boy in a setting that’s not the chem lecture hall

and maybe you’re even more startled by how good he looks - silk shirt, silver jewelry littering his ears and hair styled

and maybe he thinks the same with the way his eyes briefly glaze over your full body

but ,,,, mina and gon:??????

“you guys know each other?”

you’re the first to snap out of your reverie, hyunsuk’s eyes still glued to you

“uhh yeah we sit next to each other in chem lecture”

gon: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

“ahhh...so you’re THAT y/n”

“THAT y/n”

“yeah, it means -“

“NOTHING”

(hyunsuk’s quick to interrupt when he’s about to get exposed (¬_¬))

“he means nothing lol”

anyway,,,gon’s like “yeah so we’ll leave you guys to it”

and you’re just looking back in dejection bc ur friends left u :,(((

when you turn back around hyunsuk has a bit of an apologetic look on his face

“first party?” he cocks his head to the side , puppy dog eyes waiting for an answer

“yeah,,,, i never really took you for the frat boy type”

hyunsuk does a little boyish smirk before saying

“there’s a lot things you don’t know about me babe”

and then he’s lightly grabbing your wrist and taking you to god knows where

the next thing you know, you guys are out on a balcony

and you’re like

\( ˆoˆ )/ fresh air!!!!

hyunsuk: (*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)

so you’re just like

staring at the sky

and u feel a little gaze boring into the side of your head

so you look over to see hyunsuk staring at you with his head cocked to the side

and he has this little smile on his lips

and you have no clue why he’s smiling but it makes your tummy do ~that thing~

but ALSO ,,, you’re trying to play it cool

so you cock your head back at him

and he stares at you for a little longer

and GIGGLES

THIS BOY HAS THE AUDACITY TO GIGGLE AT YOU

DOESNT HE KNOW WHAT THAT DOES TO A GIRL’S HEART

hshsbahaheiskeksoal

“why are you giggling??”

he does a little shrug and looks over at you

“you’re cute”

(((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))♡

lmao he really just had to take all your uwus

the moment kind of ends when you get a text from mina saying she went home w gon,,,

you both know what that means( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

but also now you don’t have a ride back to your dorm

i mean you probably guessed what’s going to happen now

gentleman suk decides to walk you back to your dorm

despite it being chilly, it’s still a nice walk

you both walk in a comfortable silence,, heads turned to avoid the other seeing the  little smile on each’s face

and you don’t say anything when you feel the tips of hyunsuk’s warm fingers entangling into your own

and he doesn’t say anything when you bid him goodnight with a kiss on the cheek

and you know that you have more than friendly feelings for the sleepy blondie in your chem class

[halloweennut]

Hireath, Part 5

One more part after this one. I can’t write fight scenes.

As Elena planned, her, Mateo, and Gabe set off early the next morning. By horse it would have been four days, but by jacquin it was shortened to half a day. Skylar was only more than happy to provide his wings, and Migs had sent the fastest flyers. 

“So what’s the plan, Princessa?” Skylar asked, flying through the morning clouds, just barely tinged orange in the light. 

“Fly in, stop Chatana and Ash, rescue Esteban, bring the three of them to justice,” Elena replied succinctly. “Provided there isn’t any more treachery or plot twists.” 

“There won’t be this time, Elena,” Mateo said. “We’re readier than ever.”

“Let’s end this once and for all,” Gabe added. Elena nodded in agreement, and turned her view to the horizon. They flew over village and plain, river and valley until finally reaching the mountains and the cave Maricruz and Rosita had been trapped in. Despite never being inside of it, the sight made Elena feel cold.  Forty years for her had been hell, and the idea of being trapped anywhere or for any longer almost made her ill. 

“We’re getting close,” Skylar said. “Socanos is only a few miles ahead.”

“Let’s go down lower. I don’t want them to see us coming,” Elena ordered. Skylar nodded, and gestured to the other two to drop down, just above the tree line. The pyramid of Socanos rose from the jungle, a beacon of weathered stone against the sky and trees. “There it is!”

“Let’s get to ground and travel by foot from here,” Gabe called to Elena. She nodded, and the group landed in a smaller clearing a few hundred yards off from the Maruvian site. “Are we ready?”

“As we’ll ever be,” Elena said. Her scepter was steady in her hand. “Let’s end this.”

The three began their walk forward, the jaquins close at hand in case the need for a quick get away was necessary. Eventually, the jungle broke, leading into the main plaza of Socanos. The statues and remaining buildings were overgrown with plants, reclaiming them for the earth. Straight ahead down main avenue laid the temple. It’s painted facades were faded and chipped, and some of its sculptural elements were near stripped down between looters and time. They made their way up to it, hiding behind the buildings on the sides of the path to avoid being seen. Reaching the base, they quickly, but quietly, crept up, ears and eyes open for any sign of trouble. 

The inside of the pyramid was dim. Few rays of light entered from the ceiling through cracks or man-made openings from centuries past.  They made their way through, looking through each atrium for any signs of life. 

“Where are they?” Gabe hissed. “If they’ve moved already-”

“We still have one more room,” Mateo replied. “Maybe we’ll find something.”

“Hopefully,” Elena added as they entered the last atrium. It was dark, but they just made out a shape on the form. She raised her scepter. “Glow.”

The room was filled with light and Elena’s stomach was filled with dread. The shape on the ground was the prone form of Esteban. He was battered, hit with god knew how many spells, and his staff laid feet away from him. She gasped and ran over to him, gently shaking him.

“Esteban? Esteban, wake up!” she near shouted. He opened his eyes in a flash, but didn’t move anything else except frantically blink and move his eyes. “What-”

“A paralysis spell,” Mateo replied. “It’ll take a while for me to undo it, depending on when it was cast. At least it wasn’t a statue spell.”

Elena looked down at the frantic eyes, and watched as his jaw twitched. He looked like he was forcing himself to move. “E-elena-”

His voice was forced, quiet and hoarse from days of misuse. He continued, but his voice dropped to a hiss.

“What? Esteban, what happened?” Elena asked, leaning closer. Esteban only looked panicked, but tried again.

“Tr-tra-trap,” he managed to croak. His eyes left her’s to look behind her, pupils near pinpoints. 

“Well, well, well. Aren’t family reunions just so touching?” Ash said snidely as she and Chatana approached. “Perfect timing. We’ve been waiting for you.”

“The moment we saw those Oracles on that horse, we knew Esteban sent them to you,” Chatana continued. “It was only a matter of time before you came to us.”

“Can you believe Esteban still trusts you, still wants to be your family, after everything you’ve both done to each other?” Ash laughed. “It’s pitiful, really. But that’s what your family is: pitiful.”

“Enough!” Elena shouted, dress going orange. She raised her scepter towards them. “This ends now.”

Ash chuckled. “We’ll see about that.”

-

Rosie couldn’t focus on the cards in front of her. Luisa was teaching them conquian, but she didn’t have the patience to sit still for it in general, let alone when Elena had gone to Socanos. She had been watching periodically through the day to see where they were, but stopped looking when she saw that they reached the pyramid. She didn’t want to see anything else until everyone was back in Avalor. And she did mean everyone. 

“Rosie, mijita, it’s your turn,” Luisa prodded. “You don’t have to play if you don’t want to.”

“Yeah,” Isa agreed. “It can take a little while to get into. We don’t mind.”

“No, it’s okay,” Rosie replied, replacing the hem of her new vest with her cards. “I don’t think I could even do anything else right now.”

“Next round, we’ll put your sister into rotation too,” Luisa said. “Won’t that be fun?”

“Probably,” she replied. Rosie stared at her card - she thought it was a good one - and placed it down. “If we can pull her from the window.”

Maricruz was curled up in the window across the room, staring in the direction Elena and her friends had gone. Rosie knew it was for two reasons: one, they hadn’t seen the outside for so long, the most average tree was refreshing, and two, she wanted to be the first one to see them come home, especially since she was too afraid to look at the future’s possible truths. Esteban’s jacket and a small needle were in her lab, but her sister’s hands were still, halfway through a row of tiny, slightly unsteady stitches. 

“Can I take a quick break?” she asked. 

“Of course,” Luisa said. “Isa takes a bit on her turns anyway.”

“It’s strategy!”

Rosie smiled and slipped down from her chair, running over to her sister. It was so much faster doing so in a pair of leggings instead of skirt! She stopped next to her sister, gently touching her elbow. Mari looked down at her.

“Done with the game already?” she asked. 

“Not yet,” Rosie shook her head. She climbed up to sit next to her, holding her hand and looked down at the jacket. “He’ll be okay, and he’ll tell you that your stitches are uneven but good.”

Mari cracked a sad smile at that. “I’m just out of practice is all...hopefully he’ll say that the thought was lovely, and he’ll keep it in a box in his closet to remember by while wearing a nicer one. Dark blue wool with silver embroidery would be nice, I think.”

“I like the red!” Rosie pouted. “He can wear that one on special occasions.”

“Alright,” Mari replied. Rosie leaned forward, hugging her sister tight. “No sad thoughts, okay? Only hopeful ones. Everything will be okay.” 

Rosie nodded against her shoulder before letting go and heading back over to the table. Mari smiled at the three before picking the needle up again. She knew that she would focus better if she knew what would happen, if she just dared to look….

-

Elena tried to keep her rage in check as she dodged blast after blast from Ash, sending her own blazes towards her as Mateo and Chatana butt heads and Gabe and two of the jaquins helped from the ground and air. Skylar had dragged Esteban to the side, out of the fight to protect him until the paralysis spell wore off. 

“I won’t let you do any more damage, Ash!” Elena shouted. “My kingdom, my home, my family- have all suffered because of your actions!”

“And your dear cousin’s, Elena,” Ash replied. “Don’t forget that either.”

Elena grit her teeth, biting back a shout of ‘I know!’ as she fired the next blast. This one finally made contacted, just getting her legs. Ash fell with a shout of pain, tamborita flying from her hand. Elena approached, scepter aimed, ready to seal the malvago in crystal and be done with her reign of terror. 

“This ends!” Elena said coldly, dress near venomously orange. “No more-”

-

Miles away and an hour earlier, an oracle looked ahead as cards were being played.

-

Mateo pushed Pili away from him and sent another boqato towards the sorceress. The weasel hissed and lunged for his ankles, only to be grabbed by the scruff. 

“Not today!” Gabe said, tossing him to one of the jaquins. Pili shouted in protest as he was caught in a set of paws. The other jaquin was going after Chatana, biting after her wings. She stopped short and dropped like a stone, and the jaquin careened into the wall, and crumpled like a rag doll to the floor. 

“BOQATO!” Mateo shouted, sending the spell towards her. She smirked and dodged, flying just below the blast and swooped towards the two. Chatana knocked the two of them to the ground with a sharp snap of her wings before going up high. She watched as Ash was taken out and Elena approached. 

“C’mon, Esteban!” Skylar shook his charge. “We could use that teleporting nonsense right about now!”

“I’m trying!” Esteban managed to hiss. Skylar looked up, and moved to leave his side. 

“Try harder and fast!” 

Esteban followed his gaze up, watching Chatana zero in on Elena. “No-”

“Elena! Elena look out!” Mateo shouted. 

Elena barely had the time to turn before she saw the spell in Chatana’s hands. Esteban barely had the strength to stand, let alone run. But somehow he did, stumbling towards his staff and clumsily grabbing it. He slammed it on the ground.

Elena shouted, holding up her hands to block herself and felt herself go flying to the ground, but not from a magic blast. There was the sound of a body hitting stone and a sickening crack of something breaking. She knew it wasn’t her - her racing heart told her that she was very much still alive.  She sat up, wincing at her scraped palms as she grabbed her scepter. Elena turned to find the source of what pushed her away, and didn’t realize the cry she heard came from her when she saw what had.  

-

An oracle cried out and fell to the ground, much to the panic of the others near her.

-

Esteban awoke, eyes bleary. He winced in pain, trying to hold back his groans. He felt like hell warmed over. His arm was bandaged and wrapped in a sling to his chest, and his entire middle was wrapped up tight with bandages. He could feel every cut and bruise on him, and he felt extremely weak. Esteban looked around, blinking in the dim light of what he was shocked to see was his room in the palace. He wanted to sob, but the act hurt him preemptively. He settled back onto his pillows, never again to take them for granted, and finally noticed other figures in his room.

Elena was leaning on the side of the bed, asleep and looking exhausted still, and Isa leaned against her. Her scepter laid over his bureau. On the small loveseat, Gabe and Mateo were asleep, propping each other up. His abuela had taken the chair next to his bedside, draped with a spare blanket. He instinctively knew that his abuelo was probably running the castle, but would replace his wife when she woke up. And at his right hand, two little oracles were fast asleep. Mari’s cheeks were tear-stained, and Rosie looked as tired as he felt, even when asleep. Esteban let a tear fall as he sighed in relief for the first time in weeks. 

Tomorrow would come, and he would deal with it then, but for now…He was home, he was finally home and not alone. Those were the only thoughts he had on his mind as he finally drifted back to sleep.