#anyway. skill issue. summer would let me see :) who said that?
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world's biggest fumbler 🥶
#rosebird#strq#my art#sooo embarrassing for her 😭 didn't get the memo that the only pics summer sends are of what she cooked 🍛🍝🍲🥧🥞#that smirk on the middle raven is funny to me... she's about to tell me to go check on my car & i find out that the radio is gone.#anyway. skill issue. summer would let me see :) who said that?
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Since yesterday, after I read your post about interaction/engagement, I‘ve been trying to figure out how to reach out to you… been trying to find the „right“ words, even if I know that that is impossible. I‘ll try anyway…
I completely get how you feel.
I‘ve been very insecure about my own writing since I started posting chapters of 5 years back in september and didn‘t get many interactions. A few likes here and there, some lovely comments (that I cherish very much!) but not more. I started second guessing my skills, started regretting the decision to publish the story in the first place, etc. It basically ended in a downward spiral where I considered taking it down and wished for the ground to swallow me whole because I thought I was so bad that people don‘t even want something to do with me. Sometimes, that wish still sneaks up on me. But then I get the loveliest comment from one of my regular readers and I think: Hey, that person still reads the story, that person still waits for an update, etc. and I get a new spark of motivation that keeps me going. I know it‘s hard and it‘ll keep being a challenge to find joy and motivation in the interactions of the regular readers, but I guess we‘ll just have to learn to do exactly that. Maybe it helps to know that you‘re not alone in facing that challenge. I‘m right at your side🥰.
On the other hand, I understand the POV of the people with social anxiety. I‘m suffering from that too (first and foremost when I‘m face to face with someone) and it‘s awful. Regarding the internet, I started overcoming it by joining the TGM fandom here on Tumblr. Before summer 2022, I would have never dared to comment on a story, let alone reblog it. I thought I‘d be too invasive, I‘d annoy the creator etc. But one day, I decided to shoot blind and wrote a message to @bradshawsbaby . I swear, I‘m not kidding when I say that my heart threatened to beat out of my chest😅. I was so afraid that she would cringe about that message, but boy, was I wrong! She wrote such a cute and sweet reply that almost made me bawl my eyes out🥹. And from then on, I kind of „realized“ that there are real humans behind all these amazing accounts, yours included, that can feel my love for them and their creations that I try to express in my messages/comments. But it takes a lot of courage and the will to step out of your comfort zone and I get that some people maybe aren‘t ready or just not willing to do that. Of course, that doesn‘t make it easier for creators, but no one can be forced to do something they don’t want to do.
I dare to claim that it‘s safe to say that it‘s a frustrating matter for both sides. The creators who wish for feedback to improve their writing skills to make their readers happy and the readers who feel pressured to do something they‘re not comfortable with. I‘m not sure if we‘ll ever be able to work it out so it works for both sides, but perhaps every side can define their boundaries more clearly so that everyone knows where they stand…
Anyway, I hope this message isn‘t embarassing🫣😬. I just tried to express how I see things regarding this topic, but I‘m just a 19-year-old girl who has no knowledge of anything😅🤷🏻♀️. Please, let me know if I embarassed myself with this.
Many hugs and so much love to you💗!
BB 😭❤️ you said this so much better than I could and wow I so appreciate the time and thought you put into this 🥹 thank youuuu
These messages are bringing me so much clarity, and wow like even if I disagree with some things people have shared I still appreciate everyone taking the time to write out such long and detailed responses because it sounds like there are definitely things I could be doing as a writer to make this space more accessible for people in a way that works for everyone, I have a much better understanding of the issue from both sides, and I’m just genuinely grateful this could be a conversation
To your first part, it is so scary as writers to put ourselves out there and whether we want to or not, we can get in our head about things 😭
And in general, I manage my expectations around interactions. I know and respect that everything I write is not going to be for everyone nor is everyone going to want to interact. But I am here to engage and get to know people so quality (in whatever way works) is important to me. And at this point, I really am just here answering Hannix asks 😂 😅
And primarily with writing that responds to asks, I do have anxiety here and I’m not going to minimize that part even while I am learning that it is something I need to work on. I grew up in a home where people were emotionally unpredictable and withheld affection and emotional validation in order to control my behavior. When I am giving someone something that was asked for, that is emotionally vulnerable (writing in general), and it feels like there’s little to no response I go into full blown panic that I’ve done something wrong or made them unhappy with me. I actually seize up because what I learned as a child is that I could be emotionally and physically punished if I don’t recalibrate. I start triple guessing and overanalyzing and that’s not really a place to write from. I could close my asks, say no more Hannix Football Rivalry. But it does *seem* like that makes people happy, that it’s something they love and I love giving people that. But it was taking a toll on me and I wanted to see if there is a solution instead of automatically shutting down
This is not a call for everyone to comment or reblog or dm or trigger their own anxiety to engage. But if someone was not understanding what was happening on my end and is like oh yes, happy to do that so we can all continue to enjoy this universe (or explore other ones!) then that is so so appreciated
Because no, I don’t want to be on here triggering other people’s anxiety 😭 And maybe it’s those people responding because there’s a shared understanding of what that experience is like, how out of control it can get even when you present yourself with logic or try to reason your way out of it
I think while there is frustration, there is also the shared experience of wanting to be recognized for our whole person even when we’re operating as writer and reader and I think Tumblr does give us a chance to recognize ourselves on a deeper level than we may in other interactions. So I do want to take care with that for everyone
No one should be forced to do something they’re uncomfortable with and you are spot on with defining boundaries!! This is not engage or get out or I’ll hold my work hostage. It’s more like, I’m struggling and asking for help if someone can give it because I want to keep giving you something you love and makes you happy. It didn’t seem fair to set boundaries without understanding where everyone is coming from
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Okay... So this isn't a list of ever thought I'd make but it got into my head before I went to bed last night and I needed to post it. Please, do NOT hit read more if you are just a sweet summer child when it comes to the depths of the internet because what I'm about to say? Gets dark.
Okay. Now I mentioned in a previous post why characters like Alya or Lila get me angry. And, as I was scrolling through YouTube, I started to put a little list together of traits that normally give me such angry reactions and it occurred to me that, more often than not, these traits only really come out in anime characters.
So let's start this with the only universe where I have an OC, one of the originals, Naruto.
Now people hate on Sakura and the leaf village and I was not any different at the beginning of Naruto. Now my hatred of the leaf was for a very obvious reason, their treatment of Naruto. You see I always had two issues with this, they were so certain that Naruto was Kurama and blamed him for everything the fox did. So this means that A) they didnt trust the fourth hokage's sealing ability to keep them safe and B) should all the crap they be doing to Naruto make him snap? They expected the ninjas to take care of it.
Then there's the other option in that they knew the kyuubi couldn't hurt them and so they took their anger out on an innocent kid who has no clue why people hate him. Not really sure which paints the villagers in a worse light.
Say what you want about Hiruzen's shitty secret keeping skills, if Naruto had found out about Kurama BEFORE Iruka took a shine to him? The leaf would have been destroyed. And I would have laughed.
But anyway, let's move onto Sakura. Oh Sakura... Now I warmed up to her when Shippuden came around but before then? She was the focal point of why I disliked the other characters. It's not because she was in love with Sasuke, Ive seen plenty of stories where love interests don't make sense, and it wasn't how useless she was either. She may have been outclassed for the entirety of the pre timeskip era but the girl tried, I'll give her points for that. No I hated her for the same reason I hate the village, the other genin rookies, and everyone who called Naruto an idiot while praising Sasuke. Sasuke is one of the first to recognise that Naruto is strong. Naruto is the reason that Sasuke pushed himself as hard as he did in the wave arc and beyond. You're going to sit there and tell me that the one ninja pushing your "prodigy" to do better is a dead weight who won't ever compare to said prodigy? Yeah right. Bite me.
With that out of the way Sakura is the perfect representation of the characteristics that I just can't stand, albeit to a much more mundane nature than the next person I will rant about. She's useless, an idiot, a simp and a whiner. Now then, with that all said, can you guess which character triggered my hatred last night and made this the first thing I needed to write today?
.... No?
It's Zenitsu. As much as I like demon Slayer I could not watch passed the first season because the thought I'd have to deal with that whiny waste of space some more? Oh it turned me right off. Now sure the little trait of him having mastered a single form so well that he can do it in his sleep? Yeah it's cool. The fact that he gets so scared he faints and is then able to use that technique? Is interesting. Every other moment he is on screen? Makes me want to stop living.
Now with his first introduction it was kind of neat. A character who understands how insane their career is? Who wants absolutely nothing to do with slaying demons but is, unbeknownst to them, able to survive an encounter because he's mastered a technique to such an extent? Was not something I could remember seeing before.
Hell his willingness to die for Nezuko because Tanjiro asked him to protect the box? Despite knowing there is a demon inside? For the sole reason being that Tanjiro actually puts up with him? It was incredibly sweet. The entire scene where you find out that he knew from the beginning that there was a demon in the box, yet trusted Tanjiro enough to protect it anyway? Was incredibly touching and made me think I had underestimated him.
.... And then he saw Nezuko and all my respect for him went out the window.
Now don't get me wrong. I don't mind a simp. Sanji is one of the most well known anime simps and Brock from Pokemon is probably the earliest simp people would be exposed too. The difference is the confidence. When Sanji and Brock start simping? It's funny. When you need to drag a blubbering Zenitsu away from a girl he only met once before? That's creepy. And pathetic. And a waste of precious screen time that could be spent on badass demon slaying or cute Nezuko moments. Or badass Nezuko moments.
But that's it. Demon Slayer isn't for me and I could live with that... Until I saw what the fandom thought of them. The fact that people shipped Zenitsu and Nezuko? Sickened me. But hey, I don't have to agree with everyone's opinion. There are those that think Ron and Hermione are good together just because that's what JK Rowling said. Clearly those people are wrong but they are entitled to their opinion.
And then... I found the porn. Now let me say this. I'm a man of the internet. I've seen many a childhood character ruined by the 34th rule. I've managed to sit through all of them. But the moment the Zenitsu and Nezuko video started. I was overcome by the urge to put Zenitsu in a blender.
I don't mean a giant one and turn him into a smoothie. No I mean I wanted to hold the lightning crybaby down and shove his extremities into a regular blender and listen to him scream. If there has ever been a character in anime that has been least deserving of another? It's Zenitsu. He doesn't deserve the love of a girl. He deserves repeated kicks in the crotch until he learns to stop blubbering.
#tw violence#my thoughts#ooc#mun post#anime salt#tw sexualization of minors#glad i googled Nezuko's age because now Im even angrier
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—christmas cream(pie) ; (m.)
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⟶ pairing: jeon jungkook/reader
⟶ genre: established relationship, smut, fluff
⟶ word count: 3.6k
⟶ summary: a day before christmas dinner with your boyfriend's parents, you discover another alternative way to use the chocolate cream you’re making. jungkook is more than willing to indulge in your little fantasy.
⟶ warnings: explicit sexual content, food play, finger-sucking, spit kink, dirty talk, oral (f) receiving, slight choking but nothing too extreme, unprotected sex, creampie, jungkook being the sweetest boyfriend on the earth and your emotional support, tooth-rooting domestic fluff:(
a/n: hi!! this is my little christmas present for you. hope you enjoy what my brain came up with yesterday<3 ps. i also dont know what kind of fic title this is.
Christmas secure a top spot on your own self-made list of holidays. You enjoy practically every aspect of it. The food, decorating your house, songs, movies, the whole magical aura of warmth and love – you name it.
But this year though, you're fiddled with anxiety because it's the first time you're going to celebrate with your boyfriend Jungkook and his parents.
You've been dating for two lovely years, living in a shared apartment for almost six months but somehow you've never spent any major holiday together. Until now, it actually felt like a step bigger than moving in. Choosing to be with your families and celebrate separately was never an issue for both of you.
And foolishly, you thought this year would be no like the other, that you'll kiss your sweet boyfriend goodbye before Christmas Eve and reunite after the whole shenanigans would end. But to your surprise, Jungkook had different plans for you.
“Y-your parents did what?”
“They invited us for a Christmas dinner.” he repeated calmy, completely unfazed by the pure shock marring your features.
He was sprawled on the couch, hair messy and falling onto his forehead because he had been avoiding barbershops lately (it wasn’t like you minded it–if anything, it made him look even sexier). He was wearing your favorite pair of sweats that had a soy sauce stain on the left knee and a simple black t-shirt, yet for you he looked like an angel sent from the above and devil reincarnated at the same time. So deliciously domestic and soft it almost made you wanna jump him right here and there, if it wasn't for the more nagging matters that you had yet to discuss with him.
“But,” you stuttered, brain too consumed by nerves to help you formulate coherent sentences. “I was visiting your parents in Busan over summer.”
“Yeah, but it's been a while and they really want to see you again,” he said, raising from his spot. He came up to you, his tall, lean body towering over your form. The moment you saw his sparkly doe eyes boring holes into yours, you knew you were approximately twenty seconds from giving in. “Pretty please.” he tried again, palms cupping your flushed cheeks until you had no choice but to agree.
“Okay.”
Jungkook grinned in response and leaned to press a chaste kiss onto your lips. “Love you, baby.” He tasted like spicy noodles and soda but you ignored it, mustering a small smile.
“Love you too.” you said, always meaning those three little words because truly, you could never resist Jeon Jungkook and his charms. He had you wrapped around his finger more than you'd ever admit and you'd simply do anything to make him happy, even if that meant stressing over a Christmas dinner with his parents.
“They really like you, ___. You have nothing to worry about.” Jungkook murmured upon kissing your nose, and then forehead. “My mom is already so excited to see you. She said she would make an apple pie because you once mentioned you liked it.”
You leaned into his touch, slightly less angry you had been surprised with a revelation like that but at the same time still apprehensive and filled with nerves. “You aren't making this easier, you know?” you asked.
Jungkook sent you an apologetic smile. “You're amazing, baby. You don't need to convince my parents again that you're the right person for me,” he said, hands finding purchase on your waist and pulling you closer to him. “All you have to do is smile and compliment my mom's cooking skills. And maybe ask dad about fishing. You know he's been crazy about it lately.”
Easier said than done, you thought to yourself. Jungkook was a natural when it came to bewitching people. Your parents adored him because he knew all the right words to make them fall for his charms. He didn’t have to try hard or pretend to be someone else in order to be accepted as their daughter’s partner.
You, on the other hand, were on a different side of the spectrum. No matter how many times Jungkook reassured you of your worth, you still had a lot of insecurities to deal with. That was just who you were as a person. Maybe it was why you clicked so well together. You needed someone to be your second Sun.
“You got his.” With a final kiss onto the crown of your head, Jungkook left you standing in the middle of the living room, and all you could think about was a fricking apple pie and finding new ways to impress your boyfriend's parents.
Hence way you're currently in the kitchen, blender in your right hand as you mix the ingredients for the most extra chocolate cake you've ever made, determination written all over your features like you’re competing in the final Bake Off episode.
And why is that? Because your brain couldn't let you sleep peacefully at night if you didn't decide to bake your own cake for Jungkook's mother. It started innocently, slowly getting information out of your boyfriend about his parents' favorite food. Of course, you had to be clever about it, so he wouldn't suspect anything too early into the game. That's why after asking a round of rather specific questions you lured him into a blowjob because you know he usually loses his goddman mind after a good dick sucking.
Content with your plan, you're now a day before the Christmas dinner, Jungkook's mother's beloved cake almost ready to be put into the oven.
“Babe, I'm home!” you hear Jungkook calling from the corridor. You sent him to do some (un)necessary grocery shopping so you could have a time for yourself to prepare the cake without him looking over your shoulder and analyzing your every move. You really hate when people do that because you’re more likely to screw something when you’re being watched.
“Let me taste it then,” he says, grabby hands reaching for the bowl but you quickly swat them away.
“I'm here!” you shout back, unplugging the blender once you're satisfied with your chocolate cream.
“What is the smell?” Jungkook asks, entering the kitchen. “Oh,” he quips, placing grocery bags on the floor. “You made this?”
“Mhmm,” you hum, dipping a finger into the bowl and then putting it into your mouth. It tastes good, not too sweet but at the same time it still has a strong chocolate flavor. Perfect.
“Wash your hands first.”
“Wait,” You can almost hear the gears shifting in his brain. His grip on your waist tightens as you desperately try to stifle the laugh babbling in your throat. “This is my mom's favorite cake.”
Jungkook dramatically salutes you, even though you see him smirking under his breath. Once his hands are all clean and dry, you feel his arms encircling your body from the back. “Is this for me?” he murmurs, obviously referring to the cake.
“Nope. It's for tomorrow's Christmas dinner.”
That’s why you break into a smile, pulling him for a quick peck. “You can taste my cream now.” you say.
“Great observation.”
“And you said you were making it for the Christmas dinner,” Jungkook continues, “Which means you did this purposely.” he finishes, twirling your body so you're now facing him.
“You said she would make me an apple pie so I thought I could reciprocate the kindness and do the same,” An innocent smile tugs at your lips. “Besides, the more food the better.”
Jungkook snorts. “So here's why you were asking me all those weird questions lately.”
Your eyes widen. “You paid attention to that?”
“Babe, I might be a simple man who enjoys seeing his girlfriend sucking his dick but it doesn't mean I don't listen to you,” he says, sounding slightly offended but you know that deep down he's amused by the whole situation. “You didn't have to do that, you know?”
You let out a long sigh. “I know but... I just felt so weird. Your parents are so happy to see us, they are doing all those preparations and I couldn't stop thinking about doing something to impress them in return,” you murmur. “So they wouldn't think it preparing a whole celebratory dinner for their son and his girlfriend was actually pointless.” you add in a smaller voice, dropping your head down.
“Baby,” Jungkook coos, fingers grasping your chin so you could look him in the eye again. “You're an amazing person. My parents know that too. You don't have to prove them your worth. Ever.”
His words make you relax visibly. You don’t know what you would do if you didn’t have Jungkook by your side. He’s just being himself, showing you his extremely caring side as he usually does when you feel down but somehow you’re more thankful for this now.
You dip your index finger into the cream. Then, making sure his eyes are trained on your face, you bring your finger up and envelop with your lips, purposely sucking on it obscenely. “Mmm,” you nothing but moan. “It’s really good.”
“That sounded awfully sexual.”
“No, it did not! You're just perverted.”
“But you love me anyway, don't you?”
You snort at his stupid remark. Suddenly, a not-so-innocent idea pops in your mind and you wonder who’s actually the one with more inappropriate thoughts running through their head. Jungkook might enjoy teasing you on daily basis, but a girl can have her fun too, right?
Jungkook's eyes darken seeing your little stunt you’ve decided to pull today. He bites the inside of his cheek, before saying,”’I know what game you’re playing.”
“I’m not doing anything.” you respond, feigning innocence. Before you can dive for more cream, Jungkook grabs your wrist and stops you.
Bingo.
When he takes his two fingers and plunges them into the cream, you know exactly what’s coming next, the adrenaline and excitement pumping through your veins. He brings his fingers up towards your face and you have to fight an urge to stay still, waiting for his instructions like the good girl you obviously are. “Open up, baby.”
You oblige immediately, mouth falling open and tongue out. He pushes his fingers inside, sweet, chocolate cream filling your taste buds. “Suck.” he says simply, eyes fixated on your lips. You do it without a second thought, swirling your tongue around his digits and making sure to lick every last drop of the substance.
When he decides he can't take it anymore, he pulls his fingers out of your mouth and before you can even blink, he crashes his lips onto yours; fast, messy and unforgiving, thrusting his tongue inside to play with yours. His motives are clear: you aren’t leaving the kitchen without getting properly fucked.
“So sweet,” he murmurs against your lips, the hand around your waist pulling you flush against him. “My cute girlfriend thought she could tease me and get away with it.”
He bites onto your lower lip as to prove his point and you whimper. “It’s not like that,” you manage to say, grinding yourself against the evident bulge in his pants. “I didn’t expect to get away with it.”
Jungkook's hands travel to the backs of your thighs and he lifts you up effortlessly, placing you on the counter. You’re sure there are traces of flour still on it but you couldn’t care less right now, not when a pair of hands roughly nudges your legs apart so he could stand in between them.
“So you did it purposely,” Jungkook leaves your mouth in favor of tracing kisses down your neck. Careful not to marry your skin with hickeys because you would beat the shit out of him if he did bruise your neck a day before the dinner with his parents. “Naughty girl.” He punctuates his statement with a bite to your earlobe, his next words being whispered directly into your ear. “What should I do with you, then?”
You whimper, your thighs pressing together just hearing the tone of his voice. You lace your fingers through the locks at the back of his hair and place a kiss against his lips. “Fuck me?” you ask in a saccharine-sweet tone.
He chuckles in response, fingers grasping your t-shirt and pulling it off you, revealing your bare chest to his hungry eyes. He wastes no time and latches his mouth onto a nipple but as soon as his tongue meets your hardened bud, he retreats. Confused, you watch as he reaches for the bowl once again and dips his fingers into the cream. He then smears it all over your nipples, a proud smirk caught on his lips when he leans back to admire his art work.
“Kook,” you mewl, too pathetically for your liking and you know how much it’ll stroke his ego. “Please, touch me.” you plea, one of your hands reaching to pull him closer to you.
“Yeah?” His chuckle is almost sinister. “Look at you, all dirty and begging me so nicely. Not that smart with your mouth now, are you?”
All you manage is a nod and meek “Please,” that quickly morphs into a drawn out moan when he finally dips his head to suck your nipple into his hot mouth. You never could have guessed that the idea of food play would be so arousing to you but here you are, pussy clenching around nothing when your sweet boyfriend licks chocolate cream off your boobs.
When he’s done and satisfied with the result, he grabs your sweatpants and pulls them down along with your underwear in one go, your bare ass meeting with the cold marble of your kitchen counter. Jungkook wastes no time and spreads your legs apart, not giving you a second to shy away from his burning gaze before he dives in to lick a stripe up your slit.
You cry out in pleasure when his tongue finds your clit and gives it a sharp suck, his hands grabbing your ankles and bending your knees so he could have a full access to your glistening core. You’re absolutely drenched, dripping down your thighs and making a mess on Jungkook's face but he doesn’t mind it a bit, eating you out like a champ you know he is.
“So wet,” he rasps against your cunt. “Messy girl.”
To make matters worse (or better) he takes his sweet time and lets a glob of his spit mix with your arousal because Jungkook, much like you, enjoys giving a head more than anything in the world and makes it his priority to see you lose it on his tongue. You’re positive you will come like this if he keeps continuing abusing your clit just right. He knows your pussy like the back of his hand. Knows what makes you keen, how to make you eyes roll to the back of your head. It fuels his ego to see you like this; helpless and utterly devoted to the pleasure and you don’t even mind when he brags about it later. How could you if you benefit so much from it?
Suddenly, he grunts into your cunt and your brows furrow because it’s not the sound you’re used to hearing during sex. You look down to check what’s wrong but he’s already up and in level with your eyes, a sheepish smile adoring his features.
“Neck cramp,” he explains, his palm massaging the back of his neck. “Eating pussy is easier on the bed.” You can’t help but giggle, replacing his hand with yours and providing him a temporary relief. “I’m sorry. Were you close?” he asks.
There he is. Your sweet, caring boyfriend who never forgets to ask for consent before railing you into the mattress and always putting your pleasure before his own.
“Mhmm,” you hum, grasping his t-shirt and lifting it off his body. It should be considered a sin to look like this, you think to yourself. “But I want to come on your cock instead.”
Jungkook grins, quickly pulling down his pants and underwear. His cock slaps against his stomach, pride swelling in your chest because you know you can make him this hard without your touch. “How do you want it?” he asks, guaranteeing himself a moment of relief when he gives his cock a few pumps, spreading precum all over his length.
“Like that,” you answer, gesturing at your current position on the counter. “Wanna see you.”
“Anything for my pretty girl.”
If you weren't already red, you would have blushed at his cute words. The sentiment doesn’t last long though, your face twisting in ecstasy when he lines himself up with your entrance and starts pushing inside, the stretch deliciously burning. “Oh my god, Kook,” you whimper, hand clutching onto his biceps for support. “So big. You feel so good.” He groans, slithering himself deeper. His forehead rests onto yours, few ragged breaths before you murmur, “You can move.”
He sets a punishing pace from the beginning, fucking you hard and fast; wet, slapping noises filling the kitchen. You’re a blubbering mess, moaning incoherently as he splits your pussy open, thrust after thrust. “Yeah, fucking take it,” Jungkook rasps, grabbing your hips even harder, no doubt leaving there marks. “Cream my cock like a good girl.”
You mewl in response, your eyes focusing on his parted lips. “J-jungkook,” you stutter, head completely deprived of rational thoughts. “Spit in my mouth.” It’s almost a breathless plea on your tongue.
He curses, his right hand squeezing your cheeks. “Open.” You do it right away, nearly moaning when he purses his lips and spits, eyes almost bulging out of his head when he sees you swallow it greedily. “Dirty fucking girl.” he growls.
“B-but you love it, right?” you whimper, eyes glossy because he's hitting that spot inside your pussy that makes your toes curl. “L-love when I’m like this just for you.”
“Fuck, yeah I do,” Jungkook says, placing his hand around your throat. He doesn’t apply pressure and simply rests it there, urging you to look directly at him. “I love when my pretty baby becomes a dirty slut for me.” He punctuates his words with a harsh buck of his hips that makes you cry out.
You can't take it anymore. “K-kook,” you whine, grabbing his wrist and urging him to squeeze your throat. “I love you.”
Despite his hand around your neck and cock abusing your cunt, he breaks into a smile. He leans down to kiss you on your putty lips. You try to keep up with him but there’s no use for that, so you just open your mouth and let him slither his tongue inside. When he pulls away, your lips are wet with saliva. Messy, but you wouldn’t exchange it for anything less. “Love you too, baby.” he groans in a strained voice, dragging his cock fast through your walls.
As if reading your mind, his thumb reaches to rub fast circles on your clit. “’m so close,” you mumble, thighs shaking.
“C'mon, pretty. Wanna see you come around me.” Jungkook murmurs, gone is his dominant aura, it’s now only his gentle voice coaxing you into an earth-shattering orgasm.
When you come down from your high, you’re swatting his fingers away from your core. Normally you would probably indulge into it more, but oversensitivity seems to be too much to handle for you today. Jungkook thrusts his hips a few more times and follows right after you, groaning your name and spilling himself inside.
“That was nice.” he comments breathlessly and you can’t help but chuckle, widing your arms around his neck and pulling him for a well-deserved kiss.
“I’m too tired to move my legs and somebody needs to finish the cake,” you pout, not an ounce of exaggeration in your statement because that’s utterly true–you’re always too spent after a round of fucking with Jungkook to even go to the bathroom on your own. He gladly carries you there in his arms bridal-style every, single time.
“It's okay, sweetheart. I’ll do it.” he says, making you giggle under your breath triumphantly.
You might be willing to do everything for you boyfriend but if anything, you’re equal in that department.
“I’m also pretty sure there’s flour on my ass.”
Jungkook raises his brow at you. “That I’m not going to clean.”
“Fine. But next time I'm putting whipped cream on your dick.” you decide.
When he pulls out of you, his cum spills out of your hole but he's quick to catch the droplets and push them back inside you with his fingers. “You’re a little minx, you know that, right?” he says and then licks his digits clean.
“You love me anyway.” He grins, leaning to kiss you but he stops mid-way. “What is it?” you ask, raising your brows.
“Since I came inside you, we can call it a creampie, right?”
Still slightly dazed after sex, you’re not quick enough to realise what he implies before it’s too late. “I mean yes but–oh my god. No, no, no! Stop!”
“Cream-pie!”
“I hate you!”
“And I love you too.”
After all, you were worrying about the dinner too much, as always.
Everybody complimented your cake. Jungkook's mother was delighted. His father talked about fishing for almost an hour.
But your sweet boyfriend's smirking face as he ate the cake was telling you were in for a long night of sinning in your bed as soon as you went back home.
And he obviously didn’t disappoint.
#jungkook smut#btswritingcafe#btswriterscollective#btsbookclub#ksmutclub#bangtanarmynet#smutcentralnet#bangtanhq
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hi! your inarizaki manager headcanons were super cute so i was wondering if I could request headcanons or a scenario idm! of inarizaki maybe accidentally making their smol manager cry? 🥺
𝐈𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐤𝐢 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐫𝐲
Warnings: Language, Atsumu being mean
WC: 1.5k
Genre: Angst if you squint, fluffy ending
A/N: I really enjoyed writing this one! Thank you for the awesome req anon 💞
It had been a long day for everyone, the summer camp was grueling. The first two days of the week-long camp had been going alright, however the boys had lost a lot more games than they had originally anticipated. They just couldn’t seem to get into the groove of it, and it was putting everybody in a slump.
The night of the second day of camp really put everyone on edge. Kita had called everyone, including you to the room they had been staying in to talk over why they have been in this slump and maybe find a solution. Opposing views on why the team was lacking during the past few days surfaced and Atsumus pessimistic attitude set something off in Suna, which resulted in the boys arguing.
Osamus bad habit of instigating emerged, which escalated the argument to a point where Kitas yelling would only fuel the argument more, which, in turn, made Aran try to calm Kita down, that then led to the two of them also arguing. Hitoshi had enough and left the room for a walk around the building, not even wanting to risk getting involved. Michinari and Ren sat with you in the corner, in silence, Michinari chose to stay purely for entertainment purposes, and Ren just wanted to sleep.
As you turned to spark conversation with Ren a loud slap echoed through the room. Quickly your head snapped back to the group of boys. It took a couple of seconds to register what was happening. Everyone stood in silence and shock as Suna held his fist, Atsumu gripping his cheek.
He glared at Suna before reeling back his arm to throw a punch towards him, Kita quickly grabbed his fist and shoved him against the wall, Aran dragged Suna outside, and Ren quickly scrambled up to follow the two boys.
“I don’t know what the fuck you two think you’re doing but I will absolutely not hesitate to tell coach and get you both kicked off of this fucking team! We aren’t fucking middle schoolers Atsumu! When we have a problem we talk it out like adults we don’t start throwing fucking punches ESPECIALLY when you two are fucking teammates!” Kita yells, barely taking a breath between words.
“If this shit continues the rest of camp you are both off the team. And you...we will have words.” Kita hisses, directing his final words at Osamu. Kita exits the room, leaving only The Miyas, you, and Michinari.
Quietly, you shuffle towards Atsumu, who had slumped himself against the wall, sitting on the floor while cupping his cheek. “A-Atsumu…” you whisper, slowly sitting down in front of him while Osamu stands behind you. Slowly you reach your hand out, “Can I...take a look at your cheek for you..? I should bandage it before it starts bruising..”
Gently you move to place your hand over his and right as the pads of your fingers touch his hand he slaps it away, scattering onto his feet. “Don’t fucking touch me. Get the fuck away from me..” He hisses at you, glaring down at you from above “I just-” “You just what? You’re only here because no other fucking club wanted you around! You thrive on the attention we give you in exchange for what? You nagging at us all hours of the fucking day? Give me a break, you have to be the most annoying girl I've ever met.”
It takes him a couple seconds to realize what he said, both him and Osamu are silent. Michinar had been slowly making his way out of the room, the door slightly ajar, but he, too, was now frozen in shock. Tears brimmed the corner of your eyes until they overflowed.
Quickly you stood up, running out of the half open door to be faced with the rest of the team who seemingly heard the whole thing. Too ashamed to look up at them you ran past, leaving the building. “I'll get her.” Aran spoke up, running in the direction you left while the rest of the team filed back into the room.
Atsumu stood, dejected, arms hanging by his sides with a look of regret on his face. “I didn't mean it..” He whispers. Kita sighs, running a hand through his hair. “We know that. She's the only person that could truly ever put up with you...but she doesn’t. And you know how she is. She's going to take it to heart, because it's coming from someone she looks up to.” he whispers.
Atsumu runs his hands over his face, sitting back on the ground. “Let's give her time...Let Aran work his magic.” Hitoshi says lightheartedly, sitting back on his mat.
-
The next day the team gets a very harsh scolding from their coach, the majority were issued warnings and went on their way. During the first couple hours of practice you were nowhere to be seen. After lunch the coach had called the boys for another meeting back in their room. He sat on the floor, placing his hands on his lap. “Can someone explain to me why Y/n just let me know that after the camp ends she will be resigning from her position?”
Almost immediately everyones heart simultaneously dropped, pure shock riddled with everyone's features. “Sh-she what?” Kita stutters out. “She told me today at lunch that she didn’t feel as though she was the correct person for the job, and that the team needed someone better. She offered me a list of potential new managers, however I feel like this has something to do with the fight that happened last night..”
The boys all looked at Atsumu and he quickly got up, exiting the room before running to the managers quarters. When he got there he knocked twice, opening it quickly to find you sitting alone on your mat, looking through a list of potential club options. “Y/n!” “A-ah...Atsumu, good afternoon..” you mutter, looking up at him then quickly looking back down.
“Why are you leaving the club? You know we need you-w-we’d be a mess if you didn’t take care of us like you do..” he stutters. Walking towards you slowly and sitting in front of you on the mat “You guys will be alright, it's not like I do much anyways...I gave a list of some really talented first years to the coach that should be an even better replacement.” “We want you! Y/n I know I said some really...really terrible things but I promise you I didn’t mean a word of it. I was just angry and I had been bottling it all up since we got here and I took it out on you and it wasn't fair. You take such good care of us...You make us each feel cared for and you do everything we ask of you and go above and beyond..You hold us together and.. We will never have a manager that could even compare to you...you’re also...our friend...and i’d hate to see you leave because I was acting like a fucking idiot. Please forgive me.”
Stifling a sob, you nod. Atsumu wasn't one to show vulnerability to people, you and Osamu were the exception. His words were genuine, and you knew it by the way he looked you in the eyes when he spoke.
He pulls you in for a tight hug, letting out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. “So you'll stay with the team?” he whispers. “I couldn't just leave my family like that..” you whisper. “If you say some stupid shit like that to Y/n again I wont hesitate to break your nose next time.” A voice speaks up that you immediately identified as Sunas.
As you looked up, the team was standing at the door, half smiles resting on their lips. “Don't think about leaving us like that again..i'd hate to have those sleepovers at my place monthly if you weren't helping me keep an eye on these idiots.” Kita speaks up, earning a giggle from you.
You wave the boys over and they all shuffle in, sitting with you. “Let's work really hard the rest of the camp okay? Afterwards I think we need some serious bonding time so I say...Weekend road trip to the beach?” “Fine by me if Kita and Samu drive!” “That was the plan Michinari, you'd kill us halfway there..” “We have to split the Miyas up-” “I call Y/n in my car!” “rock paper scissors over her!” “I'm going in Kita’s car-” “Can we please resume practice now?” the coaches voice calls out through the room, his tone light, a smile adorning his features as you all turn to look at him.
The team nods, still holding their conversation about seating on the trip down to the beach, and over the next few days they were able to get it back together, surprising the other teams there with the sudden difference in skill.
You really were the thing that held these boys together.
and they couldn’t ask for a better manager, or a more reliable friend.
#inarizaki x reader#inarizaki#inarizaki haikyuu#haikyuu#haikyuu x reader#haikyuu insert#haikyuu scenarios#miya atsumu#miya atsumu x reader#miya osamu#miya osamu x reader#kita shinsuke#suna rintarou#haikyuu imagines
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Im Changkyun - Natal Chart
- requested by @jookyunz
Can’t remember if you wanted the 18+ section so I included it at the bottom and marked it incase you wanna skip it ❤️
(Not claiming to be an expert this is just for fun please don’t take anything too seriously!) Hope this is helpful and that you enjoy it 🥰❤️
Personality: Aquarius Sun, Aries Moon, Capricorn Mercury, Aquarius Mars
Aquarius Sun comes with lots of intrigue and lots of complexity - like the other air signs Aquarius is very adaptable and tends to prefer an “exciting life” (though earth signs tend to see this lifestyle as pure chaos lmao)
Aquarians tend to be intrigued by mystical things due to their very logical view of the world, this logical side can often lend to them coming off as cold or aloof but it’s less about that and more about their need to rule with the head and not the heart in order to avoid being thrown off the balance that they like (Aqua is a fixed sign) also they do NOT want to be hurt by people so the guard they have up towards the world is basically an iron curtain till they develop enough trust with you
Aries Moon is equally as spontaneous and adaptable but for a different motivation - Aries is bold and wants the most out of life and you can bet your bottom dollars they’ll do WHATEVER necessary to gain the lifestyle and goals they set for themselves.
But since they are naturally social butterflies and genuinely just want to have fun and encourage the people they love to reach for their dreams and have fun doing it, they tend to succeed rather easily since people are drawn to them. - All about confidence, bold styles, working hard because they NEED to be the best at whatever they do, but they definitely play hard too (as does every fire sign lmao)
As much as Aries and Aquarius like change and excitement - Capricorn Mercury does NOT. This adds a LOT of grounding and “tradition” to quick moving Aries and unconventional Asquarius.
Capricorn Mercurys are known to speak slow, quite monotonous and precise which I definitely have always felt about Changkyun. You’re not getting too much fluff or extra words from them because Capricorn finds it a waste of energy. They say what they mean when they mean it and not much else more. But this means they are good listeners and are very comfortable and unreliant on “attention” or “being in the spotlight” giving them added levels of independence. I also feel that this is why they are sooooo unbothered by other people’s opinions and friendship.
Aquarians straight up rather be alone than around fake people. They don’t care if they “fit in” with general norms because they don’t want to be like anyone else anyway lmao and they are interesting enough to keep themselves entertained. While Capricorn and Aries have places to go, people to see, and goals to crush so why the hell be worried about others???
Mixed with the other 2 placements it’s likely that his home is a serious sanctuary for him that he takes seriously. When he’s out in the world doing his busy schedules and chaotic traveling and work he’s happy and really feeding into the air and fire energy. But when he gets home it’s his Capricorn Mercury that is being nurtured and stimulated. He’s going to wanna hibernate there for a while without leaving especially if he’s been gone a long time. Could be either unbelievably messy or unbelievably neat but likely no inbetween with these placements lmao.
Aquarius Mars.... reminder that Aquarius is a fixed sign so this in Mars could mean one HELL of a temper or at least rage once he’s set off. But thankfully the Airy nature of Aqua means you’d really have to mess with him to get that kind of reaction because they generally really dislike being upset. They prefer staying content and neutral rather than having extreme feelings of any kind or it makes them veryyyyy edgy. If you can disagree with respect and if you provide logic instead of ego as your argument you’re likely to get a much better reaction from Aquarius
Relationships:
Non-Romantic Relationships & overall communication style: Aquarius Sun, Aries Moon, Capricorn Mercury, Aquarius Mars
Boy oh boyyyyyy he takes a LONG time to open up to people - 2 Aquarius placements and a Capricorn placement screamssssss trust issues and vulnerability issues
Capricorn doesn’t wanna sulk and talk about their problems so IF they trust you enough to come to you with an issue they want solutions and practical help and support
Is really cheered up by acts of service and quality time - watching a great movie even in complete silence just near each other on the couch in sweats tucked under cozy blankets or getting surprised with their favorite dinner can boost their mood instantly
Aries Moon as I said before is a natural in social situations and tends to draw attention even when they aren’t trying so he’s bound to come off a lot more open and friendly than he actually is. The deep stuff won’t come out till he REALLY knows and trusts you and even then… in SMALL increments
That said he’s a super fun friend to have - down for adventures, actually thinks about and puts effort into doing cool stuff with friends and loved ones
When it comes to friendships he shows care through quality time and acts of service
When he buys gifts for people he cares about they are BOMB - cool as fuck and either one or a combination of the following: one of a kind, meaningful as fuck, and/ or super expensive - most likely fashion, jewelry, something music related, or super cool stuff from his travels
Romantic relationships and preferences : Pisces Venus, Aquarius Mars, Aquarius Juno, Aries Eros
Lmao even MORE Aquarius and Aries energy
Ok into the main meat - these four placements are particularly interesting combo: 2 fixed air (Aqua), 1 mutable water (Pisces) and 1 Cardinal Fire (Aries)
Aqua Juno - generally hints at a pretty unconventional relationship and this can come in manyyyyy forms for the very unique and varied Aquarians (partnership without legal marriage, mixed race/culture couple, could even mean choosing a bachelor lifestyle over any normal type of relationship, etc.) - given that Changkyun seems quite close with his parents and his interest in kids I’d say he’s unlikely to choose the bachelor route.
For a lot of Aquarians unconventional can also come in the form of a very stimulating partner, they enjoy learning and expanding their minds and experiences which is why they tend to run towards challenges that others would run from. I think someone who shares similar passions but varied skills and/or background would fulfil that for him. Aquarius, Pisces and Aries like to be stimulated A LOT.
Pisces in Venus is a tricky placement - can be pretty hot and cold, lots of mixed signals, you should be ready to be stood up or flaked on atleast once in the beginning🙄) BUT if you actually manage to earn their trust and dedication they make very caring partners.
Pisces in Venus is art gallery and museum dates, binge watching documentaries especially murder mystery, and spending most of the summer near the closest body of water.
Aries Eros fantasizes about being in a partnership that others look at as a power couple but they’ll never admit it - they dream of a partner who is in awe of them and their accomplishments but has their own big goals and successes to cater to as well. They like people they can grow with as individuals and as a couple. Push and pull works really well with Aries (and the other two fire signs too honestly) they like the cat and mouse thing and they like to have time to miss & yearn for their partner especially the men - absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Love languages in order from most to least: quality time, physical touch, acts of service, gift giving
Aries is a strong sign and they want and need a real partner who respects and supports their independence and boss energy but also can nurture their softer more vulnerable side and be the strong one for them when they need it
***** 18+ Preferences ****
Ooof this should honestly come as a surprise to NO ONE but damn placements do NOT lie...Im Changkyun is one freaky ass boy
I mean ARIES EROS???? Let me spell that out for y’all: fucks you like he absolutely fucking hates you or ties you up like a present and edges you for hours till you’re crying
LOVES, let me repeat LOVES jealousy sex - whether it’s you being jealous of all the screaming thirsting fans he has or him being jealous of guys getting too close too you for his comfort - he is allllllllll about taking that energy directly into the bedroom ASAP (or a bathroom or even closet if it locks 🤐)
Could and WOULD makeout for hours on end - especially if he’s been drinking
The more you switch it up the more excited he is - with all them Aquarius placements it should be pretttyyyyyy often
Different positions, lingerie, role play - any and all of it excite him
With a partner he actually trusts and has feelings for I can see him being extremely open minded to trying things (though obviously EVERYONE has limits and boundaries)
Toys, blindfolds, handcuffs, whip cream, hot wax, spanking - all a STRONG yes
Get the strong feeling he has strong preference to use his mouth often - lots of kissing (passionate, needy, messy - sometimes more aggressive) , likes to give and receive hickeys, wants to kiss all over his partner’s body and LOVES oral both receiving and giving (and I get the feeling he’s TOO good at that 👀)
More willing to let his partner take control than you might think - he’s not a switch but he just doesn’t think you initiating or “being in control” makes him any less dominant. In fact it’s probably the opposite; you showing your desire to that point actually makes him feel MORE dominant and masculine
Literally could find anyone and everyone beautiful - is more attracted to people’s minds, spirit and energy than physical looks (BIG Pisces and Aquarian thing)
Gets turned on every single time he sees you in the crowd at one of his shows - makes him feel like you are the only two people in the world (drives his Aries Eros INSANE - gets a kick out of the slight power play of being on stage in front of so many people, as well as the secrecy and raw passionate energy of it all)
Tattoos, piercings, colorful wigs, or even just interesting jewelry paired with the right lingerie or outfit will have him 🤯- think short black see-through lace robe with nothing on underneath except a sparkling body chain dripping from your body....yep he’ll eat you like a main dish in .00000000023 seconds
Hope you enjoyed! 💕
#monsta x#changkyun#im changkyun#i.m.#i.m monsta x#monsta x scenarios#monsta x imagines#changkyun scenarios#changkyun imagines#changkyun astrology#natal chart#monsta x astrology#monsta x zodiac
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Hey Jen,
I just had my first year of college and thusly had my first gay relationship with a girl. I am having some ups and downs about “getting over” her and don’t know how to begin processing our relationship. This post might be a bit of a long one as I have quite a few things I am seeking advice for from a queer elder that, especially while at home for the summer in a small rural town, I don’t have the luxury of having.
For a bit of context. We started our relationship very soon after she ended her relationship of 2+ years on good terms. We were together from the start of freshman year to the end, mutually agreeing to not do long distance. I am grateful for that, as I don’t think that we would be compatible in the long run anyways. We ended our time together on awkward terms. We haven’t spoken since her stating that she needed more time alone to sit with things. That is a very abbreviated gist of all that happened.
I see vignettes of her online and it is hard to feel anything but longing and disappointment in myself for having hurt her. Have you been in a situation similar before? I am having a lot of issues with how to break down my feelings about the range of things that happened with us and how much I /really/ miss her friendship.
I have also been dealing a lot with being in the same town as my ex boyfriend, who caused me a lot of emotional distress and damage during our time together (and that’s a whole other story ! ). I feel like I have been tussling with the label of lesbian because I have had a lot of vicious returns of comphet/bordering intrusive thoughts of talking/romancing/being physical with a man
Forever grateful for your advice,
- A young butch
First relationships that form in college or high school do not have a good track record of lasting. We just change so much during that time due to age and the massive amount of experiences we are having. Our lives are planned for the moment but rarely for the long term so it is hard to solidify common future goals together.
Breaking up because distance was inevitable is a good reason. One year of making memories and learning about navigating a relationship with a woman is a gift.
One of my lesbian mentors once told me that a relationship length is the measure of its value. Short term, destined to end, romantic and intimate relationships can be rich and fulfilling and teach us so much about ourselves and what we like and don't like.
Those early relationships are a time for growth and building skills to help as we get closer to a time and age where we can and want to settle down for longer.
It is way better to hurt each other with a break up while things are ok because waiting until things go bad can cause so much more damage and result in resentment. In my experience, after some time and distance you will come back around to a friendship based on mutual memories and shared history.
I dated men in high school, well, boys. We were young and I only knew I was SUPPOSED to date men. I didn't really think women were an option even though I knew something wasn't quite clicking. I had one last go with a man after college and actually had sex with him. Our two week dating period is a blur of alcohol and me trying to convince myself it was "doable" over a life time.
I started hanging out with more lesbians and really listening to them. They way they talked about intimacy and chemistry with women made me realize i was exerting so much effort into making myself like men and they were just easily and effortlessly loving women. They didn't say thing like "she is nice". They said things like "she is spectacular and warm and I can't wait to look in her eyes again". It was like reading an dry news article about the stock market as opposed to lovely and flowery poetry. I knew then that I was working to fucking hard when I could just stop that and embrace what came easily to me, IF I let it.
Try that. Try looking at how much exhaustive time and energy you put into thinking men are what you want. Instead of climbing a dirty, stinky, hot and sharp rocked mountain (men) lay in the soft grass in the sunshine (women) and just youself be surrounded by comfort and passion. Less work much more fulfulling.
YOU deserve to be happy. Don't let society or an abusive ex tell you differently.
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I Hope We Never See October (8/12)
When his personal life and football career go up in flames, Killian Jones escapes England for America, finding seclusion in Martha’s Vineyard in order to hide from his demons. It’s a fresh start, or at the very least a paused moment in his life, and all he needs is a few months alone to allow his heart to heal. He doesn’t count on meeting Emma Swan.
Emma’s life depends on tourists who come to the island every summer. It’s how she makes her money working in restaurants and clubs across the vineyard, but every year, she cannot wait until autumn comes and her life returns to normal. She especially cannot wait for Killian Jones to leave.
Rating: Mature
a/n: Okay, so that cliffhanger, huh? I thought our mystery guests were obvious, but then again, I'm writing the story. But We'll answer all those questions here!
AO3: Beginning | Current Tumblr: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
-/-
Killian’s side of the bed is cold when Emma’s alarm goes off. She expects him to still be there either sleeping or on his phone – he seems to do most of his work in the mornings when he doesn’t want to get out of bed – but he’s not there.
She hates herself a little bit for even noticing the cool feel of the sheets beneath her fingertips.
Emma groans and stretches her legs out, wondering how much time she has to go back to sleep before she absolutely has to go into work. She squints at her phone. She’s got two hours before she has to be at work. She could definitely sleep for another hour and a half and then look like shit at work. That might be nice, actually.
But then she smells something cooking downstairs, and almost on cue, her stomach growls.
Slowly, she gets out of bed, and the floor is cold against her bare feet. She should really go take a shower before she goes downstairs, and despite the good smell, she goes into the bathroom and quickly showers, leaving her hair dry. It’s curly and a bit frizzy from leaving it wet after her shower at the Nolans’ last night, but that’s a problem for another time…tomorrow. She’ll make it look better tomorrow. Emma grabs a pair of shorts and a button-down, putting them both on, and she pulls out a pair of sandals from her closet for later. She’s not as presentable as she should be, but maybe she can stay in her office and away from customers.
Besides, this is better than what it could have been had she not at least rinsed off the remaining sunscreen and sweat from her skin.
Emma smooths down her shirt and fluffs her hair. There’s the slightest bit of red on her chest from Killian’s beard, so she buttons up one more button before heading downstairs. From the smell of it, Killian is either cooking pancakes or waffles, and she’ll take either.
As far as her seasonal friends with benefits go, Killian is definitely the winner.
For the breakfast, the sex, and maybe the conversation. She thought about that for too long yesterday, and it’s too damn early for her to be thinking about any of this today. All she wants is food and coffee, so that’s all she’s thinking about. It’s all she can.
“Damn, Jones,” Emma shouts from the top of the stairs, “something smells delicious.”
She’s at the bottom of the stairs when she hears other voices. For one brief second, she thinks Killian is on the phone, but she’d know those voices anywhere. One haunts her nightmares, the other is the voice of her dreams, and neither was supposed to be here for three weeks.
Three fucking weeks.
Shit.
Holy shit.
What the hell has Neal done that he has to show up like this without even giving her any kind of heads up?
And how does she fix this? Killian was never supposed to know about Henry. He was the one question she’d never answer. He would have been her veto had it ever come up. When he got home from spending the summer with his dad in New York City, Emma was going to start phasing Killian out. They’d only ever spend time at his place, she’d never spend the night unless Henry was sleeping over at his friends. Usually, she doesn’t have this problem because the guy leaves way before this. He doesn’t have the chance to ever know about Henry, and Emma likes it that way.
The last guy that met Henry was Walsh, and that was only on accident. Or at least that’s what Walsh said, but Emma’s always thought Walsh showed up at the Blue Dog at that time on purpose because he knew Henry would be there with Emma. The guy never understood why Emma didn’t let him meet her son, but when you’ve never been able to trust a man besides David and possibly Graham with him, you have reservations.
His dad’s a full-blown asshole who has upended her life more than once, and she’s already so done with whatever bullshit excuse he’s got for bringing Henry home early.
Emma jumps in place, trying to breathe without really inhaling, and then she turns the corner into the kitchen.
The sight is as bad as she expected. The first person she sees is Killian, and if it were any other morning, this would be a good view to wake up to. His joggers hang low on his hips, he’s standing by the stove shirtless, and his hair is sticking in several directions from where her hands tugged on it last night. Then she sees Neal, who is standing in the corner with his arms crossed, frown on his face. He looks older since she saw him at the beginning of June. His beard is filled with more gray, his hair unruly in a purposeful way. He looks pissed, and Emma already knows this is about to be hell.
And then she sees Henry, and the tenseness fades from her shoulders when she sees his smile and the giant backpack he’s wearing. He’s got to empty that damn thing out.
God, she’s missed him so much.
“Mom!” he squeals, running toward her.
Emma opens her arms and embraces him, holding onto the back of his head and breathing him in. As much as Emma sometimes likes the freedom her summer affords her, she does miss her son. A lot. Him being gone is the entire reason she picks up shifts at The Oaks. She needs the distraction, not so much the money, until the summer is over and Henry comes back home for school.
“Hey, kid,” Emma laughs as she keeps hugging him. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too. Can I have the waffles?”
“What?”
He pulls back and grins. “The waffles Killian made. Can I have them?”
“Killian,” Emma slowly repeats. She looks over Henry’s head toward Killian who is furiously scratching behind his ear, and she realizes just how much he has a deer in the headlights look going on. As confused as she is right now, she knows he’s just had a few bombs dropped on him. “Uh, yeah, why don’t you and my friend Killian eat. I’m going to talk to your dad in the backyard for a minute. Neal.”
“What? I don’t get a hi?” Neal asks.
“Backyard. Now.”
He smiles, and once upon a time, she would have found that charming. Right now, she wants to slap it right off his face. Whatever he has to say, she knows it won’t be good. Emma closes the back door behind them and moves far enough across the deck to keep Henry from hearing.
“What the hell, Neal?”
The smile falls, and Emma crosses her arms over her chest. She has to put up a barrier with him. “Why are you so angry? Are you not excited to see Henry? He has been gone all summer, you know.”
“Of course I’m excited to see my kid. But I wasn’t supposed to see him three weeks from now. And with a head’s up. We have a schedule, Neal. Like, a court-mandated schedule that you made us get, and you’re not sticking to it.”
“That I made us get?” he scoffs. “What’s that supposed to mean? If I recall, you’re the one who kept my son from me for seven years and then didn’t want to give me custody.”
How is he such an ass? Seriously. How does he still not get it?
Emma steps closer and straightens her back. She doesn’t need to make herself taller, not for him, but she does anyway. “I got pregnant with Henry when I was sixteen. You were twenty-four. Do the math on how that’s wrong in about eighty-two different ways. And if I recall, and trust me I have a pretty good memory of this day, when I told you I had something important to tell you, you disappeared off the face of the planet. That doesn’t really seem like a guy who deserves to know about his kid.”
“Oh, come on, Ems. You can’t still be mad about that, can you?”
Is it still considered assault if Emma punches someone who deserves to be punched? There must be a law making that okay.
“Why are you here early, Neal?”
She doesn’t want to get into this with him. He’s never going to understand how much he fucked up Emma’s life. There’s no need for her to try to get him to understand now when all she wants is to know why he just showed up early.
“Who’s that guy in there?” he asks, evading her question.
“A friend.”
His mouth crinkles when he laughs, and she hates it. “A shirtless friend who fixes you breakfast? I hope you don’t make a habit of this when Henry’s home.”
“You don’t get a say on my dating life. Or my parenting skills. Now answer my question.”
He blows out air, and rolls his eyes, like she’s the one inconveniencing him. “Look, Tamara wants to go on vacation before summer ends, and she didn’t want to bring Henry with us. So I thought I’d bring him back to you and it wouldn’t be an issue. I’m sure you can keep him entertained until he goes back to school.”
“Oh my God. Oh my God, Neal, are you serious? You are breaking the rules of our custody agreement because you want to go on vacation with your girlfriend? How is it possible that you’re so selfish? I mean, God, seriously.”
Emma groans and buries her face in her hands before screaming. Or at least screaming as loud as she can without Henry knowing.
“Henry is a good fucking kid,” Emma continues, slowly breathing to calm herself down, “and he loves you. He doesn’t see all the shit I do because I’ve hidden that from him, but you can’t just do this, Neal. You can’t decide you’re done playing dad and give him back to me when you nearly made me go broke fighting to keep custody of the kid I’d raised since he was born. That’s not how being a parent works.”
“That’s rich coming from the woman who has used her time away from her kid to fuck British tourists and is upset her kid is back early because her vacation has to end.”
Emma looks up into the eyes of the man she once loved, the man who gave her son his eyes, and she says, “Go say goodbye to Henry and get the hell out of my house. I’ll see you next June, if you still decide to show up then.”
It’s a dismissal, and Neal never takes those. Not sitting down at least. She’s sure there will be arguments and petty jabs for the next few months. He’ll make her life hell while playing as the good guy. He has this act where he says things like “he’s a good person now, can’t she just move on from the past?”
There’s a difference between forgiveness and moving on that not a lot of people get. They say you have to forgive to move on, but that’s not true. You can move on without forgiveness because some people don’t deserve it. At all. Sometimes all you can do is stop letting them live in your head rent free, and you have to forgive yourself for ever falling for the lies.
Emma’s chosen that route. She’s forgiven herself, has moved on with her life even with Neal constantly trying to pull her back down, and she’s not about to stand here and let him criticize her personal life when he has no business in it.
Through the window, Emma watches Neal hug Henry goodbye. It takes less than a minute before he’s gone and Henry is back to eating his breakfast. Emma would laugh, she wants to at how ridiculous this all is, but she’s not finding anything about today funny. Because while Neal will go back to New York and will be happy, she’s stuck here cleaning up the mess he just made because she has to do everything in her power to make sure her kid never knows the version of his dad she knows.
A phone call would have been nice. At least then she could have gotten Killian out of the house. She still would have been pissed, but at the very least, she would have been able to make things a little better than they are now.
“Shit,” Emma breathes out, looking toward the sky. “Shit, shit, shit.”
Emma inhales and exhales several times before forcing a smile and walking inside where Henry is eating the breakfast that was meant for her and talking to Killian about soccer of all things.
Well, not of all things. Most of the time, Emma forgets that Killian plays professionally. Hell, they talked about it yesterday, and it still isn’t at the forefront of her mind. That part of his life has nothing to do with hers…except for right now when Killian is talking to her son about it.
He still doesn’t have on a damn shirt.
“Mom, did you know Killian used to play soccer? Like, as a job. That’s so cool! Do you think he could coach my team?”
“I did know that, kid.” Emma kisses his forehead, and he squirms away. It’ll take him a week or two to get used to her kind of affection versus Neal’s, so she’s not too offended. “How do you know that?”
“I recognize him.”
“Since when do you watch a lot of British soccer? Or football as Killian calls it.” She mimics Killian’s accent, but she also knows she did a terrible job with it.
Henry shrugs and stuffs a large bite of waffle in his mouth. “Dad doesn’t have anything to watch on TV but sports channels. All I did during the day was watch old soccer matches.”
“Wait. Where was your dad?”
Henry shrugs again. “I don’t know. At work I guess.”
Neal works from home most days of the week. What an ass. Emma bets he didn’t even get someone to watch Henry. He just used old sports reruns to keep him entertained.
“Hey, kid,” Emma says, finally looking to Killian, “can you stay in here and eat breakfast while I talk to Killian in the other room?”
“Sure.”
Emma flashes a tight smile and then nods her head toward the stairs. Killian gets the message and walks upstairs without being asked, immediately heading toward the bedroom. He stands by the window, arms crossed over his chest, and Emma watches his jaw tick, the smile he had on for Henry a moment ago, gone.
Softly, Emma closes the door behind her.
“I have my personal question of the day, Swan. You have a son?”
Okay, great, so this is how it’s going to be. Emma opens her dresser drawer and pulls out a shirt for Killian. He catches it after she tosses it and tugs it on. It doesn’t help as much as she’d like it to.
“Okay, look,” Emma begins, “you were never supposed to meet Henry. He wasn’t…his dad was supposed to have him for three more weeks.”
“The contract on my rental house has more time on it than that.”
Emma runs her hands through her hair and sighs. “I don’t know. I would have figured it out. Only go to your place, spend less time together. I mean, it’s only natural, right? Because you’re going to leave, and it would make sense for things to die down between us.”
Killian laughs, but Emma gets the sense he doesn’t find any of this funny. “Yeah, it makes perfect sense. This was only about sex, right?”
“Killian.”
“No, no.” He holds his hand up. “It’s fine, Swan. I get it. It’s my fault for thinking we might be mates on top of that.”
“I mean, we are – kind of, maybe. I don’t know.” Emma sighs and sits on the end of her bed. She doesn’t know what to do. Even more, she doesn’t know what to say. She definitely doesn’t know how to feel. “It was never supposed to be like this. I’m usually better at not blurring the lines. I don’t know what happened with us that made me drop my guard.”
“I knew you found me charming.”
Emma laughs and falls back on the mattress. “I have a kid, Killian, and he’s back. I can’t be like I was. We can’t just fuck whenever we want or stay out late or eat pizza at three in the morning. I’ve got to make sure Henry has a place to stay and Mary Margaret is across the country visiting her parents so that’s out for awhile. And I’m still working two jobs because I thought I had time to do that. I don’t, God, I don’t know what to do about anything in my life. Plus, you know, I want to spend time with Henry, and I don’t have a lot of free time.”
“I could watch him, love. He’s a bit older than what I’m used to with my nieces, but I’m sure I can find ways to entertain him.”
Emma sits up. Her heart is beating way too fast, and suddenly, the true reality of this situation hits her.
The man she’s been sleeping with has met her son.
And he’s offering to babysit.
What the actual hell?
She needs time to think. And scream. She definitely has to scream into her pillow for at least an hour because she literally cannot think of another thing to do. This is all too much, and she needs Killian to leave. He makes this all too complicated. She needs to go downstairs and eat breakfast with Henry. That she can do. That’s not complicated. That’s something she’s done every day for ten years, even if it’s usually Pop Tarts or a bowl of cereal, not homemade waffles and eggs.
“Can you, uh,” Emma starts, biting her lip, “can you go home? I need to spend time with Henry. He won’t show it, but I know he knows why his dad brought him home early. I’ve got some crap to deal with, but I’ll text you later.”
His eyes narrow, and Emma knows that look by now. He knows she’s lying, but she doesn’t expect him to call her out on her lie.
And he doesn’t because as quickly as his eyes narrow, they widen and a slight smile creeps onto his lips. “I’ll see you later, Swan. I’ll get my clothes out of the machine downstairs and go.”
“Thanks.”
Killian doesn’t move, and Emma has a hard time looking at him until she does. His eyes are so damn blue. It’s ridiculous.
But then he moves. Leaves, actually, just like she asked him to, and she hears every single step as he leaves the house and gets into his car. Emma breathes out a sigh of relief, maybe a little confusion, and then she grabs her phone of her bedside table.
Not a single warning text or call from Neal, just like she thought. Ass.
ES: SOS. My house. 10 minutes.
RL: Are you dead?
ES: Yes, I’m texting you from beyond.
RL: I am hungover. Give me 30.
Emma tosses her phone on her bed and heads downstairs. The life she was living is over. Henry’s home, and she is his mom. That’s what she has to do, and right now, that means putting her anger at Neal and confusion with Killian behind her to go eat breakfast with her kid.
She can only partially ignore that Killian was making this breakfast for her.
For them.
-/-
“King Harold,” Ruby says when she walks through the door in her pajamas and immediately sees Henry, “welcome back to your seaside palace. Come give me a hug.”
“Only if you never call me Harold again.”
“I can’t agree to that, Harold.”
Henry rolls his eyes, but he hugs Ruby anyway. “My name is Henry.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Ruby kisses the top of his head. “You smell like waffles.”
“Killian made waffles for breakfast.”
“Killian did?” she asks, looking over Henry’s head toward Emma. Emma shrugs and cocks her head.
“Kid, why don’t you go unpack? When you’re finished, we’ll go to the beach before I have work.”
“Really?”
“Mhm.” Emma hums and nods at the stairs. “I told them I’d be late today. Get your bags and go.”
Henry quickly grabs his suitcases. They’re nearly bigger than him, but he manages to drag them up the stairs. Emma waits until she hears his bedroom door close, and then she moves to the kitchen and collapses on a barstool. Ruby fixes herself a plate of leftover food and starts eating. “I have eight thousand questions.”
Without lifting her head from the counter, Emma tries to answer at least half those questions. “Killian slept over and was making breakfast when Neal and Henry walked in, so they both met him, which went over as well as you’d expect. Neal didn’t tell me he was bringing Henry back early, but apparently his girlfriend got tired of having him around and wanted to go on vacation. Neal thought ambushing me was the best way to go about the situation, and then he got pissed about me having a guy over.”
Emma peaks up to see Ruby blinking. Slowly. Did she not process anything or is she just so hungover that it’s taking her a long time to figure out what to say?
“Was Neal charming or something when you guys were together?’
Emma laughs. “I was sixteen, and he paid attention to me. He might as well have been Prince Charming.”
“He’s the worst.” Ruby scrunches up her nose. “And you’re not a Prince Charming type of girl. I get more of a rebel vibe from you.”
“Yeah, because mom and restaurant manager means rebel.”
Rub leans over and pokes Emma’s nose. “I don’t think you know how badass you are, Emma Swan. Give me a minute to get some coffee and make more food because I definitely need to dissect everything that’s going on with you. Baby daddy and new boyfriend not included.”
“Not my boyfriend.”
“Oh, right. Just sex friend because you totally invite sex friends to parties at Marg’s place. That seems normal.”
Emma narrows her eyes. “I invited you here to help with a crisis. Not create a new one.”
“I’m just saying,” Ruby sighs, “Mr. Jones is a hell of a lot better than most of the guys you shack up with. Your unfortunate sperm donor included. I’d think about that if I were you. I mean, we both know you’re about to ghost him, but at least think about it, Emma.”
Yeah, maybe she will.
-/-
-/-
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Business Trip: Pt 43 - Crazy
![Tumblr media](https://64.media.tumblr.com/c07a86066051bd0cebddd3afda4497f2/2f1208defa7fea39-fa/s540x810/bc8ebcfc90711da5c0dac29ef1d87fcaf6999f2e.jpg)
You’d been with your share of women who liked rough sex - Seulgi, Chaeyoung, occasionally Momo and Seolhyun. But those girls had always been interested in kinks that were at least somewhat consistent with their personalities. It wasn’t much of a surprise that Seulgi was into rough, occasionally painful sex; likewise, Chaeyoung’s preference for zip ties and name calling didn’t strike you as being out of character with the type of person she was outside of the bedroom.
Miyawaki Sakura was either lazy and airheaded or intense and intimidating, depending on what she was doing. Before you were made aware of this new facet of Sakura’s personality you’d only seen such duality before in Sana; but Sana’s personality swings didn’t surprise you like Sakura’s did, nor was the difference between her two poles nearly as extreme as that of the Japanese police officer.
Sakura was altogether different from those girls. She was two sides of the same constantly flipping coin, it seemed. At the moment you were finding out that this duality extended to her sexual pursuits, where she flipped between being an overly friendly, sugary sweet girl to a woman with very specific, very unique kinks on a minute-by-minute basis.
“I’m so sorry about earlier,” she states, the tone in her voice sounding much more pleasant than earlier in the day, especially as it echoed against the cold shower tiles. “I was in the middle of re-reading the Fate series. Did you know the third movie is coming out this summer? I’m sooo looking forward to it. Are you familiar with the Fate series?”
Speaking proved exceedingly difficult given the ball gag in your mouth, and so you settled for nodding.
“She’s going away for awhile, don’t you worry.”
“She better be,” you answer. “I just hope she leads us to the other three members of Blackpink before they lock her up - or that Canadian officer takes her overseas. Did you have a chat with Officer Miyawaki about this?”
“I’ve told her we want time with Rose before she’s extradited and Officer Miyawaki has promised to raise the issue with her superiors, but she hasn’t quite gotten around to it yet,” Nayeon answers.
You both peer into the interrogation room through the one-way glass. On one side of the table sits Rose, her head in her hands. In her prisoner’s jumpsuit and messy hair, she looked outright miserable - a far cry from the dolled up look she sported at the event two days prior. Gone is the haughty, arrogant air that she wore about her like perfume - now she looked small, afraid, almost as if the cold reality of what was about to happen to her had just recently set in.
She hadn’t said a word since she stepped into the room. The young, nervous looking YG-appointed lawyer seated next to her rebuffed all of the questions directed to her client by telling her that she didn’t have to answer anything, as was her right. Rose’s body language, though, told you all you needed to know about her state of mind.
On the other side of the table are Jihyo and Somi Douma, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer who had arrested Rose at the event. Both of them are placing piece after piece of evidence onto the table in an attempt to get something out of the Blackpink member - to no avail so far, thanks to her lawyer. The looks of frustration on the two young officers has been steadily building, but it is tempered somewhat by the fact that much of the evidence was simply indisputable. Rose’s silence today would do nothing to keep her from spending a lot of time behind bars when the time came.
The other two occupants of the room, sitting in a smaller table by the exit, are Mina and Officer Miyawaki. The former is diligently jotting down notes from the meeting into an iPad, the latter seemingly engaged in something important on her phone - but given her known predisposition for playing video games on the job and the fact that her phone was horizontal, you decided she was likely playing a game.
“Sakura was super intense at the event,” Nayeon says, as if reading your thoughts regarding the young Japanese police officer. “When she showed up with Jihyo and Somi to arrest Rose, she had her game face on. It was almost scary. She wanted to see layouts of the building, possible exits and escape routes, dossiers on who might be there and who they might be with. She looked ready to take down every bad guy in the entire restaurant, all on her own.”
“I saw,” you agree. “She walked in there like she owned the place. Rose’s bodyguard tried to stop her, but whatever she said to him made him look like a whipped dog afterward. She destroyed that guy.”
“And now here she is at a major interrogation involving multiple international parties and she’s on her phone playing Among Us,” Nayeon scoffs. “It’s like she has an on and off switch when it comes to her job. I don’t get it. To be honest, I find it a little odd that the precinct would bury someone with her on-site skills in the record keeping department and not out in the field walking a beat.”
You take a moment to consider Nayeon’s point. She was right; surely the Tokyo PD could make better use of Sakura by constantly keeping her in the field, where she clearly excelled, instead of the records department where she was buried under paperwork she had little interest in. There had to be a reason behind it all, but you currently had more pressing issues on your mind than the Japanese liaison officer’s career prospects.
“We need to make sure she gets us that time with Rose. Preferably without her lawyer present.”
“That would be against the rules,” Nayeon says, hesitantly. She knew what you were implying and while she knew you weren’t going to hurt Rose or do anything stupid, she felt she had to tell you anyway out of obligation.
“There’s nothing illegal about me having a chat with a lovely young Australian woman I met at an event a few nights ago,” you reply with a sly smile.
Nayeon smirks, but understands your implication. “I’ll remind Officer Miyawaki,” she says.
In the room, Sakura lets out a sigh, rolling her eyes back into her head - her spaceman was likely just bitten in half by an impostor. Next to her, Mina frowns and shakes her head, a look of plain disapproval on her face.
“No, don’t worry about it,” you say. “I’ll remind her myself.”
---
It didn’t take long to find Sakura later that day. She was absent from her desk, but a nearby colleague told you she was on her lunch hour - even though at that point it was nearly three in the afternoon. While your time with Nayeon and Jihyo had informed you that law enforcement officers saw lunch breaks as a rare luxury, you also knew that Sakura didn’t conform to the usual expectations of this particular line of work. With your limited Japanese and a healthy amount of hand gestures, you were able to ascertain from her colleague that she usually took her lunch breaks on the roof of the building.
The precinct proved to be a little bit of a maze, but you eventually found your way to the roof, which, like many buildings in Asia, was open to access and was often used as a kind of recreational space for the building’s inhabitants. After your time inside the cramped interior of the building you were happy to be outside again, enjoying the fresh air and the sunny, crisp winter afternoon.
Sitting on a bench in one of the corners of the space was Sakura, legs crossed, her nose buried in what looked like a manga. The small pile of convenience store sandwich containers and empty candy wrappers that occupied the rest of the bench confirmed that she was indeed on her lunch break. The volume of the trash, however, implied she’d been there awhile, leading you to wonder just how long her lunch “hours” usually lasted.
“Officer Miyawaki,” you say as you approach her, “I’m sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if-”
You are stopped mid-sentence by a raised finger. Without taking her attention from the manga, Sakura reaches for a half-full bottle of Pocari Sweat next to her on the bench, which she brings to her mouth to take a sip. Eyes working quickly, she finishes the page she was reading before turning the page and devouring that one as well. With brows furrowed and eyes narrowed with concentration, there is a clear look of complete and utter intensity on her face that you’d seen only once before - when she was confronting Rose’s bodyguard and putting him in his place.
When you’d first been introduced to Miyawaki Sakura you’d wondered just how she had managed to keep her job given her obvious laziness and what seemed to be an utter lack of interest in her duties - or even in maintaining the false appearance of an interest. But her role in the events of two nights prior, and the seriousness with which she carried herself while on-site, answered that question for you. It became clear that her superiors kept her around because when the chips were down and the game was on, she could put on a game face that almost scared you with its intensity. When that happened, she was almost a different person entirely.
The question then became why her superiors had assigned her to the record keeping department. Was it a demotion? Did they think she was too unstable or unreliable for field work? There had to be a reason.
She goes on for three more pages, consuming the art and text within the manga like they were some sort of life-giving energy source that she could not go a moment more without. You are left to stand there, awkwardly, a little taken aback by the speed and ease at which she had silenced you - but unconsciously, a little afraid of what might happen if you’d insisted on interrupting her reading.
Finally, after reaching what seemed to be a chapter’s conclusion or some other boundary within the manga, she retrieves a bookmark from her bench and marks her place before finally acknowledging your presence.
“Yes?” she says, a look of undisguised annoyance on her otherwise soft, adorable features.
“I, well, I was… um, hoping we could have a quick moment of your time, Officer Miyawaki,” you answer, suddenly unsure of your words, your tongue having turned into stone in your mouth. You’d expected a fast and easy chat - you usually had no problems charming your share of pretty young women - but your resolve had faltered unexpectedly under the piercing gaze of the young officer.
“About?” she asks, plainly, even though you knew what you wanted to talk about must have been obvious to her. What else could it have been, if not Rose? Did she just want to hear you ask for something? Did she want to hear you beg and grovel?
“About the girl, uh, the woman that Officer Dou- I mean, you, you placed in your custody a couple of nights ago,” you answer.
“Yes, and, what about her?”
“I was hoping I could have a chat- er, maybe, some time, with her. Alone, before she, they, she’s, well... taken away.”
“And what would you want to speak to her about?”
“Well, you see, um…. we’re kind of after her colleagues - three of them. They’re in this team, er, corporate espionage group - they’re called Blackpink. I, well, me, my team and I, we were hoping she could lead us to the other three.”
Sakura takes a moment to weigh your request, her large, deep eyes boring into yours. You were a little ashamed to admit you were faltering a little bit under the intensity of her gaze. While you were sure her current demeanor was borne from you so rudely interrupting her reading and not from any malicious intent, it did little to keep you from withering under her look.
Eventually Sakura’s eyes leave you, and you find yourself releasing an inward sigh of relief to be free of her gaze.
“I can arrange something,” she says as she opens her manga again. “But it will cost you. Helping you and that foreign officer during that arrest resulted in a lot of extra paperwork for me.”
You are about to say something about her job and the amount of work she actually had to do, especially given the fact that she was in the middle of what seemed to be a three hour lunch break, but an unconscious fear of being put under her gaze once more meant that your response died in your throat.
“What exactly… can I do f-for you, Officer Miyawaki?”
“Sakura is fine,” she says under her breath as she finds her place in her manga. “Meet me in the precinct showers in two hours. Cancel any appointments you may have this afternoon.”
You are left a little stunned by her demand, and what it might have meant. The possibilities run through your mind at a million miles an hour; what did she mean-
“You can leave,” Sakura states, and not wanting to risk her ire by lingering any longer, you quickly turn and leave.
---
You’d been with your share of women who liked rough sex - Seulgi, Chaeyoung, occasionally Momo and Seolhyun. But those girls had always been interested in kinks that were at least somewhat consistent with their personalities. It wasn’t much of a surprise that Seulgi was into rough, occasionally painful sex; likewise, Chaeyoung’s preference for zip ties and name calling didn’t strike you as being out of character with the type of person she was outside of the bedroom.
Miyawaki Sakura was either lazy and airheaded or intense and intimidating, depending on what she was doing. Before you were made aware of this new facet of Sakura’s personality you’d only seen such duality before in Sana; but Sana’s personality swings didn’t surprise you like Sakura’s did, nor was the difference between her two poles nearly as extreme as that of the Japanese police officer.
Sakura was altogether different from those girls. She was two sides of the same constantly flipping coin, it seemed. At the moment you were finding out that this duality extended to her sexual pursuits, where she flipped between being an overly friendly, sugary sweet girl to a woman with very specific, very unique kinks on a minute-by-minute basis.
“I’m so sorry about earlier,” she states, the tone in her voice sounding much more pleasant than earlier in the day, especially as it echoed against the cold shower tiles. “I was in the middle of re-reading the Fate series. Did you know the third movie is coming out this summer? I’m sooo looking forward to it. Are you familiar with the Fate series?”
Speaking proved exceedingly difficult given the ball gag in your mouth, and so you settled for nodding.
“Ah, that’s good!” Sakura exclaims, “I’m such a big fan. I totally ship Shirou and Saber, although I’m also a fan of Shirou and Sakura - I bet you can guess why! I like both couples, though; it really depends on what mood I’m in! Sometimes I- whoops, is that too tight for you?”
It was. The girl knew how to tie a neat, tight knot (which itself raised several questions) and the thick nylon rope dug painfully into your wrists as she tied them behind your back, but you gave your head a shake nonetheless. The black cloth blindfold she’d tied around your head was similarly a little too tight for comfort and was beginning to give you a headache - not that you were willing, or even able, to tell Sakura as such.
Even if you could speak, you weren’t sure you would stop her from proceeding. You were equal parts terrified and aroused by the sharp, unexpected turn of events this afternoon had taken, but the thought of stopping the young woman hadn’t yet occurred to you.
“Good, I don’t want to hurt you. Anyway, yeah, I’m sorry if I came off rude this afternoon. I just don’t like to be interrupted during my lunch hour. That’s when I get all my reading done! Because the rest of the day I’m so busy with work, you see. Anyway… you’re all set!”
You obviously couldn’t see her through the blindfold, but the loud click-clack of Sakura’s high-heeled shoes against the shower tiles tell you she has stepped in front of you. The next few moments of silence provide no audible clue to tell you what she is doing, but you knew she was likely giving you a good long look from head to toe, as if enjoying the sight of you sitting on a stool, gagged, bound, and blindfolded.
“It’s time to begin, I think. Are you ready?”
Her tone reminded you a little bit of any of a hundred anime voice actors, particularly those that voiced the sugary sweet and cute characters. And Sakura was nothing if not cute, although she also seemed to have a bit of a crazy side to her - a side it seemed you were about to get to know intimately, whether you were ready for it or not.
You nod, because there wasn’t much else you could do.
“Good! Let’s start!” she says, sounding a bit like an announcer for a game that involved Italian plumbers and dragon/turtle hybrids racing go-karts - and not like she was about to engage in a sexual act with very particular, very specific kinks.
So when she straddles you on the stool, her long, thin legs suddenly on either side of your waist and her small frame atop your lap, you were a little unsure about how to react to the juxtaposition between her tone and her actions. With other women you would have enjoyed the weight of her body on top of yours and the promise of impending pleasure. But with Sakura you were a little hesitant - and as much as you hated to admit it, almost a little afraid.
“So as I mentioned earlier, I’d be happy to set up a meeting with you and that Australian chick,” she says, her voice dripping with sugar even as you feel her trace random patterns with her fingertip on your jawline and chin. “But I’ll need to get something out of it.”
You are unable to manage anything more than a muffled groan, and so you settle for nodding your head once more.
“Good.”
Sakura’s hand drifts lower, her fingertip never breaking contact with you as it drifts down your neck and chest, eventually reaching the buckle of the jeans you wore. Her fingers work quickly, and before you know it she has your button undone and the zipper lowered, your quickly hardening shaft aching for its impending release from its cotton prison.
“Oh! You are quite eager for us to begin, I see.”
You nod.
“Well then, let’s see what you’re hiding under here.”
Sakura’s tone continues to be that of a cute, sweet girl. Her actions, as she frees your nearly fully hardened shaft from your boxers, are altogether the opposite.
You feel the breath leave your lungs in a rush as she grasps your cock in her small, dainty little hands for the first time and gives it a few small, exploratory pumps. It would have been utterly arousing at any other time. But now, wrists bound behind you and with your eyes and mouth rendered useless, it almost felt like your sense of touch was heightened - and it felt utterly sublime. It wasn’t long before you the Japanese police officer had brought you to full, aching stiffness.
“I see now why your team is full of those women,” she observes, a slight hint of edge appearing in her tone. “I bet they love taking turns being filled with this.”
“Mmmghmm,” you answer.
“What’s that? You fuck them on a daily basis? I bet you pump their thirsty mouths and wet little pussies just full of your cum on the regular, don’t you? Maybe those tight little asses too?”
“Yughhhm.”
“I bet they love it, too, don’t they? I bet you have them all bent to your will like the obedient, needy little fucktoys that they are. Is that right?”
“Mmmahghg.”
“I knew it. I knew all of those girls were filthy little sluts the second I saw them.”
To hear such filth come out of Sakura’s mouth - out of a girl whom you’d pegged as being adorable and cute if a little airheaded and lazy - was more than a little bewildering. Each of her words dripped with sweet sugar tone even if the actual content of her words was dirty and nasty. Two sides of the same coin. Two faces of the same girl.
“Well, I think it’s time for us to play a game. Do you want to play a game?”
For a second you are frozen as a shiver of fear crawls up your spine - you’d seen enough horror movies to know that nothing good ever followed that question. But you had to admit that it both frightened and aroused you. Part of you wanted to submit to her every whim, and part of you suddenly wanted to run away as quickly as you could.
You nod.
“Good! I’m happy. Let’s lay down the rules. Hmmm… well, there’s actually only two! Are you ready for them? Are you paying attention?”
It was a little difficult to do so, truth be told. She hadn’t stopped pumping your cock, at an almost lazy pace, with her slender, soft hands. She had begun to squeeze on the downstroke and loosen on the upstroke, causing a delicious little jolt of pleasure to shoot right to your brain every few seconds.
You nod.
“Okay! Rule number one - every time you make me cum, I remove one item of your choice: your blindfold, your gag, or the ties at your wrists. How much time I give you with the Australian girl depends on how good you fuck, I guess! I’ll make the judgement at the end. Rule number two - you don’t get to say anything aside from a ‘yes’ or a ‘no.’ Pretty simple, huh? You understand the rules, right?”
Despite laying down the ground rules for what would likely be a filthy sexual act, Sakura sounds a bit like a voice actor reading the script to the tutorial level of a Mario Party game. The prospect of regaining your ability to see, touch and taste her was appealing, and with the ball gag filling your mouth you couldn’t exactly voice any objections to her rules even if you had any.
You nod.
“Good! Then let’s begin!”
Without giving you much time to ready yourself, Sakura presses her body forward on your lap - and almost immediately you feel the wet heat of her pussy pressed against the base of your shaft.
Before she put the blindfold on you, the police officer had been wearing a short blue skirt and black heels along with the blue blouse that formed her uniform. Had she removed her panties somewhere along the way? Was she ever wearing panties at all?
Your brain had little time or bandwidth to answer those questions - not as Miyawaki Sakura began to grind herself against the underside of your cock, her hips swirling up and down, finding and trapping your shaft between the splayed lips of her pussy and moving, slowly at first, up and down its length. She is absolutely dripping. Her flesh is hot and warm against your cock. Were your mouth not gagged, you would have let out a long, wordless moan - but it escapes your throat as a wet, guttural sound instead.
Sakura, her own mouth unbound, lets the first outward sign of her arousal escape her lips in a long, drawn-out gasp. The entire process - binding you, teasing you, explaining her rules to you - must have turned her on immensely. The slick, warm juices that coated your cock in a thick, glistening layer with each grind of her hips were clear indication of how turned on she was. You found yourself impressed that she was able to hide her need for so long behind her sickly sweet tone.
“Mmmm, that feels so good!” she gasps. “Mmm, you’re so big, and you’re not even inside me yet!”
You nod.
And so for a few delicious minutes you are content to let the small Japanese girl grind herself harder and harder against your cock, her slick, hot pussy pressed against the underside of your shaft, sliding up and down, up and down, up and down. The small shower room reverberates with the soft squeaking of your stool on the tiles, and the soft, pleasant moans of pleasure that leave Sakura’s throat.
“Mmm, fuck, I’m gonna cum already, fuck, you’re gonna make me cum so quickly, mmmmm, your cock is so hard! Do you like the feel of my pussy? The feel of my clit on your cock? Hmmm? Do you want to be inside me?”
You nod.
You are surprised by how quickly she was coming to her first orgasm, even if the heat emanating from her splayed pussy lips as she grinds them against you, combined with the sheer amount of the juices that were now running down your balls, clearly indicated how needy and wanton she was even before she first touched you.
“D-Do you want me… oh, fuck… do you want me to-to cum all over your hard cock?”
You nod.
Sakura’s response is to orgasm.
You’d been with plenty of women before, witnessed the many forms of the female orgasm and the differences in the bodies of each woman when she finally reaches her peak. Each was unique. But even given that fact, you knew that no other woman on Earth orgasmed like Miyawaki Sakura did.
She felt a little bit like she was being jolted with electricity - every fibre of her being quivered and shook like she had a thousand volts coursing through her veins. It was almost unnerving, in a way, and from the way her small body trembled atop yours you were worried that she had hurt herself somehow.
Even the way she orgasmed was far from the norm. The more you knew about Miyawaki Sakura, the more and more you were frightened of her.
But the same things that frightened you also aroused you.
It seems to last forever, her orgasm. When her body finally winds down, the loud breaths that leave her throat and the fact that she has slumped forward onto your chest imply that she is somewhat drained by the experience.
“That was pretty good!” Sakura exclaims once she has regained her energy, sounding once more like she were some sort of video game announcer. “As per the rules of our game, you get to remove one item. What would you like it to be?”
Your options run though your head, each with their own merits. You would’ve loved to finally lay your hands on the young woman, and the thought of watching her cum obviously appealed to you, but the opportunity to taste her won out.
“Mowwffth,” you manage to mumble.
“Your mouth? You want to get rid of the gag? Are you sure?” Sakura asks, sounding the way a video game does when you decide to overwrite a game save and it wants you to be sure of your decision.
You nod.
“Okay! Away it goes!”
Sakura reaches behind your head and you feel the ball gag loosen before she rips it none-too-gently from your mouth. A drip of saliva spills from your mouth - one that Sakura is quick to lick off your chin with her tongue.
Her tongue, feeling long and particularly flexible, traces a path up your chin until it finds your lips. She crushes your lips with hers in a torrid, passionate kiss that had little affection but plenty of need, her hands quickly reaching behind your blindfolded head and pressing your head against hers as she sticks her tongue as far into your mouth as she could. Your tongue wrestles with hers, but she quickly gains the upper hand, and it is all you can do to sit there and submit to letting the young woman explore your mouth at her whim.
When she finally tears her lips from yours she lets out a satisfied sigh.
“Mmmm, that was a good choice. You’re a good kisser! And it will definitely help you when it comes to the next way you’re going to make me cum. Are you ready?”
“Yes,” you say, finally happy to be able to speak.
“Good. Get ready!”
Sakura climbs off your lap, and you lament the loss of her warm body for a split second - until you hear the snap of her foot meeting the stool you were sitting on, followed by a sharp thud of your butt hitting the floor as she kicks the stool out from under you.
You are about to groan in pain at your hard, unexpected landing, about to protest at the way she was treating you - when you hear Sakura step over your body, her crotch just inches from your face. She must have been lifting her skirt to get it out of the way, because when she presses herself against you, you find yourself face to face with her pussy.
There was no doubt in your mind now. Miyawaki Sakura was crazy.
But you weren’t in a position to complain, not with the girl’s juicy, slick, hot pussy suddenly and fiercely pressed against your face, her splayed lips immediately smearing your nose, lips and chin with her juices. By instinct your tongue darts out, almost like a defensive measure. You begin to lick her slowly, hesitantly, still caught a little wrong footed by her ridiculous aggressiveness - but Sakura was having none of that, and she quickly grasps the back of your scalp with one hand and presses it against her warm, wet folds.
“You can do better than that,” she says, her tone still that of the video game announcer, as though she were encouraging a kart racer who had fallen behind. “Eat my pussy like the hungry little fucktoy you are.”
You follow her orders, as much out of fear of upsetting her as the need to finally have your fill of the needy young woman’s body. You start by giving her long, slow licks from the bottom of her pussy to the top, ensuring to add a little swirl of the tip of your tongue around her engorged clit as you reach it. Sakura moans in pleasure as you drink of her, enjoying the pleasant, sweet bitterness of the girl’s plentiful juices on your tongue.
When you decide that the steadily rising volume of her moans and gasps, enhanced by the echoing off the shower room’s tiled walls, has reached a high point, you quickly switch up your technique, latching your lips as best you could around her clit before swiping at it in broad, strong strokes with your tongue. You begin with strokes that begin and the bottom and end at the top. When she begins to quiver and shake, you begin to trace random patterns around her taut little bud.
“You’re doing so great!” Sakura moans, “I’ve never felt anything like that!”
You are almost annoyed now with her tone of voice - not that you were in a position to complain, not while her wet, slick lips were sweet upon your tongue and lips. You continue to swipe at her clit with your tongue, using the flat of it now to ensure maximum contact with the taut bud. Sakura begins to grind her hips against you, almost crushing her pussy against your face in an effort to draw every ounce of pleasure from your tongue as she could.
What a sight it would have been for anyone walking into the precinct showers at that moment. A man sitting on the floor, blindfolded and with hands bound behind his back, while Miyawaki Sakura stood over him, one hand pulling her skirt up and another gripping the back of his skull, pressing his helpless face against the wet, slick lips of her pussy.
Sakura grinds her face against you. You almost struggle to breathe - every time you come up for air, she presses you against the hot, slick flesh of her pussy with the hand grasping the back of your scalp. It was frightening. It was almost too much to handle. But it was also intensely, perversely arousing.
“Ah, stop, I need you inside me right now,” she snaps - the first time she’d broken her tone and shown the slightest hint of losing her composure. “Are you ready?”
“Fuck yes, Sakura. I want-”
Sakura silences you with a raised finger to your lips, just as she did earlier that afternoon on the rooftop.
“Just a yes or no, remember?”
“Y...yes,” you answer, suitably chastised.
“Good. Now sit there and be a good little cock for me to fuck.”
Sakura drops to her knees, straddling you once more. With your hands still bound behind your back you are unable to lie back fully, and so you settle into a sitting position as she sits on your lap. You would’ve given anything to get your hands on her hips, particularly as she adjusted herself for penetration - but you had to admit, not being able to see her or touch her beyond what she allowed your mouth and hips to do only heightened the intensity of your other senses.
She wastes no time. You felt her slim fingers on your cock for a moment, aligning your tip with her entrance, before she drops her hips and takes you inside her for the first time.
You both sigh out loud - loud, breathy sounds that echo off the tile surrounding you. Sakura gasps as you fill her completely, your crotches finally meeting as she fills herself with your stiff shaft for the first time. For a second you regret your choice to free your mouth and wish you’d freed your arms instead, as it would have allowed you to lie on your back and thus let Sakura penetrate herself more deeply - not that you were actually upset at being finally inside the needy, mewling young police officer.
“Oh my,” Sakura sighs, “you’re so fucking big inside me! Now I see, ohh! I see why those other girls keep you around! But now it’s my turn. My turn to use you as a fucktoy. Do you like being a fucktoy for me? Do you like being nothing more than a toy cock for me to fuck myself with?”
You want to argue with her, put her in her place, spit the same vulgarities and names right back at her. But there is a sharp, edgy undertone to Miyawaki Sakura, a kind of fierceness that made you fear what would happen if you did.
You decide to let her have her way - for now at least.
“Yes.”
“Good! Then get ready!”
Any misgivings you may have had about Sakura, about her double-sided personality, about her lack of professionalism when off-site and intimidating intensity when actually in the field, even about the way she spoke so casually and vulgarly about your relationship with your team - they all flew right out the window as she began to ride you. Every muscle in her small, lean body seemed devoted to driving your stiff shaft in and out of her body, each of her movements propelling her up and down as fast and hard as she was able.
For all her faults and almost frightening instability, Miyawaki Sakura knew how to ride a cock.
You supposed you shouldn’t be surprised by the lack of build up to the way Sakura rode you. It was all you could do to grit your teeth and attempt to stay upright as her tight, lithe body rocked up and down, threatening to tip you over and onto your back, which, given your bound hands, would have been quite uncomfortable. Thankfully Sakura quickly grips onto your shoulders, helping keep you upright as she used them for more leverage, driving you in and out of the hot, wet flesh between her legs again and again.
“Oh, oh fuck, you’re so fucking big!” Sakura moans, seemingly barely able to turn her thoughts into words before she abandons the thought of speaking altogether, relying instead on a wordless string of gasps and sighs to articulate the pleasure coursing through her veins.
You grit your teeth, relishing the feel of her tight heat wrapped around your cock as she continued to ride you with fierce abandon on the shower floor. Eager to do something more than merely hold on, you lean forward, searching for and then finding her upper chest, pressing your lips against the small patch of exposed skin at the top of her blouse.
Sakura catches on to what you were doing, and the next thing you hear is the sound of buttons ripping from fabric as she quite literally tears the blouse open.
Were any other girl to rip open a button up shirt to give you access to her chest, you would have been surprised with her recklessness - but with Sakura it was simply par for the course.
Your hungry lips press themselves against the newly revealed skin of her upper chest, greedly pressing against her pale, vanilla skin, licking and kissing and tasting. Soon you find her neck, latching onto the warmth you find there, sucking hard enough to bruise her and leave marks on her otherwise perfect skin. Sakura hugs you tightly against her body, not lowering her pace at all, still riding you fiercely, her hips not ceasing for a moment in their desire to fill herself over and over again with stiff, hard cock.
The minutes pass as the tiny little police officer fucks herself on your stiff cock, the small shower space filled with your wordless moans and the wet slap of flesh hitting flesh.
The entire experience was torrid, fierce, intense. Sakura was so unpredictable, so unreadable - and that was even not counting the fact that you were blindfolded or had your hands bound. Her personality seemed to flip from moment to moment, and while a part of you missed the stability and predictability of your other partners, you would have been lying if you had said Sakura’s sheer craziness didn’t also turn you on in its own unique, special way.
When Sakura cums, her body turning into the same shaking, quivering mess she was when she came the first time, you are thankful - because you were close behind. Her flesh tightens and pulsates around you even more than you’d thought possible.
“I’m gonna cum, Sakura,” you hiss, forsaking for a moment her rule to limit your speaking to simple yesses or nos, and being thankful she was so far lost in the pleasure overtaking her senses that she was unable to pick up on that particular rule violation.
“Fucking fill my tight little pussy with your hot cum, you little fucktoy!”
Helpless to do much else, you allow yourself to finally fall over the edge, letting a deep, low groan escape your throat as your cock spasms and begins to spurt thick, hot cum inside the still-quivering Japanese girl’s wet, slick pussy. Even as your cock fills her with semen Sakura doesn’t stop, still riding you fiercely, still impaling herself with what was left of her energy, pushing your cum even deeper inside of herself with each thrust of your spasming cock.
It’s almost painful the way she slams her entire weight onto your crotch and the cold, unforgiving floor beneath it. You would’ve given anything to just hold her down by her hips and savor the feeling of your orgasm, the feeling of filling a young woman’s pussy with your cum for the first time. But what you wanted didn’t matter. You were in no position to tell her what you wanted, and she probably wouldn’t have cared even if you were.
When she finally stops it is almost a mercy. You are drained of energy like you’d never been before - utterly physically and mentally spent. Your cock still embedded hilt deep inside her, she reaches up and finally slips the blindfold from your eyes. You spend a few seconds blinking rapidly, your eyes unused to the sudden brightness.
“That was a great job! You have one hour with Rose,” she says, her face bright and cheerful, as though she were congratulating the first place kart racer and wasn’t currently impaled with a recently orgasmed cock, filled to the brim with its fresh, hot semen. She grabs you fiercely by the skull and gives you a final, fierce kiss.
“Will an hour be enough?” she asks when she finally tears her lips from yours. Able to see now, you lock eyes with her, and while her eyes are large and bright, you notice now that they are laced with more than a little crazy, brimming just below the surface.
It occurred to you at that moment just why Miyawaki Sakura had been buried in the records department of her precinct by her superiors.
She was a little crazy.
Too spent to come up with anything resembling a verbal response, you resort to following her rules once more.
You nod.
---
“I’m sure Officers Park and Douma have informed you of the charges that will be brought against you, and that your lawyer has conveyed the gravity of the situation you’re in,” Momo states, matter-of-factly. “The evidence is indisputable. Your future doesn’t look bright, Rose.”
“I’m aware that I’m fucked, yes,” Rose replies, making a dismissive gesture with her hands from the interrogation room’s table, where they are handcuffed to the thick metal bar in the middle of it. She had appeared to become even more of a mess since you saw her last at yesterday’s interrogation, with darker bags under her eyes and frazzled, messy hair. “So if I’m as screwed as you say I am, then why are you still here? Come to gloat, have you?”
“You’re here because we want to offer you something,” Momo answers.
“You? Offer me something? Hah! Unless it’s a ticket that lets me walk out that door a free woman then I’m not interested. What could you possibly have to offer me?”
Momo leans back in her chair. She had predicted that Rose would react the way she did during your preparation for this meeting. It was almost as if she had written a script for it - and it was your turn to speak your lines.
“Revenge,” you state, leaning forward on the table.
“Revenge? The fuck do you mean by that?”
“Let me ask you, Rose: how do you think we knew you’d be at that event a few days ago?”
“I dunno. Fucking cops have probably been tailing me from the second I touched down,” she spits with a dirty look towards the one-way glass, even if you knew there was no one on the other side. Sakura had made sure this conversation was strictly off the record.
“Nope. It’s because we received a tip - from one of your friends in Blackpink.”
Rose is unable to hide her reaction, her eyes going wide with surprise.
“You’re fucking lying. Why the hell would they give me up like that?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t care,” you answer. “Maybe you pissed one of them off. Maybe they decided they didn’t need you anymore, getting caught doing shit overseas while they did the real hard work here in Japan and Korea. I don’t care. But if you help us find them, then maybe we can make sure they’re just as fucked as you are. If you’re especially helpful, maybe we recommend a lighter sentence for you.”
“You want me to rat on them? Give up my team?”
“Yes,” Momo answers. “Remember - it’s because of them that you’re going to be behind bars for a very long time, while they’re out there free as can be, living the life. This is your chance to take them down with you.”
“You must have had a safehouse or a base of operations here in Japan,” you add. “Give us the location of that base and we’ll make sure we take them down, without them being any the wiser that it was you who gave up their location.”
Rose bites her lip, staring intently at her own hands as she weighs her admittedly small range of options.
“If I give them up, you get me a lighter sentence? That’s it?”
“That’s part of it,” you answer, as Momo retrieves mugshots of the two Red Velvet members and from her briefcase and places them on the table. “We’re also tracking two fugitives from Korea that you might have heard of - Kang Seulgi and Kim Yerim. Do you or anyone in Blackpink know anything about them?”
Rose takes a quick glance at both photos, but there is no hint of recognition in her eyes.
“No, I don’t know either of those two. If it’s Koreans you’re looking for you’d best speak to the others. All my work was done overseas, as illustrated by your giant pile of indisputable evidence.”
Momo gathers the mugshots before taking a pad of paper and a pen from her briefcase and places them in front of Rose.
“We need you to write down the location of Blackpink’s safehouse,” she states.
Rose takes a last moment of thought before she reaches for the pen.
“I want your word that I’ll get a lighter sentence for this. And that they’ll never know it was me that gave them up.”
“You have it. We can’t guarantee that the judge will honor our request, but I promise you they’ll be aware of your cooperation,” Momo replies.
Rose scribbles an address down on the pad of paper before sliding it across the table to Momo. Momo takes out her phone and opens her map app to confirm its validity. Satisfied, she gives you a nod.
“You’ve made the right decision,” you tell Rose as you stand up and get ready to leave. Momo packs up her things and follows closely behind.
“Throw those bitches into a hole and let them rot,” Rose hisses as you leave the room.
In the outside hallway, Sakura, wearing a garishly pink hoodie now given that she’d torn the buttons off her uniform blouse earlier that afternoon, raises her head from her phone as she notices you and Momo have left the room. Giving Momo a polite, cheerful smile and shooting you a suggestive wink, she enters the interrogation room, presumably to return Rose to her cell.
Also waiting in the hallway, sitting on a bench, are Nayeon and a third woman, who begins to speak as soon as Sakura has closed the door to the interrogation room.
“Did she believe it? That it was Blackpink that gave her up?”
“Yes, you answer.”
“You got the location of their safehouse?”
“Yes.”
“What about Seulgi and Yeri? Did she know where they are?”
“No. I’m sorry, Irene.”
There is a flash of something resembling sadness and disappointment in Irene’s features. It is short and fleeting, but unmistakable. Soon it is replaced with the look of quiet determination that she had worn since the moment she’d joined you in Japan.
She rises from her seat. The short leggings she was wearing did little to hide the bulky tracking device around her ankle, but at least now her hands were free of the handcuffs she had on the last time you saw her.
“Understood. Let’s go - we have work to do.”
---
Author’s Note: Not my best work, I know, but I just wanted to get across how wild (in a good way) Sakura was during sex and I found it kind of difficult to get across that she was good crazy but not insane lol. Not sure how well I did or how clear everything came across as I’d never written anyone quite like her with those kinks. I always want to try writing new things and improving my writing, though. Let me know what you think. :)
#kpop fanfiction#kpop fanfic#kpop smut#male reader#pov smut#izone#izone fanfic#izone sakura#miyawaki sakura#izone smut
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Obtuse | Bang Chan (Stray Kids) - PART ONE
Summary ☆ "I don't know. I want to be his friend but then again, I don't. I mean, how can you simply be friends with someone when every time you look at them, you're thinking about how much more you really want?"
Genre ☆ bestfriends to lovers au, angst, slowburn, suggestive themes, college au, fluff, soft Chan x oc (Micha)
Word count ☆ 6k ish
. ° ☆ ° .
PART ONE
. ° ☆ ° .
Micha hated being wrong.
Her fingers tapped an unsteady rhythm over her notebook as she stared at the block of text she had been supposedly studying for the past hour, her desk lamp casting a yellowish hue over her page as if the book itself was a sickly entity with the sole goal of rendering her mad. Attached to her ceiling, her fan kept on whirring in a noisy hum which -- while she normally managed to tune it out -- grated at her nerves. The world bustled outside, cars honking in the distance while soft rain splattered over her bedroom window as she sighed for what must’ve been the nth time that evening, slowly lifting her arms up in a stretch.
It wasn’t in her nature to be so scatter-brained, for once she set her mind to something, there could be little to stop her. That was one of the qualities she could pride herself on considering that there was hardly any skill she could flaunt to the world -- surely there were far more interesting things than reciting off a long list of human body parts and their required functions?
But this recent issue popping up in her brain was doing a great job at knocking her off her feet. Dear god, she felt the same sense of unbalance as when she was five and her mom had enrolled her into ballerina lessons.
Long story short, it hadn’t ended well.
Micha’s eyes darted to her phone that she’d tossed onto her bed a few minutes ago. The cause of her restlessness, the cause of unease stirring inside her stomach like an angry beast prowling back and forth.
The words from his earlier message felt like they were etched into her memory:
Chan: SHE SAID YES
Just three words. Three little stings that made her wince every time she thought of them. Three little needles that pierced at her heartstrings.
Why?
Her grip tightened onto her pen. So hard her knuckles turned the colour of chalk.
Why didn’t she feel happy for him as she was supposed to?
Micha’s tongue poked at her cheek.
Why did it feel so wrong? Why did she feel wronged when she’d done nothing of the sort?
Wasn't it just a few weeks ago that she had spurred Chan's obvious interest, urging him to hustle a little closer to that particular girl in question when she had caught the said young man casting her quick, shy glances over the rim of his drink?
"Just ask her," Micha told him when he'd sought her out looking like a lost puppy amidst the heavy bass of the music. It had been the summer right before their final year of University and on this special occasion, Minho had thrown a small party to which every high school classmate of their year had been invited.
"You know I can't. I don't know how...you know," he scratched the back of his head, dark locks ruffling as the summer wind. It was in those small, stolen moments -- where Chan was the most vulnerable, where he let down his guard to deploy his array of unspoken feelings -- that she remembered the young man for who he was: the familiar fullness of his full lips, the curve of his nose, the simplicity of his monolids.
"You won't know till you try," she took a sip of her rum and coke.
Truthfully speaking, Chan had never been in a serious relationship. He was friends with everyone, the kind of person that was easy-going and who could engage in any kind of conversation with anyone and everyone. The only consequence was that Chan was thrust into the friendzone without even trying.
But then again, he was a nice guy. And nice guys finished last.
“What’s the worst that can happen anyway?” Micha joked as she downed the rest of her drink, “she’s been eyeing you since we got here.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
He leaned closer with squinted eyes as he tried to find the lie in her words, “you’re not just saying that to be nice?”
He was so close she got a whiff of his scent. Reaching up with her index finger to push him away, Micha proceeded to roll her eyes, “I don’t do nice, Chan. We both know that.”
She shouldn’t have been surprised to see him slip away a few minutes later to seek her out. Ayeong was her name. Beauty, in Korean. And which suited her perfectly, what with her tiny waist and her big set of doe eyes that could make any man weak at the knees, her supple legs that seemed to go on and on forever and that cupid bow’s mouth that was always puckered in that innocently cute, yet sensual way of hers.
And if not for her physique, Ayeong was known for her kindness and for her outgoing, free-natured and confident spirit. That was the killer blow for any man that sought her out.
Micha had known her since high school, hung out with the same friends and admittedly could classify her as one too, even though college life had pulled them apart like boats that had left the harbour only to find each other after a year.
Memories of Micha’s last night flickered behind her open lids and leaning back into her chair with a sigh, she gave way to the sudden urge of homesickness suddenly flowing through her heart.
Their last movie night had ended and despite Micha’s frantic eye movements towards Ayeong’s figure, Chan had immediately volunteered to walk her back home.
Micha kept her gaze forward, noticing how the golden glow of the street lamps did little to light their way. She turned her head to the right, where the road gave way to the landscape littered with golden lights, now bathed in deep hues of blue as light slowly slithered from behind the mountains.
“So this is it huh?” Chan’s murmur sliced through with a hint of sadness in his deep alto, “you sure you’re not going to come back home for Christmas?”
It was tradition after all. They had made it adamant to travel back at least every three months and up until now, they had kept that promise.
Now though, with Micha’s piling workload and with Chan’s busy thesis schedule, this year might be the one exception.
“I can’t, Chan. I have my internship,” Micha didn’t dare look at him, fighting the tightness winding in her chest, “you can always drop by. My university is just a train ride away I suppose.”
"You’re not gonna kick me out if I turn up at your door one day?”
“I can’t promise that.”
He gasped, grabbing onto his chest in mock hurt, “Ouch. Okay, what if I turn up with your favourite bubble tea?”
"Then we might have a deal.”
They both laughed softly, pushing each other with their elbows as they walked up Micha’s street. At one point, Chan had looped his arm around hers before shoving his hands into his hoodie pockets and as they talked about their recent adventures and all the dumb things they’d done, it was clear that he was avoiding the pain of saying goodbye right until he stopped at her front door.
She turned to him and forced down the tears burning at the edges of her eyes. The morning light had slithered through the landscape now and hit the side of Chan’s face in a scarlet shade of golden, reflecting the caramel of his orbs pinning her down with a sadness that made her throat choke up.
“Stop it,” the words flew from her mouth without warning and Chan blinked, head tilting with confusion, “What? Stop what?”
“Stop...looking at me like that,” she finished her sentence in a mumble while she averted her eyes in growing embarrassment.
“Like what?”
“Like you’re going to cry.”
“I’m not!”
“There are tears in your eyes!”
“N-No there aren’t!” And he quickly wiped at his face before angling his head to the side, “why would I cry for you?”
“You tell me.”
“Well I’m not!” He turned away to walk down the driveway in a huff, “bye now!”
“Ugh bye loser!”
Micha turned so quickly she almost smacked her face onto her front door, hurriedly trying to erase the image of Chan’s back walking away from her before she broke down into a pool of hot tears.
She didn't want to think about that. Didn't want to linger upon the way her throat seemed to choke up as she fought the emotion--
"Micha?”
Chan’s voice. It floated between them, a lingering question. The said girl felt rooted in place, fighting the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.
And when she turned, she was met with his arms lacing around her middle to pull her close.
His chin on her shoulder, head pressed against hers. Holding her tight.
“Video calls every week,” he murmured, “at least one text per day.”
"What are you? My boyfriend?”
“Micha.”
“Fine, fine.”
Chan's warmth felt like sunshine on her back. If she closed her eyes hard enough she could travel back to that very moment she allowed herself to be swayed back and forth in those strong arms of his.
In the weeks following the start of their final year Micha had plunged headfirst into her studies to avoid the slow build-up of homesickness crawling through her heart. And the more work piled up, the less she found time to update Chan on her life. What with her endless hours spent in the library and the small bursts of freedom that she spent with her course mates, it made it close to impossible to sit down and have a proper talk.
So when Chan video-called her one day, her burst of excitement was soon rendered to something akin to annoyance when the only reason was to tell her about Ayeong’s visit to his campus. She couldn’t ignore the slight sting of jealousy coating the back of her tongue as he blabbered off like an excited child, eyes shining and all.
“I think I might ask her out at the end of this week,” he grinned with dreamy eyes, “I think there’s definitely something.”
“Good for you.”
He’d noticed her irritation, as if there was an itch under her skin she couldn’t quite reach, “You okay, Mi? I didn’t even get to ask--”
“I’m fine,” she snapped and softened almost instantly when hurt flashed through his face, “I’m sorry,...just stressed out.”
“Hey,” concern immediately clouded his features over, “you gotta take care of yourself too. Are you eating well? Sleeping well?”
A sigh of frustration escaped his lips when she’d shook her head reluctantly, “Don’t make me come over. You know I can do that.”
“That would be nice,” came her mumble which didn’t reach his ears, for he asked, “What?”
“Nothing,” she sighed, brushing off the wistful thoughts swimming inside her head and focusing back on Chan’s face at the other end of the screen, “keep me updated with the Ayeong thing.”
She’s not right for you, her brain seemed to scream.
But Ayeong did. She did say yes.
And Micha wasn’t sure why she was feeling so bitter about it.
. ° ☆ ° .
"Please sign here, miss.”
Micha’s surprised orbs quickly flitted up from the large cardboard box to the postman’s clipboard being shoved in her face, “Uh--sure.”
She scrawled her initials, gave back the clipboard with a muttered ‘thanks’ before the postman shoved the box in her arms and walked away without even giving her a second glance.
Had she ordered something online by accident? That wouldn’t be surprising. Since midterm season, time had been irrelevant to Micha, flowing like a ticking time bomb the more the days approached towards her final deadlines.
To say that she was a walking corpse on campus was not an understatement.
She got her answer a few minutes later when she answered the phone from a very excited, puppy-like Chan.
“Did you get it?!” he bellowed with barely contained excitement. Still wrapped up in his blankets with his hair dishevelled and his eyes barely open, Micha couldn’t help but grin at the comical picture he presented, “did you get the package?”
“By package, you mean this big-ass box?” Micha turned the camera to the floor, causing him to squeal like a child who got his Christmas presents early.
“Oh nice! Open it, come on!”
“Chan, I swear if it’s something like one of those scary muppets you like so much--”
“You have so little faith in me.”
“Can you blame me when you were the one who put salt in my coffee?”
“It was just to experiment.”
“That coffee was of good quality!”
“Just open it."
She tore open the package while grumbling under her breath at how bossy he was being, cracked open the box to blink at the different flavours of tea filling it up to the brim.
“You--” she couldn’t help the laughter from bubbling up her throat, “you got me tea?”
“Wait--unless I got this wrong -- you like tea right?”
His panicked tone made her burst out in even more laughter, “Oh my god Chan!”
“You always tell me to spill the tea--I was just trying to be punny.”
“It’s--Oh my god--” she doubled over laughing and Chan joined in with giggles of his own, “Chan, you’re so bad.”
“Admit it, it’s funny.”
“It’s lame!”
She grinned back at her phone as warmth spread through her middle. It was admittedly in moments like these that she missed Chan the most. The longing to see him suddenly surged through her with such ferocity in the form of tears slowly brimming at the corner of her eyes and she had to turn away while changing the subject.
“Got any plans this weekend?” she asked while looking over the various flavours of tea.
“Oh didn’t I tell you? Ayeong’s coming.”
She almost choked on her own spit. Right. She’d forgotten about the whole Ayeon situation and Chan hadn’t updated her since then.
"We’re spending the weekend together, I think I might bring her to the aquarium. Oh, I was gonna ask you -- what do girls like on their first dates?” his face was now alight with such a joyful glow, a spark in his eyes, that it almost hurt to look at him.
“Does Ayeong like aquariums to start with?” Micha asked even if she secretly adored going to aquariums herself. It was admittedly a very romantic notion, to hold hands in the darkened rooms as you would watch the fish swim about.
Chan shrugged on the other side of the screen, “dunno, thought it might be romantic.”
You thought right, Micha’s subconscious responded, “what about just dinner?” she proposed, “maybe Ayeong wants to spend time talking. You know, getting to know each other.”
"Hm, true. Yeah, I might look up a good restaurant. Girls don't like fast foods do they? Or anything that makes them gain weight?"
The angry creature was slowly rousing in her stomach, growling, "how would I know?"
"Well, you're a girl."
"That's exactly what the lame redheaded sidekick in Harry Potter said."
"FYI, his name is Ron and he’s not lame."
"That's not the point I was trying to make."
"Michaaaa~" Chan whined, wriggling his shoulders with a pout, "I gave you tea, stop being mean to me."
But it was useless. All the giddiness that had erupted through her at his sweet gesture was eaten up by a bitter taste on her tongue and with that she hurriedly made up a petty excuse about having class before quickly cutting off the call.
She brought her phone to her chest as she looked down at the tea boxes with growing tiredness. That was probably it right? She was in a bad mood because she was tired.
Right?
. ° ☆ ° .
"I still don't get why we have to watch it with you," Micha grumbled, plopping down beside Felix's lanky frame on the couch and careful not to jostle the bowl of salted caramel popcorn in her hands.
"Because I can't be the only one who can't sleep tonight," Changbin stated dryly like that statement totally made sense. He plopped down on her other side while Jisung settled himself against Micha's legs, "if I go down, you go down with me."
Felix snorted, "that's just a nice way to say that he likes bullying us."
Midterms were over, meaning that reading week would be a pleasurable moment of calm and serenity before assignments picked up again. It was a liminal space between deadlines, a gap that Micha and the rest of her course mates had gladly welcomed with open arms. Being the movie fanatic that he was, Changbin had jumped at the chance of hosting movie night, much to the group's displeasure for they knew that his taste in entertainment was rather jarring. Sometimes violent. And sometimes, brought about nightmares that lasted a week.
"What are we watching again?" Jisung twisted his head to look at the trio, causing both Micha and Felix to shoot Changbin accusatory looks.
"The nun," Changbin replied.
Felix whistled as Jisung jumped up crying, "Do you want me to die?!"
"No. But do you mind if we sleep in the same room tonight?"
"Fuck you I'm out of here," Jisung was already scrambling to his feet when Micha's hand shot out, clamping down on his forearm, "oh no no no, you're going down with the rest of us, Han."
"Do you know how scary that movie is?!"
"Yes, which is precisely why we're going to murder Changbin once it's ov--"
Felix's phone sprang to life amidst the conversation, "oh Chan's calling!"
The group wasted no time squishing up, limbs entangling and elbows pushing onto ribs as they all crowded around Felix's small smartphone that he held at arm's distance before sliding his finger over the green button.
"Hey mate!" Felix's Australian accent slipped out the moment Chan's face appeared onscreen and Micha would've lied to say it didn't sting a little seeing her best friend's face after so long.
"What's up Felix? Oh you're all here?" Chan's grin widened.
" Changbin's forcing us to watch the Nun with him," Micha said.
" Tattletale," muttered the said hooded-eyed man as he shoved her head. Micha laughed.
" And you? What are you up to?" Felix asked while Jisung was struggling to push Changbin's arm to get into the camera frame, " Bin, fucking move."
"Language."
" Oh I'm with Ayeong right now. Hyunjin and Minho are playing FIFA," Chan moved the camera around until Ayeong's petite face came into view, causing a knot to form in Micha's abdomen.
"Hello!"
" Ayeong! Lookin' good!"
" How's Channie treating you?"
" Has he farted in front of you yet?"
" Guys!" Chan's checks proceeded to flood with colour while the said young woman giggled in the background.
" As a matter of fact, he's been nothing but respectful."
Ugh. She was so sweet that it made Micha feel sick in her stomach. But as though Ayeong had read her mind, she immediately asked, "Micha, are the guys treating you well? How's your thesis coming along? Chan tells me you practically live in the library."
" What?” Jisung snorted, “that's not true, she--"
Micha elbowed him before he could splutter out the truth when she had been lying to Chan all along and blabbered out, “Yeah I've been trying to finish my thesis in time because the first deadline is in two weeks. And you? How’s your internship at the hotel going?”
Micha was thankful when Ayeong chatted on about her experience as a hotel management trainee at one of the best hotel chains in the country. It was a close call and she smacked Jisung some more for good measure, throwing him a narrow-eyed glare which he returned with a scowl of his own, rubbing the sore spot on his arm.
As the conversation moved on to the topic of the holidays, Micha’s eyes automatically drifted to the diminished space between Chan and Ayeong’s shoulders, noticed the way he kept leaning back with his arm slowly crawling its way to Ayeong’s backside. Something tugged at her heartstrings, caused her to swallow hard. It was clear from the obvious grin on her best friend’s face that he was the happiest he’d ever been since...well, since.
All Micha wanted was to be happy for Chan. Genuinely happy.
Not the kind of happiness that made her wish she was miles away and blind, not the kind that made her chest ache and her heart hurt as though someone had just gutted her insides out.
At some point, she excused herself and walked out into the backyard, hands shoved in the pockets of her hoodie as she looked up into the murky, cloudy sky above. How long had it been since they’d last spoken? There was no one to blame for that. They were both sprinting at a hundred miles an hour and she couldn’t blame Chan for falling so hard, so quickly, too quickly for a girl that was so easy, so loveable. Ayeong was the perfect match for him, now that Micha thought about it.
And plus, Chan had been talking about her for ages.
But she still didn’t get it. Still didn’t understand why it constantly felt as though someone was slapping reality in her face.
Over and over again.
“Micha!”
Felix’s head popping out from the kitchen doorway made the said young woman swivel around, quickly rearranging her features in a cold mask of indifference, “Chan wants to talk to you.”
“Why?”
Even in the dark she saw Felix’s eyebrow quirk up, “you’re asking?”
That was stupid, Micha’s subconscious rolled her eyes as she reluctantly trudged to the kitchen door and grabbed the phone from Felix’s hold. She waited for the door to close behind her before lifting the camera to her face.
“What?”
Chan’s arms were crossed in an attempt to appear mad, though they both knew it would take a lot more to ignite that anger in him, “ Well hello there, stranger. Nice of you to show your face after weeks of going off radar. No messages, no phone calls. We were supposed to call every week. What have you got to say for yourself?”
In any normal circumstances Micha would’ve shot back with a witty comeback without thinking as she usually did. That was the nature of their relationship after all; that endless bickering, that back and forth sibling relationship that made her feel so at ease in her skin that she sometimes forgot Chan wasn’t even part of her family.
Right now though, she felt her free hand twitch, index finger pressing onto her thumb as she nervously grated at her skin.
Biting onto her bottom lip, the only thing she managed to muster out was, “sorry.”
Surprise flashed through Chan’s face. There was a heavy silence for a minute.
“Micha,” Chan murmured, “what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
" Sure. Care to tell me what 'nothing' is about?"
"Chan, please," She rubbed a tired hand over her face, " I'm just not feeling it today."
He stared at her for a whole minute. Micha felt herself starting to squirm.
" Okay," he mumbled out, " Okay."
Regret instantly bit at her subconscious. She loathed the slight disappointment on his face and in a half- hearted attempt to lighten the mood, she quickly veered into another subject and ignored the poignant stare he kept sending her way. She'd rather be oblivious than try and extort some coherent sense out of the tangled ball of feelings in her stomach.
When they said goodbye though, Chan leaned a little closer to the screen, an undecipherable expression on his face, " call me when you feel better."
Micha nodded and swallowed thickly.
" I mean it Micha," his voice was stern, " call me."
Maybe it was the guilt whispering at the back of her conscience, maybe it was the way she saw a flash of his face in a stranger's every time she walked the streets that made her reach out to Chan once more in the next few days after that, willing herself to make as much effort as he did. Because Chan deserved that much.
They would text in-between classes, a mixture of casual jokes and an exchange of anime-related jokes that he kept sending her and causing her to burst out laughing in the middle of her classes. But while she was glad to see that Chan had no grudges to her lack of response, she still tried to steer clear of mentioning Ayeong.
That was starting to become more and more problematic.
Chan: Ayeong is allergic to crab. Did you know that?!
Micha: No
Chan: we went to eat at that snack stand, the one near the skate park we used to go to. She blew up like a goldfish.
Micha would've given anything to see that ridiculous sight. That was quickly overtaken by the stubborn pang of jealousy at the thought of them going to places she visited so frequently with Chan.
It didn’t stop there.
A few days later, Chan had texted her about their dinner to his parents' house and her stomach dropped like she'd just fallen down an elevator shaft.
Chan: They loved her. They actually loved her. I think my heart is gonna explode.
Micha had to force out a reply:
Micha: what did your mum cook?
Chan: guess.
Micha: pork ribs and braised beef?
Chan: yess omg! You actually remember. Ayeong loved it. She eats a lot for her size. And dad sat her down after dinner to show off his chess awards. The nerd.
Micha: cool.
Thankfully, her internship started a few weeks later, which meant that it was easier to ignore the glow of happiness in Chan's face and the way he seemed to be drifting away from her arms, slipping through her fingers no matter how much she tried to grasp at the strings of their relationship -- or what seemed to be left of it.
"You sure you don't want to come back home for Winter Break?" Felix asked once when he'd turned up at her shared flat uninvited just as she was closing the door to hurry for her night shift. He’d followed her down the staircase, long legs easily matching her pace as she took two steps at a time.
“I can’t,” Micha replied breathlessly through her scarf, “I’ve got my internship.”
“Surely you can ask for a few days off? Just for Christmas?”
"Nope."
Beside her, Felix grumbled, "You're no fun."
"Never said I was."
Micha had to admit that the reason why it hadn't been as hard to ignore the growing hole in her heart where Chan was supposed to be was all due to the three young men standing by her side. As childish as they were, they all had good intentions and it made Micha's heart fill with warmth whenever they did make it obvious that they cared.
Her phone buzzed suddenly just as the pair reached the bus stop. She quickly fished it out of her bag, eyebrows pinching in a frown upon seeing her father's name flashing across the screen.
"Hello?" She gave Felix a shrug when he mouthed whether everything was okay from her side. Nothing.
She repeated, "hello? Pa? You there?"
"Micha."
Her frown deepened at the sound of her father's voice. He sounded breathless, a tone higher than his usual alto.
"Pa, what's wrong?"
"It's your mother. There was an accident."
. ° ☆ ° .
"What happened?"
Less than six hours later, Micha sat in the hospital corridor right outside her mother's room. She still had on her nurse uniform, completely dismissing all of her responsibilities and obligations the moment her father had informed her of her mother's accident.
If she were to be honest, she wasn't entirely sure how she'd managed to make it back without her knees giving away. But Felix had been there, a silent stone figure at her side as she'd thrown a bunch of clothes in a carry-on suitcase and grabbing the laptop from her shaky hands to book the earliest flight which was to depart in merely two hours.
Nothing had mattered then. Nothing but the need to see her mother and make sure that everything was fine. She didn't remember going through security, didn't even remember the plane taking off while gazing out of the window with a glazed look in her eyes and forcing down all the tears strangling her throat.
Micha's brain only came into focus the moment she was greeted by none other than her father’s face, heavy bags under his eyes and the tip of his nose red.
Multiple lacerations. A broken femur. Heavy concussion that might result in potential brain damage. Words that Micha knew off by heart, could recite them in her sleep if she wanted to. Words that she’d spent months and endless sleepless nights poring over.
Words that shot bullets through her, each one leaving an open wound.
“She was waiting for the bus.”
Her father’s voice, old and gravelled and shattered, brought her back to the reality of the hospital. His alto strung through the air of the corridor like a tightly coiled string about to snap.
Micha took a shaky breath.
“I...I was late. At the restaurant. Too many people,” all the time that her father spoke, his gaze was glued to the operation door where Micha’s mother laid as if he could will her back to good health if he stared at it hard enough, “So she went back home first because she had to feed the cat. That stupid cat...If it weren’t--If it weren’t for him she wouldn’t have gotten hit--” he choked on his words, “--by the bus.”
Cold dread threaded through Micha’s stomach and squeezed so tight she thought she would pass out. Her brain was already trying to put two and two together; finding the solution, figuring out the case, the damage. The solution, the--
“They said there’s little chance that she’ll wake up.”
Reality struck like cold ice.
“What...” her mouth was dry, “...percentage?”
“fifty-fifty.”
Her eyes slipped closed, squeezed tight. Silence trailed on with only the bustling sound of medical equipment and a hushed flurry of voices in the distance.
Do something, her brain screamed at her, just do something!
There was nothing she could do. Nothing. Her hands clamped into fists so hard her nails stung her palms. All she could do was wait.
So she did.
She must’ve dozed off at some point. Time seemed endless as the hours ticked by and by the time her mother was wheeled out, exhaustion was pulsating through her every muscle, her every limb. She stayed awake long enough to listen to the doctor’s statement, only to storm out in frustration upon realizing that there was no real answer and that the only thing that had been possible to do was stitch up her mother’s wounds as best as they could.
In short, the doctor himself didn’t know when she’d wake up.
Micha was so intent on walking out for some fresh air that she barely processed a familiar alto calling her name in the distance, until a pair of arms snatched her shoulders back.
She whipped around, “What?!--”
Her eyes fell upon Chan.
Time stopped. Her mouth parted.
Red-faced and with his beanie all the way down to cover himself from the cold, she would’ve barely recognized him if they were passerby’s on the street. But as he stood there with his runny nose and eyes that looked like they’d just cracked open, a wave of emotion hit Micha with such intensity that tears brimmed through her eyes.
“Felix told me what happened. I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner, I--”
And that was when Micha broke down into ugly sobs, legs giving away only to be saved by Chan’s arms wounding around her middle to pull her against his chest.
Amidst it all, she swore she heard her heart breaking.
She wasn’t sure whether it was because of her mother. Or because throughout it all, even in the worst of times, she had come to a realization that knocked the breath out of her.
She loved Chan.
. ° ☆ ° .
Tagging: @elysianxshepherd @maedesculpaeusoubi @missskzbiased @freckledquokka @allyg-onz
#stray kids#stray kids fanfiction#bang chan#bang chan fanfiction#skz imagines#stray kids imagines#stray kids angst#skz angst#stray kids fluff#bestfriends to lovers au#stray kids x reader#chan x reader#bang chan x reader#bang chan imagines#bangchan imagines#bangchan scenarios#bangchan headcanons#bangchan x you#skz scenarios#stray kids scenarios#chris imagine#kpop imagines#kpop scenarios#changbin#hyunjin#minho#lee know#jisung#seungmin#lee felix
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Anon wrote: Hi. I hope you had/are having a great summer break. I (INTP) am hoping for some perspective about an issue. Recently, my mother, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, became incredibly frustrated that I corrected her with an alleged “I know everything” attitude.
It’s an issue of concern because she revealed that I always do this. I guess this was the straw that broke it, especially given that what we were discussing was very trivial. (Maybe the frivolousness of the subject is precisely what made my correction seem more pedantic, unnecessary, arrogant.) She says that my attitude disregards her long life experience, and that if she were a stranger, she would think of me as a “snot-nosed brat who knows nothing about life” instead of as a “wise young person”, which is the viable alternative. She said that I am closed-minded and that I shoot everything down. (The problem of small-mindedness is what you addressed the only other time I wrote to you.)
I don’t know why I come off as arrogant. I’m sure that I’m not. I asked my mother what it was that made her think that, which she thought was a silly question because what she sensed was a general demeanor rather than specific behaviors. In the end we were only able to establish that my lack of eye contact was one of those factors. I can work on that, but surely that’s not determinant. What makes people think of others as arrogant? Should I stop correcting people? I don’t correct others in order to feel superior to them. I do it because I like to debate, in order to keep my thinking sharp, and because there is something painful about friends/family having false notions. I think it’s fair to say that my intention isn’t rooted in arrogant soils.
Granted, my suggestion of stopping correcting people is black-and-white, given that there is the grey option of changing the *way* I correct people. I’m just wondering if it’s an unhealthy habit in the first place. But given how prevalent a thought process it is (i.e. questioning people’s statements and finding faults), the process of getting rid of it may be akin to self-directed psychological violence. I mean, this is the same mode of being that makes me good at what I’m good at. (There’s also the option of keeping the thought process, but not correcting people aloud, but I don’t know what else there is to talk about other than analyzing ideas and their faults. Maybe I should analyze ideas for their strengths too, and express that side more than the faults.)
So anyway, let’s go with grey: So far I’ve tried thinking of an arrogant person that I know in order to understand my behavior, but I can’t think of anyone. Also, no matter how hard I try to put myself in someone else’s shoes in order to simulate an interaction with myself, it doesn’t really work, and I can’t see the arrogance, except if I were to just tell someone “that’s wrong” without any explanation. (I wonder if that’s what went wrong in the conversation with my mother.) Either way, this whole issue boils down to the fact that I’m not arrogant by any reasonable criteria that I found online, but that I come off as such. This was longer than intended. Thanks for your kindness and help.
-----------------------
Here are some questions for you to reflect on. They are meant to increase awareness of your underlying assumptions, beliefs, and values. Answer honestly:
Do you care about your mom? Do you care about how she's faring, what she's experiencing, what she's thinking or feeling, what she needs and desires, what she hopes for or aspires to, etc?
If you care, how do you SHOW your care to her?
If you don't care, how does that affect your behavior toward her?
Do you believe that the mother-child relationship only goes one-way? (Is it the mom's job to do for you but you owe her nothing?)
You say you like to debate to sharpen your mind. Innocent enough. I like to roller skate to keep myself physically fit. In an ideal world, I would never take my skates off. Does my enthusiasm for roller skating mean that I slap my skates on anywhere, any time? No. Surely it is inappropriate to skate around a hospital or the supermarket. Not only could I seriously harm myself, I would also be exhibiting flagrant disregard for the safety and well-being of others.
What you like to do for yourself sometimes comes into conflict with other people. If you care about people and hope to have healthy and happy relationships with them, you have to take their needs and wants into consideration in every interaction. You have to abide by ethical rules and principles that allow your needs to be met without neglecting the needs of others or interfering with their ability to get their needs met. Without ethics, society wouldn't be able to function, because it would just be a free-for-all.
You mention small-mindedness. It is quite small-minded to walk around the world only thinking about what you need/want. In the best case scenario, you are completely oblivious to others, and they will perceive you as clueless or self-absorbed. In the worst case scenario, you only interact with people for your own personal gain, and that would make you an exploitative or even abusive person. Is that the kind of person you want to be?
Do you basically treat people as though their sole purpose on earth is to debate you and help you sharpen your mind - to serve you? Do you launch into debates with people without asking for consent or checking to see if they want to be corrected? If you do, they will call you arrogant, not because you've put yourself on a pedestal and call yourself superior like an evil cartoon character, but because you are communicating to them that your needs/wants are most important AND you don't give a damn about theirs.
Webster's definition of arrogance: "an insulting way of thinking or behaving that comes from believing that you are better, smarter, or more important than other people". You believe that you know better, otherwise, you wouldn't grant yourself the social authority to intrude on people's boundaries, invalidate their experience, and correct them uninvited. You believe that you are smarter, otherwise, you wouldn't automatically assume the dominant social role of corrector. You behave as though you are the more important member of the relationship because your main priority is YOUR need to feel better (about your skills or about what others believe) while overlooking the other person's needs. Seems like you fit the definition quite well.
Despite that, I wouldn't call you arrogant because I understand that small-mindedness is a difficult problem to overcome. I see the effort that you're putting in to understand it. I'm charitable because I'm not the one who was hurt by your behavior. When people feel hurt, they often have difficulty expressing it. Maybe it comes out clumsily or they aren't able to explain their hurt without hurting you in return. Expressing one's true feelings is to make oneself vulnerable. If someone doesn't trust you to understand and validate their feelings or, worse, they believe that you will attack them for their feelings, they will not be completely honest with you. Your mom is trying her best to give you the benefit of the doubt by saying "if you were a stranger...", but she doesn't feel comfortable enough with you to express her hurt fully and explicitly as it happens. Why? Because the very reason she is hurt in the first place is that you have shown very little regard for her feelings. Following from the previous post of yours, the root of the problem is that you have such a poor understanding of feelings to begin with that you view them as inconsequential in yourself and others (very immature Fe).
I believe you have no ill-intent. I have said before that the typical Ti dom never sets out to hurt people on purpose. Rather, they hurt people unintentionally because their perspective is too small: 1) they don't grasp that other people's needs may be very different from their own and thereby fail to consider them, 2) they don't know how to empathize with different perspectives and validate them, and/or 3) they don't understand that SHOWING love and care is necessary for people to justify continued investment in the relationship.
In other words, Ti doms tend to hurt people out of negligence or acts of omission. Some of them get frustrated at not being able to solve their relationship problems. They might try to convince themselves that doing nothing means that no harm can be done, so they adopt a passive stance in the relationship and perhaps even train themselves to keep their mouth shut (self-violence). They fail to understand that there's more than one way to cause hurt. Instead of learning better relationship skills, they check out mentally and emotionally. Being checked out only makes it worse because you hurt yourself and you keep hurting others by being even less attentive to their needs.
The foundation of meaningful relationships is showing care. In a healthy relationship, people trust you to care for their emotional needs and not violate their personal boundaries. If you only attend to your own needs/wants in social interaction, you are signalling that you don't really care about the other person. This problem with your mom shows that you give little to no consideration for emotional needs and personal boundaries. If you don't want friends, it's entirely your choice to be alone for the rest of your life, pretending that you never leave any footprints behind you. If you want friends, you'll have to put out more effort to be a better friend, by paying more attention to the consequences of your behavior.
Doing things that violate trust and boundaries, even if unintentional, causes hurt. When people feel hurt and don't feel safe to express the hurt, they are liable to say/do negative things. To have good emotional intelligence is to see past the surface of their negative words/behavior and grasp the underlying emotional needs that were unmet and/or the personal boundaries that were violated. Only then can you be a morally responsible member of a relationship, in terms of owning all the ways that you impact people, both positively and negatively.
Arrogant people don't care about the social impact they produce. As long as they get what they want and don't lose anything, the existence of others is of little importance to them. If your mom is important to you, then learn how to show it better by listening to her when she tells you about her needs/wants. You hyperfocus on the literal meaning of the word "arrogant" and whether it is true/false of you, as though proving it false means that there's nothing wrong. You need to listen to the people you have hurt, if you want to understand why your behavior is hurtful. Alternatively, you need to educate yourself about emotional needs, interpersonal boundaries, and what constitutes un/ethical behavior and why.
#intp#intp relationships#inferior fe#arrogance#small minded#communication#social skills#people skills#emotional intelligence#relationships#ask
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Superior Specimen - Chapter 1
![Tumblr media](https://64.media.tumblr.com/780de9f1ac3a528154a00aa9147769cd/be4fefb5f18267b4-8b/s540x810/60faabc95052f049fa81400f135cb17278314142.jpg)
Summary: One night when you are following the Archaeology tag on instagram you stumbled across a fun looking dig... and an even more interesting Paleontologist who soon follows you back. Over the following weeks you start chatting and a friendship soon grows.
Relationship: AU Henry Cavill x Female Reader (No race or body shape mentioned)
Warnings: Slow Burn, NSFW, 18+, Mutual Masturbation, Phone Sex
I do not operate a tag list, but please follow @angryschnauzerwrites and put that blog onto notifications, as you will then be notified whenever i post something new.
I don’t have a masterlist, but all my works are on AO3, link here. Usually i post oneshots to Tumblr and AO3, and multichapters exclusively to AO3, but as this is my first henry story and its going to be a short series, i’ll post to both places.
Superior Specimen – Chapter 1
It had all started innocently; you’d been cruising the paleontology and archaeology tags on Instagram, checking out the progress of the summer digs you were unable to go on, one in particular catching your interest. The dig in the Siberian summer desert was posting some fascinating photos and clips, and you were following them avidly from that point on.
A week later when you got the job at the Natural History Museum and you proudly posted a selfie in your uniform, you saw some familiar accounts like and comment, one in particular leaving a chain of hearts, and when you clicked on the profile you saw it was one of the palaeontologists from the Siberian dig. Hitting that ‘follow back’ button you didn’t think much more about the account.
-
It was your first day and you couldn’t have been prouder of your own achievements. You knew that jobs within the archaeology and palaeontology fields were few and far between, and unless you were blessed with some very rich parents or managed to snag some sort of sponsor or bursary, actually following the dream and getting in at the upper levels was almost impossible. You’d worked your socks off, volunteering on domestic digs during breaks from university, taking jobs after your degree to advance your language skills, and now it had paid off; the front desk at the most renowned museum in the country, perhaps even the world. Now as you stood beneath the skeleton of the Blue Whale in the giant atrium of the gothic building, you adjusted your name badge, polishing the three flags that were adorned on the bottom of the badge to show the languages you spoke, and watched as the security guard unlocked the doors for the days visitors to excitedly rush in.
The following weeks rushed by, you thoroughly enjoyed your role and settled into it quickly. You were called upon to help translate for confused visitors from overseas, held a level head when people got out of hand, had met all the staff - it surprised you how small of a number of staff there actually were - and above all you felt completely settled.
At the end of a long day you finished up your shift and clocked off, grabbing your bag from the staffroom lockers before stepping out into the warm summer evening. Checking your notifications you saw a DM, and smiled when you saw who it was from; the guy from the Siberian dig that over the last few weeks you had started chatting to casually.
@Kinghenry; “Looking beautiful as always. How was work?”
You smiled where you could see he’d replied to an on-the-way-to-work selfie you’d posted that morning;
“Good. Tiring. And thank you <3”
You saw the little notification that your message had been seen, and paused as you saw that he was writing, meaning he was online right at that moment;
“What are your plans for the rest of the night?”
“A scented bath, then I’m ordering takeout and bingeing Netflix”
“So, no-one to take you to dinner?”
You smiled at his sly way of asking if you’re single;
“Nope. Why; are you asking?”
“Absolutely. Plus, I brought you a gift back from the dig”
“Oh yes? What’s that, a bunch of bones?”
“Just one. A big one. Wanna see?”
You laugh-groaned at his innuendo, before another message came through with the icon that the user had attached a photo. Your thumb hovered over the icon, hesitating. Had this casual flirting advanced to dick pics? And more to the point; did you actually want to see what he was packing? Hell, you’d seen the crew shots of the dig and had seen him tagged, the guy was built like Hercules. Taking a deep breath you looked up and noticed you were almost at the entrance to the tube station. If you didn’t tap it now you wouldn’t have enough signal in the underground train tunnels to download it, and you knew he would have had the notification that you’d gotten the message. You tapped on the photo… and waited…
The laugh you let out once the photo loaded bubbled from your throat; there he was, stood in the Siberian desert, chest bare, and holding what must have been a femur from an enormous bi-ped as it was well over 4ft long. You knew that fossils were incredibly heavy, so for him to be holding one of that size you felt a tingle in your stomach at the thought of how strong he was. Screenshotting it your phone buzzed where he sent another message;
“So, what do you think? *wink*”
“That’s an impressive bone”
“Heavy too”
You felt a bead of sweat slowly make its way down your back, the heat of the summer evening still intense in the city, and you knew if you stood outside the tube station much longer you’d melt;
“I’ve got to get on the tube, talk later xxx”
-
Later was quite a few hours later, and as you sank into the scented bath, you’d indulged yourself with oils, petals, candles; the whole nine yards. The obligatory candle-lit shot of your legs peeking out of the water headed to your grid, before you settled back and relaxed.
Your phone propped up in the wooden bath shelf playing your music, and a glass of wine half-drunk as you let the feeling of the waters soothe you. After a couple of songs you heard the chime of a notification, peering out of one eye to see that he’d sent you a message. Wiping your hands on a towel you opened it and smiled;
“Sorry if the tease was too much earlier”
“Not at all. I opened it, didn’t I? *wink*”
“That you did… you curious little thing. How’s the bath?”
“Warm, wet, and relaxing”
You knew you were being a tease, but you’d had a glass of wine before you’d even gotten into the bath so you were a little emboldened by the alcohol. Your phone chimed and you saw another photo notification, tapping on it and letting out a ‘ouff’. He was standing in front of a full length mirror, wearing just a pair of running shorts that clung to his sweat drenched body and left absolutely nothing to the imagination, the clear outline of a heavy cock resting against his thigh to the point you were surprised it didn’t peek out from the leg hole.
“I could do with something warm wet and relaxing right now… got all worked up at the gym”
Your jaw literally dropped; you couldn’t tear your eyes away from the screen as your entire body shuddered with lust. Turning onto your side you flipped the camera to selfie mode, and snapped a shot of your body; doe eyes, the swell of your breasts glistening in the candlelight, down to the curve of your hip as it emerged from the cloudy blue and green water. Not a single thing was showing - nipples and pussy just hidden by the water - but it was obvious you were completely naked. You hit send and settled back into a more comfortable position, watching the screen as it changed from sent to seen then the little notification to tell you he was typing;
“Look at what you’ve done to me”
The photo that loaded was taken from chest height, and he caught his stomach and Adonis belt, and his shorts were obscenely tented. He was typing again, and much to your surprise it was a phone number;
“Here’s mine, or you can show me yours… number that is…”
Taking a deep breath you hit the number and raised the phone to your ear, hearing it ring before a deep voice answered;
“Henry?”
“Yes, is that you Princess?”
“It’s me” you found your free hand had slid down your body to the juncture of your thighs, just his voice was turning you on.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m touching myself… your voice… fuck…”
“So, if my voice is turning you on so much you must touch yourself, taking you out for dinner will be an interesting experience. Will I need to slide my hand under the table and pet that little pussy of yours?”
“I guess I’ll have to skip wearing underwear then…”
The groan that you heard down the line sent sparks to your clit as you rubbed figure eights over the sensitive nub, and you longed to hear it in person, whispered against your ear, his hot breath fanning your skin.
From that point the conversation entered the gutter, Henry had the dirtiest mind and the deepest voice, his words wrapped around your brain like it was enrobed in salted caramel, and when you came you called out his name so loud your neighbours probably heard. As you came down from your orgasmic high you heard a quiet chuckle;
“Feel better now Princess?”
“Hmmm yes, thank you”
“I need a shower now… somehow I’m even more worked up than before the gym… Hmmn I wonder why?” he mused down the line
“Shame I can’t lend a hand to help out” you countered, and the sharp inhale of breath told you he’d liked what you’d said.
“That can be arranged… anyway, I have an issue I now need to take care of, and as you’re not here I need to take the matter into my own hands”
“Both hands?” you asked coyly
“Jesus woman… you’re gonna be the death of me, I’m so fucking hard I could burst right now”
“Well I’ll let you go, but I’ll say what I said before, shame I can’t lend a hand. Speak soon Henry”
“Absolutely, take care Princess”
Chapter 2 >>>
#henry cavill#henry cavill x reader#henry cavill smut#henry cavill x you#henry cavill x female reader
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Beneath The Skin
Relationship: Remus Lupin x OFC
Summary: This is the story of one young woman's struggle with pain, inner pain, mental pain, physical pain, psychological pain, every kind of pain you can imagine. Remus Lupin understands pain, he wants her to understand that it doesn't mean you can't feel anything else, he wants her to understand that pain has absolutely nothing on love.
Warnings: TRIGGER WARNING, heavy mentions of self-harm and suicidal tendencies, pain, angst, loss of parents, trust issues. 18+ Minors DNI
Chapter 19 - Birthday Talk
Rosaline made sure she wasn’t back at Grimmauld Place during the summer while Hermione, Harry and the Weasley’s were still there. Remus had found out that Hermione had overheard something about Rosaline’s mother, and drawn the conclusion that Tonks was warning Remus about her, given that Margaret was publicly a Death Eater. Remus decided to tell the children the truth about who she was one afternoon while they were cleaning the house, excluding Snape’s involvement and suddenly they had a new respect and admiration for Rosaline.
She’d been through so much and still suffered from the bravery her mother had shown during the war, Hermione felt especially bad, but Remus made sure she didn’t let it get to her too much.
‘Rosaline wouldn’t want to be pitied,’ Remus said, gently placing his hand on her shoulder while the rest of the kitchen table took in the information. ‘Rosaline just wants to be like everyone else and I think that is the greatest thing we could do for her.’
‘I should apologise.’ Hermione sniffed.
‘Well, I don’t think it’s a terrible idea,’ Remus agreed. ‘But she won’t come back here unless she needs to, it’s not just me she’s avoiding now, I doubt even Sirius will be enough for her to extend her stay past meetings.’
Sirius just gave a sad smile, knowing Remus was right, but feeling bad about it anyway.
‘What did you do to her?’ Ron suddenly asked and Hermione quickly scolded him for the forward question.
‘No, it’s fine,’ Remus shook his head. ‘I’m sure it’s not just you who’s curious.’ Remus turned his attention to Sirius briefly. ‘I didn’t exactly tell you the whole truth either…’ He took a calming breath. ‘Rosaline still suffers some effects of the Cruciatis curse inflicted on her when she was seven years of age,’ no one at the table made any noise, they all knew exactly what that meant. ‘Her mother died protecting her from the torture, but unfortunately it left Rosaline unable to feel anything other than agony. She wakes every day in more pain than you have experienced in your life, that’s what the curse does… but Rosaline still wakes up, she still played Quidditch with you Harry, Fred, George, she did it because she didn’t want to let Oliver down, she wanted to be a good friend, even though many people would not have considered her such… she jumped into the depths of the freezing lake to save a boy she didn’t know because she is brave and resilient and no one could ever know the torture she suffers daily, she wouldn’t want you to.’ Remus took another breath, running his hand through his hair. ‘Over the course of the year that I taught, Rosaline barely showed up to any classes, she is far too bright to have found much use in sitting in a classroom listening to any of us rattling off information she already had. She is cursed and that means no potion or spell can relieve her pain, the only thing we found that worked was finding things that could distract her from it. Crafting, light conversation and music were the only things I ever found to work for long enough to give her any relief.’
‘That’s why Kingsley was so interested in her.’ Sirius confirmed.
‘Yes, Rosaline built a pensieve using information she found in the library at Hogwarts and given her natural skill, didn’t have difficulty in making it.’
‘Blimey!’ Ron breathed.
‘I suppose that’s a good moment to introduce my actions,’ Remus swallowed. ‘Given my condition, it’s a little easier for me to see when others are suffering beneath the surface, I recognised Rosaline’s pain straight away and felt immensely sorry for her. Over the course of the year, I spent time with her, getting to know her and trying to make her understand that there are other ways to manage the pain beyond what she already knew.’ Sirius shifted having some idea of what Remus may have been referring to. ‘What I found was a brilliantly gifted witch, a very funny and wise individual… and an exceptionally beautiful young woman…’ the room didn’t need any more information than that to conclude Remus’s feelings towards Rosaline and he wasn’t going to say anything more on them. ‘When the time came for her to leave Hogwarts, I promised that I would stay in contact with her, that we could still be friends and that I would always be there if she ever felt like things were getting to be too much, the same way I had been all year… we spent an entire year building up trust and helping her find her faith in life again, it was a slow process and not without its difficulty, but we did it… and then I left. I believed that with my condition going public that I was acting in her best interests, that by separating myself from her, she could get a little space and potentially find others to put her faith in… but it seems my actions have just made things that much worse and I’m afraid Rosaline, like her mother, is not someone who can easily forgive mistakes such as mine.’
The room was silent for a moment, everyone was mourning the story, the loss, the pain and the heartache.
‘Maybe we could help?’ Hermione asked and Remus was suddenly afraid for what she was about to suggest. ‘Maybe we could convince her-‘
‘No,’ Remus interrupted. ‘No, absolutely not. None of you are to speak with Rosaline about me or my actions, do you understand?’ Even Sirius was a little surprised by the outburst. ‘Rosaline is an incredibly strong person, but she will need to reach a conclusion on her own, she is at a very difficult time in her life and will need to decide on her own if I am worth forgiving or not. It is not our decision to influence or change in anyway.’
‘But don’t you want her to forgive you?’ It was Ginny who spoke, much to everyone’s surprise.
‘Of course, I do.’ Remus breathed, suddenly losing control over himself. ‘But I cannot make the same mistake twice… I never forced her to speak with me in that year, I won’t break any more promises now, not while it is so important.’
‘Remus is right.’ Sirius interjected, again surprising everyone. ‘It’s not our place to say anything to Rosie, best keep this to yourselves and whatever happens will be for the best.’
It seemed his words were enough to settle them all and convince them to respect Remus’s wishes and do nothing. Sirius didn’t even say anything to him once they left, he just allowed Remus the space to figure out how to make things right on his own.
Eventually, once everyone had gone back to Hogwarts and Harry’s name had been cleared, Remus decided to do something to prove to Rosaline that he could be trusted again. He wandered quietly down Diagon Alley to an old music shop, he’d gotten Tonks to check Rosaline’s music collection and tell him which bands she was listening to and the latest album she had of each. To his great delight, she’d not purchased the most recent Nick Cave album, but to his hesitation, it was called Let Love In (1994).
Remus was caught at a bit of a crossroad, he wanted her to have the album, but he wasn’t sure if she would take it as some kind of pressured sign on his part. He decided to get it anyway along with a couple of others. Her birthday was only a couple of days away as he’d found out from Tonks and Molly, who were both insisting that she come back to Grimmauld Place so that they could celebrate.
Remus knew that Rosaline wouldn’t be keen on the attention, but she agreed nonetheless, and Tonks made sure it was just a small group of people who were invited, including him. He wasn’t so sure he would have been welcomed at the dinner table by Rosaline, but thankfully, he was on a mission that day so wouldn’t be around much to spoil her evening.
He decided to pick up a couple of other albums he was sure she didn’t have including Tom Waits Bone Machine (1992) and The Rolling Stones Tattoo You (1981). He knew that she found pleasure in the surprising things, things she wasn’t sure she’d like and the Rolling Stones were just that, a bit out of her comfort zone, but a band Remus enjoyed immensely. He hoped that she would as well.
‘Can you just make sure she gets them?’ Remus asked Tonks as he was about to leave Grimmauld Place for the day.
‘Why don’t you give them to her yourself?’ Tonks tried to encourage him.
‘I think it would be best if I was around as little as possible, especially today.’ Remus said, sadly. ‘I just want her to have them, tell her they’re from you if you want, just make sure she gets them and let me know if she enjoys it.’
Remus didn’t wait for a reply, he just grabbed his jacket and left to complete his mission.
Rosaline was not looking forward to that night, she’d spent most of the day fixing a dark detector that was all but destroyed and glancing at her record collection which looked curiously out of place, like someone had been looking through her albums.
‘Alright Rosie?’ Tonks skipped in. Rosaline suddenly snapped her gaze up to the vibrant woman.
‘Have you been looking through my albums?’ She asked, a little more accusatory than she intended.
‘No, course not.’ Tonks seemed to be telling the truth, but somehow Rosaline wasn’t entirely convinced. ‘You ready to go?’
Rosaline sighed and slowly tidied away her things. Tonks knew what she was doing and told her about when the kids left for Hogwarts, about Molly having a hard time with the boggart, she kept her voice down and Rosaline subtly turned her music up a notch to help cover her. Rosaline felt for Molly, she didn’t deserve anything but the best things in life, she was a wonderful mother and Rosaline wondered if she and her own mother would have been friends.
It only occurred to Rosaline at that moment that she didn’t really know her mother in the same way others did, and they probably didn’t know her very well either, given her position within he Order. Rosaline had spent the first part of her life knowing a panicked and worried woman who was simply trying to do her best, she knew someone who was just trying to survive, but her mother must have been so much more than that, just like Molly was.
She continued to think on her precious few memories of her mother all the way back to Grimmauld Place where Sirius greeted her with a hug, wishing her a happy birthday. She was turning twenty, but she felt so much older than that.
Rosaline was grateful that there were so few people celebrating with her, she couldn’t handle too much attention, especially after the day she’d had, but luckily Tonks was soaking up most of the conversation. Kingsley made a brief appearance, as did Mungdungus, but mostly it was just Rosaline, Tonks, Sirius, Molly, Arthur and Bill. A few other Order members made a quick appearance, but Rosaline tried not to pay too much attention, she was already overwhelmed by Molly having made her a cake.
‘I wasn’t sure what you’d like,’ Molly placed the large cake down in front of Rosaline, it had twenty candles all perfectly placed over the top. ‘But Remus mentioned you liked honey chocolate from Honeydukes…’ Molly suddenly stopped speaking, realising what she had said and for a moment Rosaline felt the pain whip at her, but she managed to take a breath and smile.
‘Thank you, Molly.’ She said, trying to focus on Molly’s kindness. ‘I’m glad Tonks talked me into celebrating tonight.’
Rosaline blew out the candles and made a wish, as Tonks had told her was tradition. Surprisingly, Rosaline wished for something she never thought she’d wish for. She wanted to find the courage and patience to forgive Remus. It made her heart swell that that was the first thing she thought to wish for, but that was what her mind was telling her she wanted more than anything in the world.
Molly was busy slicing up the cake for everyone, when Tonks suddenly remembered something. She quickly went upstairs and came back with what looked like a birthday present.
‘Tonks, you really didn’t need to.’ Rosaline said, uncomfortable with what was happening.
‘I didn’t.’ Tonks smiled, sympathetically. ‘Remus did.’
Rosaline felt like she should have guessed from the silver wrapping paper and square shape of the package, but she hadn’t expected anyone to get her anything and least of all Remus.
She put the package down on the table, there wasn’t a card and a part of her ached to have read something that Remus spent the time writing out to her. Anything would have settled her. In the back of her mind, she could see her mother smiling at her, almost in a way that questioned why she was still angry at Remus, she shook the image away and focussed on what was in front of her.
Rosaline wasn’t sure whether she wanted to open the gift just yet.
‘Where is he?’ She asked, her voice cracking. She suddenly realised that she’d been thinking to herself longer than she intended, because Sirius and Tonks had nearly finished their cake.
‘He’s supposed to be delivering a message for Dumbledore,’ Sirius said, pausing slightly. ‘To one of the werewolf communities, convincing them that Voldemort has returned.’
Rosaline felt her heart sink, that was a dangerous mission and there was a good chance that Remus would be pushed back immediately. They may not have reacted to him in any positive way. It only occurred to Rosaline in that moment that Remus could die, she could lose him and never have the chance to hold him again. Her mother wouldn’t have wanted her to lose chances like that and in a split second, Rosaline made a decision that would either cause her more pain than she had ever experienced, or be the thing that reinforced her faith in life.
‘Okay.’ She said and left the package unopened.
The cake was amazing and Sirius was right when he suggested washing it down with some Firewhiskey, the combination was amazingly satisfying. Rosaline was finding that the Firewhiskey was helping to numb a little of the physical pain she was in, not a lot and probably to most people there wouldn’t be any difference, but she’d lived with it long enough to know when it changed even just a little bit.
It was gone midnight when Remus arrived back at Grimmauld Place, he was exhausted and miserable, nothing had gone the way he wanted it to go and he felt like a failure. He trudged his way down the dull hallway and heard the sound of laughing as he got closer to the kitchen. He suddenly remembered Rosaline’s birthday, having put it out of his mind to focus on the assignment, knowing he couldn’t get distracted with thoughts of Rosaline while he was trying to convince a pack of werewolves that Voldemort was back and that they should join with the Order to fight him.
Remus carefully opened the door, quickly shutting it again to avoid waking up the painting of Mrs Black and saw the sight that made his knees weak and his heart inflate with joy. Rosaline was laughing so hard with Tonks as Sirius was telling some animated story. She was so beautiful and so happy, her cheeks were red and her eyes watered with how much she was laughing, she was stunning.
He suddenly spotted the almost empty Firewhiskey bottle and knew that it probably had something to do with the good time they were all having.
Sirius spotted his old friend and calmed down enough to lift his glass in greeting.
‘Alright, Remus?’ Tonks smiled a goofy and very drunk smile at him, and it made him laugh at her in delight.
‘Hello everyone,’ Remus nodded. ‘I suppose this means you’ve all had a good evening.’
‘That we have,’ Sirius said, thinking on the night as a whole. ‘And you were right by the way, Rosie is very funny, you should hear some of her stories about Dawlish. Bloody hilarious, if you ask me.’
Remus suddenly looked guiltily at Rosaline who was frowning at Sirius’s comments. He suddenly noticed the unopened present sitting just next to her and felt the guilt increase momentarily.
‘Honestly, I was there, but hearing you tell the story is so much funnier.’ Tonks giggled and it made Rosaline smile again. ‘Anyway, I best get to bed.’ She suddenly said, finishing off what was left in her glass. ‘Loads to do tomorrow. Happy birthday, Rosie.’ Rosaline stood a little off balance and hugged her friend goodnight. Tonks winked at Remus as she went past him and up the stairs, still feeling the effects of the whiskey.
Rosaline sat back down as Sirius filled up her glass again and poured Remus a drink as well. Remus noticed that he didn’t refill his own, but gave no indication that he was leaving. Remus sat down opposite Rosaline, thinking it strange that they were sitting in the opposite seats to normal and gave her a small smile.
There was an awkward silence between the three of them for a moment and Remus felt bad that he’d spoiled the good mood.
‘So…’ Sirius grinned, noting the tension. Rosaline just stared a hole into her glass. ‘How did it go with the pack?’
Remus nodded. ‘As well as I thought it might. I passed along Dumbledore’s message, but I’m not so sure many of them were convinced. I’m not sure I was the only one there trying to convince them either.’ Remus sipped his whiskey. ‘I’ll head back in a few days and try again.’
‘It’s all we can do at the moment, I suppose.’ Sirius sighed.
‘You’re going back?’ Rosaline suddenly said, fear lacing her flickering green eyes. Remus nodded. ‘But it’s really dangerous.’ Both men frowned a little and she shook her head, knowing that’s not quite what her point was, it dawned on Remus that she might have been worried that he wouldn’t come back and by the way her expression changed into panic, he was almost certain.
‘Well, it’s a lot safer for me to go than anyone else,’ Remus swallowed nervously. ‘The packs I’m visiting aren’t keen on strangers and they don’t really take too kindly to… well, non-werewolves. That’s why it’s so easy for me to slip in and out.’
The explanation seemed to settle Rosaline for a moment, but only for a moment before an incredible sadness washed over her. Remus wasn’t sure what to say that would make her feel better.
‘So, that cake was good.’ Sirius interjected, making Remus roll his eyes and Rosaline frown at why he brought it up. ‘Molly did a good job, right?’
‘Yeah…’ Rosaline still frowned, her drunk eyes still flickering slightly. Remus presumed the room was starting to spin for her and her reflexes were slowing down considerably. ‘Oh, yeah, she said you told her I liked honey chocolate,’ she suddenly directed her comments at Remus. ‘I saved you some actually… if you wanted… it’s a bit rich, but I liked it.’ Her face was flushing red from embarrassment, but Remus was just happy that she thought about him enough to save some cake.
‘I’d love to try it.’ Remus smiled and that was enough to make her smile a lot wider.
Rosaline nodded, before taking a moment to stand up. She was a little unsteady and Sirius gave Remus a sharp kick, making him stand up as well to help Rosaline while she was a little drunk.
Remus wandered over to the pantry and found Rosaline reaching for the light, but she kept missing. He gently pulled on the string and smiled down at her.
‘Thanks.’ She swallowed and stared up at him for a long moment, her eyes darkening. Remus was convinced that she would have kissed him if this was any other time and any other circumstance, but she had been drinking and he wouldn’t take advantage of her like that. Rosaline tore her gaze away and ventured a little further into the large pantry, finding the plate she’d hidden just for him.
Remus stood to one side to let her out and turned the light off again, grabbing two forks from the drawer as she went to sit down again in his usual seat. Sirius had made himself scarce, probably heading up to bed, but Remus couldn’t hate his friend, not when it allowed him to spend a little more time with Rosaline.
She carefully took the plastic film off of the cake and Remus handed her the other fork, making her frown. ‘It’s your birthday cake and I think it’s some kind of bad luck for someone else to finish it for you. Share it with me?’ He asked and Rosaline’s eyes filled with water, but she held onto the tears and smiled, gently taking the fork from his hand, her slightly calloused fingers brushing him and sending a warmth through him that he hadn’t felt in a long time.
For a while they ate in silence, occasionally Rosaline would watch him and sometimes he’d watch her, when they caught each other, they would smile and turn away embarrassed.
‘Have you had a good birthday?’ Remus asked, watching her chew a little of the sublime cake Molly had made, it was a good recommendation on his part. Rosaline nodded, but a small frowned appeared between her eyes and told him otherwise.
‘I missed you.’ She said, making Remus stop in his tracks. ‘I mean, you were away and Tonks said she’d invited you, but you wouldn’t make it back until late, so… I missed… you being here for dinner.’
Remus grinned, knowing what it was she was trying to say and even though it was a bit of a mess, he appreciated it, swallowing the mouthful of cake. ‘Well, you seemed to be having a lot of fun when I walked in. Was Sirius telling stories about our time in Hogwarts?’
That made Rosaline suddenly smile and go red. ‘He told me stories about you… they were my favourite.’ She bit her lower lip and Remus couldn’t help his sharper intake of breath, wanting so desperately to be doing that to her, tasting the chocolate from her mouth and making her feel so many good things. ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’
Remus realised that he was staring intently at her lips and felt a wave of embarrassment overcome him. ‘Sorry,’ he mumbled. ‘I was just thinking about something… you should have the last piece, its good luck.’ Remus slid the plate towards her and watched her slowly slip the last piece into her mouth, he was completely mesmerised by the way her tongue poked out to lick the remaining crumbs from her lips. It was only then he noticed that she actually had several more, much lighter freckles over most of her face, they were so light that only someone observing her the way Remus was, would notice and even then, they would have to be trying to find the details in her complexion. ‘You’re very beautiful, Rosaline. I know I have no right to say it, but you have every right to know it.’
Rosaline stopped chewing for a moment and just let her watery eyes scan his face, searching for a lie, but she wasn’t going to find one. She seemed to give up, knowing that in her state it was useless to try and look for any details.
‘It’s really warm in here.’ Rosaline said, swallowing the last piece of cake. Remus watched it descend down her neck, wishing he could reach over and run his fingertips down her skin, wanting to trace his lips over her.
‘I’ll get you some water.’ Remus smiled, distracting both himself and her from what they were both thinking about. He took his time pouring a glass of water for her and tried to even his breathing. ‘Here we are, I expect Sirius kept your glass full throughout the evening, you’ll feel that tomorrow.’ Remus watched her gulp down a few mouthfuls of water, feeling a little sorry that she would wake up with a hangover, but glad that she was having a good time.
‘I, erm… I have something I want to say,’ Rosaline started and Remus leaned forward on the table, listening to anything she wanted to say, about anything she wanted to talk about. ‘I feel like I need to… because, it’s important, I think…’ she wasn’t making an awful lot of sense and took another mouthful of water to help refocus her mind. ‘Dumbledore gave my mother a second chance, she was a Death Eater and I don’t know many people who would have given a Death Eater a second look, let alone anything else. She tried really hard to be a good person and she tried really hard to do what was best for me… which is what you said you did, right?’
‘Yes.’ Remus said, his voice barely above a whisper.
‘I have a picture of her,’ she frowned. ‘And sometimes I… actually it’ll sound stupid.’
‘No,’ Remus suddenly said, startling her, like she’d forgotten he was in the room. ‘No, it won’t sound stupid, I promise… will you tell me about your mother’s picture?’ He tried to ask as gently as he could, but he was scared the desperation in his tone came out.
Rosaline frowned slightly and sniffed as she took another mouthful of water. She couldn’t quite maintain eye contact when she spoke. ‘Sometimes I talk to her,’ her voice was so quiet, but it was the only thing Remus was listening to. ‘I ask her questions about what to do… obviously she doesn’t say anything back, but…’
‘Does it help you?’ Rosaline nodded and looked up at him again. ‘Then its not stupid. I did the same thing when I lost my mother, I used to pretend she was still around and talk to her when I was feeling low. It helps sometimes.’
‘You… you lost your mother?’ Rosaline was suddenly overcome with sadness.
‘I did, it was a long time ago now,’ Remus nodded. ‘But we all lose people we’re close to, it’s just a part of life.’ Rosaline thought for a moment and Remus could tell that she was still sad for him. ‘I feel as though you were making a point and I interrupted your thoughts.’
‘Yeah… I want to try… because if my mum got a second chance for her mistakes, then maybe you deserve one as well…’ Rosaline sighed and held her head in her hands, the room was definitely starting to spin for her. ‘I want to try and forgive you, Remus, I think you deserve for me to try.’
Remus wanted to reach out and hold her hand, but he wasn’t sure at what stage they were at and he didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable by going too far.
‘Rosaline, I don’t want to make things any worse between us,’ Remus told her. ‘I just want you to be happy and I want you to enjoy life as fully as you can. If I have a place in that life then I will be exceptionally happy, but if not… then it’s probably for the best. This is your choice and I’m only here to help and make things as easy as possible for you.’
Rosaline sniffed and looked up at him again, a few tears had managed to escape and it was clear she had something on her mind. ‘I think I fell in love with you as well.’ She whispered and Remus felt his heart stop, he knew he couldn’t get too excited, she was drunk and emotional and she only thought she fell in love with him, there wasn’t any real certainty. But Remus couldn’t help his joy at hearing her say those words that he’d longed to hear from her.
‘That makes me exceptionally sad that I threw away my chance.’ Remus decided that honesty was the best policy.
‘What chance?’
‘My chance to make you happy… my chance to be with you.’ Remus took a steady breath, knowing he needed to stay calm and not go too far, even though he was certain he could have done.
Rosaline’s eyes scanned his face and darkened more than he’d ever seen them before, she took a breath and looked at the unopened gift on the table.
‘I wanted to wait until you got back,’ she explained, her voice cracking. ‘Before I opened my present. I wished you’d written a card though, I just worried that you wouldn’t come back and I wouldn’t have heard from you ever again.’
‘Well, I am sorry,’ Remus smiled. ‘I’ll write a card next time, I promise.’
‘Good.’ Rosaline gave a half smile and proceeded to open up her present.
Remus watched her face light up when she saw the albums and he couldn’t take his eyes away from her joy, she loved them. They talked about the music she was currently listening to and some of the things she was interested in exploring, there were a few bands that Remus hadn’t heard of and Rosaline promised she would lend him a few of her records, again he didn’t care too much if she forgot by the morning, he was just enjoying the time he was having with her.
Eventually Remus decided that as long as he put a silencing charm on the door, she could probably play her music quietly on Sirius’s old record player. Rosaline slowly and carefully turned the music down while Remus quickly put up a silencing charm on the door. She chose the Tom Waits album to start with and sat back down, leaning on her hand while they listened for a while.
If Remus had been braver and thought that she would want to, he would have asked her to dance just for the excuse to hold her against him, but he wasn’t that guy and he wouldn’t push it.
‘Kingsley gave me the day off tomorrow,’ she said. ‘I’m not sure what to do with myself.’
‘Why don’t you go for a walk?’ Remus suggested, remembering how she enjoyed walking to the view in the hills before the end of the school year.
‘Where?’
‘Well, you don’t have to go far, there’s a park around the corner, the fresh air will do you good.’ Remus let his eyes drift over her face again.
‘I don’t know if I’ll have the energy to go outside.’
‘Well, just make sure you open the window and let the air in, it’ll help clear your head a bit.’ Remus smiled, the music was good, but he could see she was getting tired.
They remained sitting listening to the music for what felt like hours and eventually, Rosaline was beginning to show signs of falling asleep.
‘Perhaps it’s time to call it a night.’ Remus suggested, suddenly feeling his own tiredness catch up to him.
‘Okay,’ she yawned. ‘Will you take me to bed?’ Remus felt a small amount of warmth rise up his neck. ‘I still feel dizzy.’
‘Of course.’ Remus nodded and carefully stopped the music which was nearly at the end of the album, sliding it back into the sleeve and turning to see Rosaline watching him. Remus just smiled bashfully and tucked her albums underneath his arm.
It was a bit of a struggle at first, she was off balance and slow to move, but Remus maintained his patience and helped to guide her up the stairs to her room. He placed his hand on her lower back, guiding her gently, but her movement towards his touch didn’t go unnoticed by him.
He kept her close as he turned the light on in her bare room and carefully helped her towards the bed. Rosaline sat down, holding her head in her hands and Remus quickly put her albums on the table at the side of her room, the picture of her mother sat beside it and Remus wondered how often she actually spoke to her mother’s photo.
When he turned back, Rosaline was struggling with the laces of her big black boots, the ones she wore for working in. Remus smiled and kneeled down to help, gently moving her hands away and unlacing the boots, sliding them off her feet with as much care as he could muster.
‘Thanks.’ Rosaline smiled a sleepy smile.
‘You’re very welcome.’ Remus placed the boots to one side out of the way.
‘Is it strange that I want you to stay with me?’
Remus’s heart stopped again. He took a breath and tried hard not to think about sharing a bed with her.
‘It’s not strange in the slightest,’ Remus smiled. ‘But, as much as I would love to stay, tonight might not be a good night. You’ve been drinking and I don’t want you to wake up regretting anything.’
‘I understand.’ Rosaline frowned, her cheeks were glowing pink.
‘Rosaline,’ Remus found himself unable to control himself any longer. He brought his hand up to gently stroke her warm cheek. ‘Please don’t regret anything you’ve told me tonight, when you wake up in the morning, please remember how much I wanted to hear you talk to me and how much I have loved listening to what you have to say. I’m going to try and make things easier for you, to keep my promises. Please just try to remember and don’t feel embarrassed, you can talk to me about anything.’
Rosaline’s eyes flickered over his mouth and he so wanted to press a delicate kiss to her perfectly soft, pink lips, but yet again, he resisted.
‘Okay.’ She breathed. ‘I’ll remember.’
‘Good.’ Remus breathed back and smiled.
He soon left her to change and get into bed, noting that her sheets were exceptionally soft, possibly Sirius had gotten them for her after hearing how almost anything could irritate her skin. He appreciated the gesture from his old friend, but it was overshadowed by his swelling heart. Just the feel of her skin again was enough to settle him slightly, he wanted to do more and if he’d been any other man he would have done, but Rosaline was worth so much more than that and he could find the patience to prove it to her.
#Remus Lupin#remus lupin fanfiction#remus lupin fic#remus lupin x oc#remus lupin x ofc#triggering themes
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You were the first
As I mentioned in this ask, I have polished up the fic I wrote live on discord. It's left at a bit of a cliff-hanger so I'll try not to leave it too long to write the second chapter, but I make no promises!
Anyway, have some Logan with his first boy crush.
CW: discovering sexuality and sexuality crisis
Rating: G
If you feel I need to add any content warnings or change the rating, please drop me a message!
Logan and Noelle are original characters from the sweater weather universe created by the wonderful @lumosinlove. All other characters in this fic are mine.
Logan tugged at his t-shirt, an expensive white thing that was more fitted than he was used to, scrutinizing his image in the mirror. He rose up onto the tips of his toes, giving a small sigh as he settled back down. He’d always been confident in his appearance, especially under the Nice sun, his hair a little lighter and his skin bronzing even more than usual, but he wished he was taller.
“Lo! Let’s go! I’m ready,” his sister called, appearing in the doorway to his bedroom a few seconds later. “Are you okay?”
Logan dismissed her concerns with a wave of his hand, figuring his ensemble of the white t-shirt and khaki shorts would have to do. “Does this look too prep school?” he asked, pulling on a pair of battered vans that he hoped would soften the outfit before joining Noelle in the hallway.
“Since when did you care about your appearance?” Noelle teased, pulling his cap over his eyes as he fell into step beside her.
I don’t,” Logan grumbled, adjusting the brim, shoving Noelle away from him. He twisted away from her retaliating shove with a chuckle, raising his hands in a truce at the top of the stairs before bounding down them. “Maman! Noelle and I are going out now!”
“Do you have sunscreen? And water?”
“Yes, Maman!” He and Noelle rolled their eyes at each other, waiting around only long enough to hear the affirmative reply from their mother telling them to be safe and back in time for dinner.
“So, what’s going on with you and this Hugo boy then?” Noelle asked as soon as the door shut behind them.
Logan glanced back towards the house anxiously, even though he knew nobody would have heard. He picked up his skateboard, dusting an imaginary piece of dirt from it before tucking it under his arm. “Nothing is going on, he asked me out and I said I wasn’t gay, simple,” Logan mumbled. “Why don’t you concentrate on your own love life?”
“Alright, there’s no need to get defensive,” Noelle clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. She strapped her board to her backpack, leaving her hands free to tap against her phone screen. “And my love life is very successful, thank you,” she added with a smirk that was begging for Logan to ask more.
“Oh yeah?” Logan latched onto the opportunity, glad to have the attention off of himself. “Is that who you’ve been texting all the time?” he chuckled, plucking Noelle’s phone from her hand. “What’s his name then?”
Noelle squealed, lunging for her phone, but Logan was too quick, looking at the message before she could grab it. “Oh,” Logan breathed, stumbling over his feet as he shoved the phone back at his sister. “Fuck, Noelle. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t -”
“Logan, it’s fine.” Noelle stopped, grabbing Logan by the shoulder so he halted as well. “Well, it’s not. You’re a little shit, but that’s what little brothers are for, right? Besides, you are so predictable. I was baiting you.”
Logan frowned, his features contorting into a picture of confusion. “What?”
“You’re such a dumbass,” Noelle laughed, shaking her head. “I wanted you to know.”
“You’re a dumbass,” Logan muttered. “So, Natacha, huh? That’s the blonde girl, right?”
Noelle looked at Logan pointedly, “That’s all you’ve got to say?”
“Uhh…Congratulations?” Logan shrugged.
Noelle sighed and started to walk again. “Yeah, she’s the blonde one.”
Logan jogged a few paces to catch up with her. He chewed at his lip, glancing over at his sister every few steps. She seemed so confident, like she knew exactly what she wanted. He tried to reassure himself that he was only 14, he wasn’t supposed to know what he wanted yet. That’s what all the websites said. Finally, he couldn’t bear the silence any longer, “Do maman et papa know?”
“Not yet,” Noelle hummed, “I’m not worried, I just -”
“Logan! Noelle!” their friend, Ibrahim, yelled as they entered the skate park. Logan looked towards Noelle, mouthing that they would finish the conversation later. “We were just talking about you.”
Noelle replied, but Logan didn’t hear what she said, his attention pulled by the tall boy standing just to the left of Ibrahim. He had light blonde hair that flopped over his eyes and he was shifting nervously between his feet. Hugo.
“Hello! Earth to Logan,” Noelle clapped her hands in front of his face. “I said we’re going to head over there and practice on the rails. Are you coming?”
Logan looked back to Hugo, wincing internally at the obviousness of the action. “No, I’m going to stay,” he pointed behind him to the small group of teens “here.”
Noelle looked at him, her lips making a funny manoeuvre that Logan had come to learn meant she was suppressing a laugh. “Okay.”
Then Noelle was gone, and Logan didn't know what to do with himself. These were the same friends he'd been hanging out with every summer for nearly a decade, but suddenly he seemed to have forgotten how to interact with them. Or rather, with him, with Hugo. He couldn’t pinpoint why he felt so awkward. Sure, the other boy had asked him out, but Logan was certain that wasn’t the problem. He didn't want to be that person, but he had other male friends who were attracted to guys and it had never been an issue before. Even when one of those friends had admitted to a crush on him, Logan had just told them politely he wasn't interested in them like that, and they'd moved on with their friendship. So why did his stomach feel like it was trying to turn itself inside out, right now? And why did he feel like he wouldn't be able to string an intelligible sentence together?
"Logan! What are you doing?" Ibrahim shouted, pulling Logan from his spiralling panic. He looked up to see the group had moved. "Hugo has finally got that combo he was working on down, and for some reason he can't wait to show you." Logan thought he heard something teasing in his friend's tone, but he squashed the thought. He looked over, meeting Hugo's shy smile and decided he could figure out whatever was going on in his head later. His friend wanted to show him a trick, and Logan wasn't a jerk, so he was going to go and watch.
Logan dug his fingers into the edge of his board, clutching it close to him as he approached his friends, the walk to the edge of the bowl they had gathered on seeming to take an age with all their eyes on him. "You've stopped falling on your ass then?" he grinned at Hugo, by way of greeting, proud that the words came out with the same smooth tone that he usually managed.
"Yeah," Hugo blushed. "I told you, practice makes perfect."
"I stand corrected," Logan huffed out a laugh. A red haired girl that Logan didn't know that well, mumbled something that he didn't quite catch, but carried a tone that he didn’t like. He spun around to ask her to repeat herself when she smiled and mounted her board, dropping over the edge of the bowl. Logan turned back to Hugo, but the boy was now looking towards the bowl, sending a glare after Lydia.
"Okay, let's not build this up too much,” Ibrahim threw his arm around Logan. “We’re going to be expecting some Tony Hawk skills at this point." Logan sent him a grateful smile, receiving a small squeeze in return.
"Lyds, we get it. You are fantastic! Now get out the bowl. I already shot - gunned," Hugo said, laughing as Lydia flipped him off after she had exited the bowl on the opposite side."
“Alright then, Hewie. The floor is yours. Let us see your mating dance," Lydia swept her arms in front of her in a grand gesture.
“Sorry about her,” Hugo cleared his throat, his face getting impossibly redder and scratching at the back of his neck. “I think she thinks she’s funny.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Logan hoped the smile he offered was comforting, even if it did feel somewhat tight. He could feel the stares of the others boring into his back as he inclined his head towards the bowl. "What are you waiting for? Show me what you can do.”
Hugo opened his mouth to respond, but seemed to decide better of it, shrugging his shoulders. A cocky smirk spread across his face before he gave a determined nod and dropped into the bowl. It was easy watching Hugo skate. Years of practise had led to a relaxed form, commanding the board with a simple confidence. Any shyness he'd been exhibiting a few moments ago had melted away. Logan wasn't the best skater, rarely picking his board up outside of the summers, so he was easily impressed by the way other people were able to keep their feet stuck to the deck like glue. However, there was something about the way Hugo's body moved, leaning into each turn and shifting his weight with such subtly, that felt different. Logan found himself holding his breath, knowing that the trick Hugo could never land was approaching. He didn't want to think about why the determined crease of Hugo's brow made the same odd feeling in his stomach from earlier reappear.
Hugo carved his way up the side of the bowl, until only one wheel ground against the coping. Logan leaned forward into the movement, expecting to hear the crash of the board against concrete, but it never came. Hugo glided seamlessly back down to the bottom of the bowl with a proud fist pump. A loud cheer escaped Logan's mouth before he even really registered it, the rest of his friends joining in to create a barrage of noise. Logan felt lighter than he had in weeks. Hugo showed off a few more tricks, before exiting the bowl. His skin had a pink flush to it, and his breath was coming in heavy pants, the heat of the afternoon sun making the exercise that bit more intense.
"Here, drink," Logan ordered, thrusting a bottle of water in Hugo’s direction. He took the bottle, but instead of drinking it like Logan expected, he unscrewed the lid, pouring the contents over his head, sweeping his bangs up off his face. Logan thought he had gotten away with the choked noise pulled from his throat, but Lydia chuckled from behind him. Logan turned on his heel, sending her a steely glare, "Is there a problem?"
Lydia raised an eyebrow, cocking her head as if inspecting something, "I'm just wondering how long it's going to take you to get your act together, Tremblay."
Logan tensed, glancing behind him quickly. He let out a long breath, relieved to see Hugo's attention had been monopolised by Ibrahim and another of their friends congratulating him. "I don't know what you're talking about," he scoffed. "We barely even know each other."
"You may not know me, but Hugo and I have been friends since we were babies, so unfortunately I am aware of the exact shade of green your eyes happen to be," Lydia retorted, shrugging off the plaid shirt she had on over her vest top. Her expression had softened when she looked at Logan again, "Look, maybe I've made a big mistake here and you're really not interested in him like that, but if that's the case you really need to stop leading him on."
"I'm not-" Logan started to protest, a part of him wondering exactly what Hugo had told Lydia about him. "-this is none of your business.” He chewed at his lip, pulling his cap from his head. It felt like the temperature had risen dramatically in the last thirty seconds, Logan very aware of the beads of sweat forming under his t-shirt. He shoved his cap back on, tugging at the curls at the nape of neck. "I'm going to find my sister," he said, grinding the words through his teeth and turning on his heel. Somewhere behind him, he heard Hugo call his name, but he pretended he hadn't heard, continuing his quick strides away. This was all too confusing and he just wanted to see Noelle.
Logan crossed the park, finding Noelle sitting on a set of stairs, her head resting on Natacha’s shoulder, the two of them watching some of their friends work the rails. She seemed content, so Logan hesitated a few feet away, guilt creeping in at the prospect of disturbing her. Eventually, his need for comfort won out. "Nolly?”
Logan rarely used the nickname in public these days, receiving a swift smack to the back of his head whenever he did. Noelle whipped her head up, her glare melding quickly into a look of concern.
"Nolly, huh? Adorable," Natacha teased, nudging Noelle gently.
"Don't even think about it," Noelle deadpanned, her eyes remained locked with Logan's. "Hey Lo, what's up?" She patted the concrete next to her, and Logan took a seat, resting his chin in his hands against his knees. He looked between Noelle and Natacha, chewing at his lip. Natacha had always seemed nice, but he wasn't sure he wanted to bare his soul to her quite yet.
"Do you want me to go? I can always go and show the boys how it’s done, it's not a problem." Natacha smiled softly and instantly, Logan decided he liked her. Besides, he wasn’t sure he had anything to say yet, so it was pointless sending her away.
"No, it’s okay," Logan sighed. "I just needed a break." Noelle looked at him pointedly, and Logan could tell she didn’t believe him. For now, she refrained from an interrogation. Logan had a funny feeling that it was postponed rather than cancelled.
It took a while for the conversation to fall back into a natural rhythm, however once the initial awkwardness faded it flowed well, Natacha dropping into the natural gaps of Noelle and Logan’s conversation like she’d always been there. It was easy over here, away from his friends, and Logan let his mind wander to thoughts of Hugo, trying to reconcile these new feelings with the information he currently had about himself.
Natacha laughed, loud and smooth, pulling Logan back into the conversation. "No, my ex, he -" Logan didn't hear the next few sentences, fixating on the pronoun until he couldn't hold in the question any more.
"Did you say he?"
Natacha furrowed her brow, whilst Noelle's expression turned smug and knowing. Logan had questions about that too, but it'd have to wait. Eventually, Natacha gave a slow nod. "Yes, he...Jacob, my ex-boyfriend."
Logan waved his hand between Noelle and Natacha, "- and now you have a girlfriend."
Something changed in Natacha's expression, but Logan couldn't place it. "Well," she chuckled, "we haven't called it anything yet, but I wouldn't object."
Logan blinked. "You can do that?"
Natacha shrugged, looking between Logan and Noelle with a careful curiosity.
"No." Logan cut her off before she could answer. "I know you can change your mind or whatever. Or not know. But can I just...I guess, I had that crush on Alicia back in grade 7, but now I think - yeah, Hugo makes me feel kind of the same way, so am I gay now or what?" He felt Noelle squeeze his knee as he reached to scratch at the back of his neck. She always told him he'd be awful at poker because he had too many tells.
Natacha looked between him and Noelle again. It was getting a bit annoying, but he figured he had just dumped a whole lot of thoughts on somebody he had only spoken to a handful of times. The silence was beginning to feel heavy when she eventually spoke, "I can't really tell you that. You could be gay, you could be bisexual, I'm fairly sure there's other things too. Just try not to freak out about it, yeah?"
Bisexual. Now that he thought about it, Logan remembered hearing that word before. He'd never really considered what it meant though, it hadn’t been necessary. The only person he'd ever had a crush on before was Alicia. Maybe bisexual fit, but he'd never liked another girl like that either so maybe Alicia was just a fluke and he was just gay. He lay back, shielding his eyes as he looked up at the sun and groaned. "Try not to freak out. How am I not supposed to freak out?! I want to kiss a boy."
"Oh, you want to kiss him do you? You're a baby, you're not allowed to kiss anybody." Noelle teased, poking at his side. Logan threw a furious look at her. Could she not see he was having a crisis here and she was laughing. "Sorry," Noelle apologised, her voice more sincere. "I know it's a lot to think about. It's just difficult not to tease my little brother about his crush."
Logan had to admit something was comforting in the idea that even when his world was in chaos, there was always the constant of his sister's teasing. He'd never tell her that though. "I think I'm just going to pretend this isn't happening," he sighed.
Noelle laughed again, more committed this time. "That would be very fitting," she hummed. "You could also, oh, I don't know...talk to him?"
Logan sat up quickly, "And what if he asks if I'm gay!? I literally told him 3 days ago I wasn't interested.” The long sigh that followed felt like it was pulled from him.
"Erm..." Natacha muttered awkwardly. "I'm gonna leave you two to talk. Good luck, Logan," she added, leaning around Noelle to pat at his arm. Ordinarily he would have found the gesture condescending, but it was oddly comforting.
There was a quiet as they watched her walk away. “I like her,” Logan declared.
"Well, she's my girlfriend so you can't have her," Noelle quipped. Logan rolled his eyes; his sister shared their father's sense of humour and frankly, it was awful. "Can I let you into a secret?" she asked, pulling Logan into her side. There wasn’t time to answer before Noelle continued. "It wasn't easy for me either. But I got there and you will too. Just be honest with Hugo, and if he's an ass about it at least you know he's trash now rather than later."
"Thanks, Nolly," Logan said quietly, leaning his head on his sister's shoulder. "I think I'll talk to him. Or maybe I'll just show him my hockey reel, that's impressive." Noelle flicked her fingers against his leg and Logan scowled, rubbing at the spot.
"Try not falling off that board for once, that'll impress him," Noelle teased, inclining her head towards Logan's abandoned board.
"Or maybe, I'll just fall off and then get him to teach me." Logan retorted with a smirk, looking in the direction of the bowl that he had left earlier. He figured he should probably head back over there soon, he’d left before he could even really congratulate Hugo.
Noelle shook her head, laughing "God, you're such a Tremblay at times."
Logan heaved himself up, grabbing his board as he did. "Hey, you never did tell me what you decided on. You know...with your sexuality," his said, feeling his face heat up a little. Somewhere in the back of his brain, something told him he wasn't supposed to ask that, but the question had left his mouth before he'd really thought about it. "If you don't mind telling me."
Noelle looked up at him with a casual shrug, "I refuse to be defined by labels, I will date who I date and if people don't like it, well fuck them."
"Wow, okay," Logan raised an eyebrow. "That's a lot of anger in such a small person. Go skate it off."
"Alright, Mr 5 foot," Noelle scoffed, her expression softening before she continued. "I am
going to see if I can prise my board from Tasha's grip, but let me know if you want to go, yeah?"
"I just haven't hit my growth spurt yet," Logan reeled off his usual rebuttal to his sister's jibes about his height, but his mind was more focused on the latter words. "I'll be fine, promise," he smiled, even if he wasn't so convinced of the statement himself. He held Noelle's gaze for a beat longer, turning on his heel to head back to his friends
"Logan!" Hugo called loudly as he approached, the blond boy's eyes widening slightly when the loud sound left his mouth. "You're back," he added, at a more reasonable volume.
Logan smiled as he took a seat next to Hugo, "Yeah, sorry about that. Just had to sort some stuff.”
"No problem, just glad to have you back.”
Ibrahim faked a gag, and Logan shot him a glare. His friend mouthed something at him, but Logan couldn’t make out the words against the exaggerated movements of his lips. He turned his attention back to Hugo as he began to speak again. Ibrahim was probably only trying to chirp him anyway. "Hey, how's your Ollie going?"
Logan took a deep breath, trying not to think about his next words too much, "Yeah, I'm still practicing, actually. I was wondering if you could help me again? Somewhere," Logan looked around, "not here. I don't want to keep falling on my ass in front of everybody."
Logan swore he heard a low wolf whistle from one of the group, but when he glanced at them, everybody seemed to be engulfed in their own conversations. Ibrahim and Lydia's heads were close together, whispering conspiratorially in a way that was making Logan nervous.
"Yeah, I can help you," Hugo said, a goofy grin set on his face. "When do you want to do it?"
"Now?" Logan suggested, trying not to get distracted by the increasingly animated conversation beside him. Hugo must have noticed too, but he seemed unfazed.
"Oh? Now. Okay, Sure," Hugo nodded vigorously, brushing his hands through his hair. "We can do it now. I'm totally ready."
"Cool," Logan hummed, trying to appear nonchalant about the whole situation despite the uptick in his heart rate.
"Yeah, cool.”
Logan didn’t want to appear too eager so he waited for Hugo to stand first. Only it appeared Hugo had a similar idea bringing them to an impasse. Logan cringed internally, glad he currently had his back to Ibrahim because he could just imagine the mocking expression. He bolstered himself, letting his breath whistle through his teeth and laughed, hoping the noise sounded lighter than it did in his head. "Come on then," Logan said, rolling to his feet, offering his hand out. Hugo stared at it for so long, Logan was beginning to think perhaps he'd done something wrong. Then, Hugo slapped his own hand clumsily into it, pulling himself upright. Logan curled his fingers around the larger hand, holding onto it a second longer than necessary to help Hugo up. It was warm, slightly sweaty even, but Logan found himself wanting to test whether Hugo would keep their hands intertwined if he didn't let go. Still, a part of him was very aware of their current company, so Logan reluctantly pulled away.
As they walked away from the group, Logan braved a look behind him. Most of his friends quickly made to re-start their conversations, embarrassed to have been caught staring. However, the two he’d most suspected to lock eyes with had their heads down, fingers working furiously against their phone screens. Seconds later, Logan felt his phone vibrate. And then again, and again, and again.
Logan sighed, sending Hugo an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, let me just get this." He tugged his phone from his pocket, huffing when he saw the notification. Ibz created group 'Don't fuck this up Logan. He opened the chat, intending to mute it immediately, but curiosity got the better of him and he read through the messages quickly. Logan didn't have the third participant in his contacts so his phone just displayed the number, but if he wasn't already aware that it would be Lydia, the blunt tone of her messages would have given her away.
Ibz: His favourite colour is red!
Lydia: Why would that be helpful?
Lydia: Also, I think it might be green now ;)
Ibz: Lydia! That is not helpful! Logan, you can talk to him about hockey. He's been studying.
Lydia: That's true! He's kind of obsessed with dinosaurs too so try to work that into the conversation.
Logan worried at his lower lip, noticing that Hugo hadn't been inundated with messages. He could only surmise that Lydia and Ibz thought Logan was the only one of the pair that needed some extra help. He grumbled under his breath, typing out a reply with punishing taps against his screen.
Logan: Guys! Stop! I can handle this. Can you just stop meddling?
Lydia: If you say so. I am going to kick your ass if you hurt him though.
Ibz: Hey! That's harsh. Logan would never intentionally hurt Hugo.
Logan: Thanks Ibz! For the record, I'm muting this conversation now.
Logan smiled at how quickly Ibrahim had come to his defence, making a mental note to thank him in person later on. After following through with silencing his phone, he shoved the device back in his pocket, looking over at Hugo. He was sitting on his board, chin tucked against the palm on his hands, rocking slowly from side to side. He seemed content, but Logan still felt a little guilty about making him wait. "Sorry," Logan grimaced, "I'm all yours now. How about I show you what I'm doing, and you can correct me?"
#logan tremblay#noelle tremblay#cw: discovering sexuality#cw: sexuality crisis#sweater weather#coast to coast#rating: g
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Hello! So, something that always intrigued me is the concept of “reverse aus,” and I’ve been thinking about that in the context of Cobra Kai for a while now. How do you think it would go down if Demetri was the one to get roped into Cobra Kai? Obviously, I don’t think he would be as into as Eli canonically was (probably due to it becoming a special interest for him), but I’d be curious to hear your take on it. Would Eli end up going to Miyagi-Do like canon Demetri did, or would Demetri and Eli sort of become the new Evil Karate Husbands™️? And possibly, how do you think Demetri and Johnny’s dynamic would go? (I’m just going to awkwardly add that this is cc-tinslebee, coming to you live from my main blog because I don’t think Tumblr let’s sideblogs send asks-)
So this is actually the SECOND ask I’ve gotten about this scenario--Cherry sent in another one!--so I figured I’d give it a stab. Took me a while to work out how I think it would go and how everything would play out different if Demetri and Eli’s roles were reversed, but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. I tried to make it more interesting than just “Demetri does all the stuff Eli does and Eli does all the stuff Demetri does.”
Also I lowkey LOVE the idea of Evil Karate Husbands and even though that isn’t the direction this particular AU goes in, I might do a divergent spin-off AU to explore that too??? Because man...the thought of Miguel desperately trying to save his two best friends who have fallen to the dark side...*cries*
Fair warning that this AU is gonna get dark as shit--I fully belive things would’ve gotten equally fucked up between them in a role reverse AU, just, ah...in slightly different ways. A lot of this will not be Happy Times later on, much like their canon relationship XD
OKAY TIME FOR PAIN, LET’S GOOOO
Longboi post so be warned!!!
Season 1
After getting his ass handed to him--for trying to stick up for Eli, no less--Demetri was pissed. Why the hell was he paying some guy to beat him up for daining to have a problem with him bullying his best friend? Going home in a rage, he nearly texted Miguel to tell him he was quitting--but something stopped him just before he hit Send.
He remembered the look on Eli’s face just after Kyler shoved him away. He remembered seeing Eli stiffen when Kyler grabbed him by the chin, practically feeling the terror emanate from his friend’s body. He remembered how completely and infuriatingly helpless he felt.
It certainly wasn’t the first time something like that had happened. But maybe if Miguel was onto something--maybe if karate really could protect him and Eli from the bullies--it could be the last.
Mr. Lawrence (or Sensei Lawrence, as he obnoxiously insisted on being called) hardly let up on bullying Eli. Even at Eli’s request not to call him “Lip” and the pleading of his star student Miguel Diaz himself, the man only seemed to crack down harder--in some sort of twisted effort to “toughen Eli up,” Demetri guessed. Demetri defended Eli every single time, not mincing any words mouthing off at Sensei Lawrence. It got Demetri punched in the face, flipped on the mat, saddled with much harder drills than the rest of the class, but he didn’t give a shit. He wasn’t about to let anyone treat Eli like that, no matter what pain he had to endure for it.
Johnny, meanwhile, is immensely annoyed by this obnoxious, sarcastic kid who just can’t stop running his mouth--but working him twice as hard as the rest of the class is proving to be fruitless in shutting him up. But, Johnny’s finding, Demetri constantly antagonizing him doesn’t have to be a hindrance. Anger like that can be weaponized--the more he provokes Demetri, the more he insults and belittles that Eli kid he’s so attached to, the harder Demetri punches. The quicker he moves when he fights. The stronger he kicks. Johnny sometimes comes home after training covered in nasty bruises, almost entirely from sparring Demetri--they’re enough to make Carmen and Rosa Diaz worry he’s getting jumped on the way home.
One day Johnny takes his ribbing of Eli just a little too far, hoping to get an especially vicious reaction out of Demetri. Eli, pushed to the end of his rope, runs out of the dojo, barely holding back tears. Demetri starts to go after him, but Miguel puts a hand on his arm and stops him, saying they can both check up on him later.
When Demetri finds Eli after practice, Eli’s sobbing. “I can’t do this anymore, Deme. No matter what you say to him, he just keeps picking on me. It never stops.” Demetri winces, because Eli isn’t wrong--Sensei Lawrence really hasn’t stopped bullying Eli at all, and while Demetri was busy letting himself get riled up by it, he didn’t actually think to see how it was affecting Eli. “Well, I know it sucks now, and Mr. Lawrence is a huge asshole, but we’re learning to be tough,” Demetri reasons. “We’re learning to be intimidating. A few more months here, and the bullies will never touch us again! Just like Miguel!” And Eli just scowls, uncharacteristically angry for his timid self, and says “Well, it’s not worth it if I have to feel like shit the whole time! If every time I step in here I get everything about me picked apart, over and over again! I’m done with this, Demetri.”
And just like that, Eli is out of the dojo. Demetri can’t help but be disappointed--he’d looked forward to them training together, and seeing Eli become a badass, fearless fighter who could hand Kyler’s ass to him after all those fucked up things he said to Eli. And to make matters worse, Sensei Lawrence doesn’t stop using Eli as fuel to rip out Demetri’s rage long after Eli’s gone. “Oooh, Loudmouth, feeling sad today? Missing Lip the Quitter?” “You keep throwing punches like that, and you could get beat up by that loser with the fucked lip you were so enamored with. Although knowing you, you’d let him win anyways.” And Demetri can’t help but hate the man, but damn, if it doesn’t feel good to land an especially good hit on him, or jab him in the thigh with a powerful kick.
But things aren’t bad--Demetri still has Miguel, and their new friend Aisha. Eli still hangs out with them outside of practice, and indulges Demetri in his ever-increasing ramblings about martial arts, no matter how nervous and uncomfortable karate tends to make Eli. If Demetri likes it that much, maybe he should make an effort to show interest in it. The four of them crash Yasmine’s birthday party, and Demetri even finds himself smooth-talking them into getting alcohol with his newfound confidence. After all, if he can land punches faster than a snake can strike, how difficult can it be to weasel his way into getting a little beer?
Meanwhile Moon, feeling understandably unfulfilled in her popular clique, takes an interest in the Cool New Karate Gang in town, and after apologizing to Aisha at the beach rager, the two strike up a friendship. She comes to hang out with their group more and more, and Eli finds her surprisingly easy to talk to. Moon constantly makes an effort to include him when the others get to wrapped up talking about karate, and he appreciates her kindness and sincerity. It’s odd, really, how easy it is to have a conversation with her, considering how nervous he tends to get around her. But Eli doesn’t think too much about it.
When it comes time for the tournament, Moon and Eli go together to support their friends. Eli finds his gaze flickering back and forth between Moon and Demetri, lingering on each of them longer than he would care to admit--and he can’t quite explain why. Something about Moon’s wide, excited smile, the smell of cherry shampoo in her hair...but also Demetri’s smug, triumphant smirk when he pulls off an especially impressive move, the way his wiry arm muscles ripple when he fights. They’re both just so...captivating.
Demetri, for his part, is ruthless. Much more so than Eli has ever seen him be. He’s always been sarcastic and cynical, but resigned to his fate--at the tournament, Demetri lashes out in vicious ways the old Demetri would never have had the courage to pull off. He talks shit to the other contestants far beyond what’s considered “sportsmanlike”--and Eli can tell he’s not holding back, with the theatrical body language channeling every awful thing he’s saying.
Demetri fights like lightning--he weaves and maneuvers and strikes at breakneck speed, a limber, flashing form hitting all across his opponent’s bodies before they have any idea what’s happening. He dodges hits and jumps aside like he has some cosmic sense of when and where they’re coming. And it scares Eli, seeing a viciousness and relentlessness in Demetri that he’s never encountered before--but somehow, he finds, he just can’t look away.
Season 2
After the tournament, Demetri’s life has never been better. At the summer’s start, he’s still riding the high of the Cobra Kai tournament win. He didn’t take home the trophy, but suffice to say he got much farther than anyone believed a scrawny, lanky nerd ever would, and he is incredibly smug about it. He realizes, at the end of the day, he’s gotten what he always wanted after all--the bullies don’t come near him and Eli at all, and he can rest easy, knowing Eli is finally safe. However, he’s so busy embracing his new skills that at times, he almost forgets that was ever even an issue. His newfound fighting prowess has caught the attention of Yasmine, of all people--maybe someone who can throw kicks that good isn’t as much of a loser as she originally thought.
She finds out after her family’s plans to go to France for the summer fall through, and she finally patches things up with Moon after their fallout at the beach party. Moon can’t stop gushing about how amazing Demetri was at the tournament--both she and her new friend Eli (who Yasmine definitely thinks seems like a weirdo, but hey--maybe if Moon thinks he’s worth her time, he can’t be that much of a loser) were so impressed with him. Interest piqued, Yasmine joins their little but ever-growing group. She finds herself quickly drawn in by Demetri’s ever-growing confidence, intelligence, and surprisingly enjoyable (if somewhat annoying) sense of humor, and before long, the two are dating.
Yasmine and Aisha are...cool. Kind of. Yasmine doesn’t quite apologize, and the two aren’t friends by any stretch of imagination, but they tolerate each other, and Yasmine refrains from making awful comments and picking on Aisha in front of their friends. Aisha, for her part, does her best not to lash out or be mean to Yasmine either, keeping the peace mainly for Demetri’s and Moon’s sakes.
Meanwhile, it would take an idiot not to notice the rather starstruck looks Eli’s been shooting in Moon’s direction. Moon, for her part, is either entirely oblivious or simply doesn’t even think to consider a shy, timid, nerdy kid as a romantic option, even if she does consider him a friend.
Oddly, Demetri finds himself extremely bothered by Eli’s doe-eyed crush on Moon. He really can’t place why--he has a girlfriend already, so it really shouldn’t bug him so much that Eli is finally growing noticably interested in girls too, now that they tend to be in closer proximity. And it’s not even like Moon seems to be at all interested in reciprocating. Maybe, he figures, it’s the fact that Moon never would have even looked their way if it weren’t for the fact that he and Miguel and Aisha were the “Cool Karate Gang.” The same karate gang, of course, that Eli quit. That Eli didn’t have it in him to fully be a part of. And yet here he is, reaping the benefits still.
Interestingly, Yasmine also seems bothered by Eli’s affections for her friend. Demetri feels her stiffen beside him and sees her shooting disapproving looks whenever she catches Eli staring at Moon. Demetri isn’t sure why she seems to take issue with this too--perhaps she thinks Moon is too good for Eli, and her friend deserves better than a shy, awkward nerd.
Something about this mindset very much rubs Demetri the wrong way, but he pushes the feeling aside. Maybe he should count his blessings instead of being so inwardly critical of his girlfriend. After all, not everyone gets to date the hottest girl in school.
The day of Valley Fest arrives, and Yasmine goes to support her boyfriend. Moon and Eli tag along, eager to support their friends as well. Caught up in the thrill of the blaring music, the bright, flashing lights, the audience cheering, Demetri feels a wave of pride as he looks at his little group of friends that came for him, yelling and whooping and jumping up and down. For some reason, he finds his gaze drawn specifically to Eli, wearing a grin bigger than Demetri’s seen in months and eyes absolutely glowing.
Suddenly Demetri feels an overpowering urge to wrap Eli up in this world he’s fallen in love with, immerse him entirely in the karate that’s made Demetri feel so much more happy and free in the past several months. Grinning, he strides forward and reaches down, using the absurd upper body strength he’s built up since he’s started karate to yank Eli up onto the stage. He hands his best friend a wooden board and steps back, racing forward and snapping it in half with a jumping roundhouse kick. For a few seconds, Eli can do nothing but stare at the broken board, something shifting inside of him.
After that, Eli decides maybe it’s time to give karate another go. Something about the way Demetri positively shone onstage--how genuinely happy all of it seemed to make him--makes him thing it can’t be so bad, even if he does get taunted for his lip again.
He stops by the dojo the following week, gathering up every ounce of courage he has to ask that mean blonde man how he goes about joining the dojo again. He’s hoping against hope that maybe, after all these months of teaching students and a tournament win under his belt, the edge of his pathetic cruelty will at least have been taken off.
No such luck. Upon seeing Eli walk into the dojo, Johnny greets him with “Hey, Lip is back! Real world not treat you as nicely as you thought?” The two are, regrettably, completely alone in the dojo. Eli sucks in his breath--Demetri isn’t around, so if anyone is going to defend him, it’ll have to be him himself.
“Could you please not call me that?” His voice shakes as he says it, but nonetheless, he finishes the statement. It occurs to him that not once in his (admittedly brief) stay in Cobra Kai did he simply...request that Sensei Lawrence not call him Lip. Demetri’s approach was always to get angry about it, go off on the sensei about how wrong it was to mock someone’s appearance, but Eli himself had never been the one to make a case for Sensei Lawrence to treat him better.
It hardly helped. Sensei Lawrence just claimed that if he didn’t want him to call him Lip, he shouldn’t have a freaky lip, and then went on to claim whoever did his cleft lip surgery must have done an awful job. Eli attempted to move away from the topic, but Sensei Lawrence didn’t let up. “It’s hard to when it’s right in front of me. Hard to believe Demetri was so willing to defend you like some knight in shining armor or some shit. You’re pathetic.” Having heard enough, Eli storms out, anger overtaking him. How could he have been so stupid, to think this was going to go any better? Why did he think that just because this man had been willing to help Miguel and Demetri (who were normal) become badass meant he would extend the same treatment to the freak with the lip scar?
Eli calls Demetri in tears. “I don’t know how you can train with someone like him,” Eli spits out. “He’s a shit person, Demetri. I--I don’t know what you and Miguel are thinking. It’s like he gets some kind of...I don’t know, sadistic pleasure out of bullying people. He’s not any better than the people he claims he’s trying to help you fight.”
Demetri, to his horror, reacts only with scorn, scoffing and rolling his eyes. “God, all this drama because he was mean about your lip again? Jesus christ, grow a backbone, Eli. I hate to say it, but I think Mr. Lawrence was right--if you can’t even handle someone making some insensitive comments about your scar, how are you going to handle an elbow to the teeth? Or any training more intensive than a slap on the wrist, anyway?”
Eli can do nothing but just stare at him through the screen. Demetri, the one person who he has always been able to count on to not comment on his scar, the one person who has always comforted him or talked him through it when he cried, is brushing him completely off--being an asshole about the one thing Eli was certain he never would be. Why is Demetri, of all people, not taking his side on this?
All Eli knows for sure is that he doesn’t like this new version of Demetri one bit. What happened to the best friend who was always willing to fight for him, no matter what it took? Now, he seems more concerned with looking cool and tough and upkeeping some kind of ridiculous reputation than Eli’s own well-being.
Over the next few days, a rage he didn’t know he even had in him bubbles up inside Eli. He decides if Demetri’s going to play dirty, so is he. And maybe, if Eli plays his cards right, the old Demetri will come back.
Despite his long-standing frustration with the way adults treat him--delicately, condescendingly, like a Thing of Pity--Eli figures he can get some use out of it for once. If this is the only way they’re going to see him regardless, he might as well use it to his advantage. And so he goes crying to his mom, who he knows for a fact other adults talk about being a “valued member of the community” and probably has some influence and some strings she can pull. He bawls to her about how his best friend has turned into an unrecognizable jerk, all because he’s training with a middle-aged man with the mindset of a high school bully who has no issue verbally abusing his students. Sure enough, discussions are had with the Neighborhood Committee, phone calls are placed, and Eli overhears his mother vowing to shut down that degenerate karate place if it’s the last thing she ever does.
Meanwhile, back at the dojo, Kreese makes an announcement. The elderly, intimidating man has recently teamed up with Johnny to teach--and he gives Demetri the creeps, if he’s honest, but he seems to know his stuff when it comes to karate, so Demetri goes along with this new addition to the sensei roster. However, when Johnny goes off to visit his high school friends and leaves the kids alone with the new Sensei, Demetri can’t help but feel uneasy.
“Now, the dojo’s been getting some concerned phone calls,” Kreese says, arms crossed and expression difficult to read. He doesn’t seem to be angry--if anything, he looks faintly amused. “Parents of the local teenagers are worried. They think Cobra Kai is full of bullies. Think our methods are...abusive, even. They want to shut us down.” Worried murmurs start to echo around the room, but Kreese silences them as he goes on. “Oh, don’t worry. It won’t be a problem. I have my ways of talking people down. We know better, anyhow. They’re just...intimidated by us, because we’ve honed skills here they couldn’t even dream of having. But nonetheless...” Kreese smirks in a way that makes Demetri feels ever-so-slightly unnerved. “If you run into one of your little peers whining to your parents about getting rid of us, well...show them Cobra Kai can’t be messed with so easily.”
And suddenly Demetri’s seething, because he knows exactly who made sure those phone calls got made.
Eli, for all his timidness, is notoriously smart. Demetri knows this intimately. He’d hardly put it past Eli to be this cunning, to manipulate the pitying adults around him to get what he wants.
When the Cobra Kai kids take a trip to the mall later that day, Demetri knows exactly where Eli will be. Every Wednesday, a new issue of Dungeon Lord comes out--they used to go get it together, but since getting into karate, Demetri hasn’t been keeping up. Demetri would figure someone like Eli wouldn’t have the balls to go out in public alone, if not for the fact that he knew how invested Eli was in the current plot.
And so Demetri heads to the comic book store, a group of reluctant Cobra Kai “pledges” in tow. Maybe it’s a bit sadistic, but he likes having someone to be able to boss around--it feels nice to be at the top of the food chain for once. Lord knows it’s the first time that’s happened. And if he isn’t going to milk that tournament win for all it’s worth, then what even is the point?
When Demetri arrives, Eli turns to look at him in confusion. “What are you doing here?” he says, lip curling slightly. “I figured you were too tough for this kind of stuff now.”
Demetri just scoffs and crosses his arms. “Well, Mr. Kreese said the dojo’s been getting some calls from weepy parents concerned we’re bullying their poor kids. Saying our Senseis must be some evil, abusive monsters twisting and corrupting the neighborhood teenagers. So I think you know exactly why I’m here.”
Eli just looks at him with a doe-eyed innocence that makes his blood boil. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Demetri advances on him, eyes flashing. “Don’t bullshit me, Eli. I know you’ve been meddling.”
To his surprise, Eli looks up to meet his gaze evenly, pretense of naiveté completely gone. “And what if I have? I don’t like the influence they’re having on you.”
Well, Demetri doesn’t know what that’s supposed to mean, but he doesn’t like it. “What is it about Cobra Kai that’s got you in such a tiffy, huh? You’re jealous I found a way to fight back and actually protect us? You don’t like that I’m not a pathetic loser you can look down your nose at anymore?”
Eli just looks at him in bewilderment. “Jesus, no, that’s not it at all, dude. Just...do you even hear yourself? You’ve turned into such an asshole since you started all that karate shit. It’s like I don’t even know you anymore. You walk around thinking you’re hot shit and everyone has to bow down to you all because your dojo won some stupid tournament. Well, news flash, Demetri--nobody cares.”
The callous way Eli, of all people, says it can’t help but throw him off. Is that really what his best friend thinks about him now--that he’s just some arrogant prick strutting around flaunting his success?
And then Demetri remembers how he got here--what it was that pushed him to be such a hard-assed fighter in the first place--and he feels a wave of venom coarse through him so powerful that he nearly chokes on it. Before he knows it he’s grabbing Eli by the shoulders and shoving him up against the wall.
“You fucking ungrateful brat,” he spits out, his words poison. “I did it all for you, you know. Everything I did was so that I could finally protect you. And this is how you thank me? After I’ve been getting my ass kicked over and over again so you wouldn’t have to worry about bullies anymore?”
Eli is surprisingly unfazed. “And where was I when you were learning to be such a good protector, Demetri? Getting shit on as a tool to motivate you? Nobody bothering to check how I felt about that? A real good bodyguard you turned out to be.”
“And yet Kyler and his little posse haven’t bothered you once. Who do you think that’s thanks to?”
“Miguel too. You don’t get all the credit. And anyhow, not like it matters when your Senseis would just as soon take the same cheap shots.”
Demetri just curls his lip. “Don’t get mad at me because you were too weak to survive Cobra Kai. Because...what, a middle-aged karate teacher hurt your feelings? I’d like to see how you go about taking a real fist to the jaw.”
Demetri raises a fist as if to demonstrate. Eli flinches, anger and defiance suddenly completely gone as his eyes widen in horror.
“You’d actually hurt me?” he asks softly.
Demetri slowly lowers his fist, realizing the answer as soon as he sees the terrified look in his friend’s eyes.
“Consider this your warning, Eli,” he spits out, with as much venom as he can manage. “Don’t mess around with Cobra Kai, or things are going to get ugly.” He smirks--a little sadistically, he has to admit. “You saw the tournament. Well...you’d better believe that’s the least of what I can do.”
When a downtrodden Eli shows up at Daniel LaRusso’s front door, timidly requesting to learn karate, far be it from Daniel to turn away a new student. Eli’s sob story about how he’s being bullied and threatened by his best friend only makes the new sensei more determined to take him under his wing--Daniel is no stranger to bullying, after all.
The next time Cobra Kai goes on an outing to the mall, Demetri catches Eli in the food court, eating with Samantha LaRusso and that kid whose ass he kicked at the tournament--Robby Keene, was his name? Mr. Lawrence’s kid. This seems...odd. How would Eli have met them?
An unexpected wave of jealousy rips through him. How did shy little Eli manage to make other friends? Let alone with an ex popular girl, of all people. Nonetheless, he figures this might be a good time to make sure his ex-friend isn’t trying to start any more shit with Cobra Kai.
He catches Eli in the deli line, sliding up behind him and purring, “Oh, I hope you haven’t been poking your nose where it doesn’t belong, have you, Eli?”
Eli turns and glares at him with a venom Demetri didn’t know the other boy had in him. “Why, Demetri? Scared your precious Cobra Kai is going to lose all its coolness cred if it gets out how shitty you all are?”
Demetri seethes with anger again, and before he knows it, he’s shoving Eli out of the line and ramming him up against one of the pillars on the edge of the food court. The crowd of eaters around them “Oooooh”s, but Demetri ignores them. He raises a fist again, fully prepared to follow through this time. “I’d watch your mouth, if I were you.”
Eli just curls his lip, more defiant than Demetri’s ever seen him. “You don’t scare me, Demetri. I know who you really are.”
The Cobra Kai pledges start to loom behind them, ready to provide Demetri with backup if needed. Eli notices and scoffs. “Wow, siccing your goons on me too? Way to set up a fair fight, Demetri. You’re so badass.”
Struck by a sudden desire to prove him wrong, Demetri socks Eli in the jaw before he can think better of it. He pauses afterwards, momentarily shaken by what he’s done.
To his dismay, Eli’s horrified shock is short lived before he laughs darkly. “Well, you’re not the only one who knows karate now. I joined Miyagi-Do.”
Demetri just scoffs. Ah yes, a little karate training and Eli, of all people, is going to kick some major ass. “All right then. Let’s see what you got.” He takes a step back, allowing Eli to try and get a hit in.
When the fight breaks out in full force, it’s vicious. Eli throws the first hit, but it’s weak--he’s out of practice since abandoning Cobra Kai. Demetri has him on the ground in seconds, throwing punches and kicks with a speed and rage he had no idea he had. Eli barely has time to get up before he’s getting his ass handed to him.
What Demetri doesn’t count on is Eli’s new dojomates coming to his rescue, getting the smaller boy behind them and executing a near-perfect synchronized fighting routine. Even with his lackeys helping him, Demetri is completely annihilated--nearly unconscious on the food court floor within minutes. The last thing he sees before he passes out is Eli staring down at him, blue eyes wide with horror.
When word of the incident at the mall gets back to Moon, shit hits the fan--to put it lightly. Yasmine is with Moon when she confronts Demetri, but she doesn’t say anything--just stands glaring with her arms crossed while Moon goes off at him. “How could you treat Eli like that? He’s your friend!”
“Not anymore.” Demetri curls his lip. “He joined Miyagi-Do. He’s made it pretty clear where his loyalties lie now, and it’s not with me.”
“Who cares about Miyagi-Do?” She retorts. “He’s still your friend! Our friend! And I don’t like the way you’re bullying him.”
Demetri scoffs. “Don’t you get it? He’s just a pathetic nerd who can’t handle the fact that I’m cooler than him now. All he wants to do is drag me down to his level again, I guarantee it.”
Moon’s gaze is more poisonous than he’s ever seen it. She turns to Yasmine. “Tell him, Yas,” she says, her tone dangerously quiet.
Yasmine sighs. She says--with notable hesitation, Demetri notices--“If you don’t stop bullying Eli, we’re through.”
Thrown off, Demetri laughs harshly. “What do you care? You don’t even like Eli! I see those...disgusted looks you shoot in his direction, when you think we won’t notice.”
Yasmine bites her lip. “That doesn’t matter. Moon is my best friend. If she’s not okay with this whole...thing, then neither am I.”
“You’re not fucking serious. You’re dumping me because your bleeding-hearted friend told you I wasn’t being nice enough to a guy you can’t stand?”
Yasmine pauses, but ultimately stands her ground. “I’m sorry, but if it’s between you and Moon, it’s going to be Moon. So her word goes. So either stop with this whole stupid feud with Eli, or we’re finished.”
“I...” Demetri can only stare at her, shocked. He never could have imagined getting this ultimatum...and yet here he is.
He must have hesitated a second too long, because Moon grabs Yasmine’s arm and starts to pull her away. “I think that’s all the answer we need,” Moon hisses.
“Wait!” he called helplessly after them. Yasmine turns around once as she walks away, but only to spit “It’s over!” over her shoulder. As if for good measure.
Kreese finds Demetri circling a punching bag in the back of the dojo, spinning around it and throwing kicks and punches faster than cobra strikes. Seizing his opportunity, he advances. “What’s wrong, son?”
Demetri turns, tensing. He’s still wary of the man, but to hell with it--it’s not like he has anyone else to talk to. “Fight broke out with Miyagi-Do, and we lost. Pathetic, I know. Please don’t rub it in.”
“Cheer up.” Kreese smirks. “The fight isn’t over until you say it is.”
Demetri just sighs. “No use going in for a rematch. They’re strong. I couldn’t take them again on my own.”
Kreese’s smirk widens. “You’re a smart kid. There are other ways to fight back, you know. You don’t always have to beat them into the ground.”
As he leaves, Demetri lets that sink in.
Well, Demetri is nothing if not tech-savvy. May as well make some use of that Yelp Elite status. He spends hours setting up dozens of sock puppet accounts, programming them to post terrible review after terrible review blasting everything he can think of about Miyagi-Do. The encouragement of violence in youth (Eli had technically punched first, hadn’t he?). The weak, subpar fighting style that broke down as soon as it was challenged by serious fighters. The pretentious, culture-appropriating sensei. Daniel LaRacist indeed.
During the Coyote Creek excursion, Demetri finds himself pitted against Miguel, fighting in the world’s most intense game of what essentially boils down to Capture the Flag. Demetri, about to get the better of Miguel, finds that he can’t help but gloat about his little online attack. Can’t be long before a one-star dojo goes out of business.
When Miguel seems to take issue with it, saying the whole thing is mean-spirited and over the top, Demetri can’t help but scoff. Miyagi-Do has been plenty clear in declaring war--their little battalion at the mall proved that. Demetri wishes Miguel wasn’t still too caught up in pining over Sam LaRusso to realize that.
Miguel, meanwhile, decides this dojo war of sorts is getting out of hand. It turns out Demetri isn’t the only tech-savvy student in Cobra Kai--Miguel designed their website, after all. With a little bit of basic internet coding and some rudimentary hacking, he manages to access the sock puppet accounts Demetri made and take the bad reviews down. He even goes so far as to go over to the Miyagi-Do dojo and personally apologize for how Cobra Kai has been acting, telling Robby Keene that he found out who blasted the bad reviews and took them all down. “We’re not all assholes.”
Come Moon’s end-of-summer party, Demetri is surprised to get an invitation. He hasn’t seen her or Yasmine since they both chewed him out, and Yasmine ended things. But perhaps this is a show of good faith. Maybe Moon wants to be friends again--and maybe that means Yasmine’s come to her senses too, and might be willing to talk things out.
Moon welcomes him when he arrives, previous animosity gone for the moment. “Hey, thank you for inviting me. I’m...sorry,” he starts. “Of how we left things off. I was an ass to you and Yas.” “It’s alright,” Moon replies cheerily. “I invited you because...well, I’m hoping that before school starts, we can stop all the fighting and be friends again.”
His heart sinks as he sees Sam LaRusso lead a stream of kids through the door, Eli trailing at the end, and he realizes exactly what she means. The Miyagi-Dos are here.
He sits forlornly on a couch with Mitch and Aisha, thinking about how much worse this night just got. He brightens, however, when he sees a shock of blonde hair at the door not long after. So Yasmine came after all.
Moon grins in delight, calling over to her. Taking a breath, Demetri stands up and approaches the two girls, determined to smooth things over with them both.
He’s not surprised to see Yasmine make a beeline for Moon, not noticing him for the moment. What he isn’t expecting is for Moon to sweep Yasmine into her arms, kissing her full on the mouth.
Demetri stops in his tracks. The girls turn to him a few seconds later, seeming to notice him for the first time. They look at him expectantly, as though waiting for him to finish walking over to them. Or say something, and not just stand there gawking stupidly.
“Uh...are you two...um...like...uh...” All he can do is shuffle closer and gesture abstractly, not able to find words. Yasmine blushes and looks away, while Moon tucks a hair behind her ear, her smile strained.
“Yeah. It’s new,” she admits, laughing nervously. “We’re, um...”
“Girlfriends?” Yasmine offers, looking up and smiling at Moon with uncharacteristic shyness. Demetri can’t help but bristle--shyness she never showed him.
Well, far be it from him to be judgmental. Even if Yasmine broke his damn heart just now, Moon is still his friend. He gives them a strained smile. “That’s...that’s great! Happy for you two. No shame in uh...trying out something like that.”
Demetri excuses himself and sulks back to the now-empty couch, mind racing as he sits down. Is that why Moon was trying to encourage Yasmine to break up with him? Was it even about Eli at all? Did Moon just want Yasmine for herself? It seemed unlike Moon, but who could say?
And Yasmine...had she always wanted Moon, too? Is that why she seethed every time she saw Eli shooting lovestruck glances at her friend?
...had she even ever liked Demetri at all, or was he just a cover-up for the fact that she was...lesbian? How was someone as feminine and fashionable as Yasmine a lesbian, anyways? All the lesbians Demetri saw on tv cut their hair boyishly short and had about 5 nose rings and walked around in leather jackets and combat boots.
His thoughts are interrupted by the last sweatered boy he wants to see taking a seat at the other side of the couch, glancing nervously at him with darting eyes. What did Eli want? And why was he so nervous? He’d been unduly bold as of late.
“You seen the new Doctor Who trailer?” Eli mutters.
Something about the nonchalant way he says it--like this is the olden days, when Demetri always felt like shit about himself and had no one who tolerated him but Eli--makes Demetri’s blood boil. He scoffs. “I have better things to do than watch nerd crap like that.”
A short silence. “Capaldi regenerated,” Eli offers finally. “I know you weren’t big on 12.”
No more Capaldi? Demetri turns to look at Eli, interest suddenly piqued.
“What’s the new doctor like?” he asks before he can stop himself.
Eli grins. “She’s a badass.”
“She?” Demetri finds himself grinning back. “How progressive of them. Welcome to the 21st century, Doctor Who.”
A sudden giggling catches his attention, and Demetri looks to where Yasmine and Moon are sharing a chair across the room, tangled up in each other’s arms and trading soft kisses like they don’t have a care in the world. He tenses.
Eli seems to sense his discomfort, and sighs. “Hey, I’m sorry, man. If it helps at all, I liked Moon a lot, too.”
Demetri just scoffs. “Yeah, but I guess it doesn’t matter now. They just have to be gay, right?”
Eli gives him a strange look. Demetri shuffles uncomfortably, realizing what he’s probably thinking about. The...incident, 4 years ago. Demetri glares at him, hoping to banish the thought before it arrives. None of that meant anything--they were just dumb kids. Dumb kids doing dumb shit that didn’t matter.
“I don’t know, I mean...if they’re happy together, shouldn’t we just be happy for them?”
Eli reaches out and squeezes his shoulder, and Demetri hesitates. Their special touch. Eli still remembers, even after everything that’s happened.
For a moment he’s overcome with longing, wishing things with Eli could just go back to how they used to be. Back when he knew no matter what hell he went through at school, Eli would always be there to pick him back up again. But then it sinks in what Eli’s really trying to say.
Be happy for them. What a bunch of Miyagi-Do bullshit. Just accept his sad little lot in life, just like he used to do. Go back to nerdy little Eli at the bottom of the food chain, doomed to spend the rest of his youth admiring pretty girls from a vast distance.
He never wants that to be him again.
“Oh, fuck you, Eli,” he spits, grabbing Eli’s hand and yanking it off of his shoulder. Eli freezes, looking like he’s just been slapped.
“What, so I’m supposed to do like you, moping and pining and hoping a pretty girl will look my way if I wish hard enough and just sucking it up when she doesn’t? Well, I’ve had plenty enough of that--I’ve been on the top. And I’m going to be on the top again. But you? You’ll always be pathetic--you and your entire sorry excuse for a dojo.”
He gets up and walks away, bristling with an anger he can’t even fully place anymore.
As Eli watches Demetri go, he realizes he’s finally had enough. Demetri doesn’t want to patch things up? He just wants to keep being an arrogant shithead? Fine. But Eli’s not about to take his prodding and insults anymore.
Eli makes his way over to Moon--still his friend, despite the unreciprocated feelings--and Yasmine, strikes up a conversation with them. Yasmine, he notices, is being notably nicer to him--probably at Moon’s request. They get to talking about sexualities, and Eli accidentally lets a little something slip about Demetri.
When they were 12 years old, they had kissed. It was Eli who suggested they practiced kissing, to get ready for all the girls they would inevitably date. However, a bit of choice wording and it sounded like Demetri had planted one on Eli out of nowhere...and Eli, of course, hadn’t liked it one bit, because he was totally straight. “You can’t tell anyone, though,” he pleaded the girls, big sad eyes every bit as convincing as he had hoped. “Demetri doesn’t want it to get out that he’s...you know. Gay. He’s worried it’ll ruin his reputation.”
Moon nods sincerely, but Eli can tell from the almost imperceptible smirk on Yasmine’s face that she has other plans. If there’s one thing he’s learned about Demetri’s ex over the last few months, it’s that even trying to be a better person, she can’t resist a good bit of juicy gossip.
And from what Eli gathers...two girls dating? No problem, as long as they’re hot and popular. At least creepy guys can fetishize it. But guys liking other guys? Now that...Eli has a feeling that won’t go over well.
As soon as Eli excuses himself, Yasmine gets to work. A few whispers at the snack table when Moon isn’t looking, and news of Demetri’s supposed orientation spread like wildfire.
Demetri, meanwhile, is determined to prove Eli wrong. So what if Yas doesn’t want him anymore (or never did, the mean voice in his head keeps prodding)? He’ll find another hot girl to have on his arm. He’s a top Cobra Kai fighter, after all--it’s not like it’ll be difficult.
He saunters over to a group of girls, leaning up against the wall in what he thinks has to be a very suave way. “Hey ladies,” he says. “Name’s Demetri. I’m sure you’ve heard about me--seasoned Cobra Kai fighter, finalist in the All-Valley tournament. But no need to be intimidated--if any of you beautiful ladies ever need a hand with anything, I’ll--”
“Take it off of the nearest dick to help us out?” one of the girls cuts him off. They all break out in snickers. “No thanks.”
Demetri freezes. Why would they think...?
Then he realizes there’s only one person who could have made them think he was into that sort of thing.
He tenses. “I don’t know what you’ve heard, but--”
“We’ve heard all we need to,” another girl says, eyeing him up in disgust. “Not interested in getting it on with someone who’s probably had his cock up another guy’s ass, to be blunt. Gross.” Before Demetri can say another word, the girls are gone, turning and slinking hurriedly off into the crowd.
Every time Demetri tries his luck with another girl, he gets similar rebuffs. And every time, he seethes a little more. Fucking figured--timid little Eli couldn’t take the fact that Demetri had worked up the confidence to win over a girl and he hadn’t, so he had to ruin Demetri’s chances with every other girl so he’d feel better.
Besides, Demetri remembers that day from 4 years ago. He remembers that Eli was just as into...all the stuff they did.
Unfortunately, before Demetri has a chance to go over and confront Eli about the whole business, the cops show up. He’ll just have to wait until school, he figures.
Meanwhile, word gets back to Sam that Miguel showed up at her door, apologizing and promising he took all the bad reviews down--apparently Robby didn’t relay any of this to her. When Miguel admits to Demetri about the drunken kiss, Demetri chuckles, slapping him on the back. “My man! Trying to build up a whole harem here, are we?”
Miguel sighs, looking sullen. “I cheated, dude. That’s shitty.”
And then comes the PA announcement. Tory Nichols is starting shit, and Demetri can’t pretend he’s not intrigued to see where this goes.
As soon as the fight breaks out, Demetri is overcome with adrenaline. He whips through the crowd, spinning and throwing kicks and punches like explosive flashes. All he can think of is Eli, Eli, little Eli...oh, when he finds him, there’s going to be hell to pay.
And it doesn’t take long--of course Eli is the one who tries to pull a teacher in to stop the fight. The fucking wimp.
When Eli makes a run for it, Demetri can’t help but smirk when he leads him straight to the computer lab. How very typical, for someone whose hero is Steve Jobs. He grins, something frighteningly sadistic bubbling up inside of him.
For a second it almost scares him, how badly he wants to drive his foot into Eli’s chest.
“Little Eli Moskowitz!” he taunts, before he can stop himself. “Cowering away in the computer lab, just like the little nerd he is. Can’t hide forever, outer. I know damn well what you told them about me.”
He tries door after door, continuing in a singsong voice as he goes. “Oh dear me, what would they say if they knew you enjoyed it too, Eli? Well, I guess they won’t believe me now. But I know. I know you’re no better than me.”
Ever since they were kids, Demetri has been the speedier one. They used to race across the playground at recess, pretending to be Quicksilver and the Flash, but Demetri always came out ahead. Long, gangly legs tended to do that. So when Eli turns to see Demetri in the doorway, and he makes a run for it, he doesn’t get far.
Demetri grabs Eli around the waist and throws him against the wall, whipping kicks and hits into his stomach and thighs faster than he can block. Demetri hardly notices the bruises forming, or the bleeding cuts.
It’s then that Eli does something Demetri doesn’t expect--flips the script, as it were. As Demetri reaches out to strike again, Eli surges forward and grabs him by the shoulders, flipping him around and pinning him against the wall. Maybe Miyagi-Do specializes in defense, but they still taught him how to throw a good hit or two. He throws defense to the wayside and starts raining punches down on Demetri--sloppy, uncoordinated, but something the “Strike First” Cobra Kai student is entirely unprepared to defend.
When his chest is stinging and his head throbbing, Demetri can’t take anymore. Eli was a lot more...well, powerful than he expected. At his first opportunity, he turns and books it. Maybe this isn’t a fight he can win after all.
Eli doesn’t chase. As angry as he still is at Demetri, he can’t stop thinking about the mars and bruises and cuts that appeared across Demetri’s face and skin as he punched him, mirroring his own, and he feels sick. He can’t hurt Demetri anymore, no matter what Demetri thinks of him now.
Demetri just makes it to the staircase when he sees Miguel motionless on the floor, Robby Keene looking over the railing. Sam LaRusson hovering over him. He runs to Miguel’s side, world crumbling around him.
Turns out he showed mercy, just like Mr. Lawrence always said to. And look where it got him. When John Kreese offers him a place in a new Cobra Kai, determined to make the Miyagi-Dos pay for hurting Miguel, Demetri isn’t about to say no.
In his grief, it seems like the only option.
Season 3
On the first day back at school, Mitch is quick to remind Demetri that there are other girls in the world besides Yasmine. Surely it won’t be too hard to work his charms on some of the freshmen--after all, word about that little incident with Eli when they were 12 can’t have gotten across the entire school, can it?
“Well, hello, ladies!” he purrs to a passing group, leaning against the wall in the most nonchalant way possible. “Welcome to West Valley High. I know freshman year can be intimidating, high school classes and new people and all, but if you ever need help with anything, I’m--”
“--the scrawny little gay kid who ran his pussy ass away from the world’s easiest fight?” one of the girls finishes scornfully. “Yeah, we know.”
As they walk away, he notices one shoot a flirty smile at a passing Eli, surrounded by his squad of Miyagi-Do losers. “Ooooh, you’re famous now, E!” he hears Chris say, and his blood boils all over again.
Ah. So everyone knew about Eli’s little triumph.
Mitch saunters over, and Demetri follows his lead. “Got something to say?!” he snaps.
Demetri’s eyes lock with Eli’s, and he glowers down at him. Eli’s face is tight, expression almost...sad.
Not like he’d expect anything less from that little crybaby.
“Oh, little Eli,” he chides. “I’d like to see you try and hide behind security.”
“I don’t need to,” Eli mutters, not breaking eye contact.
“Everything all right here?”
At the sound of the counselor’s voice, Eli does something unexpectedly bold. He sidles up to Demetri’s side and presses into it, throwing an arm around his shoulder. “No, Counselor Blatt, we’re all friends here!” he says, offering that shy little Eli smile that made every adult in a nearby vicinity go mad with protectiveness.
Eli’s arm is tight around his neck--like a chokehold. But, Demetri notices after a few moments, it’s shaking--the grip almost frantic. Like he’s scared of when he’ll have to let go.
Odd.
Demetri turns, and his and Eli’s eyes lock. He tries to give the shorter boy the most intense, seething glare he can under his forced smile, but Eli returns the look with equal intensity. Demetri jostles his backpack his backpack and thumps him on the chest, feeling an odd compulsion to touch his old friend right back.
Maybe he missed feeling Eli’s body underneath him. But that wasn’t a thought he could afford to spend a lot of brainpower on right now. “Yeah!” he says. Of course we’re still friends! Of course you didn’t fuck up my love life and humiliate me to the entire school because you couldn’t handle the fact that I was getting some and you weren’t!
When the counselor chides them about having somewhere to be, Eli just nods, murmuring, “Yeah, of course, Counselor Blatt. Sorry.”
As Eli pulls away, he pats Demetri’s shoulder a couple times. Small, almost imperceptible, but there.
Demetri can’t tell if it’s serious--if Eli still cares--or if it’s just a cruel mockery of their old touch. He’s not sure he wants to know.
When Demetri runs into Samantha LaRusso in the hospital and she insists she wants to help, he hardly expects a whole fucking fundraiser gleefully using Miguel as their poster child. As though the Miyagi-Dos weren’t the ones who put him in the hospital in the first place. When he catches a glimpse of the carwash while driving Mitch to practice, he decides he’s going to do something about it.
Beating up the kid is an easy fight, getting the money with Mitch and the others a sinch. Maybe at some point he would’ve felt bad for this--pummeling some short kid and then taking his charity money. But all he can think of is Miguel, his best friend, lying in a white gown and hooked up to wires. Because of this kid and his stupid “peaceful” dojo.
Peaceful, Demetri’s ass.
When Demetri walks into the cafeteria the following Monday, he’s not sure what he expects to see at Yasmine and Moon’s table, the place where he would be sitting, under different circumstances--but it definitely is not Eli Moskowitz with his hair dyed bright blue and spiked up. Miyagi-Do blue. Apparently all that coolness cred he felt he got from “scaring” Demetri off in the school brawl has gotten to his head, and he’s playing out his new “badassery” up to 11. He’s showing something to Yasmine and Moon, and they’re smiling and giggling. Yasmine, of all people, is smiling at nerdy little Eli’s antics.
Demetri squints, and sees that Eli’s showing the two girls a comic book--he recognizes the copy. It’s Eli’s limited edition Captain Marvel comic book, signed by Kelly Sue DeConnick herself. Demetri remembers standing in line with him at a con to get it a few years back--he’s pretty protective of the thing.
And now he’s using it to impress girls? Because apparently Yasmine and Moon are into that kind of thing? Oh, but of course Yasmine couldn’t be into nerd shit when DEMETRI was dating her, could she?
And those gooey eyes Moon is giving Eli, her little giggles--Demetri doesn’t like them one bit. What, now Eli’s worth her affections--now that his “nerdiness” is cool? Aren’t she and Yasmine a stupid item, anyways?
Deciding he’s going to put a stop to this, Demetri saunters over, lunch tray clutched so hard his knuckles are turning white. Before the group can react to his presence, Demetri picks up his chocolate milk carton and dumps it all over Eli’s stupid blue hair, making sure to get plenty on the rare comic book in front of him.
“Oh, I hope that wasn’t important, was it Eli?” he taunts, voice thick with mock sympathy. “That sure would be a shame.”
Eli turns to look at him, eyes wide with heartbroken shock. For a moment, the anger doesn’t set in.
“I had to wait in line 5 hours to get that,” he says quietly. “You know that.”
“Sure do.” Demetri smirks. “And it took all of 5 seconds to completely ruin. How tragic.”
Eli tenses, eyes darting around for a couple seconds. Demetri starts to walk away, his point made, when he feels an iron grip on his wrist. He turns to see Eli smirking at him, clutching his arm with more force than he ever thought possible from the once-timid boy.
“Careful there, Demetri,” Eli sneers. “Coming all the way across the cafeteria to bother me when you’ve got your cool Cobra Kai friends to hang out with? People might think you’re a little...obsessed with me.” Yasmine and Moon snicker, and Demetri bristles as he realizes the implication.
“Although I shouldn’t be surprised since you love obsessing over other boys, don’t you?” Eli goes on, like his point isn’t clear enough. “Y’know, I feel bad for Yasmine. I mean, any idiot could tell she used you as a beard, but I had no idea it was a mutual thing.”
Demetri tenses, willing himself not to lose his cool. “Really letting that little victory get to your head, aren’t you, Eli? Honestly, I was going easy on you. Now I know not to next time.”
It’s at that moment that Sam LaRusso decides to show up, sliding up next to Eli and glowering up at Demetri. “There won’t be a next time if I have anything to say about it,” she retorts.
Demetri can’t help but scoff. Of course Sam LaRusso would be all too eager to defend her little pet nerd now, even though she was all too happy to laugh at him with her mean girl friends a year ago. “I’m not scared of you,” he says. “Like you’d start any fight daddy couldn’t bail you out of. Or that doesn’t end with your ex boyfriend getting thrown over a railing because you couldn’t keep your hands to yourself.”
It’s a low blow, but Demetri doesn’t care. It’s hard not to look at this girl and see part of the reason Miguel might never be able to walk again.
Sam LaRusso shoves him just as the godawful counselor is sauntering over, but to hell with it--maybe Demetri could spin this to his advantage.
“She hit me, Counselor Blatt!” he cries out, pointing at Sam. “Attacked and physically assaulted me, completely unprovoked!”
“That’s not true,” Eli mumbles, eyes darting. Flawlessly slipping back into the poor little Eli role in a way that never fails to make Demetri seethe. “It wasn’t unprovoked. He started all this by destroying my limited-edition comic book for no reason.”
Demetri puts on his most convincing remorseful face and sighs. “Look, that was an accident. I just tripped while I was walking and my milk spilled. Anyhow, if your book’s that valuable, you probably shouldn’t bring it into a school cafeteria where people are more than likely going to spill food on it.”
He’d like to see the dumb counselor argue with that.
“Look, I don’t want excuses. I just want you all to respect each other.”
“Oh, absolutely.” Demetri turns to give Eli a forced smile. “Nothing but 100% respect in this environment going forward, I assure you. Sorry if we caused any problems.”
Please, just anything to make her leave.
With one last warning to Sam LaRusso, the counselor is gone. Demetri turns to the two Miyagi-Dos and smirks.
“To hell with respect,” he sneers. “Your lot hardly deserve it.”
It doesn’t surprise Demetri when Eli and his little gang of Miyagi-Do losers decide to start shit in gym class. What he isn’t expecting is for Eli and his stupid blue hair to start running next to him--right after he’s tried and failed to catch Yasmine’s attention after scoring a goal.
He’s been thinking about her all morning--was Eli right about her? Did she only use him as a cover-up?
...would no one ever want to date him for him?
Well, maybe if he won Yasmine back, he could disprove that. If Moon was going to be hanging off of Eli’s arm before too long, chances were her and Yasmine’s relationship’s days were numbered.
Whatever Eli is about to say, Demetri can already tell it’s not going to help.
And it doesn’t. “Wow, Demetri. Few guys are so bad in a relationship that they manage to turn their girlfriend gay. I hope you feel accomplished.”
Demetri balls his fists. “Say that again. I dare you.”
“You really did have a good thing going with her,” Eli sighed, voice laced with condescending pity. “It’s a shame she decided she could do better than some belligerent Cobra Kai douchebag.”
And then suddenly Eli lunges for him and tackles him, knocking him to the ground just as easily as Demetri once did to Eli at the mall.
Not that it ended up mattering all that much--Demetri was able to talk the Cobra Kai’s way out of trouble in the principal’s office, just as he so often could. Nonetheless, it seemed Eli was hardly turning out to be as much of a pushover as he thought.
When Mitch and the guys invited Demetri to go to Golf N Stuff--fuck around for a bit, cause some mayhem--he wasn’t about to say no. The thrill took over, running around, snatching tickets and prizes away, throwing them in the trash--he almost felt as powerful as Kyler must have, all those months ago when he tossed the lesser kids’ backpacks in the garbage. Is this how it felt, to be on top? To have everyone else too scared to mess with you?
Because Demetri loved it.
What he wasn’t counting on was Sam LaRusso and her little posse arriving to confront them in the laser tag arena--including Eli, face hardened and ready to fight.
Things seemed to be going pretty poorly--that was, until Tory Nichols and the backup arrived. That reduced Sam LaRusso to a sniveling mess, and finally it looked like this would be an easy finish.
Demetri found himself only stalling for a second when the way cleared for him to go at Eli. Something about the sudden terror on the other boy’s face made him hesitate, but not for long. Eli threw a weak punch, and Demetri quickly flipped him onto the ground, pulling his arm up behind him.
“No, please, stop, Deme, stop! It’s me!”
Deme...
Eli’s old nickname for him.
Demetri pauses, and suddenly he feels sick. Deme...Eli’s nickname. Eli.
Wasn’t all of this for Eli? To protect Eli?
And now here he was, about to hurt him. The one thing he swore he was going to stop everyone else from doing.
And then comes the goading cries from Tory, Mitch, and the others. Do it! Finish him! He deserves it!
He deserves it.
And then Demetri remembers what happened to Miguel when he didn’t take his chance to finish the fight with Robby Keene. Suddenly Demetri’s running out of the end of a hallway again, seeing Miguel’s motionless body lying on the stairs, and the rage and horror and mind-numbing devastation hit him all over again.
“Demetri, finish him!”
In a split second, Demetri makes his decision. Eli’s arm snaps in half.
All it takes is one terrible, pained scream from Eli for Demetri’s entire world to come crashing down on him. What the fuck did he just do?
He can’t even hear the other Cobras, gleefully congratulating him and sneering at the “pussy” on the floor. All he can hear are Eli’s pained sobs.
He’d seen Eli cry before, but never like this. Never thanks to him.
When everyone congratulates him next practice, Demetri barely hears. He’s just numb. All he can see is Eli, curled up and crying on the dirty cement floor. When Tory tells him she didn’t think he was going to do it, all he can manage out is that Miyagi-Do had it coming for hurting Miguel.
And as if his week can’t get any worse, here come Kyler and his goons sauntering into the dojo like they own the damn place. Demetri does his best to convince Mr. Kreese this is by no means a wise idea, but the sensei will not hear of it.
When Kyler and Brucks realize who he is, it only makes Demetri more livid. “Oh shit, it’s the yogurt backpack kid! Lip’s little friend! I thought he moved away!” When a fighting ring is formed, giving the new recruits a chance to “earn their spot,” Demetri is all too ready for combat.
He’s horrified at how quickly Brucks takes down Mitch, how quickly his friend is ushered out the door. It was bad enough to see Bert go, but this...this is different.
He can’t remember the last time he’s felt more alone.
When Kyler steps forward, looking for an opponent, Demetri volunteers before anyone else can. Mr. Kreese shoots him a surprised look, but he doesn’t care. This fucko has been making his life hell for years--he can already tell this is going to be therapeutic.
Demetri doesn’t hold back. The fight has barely started before Kyler’s had enough. A few fast hits and his lip’s already bloody, and he’s backing away. “No...please stop...”
And suddenly Demetri’s back in the library, on that afternoon that seems like an eternity ago, watching Kyler grip Eli by the throat. Hearing him sneer “who would ever want to kiss THAT shit?” like Eli was the most disgusting thing he’d ever seen. Feeling absolutely powerless, hand clutching the back of a chair as he burned with rage that had nowhere to go.
Well, he wasn’t powerless now.
And before he knows it Demetri has Kyler pinned to the ground, landing punch after punch to his face. Because, he realizes, at the end of the day, who gives a fuck if Eli’s on the other side?
That’s still his Eli, even after everything. The same Eli he stood by for over 10 years, the same Eli who he wished so long that he could protect from everything, the same Eli who felt like he had to constantly hide a tiny red line on his face because his peers collectively decided--for no good reason at all--that it was ugly.
And maybe he couldn’t make those people hurt the way he wanted to then, but right now...well, he could hurt at least one. And that was enough.
He doesn’t stop until Kyler is practically pulverized and his hands are drenched in blood. After throwing his last punch, he smirks, leaning down to whisper into Kyler’s ear.
“Now who’d want to kiss THAT shit? That’s right, asshole--I remember.”
Demetri kicks Kyler’s limp form as he walks away. He shoots Brucks a glare as he falls back in line--just for good measure.
When Miguel comes back to school, Demetri’s one of the first to greet him at the door. “Cobra Kai’s still going strong! It’s going to be great to have you back!” He’s a little confused as to why Miguel seems so hesitant, but he doesn’t worry too much about it--they can sort through all that later.
Miguel’s certainly taken aback by the clunky cast he sees on Eli’s arm when he runs into him in the hall--but perhaps even moreso by the fact that he has both shamelessly dyed his hair blue and spiked it up in a mohawk and is currently walking the school hallways with Moon on his (unbroken) arm. As it turns out, once word got back to Moon that Yasmine was the one who had shamelessly whispered around the school about Demetri being gay, she had broken things off with her. And, with his new “coolness” upgrade, she’d taken quite a liking to Eli.
Not like she had any way of knowing he’d been planning on Yasmine’s cruel gossip, after all.
But the cast, Miguel quickly learns, has a much darker backstory than anything he could have expected.
He wastes no time confronting Demetri about it in the lunchroom. “I heard what happened with Eli. How could you do that?”
Demetri’s stomach clutches. He scowls, determined not to show his discomfort.
“Wow!” He scoffs. “We go to all the trouble of getting payback on those assholes for getting you thrown over that railing, and this is the thanks we get?”
Miguel shakes his head, horrified. “Dude, who cares what dojo Eli’s in? He’s our friend! And in any case, it’s not his fault what happened to me. What the hell were you thinking?”
I don’t know. I don’t know. Demetri’s face hardens. He can only imagine how angry Mr. Kreese would be with him if he caught him showing any kind of weakness. Any kind of second-guessing.
But he can’t help it. Glimpsing Eli in that cast for the first time...
“Look, the Miyagi-Dos were the ones who picked a fight with us,” Demetri retorts. “We just had to do what we had to so they’d back off and leave us alone. We had to finish the fight.”
Miguel pauses, looking pained. “This isn’t...this isn’t you, Demetri. You’re letting Kreese get in your head. He’s trying to manipulate you, get you to...obsess over revenge so you’ll hurt people. But I know you, and I know you don’t want to. Eli, or anyone else.”
Demetri clenches his fists. “What would you know about how I feel about Eli?”
“Look, I can’t claim I know what’s going on between you two,” Miguel amends. “But you have to believe me--Kreese is dangerous. He’s using you. He doesn’t care about you, Demetri. Just...come to Sensei Lawrence’s new dojo. Please. Things can be like they used to. You don’t have to be in this...this war.”
This gives Demetri pause. “He...made a new dojo?”
Okay, so he’s still not Mr. Lawrence’s biggest fan--the man is an asshole at the best of times. But to be able to train with Miguel again...to be able to be badass without being expected to be some soldier...
He can’t finish speaking before Brucks’s voice rings out through the cafeteria. “Look everyone, Lip’s got a dick in his hand!”
Demetri looks up to see Eli being held by the cast, eyes darting around as the entire cafeteria bursts into laughter. Involuntarily, Demetri bristles.
And there it is again, that feeling of being the helpless kid in the library as Eli’s taunted. And even after all this time...he still hates it.
Miguel turns to him, shaking his head. “So these are your friends now? I thought you were better than that.”
And just like that, Miguel’s gone. Gone from the Cobra Kai table, gone from Demetri’s life.
It makes him wonder if he’s making a huge mistake. But he knows he can’t back out now--not when he’s this far in. Who would even want to take him back? Probably not Miguel and Mr. Lawrence--despite what Miguel said, Demetri knows there’s no way he’s going to forgive him so easily for hurting their other friend. And certainly not Eli.
What makes it even worse is seeing Eli later that day, curled up against some lockers with Moon. Moon is tracing over his cast in colored sharpie, slowly transforming the dick pic into a beautiful landscape and night sky. Eli is bragging about how the arm-breaking didn’t hurt that bad.
Demetri remembers when that soft little smile was reserved only for him, and a pit starts to form in his stomach.
Well, no use bitching. You did this to yourself.
It seems like the world is out to just make Demetri’s existence in Cobra Kai as shitty as possible these days. Mitch and Bert are gone, Miguel isn’t coming back, Brucks is being a royal douchebag like always, and perhaps worst of all, Robby Keene shows up at the dojo. Demetri tries his damndest to appeal to Mr. Kreese about how outrageous this is--this is the kid who paralyzed Miguel in the fucking first place, what’s the point of dojo-wide revenge if they just take in the main culprit like an old buddy? But of course Mr. Kreese spouts some nonsense about how they need all the help they can get for the All-Valley, and sometimes you have to be allies with people you aren’t the biggest fans of, blah blah blah. To make matters worse, Tory--not a friend exactly, but probably the closest thing Demetri’s got to one left--is getting far too chummy with Robby for Demetri’s taste.
Maybe Demetri’s insane, but it seems like more and more ridiculous shit is being handwaved in the name of...what? Winning a karate tournament? Getting revenge for a kid who’s already recovered, and doesn’t even seem to want it?
When word gets back to Cobra Kai that Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang are teaming up, Kreese sends the students on a special mission: Show the other dojos that even with their combined forces, they’re no match for Cobra Kai. It seems like a waste of time to Demetri--why antagonize other dojos just minding their business? It’s not like there was anything worth fighting for in this dumb war anymore, considering Miguel was on his feet again (literally AND figuratively). Nonetheless, Demetri finds he’s itching for a good fight--it’s been way too long since he’s charged into a full-fledged battle.
Maybe this will help him get it out of his system, if nothing else.
When the fight breaks out at the LaRussos, it doesn’t take long for Demetri to be overtaken by the thrill of it. Just like he was at the school fight. Just like he was at the tournament. He’s zipping through the house, landing kicks and punches left and right. And it feels good. With everything having been so awful lately, he can’t remember the last time he’s felt more alive.
And then he lands a fierce kick, and Brucks chest-bumps him. “Hell yeah! kick some ass! Dumb losers never had a chance.”
Brucks. The same kid who laughed when he saw Eli starting to cry about the comments he made on his lip. The same kid claiming Kyler tossing his backpack into a yogurt-filled trash can was “brute.” And now here he was trying to be buddy-buddy with him.
Everything comes crashing down on Demetri at once.
Miguel’s speech, saying Kreese is manipulating him. Saying Kreese doesn’t care about him. Kreese cherry-picking what does and doesn’t count as vengeance--hurting Eli, someone who had nothing to do with Miguel’s fall, does, but teaming up with the kid responsible for said fall apparently does not. Demetri’s friends being booted from Cobra Kai one by one, just for not being strong enough.
The sound of Eli’s screams and sobs in a dark laser tag room.
Miguel was right, wasn’t he? Kreese never cared about getting payback for him. He only cared about starting a war for his own sadistic pleasures.
Demetri hears grunting and whimpering, and he looks up to see two of the other Cobras kneeing Eli in the chest over and over. Pinning him into an arm bar.
“Yo, ‘Mete!” one calls out. “Free shot!”
Eli looks up, gaze full of fear and pain. Bright blue irises glinting with welling tears.
Once upon a time, Demetri made a promise to himself that he would stick with karate, aggravating as it may be, so he would never have to see that look on Eli’s face again. It’s time, he figures, that he finally made good on that.
His face contorts into a snarl, and he runs to Eli. Eli closes his eyes and scrunches his face, bracing for a pain that never comes.
Demetri kicks one Cobra to the wayside and smashes the other into a glass table with perhaps more force and adrenaline than he’s used all night.
When he turns to Eli, the other boy backs away, eyes still wide with terror. Demetri feels sick to his stomach, and the tears come before he can stop them.
“God, Eli, I’m so sorry,” he splutters. “I’m so fucking sorry, for everything. I don’t know what I was thinking, and it was all so fucked up, and--”
“Demetri.”
“--I’ll never hurt you like that again, but if you don’t want anything to do with me now, I totally understand, and--”
“Demetri.”
“--I was so awful to you, and I didn’t listen to you, and I should’ve been there for you, and I’m such a piece of shit friend and--”
“DEMETRI!”
Finally Eli raises his voice enough that Demetri pauses. “...yeah, Eli?”
“Please stop talking. I forgive you. Now are you going to shut up and help me finish this?” He raises a hand, as if to initiate their old handshake. An olive branch.
Demetri grins so wide he thinks his face is going to break, and he grips Eli’s hand like a lifeline. Something to finally pull him out of the darkness. “Yeah.”
They’re a lethal fighting team. Between Demetri landing speedy hits and Eli protecting him and shielding them both with his bulked-up form (where did he get all that muscle? Demetri wonders), they dispatch half the Cobras in minutes. Whatever rush Demetri was feeling fighting when he first got here is nothing compared to fighting with Eli.
When they stop the fight between Tory and Sam, Tory wastes no time voicing her disdain for the ex-Cobras. “You’d better watch your back,” she spits at Demetri, and he feels a chill run through him. Turns out this girl is terrifying when she’s not fighting on your side.
Eli intercepts her as she leaves, staring her down defiantly in a very un-Eli-like manner. “You’d better watch yours,” he growls. “Touch him, and I’ll end you.”
Demetri glances over in surprise. When did Eli get so bold?
Well...he thinks he could grow to like it.
Season 4 (because fuck it)
Demetri is hardly expecting Mr. LaRusso and Mr. Lawrence to forgive him, never mind let him into their new dojo. But life has a lot of pleasant surprises in store for him, it seems, after the shitshow it recently put him through. It’s also possible Eli (and maybe Miguel too) but in a good word for him.
Demetri can’t stop apologizing to Eli. Seemingly every day, he finds a new thing to apologize for. Eli gets aggravated with it before long, having to reassure Demetri at least 50 separate times that he forgives him for everything. Nonetheless, Demetri refuses to stop--because he’ll never stop being sorry.
Or trying to find new ways to make it up to Eli. Going easy on him during sparring. Buying him lunch after practice. Helping him perfect some of the most badass Cobra moves.
Things end between Eli and Moon. Eli can’t fully elaborate on why--he just tells Demetri something didn’t feel quite right. The spark died out, like Demetri’s adrenaline rush slowly seeping away toward the end of a fight. That, and, Demetri gathers, something seems to have been distracting Eli from his girlfriend as of late.
Most likely the approaching, high stakes All-Valley. Karate is Serious Business, as they’ve both embraced now.
Rumor has it Yasmine and Moon are trying again, Yasmine realizing for seemingly the first time how awful she’s really been and making an effort to be better. Moon makes her want to be better--more than Demetri ever did, he realizes. And maybe that’s okay--he and Yasmine probably just weren’t right for each other.
Then one day, after yet another one of Demetri’s long-winded apologies, Eli offers something other than an exasperated. “It’s okay. Seriously.” There’s a pause before Eli quietly says “I’m sorry too.”
“For what?” Demetri blurts out, baffled. Everything Eli’s done has paled in comparison to his own atrocities.
“For outing you,” Eli says simply. “That was fucked. And it wasn’t my place, even if I was mad at you.”
“It’s all right.” Demetri shrugs. “You were right, anyways.”
Eli gives him a strange look. “I was?”
“Yeah, I mean...” Demetri laughs dryly. “I don’t...like girls. I pretended I did, because I felt like I was supposed to. That’s what people expect you to do when you’re a top athlete and all that. But dating Yasmine, chasing other girls, it always felt...empty. Like I was just acting out a role in a play or something. And at the end of the day, I think...” He pauses. “I think I was always looking at you.”
Because the last few months have made him realize something. Training with Eli, teaching Eli how to protect himself, watching Eli step up and defend him from the mistrusting stares and the scornful whispers...
Just how much of the person he’s become is thanks to wanting to protect Eli. The fact that that was always how all this started.
“I love you,” he blurts out, before he can stop himself. “I know I did a shitty job of showing it, and I know you were with Moon and you’re not like that, but I need you to know, and I understand if you don’t feel--”
Eli cuts him off with a fierce kiss, pinning him up against the dojo wall with unexpected aggressiveness.
When Eli pulls away, he’s smiling softly. The same smile he gave Moon in the hall as she drew on his cast--the smile that’s once again all Demetri’s.
“I love you too,” he murmurs. “Why do you think I broke up with Moon? Every time I was with her...I couldn’t stop wishing it was you. She’ll never know me like you do.”
And Kreese had better look out because Miyagi Fang’s next big power couple is a force to be reckoned with--the snarky, frighteningly fast-attacking ex-Cobra, and the buff, blue-mohawked Miyagi-Do with more inner peace than anyone would expect.
SOME RANDOM SIDENOTES ABOUT THIS BECAUSE I DIDN’T FEEL LIKE PUTTING THIS ALL IN THE TAGS
~I’m sorry if anyone is OOC in this--I know Johnny is kind of a fuck, but he genuinely WAS pretty crappy to Eli at first and who knows if he would’ve treated him any better if he didn’t “flip the script”??? ~Dark/Evil Demetri is so fun but also so awful to write--I hope you like him being an absolute fuck because the Corruption Arc is REAL ~Yes, I DO in fact fully believe Demetri would go on a crazed revenge quest just like Eli/Hawk did out of his grief for Miguel--the boy absolutely loves Miguel and arguably would want vengeance as much as Eli if their roles were swapped!!! Because Demetri cares about Miguel SO FUCKING MUCH even if it’s not as obvious as it is with Eli but that’s a rant for another post ~I included YasMoon because fuck it, I thought it’d be interesting. That and, unlike the Cobra Kai writers, I am not at all afraid of what conservative audiences will say, so I am not afraid to make things as gay as possible. ~There’s a good chance I swapped Kyler and Brucks’ places near the end solely so I could have Demetri beat the fuck out of Kyler because I just really need that ~Yes, even without formally becoming “Hawk,” Eli could learn how to be a conniving manipulative little shit if he wanted to be. Look at some of the shit he pulls with the counselor in canon Season 3!!! Boy sure as hell knows how to play the victim. ~Honestly not sure if being outed as gay is better or worse than being outed as a bed-wetter, but I had to think of something that would pack the same kind of emotional punch. In Eli’s feeble defense, the West Valley High kids don’t seem like the types to be like...especially violent against queer kids (otherwise NO WAY would Moon and Piper have been able to be that open about their relationship), they’d just be assholes about it. So Eli wasn’t putting Demetri in legit danger here so much as just opening him up to a lot of ridicule. Which is still fucked, but hey, I DID warn you this would be kind of fucked up XD ~Maybe short, concise apologies work for Eli, bUT NOT FOR DEMETRI THE RAMBLER ~Dark Demetri chasing Eli through the school like a goddamn serial killer = 10/10 gave myself a big Spook writing ~Yes, Eli does still have (and always had) his “Hawk” traits, even without the formal “transformation.” I just think his “Hawk” side would be a little more subtle and subdued if he were in Miyagi-Do, but it’s still there for sure.
#tw: outing#tw: internalized homophobia#tw: very dark stuff in general#tw: toxic relationships#tw: violence#tw: kinda sadistic characters tbh#tw: just generally some dark shit thematically in here yo#hawk x demetri#demetri x eli#binary boyfriends#hawkmeat#eli x demetri#demetri x hawk#elimetri#yasmoon#yasmine x moon#moon x yasmine#cobra kai#demetri cobra kai#eli moskowitz#miguel diaz#aisha robinson#moon cobra kai#yasmine cobra kai#sam larusso#kyler cobra kai#brucks cobra kai#role swap au#alternate universe#my askbox
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It Was Always You
Pairing: James Potter x reader
Summary: James has always been in love with the reader, and decides that the incessant flirting with Lily Evans isn’t working, so he steps his jealousy game up a notch.
A/N: I’ve been gone for too long (sorry!!) but I loved writing this!! I need to work on the rest of the requests I have (sorry it’s taken so long, if anyone cares enough about excuses I have a whole wheelbarrow full). This is part of @wreckofawriter ‘s writing challenge! My trope was fake dating, but of course I couldn’t do it so cliched and had to have a little twist.
Wordcount: 2.9K
“I think this is the year.” James Potter grinned, walking into the Entrance Hall with all the other Hogwarts students. Next to him, Remus rolled his eyes, Sirius shook his head in disbelief and Peter smiled sympathetically. “It’s going to work this year, I just know it.”
“Prongs.” Sirius started, moving through the throngs of students all trying to get to the Great Hall for the welcome feast, arguably the best feast of the year. “You’ve also said that for the last five years, and nothing has happened.”
“No, this year is different. Clearly, flirting with Evans isn’t getting me anywhere with y/n, I just need a new plan. I don’t know if I can pretend to be in love with Lily for much longer.”
They walked into the Great Hall and over to the Gryffindor table, where a y/h/c girl was sat waiting for them, a bright smile on her face. “I saved you all seats.” She gestured to the four empty seats around her as all the boys sat down, James taking his seat next to her as he gave a pointed look to Sirius, as if saying I told you so. “Did you have a good summer? I’m sorry I couldn’t come and visit James, my parents would barely even let me in the garden because of the war.” She chewed on her lip guiltily, her eyes wide and looking at him, making him feel like he was melting into a puddle next to her.
Stuttering, he waved off her concerns quickly, returning her bright smile and trying to stop the blush from rising to his cheeks as he turned to the plates which were now full in front of him, helping himself to large portions of food. The rest of the meal continued, the five friends laughing loudly as if their two months of separation had never happened, sharing stories and inside jokes. Once they had finished eating, they made their way lazily back up to the common room, all slightly sluggish from the long journey and their newly full stomachs.
“I think I’m about to enter a food coma.” y/n laughed, rubbing her hand on her belly as if pregnant, causing a laugh from the boys. “I’m gonna head off to bed, I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” She waved goodbye, walking up the stairs to the girls dorm as the boys all sat on the sofa and chairs around the warm fire. Catching a glimpse of long red hair, James paused before he sat, uttering a quick excuse to his friends before he turned and walked across the room to where she was sat.
“I need a favour.” He said, catching her attention as she turned to look at him sympathetically and simultaneously irritably.
“You mean, me letting you flirt with me and follow me around for years in the hopes that you would get y/n’s attention isn’t enough?” She asked sarcastically, earning a guilty shrug from him as he sat in the seat next to her.
“It is, Lils, you’ve been actually the best to put up with me. I just, I need to do something a little more extreme, to see once and for all if she likes me.”
“James, you know I don’t like doing this to her, she’s my friend too and I don’t like playing with her feelings.”
“I promise this is it.” He felt his heart sink as he made the promise, to Lily and to himself, hoping that he would never have to face the consequences he was laying out. “Please, Lily, just pretend to date me for a few weeks, a month tops, and if nothing changes then I’ll accept that it’s over, and I’ll drop it.” He looked at her pleadingly, and after a deafening silence she finally nodded. He puffed out a breath of hot air, relief and hope washing over him, as he jumped up and pulled Lily into a hug, squeezing her tightly. “Thank you. For everything. You’re the best.”
“Don’t make me regret it!” She called after him as he walked back to the other Marauders, already lost in his own world of what could happen by the end of this month.
…
Y/n was walking with Remus from ancient runes to defence against the dark arts, discussing plans for the first Hogsmead trip of the year, the first time they could (officially) leave the castle since arriving on September first. She stopped in her tracks at the sight of James next to Lily. It wasn’t uncommon, he had been following after her for years, giving y/n much ammo to tease him with, but what stopped her in her tracks was that instead of Lily’s usual hard exterior, deflecting his compliments and his cheesy lines, she was laughing back at him, with this stupid, stupid grin, and was twirling her hair around her finger.
Remus stopped next to her, confused for a second until he looked up and saw what she had noticed. “Ah.”
“James and Lily? They’re… together?” She asked, her voice a little smaller than usual, slightly more shielded.
“They saw each other a lot over the summer, and I… guess she finally saw enough of him to give him a chance.” Remus explained uncomfortably. He, too (like everyone but James), had been against the idea, not wanting to play with feelings, warning that it was more trouble than was necessary. But, stubborn as he was, he wouldn’t give it up, and so here Remus was, lying to one of his best friends, for one of his other best friends.
Her face fell for a second, shadows flickering across too quickly for Remus to pick out exactly what they were. Jealousy? Hurt? Before he had time to decipher what he was seeing, she shrugged lightly, her shoulders lifting in a graceful movement. “Well, good, I’m glad she’s seen the real him. He deserves to be happy, he’s waited long enough for her.”
She couldn’t help the true, genuine smile that rose on her face at seeing the boy she loved so happy, his head thrown back as he laughed, his messy hair falling into his eyes as he brought his head up again, even as she felt the blade slice through her heart as she watched his hand reach for hers, a simple gesture tearing her apart so easily.
Remus seemed to accept her statement, and they finished their journey to class together, where y/n struggled to concentrate. James Potter finally had Lily Evans, so where did that leave her? She supposed, as she doodled little flowers on the edges of her parchment, that it was time to listen to her aching heart and try to move on.
…
It was hard for y/n to adjust to life with James having a girlfriend. As hard as it was for her to see, and it never did seem to hurt less, she cared so much for both James and Lily that she wanted them to be happy with each other. She had stepped back slightly from James’ life, not wanting their closeness to become an issue in his relationship, meaning that she constantly had to remind herself that the seat next to him was no longer for her, she couldn’t borrow his jumpers anymore (she had taken to stealing Remus’ in their absence, much to his own amusement), and she couldn’t hide in a dark corner of the castle with him whenever she needed a break from the rest of the world, and a comfort only someone who had known her as long as he had could provide.
She had forgotten, for a brief moment, after the Quidditch game earlier that day. Gryffindor had pulled through spectacularly in the first game of the school year, in large part due to James’ skills, and she had run onto the pitch to congratulate him like always, only to stop when she saw Lily get there first. She had waited until Sirius was next to her to go and congratulate James, trying not to notice how the exercise always sharpened his hazel eyes and how the wind always left his hair tangled.
It was exactly that, which had lead to the situation she was in now. She was sat in the common room, her fourth firewhisky in her hand, trying to let herself forget James for just one night. He looked distractingly beautiful in a simple t-shirt and jeans, and he was in the centre of the party, Lily hooked firmly to his side. He had caught her eye when y/n had walked down from her dorm, and smiled and waved, which had promptly caused her to hide in a corner nursing a bottle, hoping she could be left alone.
“Well aren’t you a depressing scene.” She looked up at the voice to see Sirius, who seemed flushed from alcohol too, smiling down at her as he leaned over the arm of the chair she was sunk in.
“Sirius, you get with a lot of girls, right?” She asked, a sudden inspiration and courage coursing through her from the liquid courage in her veins. He nodded, not drunk enough to not be wary about where she was going as he indicated to continue. “Well, do you ever get attached? Like, is it easy to just let go and move on? Do you even need to move on?” She could feel herself rambling, but couldn’t stop, and found she needed an answer from him more than she had known.
“No, most of the time it’s only a one-time thing, and I know that going in, so I don’t get attached. It’s different when you’ve been in love with someone for years.” He looked at her knowingly, and she glared back defensively.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She huffed, averting her eyes and scanning the crowds of the party, people dancing and having a good time. “I’m not in love with James.”
“Who mentioned James?” Sirius grinned as she groaned, realising that he had caught her.
“It’s nothing. I’m getting over it. Trying, anyway.” She sighed, finishing the rest of her bottle and casting it aside. Feeling hurt and desperate to stop the feeling, she looked at Sirius. “And I think I know where to start.”
She surged forward, pressing her lips to his, trying to ignore the rest of the party and focus on the feeling of his lips against hers. His lips, which weren’t moving. His hands, which had moved to her shoulders and which were gently pushing her away. He was sat next to her, and as she looked at him guilt flooded through her at what she had done.
“I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed you without asking.” Her hand flew to her mouth as she felt the shock begin to sober her up.
“No, y/n, it’s okay. It’s just, this won’t change your feelings, it’ll only make you feel worse.” She nodded, accepting his words and feeling even more despair at how far she had fallen for the boy. Sirius noticed and pulled her closer, tucking her under his arm as she took his half-empty bottle from his hands and drinking from it, managing to laugh at a joke he told her.
They both turned as they heard glass shatter behind them, and saw James standing there, hand still clenched as if he was holding a bottle in his hand, although it had clearly shattered in his grip. Sirius jumped away from y/n, holding his hands up and turning to face James.
“It’s not what you think.” He started, speaking low and trying not to gain the attention of the other Gryffindors, most of whom had assumed someone had just drunkenly dropped a bottle.
“I think you were flirting with y/n!” he shouted back, his words barely slurred, clearly more sober than the two of them. She had begun to stand up, although she wasn’t sure what her input in this conversation would be. After all, even though she hadn’t been flirting with Sirius, that was her choice to make.
“She was telling me how she’s trying to get over you!” He shouted back, clearly exasperated at the situation, laughing humourlessly.
“You – she – she’s what?” James sputtered, his eyes widening as he processed his best friend’s words. “You what?” He asked, turning to face y/n, who was equally shocked that Sirius would treat her feelings so carelessly.
“Nope.” She muttered, not ready to have this conversation, not when she was drunk, not in the common room, maybe not ever. Before anyone could stop her she was through the portrait hole and running through the corridors, not caring if she was caught, slightly hoping she would be so that at least no one could find her.
She slowed down, ducking behind a tapestry into a hidden corridor, welcoming the peace and quiet of the castle at night. She led on the floor, grateful for the stone cooling down her hot skin, closing her eyes and trying to pretend the whole night had never happened.
A few pairs of footsteps walked past her hiding spot, and each time she would tense up, not relaxing until they had passed her again and she was left in silence. She jumped, then, when a voice came out of the dark from the long corridor behind her.
“I know you can sleep anywhere, but I never thought you would try the actual floor of the castle.” After the small shriek that had left her lips at his unexpected appearance, she opened her eyes to see him standing over her, smiling nervously, one hand in his pocket and the other extended to pull her into a sitting position.
“Merlin, James. How did you find me?” She asked, and he gave her a pointed look once he had settled next to her, both of their backs against the wall of the corridor. “I’m going to burn that map one day.”
“No you won’t, you’re too impressed at how well the magic works.” He grinned at her, widening slightly when she couldn’t argue with his point. “So, I spoke to Sirius.” He offered, and y/n curled into herself as he brought up the one thing she was hoping he wouldn’t, but knew that he was going to.
“I’m sorry. I just thought, you and Lily seem to be happy, you know, and I want to be happy for you, so I’m trying to move on. But, I understand if you don’t want to be friends anymore, if it makes you too uncomfortable to be around me.”
“We’re not.” He blurted out, and y/n looked at him in confusion. “Lily and I, we’re not together.”
She gasped into the silence, too consumed by her own thoughts to notice that he didn’t look at all bothered by this fact. “Oh James, are you okay? I know how long you’ve liked her, I’m so sorry it didn’t work out the way you wanted.” Despite everything, she reached for his hand, giving it a short squeeze in comfort. As she went to let go, he held on tighter, and she looked at him in confusion.
“I never actually liked her.” He confessed, blushing slightly as she only became more confused. “I actually, um, like, love, you. It was always you. But I was scared, and I thought that if I paid attention to Lily, I might be able to see if you liked me too. But I could never tell, so we pretended to date, but you seemed to support that too, which was confusing. But Sirius told me what you said, he said that you love me. And, I knew I had to come and find you.”
Her head was spinning as she tried to wrap her head around what he was telling her, her hand holding his even tighter than before. She looked at him, the hopeful look in his eyes, the way his cheeks were flushed from a mixture of the alcohol and their situation. He leaned in closer, looking into her eyes. “Can I kiss you?” Unable to speak, she nodded, and for the second time that night her lips connected with another.
Whereas the first kiss made her feel nothing, this was the polar opposite. As the realisation of what was happening caught up to her, she felt the elation soar through her, making her light-headed with giddiness. Her hands wound their way behind his neck and into his hair, as his circled around her waist and pulled her closer into him. She gasped as his teeth caught on her lip, and he kissed her harder, more forcefully than she had expected, pushing her backwards. James reacted quick enough to put his arm out and break her fall, making sure her back didn’t hit the hard floor too roughly. She looked up at him leaning over her, pupils blown, lips swollen, looking wild, and she swallowed.
“Should we head back to the party?” she asked, her voice quiet.
“No way. I only just got you, I don’t think I’m ready to share you just yet.”
“Oh thank god.” She replied, pulling him back down to her by the shirt to her, not willing to waste one more second without James Potter by her side.
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