#anyways yeah I woke up and remembered this was almost done

[zero-braincells-left]

pee. shut up loser

/j I swear

@fixing-bad-posts @breaking-fixing-bad-posts the shenanigans have continued :)

[wileys-russo]

just like mummy II l.williamson

in the same universe as legacy and little golfer

"mila! mil? mila?" leah called out with a frown, poking her head in each room with a frown that deepened each time she didn't find her daughter.

"okay bubba this isn't funny we need to leave soon!" leah's voice wavered as she ducked down, checking under the beds with a huff as again she came up empty.

"mila? mummy isn't joking we really need to leave!" leahs chest tightened a little as she went room to room hunting for the four year old.

normally you took charge when it came to getting your daughter ready of a morning before training, but considering today was pre season media day you'd had meetings set earlier than leahs so you'd already left before the four year old was up.

normally mila was the very first awake of the three of you but last night she'd been particularly stubborn about refusing to go to bed which leah had promised to take care of after almost two hours of trying to get her settled, practically locking you in the bathroom to shower.

when you'd finished you'd found them both curled up on the lounge in front of the tv, passed out together with a rerun of the euros playing on the large screen.

so with a much later bedtime than normal she'd actually slept in to the point leahs alarm had gone off and she was stunned to be alone in bed, expecting a four year old lump curled up on the end of her bed as usual like a cat.

"ready!" the blonde almost jumped out of her skin as tiny footsteps sounded behind her.

"i look like you! wanted to match today." the girl grinned, one of leahs arsenal kits hanging down on her like a dress and her feet drowned in a pair of football boots and socks which continued to fall down.

"stay up!" the smaller blonde huffed yanking at them with a scowl which if you'd been there you'd have commented was near identical to leahs own.

"oh mila." leah chuckled, relief flooding her body replaced quickly with amusement. "you have boots! lets go find them you monkey." the blonde laughed, scooping up her daughter and tossing her over her shoulder.

~

"mama!" you looked away from the interviewer at the familiar scream, hiding a laugh at the way your wife grabbed the back of your daughters top trying to restrain her, other hand barely holding together her own bag as well as mila's, lia hurrying over to lend a hand.

"thats us pretty much done anyway." the interviewer smiled kindly, nodding for you to go as you thanked them and shook hands, standing up and heading over to where a small riot had taken place as mila's aunties all fought over who got a hug first.

"excuse me i think i take priority." you called out over the squabbling, leah almost taken to the floor by the force in which your daughter pulled to get to you, letting go and catching her footing as a small body slammed into your legs.

"mama you weren't there when i woke up." mila frowned as you smiled and smoothed her creased eyebrows out with your thumb, squatted down to be at her level.

"i know, but remember i told you i had to come to work early? to take pictures." you poked her stomach a few times eliciting a giggle. "oh yeah. hey look! i match mummy." mila perked back up, taking a step back and doing a spin.

"you didn't want to match me?" you gasped in mock offence, mila shaking her head with a cheeky smile and running back to leah before you could grab her.

"no i'm mummys little gunner."

~

it was around an hour later when the day took a turn, mila having been passed around between your teammates as you and leah fulfilled your interviews and commitments.

you were doing a few tiktoks with laia for barclays when you were interrupted by your best friend, whispering something to one of the producers who frowned but nodded.

"williamson, you're needed. can someone go find pelova to take her place please?"

confused you stepped aside, alessia grabbing your hand without another word and tugging you away. "where are we going?" you questioned with a frown. "we have a problem." the blonde sighed, refusing to elaborate much more as she pulled you out of the main room.

"wait is it mila? is she hurt? sick? do we need an ambulance?" you began to panic as you were pulled toward the change rooms. "yes, no, no, not yet." alessia answered which didn't help ease your anxiety.

"not yet!" you exclaimed though as the taller girl pulled you into the change rooms and you saw the sight in front of you, suddenly things all made sense.

"oh my god."

"just like mummy!" mila cheered, sat on the bench on lia's lap with a horrendously self cut attempt at a fringe, safety scissors confiscated and a very guilty looking kyra hovering about nearby.

"what. happened." you exhaled unable to drag your gaze away from your daughters new haircut.

"she was with kyra and i and we were colouring. then she asked for some scissors and we assumed she was going to cut out the picture from her book to show you and leah and well we looked away for like one minute and..." lia began to explain, trailing off gesturing to mila's forehead and her new 'bangs'.

"mila.." you exhaled, dragging your hands down your face as alessia rubbed your back gently. "mummy got a hair cut, so i got a hair cut." the four year old beamed clearly very proud of herself.

"has leah seen-" "nope."

though you may have jinxed it as footsteps sounded and the woman i question arrived, mila's bag in hand ready to tell the pair of you that you were all free to head to lunch.

"leah. it was an accident love, breathe." you grabbed your wifes arms watching her face change as she took in mila's haircut and the scissors sitting idly by, mouth opening and closing as she looked around the room.

"kyra. we need to go outside...for a little chat." leah warned, voice calm and face anything but as she didn't even wait for someone to explain before deciding who she was blaming for this.

"leah-" the girl couldn't even get a word out before she sprinted off, your wife quick to follow her as mila just giggled and you sighed, alessia's hand coming to sit on her shoulder.

"now i think we might need that ambulance."

[herofics]

No Longer Mine

A/N: So, basically this is about Gojo’s s/o “dying” and he eventually moves on with his life and then it turns out his s/o wasn’t dead after all. It’s basically all angst tbh. There's probably gonna be more parts to this eventually but idk...

He wasn’t there. He wasn’t there when you needed him most, and now you were gone. You were burnt beyond recognition. If he didn’t know it was your body on the floor, he wouldn’t have even known there had been a human there once. There were still traces of your cursed energy around, even if they were faint. You must have tried to resist whoever had done this. Of course you would have, you wouldn’t have gone down without a fight. He made Shoko check the DNA results a dozen times, but it was always the same result. It had been your body that was found in the house you shared with him. You were gone, and so was your shared home. Burned to the ground by god knows who, with you inside it.

Gojo didn’t really accept you being gone for a long time. He was so numb, and your death almost killed him. All those lonely nights with just him and a bottle of strong liquor, talking to you. Talking to an empty room, while downing so much liquor that it would have put a normal person in the hospital. He talked about how angry he was, angry towards himself for not having caught whoever had taken you from him, angry at you for leaving him, angry at the world for all of it. One night, you started talking back to him. You told him how it wasn’t his fault and that you loved him. That’s when he knew he was in trouble. The dead don’t speak, they don’t converse with anyone, that’s not how the world works.

That was about a year after you died. He stopped drinking and your ghost started fading away. Your voice got more distant and the image of you got muddier. He didn’t want to lose you again. He didn’t want to forget, but somehow remembering was worse. Even though it was muddy, he could still see your smile. Oh, how he loved that smile.

Eventually, he found someone new. He fell in love again, but you never left him completely. The memories he shared with you were still dear to him, even if they were painful. He visited your grave every year on the anniversary of your death. He left flowers on your grave and while he wasn’t a religious man, he prayed that wherever you were, you had found peace.

Four years later, you reappeared. You were found unconscious on some side street in Tokyo and taken to the hospital. After you woke up, the first call you made was to Gojo.

“Hi, I’m sorry I missed dinner last night. I’m in the hospital, but I don’t know what happened”

“Whoever you are, this isn’t funny” a cold voice answered back.

“What do you mean Toru? It’s me, it’s (Name)”

“Don’t call this number again” Gojo said and hung up.

You were confused to say the least. You’d missed dinner, sure, but there was no way he would act that coldly towards you just because of that. Then you noticed the date on your hospital band. It was four years more than it should’ve been. That must have been a mistake, right? You started to panic, your heart rate was getting erratic and you were having trouble breathing. A nurse came in, trying to calm you down.

“What’s the date today? Please, what is it?” you asked frantically.

“It’s 17th of August 2016”

“2016?!” you gasped.

Who could be so cruel as to make a call like that to him? Sure, he had made many enemies in his life, but most of them were dead and wouldn’t be the type to pull such an egregious prank on him anyway. It couldn’t be you, it couldn’t possibly be you. He had confirmed your death himself. More importantly, Shoko had confirmed it, multiple times. It had been your cursed energy, your DNA. There was no doubt about it.

“Who was that?” his fiancée asked as he had put down the phone.

“Just a wrong number” Gojo muttered.

“You seem a bit rattled, are you sure you’re okay?” she asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah, it was nothing” Gojo said, brushing off his fiancée.

The call kept bothering him. Gojo couldn’t sleep that night and just laid in bed, awake, while his lover laid beside him, sleeping like a log. The thought of you being alive kept him awake all night. Could it really be possible? Had Shoko been wrong? Had he been wrong? He couldn’t get that little voice out of his head. That little nagging voice in the back of his head, telling him he needed to go to that hospital, he needed to make sure. Early the next morning, he made his way to the hospital.

You had been given some sedatives, because of how badly you had panicked when you found out what year it was. You’d been gone for four years, and you didn’t remember a single thing about it. When you woke up, you were groggy, and you weren’t really feeling great. You were still in shock about the missing four years.

“You were dead” a familiar voice said from the end of your bed.

“Toru?” you asked, blinking a bit to focus your vision better.

“You were dead” he repeated, but this time his voice wavered.

“What are you talking about?” you questioned.

“There was a body, in the rubble of our burned down house…”

“What…?” you whispered.

Gojo was still standing by the end of your bed. You were really there, clear as day. He was afraid that if he touched you, this would all turn out to be some kind of illusion. Still, he couldn’t help himself as he moved closer to you and reached his hand out to touch your cheek. He just couldn’t bring himself to do it. He was too afraid, so he just held his hand next to your face, scared that you would disappear at any moment.

“Toru?” you asked, tears welling up in your eyes. “What happened?”

“You died (Name)... or at least we thought you did. It’s been four years since then” Gojo wasn’t sure if he should tell you about his engagement, but he wanted to be honest with you, like you’d been with each other before. “I moved on. I had to, losing you almost killed me”

Gojo’s hand fell back to his side and he hung his head. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what to do. He was just so confused.

It was heartbreaking to hear the pain in his voice, but you still felt angry. Even though you rationally knew it had been years for him, for you that missed dinner was yesterday. For you, he had found someone else overnight. Your love for him was just as strong as it had ever been, but he clearly didn’t feel the same anymore.

“I don’t have any memory of the past four years. Did you know that? To me, I last saw you yesterday, and now you’re saying you found someone else?”

“I-”

“You don’t need to explain. I get it, but I would have waited. I wouldn’t have given up on you” you said tearfully, looking away from him.

“I did look for you (Name). Your death almost killed me, Ava saved me after I hit rock bottom”

“That’s her name? Ava?” you asked, the sadness evident in your voice.

“Yes… we’re engaged"

"Oh”

It felt like someone punched you in the stomach. You felt sick, empty. He was engaged? The love of your life had moved on with someone else. He’d left you behind, a long time ago, apparently.

“I think you should leave” you sniffled, wiping the tears from your cheeks, trying to appear strong. Even though you felt everything but.

“I don’t-” Gojo started, but stopped himself. You probably didn’t want to know. “Of course, whatever you want” he sighed and turned to leave.

As Gojo left the room, he gave you one more glance. You looked broken, and he was certain it was his fault. Why hadn’t he kept looking? Why had he given up on you? No matter what anyone had told you, you would have kept going. You wouldn’t have given up until you found him. So why did he?

The second Gojo left the room and closed the door, you broke down. You were sobbing, burying your face into a pillow to stop anyone from hearing your cries. The person you loved since you were kids at Jujutsu High, the one you’d given your heart, soul and body to, had left you behind. You had nothing to go back to. You’d been robbed of four years of your life, and now it felt like your future was gone too. It all just felt like a massive lie, like someone was having fun at your expense. Your old life was gone.

[chaiifluuf]

That's that me espresso! — c. nakahara

synopsis. chuuya struggles to fall asleep again after thinking about you and his unexpected dreams

content. fem!reader, fluff, suggestive in one part, chuuya is lovesick and he doesn’t know it <3

notes. i don’t know if i got his character right.. i tried my best tho ! and yes this is inspired by sabrina carpenter’s song espresso hehe (*´꒳`*)

chuuya doesn’t dream. 

or well he didn’t use to because tonight was the first time he had a dream in a really long time.

the fact it wasn’t a nightmare shocked him even further and out of all things he could’ve dreamed about, it was about you. why you? he isn’t sure himself. chuuya let out a silent sigh as he rubbed his face, trying to recall everything he saw because a part of him is still in disbelief that he had an actual dream.

the first thing he remembers is you wearing a summer dress while walking at the shore of a beach. the gentle waves crashing into your bare feet as you carried your flip flops in your hand. then you turned around and your face was beaming. chuuya swore you had the happiest smile he had ever seen on you. something seems to catch your attention when you look at him.

“chuuya, your hair is in your face!” you tell him with a light giggle. as soon as you mention that, he notices how his hair strands start to obscure his sight as the wind blows from behind him. you make your way towards him as if an idea popped into your mind. “wait, stay still,” you say and swiftly move behind him while chuuya couldn’t help but blink in confusion. “what?”

you don’t say anything in return but it doesn’t take him long before he realises what you’re doing as he can feel your fingers gather his hair into one place. you were making a ponytail for him. 

“there! now it won’t be bothering you,” you say once you are done, looking at him in satisfaction and glee. chuuya touches his head for a moment, not used to having it like that. it indeed felt nicer. he thanked you before the two of you start walking again.

“no problem. you look really good with a ponytail too…” you mumble the last part and chuuya almost misses it. he glances at you, about to say something and he’ll never know what because that was the moment he woke up.

chuuya believes there was probably more going on in the dream but this is as far as he remembers. he casts a look to the side, scanning over the clock that reads 2:56 am. there is more than enough time to get his much needed sleep. because it is a rare occurrence for him to not be exhausted from a usual workday, he’ll take any bit of rest he can get. 

with that in mind, chuuya shifts his body to the other side and closes his eyes, a soft exhale leaving his lips. it was just a silly dream and he will forget it soon enough anyway. although he still doesn’t quite understand why you were there. you were one of the closest people to him, he’ll admit that. you knew him better than most people and he has lost count at how many times you have made his day so much better. the two of you were good friends and that’s it. yeah, this is fine.

except it isn’t.

falling asleep turns out to be a much more difficult task than he anticipated. he isn’t even that tired anymore which did not help. chuuya’s mind is still stuck on his damned dream. he can’t help but picture again your radiant smile, how your hair blew in the wind, the way you stared at him and that pretty dress… he quickly shaked his head to snap out of it. he can’t believe himself. chuuya decides to get up and find something to distract himself since he couldn’t sleep now anyway.

he wished that would’ve been the one and only time he dreamed of you. this was the third time in the week that he hasn’t slept well. all of them had you in it and at this point chuuya thinks something is wrong with him. how does anyone dream about the same person so many times in such a short time? 

chuuya groans into his pillow as he suspects yet another badly slept night. of course you were on his mind once more. he is glad that these aren’t nightmares but at the same time he doesn’t know how to feel about these dreams either. he’s also shocked by just how vividly he remembers all of them. 

in the second dream, chuuya was at a restaurant with you. if he’s going to be honest then it felt like a date. the dimmed lights, the romantic atmosphere, a lit up candle placed on the middle of the table and two glasses filled halfway with red wine. he still remembers the simple yet elegant carmine dress you were wearing. your gaze was filled with so much warmth and adoration that he felt his heart falter. then you laughed at something he said and god your laughter seemed sweeter than the desserts the two of you were having.

the entire time his eyes were stuck on you as if you were the most breathtaking person he had ever come across. and you were. while the conversation was hazy to him, the scene of you intertwining your fingers with his was still clear in his mind. your rosy cheeks afterwards made you look even prettier. thinking about it alone made chuuya’s heart rate fasten.

the third dream however, the one he had tonight, was a different story. because with each time these dreams seem to get bolder and chuuya doesn’t know how to handle it. 

you were pushed against the bed with him hovering over you. he was kissing you and they weren’t some kind of gentle kisses either. more like they were filled with desire, need and many other strong emotions he couldn’t pinpoint. he pulled away for a moment, his lips still brushing against yours. your hair had gotten rather messy, your lipstick was smeared and it was obvious that you were breathless as he could feel your breath on his skin. 

“chuuya, please…” he couldn’t fight back the shiver that went down his spine when he heard your pleading voice. your arms were wrapped around his neck as you held him close. his lips slowly trail down from your lips and he can’t help but start sensually kissing your neck. chuuya relished the soft noises that left your lips.

“want you s’bad,” you murmured to his ear and chuuya swears his heart skipped a beat. were you even aware of the effect you had on him? “i’m right here, doll.” his tone was low and husky as one of his hands sneaked below your shirt, lifting it up as he traced your waist. he didn’t miss the subtle tremble of your body when his bare hand came in touch with your abdomen. god your skin was so soft and your flushed face was the most adorable sight. he grinned before going for your lips again and then—

chuuya can feel his face heat up as he realised what he was thinking. he buried his face into the pillow once again because that was just a little too intimate. and goddamn it, he feels like a schoolgirl who just talked to her crush for the first time.

why the fuck is this happening to him?

he hasn’t seen you in a while since both of you were busy with your missions lately. you did text him though, and even if he always didn’t have the time to respond, you liked talking to him about your day as well as your frustrations at times. chuuya didn’t mind and when he had a chance would type you back. with a lot of things going on, you and him were still in touch. so are his dreams supposed to be some kind of sign to see you again?

if only you knew how much you have driven him insane. he needs to do something, anything to get these dreams out of his head. a night with actually good rest does sound nice right now. however he won’t get that, not tonight at least. suddenly chuuya gets an idea. a stupid idea perhaps, but he believes he will only continue to suffer if he won’t do anything about it. he grabs his phone from the bedside table and opens the messages app.

Me 4:03 am

you up?

chuuya sighs, there is no going back now. he hopes you’re asleep but a small part of him wishes you would respond because he has no idea what to do at this point. five minutes later, he hears his phone vibrate.

Y/n 4:08 am

mhm, something wrong?

his eyes slightly widen in surprise. so you were awake. for a moment he thinks what to text back.

Me 4:09 am

not really, just can’t sleep

Y/n 4:09 am

what a coincidence haha

now that i think about it i still haven’t seen your motorcycle that you promised to show me one day

maybe wanna meet up? ^ ^

chuuya’s mind pauses because this might be exactly what he needs — to see you again. without thinking too much he starts typing.

Me 4:10 am

sure

i’ll come and pick you up

Y/n 4:11 am

YAYY 

i’ll see you then!! 

he can’t help but smile a little. a genuine smile that he hasn’t had in a while. he quickly changed his clothes, locked his apartment and began making his way to the garage. 

he might never admit it but even with you in his dreams, he still missed you. the real you.

fun fact: initially, i had put a winky face after the “i’ll come and pick you up” text but then decided against it bc i’m still not sure if he would do that LMAO

[smellrain]

𝐧𝐡𝟏𝟑 - 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭

in which: nico and you had met years ago in a cold rink in canada but then lost touch for several reasons. It's hard, growing and correcting mistakes of your past but you try anyway.

tags: written, angst, hopeful ending, mentions of: depression, injuries, hospitals, doctors, etc. (masterlist)

notes: [5.1k] I have no idea what this is? I woke up, wrote the entire thing and passed out again for 2 hours. Tried polishing it through editing? Yeah. It turned out a lot different than the rest of my stuff so far, so it's scary posting this. Come & tell me if you liked it.

The ice was as harsh as it was unforgiving. 

The cold air of the rink has seeped into your bones years ago and the reddend tips of your fingers went numb a while ago, but you were used to it by now. Nothing really mattered when you got like this, too caught up in your head for anyone to reach. 

Not even yourself. 

You had been home and then suddenly not, your body already knowing what you needed before your mind caught up to it. 

The rink wasn’t open, not yet, but you had gotten a key years ago. The owner, David, had been the only one that had looked at you the same back then. There had been a knowing sort of look in his eyes when he had seen you waiting for him at the front door stepps, eyes red. 

He had given you a key, because he had seen you for who you were: a girl whose entire life had collapsed around her. 

Bronze at fifteen, silver at sixteen, gold forever out of reach. 

You could still remember the red pen tucked into your doctor’s coat. The ‘my condolences, but’, the white light, the letter in your hand, the sinking realisation that this was it. 

That you were going to be one of the several girls that had pushed their body too far.

The same way you had done everything back then you had followed the instructions of your therapist to the letter. Stretching, compressions, different exercises. Still, there was no full recovery, no chance of ever skating professionally again. 

That might be the worst part, still being able to skate but knowing that you will never be able to feel it anymore. That you were cursed to be in this limbo, never letting go of it but never being able to live for it anymore. 

The harsh sound of your blade cutting over the fresh ice was as pleasant as it was torture. You wanted more, but you had to settle for this. You had to learn that this was all you were ever going to get. 

These select few hours in the early morning, just before your classes started, before you had to start living your life. 

You could feel yourself drawing harsh breaths, but it didn’t matter. You had pushed through worse, hunger, hurt and feelings just to stand here for a bit longer. The ringing in your ear accumulated when you thought about all that you had lost, that you could never regain.

Suddenly the heavy door of the entrance fell closed. You slowed down, curious who it might be. The clock in the corner of your vision reflected a red 05:57 back at you. It was too early for it to be anyone aside from David or another person with a key, someone like you.

It was a guy, a bag in his hand and another slung over his shoulder. 

You would recognize the equipment anywhere, familiar with it in a distant way. It must be a hockey player that David had picked out out of the hundreds that frequented this place. 

For some reason you already didn’t like him. Maybe because unlike you, he had the chance of actually archiving his dreams. Bitterness was an annoying but frecent emotion that stained the back of your mouth. 

You wanted. You wanted more than this. You wanted the early morning practices, the ones after school, the rigidous schedule, the heavy monitoring. What were you without all that?

The static in your mind had been interrupted by his arrival but you hardly noticed, more focused on the way he walked down the stairs, casually like he had done so hundreds of times already.

It was almost six, which meant it was time to get off the ice anyways, so you circled a few laps, rotating your wrists and shoulders to feel if anything was off, and then made your way towards the outside of the rink. 

“You look pretty,” said the boy from where he was tying his shoelaces up on the benches. “Out on the ice, I mean.”

Something in you hurt at that, as if your heart started pulling at its own strings. It’s been a while since anyone has watched you skate,, since you let someone else watch you. There was a sharp kind of anger rising up in you that it had been him watching you which dissipated as soon as you looked back at him.

It wasn’t his fault. There really was something wrong with you.

You knew your parents didn’t approve of you being here, but they couldn’t look at you anymore when you skated, disappointed that this was how it had ended. Disappointed in you.

“Thanks,” you said, your voice completely scraped raw. You hoped he didn’t notice it. 

“I’m Nico,” he said, approaching you. He held out his hand. He wasn’t wearing gloves yet but his dark shirt had thumbholes that his thumb peeked through which was weirdly endearing on him. 

You looked back up to his face. There was a tired but polite smile plastered on it but you didn’t have the energy to give him one. Instead you simply told him your name and took his hand. Even through his layer of fabric it was warm beneath your icy fingers.

He didn’t flinch at the cold of your hand and instead started genuinely smiling which took you by surprise. People didn’t react to meeting you like this, not anymore. 

Then, without saying anything else, he took off his guards and stepped on the ice, skating around to warm up. You watched him for a bit while scraping off the excess ice and putting your skates away. 

His skating was differentthan yours; not as delicate. The beauty of it had been hammered into you from an early age on which didn’t seem to be the case form him. It was weird, not being on the ice, being the one to watch instead. 

You changed back into your shoes and walked up the steps. 

From the top, which wasn’t all that high because this rink wasn’t that big, he seemed small. You wondered if you looked like that too, if anyone had thought that when you fell down, when they had seen you sprawled on the ice at fifteen, not being able to get up again. 

A sick shudder passed through you. You wondered if you had ever gotten up from that ice.

Then you turned around, your back to him and left without saying goodbye. 

~*~

The next time you saw him again, was two days later, just after six. 

You knew you were going to be late for class but didn’t really care. Today you weren’t as cooped up in your own head, but it was still hard to let go of these stolen few hours of freedom and face reality. 

“Hey,” Nico said, “it’s you again.”

“Hello,” you said in return. He stepped on the ice and you fought off the urge to leave immediately. That would be impolite, a voice reminded you in your head, even if you didn’t want him to be here right now.

“Are you here every morning?” he asked you, falling into step beside you and therefore joining you on your cooldown laps. 

Your eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. Couldn’t he just do his own thing? Did he have to come talk to you? “Yes.” 

"Dedicated. I only come every second day,” he said as if it mattered to you. You might have to leave early every second day now to avoid talking to him, which made your scowl even worse. 

“Okay.” You said instead. 

He hummed in reason but dropped the conversation after. When you took a look at him from the corner of your eye he didn’t seem deterred at your attitude, seemingly just satisfied that he got a response.

After another lap in, you hated to admit it but companionable silence, you left, without saying anything but this time he waved back at you from below. You didn’t return his gesture. 

~*~

Despite your early judgement, the two of you formed some kind of routine over the next few weeks. You came early, and sometimes you left a protein bar for him in the stands and sometimes he brought  you a hot tea for when you got off the ice. 

Still, always without fail, he joined you for a few laps. He talked about his life and sometimes asked you a few questions. Sometimes you answered him, other times you didn’t. He never pressed for answers. 

Nico told you that he was from Switzerland, which explained the heavy accent. He just joined Halifax, and he came early to work on his technique, preferring to do so in silence without his teammates chirping at him. You, in turn, told him that you had skated, professionally, before your injury. He didn’t ask for details about either of these things and you didn’t share of your own accord. 

Slowly, so slowly that you didn’t even notice, you realised that he had become your friend. 

It was strange. You hadn’t made friends in a long time. Before, you had had school friends, but because you never hung out outside of it, always training, it never deepend. 

A weird sort warmth seeped in under your skin at the thought of the two of you being friends like a steady fire that kept you warm at night.

The friends you had made while skating splintered along with your knee. 

It was hard, you knew that, to see their worst fear reflected back at them, but it was still hard for you to reach out, so you simply stopped talking to each other. 

On your bad days you thought that it was all their fault, on your good you knew that it was a mutual mistake. 

The thing about Nico was that he was hard to pin down. He was hardworking, thrived under pressure and loved hockey. He was also afraid of falling and failing, he loved sitting under the sun in the summers, feeling his skin heat up and his favorite colour was green, but he admitted that it changed every few weeks. 

You knew that this friendship wouldn’t last, not really. Neither of you had any way of reaching out to the other, and neither expressed the desire to do so but it was still nice, this tentative kinship.

~*~

“Have you ever played hockey?” he asked you, once. 

It must have been a Saturday or Sunday because you were in no hurry to get off the ice, instead basking in his company. 

“No,” you answered, simply.

He grinned, “you are missing out.”

“Really now?” you asked, teasingly, when you turned around to skate with your front to him.

“Really. I wanna teach you,” he said, leaving the choice up to you without outright asking. If you wanted to you could just brush it off and the conversation would continue. 

Instead you said, “yeah, sure, why not.”

His smile was blinding, the adoration for his sport bleeding from every inch of his skin. It was a good look on him, happiness. Distantly you wondered if anyone had ever thought that about you.

It was different, skating with a stick in your hands but it was fun. He taught you how to shoot and aim at a certain spot which you weren’t half bad at if you stood still.

Hours later when the two of you stepped off the ice your tea was cold but you hardly noticed it.

~*~

Another day you asked him what he was reaching for. 

“Olympics,” he had answered immediately but after a beat of silence he looked up as if the lights in the ceiling were stars he could wish upon. “I think I want someone to look at me and think ‘I want to do that. I want to start playing hockey.’”

You looked at him and the only thought that crossed your mind was that he was the reason you could step off the ice again, that you knew you would always be able to come back, just one more time. 

“I like that,” you said because it was true. 

He tilted his head back to you, and the way his eyes glimmered with a rare vulnerability made your breath catch. Or maybe that was just the effect he had on you, standing still, alive and just in reach.

Oh. 

That was that feeling in your chest. 

~*~

Yet another day he joined you on the ice and you immediately kicked him off again. 

“What did I say about injuries?” you asked, frustrated in a way only he could make you. 

“That they were not to be ignored,” he parroted back, his gaze between his feet as if staring at his ankle would magically heal it. 

“Exactly,” you said. Then, gentler than before, “you need to give yourself time to heal, otherwise you will never get better.”

He looked back up to where you were hovering above him. “Okay.”

You didn’t want him to have the last word. “Okay,” you said firmly and sat down next to him. 

The two migrated up to the changing rooms  where he sat on a bench with his ankle elevated while you worked through your stretches, your knewww aching in phantom pain.

~*~

Today your mind was quiet.

It was your last time and you had wanted to take it all in again, one last time. You were moving, your father had gotten a new job somewhere in New Jersey. You knew it was good, a new start away from everything, a chance to start over. 

But still, you were going to miss this. The rink, the quiet, the place you had grown up in. The place that was your prison as much as it was your salvation. 

As you looked up towards the ceiling, the lights shining down on you, the dark gary that seemed black in contrast, you thought you should cry. This was the perfect moment to, and you hadn’t yet. 

Then, the door opened. 

You were surprised because he wasn’t supposed to be here today. Nico had been here yesterday and the two of you had argued about your favorite brand of cereal, and you selfishly had wanted to leave it at that. 

To leave your friendship without having to say goodbye, without having to ever really let go of him. 

“Nico,” you breathed, before you could stop yourself. 

“Hey you,” he said, as he came up to you. You didn’t even realise that you had stopped moving. 

“It’s late,” he stated. You looked up to the clock and sure enough, it was almost twenty past. 

“Ah,” you said, uncaring. It’s not like you had school today. You wondered when he went to school, if his just started later than yours had. In all your talks you had never actually talked about it. 

And you never were going to anymore, you had to remind yourself. Suddenly it was a lot harder to breathe through the ache in your chest. 

“Are you okay?” he asked, and you knew he meant it, “you look, I don’t know, sad?”

“I’m moving,” before he could ask anything more, “like tomorrow. This is the last time I’m going to see you in a while.”

“Oh.” The expression on his face was hurt, because he must have realised that you had intended to leave without saying anything. 

“I’m sorry,” you said. “for everything.” You weren’t really sure for what, but it seemed like the right thing to say. For your intentions, the way you acted, maybe.

“It’s okay,” he said, but it wasn’t, not really. You knew that and he knew that you knew.

“I’m moving to New Jersey.”

He was quiet for a bit.”America,” he started. Then, “do you want to exchange numbers?”

You ignored the sting behind your eyes. “I’m probably going to have to get a new simcard, but you can give me yours.”

The two of you skated back to the door, from where you had stood still in the middle of the open space. He got a piece of paper and a pen from his bag and then somewhat messily tore off the corner of a worksheet and scribbled down his number in blue ink and signed it with his name.

He looked up at you but neither of you said anything for a while. What was there to say, anymore? 

“Don’t forget about me,” he ended up telling you and you reached out to hug him. He was warm under your hands, steady and you were going to miss this, him.

“Don’t forget me either,” you murmured into the crook of his neck. 

Still, in the back of your mind, you knew that you were never going to use his number. You were going to cut off your old life before it could follow you to your new one. But for once you had told him the truth, you weren’t going to forget about him, probably ever. 

And that was that. You said goodbye, waved and you left him there. He returned the gesture, face unreadable and you were sad that the last time he looked at you he wasn’t smiling.

From the top you looked down at him one last time. He seemed bigger now, compared to that first time you had looked down at him, still filled with bitterness.

Maybe that was just your imagination, or maybe it was his confidence after playing with his current team, after seeing his results pay off. 

You turned and let the door fall closed behind you. 

Then, and only then tears started to well up in your eyes. You ignored them and moved on. Always looking ahead, never back. 

Still, you kept the number tucked away safely hidden in a small corner of your wallet. A piece of him that you would always carry with you. 

~*~

You made new friends, graduated and decided to attend college. Got diagnosed with chronic depression and mild anxiety, got a boyfriend and broke it off again after three months, cried, laughed and finally lived. 

But there was part of you hidden in the corner of your wallet, too.

~*~

If you were being honest, Nico didn’t really cross your mind when your friend asked you to go to a hockey game with you. 

In a way he did, because he had been one of your few friends that played hockey, but it was more of an oh yeah, the sport Nico loved and not oh yeah I’m going to a hockey game and I wonder if Nico is still playing, I wonder if he made it to the big leagues. 

Okay, maybe that was a bit of a lie, but still. You hadn’t expected this. 

The two of you went to the Prudential Center and you were excited despite your earlier apprehension. Your phone with the blocked tags of icehockey and nhl seemed to burn a hole in your pants but it’s not like anyone would know. 

Your friend had told you a bit about the team, but if you were being honest, you could not remember any of their names, much less which position and line they played. 

When the players got announced, the home team first, you froze. Suddenly the noise of the cheers around you were completely quiet until they flooded back to you, a harsh reminder of reality.

Because it was him. That was Nico. Your Nico. Or like your past Nico.

There, with a red thirteen and a small C over his chest, was Nico. He was all grown up now, and instead of thinking wow, he is kind of attractive when he smiled at the camera, you thought, holy shit, he is really, really handsome. 

Your friend picked up on your strange behaviour. “What's wrong?”

I know him, you wanted to scream. I think he saved my life without meaning to, and I think I loved him but I never told him. What came out instead was, “I think I'm going to be sick.”

“What?” she asked, suddenly even more worried, “do you need fresh air? Or do you just want to leave?”

You wanted to stay. You wanted to shoot a puck at his head and tell him to look up at you, the way he had done back then. 

“No, don’t worry about it,” you said and when didn’t change at your reply, you added, “I’m just going to get some water. I think it might be the crowd or something.”

“Are you sure? Do you want me to come with?”

You knew how much she had been looking forward to it, and besides there was nothing she could help you with anyhow. “No, really, it’s all good. Just need to breathe for a second.”

She gave you a look, and you smiled despite wanting to curl up in a corner and cry, “if you are sure. But if anything,” she took your hand in hers, “if anything is wrong call me. I’m gonna have my phone in my hand the entire time.”

You squeezed her hand the same way your heart did at her words. “Thank you, really, but it’s okay. I'll be right back.”

Then you fled up the stands and you couldn’t help but think about the first time you had seen him, how you had left without saying anything. You looked down, just once, and spotted him immediately, as if he was the north pole to your south, your eyes drawn to him. 

He seemed even bigger now, as if he had finally grown into the steady confidence he had had, even back then. 

You smiled. He deserved it, genuinely. You were glad that he did end up making it to the big leagues, even if some part of you hurt at that. You still missed ice skating, your rink from back then, David, but most of all you missed what could have been if you hadn’t been scared. 

What could have been if you had just texted him. 

Regret was a useless emotion to feel, but all of a sudden you felt yourself drown in and you coughed once, just to ease that feeling in your throat.

Then you turned your back to the ice and walked up the rest of the stairs to the stands to get yourself some water. 

It was useless trying to think about any of it now, so you pushed the thoughts aside for later. 

~*~

A week later you were drunk. It was a Friday evening and you had finally finished the gruelling lab you had worked on for the entire day. 

You were hanging out in your friend’s room, the same friend that had taken you to the game a week before. Two of your other friends were sat ob the floor, leaning gainst the opposite bed and a warm, content feeling spread through your chest. 

You had friends now. 

“What’s wrong?” she suddenly asked from where she was sat next to you on her bed, her back against the headboard, yours against the wall adjacent to it.

“Nothing,” you answered because nothing was. 

“Don’t ‘nothing’ me, tell me,” she said, “you've been quiet ever since we came back from the game a week ago and I’ve waited long enough for you to say something, so now I’m going to.”

Had you been that obvious? Or did she just know you that well? Either way, she deserved the truth, the full truth.

“I just,” you began and stopped again, starting to peel off the sticker on your beer with the blunt edge of your nail. 

“When I was younger, I skated.” You started. You knew that she had never expressed any kind of interest in skating so you elaborated further, “really well.” Wow, you were really eloquent tonight.

“Okay,” she said, no doubt wondering where you were going with this. 

Your mind was fuzzy around the edges because of the drinks which made harder than usual to focus on your words, but it made it easier to talk about it, too. These people didn’t know about anything that had been, only what was. “I was good enough to win. Olympics, I mean.”

Suddenly one of the other two friends from the other side of the room joined in. “The Olympics?”

“Yeah,” you said, staring firmly at the bottle in your hands, not looking at any of them. “I won bronze and silver, fifteen and sixteen.”

“Holy shit,” she said, as did your other friend, but one of them remained quiet, so you looked at her. 

From the look in her eyes you knew that she knew. “And then I fell, badly. Tried to get up again but couldn’t. Went to the doctor and you know,” you trailed off, “retired. Started physiotherapy, got a lot better but…”

“Not enough to ever compete again,” she finished for you. 

“Yeah,” you said, voice hoarse. “But I couldn’t let go of it, you know? So sometimes, before school, I snuck out to the local rink and skated around just because I didn’t know anything else.”

Your friend that was next to you on the bed made an encouraging noise, and laid a hand on your knee, so you continued. 

“Then I met a guy. I was in a bad mental place, not really talking to anyone unless I had to, but we somehow became friends.”

Then you looked at them, “I don’t know, it was a weird friendship because we only ever saw each other at the rink every few days, but I felt something for him anyway. It wasn’t quite love but could have been, maybe.”

The others were still listening, and the words rushed out before you could stop yourself. “Then I moved. Wanted to leave before saying goodbye because that would hurt too much. On the day I was leaving I saw him anyway. He gave me his number but I never used it.”

“You wanted to make a clean cut?” your friend asked. 

“Yeah. It was sefish, because it wasn’t just about me, you know? I should have told him how I felt, but I didn’t.” You shook your head, “but that’s not even the point. I saw him again at the game.”

“Oh,” your friend that had dragged you to it, said. 

“Yeah,” you answered, and your other friend asked, “why didn’t you talk to him?”

The other friend, the one that had never asked you about your skating, even though she had known, even though she had every opportunity to, said, “because he was playing, right?”

“Yeah,” you said and you wanted to cry. You could still hear his name announced by the speakers. “Funny, all the time we spent together and I never knew his last name.”

“Who is it?” she asked, gentle, and you knew you could just not answer. You could bury it deep down, once and for all. But that’s not what you wanted to do, not anymore. 

“Nico Hischier.” And your friend laughed. 

“Of course it’s the captain,” she said and you couldn’t help but join in, the effects of the alcohol cursig through your veins. What were the chances, really? That he ended up in the state you had moved to all those years ago.

The others joined it. “He changed his number by now, I’m sure.”

“Oh yeah, definitely,” one of them said. 

All of you were quiet for a second. “Wait, I have an idea,” she said and moved her hand from your leg and grabbed your phone. 

She gave it to you and made a motion for you to unlock it. You did and gave it back to her. From where you were sat you weren’t able to see your screen, much less what she typed on it. 

After a few seconds she gave it back to you. 

It was Nico’s instagram profile. You hesitated before clicking on his most recent post. Your other friends that had been sitting on the floor climbed up to join you. 

“Follow him,” one of them said. You could feel your heart thumping in your chest. This was not the account you had used to document your wins and training back then, but it still had your first and last name in the username, but it was on private. 

Underneath your thumb the button changed colour. “Fuck,” you said.

The other three laughed at your exclamation. “Wait, do I text him?” you asked, turning to the others. 

They all looked back at you, and one of them asked, “do you want to?”

You did. You really fucking did, but you had no idea what to say. “But what do I say? Hey, sorry for being a dick to you when we were like seventeen, I was half in love with you and didn’t know how to tell you, so I just cut you out before anything could possibly hurt me.”

One of them leaned her head on your shoulder. “If you leave out the half in love part, it’s not too bad.”

“You should also ask if he wants to meet and talk in person,” the other said. 

You opened your notes app and the four of you composed a message to him. 

Your hands were shaking and your heart was beating too fast. This was it, this was your chance and you weren’t going to let go again without a fight. This time you would stay and he could make the choice: to stay or to leave. 

Then, you hit the small blue icon and sent it and let out a quiet scream. You wouldn’t be able to take it back, not anymore. 

You threw your phone away from you onto a small patch where the blanket you were sitting on was still visible. 

Over an hour passed and you still hadn’t heard back from him. Soon after you pased out, but a quiet acceptance had settled in your stomach. He forgot. Or maybe he didn’t see the message or maybe he didn't want to talk to you again, which you couldn’t blame him for. 

But when you woke up the next morning, you had a single notification from him. 

For a second you debated not clicking on it, but that would mean standing still. It would be different this time. You would be different this time. There was an unfamiliar, new kind of determination that flickered up your spine and it reminded you of the steady ice under your skates, of the final hug the two of you had shared. Harsh, unforgiving, certain. 

You clicked on it and there was no going back now.

Nico Hischier Hello, it’s been a while.  Of course I remember you, didn’t I tell you?  For sure, I'd love to meet up and talk. Does next weekend work for you? I have a home game which makes it easier for both of us. 

notes: So. How are we feeling? Thoughts? Part 2? Please talk to me about this one because this lives in my mind rent free.

[fangsandfeels]

Bioware had continuity issues before...

...but with Veiguard, I feel like this time it just didn't care and was in a hurry to bury the DA world as fast as possible, so it could proceed to finishing Mass Effect off the same way.

Spoiler-y nitpicks and thoughts below

Once again, I'm all for the premise of almost none of the higher beings and deities of Thedas being kind or benevolent - and all of them turning out to be not what they seemed or were promised to be.

It fits the undergoing theme of every group in Thedas subtly believing that their true gods will come and fix everything, and every atrocity, every bloodbath, every sacrifice will be worth it. For the plot to take away that hope and expose how deep the wounds go, how absolutely wrecked this world is (and you can never un-wreck it , would have been absolutely logical and very in tune with the general tone of the series.

The Old Gods

If Archdemons contain not the souls of the Old Gods, but the key to the Evanuris mortality, why was Solas mad at the Grey Wardens for killing them? Why did Mythal/Flemeth needed to preserve the soul of an Old God? Wouldn't she, a betrayed and angry goddess, want to sever her traitors' connection to immortality? Instead, she wanted it "a piece of what once was, snatched from the jaws of darkness". Something, that meant to be saved from corruption and destruction. But now Solas dismisses it by saying that Old Gods were never a thing, it has always been the Evanuris using dragons as their conduits and immortality placeholders?

Then why did you give Grey Wardens so much crap for killing these dragons, Solas?!

Yeah, we can argue that Solas was worrying about the Evanuris not being able to sustain the Veil due to losing their immortality, but he was going to bring it down anyways? So what difference would it have made anyways?

Something doesn't add up.

I think, the most logical thing would have been to leave the Old Gods as the raw magic incarnate - truly a relict from the world back when magic was everywhere. So, it would have make sense for Flemeth, Morrigan and Solas want to preserve it - despite all the destructive potential, it has always belonged to this world. It would have also explained why darkspawn need to infect the slumbering Old Gods - as ancient magical beings, they are attuned to the world, and the taint means to exploit that connection.

2. The taint and the Blight

If the taint is the product of the Titan's anger and desire for vengeance...why can Ghila'nain use it like her own personal Play-Doh? I'd imagine, the pure concentration of wrath and anger should be particularly deadly for the Evanuris - because it's directed against them, first and foremost. I don't mind the Titans being as the general source of the plague - it would explain the Deep Roads and darkspawn behavior. A twisted wish to be whole again, an unfulfilled desire to keep fighting - a constant, never-ending call to arms. It also would have been a nice callback to the state of the Mother from Awakening: she woke up only to realize and remember what has been done to her, which broke her mind and made her desperate to either die or return to that mindless state of rage and destruction. So do the Titans feel, knowing they were mutilated and plundered, broken apart, and are in too much pain to ever forgive or know peace.

If Titans were so connected to the physical world, the taint changing everything it touches would have made sense: life itself twisting and contorting into a weapon, against an attacker it can't see or find. This is truly tragic, horrifying and realistic - taint as a wound that cannot heal, that festers, and rots but never closes. It's a very accurate depiction of trauma caused by a genocidal war.

Therefore, it would have made more sense if the Evanuris were fucking terrified of the taint and the darkspawn because of how devastating it was to them and because they had no clue how to destroy it - they could only contain it and hope it works.

Maybe Ghila'nain tried to master it but barely survived and went mad, modifying her body and "perfecting" herself as a result. It would still have been possible to keep her obsessed with taint - mostly out of pure denial that something can be beyond her control as she believes herself to be the Goddess of Creation.

Also, you can still have your scarier version of more active and virulent taint - just make it change in response to the gods appearing in the physical world. Make it spread more actively, make the darkspawn go into frenzy, make it look like the new Blight is starting - but now it's as if blindly searching for something or someone. Wouldn't that be fucking creepy?

Maybe, for the first time in a long while, the South of Thedas isn't the one to take a hit - instead, the darkspawn are flocking to where the gods are.

(Of course, the question is, why the taint doesn't target the elves specifically? Because of them losing their immortality - the taint isn't exactly sentient, so it perceives them as part of physical world)

It would have posed such an interesting and controversial option for the player: to weaponize the Blight to end the gods.

3. Maker

I remember that the developers mentioned that the Maker never meant to be real. It was meant to represent the humanity's ability to believe in a symbol. But the Veilguard's "the legend about the Maker was actually about magister's breaking into the prison made by Solas and accidentally blighting all around the place" is such an underwhelming conclusion. After all, the Ashes of Andraste meant to imply that there is something. That it's not just a collective gaslighting - but something else.

I feel like they could have made so much with it:

In the context of the taint's connection to the Titans, what if Maker has always been somewhat of an emissary of the taint? It was cut off from the dwarves and locked away - but it needed a way out, right? Even subconsciously, it knew that it has to get out. It was the music that kept playing, the song that called. So, it reached out to other beings of the physical world, whispering to them and beckoning them. Andraste, due to probably being a Dream Walker or extremely sensitive to the Fade, caught a glimpse of that events, but was never able to make sense of it, which led her to fill in the gaps, which led to the creation of andrastianism. Therefore, Maker didn't leave the Golden City - once the taint was released, it fulfilled its purpose.

What if Andraste willed the Maker into existence? Since Fade is attuned to people's dreams, thoughts, and inner worlds, maybe Andraste's connection to it was so strong, it channeled her pain, her wish for justice and salvation into a figure that she believed to be the Maker? What if she was even able to perform miracles with the Maker as her avatar, turning people into believers? So, logically, when she died, the Maker stopped responding: she was no longer there to sustain him. No amount of prayers and sermons, of repressions and murders, of crusades and chats would have made the Maker return - because the only person actually capable of that was burned and killed long ago. This would have also explained why some spirits believe in Maker because they saw him in people's dreams - the Maker never existed in any other shape and it couldn't manifest completely because his image differed based on individual person's imagination and convictions.

After all, the true horror of living is realizing that nobody is control. Nobody is coming to fix things for you. There is no hope - only the consequences you are forced to live in.

[harmonictechnicality]

*my humble offering to @steddie-week (and the s4 anniversary!) | ao3 link here*

Like most bad ideas, it starts with a question. Eddie is sitting on the ground, messing with the laces on his sneakers. Tying, untying. Mindless shit.

Steve is taking up the whole damn park bench, practically laying on it. Hasn’t said a word in the last ten minutes. 

And Eddie sort of hates the silence. Would like Silence to get decapitated with a chainsaw or something equally gruesome. Needs that particular volume to die the loudest death possible. For the sake of irony, of course.

So Eddie kills it - the silence, that is. The lull taking up all this air between him and Steve Harrington.

He kills it with a question:

“What’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever done?”

Steve’s head snaps in Eddie’s direction. “What did you say?”

“You heard me.”

“Fuck, I don’t know, man.” Steve sort of twitches, right between his eyebrows. Shoulders going lopsided, unnaturally angled. Uncomfortable.

Eddie shouldn’t be feeding off this tension so much. Judging by Steve’s body language though, the answer must be a good one. 

He leans forward, almost singing the words. “You sure about that?”

Pushing is fun, darkly playful. Eddie enjoys getting under people’s skin, crawling around till they shrivel up. Is it wrong? Morally unethical? Well… the verdict is still out on that.

Besides, he’s been around Harrington enough lately to know that it doesn’t take much to make him surrender. 

“Fine.” Steve huffs. He lifts himself to a sitting position, knees bobbing up and down. It takes all of Eddie’s leftover energy to not gloat about how easy that was - how quickly Steve caved. Teasing can (will) come later - right now, he wants answers. 

Secrets.

“So, Robin and I went to this party in the city… got pretty shitfaced.”

Eddie throws his head back. “Lame.” 

“Story’s not over.”

Oh? Interesting. Eddie places his hand over his heart, then waves it back at Steve. “My sincere apologies. Continue.”

Steve rolls his eyes, clears his throat (not that he needed to but whatever). “Anyways, she somehow convinced me to go to this tattoo parlor with her. Said her friend worked there and she wanted to visit them, so-”

“Wait wait wait. Don’t tell me this story ends with you getting a butterfly tattoo on your lower back.”

“Will you stop interrupting?”

There’s this serious expression in Steve’s eyes. A combination of dark colors and pure annoyance. Eddie is sane enough to know that annoyance isn’t something he should find endearing, but he does. On Steve.

Just a little.

He shrugs, and Steve continues. “Well, it turns out her friend wasn’t working that night. But the piercing lady was working and was like… superpersuasive.”

“Look, Munson, I don’t remember many details after that. Like I said, totally shitfaced. I just know when Robin and I woke up the next morning, we were so fucking sore. And not like, hangover sore either. We were sore in the same exact place. Right here.”

Steve’s pointer finger is gesturing at his stomach. Right in the center.

No. Absolutely not. Either Steve had severe stomach pains that night, or he’s suggesting that…

No.

“Yeah. There you have it.”  Steve says. Blankly nodding into space. “Stupidest thing I’ve ever done is get a matching belly button piercing with my best friend. Jesus christ, that’s freaky to say out loud.”

The Silence sneaks up on him. Stabs Eddie in the back when he isn’t looking because he’s too busy trying to imagine Steve Harrington with a piercing of any kind. Let alone the most famously slutty kind.

Wrong, so very wrong. He should never let the words slutty and piercing clutter up his imagination while thinking about Steve. The silence has been too long now. Gotta say something, anything.

“Bullshit.” His tone is harsh. Doesn’t mean for it to be. “There’s no fucking way.”

Steve pouts, crinkles his forehead. “I swear on my car - I’m not making this up.”

And see, here’s where the bad idea comes in. This stormcloud of pouting and piercings and chest hair, it’s all becoming dangerous. That urge to provoke is in Eddie’s bloodstream. He has to tip the scale, twist the knife of chaos as far as he can. Self control is out the fucking window.

“Prove it then.”

“Fuck off, Munson.” Steve laughs, maybe scoffs. Either reaction is a little confusing. “Seriously, this isn’t truth or dare.”

The truth is already out though. It’s the dare that Eddie is hungry for. “You can’t just drop a nuclear statement like that and expect me not to ask to see it.”

“Technically, you didn’t ask.”

Eddie clamors over to Steve, all theatrics and fake agony. “Please, Lord Harrington.” He clasps both hands together, rests his cheek on Steve’s knee. Batting his eyelashes till Steve cracks a smile. “Let me see the metal that has punctured thy skin. I beg of thee.”

Steve shoves him off. “You’re such a dork.” It’s lighthearted, barely qualifies as shoving. He’s become way too decent for actual aggression these days. 

A fact Eddie tirelessly clings to when Steve stands up. Lifts the bottom of his shirt and puts it in his fucking mouth.

“Holy shit.” Eddie mutters. No time to consider how pathetic it comes across.

In theory, this should all be stupidly unattractive. The way Steve holds his shirt between his teeth. The way he mumbles incoherent shit between the fabric in his mouth. The way he keeps pointing at it, poking it.

That shiny, teardrop-shaped metal. Just… hanging from Steve’s belly button, swinging slightly with every small movement. Eddie’s eyes start to swing with it, back and forth. Back and forth. Maybe those roadside hypnotists are onto something, because the dumbest piece of jewelry has Eddie captivated.

He could just be captivated by the guy attached to the dumbest piece of jewelry. Piercing.

Jesus Christ. Eddie really didn’t think his life could get any weirder. But here he is. Staring at Steve Harrington’s belly button piercing. Fucking mouth-breathing at the sight of it. Probably seconds away from salivating. 

He really should consider seeing a licensed psychologist. Fix his terminally horned-up brain once and for all.

“It’s…” Eddie swallows, his eyelids feel heavier than his stare. “Not what I expected.”

The fabric drops from Steve’s mouth. Unevenly falls around his waist... hips. “What were you expecting?”

To laugh. To mock. Threaten blackmail for six lifetimes, maybe more.

Instead, Eddie gazing at it the way people gaze through telescopes. He peers lower, tries to see if it’s silver or gold. Hard to tell at sunset. None of Eddie’s typical instincts are sinking in. All he wants is to feel the metal rolling over his tongue or get it trapped between his teeth. See how it tastes mixed up with Steve’s skin.

“Fuck.” Yikes. Eddie didn’t mean to say that out loud. Straightens up from his questionable position, does it so fast that his spine sounds like bubble wrap. “Sorry, sorry.”

What the hell is he apologizing for? Cussing? Having a skeletal structure? Christ almighty, he’s a mess.

Steve’s lips spread into a grin, doesn’t look like his own. Looks more like the kind Eddie might give after pulling off a successful decoy in one of his campaigns. “What’s wrong with your face, man?”

“My face?”

“It’s all…” Steve trails off. Sighs and sits back down on the bench. “Nevermind.”

Eddie reaches up to his cheek, understands exactly what Steve is referring to. He feels feverish to the touch, must be a shade of red that is so deep, it’s noticeable in the darkening sky. 

“Sorry… sorry.” Steve hangs his head. Seems troubled even though Eddie is nailing that particular routine all on his own.

“Think that’s my line.” Eddie jokes. 

“Right.”

Silence is lurking around them yet again. Eddie hates it, but he’s running out of steam here. The embarrassment is on display, his cheeks and neck covered in splotchy red patches. His voice is higher, somehow, as if his vocal chords are shrinking. He’s undergoing a crisis and crush simultaneously and it is not an attractive look for him.

“Just go ahead and get it over with.” Steve says. Interrupts whatever cynicism that’s currently brewing in Eddie's head. 

“Get what over with?”

“The teasing.”

“Oh that’s not… it’s um… you don’t…” Eddie can’t pick an appropriate response. They’re way beyond politeness and niceties. And any bullshit he tries to pull isn't gonna be convincing. So it’s best to stay honest. Embarrassing, but honest. “I think it looks pretty good.”

“You do?” Steve looks softer. 

“Yeah. I mean… Bowie probably has one, and he’s a fucking superstar so. Uh. Yeah.”

“Bowie, huh?”

“I like Bowie.” I like Bowie? What a beefhead answer. Eddie joins Steve on the bench, hopes it distracts from that very un-cool line. 

“I like Bowie too.” Steve messes with his hair a bit. Elbows Eddie in the side and chuckles. “You should get one.”

“A piercing?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t hold your breath, man. I’m not letting that nightmare creator you described anywhere near my lower abdomen. Not gonna happen.”

Steve reaches out, runs his knuckles down the bridge of Eddie’s nose. Stops at the crease of his nostril. “What about one right here?” His voice is even, calm. Too calm for what he’s asking.

His hand is warm, slightly calloused. The only two thoughts Eddie can process without going fully catatonic. Steve’s hand is on his face and it’s warm.

Slightly calloused. 

“Uh. Dunno.” Eddie says. A hoarse whisper in reply. “Probably not.”

Steve scoots in closer, never taking his hand off Eddie’s face. Just moving it around. Exploring. He brushes along to Eddie’s ear this time. Holds the edge of it between his thumb and index finger, looking straight at it. 

“What about right here?” Steve’s eyes stay fixed on Eddie’s ear. Every touch seems natural, just questions that involve connection or something.

Internally, Eddie is dousing flames. Fanning them left and right. Running in circles, fucking clueless on how to properly calm down. Be civil. Be Dude Civil. His breathing is so rapid, he knows it. Can hear it between them, collecting space. Decides it would be best to mimic Steve. Fix his eyes only on him, borrow the stability as much as possible.

“Mmm… maybe.”  Eddie gets stuck on the ‘mmm’ sound. That’s how good it feels having someone touch him like this. Careful, yet heavy in curiosity. Rolling the tip of his earlobe between two fingers, just enough pressure to create heat. 

It warrants that sound.

Steve’s glance drifts before his fingers do. Eyes landing on Eddie’s lips, slight hesitancy before his hand follows. Eddie has to hold his breath now. Minimal oxygen is the only way he’ll survive this moment, which makes no fucking sense, but it does all the same.

“Here would look really good.” Steve slowly traces the curve of Eddie’s bottom lip with the pad of his thumb. The back and forth pattern is disarming. Makes Eddie’s lips part, mouth slightly open.

Just enough to speak. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

If Eddie passes out from lack of oxygen, he’ll regret it. He’ll regret not taking the risk, finishing what Steve has started. Because this surpasses friendly touching. 

This is charged in electric shockwaves.

Eddie dips in, kisses Steve before he can move his hand out of the way. Steve makes a sound, not even a surprised one. It’s sweeter, laced in relief. Eddie pushes in, wants more, whatever he can get. Has his fingers wrapped around Steve’s wrist, the same hand that’s dragging down his face, his neck. Stopping at his chest. 

Every rumor is true, that kissing Steve Harrington is like the gates of heaven opening up. That his tongue could work miracles on amateur lips with a few licks and curls. But no one ever told him about the noises he makes - and those are the best fucking part. Heaving breaths, pleased whines, each one captured with Eddie’s mouth before they get any louder.

Maybe that’s it. Maybe those are just for Eddie. Reserved for kissing him.

Goddamn, he’s delusional. Completely delirious from kissing a dude with a belly button piercing.

There’s a light getting brighter, almost approaching them. Eddie opens his eyes, quickly backs off while Steve does the same. Has to literally detachhimself from wherever his hand was busy wandering all over Steve’s body. 

Headlights pull into the nearby parking lot. Eddie squints to get a better look at the car. It’s Robin and Vickie, showing up fashionably late as always. Sure, he’s grateful that it’s just them, the queerest people in his circle of weirdos. And while they’re reasonable people with shit like this, even they’dbe shocked to know that Eddie and Steve just sucked face for a solid three minutes. Probably best to not mention the gory details, not tonight. Eddie hopes Steve is thinking the same thing.

Both of them stand up, rearrange themselves to look presentable. Less tousled and kiss-bitten. Steve spends a few extra seconds with his hair before turning to Eddie, eyebrows high. Likely a non-verbal ask if his hair is looking as godly as ever.

Of course it does. Looks even better knowing Eddie’s nails were just digging into it.

Steve is a few steps ahead of Eddie, heading for the girls, when Eddie does it again. Kills the silence with a question. 

“Can we… do this again?” It’s edging on desperate, he’s so fucking aware of that. Self control really proving to be a major downfall with him tonight. Should definitely consider taking classes, train his willpower or some shit.

Steve stops walking. He doesn’t turn around, doesn’t even look at Eddie as he speaks. “My place.”

Oh. That’s… wow. Unexpected. Eddie jogs up to Steve, beside him. Way too eager now, sort of buzzing for more information. Hints of excitement or maybe a smile. Anything, really. He’s at that level of weak for this guy.

Steve just keeps walking, but leans in, right next to Eddie’s ear. The same one he messed with earlier. His voice is quiet, but Eddie hears every damn syllable:

“I’ll leave the window unlatched for you.”

For him. 

Maybe Eddie isn’t completely delusional after all.

[maybe-im-dark]

Pancakes

(After an idea of @mrcorkus)

The fluorescent light in the base of Team X hummed softly, a cold and sterile background to the low growl of Victor’s snore. Logan sat on the edge of the bed opposite of his brother’s in the room they begrudgingly shared, tugging at his boots with deliberate focus. It wasn’t like he hated sharing the space—hell, Victor’s presence and his snoring was familiar, like the rumble of distant thunder. But things weren’t the same anymore, not since they’d joined Team X. Victor had become more brutal, all the more eager to kill, not caring if it were innocents. 

Victor, sprawled out like a lion basking in the sun, cracked an eye open. “You gonna keep brooding there, Jimmy, or actually say what’s eating at ya?”

“Nothing’s eating at me,” Logan muttered, his voice gruff. But his posture betrayed him—shoulders tense, head hung low like a pup caught chewing on a shoe.

Victor yawned, stretching like a lazy predator before sitting up. “You think I don’t see it? You’ve been like this since the mission briefing. What is it, huh? Too much noise in the world, or are you just missing the quiet?”

Logan didn’t respond right away. Instead, his gaze lingered on the faded military tent canvas stuffed in the corner of the room. Memories from years ago floated to the surface—nights when they’d shared a bed not out of necessity but out of Logan’s fear of being alone.

Back then, Logan was just a kid—a scared, wide-eyed boy clutching Victor’s arm like it was the only thing tethering him to reality. They’d run from their home, leaving behind blood and a shattered sense of innocence. Logan, barely twelve, cried himself to sleep most nights.

Victor had tried ignoring it at first. He wasn’t good with feelings, and the sound of Logan’s muffled sobs grated on his nerves. But eventually, something inside him gave way. One night, he’d climbed into Logan’s bed without a word, pulling the boy close.

Logan had blinked up at him, his face streaked with tears. “What’re you doin’?”

Victor’s voice was low, almost embarrassed. “Shut up, Jimmy. You’ll sleep better if you’re not shakin’ like a leaf.”

He didn’t expect what happened next. Logan curled into him, like a small animal seeking warmth. Victor had sighed, awkwardly draping an arm over him. And when Logan’s trembling didn’t stop, he did something he hadn’t done before—he purred.

It wasn’t intentional, just an instinct he hadn’t tapped into since he always had to hide his mutation from his father. But it worked. Logan’s breathing evened out, and he fell asleep with his face buried in Victor’s chest.

From then on, it became a silent ritual. When Logan woke from nightmares, Victor would grumble but let him crawl into his bed. Sometimes he’d purr; other times, he’d just stay still and let Logan cling to him. And in the mornings, Victor would scrounge up whatever food they had and make pancakes. They weren’t fancy—just batter fried in whatever pan they could find—but Logan ate them like they were a feast.

---

“Jimmy.” Victor’s voice brought Logan back to the present. “You’re thinkin’ too loud.”

Logan snorted, shaking his head. “Just...remembering.”

Victor tilted his head, his eyes narrowing. “The old days, huh?”

“Yeah.” Logan ran a hand through his hair. “You used to make pancakes.”

Victor barked a laugh. “I made somethin’ that looked like pancakes. You’re the one who thought they were edible.”

Logan allowed a small smile to tug at his lips. “They were good enough.”

Victor leaned back, crossing his arms. “You were such a little runt back then. Always sneakin’ into my bed, scared of the dark.”

Logan bristled. “I wasn’t scared.”

Victor grinned, showing his sharp teeth. “Sure you weren’t. And I didn’t purr like a goddamn housecat to get you to shut up.”

Logan shot him a glare, but there was no real heat behind it. “Why’d you do it, anyway?”

Victor shrugged, his expression softening. “You are my little brother. What else was I gonna do? Let you cry yourself sick?”

The room fell into a comfortable silence. Logan shifted, finally lying back on the bed. Victor glanced over at him, his grin fading into something quieter, more thoughtful.

“You ever need somethin’, Jimmy,” Victor said after a while, his voice unusually gentle, “you just gotta ask. Even if it’s pancakes.”

Logan huffed a laugh, closing his eyes. “Thanks, Vic.”

Victor leaned back against the wall, his gaze lingering on his brother. Things had changed between them over the years, but some things—like the bond forged in those early days—never would.

As Logan’s breathing evened out, Victor allowed himself to relax. The hum of the fluorescent light faded into the background, and for a moment, it felt like they were back in that small, ramshackle cabin, pancakes sizzling on the stove and the world outside kept at bay.

[naberrieshifting]

My first ever shift

- My first shift

I had done (I can’t remember her names) reprogramming your mind method a few days before hand and then on the 2nd of august 2024 I shifted for the first time to my Star Wars reality without really even trying

I woke up to a banging at my door and shot up not knowing where I was, I was in my room in the temple it was plain with silver almost white walls and a purple bed (thanks to me) my bathroom to the right with my cupboard next to it and the door to the rest of the temple in front of me.

“Alissa are you awake” I hear from outside my door and I recognise it as obi wans voice

“Yeah” I reply in the most timid voice imaginable and sit up from my bed

“Get ready the council needs to see you, Anakin and I.”

“Yeah ok”

“And be quick” obi wan added before leaving, it wasn’t unusual for me to be late to things I’m not the best at time management

I explored my room for what seemed like hours but had only been 10 minutes before getting ready and heading to the council room

Once I arrived I saw obi and Anakin standing outside the door waiting for me. Anakin was glaring daggers at me, if I hadn’t spent my whole life with him I’d be intimidated but he wasn’t scary, he was someone I’ve seen everyday he was familiar

“Oh look who finally decided to show up” Anakin spat out to me while smirking and crossed his arms. I looked between him and obi-wan before telling him to piss off. Anakin just continued glaring at me before obi-wan cut both off us of before we could say anything “come on let’s go” he is so done with us.

Anyways after that I went back to my CR because yeah

[clarisse0o]

Camp Wiegman-Part 28

Lucy Bronze x Ona Batlle

Alternative Universe : Military School

Words: 5k

Masterlist

———————————————————————

Thursday, December 31; 12:00 PM - Home.

- What if your new friends don’t like me?

- Mapi, that’s enough.

- No, seriously, I don’t know them and they don’t know me either, remember?

- You’ve got nothing to worry about, I said, rolling my eyes for the umpteenth time.

Since we woke up, she’s been second-guessing her decision to accept my New Year’s invitation. She had a whole week to think it over, and now she’s reacting. She was so enthusiastic at first. Now I’m getting all these “Are you sure?” and “What if…?” questions. I don’t think I can take much more.

- Anyway, it’s too late to back out now, I replied calmly.

- Pff... Are you almost done packing your suitcase?

- Yeah, I’m good.

- Are you going to tell me who all these gifts are for?

- You’ll find out soon enough. Are you ready? We’ll be leaving shortly.

- I’ve been ready since yesterday, she chuckles. I think you’re the one we should be asking.

- I should have everything.

I’ve checked at least three times to make sure. Since I won’t be coming back to Barcelona, I need to make sure I don’t forget anything. My next return could be months away or just a week.

- Do you really think we made the right choice? We could always stay here.

- Stop it, my friends are great. You’ll love them just as much as they’ll love you, I’m sure of it.

- So, how’s it going to work, then?

Even though I’ve explained it to her a hundred times, I think it reassures her to hear it again. I still wonder why she’s so anxious. I’m sure everything will go just fine.

- Alexia and Alba are landing at practically the same time as us. We’ll wait for each other and then take a taxi together to Leah’s place. That way, you’ll get to know my roommate ahead of time. She’s really excited to meet you.

- Hmm... Anyway, I don’t have a choice, do I?

- Nope, I giggled. It’s time to go. Hector must be waiting for us.

She grabs her things without much enthusiasm. I laugh as I follow her out. Her suitcase is small compared to mine. We say goodbye to Samuel and Sofia, who were waiting for us at the door. My mother, Marcus, and Joan had already left around ten this morning to visit friends who live a few hours away. I got up at nine on purpose to say goodbye to Joan. It wasn’t hard since I was already awake.

- Have a great time, girls, Sam and Sofia wish us.

- Thanks, have a great evening too.

I give them one last hug as they thank me for the gift I gave them. It wasn’t much, but I wanted to mark the occasion. They leave at the same time as we do since no one will be home. I’m glad they can enjoy the rest of their day with family. As for Hector, he still has a bit of work to do, driving us to the airport. The return is close now.

Thursday, December 31; 4:00 PM - Manchester Airport.

I stretch and yawn loudly, to Mapi’s amusement. I need to stretch my legs after the two-hour flight. I slept really well, even with Mapi’s presence. Shay greeted me as we got off the plane. Mapi can’t believe I know a girl like her. She gives me a playful shove after we pass her, still glancing back.

- Goodness. Why do you always attract the prettiest ones? she laughs.

- You can have her, I say with a smile, knowing her tastes. She’s just friendly, that’s all.

- Uh-huh. It’s true you’re saving yourself for Bronze, she teases back.

I roll my eyes, keeping my smile, not responding to avoid fueling her idea. My only hope is that she’ll behave in front of my friends tonight. No one knows about my relationship with my boss. I’ve given her enough pointers on what to avoid saying or doing. I don’t know why, but knowing her, I probably should’ve avoided it. She might do the exact opposite just to mess with me. Her arm drops as we reach the airport. We’ve barely passed the arrival barriers when a new brunette practically leaps onto me. I laugh as I feel her legs wrap around my waist, forcing me to support her by the thighs to avoid a spectacular fall.

- I missed you sooo much! she exclaims, her voice rising into a high pitch at the end.

- I missed you too, guapa!

I glance to my side where Mapi seems to have trouble processing what she’s seeing, from what I can tell. These next few days will be very enlightening for her. She’ll probably understand why these exceptional people make me want to stay here. Especially Alexia, who remains one of my favorites because of her persistence. She somehow managed to break through my physical barriers with her tactile nature.

Her voice goes high-pitched at the end. I smile, noticing Mapi’s puzzled expression beside me. She certainly didn’t expect me to accept such an embrace from anyone other than her. She’s going to understand a lot over these next few days.

- You must be Mapi? I hear despite being muffled by Alexia. I’m Alba Putellas.

- That’s me, and I know who you are, Bonita, replies my best friend.

Mapi’s trademark tact hasn’t changed. As if remembering her presence, Alexia finally lets go of me. I’m barely surprised when she hugs Mapi next. Mapi seems slightly awkward at first but accepts the contact out of politeness. I take advantage of their meeting to greet Alba in turn.

- Good to see you again, Princess. Glad to be back where it all began?

- Princess, huh? Mapi interjects before I have a chance to reply. Why don’t you ever tell me things like this? They’ve got you figured out, she laughs.

- Should I tell them how you were acting a few hours ago so you don’t start? I jokingly threaten.

- I think that’s enough, she says, pulling a face. By the way, what time is it? Is it normal that I’m starving?

- Four o’clock, but it must be the jet lag, comments Alexia.

- Yeah, that’s exactly it. Good thing I came prepared, right?

- Awh, you’re the best anyway.

I smile, digging into my bag to pull out some cookies I grabbed at the last minute in the kitchen. I expected she’d be hungry. I was just like her on my first trip here. She munches on them as we head to the baggage carousel to collect our luggage. Alba and Alexia have already retrieved theirs, which means they landed well before us. Once we’ve all got our bags, we head out. Alexia had reserved a taxi to take us to Leah and Alessia’s place. The taxi is late, making Mapi grumble, who now, instead of being hungry, is cold. I had warned her there’d be a big temperature difference between Barcelona and here, but she didn’t listen. From what I can see, it hasn’t snowed too much yet. To our relief, the taxi finally arrives, shutting my best friend up. Alba sits up front while I find myself sandwiched between my two friends in the back seat. I regret my spot when they start chatting with each other the whole way. At least I don’t have to worry about them getting along, though I had very little doubt. I knew everything would be fine. Thankfully, the trip was short. Leah and Alessia live just outside downtown in a spacious house, not too big and not too small. Alba takes care of paying the taxi while we unload our bags from the trunk. Leah herself opens the door before we even have to ring. I’m at the front of the group, so I’m the first to hug her.

- Hey, Princess, I didn’t know you were so sentimental, she laughs. You’re slipping in my book.

- Be grateful you’re getting a hug from her, I had to work hard to get the first one, comments Alexia.

- Seriously! You wouldn’t believe how long it took me to get the first one, Mapi chimes in.

- Hey, you two, I can manage you separately, but if you team up, this isn’t going to work.

They exchange a knowing look that tells me I’m going to regret bringing them together. In the end, the one who’s going to be jealous will probably be me. They get along even better than I imagined. I move forward when Leah invites us in. Alessia arrives shortly after we enter to greet us as well.

- Are we the first ones? Alba asks.

- Yeah, Patri and Claudia should be here soon, Leah replies. They said they’re picking up Maya and Ella on the way.

- Owh, that’s a lot of names to remember, Mapi comments.

I smile, understanding her on that point. Not long ago, I barely knew half of them, but I eventually learned everyone.

- There aren’t that many, Alexia reassures her.

- Maybe, but at the same time, Ona never talks to me about you guys, she retorts.

- Are you kidding me? I exclaim, offended.

- OK, how about I give you a tour of the house? Alessia suggests to avoid our debate.

- Good idea, let’s do that, Alexia agrees, not without teasing us.

We follow Alessia through the house. We start in the large living area we’re already in. It combines the living room and dining room, along with the kitchen in the back left corner. This layout creates a big, well-divided space. The decor is neither too old nor too modern. It’s a lot like the house I grew up in. We continue upstairs where we bring our luggage. She shows us the bathroom, the toilets, then the three main bedrooms, and two smaller guest rooms. She explains that there will be four rooms with three people each tonight.

- Well, I guess the three of us will be together, Alexia says. Is that okay with you, Alessia?

- Yes, yes, of course. Whatever you want.

She lets us choose between the two guest rooms, even though they’re practically identical. A mattress has been added to each room, leaving little space for our stuff, but with some organization, we manage. Alessia leaves us to help the other with the preparations. We thank her before she disappears downstairs.

- Want to share a bed? Mapi suggests. I mean, if you don’t mind, Alexia.

- No problem, she replies. You’ve known each other longer, so it’s only natural.

- Ona?

- We’ve been sharing a bed for almost two weeks. One more night won’t bother me.

- So it’s settled, she concludes.

I silently thank Mapi for her suggestion. She’s saving me from a tricky situation. I love Alexia, but I’m not ready to share a bed with her. That’s still a boundary for me. Before joining the others, we finish bringing up the rest of our things. Well, mostly Alexia’s and mine since Mapi doesn’t have as much as we do. She still comes down with us to take Alba’s things, which we put in Leah’s room as requested.

- You could’ve told me Alexia was so gorgeous, Mapi comments once we’re alone. Do you think I’ve got a chance with her?

- No, forget it, I giggled. I already told you she has a girlfriend and it’s serious. I didn’t bring you here to hit on my friends, I frowned.

- I was joking, she giggles. But still, what a shame. She must be a heartbreaker... Just like you, it seems.

- Really? Why do you say that?

- Didn’t you see how Alessia was eyeing you?

- What? Alessia? I laugh. Are you out of your mind?

- Didn’t you notice? she’s surprised. I’m telling you, she’s got a crush on you! Pay more attention when you’re with her.

- If you say so...

We stop talking when Alexia returns from Leah’s room. She smiles at us as she approaches.

- Everything good?

- Yep, we can go down and help the others.

And that’s what we do. The conversation with Mapi leaves me a bit puzzled, though. I would’ve liked to keep talking about it so she could explain how she came to that conclusion. I’ll pay more attention; maybe I’ll figure it out myself.

When we get downstairs, we find a completely transformed living room that we had barely recognized earlier. Leah and Alba have totally changed it by moving the couches and some furniture to create more space. They’re currently adding a table and chairs for tonight.

- "Alessia is in the kitchen if you’re looking for her," someone says.

We thank them and head to the kitchen, where we find Alessia busily working at the stove. Alexia immediately volunteers to help her. As for Mapi and me, to avoid overcrowding the kitchen, Alessia suggests we take care of the drinks in the meantime, which delights Mapi to no end.

- "The garage door is here," Alessia shows us at the entrance. "Everything’s in the car trunk. Just put whatever you can in the fridge."

- "For the alcohol, I’ve set up a table here," Leah tells us, not far away.

- "Got it, we’ll handle that."

Everyone goes back to their tasks as Mapi and I head to the garage. It’s a very well-organized space, divided into three areas. The first area near the door has a lot of storage cabinets and even a collection of wine bottles that we definitely don’t have permission to touch. On the other side, there’s a workshop space that’s just as orderly. In the middle, there are two parking spaces, one of which is empty, presumably because their parents are using the car since they’re not here. We don’t waste any time and open the trunk, which is indeed full of various bottles. Since most people stayed in Manchester, we agreed that Leah and Alba would handle the shopping and we’d split the bill among the participants tonight. All we had to do was bring the money and list our preferences to make sure everyone was happy.

- "Wow, there’s enough here to really get hammered," comments Mapi. "Beer, vodka, tequila, Jack Daniel's..." she lists off as she sees them. "They thought of everything!"

- "Help me out instead of snooping!"

- "Yeah, yeah, easy there, mini-commander."

- "Shut up, idiot," I say with a small smile.

She mocks me while balancing several bottles in her arms. We start by filling the kitchen fridge, then the garage fridge that Leah showed us. After that, we set up the alcohol on the table in the living room, preparing the cups that go with it. For what we can’t store, we place them next to the garage fridge to refill it as needed. When we return to the kitchen, the girls have finished preparing the meat platters. We agreed to have a raclette grill, as it was the simplest and least troublesome option given our group size. All we had to do was prepare the platters, as the butcher had already cut the red and white meat. Alessia added some salads and sauces like mayonnaise and ketchup to go with it. Another raclette machine is supposed to be brought by Patri. Speaking of her, they just arrived, right as we finished the final preparations. Leah and Alba had time to change in the meantime. I’m surprised to see that they all made the effort to wear a dress tonight. Now it’s our turn to get ready for the party. Maya and Ella join us as we go upstairs. I learned that they’re from here, like Patri and Claudia. I also learned that the only person not coming tonight is Misa, who already had plans. I don’t know her very well, so it doesn’t really bother me. In a few minutes, Alessia’s room turns into a real mess. Six girls just invaded her space with a ton of clothes.

- "How about this?" I ask for their opinion, showing a pair of black jeans and a shirt.

- "Ugh. Are you kidding?" says Mapi. "Good thing I brought you some clothes."

Oh no… I’m already dreading this just from hearing that sentence. I knew she would bring me things without asking. I already regret it just seeing her pull out my navy blue dress with a long V-neckline. I love wearing it, but it wasn’t at all what I had in mind for tonight. She holds it up to the others, who gasp just at the sight of it. The back is covered in lace. As for the length, it reaches mid-thigh, like almost all the dresses Mapi managed to make me buy.

- "Oh my God!" exclaims Alexia. "It’s gorgeous! You have to wear it!"

- "Really?" I say, groaning.

- "Absolutely!" adds Ella. "It must look amazing on you!"

- "It looks incredible on her," agrees Mapi. "And don’t forget the heels, right?"

She says this while dangling the matching stilettos on her finger. I hate her so much right now. It’s like she chose my outfit without asking for my opinion.

- "I’m sure it’ll look great on you," comments Alessia.

- "Of course it’ll look good on her. Sexier than this and you die, right Batlle?" she says, slapping my butt.

I glare at her, knowing exactly what she’s trying to do. She’s trying to prove she’s right about Alessia.

- "Come on, go put it all on," urges Alexia.

She hands me everything and practically throws me out of the room, leaving me no choice but to pick another outfit. I sigh as I head to the bathroom to change. At least Mapi had the sense to think of everything. She brought me a pair of tights. She’s not my best friend for nothing. She knows I hate wearing a dress without tights. When I’m ready, I return to the room, and it’s no surprise that my outfit is approved. Then it’s Alexia’s turn, followed by Mapi and Alessia to change. Everyone has put on a dress, so I feel somewhat reassured. Mapi hasn’t had any trouble fitting in with my new friends so far. I’m glad she gets along with everyone. Then again, she’s never been unsociable, quite the opposite. I still wonder why she was so anxious. She especially gets along well with Alexia. My best friend’s extravagant personality blends perfectly with Alexia’s good mood. For the next part of the preparations, we return to our room to do our makeup. It’s impossible to do it in Alessia’s room, where we’d all be crammed.

- "Don’t you think Alessia has a thing for Ona?"

- "Stop with that," Mapi.

- "No, she’s absolutely right," agrees Alexia. "I wanted to talk to you about it before we left, but Bronze came too quickly. Even though your exchange was intense, she seemed to like that you’re lesbian."

- "Aha!" exclaims Mapi. "See!"

- "Yeah, yeah, whatever!" I roll my eyes.

Alexia teases us. Seeing that I’m not thrilled with the conversation, she changes the subject to our plans for the end of the evening. She still hasn’t changed her mind about joining her girlfriend. She’s very careful when she talks about it, knowing how I reacted in the messages. She must have realized I wasn’t too keen on the idea.

- "What’s the plan?" Mapi asks excitedly.

I had filled Mapi in. If I leave, it won’t be without her, which Alexia completely understands. Although I know she can handle herself alone, there’s no way I’m leaving her here.

- "If Alba finds out, we’re dead…" I whisper.

- "Don’t be a killjoy," Mapi exclaims. "If the love of your life were two blocks away, you’d go too. I know it! I’m surprised Alba doesn’t know, though. You seem close."

- "She’s very… protective," she grimaces. "If she knew who I’m dating, she’d lock me up for life."

She’s joking, but knowing Alba, it’s not far from the truth. I’ve never seen anyone so caring about their family as she is. It’s like Alexia is the most precious thing she has. That’s probably true.

- "So, where will your guy be?" she continues her questioning.

- "Not far. She’s spending the evening with her friends, maybe five or ten minutes’ walk away. We haven’t seen each other in a while, so I really want to go. She wasn’t too keen at first, but she finally gave in to my insistence."

- "So, if I sum up the situation, we just need to distract Alba long enough for us to leave. The best plan is to get her drunk, right?"

We laugh with Alexia. She’s just proving she’s still far from knowing my friends. Alba will probably be the last to get drunk tonight if we all start drinking. Over time, I’ve learned that she’s very attentive to those close to her and likes to look after the people she cares about.

- "I doubt she’ll drink much alcohol. Am I wrong?"

- "No, you’re right," Alexia sighs, shaking her head. "She’ll drink, but not to the point of forgetting the evening. But," she starts with a mischievous smile, "I want you to drink."

- "Me?" I ask in surprise when she points at me. "Why?"

- "Because this is the first party we’re having together. I know you drink at parties, and I want us to go crazy, like it’s our first and last night together."

I smile sadly. I know exactly what she’s thinking. Will we get to have another night like this? Tonight is an exception, and no one can say if it will happen again.

- "Bronze won’t be happy if she finds out…"

The words slip out before I can stop them. Once again, she’s the first thing I think of. I know she kind of gave me a free pass for tonight, but I promised her I’d be reasonable. Knowing that I didn’t listen to her will bother me more than I’d like to admit. Mapi groans in frustration.

- "Stop thinking about her for two seconds," she grumbles. "She’s not your mother, and you have the right to have fun."

- "I know, but… I don’t know," I shrug. "I just don’t feel the need anymore."

- "You say that now. We’ll see after your third drink."

I chuckle, shaking my head in amusement. She’s probably right. Mapi often plays bartender for me at parties. If she serves me things that go down like water, I’ll probably break my promises quickly.

- "I don’t want to lie to her when I get back, and we’ll definitely talk about the party."

- "No one’s asking you to lie. Just leave out that little detail."

My best friend’s determination makes me sigh. I won’t win on this topic. If she’s decided to make me drink, she’ll do it, and she’ll succeed. She has this persuasive influence over me that I can never resist. Sometimes I wonder who would win between her and Lucy now that she’s in my life. Has she dethroned her? I can’t say at this moment. Our conversation is interrupted by Alessia, who comes to check if we’re ready. We’re surprised to see it’s already seven o’clock. It seems everyone is already waiting for us downstairs.

- "We’re coming," Alexia announces.

She nods, lingering a bit. I realize when I turn around that she’s looking at me a little longer than the others before quickly leaving and closing the door behind her. The girls giggle, teasing me about the moment. After that, we decide to head down to start our last night of the year. We greet the last to arrive, Laia, before sitting in the remaining seats. Leah and Alba did a great job setting up the little appetizer table. They added chairs so everyone has a place. Of course, I’m seated between Alexia and Mapi. My eyes linger on the many appetizers arranged on the small living room table in front of us.

- "Alessia made everything this morning," Leah, who’s sitting next to Mapi, tells me.

- "Impressive," I say sincerely.

- "I know, right? She was on a mission. No one could stop her," she says with a laugh.

I smile timidly before looking around. I’m happy to be here. I really missed everyone. I feel like I belong here with them.

- "So, what can I get you guys?" she asks the group.

The evening starts off slowly. The drinks so far range between beer and champagne. I opted for a glass of champagne, as I'm not particularly fond of the other option. This drink is tricky because it doesn’t taste strong, but it can go to your head quickly if you don’t eat something with it. The first conversation revolves around our holidays and Christmas. I realize that it was a disaster for most people.

- "No way, seriously?" Alba laughs. "Your dad gave you condoms for Christmas?"

- "Don’t laugh, Girl," Patri responds. "He said it was time for me to find a someone. It's like he’s afraid I that I’ll end up alone."

I sink into my chair as my friends laugh. Mapi Is very touchy with me and It seems she’s not planning to stop anytime soon as she kisses me on the corner of my lips. Her intention hits me immediately when I see Alessia's eyes, half surprised, half upset. Mapi is trying to provoke her to prove she’s right, and I’m forced to admit she is. I must be appealing to Alessia, given her reactions. I feel sorry for her that it’s not mutual. I sigh and gently pull away from my best friend. No one comments on the little moment. They must have noticed by now that Mapi is important to me. She’s the only one I let touch me freely.

- "I forbid you from doing that," I growl at Mapi immediately.

- "You won’t stop me," she retorts with a playful smile.

- "I’m giving you credit. Now stop."

- « No," she smiles even more. "You’ll see, it’s going to spice up our evening. »

- « You two were dating right ? » Alessia ask 

-« Yep  » I answer

- "At least you’ve managed to keep your friendship," Alba says.

- "Our friendship was too valuable to lose. We’ve become pillars for each other," Mapi replies.

After that little exchange, the evening continues, though I remain a bit on edge. Knowing Mapi, she’ll stick to her plan just to have fun tonight. Her inevitable bluntness doesn’t reassure me, and I’m worried Alessia won’t get through the night unscathed. Alexia seems to be in on it, as every time Mapi drops a hint about our past relationship in a conversation, Alexia insists on getting more details, further crushing Alessia with each revelation. Everyone is always surprised by what my ex says, as if they’re discovering a bit more about me with each little snippet of my past before I became who I am now.

We sit around the table around eight o’clock. Everyone’s already had at least three drinks. Mapi managed to position us opposite Alessia so that she can clearly see Mapi’s hand resting on my thigh under the table. Alexia can’t stop quietly laughing, watching Alessia simmer. She even asked us if we were back together, referencing our necklaces. Mapi delighted in telling her no, but that we care a lot about each other. I think Alessia might lose it before the night is over.

We eat while mostly talking about school. Leah recounts all the antics she’s gotten up to since her arrival, and the others quickly join in. I realize that no one at Camp Wiegman is really serious. They’re just lucky no one’s there to notice. If I were in their place, Lucy would’ve had my head for everything they’re describing. Bottles of wine are being passed around since Alessia offered us some sweet white wine. I recently discovered that it’s my guilty pleasure, so I couldn’t refuse. I’ve been drinking only that since she brought it out, it’s so good. Mapi wisely put a stop to it so I wouldn’t be drunk before midnight, and she’s right to do so. I almost forgot for a moment that I’m supposed to stay reasonable.

- "So, are you still studying, Mapi?" Claudia asks.

- "Yeah, in mechanical engineering."

- "Seriously? I like you more and more," Patri responds.

- "I’ve always liked anything related to mechanics," she shrugs. "I got into school thanks to Ona’s support."

- "Don’t say that, you would’ve gotten in regardless."

- "Maybe, but it was mostly your support that encouraged me to apply. You were there when I needed it most. We stick together, remember?"

I smile as I fist bump her. It’s true, we’ve always been like that. Just because I went through a rough patch doesn’t mean I abandoned my principles when I came back. I’ve always been there to help her when she needed my support, whether before or after my time with Feli. As for her studies, that was just before. She was really down about choosing her field. She didn’t know what to pursue, so I encouraged her to follow her dream, without worrying about what her family thought. Mostly her parents, actually. There was a real rift between them after her choice. They never saw her in that field at all. Yet, she doesn’t regret it one bit now, even though her parents have become even more distant.

The meal eventually ends. Everyone helps clean up. We take a break before having dessert. The girls dive into the alcohol, as does Alessia, who’s decided not to hold back tonight. My friends can’t get enough of her reactions. Poor thing, if only she knew that Mapi is doing it on purpose. I really feel for her.

We continue with the other bottles of alcohol we had brought out. Mapi chose tequila shots for the two of us. She’s starting off strong, making us take several in a row, but not enough to be out of it. I know when to stop, and I’m especially careful to snack between drinks to balance it out. We’ve turned up the music that’s been playing in the background since the beginning. As usual, Mapi drags me to dance even though I hate it. We’re quickly joined by Alexia, as well as Ella and a few other. Alessia joined us when Mapi started having fun dancing close with me like she does at almost all our parties.

We eventually return to the table when we decide to have dessert around eleven o’clock. We opted for ice cream with chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Some people had coffee with it. This break was short-lived as we quickly moved on to some drinking games. For once, I managed to escape. I didn’t feel like participating when I remembered my last few parties. Mapi surprisingly left me alone. I suppose it’s thanks to Alexia, who decided to stay with me. We laugh at Patri, who is really getting drunk, unable to hold her alcohol. Surprisingly, Lotte is also feeling the effects, and even Alba is starting to let loose, much to her sister’s delight.

Midnight is approaching. There are only a few minutes left before we ring in the new year. We’ve stopped everything to gather in the living room. Leah is busy filling glasses while Alessia finds a channel doing the countdown on the TV. Once everything is ready, we just wait for the countdown, which isn’t far off. We all shout it out loud together.

- "Ten… Nine… Eight… Seven… Six… Five… Four… Three… Two… One… HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

I take hold of my two friends who had the idea to jump on me at the same time. We go around and kiss everyone. We even had some surprises when Patri suddenly kissed Claudia.  Mapi confessed that she gave Patri the idea after seeing them practically devouring each other with their eyes. Mapi won’t let go of me and even forces me to dance with her. I really hope this year is the one where I can finally start fresh. So far, it’s off to a great start. I’ve never felt so well surrounded. The changes I’ve been waiting for are finally happening, little by little.

[pocket-watcher]

Okay but what if someone made a deal with a hypnosis demon/entity/whatever to get better sleep, but he started invading her waking life too :)

OKAY but what if this was a great idea and I love your beautiful mind Anon. What if.

It had been a month since Ashley had started sleeping better.

It was bliss.

From 11pm to 7am she sank into the deepest sleep, awaking refreshed and energised always. She’d finally been able to catch up with her chores. She’d brought her coffee intake from 3 cups a day to 1. And she had enough energy to actually go for a run every morning.

And all she’d had to do was sell her soul.

Okay, that sounds bad. But it wasn’t as weird as it sounds!

After countless sleepless nights Ashley had found herself scrolling endlessly through forum after forum of Life Hacks to cure her insomnia.

Medication? Nope. Exercising until exhaustion? Nope. A nice warm glass of milk? Nada.

But then, she found a link.

This sketchy website full of summoning spells and incantations and potions.

But, honestly, she had almost fallen asleep at the wheel a couple hours ago so she literally had no choice.

Ashley gathered the candles, dimmed the lights, and began reciting the spell.

That’s when everything went black.

She woke up 7am the next day, and despite being hunched over on the floor surrounded by half-burnt candles she had never felt better!

And every night since she had done the same. 11pm rolls around and she simply drops into sleep.

The first few times had been a bit precarious, but once she’d realised the timing of it all she made sure she was safely in bed by 10:59.

It was weird though, she kept having the same dream about the same man.

But she thought nothing of it.

Until she bumped into him inside a coffee shop.

“Woah, sorry about that! Are you okay?” He said, a voice like heaven.

She stuttered and stumbled and nodded, scrambling for a seat. Face flushed.

It was him. She knew it was him. But she second guessed herself anyway.

“Is this seat taken?” He said, already setting his espresso down.

Blankly, she shook her head. What was she supposed to say? I’ve been dreaming about you for the last month, are you a sleep demon?

“Thanks. Are you okay? You look flushed.” He smiled.

Something about his smile just made her feel a lot more comfortable.

“Yeah, sorry, lost in thought.” She chuckled and sipped her coffee.

“Oh?” He mused.

She stifled a yawn, taking another sip of her coffee and willing for the caffeine to kick in.

“Yeah… You just look familiar.”

“Do I? I’m afraid you don’t. I’d remember a pretty face like that.”

She blushed.

It was so easy to talk to this guy. She lazily swished her remaining coffee around in her cup.

She yawned once more.

“Late night?”

Her eyes were heavy as she raised them towards him.

“No, actually… sorry. I don’t know why I’m -“

He placed his hand on hers.

“Maybe you just need to relax and take a nap, Hm?”

The warm tones of his voice and his gentle touch drew her in. So familiar.

It was like the comfort of staying under the covers on a winter morning.

She allowed herself to stand as he guided her upwards.

“Yeah… Maybe I need a nap.” She parroted back to him, voice hollow and her stare glassy.

The coffee had long gone cold now. Time had passed without her even realising as she allowed the stranger to lead her out of the coffee shop.

But she didn’t mind.

She had wanted sleep more than anything, after all.

[echantedtoon]

Ocean Deep Ch17 Miscommunications And Escape Plans P2

(Warnings: Mentions of Yn's wounds, Koyuki's condition, and some fighting/blood/scratches from the mers.

The story is almost done! Almost a few chapters left!:))

taglist: @six-eyed-samurai @lavenderdrxp @jjamsbangtan @camilo-uwu @hopefulworld1

@shadyd3ar @amypop122 @azuredragonstrike

@mimisweetz @chaoticoperatorduckhairdo @staarflowerr @aleee-386 @summrwalkr

@nicora04 @miniverse-zen

Remember if you want to be added to the tag list lemme know.

You wished you knew what happened to them all after they started sparing. Or in Akaza's and Tengen's case actually fighting after purposely antagonizing him. The two hissing at each other and snarling out. Honestly you couldn't even tell who was winning because most of the fight was UNDER the water with them randomly popping up every few seconds either splashing up huge waves or showing themselves punching, or Akaza having Tengen in a headlock or some other thing 

Actually it was Kanae who once again took action after a particular shark mer shouted out-

"KANAE!! ARE YOU FUCKING WATCHING!?" Somehow he had gotten himself free from the deadpanned Giyuu and now held the bored merman in a choke hold of his own looking hopefully at the pink eyed woman. "I'm dedicating this win to you!"

Her pretty face quickly turned to a frown and she had enough. Reaching out to grab the window and slam it back shut with surprisingly enough strength to shake the glass panes. The loud THUD from the window had everyone aside from Tengen and Akaza still clawing and biting at each other to give pause, looking up just as the curtains were harshly drawn. 

"I am at my limits! This has gone too far! I explained it to him how many times?!," Kanae muttered to herself turning around and beginning to stomp off towards the door. "I'm going to go work off some stress and make everyone lunch! Let them all sort themselves out!"

Everyone flinched as the door was thrown open and Kanae stomped out of sight. The footfalls echoing away heading towards assembly the kitchen area before everyone looked at one another. You exchanged looks with Mitsuri before slowly turning to Shinobu, mouth opening-

"Don't worry about her." Shinobu didn't look the least bit bothered waving a hand. "She needs to blow off the stress anyways. Why don't you just try to relax and get some rest. Today's already been pretty exciting for you wasn't it?"

"I-..Well maybe I should on them first?" You gave a glance at the window. "To make sure they're alright?"

"Don't give them anymore attention." She shook her head no firmly. "You'll just be feeding into Tengen's 'fantastic' ideas and who knows what the gems for brains will do next?"

Actually...After that whole scary chase sequence and sudden kiss attack (which you were NOT blushing remembering!) you think you had better let everyone cool down and maybe take a stand back...Yeah. that's probably the better idea. So you followed Shinobu's advice no matter how difficult it was, and busied yourself with just going back to read the book. Who knows? It might have more helpful information. 

However you had a hard time sleeping that night. There was some kind of..low humming along with the wind. It started out as some kind of low baritone but then pitched up to a few high notes. It almost sounded like a wind chime was ringing alongside the deep humming of a horn. A strange mixture to be sure, but it wasn't unpleasant. It was more annoying than anything since you didn't fall asleep for at least an hour. 

The next day was when you were sure going to be interesting. You really hadn't seen your friends in so long and was wondering if they were ok. You wanted to really go out and see how they were but shortly after you woke up there was another meeting with all of you courtesy of Kanae. The Kocho girl had pushed in the door startling both you and Koyuki as she practically forced her way in and carried a large black slate with white chalk, with more of that fish soup(yuck) and some bread. At least there was something else to wash it down with. Again Kanae was careful in making sure no one else was around before setting down the chalkboard. 

"Alright. I think I have most everything figured out, but because you're new we need to clue you in " she explained already drawing a sixth stick figured next to the five ones already present.

"Where's the others?" The only ones here were you, Kanae, and Koyuki but Koyuki was still fast asleep. 

"Mitsuri is keeping Obanai busy. He's decided to help himself inside again, and my sisters are out gathering more herbs to make it look normal."

"Good idea." You looked back down to the chalkboard between you two trying not to jostle your shoulder which was still extremely more too much. "Clue me in here." You motioned towards the stick figures and the mini drawings around them.

She nodded looking focused. "In about a week the tides rise and the current near here is strongest! Because of the abundance of wildlife during these hours, they usually all go out hunting for most of the night. All we need is a good few hours of a strong current and we can be on land."

"What do we do when we get back to land?"

"We'll figure that out when we get there. Right now the problem is getting onto land." The chalk made a small line as she circled the stick figures and what looked like a crudely drawn window.  "We found enough pillows to stuff under our blankets to make it look like we're just sleeping in." In case of Obanai you supposed. "We'll wait until they're all gone and climb through the back window. It's on the side of the house not facing the beach so they won't see us if we go that way."

"Good idea! But where's the boat exactly?" 

Her voice dropped to almost a whisper as she quickly glanced at the locked door before looking back to you. "It's just up the beach nearly on the far side, but we know a short cut to get there through the woods. We found a few oars in case we need to paddle our way there." She pointed out a crudely drawn boat.

"Sounds good, but what do we do in the meantime?" 

"Act as we always do. If they don't suspect anything, then we can have a better chance of escaping." Her smile came back a little bit looking at the board.. before her hand wiped across the black smearing the white away and erasing any existence of their plan. 

"Oh, wow." 

"I know! I thought about this a lot-"

"No. I can see why Sanemi fell for you." Pink eyes blinked up to kind f/c orbs as you smiled. "You're really pretty when you smile! I can see why he might like you."

She stared at you longer before frowning and looking back down to the slate. "I don't care. I want to go home. N-Not spend the rest of my days being hounded by a shark. I don't care how many times he tries to serenade me."

You paused in the middle of taking a bite of your bread to look at her. "What?"

"Ugh. He does it every other day. You wouldn't know only being here for four days. He just sits on the beach and starts singing, and he always looks like he's after my approval or something! He never goes away unless I say it's nice O-Or I'm too tired!" Her face turned into a pretty pour as she grumpily gestured at nothing. "Who does he think I am? I'm not some girl who he can just woo into his arms and-"

"Oh that's cute." Her face snapped to your smirk so fast that her head might've popped off if it wasn't attached to her neck. "You so like him."

"WHAT?!" Immediately her face lit up a pink and you laughed. 

"Oh come on. I didn't know that I was being flirted with before because I knew absolutely nothing about mermaids." The bread was pointed right at her. "But I'm certainly an expert on detecting human emotions."

"Yes? A-And how w-would you kn-kn-know that?!"

"I'm a florist. Do you know how many people bought flowers from me?" Your deadpanned brows rose higher at her face which mysteriously started to go a pink. "How many couples have come in looking for flowers for their crushes?" A bite was taken out of the breath making your voice slightly muffled. "How many weddings I did arrangements for? I've seen so many people in love, that I know it when I see it."

Her mouth opened up and no noise came out..Her head shook before she frowned harder. "I-I am not!"

"Uh. Stuttering, blushing, hardcore denial.." You swallowed. "Not to mention we all saw the way you watched Sanemi tussle with Giyuu the other day. Can't say I blame you. A nice beefy shark man, all soft for only you."

"S-Stop!"

You laughed as she hid her face in her hands, it went from pink to red. "Come on. Every girl dreams of being serenaded by moonlight. That's like the most romantic thing a guy could do other than coming to you on a pure white stallion." You grinned wider. "He's outside right now you know. I bet he'd be really happy to know that you like him-"

"My god's! If you say anything about this, then I won't treat you anymore!"

"Aha!" You pointed at her frowning face. "You aren't denying it!"

"Let's just get back to what's really important!" She quickly changed the subject grabbing the chalkboard off the floor as you snickered. "S-So you know what this entails?"

You decided to cut her a break and stop teasing her no matter how amusing it was. "Yes. I understand perfectly. But do you have anything else besides fish soup? It tastes bitter."

You were about to answer but a noise from up the hallway caused you both to whip to the door wide eyed. Quickly you snatched the chalkboard on the floor and shoved it under your knees to hide it, shoving Kanae's hand still holding the chalk as she flinched. Hiding it in one of her dress sleeves before the door slid open and you nearly fainted on sight. Right there. Standing in the doorway. Was A GIANT NAGA!! His human half looked about normal height as he stuck his head in. A mess of choppy black hair swaying messily from his head, and a mitch match of green-yellow slitted eyes narrowed on the inside. You couldn't see most of his body thanks to the black cloak hanging from him, the white scarf tied around his neck, and some kind of homemade mask slapped over half his face. 

His eyes narrowed more at the both of you before he pointed. "Why was this the only door closssed in the house?"

Good lord if his voice didn't send a fearful shiver down your back. You could see why Kanae was so careful around him. However she only turned to him with a polite smile. 

"Hello, Obanai. I was just giving Y/n her food." She gestured to the bread you were thankfully still holding. "We want her to feel comfortable with that wound on her shoulder you know."

"That still doesn't tell me why the door'sss closed?"

"What are you? A pervert?!" 

Kanae looked at you wide eyed and the snake snapped an annoyed look at you. "And what is that supposed to mean?!" He demanded.

You did your best to look very annoyed and pointed accusingly to him. "She has to check my bandages which I remind you are on my back! I'm supposed to just leave the door open so you can peek at me?!" His expression went shocked quickly- "WHAT KIND OF PERVERTED SNAKE ARE YOU?!"

"I-I'M NOT!! IT'S JUST-" He sputtered wide eyed but ducked as you harmlessly threw your bread at him. 

"GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE I GET TENGEN ON YOU, YOU SLIMEY SERPENT!!"

THUNK!!

Obanai rammed face first into the doorframe in his way to try to get away. His eyes rolled a bit dizzy before he shook his head-

"GET OUT!!"

"M'sorrymsorry-" 

He jumped, quickly slithering away from the doorway and you both saw a massive black and white stripped tail before the rest disappeared from sight. There was a pause before Kanae sighed again and turned back to you. 

"Nice save."

"I just thought of the quickest excuse I could think of. Seemed like a good enough one."

She smiled wider at you. "Well try to eat  for now. I'll discuss more with you later when I get a chance to chat normally."

You nodded as she stood up to leave and turned back to your bowl of soup still on the floor. And sighed. Too bad you threw your bread, but food was food you guessed. Kanae smiled as she slowly walked out of the room and into the hallway. Obanai was no where to be seen so that means Y/n's scare tactic worked in driving him off at least. She settled on heading towards her room (or temporary room as she wouldn't be staying here for long) and starting on sewing those few extra pillows together for dummies come the night  

"Kanae!," a woman's voice called out followed by a series of rapidly approaching footsteps. She paused in her steps and turned around to the sight of Mitsuri speed walking towards her waving a hand. "Wait up!"

"What is it?"

She skidded to a stop in front of her and looked excited about something. "You're never going to believe this! Obanai gave me something really important!"

Her face dropped. "Mitsuri, you know that we can't accept anything or else-"

"I know, I know. But it's not for me. It's for you! TADA!!" Her hand was thrusted up and held out a familiar shape. "Obanai was gonna give it to you before he left but for some reason he was in a hurry or he asked me to give it to you instead!"

"Obanai got a gift? For me?"

 Why would the serpent do that? Was he trying to court her now because Mitsuri kept saying no? Or was he trying to butter up Mitsuri by getting gifts for her friends? Maybe he was hoping Kanae would help him out with Mitsuri if he flattered her enough?

Her pretty pink braids swayed as she shook her head. "It's not so much a gift as he was just returning something of yours." 

She again nudged what was in her hand at her. A familiar sight of a small clippy was in her hand, in the unmistakable shape of a green and pink butterfly. Pink eyes widened greatly looking between her and the clippy- Mitsuri held it further towards her and she slowly took it, hands shaking. It felt heavy yet light in her hands. The usual shiny outside dirty from sand and other dirt catching onto it, but it looked generally unharmed. 

"My clip." A bright smile broke into her face as she clutched it to her and beamed. "Our father gave us these, but I lost one when they-...H-How did he find this?"

"Oh it wasn't him." Mitsuri corrected not registering for the reaction she would soon receive next from her correction. "Sanemi found it actually!"

Her face. Dropped. And goodness being sapped away like a cloth slowly wiping up water from a spill. "..What?"

She nodded happily. "Yeah! He wanted Obanai to give you it since he can't move on land! Isn't that so sweet!" She gushed in light of the new emotion crawling over Kanae's face. "He went through all the trouble just to give it back to you. Isn't that-"

She blinked as a formed walked past her, slightly bumping into Mitsuri on her way down the hall and towards the still open front door. You had just stood up holding the bowl your soup had been in, and on your way to drop it off in the kitchen. Maybe there was more bread there or some fresh water to wash down the bitter taste of sardines away. Your feet had barely taken two steps-

"Is this some kind of sick joke to you?!"

You paused in your walking. Koyuki startled awake with a soft snort, blinking tired pink eyes and swaying messy black hair as she sat up. 

"No really?! Is this just some kind of sick reverse phycology where you think I'm going to fall for you!? Oh yes! I'm surely going to fall for you after you returned my clippy. Nevermind it's your fault I lost it in the first place!"

That sounded like Kanar. A much more angry version of Kanae.

"What's going on?," Koyuki asked as you passed by her to peer out the window to the beach.

Kanae was there. Her back was towards you so you couldn't see her face, but her hands were clenched and her arms gestured wildly. In the ocean in front of her was a few mermaids which included Kyojuro lounging in a shallow part of the water, and the Sanemi guy. All were looking shocked and wide eyed at the wildly gesturing woman as she continued her tirade.

"When are you going to get it through your head!? I DON'T LOVE YOU!! I don't even like you!!" Her hand pointed directly at the wide eyed shark mer. There was no mistaking who she was talking about. "No matter what you do! No matter what you try! I will NEVER love you! I DONT WANT YOU!! I WANT TO GO HOME!! AND DON'T YOU DARE SAY THIS IS MY HOME!! THIS IS NOT MY HOME!! THIS IS A PRISON EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU KEEP US TRAPPED BECAUSE  A L L OF YOU ARE TOO STUPID TO UNDERSTAND THAT WE DON'T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOU ALL!!"

You could only stare wide eyed and speechless at what you silently witnessed. If you had looked behind you, then you would've seen Koyuki sporting a similar reaction to what she was hearing.

"I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU ALL! WHY CAN'T YOU ALL JUST LEAVE US ALONE ALREADY!?"

Her form turned and ran back towards the home to which you strained your neck to watch her from the window for as long as you could become you couldn't see her anymore. Koyuki jumped when a loud sound of a door slamming shut signaled her arrival back inside. Without thinking about it your feet jogged up to the door, at the same time rapid footsteps ran up the hall. 

"KANAE?!" 

If she heard your voice then she didn't react to you. Only continuing past you as you leaned out the doorway in time to catch a glimpse of her form disappearing up the stairs at the end of the hall. A loud slamming of a second door echoing  throughout the house. There was a pause as silence resumed..And then the distant soft sounds of loud crying filtered through the air and softly sprinkled down onto everyone's ears. 

Still reeling with shock, Mitsuri approached the stairs gingerly and quietly. Her footfalls barely making a sound as her guilty face stared upwards. "Kanae?" Her voice did not reach her ears making a heavy guilt weigh in her chest. "..Oh me and my big mouth. This is all my fault."

"Don't say that." She jumped turning to monotone f/c eyes as they also stared up in the direction of the loud sobs. "This isn't any of your faults. I know how she feels, and it can't be easy for anyone."

"Oh. What are we going to do?"

"...You go up there and see if you can calm her down." A head turned. F/c eyes narrowing at the door. "I'll just step outside and make sure everything is okay out there."

A gathering of mers outside in distress and argument did not notice the small figure step outside or open the door. Did not see her stomp up towards the shore's edge. Didn't see her scoop up a fist of wet sand in her hand and reel back her good shoulder. Until looked up-

SPLAT!! 

"Now that I got all of your attention- PAY ATTENTION OR ELSE!"

[luvkyu]

dysphoric ( choi yeonjun )

yeonjun x ftm!reader

yeonjun comforts his dysphoric boyfriend.

content : 2.2k words, mentions gender dysphoria, slight angst but mostly pure fluff

yeonjun's eyebrows furrowed upon hearing the front door of his shared apartment open and close. he stepped away from the kitchen to poke his head out and see his tired looking boyfriend trudging inside.

"babe? you're home early," yeonjun said while skipping over to his partner. the happiness in his voice was not hidden well, making y/n's lips curl into a smile for just a second.

"mhm, i clocked out early," y/n answered simply. he instantly took to yeonjun as the male stood in front of him, hugging him tightly. yeonjun frowned, but hugged back.

"are you okay?"

y/n didn't answer. he just wanted boyfriend hugs until he fell asleep.

yeonjun brought one of his hands higher to stroke the other's hair. he didn't want to push y/n to talk, but he couldn't help if he didn't know what was wrong.

"n/n, please talk to me. i'm worried," yeonjun said quietly. y/n finally looked up at him, his arms still snug around him.

"i feel gross," y/n muttered out.

"ah.." yeonjun unfortunately knew what that meant - dysphoria. y/n never liked saying the word out loud. it felt like poison on his tongue. he'd always substitute it with 'feeling gross' or 'having a bad day', which yeonjun was usually quick to pick up on.

"i'm sorry, baby. what can i do?" yeonjun asked softly, still playing with y/n's hair.

"mm.. can we stay in bed for a while?"

yeonjun smiled. it was a good thing he wasn't working today. he nodded before planting a kiss on the other's head.

"of course. and watch movies?"

y/n quickly nodded. his head was buried in yeonjun's chest, drowning in his embrace and letting his scent calm his nerves.

yeonjun began leading him to their bedroom, walking a bit awkwardly as y/n refused to let go of his hug, but the former didn't mind.

"you should take your binder off, babe."

y/n frowned and stayed quiet in his arms. yeonjun sighed lightly at his silence.

"bub, i know it helps, but you've already been wearing it for hours. and we don't want you to fall asleep in it. and i know it's not comfortable to wear at all anyways. you can have one of my shirts and my biggest hoodie instead, okay?"

y/n took a large breath before nodding, making yeonjun smile.

"good boy," yeonjun praised. his soft and quiet voice sent chills up y/n's arms. the former gave him another small kiss before continuing, "i'll set up the movie and you can go change. choose whatever you want from my side of our closet, okay?"

y/n was reluctant to release his boyfriend from the hug, but finally let him go to sulk over to their closet. yeonjun chuckled to himself at the pout that wouldn't leave the other's lips before watching him disappear into their bathroom.

"cutie," he mumbled as he now began preparing the movie.

y/n woke up to the bedroom being much darker than he remembered. he rubbed his eyes a bit and looked over to the window. the sun was almost done setting after his nap, leaving the only light in the room to come from the remainder of the apartment from the cracked open door.

y/n was a little surprised he slept so long, especially after only watching about fifteen minutes of their movie. but now seeing that yeonjun wasn't beside him anymore, the thought dissipated as he quickly got up to go find the male.

the sleeves of yeonjun's hoodie draped over his hands, a little too long. he didn't mind this though. he loved it, in fact. while slipping the hood over his head, he crossed his arms to feel the hoodie closer on himself, as if hugging it. yeonjun's lingering scent only made it more comforting as well.

"jun?" y/n called quietly. his voice came out smaller than he intended. probably the after-effect of his nap, he assumed.

he now walked out of their room, hearing yeonjun's faint voice coming from the kitchen.

"yeah, sorry i'm gonna take a rain check tonight if that's okay," yeonjun said quietly. his voice sounded a little muffled from where y/n was standing, but he could clearly see yeonjun was on the phone.

"no no, i'm alright. i just want to stay with y/n tonight. he's had a rough day. let's do something tomorrow instead?"

y/n walked into the kitchen as yeonjun finished up his call. the latter turned around to see him already standing a ways away from him.

"oh, hi love. did you sleep okay?" yeonjun asked as he immediately held his arms open. he knew a hug was probably what y/n was looking for after waking up without him, but sometimes a hug without his binder only made the dysphoria worse. that being said, he always left hugs up to the other. this time, however, y/n quickly accepted the invitation into his arms.

"mhm, i guess.. did you have plans tonight?" y/n asked in return. yeonjun smiled and rested his head on top of the former's.

"yeah, i did. but it's okay, i'd rather be with you anyways," he answered. y/n's lips pressed together in thought, forming a line.

"you can go if you want, jun. i'll be okay if-"

"no," yeonjun cut in, "i'm staying with you."

y/n couldn't help but smile to himself. he tightened his arms around his boyfriend, his hood falling after pressing his face into yeonjun's chest again.

"besides, it's just beomgyu and soobin, so they get it. they also said they hope you feel better soon," yeonjun added. y/n's heart warmed at the mention of yeonjun's friends, who were always too sweet to him.

"if you're sure, then alright," y/n responded.

the pair stayed still in their embrace in a comfortable silence. yeonjun began swaying them back and forth after a couple minutes while softly rubbing y/n's back.

"so, my love, what would you like to do now? i'm assuming you aren't sleepy anymore."

y/n hummed and looked around while thinking of a response.

"maybe go for a walk?" he suggested. yeonjun pulled away to look at him, nodding.

"sounds good!"

after getting their shoes and more appropriate clothing for leaving the house, the couple made their way outside to begin walking.

yeonjun took y/n's hand from the confines of his pocket and interlaced their fingers. despite being together for years now, this gesture still made butterflies erupt in y/n's stomach. he looked over at his partner only to see him unfazed with a bright smile on his face.

"what're you so happy about?" y/n asked, though he hoped the answer was just himself.

"mm.. that's for me to know and you to find out," yeonjun answered sassily. y/n rolled his eyes.

"tsk.. you know i'd find out faster if you just told me."

"i do know that," yeonjun answered again. y/n scowled at him jokingly.

"what a pest choi yeonjun is.."

yeonjun's jaw fell dramatically.

"you've lost my hand holding privileges!!" yeonjun declared as he let go and hid his hands in his own pockets now.

"noo! jun, i'm sorry!!" y/n laughed while trying to take the male's hand back. yeonjun refused to budge though. he stuck his nose up and began walking faster ahead of his boyfriend.

y/n trailed after him, trying again to pull yeonjun's hand away from his jacket pocket. he looked up at him in defeat with a small pout.

"yeonjuuun.."

yeonjun finally looked at his boyfriend. he clicked his tongue, knowing he couldn't resist him.

"fine, you can have my hand back.."

y/n's face brightened at this.

"if!-" yeonjun added suddenly, "-you give me a kiss."

y/n smiled, his ears growing a bit red. he nodded and planted a small kiss on yeonjun's lips. the latter finally moved his hand out, which y/n instantly took in turn.

yeonjun stopped in his tracks, though. y/n was jerked back a little before looking at him in confusion.

"what's wrong?"

yeonjun didn't reply, simply taking y/n's other hand as well. the two now stood directly in front of each other on the empty sidewalk of their neighborhood. y/n didn't need to ask again when he realized yeonjun's eyes were locked on his lips. he felt his heartbeat quicken as the male leaned in.

yeonjun kissed him softly, again and again. this went on until y/n felt the marks of kisses all over his face. it was as if his skin was tingling from the trace of yeonjun's lips. those lips that he adored and could look at 24/7.

yeonjun ended his kisses with one last, longer kiss on y/n's own lips. he then pulled back to see his boyfriend had turned to a blushing mess. he cooed silently at the sight.

"are you trying to make me melt.." y/n muttered.

"i'm trying to make you feel loved," yeonjun quickly corrected. y/n's eyes shifted to the ground.

"you're doing a hell of a good job then," he whispered. yeonjun smiled, despite knowing y/n didn't mean for him to hear that.

the pair continued walking and chatting for a while. yeonjun was staring down at their swinging connected hands, in love, when y/n spoke up.

"babe! a playground!"

yeonjun laughed lightly to himself. y/n was a sucker for playgrounds.

"let's try the slide," y/n said excitedly. yeonjun nodded, now being led over to the park equipment. this was the y/n he loved seeing - free from worry and enjoying himself.

after a couple turns on the large slide, yeonjun stopped and sat at the top. his legs swung off the edge as he looked at y/n and patted the spot in front of him. y/n smiled eagerly while taking his place in front of his boyfriend. yeonjun's arms slipped around his lower waist, holding him as close as he could while resting his chin on his shoulder.

y/n expected them to go down the slide together, but yeonjun stayed put. y/n looked over at him to see his eyes closed in content, just holding him. the former smiled, perfectly fine with this instead.

placing his own arms on top of yeonjun's, y/n looked around the dimly lit playground. the wind brushed against his face while the cicadas chirped in the distance. if this moment played on forever, he'd never worry about another thing again.

"what are you thinking about?" yeonjun's voice broke the silence. y/n turned his head to spare him a glance before looking around again.

"..you," y/n replied.

"me?"

y/n nodded.

"i feel incredibly lucky," he said quietly.

"because of me?" yeonjun asked again.

"mhm.. i never told you i knew about this, but.. do you remember when we first met? soobin told me you went home and immediately went to your computer to research about trans things. he told me you said it was 'love at first sight' and you were 'determined to educate yourself more'. apparently you were up for a good amount of the night, too."

yeonjun blushed instantly. he was definitely unaware that y/n knew about that.

"sooo, what you're saying is i need to get my revenge on soobin?"

y/n rolled his eyes.

"no, tsk. i loved that about you. it's the reason i let you take me on a date."

"oh.. so i need to thank soobin then."

"exactly," y/n responded while flicking his head lightly. "but, my point was, i think about that a lot. it's always been really special to me. no one's really done that for me before."

yeonjun frowned.

"y/n, you deserve so much. i love you so much that it actually physically hurts sometimes.. i really hate that you have to deal with this stuff."

y/n felt as if yeonjun's words were sinking into his heart. he turned his head again to place a kiss on the latter's cheek.

"it makes it a lot easier when i have someone like you. growing up, i never had this kind of support. but i always feel safe and at home with you, so thank you, jun."

yeonjun nodded proudly at his words.

"-and i love you too," y/n added on.

"good. i was waiting for that," yeonjun pouted, making y/n release a small laugh.

"so how about.." yeonjun began again, his voice pausing in thought, "..we go shopping after i get off work tomorrow? we can get you some comfy oversized things. that usually helps, right?"

with a quick nod, y/n leaned his head back on the other's shoulder.

"that sounds perfect," he answered. "and you can invite beomgyu and soobin this time."

yeonjun nodded in agreement before silence surrounded them again. y/n gazed up at the stars as his head rested comfortably on yeonjun's shoulder and a little against his neck. he loved feeling secure with the male's arms so snug around him.

"are you ready to go back?" yeonjun asked. his voice was quiet, but it seemed loud in y/n's ear.

"sure, babe."

y/n got up first to carefully stand back on the slide's platform. yeonjun followed suit, making sure to take his boyfriend's hand again before starting on their way back home.

[lilacxquartz]

Those Late Summer Nights | Chapter 9

satoru gojo x f!reader × suguru geto

plot: you moved to tokyo over the summer to take a teaching job. as you get settled in, you find yourself entangled in a toxic dynamic.

chapter summary: The balance is restored again as the four of you reunite, however, some tension still brews.

< Previous Chapter • Next Chapter >

9. Plum Wine

Arriving back to your chosen home admittedly felt surreal. When you woke up a little disoriented in the passenger seat, you could tell that you were from home and back in the city without even needing to take in your surroundings.

Satoru parked in a vacant spot just outside Shoko’s apartment and gave you instructions to take your things into the building, reassuring you that he just needed to set up parking with the machine nearby.

Albeit groggily, you made your way up through the complex and carried yourself back inside to Shoko’s unit, dragging your things inside. Both the wine and your bag weren’t particularly heavy but you still felt sluggish from the journey.

The last couple of days were nothing more than a distant fever dream already in your mind as you longed to do nothing more than to relax, so being back to your new home felt incredibly freeing.

And upon entering, seeing Shoko reminded you of the wine so in the midst of your half asleep state, you drew the bottle towards her as she quickly got up to investigate your offering.

“Ah, [name],” she sang as she took the bottle out of your hands, seemingly genuinely pleased, “you’re back and you remembered.”

“Yeah, um, it’s a dessert wine I think,” you yawned as you warned her, letting go of the bottle, “so take it slowly.”

Satoru finally caught up to everyone and gently brushed by you as he entered the area, his ears perking up at the mention of something to do with dessert, “Wait, did you say it’s sweet?”

“Absolutely not, stay back,” Shoko frowned as she hugged the bottle to her chest and attempted to retreat, finding him suddenly a little too interested for her liking.

In the meantime, your eyes glanced around the apartment, feeling relieved to finally be back. You noticed that Suguru was also present within the apartment; leaning himself back against the sofa with his arms around the frame appearing to be relaxed and back to his usual self. Hopefully whatever was going on in his mind had come to pass but you couldn’t be too sure.

Shoko joined him on the other side of the sofa, hoping that you would take the spot next to her so that she could keep Satoru’s hands far away from the wine but he ended up sitting next to her anyway, leaving you nestled between him and Suguru instead.

This prompted her to draw out an annoyed sigh as she reluctantly got up to get some glasses. One big one for herself and three noticeably smaller ones for everyone else, pouring everyone just enough worthy of a sampling amount—just enough to taste.

The wine tasted tart against your lips with a smooth consistency, almost a little like syrup, but you still found it to be quite nice even if it had some sour notes. Satoru seemed to be enjoying his portion more than anyone else even though Shoko seemed to be almost done with her portion already. Suguru meanwhile took just one whiff of the stuff before pouring his sample into your glass instead.

As you drank however, your stomach growled noticeably loud, finding that you were pretty hungry from skipping breakfast due to Satoru’s rushed exit from your town. Even before then, you couldn’t quite eat properly due to your relentless nerves causing both your body and mind to stir.

Getting up with the glass in hand, you drifted towards the open kitchenette instead. Shoko’s apartment was designed in a very open way leaving the kitchen only separated by a counter bar, leaving you freely able to talk to whoever remained in the living room. Not that you’d take too long, you mostly just wanted something simple to sate your hunger then you’d be right back.

While your culinary knowledge wasn’t excellent, you were always able to whip up a simple bowl of tamago kake gohan to soothe your hunger. It was a simple enough concept and generated very little of a mess; you’d crack an egg over some hot rice and let it cook in the heat.

Shoko followed you over as she set out a small bowl for herself while you washed the rice, her fingertips tracing along your arm as she grabbed another drink from the fridge before sitting back down. She didn’t have to say much as you simply just nodded to acknowledge her request, finding it to be no problem at all.

Taking a moment to process just how loud your stomach was just now, Suguru leaned forward slightly as he spoke up with some concern, “They didn’t feed you in town or what?”

Just as you were about to respond however, Satoru did so on your behalf, cutting you off completely.

“They did, just not a lot. Her parents both cooked and ate small portions,” he said in your place instead.

“Still, were there no convenience stores so you could at least go and pick up something quick?” Shoko asked, tilting her head as she pressed the glass against her lips.

“We passed by maybe one supermarket on a walk before but it was closed quite early, maybe 9 in the evening,” Satoru continued to speak, reciting his time spent there, “maybe it would have had cheap ramen or something similar, but…”

“Wouldn’t have happened either way,” you replied at last, finally contributing to the conversation, “if my parents were upstairs, then there’s a rule to not use the kitchen.”

“That’s odd,” Shoko furrowed her brows, “a bit too strict, no?”

“I-I mean yeah, but I’m back now, so it’s not an issue anymore,” you replied as you awkwardly tried to laugh off the building discomfort, knowing that if you were the one who had to initiate it then it was probably a bad sign.

As the silence continued, Suguru picked himself up after a while and walked up to you while you were fluffing the rice out of the cooker. He then took a close step right behind you, leaning his hips into your back as he reached for the overhead cabinet right above you.

As you gulped away the sudden discomfort from what you were feeling, Satoru watched this whole thing unfold with intense curiosity while Shoko invested her focus on what she was seeing. She didn’t pay it too much mind though as she didn’t care to police what went on behind closed doors but to Satoru it felt different.

It didn’t quite seem to him like something was going on, but it didn’t seem like it was nothing either.

“Here you go,” Suguru said, placing a couple of glass seasoning bottles over you onto the counter, “I’m not letting you eat plain rice, so...”

You tensely nodded as you did as he suggested, packing the now seasoned rice off into two individual bowls, cracking open an egg to mix the contents together while the smell continued to tempt your empty stomach.

Shoko reached for her bowl as you sat back down along with Suguru, the two of you scarfing down your food while Suguru continued to spread his leg out closer towards yours as Satoru couldn’t help but notice that something was off in the air.

Soon enough the tension dispersed again as Shoko led the course of the conversation as Satoru followed; another drunken evening hatched from the result of talkative company. The four of you passively weaved through all sorts of topics until somehow the subject of intimacy popped up, leaving you starkly quiet.

You simply just listened along as you sank into the sofa, quietly pouring yourself more and more to drink as you felt left out yet again, finding that while you were all adults and that it wasn’t an issue—that you rather felt left behind once again, knowing that everyone was different but it just felt different when it was you.

Was this something friends disclosed with each other so casually? Was this normal? Or was it just them?

Shoko, noticing your lack of participation, tried to ease you in with an easy prompt, trying to involve you so that she could stop listening to a second more of Satoru’s past encounters.

“So, [name], I take it that you haven’t really done much?” she asked you, her voice curious and her tone kind. However when you’re insecure, even kindness feels like mockery.

“Well, n-not really…” you admitted, trying to stare off into the glass.

Shoko’s voice softened, “Not even a little kiss?”

“I mean… technically not really,” you considered, “unless you count—oh, ah-“

Your heart dropped as you realised exactly what you were about to reveal as you froze dead in your tracks. The kiss didn’t really count in your mind as it was shared under fabricated circumstances but it was still a kiss either way.

“—Oh yeah,” Satoru piped up as he poured himself a final glass.

Shoko remained silent for a moment as she connected the dots at a record speed; her eyes widening as a wide smile formed bordering equal parts disgust as well as fascination formed on her face. Suddenly, this was her business to pry.

“No! No, [name]! Really?” she teased, trying to hold back violent laughter that she couldn’t contain for a second longer, “why did you do that to yourself?”

While you scrambled for a response, Suguru listened in complete silence as he took in the information in complete and utter sobriety, sinking his back further off into the sofa, spreading his legs out even further—forcing himself to relax, leaving you with absolutely zero space to put your own legs. As a result, you were forced to swing them over his own which in the peak of the intoxicated moment.

Just as he wanted for you to do.

“Ah, but [name],” Shoko continued to tease, “tell me why—why did you put yourself through such a thing?”

“H-he said it w-was to sell the whole fake boyfriend thing b-better,” you stuttered as you struggled to put your words together, leaving behind a complete mess of your explanations.

“Satoru, you ass!” Shoko scolded him as she jokingly hit him with a sofa pillow, laughing at the whole situation, “Listen, I’m so sorry that he was your first kiss, [name].”

“Hey, I was just helping her out, right?” Satoru laughed as he dramatically tried to shield himself from her wrath.

As this happened, you nervously laughed along as well, quickly finding that in being able to do so that you were actually doing wonders for your own crucial self development. Slowly but surely, the fear of being perceived by others would begin to disappear and then you could finally-

“—So, this probably means you’re still a virgin, right?” Suguru interrupted, causing the laughter to quickly fall flat.

The silence lasted especially long for you as you struggled to even answer the question. Your continued lack of response confirmed to the men that it was a yes, even though Satoru already had his suspicions given how you received his kiss back in the town.

Upon noticing your immediate discomfort, Shoko then stood up and clapped her hands, “Okay anyway, it’s getting pretty late and I’m sure we’re all very tired here, so we’re going to sleep. Got it?”

Before Satoru could say anything, she dragged him away off to the front door and then returned to do the same for Suguru who was quickly reunited with his friend.

“Yeah, I mean… I’ll be going back now anyway,” Satoru nodded as he finally snapped back to his senses, “it was a long drive and I have to be up early tomorrow.”

“Yup, me too,” Suguru mumbled under his own breath, retreating off into the stairwell following Satoru.

Shoko sat by your side and leaned you into a comforting side hug as she noticed just how much tension you still seemed to carry, understanding that it might have been a bit too much for you.

Rubbing your arms, she leaned her head against your shoulder, “Don’t let those idiots get to you. If they bring it up ever again, just tell me and I’ll shut ‘em up for you.”

You nodded as you continued to try and thaw yourself from being frozen into place, eventually relaxing as she slowly peeled herself off of you.

After a while, you then went back to your bedroom to hopefully forget about this whole thing.

~~~

The next day seemed to arrive suspiciously quickly as you awoke to a pounding knock on your bedroom door. You knew that it was very unlikely to have been Shoko as she wouldn’t rattle your door the same way, so it must have been someone else.

You groaned as you set up feeling the remaining hangover hit. You were technically fine but the sweet wine from the night before settled into a strange feeling that anchored within your gut.

You didn’t really remember all that much of what you talked about as the details were fuzzy likely due to both the exhaustion from the trip as well as the booze hitting you.

You just hoped that it was nothing too embarrassing.

Sitting yourself up and forcing yourself to your feet, you opened up the door to see Suguru waiting right outside. For a moment he didn’t say anything as he locked his eyes on you and took in exactly what you were wearing before clearing his throat and reaching into his pocket.

He shoved a piece of paper into your hands as you reacted slowly to keep up, “Your first payslip.”

You yawned as you unfolded the paper, attempting to focus your eyes to read the it, finding that it was indeed from the college.

“Oh, they didn’t mail it here?” you asked.

“Jujutsu Tech is criminally slow with keeping their records properly updated,” Suguru said as he leaned into the doorway, not quite entering just yet, “it’ll take a while before they even notice you’ve updated your address, so you’ll have to keep collecting it from the dorms until they finally get around to fixing it.”

“Oh, that’s annoying,” you yawned in response as you set the paper on the dresser nearby.

“Yeah…” he nodded, pausing to watch you yawn.

Suguru watched intently as you did so, finding something strangely endearing about your half asleep state. There was something about your messy unbrushed hair and sleepy eyes in combination with the slightly stained oversized t-shirt you wore. He liked seeing you looking comfortable, finding that it turned him on, even.

It left him wondering just how much you showed off to Satoru, if you even did so at all. To think that you spent a whole weekend away with the guy left him with feelings that he didn’t like. He simply didn’t want Satoru to have you—feeling a little territorial as he finally began to understand his own feelings.

Not that he was making much of an effort to communicate them at all.

(But that would soon change.)

“So, do you have any plans for today?” he asked you, attempting to keep a warm tone.

“Sleeping more?” you yawned.

Suguru hummed as he stared at your weary state, “How about a movie instead? There’s something I want to see and Satoru is busy, so…”

“I mean, I guess I could…?” you replied thinking that because it wasn’t a particularly strenuous task that it should be completely fine.

“The airing is this afternoon, maybe we could make it?” he asked you, using the most polite tone that he could possibly muster, wanting to get you used to spending time with him.

“Yeah,” you replied as you talked yourself into it, “y-yeah, um, let me just shower.”

He nodded as he accepted your response, watching you slip away into the shower as you locked the door, feeling a little disappointed as he watched you carry off a change of clothes with you.

Suguru then stiffened a little as he imagined you fully naked with just a mere door separating the two of you, damp and reddened skin, softened from steam. The water that would cling against your body, the droplets that would refuse to roll away… just everything about it slowly drove him insane.

His imagination ran wild as he then closed the door to your bedroom, knowing that he shouldn’t be snooping around when Shoko was so close by, but his curiosity kept getting the better of him.

His eyes scanned around the room, finding himself judging your room for looking a little too messy for his liking but not half bad. Things like clothes on the floor were apparent but he also noticed that you didn’t really have a wardrobe, so a chair had to tank the responsibility.

Guiltily, his eyes drifted off towards a pair of discarded underwear off to the side of the bed and he couldn’t help but wonder exactly how you smelled. He stared at the pair for a long time before opening up the door to confirm that the water was still running in the bathroom, before taking a risk and grabbing the pair.

He fumbled with the fabric to find the crotch section of the pair, pressing it up against his nose to collect a deep inhale, closing his eyes to even just savour the smell, adjusting the problem in his sweatpants as he did so. He then pocketed the pair, thinking you wouldn’t even notice that anything was missing.

And as soon as he heard the bathroom door open up, he quickly sat himself down on the bed and pretended to be doing something on his phone instead.

You didn’t suspect a single thing as you walked inside fully dressed, ready to blowdry your hair. As far as you understood, he was on good behaviour and that’s when you started to let your guard down.

Knowing that it was probably unwise to do so.

He watched as you got ready in front of him, stealing glimpses of you when you didn’t notice. You were fully clothed at this point but even just the little things like brushing your hair and putting on moisturiser was enough for him to enjoy the sight of.

“So, what are we watching?” you asked as you both walked out of the bedroom door.

“Some type of horror film, hope you don’t mind?”

“Uh, sure, why not?” you nervously replied.

Shoko emerged from her room looking a little exhausted but wearing a look of determination on her face, pulling you both off to the side as she searched her mind for what to say.

“I have a friend coming over at four-ish,” she finally spoke as she turned to face you, her voice sounding a little raw, “I think you’re both quite similar and I’d like for you to meet—think you’ll be around?”

You were about to say something but then Suguru replied on your own behalf.

“The movie won’t run for six hours,” he assured Shoko, “I’ll have her back to you by then.”

“Oh, well in that case, have fun,” Shoko nodded with a faint smile as she yawned, going back to her bedroom to catch a few extra hours of sleep.

You half envied her, still feeling tired yourself.

~~~

The cinema itself was quite full despite it being a random weekday, but you supposed that’s just what summer break entailed around these parts. Back home, summer break was a hit or miss and was entirely dependent on whether or not your parents had money if you were a teen.

Most people your age back then would loiter around the town and the ones who could afford it, would be long gone on the train off to the nearby city instead.

Those even better off would be overseas with their families.

It left you feeling a little envious bad you considered it all, wondering how it must have been to spend your most critical years in such a vibrant city.

Would you have been a different person if you had that freedom?

Or would you have just made a different excuse?

Suguru somehow had managed to choose a film that wasn’t so populated, with maybe a handful of other people inside. You supposed that was the fault of the age restrictions, as this particular movie was rated quite mature.

Watching the film also left you feeling a little afraid surprisingly as you thought it to be quite scary, at least for your tastes. Even if you were used to the everyday grotesque side of life with cursed spirits shadowing your vision, it was still a little unsettling to witness what non-sorcerers were capable of coming up with.

During a particular scene, maybe halfway through the movie, you noticed that his hand crept up your thigh again as it slowly moved up your skirt and squeezed against your leg. In response, you shifted away a little and found that he didn’t mind for a change, moving his hand away and seeming completely unphased.

Come the end of the movie, he never once mentioned that particular moment and instead just quietly took you back to your apartment without saying that much at all other than what your option was for the movie and whether you had enjoyed it or not.

Maybe if you continued to quietly ignore his expressed interest, then he would eventually back away for good.

Maybe that’s all it took.

(But it wouldn’t do a single thing.)

(It just made him want you even more.)

(And tonight he’s going to show you exactly how he feels.)

[whyse7vn]

MIDLIFE CRISIS -

[ ot7 x reader ]

JIMIN OLD ERA

8 participants - 8 online

———————————

namjoon: why are you guys so quiet today

what did you do??

just tell me so i can fix it pls and thx

hobi: idk I’m at the studio

y/n: omw to the studio so idk x2

jk: i am at home

tae: i am also at jungkooks home (and y/ns i would never forget u my queen i love ur house) maybe yoongi got into a fight again idk

yoongi: i am watching tv

not fighting

that was one time

hobi: didn’t you break woozi’s nose literally last week and harassed scoups a week before that?

jin: he also did knock out that one staff guy last month

namjoon: he did

and luckily when the guy woke up he couldn’t remember anything and didn’t sue

yoongi: you know about all that?

stop stalking me

freaks.

hobi: people talk yoongi!!!

tae: AND HE PUNCHED ME YESTERDAY

y/n: YOU BROKE WOOZI’S NOSE??????

tae: ok but yoongi also punched ME like who even is woozi when he’s at home????

yoongi: me but if i was ugly homeless untalented and had a broken nose

jin: yoongi is woozi’s evil twin

y/n: WHAT DID WOOZI EVER DO TO YOU??

yoongi: idk a woozi

namjoon: we are getting off track

jimin jin what did you do??

jimin: NOTHING I SWEAR IT WASN’T ME LITERALLY MAKING A SANDWICH RN

jin: i was cleaning haven’t done anything promise

namjoon: who is lying to me

pls tell me i really don’t have time for this rn

y/n: i vote jimin why is he shouting never trust a man that shouts

also tae get the fuck out my house rn

and can i get a little context about this woozi situation….

tae: cant wait for u to come home #sleepover

jimin: ITS NOT ME I SWEAR ALSO I THINK I BROKE MY PHONE I CANT TAKE CAPSLOCK OFF HELP

I VOTE JIN CUZ FYM UR CLEANING

jin: it means i me cleaning?

is he stupid? anyways i vote y/n cuz she’s a sick little liar and is probably causing problems

y/n: i’m literally in a car rn i’m not doing anything

YOONGI ANSWER UR PHONE RN

yoongi: read my message i sent you :3

hobi: i vote tae

jk: same

tae: wtf jungkook

jk: sorry u are taking real long in the toilet for all i know you could of jumped out the window and stabbed 46 people

tae: no cuz ur so right

but i haven’t btw namjoon if ur wondering

namjoon: ur all stressing me out

stop arguing

and NO sex talk please

jimin: ??????

yoongi: who is arguing?

jin: and who is talking about sex?

namjoon: oh

um okay

cool

good

yoongi: freak

hobi: yoongi about to send u this song listen to it pretty pls with a cherry on top >.<

yoongi: k

jk: guys pls someone bring me bread

i ate all my bread

y/n: will get some on my way home

yoongi i stg answer ur phone

jk: blushing

yoongi: :3333

jimin: PLS SOMONE HELP ME HOW DO I FIX THIS

jin: it’s probably a issue in ur settings

maybe idk

have you checked?

jimin: WILL DO THAT

namjoon: this feel extremely wrong

is everyone ok?

hobi: yes yes

yoongi: 👍🏻

jimin: YEAH

tae: yh

jin: yup

jk: yes mr namjoon

y/n: ofc !!

but woozi is not can we pls address the woozi situation yoongi did NOT answer me

namjoon: okay

why do i feel like something is wrong then

everything is wayyyyy to calm

it’s like

domestic almost

in a strange way

its unsettling

jin: then settle? idk what to tell you

jk: domestic malewife 🥺

my dream

y/n: ????

namjoon: no one is threatening to kill anyone

ur not taking about sex

nothing about feminism

or tae being broke

no jk vs yoongi

jin vs jimin????

hobi isn’t singing

no drug talk

and not one of you is on drugs right now??

guys be fr

what’s wrong?

jk: do you want me to get high rn??????

i can do it

if you want

i can

just say the word

namjoon: no wtf???

i would LIKE if you guys told me what the fuck you’re hiding from me

jin: let’s talk about what UR hiding joon

y/n: OMG WHY ARE WE NOT CONCERNED THAT YOONGI BROKE WOOZIS NOSE LIKE HELLO?????

namjoon: what i’m hiding????

i’m not hiding anything

jimin: IS IT FIXED NOW GUYS?

tae: when life gets tough you need to fix yourself

or you won’t be fixed

jk: woah

yoongi: what?

hobi: it’s cold as fuck toady

y/n: HIS NOSE HELLO??? ITS BROKEN

jk: tell him to fix it

because if he doesn’t fix himself he won’t be fixed

tae: the way jungkook just gets it 🥺

jin: don’t lie kim namjoon

namjoon: i really don’t know what ur talking about but ok??

anyways u guys are still bothering me but not in a i want to bash my head against a wall sense like normal

but in a are they being held at gun point sense

can you all snap out of it??

jk: don’t bash ur head joon

namjoon: im not

that is my problem

yoongi: sounds like you are

namjoon: you guys did something real fucked up didnt you that’s why ur acting like this

you can tell me

i wont get mad

hobi: ok can you shut up ohmygod

jimin: LITERALLY JOON UR GREAT AND ALL BUT WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT PLS SHUT THE HELL UP

jk: can you not shout pls ur scaring people

jimin: I CANT HELP IT

jk: sorry i’m just a ugly pig then

yoongi: ur so dramatic

tae: don’t worry kookie small men often carry a large amount of rage that’s why jimin is shouting

don’t take it personal

jimin: ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT ME??

y/n: ok so you guys really don’t gaf about woozi???

jk: what is that???

yoongi: literally

tae: y/n can you also buy cheese for us when you come back

jk: cheese 🤤

y/n: whatever….

namjoon: wow ok

so

i’ll just go then?

jk: baiiii ^^ 💞✨

namjoon: no this feels so wrong

y/n: go take a nap joon

hobi: bros just yapping away like 💀

tae: GO

namjoon: did you guys kill someone?

be honest with me im begging

jin: maybe if we ignore him he’ll go away

jimin: fixed my keyboard

thank god amen #lifeisgood

namjoon: guys

jk: i’m a man not a guy

yoongi: what

hobi: do you think maybe this is his midlife crisis?

jin: i thought the whole rap monster thing was his midlife crisis

y/n: he was like 18 then?

jin: i didn’t expect him to live long

jimin: start of life crisis

tae: maybe namjoon himself is the crisis

namjoon: you guys are my crisis

y/n: we haven’t even done anything

namjoon: can you guys do something

hobi: ur really loosing it

namjoon: don’t make ME do something

hobi: wtf is namjoon threatening me rn?

jimin: what is the worst namjoon can do be fr

namjoon: i have like 127 snipers on ur house rn shut the fuck up

jimin: wtf???????

y/n: nct core

namjoon: me y/n and tae had a threesome

jk: WHAT??????????????

jin: I KNEW IT I KNEW IT

jimin: oh my actual god

tae: I HIT I HIT GUYS I DID IT ALL OF YOU THAT PRAYED ON MY DOWNFALL LOOK AT ME NOW LOOK AT ME

namjoon: but that’s not the first time we fucked

minus tae ofc

tae: wait what

hobi: oh wow

namjoon: on jungkooks birthday last year

yoongi: laughed

namjoon: and at a sleepover we all had at yoongi’s house

yoongi: oh

jk: WHAT THE FUCK

y/n: i am going to kill you

namjoon: i have almost asked her to be my girlfriend

y/n: what

namjoon: on multiple occasions

jk: THIS HAS TO BE FAKE OMGSHH2£:£!£3:;&;’cmnfkknfmfnc

y/n: namjoon

namjoon: i’ve tried to get taehyung kicked out of the group a total of 29 times

tae: WHY WTF

????

OMG

BETRAYAL OF THE CENTURY

WHAT THE HELL

jin: LMAO that’s crazy as hell

namjoon: i have never eaten a single dish jin has ever cooked for me

jin: ARE YOU SICK?????????

I SLAVE AWAY IN THE KITCHEN

AND FOR WHAT???

FUCKING UNGRATEFUL PIECE OF SHIT

NEVER COOKING FOR U AGAIN

WOW IM SO PISSED

FUCK YOU

UGLY FUCK

namjoon: when we debuted i believed jimin was the ugliest man i had ever seen and felt physically ill when people would flirt with him because wtf were they seeing??

jimin: WOW

WOOOOOW

wow

that’s crazy actually

do u even fw us be honest

hobi: definitely fw y/n that’s for sure!!!

ok i’m sorry i didn’t mean it i don’t want to know what you have to say im sorry i just saw the opportunity PLS IM SORRY IM SORRY

namjoon: ur mother used to send me money so i would hang with you

hobi: ur telling me our sunday bonding days weren’t actually sunday bonding days 🥲

namjoon: i wanted to shoot myself in the head

jimin: what the actual fuck is happening

jk: HES LYING HES LYING THERE IS NO WUAYS HES LYINGGGGGGG

namjoon: why would i be lying?

y/n: namjoon you need stop talking

yoongi: namjoon kill yourself

jk: YEAH KILL YOURSELF

namjoon: thank you

jimin: this is by far the craziest degradation kink i’ve ever seen

namjoon: argue

yoongi: you want us to argue?

are you high?

jk: HES HIGH HE IS I KNOW IT

HE WOULDNT SAY ALL OF THAT SOBER

tae: waittt namjoons first high 💞💞💞💞

jimin: that makes sense

he don’t even know what he’s talking about rn lmao

not even mad anymore

i’m happy for u bro

namjoon: no i definitely do know what i’m talking about

i just want you guys to act normal

tae: it’s okay ur doing great joonie

namjoon: I AM NOT HIGH STOP

y/n: you have to be cuz wtf

jk: im confused

namjoon: shut up

jk: why is namjoon fighting me

namjoon: i literally slept with y/n

jk: STOP IT MAKE HIM GO AWAY

PLEASE

jin: IDC IF HES OFF FUCKING COKE RN

he’s actually so fucked up and insane for saying that TO ME LIKE TO ME MY COOKING ARE YOU INSANE??????

what a SHIT leader…

hobi: i think maybe he needs to hug a tree rn

stay grounded or smth

yoongi: bro is off the trees rn wydm

namjoon: i am “off” absolutely nothing rn maybe i’m just really concerned for you all

and maybe just maybe it’s you guys’ fault for making me have to act and talk insane so YOU GUYS can act and talk insane and make me feel at peace in life

you made me like this

all you do is cause me stress

this is ALL UR OWN FAULT

tae: i am NOT reading that essay 😭

jimin: omg we are all literally being gaslit by kim namjoon rn what the actual fuck is life

namjoon: im sick of you all

ur ageing me

y/n: i think ur ageing urself tbh

hobi: life goes on man…

tae: tbh i think namjoon is going through a bad trip rn

like tell me he doesn’t sound high as hell

jimin: you’ve actually lost it namjoon

hobi: it was bound to happen

tae: it’s okay just hold ur breath until you pass out and when u wake up you’ll be fine

that’s how i stop a bad trip

namjoon: I AM NOT HIGH FOR THE LAST TIME

jk: that’s what i say when i’m high

just saying

yoongi: this is definitely that midlife crisis

namjoon: why are you not freaking out about me literally having sex with the girl your in love with

yoongi: ur high and idc

jk: I CARE

i don’t believe you joon 😡

y/n: this is not life rn…..

hobi: are all four of you not in love with her wow thats kinda insane

y/n rizz go crazy

jimin: why don’t you all just like idk

date????

hobi: omg wait i wanna date too don’t leave me out this time 🥺🫰🏼

yoongi: i’ll pass

MY girl idk if you get that or not

jimin: but she’s-

ok

whatever

ur all fucked up idc

might as well all fuck but fuck me right???

ur girl no ur so right i need to just shut my mouth

sighs looks left looks right

idiot

namjoon: you all make me sick

jimin: literally do not care

jk: do you need a hug namjoon?

namjoon: absolutely not shut the fuck up

jk: oh 🥲

yoongi: so ur just really fucking mean high?

sucks

namjoon: IS HELL FROZEN OVER YOONGI BASICALLY JUST DEFENDED JUNGKOOK LIKE WHAT????? GUYS ARE YOU SEEING THIS???

hobi: who sold you this weed man..

we need to get them

jimin: he probably got sold cocaine got told it was weed and took it all

jin: yikes

sleep it off joon!!

namjoon: I HATE YOU ALL

omg

guys

i’m going to kill myself

….

now you say good or like do it or we won’t miss you

jin: who hurt you??

namjoon: YOU GUYS DID

YOU GUYS DO

ALL THE TIME ACTUALLY

WHY ARE YOU NOT DOING THAT NOW

jk: he wants us to tell him to kill himself?

namjoon: YES

y/n: he’s actually loosing his mind wow

hobi: he’s literally on another universe rn

jin: i’ll actually kill you instead of telling you to kill urself how about that!

namjoon: SHUT THE HELL UP

yoongi: does he want us to argue or stfu??? i don’t get it anymore

y/n: ur really like being insane rn joon

jimin: this a high that NEEDS to be slept off…

namjoon: there is no way u guys are being fr rn…

you guys are fucking with me

WHY IS IT AN ISSUE WHEN I SAY SOMETHING OUT OF LINE

hobi: you said MANY things out of line

namjoon: BUT YOU GUYS CAN TALK ABOUT HOW TAE HAD SEX WITH A RANDOM GIRL IN ALLEY FOR FREE FOOD AND NO ONE SAYS SHIT?????

tae: THAT IS NOT TRUE BTW

NAMJOON TELL THEM ITS NOT TRUE

namjoon: YOU GUYS ARE LITERALLY AT EACH OTHERS THROATS EVERY DAY AND WHEN I QUESTION WHY UR ALL BEING NORMAL I GET LOOKED AT FUNNY???

y/n: this is us normal?

I WAS LITERALLY TALKING ABOUT HOW YOONGI BROKE MY FRIENDS NOSE IS THAT NORMAL TO YOU???

tae: namjoon just used that fake scenario as an example IT IS NOT TRUE

namjoon: everyday you all push me closer to suicide

yoongi: ok?

idk what you want us to do at this point

namjoon: i don’t know either

yoongi: ok??

namjoon: ok

jk: OK 😋

namjoon: i think i’m gonna go now

namjoon left “JIMIN OLD ERA”

jimin: lmao i NEED to find out what he’s smoking that was crazy

—

i hate this actually.

tags: @piw6n @jvmisvu @birdie-vhs @kooksmilitarywife @hob3loveofmylife @jujubiism @bloopkook @ratchetpizza1 @myntalks @arloo00 @watamotee33 @y2kcy3brz @taiwan0618 @indigobsessed @freyadanvers @gguksbeloved @raetf @bbsantc @winuvs @medicinemybish @bxnnyhime @leleluvsbts @baetukki @zyaaaszn @thelilbutifulthings @yojaschill @k4ngelz

[queenjunothegreat]

Did someone ask for their January Sunday to include some silly fluffy Christmas fic? No? That's fine, I brought it anyway. You're welcome. <3 We're actually getting to the Christmas events this chapter, so get excited about that! ヽ(*⌒▽⌒*)ﾉ 

Anywho, I am happy to finally have for you chapter two of Where the Love Light Gleams: The Prettiest Sight to See

“Just in time!” Piper called from the stove, flipping her last pancake onto the big serving plate she had in the other hand. She turned to Jason and gestured at the table where Reyna was already waiting. “Go on and take a seat.” “Before I do, there was something I wanted to ask you guys,” Jason said. “There was a surprise change of plans, and I won’t be going to California. I know we only talked about me staying for a few days last night, but I have the whole month off from work, and I was wondering if you would be open to me extending my stay for that length of time.” There was a beat of silence before a loud CRASH filled the room, Piper having dropped her plate of pancakes to clap her hands to her cheeks, looking beyond delighted. “Really?”

First Next

 When Jason woke up, he had about two seconds to breathe before a wave of bone-deep panic washed over him because he didn't know where he was. He certainly wasn’t at home. The bedroom he knew was gunmetal gray with floor to ceiling blackout curtains over the one measly window, and there were two pillows and a plain black comforter from IKEA on the bed. It certainly didn’t have hand-made quilts with kitschy patterns or stuffed rabbits with wobbly crochet stitches or enough throw pillows that he was almost surprised he hadn’t suffocated. He didn’t know where he was, which meant he’d fallen asleep in a stranger’s home, and if there was one thing Jason Grace didn’t do, it was fall asleep in stranger’s homes. 

Only, that’s exactly what he’d done, wasn’t it? Well, not quite, but still.

He groaned as he sat up, the night before washing over him, one awful memory at a time. Driving for twenty hours, losing control of his car when the transmission suddenly gave out, standing there helplessly while a couple of strangers towed him out of the snowbank, then snapping at the poor mechanic who’d done nothing but offer him some undeserved sympathy. Leo. That was his name. He’d driven Jason across town to his sister’s bed and breakfast. She’d met them at the door in her pajamas and a Hello Kitty robe. Her eyes shone with concern, but she’d just given him a wide, eager smile like he was an expected guest instead of someone who’d woken her up and invaded her home in the middle of the night. He was pretty sure she’d given him her name at some point during her midnight tour, but with everything else that had happened, it had slipped his mind, which he felt more than a little guilty about. 

Jason got to his feet and pulled on the thick house robe that hung next to his bed. His host had warned him that it could get very cold, so he was better off being prepared with layers and a good pair of slippers. The slippers he had, but when he’d pulled a thin cotton bathrobe out of his suitcase for inspection, she’d wrinkled her nose and shoved an armful of plush fleece at him, insisting he’d thank her before too long. He stretched, then made his way out into the hall, trying his best to remember the path to the kitchen he’d been shown the night before. 

After more than a few wrong turns, he found his host, stirring a pot on the stove while batter sizzled in the skillet next to her. Just like she had the night before, she was in her flannel pajama pants and her luridly pink robe, and when she heard Jason approach, she grinned at him over her shoulder. “Good morning, sleepyhead.”

Jason chuckled awkwardly. “Uh, yeah. Good morning. What time is it?”

“Almost ten.” 

Jason choked on air. “Ten?” he spluttered. “Like, the hour that comes after nine? I slept in that late?”

His host laughed casually and shrugged. “That’s how all the clocks I’ve ever used worked. And don’t stress about oversleeping; I totally get it. Leo said you were more than a little sleep deprived last night. I probably would have stayed in bed til dinner if I was in your shoes.”

Jason just hummed and nodded. He figured there was no need to be weighing down a stranger’s morning by telling her about how he’d been physically unable to sleep past 7:30 since he was in high school, especially after she’d already shown him such kindness. Speaking of. “I’m sorry, I think you told me your name last night, but I didn’t catch it.”

Fortunately, she didn’t seem offended in the slightest, and just turned around to properly face Jason, her smile still solidly in place as she offered him a handshake. “My name’s Piper. Piper McLean. Welcome to Cabin Ten.”

“So, that’s the name of this place?” Jason asked, shaking her hand. “Any reason why?”

“It’s kinda silly, actually,” Piper admitted. “When we were designing this place, I came up with probably fifty different plans. This was idea number ten, so my wife suggested we just call it Cabin Ten and the name stuck. I don’t think she was serious, though. I’m pretty sure she was just trying to make sure I didn’t get caught up in my own head again.”

Jason huffed out a little laugh and smiled at her. “Will I get a chance to meet your wife?”

Piper nodded, her smile turning soft at the mere thought of this mystery woman. “Yeah, she should be in soon. She runs the local animal shelter, so she goes in to check on things every morning, but she should be home soon.” As if on cue, Jason heard the front door open and click shut, and Piper’s whole face lit up. “In fact, here she is now! Rey–”

“Jason Grace? Is it really you?”

Jason stiffened, then whirled around on his heel, and he felt the air get knocked right out of his lungs. He hadn’t seen that face in years. Had assumed he never would again. “Reyna?”

Reyna tossed her head back in a loud, very undignified laugh before she stepped forward and wrapped Jason up in a hug. Jason didn’t hug her back. Even if he wanted to, she’d pinned his arms to his sides, and even if she hadn’t he was frozen completely still. “Jason! It’s good to see you.”

“Reyna? What’s going on?”

Jason and Reyna both turned to see Piper watching them with obvious interest. Reyna smiled at her and held out her hand, which Piper immediately filled with her own so Reyna could press a kiss to her knuckles in a practiced motion before she explained. “This is Jason Grace.”

“I’m aware,” Piper teased, amusement clear in her tone. “I still haven’t figured out why you know that, though.”

“We, uh, knew each other in high school,” Jason stammered, still trying to reboot his brain.

“We were best friends, in fact,” Reyna corrected. “When Hylla and I left California, I assumed I would never get to see him again. I’m glad to be wrong.”

Piper’s eyes got bright and eager and she turned on Jason. “So, you knew Reyna back in high school? What was she like? She refuses to tell me any of the stuff she got up to back then.”

That’s because she didn’t do anything, Jason thought to himself. Back then, Reyna went to school, attended the extracurriculars her father signed her up for, then went home, same as Jason. The only reason they were friends at all was because nobody else was willing to talk to the weirdly quiet kids who took everything too seriously. “She was…” Jason trailed off and looked Reyna over, starting from her messy braid and the smile lines already starting to crease around her eyes down to her worn thin t-shirt and finally to the mismatched socks sticking out of the muddy work boots she was wearing inside. “She was definitely different.”

“I am that,” Reyna confirmed easily. Her eyes flicked over Jason’s face, and her smile tilted ever so slightly downwards into a frown. “And what about you? How have you changed?”

Jason suddenly wanted to throw up, though he couldn’t truly say why. He swallowed the bile burning at the back of his throat and forced a smile. “Me? Change? Of course not. I’m still the same old Jason Grace I’ve always been.”

The concerned tilt to Reyna’s lips deepened. She opened her mouth to say something, but her nose twitched like a rabbit’s, and her brow furrowed. “Is something burning?”

Piper’s eyes went wide and her face paled. “My pancakes!” she squealed, whirling around on her heel to desperately try and save the breakfast she’d made. When failure was more than obvious, she puffed out her cheeks at Reyna. “You distracted me!”

 Reyna stepped up to her side and grimaced down at what was probably closer to charcoal than breakfast at this point. She gave Piper a somewhat sheepish smile. “My apologies.”

Piper very dramatically huffed and rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Go put on non-dog-clothes. You shouldn’t smell bad in front of guests.”

“Yes, dear,” Reyna hummed, pressing a kiss to Piper’s temple. On her way out of the kitchen, she stopped and gave Jason an incredibly warm smile. “It’s good to see you again, Jason.”

“You, too,” Jason said automatically, unsure if he meant it. Reyna seemed to pick up on that because her smile turned a little sad, but she simply left the room instead of saying anything. 

“Oh, before I forget! Leo came by this morning, while you were still asleep. He couldn’t stay long, but he wanted me to tell you something,” Piper said suddenly, playing a very dangerous game by leaving her pan unattended for the second time. “He said that it would take about a week to get your car fixed.”

Jason winced and rubbed a hand over his face. “A week? Really? There’s no way he can get it done any sooner than that?”

Piper shook her head sympathetically. “Afraid not. I asked that, too. Apparently, he’s already calling in a couple favors, but it’s still gonna take at least four days to get the part in. He’s hoping to get the actual work done in just a day or two, but apparently Audis are really tricky to work on.”

Jason sighed heavily. That wasn’t the first time he’d heard that claim, and he knew how hard it was to get the parts, unless you were a licensed dealer, which Jason highly doubted Leo was. “Okay. Well, I’ve got a phone call to make, in that case.” He cut a glance down at the pancakes, then back up at Piper’s face. “Should I make an effort to come back down for breakfast or…?”

Piper’s cheeks went pink, and she blew a raspberry at him. “My pancakes are very good, and you should count yourself lucky to have them, Jason Grace. Breakfast will be ready in ten minutes.” She glanced down at the charcoal hockey pucks she’d made, and grimaced. “Okay, make that fifteen.”

Jason huffed out a quiet laugh. “Okay, okay. I’ll be back for your pancakes; which will be wonderful, I’m sure.” 

Before Piper could protest the injury to her breakfast-making pride, Jason ducked out of the kitchen and into the hall. He got turned around a few times, but soon he was back in his assigned room, and he took a seat at the big, solid oak desk tucked away into a little alcove in the room. There was a window right above it, and Jason could see softly-falling snowflakes drifting through the air outside. He could also see the rest of town properly, now that he wasn’t driving through it after all the lights had been turned out. It looked like a Christmas card, or a set prop from a Hallmark movie. Christmas lights were strung up between all of the lamps, and there wasn’t a flat surface that didn’t bear a wreath or an obnoxiously large bow. Jason couldn’t help but curl his lip slightly at the sight.

Instead of dwelling, he took out his phone and called Thalia, who picked up on the third ring. “Jason? What’s going on?”

“Hey, Thalia. It’s about the trip,” Jason started, heaving a heavy sigh.

Surprisingly, Thalia sighed as well, though she sounded almost relieved. “Funny, I was actually about to call you about that, too.”

“Oh. Go ahead then.”

“No, you.”

“Okay.” Jason cleared his throat. “So, I’m gonna be late getting there. Like, a week late. I managed to mess up my car just outside of this little town in Oklahoma, and it won’t be fixed for at least five days. I could just rent a car or something, but I’d really rather avoid that, if I can. Outside of that, though, I’m stuck here. I did already call the cleaners, and the house should be ready for you whenever you get there. I did also set up a meeting with Dakota and Gwen on the eighth, but I can reschedule, if you’d rather wait until I’m there as well. I know you said you don’t want lawyers, and they’re not lawyers. They actually run a funeral home, but they have some experience with stuff like this, and they agreed to give us an overview of what to expect. That sound good?”

Thalia didn’t say anything. In fact, she was so silent, that Jason thought that maybe his call had dropped. He pulled the phone away from his ear, but saw that it was still live, so he pressed it back to his face with a frown. “Lia? You there?”

Thalia swallowed so heavily Jason could hear it from across the two states that separated them. “You drove?”

Jason frowned, brow furrowed. “Yeah, why?”

“I– I had just assumed you’d fly is all.”

“Okay. But I didn’t. Why does that matter?”

Thalia went silent for a moment before she let out a quiet, wounded sound. “Jason, I’m so sorry.”

Jason immediately felt his heart plummet past his feet and even down past Piper cooking away in the kitchen. “You’re not coming. At all.” It wasn’t a question, it didn’t need to be.

“I’m sorry,” Thalia repeated. “But– But last night, Zoë was approached by Lady Artemis. She’s on tour this month, and she said she needed an opener because her other act fell through. I– We couldn’t just say no, Jason.”

“I get it,” Jason said, tone flat. 

“Jason–”

“No, I really get it, Thalia. It’s fine,” Jason insisted. “You– You and the rest of the band have fun, okay? I’ll take care of the estate, and keep you updated on any significant progress.”

“Jason, I–”

“Sorry, Thalia, but I’ve got to go,” Jason lied. “I wound up at this bed and breakfast and the host is really pushy. I’ll talk to you later. Bye.”

Before Thalia could offer another protest, he hung up on her. He tossed his phone on his desk and buried his face in his hands. Great. He was going to have to deal with all this himself. 

No, you don’t! a little voice in his head reminded him. Thalia was the one who didn’t want lawyers involved, and she’s not here. You can make this someone else’s problem.

Well, that was a relief, at least. With one phone call, he could just let Octavian deal with this, like he’d wanted to from the start. Octavian could be a rat bastard when he wanted to be, and he’d probably cheat them out of one thing or another, but Jason didn’t care. Octavian could take the lot, if he wanted it, and Jason would still pay him to handle it. So, that just left him with a month of vacation and nothing to do with it. The smart thing to do would be to go back to New York City, inform his department head about the change in plans, and go back to work like nothing had ever happened. For some reason, though, the thought made his skin crawl. He glanced around the cluttered, brightly colored room, then thought back to his sad, monochrome apartment, and his throat tightened in something close to panic, which he forcibly swallowed down.

You could just stay here, that same little voice from before suggested. You’re already going to be here for a week, might as well make the most of your time off. Who knows when you’ll actually do it again.

Jason looked up out the window again and bit his lip. Outside, a group of children were having a snowball fight while honest to god carolers sang on the street corner behind them. It was certainly a far cry from home, which seemed to be the only thing his brain was interested in at the moment. Besides, if he hated it, he could just leave as soon as his car was fixed. It wasn’t like he was exactly wanted or needed here. For once, he was free to come and go as he wished. Mind made up, he got back to his feet and went down to the kitchen, and he didn’t even get lost. 

“Just in time!” Piper called from the stove, flipping her last pancake onto the big serving plate she had in the other hand. She turned to Jason and gestured at the table where Reyna was already waiting. “Go on and take a seat.”

“Before I do, there was something I wanted to ask you guys,” Jason said. “There was a surprise change of plans, and I won’t be going to California. I know we only talked about me staying for a few days last night, but I have the whole month off from work, and I was wondering if you would be open to me extending my stay for that length of time.”

There was a beat of silence before a loud CRASH filled the room, Piper having dropped her plate of pancakes to clap her hands to her cheeks, looking beyond delighted. “Really?”

Jason took a half step back, startled at the outburst. “Um, yes. If that’s alright.”

“It’s more than alright!” Piper squealed. “It’s a Christmas miracle! Ohmigosh, I have got to go get the stuff ready! You two wait here!”

With that, she practically vanished, leaving nothing but a pile of ceramic and pancakes in her place. 

Reyna heaved a sigh and got to her feet, though she made no effort to mask the incredibly fond smile curling over her mouth. “I suppose I should order breakfast, then.”

“Um, what just happened?” Jason asked as Reyna started picking up the mess Piper had left.

“My wife cares very deeply about the Christmas season,” Reyna said seriously. “Every year since we’ve opened, we’ve had at least one guest during December, and Piper takes great pride and pleasure in showing them everything the town has to offer for the holidays. She was very disappointed when there weren’t any scheduled guests this year.”

Jason’s face paled. “Oh. I, um, I don’t really do Christmas,” he stammered. “I mean, I’m fine with other people doing it, but it’s not really for me, you know?”

Reyna considered that for a moment before she rested her hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye. For one moment, she looked exactly like the stern, severe girl he’d known in high school. “You have never met anyone quite like Piper McLean, have you?”

“Um, no.”

“In that case, I’d like to offer you some advice.” She looked somehow more serious than before. “I suggest that you surrender now, in order to maintain your dignity.”

Jason sighed and he mentally glowered at the little voice in his head, suddenly absent from the conversation. This is all your fault.

*-*-*

Leo stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth from his heels to his toes, watching the way his breath puffed up in steamy little clouds in the air before him. He loved and respected Piper, and was perfectly willing to indulge her in things that made her happy, but did she really have to decide to be obsessed with the cold-time holiday? Why couldn’t she have been obsessed with Halloween or something? Leo liked Halloween. It was fun and he got candy and it wasn’t so damn cold. But no. Piper liked Christmas, which meant that Leo spent more than his fair share of time outside in the cold during December because he loved his sister or whatever.

The tree-lighting ceremony was probably Leo’s least-favorite Christmas activity, because it was boring on top of being cold. The whole event was just a bunch of people milling around and waiting for the mayor to give her little Christmas speech about how much she loved the people of this town before she flipped a switch and all the lights on the tree and the street lamps turned on in sequence. It was pretty, sure, but it wasn’t exactly any prettier than it was literally any other night of December, so Leo didn’t really see the point. Unfortunately, Piper didn’t feel that way. In fact, she felt the opposite. She saw the lighting ceremony as the official start of the Christmas Season (and yes, both words were capitalized), which made it one of her favorite events. For that reason, and that reason alone, Leo went to the tree-lighting ceremony every year, and he only ever complained about it a little bit.

“Leo! There he is! I see him! Leo!”

Leo turned around just in time to see Piper before she all but tackled him in a hug. He laughed brightly, but hugged her back. “Geeze, Pipes, you act like you haven’t seen me in years. I was literally at your house this morning.”

“It’s a bit of a shame you didn’t stay longer,” Reyna commented, materializing at Piper’s side like she always did. “We could have used some good breakfast.”

“I made a great breakfast!”

“And then proceeded to drop it on the floor.”

Leo arched an eyebrow at Piper. “Why the hell did you drop breakfast on the floor?”

“I was distracted.”

“What were you–” Jason walked up then, and Leo cut himself off from how hard he was biting the inside of his lips to keep from doubling over in wheezing hysterics. “Ah. Nevermind.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jason huffed. “Laugh it up.”

“No, no! It looks, um.” Leo looked Jason up and down and bit his tongue to keep from laughing again. “It, uh, suits you.”

Jason scowled at him, very easily picking up on Leo’s very obvious lie. Jason was still wearing his charcoal peacoat from the night before, as well as the thin gold wire glasses, but he was more than a little disheveled. His thick blond hair was all fluffed up and scruffy on one side, his glasses sat slightly crooked on his face, and there was a red mark high on his cheekbone that Leo got the feeling was going to bruise. But more importantly than that, he was wearing a sweater, over his coat, that was bright red with silver tinsel striped sleeves and a pair of ice skating reindeer, complete with pom-pom noses, splashed front and center across his chest. 

Jason looked him up and down and furrowed his brow. “Where’s your sweater? Piper was very insistent that they were not optional.”

Leo hiked up a brow and pulled the front of his coat open just enough to show off the sparkly dark green sweater he was wearing, even if all of the tree decoration detailing stayed hidden. “I am wearing one. But I was smart enough to put mine on before Piper had to wrestle it on me.”

“She’s only, like, five five. I figured I would win that fight,” Jason admitted. “I wasn’t expecting her to call in Reyna as reinforcements. I certainly wasn’t expecting Reyna to actually do it.”

Leo nodded sagely. “You gotta remember that Reyna’s favorite side hustle is playing wife knight.”

“I have no clue what you’re saying to me.”

Leo laughed brightly and squeezed Jason’s bicep. “Just know that it’s always in your best interest to let Piper do what she wants in December.”

“That’s what Reyna said, too,” Jason sighed.

“Well, Reyna is the only person on the planet who might know Pipes even better than me, so you should probably listen to her.”

Suddenly, Piper whirled around on them, eyes narrowed. “Would you two be quiet?” she hissed. “Annabeth is about to speak.”

“We literally weren’t even bothering you,” Leo hissed back. “Mind your business.”

“Well, you’re bothering me now, so hush.”

Leo blew a raspberry at her, but she just rolled her eyes and faced the front again, so Leo let the subject drop. Then, he felt Jason come up right behind him and lean in so that his low, quiet voice was very close to Leo’s face. “What, exactly, is going on here? Piper was going to tell me, but she kept getting distracted.”

Leo fought back the urge to shiver, and gestured up at the stage with his mittened hand, where Annabeth was speaking into the microphone. “It’s the tree-lighting ceremony. Up there is Annabeth Chase. She’s mayor, and has been for almost a decade. Every year she makes this big speech about how glad she is that she gets to be mayor and how much she appreciates everyone and that she hopes to be able to continue to serve the community in any way we’ll have her, then she turns on the Christmas lights.”

Jason wrinkled his nose in distaste. “So, what? Is it some kind of campaign thing then? I’m a little surprised Piper’s interested in that.”

Leo shrugged, doing his best to not bump the bottom of Jason’s chin with his shoulder, seeing as the other man was still hovering right next to his cheek. “Eh, that’s not really what it is, though. Annabeth is just, like, really passionate about local government. She actually dropped out of college to run for mayor, she cares so much. I don’t think anyone even ran against her last time. Everyone just likes her and she does a good job. She’s really just doing this to welcome in the Christmas season, or whatever.”

“Huh. I wouldn’t have figured that.” Jason stood up straight, finally returning Leo’s personal space, which he definitely wasn’t even a little disappointed in. 

“And with that,” Annabeth announced, her magnified voice carrying over the small crowd that had gathered around the big central Christmas tree, “I would like to wish everyone in town a very merry Christmas!”

She flipped the cartoonishly large switch in her hand, and the tree lit up, one section at a time, starting from the bottom and ending with a glowing star at the top. When that finished, the lights seemed to grow out from the tree, following the path out like an electric snowflake, the twinkling lights chasing one another off down the little side streets attached to the central plaza. Everyone in the crowd cheered, and Piper grabbed the front of Reyna’s jacket to pull her down into a kiss, cliché foot pop and everything included.

Leo turned to maybe make a joke about the whole thing to Jason, only to see that the other man was staring up at the tree in something akin to wonder. He blinked slowly, his eyes wide and so very blue behind his glasses, and the bright lights and flashing colors made their home dancing across his cheeks instead of on the tree and Leo had to take a moment to catch his breath. He suddenly caught himself thinking that maybe Piper was right. Maybe the lights were prettier tonight than they were any other night.