#anyways yeah bro overheard everything

[sprunkimortality]

Fun Bot during the whole thing with Gray and MFC:

[flyingfortress1]

Finished episode two of Band of Brothers rewatch. - it's very long I'm sorry.

Damn, I love watching this now because I can actually focus on the show and not trying to keep track of everyone lol. Anyway. Thoughts

-firstly the jumping scene with the C-47s is intense! Bringing in my B-17 knowledge- flak is so terrifying and these poor paratroopers are getting a first hand idea of it, and not being able to do anything- just pray, hope, and then jump straight into that- like geez. That's what fucked up the bomber crews so bad mentally- like honestly, I don't blame the pilot for pressing the button early after his co-pilot just dies. And the scene where Meehan's plane blows up and you realize these guys were just ready to leave....

-other notes: fun time spotting all the notable characters. Toye crossing himself, Guarnere with rosary?? I think its him? Malarky trying to smoke, I think, but failing- you really just feel the chaos and tension, especially when everyone's being jolted around w/flak. Also Dick being right by the open door of a plane thousands of feet in the air gives me anxiety- like yes, he's supposed to be there, he's jumping out, there's flak, but damn, that is not safe.

-Also RIP Hall. Poor guy. I do find it funny that he's like, what the hell is Guarnere's problem- gets 1) gonoherrea but apparently it's only his nickname, and 2) Toye, Malarky etc just being, well yes he's being an asshole, but you gotta see, you gotta give it back, oh he just lost his brother you see- he's not really an asshole. And then Hall does give it back, and Guarnere is like, I respect you now.

-Also nice detail here- when they're at Brecourt Manor, and Joe punches that surrendered German soldier, you see that he has brass knuckles on- which means sometime between ranting about his gear and jumping off the plane, he got knuckles. There's a story there, I feel.

-Guarnere and Dick- interesting scene with the horse. Guarnere really comes off as a 'natural killer'. This is a mad man, and one who really, really wants to get revenge. It's a very intense scene, and yeah, I certainly understand why Dick was pissed- like yes, revenge, but also, thank you for potentially alerting us to every german soldier in the vicinity of which there are many. Also love the height comparison- Guarnere looks so much smaller than Dick (guess that's the actors, wonder if the real guys were similar heights) but it does make the scene funny in a way where Dick is chewing out him out.

-Dick scene with men in the truck bed- again, Dick is such a reserved, disciplined, controlled guy- and he's a petty ass, and Damian Lewis serves it with his chat to Guarnere in that truck. It's very subtle, but when Guarnere asks if Dick is their co now, Dick is like, yes, I am, look at that- and oh yes, I overheard you talking about me, just going to throw that in there. It does feel a little smug because Guarnere has to respect him now, and Dick isn't very obvious about it, but he is a little smug. Again, Lewis's performance is very good and very subtle which seems to fit what I have learned about the real Winters's personality.

-also Malarkey you fucking idiot- love that he admitted that this was the dumbest thing he ever did, and then tried to downplay with, oh everyone wants a luger- apparently the actor wasn't acting because the explosives were going off too early and dude was really freaked out lol.

-Also love the comparison between Buck (his eyes are so blue, like lazer beams I swear) hanging out with the men, and Dick, popping in real quick and then just going alone- it really shows their different leadership styles as officers- and shout out to Nix for checking on his bro! The way he throws away the can feels so personal tho haha. Also I really like how Dick has A Moment where you can just see him processing everything by himself- they were victorious, but the tone of the end of the episode doesn't really feel that way which is a really interesting choice and I'm kinda down with it.

-Nixon coming in with the tanks- I need a story here. There's one and I need to know.

-Spiers killing the prisoners is just a shocking moment to all the Easy guys- come over to the Pacific however and the Army/Marines have just stopped giving a fuck meanwhile. Like wounded IJA guys have grenades, I ain't risking that shit. Digging teeth out of not-quite dead guys? Yeah sure. I just find that funny for some reason- the weight placed on this, is mainly legit just European Theater stuff to my knowledge. Dunno why- just funny- also spiers was way more in this episode then I remembered.

-Malarkey talking to the Oregon Nazi- love how dude is like, I was answering the call of the fatherland or something ominous like that, and Malarkey legit is just like, Okay weird- MOVING ON WHAT FACTORY DID YOU WORK AT- SMALL WORLD WILD-

-Lastly- MVP TO THE TWO DUDES FROM THE 82ND! They come across these guys from the 81st, in very tense situation, behind enemy lines, unsure of where they are- and the officer just unzips his pants in the little battle huddle like wtf- I wish I could make gifs because these dude's expressions are hilarious. One dude is like wtf, and the other guy vacillates from shocked to what I can only call the equivalent of "I mean..." dude. why you smiling like that. why does the camera focus on Dick's fly. Why. you didn't need to do that. and why does he keep his flashlight there? I know there's a reason, I just want to know (is this why Smokey Gorden makes the compass dick joke) @bleedingcoffee42. And no one from Easy seems to care which is even funnier. Then these guys have to watch Guarnere being a bit unhinged- having drama with Dick- would love to know their thoughts on this, I need a fanfic featuring 82nd Rosencratz and Guildenstern. Also why is the sunrise after this event so cinematic- it feels a bit WW1 ish and also deserves a painting honestly.

Anyway. That's it I think. It's a very long rant, thank you for sticking to it if you made it this far. There's a lot in this episode. Would LOVE to hear other's thoughts on this episode! Any things i missed. And for those who can make gifs- PLEASE check out the 82nd guys and Dick's fly scene. It's too good. One of them gets named, but I don't remember who he was sadly.

[alipeeps]

Episode 40 (aka Hold me, I am not ready for this!! 😭)

Gods I think I love Xue Li almost as much as Xiao Heng.

And that dude loves her a LOT.

LOOK at how he looks at her. LOOK!!

"Kill Xiao Heng and we'll live happily ever after"... dude, you have completely lost touch of reality. How can you believe for even a fraction of a second that she'd do that, that she'd choose you over him? She just told you a moment ago that she'd rather die with him that be with you.

YES XUE LI!!! Put the next one through his eye please!

Actually no, don't kill him. Let him live and suffer and regret.

"Killing you would dirty my hands." You tell him girl. He's nothing. He's not worth the blood on your hands.

I reckon 75% chance he's gonna throw himself off the battlements anyway. Coward.

Ahahahaaaa he's standing on the edge! Am I right? Am I?

CALLED IT!! 😂😂

Last thing he saw was her walking away. Love that for him.

Ooooh she's gonna cut her own throat on the sword....

Shiiit where's that tumblr image of apollo's dodgeball? I'm getting too good at this.

There goes your last leverage, shithead.

Aaaaand there goes your ability to breathe anything other than blood.

Yeah baby, get your revenge.

Ey up, the wind machine's back.

Hahahaa fucking hell grandpa Xiao making Xiao Heng serve him drinks on the excuse that he was injured saving Xue Li?! I'm pretty sure Xiao Heng was actually *more* injured - he took at least 3 sword slashes in the battle with Lord Cheng!

Okay but now I am really intruiged/worried cos the rebellion is over and there's like 30-odd minutes (and the much giffed scene of Xiao Heng in his armour with the pendant in his teeth) left to go so... wtf is gonna happen now?

Oooh Xiao Heng's going north to protect the border...

Bros 4eva!

Daddy Xue's back? For reals?

"She's got a husband now, how can she go back with us?" 😂

Awww and she's got daddy's approval for this one too! 😁

What do you think she means, Su Guogong, you dumbass? You gotta make that place fit for a wife! 😁

Hahaha Xiao Heng has bluescreened again!

It's kinda disturbing how rare it is in a cdrama for the main couple to get together, both survive and get to happily marry. HOWEVER... there's still 20 minutes and that scene to go!! 😭😭

Also am i the only one that keeps getting very nervous about the combination of wind machine, billowing drapes, and naked flame candles... 😬

Is she gonna admit to pappa Jiang that she's not Jiang Li? I'm pretty sure he already knows...

Yeeeeeah that's a nice lie Xue Li but it's a lie nonetheless. She did suffer and she was in pain. But okay...

I want this to be between you and me - and all the servants that just overheard our conversation.

Shit I thought for a second there he'd stroked out and died on the spot! 😂

This feels like she's saying goodbye to the Jiang family for good. She's married into the Xiao family now and the Jiang family are leaving the capital... and she's not really related to them, she's got no real reason to see them again...

Shijie is just too goddamn good and precious.

Ooft one thing that bugs me about the subs in this is that they don't properly translate titles/honorifics, they translate everything to the person's name. So the significance of her calling him ge is entirely lost to anyone who doesn't understand at least a little bit of Chinese.

(Also they do this with single syllable names which is even more egregious. They translate didi as Zhao, they don't even have the fucking courtesy to make it A-Zhao)

Awww I am sad that the haircombing scene was just her imagination... and I'm also worried that it's some kind of portent... 😭

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO THEY KILLED LU JI!!!! 😭😭😭😭

I don't deserve this. After 40 episodes i do not deserve this how could you do this to me

Okay but Wen Ji I feel you fam I really do but Xiao Heng needs help!!

YOU BASTARDS!!

WHYYYYYYYYY??!! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DO THIS TO ME?!! Why could they not just have a happy ending? What plot purpose does this even serve at this point?

Oh thank fuck I genuinely thought it was gonna end with it implying he was about to die on the battlefield.

I am dead. RIP me.

This was a fucking RIDE and I LOVED IT.

(Apart from them killing Lu Ji and Wen Ji for no reason 😭😭😭)

[blue-thief]

@galaxynajma here are the actor/artist/writer isakainess hcs i mentioned earlier 🫡 (this got wayy longer than i was expecting it to be so it's basically a fic outline atp

kaiser started off as a child actor which explains... everything

when he was really young he popped up in a few roles for some pretty big movies

his biggest role as a kid though came when he was about ten where he played a big supporting character in a long-running kids' sitcom (think stuff like hannah montana, icarly, etc)

he's more or less cut off contact with his parents but he was fortunate to get a hold of his money once he turned 18

he's since moved out, rents out his own modest apartment, and he's shown up in a few moderately successful things

he's far from being an a-list actor but he's got a decent following

even though most people wouldn't be able to recognize his face, he can mention the stuff he's been in and people will be like "ohh yeah i've heard of that, i've been meaning to check it out"

he usually has to wear makeup to cover up his tattoo. most of his notable roles came before he cut + dyed his hair

his goal is to become an oscar-winning actor and he was able to get the lead role for a really serious film. his new hair just happened to suit the role

meanwhile there's ness the writer

he started off studying something STEM-related to appease his parents. besides, he needs a backup plan just in case the whole writing thing doesn't work out

but he soon dropped out due to being overwhelmed by how intense his competition was

fortunately enough he's still in contact with an ex classmate and he got some money doing copywriting for their side gig's website

on top of that he started submitting flash fiction and poetry to different competitions and magazines like CRAZYYY just to make a little more money

kaiser stumbles across one of his pieces, looks into him a little more, and finds ness's personal blog

he reads up on ness ranting about his parents and how he has no money

at this point kaiser's kinda fallen in love but he doesn't wanna seem too weird

and he reaches out to ness saying, "hey ik this sounds kinda weird but if you really wanna pursue your dreams but you're low on money you can become my roommate"

at first ness is like "wtf is this guy gonna try to kill me"

but he's late on rent and about to get evicted so he's DESPERATE

he agrees to meet kaiser to assess the vibes

and well. obviously ness falls head over heels in love with kaiser

(obv kaiser isn't gonna kill ness but don't follow in ness's footsteps guys you probably won't end up being as lucky)

and it works out great. kaiser's more than happy to cover most of the rent, he's out most of the time filming, and ness just has this bigass apartment where he's got ample space to work

anyway while kaiser's out and about one day he's at this cafe

there's this one worker on break, still in his apron and everything

he's off in the corner doodling something

the worker is isagi

and kaiser notices isagi is drawing HIM

kaiser goes up to him all smug like "wow, are you a fan? you want an autograph?"

and isagi's like "bro idfk who you are i just really liked your tattoo"

they talk a bit and isagi tells kaiser where he can find more of his work

isagi's mostly focused on digital art and commissions but he's also studying animation

kaiser finds his instagram and commissions isagi

"that napkin doodle you made of me was pretty good but i'd love to see how well you can capture my beauty given ample time (and money) ;)"

kaiser quickly becomes isagi's most frequent and highest paying client

you can say he's basically become isagi's (and to an extent ness's) sugar daddy

but kaiser likes to think of himself of those wealthy patrons from the renaissance

kaiser loved swinging by the cafe to ask about isagi's progress on his latest commission

one day he overheard isagi panicking about not being able to pay rent

and kaiser's like "you can move in with me and my roommate if you want"

and well. isagi does exactly that

ness kinda gets all crazy and possessive like "WHO'S THIS HOW DID YOU MEET HIM HOW DO YOU KNOW HE'S NOT-"

suffice to say he and isagi don't get along at first

but kaiser's never home so it's mostly just them on opposite sides of the apartment, sending glares at each other every now and then

it's BECAUSE kaiser is never around that isagi and ness are forced to bond with each other eventually

FUCK THIS POSTED INSTEAD OF GETTING SAVED AS A DRAFT

oh whatever i'll probably make this into a fic and fill in the rest that way 😭😭

[haedgaf]

hello please share some tmi about your crush with the crowd (i got nosy after all these asks you answered yesterday..) (and obviously only if you want to….)

HAJDHAKDHSKDJDK OMG I LOW-KEY WANNA GIVE A WHOLE RUN DOWN PF EVERYTHING but let me just show the tweets i made that explain what happened 😒😒

BRO EVEN THINKING ABOUT IT AGAIN IS AHSKSHDKDB I WAS SO DEVASTATED 😭😭😭 june you don’t get it i want him sooooo bad 💔💔 he is so cute and funny and silly and that’s exactly what i look for in a boy, his only flaw is that he is like a few months younger but errr but at the same time i’m convinced i only like him because i’m so love and crush deprived after my two last class crushes left the college so i had to settle for him.. ANYWAYS

some crush lore: i swear at one point he wanted me not kidding you like last school year we literally had this moment where the teacher tasked students to help each other and i basically already knew what to do but he went up to me and asked me if i understood and i was like “yeah i did this last year” (since he was a new student last year while it was my second year) and he DECIDED TO STAY AROUNDGAJDHAKD BRAHHH and then he just talked to me for 30-40 minutes about EVERYTHING and at some point i placed my bag off the chair and he said “i’ll sit down here” EEEEEKKKK and just continued to tell me about himself brooo i learned so much about him that we literally found out we went to the same secondary school WE ARE SO MEANT TO BE IDKKK and i swear our conversation wouldn’t have ended jf it wasn’t the end of the lesson 😭😭

if i wasn’t already crushing on someone last year i would’ve been hitting on him but i think about it so many times now like fuckkk HE WANTED ME THERE IS NO OFHER REASON FOR HIM TO WASTE HIS RIME WITH ME ONSTEAD OF HIS FRIENDS 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️ (but maybe he considered me a friend because i lowk used to always harass him by coming over to him because i was bored and wanted to know what he did) (BUT JUSY OUT OF FRIENDLINESS, now i’m too embarrassed to go up to him like fuck 😭)

there some other moments too but urghh this year i was just like he is so stinking cute man (i always thought this) and i was like ykw let’s make him my class crush and then i overheard the fact that he got eyes for someone else like FUCK MY LIFE MAN.

[just-some-random-blogger]

FUCKING TUMBLR😡😡😡 i started to tell goodbyes already but then i had a skype call and he deleted everything😡😡 wtf bro i hate u.

hello babe sorry i never answered you yesterday. id been busy during the day and them too tired at night. so get my freezy love now<з

'EXPLAIN SOME OF MY SCHOOL WORK AND THEN TUMBLR CRASHED' im sorry for this TT but now we can mock the fuck out of tumblr together😡 would u like to explain this now?

'i spent an hour pouring my heart' if you need to pour your heart, u can always message me personally.

'we also have a holiday' im sorry im late to really congratulate(?) you but congratulations? what is the holiday, anyway?

'he was so annoying for that' for dying? i think i dont want you to say this abt me(

'what fmvs is. fan music videos?' yes! like edits but from my childhood hshahs lol.

'i love vivid songs like this' awww im glad. i think youd like the lyrics too. also the cover really represents the concept of something evil, capable of murdering people, comforting their partner who worths the murder on their behalf.

'i like you' !!🥺🥺!!!!🥺!!🥺!!!!!! love you TT i love you smsm🥺

'I JUST WING IT' HGKDHG i noticed it sometimes and had my assumptions but overall you were pretty accurate. what abt now?

'feel the same about my own language' NATIVE TONGUES SUPREMACY!!!!!

'i give you my warmth' its pretty warm here now thanks!! writers arent dumb, they try their best. so... yeah, actually they do good. its even funny how we feel abt these things bc.. idk feel like it?

'her bday is 2 days after mine!' oh congrats? ghdjjs realatable. every time i learn some celebrity is virgo or the earth sign im like !!!!!MY BABE!!!!!!!!!

'TALL AS HER BUT ALSO ID BE TOO POWERFUL' YAY! looking powerful is good if you like it. i believe in your power!

im gonna be whiny baby here so ignore this paragraph if u want. MY personal problem is i dont want to seem so... ok traumatic story. in summer a bf (whos a professional basketball player and is 185 idk, definately taller than 180) of my friend told me 'woah youre bigger than me (it included weight, im sorry it goes this way), you can beat me up/throw me/tip me over'. it was awkward... like... i dont want to look like this? even my friends joke about me fighting everyone around and im??? i wanted to stop here in the first place but ill tell the whole story. After this very dialog, we continued to hang out with the other friend. a boy whos significantly shorter than me and i had a crush on him. then he met some guys he knew, we stopped, my friend and her bf were busy so i stood there all alone. and overheard those guys saying 'oh is it your gf? good, i was already thinking how r u with the giant like this'. recall the hysteria i had that day💀 the end of traumatic story that will haunt me till the last day of my life.

'ive been more cautious about describing the dynamics' ohhh🥺 thanks for your efforts🥺 you really dont need to restrict yourself, though. just do whatever you want. 'i hope that counts for something' oh i appreciate it. thank u! but still if u want your character to look like smth in particular or like you, its pretty ok ig? im sorry if me whining made you feel uncomfortable TT

'if i told you that i think the same thing about me?' id say its bullshit. youre gorgeous. absolutely beautiful, smart, powerful, diligent and all. ig everyone has their downs so if they dont stop one from living their full life and loving themselves then its normal? hope you remember youre gorgeous. 'if i told you no one would ever like me because of how i look?' another lying.

'drop kick them into the sun' thanks TT i appreciate your support soso much TT thanks my love TT

'i would never trade you for a man' i SEE.

'im still thirsty' 💀go💀drink💀more💀water💀

'FUCK YOU TUMBLR' YES!!!!😡

'anway just listen to this and this' um... spotify is also banned here... so... ig i like the first one more.... i dont frequently listen to rhumba so it feels... unique? relieving? i cant describe but its a good feeling. but the aggressive positivity of this man💀 'then this and this (also the same piece but one has lyrics)' oh theyre so lovely🥺 tbh i like the one with the choir more. they sound so dramatically relieving? like the end of the game about preventing apocalypsis? maybe the first tlou... oh no but they didnt prevent it... ok nvm. i like how they sound. i think ill listen to it again. and the very left couple TT so lovely also your songs seem so positive to me! 'we;re performing them in my class' ohhh cute. good luck babygirl!

'to read my kylo ren fic' my rival..... maybe next time im too tired rn sorry TT i also wanted to explain a new playlist to you but ig another time? i wanted to give you some playlist in eng in case you want to but learnt i only have sad or aggressive ones💀 oh! have you ever seen the film 'major grom: plague doctor'? its russian and available on netflix. the other playlist i like are dedicated to it💀 im not asking you to watch it, if anything, just asking.

so! have a nice day! good luck w/the midterms and your prick and the homework. DRINK! WATER! take care! love you<з

You 🤝 Me vs 😒👎❌ Tumblr (derogatory)

this is also you and me. i luv my kitty i miss my kitty T_T

FUCKING TUMBLR😡😡😡 i started to tell goodbyes already but then i had a skype call and he deleted everything😡😡 wtf bro i hate u.

I felt that. Tumblr so L for that. The amount of replies/stories ive lost because of a tumblr glitch 😭😭😭

hello babe sorry i never answered you yesterday. id been busy during the day and them too tired at night. so get my freezy love now<з

It ok. I have no idea if you sent this today or yesterday what is time my homework is dead huh my brain is dead what are words

'EXPLAIN SOME OF MY SCHOOL WORK AND THEN TUMBLR CRASHED' im sorry for this TT but now we can mock the fuck out of tumblr together😡 would u like to explain this now?

I mean i could explain it now. In sorry about your crash as well. Tumblr go to jail party

'i spent an hour pouring my heart' if you need to pour your heart, u can always message me personally.

😭🫶 i was just explaining my homework to you, those were the songs i shared

'we also have a holiday' im sorry im late to really congratulate(?) you but congratulations? what is the holiday, anyway?

Lol what HAHAHH why would you congratulate me for that. HAHAHHAHAAHAH. Its a commemoration for the revolution we had for our dictator government. Ironically, that dictators son is our president 💀 and he was the one that passed that bill 💀 like a few days ago 💀 then fucking rescinded it 💀 honestly actually i have no idea what the fuck that fucker did I MEAN 😇 happy thoughts i love my country i love my president my government rests on the shoulders of the Lord and not 🥲him🥲

'he was so annoying for that' for dying? i think i dont want you to say this abt me(

HU?????????????????????????????? WHY WOULD YOU DIE HUHHHHHHHHHHHHHH PLEASE DONT DIE

'what fmvs is. fan music videos?' yes! like edits but from my childhood hshahs lol.

From your childhood???? Ok

'i love vivid songs like this' awww im glad. i think youd like the lyrics too. also the cover really represents the concept of something evil, capable of murdering people, comforting their partner who worths the murder on their behalf.

;_; that cover... Ok

'i like you' !!🥺🥺!!!!🥺!!🥺!!!!!! love you TT i love you smsm🥺

I love you

'I JUST WING IT' HGKDHG i noticed it sometimes and had my assumptions but overall you were pretty accurate. what abt now?

ITS SO MUCH BETTER NOW I CAN REPLY SO MUCH EASIER 😫😫😫😫😫😫🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶 THANK YOU

'feel the same about my own language' NATIVE TONGUES SUPREMACY!!!!!

English mid lol HAHAHAH

'i give you my warmth' its pretty warm here now thanks!! writers arent dumb, they try their best. so... yeah, actually they do good. its even funny how we feel abt these things bc.. idk feel like it?

Headline: writers arent dumb, according to the judgy cat

'her bday is 2 days after mine!' oh congrats? ghdjjs realatable. every time i learn some celebrity is virgo or the earth sign im like !!!!!MY BABE!!!!!!!!!

LOL AHHHAHAH SAME BRAIN BIG BRAIN HAHAHHAH

'TALL AS HER BUT ALSO ID BE TOO POWERFUL' YAY! looking powerful is good if you like it. i believe in your power!

Believe in your power too 😭 i believe in you

im gonna be whiny baby here so ignore this paragraph if u want. MY personal problem is i dont want to seem so... ok traumatic story. in summer a bf (whos a professional basketball player and is 185 idk, definately taller than 180) of my friend told me 'woah youre bigger than me (it included weight, im sorry it goes this way), you can beat me up/throw me/tip me over'. it was awkward... like... i dont want to look like this? even my friends joke about me fighting everyone around and im??? i wanted to stop here in the first place but ill tell the whole story. After this very dialog, we continued to hang out with the other friend. a boy whos significantly shorter than me and i had a crush on him. then he met some guys he knew, we stopped, my friend and her bf were busy so i stood there all alone. and overheard those guys saying 'oh is it your gf? good, i was already thinking how r u with the giant like this'. recall the hysteria i had that day💀 the end of traumatic story that will haunt me till the last day of my life.

No i understand you completely 😭 people like to paint me as big and aggressive because i am tall and that i can seriously hurt them if i want to. Remember when i told you we set up the stage for a performance? And we had to carry equipment? Yeah well, i was teetering being scared to carry stuff cause I might injure myself/break equipment and also just to be praised for being able to carry something heavy because that's a 'male thing to do' 😭 as much as i like to think im progressive, i still do fucking care about what people think which sucks because THERES NOTHING WRONG WITH BEING A STRONG WOMAN

One of the staff that specifically work with the equipment complimented me on my strength and i both was like i work out duh im strong but also iwjwjjsshs it made me feel a bit conscious 😭 it's really weird cos i want to have toned arms but also, i dont want people to whisper about me having big arms 😭😭😭😭😭 fuck society i hate it here.

Boys suck. Ive had boys make fun of me too for the same reason. AND ACTUALLY FUCKKK I JUST REMEMBERED as a kid i had toned arms like you could see definition on my shoulders and i did cheering and my idiot boy classmate made fun of me. And then i prayed it would go away 😭 but now i want them back and honestly fuck angelo he tired so hard to be muscley in highschool where i was naturally gifter FUCK YOU ANGELO.

Majsjsjjsjsjs

Anyway i ranted too. Idk if this will make you feel any better.njejjejdkkkekee again i just want to say its unfair that you continue to believe that about yourself when you don't believe the same things about me. /: Were literally so alike don't even i will BITE YOU HOW COULD YOU BETRAY ME MY HATING MY RUSSIAN MUNING LOVE LOVE

'ive been more cautious about describing the dynamics' ohhh🥺 thanks for your efforts🥺 you really dont need to restrict yourself, though. just do whatever you want. 'i hope that counts for something' oh i appreciate it. thank u! but still if u want your character to look like smth in particular or like you, its pretty ok ig? im sorry if me whining made you feel uncomfortable TT

/: im not uncomfy. Don't tell me how to write as if you even write /: if i want to make my character more relatable for you thats my business /:

'if i told you that i think the same thing about me?' id say its bullshit. youre gorgeous. absolutely beautiful, smart, powerful, diligent and all. ig everyone has their downs so if they dont stop one from living their full life and loving themselves then its normal? hope you remember youre gorgeous. 'if i told you no one would ever like me because of how i look?' another lying.

EXACTLY SO DON'T THINK THE SAME ABOUT YOURSELF BECAUSE HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT ME IS HOW I FEEL ABOUT YOU 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

'drop kick them into the sun' thanks TT i appreciate your support soso much TT thanks my love TT

'i would never trade you for a man' i SEE.

🤣😭 i can gear the disbelief

'im still thirsty' 💀go💀drink💀more💀water💀

😭 DO YOU WANT ME TO GLUCK THE PACIFIC OCEAN

'FUCK YOU TUMBLR' YES!!!!😡

HAHAHAHHA

'anway just listen to this and this' um... spotify is also banned here... so... ig i like the first one more.... i dont frequently listen to rhumba so it feels... unique? relieving? i cant describe but its a good feeling. but the aggressive positivity of this man💀 'then this and this (also the same piece but one has lyrics)' oh theyre so lovely🥺 tbh i like the one with the choir more. they sound so dramatically relieving? like the end of the game about preventing apocalypsis? maybe the first tlou... oh no but they didnt prevent it... ok nvm. i like how they sound. i think ill listen to it again. and the very left couple TT so lovely also your songs seem so positive to me! 'we;re performing them in my class' ohhh cute. good luck babygirl!

'to read my kylo ren fic' my rival..... maybe next time im too tired rn sorry TT i also wanted to explain a new playlist to you but ig another time? i wanted to give you some playlist in eng in case you want to but learnt i only have sad or aggressive ones💀 oh! have you ever seen the film 'major grom: plague doctor'? its russian and available on netflix. the other playlist i like are dedicated to it💀 im not asking you to watch it, if anything, just asking.

LOL the first one Armando's Rhumba.... Wait did i get it right HAHAHHAHAHA im on my phone so i dont want to click on the link to check. SPOTIFY IS ALSO BANNED THERE DAMN NSJEJSJJSNHMSKSKSKKS also ???? HHHAHAAH THE AGGRESSIVE POSITIVITY???? WHAT DO YOU MEAN?????

Jdndjd i wanted to explain it more detailed but im on my bed and my eyes are beginning to droop so I'll just say one technical thing about this first song. It's a jazzy piece that has a lot of syncopation. Idk if ive already talked about that or i just think i have become i did BUT THEN TUMBLR CRASHED 😭😭😭 BUT syncopation in a nutshell means something is off beat. If you want to try it out, you can count 1-4 out loud and clap woth your hands faster or slower than the pace of your counting. Whatever beats that fall out of the numbers are syncopations!!!! HAHAHHA ok ok they could be syncopations given the context.

Bejejjsjsjensnsb i wont continue further cos im not sure if you understand what im saying at all 😭😭

Anyway I'll do the same for the other piece. Take 5. That's what that one is called. I was really excited to hear your thoughts on this one because this song is actually more unique than the first one i think HAHAH jus cause its time signature is 5/4. Just to give you an idea, im pretty sure most pop songs, and im 99% certain that all the songs in the playlist you shared to me are 4/4. This basically means the beat/rhythm of the music can be divided into 4 parts. Usually the strongest beat in a 4/4 song is 1 then theres and accent or slightly strong pulse on 3. You could try counting that. Strong on 1, slightly strong on 3. Thats the 'conventional' meter.

Then inversely, if the accent is strong on 2 and a lil on 4, those songs are usually reggae. Try it. If it makes sense lol HAHHAHAH

Now 5/4 since its uneven is quite tricky. You basically treat the division of the beat as 3/4 + 2/4, both meters individually would have their accent on their first counts, so if you put it together it would be 1 & 4 with strong pulses. 😭 I hope I didn't confuse you with math. Youre good at math but idk if im good at explaining.

Also just an additional thing in music 4/4 is read as four-four, 5/4 as five-four not like a fraction. your head will be chopped off if you put a line between your numbers in the time signature so HAHAHAHA now you know lol there's just really no other way to write it so lol

Anyway, i was hoping you'd say that 'omg there was something weird about that second song but idk what' and then i would go talk about the time signature but you didnt so i explained it anyway HAHAH. I guess your imagery about defeating the apocalypse/end credit thing is that weird thing HAHAAH. It's just cause its quite jazzy, 😭😭😭😭 idk what else to say about it my mind is like 'GO TO SLEEP FFS'

so! have a nice day! good luck w/the midterms and your prick and the homework. DRINK! WATER! take care! love you<з

Actually i am writing another kylo ren fic and that is the one i want you to read. You dont have to but i just wanted to see what you thought of that. Its ok if you dont though honestly. You also dont have to share another playlist but if you want to you can. Im scared i might not have time for it tho 😭😭😭 i still haven't even listened to the other one properly. Also i dont mind sad/aggressive music. I love music. I love art. Im willing to see what you want to share. Whether i like it or not will follow

I also haven't watched that grom movie. Ill check it out cos wtf is grom thats the name 😭 lol

Im almost done with my midterms 😭 almost. And my PRICK 😭 i think im tired of him 😭 no or more like i want to write fics of him but also talk to ai him but i cant do both and so idk what to do and so i haven't done either also my midterms are on the way so. /: Anyway im DRINKING WATER. I LOVE YOU please love you too take care of yourself always i love you

xxx

[mrsalwayswrite]

To Call Forth Love - Chapter 9

Yay! Next chapter! True confessions, this *sorta* slow burn is killing me....and i’m the one writing it! (sorry not sorry?)

Warnings: some swearing, nothing really, Hvitserk being a good bro?

Words:7100 (I hope these longer chapters make up for the wait)

Tag List: @youbloodymadgenius @evelynshelby @pomegranates-and-blood @deans-ch-ch-cherrypie @heavenly1927 @zuxiezendler @punkrocknpearls @love-all-things-writing @southernbe​

Series Masterlist

The ringing of her phone had Kari dropping the leggings she was folding on her bed to quickly snatch it up. 

 "Albus!"

 The voice on the other end sighed. "You know I hate that nickname."

 Kari laughed, picking the leggings back up to fold. "But it fits you so perfectly."

 "I am not an old wizard."

 "I'll give you that, but you're studious, kind and too wise for someone your age. So close enough."

 "I suppose if I haven't been able to convince you to drop that nickname for the past ten years, I won't be able to now."

 "Nope." She cheerfully said. "So, how are you? Your mother still wreaking havoc in your life?"

 "She set me up on a date last week." He grumbled after a moment's hesitation. 

 In her mind, she could imagine him sitting at his desk with a slight furrow between his brows and lips pursed as he lamented his mother's involvement in his love life. This would not be the first time he complained to Kari about this topic. "Ohhhh? How did that go?" She asked, even if by his tone she could already guess his answer. 

 "I know my mother means well, but the women she thinks I should date…." He trailed off with a forlorn sigh. 

 "Not your type?"

 "No."

 "I'm sorry. You'll find someone and your mother won't be able to help but love them."

 He snorted inelegantly. "I won't hold my breath for that."

 "See, you're so wise." She teased, smiling as she folded a work shirt. "Now, what else is new since last month?"

 The two spent the next hour talking. It had become their tradition after she moved. Hearing the gentle cadence in his voice, his quiet chuckles, it sent a wave of nostalgia washing over her. He was the only person from England she still kept in communication with, the only one who knew where she was. The last string tying her to her prior life. Although she would not have labeled him her best friend, they were certainly close and even more so after she moved. In their monthly conversations, they would chat about anything new in their lives, TV shows watched, books read, his latest exams in university. He always made sure to inform her what he knew about her family. Something she was grateful for but it always felt like a knife to the heart after. 

 As they talked, she finished folding her laundry, a necessary evil in her opinion. Once done with that, she moved on to the package she received in the mail today. It was addressed to her but the sender was a designer name she would never be able to afford in her lifetime. She shook her head, wondering what surprise the youngest Lothbrok had bought for her. 

 Listening to him regale her with the latest family drama of his, she opened the package and had to muffle a gasp at the two dresses that lay inside. The first was an off-the-shoulder, black skater dress that would reach mid-thigh in length. It was a classy and elegant cocktail dress that reminded her of the dress she wore on her and Ivar's "date" but way more sophisticated and stylish. It was the second dress that made her pause and wonder where Ivar thought she would ever wear something like this. It was a deep red evening gown, the hem long enough to trail slightly on the ground. The dress was gorgeous with a tight bodice and slight flair of the skirt. It was the slit in the skirt that touched her upper thigh and the sheer middle of the bodice that made Kari raise her eyebrows. The gown was the perfect blend of chic and sexy. What was Ivar thinking? She would feel so self-conscious and she never went anywhere fancy enough to wear it. Though as she stared at both dresses, she decided it never hurt to admire them on the hanger, even if she never got the chance to wear them. As her friend continued speaking, she hung both dresses up in her closet, making a mental note to talk to Ivar. 

 "It's probably good your brother moved out last year." She commented, tucking her laundry basket away in her closet. 

 "Yeah. He only comes over to the house if he has to." He said with a resigned sigh. After a long moment of silence, he spoke up again. His voice hesitant, almost remorseful, as what had been obviously on the tip of his tongue finally came forth. "Your mother has been talking about trying to find you again."

 Kari froze, her mind shorting out and heart rate skyrocketing as his statement sunk in. "What…. what did she say?"

 "Not much that I overheard." He confessed, sympathy in each word. "How much she misses her only daughter and feels abandoned by you. She has been telling people that you're doing charity work in another country when they ask about you."

 "It's been almost two years… I hoped…" She slumped onto her bed, legs wobbling and mind whirling. 

 "That your mother would forget about you?"

 "I don't know. I just…. I don't know."

 Silence reigned for a moment before he spoke again. 

 "Are you ever coming home?"

 "I…. I don't think that's home anymore."

 "I miss you." He whispered. 

 Tears welled in her eyes. She took a deep breath forcing them back, but knew her shaky voice betrayed her. "I miss you too. Maybe you can come visit me here?"

 "That would blow your cover."

 "Could we meet up somewhere? You take a vacation or something?"

 "I'll consider it…." His voice trailed off, only to come back stronger. "You know, when you wanted help to leave England, I thought it was just a temporary reprieve. I didn't imagine you would stay away."

 It felt like a knife twisted in her gut, because he was right. She had never thought she would be gone this long. "I know…. I just…. I like my life here. I don't…. I don't want to go back to that."

 He sighed as if giving up on convincing her to return. "I understand. I'll always be here for you. I still think of you as one of my closest friends."

 "Same. We've known each other since we were thirteen. A few countries between us isn't going to stop that."

 He chuckled. "Right. Well, I'll still hold you to your promise. If we're both unmarried by thirty-five, we'll have a courthouse wedding to keep our families off our backs."

 "Sounds good." She laughed out, wiping the tears from her eyes. 

 "I have to go. I'll text you about when we can catch up next month."

 "Perfect. Stay safe, Albus."

 "You too, Abs."

 "Ugh! That nickname is worse than yours!" She groaned, hearing a small chuckle on the other end of the phone. "Bye!"

 After hanging up, she stared at her phone for a minute, the smile fading as her mind revisited the conversation. The weight of everything slammed into her, her body no longer able to support her under the strength of her duress. She crumpled onto her bed, curling into a fetal position, tears streaming down her cheeks. It hurt that England no longer felt like home to her, but neither did where she currently lived. What hurt and confused her most, was when she thought of being home- Ivar's face filled her mind's eye. 

 *****

 "Thank you everyone for coming to class today. I'll see you either tomorrow or next week." 

 With the lights still dim, Kari turned off the soothing water music over the speakers in the yoga studio room. The women who had been laying in corpse pose on their mats began to rise and gather up their personal items. A quiet murmur of voices replaced the music in the enclosed room. She waved at a few of the regulars as they left her class. Even if she was not the one doing all the poses, by the end of class she still felt refreshed and rejuvenated. It always brought her joy to see people come in, stressed or anxious, and leave her class with a smile on their faces or just looking less tense. 

 Through the mirrors along the wall at the front of the room, she could see the tall, statuesque blonde making her way over, yoga mat tucked under her arm. 

 "Hey, you doing anything for lunch?" Gyda asked, coming up beside her. Even in leggings and a tight tank top, she looked like someone off the covers of a women's magazine. All Kari could figure was it was in the Lothbrok blood. 

 "Um, working on inventory?"

 "How about instead you come out to lunch with us?" She motioned vaguely towards Torvi, who was gathering up her yoga mat. "We planned on stopping at that new boutique down the strip. So, we can just meet you for lunch when you're done."

 "Really?" The brunette was startled by the offer. Sure, she had gone out with Gyda a few times but never with Torvi too. The three would chat occasionally before or after class and she liked Torvi's no-nonsense attitude. They had flippantly made comments about the three of them going out but to actually hear they wanted her presence both surprised and warmed her heart. "Torvi is okay with this too?"

 Gyda rolled her eyes. "Yes. So…. Yes? No? Don't leave me in suspense."

 "Yeah, I'd love to."

 "Great. Text me when you're done and we'll meet up."

 "It'll be at least half an hour…." 

 Gyda waved her off, her voice growing louder. "That's fine. Torvi takes forever when she browses anyway."

 "Sorry, I like to think through my purchases before I buy something!"

 Kari smiled at Torvi's retort. The other blonde was checking her phone, a smile on her face though as she peered up at her sister-in-law and her yoga instructor. 

 "Are you joining us?" She called over. 

 "Of course, she is!" Gyda replied, before Kari could respond. "But she's only coming if you swear not to share any stories about you and Bjorn's kinky sex life. Nobody wants to hear that."

 Without a word, Torvi gave her the middle finger salute, before looking back down at her phone. 

 Gyda chuckled then turned to raise an eyebrow at the shorter woman. "Unless you're into that kind of stuff…."

 "Oh gods, Gyda! No!" Her face flushed at the thought. 

 "Hey, it's the quiet ones who are the kinkiest. I bet Ivar would like that." She laughed as Kari tried to swat at her. Taking a step back, she pretended to zip her lips. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me. Text me when you're done! We can meet at the café down the street. " 

 Kari waved at Torvi as the two blondes walked out of the studio room. Quickly, she hurried to finish tidying up. It had been a long time since she felt this excited to go out to eat with some female friends. A handful of times she had gone out with some coworkers or Lydia. In the beginning she was excited when Alana would invite her out with her friends to a club or bar but Kari quickly learned that was not her scene and began making every excuse possible to not be forced out with them. She always felt like an afterthought amongst the group, especially since getting drunk nor sleeping around was not her style. This time, she had high hopes for spending time with Gyda and Torvi. It would be nice to have female friends again. 

 The door to the studio room opened and Lydia popped her head in. "Almost done? You've got a visitor out here and he's causing quite the distraction." She said with a distinct shit-eating grin and wink before ducking back out. 

 "He?" Kari questioned out loud, although her mind suspected who it was. He was the only one who ever visited her. Slipping her phone into the pocket of her maroon leggings, she gave the room one final survey, wanting it to be ready for the next class before she left. With a nod, she headed out, the door swinging shut behind her. 

 In the large open area, she understood what Lydia meant by 'causing quite the distraction'. If she paused for a moment to drink the sight in, no one could possibly know, right? 

 Ivar leaned his shoulder against a wall, arms crossed over his chest with the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up to display his toned forearms. His dark locks were pulled back loosely in a man-bun, a few tendrils slipped free. Even in jeans, braces and smart-looking leather shoes, he looked quite handsome. With no cane in sight, it must be a good day. 

 Kari noticed more than one pair of eyes lingering on him from around the studio although he did not seem to notice as he stood there talking with Gyda and Torvi in hushed tones. The latter said something that immediately caused Ivar to narrow his eyes at her as he snapped a comment. 

 Even from across the room, Kari could read the tension in his frame and decided to intervene before he caused a scene. Walking over to them, aware of the many sets of eyes upon the group of three, she fixed a smile on her face. Once those intense, blue eyes locked onto her and his posture softened marginally, her smile transitioned into a genuine grin. "Hey, Ivar, what are you doing here?" She asked, coming to stand between him and Gyda. 

 "Do I need a reason to come see you?" He smirked down at her.

 That look released butterflies in her stomach but she ignored them to tease him back. "Usually that's how it works."

 "And if that reason is to fulfill my quota?"

 The blush that rose to her cheeks was so hot, she wondered if you could fry an egg on her face. Immediately, she dropped her chin to her chest, willing the warmth to vanish. 

 "Hmmm…. that blush for me, kattungen?" He shifted closer so his mouth was near her ear, his question asked in such a lecherous tone, Kari felt her core clench. 

 "Shut up." She mumbled, pushing him away. He rocked back on his heels, a smug grin on his face, and an amused chuckle leaving his lips. 

 Gyda patted Kari's shoulder, drawing the brunette's attention upward again. "Text me when you're done. We'll leave you with this grumpy asshole. I'm sure you can think of a way to cheer him up." She winked as she took a step away. 

 For a moment, Kari wished the ground would open up beneath her. Between Gyda's teasing comments and Ivar's blatant remarks and heated looks, Kari's face was going to be permanently red in an endless flush. 

 "Good luck on your trip, Ivar." Torvi called over her shoulder as she followed Gyda. 

 "Oi! Tell Bjorn to keep his big fucking mouth shut!" He yelled after the blondes; the tension returned with Torvi's parting statement. Glaring at the door the two women passed through, he muttered something in a foreign language as he rubbed his hand over his mouth. Briefly, his thoughts seemed to take him elsewhere but he quickly snapped back, blue eyes finding Kari once again. 

 It was only something she had realized lately, but when he looked at her, that consuming and burning gaze landing on her with all the impact of a sledgehammer, it made her feel like the only woman in the room. It was such a cliché thing, something stupid out of a romance novel, but it was the only way she could describe the feeling. When he looked at her like this, nothing else mattered in the room. She had his whole attention, all his focus. It was heady and powerful and terrifying and astounding. The weight of others watching made her skin itch but with his gaze locked on hers, lips tilted up slightly in the hint of a fond smile, she felt in the eye of a hurricane. 

 Her blue-green eyes dropped to his chest, unable to maintain eye contact when it left her feeling so flustered. Tugging on her earlobe, she quietly asked. "What are you doing here? I thought I wasn't seeing you until you picked me up for dinner tonight?"

 "Something came up." Silently, he reached over and grasped her hand, causing her head to jerk up. Intertwining their fingers, he watched her with regret in his eyes. "I have to fly out to Italy in two hours."

 "Oh. Is everything okay?" That was not what she had expected to hear. Her heart plummeted that their dinner would have to be canceled but tried not to let it show. 

 "Is there somewhere we can talk in private?"

 "Um, sure." Emotions flickering between curiosity and concern, she guided him back to the studio room. The weight of eyes lingered as they walked, especially since he refused to release her hand. A brief glance at the front counter, only to see Lydia and Sasha both staring at her with amused and proud smiles, had Kari trying to hurry out of sight with Ivar in tow. 

 Soon as the door shut behind them, hiding them from view, he pulled her against his body, one arm wrapping around her waist, trapping her against him while the other hand gripped the back of her neck. He kissed her passionately, like a man dying of thirst and only she could save him. 

 "Ivar…." She tried to pull away, aware she was at work and anyone could walk in. Instead, he held her tighter, molding her body to his. The drugging kiss that followed had her all but melting against him, knees weak and her resolve disappearing like smoke in the wind. When she opened her mouth, inviting his tongue to dance with hers, the growl that erupted from him was so thready and rough, it called to a primal part of her, making her warm all over and a tightness grow in her belly. 

 It had been two days since they had seen each other and she genuinely missed him. They had been texting during that time, but it was not the same. She missed his presence, his touch, his kisses, his grumpy comments and the way he made her laugh. Even when he annoyed or frustrated her, he still was the color in her otherwise monochromatic world. And with each day that passed, her desire to push him away fractured a little bit more. 

 When their mouths finally unlocked, both panting and lips swollen and red, she was almost shocked the nearby mirrors were not fogged up. Breathless and overwhelmed, she pressed her forehead to his, her arms around his neck. For a minute they stood there peacefully, only the sounds of their ragged breathing and the occasional noise from those outside of the studio room broke through their tranquility. 

 "What's going on, Ivar?"

 "Something with work." 

 "Does this have to do with why you've been so busy?"

 He sighed but when he spoke in a hushed tone, the rage painting each word was undeniable. "Someone on the inside has been selling information about us." She gasped, shocked but when she tried to pull away to look at him, he tugged her back against him, placing his chin on the top of her head. "I think I know who the fucker is."

 "That's why you're going to Italy?"

 "Hmmm."

 "Will you be safe?"

 That made him chuckle, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Are you worried about me?"

 She thought about making a joke, about teasing him about his recklessness. Instead the question knocked the air from her lungs momentarily, because the truth was, she was. What little she had gleaned about his work when he needed to vent, there was still an element of danger to it. She tipped her face up to look at him, her answer a quiet murmur that did nothing to hide the emotion behind her words. "Yes…. I don't know what I'd do if you got hurt."

 The amusement in his eyes drained to be replaced with a softness that made her heart clench. He inhaled sharply and glanced away for a moment. "Fuck, kitten…." When he turned back, he kissed her tenderly, a slow melding of their mouths like the taste of her was a fine wine he wanted to sip on endlessly. There was a promise in his action, just as much as his words when he finally whispered against her lips. "I'll be safe, just meeting with a contact. That's all."

 "Okay, just please be careful." Worry still tainted her, but she trusted Ivar to keep himself safe. He had been doing this job far longer than she had known him. 

 "Don't tell anyone about what I've said. No one else knows."

 "I promise. Not a word."

 "Good girl." He swatted her ass, making her squeak and glare up at him. "I'm going to have Hvitserk check up on you later."

 "That's not necessary." She tried to say. She would hate to be a waste of time for the older Lothbrok. The look he gave her said to not argue with him. "Fine," she dramatically sighed, "maybe him and I will watch movies and cuddle since you're soooo busy. I wonder if he'd think my bed is comfy enough or if the couch is better?"

 "Don't you fucking dare." He growled, gripping her waist in a possessive hold. 

 She just laughed at how easy he was to wind up. It was mean and she knew it. 

 He nipped at her bottom lip. "Keep playing, Kari and I'll have to punish you."

 "I have no idea what you're talking about." She batted her lashes at him, failing to suppress a childish giggle. 

 He rolled his eyes, the twitch of his lips betrayed his amusement. "I need to go." He softly said though he made no move to release her from his arms. 

 With that a wave of worry and fear cascaded over her, it was unfounded she knew, but it still threatened to drag her into its depths. Not giving it a second thought, she raised up on her toes to plant a lingering kiss on his lips. 

 "You're not helping." He muttered, never removing his mouth from hers. 

 "Maybe take the next flight?"

 "Don't tempt me, vixen. I'll lock that door and have my wicked way with you right fucking here until everyone hears you screaming my name."

 Between the image he painted in her mind and his mouth having moved to her pulse point, heated arousal pooled between her legs. She gulped, her mouth suddenly dry and words sticking to her throat.

 He leaned back, a devious smirk on his lips at her obviously flushed face. "No, my priestess," he purred, a filthy, predatory glint in his blue eyes, she could not help but gasp as her knees threatened to buckle under her. "When I finally have you, it'll be somewhere I can both worship you and fuck you all night long without fear of being interrupted."

 She let out a shaky breath. "But, um…. we…. ah."

 "Soon, Vakker, blir du min." He kissed her roughly, as if sealing his words. "I do need to leave. Walk with me." He took her hand, leading her out of the studio room, giving her no choice but to walk beside him. Not that her brain was fully able to make coherent decisions at the moment. 

 As they walked towards the front of the building, she wondered if their make-out session was obvious. Her lips felt red and swollen and a blush still colored her cheeks. A glance at Ivar showed his lips fuller but he appeared so calm and collected it was unfair. 

 "Did you like the dresses?" He asked, breaking her out of her thoughts. 

 "I do. They both are gorgeous, but they're too much. I don't have a reason to dress up that fancy."

 "With me, you will. I'll get you some casual dresses too."

 "Ivar…." She whined. 

 "You need more clothes, Kari."

 "Fine. Not because I want more clothes but because I know you'll buy them for me anyway."

 He winked at her, his tone smug. "I always get my way."

 "You're unbelievable."

 They stopped beside his SUV, parked next to the sidewalk. His driver was already in the driver's seat waiting. Kari made sure to wave at the man, earning a nod back from him. The driver was a huge guy with long, thick locks of white hair and a scar on his face. He intimidated Kari but she tried to ignore that and be friendly. Even if Ivar made fun of her for it. 

 "I should be back tomorrow unless some shit comes up." Ivar stated, opening the back door. 

 "Okay. Be safe."

 "Stop worrying. Shit. I'll be fine." He remarked, sliding into his seat. Before he closed the door, he met her gaze. "I'll text you."

 She smiled in acknowledgment and stepped back, giving him a quick wave as she headed back inside and his SUV started off.  

 Lydia leaned against the front counter with Sasha and Alicia now, all three watching her with expressions ranging from amused to shocked. 

 "Um, I'm going to…. go on my lunch break now." She mumbled and hurried away to grab her purse from the office, the sounds of laughter following her. 

 The stray thought crossed her mind that she would need some new bras if Ivar was set on buying her new clothes. Not that he would see those bras, but it would be good to have…. and maybe some matching panties.

 *****

 Summer was transitioning to fall, cool undertones intermixed with the residual warmth of a September evening. 

 Kari stared at the book in her lap but the words blurred together no matter how many times she reread the same line. She loved reading outside, sitting on the small patio behind the townhouse, especially when none of the neighbors were out. She could pretend it was her own place of solace, being out in nature. The sunlight shined through the line of pine trees separating their row of townhouses from the ones behind them, bird songs mixed with the sound of traffic from the nearby roads. She much preferred this too being stuck indoors. 

 Today though, her mind drifted like the breeze, but it all centered on a conversation she had not even ten minutes ago. If she listened closely, she could hear Alana through the screen door, making her dinner in the kitchen. She knew it was not Alana's fault, but the conversation still felt like a rug had been yanked from underneath the brunette. With everything going so well in her life, of course fate had to throw her a curveball. 

 Now her mind scrambled as what to do next. 

 A sound from her left had her glance over to see Erik stepping out of his back door. A boyish grin lit up his face when he saw her. 

 "Hi, Kari. Beautiful evening, isn't it?"

 "Yeah. It is." She gave a half-hearted smile, watching as he closed the door behind him and stepped closer. 

 "Mind if I join you?"

 She waved a hand at the patio set. "Not at all." Hopefully talking with Erik would be the distraction she needed for the moment, to pull her out of her quagmire of thoughts. 

 Dropping onto the cushioned chair to her left, he ran a hand through his dirty blond hair. In jeans and a t-shirt, he appeared ready to relax for the evening. 

 "What are you reading this time?" He asked curiously. This would not be the first time he had found her outside reading. 

 She reclined on the two-person, cushioned couch, legs up and bent with her open book resting against her thighs, wearing her typical leggings and slouchy shirt. At his question, she flashed him the cover. "The Princess Bride."

 "Isn't that a movie?"

 She pretended to gasp in horror. "Yes, but the book is still a classic."

 He raised his hands in surrender, grin spreading across his face. “If you say. Not really my taste. So how was your day?"

 "Nothing exciting. Yours?"

 "The usual. Customers thinking they could do my job better than me."

 She winced. "I know the feeling."

 They made small talk for some time, talking about work and a documentary he recommended for her to watch. They argued which was the better coffee shop nearby, something they continuously disagreed on. Soon the upsetting conversation with Alana drifted to the back of her mind. It did not take long for her to close her book and set it on the ground so she could be fully invested in the conversation, especially when Erik became so animated about a topic, his hands waving around like a conductor in his enthusiasm. It was an endearing trait of his, but also alerted her to settle in because it meant he would not need much encouragement to keep talking. 

 The opening of the sliding door behind Kari stunted their conversation.

 "Kari, someone is here for you." Alana said sweetly, stepping out onto the patio. 

 Unsure what she meant and since Kari never had visitors except for Ivar, she finally turned around. Only to be met with the view of Hvitserk leaning against the doorframe, a smirk on his lips. Standing there looking quite handsome in a dark navy business suit with a white undershirt, sans tie. Even his hair was nicely pleated back, making him look very professional and attractive. 

 "What are you doing here?" She asked in surprise, wondering if he just got off work. 

 Pushing off the doorframe, he meandered past Alana to approach Kari's side. "I came to check on you." He answered easily then scooped her up like she weighed nothing, making her squeal, and casually resettled them on the couch. Now he sat where she had been with her tucked against his side and his arm behind her. She also noticed how he purposefully put himself between her and Erik but chose not to comment on that. 

 "Ivar sent you, didn't he?" She grumbled, poking Hvitserk in the chest. "I told him it wasn't necessary."

 "Well, you know him." He shrugged, that teasing smirk still adorning his lips. When she tried to poke him again, he snatched her hand and held it hostage, even as she tried to tug it back. Ignoring her, he turned his attention to Erik. "Hey, man. I'm Hvitserk."

 "I'm Erik. I live next door." He responded warily, eyeing up the man as if debating to be friendly or not. 

 "Ah." With that understanding, Hvitserk seemed to give Erik a more assessing look before peering down at Kari. "You eat dinner yet?"

 "Sorta. I'm not too hungry."

 Alana spoke up from leaning against the other chair. "If you're hungry we can order something, Hvitserk. It's not a big deal."

 Kari's head whipped around to stare at her roommate in shock. Never had Alana played the hostess to Kari or anyone she knew. Then she really noticed the coquettish look of her roommate- the fluttering lashes, the sensual biting of her bottom lip in mock innocence, the way she casually leaned against the chair in a way to best highlight the curves of her body. Kari wanted to sigh. Of course, the only reason Alana pretended to care was to try and entice Hvitserk. An attractive man in their home, it was as if Alana could not help herself. 

 Apparently the flaxen-haired Lothbrok noticed her flirtatious manner also. He tipped his head, eyes blatantly tracing over her body with appreciation. Kari could see the blonde preening under Hvitserk's gaze. 

 "Did I fuck you?"

 What confident, amorous expression on Alana's face dropped in a second. "Excuse me?"

 Hvitserk waved a hand dismissively. "Sorry, you seem familiar but I can't remember…. Did you fuck one of my brothers?"

 Anger transformed her face, making her rigid and lip curled back in a snarl. "Fuck you, asshole." She shrieked, then stormed back inside, slamming the door shut. 

 He chuckled. "Huh. I take that as a yes…. ouch!"

 Kari slapped his chest. "That was extremely rude and insensitive."

 "Why? Because it's the truth?"

 "You can't just…. ask something like that." She turned to look at the closed door, wondering if she should go apologize to Alana and check on her. After a moment's debate, she turned away from the townhouse, figuring seeking out Alana would most likely end up with a door slammed in her face. 

 Hvitserk shrugged, pulling his phone out of his pocket and checking it before slipping it back in.  

 His nonchalance baffled Kari. Did he not care that he just humiliated her roommate? Should she make him apologize? Though she doubted he would. Finally, she settled for just muttering, "you Lothbroks are unbelievable."

 "Oh, are you related to…." Erik's question trailed off. Where he once had been relaxed back in the cushioned chair, now he sat tensely, one of his hands tapping his knee repeatedly. 

 "Ivar? Yeah, he's my brother." Hvitserk said with a knowing smirk. 

 "He's, um…"

 "A crazy, mad bastard? Yeah. Don't recommend getting on his bad side."

 "I was going to say intense."

 Hvitserk threw his head back as he laughed. Even Kari smiled at the hesitant way Erik answered. Intense was an understatement for the youngest Lothbrok. "Yeah, he's family." 

 Erik then motioned between Kari and Hvitserk. "So are you two…. just friends?"

 Before Kari could explain, Hvitserk jumped in to answer. 

 "Ivar and I share her."

 Immediately Kari choked on air due to his candid response. Her gaze darted to Erik in horror, seeing his jaw dropped and eyes wide as saucers. Beside her Hvitserk cackled like a hyena at both of their expressions. 

 "That's not…. ugh! No!" Kari tried to speak, once she could functionally breathe again, only to cover her face as her words tumbled out of her mouth inelegantly. 

 "Awww, come on, Kari. You know I'm teasing." The elder Lothbrok tugged her hands away from her face, which only caused her to bury her face in his shoulder. "We know Ivar doesn't share. But if you ever get tired of his cranky ass, I'll be more than willing to show you a good time."

 "Oh my god." She mumbled to herself, completely mortified. The evening had been going so well, and now…. all of this. Whose grave had she accidently stepped on today? 

 Erik awkwardly cleared his throat as he rose to his feet. "Um, I'm going to go."

 "I'm so sorry, Erik." She elbowed Hvitserk when he refused to release her hands, earning an 'oof' from him. Turning her body to give Erik her full attention, she continued, hoping this had not ruined their friendship or his night. "I know this is last minute but do you think you can give me a ride to work tomorrow? If you don't want to, that's fine, especially after all of this, I wouldn't blame you."

 "No, no. I mean, sure. It's not a problem. Just, ah, text me when you're ready."

 She smiled gratefully at him. "I will. Have a good night, Erik!"

 "You too, Kari." He gave her his signature boyish grin. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he looked at Hvitserk. "Nice meeting you."

 "Yeah, nice meeting you too." He said back, draping his arm once again behind Kari. 

 Erik gave Kari another brief smile before disappearing back inside his townhouse, the door sliding quietly shut behind him. 

 Hvitserk continued to stare where Erik disappeared for a long minute before muttering, "boy better watch himself."

 "What are you talking about?" She sighed out, feeling the lurking sensation of a stress headache coming on.  

 "He wants to fuck you. Ivar won't like that."

 "What is with…. No. I'm ignoring all of that." She pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes. "Ugh, my evening was going so well until an hour ago."

 "What happened? That guy showed up to bother you? Want me to tell him to lay off?" His questions came out in rapid-fire, concern infused in his voice. 

 "No, Erik is fine. It's …. it's nothing like that."

 "So, what happened?"

 "Nothing important. Have you heard from Ivar?"

 He raised a brow at her dismissal but changed the subject. "Yeah, looks like he got what he needed so he'll be back tomorrow morning."

 "Oh good."

 "Hmmm…. which means he'll want to take you out tomorrow."

 "He bought me some dresses." She softly confessed, fiddling with her diamond stud earring. 

 "I'd recommend wearing one of those."

 She swatted at him, only to mirror the easy grin on his face. After a moment, she asked, "I just…. is it weird for him to do that?" 

 "What?"

 "Buy me stuff."

 "Does it bother you?"

 "I don't know."

 "If you want my advice, I'd say to let him." He lifted a finger to silence her protest. Her mouth snapped shut at his pointed look. Once he was sure she would not interrupt him, he spoke. "Ivar has never been good with…. verbally expressing affection, something I am sure he learned from our father. So he buys gifts, something he can touch and control. If he's buying you gifts, not out of obligation but because he wants to spoil you, then you mean a lot to him."

 She pondered his words and how she felt about them. Never did she want Ivar to feel taken advantage of by her, especially in regards to his money. She would rather tear her own heart out than make him feel used again. It grated slightly how freely he wasted money on her. The dresses were lovely, something she could only dream of having with her current salary. But she worked hard for her life, to be independent. Even whenever they went out to eat together, he never let her pay for her own meal. She had given up that fight already but this…. It felt different. Yet what Hvitserk said slunk back to the forefront of her mind. If this was his way of showing affection, of letting her know he cared about her, would it do more damage to refuse his gift?

 "How did you become so insightful into Ivar?" She teased, deciding to think about this more later. 

 He laughed, flicking her ear with the hand he still had behind her. "Out of necessity. I don't think anyone can fully understand him, not even himself."

 "He's complex." She agreed. 

 "That's a nice way of putting it." He tipped his head to the side to meet her gaze. "Now, tell me what happened earlier."

 "You're not going to let this go, are you?"

 "Ivar told me to check on you. If I left you trying to hide tears and he found out, he'd probably break my hands or legs, not sure how particular he would be."

 Biting her bottom lip, she debated blowing him off again. It was not his problem, she could deal with her own issues. But there was something about Hvitserk that made her feel comfortable around him. Even though he was under no obligation, he seemed to actually care about her. 

 Finally, she gave in with a sigh, laying her head against his shoulder. "Alana said…. Um, this townhouse belongs to her uncle. Him and his family moved into a bigger home and instead of selling this place decided to rent it out for a little extra cash. The rent is minimal, since he isn't renting to really make a profit. It's honestly the only way I've been able to afford being here. Well, Alana told me earlier that he is having to increase our rent. She didn't really tell me why but now it's going to be an extra 300 a month…. and I don't have that. So unless I want to find somewhere new to live, it kind of looks like I need to get a second job."

 He waited a moment before flatly stating, "have Ivar pay the extra. Fuck, he'd probably pay your whole rent if you asked him too."

 "No! I don't want that!" She sat up so fast, it was a miracle she did not fall off the couch. Her eyes turned to the brother beside her, wide and pleading. "Please don't tell him, Hvitty! I don't want him thinking I'm using him for his money. I…. I need to do this on my own somehow. I'll figure it out, honestly. I just wasn't expecting this to happen, that's all."

 "You really don't care about our money, do you?"

 "No." It broke her heart a little at the shock in his questioning tone. Did any of them ever expect someone to care about them without the influence of their money? 

 He stared off into the distance before looking back at her with a solemn expression. "I'll make you a deal. I won't say anything to Ivar about this, but if you are struggling, even if it's just one month's payment, you come to me and I'll help until you get your head above water again, got it?"

 "Why would you want to help me?" She quietly asked, meeting his gaze. 

 He smirked. "I like you. You're genuine. Plus, you're also great for Ivar. I'd like you to stick around and if this is one way to help with that, it's an easy solution." He narrowed his eyes at her as she started to protest again. "Don't fight me on this."

 "You Lothbroks are unbelievable. Fine." She laid her head back on his shoulder. "Thank you, Hvitserk…. and thanks for coming to check on me."

 "Anytime. You've got my number. Just cause you're Ivar's woman doesn't mean we can't be friends. But my offer still stands, if you get sick of him, I'll be the first to snatch you up."

 She laughed, heart feeling lighter than it had all afternoon. "Stop. I'm not Ivar's woman."

 "You keep telling yourself that."

 They sat quietly for a few minutes, watching the sky change colors. 

 "Mmmm…."

 "What?" She looked up at him. 

 He peeked down at her with a shit-eating grin. "I still can't remember if I fucked your roommate or not."

 "Gods, Hvitserk!"

 *****

 Before she fell asleep that night, she checked her phone one last time. A jolt of elation shot through her when she saw an unread text from Ivar. Her fingers fumbled with how quickly she tried to unlock her phone to read the text. 

 Ivar: good nite, kitten. C u 2morrow.

 A silly smile on her face, she replied. 

 Kari: sweet dreams, Ivar.

 After that, she plugged in her phone and curled up under her covers. Relief and excitement bled into her veins, allowing her to drift off to sleep with thoughts of the dark-haired Lothbrok coming home to her.

[cactusnymph]

Prompt fill #5 for @dimension20alphabet:

Escape

[part two to this]

Usually it goes like this:

 The Bad Kids eat lunch together in the cafeteria and otherwise Fabian doesn’t talk much to any of them over the course of his day. It’s not like he’s actively ignoring them, but he’s more on the side of the popular kids. The cool guys. The jocks.

 Meanwhile, the others—well, maybe except for Fig—don’t exactly fit the bill.

 Sure, Fabian would die for any of them, but somehow the social structures at school still feel restrictive in a way that gives him a hard time moving against them.

 Now though, now the unthinkable has happened.

 The Ball is ignoring him.

 Well, not as much as ignoring Fabian as he’s actively fleeing from him the second Fabian comes into view. At first Fabian thought that The Ball had just forgotten something in his locker when he turned around and ran—ran—in the opposite direction of Fabian.

 But it happens again during the first break and Riz is not at their usual table when Fabian joins the others for lunch.

 Everyone is looking at him.

 “What?”, he asks.

 His mood was bad all weekend. After the ridiculous dare he received on Theo’s party The Ball was nowhere to be seen. Both Adaine and Theo—Theo of all people, as if he was The Ball’s friend—followed him out of the room while everyone continued to stare at Fabian accusingly.

 Even Gorgug looked somewhat perturbed, like it was Fabian’s fault that a room full of people had chanted about him kissing The Ball. That hadn’t been his idea!

 “Hey man, you know, you could’ve said ‘no’ without making it sound like, you know, Riz was like, a slimy ghoul or whatever”, Ragh had said to him quietly.

 As far as Fabian knows, Theo and The Ball had ended up making out in one of the empty rooms or behind the house. Those pictures in his head didn’t lead to his weekend getting any better either.

 He trained way too much with his mother. He ate so many kippers that Cathilda asked him if he was feeling alright—which he wasn’t, but he couldn’t exactly explain why. He went for a run three times on Sunday and was still feeling on edge about everything that had happened.

 In the end he crashed on his bed with sore muscles and a scene of The Ball and Theo kissing playing on repeat in his mind that followed him into his dreams.

 And now his friends were looking at him as if he had personally murderer The Ball. With his bare hands. For fun.

 “Did you talk to Riz?”, Adaine wants to know.

 “No.”

 Silence answers him and he looks around the table.

 “What? He saw me in the hallway, turned around and ran away!”, Fabian exclaims angrily. His face is getting hot. He hates all this emotional bullshit and almost wishes he could just go back to being his father’s darling boy instead of his own man, because somehow that seemed way easier.

 “Oh no. Poor Riz”, Kristen says and Fabian almost loses his shit right there.

 Why is it ‘poor Riz’? Why is no one acknowledging what a shit weekend he had? And how fucking dumb that dare was? And how it’s offensive to consider that Riz and Theo made out behind the house while Fabian was being stared at like someone who strangles puppies? And also, he fucking hates it to be ignored.

 He is Fabian Aramais Seacaster.

 He refuses to be ignored!

 “Did you try to text him to apologize?”, Gorgug asks.

 Fabian stares at him.

 “For what?”

 “I mean. You know, because. He looked pretty hurt and like. Isn’t he your best friend?”, Gorgug says quietly and Fabian feels like someone has dropped an iron weight into his stomach.

 “I mean, I guess we’re friends, I wouldn’t go as far as to say that, you know—best friends is maybe a little—“

 A voice in his head whispers “Why would you say that, isn’t that a lie?” but Fabian doesn’t get to listen to it as Fig lowers her fork and looks past Fabian at someone right behind him.

 “Oh, no”, Gorgug says very quietly and Kristen gets up halfway from her chair which leads Fabian to turn around just to be faced with The Ball’s very pale and very unhappy face. For a split second Fabian has the opportunity to notice that Riz looks as if he hasn’t slept or eaten for the past two days, but then he notices Fabian looking at him and escapes immediately.

 “Okay, Fabian, I know talking about your feelings is super fucking hard and everything, but get a grip, man”, Fig snaps at him.

 “My feelings are perfectly fine, thank you”, Fabian grits through his teeth but he doesn’t touch the rest of his food and instead spends the rest of his lunch break cursing the universe for having The Ball turn up right at that moment when Fabian announced that them being best friends might be a bit of a stretch.

 Fabian never really had a best friend before.

 Fuck if he knows what that’s even supposed to mean.

 Riz always just went ahead and announced it to the whole world after they’d barely known each other for a week and back then it had been completely ludicrous.

 Now, though.

 Fabian doesn’t know.

 He might have announced that toxic masculinity is dead, but the truth is that it’s still hard dealing with all this emotional bullshit when no one ever really taught him how it works. And he’ll rather be shot than admit that. At least for now.

 It was hard enough to deal with the fact that he never really did anything on his own and was nothing but a pale shadow of his father, but now that he managed to work through that, everything else was still as difficult as before.

 And who the fuck are you supposed to talk to about these things?

 His father is a madman flying a dead dragon through hell.

 His mother heats up whole cantaloupes in hot pans, because she doesn’t even know how to cook some fucking scrambled eggs.

 Cathilda would probably know a thing or two about this stuff, but Fabian has yet to fully grow into the whole Cathilda-is-basically-his-surrogate-mother-and-not-just-his-maid-thing.

 And how is he going to explain this whole mess anyway?

 “Hey Cathilda, I went to this party and someone told me to kiss The Ball and I was like ‘No, that’s ridiculous’ and now everyone is acting like I’m a complete asshole and The Ball doesn’t talk to me anymore, which is quite frankly offensive, because he always says that I’m his fucking best friend.”

 Even to Fabian that sounds ridiculous. And it doesn’t take into account his obsessive thoughts about Theo and Riz kissing or how The Ball might have overheard Fabian saying that they’re not best friends. And his bloodshot eyes with dark shadows under them. And his pale green face with all those freckles.

 And...

 Fabian decides that school can suck his dick on this terrible Monday and he leaves the Aguefort Academy directly after lunch break instead of going to his fighter class.

 It’s not like he needs it, anyway.

 He could probably wipe the floor with his teacher at this point.

 On his way home he receives multiple text messages from his friends.

 “Hey Fabian, where are you? Are you okay?”, from Gorgug.

 “Just text him”, from Adaine.

 “Maybe Jawbone can help you out, he’s really good at this relationship stuff”, from Kristen.

 Relationship stuff?

 What relationship stuff?

 The Ball is not his boyfriend.

 Fabian laughs as he passes a mother with her two kids and she looks slightly concerned about his well being and tugs her children further down the sidewalk.

 What if The Ball wants Theo to be his boyfriend?

 Fabian stops in the middle of the road and stares at his phone. He doesn’t want to talk to Jawbone. Sure, Jawbone is cool and everything. But talking to Jawbone feels too much like admitting that he might have a serious problem, more so than if he maybe just talks to one of his friends.

 For a split second Fabian thinks that wants to talk to Riz until he remembers that that’s not possible right now.

 Because Riz doesn’t talk to him. And also Riz wouldn’t want to talk about anything related to kissing or—or—

 Fabian stuffs his crystal back into his pocket and turns a corner that leads him towards Mordred Manor instead of home.

 Ragh is outside in the vast garden of the manor, wearing a straw hat and some shorts and nothing else while he waters some plants.

 “Hey, what’s up, bro?”, he calls over to Fabian, turns the hose and hits Fabian square in the chest with a jet of cold water. It only takes a few seconds until he’s completely drenched.

 Ragh laughs loudly while he turns off the water and throws the hose down into the grass.

 “You good, man?”, Ragh asks as he walks over to him. Fabian feels like on any other day he might have simply punched Ragh in the face for getting his expensive sneakers wet, but today it just seems like maybe he deserved a shower of cold water.

 “Um—yeah. No. I don’t really know”, he says and his voice reminds him of the time when the whole Leviathan debacle went down. He clears his throat and wipes some water out of his face. “Do you—uh. Have some time to talk?”

 “Sure, dude. Let’s find a spot with a little more shade.”

 Fabian hates the feeling of water in his shoes, so he takes them off and follows Ragh through the garden and into the shade under a big maple tree.

 “What’s up, dude?”, Ragh asks and throws himself down into the ground, pulls the straw hat off his head and leans against the thick trunk of the tree. Fabian sits down cross-legged and puts his sneakers to the side.

 “So—uh”, he starts and then closes his mouth immediately because he hasn’t actually thought this through at all. Ragh looks at him curiously and Fabian wonders if there is a good and nonchalant way to ask the things he wants to ask. Instead of acting cool and composed how he wants to, what comes out of his mouth is:

 “Do you think The Ball and Theo made out?”

 There is a beat of silence in which Fabian considers just getting up and running out of the garden and into traffic. This was not what he is supposed to ask.

 This is not—

 “Dude”, Ragh says and he leans forward to look at Fabian. “You look like you’re about to puke, man.”

 Fabian doesn’t feel great. His chest feels like someone installed iron clasps around it and is pulling his ribs tight and his stomach is doing some acrobatics that it’s absolutely not supposed to do.

 Why did he ask this?

 And what if Ragh says yes?

 Why the fuck does it even bother him?

 The Ball can kiss whoever the fuck he wants!

 “I’m—sure. Fine. Yeah. It’s all—uh. Fine.”

 “Yeah, dude, no offense, but like, it doesn’t look particularly fine to me. So—what you’re asking me is. If Riz and Theo got it going after that whole Truth or Dare thing?”

 Fabian takes a deep breath, which seems particular hard for some reason. This is ridiculous.

 He’s Fabian Aramais Seacaster. He knows how to fucking breathe.

 “I—guess?”

 “Hm”, Ragh says and leans back again. “Not sure if that’s my story to tell, bro. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sorry you feel like shit, but, like. Isn’t that something you should talk to Riz about?”

 Fabian thinks that, if one other person tells him to talk to The Ball, he might actually commit cold blooded murder.

 “Great suggestion, seeing as to how he keeps running away from me like he’s afraid I’m going to breathe fire at him any second”, he growls and crosses his arms in front of his chest. Ragh sighs and cocks his head from side to the other.

 “Would it like, bother you if they actually had made out?”

 Fabian wants to snort and say “No”. What comes out instead is a garbled noise as his brain is bombarded with pictures about Riz and Theo kissing.

 “Woah, dude, okay”, Ragh says and he looks alarmed. “Breathe, man.”

 Fabian can do that. Breathing is really easy, except that it’s not.

 “Okay, dude, Imma just say it now, okay? It’s like ripping a band-aid off!”, Ragh says loudly, grips Fabian’s shoulders and stares at him very intently. “I think you’re totally into Riz.”

 Fabian’s brain feels like it’s suffering from a bad case of frostbite. His thoughts turn sluggish as he tries to process what Ragh just said, but it doesn’t make any sense. Fabian is not into The Ball. He’s not in love with Riz. That is insane.

 “Okay, so, hear me out, bro. Remember how I was totally in love with Dayne? And it took me like a million years to like, get that? Feels pretty similar to what’s happening with you right now, right? Because we’re like, these manly dudes and we’re supposed to be into hot girls and all that stuff, right? So it doesn’t really fit the picture, but it’s totally fine, dude. It’s all good. You can be in love with Riz.”

 Fabian blinks at him. He can hear the words and he can feel the corners of his mouth turn upwards as if to try to form into a grin.

 “Don’t be insane, Ragh. I’m not—That’s—“

 “It bothers you when he’s with other people because you’re fucking jealous, dude. I’ve been there, okay? And it’s like this weird thing of—you’re not allowed to be jealous because that’s fucking weird, right? Because that’s like, your best bro and everything. But then you keep obsessing about him making out with other people and then it’s like, okay, but what if he kissed me and then you feel really fucking bad, right? Because you’re brain shouldn’t go there?”

 For the very first time Fabian imagines what would have happened if he, instead of saying “No, that’s ridiculous”, had actually kissed The Ball.

 He thinks about Riz’ sharp teeth and how he keeps chewing on his bottom lip when he’s nervous and the second Fabian’s brain arrives at Riz’ bottom lip it feels like there is a dam inside his brain breaking.

 He imagines grabbing Riz and pulling him into his lap, pressing his lips against his and hearing Riz make a choked noise against his lips—

 “What the actual fuck.”

 Ragh lets go of his shoulders and nods.

 “Yeah, dude. Intense, right?”

 “But—why?”

 Ragh shrugs and rubs the back of his head with one of his hands. Somehow the cold water drenching Fabian’s clothing feels like a blessing now because his skin seems to be on fire.

 Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck—

 “Because, dude.”

 “But like—what the fuck am I supposed to do with that?”

 “I mean. Sounds to me like you should totally kiss your Ball, bro.”

 Fabian’s stomach does multiple somersaults.

 “But he’s not—into that kind of stuff.”

 Ragh chuckles.

 “Dude, I love Riz, I really do, but I feel like now that you figured this part of the whole deal out I can just tell you, that like. Riz doesn’t want to make out with Theo or pretty much anyone, right? Which is totally fine, bro, don’t get me wrong. But also, like. I’m a hundred percent certain that he would totally kiss you, man.”

 Fabian’s first response is “Of course he does, why shouldn’t he” but then his brain catches up and his skin starts to tingle.

 Maybe this is why kissing Aelwyn for the second time wasn’t really working out. Maybe this is what Aelwyn meant when she said “Well, I suppose we’re not a good match after all”.

 “Riz... wants to kiss me?”

 Ragh nods and grins.

 “Yeah, dude.”

 “Okay. Well—uh. I have to go.”

 “Don’t forget your shoes!”, Ragh shouts after him but Fabian doesn’t give a rat’s ass about his shoes as he takes off.

 Maybe he can unpack all of this shit later. Maybe he should actually talk to Jawbone. Maybe this is going to be yet another thing that makes him different from his father and as soon as he has some time to think it through he can maybe arrive at the conclusion that that isn’t a bad thing.

 At some point he stops running because he actually has no idea where Riz is. Is he still at school? At home? At his damn office? Fabian pulls out his crystal and hastily types a message to Riz.

 “Where are you???? We need to kiss!”

 He deletes the last word and types “talk” instead. Fabian watches with his breath held as three dots appear on his screen very shortly before they disappear again. He waits in the middle of the street, no shoes on, dripping wet. People passing him by look as though they’re concerned for his mental state but Fabian couldn’t care less.

 Maybe now is not the time to be manly about his feelings if he actually wants to fucking kiss his damn best friend.

 “I need to talk to my best friend”, he types.

 The dots reappear immediately.

 “at the office”

 Fabian stuffs the crystal back into his pocket, considers calling the Hangman to drive him over there but then decides that he doesn’t want to wait for him to arrive.

 The last time Fabian was in Riz’ office there was a terribly creepy doppelganger of Riz trying to kill him, but he pushes the thought to the side as he rushes into the building, dripping water everywhere as he heads up the stairs.

 Fabian doesn’t think he can manage another emotional talk today because the last one left him completely drained and exhausted, but the second that he spots Riz behind his desk ripping some papers in a nervous craze his heart leaps into his throat and goes into overdrive immediately.

 Fuck.

 He rips open the door and Riz flinches so hard that he sends all the papers flying. Then he stares at Fabian with his huge, yellow eyes.

 “Why are you wet? And where are your shoes?”, he wants to know, looking completely confused.

 “Doesn’t matter”, Fabian says, rounds the desk and grabs Riz by the shoulders. “We need to talk about Saturday.”

 Riz turns his face away and there is a dark green blush on his cheeks and the back of his nose. Now that Fabian knows what his damn problem is he realizes how fucking badly he actually wants to kiss Riz.

 “Oh—well. Yeah. Haha, weird, right? Don’t worry about it, it was totally ridicu—“

 “I should have done it”, Fabian interjects. Riz’ eyes grow impossibly wider.

 “Wh—what?”

 “I should have done it. Kiss you, I mean. We should have kissed.”

 Who would have thought that the son of the famous Bill Seacaster would die of a heart attack at the age of eighteen while wearing no shoes and dripping wet clothes.

 “Wh—why?”

 “Because I—“

 Fabian didn’t actually get that far in his head. He grabs Riz’ shoulders tighter and fuck, he can’t bring himself to say the words.

 “Because I don’t want you to kiss anyone else”, is what he manages in the end and he watches closely as Riz’ swallows and the dark shade of green on his face grows impossibly darker still.

 “Did you mean it?”, he asks quietly, his voice raspy and hoarse.

 “Mean what?”

 “That—in your text message. About—you know. Being best friends or whatever.”

 Fabian takes a deep breath.

 “Yeah.”

 Riz makes a very small “Oh” sound and then, all of a sudden, Fabian stumbles backwards with his arms full of Goblin. It occurs to him that this is the first time they actually hugged.

 “So—uh. Can I? Um—kiss you?”, he asks and his voice sounds like he swallowed a bunch of sand.

 “Yeah. Yeah, okay.”

 It turns out that kissing someone you’re actually into is better than winning a Bloodrush game, better than dancing, better than pretty much everything he’s ever done before. Riz holds onto him as if his life depended on it and Fabian feels like he won’t let his best friend down anytime soon or he might just fall over and die.

 It occurs to him that this must be Riz’ first kiss and something inside him purrs contently at the thought of that as he lets himself sink down into Riz’ chair so Riz is sitting in his lap.

 “Thought you were into that Theo dude”, he mumbles against Riz’ lips.

 “’m not.”

 “Yeah, I get that now.”

 “I’m uh—pretty much only into you. So...”

 Fabian’s heart is doing a very silly little dance in his chest but all he can bring himself to say is “Yeah”. All the other words that he probably should say get stuck somewhere half the way up his throat because his heart is beating too fast.

 “So... no more Truth or Dare”, Riz says sheepishly.

 “No, definitely not.”

 “Cool.”

 Very cool indeed, Fabian thinks, as he kisses Riz again.

[thewritewolf]

Running to Catch An Airplane Trope

Adrien has lost just about everything now that his father has been unmasked as Hawkmoth. But he isn't about to lose her too. 

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3

Adrien watched as Nino walked up to the podium and took his diploma, to general applause and the loud cheers of his family.

His hand tightened around his own diploma. There hadn’t been much of either when Adrien walked up, the first name called.

Barely any applause. Mostly just whispers. Some worried. Some… accusing. He supposed he couldn’t blame them, after everything that had happened still so fresh in the mind of the public.

There weren’t any loud cheers from his family. Mostly because there wasn’t much of one left anyway. He’d known for years that his father would never attend something as plebeian as a high school graduation, but…

Adrien hadn’t thought it would be like this. He’d had no clue at all about any of it.

It had taken all five of them - Ladybug, Chat Noir, Carapace, Rena Rouge, even Queen Bee - but they’d finally done it. Hawkmoth and Mayura, unmasked for all the world to see. No going back, no sneaky tricks to get away from it.

The only cost? Adrien’s family. His father and Nathalie, jailed. His mother, gone for a second time. His home, leveled in the pitched battle that followed. All his life except for his heartbeat is what it took to bring Hawkmoth to justice.

His teammates still didn’t know why he’d left so quickly afterwards, how he’d immediately detransformed and broken down. For most of them, they would never know. After all, no need for the secondary heroes now that the terrible Hawkmoth had been unmasked. Paris would rest easy under Ladybug and Chat Noir’s watch.

There is more clapping and Adrien mechanically joins in, only to be startled when everyone begins standing up around him. The ceremony is over, just like his days of childhood. His classmates are chatting excitedly amongst each other as they head across the street. It takes him a moment to gather the strength to stand up, but when he does, he is surrounded by his real friends.

Nino. Alya. And…

“How are you feeling?” Marinette asked softly.

This was the worst part. It was their graduation! Everyone should be happy and celebrating and here he was, dragging down the mood with his own misery. Just like always. It wasn’t fair to them, not in the least. Swallowing his emotions, he offered a strained smile.

“I’m doing better,” he lied.

Marinette didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t say anything. Nino threw his arm around Adrien’s shoulder and they all followed after the rest of their class. For a moment, the prospect of having Dupain-Cheng pastries was almost enough to make Adrien forget it all. It was a good choice of venue for them - what better place to end their time together than the site of so many of their happiest memories?

Adrien was just about to sink his teeth into a passion fruit macaron when he started listening into what his former classmates were saying.

“-Going to school for botany, so I can open my own flower shop!” Rose said, giving Juleka a hug out of excitement.

Adrien shoved the macaron in his mouth and walked toward another part of the shop to find another. There, he overheard what Alix was saying.

“Yeah I got a plan to skate with the best in my new university. Gonna try to keep the family tradition of historians alive since clearly big bro ain’t up to it with all his conspiracy stuff. But that doesn't mean I gotta be a stick in the mud about it.”

Eventually, Adrien found a place in a corner, a good ways away from the rest of his friends. Some of them cast glances his way, but no one made a move to talk to him. What could they say anyway? ‘Sorry your dad was the magic terrorist that turned every single one of us into super villains at one point or another?’

And he certainly wasn’t about to approach them either. Not if they were going to be talking about the future. They all sounded so hopeful and excited, he didn’t want to bring them down with his uncertainty.

Having his entire life charted out in meticulous, color-coded detail, he wasn’t very confident in his own planning abilities. Even in his superhero career he was more often than not following someone else’s plan. What was he going to do with his life now, when even his superheroics weren’t necessary?

The party was still going on when Adrien sneaked out. He was sure nobody would miss him from there. No doubt the mood might even lighten once he was gone. Nino and Marinette would at least have a better time now that he wasn’t bringing everything down.

The only good thing he could say about his father now was that at least he’d actually paid Adrien for his modeling. Even if Adrien only recently got access to that bank account, it meant that he could afford a house to rent now that his childhood home was cinders.

Turning the lights on as he entered, he shuffled over to the television and hesitated. He used to like turning it on to have some background noise, but it was hard to escape the news about his family these days. Backing away from the TV, he opted instead to turn on a music playlist.

Adrien collapsed onto the couch, the weight of his loneliness bearing down on him now more than ever. Maybe he could have handled everything else, but on top of all of it, the defeat of Hawkmoth meant that Ladybug had basically gone off the grid. No akuma battles, no late night patrols.

His mind wandered - Where was Ladybug? What she was doing?

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

Long after the party had died down, Marinette went up to her room and pulled out a letter that she had hidden away months ago. It almost felt like another lifetime when she had sent out that application. She had sent it not because she had intended to go but because it was something she was expected to do.

Someone like her, with her hopes and dreams worn on her sleeve since she was twelve, didn’t just ‘forget’ to send out her university applications. It would’ve looked suspicious. So she sent the letters, knowing in her heart that she would never be able to leave Paris because walking away from it would mean leaving it defenseless.

But now the danger was gone. She didn’t need to protect her beloved city anymore.

Holding the acceptance letter to a semester long fashion internship in Milan, her heart pounded in excitement. After so long, she could finally start living her life again.

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

There weren’t a lot of people left in Adrien’s life.

He’d never been super close to most of his classmates, so that wasn’t a huge loss to him. But the retiring of most of the super hero team, plus Nino, Alya, and Marinette being super busy these days did cut deep.

But, as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop as Chat Noir, he reflected that at least he had Ladybug. Getting a call from her out of the blue was surprising, but he jumped at the chance to see her again after the maddening quiet of the last couple months.

A part of him was worried, however. Why did she want to see him? Ladybug didn’t do anything without good reason. And what good reasons were there left for them in a post-Hawkmoth world? Did she want his miraculous…? His hand brushed over his ring. No, she would never. She knew how much being Chat Noir meant to him. Besides, if she wanted to disband all of them, she would’ve taken his ring along with the other miraculous.

Heart pounding for more reasons than one, Chat Noir landed on their favorite meeting spot in one of the towers of Notre Dame. As he spots her iconic red and black outfit, he pushes aside his worries. Everything else aside, Ladybug was here - that alone was a huge load of his shoulders.

She turns around at the sound of his boots landing on the ground.

“Just the cat I was waiting on,” she said with a smile.

“I hope I didn’t keep such a beautiful woman waiting for long,” Chat replied, taking her hand and pressing a kiss to it. “What’s up, bugaboo?”

“I’ll get right to the point, chaton.” Ladybug took a deep breath. “I’m going to be going away for a few months. I got an internship in Milan. I’ll be leaving next week.”

His heart dropped and he took both of her hands in his. Eyes locked onto their interlocked hands, he murmured, “Lovebug, I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it that long…”

She freed one hand to cup his chin, pushing it up until they were looking eye to eye. There was a soft but sad smile on her face.

“I know its a whole new world for us, and I’m sure its been rough for you. So I’ll make you a promise-”

“A purromise?” He punned half-heartedly.

“...sure, a purromise,” she replied. “The first time I see you after I get back, chaton, we'll blow this whole thing wide open.”

He frowned. She couldn’t mean…?

“We'll reveal our identities, I swear." To prove her sincerity, she held out her pinky.

“But… why can’t we do that now?”

"To give you something to look forward to, of course," she said with a smile. “So what do you say?”

Staring at her pinky for a long time, he eventually grabbed it with his own pinky. The promise had been made.

They chatted for a little while after that, but eventually Ladybug had to leave. People would notice she was missing if she was gone for too long.

Chat watched her leave, turning into a dot on the horizon. After all, who was going to notice, even if he was out for an hour more?

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

The days run by, lost in a blur of video games and books and other distractions that kept him in his room. There was no Nathalie to force him into his usual activities. No father to breathe down his neck. Just him slowly losing track of time as the days ticked past, unnoticed by Adrien. He didn’t even realize it was the day that Ladybug had said she was going to be leaving for Milan until his phone lit up for the first time in days.

It was Nino, of course. He was practically the only one calling him these days, except for the group chats that he was in. And even then, the last few calls had been a bit of a blur, running on autopilot like he was.

Adrien answers the phone. “Hey, bro, what’s up?”

“More like - what’s out? And the answer is me. I’m outside. Open the door, my bro.”

Nino hung up, leaving Adrien to blink in the darkness of his living room, illuminated only by the light of his paused game. Standing up, he rushed over to the door and opened it a crack. Sure enough, Nino was standing there.

“‘Sup dude?” He pushed open the door, letting the sunlight filter into Adrien’s house for the first time in days. Nino scrunched up his eyebrows in concern. “T-shirt and sweatpants this late in the day, my dude? You feelin’ alright?”

“Same as usual, I guess,” Adrien said with a shrug. “What’s the occasion?”

Nino let himself in and pulled open Adrien’s curtains. “Don’t really need one to hang with my best bro, do I?” He saw Adrien’s face. “Okay, okay, so I needed some time outta the house. Can you blame me? With everything going down with Marinette, I could use some space away from that bummer fest to take my mind off things.”

“Things going down with Marinette?” Adrien asked. Did something happen?

“Yeah man, Alya was a wreck last night. We helped Marinette pack up and honestly, watching those two say goodbye just about made me tear up." Nino tugged at his cap, getting ragged from the years.

Adrien takes a moment to shake off the gray stupor that's been hanging over him for months, that had been doubled because of Ladybug’s absence.

“Uh... what? Is Marinette going somewhere?” That is someone he should make more effort to keep in touch with, if he's being honest with himself. Maybe once she comes back from her vacation or whatever, they can get coffee.

"Dude, you never listen to anything I say anymore,” Nino said, clicking his tongue and rolling his eyes disapprovingly. “I know it's tough with your dad and all, dude, but you've got to get out of your own head. Marinette's leaving."

"What? Leaving? Like, leaving leaving?"

"Might as well be, dude. She's getting on a plane this afternoon and not coming back for 6 months." Adrien got stuck by deja vu. Something about that time frame sounds familiar... "She wanted me to tell you she'll miss you while she's gone."

"I... can't believe I didn't say goodbye. Where is she going? Why is she going?" He’s more alert than he has been for months. He took a seat next to Nino, leaning forward a little as he hung on Nino’s words.

"A sweet fashion internship dude. Way over in Milan."

And it clicks. Internship. Milan. The whole semester. There’s no way… it can’t be a coincidence.

If Adrien is wrong, he doesn't lose anything. He'll see his lady and his friend when they both return. But if he's right - and he's got to be right! - then she's gone. She's gone and he won't get to say goodbye, to tell her that he loves her, that he's always loved her.

Nino's still chatting away in the background, "...and to be honest, I'm surprised she didn't come see you before she left. Alya said she wanted to clear the air about that massive crush she had on you in high school-"

"I'm sorry WHAT?" Adrien tries and fails to keep his voice level.

Nino raises his eyebrows. "Dude, I thought you knew by now.” He shakes his head. “Everybody knew."

That raises far too many questions for Adrien’s liking, but he is too focused to be sidetracked now. He leans into Nino’s space, clarity in his eyes for the first time in a long time, one question on his mind.

"When does her plane leave?"

"What? Like in, an hour or so, dude.” Nino’s eyes widened as he realizes what Adrien might be planning. “But there's no way-"

"-igottagoniceseeingyouninobye!"

Adrien throws on a pair of converse sneakers, tongues sticking out in his haste out the door, untied laces flying. Nino is shouting something behind him, but Adrien doesn’t have the time to listen. Once he was out of his friend’s line of sight, he transformed and ran. He runs faster than he ever had in his entire life, his rooftop blurring under his feet as they carried him across the city.

He can't believe it took all this for him to figure it out. At this point, he doesn't care that she might reject him. The only thing that matters is that he has to know for sure. Nothing was more important to him in this moment than to look in those bluebell eyes and tell her he's figured it out. Figured her out.

He can't have her disappear for six months and forget about him. About what they could be.

Getting to the airport took longer than expected. Getting across the whole of Paris wasn’t easy, but he did it. Even if he had to stop way outside his destination to detransform. Nothing was about to stop him. Not even his own body, wheezing and protesting the sudden activity after a summer of slacking could slow him down. There was something more powerful than muscle and sinew at work here.

The airport was busy and Adrien froze at the front door, catching more than a few odd looks from people. He didn’t have any time to spare for them, however. His eyes, his heart, were too busy frantically searching the crowd for just the barest sign of her. Despair that he was too late had begun to lace its tendrils around his heart when the crowd parted for a split second.

He saw her.

Not just Marinette, in a cute floral summer dress, hair tied back and lugging her bags behind her.

No. In that half of a moment, he saw Ladybug and Marinette as one. The strength behind her eyes, the determined squaring of her shoulders even though he knew she was scared. If he had any doubts before, they were gone like mist before the sun. He was only barely aware of himself bolting towards her, parting the crowd in front of him to a tune of a host of disgruntled French travelers.

His hand snags her wrist just before she reaches the security checkpoint. She turns, part of surprise, part out of curiosity. Her eyes widen when she sees him, but he doesn’t have the chance to savor it. He’s already pulled her into a hug, pouring all the love he’s bottled up inside himself into it.

Hand cradling her head, his mouth close to her ear, he can barely manage to pant out a few words, the exhaustion of pressing himself so hard so fast finally catching up with him.

"M'lady.... princess....found you..."

In a voice so quiet only his senses, made keen by years of using the black cat miraculous, can make out, she whispered, “...Chaton?”

He grins, gasping, and nods. Her eyes tear up and she hugs him back twice as hard. "How did you know?"

"Internship in Milan. Had to say goodbye. Had to tell you...Mari, I love you."

She's stunned for a moment, and pulls back to look him in the face. Matching her gaze, he feels himself falling inescapably into those bright blue eyes. He never thought he could fall even more in love, but today seemed to be the day for revelations. The moment broke only when she rolled forward on her tiptoes, placed her arms around his neck for leverage, and pressed her lips to his.

Time began again when a booming voice called out a flight number overhead. Marinette, kiss-drunk, pulled back and bit her lip, making Adrien’s heart do a backflip.

“That’s mine.” She pouts, then brightens and smirks, "You know, I hear Milan is lovely this time of year. You should come visit me sometime, Mr. Moneybags."

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

Two months later

Adrien rose with the sun, one of the few habits from his teenage years he’d never managed to shake off. Marinette was a few rooms over, taking the guest bedroom of his Italian villa while they lived in Milan. He started to make breakfast.

It wasn’t a miraculous cure - their relationship, her being here with him. His life was still in shambles. There were moments where he couldn’t be strong. He still felt lost most of the time.

But she was a constant. He could build a life around her - together. She was there when he needed to be weak. And her steady determination that he’d find his way was more often than not enough to ground him.

He put his breakfast on a plate and left Marinette’s on the kitchen counter, knowing the smell would do more to coax her out of bed than any amount of knocking or reminders. In the meantime, he pulled out his laptop to get a head start on his online class work for the day. It was just general requirements, but it gave him time to test the waters, see what he liked and what he didn’t.

No matter what, though, he knew she was going to be there every step of the way, cheering him on just like he knew he would be right there for her. A perfect team, just like they’d always been.

Yesterday was rough. Today would be better. And tomorrow? Adrien smiled as he heard Marinette's morning grumblings down the hall. Tomorrow shone bright with possibilities for both of them.

[fandom-scatteredthoughtsonpaper]

A birthday fic to correct the awful event Mammon got!

Countdown to Your Special Day

Mammon x Yuki (My MC)

Pronouns: Zie/zir, they/them. If it's easier to read, feel free to sub in they/them for the main pronouns

Tags: Light-hearted romance, fluff/comfort, slight misunderstandings, agender MC, self-indulgent

Words: 4436

[2 months and 1 day away]

-Yuki was curled up in the corner of the couch, concentrated on zir D.D.D. Zie had an open notebook next to zir, the pages filled with calculated numbers and final prices with names of potential websites beside them, some scribbled out and some circled.

-Mammon's birthday was coming up in a couple months, and Yuki had started late in saving money for the surprise zie had wanted to plan for him. He had mentioned it last year as an ideal day, and zie really wanted to make it happen, especially considering all zie did for him was write a bunch of heartfelt letters. Zie wanted to give him something to really experience this time.

-It was just a bit more expensive than zie had realized. Rentals next to a lake were nothing to sneeze at.

-So absorbed with zir phone, Yuki hadn't noticed Lucifer as he entered the library where zie had gone to avoid nosy demons.

-"What are you doing in here, Yuki?"

-Startled, zie dropped zir phone and reflexively covered the notebook. When Yuki realized it was Lucifer, zie relaxed and slumped back against the couch. "Oh, it's just you. Don't scare me like that."

-"That was a bit of a reaction. Are you doing something I should be aware of?"

-"No," was zir immediate response, but then zie reconsidered zir answer. Yuki had been fumbling numbers and trying to make a decision for hours. Zie wanted to do this zirself, but zie'd never done something like this and probably, reluctantly, needed some aid. "Actually, yeah. I need your... help."

-Lucifer blinked, surprised. He hadn't expected this stubborn human who actively tried to make his life harder to ask for help, but Yuki seemed genuine in zir request. "Alright. What is it?"

[1 month and 23 days away]

-Mammon was by the entrance to RAD, waiting for Yuki to come out so they could go home together. Zie had been preoccupied with Lucifer this morning and hadn't left with the younger brothers like usual.

-His day had felt off with Yuki's absence but walking home with zir would make up for it.

-Fiddling around on his D.D.D., checking his sells and ignoring demands from the witches, he occasionally glanced up when saw movement coming out, but it was never Yuki. Hearing familiar voices when the doors cracked open, Mammon took his attention off his phone. It was only Levi and Satan, but maybe Yuki was trailing shortly behind.

-"Mammon, what are you still doing here?"

-"Yeah, I thought you'd be long gone by now after the way you rushed out of the classroom."

-"Shaddup. What's it to ya?" He paused. "I was waitin' for Yuki. Did ya happen to see 'em in there?"

-"So honest. Just say that to begin with," Levi muttered.

-"I think Yuki left earlier with Barbatos."

-"Yep, I overheard Barbatos mention that Lord Diavolo wanted to talk with them about something."

-"What?! Yuki didn't mention anythin' about meetin' with Lord Diavolo to me."

-Satan quirked a bemused eyebrow at Mammon's response. "Why would Yuki need to run it by you about meeting with Lord Diavolo?"

-"LOLOL, it's because Yuki's been avoiding Mammon for a week now. He's been acting like a stray dog without Yuki around."

-Mammon bristled at Levi's comment but didn't rebuttal. He pocketed his phone and walked away from his brothers, darting through the courtyard to leave RAD.

-It was true Yuki had been distant-like the last few of days, but Mammon was sure it was temporary. Even he got tied up in circumstances and important events he couldn't squirm out of. Sometimes it couldn't be helped.

-It wasn't temporary.

[3 weeks and 5 days away]

-"Hey, Yuki--"

-"Sorry, Mammon, I'm running late for my shift. I'll talk to you later!"

-With that as a bye, Yuki was out the door and gone.

-Yuki was usually lackadaisical about any jobs zie took unless one of the brothers worked with zir or if the job required zir full attention. Mammon was usually the first to know if zie had to work, but when--

-"When did Yuki pick up a job?"

-"Jobs," Satan corrected. "Yuki is working at The Fall tonight."

-"The Fall?" Asmo questioned.

"Hold on, what do ya mean 'jobs'? I ain't heard Yuki say anythin' about picking up jobs willingly," Mammon stated, a bit annoyed. He was getting tired of hearing his brothers be more informed about Yuki than he was.

-"When was the last time Yuki actually talked to you, Mammon, that wasn't in passing?" Levi teased without bothering to look up from his game.

-"Hey! We've talked plenty!"

-"Sure, if you want to call those conversations."

-Mammon wanted to argue with Levi, but he really couldn't. He wasn't wrong. Yuki had been absent, and whenever Mammon did manage to talk to zir it was about short and trivial things. It made it hard not to be concerned about the situation of their relationship when Yuki, who was usually glued to his side and spent so much time with him, was suddenly avoiding him. His life had become a bit lonelier without Yuki around.

-"Anyway," Satan interjected, "they've been picking up a lot of shifts from different places the last few weeks. I'm surprised neither you or Asmo knew, considering the network you both have."

-"What the heck does that mean?"

-"It means you're gossiping normies," Levi jeered.

-"Is that s'posed to be an insult?"

-"Besides all that, I'm shocked Yuki picked up shifts at The Fall. I'd love to see the outfit their wearing," Asmo mused. "I'll have to visit them later! I'm sure Yuki will feel completely refreshed after seeing my lovely face."

-Oh, that's right. If Mammon visited Yuki during work hours, zie'd have no choice but to talk with him. He could finally ask zir what the hell has been going on and get an explanation. At the very least just see zir.

-"Well, I'm goin' too! So don't get any funny ideas!"

-"You're not going anywhere, Mammon. You have three extra credit assignments due soon, and you haven't started a single one. Have you?"

-Mammon jumped, frightened by Lucifer's sudden presence behind him. A nervous chill tingled down his spine, so he could only guess the scowl that Lucifer was burning into the back of his head. He tried searching for an excuse, but he was coming up dry.

-Dammit, Lucifer, any time but now!

"W-Well, ya see, dearest big bro--"

-Irritated, Lucifer pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. He could feel a headache creeping on him. "That's what I thought. Mammon, my room. Now. I'm going to watch you finish your assignments, even if it takes all night."

[6 days away]

-Mammon simmered as he walked the hallway to Yuki's bedroom. Yuki had seen his messages, but zie was hardly responding to them, if zie did at all. The thought that he had unconsciously done or said something to offend Yuki teased his anxiety, but Mammon quickly squished it. Zie'd just been busy with work and had no off days, but according to Satan, zie only had one more shift.

-One more day that zie would be busy, but then after that zie'd have tons of free time. Yuki will be back by zir favorite demon's side, and then everything else will fall smoothly back into place.

-It was absurd how empty Mammon could feel with Yuki missing from his daily routines. It was worse than when zie had left, when all he could think about was zir where ever he went. Yuki was here though, so he didn't miss zir physically, not like when zie returned home.

-He missed talking with his human, about anything. He missed expecting to see zir when he turned his head. He was missing a piece of a puzzle, and it was aggravating when it was just in grasp, hiding from him.

-Yuki was going to receive a real earful. He deserved that much of complaining after how he'd been treated.

-That could wait though.

-It had been a while since Mammon and Yuki had gone out on a date, and he had just gotten paid from his latest photoshoot. He was confident if he met with Yuki face-to-face and invited zir out zie wouldn't say no.

-That had been the plan until he saw Yuki coming the down the corridor, walking with a purpose. An antsy feeling stabbed him in the gut.

-"Yuki!"

-Yuki froze mid-stride as Mammon approached zir. "Mammon."

-"Yeah, me! The Great Mammon has decided to bless ya with his presence since ya keep ignorin' my messages. Anyway! Guess who got paid today with a bonus? And guess who's gettin' treated to whatever they feel like tomorrow tonight?"

-"Sorry, Mammon, I can't. I have to go to the human world with Lucifer."

-"What'd'ya mean? I didn't hear nothin' 'bout Lucifer havin' to go to the human world."

"Regardless of what you did or didn't hear, it's true all the same. Yuki and I have an appointment in the human world and won't be back for a couple days. Your plans will have to be postponed for later."

-Why was something always blindsiding him lately?

-"What?! Well, if Yuki's goin', I'm goin' too!"

-"Absolutely not. I don't need you causing havoc when I take my eyes off you for more than a second. Don't worry, though, I'll need your company next week for a special trip to the human world."

-It had been quick, but Mammon had thought he had seen Yuki flicked zir eyes at Lucifer.

-"Mammon, it's just for a couple days. Do your best to tough it out. We'll hang out plenty after, okay?"

"Ya better keep your word."

[The Night Before]

-"Mammon, don't forget you're accompanying me to the human world tomorrow morning," Lucifer announced when everyone had sat down for dinner.

-"Yeah, yeah, I remember," Mammon replied. He wasn't the least bit interested in being ordered around doing paperwork and errands. Catching movement from his peripheral, Mammon noticed Yuki trying to look at him without being obvious. He just got zir back, and they had hardly spent any time together. He didn't want to leave, even if it was just a day. More than anything, he wanted to stay with Yuki. "You should definitely come too. You agree, don't ya, Yuki?"

-Yuki barely had the chance to open zir mouth, let alone formulate an answer, before Lucifer answered instead. "No, Yuki has other affairs to attend tomorrow. It's only a day, Mammon. I'm sure you'll be able to handle it, so don't complain."

-There wasn't any further comments about the trip, but Mammon made it obvious he was still hot under the collar with the way he stomped away, taking Yuki right along with him, when dinner concluded. He had been on cleaning duty with Belphie, but Lucifer offered in his place, quelling any complaints.

-Lucifer smiled amusedly to himself as he cleared the table. If only Mammon was aware enough to know what was planned for the day.

-"I can't believe that jerk," Mammon remarked as he dropped onto Yuki's bed. Yuki rolled zir eyes in response before sitting beside the grumpy demon. "I had plans I wanted to do tomorrow, ya know? Dammit! He just came back from the human world!"

-"Did you actually have plans?" Yuki asked it with a sarcastic tone, but zie was suddenly concerned. It was his birthday tomorrow, so maybe he had made plans that Yuki hadn't accounted for.

-Mammon glared at Yuki, his cheeks a shade darker than a moment prior, either from frustration or embarrassment wasn't certain. "I did," he stated softly.

"With who?"

"You, obviously!"

"Wait, we had plans tomorrow? What di--"

-Before Yuki could finish Mammon yanked zir down next to him, hugging zir tightly. Momentarily surprised, Yuki was slow to return the embrace. Zie expected him to be a bit clingy because zie'd been unavailable to be with him for a while, but this hug felt a bit too tight, desperate.

-"You said we could hang out after y'all returned from the human world, but we ain't had much time without being interrupted or the others butting in."

-"Ah. You're right," Yuki agreed. It's funny how zie had been planning this whole affair for Mammon, but in the process has unintentionally abandoned. Zie regretted that.

-"You're warm," he muttered into zir neck. "..I've missed ya like crazy. I've been dyin' to hug you, but it isn't actually enough now that I am. I'm not lettin' you go for the rest of the night."

-A soft sting of guilt hit Yuki's heart. Zie probably could have done a better job of trying to keep the surprise a secret without leaving Mammon completely in the dark, but between the jobs and helping Diavolo and classes taking up the majority of zir time... No, that wasn't an excuse. Yuki had hurt Mammon. That was obvious.

-Yuki entangled zir legs with Mammon's and reached zir arms around his waist, holding him close. Zie took a moment to just be with Mammon, inhaling his smell, hearing his heart beat. Zie had missed him too, a whole bunch, almost too much, but hopefully tomorrow would make up for the weeks of absence and neglect. "I missed you, too, Mammon. Just put up with it for a little bit longer."

[The Day!]

-"Happy birthday, Mammon!!"

-He had heard Yuki's voice before he had actually seen zir. He was flabbergasted to see zir come out of the cabin he had arrived at.

-When Mammon had woken up and joined the others for breakfast, Yuki had already left. It wasn't long after that Lucifer and he prepared for the trip to the human world. He had dragged his feet and groaned, making a show of not wanting to go. When Lucifer had sent Mammon ahead of him to get things ready, he thought it had been a punishment for his attitude, but after coming through the portal into the human world, he realized it wasn't in the city or anywhere near the hotel they usually stayed at.

-The scenery was beautiful and spacious, open in nature with cabins lining a sparking lake that had docks and piers dividing it. Unlike the city cramped full of people and towering buildings designed with glaring windows that bounced the bright sunlight off of them and funky smells, this area was full of trees that casted cool shadows and a refreshing breeze that rustled the leaves.

-Mammon was absolutely gobsmacked.

-Yuki beamed when zie saw the awestruck trance Mammon was in. Zie was hoping he'd like it. Mammon was definitely a city boy, but Yuki took a guess he enjoyed the lure of natural scenery too, based on their picnic date and walks through the forests.

-Mammon's daze broke when he saw Yuki approaching him. "What's goin' on, Yuki?"

-"C'mon, ya dummy, think! You didn't expect Lucifer to make you go on a business trip on your birthday, did you? It was his way of bringing you up here without being suspicious. Although, I thought you definitely would've caught on last week with what he said."

-He had completely forgotten about his birthday. Mammon had been entirely focused on Yuki and zir strange attitude that he'd spaced on even the date.

-"Oh."

-"Yeah, so," Yuki stepped back and spread zir arms out, displaying the lake on zir right and the cabin on zir left, "happy birthday... again! You mentioned a cabin by a lake as an ideal place to go, and you also wanted to rent a boat in the park, so I thought merging the two together would be a good idea! On top of that, I plan to 'spoil ya rotten all day'. What does the Great Mammon think?"

-"Ya know, I'm not deaf to the mocking tone. You're killin' the mood before it's even started, but I guess I can let it slide!"

[Final Hours]

-As the dimming daylight darkened through the pulled curtains, Yuki and Mammon lounged restfully on the couch. Mammon used Yuki's lap as a pillow as zie stroked zir fingers against his head. The tingling feeling traveled down his spine and relaxed his body. He could probably fall asleep in this position with Yuki brushing his hair with such tender touches. If they were at the House of Lamentation, they wouldn't be able to have this kind of moment without being interrupted by his brothers. Too bad the day was coming to an end.

-Dwelling on the negative thought caused him to unintentionally frown, and Yuki noticed the crease on his brow. Zie poked his forehead to get his attention, and his eyes opened to see Yuki leaning over him.

-"What are you thinking about?"

-"That we'll have to go back to the Devildom tomorrow. How am I s'posed to accept that after today? Today was too good to end like that, ya know?"

-Yuki hummed in agreement. Zie briefly looked away as a thoughtful expression morphed zir features. "Well," zie started, zir eyes focused back on Mammon, "I couldn't afford to stay for more than one night. My birthday is just a few months away, so maybe you could plan something for us, like when you rented the pool."

-Mammon felt a pang of short-lived guilt for complaining. Yuki had worked hard to save enough money to rent this cabin, even with Diavolo hooking zir up months in advance. "I still can't believe ya didn't just tell me. I was actually..."

-"Worried you did something? Sorry, Mammon. I should have said something, but I was nervous that I couldn't keep it a secret. I was too excited to not tell you, but then the jobs piled up and I promised to help Diavolo in exchange for talking the price down with the owner. I shouldn't have ignored you though. I'm sorry."

-There was a lull in their conversation, but it was only a slightly weighted silence. The misunderstandings were cleared up and today was one of the best days Mammon had ever had, spending it alone with Yuki. He would have enjoyed it even if it hadn't been his birthday and with Yuki pampering him all day.

-"C'mere," Mammon said as he placed a warm hand against the back of Yuki's neck, pulling zir down for a kiss. "You're goin' to have to take responsibility for my feelings. You're the reason I was stressin' out. The whole time you were busy workin' your ass off for this trip, I was thinkin' of you. As your first, I'm entitled to know what you're doin'. I'm gonna get my fill of ya tonight before we have to head home. I've got weeks worth to get outta ya."

-Yuki's cheeks heated as Mammon greedily kissed zir lips. Zie silently agreed that zie wanted to get the most out of Mammon while they were still alone, but one night of trying to cram almost a month and a half of time lost wasn't possible.

-"Your lips are warm," Mammon murmured as they separated. "That wasn't nearly enough to satisfy me though. I wanna show ya how much I appreciate you."

-"What, uh, what do you wanna do?"

-"Right now? Nothin'. Bein' with ya like this is enough for the moment. I love you, Yuki."

-An explosion of emotions surged through Yuki's chest to the rest of zir body, making zir giddy with adoration. Zie wasn't sure how zie was containing it, but staring down into Mammon's eyes, seeing his tinted cheeks, and him just relaxing with zir simultaneously fueled zir feelings more while also grounding zir.

-"I love you, too, Mammon."

[timextoxhajima]

Playlist Feels

*SHORT SERIES

Part 1: Church (smut)

Member: pilot juyeon without the strikeout :D

Genre: holy water smut idk pls send help

“I'll make you feel like never before”

“so what did happen after you got back to your place with your secret admirer?” sunwoo side-eyed you, trying his best not to completely turn his attention from the road to you. 

hyunjun was leaning forwards and sticking his head between you and sunwoo, arms resting on the top of the seats. 

“uh,” you fumble through your bag, pretending to make sure all the necessary items you needed were in it. “nothing... much.”

there was absolutely no way you could’ve told sunwoo or hyunjun what you were like when you were drunk and in the mood to play games with a stranger. 

it didn’t matter if you’ve been friends for so long; you knew they wouldn’t shut up about it once they knew. 

“‘nothing much’?” hyunjun scoffs, noticing the flush that was appearing on your cheeks. “what, did you two sit around and watch a movie while you retched? because i’m pretty sure you had a truckload of vodka.”

sunwoo snorted and pressed his foot against the accelerator when the green light appeared. 

“we just... hooked up, that’s all.”

hyunjun raises a skeptical brow at you, squinting his eyes as you struggle not to look at him. “hooked up or hooked up and smashed?”

“why does it even matte-- shouldn’t you be strapped to your seat?” you turn around and start whacking him on his head. “sunwoo literally just learnt how to drive. how are you so calm with sitting in his car without a seat belt?”

sunwoo opened his mouth in exaggerated shock, quickly glancing at you while you were shoving hyun jun back into the back seat by his head. “hey! i could’ve declined your request to drive you to the airport!”

“my request? you were the one who said you’d drive me without even giving me an option,” you turn back to face the front, glaring at him while you said it. 

“‘you were the one who said you’d drive m--’ ow!” he winced when you punch him in the arm. 

the scent of the airport wafts through your nose the way waffles would smell to anybody else. travelling has always been something you enjoyed, and now that you were finally going overseas for a job opportunity, it made the wait and the effort all the more worthwhile. 

hyunjun helps pull your luggage and sunwoo becomes your mobile clothes hanger while he carries your coat and you triple check to make sure you’ve got everything you need for the next year in new york. 

you reach the departure hall, and the familiar sight of the immigration officers at the gantry checking the passports of other passengers was so comforting. but you turn around, only to see hyunjun giving you a little pout and sunwoo looking away, trying not to become emotional. 

“i’ll be back in a flash,” you whisper, pulling hyunjun into a tight hug. the ankle boots you were wearing boosts you up about two inches, so you were able to wrap your arms around his neck without much effort. 

“call us when you touchdown, okay? no matter the time,” he instructs, pulling you away from him and ruffling your hair. you nod and give him a bro-fist, turning to sunwoo, the man who has an ego the size of a horse. 

“aw, come on~ don’t cry...” you tease loudly, grabbing his arm and shaking it like you were trying to wake him up.

“ah, ah, okay, okay, stop it,” he waves his hand infront of you before raising his arm. you shove yourself into his chest and tighten your wrap around his torso. “don’t come back with a baby, please.”

“i’m there for work, not to fuck around,” you snort and remove yourself from his warmth. he hands you your coat and you wrap your fingers around the hard plastic handle of your big, bulky luggage. passport in hand and constantly looking your shoulder back at them, you let the immigration officer check your identification in your passport and he lets you through. 

“bye!” you mouth to the two of them once you were in the hall, aggressively waving while they try to wave you off. you give them one last smile and turn, dragging your heavy luggage behind you while you walked to the designated gated. 

you look out the glass windows on the other side of the departure hall and the lights from all the planes outside looked like stars hanging too low from the night sky. the airport was one of your favourite places to be because there was never a moment this place was asleep. there was always a flight somewhere, and there were always people waiting around. 

just knowing that mankind had come so far to let ourselves travel the world to the most magnificent views of the world was just so endearing to believe. 

it was a little difficult to believe you were going to new york yourself, to be part of a production company that you’ve been working so hard and long for. 

you were about to shove your earpieces into your ear canals when your train of self-reflection broke off due to a conversation you overheard.

but it wasn’t the content of what they were talking about. 

it was someone’s voice. 

you look up, only to see a group of air stewards and stewardesses dragging their small luggage behind them, all fit in their uniforms. 

then you eyes catch sight of the lone pilot amongst them. 

you would’ve tripped over something if you didn’t abruptly stop in your tracks. 

“ah, he’s here already?” 

“yeah, he said he was sending off a family member here anyway.”

you could feel your throat drying up like the sahara desert as they walk past you, a safe distance away. 

it was him.

the stranger who...

you deemed a worthy opponent...

in bed. 

he’s a pilot?!

you suck in a deep breath and proceed to stick your earpiece into your ears, trying to mount your attention to your phone and your music of choice while you awkwardly trail behind the group of them. 

but you couldn’t handle walking behind them like this, not when you just had a one-night stand with the pilot. what were the odds of even running into him for the second time in less than 24 hours?

you break away from your path and head for the nearest cafe, grabbing yourself a cup of coffee to keep you awake on first few hours of the flight.

that was what sunwoo told you to do anyway, to help you adjust to the time difference and prevent jet-lag. 

you find yourself seated in the lounge meant for the business class ticket holders, and there weren’t many passengers around. most of them were in suits and blazers, not to mention caucasian. it made you feel a little out of place, your white turtle neck and jeans with the coat draped over your forearm made you look like you were going on a holiday. 

the coffee finishes in your stomach, and the book you were reading becomes a little boring when the idea of going to new york was becoming nothing short of reality. you tilt your chin to the ceiling and let your neck ache from the constant looking down, and your attention naturally gravitates to the movement in the lounge. 

a stewardess had just come out from one of the lounge rooms to talk to the officer manning the gate for the business class, and you realise she was one of the stewardesses in the group you saw before. 

you frown to yourself, shaking the ignorant, unrealistic thoughts out of your head as you try to continue your book. 

but the coffee rushes through your digestive system a little too quickly and you pull out the earpiece, grabbing all your belongings and searching for an empty private room where you could leave your things before running off to look for a bathroom. 

the hallways look a little like hotel rooms and the smell of diffused aromas were slowly getting to you. you turn around the corner, eyes digging into the words of your book with your hands full. 

you step on someone’s shoe, and your left shoulder rams into someone’s arm, the impact causing you to drop the book on the floor. 

“oh, sorry! my apologies, miss.” 

you took a step back, feeling a little sorry about being so engrossed in your book. “oh, crap-- no, i wasn’t--”

your entire body turns to stone as you immediately register the face in front of you. the book was held out to you, your hands balled into tight fists and you could feel all the blood rush from all over your body to your face. 

it takes him a second to realise who he’s bumped into, and a look of pleasant surprise pulls a smile across his lips. 

what the hell is he doing in here?

“are... you here for a flight?” the book was still held out for you, and he raises a brow in curiosity. you swallow in attempt to dampen your dry, hoarse throat at the sight of him. he was in the pilot’s uniform: navy blue blazer, tie and white dress shirt. all he was missing was the cap.

“are you alright?” 

his small laughter pulls you away from your thoughts, and you realise you had been scanning him from head to toe. he traps the book between the side of his chest and elbow, eyes never leaving yours. he reaches out to your passport that was messily stuck in the pocket of your coat, careful not to fold or tear any of the small documents stuck in its pages. 

he flips it open and his eyes widen ever so slightly when he checks your boarding pass, and he looks up through his lashes at you with a look of satisfaction plastered on his face.

oh, no.

“nice to know that i’ll be your captain for the next 16 hours or so,” he neatly stacks your ticket and boarding pass back into your passport, gently placing it back into the pocket where he took it from. “well, the flight’s about 14 and a half hours so, give and take.”

it was so difficult to believe that the man who completely ruined you last night, and beat you at your own game, was standing right in front of you. nicely fitted into a professional uniform, and you were going to be on the same flight as him for the next 16 hours?!

he removes the book from under his arm and waves it next to his head, already used to you standing there like a statue for the last few minutes or so. 

“do you still want this book? or am i going to need to keep it until you’re done being an iceberg?”

your mind yanks you back to the previous night, when he asked you different questions in the exact same tone. 

“can i have their permission to bring you elsewhere? or are they responsible for sending you home safely?”

“you don’t happen to still be thinking about last night, are you?” your vision comes back into focus and the smaller gap between the two of you was now apparent. your pupils flit around him, noticing that there was nobody down the hall, because everybody was in the waiting area, too busy working on their laptops and ipads to even think of coming to the private rooms.

the hell does he mean ‘still’? how does one forget such a night so easily?

“judging by the lack of vocabulary you have right now, i guess you are.”

you blink in embarrassment, gulping and looking away in hopes that the dimmer lighting the hallway had to offer was going to mask your reddening, burning face. 

he straightens himself, hand still holding onto your book. 

this could not get any worse.

“well,” your urge to pee has long gone, and you were already turning on your heels to back away from him. “i’m gonna go and--”

“whoa, whoa, wait,” he grabs you by the arm, and he gently tugs you back towards him. “so, are you?”

his face was so disgustingly innocent, you wish you had your book to whack him across his face.

but that wasn’t you, that was you when you’re drunk. 

it was difficult to come to terms with how different you were with a little alcohol confidence, but you’ve learnt to live with it once you realised you were your own champion.

that is, until this guy came along.

“you’re awfully quiet right now, don’t you think?” he looks up above you where a digital clock was hung. watching only his eyes shift but his entire body doesn’t sends a dangerous signal to your head. “especially with whatever you were saying last night.”

your heart was about to rip itself out of its cage and you purse your lips, trying to writhe out of his grip. but his hold reminds you of him yanking you to the edge of your bed by the ankles, and you mentally berate yourself for even thinking about it in this moment. 

he holds the book with only his thumb and index finger, the rest of his hands looking for the handle of the nearest private room and pushing it open. 

your eyes widen when the realisation hits you in the gut, and before you knew it, the door swings shut behind your luggage. he locks the door and pries your fingers off the luggage handle. pushing it into the corner of the room by the sofa, he places the book down on the cushion with caution. 

“if it makes you feel any better,” 

his large strides make it easy for him to reach your feet in just a few steps. you grit your teeth and feel your rear hit the small dressing table in the room. the lights lining the mirror were the only source of illumination, and since it was coming from behind you, it did nothing but highlight all his features. he cages you with both his hands gripping onto the edge of the table, and your constant shifting back into the furniture pushes it further into the wall as if it wasn’t already placed against it. 

“i can’t stop thinking about it either.”

his leans forward and presses his lips into yours, the taste of him dangerously intoxicating. your eyes flutter shut, the kiss sends chills down your spine and into your fingertips.

the previous night, you could taste the alcohol he had been drinking, not to mention the vodka that you were mercilessly pouring down your own throat.

but now all you were tasting was the fresh mint of what smelled like toothpaste. 

his hands travel up to your waist and he hoists you upwards, high enough for him to place you on the table. he pushes your legs open by your knees before resting his palms on your thighs. 

the surface of the table wasn’t very wide, so it was easy for you to feel the material of his blazer brushing across your inner thighs. your hands were gripping onto his forearms, his warm hands pressing on the material of your pants while you enjoy the taste of mint lingering on his tongue. 

he breaks the kiss and huffs, licking his lips and offering you a laugh through a smirk. “you really took me by surprise when you didn’t say anything outside,” he grabs your hands and rest them on his belt, the bold move struggles to anchor itself into your logic. “for a moment, i thought you were a twin sister or something.”

he dips his nose into your neck and to your ‘unfortunate’ dismay, he remembers your sweet spot. your eyes seal shut and a gasp gets sucked down your throat, but the sound was so sharp and apparent, even you felt awkward.

his palm flies up to your face and covers your mouth, turning your head so you were looking at him dead in the eye.

“there are no cameras but this room isn’t soundproof.”

his voice was so lustfully low, you hated how needy you were getting, even in the fucking airport.

“so do me a favour and try not to make a sound.”

his hand slowly leaves your lips and your blood starts to rush south when he starts fiddling with the button on your pants. 

burying his lips between yours again, your fingers instinctively start to undo his belt, the cold metal sending little shocks through your hands. 

he aggressively pulls your pants off from under you, and he pulls it over your boots so that they were now on the floor in a crumpled mess.

the amber lighting of the room paired with the diffused scent of wormwood was only alleviating every sense in you. goosebumps erupt all over your legs upon the contact with the cool air. 

you undo the button on his pants and the zipper slips down easily with the growing bulge under his boxers. he pulls away and snakes his left arm around your waist in attempt you pull you nearer to him, and your hands push down the material of his underwear to free his length. you attach your eyes to his as your hands now pressed flat against the back of his neck, begging him to kiss you again. 

he complies, tasting the remnants of the coffee you previously drank. you feel his fingers push your underwear aside and your wetness gets exposed to the cold air, sending shivers up through your gut. 

he breaks the kiss for a moment to wrap your legs around his waist and over his long blazer. lining himself with your entrance, he lets you swallow him inch by inch. 

a strained moan slips out through your lips, and he decides to tame it by wrapping his fingers around your throat. he doesn’t apply much pressure, but you know it’s a reminder for what he told you before. 

his lips find your sweet spot on your neck again as he picks up the pace. every thrust was so well controlled that the table doesn’t ram itself against the wall. the only sounds that were audible were the soft grunts in the back of his throat and the light mewls that were spilling out your mouth. 

your hands grip onto the edge of the table, and you feel them start to whiten with the strength you were investing. his pelvic bone begins hitting your sensitive nub, and you harshly bite on your bottom lip to prevent any lewd sounds from spewing out. 

the wrap on your neck starts to tighten against your skin, and for a moment you felt as high as you did last night. 

this man was making you feel drunk even when you were not.

the heavy breaths that were escaping through his lips were landing on your neck where his fingers didn’t cover, and he starts hitting you in places inside your core that you didn’t feel before. 

you could tell he was worried he was choking you, for his grip loosened and the palm of his free hand flattens itself against the curvature of your hip. 

continuous thrusts and bucks of his hips against yours was producing a heat that was beginning to fog up the mirror behind you. you could feel your fingertips getting numb from holding onto the edge of the table so violently, and the tingling sensation in your heat comes back in less than 24 hours. 

“oh, shit--” the words were hoarse and comes out almost like a whisper, your eyes rolling so far back into your head your vision flashed white. 

he provides you a few more thrusts to let you reach your high, his lips finding yours just before you could let your orgasm expose itself through your lips. 

without breaking the kiss, you feel him empty your entrance and he shoots his load onto your legs like the previous night. 

the kisses were sloppy and slightly exhausted, your chests were heaving up and down with ecstacy and satisfaction, but it doesn’t last very long when he pulls away and your eyes begin to focus on the blazer he still had on.

the uniform he had on while he was fucking you in a private room of a business lounge in the airport. 

he gulps, his adam’s apple bobbing up and down under his skin on his throat, and you lean your head back towards the mirror. he pulls out a drawer next to your legs (that were now dangling limply) at the edge by the table, and he finds an elegant, silver box with little napkins in them. 

the airport logo was printed on it, and you couldn’t help but marvel at yourself and how huge of a whore he’s made you. 

without a word, he cleans you before he cleaned himself, and within minutes that you felt like seconds, he was already patting down the creases of his pants and blazer. looking at the mirror behind you, he fixes his hair and straightens his tie, eyes travelling to you, who you know looked utterly ruined, even without seeing yourself in the mirror. 

a smirk appears on his lips, but it suddenly -- abruptly -- turns into a service smile. 

his ability to switch back and forth was nothing less than demonic.

“later when you reach the gate, tell her you know the captain.”

you scoff, wearily rolling your head against the mirror and shaking it against the ceiling.

“and how the hell will she know i’m not just messing with her?” you eye him with tired eyes, watching him gently tug on his collar around his neck. 

“because i know yours now, y/n.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 3: No Mercy

A/N: DRINKING MORE HOLY WATER

[fics-of-culture]

4 Ways To Show Someone You Love Them 5/5 *Complete*

Summary:  Gabriel, Lucifer, Balthazar, and Cas all consider themselves fairly adept when it comes to the art of romance. They all have their own unique approach when it comes to wooing someone. And, unfortunately for you, all four of your beloved angels seem to have their sights set on you.

Words: 1,771

A/N: I am reposting all of my old fics because my old account accidentally got deleted.

Part 5: Epilogue

Sam and Dean were halfway to committing angel genocide. You had been gone for a week on a hunt without telling anyone where you were headed or how long you’d be away. As a result, all four of your ‘winged dicks’ as Dean called them, were hanging around the bunker 24/7 waiting for your return. It wasn’t very noticeable at first. Dean has been sitting in the kitchen, drinking a beer when Cas showed up suddenly. Dean was unfazed by his sudden appearance, having grown accustomed to angels poofing in and out of the bunker as they pleased. Castiel looked around the room as he asked where you were.

“Hunt.” Dean replied dismissively, continuing to drink his beer.

“Do you know where? I need to speak with Y/N. It is urgent.” Dean looked up at Cas, concerned about why Castiel needed to speak to you so urgently.

“Didn’t say. What’s the matter, Cas. Y/N in trouble or somethin’?” Castiel shifted nervously on his feet, not wanting to tell Dean what he needed to talk to you.

“No. Y/N’s not in any trouble as far as I am aware.” With that, Castiel turned and walked out of the room. Dean was left sitting there in confusion at the odd conversation. As Castiel stepped out of the kitchen, he headed towards the library, contenting himself to wait in the bunker until your return.

~~~~~~~~

The boys only had to wait a few days more for their next angelic headache to show up. Sam had been rinsing his hair in the shower when he realized he could no longer feel the water washing over his body. When he opened his eyes he realized that instead of standing in his shower, he was standing buck naked in his room. And standing before him was the infamous trickster himself.

“Dude, what the hell?” Sam shouted, attempting to cover his junk with his hands.

“Oh relax, Sammy. I’m not trying to sneak a peak.” Gabriel snaps his fingers and a towel appears in his hand. “I’m looking for Y/N.” Sam let out an irritated sigh as he took towel Gabriel offered him.

“Y/N went on a hunt.” Sam explained as he covered himself with the towel. “Surely you could’ve waited until I was done showering to ask me that.” Sam frowned as he ran his fingers through his still damp hair, noting the shampoo that hadn’t been fully washed out.

“Could’ve. But didn’t.” Gabriel had a smirk on his face, but Sam could still see a ticker of disappointment in Gabe’s eyes when he mentioned that you were gone.

“What do you need Y/N for anyway?” Instead of responding, Gabe raised his hand and snapped Sam back into his shower. Gabe let out a sigh as he left Sam’s room. He had no interest in explaining himself to tweedle dee when it came to you. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Gabe decided to head to the kitchen. Might as well grab some snacks as he waited for you to arrive.

~~~~~~

Dean was working on baby when Lucifer zapped in.

“Hey moron,” Dean let out a groan of frustration when he was pulled out from under the car by none other than the devil. He was getting really sick of constantly being bothered by the angels you called friends. “Where’s my human?” Lucifer was blunt and too the point. But Dean didn’t like the way he referred to you as ‘his’.

“First off, Y/N does not belong to you, and second, if you’re looking for Y/N you’ll have to get in line.” Lucifer scoffed as he considered Dean’s words. His brothers had been seeking you out as well. That... would not do.

“So my human isn’t here?” Dean sighed, knowing his words weren’t gonna get through to the devil any time soon.

“No. Went on a hunt.” Dean didn’t even bother with full sentences at this point, considering how many times he had to repeat the information to your impatient angels. “Can I get back to what I was doing now?” Dean gestures to baby.

“I suppose so. Since you seem to have no useful information anyway.” With that, Lucifer disappeared.

~~~~~~

By the time Balthazar appeared, the Winchester’s knew something was up. Sam and Dean had been researching possible hunts in the war room when he showed up. Before he could even open his mouth, Dean cut him off.

“Not here.” Sam chuckled a bit at Dean’s dry response.

“I see.” Balthazar looked around the room, thinking. “And I suppose I’m not the first one to inquire as to Y/Ns whereabouts?”

“Dude, not even close.” Sam answered.

“Yeah, your brothers have been harassing us for the past week. I’m five seconds away from cutting myself open and banishing all your asses.” Dean looked exasperated as he spoke.

“Well then, I suppose I ought to wait elsewhere for Y/N’s return.”

“Yeah, I’d say so.” Sam said. With that, Balthazar sauntered out of the war room. Sam and Dean looked at each other and sighed in unison. You needed to get back, NOW.

~~~~~

You let out a relaxed sigh as you stepped out of your truck. You’d enjoyed your time away, but you were happy to be back home. Your guilt flared up as you stepped through the door into the bunker. You hadn’t actually gone on a hunt like the Winchester’s had thought. You’d kinda sorta went on a little vacation. In your defense, cases had been far and few in-between lately and you deserved a break every once in a while. You figured that if something came up while you were gone, the brothers would be more than capable of taking care of it. And you had decided not to tell anyone to avoid any unwanted angels coming along with you. As much as you adored your angels, you needed a break from them sometimes. Your guilt grows as you walk into the library to see a very frazzled Sam and Dean.

“Oh thank god.” Dean pulled you into a bear hug, looking incredibly relieved that you were home. “Where have you been?” Dean pulls back to look you in the eye. You’re surprised by how distressed he looked.

“Dean? What happened? You look stressed.”

“Those asshats happened! That’s what!” Sam put his hand on Dean’s shoulder in an attempt to get him to cool off.

“What he means to say is that, while you were gone, your angel friends have been making things difficult for us.” Sam shoots you a sympathetic smile when he sees your crestfallen look. Dean, however, marches on.

“Yeah, they’ve been here day in and day out for the past two weeks making life hell. Between the constant pranks and nonstop bickering, we haven’t been able to get anything done.” You feel awful all of a sudden. You had no idea going on a little trip would take such a toll on the Winchesters. You’re also incredibly upset at your angels for acting like this. You leave for two weeks and the bunker is thrown into chaos.

“Alright,” You pinch the bridge of your nose. “I’ll sort this out. Where are they?”

“Your room.”

~~~~~~

You sigh as you head up to your room, all the relaxation from before completely drained by the stress of dealing with four angelic children. As you near your room, you start to hear the bickering that the boys had mentioned before.

“As if Y/N could ever fall for you.” You slow to a standstill as you hear this. It sounded like Lucifer but you weren’t sure who he was talking to.

“Oh yes, I’m sure Y/N much prefers you following her around like a lost puppy whilst acting like you couldn’t care less about them.” Ah, Balthazar. Well that explains that mystery. You hear a chuckle from somewhere else in your room. “I don’t see why you’re laughing.” Balthazar continues. “You’re just as bad when it comes to constantly being up Y/N’s ass 24/7.

“Oh right.” You identify Gabe’s voice this time. You note the rising irritation in all of their voices as the discussion continues. “Maybe I should just go around talking to them in a language no one here actually SPEAKS, because you’re to much of a coward to say how you feel in English.” Before Balthazar can respond, a gravely voice speaks up.

“This conversation is pointless.” Cas points out. You feel relieved that one of them is finally being objective about the situation. “Besides, it is my belief that I share a more profound bond with Y/N than anyone else here does.” So much for objectivity, you think idly.

“If Y/N needs someone I braid their hair, I’m sure you’ll be the first they call.” Lucifer states dryly. “But I find it incredibly hard to believe Y/N would choose someone so pathetic.”

“Watch who you’re calling pathetic there, baby bro.” Gabe starts up again. “Cassy here might be a wet blanket.” You hear a quiet ‘hey!’ In the background as Gabriel speaks. “But he ain’t the one who threw a celestial bitch fit in heaven when daddy didn’t give him what he wanted.”

“I’m sorry, where were you when that happened?” Lucifer’s voice was steeped in anger now. “Oh right, you were busy running your ass away from heaven. And speaking of angels who ran away...” Lucifer’s voice is drowned out by Balthazar’s protests. Everyone was shouting over each other at this point. You knew you needed to intervene at this point, but for a moment you just felt frozen. Your angels, were all in love with you. That much was clear from what you’d overheard. Everything was suddenly much clearer to you now. All of your friends’ odd behavior as of late had been their attempts to woo you. You felt foolish for not realizing this until now. You wondered if any of them had been very successful in their attempts. Of course, there was one angel who had managed to completely sweep you off of your feet even before all this began. And now you knew without a shadow of a doubt that he loved you as much as you loved him. You shake off these thoughts and go to open the door to your room.

The room falls silent as all four angels turn to see you standing in the doorway. Each one of them, Lucifer included, at least had to decency to look embarrassed that you’d overheard their argument.

“I think,” You look over to angel. The one you love with all your heart. And your heart pangs as he smiles softly at you. “We need to have a talk.”

[sandersstudies]

Espressoly for You - Chapter One

Coffeeshop AU, you all wanted it, and I delivered. Hope there’s more coming but you guys know I’m historically unreliable with regular updates so here’s hoping! No trigger warnings for the chapter, just good clean coffee. 

***

Virgil was halfway inside the fridge when he heard the bell on the front entrance ring. He scooped a jug of milk under each arm, slammed the fridge door with his foot, and shuffled awkwardly back into the cafe. 

Logan was at the register, making small-talk with Wendy as she ordered her two usual black coffees. He glanced up with a split-second smirk as Virgil emerged from the storeroom. 

“Will that be all for you, today?” Logan asked.

“Yes, thank you, dear,” Wendy said, fumbling in her change purse. “Oh, wait, I’m so sorry, do you have the blueberry muffins today?”

“We do,” Logan said. “They only came out of the oven an hour ago.”

“I’ll take two,” Wendy said. “My grandkids love your muffins.” 

Logan turned around to wrap the muffins and stole another stare at Virgil, who ducked to hide his face in the mini-fridge as he put away the milk. He made a show of rearranging every jug inside so the labels faced out, and Wendy was toddling out of the cafe by the time he stood back up.

“You sure were in a rush to put away the milk,” Logan said.

“Just trying to get stocking out of the way,” Virgil said. 

“I don’t think so.”

“Think what you want.”

“You’re waiting for your boyfriend to come back.”

Virgil felt his face flush hot, and ducked back down to rearrange the milk all over again. “He is not my boyfriend, and if you ever suggest anything like that…” He hoped his glare, flashed over the top of the fridge door, finished the sentence for him. 

“Okay, okay,” Logan said, turning to stare out the front windows. “Oh, there he is now!” 

Virgil winced as he thumped the back of his head against the inside of the fridge. He rubbed his scalp as he stood up more slowly and saw that there was no-one in front of the store at all. Logan had a self-satisfied grin on his face that Virgil would have liked to wipe off. 

“It’s perfectly alright to like someone,” Logan said. “Have you finished sorting the fridge by the Dewey decimal system?

“I’ve never said one thing about that guy,” Virgil retorted, ignoring the sarcasm of the question. 

“And that’s exactly why I know you like him,” Logan said. “You love to gossip about customers but every time he’s in here you get awfully quiet. And you can’t ring in his order without stuttering.”

Virgil was guilty of that. Of course, it didn’t matter. That was one order he had memorized by heart. Large cinnamon oat milk latte with extra cinnamon-sugar on top. 

Logan strolled to the espresso machine and started steaming the milk for his usual café au lait. 

“I’m going on my break,” he said. “Don’t burn the place down while I’m gone.”

Virgil couldn’t think of a retort as Logan finished his drink and vanished into the storeroom. The door swung shut behind him. Virgil took a cloth and began to wipe down the counters, and kept one eye on the windows. He’d finished half the cafe when Terry, a regular, appeared in the door of his office building across the street. Virgil was already pulling the espresso for Terry’s usual americano by the time the bell at the front of the cafe chimed. It felt good knowing the regulars and being confident with the espresso machine. It had taken weeks before Logan trusted him in the cafe alone, and months before Virgil trusted himself. Now, everything was second-nature. Virgil handed Terry his drink and, when Terry swiped his card, Virgil reminded him that with only three more visits he’d have another free drink.

“And that should be about this time tomorrow,” Terry joked. Virgil mustered an authentic smile as Terry chuckled himself out the door, americano in hand. Terry could be counted on to visit two, sometimes three times a day, morning and lunchtime, and often as he left work just before the cafe closed. 

Virgil’s cinnamon-latte visitor was, unfortunately, not so reliable. Virgil didn’t work on Mondays or Tuesdays, and Cinnamon Boy

Oh no, I can’t start calling him that.

Cinnamon Guy never came in on weekends. He and his posse dropped by after afternoon class during the week before taking the bus back home, or at least Virgil had picked up that much from “accidentally” overheard conversations while sweeping. At least one of the group was almost always wearing the local university’s swag, so he knew which college they attended too. Sometimes they propped up study sessions on one of the cafe tables, notebooks sprawling. At least one of them was studying science, judging from the textbooks, but Virgil wasn’t sure which one. 

Over the past year of working in the cafe, he’d gotten better at starting small-talk at the register and over the espresso machine, but he always seemed to clam up when that group was around, only managing to stutter out a greeting and a total, if that. The three boys were almost always wrapped up in their own conversation, though, so it didn’t matter much. 

It was Wednesday now. Logan said he’d seen them on Monday, but there was no sign of them yet. A pair of girls, one of them wearing a university sweatshirt, appeared outside the window and came inside. The bell jingled and Virgil found himself spacing out as he rang up and made their lattes.  One of the girls tipped a dollar, and they both left. 

The lull between the lunch rush and after-school rush was dragging on, and Virgil realized he couldn’t wait for the unpredictability of spring break. Next Friday, university classes took a week off, and students in town with no class filled coffee shops during the day, and house parties at night. Virgil poured himself a black coffee. This job was giving him caffeine tolerance the likes of which he’d never imagined. The largest cup the cafe offered, filled to the brim with strong french-pressed coffee, barely lifted his eyelids anymore. During lulls, he and Logan had been known to take shots of espresso like liquor as a daily ritual. 

Virgil sipped his coffee absentmindedly, and hunched behind the register to begin a doodle on the side of an empty coffee cup. The curvature made clean lines impossible, but he managed a rough sketch of the building across the street, and was just beginning to outline windows when the cafe bell chimed. Virgil straightened.

“I told him I don’t care anyway, spring break starts next week.” 

“You’ll care when finals week creeps up on you.” 

“Well, it’s not finals week now, is it?”

Virgil fumbled for something to do so he wouldn’t seem to be spying on the conversation, and turned to the coffee pot immediately behind the register to press buttons that did nothing. 

“It’s a difficult class, that’s all I’m saying.”

“I took it last semester, it wasn’t that hard.”

When the three boys approached the register Virgil pretended to have just noticed them.

“Oh, hello, what can I get started for you guys?”

The first boy, clad in a leather jacket despite the growing spring warmth, didn’t even have to look at the menu. 

“Large iced coffee with light caramel, light cream, please.” He was already sliding his card into the reader, having heard his total many times before.

“Great, and looks like you only need one more visit before you’ll have a free coffee reward!” Interacting with customers using canned lines sure had gotten easier with time. It was only difficult when a customer tripped him up… Virgil made direct eye contact with the second boy to avoid looking at the first one.

“These two will both be on one ticket,” the boy said. He was dressed more practically in a university t-shirt of white and red, with clashing oversized athletic shorts in black and green, and the logo of a local high school. “I’ll have a black coffee with five sugars.” He extended his fist and dropped a wadded-up five and what seemed like a pound of coins into Virgil’s outstretched hand. “And whatever he’s having. Keep the change, bro,” he said, slapping the other boy on the shoulder before he strode away. He took a sugar packet from the condiment station. 

“Large cinnamon oat milk latte with extra cinnamon-sugar on top,” the other boy said as Virgil kept his gaze affixed to the register screen.

“Eight-fifty,” Virgil muttered, unfolding the five and beginning to count out the coins. He felt the customer’s eyes on him, tried to count faster, lost his place, and started over. He tried to muster a haphazard comment about the nice weather, failed, and swallowed.

Thankfully, most of the coins were quarters, and there were still almost two dollars left over afterward, what seemed like an hour later, though it was really less than a minute. Virgil extended them and tried to drop them into the other boy’s hand neatly, but two quarters clanged onto the counter, and one went rolling in a dramatic run for escape.

“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry,” Virgil said, trying to slap the quarters under his hands. The other boy moved at the same time, and Virgil felt their hands brush together on the counter.

“No, no, it’s cool,” he said. “I was just going to make it a tip, anyway.” He let the coins clink into the jar.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, it’s my brother’s money anyway. Thanks!” He raised his hand in a friendly salute before hoisting his backpack higher onto his shoulder and striding toward the table with the other two boys.

“Gosh, Roman, embarrassing the barista by dropping shit everywhere,” the brother said  before emptying his sugar packet directly onto his tongue. Roman. Virgil would file that away. He started steaming the milk and pulling the espresso shots for Roman’s latte. It was a strange name, but better than thinking of “Cinnamon Guy.” Waiting for the shots, he poured coffee for the other two boys and set them on the counter, where they retrieved them. 

He constructed the latte a little slower than usual, and noticed when he set the cup on the counter that Roman was facing away from him. Virgil mustered his voice and said, “Hey, I’ve got that latte here for you.”

Roman turned around. “Hey, thanks.”

“No problem.”

Roman turned away again, and as Virgil began searching for something to do with his hands, Logan emerged from the door to the back room.

“Busy?” he asked with a knowing grin. “Anything interesting while I was gone?”

“I’m going to brew fresh coffee.”

Logan smiled knowingly.

[winterknight1087]

Hardly the Villains

Summary: Roman is the superhero Prince, who fights against the Dark Sides, consisting of Green Menace, Viper, and Shadow Wing. What happens when Roman discovers the real identity of these villains will change his outlook of them.

Word Count: 4868

Warnings: sympathetic Remus, sympathetic Deceit/Janus, fighting, injuries, cursing

Pairings: eventual romantic LAMP, romantic Demus, brotherly creativitwins, brotherly anxceit

AO3 Link       My Writing

@rosesisupposes I am so sorry this is a little bit late! 2020 ended the same way it went. But still, I hope you enjoy your @sanderssidesgiftxchange present! It was a fun challenge to work on a superhero fic focused on Roman and Remus!

"Here hold this."

The masked hero barely had time to catch the thing thrown at him, much less identify what it was, before the stick of dynamite blew up in his face. If it were any other super villain, then this would have been the end of the hero. Yet, Green Menace didn't seem to get the memo that he was supposed to try and kill the hero.

The hero let out a squawk as, for the third time this week, his face and hair were covered in cartoonish ash. He heard the cackle of the villain as Viper told Menace that they needed to go.

"Til next time, Princey." Shadow Wing announced.

“Stop flirting and let’s get out of here.” Viper stated to Shadow, not caring if the hero heard or not. The hero did hear, but he also couldn’t see Shadow’s reaction as the villain scooped up Viper and vanishing into the shadows.

"Well, this was fun!" Menace cackled before pulling a paint brush out of nowhere and painting a tunnel on a wall.

The hero knew better than to go after Menace at that point. All of Menace’s powers followed cartoon logic. He had flown straight into too many walls to know that only Menace could use those dumb paintings to travel. So, the hero sigh and flew off.

 ****

“Like honestly, does that fiend have any idea how hard it is to get that gunk out of my hair?” Roman scrubbed his hair with the towel around his head.

His boyfriend didn’t even bother looking up from his book. “I highly doubt that he knows considering that he is smart enough not to be here after your fights.”

“Sure, I have to take a shower anyways, because of normal fight dirt, but that fiend just has to give me that dumb stick and I have to spend 5ever trying to get the stuff out of my hair!”

“You could try asking him not to hand you the stick of dynamite.”

Roman gave the book Logan was holding determinedly in front of his face, the glare meant for the nerd. “Right, yeah, sure. Something like ‘Excuse me, fiend I fight at least three times a week, can you like not hand me your explosion gunk sticks? Thanks boo.’ How’s that sound?”

“Sounds perfect, RoRo! Just make sure to use your please and thank you’s!” The third boyfriend said, swooping in with a plate of cookies.

Logan finally lowered his book to glance at his watch. “Hmm, you are getting faster at washing that stuff out of your hair, Roman. Patton usually has eaten half of his baked goods before you return.”

Roman managed to let out an offended squawk before the windows suddenly blew in, knocking the bug screen inside the house. The gust of wind responsible seemed to spin around Patton before vanishing. The man let out a small giggle before the chaos appeared.

Remus was shrieking as he scrambled through the window. Logan managed to count to two before a furious looking goose followed the chaotic man in. Remus was already running down the hall to his room, but the goose didn’t seem to be deterred, even if the goose had to make its nest and raise its chicks outside this fiend’s door. The goose would get its revenge eventually.

This time, Logan got to ten before the front door was thrown open with the other two. Janus barked at Roman to help him before sprinting down the hall. Roman shut his eyes to let out a breath, but a crash and something shattering sent him after his twin and twin’s boyfriend. Virgil let out his own breath before saying something that couldn’t be overheard by a loud beep.

“Patton, stop trying to give me a filter! It’s not going to happen and I think a murderous goose deserves a swear or two!”

“What did Remus do this time?” Logan asked, unnervingly calm about this entire situation.

Virgil ran a hand through his hair. “Jan told Remus to get out more and enjoy the sunlight for once. Remus pulled out his meme skills and informed us he went to the park. Then as Jan was congratulating him on going outside, Ree pulled out the goose and it did not like that. We’ve been following the idiot and goose since 4th Street.”

“I’ll go grab the three of you some water then.” Patton hummed as he went back into the kitchen, ignoring the screeching and thumps from further down the hall.

“I am pleased to hear you are getting exercise at least, Virgil.” Logan commented, returning to his book.

“I swear the rat is going to give me a heart attack one of these days, and then I won’t hear the end of Jan’s whining.”

“I do not whine.”

Logan lowered his book, questioning why he was even bothering to try and continue reading. “Also, why would Janus whine to you if you were the one to have a heart attack? I would assume he would whine to the rest of us, as I doubt he would whine to his boyfriend.”

“Janny, you would 100% whine that I was making the rat look bad.” Virgil stated, rolling his eyes.

“I thought I told you to stop calling me that.”

A voice at the front door cackled. “But Janny makes you go red and it’s cute!”

Logan raised an eyebrow at Remus, who now stood at the door as if nothing had happened. “Did you climb out your bedroom window to avoid the goose?”

“No,” He grinned. “I climbed out to avoid my bro bro twin. Pretty sure he’s still screaming at my door. Where’d Goose Janus go?”

“Well, Janus is right there, however, I am unsure what has become of the goose.”

“Nooo, that’s Human Janus. I asked about Goose Janus.”

“Do not call me Human Janus either.”

“VeeVee, your brother is being mean to meeeeeeEEEee!!!!”

Virgil rolled his eyes at the two of them. “Where is the goose, Jan? I don’t want to be running after the rat and a goose across town again.”

“Roman managed to get it into a pillowcase. He had the top clutched for dear life while screaming at Remus. Which means, we should probably get out of here before the goose is released.” Janus commented.

“Oh, you three are already leaving?” Patton asked, carrying three water bottles.

“Patton, you are amazing.” Janus stated, snatching a bottle from him and downing it in a single gulp.

Virgil rolled his eyes at the figure going for a second water bottle. “Probably for the best. Prince Whines a Lot isn’t exactly agreeable after… work.”

“Oh, OK. We’ll see you guys later then!”

With that, Virgil shoved the other two out the door, muttering that he wanted to go lay down and not move for the next year. The two left in the living room could hear their third partner ranting at a door down the hall, oblivious to the fact the resident was gone. There were also muffled goose noises that worried Patton.

Logan sighed, setting his book aside. “I’ll call Animal Control to come get it. You want to go inform Roman that his twin is gone?”

“M’kay.”

 ***

 Roman’s day had been absolutely terrible. He had gotten a flat tire, some dragon witch at the store stole the entire stock of Crofters before telling him off for being in her way, and he accidentally dropped his phone so it now had a giant crack on the screen. So, when he walked in to see muddy footprints and what he would argue was the stench of a dead rat in the wall, in the summer, he was not exactly kind as he turned to face his twin.

Remus was curled around his laptop, furiously typing away on it. Roman noted the muddy boots that made the muddy footprints were hitched up on the coffee table, spreading the filth there too. Remus muttered something about ripping someone’s ears off and shoving them up their butt and that was the line for Roman today.

“Are you serious, Remus! This place is a disaster! When I left, it was spotless! And what is that smell?! Did you run a secret trash dump in here while I was gone?”

“Oooooh, that is an interesting idea.” Remus cackled, still not looking up.

If Roman had the ability to shoot laser beams out of his eyes, Remus would have already been a crisp of a crisp. “What are you even doing?”

“Hacking into a multibillion company for a sweet payday.”

Roman managed to get halfway through an eyeroll before realizing what his brother was actually doing. “Great, I’m going to have to burn that couch!”

Remus finally glanced up at the other, eyebrows knit. But before he could ask, his phone let off a ding and he decided that was more interesting. He snatched it up and started grinning. Roman watched Remus quickly throw everything into his backpack. He jumped up and grabbed a duffle bag that Roman hadn’t noticed. If Remus was covered in mud, the duffle was mud disguised as a bag. Remus sang out a ‘smell ya later, bro bro’ before he was out the front door, leaving Roman in the middle of the mess.

Roman took a deep breath as the door slammed behind his twin. He took another. One more deep inhale and he let out a frustrated scream into the arm desperately trying to muffle it. Now his throat hurt on top of him needing to clean up the mess his idiot of a brother left behind.

“Come on, Roman. Mom is paying off your car payments and rent for letting the bastard stay here. And you like not having to use 85% of your paychecks just to pay for those. Plus, the bastard spends most of his time out of the house with those irritating friends of his. It’s fine! It’ll be fine!”

He kept muttering this to himself as he angrily cleaned up the mud. Once he got as much as he could up, he took a seat (on the opposite couch as he now had to get rid of his favorite couch) to Google how to get rid of the stench. Like honestly, what did that bastard do to make it smell so bad in here? Roman thought it would be a bit better once some of the mud was gone, but nope, still just as bad.

Almost louder than Remus’s snoring, the Hercules song Zero to Hero started blaring from Roman’s work phone. He was instantly on his feet, heading to his room as he pulled it out of his pocket.

New message:

Human Computer: The Dark Sides are robbing the regional Walmart financial offices. That is two streetlights left of the so called ‘lame’ coffeeshop, Prince.

Moral Compass: Aww, I just put on the new episode of Steven Universe Future though!

Human Computer: I am sure they will apologize if you inform them of this. Prince, have you seen the message or am I going to have to hack your personal phone and laptop to get your attention?

Prince: 10-4 nerd

Roman grabbed his katana before rushing out the back door. He grinned as he twisted the watch face and pressed the newly appeared button. Sometimes making Logan watch cartoons and daring him to make cartoon gadgets was worth the mutterings and frustration Roman faced from his partner. The hero costume shimmered around him, concealing his identity as he took off into the sky.

Roman could hear the alarms going off. Even if Logan hadn’t specified where it was, Roman would have known where those fiends were. He knew that Patton would give him the scolding of the century if he knew, but Roman welcomed this attack. It gave him a means to take his frustrations off on some villains who constantly tormented the town.

“Sorry, Princey. Can’t let you go any further.” A voice commented behind the hero as he took in the scene.

“Oh look, it’s the talking shadowling.” Roman commented, turning to see the villain.

Honestly, seeing Shadow Wing always took Roman’s breath away upon first sight. Long wings were stretched out, barely flapping in order to keep the person up. Shadows were cascading down the wings, mimicking black flames falling to the ground. As for the villain, Shadow always reminded Roman of Wesley in his full Dread Pirate Roberts getup from the Princess Bride.

“Ooof, pretty sure you used that insult last week. Running out of creative material there, Princey?” That insufferable smirk!

“At least I have a variety, Raven Boy.”

“Mmm, creativity is not my department. Anyways, what’s up with the big knife you’ve got there? Wanna try slicing shadows?”

Roman had enough time to pull out the katana before the strange ball of frozen darkness was dangerously close. He barely managed to slash it. He still preferred Shadow’s cold blobs over being handed the explosive gunk stick Menace always handed him. Roman watched Shadow take off into the sky before swooping down close to the ground.

A ball of darkness landed right before Logan, or as he was in his own hero costume-the Human Computer. The villain was already rising back up into the air, ignoring the fact that he had just barely missed the hero’s sidekick. Roman threw himself into the fight, angry about the day, sure, but this villain just went after his boyfriend! There must be vengeance!

“Oooooooh, Shadow really does have interesting flirting methods!” A new voice commented.

Shadow threw some of his shadows at Green Menace, who was eagerly cackling. Roman quickly scanned, searching for the last of the evil trio. No sight of Viper. Then Menace’s voice forced Roman to turn back to seeing what the villain was cackling about. He did have to admit Menace and Shadow seemed to be close friends at the very least. Why does that hurt Roman?

“Let’s get this over with. I have SUF to watch.” Shadow commented.

“Okie dokie, bro-kie!”

“Say that again and I am sending you to the bottom of the Mariana Trench and leaving you for the eldritch horrors down there.”

“Pleasssssse, even they would ssssend thissss trash back to ussssss.” Ah, there’s Viper.

Menace was grinning as he pretended to wipe away a tear. “The two of you really understand me.”

Roman twisted the katana, mentally mapping out how to try and take these three down. It was always a difficult fight but Logan and Patton were better ground support while the dark trio kept to the skies, out of reach of almost everyone and thing. And because Roman was certain of this fact, he didn’t see the safety hazard strike him down.

All Roman knew was one moment, he was getting ready to whap Menace and the next, he was in a huge crater, staring up at four figures in the sky. The air was knocked out of him and his body did not want to move for the next year. Before he could reorient himself, the new figure knocked an entire building on top of Roman, trapping him under rubble. Not that the hero noticed as he lost consciousness.

 ***

 The three villains stared in shock at the new figure. The new enemy hummed disinterestedly at the pile where the hero had landed. The new figure turned to look over the three standing before them. He had planned this entire take over and subjecting these three useless tools to his will. Half of his plan was already complete, now just to deal with the amateurs.

All three of them had lost the easiness they had with the hero. Now, they look furious. In fact, Green Menace looked like he was about to rip the world apart with his teeth. The new figure didn’t place much thought on that, expecting that reaction.

“Now then. You three idiots see how a real villain does it.” He stated. “I will be merciful and offer you positions as my lackies, but this is now my town.”

Shadow was already pulling all of the shadows towards him as Viper hissed at the newcomer. “No, you will not. This is our home. We will not let anyone else terrorize our home. We might not be heroes to the people here, but we will not let someone come terrorize the town we have under our control.”

“Shadow, Viper.” Menace’s voice was chillingly serious. “Now.”

Shadows shot through the air, stealing the sunlight and replacing it with waves of fear and terror, as a long snake managed to coil around the newcomer. However, Green Menace was the most terrifying to onlookers and the new villain. Menace was out for blood and would not rest until the bastard was twenty feet under for hurting his twin brother.

 ****

 “…kidding me?!”

“What else were we supposed to do, Vee? Leave him there?”

“Take him to the house the two of you share! Hate to break it to you, but your brother is a complete dumbass; I wouldn’t be surprised to discover that he doesn’t know the truth. So, he’s not only going to wake up after a massive fight, in a strange place he has never been in, he’s also surrounded by his enemies!”

For all the luck in the world, of course this was the first thing Roman heard as he gained consciousness. The hero tensed as he opened his eyes only the smallest amount to see the trio of villains standing in front of him in a dark room. He desperately wanted to look around and see how much danger he was in, but that would require that he open his eyes and if they weren’t torturing him because they thought he was still unconscious, then he wasn’t going to let them know he was awake.

“I agree that he probably hasn’t figured it out yet, but if we left him, rescue services would have found him and if one of our identities are revealed, all of them are. What do you think the government’s first reaction to having the superhero Prince unconscious in some hospital would be? Hmm? We are working with what we can do. We wouldn’t be able to make it to the twins’ house without being spotted. We have our tunnels to get here.”

Wait… That meant… They knew where he lived. Oh no, they knew where he lived. That meant Remus would be in danger as well. It meant Logan and Patton were in danger. It meant that Virgil and Janus were in danger. It meant that everyone Roman knew and cared about were in danger because of these villains.

“I know that this entire situation is bad, but we’re doing the best we can. Even the walking ray of sunshine and nerd said this was the best option.”

Pound. Pound.

“Where is he?! How badly is he hurt?”

Roman’s heart might as well have stopped in that moment. These villains could do whatever they wanted to him, but he will not let these fiends harm a hair on Patton or Logan’s head. In an instant, Roman was on his feet, and shoving the closest figure to him against a wall. As he looked at the face he had pinned, his heart might as well be stopped as that would be a kinder fate than this. The face he saw, was the face of Virgil Storm-Ekans.

Roman stepped back in pure shock as his eyes swept to the other two villains, taking in all three shocked faces. Standing in front of him were both his brother and Remus’ friends, but also the trio of villains, perfectly mashed together. His twin brother in Menace’s sparkling green and black costume probably found in some thrift store, looking like some knock off Luigi. Janus in Viper’s black and yellow suit complete with the dumb cloak and hat. And Virgil in… Virgil in a black Wesley outfit with huge shadow-y black wings wrapped tightly around him.

“I-No… Noo… This isn’t- it can’t”

Patton appeared, blocking Roman’s vision from the three he hated. “Roman, hey, hey. Shhhh. It’s OK. Come on, let’s get you back on the couch. You’re OK, your safe.”

Roman was gently forced onto the couch before Patton started to heal the injuries he had. Soft blue light shone from his hand as each wound healed and vanished. Roman’s eyes were still trying to take in the mess, however. A creak pulled his attention to a set of stairs to see Logan calmly walking down, looking at something on his phone.

“Lo, do you have information on who the hell Orange Traffic Cone was?” Virgil asked, his wings fluttering nervously as they unwrapped from around him.

“I was going to ask the same of you. They were obviously some kind of villain, so I assumed you three would have more information on who or what they were.”

“Well, isn’t this a wonderful situation we have.” Janus grimaced. “I doubt they will be returning, however.”

Logan adjusted his glasses as he glanced over at Roman, pleased to see the boyfriend was healing up well. “Well, after that impressive show of power, I doubt anyone will try to take over the town from you three. I do wonder how the three of you gained so much power though.”

“We were the ones to find the dumb radioactive stone and spend more time around it, Logan. Proximity to the source of all of our powers.” Janus commented.

“Ah, that does make sense. It would also probably explain the extra developments as well.”

“Call them what they are, Lo. Mutations. Freaks like me… us have mutations.” Virgil spat.

Logan looked over the other, noting that the wings were tightening around the youngest of the group. “You are not a freak, Virgil.”

Virgil scoffed, “Yeah, right.”

Logan narrowed his eyes but could tell that it would take a while to improve the other’s confidence, so decided to try and improve the mood. “You are not a freak, Virgil. I know you do not accept it right now, but hopefully in time. Now, Remus, a question I have been meaning to ask. Did you really dump cow manure on the executive’s desk?”

“Wait, was that what was in that disgusting bag of yours?!”

“It was bull shit!” Remus cackled.

“What-what is going on?” Roman intruded, weakly. “Is-is this some kind of prank or a dream?”

“Roman, have you truly not realized who the ‘dark sides’ are?” Logan asked, curiously. “Did it not occur to you that if you got superpowers, at very least your own twin brother would also develop some powers as well?”

“But-but- they’re evil!” Roman screeched.

“Hardly.”

Remus knelt to look his twin in the face, concern filling the red-tinted hazel eyes. “Ro- did- do you really think that? Do you really think us evil?”

Words would not escape Roman’s chocked throat, but that seemed enough of an answer to the rest of the room. Virgil and Janus instantly backed away, granting Roman more space as Logan moved forward and took the seat on Roman’s other side. Remus looked at his twin in so much shock and pain that Roman wanted to lie through his teeth.

“Roman, while these three may violate legal codes, they are hardly evil. They are more like Robin Hood than some evil monster.”

“But today-“

“We were stealing from Walmart to give money to a homeless shelter full of full-time Walmart employees, Ro. What happened with that rando was unexpected. We still don’t know who they were or what their intentions truly were.” Virgil said, softly.

Patton took Roman’s hand into his. “RoRo, have you not even wondered why despite all those fights, you never actually ended up hurt? Not even a bruise most times.”

“That literally every hit that would actually hurt missed? Like I get thinking that of Remus, but of Jan and me?”

“But- what about you throwing one of those dark snowballs at Logan earlier?!”

Logan barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. “Roman, I’m not sure you’ve realized yet, but Patton and I knew who these three were. Virgil was tossing me a flash drive that I designed to aide them in hacking through complex security measures that I was able to use to further hide the true amount they stole.”

“You were helping these fiends?!?”

“Well, it’s not acceptable that a multibillion company lets their employees live in poverty.” Patton softly admitted.

“Why-“ Roman was just so lost and confused. “Why didn’t anyone tell me? Why was I left out?”

“Most of us thought you already knew. Virgil pushed for a verbal confirmation that you knew before letting the idea that you didn’t know rest. It’s not like we made any effort to discuss work out of very specific locations, which rarely intersect between all of us.” Logan answered.

Roman ran a hand through his hair, trying to process all of this. The rest of the room glanced around at each other. A silent agreement to give the hero a moment was passed around. Once they seemed to understand the decision, Janus glanced at Virgil before turning to Patton.

“Hey, literal sunshine. Can you possibly take a look at Virgil’s wing and see if you can heal whatever happened to it?”

“I’m fine, Jan.”

“Bullshit. Don’t make me pull the older brother card on you, little shit. You only hold your wings that close to you when they are hurt.”

“If you’re hurt, I can fix it! You don’t need to be in pain!” Patton said, jumping up.

“Seriously, I’m fine, Princey over there was the one who got hit with an entire building.”

“Vee, let Pat look at your wing. Traffic Cone did a pretty bad number on you, trying to knock you out of the air.” Remus said softly.

“Come on, kiddo. I’ll need access to your back to see if the joints are alright, but you’ll feel a lot better afterword!” Patton said.

“Ugh, I can see the fight is already lost.” Virgil muttered, before taking his black shirt off.

Roman had a lot of information to process, but that didn’t happen as he saw how ripped the other was. He had thought Virgil was hot and Shadow Wing hotter, but seeing the two combined, yeah, Roman was gay. At least he was also poly so could ask his partners if they were interested in romancing a certain shadow. Which if his super gay mind could actually remember anything, he would remember that they were actually already pushing to ask Vee out.

“OK, you have a bruised muscle and some of your feathers are gone. I also think you have a broken bone somewhere around here.” Patton said, pulling Roman out of his gay panic.

Janus immediately moved over, looking over the feathers before letting out a breath. “You are one lucky bastard, Vee. It’s mostly tertiary and a few secondary ones. But that means you were close to getting taken out by that knife.”

There was a small mischievous cackle near Roman. “So bro bro. You crushing hard on Virgil yet, or do Jan and I need to undress him some more for you?”

“REMUS!”

“Whaaaaat, I’m just trying to set up my bro with my hoe’s bro.”

 ****

 2 months later…

 “Oh come on, Princey. Surely you can do better than that.”

Roman was glad that most people couldn’t see details of them from the ground. If they could, they would see that Prince had a huge smile as he dodged his boyfriend’s shadow ball. It wouldn’t do him any harm, and in fact all of their boyfriends found comfort in the gentle cool kiss of them by now. No, Roman was determined to tag the sensor on the other’s arm, indicating that he won the game today. Can’t win if Virgil won.

Below, Remus and Janus were breaking into an Amazon warehouse to steal food, blankets, and clothes to donate to various homeless organizations. Once they were done, the two of them would join their third partner in crime to ‘escape’ from the Prince while the Prince pretended to hate them. Prince would fly off, talk to police about what happened, watch the Human Computer bury the actual amount stolen so that the company would just write it off. The Moral Compass would gently push a calm acceptance upon everyone so that there would be less struggle to hunt the villains down.

Then, the three of them would go and change out of their hero costumes and pick up the trio from their downtown townhouse. They would go home, order pizza, and watch movies all night, laughing and having fun. The next day, they would spend the day dropping off items at various homeless shelters. Roman would see how much it meant to the shelters to receive the donations, and it would make him wonder why he ever thought the trio were evil. Then the group would split so Remus and Janus would head to the townhouse while the four boyfriends would head to Roman’s planning a nice night with their partners.

And honestly, Roman wouldn’t have it any other way.

[sleephyuns]

Jihyo shifts in his seat nervously, waiting for Mina to come back from the bathroom.

When he arrived there, Mina was nowhere in sight, which worried him. But only a minute after the time they’d set to meet, Mina had texted him telling him where she was. She wanted to change after her shift quickly, which came as a relief to him. A relief that she hadn’t left, that was. About the changing, he couldn’t care less. Mina looked amazing even in her work clothes. She could’ve hopped right over the counter in her coffee stained apron and Jihyo would still think she’s the pretty person in that cafe.

He taps at his watch, his knee bouncing a little as well, but then he sees something out of the corner of his vision, so he looks over.

And he can’t tear his eyes away.

It’s just so hard to considering how gorgeous Mina looks as she walks over to him with the same unexpected grace that she has when she’s pouring him his 10th cup of coffee for the week.

He’s still speechless as Mina sits down, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

“Great minds think alike huh?” She speaks gesturing to her shirt, snapping Jihyo from his thoughts.

“Sorry, say that again?”

“I said great minds think alike. We’re wearing the same color,” she finishes with a smile.

Jihyo looks down, then back at her, finally noticing the color of the sweater under her jacket. He can’t ignore the little skip his heart does seeing it.

“I guess so. Is lavendar a favorite of yours?”

“Hmm,” she thinks (the adorable way her tongue peaks out between her lips when she does so doesn’t go unnoticed), “I think I like the scent more than the color, but they’re both nice.”

“Ah, I see,” he said with a nod of his head “Anyway... how was work today?”

‘One boring question after another, huh Jihyo?’ he thinks to himself. He holds off the urge to tap at his watch.

But Mina responds just as enthusiastic as usual.

“It was fine. It’s usually pretty relaxed around this time of day, so after the morning rush, the end of my shift was alright.”

A look of realization passes over her face. “Oh! And we didn’t sell out of caramel scones today. Those always go pretty fast.”

Jihyo perks up at that. “Oh I love those! But I uh-“ His phone dings. He looks down and misses the way Mina gives herself a little fist pump and congratulatory nod of approval. He looks back up again none the wiser.

“Like I was saying. You know me. I’m always in a rush to get here so I end up a little short on change- “His phone dings 3 more times and he blushes. Part in embarrassment, part in annoyance.

“Sorry, could you give me one second?”

 He checks his phone and, unsurprisingly, his saving grace from earlier has become a thorn in his side.

 Nayeon🐀

How’s it going?

Is she there yet?

Bro please tell me she didn’t stand you up...

If she did I can get the other two and we all can stare her down on her next shift

Jihyo rolls his eyes then responds

 -

Everything’s fine dude. Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you later ok?

 Nayeon🐀

Ok cool. Have fun, and stay safe!

 He puts his phone down and looks back up at Mina.

“Sorry about that. It was my friend Nayeon.”

“Oh...,” Mina sticks her tongue out in thought again, “right. The one who’s usually here with you before you guys have class.”

“Yeah that’s them. You remembered?”

“Ah well, sometimes it’s hard not to overhear you guys on quiet mornings.... even on not quiet ones honestly,” she laughs.

Jihyo laughs too. “Yeah I guess we are pretty loud huh? Sorry about that.”

“No don’t be! It makes my shifts interesting at least.”

 “Excuse me.” A voice snaps them out of their little bubble.

They both turn to the source. And while Jihyo looks at the person in front of them confusedly, Mina smiles in earnest. Especially at the tray in the person’s hands.

“Thanks Elkie.”

“No problem,” she says, throwing Mina a little wink as she walks off.

Before Jihyo can even say anything, Mina speaks.

“I asked her to bring this stuff over before you got here. I just had to make sure I remembered that you liked these first.”

Jihyo looks down at the tray on the table between them and sure enough, there’s one of the caramel scones they had talked about earlier and a small black coffee.

“So you remembered this too huh? You know the way to my heart Mina,” he jokes, taking a sip of his coffee. He loves the way it makes Mina blush. Definitely something he could get used to. He also takes the time to note what Mina eats: a small quiche and a bottle of strawberry sparkling water. It’s simple but it seems to suit her somehow.

“You’ve probably overheard a lot about me at this point,” he laughs, “so I’m wondering if you remember my major too?”

“Mhm. Fitness major, right? ....sorry if this is creepy.”

“Yep, and no you’re fine. I just wanna know about you in return.”

Mina swallows another bite of her food. “Well I’m a business major. Nothing too interesting there. I stay in the dorms about a block over. It’s a short distance from the buildings I takes classes in too, so it works well.”

“Nice, nice. Any roommates?”

“One. He comes by here once in a while so maybe you’ll see him one day. He’s majoring in engineering.”

“Oh that’s so cool. Do you know the specifics?”

Mina lets out a tired laugh. “Not really. It’s too hard to wrap my head around.”

Jihyo gives an agreeing nod.

“Oh but I know he was talking something about plane engines the other day. I don’t really know more than that.”

Jihyo grimaces. “Planes, huh. That seems interesting, but it makes me think about being on one and that’s just... ugh.”

Mina’s eyes widen. “Don’t like flying?”

 “Hell no,” he laughs, “I love driving. Though I have to borrow my roommate’s car until I save up enough for my own.”

“I’m kind of the opposite,” Mina replies, “car rides bore me. But I love plane rides. Which is good I suppose, since I have to fly to go back home to Japan on holidays.”

“Really? What’s it like there?” Jihyo scoots closer in his seat, listening intently.

Mina looks just as happy to be able to talk about it too. “Well you see...”

The two continued to talk without a care in the world. They went on and on, long after they’d finished eating.

It’s only after they finally took a pause to just bask in the silence, leaving Jihyo to tap at his watch, that he checks the time.

“Damn we sure have been here a while.”

Mina’s eyes widen in surprise as she goes to check the time on her phone. “Oh no... I’m sorry Jihyo, I hate to cut us off, but I have a night class. I need to get a few things done before then, though so...”

 “It’s alright I understand,” he smiles, “I’ll let you go.”

Mina gathers up her trash, taking Jihyo’s as well, and cleans up for them. When she comes back to her seat, she gathers up her things and Jihyo starts to do the same. They do so silently, and Jihyo’s not quite sure when he wants to speak up. When he wants to ask Mina if they want to hang out again.

They just step out of the cafe when he’s finally prepared himself.

“So I

“Jihyo-

They both stare. Then they burst into a fit of giggles, their faces warming up in the cool evening air.

Mina pulls her jacket in a little closer. “You aren’t cold at all?”

“Nah not really,” he shrugs, “but anyway, what was it you wanted to say?”

“No you can go first,” she assures him, stepping closer. With her being so close, he only then realizes the difference in their height. But that doesn’t deter him.

“I was wondering if you wanted to do this again? We don’t have to talk out the details right now, but I had fun talking to you. So I want to do it again.”

Mina’s blush spreads to her ears. “I had fun too. And I wanted to ask the same, she giggles. “I’d love to do this again.”

She takes one of his hands in hers. “Text me later tonight maybe?”

“Sounds good,” he smiles. They stand there for a minute, just looking at rach other with out a word. But eventually, Mina lets out a little huff. “I should go,” she pouts, rubbing her thumb across the back of his hand.

“Right, right. Like I said, I won’t hold you.” They finally let go of each other, backing up in their respective directions. “I’ll make sure to text you later!” he says with a wave.

“Oh one more thing!” Mina says, getting his attention. He turns back to her.

“Sorry if this is weird again but I like the cologne! It smells nice!” She gives him one last wave before walking off again, headed down the street.

Jihyo stands there for a minute, watching the way her hair flows behind her, mesmerized. But he should get going. So, after giving her one last glance, her starts walking home with a skip in his step. Yeah, there was nothing that could ruin his mood for the rest of the day.

[lucysuniverse]

Critical Beauty

Am I the only one who thinks Jo Jinho is perfect just the way he is? Probably not. :D

To be honest I incredibly miss this man so I just wanted to feel him a bit closer while I am writing this story and he is serving in the military.

Happy Birthday Jinho! We love you all. 

Pairing: Jinho x OC/reader

Genre: comfort, romance, angst

Word count: 6081

______________________________

I messed up. Like totally. My dad and those idiot colleagues of mine totally washed my brain. But after all I was the one ruining our relationship completely. And I could not blame him for having the will to break up with me because If I was in his shoes I would have done the same.

-|-

I knew it wasn’t right this way. We lived together for almost a year by now, and I couldn’t tell him. I couldn’t tell him that I was lying to him continuously in order to protect him from pain and save his self-esteem. Or at least this was my intention through-out the years.

We lived in a small flat. This is what we could afford. I just graduated from high-school and he was going to auditions. One after another. He was determined, and he was good. Insanely good. I couldn’t understand what is missing. What do you need more to become a singer? Didn’t he have outstanding vocals? He did. Didn’t he have a bit shy but loveable personality? He did. Didn’t he have sense of humor? HE DID. And on top of that he was handsome. WHAT WAS MISSING THEN???

As his girlfriend my heart was aching to watch all his efforts go to waste after so many years passed. We had a relatively big age gap between us. Well as long as you’re a teenager or young adult even two and a half years difference seem a lot. But later on, it doesn’t really matter. Especially not when you like someone. Because you like them for the person they are.

I loved him so incredibly. Because he was great. He was caring and cute but sometimes surprisingly masculine and very hot. I couldn’t wish for a better man. There was only one thing missing. Actually, not was but were. 5 more inches.

Because although we were quite far from each other in terms of age, we were all the more so close in terms of height. To be honest I guess I might have been smaller than him, but it never felt like that. And every time I thought about this I felt ashamed. Because that was the only thing which gave me hard times. I wouldn’t say I didn’t like his height. I liked everything about him. But sometimes I just wished he was a tiny bit taller, or I was even smaller (if that was possible).

Sometimes I found myself wondering about this: this couldn’t be the reason of him failing all those auditions, right? They can’t be so mean right? If you’ve ever heard a good singer than you would know that Jo Jinho was one of them.

This is why I always told my father to wait just a little. He was really opposing our relationship. I would have understood his concerns if he had real reasons, since I was his only daughter. But what he always said was ridiculous, narrow-minded and I just resent him for that.

“When will he finally stop this stupid joke of becoming a singer. Didn’t he have enough throughout these years?”

“I am fine dad. How about you?” I said as a reply. I was so fed up listening to his bullshit all the time. He heard Jinho singing. And even though he would have never admitted, he knew Jinho was born to be a singer. Anybody could tell. But sadly, in his eyes only those are real men who are lawyers or doctors. When they divorced with mom, he even found me a real man… My dad thought I should go on a blind date with the trainee of his divorce lawyer. He even complimented his ears! Like what the heck! My always logical and strict dad tells me to date the trainee of his divorce lawyer because he has nice ears.

Don’t get me wrong I’ve never thought about leaving Jinho, but my dad nagged me all the time so I checked the guy’s social media pages. Funfact: he was born on the freaking same day in April as Jinho. Am I freaking joke?

“Little woman… I am your dad no need to act like this. But think about your future kids. Will they be also minions?”

“Bye dad it was good to talk to you.” And I hung up. I didn’t want to ignore him. After all he was my dad. But we never had a good relationship. Well a relationship at all. But the irritating thing was that even if I tried to ignore all these comments he made me angry. I couldn’t stop myself. I should not marry Jinho but we are already expecting kids?! And minions? And these are my dad’s words when he himself isn’t a giant either. ARRGGGGHHH!

“Hi babe! Is everything okay?” Jinho asked. And as always, I put on a nice smile and said “yeah, all good.” And I hated myself for that.

-|-

“What is that?” He asked curiously. I didn’t know he was still at home. I wanted to put the box back under the bed as soon as possible but it was too late he saw it.

“Oh this? It is just something stupid. It is not important. Did you leave something here?”

“Yeah, I left my phone on the charger. But don’t change the topic. It must be something important if you were staring at it so dearly.”

“Oh no. You misunderstood.”

“Okay, enough of this. What’s that? Do you have something to hide from me?” And even though he didn’t say this in an offended way there was edge in his voice.

“It’s your birthday gift.”

“My birthday gift?”

“Yeah.” I knew this couldn’t work. But I couldn’t come up with a real acceptable reason.

“It was last month. And procrastination is your middle name so it can’t be for my next one, I am not buying this. So, what is that?”

“I will bring this back okay? I don’t know why I bought this. I must have lost my mind. I just …”

“Oh show me finally.” And before I could give him the box he took it out of my hands.

“You must be kidding me, right?” He asked after 3 minutes of torturing silence.

“Look I am sorry. I know we should be saving money and …. but I can ask for refund and also…”

“You created such a big scene just because of this?” And he was laughing. He was LAUGHING!

“What? Aren’t you mad?”

“Why would I be? Should I?”

“Oh… yeah. I mean no. No. I just thought… I just…”

“You thought I would be upset to found out that my girlfriend is secretly buying a pair of high-heels for herself to feel pretty? I am getting more upset now that I know you felt like you should hide this. Also, why did you think I didn’t want to see your pretty legs in this? I thought you knew me better. If that’s all I am off for work. Bye babe see you in the afternoon.” And he gave me a light kiss on my forehead. And I felt on my skin he was smiling. “And I hope next time I see you, you’ll be wearing these.” And he casually left the room.

I made a fool out of myself. I really thought he would be offended by this. I mean it wasn’t a big deal to give up on high-heels. They weren’t very comfortable anyway and we really had to save money. But I was young and for the first time in my life I felt getting more feminine. Maybe I was already but this time I started to realize.

I thought it was selfish of me having these secret desires to put on a bit tighter clothes and wore high-heels especially when he is not really taller than me, but after having this conversation I was even more encouraged. I knew he didn’t have problems with it and that was all that mattered. I was happily tiptoeing to the office. My colleagues even complimented me.

The girls were jealous for having those nice shaped legs, and the boys… let’s not talk about them. If you think they will become serious once they grow up… Well friend you are totally mistaken. Boys will be boys. But they didn’t cross the line, in their own way they complimented me as well. And I felt confident and happy. All thanks to my sweet boyfriend whom I could always rely on.

I was in a really good mood until the point I let some idiots ruin my day. I couldn’t say they ruined it. I was the one let them do it. I just wish I never overheard their conversation.

“I was wondering why she is never coming to the year-end parties but now I see. The company is not yet prepared for those legs.”

“That was a good one bro. But they say she is just staying home all the time with that hopeless guy. I feel sorry for her to have such a boyfriend.”

“What really? Why aren’t they coming together?”

“Another rumor says it the guy is a dwarf. So, she is rather staying home with him.”

“Wow. How do you know so many things?”

“Resources…”

“Which girl then?”

“The blondie in the red jeans.”

“Mmmmmh.”

“Stop it she is mine.”

“Until when?”

“Tonight. Then you can have her.”

“You are disgusting man. Well done.” And they laughed.

“Ah but that sweetie. I really feel sorry for her. Having that boyfriend can be very burdensome.”

“Oh yeah. If I was her boyfriend, I would make sure she feels good in every situation.”

“You mean every position.”

“Exactly.” And they laughed again. “You know me so well.”

I felt dirty. It’s not like they did anything specific to me. They were just fantasizing. But I felt fucking dirty in that moment. I wanted to erase this conversation from my head but instead I heard their words repeatedly in my head.

I heard my shoes making that irritating sound on the street while I was going home. With every step I felt smaller and smaller. I regretted wearing that stupid high-heel… So as soon as I arrived home I put them back in their box cleaned, ready to bring them back to the shop. I would want to throw them away instantly but then suddenly I thought about Jinho.

We need to spare money. He needs to buy some nice clothes for the next audition. And also, we barely manage to pay the bills since I just started studying in the med school and next to collage it is quite hard to work. Sometimes I thought maybe I should just quit dreaming about becoming a doctor but there was a senior doc, my supervisor who inspired me a lot. Last month he helped that well-known celebrity couple. He said the lady had some complications while she was giving birth to their little girl but the doctor helped them and finally the little Daisy was born healthy. Some of my fellow classmates said he even resembles Jinho…. I don’t know why.

Talking about Jinho, he was quite clueless when he found me eating the third bowl of ice cream and watching Lovely Complex.

“You are still watching this?”

“Anime is not only for kids. And well I’ve just become an adult anyway, meaning I am still a kid. Let me be. Oh and if you go to the kitchen can you bring me the last Ben & Jerry’s? I know I shouldn’t be buying these but I just felt like having a pajama party on my own. Thanks babe. ”

“Look.” And he sat down next to me and slowly took away the Ben and Jerry’s from my hands to put it on the table. “Can we talk about today morning?”

“Sure. But what is there to talk about?”

“I hate it when you act like this. And the funny thing is that you know I do.” He smiled bitterly. I was aware of it. None of us were stupid. Well… we both were very clever to be honest. When I acted silly it was either out of fun or I was trying to hide something. Just like now.

“Okay. Sorry.”

“I feel like you are kind of disappointed in me. And I just wanted to let you know and thank you for enduring all these days and months together with me. I know that even if you don’t tell me that it is hard to tell your parents that I still didn’t make it.”

“Jinho it’s not your fault.”

“That is showbiz, I know. The only thing that hurts me is that when I started this utterly long and unpredictable journey, it was me and only me. But since then we found each other, and me failing all the time is not only an individual concern. We are a team. And I am not a good team mate. You just graduated and want to become a doctor. And I should support you.”

“Jinho you’ve already done so much for me, you can’t even imagine. And you do every single day. Even today. So, don’t just please don’t say you don’t support me, when you support me the most.”

“But then what’s wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

“Even after so many years I’ve never met your colleagues and I hardly ever meet your dad. I know you are working part-time and you are tired from doing college and your job at the same time but these parties could help you relieve stress a bit.”

“I don’t want you to meet those idiots.” And well, this was true. Not only because they would make a joke out of us, but after today I was kind of ashamed of working with those bastards.

“But I guess not all of them- oh what’s this? I am sorry babe but I need to pick this up, we will catch up on this okay?”

A producer called him. Or should I say the producer? The one who just became a dad. The one whose wife gave birth to the little Daisy in our hospital with the help of my professor. That producer. I was insanely happy. Finally, good news. I couldn’t bear anything bad any longer. But the worst was yet to come.

-|-

We were walking hand in hand on the streets. Finally, a promising audition. It was on Saturday so I could go with him to the company and show some support as I should. Once the audition was over Jinho shook hands with the producer. I could imagine them working together. I even found cute how they were both quite small.

Jinho said they would contact him later, but he had a good feeling about finally making it. I was so happy. I’ve never saw him so hopeful after an audition. When we were leaving the company there were six model like people nearing us. I was sure they just walked out of Vogue. The two most likely European girls alongside the four men suited each other very well. But not all the boys were Korean. One boy’s appearance shouted “Shanghai Prince” the other’s “Nagano Prince” but don’t ask me why. I just had this feeling.

I don’t know how Jinho felt but I was in awe. They looked stunning. Flawlessly chitchatting about a Flower Shop in the nearby. I always thought models have other topics to talk about. Well the owner of that shop must have done something very well then to become a hot topic.

“They were cool right?” He asked suddenly.

“Yeah.”

“Just wait a little longer. I will become one of them anytime soon.”

“I know.”

And I really knew that he would succeed. He was supposed to be a singer. I even imagined myself becoming his manager. I loved helping people. And I was determined about med school, but for him I could have given up on it. I knew with his music he may be curing more people in his life than me as a doctor. So after all our goal was the same.

              As we were nearing home familiar faces were getting closer. The two guys that bullied me in high school. They always had something against me. If I had red nails I was a slut if I wore a turtleneck they called me a nun. They ate my lunch, stole my notebooks etc. Same old thing. Bullies are so uncreative.  

              “Oh hi dear. Long time no see.”

              “Hi guys.” And I started to panic but wanted to grab Jinho’s hand and leave as soon as possible.

              “Hey its Saturday, why such a hurry? Knowing you, you don’t have any plans or invitations, do you?”

              “I am sorry boys, but we will be leaving.” Jinho said firmly.

              “Oh, did you see someone? I heard a voice but I don’t know where it comes from.” One of them said.

              “I don’t know man. Maybe our favorite girl can tell us.” And now they were both looking at me challengingly.

              “You guys are still not tired of the same old shit, are you?” I asked with a bored face but deep inside I was startled. I hated seeing them again, I hated the fact that even after graduation they can do this to me and Jinho as well.

              “Same old shit? Look at you. Are you talking about yourself?”

              “It was enough. Get lost.” Jinho said again.

              “It is strange I keep on hearing things but I don’t see anyone.” One said.

              “Poor girl. You should have higher expectations. Are should I say taller?” The other added. And they laughed. I was about to cry. Why is this happening to us, when finally, things seemed to become better.

              “Is he the best you could end up with? Oh god your still so low-class as you used to be… or is he not your boyfriend? Correct me if I misunderstood.”

              And that was when I fucked up. I didn’t say anything. I hesitated. There were no good answers. I knew them so well, no matter what I was about to say, they would turn it against me. But even that should have been better than this.

              “I am sorry guys, but if that’s the problem, I can tell you we are not together. Look at her. Is she someone to mess around someone like me? Definitely no. She is better than that. She has a taller, funnier and richer guy next to her. He has just entered that building at the end of the corner. I guess you both know which building I am referring to.”

              “Is that true?” They asked at the same time.

              It was our only chance to finally escape from this nightmare situation. They could stop us if they wanted any time. We were both too small to resist if they were up to something.

              “Yeah, that’s right. He works there.”

              And as if the curse was broken, they nodded with respect and were no longer blocking our way.

              “If that’s the case, we are sorry about what we said. We knew you are going to make it. And who is that lucky guy? Yanan? Shinwon? Yuto? No waaaay. Oh my god are you dating Jung Wooseok?”

              I had no clue what they were talking about, but I had this gut feeling that my dear ex-classmates became fanboys throughout the years. FANBOYS! It was ridiculous. I couldn’t help but smile out of embarrassment.

              “I am sorry, but you also know that we should respect the artist’s privacy. I cannot say more.”

              “Okay, so its Wooseok. Oh my god. He is a legend. Could you please get his autograph?”

              “I am sorry but we should get going. Jinho has- wait… Jinho?”

              “Oh the small guy? He left couple of minutes ago when it turned out you are dating Wooseok. Is he jealous by the way? He might have some feelings for you. But don’t mind him girl. You are dating the great Jung Wooseok. What else can a person ask for?”

              For a forgiving boyfriend I guess. I left these two idiots there and I started to run after Jinho as fast as I could. Did he say he is leaving I just didn’t notice? Was he upset? Did he leave something at the audition? I called him several times but I couldn’t reach him. After going back to the company and checking the possible places where we were that day I decided to finally go home. I just hoped he would be there.

-|-

              He was at home. And he didn’t seem upset. He told me to take a shower after this tiring day. It was his tiring day though. If only I had the audition today.

              We spent the afternoon calmly he was practicing and I watched a movie. The male protagonist kinda resembled the divorce lawyer’s trainee. Yang Hongseok. And wait a second, he is at the same agency where Jinho had the audition. Nice. I was so happy and excited I really hoped they will call him back with good news.

              Jinho was practicing for hours. He only did this when he was determined and wanted to prove himself before an upcoming audition or when he was hurt. I started to have a bad feeling. There isn’t any upcoming audition. Shit.

              I prepared some nice food and I cautiously knocked on his door to tell him we can have dinner. He didn’t seem angry or anything he just casually nodded and we started to eat.

              “About today… thank you for saving me. These two were always bullying me and if you weren’t next to me today I might have ended up crying and hurt again.”

              “At least YOU are not hurt.” And the way he said ‘you’ was different.

              After minutes of awkward silence he thanked for the food and was on his way to go back practicing.

              “Wait Jinho.”

              “Yeah?” He asked indifferently.

              And I couldn’t ask what I wanted.

              “There is dessert for you in the fridge.”

              “For me? Aww. That’s nice. I thought it is for someone else. Maybe for Jung Wooseok.”

              Bingo. I knew something was fishy…

“I don’t even know who that guy is. And you are well aware of this. Look, I know those two are disgusting and resentful but it was you who stopped them. It was thanks to your made up story that they finally stopped.”

“Oh right. You are so right. What if we just pretend not dating anymore? Maybe it will solve other worries too?!”

“What? Do you want to break up?”

And I saw that he kinda froze at this question. He didn’t mean it.  But if he was mentioning break up he must have been hurt for real.

“No. Of course not. This is why I was kind of avoiding you. I wanted to talk about this when I have calmed down. But fine since it’s out it can’t be helped.”

I was getting nervous. The thought of losing him was more than painful. I didn’t want to live without him. I couldn’t live without him.

“I always thought we are a great team. Even if there are things we should work on we were always open about concerns and we solved the problems together. But I am worried this situation right now is not something we can change even if we work together.”

“We can solve everything together, okay? I want to solve it. Jinho please. I understand and realize that I must have hurt you with my words. And I am so sorry about that. I never wanted to hurt you. I should have told them the truth.”

“Do you know how much happier you looked when I said you are dating this illusionary taller, funnier and richer guy? Do you realize how relieved you were when they showed you respect for dating an idol? Do you get it finally? I love you so incredibly. But this is me. Only this much. I cannot give you more. I am working hard to get there. I might be there someday. But it won’t change facts. I am Jo Jinho, I am 5.6. I don't look like a model. I don’t have money. But I love you. That’s all I can give. But I am not sure it is enough. I am no longer sure I can give you the things you need. I am not sure what I can give you is the same as you want me to give you.”

“What?”

Is this really how I behaved? Is this really how I made him feel?

“I am not saying we should break up, but I am asking you to reconsider what you want from me and from this relationship. I want you to be honest. I promise you even if you say ‘I am sorry but I only date guys above 5.8’ it will hurt and I will be broken, but I will accept it. As long as I know you made the right choice in order to be with someone who can make you happy, I will accept your decision.”

“No Jinho. You totally misunderstood. I don’t want to date anybody else. Who cares about those stupid inches?”

“You. It was only you. Always. Did you ever hear me complaining about it? This might sound cruel but I learned to accept myself and love myself in this way. And it was a hard and long journey. I won’t pretend it is only about you. I don’t want to lose this confidence. I don’t want to become that insecure man I was before. But you make me feel like someone who needs to be protected, someone who should be hidden. I don’t want to feel like this.”

“I never wanted to hurt you.” I said while my tears were falling.

“I know you never did. It was unintentional. But you’ve hurt me. I just want you to realize a lot of things can be improved and changed, but my height is not something I can modify. Please just think about it. If you still want me this way, just let me know. I would be happy to stay together.”

And he left me there. I would want to hug somebody, and I needed his presence but, I was kind of glad he didn’t see my ugly crying face.

He was so damn right. And I could totally understand the way he felt. If you love someone you shouldn’t make them feel like trash. And it was always and only me who had those concerns. The rumors spread by the colleagues and my dad’s stupid words. I am not sure how I really felt. Maybe I was just influenced by them but I was worried I might have cared too much about his height.

Everything was up to me now. He was waiting for my answer. Even after I hurt him so bad, he didn’t want to break up. It was up to me to choose an average life with a divorce lawyer’s trainee type of guy, or choose a different type of life with him. A life with Jo Jinho.

-|-

We’ve slept separately. It was better this way. I was suffering alone but it just made me realize how much I needed his presence, how much I wanted to see his face when I woke up and how badly I wanted to feel his arms wrapped around me.

I prepared a nice breakfast. I wanted to clear things as soon as possible, but food is important too. Kids, don’t forget to eat breakfast!

“Hi! Good morning!”

“Good morning! Wow. So many nice dishes. Is this a compensation?”

“It’s an ‘I am sorry for being a bad girlfriend’.”

“Oh thank god it’s not an ‘I am sorry for breaking up with you’.” He said with a smile. But I couldn’t laugh at it. I know he was hurt. And him trying to make a joke out of it meant that he was hurt more than he showed.

“I am not gonna leave you Jinho.”

“I am sorry I didn’t mean it.”

“Look. I… I… messed up okay? I understand that even if I had good intentions I’ve hurt your feelings. But I think we can solve this too. I wanted to say thank you for finally saying what I should have heard. The thing is that you were right. I was the one obsessed with your height. And the saddest is that not specifically because of you. I thought if I am almost as tall as you I can not be a fragile, small woman. I wanted to be smaller, I wanted to be the one who needs to be protected. And I couldn’t accept myself in this way. I didn’t see me the way I wanted.”

“I wish you would see yourself with my eyes just to understand how beautiful you are.”

“I am sorry to make you feel bad when I was the one who couldn’t love myself. If you could help me to accept myself as you did back then, I think we would be able to stay together. And if you still love me I wouldn’t want anything more than this. I want nothing less and nothing more than you, Jo Jinho.”

-|-

Magic Bra. I was raising my eyebrows. Did she really make a successful business with such a company name? But when I checked on the internet the reviews were praising her insanely.

Lucy_1127 wrote: I was invisible before. But when my longtime best friend saw me in this red bra, he finally realized we were supposed to be together. I love this bra. It is indeed magical. My only regret is that it is more times on the floor than on me. (Moderators please don’t erase my comment *begs*)

Hoetaekie828 wrote: when the owner told me that this lingerie has magical power I was sceptic. I am 27 you know. I don’t believe in fairytales anymore. But when I saw her (my back then best friend now girlfriend)... Wow! She was indeed a beautiful princess from a fairytale. Since than I couldn’t thank the owner lady enough. We are regulars at the shop. I totally recommend it for couples, and for those friends who are shy to admit the truth.

              Jinho didn’t tell me why I got this. He just told me this is a gift from him to me and also a part of our therapy. We didn’t apply for real therapy. But we agreed to rebuild our trust and change things. As a first step he told me to wear these. I was kind of surprised. Jinho wasn’t really a shy type but we were both so stressed recently, having a time dedicated to ourselves was so rare like a leap year.

              When I put on the ‘magic bra’ I checked myself in the mirror. I wasn’t totally satisfied but I looked so different in these. I finally saw someone who is brave and confident. For the first time I thought if I work a bit harder, not only on my body and carrier but on my behavior and inner values, I might become someone who is worth of Jinho’s love. I really hoped so.

              “Okay, so where is my lovely and concerned girlfriend who cannot see herself as a fragile, feminine woman? Because I only see a stunning, confident lady here. I am sorry miss, but even if it is so hard to send you off I will have to ask you to leave because I already have someone closed in my heart.” He said when he suddenly appeared behind my back. Our eyes met in the mirror.

              “Oh is that so? That’s a shame then. Are you sure she wouldn’t allow this one? As long as you are happy I think she wouldn’t mind it.”

              “Do you think so? Am I that kind of lucky guy? Well… let me see.” And he is seductive gaze was wandering all over my body. “No. I cannot do that to her I am sorry.”

              “Why not? Is she so nice?”

              “Yeah. She is a precious someone to me. And I promised something to myself. I wanted to show her how beautiful she is. I need to keep that promise. So even if your affair offer is very tempting I have to say no.”

              “What a pity. I think she doesn’t even know how lucky she is… Is she more beautiful than me? That can’t be true. Mister you must be lying.”

              “No, I am not. I love her and she is beautiful. What if I prove you?”

              “Fine. If you prove me than I’ll be leaving and won’t seduce you. If you don’t prove me you’ll have to have an affair with me.”

              “Okay.”

              “So, how will you prove me?”

              “Just look at yourself in the mirror.”

And even if I was confident pretending to be another lady for fun looking at myself in the mirror while he was watching me from behind was kind of embarrassing.

              “You know my girlfriend is a bit insecure and even if I tell her she won’t trust me when I say she is beautiful. You have some similarities. You both are stubborn and don’t trust my words… bad girls…”

              And I couldn’t help but laugh a bit. He was cute. I was grateful. And I loved him incredibly.

              “So, for example if I would say I love how she puts her hair behind her ears she would be like: but it is nothing special.”

              And as he said it he put my hair behind my ears and put a soft kiss on my neck. And then looked back at me in the mirror. And I started to get the taste of this whole thing. He was so freaking hot. He decided to show me how he loved each and every part of my body. He put soft kisses on my shoulders and wrapped his arms around my waist without taking his eyes off of me. And this excited me. For the first time I realized it was really not about being small or tall, fragile or not. He loved me and I loved him back. And we were perfect for each other just the way we were.

-|-

              “Sorry but could you please go to the hall? Someone passed out. Oh god these fans these days…”

              “Sure, I’ll be there in a sec.”

              It wasn’t the first time in this week. Fans were crazy about him. And it was good to see that he finally received this much of love after working hard for his dream for the past years.

“I am here. How can I help? Where is the patient?”

“He is here.”

“You two?” I asked a bit shocked.

“Oh! Our favorite girl. Please save him!” Member 1 of the bully duo said. I am sorry but after what they’ve done to me throughout these years I don’t bother calling them on their names…

I just gave him first aid and after he woke up I made sure he is fine.

“You’ll be fine now.”

“Oh my goodness. Thank you. You saved him.”

“You saved me. Thank you. I have never thought one day you’ll be saving my life.”

“Trust me, this is not something I’ve expected either. But what are you two doing here?”

“We are fans!”

“I am sorry to let you down but Wooseok is not present today. This is Jinho’s solo concert…” I said a bit offended.

“Silly. We knooow. We came to support him.” They said.

“Oh, if that’s the case… I am glad. I think he would be happy to see your faces. But promise me you won’t faint in front of him okay?”

“Yes doctor!”

“Good.”

“Also… we are sorry… for everything.”

And I just nodded. I was happy that they apologized even if it happened after so many years later. But in a way I was happy that we met them on that day. I guess I needed to meet them to realize being critical about beauty is just so unnecessary. Beauty is so subjective, and is not only about visuals and heights. And when I looked back on Jinho talking happily with his fans signing the albums, I knew that in my eyes he was the most beautiful person, and nothing else mattered.