#but I think the height of her heels implying she’s really short for a ‘tall’ character model

[totally-not-an-awkward-okapi]

I was planning on doing some Genshin redesigns focused on trying to create more cultural specificity in various designs… but I got entirely side tracked by Arlecchino.

[gamebunny-advance]

Answering My Own Height Questions

*I want to apologize for everyone being untextured, but I'm too lazy to figure out how to load the textures in Blender. Besides, this should make it easier to see anyway.

While I was poking around, I decided to go ahead and definitively answer my question from a while back about how tall DJSS is.

At a quick glance, the undisputable answer appears to be that he's shorter than Tatiana, but taller than Neon J... barely.

This doesn't consider the thickness of his helmet (unless you think the helmet is his head), but even so, this difference is so small, that it's easier to say that they're about the same height.

BUT

As we know from the Christmas DLC, DJSS's feet do not sink completely into the soles of his shoes.

So adjusting for where his feet would actually touch the ground, DJSS is actually shorter than Neon J. by a good couple of inches, but still taller than Mayday.

(Not that it really matters in fanart, since they're usually wearing their default outfits anyway, so even pointing this out is basically null~)

I also wanted to check Eve against the others, and with heels she's still shorter than NJ and DJSS.

This shot was taken before I adjusted for shoe height for DJSS/Eve, but with adjustments, DJSS is still just a little taller than Eve (it's about the same difference as Neon J. vs. DJSS with shoes).

So, I've a got a win for short!DJSS, but a loss for 2nd tallest!Eve, UmU. (Tatiana is the tallest member of NSR, not counting *Sayu, who I consider a special case.)

*Sayu is in scale to her B2J battle, meaning she's a giant compared to everyone else, so I didn't include her.

And of course I had to do B2J, Kliff, and Tatiana for my own amusement.

I didn't order them by height this time, but the grid guide should suffice. It's a little hard to say if Kliff or Zuke is actually taller since their hair is so dense, but considering that Kliff also wears shoes with a heel, I'm gonna err on Kliff being *just* a hair shorter than Zuke, but they're really about the same. However, Tatiana is actually about a whole head taller than Kliff putting him at perfect motorboating height.

I wanted to check the sewer gang too, but their models are not created equal, and I don't think they're in scale with each other.

Maybe it's just me, or because he's asserting dominance, but Zam seems bigger than he should be, and Gigi/Yiruk look a little smaller than they should be. Robot could be to scale, but I think he looks a little big too.

As my final bonus, I wanted to compare Yinu and 1010 to see how accurate my "Heart and Soul" sketch would have been and...

Nope. Handholding is basically impossible for them. At best, Yinu might be able to grab one of his fingers, but it'd be straining to do so unless he hunched over. So, it'd be even more impossible in my fic where she's younger and presumably even shorter, and the MKI is implied to be bigger and bulkier.

[wooyunhwa]

𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔰𝔭𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔰 | 𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔱𝔴𝔬

check pinned post for masterlist!

Genre: smut (with plot!)

Pairing: mafia au!seonghwa x fem!reader

Word Count: 7.5k

Warnings: kidnapping, non-sexual violence, bondage, spanking, choking, sensory deprivation (blindfolding), mentions of alcohol use, 

Synopsis: Kidnapped and helpless, Seonghwa is the only one that can save you. Will his secrets finally come to light?

A/N: Thank you so much for reading and comments are always appreciated <3 I hope you guys like it! Stay tuned for part three!! Sorry, had to end on another cliffhanger, but I promise, you won’t be disappointed with what part 3 has in store. My tags aren’t working at all so if you could reblog this that would really help me and this story be seen I’d really appreciate it! So much work has gone into this. Thank you~ 

The trunk of the van was cold and unforgiving against your limbs as you sat helplessly against the wall, the curve and bumps of the road jostling you slightly. It was hard to keep your balance with your wrists bound together behind you. In front of you, your ankles were also bound tightly with rope. Your captors had blindfolded you, and no matter how much you writhed and tossed your head around, you couldn’t figure out a way to slip it off. Not that it would have mattered - your eyesight was the least helpful thing you could have had right now. Your screams and cries for help only echoed uselessly in the metal cage of the van, and at a certain point your voice gave out and you gave up entirely, hanging your head in defeat.

You felt the van swerve around a sharp corner, nearly toppling you over on your side. The car rumbled beneath you as if going over loose gravel. Finally you halted to a stop, lurching you forward slightly. The doors of the van unlatched with a distinct click and swung open. The voices of the men were clear now. 

“Help me grab ‘er,” one said, and you felt the van’s weight shift as he climbed in the back with you. You screamed as he grabbed you and yanked you from the open trunk. You were met with the brisk outside air and the cold, wet feeling of rain gently falling around you. 

The man guided you by your shoulders through the gravel, and you shuffled your feet to keep from tripping. You were inside a building now, and he shoved you down onto a creaky wooden chair. He took a second to re-tie you to the chair before slipping the blindfold off, your eyes taking only a few seconds to adjust to the dim light in the room. It looked like you were in some kind of shed, maybe even a barn, but you couldn’t tell. There were two men in front of you, one significantly taller than the other, their height being really their only distinguishing features. 

“Don’t worry sweetheart. We won’t hurt you as long as your little boyfriend brings us what we want,” the taller man said. The pet name made you cringe. 

“Fuck you. And he’s not my boyfriend,” you sneered through gritted teeth. “What do you want from him anyway?”

“Not your business sweetie,” the shorter man said.

“I don’t know how much of a piece of shit you have to be to kidnap an innocent girl, but don’t think Seonghwa is gonna let you get away with this,” you spat at them. You don’t know what overcame you to be so openly combative with the men who were holding you hostage, but the spite dripped so easily off your tongue. 

“Feisty little thing, aren’t you? Don’t make us gag you,” the tall man said. He stepped close to you, tipping your chin up to look at him. You cringed in disgust, trying not to meet his eyes. “We don’t want to hurt a pretty girl like you,” he said, running a finger across your jaw. You fought back the urge to bite down hard on his finger. You might have been angry, but you didn’t have a death wish. 

“We’re not worried about Seonghwa. He might be the boss’ son but he has... well… a reputation. That pretty boy would never have the guts to do anything,” the shorter man said from across the room, laughing lightly. “I don’t know if you knew this, but your boyfriend has a reputation for being kind of a pussy.”

“Still not my boyfriend,” you grumbled through your teeth. Despite what they were implying, you weren’t worried about his ability to fight—you could still vividly recall the smooth and almost effortless way he took out your boyfriend, the way he stretched out his fingers casually afterwards like it was nothing to him. You remembered the way Seonghwa looked at him like trash on the floor afterwards. And most of all, you remembered how Seonghwa had told you he made arrangements to ‘take care of him’. Although you didn’t question it much at the time, a part of you wondered if he had ordered for him to be killed, especially knowing the connections he must have. You shook the thought out of your head. There were more important things to worry about, like being tied to a chair in some dingy shack. 

The taller man stepped away from you and leaned into his partner’s ear, whispering something you couldn’t make out. 

They left shortly after that, leaving you tied on the chair for what could have been anywhere from ten minutes to ten hours, you couldn’t tell. Your eyelids began to grow heavy as you waited with nothing but your thoughts and the pattering of rain on the ceiling.

A loud noise shook you from your trance. Someone had kicked through the door, and it rattled off its hinges easily as if it was held together with duct tape.

Seonghwa. 

In your sudden relief, you could only choke out one stupid sentence. “You probably could have just opened that, you know.”

He laughed at your unexpected greeting, but quickly growing serious again at the sight of you tied helplessly to the chair. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” 

“No, not yet… fuck, can you get me out of these things? They’re starting to cut off my circulation.” you gestured to the ropes viced around your limbs.

Your relief was short-lived. In an unskillful display of desperation, your kidnappers shoved their way through the kicked-in door frame. Was your vision giving out? You were sure you had been kidnapped by two men before, but there were four now. Fuck. You were confident in Seonghwa’s ability to fight against two men, but four? The newer additions were much burlier, too. 

Seonghwa turned on his heels to face the captors, but he seemed unshaken. He shot you a confident glance over his shoulder, and something gleamed in his eye. What was it? Was he seriously going to take on four men on his own? What kind of overconfident idiot-

Before you could conclude your thought, one man was on the floor already. There was a sickening crack and a thud as he hit the ground, but Seonghwa hadn’t moved. One of the men lunged forward. He grabbed Seonghwa by the lapel of his jacket, cocking his elbow for a hook, but Seonghwa intercepted him with a viper quick jab to the throat. He staggered back, saliva dribbling from his lips as he clutched his throat. 

As your line of vision cleared, you saw two additional men had entered the fray. At first you thought you were fucked, but then you heard a voice call out a friendly greeting. 

“Yo, Hwa! Heard you were getting your ass kicked.” 

The distinct sound of a fist hitting flesh echoed against the walls of the room, and another one of the kidnappers staggered back. 

“Who, me? Like hell,” Seonghwa called, smiling viciously as he dodged another blow from throat-punch guy, who looked furious. Seonghwa landed a well angled hit to his jaw, effectively uppercutting his lights out. He landed hard on the floor, dead weight as he was knocked cold, and Seonghwa turned on his heels to grab his next victim. 

A flash of red hair caught your eye as he ducked and weaved between two guys, while a blonde guy wound up a swing with a crowbar like an all star baseball champion. Red hair baited one opponent closer, ducking just in time for blondie to knock him out of the park. The sound of the crowbar hitting his teeth sent shivers down your spine, but you simultaneously wanted to leap up and cheer them on. You stayed glued to your seat, heart pumping with adrenaline. 

Molars scattered across the floor. Poor guy landed hard, wailing in agony as blood poured from his lips. Red haired guy threw a lethal cross, twisting his hip to power up his momentum as his fist impacted the other guy’s nose, most likely shattering it, sending him staggering back in a daze. He fell right into Seonghwa, who grabbed him by the jacket and sent him careening toward the wall, his forehead cracking against a support beam. He dropped like a rock, and the room fell quiet, save for one guy shrieking in pain. A swift boot to the jaw silenced him, and blondie turned, tossing the crowbar over his shoulder with a satisfied smirk. 

Seonghwa turned back to you, rubbing his bruised knuckles with a huff. His lips turned up into a smile, and he gave a nod with his head toward the new guys. 

“So, these are my cohorts. Wooyoung—” he paused, pointing at blondie, who tilted his head up in a friendly nod, “—and Jongho,” he pointed at the redhead, who gave you an adorable smile and a wave.

“So this is the girl, huh?” Wooyoung said, smiling at you as he looked you up and down. Out of the three of them, he looked the most like he belonged in the mafia. He wore a loosely fitted leopard print button up under a black leather jacket, his side-shaven bleach blonde hair neatly styled with gel. “She’s cute.”

Next to him, Jongho stood sternly. You wondered how this baby-faced guy could have taken out the burly one all on his own. He seemed younger than Seonghwa, but certainly stronger. “She definitely looks like your type, Seonghwa,” Jongho said, flashing a knowing smile at him. “We all know you like a girl in bondage.”

Seonghwa’s face immediately went flush. “Shut up, Jongho,” he said, shooting him a threatening glare. “Come on, help me untie her before more of their goons come looking for them,” Seonghwa said, moving around the chair to loosen the tight knots bound on your wrists. 

You turned your head over your shoulder and widened your eyes at him, arching your eyebrows as you watched him skillfully disentangle the knots. “You like a girl in what?”

“We can talk about this later,” he muttered through his teeth, his cheeks an incriminating beet-red.

“Careful, you’ll scare her off,” Wooyoung teased. 

“Honestly, if getting kidnapped didn’t scare her off, I don’t think anything will,” Jongho reassured Seonghwa with a pat to the shoulder. You felt oddly proud at that, for some reason. He was right, you were a tough cookie, you could handle a kidnapping or two. 

Seonghwa gave you a hand as you rose from the chair, steadying you with a delicate hand around your waist. Your joints creaked from being tied up for so long, but you could walk on your own. Still, he kept a protective arm around you as he escorted you back to the car. You stepped over one of the unconscious bodies on your way out, his tall frame blocking the doorway. You cringed at the puddle of crimson around his mouth, but celebrated your freedom nonetheless. His hand twitched as you lifted your leg over him, and you flinched, curling your fingers tighter into Seonghwa’s shirt. He laughed softly, pulling you close. 

You slid into the passenger seat of Seonghwa’s car, the plush leather of his Bentley Continental soothing the ache in your bones. It was hands down the single most expensive thing you’d ever touched, and you couldn’t help but to imagine what it would be like for him to pick you up in it for a date. You sighed as you relaxed into it, feeling tired from the adrenaline comedown. 

A blacked-out Mercedes S Class revved its engine as it peeled out of the lot, and Wooyoung winked at you from the driver’s side window. 

“That douche,” Seonghwa laughed as he turned his key in the ignition. The engine purred decadently, and Seonghwa slammed on the gas, tearing down the road right on Wooyoung’s heels. You gripped the edge of your seat as the inertia slammed you backwards, a thrilled laugh bubbling up from your chest. 

He shifted gears, launching into a high speed battle of pride with the other guys, flying down the rural highway with his tongue poking out in concentration, one side of his mouth quirked up into a smirk. He put the S Class in his rear view mirror, and you couldn’t help but to roll the window down, shoving your fist out with a triumphant holler. You grinned widely as the wind blew your hair in a wild tornado, your screams and laughter lost in the roar of the highway. You noticed Seonghwa peek over at you, a tiny smile tugging at his lips, but just for a second. 

Exhaustion hit the moment you stepped into his apartment, but your mind was still reeling from the day’s events. You didn’t plan on getting much sleep that night, and you were still a bit angry at Seonghwa for not disclosing the fact that he was in the fucking mafia, but you chose to shove those feelings aside. Mafia or not, you still felt much safer with than without him. 

“Seonghwa.” 

“Hm?”

“Don’t leave me tonight. Please?” you looked at him with the biggest, saddest eyes you could manage, hoping to hit a soft spot. You didn’t need much.

He sighed. “Of course I won’t. This is all my fault anyway. If something were to happen again I wouldn't be able to forgive myself."

And so he stayed.

You talked for a while on the bed as you tried your best to calm yourself down. You were still in a rush of nerves from adrenaline and relaxation felt hopeless, sleep even more so. In fact, sleep wasn’t even in the realm of possibilities.  

As you made conversation, you recalled a question that had been nagging at you since he'd saved you earlier. You could have asked him anything you wanted. You could have asked what the men wanted, or how he found you, but instead…

"Hey… what was with that thing Jongho said back there? About ‘liking a girl in bondage’?”

Seonghwa immediately pulled his gaze away, breaking eye contact, heat rising in his cheeks like before. “He was just teasing me.”

“So it’s not true?”

“I never said it wasn’t,” he said, running his fingers through his hair. You admired the curve of his jaw, and suddenly you wanted nothing more than for him to take you right there. His eyes went dark as he paused to pull his gaze up and down at your body. “I always thought you’d look good tied up for me.”

You felt your breath hitch in your throat. You saw how he looked at you, hungrily, as if picturing you bound to the bed frame right then. But something seemed to be holding him back, like he was trying to resist the temptation to fall back into a bad habit. You wouldn’t let him. You held out your wrists playfully in front of you. "Well then tie me up." His eyes widened at your proposal. "C'mon. Look, I can't sleep like this. I need a distraction. Please."

He drew his tongue across his bottom lip pensively, before finally giving in with a click of his tongue against his teeth. "I really can't say no to you." 

You smiled at how easily he conceded to your pleas. He was surely thinking the same thing that had been on your mind for the past week—this was going to have to end, and some time had to be the last. He had made you promise to never contact him after this was over, and you were sure now more than ever after putting you through danger that he was going to hold up his end of that deal. This would be your last soiree with him, and you wanted—no, needed—it to count. 

He leaned in, hooking his hand on the collar of your shirt, eyes glazed over with lustful intensity. “You’re too dangerous for me, you know... I have no control when it comes to you.” A shiver traveled down your spine. That’s exactly what you wanted: you wanted him to lose his control for you, you wanted him weak for you. You wanted him to want you like you wanted him. “And that’s why I want to make this last time unforgettable.”

You broke the thick tension between you with a slow, sensual kiss, sliding your tongue against his. He nibbled at your lip as you pulled back slowly, lingering your lips precariously close to his, nearly touching. His fingers dug into your waist hungrily. “Do your worst.” 

“Are you sure you mean that?” he asked carefully. The air between you grew hot as the tension rose, your lips barely grazed against each other’s. 

“Yes, I’m sure.” Something about the amount of restraint he seemed to be exercising told you there was a part of him he was holding back, something more animalistic. 

“You have to tell me if I’m being too rough, okay?” he said, voice smooth like honey, tracing a finger along the curve of your jaw. “I don’t want to hurt you.” 

You nodded eagerly, willingly accepting his terms. If this was the last time you could experience him, you wanted everything he had, no matter what it was. Something about the soft way he talked about hurting you gave chills. He was entirely gentle and yet his words felt sinister. 

He stood up to receive something from the closet, what looked like a thin scarf. You expected him to cinch your hands together with it, but instead he sat himself behind you, pulling the silky material around your eyes and fastening it tightly with a knot at the back of your head. “Good girl,” he praised, his voice deep and smooth like honey.

He let his fingers wander down your neck and shoulders, pausing to stroke your collarbone. His touch was gentle but electrifying. You were entirely blind now, but you could feel the heat of his gaze from behind you. The blindness was exhilarating, as it left your other senses completely heightened. He continued to let his fingers trace your collarbone as his lips made contact with the sensitive skin at the back of your neck, placing slow and sensual kisses slowly down your neck and shoulders. He took his time, excruciatingly, as you squirmed in anticipation for his next move. You were truly submissive in the blindfold—he had complete control over his next move. The thrill of anticipation made your head spin.

Still behind you, he lifted the hem of your shirt up slowly, and you followed suit by pulling your arms up to help him strip you. He released the clasp of your bra, gently removing it. His hands wandered at your breasts, tracing over your nipples until they grew hard and sensitive. 

Out of nowhere, you felt a sudden tension around your wrists behind you. The familiar rough sensation of rope cinched your arms together. “You’re doing so good for me darling,” he whispered in your ear, delivering one final tightening of the knot, causing you to yelp out in surprise. “You look even prettier like this than I imagined.” 

You were sitting on the bed now on your knees in only your panties, blindfold cutting off your vision, wrists bound behind you. Seonghwa sat straddling you from behind, and you could feel he had stripped entirely. He caressed your body for a while, teasing you with a brutally faint touch. You moaned and squirmed eagerly as he wandered his hand closer to your already soaked panties, rubbing his fingers against the damp fabric. His fingers slipped inside you briefly, and you let out soft pleasured moans. The sensation was overwhelming after such excruciatingly drawn out teasing. 

Your moans were cut off by Seonghwa’s finger hooking over your teeth and pushing into your mouth. You sucked at it eagerly, and he shoved a few more inside, eliciting an involuntary gag. You heard Seonghwa sigh lustfully in your ear at the sound, taking pleasure in what he was doing to you. “That’s it baby,” he said, his deep voice resonating like music to your ears. His other hand continued to pulse in and out of you, and you were practically dripping now, unable to hold back your neediness. Your pleasured moans were muffled as you sucked and licked at his long fingers.

“Tell me what you want,” he ordered. He’d never been so forward or vocal before. You loved hearing his deep voice dripping like honey in your ear-- just the sound of it could have been enough to drive you all the way over the edge if he kept talking. 

“Mmf- I want- you- fuck me-” you mumbled through his fingers, and he shoved them in further, eliciting another soft gag. You couldn’t express what you wanted, not only because of his fingers muffling your sounds, but your head was spinning from his touch. “Please- fu- mm-”

“How cute, you can’t even get words out.” 

He pulled his fingers out of your mouth, drool pooling at the sides of your lips. Between your legs, his other hand pulled your soaked panties down your legs as he began to circle your clit with his thumb. You whimpered under his complete control. He used his fingers so masterfully, like everything else he did. His contented breaths in your ear sent shivers down your spine. 

He repositioned himself suddenly, sitting up tall behind you, and dragged you up straight against him. You felt both his hands move under your ass, hoisting you up over his waist and pushing you down on his dick without warning. You let out a choked cry as his dick stretched you out entirely. “Fuck, Y/N…” he growled, his voice getting darker every time he spoke. “You have no idea how much I want to ruin you.”

He rutted his hips up under you, thrusting himself even deeper inside where you sat on his dick. You let out another cry, and his hand came up to your neck. Your arms, still bound together behind you, squirmed and writhed at the urge to claw at the fingers viced around you. You loved the sensation as his grip tightened, sending you soaring in an unfamiliar headrush. He bucked his hips up and down as you tightened around his shaft

“Seonghwa, fuck- ah-” Your choked cries seemed to spur him on to grip tighter around your neck. Your high nearly spilled over into darkness as he loosened his grip suddenly. You let out a few sputtering coughs as you caught your breath. 

He thrusted a few more times up into you as you caught your breath. “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.”

“It’s okay- ah- I like the pain,” you said breathlessly. 

“Mm…” he sighed roughly against the back of your neck, planting a few soft kisses. “You really shouldn’t have said that.” 

His hands came to your waist, hoisting you off his dick. It slid out with a lewd sound, and you felt him get up from behind you. You were sure you looked like a drooling, horny mess, still bound and blindfolded on the bed helplessly. 

You sat there for a while in silence, and the anticipation of his next move kept you on edge, unable to settle in. The silence was unnerving, almost excruciating. Was he gone? Was he watching? 

You snapped up when you finally heard footsteps again, pacing around the room and then coming towards you. He leaned into your ear, pulling his arms around your waist to untie the ropes around your wrists. 

“Do you trust me?” he asked carefully. You nodded. You did trust him, but at this point, you would have said anything to keep his hands on you. You didn’t care what he did, you just craved his touch.

“With your words.” 

“Yes, yes, I trust you Seonghwa. Please.”

He untied your blindfold and it slipped off your face, falling to the bed by your knees. It was dark, but your eyes took a moment to adjust to the faint glow of the moonlight washing through the window. His face overwhelmed you instantly—you didn’t realize how much you’d missed it while blinded. The cut of his jaw was the first thing you noticed, then his dark, lustful eyes sparkling in the faint light. His lips pulled up into a smirk as he watched your eyes trace his features. You’re sure the look on your face indicated the way you were marveling at him, as if you were admiring the world’s most beautiful piece of art. 

“We’re gonna play a game,” he purred, still leaning over the bed where you sat, fully freed from the ropes. His eye contact was piercing, almost terrifyingly.

“What’s the game?”

“I’m gonna fuck you, and every time you make a pretty little noise…” he delivered a light smack to the side of your ass. “I spank you.”

Your jaw dropped at his proposal. You liked it—you already admitted you liked a little pain to him earlier—but was this the same Seonghwa you practically dommed in his penthouse? 

“What if I can’t control it?”

“Well then your ass is going to hurt tomorrow, isn’t it?” 

You gulped, nodding. His aura oozed power now. He may have been in the mafia, but he’d never displayed so much power, so much control, until now.

He climbed on the bed, flipping you over easily and guiding your face to the pillows. He hoisted your hips up to be flush with his, running one finger along your folds to test your wetness, before aligning the tip of his cock at your opening. Already, you were struggling to hold back moans, your body trembling under his touch. 

He slid the tip in slowly, and you rocked forward in pleasure, biting your lip to keep in the noises. He positioned one hand at the small of your waist, the other on your ass, waiting. As he thrust himself all the way in you couldn’t control the cries that fell from your lips. 

“What did I tell you?” He said, delivering the first harsh smack to your ass. You gritted your teeth at the sudden impact, but the light sting also felt incredible as he rocked inside of you. Your breathing grew shallow as he toyed with you, switching up the pace in a way that had your head spinning. You could tell he wasn’t moving in a way to get himself off—he wanted to watch you squirm. 

He thrusted in another time, hard, and you whimpered involuntarily. Another smack. This went on for several minutes, Seonghwa continuing to deliver harsh smacks to your ass until it was stained with a permanent sting. You were shaking under his touch, and he let up, rubbing your back with comforting pressure. 

“Have you had enough, darling?” he cooed softly, almost condescendingly, but it sounded amazing coming off his tongue. You nodded. “Mm, okay, we can be done now.”

He stroked your hair as he thrust himself back in, picking up a considerable rhythm now. You moaned like your life depended on it now, finally able to let it out. He gripped a hand in your hair, pulling it together into a messy ponytail, tugging lightly as he slid his dick in and out. Your eyes rolled back into your head as he pounded into you. You could definitively say now that he fucked exactly how he looked—like a god. 

His other hand made its way underneath you, tracing your clit. It only took a few seconds of stimulation for your orgasm to hit, and it was more intense than you’d ever experienced before, or imagined you could experience again. It rocked through your body like a wave, overtaking you entirely. You let out a final cry as it reached its summit. Seonghwa let out a final grunt as he reached his tipping point, pulling out of you to spill over onto your back. 

You collapsed onto your stomach, completely spent, and you could swear you blacked out for a moment while he brought in a damp washcloth to clean you up with. 

The dominant side of him seemed to melt away instantly, as he stroked your back gently. “Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you too much?”

You nodded drowsily, all your pain seeming to dissolve under his touch.

You fell asleep on him that night, nestled in the warmth of his neck. You fit so perfectly in his arms like that, like it was meant to be. You imagined what it would feel like to cuddle up to him like this every night, but the thought was too good to be true. You knew this was the last chance you would have to touch him like this. 

It had been several months since you last saw Seonghwa, and you were just starting to move on from him. Well, part of that was true. The last time you’d been in contact with him was when he had dropped you at your apartment, ex-boyfriend nowhere in sight. You didn’t push him too much on how he managed to “take care” of him, assuming he’d paid him off or ran him out of town by threatening him. Either way, you had just been happy to be back home. Your days with Seonghwa felt like a distant fever dream, but it was several weeks until you could get the taste of him off your lips and his image out of your mind. 

You did your best to scrub him from your head, but it felt impossible. He haunted you in every way possible. 

On one day of particularly drunken weakness, you paid a visit to his bar. You justified it by saying you were just checking in on him, making sure he was okay, but really you just wanted to see his face. Was it risky? Extremely. Were you drunk? Also extremely. You sat in an indiscriminate seat at the end of the bar, hoping not to be seen. But another part of you wanted him to notice you, regardless of the consequences. That was the drunk part.

But he didn’t notice you. In fact, he wasn’t even concentrating on the happenings of the bar at all. You could see him atop his VIP throne, the one that overlooked every seat in the bar from the lofted second story. He had a girl by his side, his arm draped around her waist, clearly flirting. Scorching heat rose in your chest as you watched him seduce her, your heart stinging with a fiery jealousy you had never felt before. In the back of your mind, you always knew he was bound to be back to his socialite self, bringing girls up to his penthouse suite every night—the same penthouse suite you had shared that first fateful night… and the morning after. Even so, the jealousy burned in your throat, and so did the alcohol you were knocking back to drown your feelings. A large part of you wanted to disappear off the face of the earth right that second, shrink into the bar stool and never be seen again. The other part wanted him to notice you, even if just for a moment. You didn’t care if he was mad that you came, you just wanted to take him in up close again. You wanted him to acknowledge you. You watched in anguish as he let the girl by her waist in the direction of the elevators, not to be seen again. You left the bar that night sobbing, and didn’t stop until you passed out in bed. Since then, you swore you were never going to think about him again. He wasn’t worth it. You had to come to terms with the fact that you were just another one of his playthings—one he just happened to take pity on.

You swore you’d move on, and you did, mostly. The independence of not being tied down felt incredible, and you took advantage of your newfound sexual prowess to download a dating app and have some fun for yourself. But there was a small part of you -- one that you didn’t ever want to admit to—that could only picture Seonghwa every time you fucked another guy. 

11pm. 

You were laying in bed, swiping hopelessly through men on your phone, sifting through hundreds of desperate guys you couldn’t care less about. You couldn’t sleep, even after a few pathetic drinks alone in your kitchen, when you heard a knock. You had felt on edge about people coming to your door ever since the kidnapping, but today you were too tired to deal with the incessant knocking. It just kept coming. It was probably your neighbor coming to tell you you left your lights on again. 

You swung the door open, wondering who could possibly be knocking with such carelessness at this time in the night.

Park Seonghwa.

You were immediately flooded with the same intimidated feeling you had on the night you met him. He looked like a model, maybe even a god, standing in your doorway. He ran his hand through his freshly shaved undercut and you took in the sight, unable to tear your eyes away. He looked just as stunning as you remembered—even more so. But something wasn’t quite right. He was swaying slightly, and as he spoke your name, the words were slightly slurred.

“Y/N… I-”

“Are you drunk?” 

“No… yes… maybe,” he laughed lightly before stumbling inside without an invitation. You knew enough to move out of his way. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”

You froze. You’d never seen him so incoherent. You immediately recognized the smell lingering a bit too long in his breath as the expensive champagne he had poured for you in his penthouse that night.

“Seonghwa, how much did you drink?” you asked, voice laced with concern. You led him through your apartment to the couch, where he plopped himself down with an alarming amount of force. 

“Enough to know what I really want.” He looked up at you with sparkling eyes. “You.”

“You don’t know what you’re saying,” you said seriously. 

His eyes glimmered with lust. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. I want you to fuck me right here.”

This man was dangerous. And you didn’t mean in the mafia sense, although that was also true. You meant in the way he could completely ruin you if you let him. You had tried so hard to finally wipe him from your memory and move on, but you were stained with a constant desire to feel his touch again. You were finally moving on until now, when the desire surged back in, and it was like it had never left. 

“You’re drunk,” you said dismissively, doing your best to ignore the fact that you definitely wanted to fuck him, like right that second. “Let me get you a glass of water.”

His eyes looked heavy as he struggled to even hold the cup in his hands. His eyes were glued on you with the lust of a thousand horny teenage boys, but something about his hungry gaze felt comfortable to you, and you welcomed it. 

“You look like an angel,” he muttered softly. “You’re an angel sent from heaven to ruin me. I know you are.” You laughed as he seemed to get more incoherent. You glanced down at your oversized pajamas, wondering what he meant when he said you looked like an angel. “I missed you… I-I can’t get your body out of my head.”

You shook your head, trying to clear any desire you had out of your mind. He was way too drunk. “Shh, Seonghwa. Lay down.” 

You grabbed the water glass from his hand and handed him a blanket, guiding his shoulder gently down a laying down position on the couch. You settled in next to him, and he placed his head in your lap. Something about his current state felt incredibly vulnerable, and you’d never seen him like this. 

You petted his hair softly. He looked up at you with sad, sparkly, drunken eyes. “You’re pretty,” he said with a dorky smile. 

You chuckled. “You’re drunk.” 

He nodded, and his eyebrows furrowed suddenly. “I hate my father.”

You zipped your lips tightly, trying to give him room to continue. He still hadn’t spoken about his family since the first night at his house, and you wanted to take advantage of his drunken state. 

“He treats me like his puppet, but I’m nothing like him. I never asked for this. I just want to live a normal life for once.” You nodded, urging him to keep going. You didn’t want to ruin this moment of vulnerability. “You know those paintings… at my place, above the bar? Those are mine.”

“You bought them?”

“I painted them.”

You went silent. You couldn’t remember them in detail, but you remembered that they were beautiful, like they belonged in a museum. You kind of assumed they were stolen, to be honest.

“You painted those? All of them?”

“I’ve always wanted to be an artist.” He paused. “But I’m trapped being my father’s stupid fucking puppet. I’m supposed to take his position next year, but I don’t want it. I don’t want any of it. I’m so sick of the bar. He expects me to just sit there and keep his appearances for him. I’m sick of just drinking myself numb and fucking girls mindlessly.” 

Fucking girls mindlessly? Was he fucking you mindlessly?

“Girls like me?” He paused, trying to remember what he had just said. “You’re tired of fucking girls like me?”

“No…” he shook his head vigorously, realizing what he said. “You’re the only girl that has made me feel something... in a long time.”

Your cheeks went red hot. What was he admitting to you? His eyes were getting heavier, and so was his head, the heavy weight of his skull starting to crush your thighs. You stroked his hair a few more times and gently scooted out from under him, guiding his head down to the couch. 

“Get some sleep.”

You checked on Seonghwa immediately when you woke up. He was sitting upright on the couch where you left him last night, hunched over slightly, rubbing his temples. He raised his eyes as you walked in. “God, what happened last night? I feel like I got hit by a train.”

“What do you remember?”

“Drinking… and not much else.”

“Do you remember what you told me?”

He froze, the look in his eyes quickly transitioning from confusion to pure terror. “Oh god… what did I tell you?”

“Everything. About your family. Your paintings. You told me I was pretty.”

“Well, that last one I don’t regret,” he said, rubbing his temples harder. “Do you have like… some painkillers? Coffee maybe? God...”

“Wow, you really don’t get wasted much.”

He chuckled. God, you missed his laugh. “Takes a lot.”

You returned to him on the couch with a cup of coffee and some Ibuprofen. Something about giving him painkillers felt… wrong. As ridiculous as it sounded, by the way he carried himself, you would think he was almost invincible, like he didn’t even feel pain or something. You plopped yourself down next to him, and you talked for a while as he drowned his hangover with coffee. 

You made him breakfast, buttered toast and fried eggs, and suddenly you felt like a housewife. It was nice - you wished you could do this more often. He smiled at you around his toast, with his messy, tousled hair and tired eyes, and he almost looked human for once. As close as he ever could, at least. 

He wrapped his arms around your waist, thanking you for breakfast as he pressed his lips against yours. You melted against him, embracing him like your body was designed for it. You wanted to hold him close and never let go, and the idea of him never coming back was one you shoved deep into the back of your mind as you deepened the kiss. 

He pressed you against the counter, kissing you like your lips held the answers to all of his problems, and you kissed back like you knew how to solve them. His hands were warm as they slipped beneath the hem of your shirt, and you ran your fingers through his hair, soft and freshly cut. 

You dipped your fingers into the waistband of his pants, and his hands immediately tightened their grip on your waist, pulling you flush against him. Your hands sank further down, teasing your fingers over his cock through the fabric, and he groaned low in his throat. 

He pulled back suddenly, a concerned look growing on his face. “What time is it?”

You glanced at the clock. “11am. Why?”

“Shit. Fuck. I have to go.”

Damn it. It was just getting good.

“Will you come back?” you asked, a little too desperately. You flashed the puppy dog eyes you already knew he couldn’t resist. You didn’t realize just how much you had missed him until he was right in front of you, his hands all over your body. 

He sighed. “I mean, there’s no point in hiding anything from you anymore. I guess I laid everything out on the table when I burst in here drunk last night.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Yes. I’ll come back as soon as I can, I promise. I just have some… matters I need to attend to with my father.”

“Is that why you were drinking?”

“It’s not important,” he said dismissively, and suddenly you felt him building a wall again. You gave him one more soft kiss before he left. 

“Don’t let him get to you, okay? I’m always here if you want to talk about it.”

He gathered himself up quickly, glancing over his shoulder one last time before heading out. “Thanks.”

Over the next month, you dated in secret. Nothing was ever explicitly stated about the nature of your relationship, but he visited you almost every night, and you did everything together from dinners to movie nights on your couch to fucking on the kitchen counter. Well, mostly the last one. You weren’t sure if you could call him your boyfriend, but he would have been by anyone else's standards. 

Every day that passed you learned a little more about him. The thing you liked the best? He was secretly kind of a dork. Contrary to the serious and powerful image he put on to the outside world, his true nature was much softer and sweeter than you could have ever anticipated. You fell for him in the simplest tasks: the way he hummed while he washed the dishes, the way he cried a little when he laughed too hard, the stars that shined in his eyes when he discovered something new. You wondered if he had ever experienced such simple things before, things you took for granted - watching sitcoms at 2am, the pain of eating a little too much ice cream, the unadulterated joy of laughing over a bowl of cereal after a long night of sex. You’d watch his eyes sparkle at every new experience, and there was a part of you who really, really wanted to meet his father so you could punch him for ever depriving Seonghwa of a normal life. 

Even so, there were moments when he struggled to open up. There was something still so dark about him, mysterious, hidden. Even after experiencing his wide-eyed, almost childlike sense of wonder, you detected something still slightly sinister kindling within him -- something you would expect out of a mafia boss’ son. He kept a tight seal on the resentment inside, but you knew it was festering just under the surface. You had tried to get him to talk about it, but he evaded your questions each time. You wondered when he would finally boil over. 

A knock sounded at your door. Seonghwa, for your date. 

You opened the door with a sweet, expectant smile. “Seonghwa! Just in time, I was making-” The expression on his face caused you to pause. He looked frighteningly serious, more than he usually did, and that was saying something. You furrowed your brows. “What’s wrong?”

“We have to go right now. I can explain in the car. Get a bag together, only what you absolutely need.”

“Seonghwa what the f-”

His voice went completely dark, commanding as he spoke. “You’re in danger. We have to go. Now.” 

[motherofwoofers]

A Very Verfound Christmas

This is my gift to @verfound for the LBSC Secret Santa 2020 -Extravaganza! This it a Teen rated fic for some implied thoughts, and the ability to keep up with vague clues! 

---

Here’s the thing-

When he’d woken up this morning, he had every intention of celebrating a short work day and another successful year of endless toy making. After all, it was Christmas Eve. Work. Watch the sleigh launch. Rock out in one of the Jingle Halls. Join the rest of the elves in bringing in the Christmas Dawn. Then sleep the entirety of Christmas Day.

As he had the last seventy odd years.

But as of five seconds ago, he was pretty sure he didn’t even remember his own name, let alone what he was doing later tonight, or even what he needed help with-

“What?” Luka blinked rapidly, before clearing his voice. Bright blue eyes blinked back.

“Do you need help with those?” Liquid sugar rolled off her tongue, he was certain of it. There was no other feasible way for her voice to be so sweet and melodic. Liquid sugar from pink glossed lips.

Those?

It took him a moment before his mind snapped back into action. Those.

Those were a pallet of last minute dolls that had been assembled and programmed incorrectly. Which, in reality wasn’t even in his department of toy making. They were his green haired absentee best friend’s. A certain friend who had slapped his ass, clocked off early, and dashed, leaving him to try to figure out how to get an entire pallet of singing ice queen dolls fixed, wrapped, and loaded onto the sleigh before launch.

Except, he really didn’t mind all of a sudden.

“I’m, uh, looking to drop these off with the doll repair department. Except I don’t even remotely know where that is,” he tried to drop his best grin at the end, and bit back a goofy grin when her face lit up red.

“Oh,” bright blue eyes blinked again, “this is the art department.” He watched as a small frown turned down her sweet lips, a furrow forming between her soft dark brows. His heart pounded in his chest painfully as a full pout took over the elf’s face. Then just as quickly, her face was lighting up, eyes wide. “Hold on one second! Stay right there! I think I can help.” The raven haired girl disappeared behind the door he had just knocked on, door shutting with a loud click in his face before his attention was drawn to the loud whirring around the corner.

Pulling the pallet of dolls along, he followed the sound to see a large bay door opening, as well as a sight he’d never let his mind forget.

Back lit by the shop lights behind her, the elf stood before him, hands triumphantly placed on her hips as she grinned at him. Curvy. Petite. And dressed in something he was pretty sure wasn’t the usual uniform. Because if it was, he was switching departments immediately.

Red and white striped stockings ran the length of her legs, a hint of creamy skin revealed where garters kept them in place, before disappearing beneath a red tutu flared out just enough to test the boundaries of cute and oh. A black vest trimmed in glitter wrapped her frame like a second skin, dipping dangerously low in the front. A view he knew would become increasingly distracting the closer he stood to her. He could just make out the twin coat tails attached in the back to round out her look.

Oh, sweet candy canes.

A sculpted arm waved him forward, “Come on in. I’m Marinette by the way.”

He was fairly certain he’d left his jaw on the floor, a good meter behind him, when he tried to respond, “Luka. Luka Couffaine.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Luka Couffaine,” she giggled, leading him further into the shop. Smooth, Couffaine.

Most of the machines and monitor screens were quiet, though some of the holo displays still had their most recent projects lit up and rotating. Lights were slowly kicking back on as they moved towards what looked like a small carpeted studio area, sectioned off from the immense space with a curved control panel. Then there was the color. It was everywhere, on everything. The control panel itself looked as if someone had gone crazy with spray paint and glitter glue. An extreme contrast to his department, where most of the spaces were walled off and smaller, but cozy and themed.

Two different ways to keep inspiration high.

“Go ahead and bring them over here so I can see what we’re dealing with,” Marinette pointed towards an empty space near a work table. As he powered the hover units down on the hand truck, effectively parking the dolls, he became aware of one very specific thing:

The Couffaines definitely had a pixie kink.

Marinette stepped out of heels he hadn't even been aware she was wearing, until she went from chin height to his chest.

And just as she had dropped in height, so did his eyes. Beaming blue eyes, determined pink lips, and --ffff the swell of her chest, emphasized by the matching red bra he could just barely see peeking from beneath. Being tall was both a blessing and a curse. When it came to which one it was right now, he was fairly certain his name was dropping rapidly from the Nice List.

Tearing his eyes away, Luka shifted his attention back to the original problem at hand.

“The doll is dressed in her sister’s attire, and to top it off the music department loaded it with the wrong song. This is the first movie’s song, and not the recent release.” He lifted the platinum haired doll, easily sliding her from the plastic twists they’d been forced to switch too. A small hand reached out to take the doll from his hand, before it was meticulously examining the fabrics. He would’ve expected the petite elf’s hands to be soft and smooth, but they were nearly as strong and callused as his own.

“I think we can fix this. How long do we have before launch?” She swivelled away quickly, setting a few things into motion as she took control. A holoscreen popped up from the control panel, before she flicked it up into the air to hover a few meters off the ground. The countdown to launch was displayed in bright red numbers. “Oh good, we’ve got five minutes until launch. Plenty of time.”

“Plenty of time?” He questioned, a bit disbelieving. Granted, it was a decent amount of time, but how in the world were they going to get it done. “I don’t know anything about dolls. I work in sound effects.”

“They essentially just need their outfits updated, which I can do. And the correct song recorded over their music chip, which you can do.” She was already pulling the dolls free from their boxes, while simultaneously preparing the work space before her.

“Amazing,” he breathed to himself. “I don’t know how to record songs onto these, though.”

“Don’t worry! We used to fix stuff all the time in my old department. You know those toys where the voice doesn’t sound like the actual character? That’s because it’s an elf,” she whispered, even though it was just the two of them. “They’ve got a small recording studio in here, we just need to get the right song track set up and you’ll sing over it. And don’t worry, the program will alter your voice, no talent needed!”

She made it all seem so simple.

He stood there for a moment watching her move about, removing clothes from the dolls, sourcing different fabrics, and selecting different re-hue pens.

All he had planned on doing was dropping them off, and now here he was, fixing them.

But there was definitely nowhere else he’d rather be than where he was right now.

Wandering over to the recording studio on the other side of the control panel, he flicked through a few of the screens that hummed to life, but found it hard to keep his eyes from drifting.

“Your outfit is pretty cute. Were you going to one of the parties or a date?” He watched out of the corner of his eye to avoid facing her directly. But he wished he had when he saw the beautiful rosy color from earlier spread across her cheeks and bloom all the way to the tips of her elegantly pointed ears. “I hope I didn’t ruin any of your plans.”

A tiny squeaked, “Thank you,” came long before the rest of her response. “No date. A celebration actually. I don’t normally dress sooo…..” she waved her hands at her body.

“Oh?” The audio track he needed began to play loudly in the speakers around him, blaring out high notes neither of them were prepared for. Marinette nearly fell from the stool she’d placed herself on, naked doll and hue-pens flying, as he scrambled to turn it down. “Sorry!”

“I’m okay! I’m okay!” Her hands were waving him off as she went in search of her things, dropping onto her hands and knees. He could see her crawling around underneath the control panel, skirt bobbing dangerously. Pale skin flashed, and the bare curve of her rear came into view for a moment’s breath, before her skirt dipped to cover her once more.

“I’m definitely on the naughty list,” he muttered. Taking a moment to himself, Luka closed his eyes and dropped into the swivel chair behind him, swivelling slowly. Think about something else. Anything else.

“Are you kidding me? After we fix this fiasco right before launch, we are going on the Nice list for sure. I would know!” Luka stopped spinning to find Marinette settled on her stool and working on the dolls once more.

“There’s no way you’ve ever been on the Naughty List.”

Mischievous blue eyes looked over at him, sending his heart fluttering once more, before she grinned. “I’ve been on the Naughty List.”

He sat up in his seat, intrigue pulling him to full attention. With an impatient flick of his wrist, the screen between them flew off to the right, taking the lyrics with it.

“Do tell.”

“Wellll, I got in trouble for a little breaking and entering and theft of personal property,” he watched her lips roll between her teeth as she tried to keep up her nonchalant facade. He blinked, surprised none the less.

“Hardcore,” he grinned, thoroughly satisfied when her face flamed up again.

“I didn’t keep it!” She squeaked out and he couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled out of his chest.

“I believe you,” he winked. Her blush deepened, and she swivelled away to hide the way she bit into her lip. Damn did that feel good.

Pulling the lyrics back in front of him, he set about analyzing the song and tune, easily working silently in the space with her. He took a quick glance at the countdown, and breathed a sigh of relief when it read five minutes ‘til launch still.

Positioning the microphone in front of his face, he lost himself in the song. Testing out his ability to reach with his vocals, muscles he didn’t get the chance to use as frequently as his other band members.

“Wow.”

Luka looked up to find Marinette only a few paces away, clutching a full arms worth of redesigned dolls. The amazement on her face, brought blood rushing to his own cheeks. He cleared his throat awkwardly, and poured more focus than necessary into saving the music file.

“You’re beautiful-- I-- I mean your voice is beautiful! I didn’t know you could actually sing,” she was setting the dolls down and moving closer, the smell of sweet baked goods surrounding her and intoxicating his senses.

“Well, these dolls look like they should be on collector’s shelves.” He lifted one of the ice queens up, marvelling at Marinette’s ability to not only change the entire outfit but make it better than the original. He followed her lead as she sent the dolls through a reprogramming shoot, catching them at the end to repackage them. “You didn’t learn those skills from the mass production team.”

The smile on her face caught his attention. The way it lifted her cheeks, set light to her eyes. She pulled the doll from his fingers, and he realized he’d been staring.

“No. I actually learned on my own. It’s a hobby of mine- making clothes. So doing it in miniature wasn’t too hard.” The machines around him were shutting down as he realized she had already finished packing everything away. Not to be the worst helper around, he carried most of the boxes back to the pallet. “Your voice. It really is amazing, you know.” She turned to him brightly as he powered the hover units back on, and the hand truck lifted from the ground. “You remind me of one of my favorite performers! Jolly Stone!”

“I love Jolly Stone! I’m actually in a band, we’re performing later tonight. If you’d like, you could come watch us perform. We’re not famous or anything. Just my sister and two of our friends.”

“Oh. That sounds fun, but I’ve got my party right after this! Which actually-” she glanced at the countdown- ”I’m late for! It’s five minutes ‘til launch!” He watched her devolve into panic, frantically searching for her things. She looped a scarf around her neck, slipping her arms into a long coat that fell past her skirt. Standing on one leg, she attempted to put her heels on, before tipping forward. With speed he wasn’t aware he’d possessed, he leapt forward catching her in his arms before she could take a spill onto the floor.

Sugar plum fairies were going to be dancing in his dreams tonight.

Delectably sweet smelling, and tantalizingly light in his arms. He found himself molding her small frame to his body as he lifted her to her feet. Those bright blues caught him again, and parted lips begged for him to lean in. Painfully he let his hands drift away from her body once he was sure she was steady, and immediately he wished he hadn’t.

Her next attempt was far more successful, and even still he offered his arm to her as they left the art department. When her hand slipped around his elbow to secure herself, he let the smile show on his face. Then let the grin take over, when Marinette dipped her face down, blush rising up her ear tips.

“I don’t wear heels often. I’m a total klutz, I should’ve known better.” He frowned at her self admonishment, but kept any comments to himself. “I just thought they went so well with my outfit. Plus I wanted to look cute for my party.”

“Right, this party. You said it was a celebration and you’re late?”

“Oh, yes! My old coworkers and friends are throwing me a party for my promotion. I’m actually from district South 12th. I was, um, going through some things. Naughty List and all,” an embarrassed giggle slipped free, but she continued on. “So, when I saw a management position pop up in South 10th’s Art Department, I applied for it. Today was my first day.”

“First of all, congratulations on the promotion. Second, I’m sorry to hear you were going through some things, but I’m not sorry that it led you here. Otherwise I’m not sure I would’ve met you.” He gave her a small bump with his arm, but made sure to keep a tight grip on her hand just in case.

“Me too.” And when he glanced down she was smiling brightly to herself.

“So after we drop these off at Wrappings, I could walk you to your party if you’d like? I have to meet my sister in South 12th anyways.”

“Does your sister work in South 12th?”

“Yeah, she’s in the music department though. Not art, so not sure you’d know her.” As they came around the corner, they found themselves in line with the other last minute toy deliverers.

“I actually have friends in music!” Luka watched as her face scrunched up in thought, nose wiggling adorably. “Hmmm, Couffaine.... Wait a second!” She turned to him, eyes searching his face, furrow finding her brows. “Juleka’s last name used to be Couffaine. Are you related to her?”

And this was the moment when Luka realized that the whole Christmas-Magic-works-in-mysterious-ways thing his mother always claimed, was in fact, real.

“That’s my sister,” he chuckled, watching the excited surprise on her face.

“She never mentioned having a hot brother!” The loud gasp, before she slapped a pale hand over her mouth made him laugh harder. “I mean… she never mentioned having a brother,” she sputtered.

“Of course she wouldn’t. I’m lame in her book.” Externally he was playing it cool, but internally he was pretty sure his insides were about ready to burst. The most amazingly adorable and badass elf he had ever met thought he was hot.

A Wrappings coordinator waved them towards a platform to leave their pallet on, and Luka took the opportunity to calm his excitement, so that he didn’t look like a giddy cherub when he sauntered back to her side.

“You know, Jueka was going to my party. And I’m not sure if you had any other plans, but if you have time before your performance… you could come celebrate with us. It’s not just a coworkers thing. But if you don’t want to or don’t have time, I totally understand. It is last second after all, and you barely know me-”

“Marinette.” Her lips clamped closed suddenly, and those eyes he was beginning to truly lose himself too, watched him.

“I would love to go to your party with you. My performance isn’t until right before the Christmas Dawn. I’ve got all night.” He slid his hands into his pockets, to keep them from reaching out to hold her again. The expressions crossing her face were a mixture of excitement and worry, but he kept his thoughts and limbs to himself while she worked out whatever was on her mind.

“Do.. do you have a date for Christmas Dawn?” So quiet, hesitant.

“Not unless my Ma counts,” he winked, heart beginning to pound again.

“Would you like to be mine?” YES. “I- I mean my date?” That too.

“I would love to be yours, Marinette- your date.” Pulling his hand free from his pocket, he offered it to her. She slipped her small hand into his without hesitation, smile setting her face aglow.

“Shall we?”

[writethelifeyouwant]

Dive Bar, Ch 3/?

Pairing: Dean x OFC (Dany) x Sam (brief), Dean x Sam (eventually) 

Rating: 18+

Prompt/Summary: @spnkinkbingo square - Gay Panic (eventually, I don’t know how to write short things, so the gay panic comes later). Dany and Dean hit it off at a bar and Dean is confident it’s a sure thing. But Dean doesn’t know that Dany’s has a dare to complete, and he definitely didn’t imagine his night would end with his pull inviting his little brother to come home with them too. 

WC: 2690

Warnings: slight d/s tones, oral sex (m receiving), incest, p in v, orgasms, threesome, emotional constipation 

Chapter 2

*** Dean’s eyes were wide and glassy, flicking from Dany to Sam, Dany’s slick still shining on his chin. 

“I don’t think he’s touched anyone else’s cock before,” Sam smirked. “Maybe I need to show him how it’s done.” He was still lazily stroking himself, a lusty smile spread over his lips. 

Dean didn’t think he should feel any better about that prospect than Dany’s request but he also knew if he thought too hard about it he would stop, he would back out, and he wasn’t about to stand down. Goddamnit, Sam wasn’t gonna scare Dean off now. If he did he’d never let Dean hear the end of it.

Screw it. Dean didn’t exactly say ‘sure, go for it’ but Sam correctly took his silence to be the green light.

Dean crawled up the length of the bed and pulled Dany down to kiss him. She could taste herself on his tongue, thick and cloying. Dean tried to devour her, kneading her breasts and losing his fingers in her hair, desperately trying to distract himself from what he knew was coming. He grunted when he felt fingers dance over the head of his cock and drag down its length. Nervous about what he would see, he looked down, relieved when he saw the clearly female hands rather than Sam’s. Sam’s hands that have apparently done this before, touched another dude’s junk before. Hang on.

“Wait, Sam,” Dean panted. Trying to collect the thoughts he’d had just a moment ago was harder once Dany started jerking him off. 

“Yes Dean?” Sam had been expecting the protest, the hesitation, and he sat by their feet, gently stroking up and down Dany’ legs. 

“You’re gonna ‘show me how it’s done’?” The air quotes were heavily implied in his voice. “When the hell have you touched someone else’s dick?” Dean was agitated, almost indignant. Sam knew he’d be nervous about it but this felt like more than that for some reason, not that Sam could fathom what that reason was. 

“I told you,” Sam shrugged, “I’ve done this before.” He nudged his way between the tangle of legs on the bed and clasped a hand on Dean’s hip. Somewhere deep inside he questioned whether that was to steady Dean, or himself. “So just, let me do this, okay?” And without any more preamble Sam was sinking his mouth over Dean’s cock, chasing Dany’s fingers down his shaft, and not stopping until his nose was pressed against the skin of his brother’s waist. 

“Shit!” Dean nearly choked on how good it felt. He had to fight to keep his hips from fucking further down Sam’s throat, scared he’d hurt him somehow. He’d never had anyone able to take him that deep. 

Dany was kissing down Dean’s neck and chest, leaving small bites in her wake, but all the while keeping her eyes locked on Sam bobbing up and down on his brother’s cock. Christ, she didn’t think she’d seen anything that hot in her life before. Every time Sam pulled back, his lips dragged across Dean’s skin and she could see his tongue twisting around the shaft the whole way, leaving trails of spit to drip back down into the curls his nose had just been pressed against. And all the while, Sam was moaning, humming every time he got Dean back down his throat. Dany didn’t have a dick but she would have bet a whole lot of money that that felt incredible.  

“Fuck,” Dean whined, high in his throat and breathless. 

“Hey Dean,” Dany whispered against his ear. “I think Sam was being serious when he said he knew what he was doing.” 

“Yeah, no sh- shiiit.” Dean’s scoff was bitten off in a moan when Sam pulled back and sucked sloppily on his tip. “What the fuck did they teach you at that college?” 

Sam pulled off with a laugh and shook the hair out of his eyes, but he didn’t let go of Dean, still pumping his hand firmly up and down. 

“I didn’t just learn out of books at Stanford.” Flicking his gaze to Dany for a moment, Sam drew her attention away from her assault of Dean’s neck. “Condoms?” 

“Yeah,” Dany panted and spun to grab them out of her bedside drawer. “How many-” 

“Two,” Sam grunted and reached for them. Dropping one aside for the moment, he tore into the other packet and rolled it quickly down Dean’s length. “C’mere sweetheart,” Sam grabbed Dany’s hand and pulled her up into an earnest kiss, taking his time to twist his tongue into her mouth and kiss until he’d taken her breath away. When he pulled back she just stayed there, eyes closed and swaying a little. 

“Get on,” he smirked, nodding at Dean’s cock, still standing tall and hard in his hand.

Dany climbed over Dean’s lap happily, still facing Sam. Dean grabbed at her ass and pushed her apart so he could watch his cock disappear between her legs, groaning as her hot, tight, pulsing cunt sucked him in greedily. 

“God you look good like that,” Sam grinned, brushing her hair out of her face. Dany whimpered at the compliment, shifting minutely back and forth, trying to adjust to Dean inside of her. Sam noticed and smiled. “He’s big isn’t he?”  

“Mm-hm,” Dany sighed. “How did you fit him in your mouth? Jesus.” 

“How’s she feel Dean?” 

“Awesome,” he grunted, grinding his hips up a little harder, trying to get into a rhythm of fucking up inside her. “Fuckin’ tight.” Dany squeezed around him, dragging another expletive from his lips. 

“Stop teasing ‘im now, come on,” Sam laughed, smacking her on the ass.  

“But it’s so fun to tease him,” Dany pouted and ground down in a slow circle. Dean couldn’t even make a coherent word this time. 

“Yeah but we both know how desperate you are for more.” Sam reached forward and wound his fingers in the hair at the base of her skull, pulling himself up to his full height on his knees so she had to look up to his face. “You’re so desperate for cock you wanted two of us here,” he sneered. “Dean here is just your warm up. Show me what I have to look forward to.” 

Dean groaned again when Dany clenched around him instinctively at Sam’s words. She quit teasing and did as Sam said, starting to move in earnest now. With each bounce up and down she picked up her pace, gasping when she tipped back just enough to get Dean to fuck right against her g-spot with each pass. 

Sam stroked himself as he watched Dany take her pleasure, using Dean as a means to an end. And Dean was more than happy with his role if the look on his face was any indication. His eyes were scrunched, his mouth open and panting, head tipped back with the strain of focusing all his energy into his hips. He’d planted his heels in the mattress for extra leverage so he could pound into Dany as urgently as she was fucking back on to him. Her fingers groped behind her, looking for purchase on something but slipping off the sweat beading on Dean’s chest. 

Dean circled his arms around her waist and pulled them back up the bed, miraculously keeping his dick inside her as he did, and ended sitting up behind her, chest to back, so she could drop her head onto his shoulder while he took control, setting a punishing pace. His hands moved to her breasts, pinching at the nipples until they stood hard and pink and made Sam’s mouth water. Sam watched Dean bury his face in the crook of her neck but he didn’t have the energy to kiss it. His mouth just hung open, teeth scraping over the damp skin every time Dany lurched upwards. 

In this new position Dean felt even deeper and Dany was so close to falling over her edge a second time. She reached between her legs to rub at herself, not caring enough to put on a show for Sam, who she knew was still jerking himself off as he watched them, just wanting to feel that release as quickly as possible. As her whines crept higher and higher in her throat Dean’s eyes flickered open and he noticed her hand between her legs. With renewed vigour, he pushed himself deeper and deeper inside her, chasing his own high. 

He didn’t know what made him do it. There were so many moans and whimpers saturating the air around them he couldn’t really have been able to tell that one was Sammy’s but he thought he heard it, and he opened his eyes to look up to his little brother, still sitting on the end of the bed watching them, and when their eyes met, Dean broke. 

His eyelids crashed down again as his hips stuttered and bucked erratically into Dany, who had hit her own edge moments before. Dean’s breath caught in his chest as he came down still rocking up into Dany’s warmth reflexively, letting the last pulses of pleasure squeeze out of him into the condom. 

Sam didn’t give them much time to relish in their moment, nearly on the verge of cumming himself after watching their little performance. He quickly ripped into the second condom packet and rolled it on. Then he reached out for Dean’s legs and pulled the recovering pair back down the bed, so Dean was lying flat again. 

Dany pulled off of Dean with a groan and leant forward to kiss Sam. He indulged her for a moment before he manhandled her off Dean’s lap to flip her around and reposition her, this time hovering over Dean on all fours. He straddled Dean’s thighs and leant down to lap at the slick pooling on the lips of Dany’s pussy, and flicking his tongue further down over her clit, which drew an agonised gasp from above him. Dany braced her forehead against Dean’s chest when she felt the tip of Sam’s cock nudge against her, pushing gently into the silken heat his tongue had just been probing. Sam had been right before; Dean was just a warm up. 

As soon as he’d bottomed out Sam broke into a brutal pace, his position allowing him to fuck into Dany harder and quicker than Dean had been able to from beneath her. He was rewarded with Dany’s keening and small, mewling whimpers that filled the heavy air around them. 

Sam folded himself over her back and laced his fingers through hers on the bed. Each thrust pitched Dany harder and harder against Dean, who was still beneath the pair, holding Dany’s head against his heaving chest, stroking her hair softly.

It didn’t take Sam long to build up to his own orgasm and when he was close, he pulled his head up and locked eyes with his brother over Dany’s shoulder. 

“Touch her Dean,” he grunted, pushing faster and faster to reach his peak. Dean complied without hesitation, fumbling between Dany’s legs until her whine told him he’d found her clit, and seconds later it was over, Sam’s eyes finally leaving Dean’s when he came, slamming shut as he choked out a groan and went rigid inside Dany’s body. Dany was twitching between Sam and Dean, breath leaving her in shudders that rocked her whole body. Dean kept petting her hair, waiting for her breathing to even out. Eventually Sam relaxed and slumped down over the pair, struggling to regulate his own breathing. For a moment, the silence was comfortable and soothing, but that quickly became too much for Dean.

“Dude, not to kill the moment, but get your behemoth body off’a me.”

*

In the end, Sam was glad Dean had insisted on driving the Impala over to Dany’s; it saved them the walk back to the bar at the ass-crack of dawn. 

After the three of them had untangled on the bed, they’d gone through the standard motions in a state of semi consciousness. Tying off condoms, grabbing glasses of water, hunting for lost underwear and t-shirts. Dany convinced them to stick around for the night. The bed was a bit small for three people, especially when two of them were the size the Winchesters were, but it did the job for a few hours.

Sam jerked awake in the grey light of an autumn predawn when Dean’s arm accidentally whacked him in the face. He retaliated in kind, flicking Dean perfunctorily on the forehead to wake him from his snuffling sleep. Two bathroom breaks and a hurriedly scribbled note later, the brothers were staggering across the blacktop and settling onto the black leather bench they called home. 

At first the silence was easily explained away by lack of sleep and the early hour. Their post-case exit strategy was routine enough that the stop-off at the motel to retrieve their bags and extract a cup of coffee from the vending machine in the lobby was all handled non-verbally, without complaint or complication. 

And for a while, they just drove. The grey light of the morning had turned into a grey day, the clouds hanging low over their heads and their mists creeping out across the countless fields that lined the highway. But the further away from that small college town they drove, the heavier the silence hung around them. By lunch time it became apparent that Dean hadn’t been driving anywhere in particular and while he breezed through a Gas-n-Sip to scrounge up some food, Sam scoured the newspapers he’d managed to find out front. 

Dean’s first attempt at speech caught in his throat, and he had to hide it behind a cough before he tried again. “Anything interesting?” He nodded at the paper Sam had spread across his lap, tossing him a bottled smoothie. What a girl. 

“Uh,” Sam glanced at Dean, who was resolutely picking through a packet of jerky, then cleared his throat. “No, um, nothing that looks like our sort of thing.”  

“Awesome,” Dean grunted and cranked the ignition. 

Sam chanced another look at his brother as they drove down the main street of whatever sleepy town they’d stopped off in. Dean was staring out at the road in front of them, seemingly concentrating on driving, but Sam could tell his eyes weren’t actually taking in anything in front of them. Whatever he was seeing it was only in his head, and he didn’t seem inclined to share with the class. 

“Do we need t-”

“Nope.”

“Were you gonna let me actually finish my sentence?” Sam griped. 

“We don’t need to talk about it, Sam, there’s nothing to talk about.” 

“Oh, really? That why you’ve been all ‘Silence of the Lambs’ since we left this morning?”

“Oh and what, you’ve been Mr. Chatty Cathy?”

“I’m just saying-”

“There’s nothing to say, Sam. So we banged the same chick last night, so what? She was hot, it was fun, end of story. I don’t need a damn debrief.” 

“Come on, Dean, that is not all that happened last night. You really expect me to believe nothing’s up with you?”

“You play 20 questions with all your one night stands or am I just lucky?” Dean sneered, glancing to his right for the first time since Sam had started talking and immediately regretting his decision. Looking at Sam only magnified the chaos he’d been slowly descending into since last night. 

“Newsflash, Dean, what we did last night wasn’t exactly your typical Saturday night.” 

“Sorry, didn’t realise you need a psych eval every time you get laid.”

“I’m not the one refusing to talk about my feelings here Dean!”

“I said drop it, Sam.”

Sam rolled his eyes and slumped back in his seat, hands buried in the pockets of his hoodie. Dean let him close himself off, relieved that at least for now, he would be left alone with his thoughts. He reached forward to turn up the radio in an attempt to drown them out, but it still wasn’t quite loud enough to cover Sam’s soft exhalation of ‘jerk’. 

***

Tags: @hawkerz12 @negans-lucille-tblr @babybrotherandthedemon @dylansbabygirl24 @mineshinamary @popsensationnicole23 @spn-problems @donthateme454 @doyouknowsamw @peridottea91 @delightfulbakeryaliendeputy @fictionallemons @petitgateau911 @natastic @marvelfansworld @delightfullykrispypeach @akshi8278 @crashlyrose @miufel @lyarr24 @itsthedoctah10 @kiss-my-peachy-arse @leftlokiofpuppy @tftumblin @devilsbby @alice101macwil @caitlinvd @j-ai-adore-dean​ @disneysloot @half-closeted-bi-girl @deandreamernp​

[dissoluteways]

positions

❧

Chapter I

PAIRING: Hyuk/OC RATING: PG  WARNINGS: Office AU.  WORDCOUNT: 5010

Notes: This is the enourmous fic I’ve been writing for MONTHS, and i am not joking. First of all: this is chaptered, it’s gonna probably be 4 chapters only. I’ve already written 99% of it, I’ll porbably be posting every chapter once a week or so, depending on how i feel. Second of all, there is no warning for this one, there is not even a kiss in this first chapter. And i guess the only warning would be that, this is boss/employee relationship? But everyone if over 20 here so. If it still bothers you, don’t read it. Now yes, go ahead and enjoy c:

❧

“Since you told me you were looking for a new assistant, I hope you don’t mind I told someone I know about the job.” Hakyeon told her, while he was visiting her office during lunch time. They would usually eat out, that day it was raining though.

“Oh, that’s cool, I don’t actually have that many applicants though, but I look forward to meeting him.”

Hakyeon smiled at her, while eating a cherry tomato.

Moments like that made it seem like being an editor in a magazine was easy. Hakyeon was a genius though; he was a manager in marketing and he was amazing at that, mainly because he was so social and charming. She could never do what he did. 

Her job, in the meantime, was being a beauty editor. When there wasn't a deadline or if there weren’t any kind of issues running around that day, it was certainly a dream job. The amount of products she got from PR and the events she could attend were ideal. It was tiring at times but she wouldn’t change it. She enjoyed the process of dolling herself up. 

But she really needed extra help. It has been a month without an assistant, and she finally understood why she even needed one in the first place.

“His name is Han Sanghyuk. Just be nice to him, okay, he has never worked in a magazine before,” Hakyeon informed her, taking back his things and getting ready to walk out to go back to his own office. 

It wasn’t going to be the first time she interviewed a young boy for the job.

Though actually meeting and interviewing people she didn’t know was boring if she was honest. They were mostly young girls with no prior jobs, but who were eager to work and get into fashion. They were cute, they reminded her a bit of herself when she was just starting. And there were a couple of people with actually impressive curriculums, some of which were even older than she was (it made her feel slightly uncomfortable that they would have to work for her).

She almost forgot Hakyeon told her someone he knew was going to be there for the job until she was about to save all the résumés and close the door, and she almost bumped into a boy just outside her office.

“Oh, sorry!” She had to stare up to actually see his face, and she couldn’t help but point out his height. “Wow, you’re really tall.”

“Thank you, I guess.” He seemed kind of awkward, and nervous.

“Are you here for the model job? That’s actually on the other side of the corridor.”

“No, I’m actually for the assistant job.” He handed her two pieces of paper. It was a really short curriculum.

“Oh… Oh, okay, come on in.”

She walked in before him, and looked at him when she sat down in her chair. He had the face of a baby, with cheeks she could pinch, and hair she could fluff. And she had the need of booping his nose. Her heart was actually jumping inside her chest. 

By the way he was frowning and looking at her curiously, she noticed she had been staring for maybe way too long. 

“Sorry, sorry… Can you tell me your name?”

“Han Sanghyuk.”

“Oh, you’re Hakyeon’s friend, right?”

“‘Friend’ would imply we are the same age,” He pointed out.

“Yeah, how old are you? Do you even have the right age to start working, it seems to me that you should be in high school. If it weren’t for how tall you are.”

“I’m almost 24,” He smiled at her. Her heart jumped once again. 

“You’re a baby,” She said without thinking. He started chuckling and she couldn’t help but smile. “Tell me about your previous jobs.”

“I had mostly summer jobs, at fast food restaurants, as a shop assistant, and as usher in local cinemas.” She must have pulled some kind of face, and she felt bad because he got nervous again and she noticed. “I know it’s not impressive, but I’m almost done with my university studies, and I’m eager to learn.”

“Well you’re the last person I’m interviewing, and I’m going to think about it before hiring anyone. I’ll let you know, alright?” She smiled at him reassuringly. 

He bowed slightly before standing up. His face might scream baby, but the rest of his body was big for sure, and he really seemed like a man. She tried not to stare at him once he walked out the door.

She had been set on the idea of hiring someone with experience, but she didn’t know then. Sanghyuk was just so cute and handsome. And it wasn’t part of the requirement for the job, but she couldn’t help it; it would be nice to have such a cute face waiting for her every time she arrived at her office.

And she even had to look at his picture every time she checked his resumé. Damn it. 

When it was time to leave for her place, she stopped by Hakyeon’s office, ready to talk about that issue with him. He was gay, he would understand.

“How could you not tell me Sanghyuk was so cute?” 

“Hello to you too,” He was closing his office, ready to leave as well, and he seemed a bit taken aback by her question. “What are you talking about?”

“Sanghyuk. You sent him to my office and didn’t tell me he was cute and tall and handsome. I wasn’t ready.” She knew she sounded way more stressed than she actually was. But had she been a few years younger, she would have definitely made a move on him. 

Hakyeon smiled at her in a knowing way, and she glared at him.

“When I bet with Taekwoon if you would like him or not, I didn’t expect to be right, but I guess I just made fifty bucks.”

She hit him on the shoulder not too hard, but strong enough to hurt him.

“I wanted someone with experience, but now I just want him,” She whined, walking alongside him to the main entrance. “What do I do?”

“Well, I know for a fact that Sanghyuk is really hardworking, I assure you he won’t blow it, he really wants to learn.” 

She sighed. At least that was something.

“But you can’t sleep with him, it wouldn’t look good that you’re sleeping with someone below you.”

“What if he’s on top?”

Hakyeon glared at her, and she grinned at her own clever choice of words. 

“How do you even know him, by the way? He’s five years younger than us.”

“You remember I give dance classes, right? He’s one of my students there.”

Interesting. He must have been bendy then. That was going to be a much harder choice to make.

She didn’t really want to overthink it too much. Sanghyuk was hardworking, Hakyeon said, and he wanted to learn and was almost done with his studies. Maybe this was his chance. Maybe he would be a great assistant. And she could also admire him from up close in the meantime. That was really just a plus.

When she called him back a couple of days later, she was, once again, taken aback by how cute he was. And how tall as well. She wore heels every day and still only reached his shoulder.

“So your job is mostly following me around and basically helping me with whatever I need for the magazine.” She explained to him after Sanghyuk had signed his contract, ready to start his first day. “I’m a beauty editor, so I deal with makeup products and creams and skin care. You have to help me with that.”

Sanghyuk was nodding enthusiastically to everything she was saying, and making sounds like he understood, with wide open eyes. 

“If you have any doubts you can ask me, since it’s your first time working for a magazine, I’ll try to help you.” She smiled at him soothingly. He returned the smile, and her heart melted in her chest. She wanted to pinch his cheeks. “We have to check the new PR products for the next edition, so let’s get going.”

Sanghyuk followed her without questions. 

“Oh, by the way,” She turned to Sanghyuk, who was walking right behind her. She blushed a little when he suddenly looked up at her face; his eyes were seriously a little more south than that before. “You’re supposed to write down the things we might need or the ones we might use from the products.”

“Oh, alright,” Sanghyuk took out his phone.

There was a serious generation gap if the last assistant she had still used notepads for those things.

When they got to the PR room, Sanghyuk actually made a cute surprised sound, she couldn’t help but giggle. 

“All this for makeup?” He asked her in a low voice.

“No,” She laughed, walking to the section where they got the new products, “This is also for skin care products.”

Sanghyuk wasn’t probably impressed by the difference, but he was going to learn while he was there.

Checking the PR products was fun if it wasn’t for the new guy that started sending them in. She didn’t remember his name, she didn’t care at all, mainly he has been asking her out for a while and it was annoying to say no every time. It was borderline harassment at that point. Out of all the gay guys out there that delivered beauty products, she had to get the one that was straight and annoying.

And there he was, unpacking brand new boxes right at the end of the room. She sighed loudly before approaching, Sanghyuk still right behind her.

“What’s new today?” She asked, very aware her voice was cold and detached.

“The usual brands send in the same stuff,” The delivery guy replied, dropping big boxes on the table by her side. “There’s a new makeup line from Revlon as well. But maybe we should talk more about that at night.”

She closed her eyes right after he had winked at her. Breathing in, she ignored his advance and checked the label on each box instead, trying to focus on what she was going to work with instead.

“Come on, for how long are you going to ignore me?”

“Sanghyuk, can you write down all the labels of these boxes?” She suddenly turned to him. His eyebrows were surprisingly furrowed, but he nodded immediately. She then turned and faced the delivery guy once again. “Please, I already said no. Every time you asked, actually.”

“I know girls like to play hard to get. And you’re quite the catch.” He smirked. She felt like puking.

“I’ll go check the skin care products.” She sighed, facing Sanghyuk. “Find me once you’re done.”

Walking away, she tried inhaling and exhaling to calm herself down. After months of the same routine, it was frustrating to have to deal with the same dumbass every week. 

“You have to write on a file all the products that we recorded today, then send it to me.” Once they were done with the PR unboxing and labelling, they went back to her office, as she explained to him what the rest of his day should be. “I might get a call from other departments today, like marketing, so you should pick up the phone every time.”

“Noted.” Sanghyuk agreed without question. 

She looked at him over her shoulder when they got to her office. He was writing everything down on his phone. It was adorable.

After a few days, Sanghyuk quickly adapted to working as an assistant. He was far more organized and mindful than she expected, she was happily surprised. At least she didn’t feel bad about hiring him just for his looks; turned out he’s an excellent worker. 

The only con of having him there, was still the fact that her crush on him hadn’t faded away. If anything, it grew bigger. His hard work and the way he applied himself to the task at hand only made him more attractive; suddenly he didn’t seem so young anymore. 

On monday morning, exactly a week after she hired him, she caught herself staring at him from her seat behind her desk. She could see him from there, his desk almost across from hers in the other room. If he were to lean back on his chair, she wouldn’t see him, but he was writing on the computer so she could easily stare at his face. She still had the need to boop his nose. 

That was the day they had to go again to check the new PR products. Sighing loudly, she got up and walked out.

“It’s PR day, let’s go, Sanghyuk.”

“Alright, boss.” 

He got the habit of calling her boss. It was cute; she loved it.

She was still dreading going to PR. Whenever she thought about it, it was still the reason she didn’t like going to work on mondays. It was taking a toll on her overall mental health, making her anxious and nervous. 

Trying to somehow conceal it, she breathed in deeply as she walked into the PR room, Sanghyuk still following right behind. 

“Hello, sugar.” It was the same delivery guy, and she felt sick when those words came out of his mouth.

“Please don’t call me that.” 

“Still saying no to my invitation?” 

He was smirking again, so she turned and faced Sanghyuk. It surprised her to see the look on his face, between annoyance and exasperation, his eyebrows once again furrowed. 

“Um, could you please write down all the stuff we got, Sanghyuk?” 

“Sure.” His expression softened a little, as he got out his phone and started taking pictures of the boxes’ label.

“Want to go out after this, darling?” The guy kept making advances; she really didn’t want to stand that in that moment.  

“I’ll wait for you outside.” She tapped Sanghyuk on the shoulder and walked away quickly.

It was incredibly frustrating having to deal with that. Especially because she loved her job. She had to deal with men her whole life; like every woman did, she knew that. It was upsetting there certainly wasn’t a way out of this.

While waiting for Sanghyuk, Hakyeon walked past, which helped her get her mind out of upsetting thoughts. 

“Hey!” He greeted, patting her shoulder. “How’s it going?”

“Fine.” She cleared her throat, just as Hakyeon looked inside the PR room.

“Shouldn’t you be in there, with Sanghyuk? Guiding him?” He sounded concerned.

“Yeah, I guess.” She looked inside as well. Sanghyuk was working hard as always, looking at the label of each box, and checking inside to see if everything was good. The delivery guy was still leaving some boxes on a table, and they seemed to be exchanging words. “It’s that guy again.”

“He keeps bothering you?” Hakyeon turned to her, worried. “I wish you would report him to Human Resources.”

“No, that’s such a mess. Besides, they would probably fire him if they decide to believe what I say about him.” She kept looking at Sanghyuk, not really wanting to face Hakyeon and his well-meaning concern. 

“Um…” He looked at Sanghyuk as well, following her gaze. “How is Sanghyuk doing?”

“He’s great!” The expression on her face must have changed drastically, she could tell by the look on Hakyeon’s own face. “He’s really good at learning, and so organized. I adore him.”

“I can tell. You look smitten with him.”

“I’m afraid so.”

“You know you can’t-”

“I know, Hakyeon!” She replied, irritated. It’s not like she was going to try anything. “Don’t worry, I’m not thinking about doing anything about it.”

“Hey, Hyogi!” Hakyeon smiled brightly once Sanghyuk approached the exit. 

“Hyung,” Sanghyuk looked embarrassed at the nickname, but still smiled softly. “What’s up?”

“She was telling me that you’re really hardworking. She likes you.”

She turned her head abruptly to glare at him. What the heck was he saying? What the heck was he going to say?

“Yeah…” Sanghyuk looked at her for a split second before turning his gaze back at Hakyeon. “Yeah, I really like it here.”

“Great!” Hakyeon smiled, knowingly. She wondered what was going through his head, wishing he would leave just in case he decided to say anything else. “I should get going now, I’ll see you at lunch.”

Hakyeon patted her shoulder again before walking away down the corridor. She sighed loudly, relieved. 

“I guess I’m doing a good job if you like me.” Sanghyuk commented, casually. 

“Yeah… Yeah, I mean… organizational skills are a turn on.” Those words came out of her mouth long before she could think about it, and she couldn’t help how hard she face-palmed herself. 

“Really?” He looked surprised, raising an eyebrow, while he looked down at her.

“Yeah. Let’s get going now.” She started walking immediately so as not to face him, knowing very well she was blushing.

She promised Hakyeon not to do anything about her crush on Sanghyuk, somehow that task was more difficult than she thought it was going to be as time went by. It was weird because she never really asked a guy out. But now that she wanted to, she shouldn’t. 

It was logical the company would have a policy against dating coworkers. It was to avoid harassment and any kind of abuse in power. But it was so hard to do it when Sanghyuk was just so cute and big. 

It was particularly bad for her heart when one day she walked into her office after lunch, to find Sanghyuk wearing one of those sleeveless shirts that were so cut anyone could see his chest. He was bent over, looking for something inside his sports bag, and a lot of skin was showing through. He was all sweaty as well; he had been working out and she couldn’t help but gasp loudly at the whole picture as soon as she saw him.

“Sorry, boss,” He apologized, quickly grabbing a hoodie. “I was going to take a shower and change before you got back from lunch.”

“It’s alright.” Her voice was small and breathless, and she was holding her hand to her chest like she was about to have a heart attack. 

“Are you feeling okay?” He asked, looking concerned, putting the hoodie aside as he got closer to her to check her out.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” She backed up, trying to put some distance. He looked confused, and she felt a little guilty for pulling away like that. “I just… I had a bad bagel for lunch.”

That seemed to be enough for him, since he nodded before grabbing his bag and his hoodie and leaving right after. She sighed loudly, covering her face. 

It was embarrassing stuff like that startled her since she was a grown woman, but Sanghyuk had that effect on her, apparently. And she had even seen him with that shirt. He was no longer that adorable, suddenly.

Sanghyuk, on the other hand, didn’t actually seem that interested in her. Other than the fact that sometimes she was wearing a too tight skirt, he looked at her a little longer than usual. But then again, even Hakyeon did that. So many men around her did that, it certainly didn’t mean anything to her. Somehow, that created a barrier that made her feel safer. She had to get over her crush, since obviously, nothing was going to happen between them.

“So you think he doesn’t like you?” Taekwoon, Hakyeon’s boyfriend, asked her one night. 

It was later that week, on friday. The three of them were having dinner after both her and Hakyeon left their work building. It’s been a while since she met up with both of them, and she really missed Taekwoon. 

“He probably likes me as his boss,” She replied, almost bored, leaning her head on one hand. She took a bite of the apple crumble she asked for dessert before elaborating. “He’s always nice to me, but then again he’s nice to everyone. I’m happy with just getting along with him.”

“But you’d like to get a piece of that.”

She almost choked with a piece of apple when those words left Taekwoon’s mouth. His expression was completely deadpan, made him look completely serious when he said that, but the absurdity of those words were kind of funny. Hakyeon was sitting right next to him, and he looked at him with wide eyes, as he tried not to even smile.

“Are you really asking me that?” She wiped her mouth carefully, at the same time trying to hide her blushing face.

“I guess we already know the answer then.” Said Hakyeon, casually.

“I don’t- I mean-” She pursed her lips. Her face was positively on fire. “Yeah, I would.”

“Do you want help?” Hakyeon asked, completely serious.

“Yeah, I’d like help ordering another apple crumble.” 

“No, dummy,” Hakyeon hit her gently on the arm. “Help with Hyogi.”

She blinked, until she realized what he was implying.

“No way. No fucking way.” She glared at him. 

There’s no way Cha Hakyeon was meddling into this. He wasn’t so subtle in any way. He might even spoil the good, professional relationship she had with Sanghyuk. 

“But I have good inside information, I could-”

“Don’t you fucking dare, Hakyeon!” She tried to keep her voice down, but certainly failed. “Didn’t you also say that he was my assistant and it was inappropriate?” 

“That was before you fell in love with him.” He said, matter-of-factly. “I thought maybe you just wanted to sleep with him.”

Her face flushed harder than before.

“And I figured, after your last experience with younger men, maybe you wouldn’t fall this time…” His voice was small, like he didn’t know if he should be commenting on that.

She bit her lip. It’s true, her previous relationship was with a younger man, only three years younger, but turned out he was mentally ten years younger. And she had a hard time with all his partying and going out with other girls. She didn’t want to compare though. She didn’t really know Sanghyuk that much.

“I still don’t want you to butt in on this.”

She knew Hakyeon was not going to pay any attention to her and still will try to somehow help her with Sanghyuk. She really wished he didn’t.

When she was walking home, she passed by a couple of opened bars and restaurants. Luckily she lived near the work building, around eight blocks, so she never had to take the subway or anything. That area was also around the nightlife district, so it was always full of bars and little clubs, open until early in the morning.

She wasn’t really expecting to run into Sanghyuk right there.

He was coming out of a bar, with his phone on his hand, and the same bag he carried when he went to work every day. And still wearing the same clothes he wore that day earlier.

“Sanghyuk!” 

He quickly turned, following the sound of her voice. He had to look down, and she almost blushed. The height difference was really one of her weaknesses. 

“Boss,” He smiled brightly. She could melt right there.

“You don’t have to call me that, we are not at work anymore.” She smiled back at him, genuinely.

“Alright, noona.” He grinned, youthful.

Oh, no. This was bad. 

“What are you doing here?” Sanghyuk asked, curious.

“I just had dinner with Hakyeon and his boyfriend.” She approached him a little more. The street was rather busy, and people were passing by in a rush. 

“You know Taekwoon-hyung?” He looked surprised, for some reason.

“Yeah, of course, I met them both in college.” She eyed him, trying hard not to make it look like she was actually checking him out. Which she was. “How do you know him?”

“He goes to Hakyeon-hyung’ studio sometimes. They are rather gross.”

“Gross?” She laughed. She knew what he meant but still wanted the information.

“Yeah, Taekwoon-hyung is kinda shy, but Hakyeon-hyung isn’t, so there's a lot of PDA.” He pulled a face full of disgust. It was incredibly funny. And cute. 

“Yeah, I know what you mean. I take it as a comedy show every time I get to watch them be around each other.” She giggled. Hakyeon was really overbearing, and somehow Taekwoon fell in love with him, when he’s the exact opposite. Though she noticed Taekwoon started taking the certain qualities that had nothing to do with him at the beginning, like the clinginess. It was endearing.

“Yeah, it’s fun to watch them.” Sanghyuk agreed, mimicking her giggle.

“So what are you doing here?” She asked, starry-eyed. 

“I work here.” He pointed to the bar he was just coming out from. “I only do it on Friday and Saturday nights though. Rather work at the magazine than here, to be honest.”

She tried not to sigh loudly. 

“That’s great, glad you like working with me.”

He flashed her a smile. She almost gasped. 

“Are you going somewhere?” He asked.

“Just home.” 

“By yourself? Are you taking the subway? Or the train?”

She blinked at the amount of questions he was suddenly asking. 

“No, I’m just walking there.” His eyebrows furrowed slightly, not the way he did it those last few times she saw him doing that, but just a little to make him look concerned. “It’s just some blocks away from here.”

“I’ll walk with you.” Sanghyuk looked completely serious. And she really liked that. But she wasn’t going to let him do something that was slightly inappropriate; she was his boss after all.

“It’s really okay, I walk home every night.”

He looked even more serious, if not pissed. She swallowed; she knew she was going to start blushing at any moment.

“I can walk you to your place, noona.” He wasn’t asking; it was a statement. 

She swallowed again before nodding.

She couldn’t say no. Not after that. She was only human after all, and with his face, completely serious and slightly annoyed at the fact that she walked home alone every time, she wouldn’t turn him down.

“So you have two jobs,” She commented, once they started walking in her direction. Sanghyuk followed along, right by her side. “Do you have time to study?”

“I use every free time I have left for studying.” He replied, while making way for both of them among the crowd.

It was friday night after all, but with Sanghyuk, he was so tall and big, people moved to the side in a second. She was amazed.

“I used to work all weekend as well, but I just want to focus on finishing my major now, so I just work friday and saturday nights.” 

“You never told me what you were majoring in.”

“Music.” He looked at her and smiled cheerfully. “I want to be a composer one day.”

Oh, that was cute again.

“You seem to be working hard for that,” She smiled back at him, sincerely. “I’m sure you are going to be a great composer.”

Sanghyuk beamed with complacency. Her heart skipped a beat.

Talking to him wasn’t any different than talking to Hakyeon or Taekwoon. She didn’t actually notice their age difference. He seemed mature for his age. Especially because of all the jobs he had and everything he studied, he didn’t seem the type of guy who went out to parties. He didn’t even seem to have time to have friends. 

He asked her about her life later on. Which was uneventful, she didn’t really have much to comment on. She sometimes hung out with Hakyeon, sometimes with other friends from high school. She hadn't had a date in almost two years. She refused to. But she didn’t tell him that. 

“This is where I live.” She signalled to the building that was across the street, about six blocks from where they met. 

“I’ll walk you there.” He said without any sign of doubt.

“Okay.” Sanghyuk wasn’t looking at her, only focusing on checking if any car was coming from either side, and she was glad because her face was flushing.

They crossed the street, walking a few feets until they reached the building’s entrance. She turned to face him; he was looking at the building, checking it out, with his mouth half-opened. The building was slightly fancy, it looked very well kept, and might as well be new. Her income allowed her to pay for it, and she was content.

“Thank you for walking me here, Sanghyuk.” She smiled at him and bowed slightly, as a thank you.

“It’s alright,” He returned her smile, bowing as well. “I’ll see you on monday, noona.”

“Can you text me when you get home?” She asked, genuinely worried.

He blinked at her, taken aback. He was big and certainly didn’t seem like a child, but she was still worried. She didn’t exactly know where he lived. 

“Sure.” He smiled once more, before waving and walking away, towards the same direction they came from.

She hid under the entrance, and watched him walk away. She couldn’t see past the driveway. Hopefully he lived nearby.

Around twenty minutes later, she got a text from Sanghyuk, telling her he got home safely, and saying he hoped to see her on monday. She sighed loudly, hoping to see him next week as well.

She told herself that night that it was really dumb to fall in love with her assistant; yet at the same time, she didn’t really care. She was letting herself fall, on purpose. It was probably the idea she had that maybe this guy wasn’t so bad. All her impressions of him were good. He didn’t seem to have anything bad going on. The only con was that he didn’t seem interested in a relationship. 

Decided to not overthinking it anymore, she tried to rest the weekend, and just let things flow.

[honestsycrets]

Tell Me The Truth | [ Ivar x Reader (Peaky AU) ]

❛ pairing | ivar x reader, ubbe x reader, freydis x reader

❛ type | doubleshot, peaky blinders au

❛ summary | despite what you want, the lines on ivar’s hand don’t lie.

❛  warnings | bad palmistry, cursing in another language idk how accurate it is (whore), peaky blinders au (very loose), gypsy!reader (stereotypes i’m sorry okay?), requested piece, “hallucinations”, idk what the song name is that I included anymore.

Read the patterns on my skin

He has big hands. 

Let the fire somehow get in

The kind you get lost in. 

See my heart line is intact

The kind that hold a whole world in his hands

So this is what I lacked

And don’t even know it yet.

“See something?” he breaks the long-winded silence. You, cradling his hand, find yourself staring at the long lines of his palms between curtains of candles that illuminate your caravan. Yout thumbs run over the lines of his large hand, comparing them to your memory, marking out everything you saw. 

“Instinct. Same thing I always see. Your natural talent for adaptation. The need not to hold back,” You slur, taking a long drag of the singed cigarette between your index and middle finger. You draw out a flood of smoke into his face, grey and light. He swats away the smoke and emerges from it, his pale face cut like a bag of crisp diamonds, or whatever else he packed in that baggie. 

You reach your hand out toward it, and he rests back in the chair, a picture of a great man, one that anyone should fear. Under all that, the energy radiating of a boy on an uncertain path. It wouldn’t help him to know that. Maybe he’d take off that grey cap and swipe you in the face if you said that. 

 “What else?” he closes his fist, tucking the bag into the pocket on the inside of his suit. You scowl, lips pursing, the coins on your wrist tinkling as you flick your hand toward him, caught in indignation. 

“I don’t know what you want me to tell you, Ivar,” you say, pronouncing each word sharper than the last. “Every time you come here it is the same--” 

“You’re holding something back.” 

He says it with such evenness. You knew he would. He draws the button of his suit jacket together, obscuring the chain on the inside, and the buttons latch together. You roll your lips in-- god, he’s become so beautiful. It’s been some time since he came back from Paris, his body changed, and yet he’s the same boy you knew before the war. Your lips are sealed. Keep sweet. Keep quiet.

“It’ll hurt,” you tell him, despite the fact that you know you aren’t talking about yourself. It wouldn’t just hurt you. It would hurt… deeper than that. You stand up, forgetting the instruments of your trade, the cards on the table and the crystals. Everything that would help Ivar get what he wanted from you: answers. “You know I wouldn’t hurt you.” 

The scoff bursts from your lips in a short-lived chortle.

“You’re a man. Not just any man-- one of those men.” You say, and though you stand all straps and coin and cloth, you bring his hand to your lips. A chaste kiss blossoms along his scraped and bruised knuckles. “It’s what you all do. You’re destructive.” 

“When have I ever hurt you? We’ve known each other… mm, how long?” He stands up then, his gloved fingers settling on his cane to steady him. He’s tall when he’s at height, pumped up on medication, he turns his head to you. 

“Twenty-four years,” you say. “Give or take.” 

His dark lashes pull from eyes rimmed in that god awful blue. You run your hand over your shawl, slipping it off your shoulders and setting it on the table. His eye flickers, catching fresh skin. “So tell me,” he whispers, turning his head, and you struggle against what he asks of you.

“You should go.” You tell him, backtracking toward something or anything other than the truth. That he is, or he isn’t, one of those god awful blinders. He steps forward. The floorboards scream under your feet, and suddenly your pressed to the bed you share with your own ghost of the past. 

“Say it again,” he tells you. This time he raises his tanned hand to your cheek, flicking once, snatching your attention with one smooth swat across your cheek. Just enough to get your attention. “Call me it again.” 

“You’re a Blinder. That’s what you’ve always wanted, isn’t it?” you call him by name, and its enough, because the wrinkle in your nose is enough to say what you think of those sorts of men. He holds your gaze, sorting out the remnants of lost affection, all mixed and masked in some foreign longing. He devours your fear, voice lilting nice and soft, sucking you into him. “Now you’ve got it--” 

Ivar snatches your throat, pitiful under his large hand. “That’s right. Now answer me what I came here for.” 

He’s grown big. You think back to that boy that used to come to play when Aslaug would come to visit her forefather’s home. How he revered the scars of his big brother, mapped stratagems for him with Ubbe, and worked so hard. 

Now he nearly had everything that you told him would come. All but a few things that you worked so hard to suppress despite knowing that nothing and no one could keep one back from their true calling. You never failed to answer him in the past. That’s what he needs. Someone real to latch onto.

“You’ll find love. That’s what I saw in your palm.”

One day. But it wouldn’t be today. Even tomorrow. He’s settled enough with the prospect to release you, step aside and fix his coat. 

“I already knew that. We’re opening the pub tomorrow,” he tells you. “Stop by.”

“But Ivar--” you protest. “She won’t be what you think she is.” 

“Shht.” Ivar says, flipping his cap and settling it back on his head. “You worry too much.” 

It’s not an order. Not by the way he says it as he hobbled to the door, stopping for just a second, long enough to share a bated breath with you. “Stop by. There are men there. Elias didn’t give his life down there to see you here.”

He wouldn’t want you to be alone. In his memory you give Ivar a very short nod, remembering those god awful mines. The ones that caved in on themselves and—“I’ll see you. Have to get to the docks, eh?” 

There are men there, he said. 

You drew your shawl over your shoulders, obscuring the beaded dress as much as you could, and opened the door. Inside there were men. Ones that buzzed around the room like bugs, swarming and drinking, and you made your way forward squished between chests and backs, booze and cigarettes. 

“Anotha’ whiskey da’lin, anotha’ whiskey!” the night had only just begun, and yet, the men were already trashed. Behind the long stretch of a barstool stands a girl. Her hair chopped at her nape, painfully pale, with a look in her eyes the same of a dull horse. Freydis, her name flickers across your head, like a great dull name. Before you and behind you, a chill runs down your arms. Hairs lift, and you look straight ahead, past the warm brown waxed countertop, through the women there. She smiles like tainted ink in a pure pool, spreading her tainted nature around in a pool of stupid men.

Take care’a my boy, a voice whispers. Your head snaps, bouncy curls at your neck, and you mind yourself to stay firmly in reality, rather than in the plane between, where no one here could be.

“(Y/N)!” That deep voice, thick and heavy, reeks of an old friend. Appearing beside you, you find the tall one: Ubbe. It’s been some time since you’ve seen him. 

“Ubbe…”  He’s grown taller, if possible, with a handsome beard where his brothers faltered. His eyes shine with a warmth Ivar usually lacks, despite the war. It’s not changed him in the same way that it changed the others. 

“Surprised to see you here. You hate drunks.” He offers you his elbow to take. 

“Ivar invited me,” you grumble. Invited was a kind word for what Ivar did. Because really, it was no invitation-- not when you wanted to know where he was, where he… “Besides, it is nice to see the boys.” 

Bjorn was nowhere to be seen. But Hvitserk was drinking heartily at the bar, throwing back booze after booze, while Sigurd played jauntily with a small crew by his side. None of them looked like war-stricken hounds. Except-- Hvitserk, yes, Hvitserk. Hvitserk looked like--

“The boys,” he laughs. “And me?” 

You suppress that damn laughter and turn toward what was really on your mind. “When did that curvă show?” 

“The girl?” Ubbe sets his hand to yours as if there are more important things to focus on, but there isn’t. Your head follows her even after Ubbe has rounded the corner to the back office. “Ivar’s new girl.” 

“Margrethe--” 

Ubbe shakes his head. That’s the end of that. Margrethe, expired. Freydis-- the new girl. His new girl. Dead girl walking. And still she’s the lucky one. The envy in your belly twinges. Then it burns. 

“Are you okay?” Ubbe asks. 

“Do you want to have whiskey?” 

“Now?” he prompts. 

“Well,” you shift over the table, spreading your legs over the table, slightly dangling. “Ivar did say there would be men here. It could be like old times.” 

He lingers in front of the door, likely feeling a thousand thoughts, but it’s pointless really. His eyes close, just enough that you know he’s debating it-- and what for? Had Ivar not made his choice? He’s tempted enough. Despite the rattling of voices behind that door, he’s thinking about it. You shrug off your shawl, clap back on heels, step by step, until you’re there-- in front of him. He can’t. Not at first, not until you bring his hands around your back, pressing into him. He willingly squeezes your ass, leaning his head back, gazing at you to weigh your seriousness. 

“Like old times.” Like old times implied being second-- second to his baby brother. But for one night, should he really care? Ubbe spins you around, jerks your ass to his back, and you feel him growing hard against his slacks. He thinks back to all those days before coming back, swatting your hips with emphasis.

“Go get the whiskey.” You move-- toward the stash, but he stops you cold. “No. Go get it from Ivar.” 

@tephi101 @alicedopey @supernaturalvikingwhore @tootie-fruity @titty-teetee @queen-see-ya-in-valhalla @ethereallysimple @deathbyarabbit @deathbyarabbit @readsalot73 @natalie-rdr @lol-haha-joke @lisinfleur @hissouthernprincess @marvelousse @dangerous-like-a-loaded-pistol @vikingsmania @wish-i-was-a-mermaid @lif3snotouttogetyou​ @gruffle1 @cris101071 @gold-dragon-slayer @babypink224221​ @wonderwoman292​ @naaladareia​ @beyond-the-ashes​ @generic-fangirl​ @chinduda​ @laketaj24​, @peaceisadirtyword, @ly–canthrope @cris101071 @daughterofthenight117 @unassumingviking @ladyofsoa, @inforapound @winchesterwife27 @feyrearcheron44​ @readsalot73​ @squirrelacorngliterfarts​ @gold-dragon-slayer @medievalfangirl @sallydelys  @bluearchersstuff​ @affectionrabbitt @whatamood13 @notyouraveragegirl17 @igetcarriedawaywithyou @unacceptabletatertots @ivarandersen @stra-vage @tgrrose @cookies186 @learninglemni-blog @theleeshanotlouise @soiproclaim @msmorganforever

[kickingitwithkirk]

Beyond Seduction: pt II

Pairing: Artist!Sam Winchester x Isobella Tennant

Warnings: cursing, flirting, touching, sexual innuendos, low self esteem, domineering mother

WC:2508

A/N: So in this part Isobella implements the next step in her plan and the slow burn starts building between Sam and her.

Part I

Mobile masterlist

*no beta, all mistakes are mine

***

The new boy had scurried off the fetch more coal as the door knocker sounded. Sam opened it and was stunned to see who was standing there.

“Are you still interested in painting me?”

Sam blinked a few times thinking he was imagining her standing there but no, she hadn’t disappeared. “Did Crowley seek you out to jolly me from the doldrums?” He chided her as he leisurely leaned against the door jam.

Izzy stood up ramrod straight, pushing her shoulders back and jutted out her jaw, “Who’s Crowley? Obviously, you were not serious, I’m sorry to have bothered you.” She tursley replies, marching back down his walkway before he knew it.

“Wait!” Sam called out louder than intended, making her pause as he rushed out the door barefoot wincing from the cold and stopped in front of her, “I’m sorry, you took me by surprise, I was beginning to think I had imagined you.” She raised an eyebrow at that remark.

“Perhaps you should seek help from Doktor Freud,” It was Sam’s turn to raise an eyebrow, surprised she knew about the famous psychoanalyst, “if all you can imagine is someone who looks like me.” He was set back at the disparaging comment about herself.

“How about we discuss it inside before my neighbors think I’m even madder than they already believe.” He glances down drawing her attention to his inappropriate outdoor attire.

“Oh hell, how are you not freezing?”

“Actually, I am but I wasn’t gonna let you disappear again.” She lets out a little huff before proceeding him across the threshold into his brightly lit home.

All the gas lights are turned up as evening sets in, illuminating the area almost as brightly as daytime. Izzy lingers in the entryway looking around at the sumptuous if eclectic furnishings enhanced by the lighter colored walls.

Sam quietly observers her. The coat is way too big, swallowing her frame, gloves are almost worn out and the wool wrapper is hiding most of her head.

She stops, turned in profile in front of a statue of Anubis, running a gloved finger over the engravings along its base. Sam can clearly see the curve of cheekbones and the strong cut of her jaw. Sensing him watching, she turns to face him full on.

Sam steps closer as his artist's eyes continue cataloguing her features. A small smile plays on his lips at an errant smudge of soot on a cheek, the cinnamon freckles dusted across her face standing out against her creamy skin, even her full lips possess them. The nondescript nose is the same.

He remembers her being well above the normal height of most women, realizing it’s not from the heels of her indecently revealed boots under that god awful orange dress, it’s all her.

He moves scant inches in front of her, forcing her to tip her head back to continue making eye contact with him.

Sam’s stomach free falls in disbelief at their color, even her long lashes are exactly like Dean’s.

Were like Dean’s...Sam mentally having to remind himself his beloved older brother has been gone for nearly sixteen years.

“Fuck, your very tall!” She blurts out, snapping him from his dark musings.

“So are you and a lady does not use such language.” Sam gently admonishes, making her snort in a very unladylike manner, “Then you haven’t spent much time around real ladies if you believe they don’t curse.”

Sam chuckles knowing all too well those real ladies. Lady De Burgh did erotic things with him that would have even the lowest prostitute blushing. “You are very free with your opinions.”

She shrugged, “I prefer to be truthful than a sycophant like most of the queen's court.”

“Touché. Now that we are done exchanging the pleasantries,” Sam reached for the top button of the overcoat she stiffened, “I am not a whore even if my employer has cast me off.”

Sam lightly traced the button with his index finger, “He cast you off because of what happened that night?” His voice took a hard edge at how she had been treated by the Duke.

She bit her lower lip looking down, “None of that,” Sam touched her lip gently pulling it free and rubbed his thumb across it, enjoying its plumpness, “I’d rather you didn’t damage yourself and you’ve done nothing wrong to warrant dismissal, even if he has had his fill of you.”

It had always elicited anger in him at how the aristocracy thought they were above reproach for the way they treated those in their employment. Too many times he had seen women dismissed when the lord of the manor was done with them, moving on to the next young chit.

She looked up at him, “I know what is expected of a model...” blushing, she was unable to finish.

“I have never asked any woman to give more than she’s willing. I won’t deny I want you to warm my bed,” her eyes widened as Sam slowly licked his pink lips suggestively, distracting her as he unbuttoned the coat and moving behind her, slips it off, dropping it onto a nearby chair, and lowered his voice saying, “but only because it’s what you want too.”

Sam tipped his head down a bit, close enough she could feel him breathing against her cheek, the heat of him radiating on her back barely a hands width away, making her tremble, getting a sense of how imposing he really is as he takes the end of her scarf and untwined it to reveal her messy, barely held up by a few pins, hair. He gives into temptation and removed them.

Her hair was even more glorious than he remembered, luxuriously thick waves, kinked from the damp weather, tumbled past her waist, below her buttocks, brushing her thighs in a fiery mixture of reds and golds.

Sam walked in front of her watching her shiver, delighted he was already having an affect on her. “You’ve caught a chill. Let me show you to your room where you can freshen up.”

Sam lead her up three flights of stairs to the servants quarters in the attic. “You have the floor to yourself. Mrs. Mills has her own house, the maid lives with an aunt, the new boy is in the carriage house and of course Crowley is in the basement,” Izzy squinted at the amused way he said it, “the butlers quarters.”

“The WC is across the hall.” Sam remarks opening the door for Izzy to enter into the cupboard sized room typical for a governess and leans against the jam crossing his arms.

Upon the washstand sat a chipped basin and pitcher, the dresser had a fine layer of dust on it but the floor was recently swept, the linens laying on the narrow bed appear freshly laundered.

“The stove draws but we don’t skimp on coal, not that I’d expect you to light your own fire unless you want to.” Sam dropped a hand to rest on his thigh emphasizing his actual meaning. “I missed lunch, if you’re hungry, join me in the Blue room in a half hour.”

“You want me to sup with you?” Izzy asked confusedly, assuming she would be taking her meals with his other servants.

“Of course, even though I’m employing you, I prefer my models to dine with me, as would any guest would in my home. I’m afraid it will be whatever Crowley comes up with, Mrs. Mills won’t be back till Monday. If you prefer, I can have something sent up.”

Izzy was about to answer when her stomach rumbled loudly in the quiet quarters making Sam laugh, “I’m guessing you’ll join me?” She nodded in response. “Good, I’ll see you shortly Izzy Morgan.” Sam's eyes raked over her one more time before closing the door. Izzy sat in the bed shaking but not from the cool room.

Whether it was from her adrenaline tapering off or the sheer arousal Sam made her feel she wasn’t sure of. One thing she did know, one way or another, she wouldn’t leave his home an unsullied woman.

Dinner turned out to be sausage, rewarmed biscuits and a gravy that looked strange but was tasty. Sam lounged in his chair watching Izzy eat like a well mannered lady, she obviously had picked that up from being in service, but cleaned her plate like a dock worker. He had to add being a pinch penny to the Duke's growing list of faults when it came to his staff, judging by the way the awful orange dress was to short and hung loosely on her frame.

“I can get Crowley to fix you something else,” a confused expression crossed Izzy features wondering why he said that after she had already finished her dinner, “I noticed you cleared your plate.”

Oh.

Izzy felt her stomach clench so hard it hurt, once again hearing her mother’s voice running through her head about her unladylike appetite, eating everything in front of her as if she was some common field hand instead of a titled lady.

Lavinia Tennant never missed an opportunity to chastise her unladylike daughter.

A true lady eats like a bird, only a few tiny bits of each course out of politeness. No gentlemen would ever want a wife who eats more than him.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to eat this much, I won’t do it again.” Izzy automatically apologized using the tone that always placates her mother, staring at the table.

Sam sat up in surprise watching Izzy rapidly blinking, regaining control of herself realizing he had unwittingly triggered something in her. What had happened to her ? “I didn’t mean to imply you ate too much,” he reached over placing a finger under her chin and gently lifted up trying to get her to look at him, “I thought perhaps you were still hungry and would like something else. I’m not chastising you.”

Izzy finally looked up and Sam was saddened by the expression he found.

“In my home no one goes without what they need, do not be afraid to ask. And you’re welcome to raid my kitchen anytime, day or night. Do you understand me Izzy?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good, and it’s Sam. And do not think it has slipped my notice that you brought nothing, not even a toothbrush. I keep a few clothes on hand for my models but I doubt they’ll fit. If you can survive till Monday, I’ll take you to a dressmaker I know for something that’s not...this.” Sam finished gesturing the dress making him develop a hatred for the color orange.

“I feel like an orange nightmare.” Izzy comments, sounding more like herself.

She was intriguing him more and more. He knew she was made of sterner stuff but wondered what had happened to create the dichotomy he just witnessed.

“If you’re not too tired I want to get you in my studio and do some preliminary sketches tonight.”

***

Izzy wandered around the large room with high ceilings covered in tin refracting the lighting from the towering candelabras Sam lit. He didn’t use the gas lighting in here, something about the way the light cast something or another. She shivered slightly wondering why the room was cooler than the rest of the house.

As Sam pulled out a sketch pad and charcoal from a cabinet watching her moving in the periphery, examining everything with the same curiosity she had shown earlier stopping in front of a small copy of Venus and Cupid with a Saytar. “Did you do this?”

“Yes,” Sam said as he sat down on the stool he had placed near the raised platform covered in pillows, “it was the only one I have left from Italy. The Master would toss all of our works in the fire when he had to much to drink”

“You traveled quite a bit in your studies?”

“I was lucky that I had a chance to study with several Masters around Europe.”

“I’ve only been to Scotland once. Weather was dreadful but I wouldn't have traded it for a month of sunny days.” Izzy moved over to the platform and stood in front of it, “So how do you want me?”

Sam swallowed feeling himself becoming aroused at the innocent question as several ideas ran through his mind. “Please sit, I want to do a few preliminary sketches, familiarize myself with your features.” He watched as she stepped up and sat cross legged on the pillows keeping the ramrod straight posture like a duchess, something ladies were trained to do from childhood.

After about an hour she was wiggling around more than a professional model, “Can you sit still for more than a minute?” Sam huffed out ripping off another sheet, adding it to the growing pile around his feet. “Let's take a break.” Izzy stood up and arched her back stretching that awful dress taught over her revealing some interesting curves under its bagginess.

“That dress has gotten on my last nerve,” Sam barked out and pulled his shirt off handing it to her, “put this on.”

Izzy froze staring at him. She had seen men’s bare chests before, all her brothers weren't the most modest, but their figures were nothing compared to Sam’s.

He possessed musculature that could have been used for an anatomy manual, long chestnut hair brushed his broad shoulders encased in sun kissed golden skin, random beauty marks dotted his torso, a light smattering of hair sat between his nipples, toned stomach accented by the deep v of his hips.

Izzy already thought he was extremely attractive but after seeing Sam like this, he was breathtakingly beautiful.

Reluctantly taking the shirt she moved behind the carved screen participating a corner and unbuttoned her dress with shaking fingers. “Don’t forget to remove your chemise too.” Sam said standing directly on the other side.

“I know that Sam.” Izzy irritably tossed her dress over the screen hearing Sam curse after it landed on his head making her giggle.

She peeked around the screen at the sound of the candelabras being moved behind the platform. “I need to see you in a different lighting angle.” Sam tells her before perching on the stool again.

“Whenever your ready.”

Izzy feels her breathing becoming rapid as her nerves take over. She’s never been this undressed in front of any man before, not even Greyson and Sam Winchester was definitely not just any man.

“I know your nervous but I will only look at you as an artist and their subject. I won’t do anything untoward you unless you want it too.” Sam emphasizes again.

Izzy took a deep breath and came around the screen, walked to the platform and stepped on it.

“Don’t sit yet, move to the center in front of me please.” She moved to the designated spot.

“Turn around slowly,”

Sam felt his breath catch as the lighting behind her turned his white shirt translucent and he could see her figure.

Forevers: @donnaintx

[likeanemployee]

White Rose Week: The Ball

Fair warning this accidentally got kinda long but I really like it and I hope you will too. Enjoy!

“ugh you know I really thought I’d would never have to go to another dance.” Ruby complained to no one in particular as she rummaged through her closet for an outfit which had found its way to the back for very good reason

“It’s not a dance it’s a ball” Weiss corrected sternly sliding Ruby aside and pulling the dress Ruby had been looking for out after barely glancing in the closet.

“What’s the difference?” Ruby asked grumpily slumping into a chair and crossing her arms.

“Dances are for school children. Grown ups have balls” Yang answered with a smile from across the room where she had been busily fussing over her hair.

“That’s not true!” Weiss answered defiantly, she had hung Ruby’s dress on the door and turned to address Yang. “Well actually it might be kind of true.” She admitted after a moment when her disapproving glare failed to leave even a scuff on Yang’s aloof grin.

“It’s entirely true!” Yang laughed back as she turned back to the mirror she was brushing her hair in.

“It’s not entirely true” Blake chimed in standing with a stretch from where she had been sitting amusedly watching her teammates antics as they prepared for the evening. “Calling something a ball implies a much higher brow setting then is common at school dances. You wouldn’t expect to find someone twerking at ball for example” she finished with a chuckle.

“I better not find anyone twerking at this ball” Weiss answered tossing another severe look Yang’s way “and I’d use the word sophisticated not highbrow” she added toward Blake.

“Well whatever you want to call it” Ruby butted back in with a huff “It’s still going to stink. Weissssss?” she asked turning to Weiss and giving her, her best desperate pleading look “are you sure I have to go?”

“No, Ruby you don’t have to come” Weiss answered as if it were the simplest statement in the world but all three of the other members of team RWBY turned and stared at her dumbfounded

“Really!?!” Ruby proclaimed unwillingly to believe Weiss had really just said that

“Of course,” Weiss’s casual almost flippant tone morphed into a deadly sarcasm “I’m sure it’ll be fine. The entire purpose of this ball was only to introduce you to the Schnee families many important contacts and serve as a sort of official declaration of our relationship but no I’m sure it won’t matter if you just don’t show up. I’ll tell all the important, busy people who came specifically to see us and meet you that you really just didn’t want to come tonight. I’m sure they’ll understand they’re all very reasonable it only took me most of my childhood to learn all proper ways to interact with them after all. So yes, it’s perfectly fine for you to decide you aren’t coming at the last second.”

In their time as huntresses Blake and Yang had faced monsters more horrific then most people could imagine and seen furious displays of rage which should only have been possibly in the darkest of nightmares and yet both were petrified by that icy assault and they held their breath waiting for something to break the deadly silence left in its wake. After only a few heart beats Ruby did.

“Great!” She proclaimed excitedly, leaving a peck of a kiss on Weiss’s cheek before dashing out the door. Shock held Weiss, Blake and Yang in motionless silence for an instant more before Yang broke into uproarious laughter with Blake chuckling along at her side. Weiss simply let out a long sigh and hung her head in defeat.

“She didn’t hear a word after you don’t have to come, did she?” Weiss asked looking back up at Blake and Yang

“I don’t know she might have made it as far as of course” Yang answered still laughing

“I would be upset, but I think I signed up for this” Weiss replied

“Or at least agreed to it.” Blake chuckled “I never did hear who asked who out”

“It was more of a one day they mutually realized they should kiss sorta thing” Yang answered

“That’s..!” Weiss started for the second time but stopped herself short “Actually kind of true too. Ruby told you?”

“Of course! I’m her sister.” Yang answered dramatically “plus she’ll tell you anything if you offer a big enough plate of cookies”  

“Why am I dating this dolt.” Weiss replied rolling her eyes

“I love Ruby, but I really don’t know” Yang laughed back “maybe you should just leave her and call this whole ball off”

“no” Weiss sighed “for some reason I do like her, and I want her to meet everyone, actually I couldn’t care less if she meets everyone, but they expect to meet her and this is an important step in our relationship”

“speaking of” Blake said “shouldn’t we go find Ruby and bring her back”

“yes, will you guys help?” Weiss asked

“Of course,” Yang answered pulling herself out of her chair “Now if I were that little dunder head where would I go”

*******************

(following section partially borrowed from @derpyslurpy-da-derp-master check out this post)

“It’s still going to stink.” Ruby complained in the same chair with the same grumpy expression only much later “Weissss?”

“We did this once we are not doing it again” Weiss answered “Yes you have to go, Ruby. And if you leave this room again, I will kill you.”

“You could try” Ruby grumbled to herself but loudly enough everyone else could hear

“I’m going to ignore that.” Weiss answered, “Now you better start getting ready after your disappearing act we barely have enough time!”

“Well for your information I am getting ready” Ruby said pointing one heeled foot at Weiss “and what I was going to ask is if I have to wear these…lady stilts”

“mmm no actually. For real this time.” Weiss answered, “if you have nice flats wear them, you’re taller than me as is.”

“wait” Ruby said kicking off the one heel she had put on and jumping up to stand next to Weiss “Ahahah! Aww Weiss, how had I not noticed?!? you’re so short! You’re even still wearing your shoes and I’m still taller than you!”

“Shut up, dolt!” Weiss answered turning her back to Ruby and crossing her arms “I don’t care about that!” she lied “I just know you can’t dance in heels! And we are dancing together tonight” she said turning back to Ruby and pointing a stern finger under her nose

“Whatever,” Ruby answered, “your threats don’t scare me I know now your just my tiny adorable little girlfriend, probably need me to protect you from…” she was cut off by Myrtenaster’s razor tip suddenly replacing the stern finger beneath her nose “ah hehe I uh I’ll stop now” Ruby finished

“Good now finish getting ready” Weiss answered setting her blade aside

Each went about their business for a time, at some point Weiss left the room and when she came back, she was wearing her dress and, at least as far as Ruby was concerned, looked flawless.

“Woah….WEISS YOU’RE SOO PRETTY!!!” Ruby exclaimed dashing over to her partner “But you’re still a midget” she added towering over Weiss as she tried to hold Ruby at arm’s length

“Get off me you dolt!” Weiss protested “You’ll mess up my dress and let me put my dress heels on then you won’t seem so tall.”

“I’ll be exactly the same amount of tall you’ll seem less short!” Ruby retorted playfully looking down and realizing Weiss was barefoot

“Whatever dork!” Weiss answered “Just zip me up the last little bit and go put your dress on”

Ruby smiled back pulled the zipper on Weiss’s dress up the last inch or so and grabbed her dress off the closet door it was still hanging on

“What has she been doing all this time” Weiss asked Yang who was now in her own dress but still fussing with her hair.

“mostly complaining about ‘lady stilts’.” Yang answered, “a little more laughing at your height.”

“Ugh fine whatever how’s my make-up” Weiss asked looking at herself in the same mirror Yang was brushing her hair in

“Flawless, as always” Yang answered in what almost wasn’t jealousy

“You know” Blake answered standing from where she had been putting on her shoes “She only asks so you’ll tell her that. If you stopped encouraging her, she’d stop asking”

“I know,” Yang grumbled “but look at it, credit where it’s due even if it does make my own attempts look barbaric”

“Well I think you look beautiful” Blake replied sweetly

“Aww thanks babe!” Yang replied finally, setting down her brush and turning toward Blake “You look beautiful too!”

Weiss smiled as she lightly shook her head at the couple which had been together much longer then she and Ruby. They had been through a lot together and it was always nice to see them having simple happy interactions.  

“There happy?” Ruby asked stomping back into the room and doing a quick spin to show her dress.

“Come here and let me see” Weiss answered and started picking away at Ruby’s dress smoothing sections and adjusting others. “Hold still!” She demanded of her partner grabbing Yang’s brush and quickly adjusting Ruby’s hair to lay nicer. “There. Now let me see the shoes you picked out.” Ruby walked over to the chair she had been pouting in earlier and grabbed the reasonably nice but distinctly comfortable looking pair of shoes she had set in the chair earlier. “No.” Weiss answered simply “What about that black pair?”

“You mean the ones you bought me for our first dinner with your father?” Ruby more whined then asked, “They pinch my toes, they’re almost worse than the heels!” Weiss just glared back at Ruby and after a moment Ruby dropped her head in defeat “Ooooh fine!” Ruby said with a stomp and went to get the shoes and put them on. By the time she was done Weiss, Blake and Yang were standing by the door ready and waiting for her “there” Ruby repeated as she approached them “now are you happy.”

“Yes.” Weiss answered simply “let’s get going we might even make it as early as I wanted to.” She finished eliciting one final  

“aaaawwwwww” from Ruby

*******************

They arrived at the large ballroom Weiss had reserved about a half hour before guests started arriving. Weiss had immediately set about running all over the large building ensuring everything was exactly as it was supposed to be. Ruby had found the most secluded seat at the most secluded of the tables set up around the dance floor and pulled out her scroll. Blake and Yang took themselves on a brief tour of the building to examine the décor before siting opposite Ruby and entertaining themselves with light conversation while they awaited the start of the festivities. Eventually a man took up a prominent position near the entrance and announced the names of two wealthy Atlesians. The couple walked regally through the main entrance and across the dance floor before taking seats on the opposite side of the hall from Ruby, Blake and Yang. The process repeated itself over and over as more guests arrived. The noise of dozens of small conversations began to fill the hall as those familiar with each other began to gather and discuss the attire of each new arrival. Ruby, too, found herself critiquing each guest as they strut to their seat. Unlike so many others she kept her thoughts too herself, but it was hard not to notice the, in Ruby’s opinion excessively, extravagant outfits so many wore. If nothing else it was a way of distracting herself from thinking about how all these complete strangers were here to see her, even worse they wanted to meet and actually talk to her. It filled her with dread every time she thought about it and it was much easier to think about how horribly uncomfortable those weird pink shoes looked then to wonder what she could possibly say to the woman wearing them.

Eventually, Yang sat up a little and pointed across the hall “oh I think it’s time Blakey” Ruby followed her finger and saw Weiss standing discretely near the entrance gesturing at them and then the door.

“So it seems” Blake answered and both stood and started to leave

Wait where are you guys going?” Ruby asked somewhat nervously, she hadn’t really been engaging with them but having them nearby gave her a familiar safety net.

“It’s our turn to arrive” Yang said with a smile

“But you’re already here?” Ruby asked confused

“yes but they have to announce us like everybody else” Blake explained with a smile “We really should have done this earlier, I’m guessing the reason Weiss was pointing at us so aggressively is we’re the only guests who haven’t “shown up” yet and then it’ll be your turn.”

“My turn?” Ruby asked

“Just stay here I’m sure Weiss will come get you shortly.” Yang laughed back before Blake pulled on her arm saying

“Come on we should get going before Weiss does come to get her and yells at us.”

“it’ll be fine” Yang replied following after her “I’m always fashionably late.”

“That’s true.” Blake smiled back “although I don’t know about the fashionable part

“Hey…!” yang started in response, but she trailed off as the pair got too far away for Ruby to hear their conversation.

Ruby stared after them for a moment and then started fidgeting nervously as she worried about where Weiss was or if she was supposed to be somewhere for “her turn”. She began scanning the hall for any sign of Weiss becoming more and more anxious as she failed to spot her. Suddenly something poked Ruby from behind and she nearly jumped out of her seat as she turned to find Weiss standing behind her “where did? How did you?” she stammered

“Come on it’s almost time” Weiss said clearly ignoring Ruby’s questions and grabbing her hand to lead her away. She sped Ruby through a small passage hidden behind the various decorations which lined the ball room allowing them to pass quickly and discreetly from the rear to the front of the large hall.

As they went Ruby heard the now familiar voice announce, “Huntresses Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long!” and she craned her neck trying to catch a glimpse of Blake or her sister around the decorations. Before long they arrived at the front of the hall and Weiss turned to face Ruby grabbing both of her hands in her own.

“Are you ready!?” Weiss said a giant grin on her face “It’s almost time for our big moment!”

Ruby smiled back all of her anxiety, at least momentarily, washed away as she got caught up in the pure joy on Weiss’ face “You’re so excited.” Ruby laughed “I might even say giddy if I didn’t know you better.”

“I am.” Weiss admitted “There’s a lot I don’t miss about my old life in Atlas. All the rules, the lack of control over myself and all these people” she waved her hand back toward the crowd now waiting for the guests of honor to make their official appearance “are so fake and so caught up in meaningless little trivialities but this!” The excitement in her voice had faded as she listed her grievances, but it returned now as she swung her hands encompassing the whole ball “I missed this. All the dresses and beautiful scenery, the pomp and circumstance everything! I’ve learned to love all the little things, things I once might have looked down on because they weren’t fancy enough, but I almost never get to do this kind of thing anymore Ruby. You never forget the things you first loved growing up and this is what I grew up on.”

“If you say so” Ruby teased and marveled at the thought of sitting through something like this as a child, let alone enjoying it, she could barely stand it now and she was a grown (mostly) woman!  Still there was something to what Weiss was saying the place really was beautiful and rather despite herself and her critiques she had actually somewhat enjoyed watching everyone enter, it was almost like a parade in an odd sort of way.

“The best part though” Weiss continued unaware of Ruby’s thoughts “is that unlike all too many other balls I’ve had to attend this one means something. It’s important, because it’s about you and me and celebrating what we mean to each other. That’s what we’re about to do Ruby, that’s why I’m excited because we’re about to go out there and they’ll announce us and we’ll walk together across the hall hand in hand and let everyone know we are a couple and we love each other! Because… I do love you.”

Ruby had folded in on herself, staring nervously at the ground as Weiss reminded her she was about to have to go out in front of all those people and have them all watch her and probably judge every tiny miss step she makes but she looked back up as Weiss said she loved her. It wasn’t the first time they had said that to each other, but they hadn’t said it very many times and the words were still powerful. “I love you too.” Ruby replied smiling her brightest smile yet back at Weiss

“Perfect” Weiss answered grabbing Ruby’s hand and pulling her against her side “Now just hold that smile and follow me” she took a few steps forward and stopped so the pair was just out of sight of the main hall with all the guests. She nodded at the man who had been announcing each new arrival, he smiled and nodded back before stepping out and addressing the crowd

“Ladies and Gentleman” his carefully trained voice raised above the clamor of conversations without sounding as though he were shouting not that it matter for long as the entire room fell silent and turned toward the entrance “It is my honor to present to you” he continued “this evenings guests of honor. Huntresses, teammates, partners and now a couple the lovely miss Weiss Schnee and miss Ruby Rose.”

Ruby’s nerves had been growing steadily as she stood and waited for man to complete his introduction, she did her best to maintain the smile she had given Weiss, but she could feel a hole forming in her stomach. She felt light, almost empty as the dread of stepping out in front of that crowd filled her and then as the man said their names Weiss gave her arm a gentle tug and they step out together. Almost the instant they came into view the crowd broke into applause and Ruby felt near panic. There were so many of them and they were all watching her, she turned all her attention to holding her smile and keeping careful steady pace with Weiss. They took a few more steps and slowly Ruby’s confidence began to grow. It wasn’t so bad really, she walked slowly even gracefully next to Weiss without much trouble and all the people were clapping, clapping for her and Weiss, not judging them, maybe she had let herself get too worked up about all this. Eventually, she even managed to pull enough of her attention away from the placement of her feet to glance sideways at Weiss. What she saw was the greatest smile she had ever seen on the Ice Queen’s face. This wasn’t the smile of an heiress putting on an appearance because it was the proper thing to do but the smile of a young woman who couldn’t be happier or prouder to be with the woman she loved and to show that love to everyone. Ruby saw that smile and no longer struggled to maintain her own, she forgot all the people, all her worries and any thoughts about proper protocol. She took a half step closer to Weiss so that the pair who had already been walking closely together and holding hands, had their arms pressed against each other. As she did this Ruby leaned her head over against Weiss’ shoulder and the crowd’s applause redoubled at the obvious sign of affection. Another two steps carried them to the end of the dance floor and Weiss turned so they once again faced each other holding both hands before them. They stared into each other’s eyes sharing brilliant smiles before leaning in for a kiss. At this point despite the obvious social faux pas and perhaps due to the influence of one Yang Xiao Long getting things started, the highly cultured and formal audience actually broke into cheers. The kiss lasted only a moment and Ruby followed Weiss’ lead as it ended turning back toward their guests, bowing and then walking off the dance floor toward one of the side tables. As soon as they raised from the bow the orchestra started playing, the cheering stopped, and people began flooding onto the dance floor with their partners. Adrenaline was rushing through Ruby and she plopped into one of the chairs at a nearby table smiling over at Weiss as she took a seat next to her

“I was really nervous but that was incredible” she said still high on the moment.

“it was.” Weiss smiled back “we broke so many rules they’ll be talking about this for months”

Ruby’s smiled faded and she sat up straight with a look of concern as she asked Weiss “Oh no I didn’t mess the whole thing up did I?”

“No” Weiss laughed “not really anyway and I went along with you and made it worse even if you did. You’re not supposed to lean on me like that and we really weren’t supposed to kiss. It’s supposed to be a simple walk down the hall a quick bow and then get out of the way for the music but the only thing these people like more than their protocols is a good romantic gesture which brakes all their precious rules and gives them something to talk about. Besides they we’re just as bad as we were only uncivilized heathens cheer”

“well if you say so” Ruby replied sounding unconvinced

“Trust me, you’ll see” Weiss answered “I’m sure at least a few of the ladies present will feel the need to mention how wonderful it is that we clearly love each other so much and later tonight at home a few of their more cynical husbands will insist the whole thing was actually scripted to make it look like we care for each other more than we do. That has to be it after all otherwise they would look bad” there was a hint of genuine spite in Weiss’ teasing but she smiled and laughed and continued “Besides all of that is forgetting the most important thing, which is that we enjoyed it.”

“I really, really did!” Ruby smiled back “and I didn’t think I would.”

*******************

“Ruby you’re really good at this!” Weiss whispered in amazement over an hour later as she spun around the dance floor enjoying their first dance of the evening. The time in between had been spent sitting at the same table they had sat at immediately after their introduction, greeting each and every one of the guests personally. They came in couples in a perfect steady stream which seemed magical to Ruby, the next stepping up almost the instant the previous left and yet without ever forming a line. The magic of this, however, was quickly replaced by dread in Ruby as the lack of a line gave a sense of endlessness to the process. She had settled in after a while, introducing herself to each new couple and allowing Weiss to handle most of the proceeding small talk. The conversations were short lasting no more than a minute or two before one couple would excuse themselves and the next would arrive. Weiss’ prediction had come true with nearly half of the women present repeating the same phrase almost word for word “it’s lovely to see how much you two care for each other” occasionally lovely would be replaced by wonderful and care by love but the rest was almost like it was scripted. In fact, Ruby wasn’t entirely sure there wasn’t some secret script for the whole evening that everyone else had received at some point, but she couldn’t come up with a reason Weiss wouldn’t have given her one so maybe not. In any case, the first time someone had said it Ruby had looked at Weiss in amazement impressed by her accuracy. Before the fourth, person to repeat the sentiment Weiss had nudged Ruby lightly under the table and pointed at the woman discretely with her nose during the few seconds it took the couple to approach. After Ruby realized what Weiss had been predicting it had turned into a silent game with each poking the other as a new guest greeted them trying to predict who would say the line. The small entertainment helped keep Ruby sane through the long process, which was only interrupted when Yang had stopped by, apparently based on a few reactions, cutting in whatever magical invisible line the others knew about, to check on how they, and especially Ruby were doing. Finally, though, and somewhat suddenly, couples had stopped showing up at their table. Ruby had glanced around unable to believe at first that it was really over but when she saw no one new for a whole minute she sat back and sighed a deep sigh of relief. Weiss, during the same time, had stood and looked down at her with pity before saying

“Okay, Ruby, one dance and then you can disappear I can probably cover you for the rest of the night after that.”

Ruby had looked around nervously as Weiss lead her to the dance floor between songs. They had taken their spot and Ruby had stared down at her feet for a moment before taking a deep breath and looking up straight into Weiss’ eyes. An instant later the music had started and to Weiss’ amazement Ruby had taken off leading her in beautiful perfect movements through the song. Now, Ruby smiled brightly delighted as Weiss’ comment indicated her surprise had worked “Well, of course” she answered in a teasing arrogance “I’m really good at a lot of things Weiss!”

Weiss smiled at the joke, but she shook her head at the same time still amazed and confused she asked, “But I thought you hated dancing?”

“I hate dances” Ruby corrected “I like dancing.” Weiss stared back jaw slightly agape unable to process this new information Ruby simply laughed as she continued to twirl Weiss lightly to the music. “To be fair” Ruby continued to explain “This isn’t exactly the kind of music I would normally dance to and I had to ask Yang and Blake to teach me how, but it isn’t that hard. I was already pretty decent at following a beat and the rest is just about working with your partner something we do all the time. This is a little less dangerous then fighting grim together, but the idea is the same watch your partner, react to what they do and indicate to them what you want them to do. Easy!” she smiled

“Well I love it” Weiss answered, “This is wonderful.” She finished and fell silent enjoying the rest of the dance. As the orchestra fell silent and they prepared for the next piece the dance floor became a mass of movement as couples came on off the floor. Ruby moved to leave with them, but Weiss caught her hand stopping her and asking “Wait, where are you going? I know I said only one dance, but I thought…?” Ruby turned to look up at Weiss as she spoke. As Ruby turned Weiss released her hand, she looked so disappointed staring back at Ruby as her arm fell to her side “I thought that you liked dancing with me” she finished sadly.

“I did, I do” Ruby answered quickly stepping back to Weiss and taking both of her hands I her own. “but...” Ruby continued looking nervously around, the movement around them had mostly settled and the next song was about to start. Weiss looked up at the same time and quickly pulled Ruby aside before the song could stop but she wasn’t ready to give up quite yet.

“But what?” she asked, “I don’t understand, Ruby, a minute ago you said you liked dancing and you’re really good at it so what are you so worried about.”

“I told you it’s not about the dancing” Ruby grumbled quietly embarrassed

“So what then?” Weiss asked calmly, caringly and without a hint of the anger or frustration another may have expected out of the Ice Queen

“It’s the people” Ruby answered gesturing out at the dance floor “I don’t mind the dancing, I don’t really even mind the clothes or the fancy schmacy hall but I hate being around all these strangers. I don’t know, I can’t really explain it, I’m just not comfortable in crowds. I don’t know how to act around them.”

“I knew you weren’t exactly the most social person alive, but I didn’t realize it was that bad” Weiss answered

“Well, it’s not.” Ruby said trying to find the words “Not all the time anyway, it’s easier in smaller groups or the more familiar a setting is or if I know some of the people pretty well but this… It’s all so different and I don’t know anybody but you, well and Yang and Blake but they keep disappearing, so it’s hard”

“I’m sorry” Weiss answered “I didn’t mean to force you into something…”

“It’s fine” Ruby interrupted “I know this was important to you and that you’ve had fun. I even had fun at some points I just don’t know how to deal with people.”

They both stood silently for a moment each unsure what else to say when suddenly a smile creeped across Weiss’ face.  She grabbed Ruby’s hand pulling her back onto the dance floor as the most recent song ended saying “I have an idea.” Ruby, surprised by the sudden movement and unable to stop herself followed her, she prepared to protest as Weiss stopped but Weiss continued before she could “You were fine while we were dancing right?” she asked

“Well sure but..” Ruby replied getting cut off by Weiss before she could add any more

“so just ignore everybody else and focus on me and between songs I’ll talk to you and distract you and it’ll all be fine”

“I don’t know, I mean maybe but..” Ruby started but Weiss interrupted her again

“Just try it, please for me, and then if your still uncomfortable you can leave”

“Ok” Ruby agreed grabbing Weiss as the music started up and started to dance. Quickly the discomfort Ruby had clearly been feeling melted behind a smile of pure joy as she got lost in her rhythmic movements with Weiss. The bliss held for a moment as the song came to an end but before long the nerves began to return Weiss saw the smile on her face start to fall and her eyes began to wander. Weiss said her name drawing Ruby’s attention back to her and did her best to hold it there. At the same time she carefully repositioned Ruby, so they were near the edge of the dance floor and away from as many people as possible. The process repeated itself and Ruby seemed to be enjoying herself enough to not ask to leave. Weiss found it unlikely she had completely forgotten about her anxiety, but she seemed to be distracted enough from it to get by. After a few songs Weiss managed to catch Yang’s eye and motioned for her to come near. Between songs she let Yang and Ruby talk while she explained the situation to Blake and asked her and Yang to stay nearby and help act as a kind of bubble between Ruby and the rest of the crowd. Yang agreed as soon as she was told noting that she couldn’t believe she didn’t think of it. The four stayed together with Yang and Blake helping to increase Ruby’s comfort between songs and they ended up staying the whole night until the ball came to an end and everyone headed home.

As they left Yang turned to her sister and asked “So little sis whatcha think? not so bad after all?”

“No” Ruby laughed “Actually you guys were being a little much trying to protect me after a while I mean I’m socially awkward but I’m not a total spazz!”

“we just wanted you to have a good time” Weiss said

“well I did!” Ruby answered sweetly grabbing Weiss’ hand and leaning up against her as they walked side by side. Smiling into each other’s eyes as they went.

Blake and Yang watched the pair briefly before sharing a knowing look. Yang rolled her eyes dramatically at the other pair as they paced ahead of Blake and Yang, totally oblivious to their teammates. This prompted a slight giggle from Blake before Yang announced “I uhh left something behind we’ll catch up with you guys later.”

Neither Ruby or Weiss even noticed, they were far too busy enjoying each other’s presence. They continued the relatively short walk home enjoying the peaceful and quiet evening. “Thank you for coming with me” Weiss said after a time, softly as to not disturb the serene moment, “and thank you for staying and dancing I had a really wonderful evening. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“It was nothing really.” Ruby answered equally softly “I really did have fun, too. I was dreading all this and I didn’t think it would have been possible but I had fun.”

Weiss smiled and they walk a little farther in silence before Weiss spoke again “I still can’t believe your such a good dancer” she laughed lightly in recent memory “I do I hope you know we’re doing that more even if it’s just at home by ourselves”

“As long as I don’t have to dress up” Ruby agreed with a soft laugh

“What happened to ‘I don’t really mind the dress’” Weiss teased

“Well it’s not the worst thing” Ruby admitted “I don’t like how uncomfortable it is or how long it takes to get all ready but I do really like how you always complement me on how pretty I look in it”

“Well you are really pretty” Weiss answered with a smile

“See.” Ruby said sheepishly and blushing slightly

“That doesn’t even count” Weiss replied unable to contain a grin as she looked at Ruby, she was even cuter when she blushed after all, “You prompted me. I’ll give you a real compliment later”

“well you better not wait too long” Ruby teased back “I’m taking this off as soon we get home!”

“oh?” Weiss answered with a coy smile

“Not like that!” Ruby protested the red in her face growing “you know what I mean.”  

“I do” Weiss laughed but added a suggestive “although...” before trailing off to kiss Ruby’s neck. Ruby’s face was now a dark red and her mouth open and closed wordlessly as she tried to process the exchange. Weiss laughed again saying “You’re too easy, and your extra pretty when you blush like that, but I’d better stop before all that blood rushing to your head makes you pass out.”

“Please” Ruby squeaked out, but she smiled and pressed even more tightly against Weiss as they walked.

Weiss took a moment to finish chuckling and to give time for Ruby’s face to return to a mostly normal color before she let out a happy sigh and said “I love you Ruby”

“I love you too Weiss” Ruby answered easily, and they shared a long final kiss

[deviantpath]

DEBBIE’S MODERN DAY WARDROBE: A QUICK VISUAL STUDY.

** i made the psd but don’t own the photos.

+   TOP ROW, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT:

i.   introducing the absolute classic tan + ( almost ) black pairing that i absolutely adore,   and yes  ––– this may be a little biased,   but i’m sure it’d be a winner here.     this is probably something go-to,   when there’s just a normal day out to do things.    

ii.  dresses are a STAPLE when it comes to debbie’s wardrobe, and in this case i’ve included a maxi length,   because it’s flattering for someone at above average height ( 5′8 ).     here i’ve opted for something red,   something a bit bold but with a small print so it’s not too plain nor over the top.

iii.  ... ok sue me,   i did the tan-and-black look again,   but i saw this and couldn’t resist !   i’m loving the balance between feminine and masculine here with the tighter, square neck top that contrasts the more wider silhouette the pants give.   bonus points if they’re not tapered,   bc we all know she’d go for a wide leg sort any day.

iv.  wbranching off of debbie’s outfit in episode 2 when she and holden go to the movies, i’ve included a denim skirt   –––   it’s timeless,   and the mini length shows off her legs.     i wanted to include more floral in this,   hence the shirt,   but i’d prefer it to be more flowy than pictured.

+   BOTTOM ROW,   FROM LEFT TO RIGHT:

i.   i HAD TO include a more dainty,   girly dress in this,   otherwise it would be a disservice to her absolutely adorable little number in episode 2.   i think this is one of, if not the  most feminine look she’d had her entire time we see her on the show,   and to top it off,   i played with the theme and let it stay a light,   almost innocent white.

ii.  i saw this photo and couldn’t help but think this is what debbie’s apartment would look like if it were 2020  –––  keeping her boho / indie style and maintaining a very natural wood floor with white wall look was a must...   totally favouring the idea that she has a lot of her staple pieces physically outside her actual wardrobe,   too...   and let’s not forget that i totally hc that she has a cat called pluto. :’)

iii.  once again to contrast that very heavily implied girly appearance,   we have her in a classic button-up.     short sleeved,   simple buttons,   and matching bottoms.     what can i say ?   she’s a fan of an all-black outfit.     pair it with some gold jewellery,   and it’s a winner. 

overall,   i wanted to keep the outfits very minimal.   despite her vocalised need to fit in,   i honestly don’t really see her wearing pieces that are too over the top   –––   the colours are basic,   the prints are small,   and the silhouettes are form-flattering but still comfortable.     while there are definitely more feminine pieces,   i’ve also tossed in some a look with pants   (  tailored,   though could be swapped for straight leg jeans on any given day   )   for an androgynous look,   because it’s 2020 + we won’t let social norms define our wardrobe !

ps: notice no heels ?    she’s already quite tall,   and does wear them  –––  just not often enough to be added here. 

–––––  not pictured,  mostly bc it’s now almost 2am while i draft this and just finding these photos took me the better part of 3 hours:  lace bodices under partially open blazers,   she’d rock the hell outta that, tho. 

[deamstellarus]

Of Twinkling Lights and Mistletoe

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: The best Christmas ever.

Word Count: 3994

Warnings: The fluff...may kill you. (Also there’s a slight sad part at the beginning and some minor implied smut mixed in.)

A/N: This is probably my favorite part/chapter in this entire series. I REALLY hope you enjoy it! ❤

Series Masterlist | Of Apple Pie and Family

◾◽◾◽◾◽◾

December 2018

“Hey, Doll. I, uh, I know it’s been a while since I’ve talked to you, but things have been developing and I’m needing a bit of guidance… It’s Y/N, she’s come to see you before. You know, beautiful eyes, soft hair, about this tall,” he held his hand up to about your height. “She’s, well...I didn’t think I would find someone after you, I never wanted to find someone after you. But she stumbled into our lives, mine and Noah’s. Well, Noah’s first - I swear he inherited your outgoing personality. She makes me happy and she fits in so well. And with Noah, Doll, you would be so happy with how she treats our son. Like he’s her own. She’s not replacing you, I don’t want that and neither does she, I know her. But she loves him too, and me, and I just…” 

He sighed, his breath visible in the cold December air. He toed the snow around his boots, not sure what he expected out of this.

“I guess I just wanted your approval, to know it’s okay to be happy with her. I’m, uh, I have this,” he pulled out the little box from the jewelry store in Michigan that’s been burning a hole in his pocket for a little over a month. “I’d planned on doing it in a few days, on Christmas. Cliche, I know, but I just thought it would make it special… I’ll always love you, Dot. But I love her too, and I think… I think maybe it’s time I take the next step. Is that alright?” He paused and looked around, waiting for an unknown sign. After a minute, he shook his head, lightly chuckling at himself. 

“Rest easy, Doll, I’ll be seeing you again.”

Bucky kneeled in the snow and placed the long-stemmed red rose at the foot of the headstone. Gently, he rubbed his thumb over the top of the smooth stone, before standing up and turning on his heel. He was three steps away when a sudden gust of wind swept up behind him and his hat blew off his head and landed several feet away. When he went to retrieve it, there was a rose petal underneath it. He held it between his fingers and looked up at the sky, deciding that was the sign from her that she approved.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

Steve opened his door at the insistent knocking, and all but jumped out of the way as Bucky barged inside with Noah following behind.

“Well hello to you too, Buck.” Steve rolled his eyes, then turned his attention to Noah. “What’s up, little man?”

“Hi Uncle Steve. Does Aunt Peggy have anymore brownies left?”

“That’s some sweet tooth you’ve got there. I think there are some on a plate on the counter. Why don’t you go check it out and I’ll join you after I talk to your dad?”

“Mkay!” He raced to the kitchen.

“Don’t eat them all!” Steve yelled after him, only to be met with giggles.

His head turned back to where his best friend lay on the couch.

“Alright, Bucky, talk.”

“I don’t know how to propose. I thought I did, I got the ring like I told you I would.” Bucky fished said ring out of his pocket and held it up for Steve to see. It was beautiful and elegant and a little bit quirky, and so very you, that Steve knew he had help.

“Did her mom help you?”

“Her sister, Liz. I asked her dad for her hand- out of courtesy, I know how much her family means to her. Then her dad, brother-in-law, and I went to a store in town and browsed. I texted Liz several pictures and she helped me decide,” Bucky said, all while staring at the ceiling, looking like a mess of emotions.

“Smart, not getting it here. Tony’s a great guy but he’s definitely the biggest gossip in this town, and he wouldn’t have held back if you walked into his jewelry store.”

“Yeah, but how do I ask? I wanted to ask on Christmas. Is that too cliche though? She’s not really the cliche type? Oh hell, what if she doesn’t say yes and I’ve put her on the spot in front of all of our friends?” Bucky groaned. “Maybe this is a bad idea.”

“Bucky, get a grip. When you think about proposing, where do you imagine you are?” Bucky took so long to reply Steve thought he’d fallen asleep.

“I can’t picture a place, or any of the surroundings. I just see her.” Steve smiled at his friend.

“Well then, pal, I don’t think it matters how or when you tell her, you just have to do it.”

“I think...I think I’m going to stick to Christmas, with all of our friends. It’s not the whole town, but it’s the important people.” Bucky turned his head to look at Steve. “What do you think?”

“I think that sounds great.” Steve stood up. “I’m going to go stop your son from eating all of Pegs’ brownies.”

“Please do, I’m taking him to his friend Peter’s house in an hour and his aunt would kill me if I sent him over on a sugar high.”

Steve laughed as he walked into the kitchen but stopped abruptly when he ran into Noah by the entryway.

“What’s up, Little Man?”

“How does someone propose to someone else?” Noah said. Steve was taken aback. Did he know Bucky was going to propose to you? He was ninety percent sure he’d just eavesdropped on their conversation.

“Well… when two people love each other, one person will usually buy a ring and they tell them all of the things they love about them and ask them an important question.”

“Oh, okay.” That’s it? Steve thought that was too easy.

“Why do you ask? You thinkin’ about proposing to someone?” Steve teased.

“Yep!”

“Wait, really?” This was definitely news to Steve. “Who is the lucky lady? Or fellow?”

“I can’t tell you, Uncle Steve. It’s a secret!”

“Okay, Buddy. Anything, I can, uh, do to help?” Because he was nosier than he would ever admit aloud and it would be great to tell Bucky all about Noah’s little friend… if he could ever get the details out of him that is.

“Nope!” He said, sipping on a glass of milk. “Well actually, can you help me wrap it?”

Bingo!

“Sure thing, buddy. When do you want me to help you?”

“Can we do it now?” That brought Steve’s eyebrows to his hairline.

“You have a ring with you?”

“Yeah,” Noah said, pulling something out of his jacket pocket. In his hand was a little clear plastic ball with a purple plastic ring inside. It was the cutest thing Steve had ever seen, if he were being honest. He coughed back a chuckle.

“Where did you get that, Noah?”

“From Mr. Tony’s diner.”

“Ah, I see. Alright, well I’m going to go grab some wrapping paper from my room. Be right back, Little Man!”

Steve sped past where Bucky laid on the couch.

“Hey, hey, hey. Where are you going?” Bucky called out, then followed Steve to his room when he didn’t get a response. “What are you doing?”

“Getting some wrapping paper.”

“Okay, I’ll bite… Why?”

“Because, Noah’s got a girlfriend! Or boyfriend. I don’t know. Either way, you’re not the only one proposing this holiday season!” Steve beamed, visions of a miniature kid wedding danced through his head.

“Wait, what?!”

“That was...” Bucky started, as he laid back in bed, trying to catch his breath.

“Incredible,” you finished, sighing happily.

“Yeah,” he smiled back at you, holding your hand. “I’m so glad Becs wanted him to spend the night last night.” You nodded in agreement.

“You’ve been holding out on me, Casanova.” You rolled onto your side, grinning as the blush rose to his cheeks. “Dinner, Christmas lights, that mistletoe…”

“Oh, that mistletoe. Best holiday tradition yet.” Bucky smiled fondly at the memory.

“You look amazing, Doll.” You turned around to see Bucky watching you from the bathroom doorway as you fastened your earring to your ear. You were wore a forest green A-line dress with black tights and planned on wearing your black ankle boots to give you a bit more height.

“Thanks, Buck,” you said as your eyes ran over his form. He wore a deep red sweater and dark jeans that made his ass look even better. He gave you a lopsided smile when he caught you staring.

“We should get going if we want to make our reservations.”

“You’re right sorry. Just about done here.” You swiped on your go-to red lipstick and grabbed your purse. “Ready dear.”

You slipped on your shoes and he helped you into your coat after shrugging into his own leather jacket, and you were out the door. It had been a while since you two were out together, just the two of you. It felt nice, romantic, and you were giddy with the attention.

Dinner was wonderful, Bucky having taken you to an Italian restaurant in Portage. You split dessert, a tiramisu you wished was available in Aster Falls. Afterward, you walked down several streets, hand in hand, enjoying each other’s company and the twinkling lights that now lined the city’s streets. Later, you drove back to Aster Falls, your hand in his as he drove through the snowy landscape.

Bucky pulled into the parking lot for your apartment building. You headed inside, Bucky’s arm around your shoulder. The second you stepped into the elevator, his lips were on your neck. You looked up and laughed.

“What’s so funny, Doll,” he mumbled into your skin.

“Mistletoe.” Bucky pulled back, looking up, and sure enough there was a mistletoe taped to the ceiling.

“Well, what do you know. Who are we to disagree with tradition.” His lips met yours, all the way up to your door, through your apartment, and into your bedroom. For the rest of the evening, your body was his, and his was yours. And you were tangled in the sheets for the remainder of the night, curled together afterwards when you were both blissed out. Which brought you to this morning, when you woke to kisses down your spine in the soft morning light.

“We should probably get ready and give your sister a break. It’s Christmas Eve after all, and I’m sure Noah has been bouncing off the walls since we dropped him off yesterday,” you said, your fingers grazing through the short scruff on his face.

“Do we have to?” He pouted, poking his bottom lip out, looking oh so adorable. “Five more minutes?”

“Yeah, I think we can do that.” You scooted closer to him, resting your head on his chest. His arms went around you and you settled into the comfortable silence once more, knowing ‘five more minutes’ would turn out to be much longer.

“Wake up! Wake up! It’s Christmas!”

“What time is it?” Bucky said, rolling over in bed. His voice was gravelly from sleep. His hand around your waist tightened its hold. You cracked an eye open and looked around, remembering you were not at home in the cozy apartment but, in fact, in a guest room at the Barnes’ house. You peeked at the clock, softly groaning when you read the numbers.

“Too early.” You snuggled closer to him, your back to his front, trying to leach his warmth.

“I’d say we have about three minutes before he drags us out of here, Doll.” His breath tickled your neck.

“Mmm, alright. Three minutes, I can do that.”

That hope was quickly diminished when not thirty seconds later, Noah crashed landed on the two of you, breaking the sleepy spell you were under.

“Daddy! Y/N! It’s Christmas!” Noah shouted excitedly. Bucky chuckled quietly.

“It sure is, bud. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Noah Bear,” you said, sitting up.

“Can we go open presents now?”

“No, no, no. You know the rules, you can open one present this morning, but you have to wait until this afternoon with everyone else to open up the rest,” Bucky said.

“Fine,” Noah pouted.

“Hey, now, no grumpy faces. That’s not very jolly,” you said, smoothing the hair on his head.

“Sorry.”

“It’s alright, bud. Why don’t you go watch cartoons in the living room and we’ll be down in a few minutes.”

“Okay.” You watched as he climbed off the bed and shut the door behind him.

“What are you still doing up there?” Bucky said. You glanced down at his relaxed form.

“Hm?”

“Come here.” He rolled over, his arm returning to your waist, and pulled you down to meet your lips to his. You felt him smile after a moment.

“Merry Christmas, Doll.”

“Merry Christmas James.”

“James, dear, your friends are here!” Bucky’s mom called out as the doorbell chimed.

She opened the door and in stepped the whole group with arms full of presents. Steve had his arm around Peggy, newly wed and happy. Sam carrying a pie with a smiling Mrs. Wilson on his arm. Wanda and Natasha had their arms linked together while a sleep-walking Clint trailed behind them. An excited Thor and an unimpressed Loki brought up the rear of the group. Everyone important in Bucky’s life was here today and he couldn’t be more excited...or nervous.

“It’s about time you got here. Noah’s been bouncing off the walls waiting to open presents,” Bucky said, giving hugs to everyone as they stepped in from the cold.

“You can blame this one for holding us up,” Nat said, jerking her thumb at Clint. “It seemed to be his mission not to wake up this morning.”

“Where’s Y/N?” Wanda piped up.

“In the kitchen with Noah and Becca, frosting cookies.”

“Yumm!” Wanda and Nat headed straight to the kitchen with Mrs. Barnes and Mrs. Wilson in tow. The rest of the group spread out between the kitchen to sneak treats or settling in on the couches in the living room.

Steve slapped a hand onto Bucky’s shoulder as he shut the door.

“So, are you ready?” Steve said lowly, so that only Bucky could hear.

“Yes. No… Yes.” Bucky sighed. “I’ve done this before… I really don’t remember being this nervous.”

“Well it was a given before. You and Dot had been together for years. Everyone knew you were going to get married sooner or later.”

“Do you think it’s too soon? It’s too soon, isn’t it?” Bucky struggled to look normal while the panic started to set in.

“Hey, no. Stop. You’re fine.” Steve had both hands on Bucky’s shoulder now. “Sure you haven’t been with Y/N for years, but anyone alive could tell you that you’re perfect together. You know it, I know it… I’m sure even Dot’s even agreeing as we speak. Take a deep breath, relax. You’ve still got some time to figure out what you’re going to say. It’s gonna be fine, you’ll see.”

With that, he patted Bucky on the back and headed toward the fireplace, where Peggy was looking at the Christmas cards on the mantle. Steve was right. He was right a lot, not that Bucky would ever tell him. But he was right, and Bucky was stressing out for no reason.

However he asked today, he knew in his heart, at least he hoped, that you would say yes.

“We’ve only got two more presents and then I think that wraps up Christmas 2018!” Mr. Barnes said.

Bucky pecked you on the forehead before he abruptly stood up and headed for the stairs.

“Where are you going?” you asked.

“Forgot a gift upstairs, I’ll be right back!” You watched as Bucky disappeared up the stairs, shaking your head at his forgetfulness.

“Looks like this one is for Loki,” Becca said, as she crawled underneath the tree, “and this one is for Y/N.” She plopped Loki’s present into his lap and lightly tossed your gift to you.

“You can open yours first, I don’t mind,” you said, your interest taking over at what could possibly be underneath the mass of colorful wrapping paper. He nodded and tore at the paper, cracking a small smile when a kids’ magic set was revealed.

“You’re an absolute child.” Loki playfully glared at his brother across the room.

“Come now, brother, I’m not the one with a kids’ toy with my name on it,” Thor laughed, the smile reached his eyes.

You hid your giggle behind your hand, while others (ahem, Sam and Clint) were practically in tears.

“You’re next, Bunny.”

You stuck your tongue out at Sam then turned your attention to the gift in your hand. You took a moment to examine it, the red and green paper wrapped so nicely around such a tiny thing. You were supposed to guess who it was from but with the bouncing seven-year old next to you, it wasn’t hard to assume.

“This is from you, huh?” He nodded excitedly. “Did you wrap it all by yourself?”

“No, Uncle Steve helped me!”

You held the small gift in your palm, weighing it to guess the contents. It was fairly light, and rattled a bit when your hand shook. Honestly, you couldn’t have guessed in that moment when was beneath the paper, but whatever it was, the anticipation was clearly getting to Noah as he bounced on the sofa beside you. You took care not rip the paper too much as you unwrapped it. As you tore the final bit of paper away, you smiled. It was a small purple plastic ring inside transparent plastic bauble. You’d seen this before, at the little 50-cent machines by the front door of Tony’s. You popped open the container and slid the ring on your pinky finger, where it barely fit.

“Thank you so much, Noah!” you said as you pulled him into your arms for a hug.

“You’re wearing it wrong!” You jerked back.

“What do you mean?” He sighed in exasperation and gently pulled the ring from your finger.

“You’re supposed to wear it on this finger.” You gasped as he slid the plastic ring as far as it would go down the fourth finger of your left hand. “Will you be my new mommy?”

The room was absolutely silent, waiting for your response. Here you were, being proposed to in a way you had never expected, but instead, you had hoped he would come to think of you in that way. But this wasn’t entirely a decision for you to make. You nodded, hesitantly.

“Noah, honey, I love you. I would love to be your new mom. But that decision isn’t up to me.” You glanced behind him and met the eyes of Steve, who looked at you nervously with wide eyes. Then his gaze focused to something behind you.

“Well then, whose decision is it?” You looked down into Noah’s big blue eyes, and opened your mouth to respond when you were cut off.

“It’s mine, bud.”

You turned around at the voice and your hand flew to your mouth, once more. Bucky was down on one knee, his own ring in a little black velvet box in his hand.

“Y/N, this wasn’t quite what I had planned, I guess Noah beat me to it. I never thought I’d find someone after Dot, but the moment you stepped into our lives, you changed it for the better. You bring light and joy and love to our lives, something that’s been missing for so long. Seeing you with Noah makes me happier than you can imagine and knowing how strongly he feels about you, well…” He took a shuddering breath. “Y/N, you are strong and beautiful and have the patience of a saint, I swear. You are so smart and so supportive, and I’m so glad you decided to take a chance on little ol’ Aster Falls, and take a chance with me. Y/N Y/L/N, will you marry me?”

You were sure you looked a complete mess. Tears were streaming down your face and your hands were shaking. You couldn’t imagine a life without Bucky and Noah, and you didn’t want to. You nodded your head furiously, hardly able to get the words out fast enough.

“Yes! Oh my gosh, yes! Of course!”

Bucky pulled the plastic ring off your finger and slid the real ring in its place. Then he pulled you up into a kiss and it seemed like the room exploded into applause and cheers all around you. When you finally broke away, you looked down to find Noah, pouting slightly. You crouched down to be eye level with him.

“Honey, what’s wrong?”

“You aren’t wearing my ring.” He had tears in his eyes and your heart broke at his expression.

“Oh, Noah, here, let’s do this instead.” You unclasped the necklace you were wearing - the simple sterling silver heart pendant Bucky got you for your birthday two months ago - and slipped the ring through the chain. When you fastened the clasp back behind your neck, the heart dangled just below your clavicle and right beside it, laid Noah’s purple plastic ring.

“I think this is better Noah, that way I won’t lose it since it doesn’t quite fit on my finger.” You picked him up off the couch and onto your lap instead. “Whether or not you gave me a ring, honey, doesn’t change how much I want to be your mom.”

“Really?” He asked, his blue eyes peeked through his dark lashes.

“Really really. I love you so much, Noah Bear.”

With that, he threw his arms around your neck and cried into your sweater. Bucky sat beside you and placed his hand on your waist, pulling you and Noah closer. He pressed a kiss to your temple. You looked around at the faces of your friends and family, their faces all with soft smiles and teary eyes. You smiled back, but soon felt the heat rushing to your face with all the attention and emotion from the past few minutes.

“I hate to interrupt this touching moment, but some of us have been waiting for sweet potato pie all month so can we please move on to dinner so I can get some dessert?” Sam said. There was a chorus of groans and chuckles breaking the emotional spell, and Sam sent you a wink before heading toward the kitchen. After all these years, he still knew how to read you like a book, and knew when to save you from embarrassment.

After everyone moved more or less to the kitchen and dining room, you gently pushed Noah away to see his face.

“Are you okay, bud?” Bucky asked. Noah nodded, playing with the ring around your neck.

“Where did you learn to propose like that, sweetheart?” you asked.

“I heard Daddy and Uncle Steve talking about proposing, and I asked Uncle Steve how someone proposes and he told me how.”

“Steve thought he was gonna ask a classmate to marry him.” Bucky couldn’t help but laugh.

“Can I call you ‘Mommy’?”

Bucky and you stopped laughing abruptly, and you felt the tears return to your eyes. So far, it felt as if you’d spent the entire day as a faucet. You looked at Bucky for confirmation, and he nodded.

“Of course, Noah. If you’re comfortable with calling me that, then you can,” you said.

“Okay, Mommy.” He climbed off of your lap and headed toward the kitchen toward everyone else. “I’m going to get a cookie before Uncle Steve eats them all.” With that, he disappeared.

“Can you believe what happened today?” You asked Bucky, turning to face him.

“Actually, I can, Doll.” He kissed your lips, then leaned away a bit as he cupped your cheek with his warm hand. “This was the best Christmas ever.”

[Of Champagne Flutes and Wedding Vows]

A/N: I may have planned the entirety of A Touch of Ink based off the idea of Noah’s proposal, and I’ve been waiting to share this for so long. I’m a sucker for a child proposal. Hopefully you all liked it too!

[miss-wanderlustwriter]

The Pretty Boy & The Princess

Billy Hargrove x Reader

Request: hi! i’d like a request please, for Billy Hargrove x reader. so: the reader is basically a female version of Billy, and they don’t know each other. they accidentally bump into each other one day, and the reader starts to like Billy a lot. and she’s really shy so he teases her and calls her princess and shit like that. thank you ❤️ - @kaitlinlexiexx

Warnings: Implied sexy time (I’m still a wimp and can’t bring myself to write smut, maybe one day).

A/N: Okay so I've set it a bit after high school and in California (cause let's face it that's the only place Billy would go after graduating!) Thanks so much for the request and really hope you like it!! ALSO I got so carried away that I feel I need to split it into two parts. So watch this space ;)

Y/N coated her full lips with her deep purple lipstick, giving a perfect cupids bow that she already knew would drive the boys crazy. Her faithful denim skinnies clung to her shapely legs and enhanced her amazing arse; even if she did say so herself. Paired with a simple t-shirt that teased a glimpse of her belly piercing she threw her leather jacket on and flicked her dark chocolate hair down her back.

Her heeled boots added a bit of height to her 5ft 3inch stature and she eyed herself in the full length mirror, shaking her hips to her 'getting ready' playlist. The sound of Def Leppard's 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' was cut short as she grabbed her purse and headed out of her apartment.

Her confidence irradiated from salon fresh hair down to each step she took, as she naturally swayed down the sidewalk to the music seeping out from each bar she passed.

Soon enough she spotted her friend Daisy already chatting up a poor unsuspecting fella outside their favourite bar.

Daisy had been her best friend since Y/N has wound her way down the West Coast to San Diego three years ago, as soon as she'd turned 18. They were two peas in a pod; Daisy was the blonde to her brunette, the sister and wing woman she'd never had. Daisy taught her everything she knew about being a strong, independent woman and using it to her advantage. When they were both on form the boys never knew what hit them, until they were given a cheeky kiss goodbye the morning after, but then the girls were gone.

"Hey trouble." Y/N greeted her with a sly smile.

"Y/N! I was wondering where you were. This is Daniel, he's from L.A and thinks I have model potential." Daisy winked at Y/N which let her know that Daisy knew it was utter bullshit. They had learnt the truths from the lines pretty quickly.

Y/N let out a giggle and looked back up at this Daniel threw her lashes.

"You know what Doll you could both be, I could get you a sweet deal. Two for the price of one." He added with a slimy smile.

"Think we'll pass. Thanks though, Doll." Y/N blew him a kiss dripping with sarcasm and linked Daisy's arm to head inside.

The bar was not hitting rush hour just yet, which was how the girls liked it; plenty of space to mill around and eye up whoever took their fancy. It was a bit rough around the edges, truly living up it’s name of The Lampshade, with a mass of them covering the ceiling in odd but wonderful colours, fringes and floral patterns. The atmosphere subtle and secretive from just a few glowing light bulbs.

The barman who knew Y/N and Daisy all too well had their usual drinks ready by the time they’d reached the bar. “Evening girls, how are we this evening?”

“Never better sweets, how are you? Any talent this evening?” Daisy gave Ali her signature bedroom eyes, knowing fine well he wasn’t interested in girls but she loved winding him up all the same.

“Thanks Ali.” Y/N said taking the drinks.

“I need to put a sign outside warning all men about you two vixens. You’re like bloody sirens.” He laughed.

“Maybe that’s a good idea babe, it’s getting pretty easy.” Daisy answered.

“Yeah we could do with a challenge.” Y/N winked at him before turning away, Daisy following her through the growing crowd.

After a few more drinks Daisy had spied her entertainment for the evening in the form of a tall, tanned, surfer guy. She played hard to get initially, as she always did, ignoring him and dancing with Y/N, but they were always close by. Y/N then broke away to allow Daisy to make her move, heading to the bar she had failed to be captured by anyone this evening, much to her dismay.

That was until he walked in.

It was like time stopped the second she saw him, he swaggered through the bar with his ‘don’t give a fuck’ attitude, a leather jacket shrouding his broad shoulders and skin tight jeans showing off his incredible ass. She shook sense back into herself and focused, game face on, she had to have him.

She ordered her usual gin and tonic from Ali, giving him a sly wink as she made sure she was right next to the new guy but not acknowledging him. She let her body do the work: leaning against the bar her booty was on point, with her arched back and chest forward, she knew the drill.

He of course glanced sideways as she appeared, for she was gorgeous. He felt the flicker of flames in his stomach; maybe tonight wasn’t going to be as dull as he originally thought.

Both underestimating the other, she turned to flash her million dollar smile at him as he placed ten dollars on the bar in front of her when Ali returned with her drink.

“Who am I thanking pretty boy?”

“No need to thank me Princess.” His voice low and husky as he turned towards to her, eyes not so subtly scanning the figure before him.

She rolled her eyes at the pet name as she sipped her drink, her eyes not leaving his. He knew he had her from that look alone, he always knew. He turned back to his whisky ignoring the increasing tension between the two of them.

She took a step closer to this mysterious boy and tried to catch his eye again, “What’s your name?” She repeated in a whisper.

“What’s it to you Princess?” He replied still not looking at her.

This was going to be a little harder than she thought.

“It’s Y/N, not Princess.” She raised her eyebrows as he finally glanced back at her abruptness in denying his name for her, normally girls loved it. He looked over her pouted mauve lips, the pink blush to her heated cheeks and challenging look in her dark eyes and realised she was not like the other girls.

“Billy.” He stated with a nod, returning the favour.

“Nice to meet you Billy, and thanks for the drink.” To his surprise she downed the drink before turning away and walking into the mass of bodies on the dance floor.

For the first time she wasn’t actually sure if he would follow; but he did. He took his time behind her, admiring her ass in her jeans as she had admired his before. She stopped suddenly to find him directly behind her, a smirk escaped her lips as she grabbed his jacket to pull his body against hers and started moving her hips to the beat. All Billy could do was pierce her with his icy gaze as he started to move in sync with her.

He ran his tongue over his bottom lip as he felt her hips roll against his, this was too easy for him.

“You wanna get out of here Princess?” He dipped his head to whisper seductively into her ear.

“Oh Billy, I’m anything but a Princess,”  It was her turn to slide her gaze across his sculptured body and she dared to run a finger from his bare chest down to where his shirt buttons were undone to his navel, “You’re gonna have to try harder than that.”

Her touch sent a shiver down his spine that he did not care to admit, and before she had a chance to walk away his fingers found her waist and he pulled her close once again. As they continued their movements his lips also found her neck.

“Getting there pretty boy.” She sighed at the feeling of his mouth finding her weak spots, his tongue setting her skin ablaze. Her hand wound into his hair gripping at his dirty blond locks which made him moan against her.

“We need to go, now.” He growled.

She saw the fire in his ice blue eyes and silently nodded. He grabbed her hand and pulled hard through the bodies to the exit, she didn’t even have time to search for Daisy in the crowd.

The cool night air sent a chill over the layer of sweat coating their skin. Her hand still clamped in his as he swiftly made his way down the street, after a few minutes when the bars faded into apartment blocks he stopped, pushed her against the closest wall and attached his lips to hers with such ferocity it took her breath away.

They were silently fighting for dominance, it was messy, it was passion, it was all teeth and tongue and he still couldn’t get enough of her.

Knowing he wanted her this bad set alight the fire in her lower abdomen, his body weight was leaning into her and yet she needed him to be closer.

Breathless, Billy broke the kiss, “My place is only a block away but I couldn’t wait.”

“Let’s go.” She whispered against his lips, and he once against took her hand with no hesitation.

The sunlight crept through unfamiliar blinds and her naked body was covered with foreign blankets. She’d only fallen asleep a couple of hours ago after three rounds of undeniable passion with Billy. She could still feel the sheer pleasure he’d given her over and over, and she could still hear the moans that she had compelled out of him.

She turned over to find him still sleeping; this was her chance.

She tiptoed around his room, getting dressed with each item of clothing she found, surprised they actually made it to the bedroom fully clothed. But before she could make her usual escape he woke.

“Where you think you’re going Princess?” He voice thick with sleep.

She shot around half dressed with her t-shirt in hand, “Come on, we both know how these things go right.” She pulled the shirt over her head, “And I’m not your Princess.”

He clambered out of bed and as she watched him walk towards her in his birthday suit she blushed. "Oh Princess you’re not blushing are you, not after last night?” He brushed her hair behind her ear and found those weak spots of hers again, latching his mouth onto her neck adding to the dark purple spots already present.

“Billy...” But she could barely get his name past her lips.

“You want me to stop baby just say so.”

A few moments past of Billy attacking her neck with his hands creeping under her top, and her body betrayed her as she melted into him, a moan escaping her parted lips.

“Wait, stop.” She surprised even herself as he straightened up, putting space between them with a questioning look in his eyes. “We both know how this goes Billy.” She repeated, more to convince herself.

“You know as well as I do Y/N, there’s no way this was a one time thing.”

She stepped away from him shaking her head at the floor, “Yeah you were good pretty boy, I’ll see you around.”

“Oh you definitely will Princess.” He shouted after her petite frame as it disappeared from his room. She left him with a smirk plastered across his face and a determination coursing through his veins.

Please like, comment and share! ♥

[kpopfanfictrash]

Blackjack (III)

Author: kpopfanfictrash

Pairing: You / Jungkook

Rating: 18+

Warning: past physical / verbal abuse, past familial abuse, PTSD

Word Count: 5,356

Summary: Bangtan is one of the most vicious mafias on the west coast. Only six members are known by name though, with a mysterious seventh member dubbed only as ‘the shadow.’ When you become indebted to the worst of the worst – how, exactly can you find a way out?

“I,” you swallow, staring back at him. “I need to go.”

Surprise crosses Jungkook’s expression. “You – what? Need to go, now?”

Nodding, you bend and grab your clutch from the ground. Cheeks heating up, you adjust your skirt lower on your thighs. “This was a mistake,” you say, struggling to stay firm in your decision. “We shouldn’t have done this.”

Jungkook stares back at you, his expression unreadable. “I don’t understand.”

“That’s – you don’t have to,” you mutter, looking past.

You now realize now how foolish this was. How dangerous it was to be together, out in the open – anyone could have walked past, anyone could have seen. Thinking this, you glance over your shoulder. No one is there. No one you can see, anyways.

Jungkook has not moved from his place on the sidewalk. He only looks at you, gaze calculating in a way which reminds you who he is. Not that you ever forgot, really. It is only that when you are with him, Jungkook is never what you expect him to be. He is a part of Bangtan, a man who calls himself the Shadow and you thought this would make him cold, unfeeling. While it is true Jungkook is biting – it is true, he withholds, he has never pushed you for that you do not wish to give. He has never asked for something he would not hand over in turn. Jungkook does not shackle you to him, which is exactly what you have come to fear from men like him.

Jungkook watches you carefully though, and you find yourself remembering both who he is and what he is capable of. Jungkook is a man bred for carnage, born with deception in his blood. He understands humans, understands their inner workings – and so he understands you, or at least, in part. Drawing upon a long-lost part of yourself, you shutter your expression. You fight to feign boredom, shrugging a shoulder.

“You don’t have to understand,” you respond tersely. “You just need to know this happened before, but not again.”

The corner of Jungkook’s mouth lifts. “I think I’ve heard you say that before.”

You do not react, fighting to stifle the warmth rushing through you. “I didn’t mean it before. I do now.”

Jungkook’s brow furrows in confusion. “You do mean it,” he says.

Looking away, you shift your weight to your heels. “I need to go.”

“You said that before, too,” Jungkook counters, although quieter. “You’re not afraid of me, are you?” When you stiffen, he sighs. “That’s rare. I could make you stay, you know. It’s what most in my position would do. It’s probably what you fear I will do. I’ve been told who to be before, though and would not presume to do the same to you.”

It is growing more and more difficult not to react to his words. Jungkook speaks quietly, without deception. 

“Thank you,” you say, automatic – you, also, despise being told who you are.

“Can I just ask...” Jungkook seems almost hesitant. “Is it me?”

The question is so human, such a normal thing that in the moment, you are shocked into telling the truth. 

“No,” you blurt – wincing, when you realize what you have said. You should have lied and said yes, it is him. Should have insisted you felt nothing – in short, you should have lied. It would have been far simpler to leave things like that.

“Then,” Jungkook begins, but you interrupt.

“It’s interesting,” you say, taking a step closer. “You say you hate being told what to do, but are currently employed by Bangtan. Not just employed, but are head of their most insurmountable tasks – the worst things possible. I can’t imagine Namjoon gives much choice when telling you what to do.”

Jungkook’s eyes narrow. “Not,” he says, chest rising and falling, “that it’s any of your business – but I choose to work for Namjoon. He offers me a choice in all things I do and I only proceed with the request if in agreement. And,” he adds, shaking his head, “I don’t think you know what I do. Hoseok is the brute force of the operations, not me.” 

You pause, since that is interesting. Normally, there are two ways to become Head of a mafia. The first is through intelligence – determined thinking, strategic planning and striking while the iron is hot. The second is strength – killing, beating and bruising your way to the top. Both demand fear though, intimidation at best. Rarely respect, which is how Jungkook speaks of Namjoon.  

“Well,” you swallow, looking back down. “Like you said, it’s none of my business.”

When you turn around, Jungkook’s hand finds your wrist. His fingers wrap around you, making you weak enough to look over your shoulder. Jungkook stares back, softer than you imagined. 

“I would never force you to stay,” he informs you quietly. “But I’d like you to.”

When you do not respond, he lets go. Jungkook stares at you before nodding, turning around to blend into the alley. You stare as he leaves, walking into the darkness. Your breath feels heavy, trembling fingers pulling out your phone. Precisely seven minutes pass before your Uber arrives and you climb into its backseat. Your body is numb, as though the events of the past twenty-four hours have left their mark. Sinking lower, you rest your head on the seatrest.

After a quick text to Lena, you set your phone down to stare out the window. If you had not attended the party, this never not have happened. You would never have met Jungkook, but then – you hesitate. It is true; your current life is one you worked hard to attain. You have fought tirelessly to ensure your existence is untraceable. To be certain you cannot be found, that your status remains unknown.

It seems that if you were a reasonable sort of person, you would not have gone to this party. Not with your history, what you know and what you have done. If you had truly not wanted to go, Lena would not have insisted. You agreed though, you attended their parties and played into their games. It should have been obvious to you that Jungkook was not a cop. A cop that Taehyung did nothing about? A cop who got past security? Bullshit.

Which then begs the question, why? Why did you agree? Why did you go and sit down at Jeon Jungkook’s table? Maybe you are just tired of running. Maybe you did not want to hide and for a moment, you consider asking the Uber to turn around. If you returned and found Jungkook, you know what would happen next. You would tell him you want him; you would ask him to stay. Instead, you shake your head no and sink low in your seat. There is a large part of you which wants to, but a larger part screams of self-preservation – not from Jungkook though, nor from Bangtan.

As always, you remain scared of the Vine.

The Vine is the rival mafia of Bangtan, the one which does all that their name implies – they choke out the life of everyone in their path. It does not matter to them if you are innocent or not; anyone who stands in their way disappears. You have been there yourself, have had their noose around your neck – this is what led you to disappear in the first place, before they could kill you.

Eyes opening, you stare out at the road. Being associated with Bangtan places your freedom in jeopardy because the Vine will find you, if you continue like this. Which begs the question – do you want to be found? You are certainly acting like it. Considering this, you shiver. It is a morbid daydream of yours; what should happen if the Vine ever found you. What would happen if they ever caught wind of your new name, your new life and new friends. The images are never pretty, no matter which way you think about it.

If the Vine finds you, they will show you no mercy. It is as much for Jungkook’s sake as your own that you push him away.

Sleep does not come easily that night.

The air is acidic.

It burns yellow-hot, although you find yourself unable to identify the source. Your height has shrunk, barely even with the end table you hide behind. The man is yelling again. You know he has a real name, have been told this many times before but in your mind, he is only the man. It is easier like this, easier than pretending he is anything close to your dad.

Your dad was a good man, a kind man. He was not the wealthiest of men, but when he was alive your family was happy. Your nights were filled with TV and games, him swinging your brother by his arms while your mother held you tight on the sofa. When your dad died though, things changed. Your household income disappeared overnight. Your mother had not gone to college and was forced to take odd jobs to make ends meet.

You were alone most of the time – at home by yourself, or with your brother. He was forced to become the man of the household, forced to become both protector and role model for you. He shielded you from things your mother brought into the house – willingly, or unwillingly. Her descent began small. Your mother drank the occasional glass of wine with her dinner. Just one glass but when your father died, it became two. This became three and three became a bottle. When wine failed to dull the pain she added cigarettes, then marijuana. Anything – everything, to escape.

When this was not enough, harder things dribbled in. Designer drugs, club drugs, cocaine and heroin. Anything your mother could get her hands on – which turned out to be a lot, once she started dating the man. The man was tall, blonde; you always thought he looked rather like a sewer rat, bleached from the gutter. He was kind at first, courting your mother with sweet words and empty gestures.

Once he was firmly engrained in your lives though, once your mother was hooked beyond repair, he showed his true colors. The man hated you and your brother; you both were reminders of your dad. Your mother thought about things other than him when she looked at you, and the man did not like that. He beat you for it, punished you for this silent transgression.

Your mother protested occasionally, but most times she was too drunk to notice. Those were the nights you feared most, the nights which gave you your scars – both physical and not. Typically, your brother took the brunt of things, would step forward when the man’s belt slid into his hands. It was why his scars tripled your own, although you still had your fair share of thin, silvery stripes criss-crossing your arms.

Staring down the hall, you shiver behind the table while you try to remain silent despite the tears on your cheeks. Your hands clutch wood, hoping he will miss you hiding here. Hoping he will not think to look, because tonight is a night where you sense beating Jay will not be enough.

No, Jay is already groaning and you know he will continue until your brother cannot flee. Then the man will turn, coming for you. This thought makes the tears flow harder, struggling to wrap your mind around the why of the matter. Jay’s screams have quieted, long faded to broken whimpers upon the linoleum floor. You wonder if he bleeds, if you will have to bandage him later tonight, when the man falls asleep on the couch.

Heavy footsteps reach your ears, stumbling down the hall – footsteps you recognize, since they now look for you. It is paralyzing when the man walks into the room. He scans each piece of furniture, smiling when he sees your crouched form behind the couch. 

“C’mon out,” he whispers, walking forward. “You think you can run from me – think you can hide? Your brother can’t protect you,” he grunts, reaching to grasp your nightgown, despite your squirming, “and neither can your daddy – because why? Why, bitch?”

The man bends, grip bruising as the stench of alcohol enters your nostrils. You try to move, try to get away but find it impossible. He is too strong, too fast for you, and you are too small.

“Because he’s dead,” the man informs you, his gaze hazy, “But then why,” he hisses, “is there a picture of him beneath your mommy’s bed? Hm?” 

The man draws back a hand, tangled tattoo peering out from his sleeve, and –

Your eyes fly open.

Someone is screaming. Someone is screaming, likely in danger – but the noise cuts off, when you realize it is you. You are the one screaming, and you clamp a hand over your mouth, shaking into your mattress. Your body is damp with sweat; it soaks through your clothes, through the sheets. Your hands clutch for your chest, then your face – you stare at trembling fingers which come away wet. You are crying. It is all too often your dreams make you cry and rather than face the world, you turn in on yourself. You pull your knees tighter. Rocking yourself gently, you multiply prime numbers in your head.

2 x 3 = 6.

3 x 5 = 15.

5 x 7 = 35.

7 x 11 = 77.

11 x 13 = 143.

Slowly, your body begins to soothe itself. Your breathing eases, staring hard at the wall. It has been a long time since you had that dream. It has been a long time since the nightmare and its resurgence leaves you shivering. It is all too clear; you can still see his face, still know the way it twisted with anger. You can still smell the stench of that room and – trembling once more, you force your eyes shut.

13 x 17 = 221.

When you open your eyes, you stare at your hands. The marks are faint but still visible. The ones on your thighs are worse, like those on your back. Thick, broad stripes where his belt cut into flesh. It is one of the main reasons you push people away. Jungkook must have seen them, must have wondered – but then again, maybe he just knew what they meant.

In Jungkook’s line of work, he must know. Scares of that maturity, that depth tend to indicate – inhaling sharply, you cut off the thought. It was a kindness that he did not ask. The source of scars is information offered, not taken. You appreciate that Jungkook pretended nothing was wrong.

Something is wrong, though – or it was, before you managed to escape. You are aware of this each time that you dress. Each time you look at yourself in the mirror you are aware of your past. It marks you, leaves weights you are unwilling, or unable to shed. Not that you have not tried. The moment you turned eighteen, you left that life entirely. Jay was still in college back then – community, so he could watch over you. He was twenty-two, in his final semester of school and old enough to start planning for ‘someday.’

With Jay, it was always ‘someday.’ Someday, the two of you would be free. Someday, he would get a legitimate career. Someday, Jay would be important, would kill the man for the things done to you. While you waited for someday, Jay got himself struck. Strapped for cash, unable to support himself, or you – he found himself working for the very people you despised. The Vine.

You remember crying when he came home with the tattoo. When you saw it immortalized on his arm, the symbol of everything you hated; you cried. It was as though he had forgotten what it meant to you, what the sight of that tatoo beating you could look like. Jay said he did not forget, but was biding his time. He needed to gain the organization’s trust, infiltrate the edges – and ‘someday’ he would dismantle it from the inside.

The only problem was, the day never came. Jay began working for them when he was sixteen. By the time he turned twenty-two, Jay was firmly within their clutches. He was higher than when he started and further entwined. Jay was part of the very thing you despised, so when you turned eighteen, you made the hardest decision of your life and left it all.

The brother you loved, the life you once knew; you disappeared. With the help of a local police officer – a good, kind woman you knew from your high school – you started anew. Now, it is years later and you find yourself at the same crossroads. Curling in on the bed, you struggle to control your rising panic.

By having Jungkook and Bangtan around, the memories have become inescapable. It is why you cannot be with him, why you must stay away. Drifting back into sleep, one hand reaches across the pillow – since the deepest, wispy parts of yourself are well-aware who you search for.

Jungkook; a shadow to stave off the night.

“I don’t understand.” Lena’s brow furrows. “I thought you and Jungkook hit it off. Didn’t you guys leave together that night of the party?”

Wincing, you continue to stir your coffee. “Yes – and no.”

“Yes and no?” Lena’s lips quirk. “That’s the kind of thing you typically know the answer to, Y/N.”

Exhaling again, you glance out the window. The day is rainy; an odd gloom to the air which matches your thoughts. “Yes, I left with him,” you say, then hesitate. “But no, I didn’t go home with him.”

Lena arches a brow. “God, this is like pulling teeth. What?”

Somewhat unwittingly, you groan. “I – uh, we –”

“You fucked?” Lena supplies.

“Lena,” you gasp, appalled. “I mean, yes, but –”

Lena claps her hands. “I knew it! You two are so in love. But then what did you mean by,” she pauses, frowning. “How did the two of you fuck, if you didn’t go home – oh my god!” she shrieks.

“Shut up,” you say, leaning across the table to grab her fluttering hands. It is hard to control yourself at Lena’s expression. “Don’t say it out loud!” you cry, nearly hiccupping with laughter.

Lena cackles, entire body shaking leaning back in her chair. “Oh my god,” she gasps, bolting upright. “You and Jungkook fucked in an alley. No – in a car! On the sidewalk?” she asks, grinning at your expression.

Burying your face in your hands, you mutter, “Behind a truck in the parking lot.”

“Holy shit, that’s hot.” Lena stirs her cup thoughtfully. “I wonder if Taehyung would –”

“Oh my god,” you say, wrinkling your nose. “I don’t need to hear more about his elephant dong – not in public, nor in private, thanks.”

Lena nearly spits out her coffee. “He’s not that big! I mean, yeah – he’s big. Like, the biggest I’ve ever been with but...” She stops when you start to mime vomiting. “You were the one who asked!”

“I’m sorry,” you cough, blinking innocently. “Do I know you? Were you saying something?”

“No,” Lena says. “But you were describing he time Jungkook fucked you behind a truck.”

You groan, lowering your head again to your hands. “No, I wasn’t.”

Lena continues as though you have not spoken. “Okay, but that sounds hot as hell. Why – o-oh,” she nods, sage. “Was he bad? Is Jungkook bad? Taehyung made a bet with me that someone as pretty as Jungkook couldn’t possibly be good in bed.”

Somewhat stunned, you peer at Lena in between fingertips. “Taehyung said that?” you ask, incredulous. “He’s one to talk.”

Lena smiles serenely back at you. “You think he’s pretty, I knew it. Taehyung will be so pleased.”

“Oh, fuck off,” you say, grabbing your coffee. “But, no – that’s not it. Jungkook is, well...” You shiver. “He’s amazing.”

Lena’s eyebrows shoot so high, they practically disappear. “Wow, did you just have an orgasm thinking about him?” With a yelp, she dodges the sugar packet you throw her way. “What was that for?”

“Stop,” you snort, clutching your mug. “You’re too much.”

“Fine, fine.” Lena waves this concern aside. “In all seriousness though, if the sex is great, what’s the problem? Do you not like him, is that it? Is Jungkook a dick?”

“No,” you mutter, looking down at the table. “He’s not a dick. Jungkook, despite what he does, seems like a good guy.”

“Then...” Lena trails off, seeming perplexed. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“Yeah,” you agree, biting down on your lip. “I know it’s strange. There just are things about his life which won’t work with mine. All this, his world – Jungkook is better off without me.”

“Without you?” Lena frowns. “Why do you make it sound like you’re the shadow here, and Jungkook is the one who needs protection? I could see if it was the other way around but he’s a part of Bangtan, Y/N,” Lena points out. “I think he can take care of himself. Whatever it is you’re not saying, I think he’d want to know.”

Toying with your cup, you frown. Sometimes it can be annoying, how perceptive Lena is. You think this is why she and Taehyung work so well together. Both of them are perceptive, annoying and intelligent as hell.

“Why does everyone need to be honest?” you blurt. “Why is the truth always better? Some things should be left hidden, some things are more dangerous out in the open. All Jungkook needs to know is that we can’t be together – and that’s it.”

Lena reluctantly sits back. “Fine,” she allows. “I can accept that. But you should know, Taehyung told me Jungkook is upset. He’s been moping around for weeks – which, for Jungkook, must be a real shit-show. If you’re putting him through the wringer for some stupid reason, you’re a crueler person than I thought, Y/N.”

For a moment, you pause. Maybe Lena is right; maybe you are being stupid. It has been years since you belonged to the Vine, after all. It has been years since you even stepped foot in that part of town. They may have forgotten all about you by now, or perhaps they do not care. 

This notion is quickly dashed when you remember how easily Jay was pulled into their ways. Jay, who once hated the Vine, now firmly within them. You do not know if Jay is even alive – this thought always makes you nauseous – but if he is, you know he will care. Jay will always care about you. Once you belong to the Vine, you belong for good. Once you are marked by the Vine, you do not ever leave.

Lifting your gaze, you meet Lena’s. “No,” you answer, solemn. “It’s not for a stupid reason.”

Lena surveys you, then nods. “Okay. I’ll stop giving you shit for it, then – and Y/N,” she adds, softening.

“Yeah, Len?” you sigh, stirring your cup.

“I’m sorry.” Lena’s mouth tenses. “If I forced you into this, somehow… I feel like this is my fault, the entire situation. I’m sorry if I made you sad, or brought something up you don’t want to talk about.”

“Oh,” you exhale, not having realized you were being so obvious. Trying to deflect, you force yourself to smile. “This isn’t your fault, Lena. Or were you the one who taught Jungkook to be so great in bed?”

“Actually, Taehyung –”

“Oh, hell no,” you interrupt.

Lena chuckles, sliding both hands around her cup. “Okay, how about this – you aren’t invited to any more Bangtan events. From now on, you know Taehyung as my boyfriend and nothing more.”

“Alright,” you sigh, leaning back in your seat. You are unsure why this thought does not make you happy. “I couldn’t agree with you more.”

The next week, it rains.

All day it rains, until the world is a sodden mess of grays and blues and browns. You leave each morning for work, come home each night and lose track of all the time in between. It is hard for you to shake the idea you are being followed. It must be paranoia, since you have not seen, nor heard from, another member of Bangtan within the past week. You have barely seen Lena, having been so busy at work.

The rain lends itself to your mood, though. It is only the rain making you feel this way; it could not be Bangtan, nor could it be that you have not seen Jungkook in over two weeks. It has barely been that long, and you are still trying to convince yourself the separation was a good idea. Sitting at home on a Friday night, you stare blankly at your TV and hope – although what you are hoping for, you do not know.

The rain comes down in spurts. One second it drizzles; the next, a full-on monsoon. It is hard to keep the volume of your television steady – wincing, you turn it down only for the rain to increase and you turn it back up.

You are in the middle of a marathon of Friends when a knock sounds at your door. Body freezing on the couch, you lower the remote to the table. You are not expecting visitors – Lena works a double shift tonight and she is the only person who would show up unannounced.

Unless – stomach twisting, you stand from the sofa. Any other name which comes to mind is not a good one and lowering your blanket, you glance at the room. The TV, you leave on while walking into the kitchen. Its noise will muffle the soft sound of your footsteps. Easing a knife from a drawer, you turn back around – in time for the person at your door to knock loudly again.

Feet faltering, you dig deeply to find the place within where anything can happen and you will not react. It is a place you used often growing up, a place you have since tried to avoid but it comes in handy often. Pause on the edge of your threshold, you inhale – and then move fast, flinging open your door to the hall.

Jungkook’s eyes widen in shock. You barely have time to react before he slips inside, one arm around your middle while his right hand encircles your wrist. He yanks you closer, fingers curling around the handle of your knife to transfer it to him. 

“Was this for me?” Jungkook murmurs, low in your ear. “Or, for someone else?” Scanning the hallway he vacated, Jungkook finds no one and kicks the door shut.

Your entire body remains frozen, struggling to process. The entire time you prepared yourself to open the door, you did not consider Jungkook an option. Perhaps this is due to your nightmares, which have returned in full force. You did not consider Bangtan – which was a foolish oversight, on your part. All you remembered were your dreams, the ones you had each night this week. You remembered the man; you thought of him and the Vine.

Slowly, Jungkook releases your body from his. Stepping away, he places the knife on the counter. 

“Jungkook,” you exhale, turning to face him. “What... what are you doing here?”

“Why...” Jungkook trails off, staring at the knife on the counter. “Why were you standing there, holding a knife?”

Shit.  “Uh,” you say, only to pause. Your first thought is always defense, the sudden urge to push him away. “I thought you were someone I didn’t know,” you say stiffly. “This, uh, isn’t a safe neighborhood. I might need to defend myself.”

Jungkook tilts his head. “Defend yourself from who,” he asks, running a hand over his dampened hat. “Who would you even think I was?”

“That’s not important,” you say, brushing past him. Walking behind the counter of your kitchen, you stare. It feels safer like this, not because you are afraid of what Jungkook might do, but the exact opposite. You do not trust yourself to be alone with this man, do not trust yourself to remain strong in his presence.

Already, it is hard to remember why this cannot be, why Jungkook needs to leave because he looks so good, standing in the hall of your home. 

You did not think that he would. Your apartment is so small, and Jungkook is large. Your home is cluttered, the décor of it old – but Jungkook seems perfectly at home in his black leather jacket. His hair is damp from the rain, tucked beneath a soaked baseball hat.

When Jungkook realizes he is dripping onto your floor he winces, removing both hat and jacket. “Sorry,” he apologizes, folding them into a square to rest by the door. His t-shirt is just as damp, sticking to the panes of his chest when he turns. “That was my bad.”

You groan at the sight. “Oh, come on,” you complain, waving a hand at his frame. “Did you jump in a pool before deciding to visit?”

Jungkook looks down in surprise. “It’s raining,” he says.

“No shit,” you mutter, sinking both elbows onto your counter. From here, you exhale. “Why are you here, Jungkook?”

Jungkook walks until he stands on the other side of granite. You ready yourself for an excuse, prepare yourself for coercion, explanation, demands. There are many ways in which Jungkook could convince you to stay.

Instead, he sighs. “I don’t know.”

You blink back at him, uncertain. “What?”

“I don’t know,” he repeats – and in all honestly, he does look lost. Jungkook stares at you and for the first time, you notice dark circles beneath his gaze. Perhaps you are not the only one sleeping poorly. “I shouldn’t be here,” he confesses. “You made that perfectly clear when you told Lena you didn’t want to see me. I just,” he pauses, fingers tracing the granite. “I can’t shake this feeling.”

You should be annoyed, should be angry that Jungkook dared to presume he knew what was best for you. You should be mad, but you are not. Your traitorous heart races with longing, not fear and you feel electrified by the sight of him, terrified by his words and above all – happy to see him. This is the most terrifying of all.

Just the sight of him here, with that stupid face and dumb smile, makes you happy. You hate that. Hate remembering how his limbs felt curled about you in bed, how he stood up for you with Taehyung, how he did it without making you feel small. You hate how he sees through your bullshit, tells you he likes you – and continues to care, even when you say you do not. He should not be able to do that.

 You hate all of this – which is why he needs to leave. You are a liar, both to yourself and to him because you do care. You care about him a lot and it is because of this, Jungkook cannot get hurt.

Jungkook tenses, waiting for an answer. When you do not respond, he shifts. “Are you honestly saying you don’t feel this,” he says, gesturing between you, “connection? You’re saying you feel nothing when we kiss?” Jungkook lays his palms flat on the counter. “Don’t lie to me. I know you can feel it, know you told Lena our sex was great.”

Your head snaps up in alarm. “Why is Lena telling you all that?” you gasp, swallowing the betrayal. It makes no sense for Lena to have told him.  “She had no right to say that,” you say curtly.

“She had every right, seeing as it’s about me.” Jungkook winces, shaking his head. “Not that she did. She was talking to Taehyung and I overheard. That’s what I’m good at,” he adds with a reluctant smile.

Mouth opening, you cross your arms. “That wasn’t for your ears to hear,” you retort. “That wasn’t meant for you to know.”

“Even so.” Jungkook takes a step forward, moving around the counter. 

You retreat automatically, struggling to keep him away – since you do not trust your body, your mind to remain logical. 

“Tell me.” Jungkook cocks his head. “What should I have heard, then? Tell me what you think you’re protecting me from. Me,” he adds, half-amused. “I think that’s the first time anyone’s ever said that.”

Hesitating, you waver. Maybe you should tell him the truth, maybe you should just explain – then you catch yourself, reeling the words back in. “No,” you blurt. “Why do you need to know? Why,” you say, as Jungkook takes another step forward, “do you care? Just...” Your breath hitches, vision blurring. “Just let me protect you, dammit.”

“Hey.” Jungkook’s hands find your body, sliding up your elbows. “I – okay,” he sighs. He waits for a long moment before continuing. “Okay. You don’t have to tell me.”

The air becomes quiet, standing in front of him. You feel the slide of his fingertips over your skin, know the weight of his gaze on your frame. Jungkook’s shirt, hair are equally damp – they hang loose from his body, cold compared to the rest of your apartment. His skin is warm though, his body is warm and you cannot stop yourself from saying the words which come next.

“My brother,” you exhale, almost a whisper. “My brother is part of the Vine.”

Jungkook’s hands freeze, tight on your arms.

[Master List]

 © kpopfanfictrash, 2017. Do not copy or repost without permission.

[seventeendeer]

jelly mom, how tall do you think everyone is? How tall are you grown up kids? (baby trio + possibly MK?)

Since I’m terrible at grasping the heights of characters, their heights will now be described in something I feel is more descriptive than feet or centimeters. c:

From shortest to tallest:

Monster Kid - Baby-sized. Small enough that they do not run around, they scurry, like a lizard. They disappear in crowds. They have to crane their head back to talk to most adults, and even human kids.

Frisk - Tiny, even for a kid their age. Big enough to take you down in rugby if they headbutt you in the stomach, but small enough that they can still easily fit in the crook of their goat parents’ arms or sit on their shoulders.

Chara - An inch or two taller than Frisk, though it’s barely visible. The perfect size for looking up at you with either puppy eyes or a smug little “I can say whatever I want and you can’t even punch me for being annoying or I’m telling my mom” smile.

Asriel - A couple inches taller than Chara. Around the average height for a human 11-year-old. He looks smaller/younger because he’s so round and fluffy and puppy-like.

Sans - Tall enough to drive a car, but small enough to duck under Papyrus’ gesticulating when he talks. Frisk starts out being around a head shorter than him, only to out-grow him when they’re like, 14, leaving him as the shortest member of their friend-family. Older!Frisk likes to lean their chin on top of his head sometimes just to rub salt in the wound.

Napstablook - Tall enough to be noticed in a crowd of smaller monsters, even if they didn’t float a couple feet off the ground. They wish they were smaller so they wouldn’t be noticed as easily.

Alphys - Is maybe a head shorter than the average human, but looks even smaller because of her bad posture. She wears high heels sometimes when she wants to feel powerful, and the differing balance forces her to stand upright properly. It makes her look very cool and invincible and she knows it.

Mettaton - Supermodel-tall, even discounting his boots’ heels. He was already relatively tall as a ghost too.

Undyne - A liiittle bit taller than Mettaton. As one of the more humanoid monsters, she could probably pass for human if disguised somehow, but she’d still stand out just a little too much because of her height.

Papyrus - Around half a head taller than Undyne. Taller than the vast majority of humans, though not by an intimidating amount. Just tall enough that if you turn around and he’s behind you, you have to take a step back to look up at him.

Toriel - Tall enough that she has to duck under door frames, though she can stand upright in most rooms with tall ceilings. Would have to duck her head a little to fit in a car, but it’s possible. Tall enough to give even adults hugs that feel like mom-hugs. Can easily carry all three of her kids in her arms.

Asgore - Exactly what you think of when you hear the phrase “king of monsters.” He’s huge. Probably more than a head taller than Toriel. Barely fits in most human houses and definitely not in cars. He’d be terrifying, if he didn’t have to awkwardly hunch over while inside most structures. Big enough that when he sleeps on his stomach - as one does when one has giant ram horns growing out of one’s head - all three of his kids can use his mane as a nest.

and for the grown-up kids:

Frisk - Remains quite short. Short enough that most of their friend-family can still pick them up with ease. Also short enough to stand out in a room full of other ambassadors. Though again, just tall enough to bully Sans about him being the shortest one now.

Chara - Uses magic to grow way beyond what most humans are capable of. They don’t quite reach boss monster height, but it’s close. They didn’t really have a set goal when they decided to alter their height with magic, they just wanted to be taller than every other human they’ve ever met, and they succeeded. If Frisk climbed on their back, the two’s combined height would equal Toriel’s.

Asriel - Somehow manages to grow even taller than his dad, with all the missed potential for grace and all the awkward “guys, I’m stuck in the doorway again” that this implies. He’s the reason Chara’s lowkey alright with not being as tall as their monster family. It’s easier to be graceful when you’re still vaguely human-sized.

Monster Kid - Starts a rapid growth spurt when they’re 12 and doesn’t stop before they’re 30 years old and the size of a shed. They’re not even the biggest monster out there, and yet they’re enormous compared to their friends. By the time they’re fully grown, they often serve as Frisk’s air-cab for when they have to travel long distances quickly.