#but I’ve always had the weird quirk of giving characters habits to do in the background as body language is a huge part of story telling | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

shotorozu · 4 years ago

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Heya! I love your writing. Could I request scenarios for Bakugou, Kirishima, Todoroki, Midoriya and Denki (if that’s ok, and if not, just cut Denks 😔) with a S/O that snorts when they laugh and their a little insecure about it, so they usually cover their mouth as soon as it happens or just try not to laugh at anything and as a result they put up this serious front when, in reality, they are really just ✨a crackhead✨

s/o that doesn’t like their laugh

character(s) : bakugou katsuki, kirishima eijirou, midoriya izuku, todoroki shouto, kaminari denki

legend : [Y/N = your name] they/them pronouns, quirk not specific

headcanon type : fluff, crack-ish (if you squint, there’s a dash hurt and comfort)

note(s) : PLS i can relate to this, my laugh is a cross hybrid of a window being cleaned, and a hyena 🗿 i normally don’t write 5 characters in one post but.. exceptions will be made. sorry that this took so long! will go back to writing requests

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bakugou katsuki

he was very confused, and shocked?? it was a lot

you and him are very similar, like,, out of all the people in 1-A, he’s never seen you laugh like.. hysterically.

it was always normal for him to surpress his laughter when the times are right. but even when you guys got together, he never saw you laugh

which was just a “hm.. okay? wtf, i haven’t seen them laugh before??” moment

and don’t get me wrong, it’s not like you’re emotionless, and he HASN’T seen you laugh, it’s more like you just cut yourself off before it gets too intense

which is.. 🤨 weird. to him at least

laugh if you need to laugh, he doesn’t get why you always cut yourself off, like smh the audacity

okay so imagine this, you’re sitting in the kitchen— only a few feet away from katsuki, as he finishes cooking for you, just like any normal day

but i also headcanon that bakugou likes to taste test his cooking, before he can serve it to you. y’know— just in case he accidentally used bad ingredients which is rare, since he’s very precise with cooking

so he prepares the plate and utensils, and before he serves it to you— he takes a quick taste to see how it is, but his face immediately twists in disatisfaction

“what the fuck—” he sputters, looking at the plate “who the fuck switched the salt and sugar?”

and that seemed to be your breaking point, you immediately burst out into a fit of giggles and snorts, even with katsuki still recovering from the weird after taste.

if it was any other person, he would’ve chucked them out of the kitchen— but seeing you laugh out loud like this left him appalled

but your laughing episode is cut short when you realize that katsuki’s just staring. not saying anything, nor is he telling you off for laughing.

his expression looks so indifferent from seeing you laugh?? so you simply just apologize “sorry, i know the laugh is ugly.”

katsuki quickly snaps out of it, ruby irises glaring at you “ugly? when the hell did i say that?” he questions, voice gruff

your silence makes him think that you’re actually insecure about your laugh, an despite the weird aftertaste in his mouth, he decides to speak

“look, it was nice seeing you laugh, idiot.” he adds, because it sounded a little too nice “i don’t get why you have to hold your laughter back, especially around me. laugh if you need to, i’m not gonna judge you.”

plus, he’s not the person to judge you for your laugh anyway, his laugh.. is questionable for sure. i wouldn’t say it’s any better, so that would’ve be hypocritical of him

“you sure?”

“hell yeah i’m fuckin’ sure! but anyway, i’m gonna kill the bitch that switched the salt and sugar!” he gets up from the table, plate in hand as he goes to fix the meal

he surely can’t see your face right now, but when he hears you laugh, he can’t find himself not being able to smile.

he can only look forward to seeing you laugh again.

kirishima eijirou

his first reaction was :00 and 😳

so he was kind of left to his own thoughts when he realized that,, he hasn’t seen you laugh wildly before

and it’s not like you were just 😐 the entire time, you just always covered your mouth whenever you wanted to laugh

it was a big mystery to him, but he doesn’t think it’s quite manly to ask you that, it wasn’t long before he found out anyway

so! i headcanon that kirishima has his lil gaming night with the bakusquad maybe once or twice a week, they usually choose to communicate through the voice chat so.. no physical interaction.

and you’re just there, spectating the entire thing. because you still wanted to spend time with eijirou— but you didn’t want to interrupt his weekly gaming moment

so there’s a twist— he was actually playing a rpg multi-player horror game with the bakusquad, so.. jumpscares, am i right?

you were just sitting there on his bed, just watching if there’s anything interesting so far— and surprise! there’s a jumpscare.

eijirou jumps a little from the impact, and you can just hear the faint girlish screams of bakugou and kaminari, even from this length— basically telling all of them to just fucking dip! run the other way!

AND YOU WEREN’T EXPECTING BAKUGOU TO SCREAM SO.. HIGH PITCHED?

so you just start laughing when you hear the continuous screams, from his headset rip kiri’s ear drums and while kirishima tried to focus on the objective, he couldn’t help but turn around

just to see you laughing your ass off. and he’s there like 😳 they’re laughing?? they’re laughing!

so kirishima quickly finishes the game, but he just found himself in a state of shock. but then you covered your mouth so :(( aw.

you notice that he finished his game, so you just stop laughing entirely “oh— are you finished, eijirou?”

he’s still kind of taken aback by the laugh, and you seem to have noticed his reaction “wait, did you.. hear that?”

when you see eijirou nod, your expression seemed shell shock— which confused him, until you told him that you assumed that he didn’t hear you because of the headphones

“what? is it bad?” he asks with genuine curiousity, but you just explain that you’re just embarrassed. because the laugh itself is ugly

which kirishima disagrees!! >:(( your laugh had him in awe. he loves seeing you laugh, and it was a nice surprise.

“i love hearing you laugh! it makes me happy— i don’t see any reason that you should be ashamed of it, everyone’s laugh is different, after all.”

you’d say he’s lying, but the genuine toothy grin on kirishima face convinces you that he has the purest intentions.

midoriya izuku

now that i’ve thought about it, have we ever seen this boy burst into laughter?? this excludes the hospital scene of course.

but he’s not too concerned about himself not being able to freely laugh, but it was more like he was curious (or concerned) about you

you’re always quick to either cut yourself off, or you just cover your mouth entirely. and he can’t help but feel curious!

he asked you at some point on why you do those things when you laugh, but you just shrugged. so until that point, it was just simply a mystery— that’s left to his own imagination

so whenever midoriya creates new moves with his quirk, he’d have the sudden desire to show his s/o and ask if the move would be practical in anything. because why not

and we all know how much midoriya trains right? he’s quite the hard worker. but you were taking a nap in the afternoon, after finishing your school work for the day

it’s probably reaching 3pm now, and izuku finished making new moves with his quirk, and he was eager to show you!

he didn’t want to do this but he ended up waking you up anyway, and he brought you outside to show you the new moves

“look at this, Y/N!” he says, all excited oh boy

what he didn’t expect was how fast he was going— missing the entire key move, and he started plummetting to the ground (similar to a ragdoll being thrown)

you were still partially dowsy, and you weren’t expecting him to fall to the ground like THAT, so you started laughing hard

and because you’re still drowsy, you don’t recognize that you’re actually laughing— yeah, izuku may be still on the ground, but wow. you’re laughing!!

he’s surely taken back, because he’s never actually seen you burst into laughter like this, he was just

yet, you immediately slap your hand over your mouth— when you realize that you’re actually laughing out loud, and snorting in front of your boyfriend wjdnwkx

“i’m sorry, izuku” you regain composure, immediately rushing to his aid to help him up, “you didn’t need to hear, or see that.”

but why are you apologizing? he’s the one that dragged you out here to see him fail 💀 “no, no! it’s fine Y/N. i was just surprised, that’s all.”

the expression on his face kind of worries you— because omg what if he thinks the laugh was ugly? i’ll never laugh again.

“i’d understand if you’d think my laugh was kind of ugly, izu—”

“what— it’s not ugly!” he’s quick to object “i think.. it’s really nice. it surprised me, but your laugh’s interesting! in the good way, and it’s also kind of cute, uhm—.” pls don’t give him a heart attack

you shake your head, because you already have a good idea of what he feels— and it’s quite positive. “i get it, izuku. thank you for the reassurance.”

he finally calms down when you give him a quick smooch on the lips. in short, you were the one to calm him down rip

todoroki shouto

he’s definitely curious about it

i mean, it’s a natural occurence at this point— shouto was already observant of you, what more when he started developing feelings for you

once again, not someone who freely laughs (he’s quite oblivious with the socializing part so it’s too be expected) but that doesn’t mean you should mirror him

like midoriya, he probably tried speaking to you about it— but you always reassured him that it was just a subconscious habit still odd but.. if you say so

so, shouto’s downstairs in the kitchen right? he’s preparing a snack to bring up to your room, and while he was trying his best to hurry up with it

you eventually trekked downstairs, and saw shouto preparing said snack. so what do you do? you surprise him!

“shouto!” you peak behind him, and he’s startled because he thought he was alone this entire time

so— he might’ve accidentally started a mini fire out of shock, and he’s quick to realize that

🧍 there’s a fire. that i’ve created. it was a miracle that he didn’t set off the alarms

the situation is handled pretty quickly, since he’s fast enough to put out the fire. but now, shouto’s just staring at the burned piece of snack.

silence.

“..there was an attempt.” he says it simply, while also equipped with a rather frazzled expression.

this causes you to burst out into a fit of laughter, snorting at the scene in front of you— the comment being oddly hilarious

he’s the personification of 🧍right now, and shouto’s just watching at the rare scene of you hunched over the kitchen counter, snorting from laughter

“i’m sorry, shouto.” you cover your mouth, still trying to regain your composure “i’m sorry that i scared you but.. it was kind of funny.”

shouto’s just thinking “..they were laughing.” not in a bad way, of course. he’s heard people laugh at his ‘jokes’ but this was definitely a different feeling.

shouto being well,, shouto. he’s going to be blunt with his words “your laugh is pretty.”

but your first reaction is 👁👁?? PRETTY?? “shouto, out of all the things my laugh could be— you chose pretty?” you’re looking at him like he’s crazy rn

he’s really confused like,, “yeah. your laugh is pretty, is that bad?”

so then you explain that you just never perceived your laugh as pretty, only because you ‘snorted like a pig’ he thought that was a little sad to hear

“i don’t see a reason that you should be ashamed of your laugh, Y/N.” he moves closer, setting a cool hand on your shoulder “every part of you is special in their own individual way. and i’ll love every part of it.”

“you,, mean that? like really??” you ask, and he confirms it with a nod, resting his head against your shoulder “i’m sorry that i burned your snack.”

“it’s fine. i’m sorry i scared you,”

“if it made you laugh then.. i’d say it’s worth it.” and you can’t really think that he’d lie, just by the way his mismatched eyes stare at you in pure adoration.

kaminari denki

the only person here that laughs freely whenever and wherever, he has that class clown type of beat

he was a little sad to see that you always covered your mouth whenever you laughed, since it sort of makes his day to see people laugh at his jokes

but of course, he’d never judge you— he may be curious about certain things but,, he’ll never secondguess you as a whole

similar to todoroki and midoriya, he’ll ask you in a lighthearted way on why you cover your mouth whenever you laugh

and you always brush it off, so he’d just have to respect that

i’d imagine that he’d encounter your laugh when you guys are doing your daily cracktivities

you guys were already quite good friends before you guys started dating, and this was quite a habit that always occurred maybe once or twice a week

the both of you were desperately trying to hold in the laughter that threatened to escape your lips, at 2am 💀

and the both of you guys were watching compilations of that talent show livestream on youtube (tiahra nelson’s to be specific)

so you’re still holding in your laughter, and reaches to that point in the video, where tiahra nelson was watching that dude sing ‘electric love’ (ref : this video)

seeing denki’s shocked reaction made you realize that— you just can’t hold it in anymore, so, you bursted into a fit of snorts and laughter, sliding onto denki’s shoulder

denki’s still holding in his laughter because he doesn’t want to get busted by iida or something— but oh my, YOUR LAUGH IS CONTAGIOUS TO HIM

he’s never heard you laugh this hard but omg, your laugh is contagious as hell— so he starts laughing with you 💀

eventually, the laughing does die down— and you guys move on to the next video. it’s oddly quiet at first, because the realization had just hit you and hard

you snorted in front of your boyfriend, and you’re sure that he doesn’t care that much but,, wow, you are embarrassed.

“wow— your laugh is contagious,” denki slides his hand across your shoulder, and while he’s been trying to keep the atmosphere at it’s normal, he’s quite nervous??

“it was a new experience uhm, sorry, i don’t know what i’m saying, and i know you’d be insecure about it all and..” he fumbles with his words for a bit, because denki isn’t THE BEST with serious things

“your laugh is cute.” his eyes are glued onto the screen, and his tone is basically stating that he’s right. your laugh is really cute

“you’re cheesy,” you playfully smack his chest, but you can’t help but feel quite bashful of his words

no but really,, whenever you laugh, denki starts to laugh along with you, since it’s so contagious he’s not that sorry about it

moving past the sappy shit, it’s quite helpful in cracktivities 💀

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likes and reblogs are appreciated, thanks for reading!

i do not own bnha/mha and it’s characters. boku no hero academia/my hero academia belongs to horikoshi kohei, i only own the writing and i do not profit off of my hobby

do not plagiarize, repost, translate, or use my works for audio readings without permission :))

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libra-kirishima · 4 years ago

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Hii ! May i ask for hdcs where Yaoyorozu invites the class to an event organized by her family, a kind of gala or ball, so she won't be alone, and she sees her crush (Femreader) coming in a suit. Her reaction (reader doesn't realize she's a flirt). Thank you !

I misread this to think that you're the flirt, but that's okay because I don't think flirtatiousness makes sense for Yaoyorozu's character.

(She's a virgo...)

Please ma'am take these two pining nerd lesbians in this trying time.

"Was this a mistake?" You whispered to Mina.

"Why would this be a mistake?"

"I feel so weird being here." You answered, fiddling with your cuff links to avoid making eye contact with any number of the wealthy strangers that surrounded you.

"It's a birthday party." She rolled her eyes.

"I've never been to a birthday party like this before, have you-"

"Look, there's Sero!

Your friend grabbed you by the wrist and pulled you to a small table where Sero and Kaminari were talking with Jirou. (Or rather where Kaminari was hitting on her while Sero laughed at how he had no game.) When you locked eyes with him, he pointed to Kaminari and made a gagging gesture.

"Let her breathe, Denki." You joked, grabbing him by his shirt collar and pulling him back. Your friends laughed as you pulled up a chair between the two of them.

"Where's Yaomomo?" Your best friend asked, fiddling with the tufts of pink hair around her horns while staring at herself in the reflection of a spoon.

"Her mom called her away for something a while ago. Said she'd be back soon." Jirou answered, shrugging her shoulders. "You can go look for her if you want. Mrs. Yaoyorozu said the house was ours to explore."

You only half paid attention to the conversation between the two of them as you idly chatted with Sero.

"What's with your face?" He asks in between bites of the snack food on the table.

"You know just what to say to make a woman swoon." You answered. Kaminari laughed, jabbing him in the ribs playfully.

"No, I mean why do you look like you just walked in on your parents having sex or something?"

"Well that's an image I won't be able to get out of my head, thanks." You retorted, but Sero still waited for your answer with raised eyebrows. You sighed before continuing. "I hate that I know what you mean by that, by the way- No, it's Yaoyorozu."

"She said she'd be back in a little bit."

"No not where is she. More like-" You trailed off, waiting for her to finish.

"Is this about the sexual tension between the two of you?"

"What sexual tension?"

"The sexual tension in how you're fighting each other to be top of the class." Kaminari interjected. "You think that smug grin she gave you when she got a higher grade than you on that last test was friendly?"

"I thought it was intended to be malicious." You admitted.

"No, no-" Sero adds, pausing to steal a bite of Kaminari's food while his attention was focused on you. "-I totally think she wants to top you." Your eyes widened at his admittance. "But that's just a hunch."

"Really?"

"After all this time that you've been flirting with her? What did you think that she hated you?" At your lack of response, both boys started laughing. "Are you fucking serious?" You leaned over to jab your elbow into Kaminari's ribs.

"What did I miss?"

All three of you bolted up at the question. Your eyes scanned how gorgeous she looked in her dress with her hair down before locking with Yaoyorozu, and it appeared she did the same because you both blushed instantaneously. After witnessing the brief interaction, Kaminari begins to laugh again but is silenced by Jirou pinching his arm under the table.

"Nothing important." He answered through grit teeth. Satisfied with the answer, Jirou let go of his skin. "Ow."

Sero stands to offer Yaoyorozu his seat, shooting you the widest shit-eating grin he could manage as she sat next to you.

"Happy birthday, Yaoyorozu." You spoke to her as she made herself comfortable beside you.

"Thank you, (Y/N)." After a moment of silence between the two of you she speaks again. "I'm glad you came." She added earnestly.

"Thank you for inviting me." After another pause, you added "You look absolutely gorgeous, by the way." For the first time since your eyes first met, you allowed yourself to properly look at her. Her eyes averted yours as she worked to conceal the rose in her cheeks. You placed your chin in your palm with a small smirk.

"As do you." She added meekly. "You seemed a bit unsure of yourself when you walked in, but I hope you know that I'm very glad to have you here." Her words were soft spoken but reassuring, managing to look at you for just long enough to offer you a kind smile.

"So you were watching me?" You chuckled. Her face flushes even deeper. You watched as she struggled to keep it from you, seemingly interested in everything surrounding her except for you. "Can't get enough of me? I don't blame you. I am top of my class you know." You joked. She playfully swatted your shoulder, then lingered her touch there a moment longer. Across the table, Sero laughed silently and shot you a thumbs up.

"Um-" She starts, before being taken by the swelling of music. "Actually would you care to dance with me?"

"I'd love to."

She took your hand and laced her fingers in yours, allowing you to lead the way. Out of the corner of your eye, you notice Jirou slap Kaminari on the shoulder and point to the two of you leaving the table. Before he had a chance to think, she grabbed him by the wrist and followed you.

"Apologies for them," Yaoyorozu spoke shamefully as you placed her hands on your shoulders. "She's my best friend, but she she has an awful habit of eavesdropping on my conversations with you."

You wrapped your hands around your waist, leading her around the room in relative silence. As the song comes to a close, she leans closer and whispers "Do you want to make a break for it?"

"Hm?" You ask. She subtly points her head to a hallway at the other end of the room with a smile. You'd never seen this side of her before, but you'd be lying if you said you weren't loving it. You smile back at her, and that's all the answer Momo needs.

"Ready?" She asked softly. You watched her take one last glance at Kaminari and Jirou, still trying subtly to watch the two of you. "Go!"

She grabbed you by the hand with one hand, lifting up the material of her skirt with the other. You drifted around various partygoers, hoping to slip out of sight of your friends. She pulled you into the massive corridor at the other end of the hall, and up the first set of stairs. It was only then that she stopped running. She spends a few moments to catch her breath. "Come with me." Her hand was still firmly grasping yours, leading you through the long and winding corridors of her home.

You're taken to a window at the end of a corridor, where Momo pushes aside the lavish set of drapes, revealing it to be a set of glass doors. Never once releasing your hand from her grasp, she opens the doors and pulls you on to the balcony with her, drawing the drapes and closing the door behind her. It was almost impressive watching her do this all with one hand. It was only then that she let go of yours. "Thank you. I needed to get away for a while." You said nothing, but smiled at her. She leans against the railing, looking up at the night sky like she's looking for something. You join her, resting yourself against the railing with your shoulder touching hers. "Are you familiar with astronomy."

"A bit." You answered. You point to a chain of stars, and Momo's eyes follow your hand with interest. "The constellation Cygnus is right there. That star at the tail of the swan is called Deneb. I think it's the 19th or 20th brightest star in the night sky." She lets out an interested hum. Your point moves to another part of the night sky. "Delphinus." Momo looks at you, eager to hear more. "It's a dolphin." You state awkwardly after a while.

You both laugh naturally. Her hand comes to rest on yours, stroking soothing circles into the palm of your hand. All this time you had assumed that she hated you seemed to drift into the sea as she eagerly listened to you point out features of the night sky. "Venus. You can tell that it's a planet and not a star because it doesn't twinkle."

"Why don't planets twinkle?" She asked eagerly.

"Because they're too close to us. Stars are millions of light-years away but Venus is our nextdoor neighbor. It's actually the brightest object in the night sky because it has a thick atmosphere of white clouds."

"And why does that make it so bright?"

"Since the clouds are so thick and white, just about all of the light from the sun reflects off of it. And that's why you can even see Venus in the day sometimes."

Maybe she didn't know everything. You had assumed she did based her quirk and her grades. But Yaoyorozu was just a girl. A very smart one at that but just a girl. You certainly didn't know everything.

How strange it was to think that of all the people she could have asked to join her in her escape from the crowd of her birthday party, she chose you. "I thought you hated me." You said, not realizing that you had voiced that thought out loud until it was too late.

"That's funny." She admitted to you. "I always assumed you hated me. I invited you by total chance, hoping that you'd come. And I'm glad you did. You've been great company." You both silently decided to leave it there, choosing to take in the sounds of the night in silence before heading back inside.

"Oh!" You perked your head up. "Is now a bad time to give you your birthday present?"

"You didn't have to get me anything-"

"I know but I wasn't not going to. But what do you get the girl that's got everything, right?" You snuck into the coat closet just outside the foyer, grabbing your bag from one of the hooks. "Do you remember when we went on that class beach trip and you wanted the stuffed cow in the claw machine on the pier but you couldn't win it?"

"Yeah."

"Well I remembered that you wanted it so Kaminari and I went back to get it for you!" You responded enthusiastically!

"You're kidding."

You shook your head no, pulling the plush out of your bag to prove it. With a grin, you extended your arms to offer it to her. "How? I thought it was broken. The claw wouldn't close."

"Oh, no, it still was." You admitted. "I asked Kaminari to fry the machine so I could reach my arm in there with a coat hanger and pull it out." She laughed. It was the sweetest sound you think you've ever heard. "Worked like a charm."

"Did it?"

"Yeah. We're never allowed back to that arcade again but I think it was worth it."

Momo pulled you by your lapels closer to her and pulled you into a tight hug. The feeling of her embrace felt so warm and familiar. Neither of you wanted to be the first to let go. After a moment she speaks.

"I love it. Thank you."

"Happy birthday." You said once again, punctuating it with a soft kiss to her temple.

#poor baby is insecure and modest surrounded by people who want to exploit that bc she's pretty...#you can tell she's a virgo #I'm all for being liberal with canon but i do still wanna keep the characters accurate to themselves if possible #bnha imagines #bnha x reader #mha imagines #mha x reader #yaoyorozu momo x reader #momo yaoyorozu x reader #momo x reader #yaoyorozu x reader #Yaoyorozu Momo #momo yaoyorozu #wlw x reader #wlw imagines #pronouns used: she/her/hers

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merryhelps · 4 years ago

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plotting etiquette : a players guide

[ coming soon / an admins guide ]

plotting is an essential part to writing together; whether you’re in a group, an indie blog or even a 1x1, you need to be able to communicate with your peers in order to build a story. and that’s why we’re all here, right? to create worlds, no matter what the context, and most importantly, to do this with others. roleplaying is a team effort - no matter what universe you’re writing in. below the cut are some helpful tips, tricks and advice to remember when attempting to plot with others. if you’ve found this guide useful, please like and/or reblog to spread the word - and hopefully help out others along the way. ***a part two will be out next week for admins on how to promote and help your group with plotting.

i. ‘i’m scared of bothering people!’

this is a statement i’ve seen the most often around the rpc - whether it’s from a various text post people reblog, or as an admin who’s been on the receiving end of messages like this.

it’s important to remember that most of us get a little nervous about reaching out. while writing original pieces or fanfiction can give you some distance between the creating portion and the feedback process, there’s no real space for roleplaying. it’s an instantaneous thing - we put our words out there on the screen, and someone else has to reply to that in some capacity.

whether you’re an extrovert, an introvert or something in between, this can often be the beginning of the end for a lot of roleplayers. maybe you’ve joined an established group, and it seems like everyone has set dynamics and you don’t want to shake things up. or maybe you’re an indie blog, but you’re too scared to talk to someone you’ve idolized and want to write with.

the thing is, you can’t expect people to know what you want if you can’t verbalize it yourself. let them know you’re a little nervous ! chances are, they are too. we’re all on this platform trying to do the same thing, and everyone gets nervous about exposing themselves to strangers now and again. ultimately, we put a little piece of ourselves in every character we create, and that can be terrifying to show to people and expect them to accept. but a little effort goes a long way - making the first move can often help build a bridge to someone you might not have otherwise gotten the chance to write with. you’re going to have to take a risk sometimes. while not everyone is going to be receptive, most people will be. and chances are, if you start with something as simple as “hi, i’d love the chance to write / plot with you,” you’ll be met with an extraordinarily excited new partner. understand that if they don’t, it’s not a bad thing ! some writing styles don’t mesh together, some people have a harder time talking freely than others, and so many of us regularly forget to reply to a message. know that if you’ve put yourself out there, that’s a huge step in the right direction, no matter what comes of it, and next time it’ll be even easier.

ii. come prepared.

this is ultimately where a lot of players fall short. it’s one thing to say ‘let’s plot’, and another thing to do it altogether. you need to have some sort of jumping off point.

some ideas include:

a prompt / plot idea.

this is especially important if it’s a new person you’re trying to interact with. it’s difficult to come up with things on the spot, and if you’re reaching out, you need to have something to reach out with.

in a group you’ll want to take the time to read their biography / about / wanted connections if they have them listed. it’s a quick way to ensure you have a basis of what they want, and how you and your characters can then fill those needs.

as an indie / 1x1 see if they have any ‘wanted plots’ or ‘prompts’ tags. check out their ask memes tags. ensure you’ve read their guidelines on both of these, and follow them. while most people have similar rules, you can’t know that for sure unless you’ve read through them.

questions about their character(s).

everyone adores talking about their own characters - give them an opportunity to let them tell you about theirs! even if they’re playing a canon character, they’ll have their own take on them, with headcanons and quirks and hobbies that might not show up in the specific canon the character comes from.

use ask memes if you need help coming up with questions - ask memes are extraordinarily helpful when it comes to fleshing out muses for developmental purposes as it is, and while they’re usually made for general tumblr interaction, they can be a great jumping off point for talking specifics.

don’t be afraid to point out things in their bio / about / etc. this shows that you’ve gone through and read their pages, which shows that you care about them as a person and a character, and not merely another faceclaim.

talk about your character(s).

it’s always good, especially in a group, to have a small statement of facts about your character. in business, this is called an ‘elevator pitch’ - a few concise sentences that can get someone else interested.

for example, merrick wood is a former cheerleader who would do absolutely anything for her sister, holly, has no real ambitions and loves the weird and supernatural. you can find her swimming, or listening to mix cd’s she makes for her own amusement, or even on the hunt for big foot. this now gives the other player a few things to pick through - what kind of music is she listening to? why is her sister so important to her? is cheerleading still important enough for her to mention it to someone?

iii. plotting is a two way street.

the above two points work on the basis that you’ve made the first move - but say you’re the one who’s gotten the message of someone eager to plot with you ! takes a little stress off of your plate, but adds to their own. no matter what, remember that there is a real person on the other side of the screen. be kind, and treat them how you’d want to be treated - even if you’re not interested in writing with them, let them know ! a simple thanks for the message! i’m honored you’re interested in my characters, but at the moment i don’t think we’d be a good fit is enough of a response that most people should leave it at that. if you get a message saying they’re not interested, simply say ‘thank you for replying!’ and move on. as stated above, not everyone will always click - respect people’s boundaries, and understand that you’ll find a new partner in due time.

responding to plotting messages is as important as creating them; if someone says they want to plot and gives you ideas, play off of them. don’t simply say ‘okay!’ or ‘cool!’ - a habit a lot of people have had over the years.

example. if jenny says “i think it would be great if robert could surprise them with flowers,” reply wth “oh how cute!!!” and end there - expand on it, adding your own input - “that’s so cute! denise adores lilacs, and would be flustered to get them from someone she admires so much!” the latter sentence gives your partner something to respond to, something to work with, and may just end up being in the thread you write together!

iv. don’t make your admins do all the work.

this section is primarily for group roleplayers.

your admin(s) already do so much. behind the scenes, there’s constantly updating the main pages, queueing ads, coming up with tasks and events and plot drops to keep players entertained and happy. at the same time, they’re trying to play in the group with you - create their own stories, write their own characters. they should not have to spoon feed you plots. these are things you need to develop on your own and with fellow players.

example. in a town rp, and you have a social butterfly character ? throw a birthday party for a character, giving the other characters something to participate in without an official Admin Sponsored Event. you should of course ensure the admin is okay with you having ‘events’ like the above for various players, and you need to ensure you’re inclusive in them - don’t ‘throw a party’ and not invite half the group because you don’t want to plot with them. take the time to message players of characters who might not normally show up and figure out something else with them, or a reason why they would be there or even why they wouldn’t!

v. stop bubbling.

at the end of the day, plotting together is the best way to stop bubbling from happening in your group. no one wants to be the player left out of everything - make sure to try and reach out to the others, especially if you think other players may be ignoring them. writing together - in a group, on an indie, anywhere really - is supposed to be fun and challenging and a different experience every time. before you go to your admins about being left out / ignored, ask yourself if you’ve done the above. have you messaged other players ? asked them about their characters, and given ideas of potential prompts for the two of you to write ? if you have, and you’re still getting ignored, then absolutely talk to your admin team! but try and be proactive instead of reactive and you’d be amazed at how far you can go.

hopefully this guide will help you - remember, your roleplay experience is ultimately cultivated by yourself. you choose which groups to apply to, which characters to bring, and your attitudes and behaviors can affect your gameplay. being in a group, specifically, is about being a part of a team. become a team player, and you and your characters can find the roleplay family of your dreams ♡

#rph #rpt #guide #plotting etiquette #writing help #rp advice #©#© | guide #© ashley #requested

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autumnsart22 · 4 years ago

Text

A Dream Come True: Shigaraki x Dabi x Reader part 1/2

So my friend wrote this fic but she didn’t have anywhere to post it so we decided to share it here! All creds go to her 🤪

I’ll post part 2 tomorrow, which is when it gets spicyyyy

“Y/N I am leaving for the night. You know what to do and your paycheck is on the desk in my office.”

And with those final words, a cheeky wink, and the slam of the back door, your boss stalked out of the empty bar. He wasn’t a bad person but a lousy boss and an even lousier business owner. Most of the liquor went into his morning, afternoon, or evening coffee sometimes forgoing the coffee altogether. You overheard some of the other workers in the area saying that this place was gonna go under pretty soon. Even without the boss’s nasty habit of drinking the alcohol, you’re are in a part of town that doesn’t attract many people. On a busy night you might have three or four people come in for a lonely drink. It was a lonely place and a lonely job but it was easy work and the boss always seemed to pay you more than what the job is worth. Just another poor business practice.

Tonight had been the same as usual. You came into work at 6 and set up the bar for opening at 6:30. It wasn’t until 9:45 that another soul entered the bar. He was one of the usuals and it was nice having another human being to chat with while you fixed his drink. He made the routine comments about how you’re still young and shouldn't be working in a run down place like this, and you gave him the same answer as always that you were saving up to finish school, and that it was a fine job. When he left it was back to mindless wiping of surfaces and organizing the glasses and no one to talk to. It was 11:30 now and no one else had entered the bar, but that was normal. It was almost closing time now, and the boss never minded if you shut down 15 minutes early.

You were locking up the liquor, back turned to the rest of the bar when two male voices came from the front door. That’s weird you didn’t hear the door. They seemed to be arguing, and one of them seemed to be in pain based on his frequent groans and strained voice.

“Sorry we’re closing up for the night.” you yelled, continuing the shuffling of bottles.

“And who in the hell are you?”

You had heard that voice before, but that was insane, just a coincidence. However at that moment you felt an arm roughly grab around your waist and a strong lock around your wrists violently pushing them into your back.

“OUCH! WHAT THE HELL?!”

You were violently pushed around, body finally turned to see the man that wasn’t currently restraining you from behind. If this was some dumb cartoon your jaw would have touched the floor. What the hell was going on? All logical thought swept from your brain. How could this be? This man could not be standing in front of you. No you’re dreaming. You must be. You fell asleep at work and you’re dreaming. Okay. Okay. You just need to wake yourself up. Yeah that's it. You tried pinching yourself but you couldn’t move your hands out of the tight grip. The only unrestrained part of your body were your legs. You violently landed a kick to your left shin.

“FUCKING SHIT!!” Was that supposed to hurt that much in a dream?

“If that was aimed at me, you’re pathetic” The deep voice behind you chuckled lightly at the self inflicted kick. You felt the reverberations of the low tone where your body was pressed against his. You knew that voice too! You looked down at the arm still gripping threateningly around your waist. Charred skin ran all the way down to the hand where a ring of staples held it to viable flesh. Oh my god. This can’t be happening. You continued to violently kick yourself, closing your eyes tightly before opening them again, persistently trying to wake yourself up and make sense of this situation.

“Hey. Hey. Hey quit squirming” You felt a leg separating your own, preventing you from further abuse to your shins. The arm around your waist tightened in support since your legs started to give out.

“Crusty come help me out I think she’s gonna faint”

When you opened your eyes, the lights of the bar were harsh against your blurry vision and foggy brain.

“That was a weird dream. What time is it?” you wondered aloud, looking up for the clock on the wall.

“And she’s back, and this isn’t a dream sweetheart.” the deep voice sent a shock down your spine.

No way. Your eyes darted to the two men standing next to the bar. It was only then you realized you were slumped awkwardly in one of the leather chairs scattered throughout the room, ropes replacing the rough hands from earlier.

“Now as I asked you before? Who the hell are you?” This time it was the scratchy voice that shot at you. The familiar lanky form of Tomura Shigaraki was leaning against the bar, this time the edges of his frame curved into shadow and his height adding much more presence than what you could have imagined.

“You… you’re Tomura Shigaraki” you stuttered in shock.

“I asked for your name girl, not mine. Now spit it out” He barked impatiently.

“I-I-mm Y-yy-/N-nn”

“What are you doing here?” He shot again.

“I-I work here” Eyes darting between the two men you’ve studied so closely before, but always through a screen. This can’t be real. They can’t be real. It was rather ironic how defiant your mind was being to the presence of two men you had spent hours watching, reading, and fantasizing about but this was insane.

“No you don’t.” Shigaraki’s voice becoming more and more impatient with your slow and stupid answers.

“This bar has been closed for years.” Dabi stated flatly as though proving you’re lying.

“I can’t believe this. This has to be a dream” you started mumbling to yourself quickly trying to understand how this was reality.

“HEY! This isn’t a dream, you stupid girl! Now tell us why you're in our bar!”

“You’re Tomura Shigaraki and you’re Dabi from My Hero Academia” you started calming down and succumbing to the fact that this was happening even if you were going crazy. Two villains from an anime you watch are standing in front of you seemingly real.

“From wha–– oh nevermind. What’s your quirk?” Shigraki continued to shoot questions at you but none of his words could cut through the hurricane of questions storming through your brain.

“How are you guys real? How are you guys here?”

“I am the one asking questions here. Now tell me what your quirk is?” He said annoyedly, starting to scratch his neck.

“I don’t have a quirk. No one here does”

“What are you talking about? Nearly everyone has a quirk.” Dabi questioned coldly.

“This is the real world. There are no such things as quirks here.” You continued finally allowing yourself to come to the ludacris idea that this was in fact reality.

“Very funny. Dabi what do you say we just kill her?” Shigaraki said with a sadistic grin evident behind the hand, taking a step closer to you. Dabi shrugged leaning against the bar, an air of unamusement lingering in his face.

“WAIT...wait...What if I can prove to you that this is a different reality?”

“Well go on then prove it” Shigraki teased continuing his advance on you.

“You’re Tomura Shigaraki leader of the League of Villains ––”

“Blah Blah everyone knows that” He said annoyed now looming over you, his deadly hands reaching out.

Closing your eyes and turning away from him, you continued to spurt out facts, waiting to be turned into ash.

“Your real name is Tenko Shimura, the hand on your face you refer to as father, you…”

SLAP! Your face stung but your body still seemed to be intact. When you dared to open your eyes, Shigraki’s face was inches from yours, murderous crimson glaring at you from between the fingers of his mask. Pinned into the chair between his two arms gripping the armrests, you were trapped.

“How do you know that?” He said through clenched teeth.

“You’re a character from an anime I watch. I’ve watched you guys for months”

“Liar. You must have hacked us or stolen or….” You could tell he was trying to figure out how you knew information that isn’t in any record or known by anyone.

“I promise. I didn’t do any of that. I am telling the truth.” you continued to plead.

“What about me? Do you know shit about me?” Dabi didn’t seem to be convinced.

“Ummm...Well I know your name is Touya Todoroki and you’re the oldest son of Endeavor and...

“You’re the son of Endeavor?” Shigaraki standing up and looking at him revolted.

“Hey I didn’t say that. She did.” Dabi seemed pissed behind the flat face.

“Okay but SHE seems to know everything about us so…”

“Fine. What do we do then? Kill her?” Dabi asked.

“Fine by me.” Shigaraki shrugs. You stared helplessly as the blue haired man turned back to you still tied in the chair.

“Wait! I know information about other people. I’ll tell you everything I know please”

“Sorry, but I’ve made up my mind��

The excitement was evident in his scratchy voice as he violently grabbed your face smushing your cheeks together uncomfortably. Shigaraki’s cold fingers dug into your skin, nails sharp and ragged. You could see his pointer finger still raised in your field of vision. You shut your eyes tightly as he slowly brought his pointer finger down to meet his others. You waited for something to happen. Were you already dead? Was it that simple? You opened an eye when you felt Shigaraki’s nails dig further into your skin. He was still standing in front of you with his hand still on your face, just as confused as you were on why you weren’t a pile of ash.

“I guess your quirks were erased when...”

SLAP! Where his hand had laid flat moments before was now red and stinging as he landed his second blow to your face tonight.

“Scar face any fire?” he shot, standing up straight again and turning towards Dabi.

“Nope. I am just as useless as you” Dabi returned.

You could see the annoyance fuming in Shigaraki’s eyes as the realization that what you had been stating was true. He was currently stuck in a different dimension with no quirks. You let out a sigh of relief, glad that you didn’t have to be worried about being turned into ash by either men.

“Alright brat” Shigaraki hissed turning back to you. “ What were you saying about information?”

“Well like I said before. You two are characters in an anime in this universe, and that means I know just as much about other characters... I mean other people in your universe. Of course not everything but just what’s been released”

“An anime you say. What’s this show called?”

“Um…” You hesitated knowing he wasn’t going to like the answer”

“Spit it out”

“My Hero Academia”

“Tch. Of fucking course it’s about the heros.” He said the last word with such disdain that it oozed onto the floor.

“Let me guess. All Might is the main character?”

“Well not exactly.”

“Then who the fuck is it?”

“Well….Izuku Midoriya”

“That annoying little green haired brat is the main character?! What makes him so special?”

“Well that’s kind of a long story and the whole premise of the show”

“Well we’ve got time, and we need to figure out how in the hell we got here and how the fuck we’re gonna get back, so keep talking”

“Fine, but first untie me.”

“What did you say?” Shigaraki questioned. A small chuckle came from Dabi who was now playing with the toothpicks you used in drinks, lazily moving them around with his hands, one already perched between his teeth.

“I told you to untie me” You were gaining some confidence since you realized you had the upper hand.

“There are no quirks here and I have no intent on trying to deceive you two, believe me I know what you’re capable of ” They could still harm you in many ways but you were a source of information and someone who understood their situation.

“So if you would please untie me. I promise to help you” At this point you surmised that they had somehow been warped here by someone else’s quirk either in or after some kind of fight. Shigaraki had a growing bloodstain seeping through his jeans, and Dabi had some deep cuts and few staples loose. Dabi and Shigaraki looked at eachother deciding whether or not to trust me.

“Look” You said exasperatedly. You were starting to lose feeling in one of your legs that was pressed awkwardly underneath you, and your shoulders becoming sore from the awkward angle of your arms. “I don’t know how you are here or why it was me you happened to run into, but you need help and are you really gonna try and explain this situation to someone else?”

“She’s right you know” Dabi said casually to Shigaraki who was obviously trying to come up with an excuse to hurt you.

“Fine. Go utie her”

With a heavy sigh Dabi slid off his stool dropping the toothpicks in his hand, the one still pursed between his lips moving idly as he chewed on it. He stalked over to you as Shigaraki sat on a stool at the bar from the growing pain in his leg. Dabi came up in front of you, and you couldn’t help but flush at how close he was. You thought back to the copious amounts of fanfic you’ve read as he reached around you to untie the rope. He was so close you could feel his breath on your neck and hear him chewing on the toothpick. He smelled of worn cologne with a musky yet slightly minty scent mixed with what you presume to be the scent of charred flesh. Once you were free and he was no longer in your personal space, you rubbed your wrists standing up trying to get blood flow back to your legs.

“Thanks” you say casually to Dabi as he walks back over resuming his seat at the bar next to Shigaraki. He doesn’t respond.

You start to walk towards the door at the side of the bar that leads to the boss’s office and the back room where you keep your stuff.

“And where do you think you’re going?” Shigaraki asks sliding off his stool threateningly, but he nearly stumbles when he lands on his ill leg.

“Don’t worry I am just going to grab my stuff”

“Dabi go with her”

“No. She’s not gonna go anywhere. Besides if this is anything like the bar then that room has no exit”

“Tch–” was Shigaraki’s only response. You take this as a concession and push open the door to the back room. When the door closes, you let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding.

Dabi and Shigaraki from MHA were real and standing in the room next door. And you were going to help them?! Did that make you technically a villain? How were you supposed to figure out how to get them back? Did you want them to go back? After all you had dreamt of scenarios similar to this many times. Maybe if you figured it out could you go with them? That thought alone was enough to make your simp dreams explode. What weeb gods had blessed you?

Your brain was racing as you gathered your sweatshirt and bag. You popped quickly into the office attached to the back of the room to grab your paycheck. Like you suspected, he gave you a random bonus but you weren’t complaining. You stuffed it into your bag and walked back towards the bar. You took a deep breath before pushing open the door, half expecting to be met with an empty room, but there they were, talking in hushed tones. They immediately stopped when they heard you come back.

“Are you going somewhere?” Shigaraki asked, noticing your bag as you pulled on your sweatshirt.

“This place closed over 20 minutes ago and unless you want the other business owners around here to come poking around, since I always close on time, we should head out”

“And where exactly are WE going?” Dabi asked boredly, staring off at the ceiling.

“I live about six blocks from here. Think you can make it? I have first aid shit at my place” You directed the last part towards Shigaraki.

“Tch-”

“I will take that as a yes.” you said as you turned off the decorative lighting around the bar, and locked the register. You walked towards the front door and you heard the two men shuffle around to follow you. You open the door letting them walk out in front of you. Shutting off the main lights shrouding the bar into complete darkness cept the bright green exit sign above the door, you locked the bar door and turned to see Dabi and Shigaraki looking around at the buildings surrounding the bar. Shigaraki had stowed father into his pocket and Dabi popped up the collar of his jacket to try and obscure some of his scars. You also glanced around taking in the familiar scenery. You never really noticed how similar it was to the shots in MHA. Weird.

Anyways you can think about that later. You started the route back to your house the two men trailing closely behind you whether it was for their own comfort or to make sure you didn’t try to bolt, you didn’t know but you felt much safer with these two with you. Normally you would walk quickly, key in hand, always crossing the street to whichever side had the most light, but tonight you didn’t worry too much about the potential danger lurking on the streets. All of them seemed miniscule to the two men behind you.

You walked in complete silence for the majority of the time. You had so many questions but all of them could wait till you got home. I am sure they have just as many questions for you. You could hear Shigaraki grunt in pain every once in a while, walking becoming harder as time went on. You were about a block away coming up on the small 24 hour grocery/convenience store where you frequently bought snacks and food on your way home from work.

“Hey I need to quickly grab some stuff. I don’t have much food at home. Are you guys hungry?”

Neither responded.

“Okay then.” Neither one objected as you turned into the small parking lot walking up to the store. They both followed you inside like two overgrown shadows. You grabbed a basket and started making your way through the isles grabbing essentials like milk and cheese.

“Feel free to grab some stuff if it catches your eye. There’s Soba cups down that aisle and Shigaraki there’s chips and other snacks there too. I just need to grab something over here” you say pointing towards the other direction. Dabi and Shigaraki glance at each other and stalk off together.

“You know it's getting rather annoying how she knows all this stuff about us” You catch Shigaraki telling Dabi as you turn to go grab all the other items you need. When you return they’re both there, bags of chips and soba cups in hand. It was rather cute how they stood there waiting for you to return. You walked up to the counter to check out and once Dabi and Shigaraki dropped their haul for you to pay, they walked outside to wait for you.

“Good Morning Y/N”

“Oh. Hey Thomas” you say to the cashier you’ve come to know over the many late night trips. He always amused himself by saying good morning whenever you came in after midnight.

“Who were the two guys with you? They seem kinda rough. Is everything alright?” he finished scanning your items as you handed over your card.

“Oh haha. Don’t worry they’re some family friends. They came to visit me while they’re passing through”

“Oh alright then. Well I hope you have a good morning” He said with a cheery smile.

“Good morning” you returned, resistantly. You grabbed the bags of groceries and waved to Thomas, pushing the door open and stepping outside scanning for Dabi and Shigaraki.

You spot them leaning against the side of the store watching some teens try and pick a redbox movie.

“We only have a block to go,” you told them as they stood up straight to follow you.

“Woah!!! Jamie look that dude is dressed up as Dabi!”

We turned to see one of the teens staring at Dabi.

“Look at the guy next to him! That’s the best Shiggy I’ve seen”

You had to bite your tongue to stop yourself from laughing. The look on Shigaraki’s face at a random teen calling him Shiggy was priceless. If only these kids knew. Dabi continued walking down the parking lot and Shigaraki looked like he was about to murder someone.

“Hey do you think we could get a picture with you guys?” one of the teens asked walking towards Shigaraki.

Oh no bad idea.

“Hey guys. Not tonight. Sorry” You intervened quickly, shooting Shigaraki a look that said don’t do it. He seemed to understand because he started to walk towards where Dabi was waiting.

“Aww man. Shigaraki’s my favorite character. Tell them amazing costumes.”

“Will do” you said with a smile and turned to walk towards where the two men were waiting for you.

The rest of the walk had an air of impatience as you all wanted to just get to your destination. You had finally made it to your apartment, unlocking the door and stepping inside. It was a fairly new building so the apartment was rather nice however it was one of the smallest models. There was only one bed and bath but the open concept living room and kitchen made it feel rather spacious. You walked into the kitchen putting away all the groceries as Dabi and Shigaraki looked around surveying your apartment.

“Feel free to make yourselves at home. I’ll grab my first aid stuff. There’s food and drink in the kitchen”

You walked down the hall to your room kicking off your shoes and taking off your sweatshirt. You grabbed the rather large first aid kit from the bathroom and brought it back into the main room. Both Dabi and Shigaraki had shed their jackets and seemed to have found some left over beers in your fridge. Dabi was sitting on the kitchen counter and Shigaraki was sitting at the dining room table, prodding at the wound on his leg.

“Don’t touch it. That's only gonna make it worse” you told him.

“Oh shut up. Don’t tell me what to do” he hissed.

“Fine I guess I’ll fix Dabi up first”

Shigaraki shoots Dabi a look of incredulity and annoyance, to which Dabi only raises his eyebrows and shrugs as he takes another swig of his beer. You set down the first aid kit and grab the extra stuff you bought at the store.

“Do you even know how to do first aid?” Dabi asks, watching you rummage for supplies.

“Yes. I had to get certified in order to work at a summer camp, so don’t worry I know what I’m doing. Although I’m not much help if it’s anything more than stitches. Of course unless you’re drowning or need CPR”

“Okay I get it” he said, taking another sip.

“Can you roll up your sleeves so I can see the cuts?” You turned to dampen a towel in the sink, and when you turned back around you were not expecting to be faced with a shirtless Dabi. You paused for a second, staring, before you heard Shigaraki ‘tch’ snapping you out of simp shock. You shook your head and started to address the wounds to Dabi’s arm and shoulder.

“(another name that’s close to Y/N) it’s time you answered some of my questions” Shigaraki said while sipping on his beer and propping his leg up on another chair.

“ It’s Y/N. Also if your gonna put your feet up at least take off your shoes”

“Whatever Princess” he said snarkily, dramatically kicking off his shoes. It took you a second to register the pet name he had just called you. No get your mind out of the gutter this is the real them, not the fanon fanfiction them. You continued to wipe away the dirt and grime surrounding Dabi’s wounds.

“So... we were recognized earlier by those stupid kids. Just how popular is this show you say we’re from”

“Umm that’s kinda hard to say since it’s within a specific genre but within that genre I’d say very popular, maybe one of the most currently”

“How do we fit into this show?”

“Well you’re the main antagonist as the leader of the League of Villains. The show introduces you through the USJ attack in season 1”

“What about me?” Dabi asks.

“Oh.. well you don’t come in till season 3 I think. Wait actually I think it’s the end of season 2 after the Hosu incident”

A small chuff came from Shigaraki, no doubt in whatever pride there was in being a more prominent character.

“Do you guys have any idea how you got to this world?” You asked.

“Hey I’m asking the questions here, but no. We were on an important recruiting mission when it turned ugly. I called for Kurogiri and we ran through his portal and you know the rest”

“Did you know any of the quirks you were battling against?”

“One guy had a weak poison quirk but I took him out in the beginning.” Dabi stated flatly.

“The two guys in front both had strength related quirks I think,” Shigaraki continued.

“There was that one tall girl in the back behind the pillar. Could have been hers but who knows”

“Hmmm….maybe somehow a quirk mixed with Kurogiri’s. Sorry this next part might sting a little” You said this last part to Dabi dabbing some rubbing alcohol onto the cuts to which he made no verbal reaction but his muscles tensed at the cold stinging.

“So you said the main character was the green haired brat right? So what’s the plot as you say? Why is it all about him and the heroes?”

You pause for a moment thinking. Is it okay to tell him this? He is a villain. Are there consequences to other characters?

“Hello?”

“Sorry...um basically the show starts with All Might choosing him to be his successor as the number one hero. Then it follows him through his path from being weak and quirkless to his journey through UA. That’s when you guys come in as the villains with all your attacks on the school and students”

“What do you mean quirkless? Green top has an annoyingly powerful quirk.” Dabi questions.

“Yeah… he defeated Muscular and that Overhaul bastard” Shigaraki continues.

Screw it.

“Well All Might gave his quirk to Midoriya”

Shigaraki’s eyes widened in interest, but kept silent in his thought process.

A few minutes pass in silence and you finish patching up Dabi and handing him a mirror so he can fix his own staples. He claimed to be pretty good at it now. You move the first aid stuff over to the table where Shigaraki sat.

“Your turn” you say looking down at his leg. He looked up at you defiantly.

“What are you not wearing boxers? Or do you not want me to treat it?” You said pulling a chair to where his leg was resting. He rolled his eyes but stood up and undid his belt and pulled down his black jeans. He was wearing red boxers that looked a size too big as they hung loosely around his lean muscles. You made sure not to stare after being caught earlier. You started to repeat the same process you did on Dabi but Shigaraki was much more vocal about the discomfort you caused as you cleaned the wound.

“You’re cut is deeper. It’s gonna need stitches if you want it to heal properly”

“Whatever” he said in response.“I wanna know more about how people here see us. That kid back there said I was his favorite character. How do people see us in the show”

“Well it depends. Everyone has their favorite characters for different reasons”

“Yea...yea.. answer the question”

“Fine. Most people like you as a villain and as a character. However you’re seen as childish.” A chuckle from Dabi that earned him a death glare. “Dabi you’re more popular and your past is a rather hot topic for fans. However both of you are pretty popular in the fandom. Does that answer your question.”

“What do you mean popular in the fandom?”

“Well you know like fan theories, fanart, fanfiction, etc. A lot of people like you guys. However a lot of it is fan theories, guesses, and headcanons, but people don’t actually know” you said threading the needle for the stitches.

“What kind of theories?” Shigaraki asks hesitantly

“Well for example for a long time it wasn’t actually stated that Dabi was the missing Todoroki child but fans believed it so much that it was basically thought of as fact, and then it became truth. Other theories are less intense like Dabi again for example is presumed that his favorite food is hot soba and yours is junk food or hand food like chips and stuff.”

“How the fuck do you people figure these things out?” Shigaraki asked, wincing at the pinch of the needle.

“Well the food thing was because you have the thing with hands so hand food”

“That’s so stupid” He hissed.

“But is it wrong?” You asked, already knowing the answer based on the grocery trip.

“Tch––”

“Why hot soba for patchwork overthere?”

“Oh because it was revealed that Todoroki, I mean Shoto’s favorite food is cold soba and the whole brothers thing. People connected dots”

“That’s so stupid” Dabi was the one who spoke this time.

“And again were they wrong?” You looked up at him raising your eyebrows knowingly.

“Also those aren’t even the stupid ones. People make up the weirdest shit, some as jokes, others as forms of comfort or just for imagination’s sake. Okay you’re all done.” You say standing up and clearing away the dirty gauze and other first aid supplies. Shigaraki pulls his dirty and bloodstained pants back up over his neatly bandaged leg. You take all the first aid stuff back to the bathroom and return a little bit later to find Shigaraki and Dabi arguing over who knows what. You hear some words like ‘She’ and ‘think’, so you assume they’re talking about you but just as before they stop when you walk back into the room.

“So I set out some towels in the bathroom along with some old clothes my ex boyfriend and my brother left here. They may not be the best fit sorry but it’ll do. If you leave your clothes in the laundry basket I’ll throw them in the wash tomorrow”

“I call dibs on the shower first” Dabi said, hopping off the counter.

“Bastard” Shigaraki muttered.

#shigaraki #dabi x shigaraki #shigaraki x dabi #my hero academia #my hero #shigaraki x reader #dabi x reader #shigaraki x dabi x reader #anime #fanfiction #fandom

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intomymindspace · 4 years ago

Text

Video Games ✰ Tendou Satori

Video Games covered by The Young Professionals

tendou satori x gn reader

Through the Summer and the Fall // Haikyuu!! Songfic Series

a/n: hi everyone, I'm sorry for a posting a week late! I’ve been really unmotivated as of late for personal stuff but also because I'm lowkey still a little bummed that my Bokuto fic (definitely totally am not plugging it rn - totally do not click the link, ahaha 🥺) didn’t do as well as I hoped it would. But no matter! Here is the Tendou insert, as promised! It’s not the best, and I definitely have a bit of writers block and am behind schedule. I wish I could write his character and for him better considering how much I love him. Next will up be flattykawa 😌 and I will be posting it hopefully soon to help make up for last week’s missed post. I've also changed up this blog and have given it hopefully a better look - there is a new theme on desktop!

Warnings: part 3 spoilers for jojo’s bizarre adventure that include character death, my bb tori being insecure about him and his body but I love him and his flat a$$ so much, and as always, we clown on flattykawa in this household but all in good favor

It was a rainy day, and Tendou was quiet and content as he sat on your bed, reading the new Weekly Shonen Jump magazine that he had just been mailed. He had let Ushijima read it earlier - but as always, he only read the advertisements. You sat beside him on the floor, his long legs dangled off the edge of your bed, his foot brushing your arm every now and then. You were playing the new otome game you had bought a week ago on your console. On days like this, the two of you often fell into comfortable silences when hanging out with each other - and today was no different. There was nothing to do other than school work and go to practice - but even then, it wasn’t necessary for the third years to attend anymore. Not since they lost in the finals against Karasuno.

He was pulled away from the panel he was reading when he heard you gasp - his crimson eyes flitting to your monitor to see what had happened.

“What happened?” You turned around to look up at him, an excited look on your face.

“Murasame Jinnosuke confessed his love for me! I didn’t expect it to happen so fast into the game.” He looked back at the screen to see a handsome samurai on your screen. Snickering, Tendou ruffled your hair.

“Good job, now just see if you can get a real guy to confess his undying love for you.” Squinting at him, you slapped his leg playfully.

“You’re supposed to be nice to me, Tori-kun.”

“When am I not?”

Ever since you had taken the place of Shiratorizawa’s volleyball club manager two years ago as a first year, you quickly bonded with the strange amalgamation of players. It had been a running gag between the third year players to find out what type of guys you liked. You could always be found on your phone during breaks playing otome games - and that was the beginning of the years of playful torment from your fellow classmates.

It wasn’t that you weren’t attractive or that you didn’t gain attention - every Valentines Day you always received several confessions and chocolates, but you always rejected them as kindly as possible. For someone who played as many otome games as you did, they were surprised to say the least when you had always declined the advances of many classmates, saying that they just weren’t your type with a kind smile on your face.

It was Tendou’s turn to squint as he turned his attention back to your screen as you continued to play through the game. He scoffed at some of the things the fictional samurai said to you - what was so special about him anyways?

This is my idea of fun

Playing video games

Tendou shut his manga volume, and he noticed your curious eyes looking at the cover. Smirking playfully at you, he poked your forehead.

“Suddenly interested in pirates?” You sat back, rolling your eyes.

“Maybe. Who’s the character on the front?” He stared down at the covered, humming.

“Shanks. Say, I never thought you were one to go for a tough-looking guy.” He held a mischievous grin on his lips.

“Ha! Sure. Keep thinking that, Tendou.” He feigned a gasp.

“You used my last name too? With no honorific? No nickname? The rudeness! I’m so hurt!” You couldn’t help but egg your friend along.

“Hmm, maybe I should start watching One Piece if he’s in it…” But before Tendou could clap back, Yamagata slid into the seat next to you, a teasing smile on his lips.

“Ah, so that’s your type, huh? Tough-looking guys with scars?” You rolled your eyes at the libero. “I’m pretty tough too, aren’t I?”

“As if.” But it didn’t stop them from the teasing.

So what if you maybe did prefer more muscular guys? Tendou didn’t understand why the thought hurt his feelings so much. He may not have the bulging muscles, but he was just as strong. He sighed to himself, watching you from across the table as you shoved Yamagata playfully. Why would you want to like someone like himself anyways?

It's you, it's you, it's all for you

Everything I do

Tendou entered your dorm room unannounced as he always did - but this time he was surprised to see you in tears as you huddled in your blanket, staring at the tv. The first thing you usually did was banter with him about his bad habit of not knocking, but all he could do is stand shocked in your doorway.

Instantly, his gleeful eyes turned blood red. Shutting your door behind him, he quickly made his way over to you, his eyebrows furrowed, a scowl on his lips.

“Who do I have to beat up?” A million thoughts were running through his head - were you made fun of? Did someone reject you? Did you receive a bad score on an exam? He wrapped his arms around you the second your tear-filled eyes looked up at him.

“Who did it? Who hurt your feelings?” His genuine care and questions only made you cry harder into his chest.

“Dio.” You said, but it was too muffled for him to hear. Pulling back, he gave you a quizzical look. You pointed at the scene that was unfolding on your tv.

“Dio killed Kakyoin.” Tendou immediately smacked a hand to his face. His eyes flickered to the screen to see a tall, muscular character slumped against a water tower, a hole in his torso with text on the screen saying “Kakyoin Noriaki has died.” He couldn't help but laugh.

“You want me to beat up the mighty and powerful vampire lord and stand user, Dio Brando? For killing the guy who licks cherries weird?”

Slapping his arm, you pouted at him through your ugly tears. “Don’t make fun of me! I really liked him.” Tendou kept on snickering as he rubbed your back.

“I know, I’m sorry. But it’s just too funny to just not tease you.”

As ridiculous as it sounded, Tendou wondered if you would ever cry for him the way you cried for Kakyoin. He smiled to himself as he stared down at your face that was still buried in his chest - he hoped you wouldn’t notice how fast his heart was beating at the notion of you coming to him for comfort.

Maybe your type was animated men.

I tell you all the time

Heaven is a place on earth with you

Tendou put his jump comic down and just watched your gameplay - he was too distracted by his thoughts of you to focus on the new chapter of My Hero Academia.

He couldn’t help but pine over you. You had been so open and kind to him from the first time you met him - he remembered that day with ease. You had looked so confident walking into the volleyball gym, introducing yourself to the players as their new manager.

He was genuinely surprised that you weren’t turned away by his quirks - and he was thankful that above all, you treated him just like you treated everyone else.

It seemed so easy for you to become friends with the other first years at the time. You found commonalities with each of them, and you even managed to break Ushijima out of his shell by the time you all first went to nationals. Tendou remembered the hours upon hours that the two of you spent together - whether it was hanging out in the dorm watching animes, giving him tips and encouragement on the court during timeouts, or quality conversations on long bus rides to and from games. If you had never joined as manager, Tendou would’ve never guessed that the two of you would become as close friends as you were now. And he had always been a good guesser.

As he stared at you, controller in your hand, he remembered why he realized he liked you so much - it wasn’t because you shared a strong love for manga and anime. Okay, well, maybe it was, but it wasn’t the commonality. It was because you understood and even empathized with escaping through these fictional stories.

He knew what it was like to want to escape - to want to find paradise away from everyday life. On the court, Tendou could sneak into the small slice of heaven that he visited when he played volleyball. Off the court, he wanted nothing more than to have you safe in his arms as the two of you escaped into the world of whatever show you had chosen to binge that day.

To him, you were just as heavenly as the defeated looks on his opponents’ faces that he craved to see - maybe even more.

Tell me all the things you want to do

I heard that you like the bad girls, honey, is that true?

You squealed excitedly as you waved the game in front of Semi’s face after practice had ended.

“Semi-semi! Look what just came in the mail!” He pushed your hand out of his face, scoffing.

“I can’t see it if you’re rubbing in my face like that, idiot.” The setter had a smile on his face nonetheless, making you laugh as he took a look at the game. His eyes widened.

“No way, Castlevania Judgement?!?!” You nodded proudly, smiling at Tendou and Ushijima as they walked over to see what the commotion was about. The middle blocker gawked at the game you held in your hands - the third years had been talking about the release of it for at least a few months now.

“You jealous? If you want, we can play after dinner.” Semi quickly nodded, and you looked at Tendou and Ushijima for their answers.

“What, when have I ever said no to wanting to play video games with you?” To his reply, the captain simply nodded.

“Thank you for your invite. I am happy to attend as well.”

Tendou and Ushijima sat on the edge of your bed as you and Semi sat in front of your tv, switching the controller after every chapter of the game. Ushijima had no interest in actually playing the game - and Tendou knew he would get a chance to play with you later. Semi was more excited for the game than he was anyways.

You couldn’t contain your excitement as you gushed over one of the main characters, Simon Belmont. From the looks of it, he was a powerful fighter - and Tendou sighed once again - he was super muscular and tough-looking too. You were too invested in the gameplay with Semi, that you weren’t paying attention to the conversation Tendou sparked with Ushijima.

“I don’t get what’s so special about him anyways.” The redhead had a pout on his face, his arms crossed. Ushijima was very aware of the middle blocker’s crush on you - his friend often coming to the captain for his advice. While Ushijima had almost no experience and knowledge at all in terms of dating, he was always observant of the people around him, and was very blunt.

“Tendou-kun, if you like them so much, it would just be better to ask. It is pointless to be jealous over every fictional character they like.” He couldn’t help but gawk at the monotonous tone and the serious look on his captain’s face.

“I’ll raise you a better one. It’s pointless to ask because their standards seem to be so high anyways.” Ushijima couldn’t help but stare at his friend.

“And why should that stop you? They’re not real.” Tendou sighed, exacerbated.

“I get it, I get it! I know they’re not just going to pop out from the screen or anything.”

“But?”

“But that doesn’t mean those aren’t their same standards to people they prefer in real life,” Tendou admitted, and Ushijima knew he hit the reason why. Tendou may be tall, but he was lean and lanky. The muscle he had was nowhere near that of any of the fictional guys you crushed on. What could you possibly want from someone way weaker - someone like him?

“They are not the type of person to go completely for the way someone’s body appears. If that were the case, they should’ve confessed their attraction to either myself or Yamagata by now, based on your logic. Besides, they told me they liked you.” Tendou couldn't help but roll his eyes, placing a hand over his heart.

“Wakatoshi-kun, you wound me. Of course they like me - they wouldn’t be my friend if they didn’t. Couldn't you at least sugar coat your advice sometimes?”

It's better than I ever even knew

They say that the world was built for two

Before the prefectural qualifiers in the fall, Shiratorizawa managed to snag a practice match with none other than Aoba Johsai. While there was clear tension throughout the entire time, the teams kept interactions outside the court lines as light-hearted as possible. Seijoh managed to snag victory during the first match, but Shiratorizawa hit back just as hard, winning the second match.

The boys were currently loading their bags into the bus as you supervised them, reminding them to triple check that they had everything. You were almost caught by surprise when a volleyball rolled towards you, hitting the back of your foot gently.

“Sumimasen.” You heard from several meters behind you, making you turn around. It was the Great King himself, Oikawa Tooru, that was slowly jogging towards you - it almost seemed like he was doing it in slow motion. Your fellow teammates heard the setter, their eyes sneakily following him as he got closer to you. They couldn't help but snicker at their so-called sworn enemy - it was obvious by the way that his aura sparkled around him and the smoulder on his face that he had rolled the ball your way to get your attention.

“I’m so sorry, could you get that for me?” You nodded, a polite smile on your face. The great Oikawa was definitely handsome, to say the least - and Tendou couldn't help the childish frown that filled his features. As you picked up the ball and handed it back to the setter, he flashed you a heart-stopping, pearly white smile.

“Thank you,” he said, taking the ball from you, brushing your fingers in the process. “You are the manager for Shiratorizawa, right? I didn’t catch your name earlier.” Oikawa ran a hand through his silky hair as you gave him your name.

“Wow,” he flashed you another smile, “such a beautiful name for someone just as gorgeous.” Semi couldn’t help but let a snort out at Oikawa’s compliment.

“Thank you.” You took the complement in stride, deciding it would be nice to say something back. “You played great today, Oikawa-san.” He laughed jovially.

“Thank you, you’re very kind. And cute. Would you be interested in catching boba with me sometime? I know a cute place that has good milk tea and milk bread.” Tendou rolled his eyes at Oikawa’s words. It probably was his plan all along - to try to bewitch the manager of Shiratorizawa. When Tendou saw a smile grow on your face, he couldn’t help but feel defeated. Were you actually going to say yes to him?

“I’m very flattered Oikawa-san. But I’m sorry, I must decline your offer.” Oikawa’s eyes widened in surprise. The Great King? Being rejected? “You’re not really my type.” You turned around, making your way onto the bus, leaving Oikawa with his jaw on the ground, the ace on Seijoh’s team as well as your teammates laughing their asses off at the scene that had just unfolded in front of their very eyes.

“That’s what you get, Crappykawa! You should’ve gone to Shiratorizawa!”

“Iwa-chan, that's not funny! I feel like my heart has been broken into thousands of pieces!”

“Well, if they’re gonna hit it, they better hit it til it breaks!”

“Pfft, I’m actually not surprised they didn’t say yes to him.” Semi commented, placing his duffle bag into the storage compartment. Tendou’s head quirked at the statement.

“Why’s that?” Reon asked, storing his things as well, making Semi and Yamagata snicker.

“Did you see how flat his ass was? I’m 100% sure their type is thicker guys. Like their ace, or something.” The three of them burst into laughter, Tendou only slightly laughing along as well. Ushijima only grunted in disagreement as he shut the compartment’s door.

“I believe their type is actually redheads.” All of the third years looked at their captain with wide eyes and dead silence - before laughing even harder. Semi slapped Ushijima’s bicep lightly, bending over. Tendou’s eyes widened - Ushijima was not the type to joke around, right?

“I didn’t think you actually knew how to crack jokes, Ushijima-kun!” The olive-haired man only looked down at his fellow third years in confusion.

“I am not joking. I simply just decided to ask them earlier, and I am only relaying the answer they gave me.” They couldn’t help but bend over, Yamagata even wiping tears from all the laughing.

“Stop! Your bluntness is only making it worse!” By the way the rest of his teammates reacted, Tendou believed Ushijima really must have been joking - in his own way. He had just picked a hair color different from Oikawa’s, right?

“Good one, Wakatoshi-kun.” Tendou let out a chuckle, giving his friend a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Only worth living if somebody is loving you

And baby, now you do

Tendou’s eyes widened as he relieved all the memories. Was Ushijima actually serious? He had never asked his friend about it - but perhaps it was because he was too scared to actually know the truth. Quickly, Tendou pulled out his phone and googled each of the characters - Shanks, Kakyoin, and Simon. The samurai was still on your screen, and he flipped through the tabs on his internet browser, trying to find the similarities.

Obviously, they were all built rather strong - but Tendou couldn’t get what Ushijima said out of his head. They were all redheads, after all. Why hadn’t he noticed this before? He looked back at you, your attention still on the otome game. Should he ask you? Would it be weird? Tendou thought about texting Ushijima, but he quickly decided not to. He already knew what his friend would say. Right after he called your name gently, you set down the controller and turned to look up at him.

“What’s up, Tori-kun?” He had never felt this nervous before - it wasn’t even like he was going to confess to you or anything either.

“Uh - what’s your type? Like, in guys? I promise I won’t tease you this time, I just want to know.” Surprisingly, you smirked at him. What were you thinking?

“You gonna brag to Eita and Yato that you finally found out after all these years?” The apparent blush on Tendou’s cheeks only spread further.

“What? No, I wouldn’t do that… Unless I had to,” he said, trying his best to come off as his usual teasing self. This only made you snicker at him.

“I’m surprised you guys haven’t beat it out of Toshi-kun yet. I already told him a few months ago.” Tendou’s eyes widened at what you said.

“Huh?” You rolled your eyes at him.

“Yeah.” He couldn’t believe how casual you were about it. You were always so hellbent on keeping it from them - but perhaps it was because they made such a big deal out of it in the first place. Tendou didn’t exactly know how to respond to you - he was still trying to process the realization. So he had guessed wrong this whole time?

After sitting in silence for a couple of seconds, you gave him a playful smile. “Redheads,” you said, turning around and picking up your controller. Ushijima’s words echoed with yours in his brain.

Besides, they told me they liked you. Tendou let out a choked noise.

“I’ve made a mistake!”

You burst out laughing at Tendou’s exclamation. Setting your controller down once more, you stood up and turned, leaning your elbows against your bed. “You guys really are that oblivious, huh? Even Toshi-kun saw that I liked you. He went so far as to ask me about it too.” You propped up your head with your hand, staring at him. Getting past his initial shock, Tendou settled back down.

“How shallow of you,” he teased, leaning his head closer to yours. “I can’t believe the only reason why you like me is because my hair is red, yanno?” In return, you inched your face up closer to his as if you were challenging him.

“I know,” you said smugly, your eyes flickering down to his lips, “I’m such an awful friend. I’ll only break your heart once I replace you with another redhead.” He smirked as he noticed where your eyes had glanced. Tendou may have been oblivious, but he wasn’t called the Guess Monster for nothing.

“I’m guessing that you want to kiss me right now, hmm?” He asked quietly, dangerously moving closer to you - your faces now only mere inches apart. A blush crept onto both of your cheeks. You answered back, your voice nearly a whisper.

“Why don’t you find out for yourself, Guess Monster?”

Immediately, Tendou closed the distance between the two of you. Your lips were warm and soft, making him wish he had at least put on chapstick earlier. His heart was beating so hard inside of his chest that he was afraid you’d hear it, but you said nothing as the two of you pulled away. Saying nothing, he only smiled as he traced his fingers up your neck, cupping your jaw. Pulling you into a deeper kiss, he sighed contentedly as he felt your hands trail up his torso.

Kissing you felt like paradise.

As always, thank you so much for reading!! please like, reblog, and follow 🥺

~ Crystal

through the summer and the fall masterlist

blog masterlist

buy me a ko-fi! (but only if you want to and can)

BONUS

The following day, Tendou met you at your door to walk with you to lunch. With your hand in his, the two of you took your sweet time making your way to the cafeteria to meet up with the other third years. Today, Coach Washijo had asked for them to play a practice match against the Miyagi first years he was holding a training camp for. You decided to tag along since you had nothing planned to do for the weekend.

As you talked about a weird dream you had, Tendou couldn’t help but gaze adoringly at you - he couldn’t believe that you liked him, or that you were actually dating him now even if it had only been about twelve hours. The two of you waited in the lunch line, his chin resting on top of your head as he held both of your hands from behind you - it felt so natural to touch you. He could tell that people were staring - but none of it mattered when all he needed was the sound of your excited voice and the blatant look of love in your eyes.

Stepping away from your back slightly, he moved forward to gently place a kiss on your cheek - and that's when he heard the yells. The both of you turned to find your fellow third and second years staring at the two of you with wide eyes and mouths catching flies. Goshiki accompanied the team as well, his face beat red. Ushijima was behind the flustered first year, a rare half-smile on his face.

“Afternoon guys!” You had said it so casually as you leaned back into Tendou’s arms, allowing him to place a cheeky kiss on your temple - making Semi gag and Yamagata nearly tear up.

“I did tell you all that they preferred redheads.”

#tendou x reader #Tendou Satori x reader #tendou imagine #Tendou Satori imagine #tendou reader insert #Tendou Satori reader insert #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu reader insert #through the summer and the fall #intomymindspace #tendo x reader #tendo satori x reader

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sukifans · 4 years ago

Text

KEEP THE CHANGE // sokka

SUMMARY: this very attractive guy comes in every night during your graveyard shift at the 24-hour diner you work at, always doing something on his laptop. he might be selling organs on the black market, but he tips, like, really well.

WARNINGS: language, mentions of sex, guns/robbery, panic attacks, generally darker themes, all characters are 20+

WC: 5.5k

A/N: anotha one. 5.5k words accidentally. i plan on doing a part 2 and maybe more at some point, but for now i just had to get this idea out

⇦ 𝘔𝘈𝘚𝘛𝘌𝘙𝘓𝘐𝘚𝘛

Things I Know About Him:

1. He’s very attractive.

The bell above the door jingled and you looked up expecting to see an exhausted, slightly smelly middle-aged trucker like usual. When instead it was a cute guy around your age — tall, smooth tan skin, dark brown hair in a ponytail with shaved sides, wearing black joggers and a white t-shirt that showed tribal-style tattoos inked over the toned muscle of his arms — the smile you usually had to paint on for customers was genuine for once.

“Hey, how are ya?” you asked, standing from the table where you’d been rolling the cheap silverware in paper napkins.

“I’m fine, how are you?” he responded politely, shifting the weight of the backpack strap he had slung over one shoulder.

“Better now that there’s a new face in here. Just you tonight?”

“Seems that way.”

“Alright. Grab a seat wherever you’d like and I’ll bring you a menu.” You waved your hand out to gesture at all the open tables in the empty diner.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. Just a coffee would be great, thanks,” he said as he made his way to a booth in the corner.

“You got it.” You moved behind the bar top to fill your pot with coffee and brought him over a chipped ceramic mug on a plate. You met his eyes when you set it down in front of him and you were almost struck frozen by how beautiful they were. They were the color of the sky on those perfect cloudless summer days when the sun seems to shine a little hotter; the color of the ocean in those tourist trap vacation agency promotional posters. You shook yourself to quickly recover, though given the opportunity you would’ve gladly stared into his eyes for the rest of your shift.

“Thanks,” he said, flashing you a small smile that revealed a peek of white teeth. The hell was a specimen like that doing in a place like this? He looked he belonged in one of those Calvin Klein ads.

“No problem. Let me know if you need something else.” You turned away when he nodded an acknowledgement as he pulled a laptop from his bag, hoping you didn’t look as flustered as you felt.

2. He takes his coffee weird.

The first time you saw him make his coffee you were horrified. You watched from behind the counter, amused at first, as he poured white sugar from the dispenser into the drink for a nonstop ten seconds. Sure, some people had a strong sweet tooth; that wasn’t too bizarre. You had to cover your mouth to stifle your irrepressible groan of disgust when he started drinking without even stirring to dissolve the crystals.

After some time it stopped being so horrifying and just became funny. You always had to avert your gaze to choke down your laughter when you spotted him crunching down on the undissolved sugar. If he hadn’t been so attractive it would’ve been creepy, but when he did it, it was... almost endearing.

3. He has money.

Every morning as the sun started rise you would turn to look at his table only to find him gone, leaving only neatly stacked dishes and a twenty-dollar bill behind. Even if he only drank coffee (total: $2.43, with tax, free refills), he would leave the bill. The first couple times he came in and did this you scanned the parking lot to look for him but it seemed like he’d vanished into thin air. After a week, you confronted him.

“You know, the coffee is only like two bucks,” you commented as you refilled his mug.

“I know,” he said.

“You’ve left a twenty here every night.”

“I know.”

You furrowed your brow. “We can give change here, y’know.”

“Keep it.”

“That’s a lot. Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” He obviously wasn’t a man of many words, so you dropped it. If he had money to burn and decided to burn it on you, you’d take it. “Starving artist” isn’t just a saying, after all, and this shift didn’t exactly rake in the tips.

4. He has something either illegal or important (or both!) on that laptop.

He always sat in the same spot: a booth all the way in the corner with his back facing the wall, computer sitting close to his chest. It looked very suspicious, for someone who was probably trying not to look suspicious. No matter how many times you tried to sneak a glance at the screen while you refilled his cup you couldn’t catch anything. You’d have to practically be on his lap to see something and, well, it wasn’t that kind of establishment and you weren’t that desperately curious.

At least you knew it (probably) wasn’t some sort of freakish porn — he never wore headphones and his hands were always above the table either typing, lifting his mug, or scribbling something in chicken scratch in a worn moleskin notebook. It wouldn’t’ve been the first time someone had tried to use the diner’s free wifi for something like that. You would’ve hated to have to ban him for life.

Things He Might Be Doing:

1. Selling organs on the black market

2. Making a new-age tech startup selling GPS microchips to helicopter parents

3. Running the r/TheRedPill forum

4. Investigating conspiracy theories

5. Starting new conspiracy theories to hide The Truth

6. Solving crimes/murders online à la Don’t Fuck With Cats

7. Anonymous

8. Undercover detective trying to crack the cold case of a family member’s/close friend’s/lover’s suspicious and untimely death that was ruled an accident

9. Government whistleblower putting together a groundbreaking report

10. Robot gaining sentience and plotting uprising

11. Clone seeking revenge on his creator

12. Robot clone gaining sentience AND seeking revenge now that he can Feel

13. Studying/writing/doing a project/anything else realistic and boring

With a sigh, you looked up from your scribble-filled notepad. There he was in all his glory: laptop out, half-drunk coffee to his right, notebook under his elbow to his left, a pen stuck behind each ear and one in his hand that he tapped thoughtfully against his chin. What he didn’t realize was that the cap of the pen was off, leaving dark marks on his skin. The sight made you shake your head with a small smile. You turned to fill your pot with “fresh” (quotes added out of legal obligation) coffee for the trucker that sat at the bar top with a patty melt.

“Ah, fuck,” you heard from the corner booth. When you glanced over you saw him wiping his tongue with a handful of paper napkins, black ink all down his chin and the front of his shirt. The pen must’ve exploded while he was biting on it (a habit of his, you’d noticed). Even the trucker guffawed when he saw the mess. You headed over to his booth after refilling the other man’s coffee.

“I’d offer the Tide pen I keep in my purse, but I don’t think it’d do much for you,” you commented as you replenished his coffee. He glanced up at you with a grimace.

“I appreciate the gesture,” he sighed, huffing when he realized the napkin dispenser was empty. You scooped up the pile of ink-saturated paper.

“I’ll get a few rags.” He nodded in thanks and closed both his laptop and notebook, shoving them out of the way on the seat next to him. You brought out a couple rags soaked in warm water and wiped up the mess on the table while he scrubbed his face. Even after his skin was rubbed raw, there was a tinge of black around his mouth.

“Thanks-” his eyes flicked to the plastic name tag you wore on your chest, “-(Y/N).” He knew your name from how often he’d come in but he wanted to be extra sure.

“Sure thing,” you said, waving your hand. “I see you in here a lot but I’ve never gotten your name.” When he only hummed in agreement and didn’t provide a name you pursed your lips. “So, what is it?”

“What’s what?”

“Your name,” you giggled a little.

He cleared his throat awkwardly. “It’s not that important.”

Okay, weird. Maybe he had an odd name and he was embarrassed. “If I guess it will you tell me?”

“Sure.” He visibly seemed to relax a little. So definitely an uncommon name that he didn’t expect you to guess, then.

“Can I at least know what it starts with?”

He hesitated. “An ‘S.’” You smiled.

“Righty-o, Steven. Can I get you anything else while I’m here?” You pulled out your small notepad from your apron pocket and held your pen at the ready.

“Ah, no. I’m alright, thanks.”

“Alright, Shawn. Let me know if you think of something.” The corners of his mouth quirked up into a grin at your little game as you pocketed your notepad and walked away, soiled rags in hand. When you came back out from disposing of the rags, the trucker was gone and it was just the two of you left in the diner. Soft music crackled from the old speakers hung from the ceiling and he was back to typing away. You felt a little panic in your chest — he’d been coming in every night for the past month and a half and that was the most conversation you’d ever had with him. You had your in and you couldn’t let it go to waste now.

He looked up from his screen, eyebrow quirked, when you slid into the seat across from him. “What’s up?”

You shrugged. “Nothing. Just talking to my best customer named... Sam?” He shook his head and you groaned.

“Best customer?”

“Of course. I think you singlehandedly paid my utilities this month, Simon.” You folded and unfolded a paper straw wrapper idly as you spoke.

“Ah, I see,” he nodded. “Is that all it takes to get in your good graces?”

“Pretty much.”

“Sounds like you need a sugar daddy.”

“Are you offering?” You gave him a teasing grin that made his cheeks color pink.

“I, uh-“ he stammered and you laughed.

“Seth, I’m kidding.” You rolled the straw wrapper up into a little ball and flicked it at him around the laptop screen. It bounced off his chest and he chuckled nervously.

“Right, of course.”

“So, what do you do all night on that computer, anyways?” Self-consciously, he lowered the screen and you rested your cheek on your palm, propping your elbow on the table.

“Just some work,” he answered evasively. Right, illegal or important or both — the age old question with this guy.

“At night?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Well, you work at night.”

“Because I have a day job, too. And I like nighttime.”

“Me too.”

“Which one?”

“You ask a lot of questions.”

You sat back in your seat, a little embarrassed at getting carried away and prying. “Sorry, I’m just curious. I don’t have a lot of regulars on this shift and I just think you’re... interesting.”

“Interesting? How so?” He smirked in a teasing, knowing way that made your heart flutter and your face burn.

“A cute guy that comes in at the same time, every time, to do work in the middle of the night and always leaves a massive tip is pretty interesting, at least by my standards.”

He faltered. “You think I’m cute?”

“You’re alright for a nocturnal weirdo, Sebastian.” You winked and stood up, smoothing down your uniform. “I should probably get back to work. If Mack sees me sitting down with someone he’ll watch back the security footage and clock me out for however long I was here.” You jutted your thumb out behind you to indicate the cook and manager of the diner who you could both hear clanging around in the kitchen.

“Sounds like a hardass,” he said as he pulled his screen back open.

“Yeah, well...” You shrugged again. “It is what it is, y’know? Anyways, just shout if you need anything. It was nice talking to you, Shane.”

When he left at sunrise as usual, there was an extra five dollar bill on his table along with the usual twenty. You grinned when you picked it up and saw that on it he’d written down a phone number and simply signed it from “S.”

5. His name starts with S.

“What are you so happy about?” Zuko asked when he saw Sokka’s grin as he came through the door.

“What? Nothing,” he said, purposefully setting his mouth into a neutral mask. Zuko rolled his eyes and sipped his tea, leaning against the kitchen counter.

“What did you do, Sokka?”

“Nothing! What, a guy can’t just be in a good mood?”

“No,” he deadpanned. Sokka scoffed.

“Right, I forgot I was talking to the guy who hasn’t had a good mood in like ten years.”

“Thirteen, actually.” Sokka shot him a look but Zuko’s face was serious. “Just tell me what you did. You’re usually tired and grouchy when you get back in the mornings, not smiling to yourself.”

“Christ, fine,” he huffed, yanking open the fridge to get a water bottle. “I gave a girl my number. The one at the diner.”

Zuko set his tea down and crossed his arms over his chest. “You did what?”

“Look-“

“Are you fucking stupid? With what we do, you’re just out and about giving your number to random women?”

“I’m sorry, we? You just got here, Prince Pouty. I can do what I want.”

“You’re putting everyone at risk, and for what? To get your dick wet?”

“I gave her a burner number for an app on my phone and she doesn’t even know my name. No one’s at risk.”

“You’re being selfish. This is bigger than you.”

“I’m allowed to have a life outside of this bullshit, whether you like it or not.”

“If it’s such bullshit then why do you still do it? No one’s forcing you to stay up all night digging for information and hacking people.”

“I can’t exactly do anything else now, can I? What am I supposed to tell employers I’ve been doing for the last few years, sitting with my thumb up my ass?”

“That is basically what you do, isn’t it?”

Sokka slammed his hands down on the counter angrily. “You can go fuck yourself, Zuko. You have Mai-“

“Mai is for appearances only.”

“-and Aang and Katara are together, and ever since Suki...” Sokka trailed off and then shook his head. “I don’t have to explain myself to you. Just for your shitty attitude, I’m gonna take her out on a mind blowing date, and bring her back here, and fuck her on your stupid little trundle bed.” Zuko opened his mouth to respond but Sokka cut him off. “Don’t bother. I’m going home and going to bed. Tell Aang and Katara I stopped by,” he grumbled, slamming the door behind him as he left. He felt a little bad about probably waking up his sister and her boyfriend, but Zuko had been grating on his nerves since he got himself tangled up in their business and his misplaced self-righteousness about a little flirting was the last straw. The prick didn’t need to overcompensate for being Ozai’s son by meddling in his love life. He could do without that, thanks.

Sokka was still grumbling to himself as he jiggled the key in the door to his small and slightly dingy studio apartment a few blocks down from Aang and Katara’s. Once he was in, he kicked off his shoes and bag by the door, stripped down to his briefs, and flopped into bed to immediately pass out despite the slats of sunlight filtering in through his ratty blinds. As he fell asleep he couldn’t help but think of you; you and your playful banter and your pretty smile (the real one that made your eyes crinkle, not the fake one you gave to creepy travelers passing through) and your many questions that he had to carefully evade. One day maybe he’d be able to explain himself, even if it would take a while to get to that point. That is, if you gave him a chance in the first place. He couldn’t exactly blame you for turning down someone whose name you didn’t even know.

He just really hoped you wouldn’t.

The next night at the diner was as achingly slow as any other Tuesday. So far only “S” had come in and still he just sat in the corner, drinking his coffee and doing whatever he does. You had texted with him briefly once your shift ended in the morning, but you had to sleep and then get to your other job before your shift at the diner so there wasn’t much time for flirty messages. Instead, you sat at a table nearby to roll silverware, offering small smiles whenever he glanced up and met your eyes. The warmth in your cheeks whenever he smiled back was becoming achingly familiar. You vaguely wondered if your face might as well just get stuck like that.

Finally, someone new came in a few hours after midnight. He wore a ball cap and a large black jacket, hands stuffed in the pockets. You gave your usual spiel in your syrupy-sweet customer voice as you rose from the table to slide behind the counter and prep a cup of coffee for him. As you talked, you noticed he kept glancing around shiftily and had yet to remove his right hand from his jacket. There was something about him that made the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

Sokka had been half-listening to the one-sided exchange when a sharp intake of breath and the sound of shattering glass made his eyes snap to you. You stood frozen behind the counter, hands raised to your shoulders, staring at the men who held a handgun level with your chest. His stomach dropped as he took in the scene, blood running cold when your terrified gaze drifted to him and then shot back to the gun trained on you.

“Sweetheart, I’m gonna need you to empty the cash drawer for me, if you don’t mind,” he said in an eerily cool, level voice that made your skin crawl. “Don’t try anything, I just want to get the money and get out. I‘d hate to have to hurt you.” You nodded, trying not to let your hands shake, as you shifted over to the register. Out of the corner of your eye you could see “S” subtly reaching for his phone, hopefully to call the police. This also caught the man’s attention and he trained the gun on him now. “Don’t think I don’t see you, pretty boy. Give me your phone.”

“Alright, man. Take it easy,” “S” said as he stood slowly with his hands up, holding his phone in one. He carefully made his way over.

“Here,” you said to distract the man. He looked over at the paper bag you held that looked like it only had a couple hundred dollars in it at most.

“That’s it?” the man barked. “I know you have a safe somewhere, you bitch. Open it and give me the fucking money.”

You stared, wide-eyed, and willed the tears welling up in your eyes to go away. “I- I don’t have a key-“

“Fucking figure it out!” he shouted, making you jump. Sokka felt white-hot anger bubbling in his chest when he saw a tear slide down your cheek as the man unlocked the safety on the gun. Without pausing to think, he leapt the last few feet between himself and the guy to knock the gun away. You screamed and ducked down when a shot fired off, but the man missed widely when his arm was hit and instead blew out one of the panes of glass at the front of the diner. Sokka kicked the gun across the floor and grabbed the man by the collar of his jacket before slamming him against the bar top. While he was winded he yanked his hands behind his back and shoved him to the floor on his stomach, shoving a knee into his kidneys.

“(Y/N), call the police,” Sokka said, trying to keep his voice calm. You peeked over the edge of the counter and then jumped up when you saw the state of the two men.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll, um- I’ll do that.” You fumbled with your phone, struggling thanks to how badly your hands shook. You screamed again when Mack burst out from the kitchen wielding a sawed-off shotgun. “Jesus fucking Christ, Mack! Took you fucking long enough to get out here, didn’t it? Poor Stanley had to take care of it!” You gestured angrily to the situation in front of you and Mack rolled his eyes with a huff.

“I was calling the cops, kid. Relax, you’re fine,” he said and you balled your hands up into fists.

“Relax?! I swear to God-“

“(Y/N),” “S” interrupted gently and you whirled around to face him. “It’s under control now. You’re okay.”

“You could’ve gotten hurt or worse and I-“

“But I didn’t. See?” He gestured to himself as Mack secured the man’s hands together with some zip ties from the back office and then to one of the barstools that was bolted to the floor. You didn’t respond to that and instead furiously wiped away the few tears that had tracked down your face.

“After you give the cops your statement, go home for a few days,” Mack said, sitting heavily in a chair that faced the man and holding the shotgun in his lap. You opened your mouth to protest but he silenced you with a hard look. “You’re shaken up, kid; can’t have you working like this. Besides, it’ll take a couple days to get insurance to replace that glass.”

You relented with a sigh and dropped yourself into a booth seat, folding your legs against your torso and resting your forehead on your knees to hide your face. You squeezed your eyes shut and sucked in a few deep, steadying breaths to hopefully push out the panic that still pierced your chest. You tilted your head up when you heard someone sit down across the table from you to see “S” giving you a concerned look. Self-consciously you wrapped your arms around your shins and pulled yourself into a tighter ball.

“Hey,” he said softly, “I know you’re okay, but are you, like... okay?”

You put your head down again and shrugged. “I guess.” You knew it was obvious to him that you weren’t, but you were thankful he didn’t push. Both of you were quiet for a few minutes and you could faintly hear sirens in the distance. All you wanted was to give your statement and go home.

“My name’s Sokka,” he said, finally breaking the silence. He drummed his fingers against the table nervously. You looked up at him again and gave him a small, watery smile.

“That’s a nice name,” you whispered with a sniffle.

Once you gave your statement and the police had taken the guy away in cuffs, you left the diner and were surprised to see Sokka sitting on the curb in front of the doors. He looked around at you when the door opened and he stood.

“You didn’t have to wait,” you said as he dusted off his pants.

“I know. I wanted to,” he said and looked you up and down. “You sure you’re alright? I can sit with you for a bit.”

You shook your head. “No, that’s okay. Thanks, though.” You both looked up at the sky in silence. The horizon was starting to fade from the inky black into a rich purple, stars still glinting above your heads. Dawn would be coming soon. Without a word, you walked side-by-side to your cars that were parked next to each other. When you popped your door open he looked like he wanted to say something, but instead he just gave you a closed-mouth smile and a small wave. You gave him an affirming head nod and slid into the driver’s seat. He waited until you drove away, car disappearing around a corner, before getting into his own.

As you walked up the stairs to your apartment, keys clutched in your hand, your heart was pounding again. Your eyes started to sting and you quickened your pace until you were practically sprinting to your door. After fumbling with the lock for a second you threw yourself inside and slammed the door shut, breath now coming in hard gasps. You slid your back down until you collapsed onto the ground. You curled yourself into a ball again, pressing the heels of your palms harshly against your closed eyes and feeling the tears spilling from them. You were not okay, you were not alright, you were not fine. Not at all.

You could barely see your screen through your tears, but you made the call anyways. It made you feel silly and weak but, God, you were so fucking scared. You just needed someone’s voice to ground you back in reality and he was the first person you thought of.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Sokka.” You winced at the way your voice cracked; how it wavered.

Obviously, he noticed. “What’s wrong? Did you make it home okay?” Guilt and regret panged in your chest when you heard how worried he was. You shouldn’t’ve called, you were being stupid.

“Yeah. I-I don’t know why I’m s-so upset but I’m really f-freaked out. It’s st-stupid, I’m sorry for b-bothering you,” you whimpered to the relative stranger on the other end of the line. You screwed your eyes shut and pressed a hand to your chest; you felt like you had been sprinting and you couldn’t catch your breath.

“You’re not bothering me, (Y/N), and it’s not stupid. What happened tonight was fucked up and you’re having a perfectly normal reaction. Just take some deep breaths, okay? You sound like you’re having a panic attack.”

Doing as he said, you tried to even out your breathing to bring your heart rate out of the stratosphere. “Okay, okay. I, um- Sokka?”

“Yeah?”

“Um, this might s-sound weird, but... do you think you could, um, come over? I‘ll make you breakfast.”

“Oh, uh-“ he hesitated and despite yourself you started to panic again.

“You d-don’t have to. I-I know you’re probably t-tired. I shouldn’t’ve asked, I just don’t want to b-be alone right now.”

“Hey, hey, stop that. It’s okay, (Y/N). I just don’t want to make you, like, uncomfortable or anything. Strange guy in your apartment, and all,” he chuckled nervously. “Not that I’m... strange, or anything.”

You giggled through your tears. “Oh, you’re strange, alright; but I like that about you. Besides, I know your first name now. We’re practically best friends.”

“You know what? You’re absolutely right.” He laughed a little and the sound made you feel a bit better. “Just text me your address and I’ll be there in a few minutes, okay?” The tenderness in his voice made your damp cheeks warm.

“Okay,” you sniffled. “Sokka?”

“Mhm?” You could hear him rustling around at the other end of the line along with the faint jingling of keys.

“Can you stay on the phone with me?” you asked sheepishly.

“Whatever you need, princess.” The pet name slipped so easily from his lips that he didn’t even notice. You, however, felt your face burn hotter and a twist in your belly. From anyone else’s mouth you would’ve thought you were being made fun of, but he said it so earnestly that you just felt warm and tingly, like you were talking with a grade school crush.

“What?”

“Hm?” he hummed distractedly and you cleared your throat.

“You called me princess.”

“Oh, sorry.” You hoped he was blushing as badly as you were. It sounded like he was, if one can sound like they’re blushing. “It’s just... something I call people sometimes. Habit.”

“It’s okay,” you said. “It’s nice. I like it.”

“Interesting,” he responded. You could hear the suggestive lilt to his voice and it made the corner of your mouth turn up a bit.

You used to think that Sokka was a quiet man. Now, you knew you were wrong and he had always been too heavily focused on his work those many nights at the diner to properly flaunt what a motor mouth he was. He had no trouble sitting on the phone with you while he made his way over to your building, chatting away about... something — many somethings, for that matter. The details weren’t important; all either of you cared about was his almost prodigious ability to keep your mind distracted with idle talk. Despite your state he even made you laugh a few times. You were feeling better by the time he softly knocked on your door, although your legs still felt wobbly and weak when you stood to let him in.

When he saw your puffy, bloodshot eyes and the tear tracks that shone on your cheeks he felt an odd squeezing in his chest that left him a little winded. You had changed into a large faded t-shirt and leggings, your hair loose and falling delicately around your tired face, which had been scrubbed clean of makeup. He realized this was the first time he had ever seen you outside of the context of your work. Even though you surely felt like shit, in the back of his mind he couldn’t help but think you still looked adorable. He felt a strong urge to wrap you up in a tight hug, but held off. This was still new territory for you both and he had no idea how you would react to physical affection from someone so new in your life.

You greeted him with a tiny smile and closed the door behind him. He suddenly became acutely aware of how sweaty his palms were now that he was alone with you in your apartment.

“Do you want any coffee or tea or something? Water?” you asked. “I- I started making waffles, if you want one. Or do you want something else to eat? I have-“

“(Y/N), please,” he chuckled. “You clocked out. You don’t have to serve me.”

“I know,” you sighed, twisting a strand of hair around your fingertips. “You came all the way over here, though.”

“It was less than a ten minute drive.”

“Still.” You stared at him expectantly and he rolled his eyes as he sat on your couch.

“Just make me one of whatever you’re drinking. I’m not picky.” You nodded and turned into the kitchen to prepare a second cup of lavender chamomile tea with honey. He accepted it graciously when you handed him the mug with some tourist location stamped on it. He took a sip and was surprised when he actually liked it – he had never much been one for tea. You sat down in the armchair adjacent to the couch and set your mug on the coffee table.

“Thanks, Sokka,” you murmured. He waved his hand dismissively.

“Seriously, (Y/N), it wasn’t any trouble. I’d rather be here and know that you’re okay than sit in bed and worry.”

“Not that. Well, yes; thank you for coming over, but... I was talking about at the diner.”

“What about it?”

You could feel tears pricking at your eyes again and you swallowed thickly. “You saved me. I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t been there.”

“I’m sure you would’ve handled it.” His eyebrows shot up when you shook your head aggressively.

“He might’ve shot me before Mack came out if you hadn’t knocked his gun away. And you didn’t even have anything to defend yourself with!”

“I was okay, princess; I’ve trained in fighting in stuff. I had to do something. I couldn’t live with myself if he’d hurt you and I hadn’t at least tried to help.” At this admission, your tears fell freely again and you choked out a sob. Sokka looked panicked and he leaned forwards, fluttering his hands uselessly. “Oh, fuck. Are you okay? Did I say something?”

You shook your head. “No, no. You’re just really sweet and I’m really emotional. And tired.”

“Do you want a hug?” he offered hesitantly. You looked over at him and saw his cheeks had gone pink. With a nod, you stood from your chair and curled up with him on the couch, letting his strong arms wrap around you while you cried into his shoulder. He squeezed you tightly against his chest and said nothing. He just closed his eyes and rested his cheek on top of your head, trying to ignore his own tears that threatened to spill when he felt the way your whole body shook like a leaf.

Even once your sobs subsided to sniffles you made no move to get up. Your very bones felt heavy with exhaustion and the way Sokka held you was warm and comforting. You both eventually fell asleep like that, embracing on your couch, your mugs of tea and the bowl of half-prepared waffle batter on the kitchen counter forgotten for now.

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kmlaney · 3 years ago

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14 Days of Storybible: Day 11

@the-wip-project

Character: habits / ticks / traits

What weird habits do your characters have? What are their prominent and hidden traits? Do they have ticks?

When I’m GMing I try to give my NPCs some recognizable quirk. It makes them feel like fleshed-out characters even when their defining trait is “constantly terrified” or “snarky.” On the flip side, this is one of the rare stories for me that’s centered on a single character and the supporting ones come and go, rather than an ensemble piece with a large constant cast. In no particular order:

Phil: obviously my most developed character. They like firearms the way a birdwatcher likes birds and would collect more if they had the money and a settled space to keep them in. They’re oversensitive to threats and threatening behavior, inclined to assume the worst in any situation, and proceed to exacerbate it accompanied by a lip twitch other characters notice. I’ve found their language changes in those circumstances: shorter sentences, more fragments, more “stereotypical old west” contractions and structure. I haven’t decided if this is a reversion to a dialect from their universe of origin or something else. As they come to terms with their new existence, they take an almost perverse pleasure in appalling people with the routine maintenance of their undead state. They completely miss all flirtatious signals directed at them and always have done. They swear. A lot.

Bad Phil: Is less human than Phil. It much prefers knives and doesn't share Phil’s fascination with firearms. It enjoys intimidating and frightening (and killing) people just for the hell of it, especially if it will cause trouble for Phil later. It’s Bad Phil who keeps their body together and it pushes its preference for raw meat on Phil--everything else tastes like ash. When I’ve written Bad Phil, its language has a smug, insulting quality with few contractions, longer sentences, and much less profanity.

Sam: aka Samuel Knapp, proprietor and Master of Ceremonies of Traveling Sam’s Carnival of Amusement and Oddities. Sam is bombastic and always on--he never stops his patter and showy gestures and demonstrates a calculated obsequiousness when dealing with authority. Money is his weakness. He’ll choose profit over ethics every time and justify it later.

Eva: Eva Palladino, wife of The Amazing Maurice (Maury). Sam might own the carnival, but Eva takes care of it and everyone knows it. Unlike Sam, she has clear on- and off-stage personas. Onstage, she’s flirty and shimmery, the perfect assistant, distracting the audience or supporting the act. Offstage, she’s the original Mother Bear. No one messes with Eva. I write her as an older established performer who’s seen it all and then some and wouldn’t trade out one minute, even the bad ones.

Doc Butcher: former veterinarian, originally hired to care for the carnival’s animals. His practice expanded to the performers as a matter of necessity, but he never tires of joking that humans aren’t his specialty. He’s tolerant almost to the point of apathy; he’s a healer, not a judge.

Bren: Coach driver for Zephyr. They’re nonbinary and emphatic about their preferred pronouns; they ask up front for other people’s. They don’t drink and have no patience for others drinking on the job. They’re curt, accustomed to people finding them abrasive, and really don’t care.

Maker Lewis: I conceived this character as a late-stage associate for Phil and I don’t have much written for him. He’s an adherent to the Doctrine of the Divine Architect, loves explosives as much as Phil loves guns, and professes to dislike Phil but is actually rather fond of them. His speech pattern varies from Absent-Minded Engineer to Humble Servant of the Divine Architect, with the sense that both are fronts hiding his real personality.

#WIPstorybible #the-wip-project #Bad Luck Phil #Mistlands #Traveling Sam #eva palladino #doc butcher #Bren #maker lewis #KMLaney fiction #kmlaney writes

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moldisgoodforyou · 4 years ago

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hello lovely💐 this may make no sense but i was really wondering if there’s any little specific thing like a quirk or a habit or a favorite or common inner thoughts (something along those lines) of any characters you’ve written tht u haven’t stated or may have not had the opportunity to state but it exists as canon in ur head? (im thinking about rafe and sophie but i will also gladly take any other characters u might offer) also i rlly don’t know if this makes sense i can give examples if needed

hi I love this because I have Many but I will try to limit myself

- rafe thinks plants are cool because he likes the satisfaction of taking care of something. he has a handful around the frat house but they die a lot (getting watered with beer at parties and the like) so he gets more his senior year and is very dedicated to them

- I mentioned this once but I’ve been neglecting the fact rafe wears glasses bc imagine how sleepy and cute he’d be all squinty in the mornings

- sophie has weird/bad dreams often and will sometimes mumble or toss and turn in her sleep. at first it worries rafe and he always tries to wake her up, but she gets all grumpy, so he just learns to wrap his arms tight around her until she’s okay again

- as their relationship progresses, she gets more and more comfortable with pda with him and starts picking up on physical touch a lot more. she always has a hand on him if he doesn’t have one on her - playing with his hair in the car while he drives, holding his hand or taking his arm as they walk

- when sophie is especially drunk she’s kind of a nightmare - climbing on things and trying to run. no matter how drunk rafe is, he’s always there to catch her or grab her out of the street

- if both of them are hammered together it’s Rare but extra miserable for their friends because they’ll try to run together or do the dumbest shit and it is a Chore for James and Colin to track them down or get them off of things. but it’s also funny as hell so they allow it a couple times per semester and refer to it as their “antics” - like “oh no, rafe and sophie’s antics are starting”

- one time james walked in on rafe and sophie making out and she was shirtless (he couldn’t see anything) and they both screamed. now she triple checks the lock and shoves a chair under the door any time they do anything. living in the greek houses is super inconvenient for their sex life but when they move into senior houses they take turns spending almost every night together because they live only a block apart.

- rafe’s favorite time of day with her is when she first wakes up and she’s extra clingy and sleepy, really nuzzles into him and gets impossibly close

- if she cries - which she does an okay amount now that’s she’s comfortable around him - it’s always frustrated tears and he knows it’s when she’s reached her breaking point and just snapped (and is normally exhausted)

- at first it freaked him out a little because she was so insistent that she didn’t cry and that it wasn’t her thing but he had to learn that crying was okay. because growing up if he ever cried his dad would roll his eyes and walk away about pathetic it was - especially with sports related frustration

ok I will stop myself there!! most of these are little things I want to turn into blurbs/fics but I can’t figure out how to bring it up

#rafe x sophie

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hanibalistic · 4 years ago

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hey!! i’ve been reading through your hyunjin works and just wanted to say i love the way you write him! of course, your writing is amazing for all the members too but for hyunjin you always mention how beautiful he is, and i’m amazed by how many different ways you’re able to do that bc it never feels repetitive!! and i’m also fascinated by how despite the emphasis on his etherealness he still feels human and real. ig that kinda sounds weird but a lot of the works i’ve read describe beauty in good-looking characters so much to the point where it ends up feeling a bit unreal and kinda hard to imagine. but you do it just the perfect amount, and always balance it out with other aspects of him! and i also love love the hyunjin’s dynamic with mc in all of your works, and love how much depth you give their characters too, the quirks and habits you assign, which goes for all your works too.

but i think what i like most about ur hyunjin fics is the atmosphere is each of them. i’m not exactly sure how to describe the feeling each gives me and certainly not eloquent enough to do it either, but there’s always this tenderness? it’s like your works of him are coated in this fuzzy pink tenderness but then if u look behind that layer you’d get this boundless cosmos of potent emotions—sometimes it takes me a second or third read to fully comprehend just how many emotions there are or how strong they are (or sometimes just to fully fathom how beautifully put together your words and sentences are lol)

maybe it’s that way for all of your works which i haven’t gotten through yet so forgive me if that isn’t true. and maybe im just hyunjin-deprived atm 😂

this doesn’t rlly make any sense lmao anyways point is you’re an amazing writer and i love your writing style!! thank you for giving me such wonderful experiences!

hello there (❁´◡`❁) this is a rather long ask that deserves a long answer so i am going to bust out the cute faces! first of all, thank you so much for reading my works! i am happy that you like them!

hyunjin... he is not my most well-written member, so i am surprised to hear so many compliments on my writing for his works (ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ) i do tend to focus on his looks a lot, mainly because i project into my writing a lot and well, i admire his appearances. but you are absolutely correct, ultimately i do not think ethereal is the word to describe hyunjin. if anything i think it degrades him in a sense. i explained it here in this ask, if you have not looked into it!

with all the kindness and affection he displays, hyunjin acts far too human, far too down-to-world for us to downgrade him to something we cannot explain. to just use a pretty word, like 'ethereal' to describe and call it a day. we can explain him, we can read him. that's the fundamental part of his beauty. it's that he is understandable and he makes us feel familiarity. he is not stars or galaxies, he is not here to be unknown and discovered. hyunjin wants to be heard and seen. he is here to be remembered and felt; the young scribbles on the rusty paint of your old home, the broken eye of your worn teddy bear that has rolled to the corner of your old room, the smell of your mother's shampoo after you left to be an adult for too long. it takes some time for you recognize, but they are not to be learned but to be remembered and felt.

tl;dr hyunjin is not the ethereal space. he is not stars and moon and sun. he is nothing out of touch. he is home. just home. a home that we have always had, a home that we can always go back to.

anyway, enough about that (although there seem to never be enough for hyunjin!). i never really thought my characters are anything special. for now, i think i am priding myself in my world-building and plot ideas (〃ﾟ3ﾟ〃) but thank you for liking my characters! they are always, somehow, a part of me. who i want to be, who i am, who i hated, who i wanted to have around, who i disliked—they are all parts of me, and i hold them to my heart dearly (most of them, at least). most of the traits i have are real-life human traits found in people around me, so i won't be surprised if you find them realistic and in-depth!

tenderness is a theme prevalent in my work, i believe? maybe i tend to overload them in hyunjin's, though (˚ᗜ˚*) and i also think the tenderness is different depending on who i am writing for. it can be soft and hearty for one person, but playful and nostalgic for another. they range differently depending on how i feel in real life about the idol, i suppose? (this is the part where i craft a character based on the idol, instead of the other way around, which is 98% of the case haha)

but yeah. i think... i think tenderness is very important. i think being able to be gentle with faulty people is very important, even though they hurt you. there is greatness in standing up to people immediately, of course, but sometimes when you see past the surface of the fault and recognize the guilt in it, i find it even greater to have heart. i value it because i, personally, need it; i don't have it a lot as my personality issues clashes with tenderness. i talk about this before as well—the importance of having people who are willing to allow kindness despite evil.

i just love loving, that is all. i love the tenderness of having dinner with someone, i love the softness in sharing a bed with someone, i love the gentleness in being taught something by my mother who told me the knowledge is taught to her by my father when they were young (i might... write something for this... maybe...). i say the same thing over and over again, but consider me head over heels and someone who is unable to let go.

#thank you so so so so much for this ask!#it is a joy to read. absolutely.#a: miffifie #reply #both you and seungshelf are the real one!

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girlmeetsliv3 · 5 years ago

Text

Killing Me Softly III

Sugardaddy!BTS x reader

They were beloved. The very ground they walked on worshiped. It had been that way since before you were born and it would remain that way even after your choice. Decisions decisions, it would decide your future. But why choose one when you could choose them all? If you chose none, well… that wasn’t a decision you could make.

Trigger Warning: The following story contains mentions of manipulation, abuse, and vivid descriptions of abusive acts. The behavior and mindset of the characters in this will be incredibly yandere and toxic. This is a work of fiction and doesn’t represent the character of bangtan sonyeondan. Enjoy ~~~

AN: This is it the conclusion. I hope it’s everything you could hope for and so much more

Word Count: 10k

Tag List: @perrryyysblog @purpuravm @doodlesandthings @catsandstrawberries @ireallylikefoodandyoutube

killingmesoftlywithhislove

_Present_

His hair had grown since you had last seen him, the light curls framing his face nicely. From his posture and demeanor, you could tell he was upset, Hoseok was terrifying when he was angry: the way his eyes would darken, jaw clench, and his lips would curve into a smirk. It was a sign of the danger which was to come. After all, he had only ever been angry once before and it led to the murder of two innocent people. Hoseok was dressed in a black linen shirt with black jeans that fit snugly in all the right places, he looked absolutely beautiful. Seeing him like that caused your heart to ache and anxiety to flare up. He didn’t do it on purpose, or maybe he did, Hoseok could be incredibly cruel when he wanted to. You stepped out of the car, making sure leave enough distance between the two of you where an escape would be possible if needed. You doubted you would make it far though, as the car drove away, and the others were sure to be lurking around just like always. You stared at him straight in the eye refusing to cower even when every single bone in your body told you this was a fight you would not win. Meanwhile, his eyes trailed down your body until they landed on your neck focusing on the chain and pendant hanging on it. Wearing Taehyung’s present had been the right choice, maybe it would lull them into a false sense of security – one could only hope. “Aren’t you going to say hi, Jagi?” If seeing him almost broke you, hearing him speak delivered the final blow. Hoseok opened his arms, beckoning you towards him, and it took everything inside you not to succumb.

“Y/n…don’t you love me anymore?” There it was. He had whispered it so softly, practically whimpered it, and it ground whatever bit of your will was left. All you took was a step towards him, but that was enough for Hoseok who rushed to embrace you wrapping his arms tightly around your waist and burying his face into your neck. “God how I missed you. You have no idea, how I’ve longed for you.” Hoseok missed me? A small smile crept up your face, maybe all hope wasn’t lost. Hoseok let go of your waist to cup your face in between his two hands, he smiled gently. “Y/n,” The smile on his face grew wickeder and the grip on your face tighter, “Don’t ever do that to us again.” Emerging behind him you saw the six men standing a few feet away. This can’t be happening. No. You pushed against Hoseok’s chest, but his grip wouldn’t budge as his nails only dug deeper into your sensitive flesh. “Please Hoseok. Hobi. Don’t do this to me.” Your cries fell on death ears, as you saw Yoongi approaching you with something in his hand. It wasn’t long before he reached the two of you, the object in his hand is a rag which was subsequently shoved in your face muffling your cries. “Puh-please…” Your vision and hearing becoming weakening until your knees gave out letting you fall into unconsciousness.

_Two Months Ago_

“Jagi…Y/n…wake up.” You opened your eyes, to see the thick forestry opening up into a large clearing. You rubbed your eyes, before adjusting your reclined seat in order to get a better look. The North Joella province was a sight to behold, something you could only dream of yet here it was the beautiful lush landscapes and tall mountain paths something out of a postcard. Through the reflection in the car’s window, you could see the ridiculously large grin on your face, but you couldn’t help it. The excitement and wanderlust oozing out of you. “I’m glad to see you’re enjoying it already.” Hoseok spoke, in a teasing manner head tilted slightly towards you before he focused back on the road. “I must admit I was a bit worried about this trip…” That was an understatement, you had been a nervous wreck at the thought of the eight of you going on this trip together. Sure, you’d been with them before but never for several days in a row – especially not the week that was planned. Hoseok shot you a glance, “Why?” Because they were a lot to handle on their own. Because they were possessive enough as it was and you couldn’t possibly imagine them sharing. It was because you had realized that this arrangement couldn’t go on for much longer, but you had no idea how to tell them. You played with your fingers, forcing a small smile on your face to ease the tension. “I’ve never gone on vacation with you guys, of course, I would be nervous.” You could feel him staring at the side of your face, but Hoseok chose not to comment anymore, focusing on the road ahead. “Don’t worry, Y/n-ah. It’ll be fun.”

Hoseok and you had arrived together whilst the rest arrived in their own cars. Four cars lined the entranceway to the campsite, all of them sleek in style and the latest on the market. It was difficult not to remember how filthy rich the men were, for they often displayed it in ways no regular middle-class person would: their overzealous fashion, tips, and what they considering ‘small’ gifts. All things that would leave you bankrupt if you attempted to live that way. Still, despite these habits of theirs, they weren’t flashy nor were their egos due to their wealth. All of them were good people – incapable of doing harm to anyone of that you were sure of. The Hanoks were beautiful cherry wood color deep inside a mountain range, one Namjoon insisted all you must hike tomorrow morning. Once Hoseok had parked the car, the two of you walked hand in hand to the central Hanok where the others were preparing a meal. It was certainly a sight to behold, the six of them crowded around pots on noodles and meats, the smell causing you to salivate subconsciously. Namjoon was the first to look up, the others following suit. “Look who finally decided to join. Took you long enough.” He quirked an eyebrow at Hoseok, who simply shrugged it off going ahead to join the others. There was a weird tension in the room, and you couldn’t quite figure out why. The men seemed to be having a private conversation, one communicated through slight body movements and knowing glances. “Babe, come sit down,” Jungkook spoke, waving you over with his hand but you shook your head. “I’m going to go set down my stuff. Which one is my room?” They seemed disappointed at your response, but Seokjin quickly spoke: “The last one in the back, can’t miss it.” You thanked him and moved to exit the room before things could get any more awkward. Your ears picked up on their slight murmurs probably wondering why you were so distant. If only they knew why.

This was a fantastic idea, y/n. You really had to wait after the trip was over, huh? You couldn’t face the men once the decision had been made, but this was necessary. You couldn’t depend on them forever and now that you had graduated and were turning of age, it seemed appropriate. Even if to them it would seem like the utmost betrayal, they would come to understand. They had to. After walking out of the central Hanok, you saw what should have been your room; if the banner and balloons were any indications. Strangely it looked like the biggest out of the others, which you didn’t get since it would be yours alone. The others were sharing so it made sense they would get the biggest, yet somehow the Yo looked like it could comfortably fit at least ten. You set down your bag in the corner of the room and went to leave only to be greeted by Jimin at the door. “Not thinking of running away, are you?” He cocked an eyebrow as he leaned on the wooden frame. “Thought about it, but I’m so dumb I would probably get lost and eaten by a mountain lion or something.” Jimin chuckled, stepping forward to ruffle your hair. “Don’t be silly, we’d never let you go. Plus, there are no mountain lions in Korea.” You pouted playfully which caused him to lean down and peck your lips. “Now behave or you’ll get in trouble.” He said, as he turned around and headed for the door. “When have I ever?” You joked, causing him to turn back around to wink at you before shutting the door.

_Present_

You could feel the dampness on the back of your neck and your shirt. The sweat causing the fabric to cling to you in an uncomfortable manner, you tried to open your eyes but found your eyelids far too heavy. All you could do was pick up on the sounds of someone – make that two people talking. Their voices distant and slightly muffled, even though you were sure they weren’t that far away from you. The more time passed the clearer your senses became until you could hear them almost perfectly and it became clear that it was Seokjin and Namjoon having a discussion.

“…Can’t stay here. We have to move her before she wakes, or anyone realizes that she’s gone missing.”

“Don’t worry Hyung. Things will go much smoother from here, but we have to wait. Lay low for a while.”

“The more time we spend here, the more time we give them to find her and take-”

“It’s going to draw a lot of attention if we’re walking around carrying an unconscious girl. No one is following her or us. No one is going to take her away. Trust me.”

“Look where that got us, last time.”

“She’s awake.”

That last statement hadn’t come from neither Namjoon nor Seokjin, but rather it was Taehyung’s deep baritone voice. He hadn’t spoken the entire time, simply preferring to observe you while the other two talked. So, you hadn’t been made aware of his presence at all. Taehyung was waiting for the chloroform to wear off in order to alert the others, he had been able to tell by the slight hitch in your breath and the way your eyes had slightly moved in your sockets that you were awake. It reminded him of all the times you would pretend to be asleep in the mornings desperate for an extra five minutes of comfort before you were forced back into the cruel world. You could hear his footsteps getting closer until he stopped right by your head. Taehyung crouched down and let his fingertips lightly trail through your neckline. “You know I don’t like to be kept waiting.” His voice aroused something inside you, be it fear for you knew exactly what these men were capable of when upset or something far more twisted. It was those same words that Taehyung always spoke when wanted you to orgasm, usually with his hands around your neck and your body bent at an odd angle. Without much thought, you peeled open your eyes to see him leaning over you staring deep into your soul. His eyes were always wide and alert, you had once confused that as a positive trait. Thinking it made him look almost childlike. Now you realized those eyes made him even more of a predator, allowing him to see everything, especially his prey. Namjoon and Seokjin also walked towards where you were laying but chose to stand beside Taehyung looking down at you.

Your next decision could alter the course of everything that was about to happen to you, so you thought it over before finally speaking. “Where is everyone?” All three men exchanged a look before turning back to you, “Why do you want to know?” Seokjin spoke and you didn’t miss the anger in his voice either. All of them were on edge and that didn’t boast well for your chances of survival, so you had to be quick. “I want to apologize,” Funny enough they all simultaneously blinked in shock, “For what I’ve done.” You weren’t good at lying, in fact, you couldn’t lie to save your life. But what was there to lose, other than the obvious. Namjoon nodded, face completely devoid of emotion. “Fine. We’ll take you to them.” Even though Taehyung was the closest to you, it was Seokjin who scooped you up into his arms refusing to let you walk. It was probably to ensure you didn’t run away, but from how tightly he pressed you against his body, you were sure the man had ulterior motives. They all walked out of the Hanok together, Seokjin and you in the center whilst the others were on the sides. In the distance, you could see the stone path that led up to the mountains where all of you had gone on your second day there. It was ironic that you would recall such a happy memory at a time like this, but maybe it was a way for your brain to cope.

_Two Months Ago_

“Jeon Jungkook if you don’t put me down this instant. I will fling us both off this rock.” Laugher escaped all of you, as Yoongi continued to pout while Jungkook carried him on his back refusing to drop him even when the two walked so very close to the edge. “Learn to live a little a little Hyung.” Jungkook teased while tilting slightly towards the left where the safety rope barely reached his hips. “Yah. Listen to me or I swear to god.” You couldn’t help but smile at the two of them while you walked with the group, each of them had taken turns talking to you or holding your hand and it was nice. Though the first day had been a bit awkward, by the evening all of you had become accustomed to each other (read you had gotten over your guilt) and had ended up bonding over embarrassing childhood stories; Jin’s were by far the worst his narcissism often landing him in trouble. Then you went to bed with the promise of a long day ahead of you, first the mountains then a club. It was sure to be a fun day, and by the way, Yoongi kept screaming at Jungkook an unforgettable one. “Be careful or both of might actually fall,” Namjoon warned, Jungkook finally listening and letting Yoongi down. Yoongi pretended to frown but the joy in his face was hard to miss. He only ever got this happy when he was high on something and you were glad that it wasn’t the case this time when he glanced back and smiled at you it was contagious. Hopefully, when things end, he’ll still be as happy as this. What you wouldn’t give to see him smile every day as brightly as he was right now.

“Has anyone ever fallen off these?” Taehyung asked Jimin, who he was beside. The other man nodded, “I think a guy did a while back. Only got a few broken bones, nothing too bad.” Hoseok’s eyes widened, “That’s your definition of not too bad.” Jimin shrugged while both Taehyung and Hoseok looked towards the edge in fear. It was a rather large drop from where you were, after having walked for about forty minutes. Not to mention the housing area was already high above the ground. “For a thirty to forty-foot drop that’s not that bad. I heard he had enough time to make himself into an armadillo, you know? Curl up and protect his head.” Whoever he was, you reasoned the man must be extremely lucky. “How did he even fall?” You asked, which prompted Jimin who was far ahead to turn around. “Maybe he was running from mountain lions?” He stuck his tongue out and you chased after him, trying to hit him playfully. The other’s laughed as Jimin gave chase for quite a while before eventually turning his sight on you, leaving you to hide behind the others for cover.

_Present_

You had expected to be taken to the central Hanok, the one which connected all the others, but instead, they lead you to the one where you had previously stayed. Namjoon opened the doors allowing Seokjin to walk in first, then Taehyung, before he too stepped inside shutting you off from the outside world. The rest of them Yoongi, Jungkook, and Jimin were there all sitting comfortably on the Yo; staring at you with such scrutiny it felt like you were being dissected. Hoseok stood by the corner, in an angle where he could see everything. His eyesight wasn’t on you, but the rest of his lovers. Seokjin set you down before, walking over to the Yo to sit. Taehyung and Namjoon lingered behind you until Hoseok gave a curt nod and they too decided to sit on the mat. They were all waiting for you to say something, but your throat had dried up. Words being unable to escape but you could feel a sob incoming which would only worsen things. “I want t-to apologize for the way I’ve behaved,” You shifted your weight from one foot to the other, as you tried to reign in the tremor in your voice. “I was. I’m scared of you. What you did and why you did it, I just don’t understand -” It was Yoongi who cut you off, “We did it to protect you because we love you. Why can’t you fucking see that?!” He was seething. Pupils dilating and the vein in his neck popping out. No one said anything, only Jimin moved to lay his head on his Hyung’s shoulder to comfort him. It persisted: their justification of their actions lay solely on you as if you were the one to blame, not them. How could you win? How could you escape? You had thought it easy just weeks ago and here you were back in their hands, they had entrapped you in their spider web. The more you struggled, the easier prey you became.

“I don’t deserve that love…I don’t even understand why you would.” The sob tore through your throat, tears that you hadn’t even been aware of flowing freely. God, you were pathetic. Could you help it? Wasn’t that why you had needed them in the first place? You couldn’t even face them, preferring to stare at the hardwood floor beneath your feet. Hoseok walked towards you cradling you in his arms and patting your head. “Shh, it’s okay. People make mistakes and they grow, we’re okay with giving you a second chance but you have to promise us you won’t run away again.” With your head buried into his neck, you missed the sadistic smirk on his face. The smile that spread through the other men’s faces at seeing your resolve crumble right before them. This was everything they had ever wanted. Everything they had ever needed. You would finally be there’s and no one could take you away from them. The other’s stood up and crowded around you enveloping you in their warmth. “Before though, there’s something we have to show you,” Jungkook spoke as his hands rubbed circles into your upper back. You peeled away from Hoseok to stare at the youngest, nodding without much thought. At your lack of reluctance, he grinned bunny smile on full display. Jungkook grasped your hand in his and pulled you out of the room, practically running with excitement. Jimin and Taehyung cast a look towards their Hyung’s before walking out and following the two of you, knowing that what Jungkook was going to show you were sure to leave an impression.

Hoseok circled his arms around Yoongi’s waist, peppering kisses along the side of his head. “Don’t worry, she’s never leaving us again. I’ll make sure of it.” Yoongi sighed and leaned into the other’s caresses. Namjoon and Seokjin sighed as well, feeling exhausted after everything that they had to do in order to get you to be there’s. Hoseok turned around beckoning them closer, so the other two joined into their embrace. Being held, kissed, and caressed in order to ease their nerves away. “I promise you all, she’s ours now. Forever. Not even death will do us part.”

Jungkook had dragged you out of the resting area into an unset path. The soft grass beneath your feet turning into an amalgamation of rocks, broken tree branches, and patches of mud as the forest began to enclose around you. He seemed to be looking for something, his grip on your hand not loosening a bit. It was useless anyway, to run away now would mean certain death either by falling off the mountain or by their own hand. You preferred the former if you were honest. “Jungkook where are you taking me?” Worry evident in your tone, as your brows furrowed. You were deep into the forestry now and were uncertain if Jungkook even knew his way back. Instead of answering, Jungkook simply giggled like a small child. Up ahead, you could begin to make something out weird shapes coming into form the closer you got until… “No! Please dear god. Kookie no. I don’t want to see it.” It was too late, you could see the dismembered rotting corpses perfectly now. You began to hyperventilate as vile from your stomach rose, you hadn’t realized Jungkook had let go of you until you placed both hands on your knees to steady yourself. Jungkook was facing you, with a sinister gleam in his eyes. “Don’t you like it? Figured you might since they’re dead because of you.” No, that wasn’t true. It couldn’t be. Right? Jungkook bent down to be at your eye level, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear. “After all, if you had just listened that night none of this would have happened. They wouldn’t be dead.” Flashes of that night came to your mind like scenes in a movie. Unable to hold it back anymore, you hurled forward throwing up bile from your stomach. You wiped your mouth with the back of your hand, “It isn’t my fault. It isn’t.” You repeated it over and over again like a mantra that would assure your mind of its innocence. “Isn’t it though?” Chimed in Jimin behind you, “Isn’t you who disobeyed and wore that stupid dress? Wasn’t it you who insisted on dancing? Didn’t you pick the fight?”

You recalled the events once more, but this time in the way he had said. You had stepped out of line, more than once that night. Refusing to listen to them, and simply doing what you wanted, so was it truly your fault? Taehyung had inched closer to you, in the midst of your spiral. Getting close enough to whisper into your ear the words that would finally shatter you once in for all. “If we did it for you, doesn’t that make you the worst one out of all of us.” When your knees gave out, Taehyung was the one lift you into his arms carrying you the way a groom would a bride. Instead of taking you back to the Hanoks he stepped even closer to the bodies, making sure you could see them in all their glory. “Y/n, there are no more chances after this. I would hate for more people to end up this way, though I’m sure Sihyeon and Jeonhan would make beautiful corpses.” The image of the two of them laying there was now cemented into your head.

_Two Months Ago_

You hadn’t heard of many clubs in the Jeolla province, but Seokjin had assured you the place the eight of you were going was top tier. Exclusively for the rich and beautiful, as if it was meant to calm your nerves. It did the opposite. You had been out with the boys on several occasions individually, to events, galas, or even the casual dates but never all seven at once. Never in a position where others might begin to wonder what type of relationship all of you shared, they would probably assume you were a prostitute which wasn’t exactly legal. Is all of this even legal? You opted not to ponder on that. Instead, setting out two possible outfits for tonight, one a corseted black top with matching black jeans and the other, and the other a green silk slip dress that ended at mid-thigh. You knew which option the boys would prefer you to wear out, but the dress was so beautiful, and you did buy with the intent to wear on your birthday. Plus, you barely wore stuff like this anyway, one night a year wasn’t going to cause anyone any harm. So you settled on the dress, slipping it on, and going about finishing the rest of your routine until you heard the rasping of knuckles on the door. Not bothering to wait for an answer, the person quickly opened the door and stepped inside. Seokjin was dressed in a light blue button-down that accentuated his features, wonderfully. “You look handsome.” You smiled, as you walked over to kiss him on the cheek. He had yet to say anything merely staring at your dress before his eyes trailed up to meet yours. “Don’t you like it?” You asked, bracing yourself for the blow. “I’d love it if it were off you.” His words were meant to have come off jokingly, but he said in such a serious tone.

“Ha-ha. We don’t have time, come on let’s get going.” You tried to push him aside, to walk through but he wouldn’t budge. “I’m being serious Y/n, don’t wear that out tonight. You’ll draw too much attention to yourself.” He was scolding you the way one might a child, you scoffed. “Right as if walking in with seven men isn’t going to draw any attention whatsoever.” You rolled your eyes and attempted to push past him again, but he gripped your wrist and pulled you tautly against him. “You look like an escort.” It took all your willpower not to slap him right there and then, instead you stooped even lower. “Aren’t I practically one already?” You retorted. Seokjin’s eyes widened and his face grew red with fury, but you couldn’t care less finally pushing past him to join the others. Fuck him, why is he being such an asshole all of a sudden?! You shook your head, trying to ease your thoughts and the deep frown between your brows. The rest of them were already in front of the cars, waiting for you to join. Namjoon let out a wolf whistle when he saw you, causing the corners of your mouth to turn up slightly. Hoseok was smiling at you, so you made your way towards him walking right into his arms. “Do I look okay?” You whispered softly, he hummed in agreeance. “You looked like lust personified, in a good way.” A small laugh tore out if you were lust personified Hoseok must’ve been Aphrodite at that moment. Eventually, Seokjin exited the Hanok, his expression cool and calm. As if nothing had happened. You wondered how he managed to be so in control, even when he should clearly still be upset. You shrugged it off and instead got in the car, the other’s sliding in beside you while Yoongi took the driver’s seat and Seokjin the one beside him.

The drive there wasn’t long the province was rather small and the club was located in what could be considered a downtown area. The hotels, shopping center, and general ambiance letting you know that the men hadn’t lied about the kind of people that habituated there. It was around five stories tall with each floor dedicated to a specific vibe or kind of music, according to Taehyung. As you approached the front of the building, you saw a line of people almost the length of the block. It was a strange sight as you had assumed from how quiet everything around the campsite was that there wasn’t much to do in Jeolla except enjoy the scenery, clearly you were wrong. “Don’t be nervous, okay?” Jimin assured you before the door opened and one by one you all exited the car. People in line stared in awe at the men, some even taking out their phones to snap some pictures; probably assuming they were idols. You couldn’t blame them, they looked like gods walking among the Earth. “We’re going up to the third floor,” Seokjin said, as he led you all inside. Yoongi and Namjoon had wrapped their arms around your waist, causing a few judgmental stares to be sent your way. I definitely look like an escort now. It was different when it was one on one, most people would look at you with one of the men and assume the two of you were lovers. From the way you talked, acted, and openly embraced each other they would have no idea that it was a purely monetary relationship; a give and take of sorts. You had grown used to it, but that too could be dangerous especially when you found yourself falling deeper and deeper for a man who would never see you that way.

At the entrance stood a receptionist in front of a giant elevator when Hoseok said his name he was handed a key and told to board the elevator. The key apparently was the only way to unlock the doors and gain access to the other floors. “Probably to prevent people from sneaking in.” Namjoon had rationalized. It was a snug fit, but not enough to be claustrophobic. Once you reached the third floor, the elevator doors dinged open and you saw a giant dance floor riddled with bodies dancing without a care in the world. Excitement filled you, barely containing itself when you all sat down at a booth. Shots were ordered, minus Yoongi who wanted scotch, and it was three rounds later that you found yourself convincing them to go dance. “What’s the point of going to a club if we’re not going to dance?” You had to scream over the loud music, in order for all of them to hear you. Jungkook rolled his eyes, “You’ve never even been to a club.” True, but that was beside the point. “I want to dance, come on.” Glancing around the table, you saw that no one made an indication to move. So you huffed, beginning to cross over their laps in order to exit the booth. “Where are you going?” Seokjin asked, his hands gripping your waist causing you to stop right on top of him. “I’m going to dance. The rest of you can stay here and be boring.” To emphasize your point, you stuck your tongue out and finished exiting the booth. They all watched with varying levels of amusement as you made your way down to the center of the large swarm of people.

The second you got there, a new song began to play. The heavy bass and accompanying guitar riff causing your heart to thump to the beat of the song. Your hips swayed and you lost yourself entirely to the music, enjoying the ride it was taking you on. The alcohol in your system hadn’t left you tipsy but instead given you a soft buzz that spread throughout your body allowing you to loosen up a bit more. It wasn’t long before a pair of hands found their way onto your hips, and the warmth of another body heated your back. Assuming one of the boys had finally caved, you leaned back until you felt them press their hard-on into your backside. It was then that a voice, not belonging to any of your companions spoke. “How much for a night, princess?” Immediately, you separated yourself from them and whipped around. It was a man in his late thirties with a scruffy beard and lanky body, smelling of cheap cigarettes far too much liquor. “Sorry I think you're mistaken.” You tried to walk away, but the man gripped your forearm and pulled you back. His face contorted into anger, clearly not liking being dismissed. “Come on, sweetheart. I don’t bite, though if you’d let me, I would pay extra.” It was when you felt the sting on your hand, that you realized you had backhanded the man. If he was angry before, now he was livid. He moved forward but was stopped when a cold beverage splashed across your face. Turning towards the left, you saw a short red-headed girl with an empty margarita glass in her hand.

“You whore, what are you doing hitting on my boyfriend? Get your skanky claws away from him.” You wanted so badly to say something, but you were frozen. Couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, and now that you dwelled on it you were having a hard time breathing, your chest beginning to move up and down at an unnatural rate. The two of them seemed to enjoy your reaction, for they had smirks on their faces. Where are they? As if they had read your mind, you felt a jacket being placed on your shoulders before Jimin pressed you against his side. “Come on, Y/n. Let’s go home.” That was it? Jimin made no move to defend you against them, barely even spared a glance. Simply walked you towards the elevator where the others were waiting, their expressions unreadable. Was that all? None bothered to comfort you. None seemed to care. Maybe they didn’t. Maybe the time had finally come. As the eight of you stepped off the elevator, and onto the main entrance you simply kept your head down and tried to make yourself as small as possible. You had already gotten enough attention, you didn’t desire anymore. The ride home was silent as well, save for a few brief conversations between the men, you simply remained stoic. When you finally reached the Hanok’s it took all of your will power to not run straight to your room and burst into tears, instead you said ‘goodnight’ and walked gracefully towards your Hanok. Closing the door, slowly and walking towards the Yo before finally succumbing to the tears.

Tomorrow morning you would end things with them, there was no other way. If tonight was anything to go by the men clearly didn’t care for you as much as they had claimed, especially Hoseok whose ‘I love you’ seemed hollow when you realized they were just words to him. He didn’t love and how could he, when he had six others. When he had to share you. It was inevitable and postponing it until the end of the trip would make it more difficult to end things. Plus, you had already saved up the majority of the money you had been given by them; though that was something they remained unaware of entirely. Tomorrow. Tomorrow, I’ll end it and say goodbye to them forever. You prayed they would understand, they had to, plus they had other sugar babies before, so this was nothing new. It wasn’t an arrangement that could last forever, and this wasn’t a fairy tale where all of you would end up happily ever after. Life was far to cruel for that. With your mindset, you drifted off to sleep exhaustion taking you over.

It was a scream that roused you from sleep. A high shrill, the type that you had only heard in movies, but it was clear as day. Peeling your eyes open, you saw nothing but darkness in your room, your senses quickly adjusting to see that the doors had been slightly left open. You figured the men could be watching a movie, but you hadn’t seen any electronic devices in the central Hanok. Nor did there look to be electrical outlets anyway. You tried to go back to sleep, but a nagging feeling kept you from dozing off again. Something’s wrong, I can feel it. So much like a cat, you stood up with the intent of satisfying your curiosity. You hadn’t even taken off your dress or Jimin’s jacket, but none of that seemed relevant. You stepped out onto the main area and looked around trying to see if any of the boys were awake, all the other Hanoks were dark except for Hoseok’s who had a faint glow emitting from it. Carefully you tiptoed your way over, choosing to go by the side where there was a small window than knocking on the door. You didn’t want to disturb him and make him more upset at you. The closer you got the more disturbing sounds you heard coming from the room, causing the hairs on the back of your neck to rise as adrenaline pumped through your veins. You crouched down to avoid being seen and slowly peered into the room to see what was going on, your eyes widening in horror at what you saw. Before bile rose through your throat and you found yourself having to control the urge to gag.

Inside Hoseok’s room where all the men laughing and smiling, but it wasn’t a joke or movie that they got entertainment from. It was the two tortured individuals with cuts, bruises, and broken bones that lay at their feet. You recognized them almost instantly, it was the couple from the club, the woman’s cries reaching your ears even outside. The man was screaming incoherent things which only caused the men to laugh even harder before Jungkook kicked him in the throat silencing him effectively. What the fuck is going on? Soon Yoongi and Jimin would begin to tear the couple's clothes off and use brute force to break even more bones. The sound of broken ribs and pelvis would be something that would forever be engrained into your mind. Hoseok stood by the side, watching his lovers partake in their sadistic punishment of the man and women. Truthfully, they deserved it and Hoseok would’ve joined in had his mind not been running rampant with thoughts of you. He had wanted to postpone their confession until the end of the trip, show you how much fun you could have with all of them before asking you formally to be theirs. Hoseok wasn’t sure how you would react, seeing as you were fond of the members but had a preference for him. Not that he minded, but it would cause problems in the relationship if you constantly opted to spend time with him instead of the others. Still, you had done well until now, and Hoseok could see his lovers falling deeper and deeper in love with you every second that passed. He had to admit he was concerned in the beginning that the others wouldn’t understand his need to be with you, but once they began to display the same tendencies, he knew he had made the right choice.

Tomorrow morning, they would ask you to be theirs and you would say yes. You had to. Hoseok couldn’t fathom a single reason why you wouldn’t, then his eyes locked with yours. Quickly you ducked and made a run for your Hanok, hoping that had just been your imagination that you had locked eyes with Hoseok. There was no way he saw you, right? Your survival instinct kicked in and you reached your room in record time, slamming the door shut and racing towards your luggage. Quickly you changed into much more comfortable clothing and began to pack your stuff, leaving the jacket and dress out. It was when you heard footsteps inching closer to your room that you quickly placed the bag back where it had been and reached for the jacket. You hastily put it on before getting under the duvet and shifting to face the wall, closing your eyes as the door opened. “I told you she was asleep,” Seokjin said, before stepping into the room. The rest followed suit, making sure everything in the room was still intact. You looked so lonely in the giant Yo it really couldn’t be helped that they desired to join you. Jungkook took the first step, discarding his blood-stained clothes on the floor before slipping in beside you. Wrapping his arms tightly around you as he buried his nose into your hair, breathing in your scent. You tried your hardest not to move when the others joined in too, for the slightest movement could let them know you were pretending. Eventually, all of them drifted off to sleep, each curling up beside the other in a way that screamed intimacy, but you were unable to sleep that night the image of their expressions and the bodies replaying in your head until the sun rose.

When you opened your eyes the next morning, golden sunlight illuminated the room in a beautiful way. What was more beautiful was how it reflected off each of the men’s golden skin, as they all sat staring at you. Faking a groan, you stretched your arms pretending you had just woken up. “What are you guys doing in here?” Their faces were stoic, devoid of any emotion it terrified you. “We want to talk Y/n, about us.” Namjoon started, his hands moving as he tried to elaborate on what he meant but you cut him off before he could. “I think we should take a break.” It felt as if all the light in the room had been sucked up by something. “What?” Jimin whimpered, his voice barely above a whisper. All of them looked to be varying levels of distraught, but none more than Hoseok who you could barely manage to look at. Toying with your hands you breathed in deeply before continuing, “This has been going on for a while and I just think that before we continue, I need some time to think about what I want to do next in my life.” Taehyung leaned forward, his tongue-tied as he rambled. “W-what do yuh-you mean time to think? What is there t-to think abuh-about?!” Jungkook was shaking with fury, this wasn’t supposed to happen. You were supposed to be theirs forever, so what was this bullshit. “I need to figure out what I want to do with my life. I can’t rely on others my entire life, I need to be able to stand on my own.” Yoongi laughed, a genuine one as if you had just said the funniest thing in the world. “You be on your own? Don’t make me laugh. You could barely handle a confrontation last night, without breaking down.” That stung, you knew he did it to hurt you, but it didn’t lessen the blow at all if anything it made it worse. “Exactly, so I need to learn to stand up on my own.”

Seokjin nodded in agreeance, “Alright. You need time, we understand. Then you’ll come back to us.” It sounded as if he was trying to convince himself, rather than everyone else in the room. “Yeah, I will. I promise.” You were lying through your teeth, but anything to get you out of this situation was good enough. The air was beginning to clear until Hoseok finally spoke, “If you don’t come back, they would have died for nothing.” You gulped and felt the life being drained out of you slowly, there was a wicked smirk on his face which let you know just how much he enjoyed your fear. They knew. Of course, they did, how could you have been stupid enough to think they wouldn’t. These men knew you like the back of their hands and here you had played into their little game. Knowing your options were dwindling the more time passed, you rushed words out of your mouth. “A week. Seven days. I promise I’ll be back to you by then, please.” Your eyes were brimming with tears, as you hoped for some kind of miracle where you got to see the outside world again. After what felt like hours, it was Namjoon who finally spoke. “Alright, a week. Then your ours forever.”

_Present_

You practically had to be carried back to the Hanok, the men beside you were holding onto you with such force you were sure marks would be left on your body. The sky above you had darkened, small droplets of water began to rain down on the three of you, the smell of rain was always calming except now. Not when you could visualize so perfectly Sihyeon’s dead corpse; you knew it wasn’t an empty threat. They had proven themselves more than capable of taking lives in the name of ‘love.’ The closer you got, you heard the cluttering of pans and smelled the Seokjin’s familiar kimchi. Not wanting to face them all again, you stopped walking. “I want to shower. Can I?” The three youngest looked at each other before Jimin nodded. “Let’s go then.” Once again, you were lifted off the ground. You’re certainly being treated like a baby now. A small snicker escaped your lips causing Jimin to look down at you. “When we trust you again, you won’t have to be supervised.” The bathhouse wasn’t far, and it was possibly the only modern thing about the entire establishment, thankfully because you couldn’t handle bathing in cold water. Not now. Jimin dropped you off at the threshold, and you slipped your shoes off before entering. It was almost as large as the main area, but it was divided into two rooms. A smaller more compact one, for taking off the clothes and storing them into compartments and then the bathing area. Where there were a giant heated pool and a shower in the far corner. None of the doors could be locked, but that may have been for safety reasons. In any case, you stripped naked placing your clothes into a basket and entered the second room. Opting to shower first and then rest in the warm water, your muscles relaxed, and tension eased out of your body everywhere except your head.

I have to think of a way out. Their planning to take me somewhere else… You had seen enough true crime stories to know that whenever someone is taken to a secondary location their chances of survival are reduced by more than half, that wasn’t a risk you were ready to take. I need them to trust me, but how? You spent almost an hour pondering this until the idea finally came to you. It was twisted and incredibly dangerous, but you had to do it. There was no other way to lull them into a false sense of security. There were several curt knocks on the door before it slid open Yoongi stepping inside. “Food’s ready. Get dressed.” In his hands was a large t-shirt, shorts, and boxers. Clearly, the men hadn’t thought to bring clothes for you, but that could work towards your advantage. “Thanks.” You replied, before standing up and getting out of the bath. Yoongi was clearly not expecting this as he turned his face towards the side, a dusty rose on his cheeks. “No problem.” You got dressed rather quickly, as Yoongi was still waiting for you before finally stepping out into the smaller room and eventually outside. Yoongi’s interlocked his hand with yours using that as reign, instead of carrying you around like the other’s did. “Jin made your favorite.” You nodded, lightly squeezing his fingers. “Remember when you said, that you wanted to show me what the stars looked like here? We never got to do that.” Yoongi didn’t reply simply continued walking, after a while, you shook your head. “Never mind, sorry I brought it up.” His hold on your hand tightened before he spoke. “We’ll have the rest of our lives to look up at the stars.” That was exactly what you feared.

Dinner was delicious, in a way you assumed all last meals must be. Even if you weren’t going to physically die here, being with the men felt like the death of who you were. All the joy, hope, and excitement you had once held deep within your heart gone. They had destroyed that. Sawed it down until nothing but fine dust was left. They had all conversed with each other as if it nothing out of the ordinary was occurring, as if this was a routine for them. You couldn’t focus on that now, instead, you needed to focus on their weaknesses. How to exploit them and manipulate them in order for you to escape, and you knew just the way. You started by blinking more often and slower each time, pretending to zone out of the conversation, and allowing your body to sway to the side every so often as if it was uncontrollable. Seokjin picked up on it first, “Let’s go to bed. I’ll clean it up in the morning.” Pretending to doze off, you felt arms hoist you up everyone heading towards your old Hanok. Everything relied on who decided to lay beside you, if it was Namjoon, Hoseok, or Yoongi you were doomed. Thankfully the heaven’s seemed to smile down on you as you were placed between Jungkook and Jimin. When it felt like an hour had passed and the breathing of the men had evened out, you began your plan. It all started with a slight whimper, which leads to you pushing back against Jungkook. Subconsciously, he draped an arm around your hips tautly pressing them against his. Then you groaned reaching forward to touch Jimin’s chest, he too drew closer to you. It was a few touches later, that you grew bold slowly grinding your behind into Jungkook’s growing erection. Then your hand ‘accidentally’ dropped and just so happened to caress right over Jimin’s shorts.

If you were weak and pathetic, then you would make them weaker than you. For when Jimin’s opened his eyes and leaned forward to kiss you while Jungkook pushed up the fabric of your shirt, it wasn’t long until everyone else woke up and joined in too. You had to do whatever it took to survive; morality and guilt be damned. It had been a long night, so it made sense that none of the men would be up by dawn. Bodies far too worn out after everything that had happened, you felt sick to your stomach but there was no time to lose. It was now or never. You sneaked out of the Hanok and dashed towards the rocky path you recalled perfectly, going for the cars would be a reckless decision as they were sure to have hidden the keys – that was time wasted. No, you had to be smarter even if it meant risking your life as you followed the trail up the mountain looking for a spot with more soft grass and less harsh rocks or trees to impale yourself on. Taking a deep breath, you looked up to the heavens and prayed for luck. “Please let me get out of this alive.” With that, you crouched under the safety rope and curled your body into an armadillo position, before rolling down the mountain either to your death or salvation.

“Mrs. Jung?”

“Can you hear me, Mrs. Jung?” When you opened your eyes it was far to bright. Sterile colors facing back at you along with the face of an elderly woman downing scrubs. “Do you know where you are?” Glancing around you saw that, there was no one else in the room but the two of you, but there were scattered pieces of clothing and objects that you let know, you weren’t going to be alone for very long. Seeing as you had failed to respond to the nurse, went to walk away. “I’m going to fetch the doctor and Mr. Jung. Please try not to move.” Before she could move away from the bed, you latched onto her arm. “Don’t. Please don’t get him. I’m begging you.” The nurse had seen her fair share of iatrophobia, so she tried her best to calm you down. “I need to get him, so he can check up on you. It’s to make sure your injuries aren’t serious.” She didn’t understand. “No. Not him. Hoseok, the rest of them, please don’t get them. They did this to me.” The words hung in the air, the elderly nurse looking shocked before she nodded. “I’m going to stay right here, but I’ll have to call in a social worker in order to have them contact the police alright?” You shook your head once more, “If they find out they said they’d kill my friend. They have already killed before.” Whether she had experienced something like this before or whether she was that good at her job, you weren’t sure. But everything had occurred just as she said, none of the boys had tried to return to the room yet. All thinking you were still unconscious, the police were called and tipped off. The hospital also went into lockdown to ensure none of the men could leave the premises.

In less than two hours, six of the men were in custody of the police. Hoseok was nowhere to be found and police assumed he went on the run. A day later, the police had come in for a statement where you gave a statement telling them everything about your situation. They were charged with pandering and soliciting. You were at risk of facing charges for prostitution, but the officers had told you that you could argue you were coerced into it. You didn’t know what to do. The doctor had insisted you remained in the hospital for a few days, to treat your bruises. Thankfully all you had received was a minor concussion and a broken arm – still better than death. You had also learned through the news, that Yoongi was being charged with possession of drugs and potential for using them. It seems someone had previously tipped off the police about Yoongi’s habits. You had wondered who would do such a thing, until Kim Sihyeon threw open your hospital door a few days later, Jeonhan trailing behind her silently. “God Y/n. Thank god you’re alright.” She was a nervous wreck with her hair disheveled, makeup poorly done, and clothes wrinkled. Sihyeon had a lot of time to think about how she had handled the situation and realized that the version of the story Yoongi had told Jeonhan resembled in no way the person you were. It was when she tried contacting you but couldn’t that she realized something was wrong. It was then that Jeonhan stepped forward, “I tried contacting Yoongi and pressing the issue, but he was a wreck. The last time we spoke, he threatened to hurt me if I kept asking questions about you. So I filed a report.”

With time you came to heal, physically that is, you never did move on emotionally. Even when you tried, fate threw something your way. Be it by forcing you to take part in the investigation to incarcerate the men, seeing Hoseok’s face every time you closed your eyes, or a missed period that could no longer be blamed on stress. Broken bones are the easiest things to get through, the hardest is deciding whether to bring to life the child of your tormentor. It was Sihyeon who suggested adoption and at the time, it seemed like the right thing to do. So you put up with the morning sickness, fatigue, and monthly check-ups. During that time, you hardly went out or did anything rotting away slowly. Living off the money they had left you, even if it made you so sick you could throw up. If there was anything in your stomach to throw up that is. It seemed a bit sadistic, that their sentencing would be around the time you were due. Finding out the men who had broken you were only going to be in prison for a decade or less, around five years in Jungkook’s case, sickened you. Only the older ones could be found guilty of the murders, with Hoseok still missing they all shifted the blame onto him. So much for loving each other.

Nothing seemed to affect you anymore. Nothing could make you feel. You had remained that way for months, until this morning. When the labor pains were so intense, they had you screaming. When the living thing inside of you, longed to get out no matter what you wanted. After being rushed to the hospital and nine hours of arduous labor, she was born. Her cries echoed around the room and for the first time in a long time, you felt hope. It was when the nurse placed her between your arms, with her large crescent eyes staring up at you that you began to cry. For everything that had ever happened to you, for everything she represented, and for everything she would. As you held your daughter in your arms, you recognized the familiar curve of her lips and dollop nose. You saw so much of him in her that it hurt, but the longer you stared the more of you appeared in her. If life ever gave second chances, you were sure this was yours. “I love you. So much.” You choked on the words, as you came to an epiphany. If I can’t live for myself, then I’ll live for you.

_Three Years Later_

Jung Hoseok stood on the other side of the road watching, waiting, for anything interesting to happen. He saw the panic of the baby sitter through the large window, as she cradled your child in her arms. Likely screaming about the alarm that was going off in the house this instant. It didn’t take much for him to set it off, a small well-thrown rock breaking a window was enough. He had longed to go inside but knew that the camera’s surrounding the perimeter of the house would capture him. It was when he saw your car pull into the driveway, that he filled with glee. His lips spreading into a heart-shaped smile, as he watched you anxiously get out of your car and run into the house. You grasped the child into your arms before heading back towards the door, to input the code. Hoseok really needed to get his hands on that code. He watched you scream at the baby sitter, before promptly apologizing profusely. You had become extremely paranoid since he’d last seen you, it was probably his fault but that didn’t matter right now. His entire focus was on the child, the toddler hoisted on your hip who was looking out into the world. She could be his or Jungkook’s, Jimin’s, Taehyung’s, Namjoon’s, Yoongi’s, even Seokjin’s. He hoped for her sake it was the former, he didn’t know how he’d feel about raising the other’s child now that they’d thrown him under the bus. Maybe Yoongi’s was the exception.

It seems the child had spotted him for she waved at him, prompting him to smile and wave back. She was likable enough. Not wanting to risk you seeing him, Hoseok walked away following the crowd of people all going about their day. Soon he would have you in his grasp again and this time, he would never let you go. Even if meant both of you ending up as rotting corpses.

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surveys-at-your-service · 4 years ago

Text

Survey #348

“nothing will be free / nothing will be done / black out the sun”

Do you have any famous relatives? My third or so cousin is the author of Not Without My Daughter, but she's not like a smash hit or anything that most people know. I really do recommend the book, though. It's a long read, but a beautiful, true story. Do you care about celebrity gossip? Nah. Have you ever failed a science course in high school? No; I was very good at science. What’s your favorite breakfast food? Cinnamon rolls. Does your house have a basement? No. No house I've ever lived in has had one. Do you like Hot Topic? Well duh. Do you think imagination is valuable? VERY! Just imagine how many incredible things wouldn't exist without it. What was your reaction to your first time falling in love? Unspeakably happy, and I felt like I was building a future with someone. I felt like I had purpose, which I should mention to anyone reading is a mindset to NEVER adopt. No one gives you purpose; you're born with it. How much weight can you lift at once? Ha, not a lot. When you have your own house someday, what color Christmas tree do you want and how will you decorate it? I want a black one with faux snow on the branches, then maybe red ornaments. Kinda look like blood dripping off. Sounds metal. Name three YouTube channels you’ve been loving lately. Lately, John Wolfe, The Dark Den, and Aim To Head Mix. Have you ever bought a designer purse? No. Do you wear jewelry often? No. What color was your senior prom dress? Black. Are you colorblind? No. Name the people you know who are colorblind. Jason's older brother is colorblind to two colors, but idr which. Would you ever consider a career in writing? I'd love to. What was your first favorite color? Red. What do you think about horror movies? I love them. If you love them, what’s your favorite? I really enjoy The Crazies and both The Blair Witch Project movies. Oh, and of course Silent Hill. Got any cool Christmas presents picked out for family or friends yet? I don't have the money to get anyone presents... and while I sometimes get ideas about something I could make someone, then it wouldn't be fair to the rest of my family if I don't make them something, too. What’s your favorite word and why? I really like the sound of "serendipity," as well as its meaning. It's just a pretty, nice word. Do you like to do craft projects? If so, what’s the coolest thing you made? Not really... I think the coolest thing I made was when I put the clay heart I made in Art into a shadowbox, and a poem I wrote was in the background. It was a gift for Jason. I remember working really hard on the whole process and being really happy with it. I don't want to know what he's done with it since. What’s one occupation you think gets paid too much and doesn’t deserve to? I don't know. What’s something you are currently saving money for to buy? Everyone knows about Venus' terrarium by now... Do you smoke/vape? If so, what brand do you smoke/what device do you use? No. Ever done drugs? No. Tell me one of your worst habits. Catastrophizing. I take a tiny seed of something potentially bad, and in seconds it's a damn redwood tree. And I do mean "in seconds." What’s a weird quirk you have that no one else you know does? I don't know, I don't have any particularly unique ones, I think. If you game, what type of headset do you use? I just use earbuds. Do you think you would be a good therapist? You know, it's funny, I've actually pictured myself as one a few times, given my level of understanding and empathy for people, as well as how deeply I want to see others succeed and spread the word that recovery from things like depression is very possible. I've never truly entertained the thought, though, given I'm quite sure I legally couldn't be given my suicidal past and mental illnesses. There is also NO way I could listen to so many people's suffering and manage to stay healthy myself, so, no therapist position for me, thanks. Have you ever been to a Chinatown? No. Do you prefer chunky or creamy peanut butter? Creamy, 100%. Do you stop to pick up heads-up pennies? No. Do your pets have collars? Describe them: Roman has an adorable navy one with a bowtie. Do you have any friends that speak any languages you don’t understand? Old friends, sure. What is something you want to begin learning? I want to improve my ability to perform what in therapy is called "opposite action," where you do the opposite of what your depression (or other conditions) make you want to do. It always helps me feel good, like when I draw even when I don't initially feel like it, but it's rough to really force yourself to do it. What is a food you find comforting when you are sad? Ice cream is my comfort food. What is a quote you find comfort in? There are really a lot, but none come to mind immediately, gah. What is one Tumblr blog you really appreciate? I actually haven't been on my main Tumblr in months, but oh my god there is a Markiplier blog called "lady-raziel" and she is FUCKING HYSTERICAL. The meme quality is A+. What is a comfort movie/show for you? When I actually liked watching movies, I enjoyed watching Silent Hill when I was down. That whole franchise just makes me so happy. What is a recent creative project that you are proud of? That I'm PROUD of, idk. I'm not that happy with the last drawing I made, and I haven't done any serious writing lately that I find noteworthy. What is a video game that you find comforting? Shadow of the Colossus is probably #1. I find it so relaxing while equally epic as fuck. The soundtrack is to die for, and after playing it a billion times, it's pretty easy for me to kinda breeze through and just enjoy myself. Do you know how to bake bread? If so, what is something you’ve baked recently? No. Would you rather live in the mountains, city, beach, or the forest? THE MOUNTAINS!!! Particularly in the woods IN the mountains! Are you closer to your mother’s or father’s side of the family? Mom's. I don't even remember anyone from Dad's. Have you ever been in a “perfect relationship”? I thought so. Have you ever lost a fingernail or toenail? No. Were you a Disney or Nickelodeon kid? I preferred Disney. Have you ever been inside a jail/prison? No, and I don't plan on it. Have you ever dated a guy with a beard, mustache, or goatee? Jason had a goatee usually. He'd go clean-shaven sometimes. Did you ever name your stuffed animals? I named every single one I got as a kid. Now I don't, really, unless they're really special. What’s the name of the person who cuts your hair? I'd rather not share, given her name is very unique. Do you like cheeseburgers? Yes, they're one of my favorite foods. Do you have a Flickr? Yes, but I don't use it anymore. Did you ever want to be a fashion designer? No. Do you drink milk? Yeah, I love milk. Where was your FB display pic taken? My room. Have you ever burnt your tongue like REALLY bad? If so, what on? Yeah; white rice. My dumb ass didn't realize it had JUST come off the stove. My tongue hurt literally for weeks. Have you ever gotten your legs waxed? No. Do you own any CLOTHES from Victoria’s Secret? Er, are undergarments not clothes? But I know what you mean. No. What are your grandfathers’ names? William and... I can't remember Dad's dad's name. Have you ever seen a snake in real life? Well yeah. Are you against seances? I don't know if I believe in them being effective, but either way, they seem like a bad idea. Even risking luring a negative energy/spirit to you is something I'd stay away from. Do you own any superhero shirts? No, just Harley Quinn ones, some with the Joker on them, too. I need to toss 'em though because I am like, violently against romanticizing their abusive relationship. I used to just like them as a story character couple, but I got to a place where it just seemed... wrong to "glorify" it by wearing merch and stuff. What band has the best guitar solos? Metallica, durrrr. Who is the biggest jerk you’ve ever met? Can you believe that would be my former best friend? Have you ever swerved off the road to avoid hitting an animal? I've never had an animal in my path. Have you ever grown your own herbs? No. Do you like kissing in public? If you're my serious s/o, I could care less, so long as it's a simple peck. I'm not making out in front of people. Do you think someone has feelings for you? I don't know. Do you want to be in a relationship this year? I don't know. I'm lonely and love feels amazing, but I need to get my life on track before I can be a good partner to someone and not just dead weight. Has anyone told you they don’t want to ever lose you? Huh, funny, he's the one that walked away. How long can you just kiss until your hands start to wander? Uhhh that would depend on how serious we are, where we are, and just what mood I'm in. What’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for you? ugh What’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever done for someone? also ugh What’s your dirtiest secret? TMI AHEAD. Probably receiving oral while bare-ass naked on the chaise in the living room while we were home alone. Or having sex in my sister’s bed. Oops. Would you ever get lyrics tattooed on yourself? Yeah. I already do, anyway, and I plan on getting another. Can you photoshop images well? I'm decent at it. Where did you last drive to? Mom and I went to go get our Covid vaccines today. What’s the first verse of the last song you listened to? "I don't know what we're supposed to be, but I know we lost it along the way to something better, something so much more than pleasure that we seek, so blind inside to fill these holes left by these lies that we tell to ourselves as we manufacture our own hell." What do you hear right now? The aforementioned song: "BLACKOUT" by 3TEETH. What was the last thing you laughed about? This is so fucking immature lmao but when we were driving earlier, we passed a gas station that had a sign that was advertising Coke, but due to space limitations, it abbreviated to "2 liter Cok" and I cackled like a child. Mom laughed harder than I did. Do you know any gay people personally? Ye. What was the last thing that startled you? I think it was a car hoonking at somebody the other day. What was the last thing to make you even remotely sad? Today's been a kind of rough PTSD day thanks to Facebook. My old high school friend had her beautiful daughter, a childhood friend just got married the other day, another friend is due to have her baby in just a couple weeks... It's just weird but even more painful to know it was the life I once fantasized about with a guy that just dropped me and made a break for it. I hate admitting that there's this deep, deep bitterness in me about it, like he took my life away from me, even though that's of course very unfair to say. I don't want to talk about this anymore, so moving on with my day.

#survey #surveys #questions #lyrics: ''blackout'' by 3teeth

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skepticalcatfrog · 5 years ago

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Aurora High School (Introduction Part One)

Introduction Part One Introduction Part Two Masterpost

Summary: After starting their junior year in high school, the Jones twins find themselves meeting new people, setting them on a track towards new friendships, new romances, new heartbreaks, and many new adventures.

Pairings: (Eventual) Scarlett Jones x Finian de Seel, Tyler Jones x Saedii Gilwraeth, and Aurora O'Malley x Kaliis Gilwraeth

Word count: 4,708

Author's Notes: This is the new project I've been raving about! I've been very into this book series lately, and I was feeling inspired. However, this won't be like my other two projects, so it won't be in the regular rotation! Instead of being a chaptered fic, this is going to be a series of oneshots that gets developed as people request ideas. I do have some more ideas up my sleeve, but I will be accepting requests very soon!

Important Author's Notes: This story contains a character who uses a wheelchair. I did do some research, but since I don't experience it, it's virtually impossible for me to be an expert on this topic. If you are more knowledgeable about this than I might be, and you notice an inaccuracy, please let me know what it is and I'll try to fix it!

It was a Friday in October. October was one of the best times of the year in the opinion of one Scarlett Jones. It was after September, so everyone had already gotten used to being at school. But it wasn't quite December yet, so you could go outside without having to wear eight jackets. Plus the slightly warmer fall months were some of the best times of the year for fashion, and Scarlett would know. She had plenty of experience in that field. The amounts of people wearing scarves and sweaters increased tenfold, which could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the rest of their outfits.

But the fashion habits of her classmates didn't really matter, despite the fact that she could go on and on about the topic. What mattered slightly more was the fact that her brother was desperately trying to get her attention as they approached the school.

"Scar? Scarlett?" Tyler waved his hand in front of his sister's face.

"Hm?" She quirked an eyebrow. "I wasn't listening, what was that?"

Tyler rolled his eyes and adjusted the way his backpack was resting on his shoulder. "I was saying that I need you to tell Coach de Stoy that I can't make practice tonight. I've got too much work to catch up on, and I don't want to fall behind this early in the year."

"Yeah, yeah, we get it. Mr. Tyler Jones, star player on the football team, passing all his classes with flying colors." Scarlett nudged her brother, not hard enough to hurt, but just hard enough to be a little annoying. "Careful, or you'll make everyone feel bad about themselves."

"Oh shut up." Tyler smiled, standing up a little bit taller to look for someone in the crowd of people flooding through the front doors. When he spotted her, he raised his hand high above his head and waved.

Cat Brannock slowed down her walk to fall into step alongside the twins. Somehow, despite the cool and cloudy weather, she was still wearing a short sleeved shirt that showed off the tattoos on her arms. She had the most tattoos of any high schooler Scarlett had ever seen. But they were very well done, so she could understand why her friend wanted them to be visible. Cat had skipped the 5th grade, so she was a senior even though the Joneses were juniors. She was already looking towards college. Neither of the twins were looking forward to her leave. It would be weird to not have her around all the time, the three of them were rarely very far apart since they'd met in kindergarten. But they couldn't really do much to stop her from going, after all, college was what she wanted.

"Hey, kids." Cat smirked. "Let me guess, Tyler's fretting over his errands and Scar's making fun of him for it?" She gestured to each person as she mentioned them.

"Just the daily routine." Scarlett winked, linking elbows with her friend.

Cat laughed. "Do you two ever get tired of doing the same shit every day?"

"Never. Routines are what lead to mastery." Tyler said proudly.

"Just say 'practice makes perfect', Ty." Scar shook her head. "If you try to get too fancy with your words, no one's going to know what you're talking about."

"That's easy for you to say, no one ever knows what you're talking about." Tyler retorted. Scarlett stuck her tongue out at him. "It's not my fault that-"

Tyler was cut off by a girl bumping into him. She'd been very absorbed in whatever she was doing on her phone, so she didn't see him coming. The shock of bumping into someone made her look up, giving the rest of them a better look at her face. The first thing you'd notice about her would be that she had a streak of white dyed in her otherwise black hair. The second thing you'd notice would be that one of her eyes was dark brown, and the other one was really light blue. Almost colorless. She hugged her notebooks close to her chest.

"I'm- I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going. I should've been watching." She apologized sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it, it's fine. I should've been paying attention too." Tyler shrugged.

"Oh… thanks." The girl looked slightly confused, as if she expected someone as intimidating-looking as Tyler to react less calmly. But despite his appearance, he was practically the human embodiment of a golden retriever. "Well, I should really get to class."

And just like that, the mystery girl was gone. Scarlett couldn't help but notice that she'd never seen that girl before. It wouldn't have been surprising if she just didn't like to be the center of attention. Or maybe they just didn't have any of the same classes. Either way, Scar would be lying if she said that she wasn't intrigued.

A few minutes later, Scarlett and Tyler were sitting at their desks in the first class of the day while the morning announcements droned on in the background. Scarlett knew the girl who did them every day. Her name was Zila Madran, she'd been Scarlett's tutor in freshman year. They still talked occasionally, but they ran in very different circles, so they didn't see each other often. Eventually, the announcements ended, and the second bell rang. The first bell was always more of a warning, like 'okay, you'd better at least be in the building'. But the second bell was the 'get your asses to class' bell. And if you were still in the hallway after the second bell, then you were screwed.

Scarlett was fully prepared to fully zone out and stare at a guy across the room for the entirety of class, until of course Miss Mystery walked in. She looked like she was going to just sit down at a free desk and call it a day, but the teacher stopped her.

"Ah, Miss O' Malley! I see you've found your way here. Class, this is the new student, Aurora O' Malley. She will be joining us for the remainder of the year." The teacher explained. "Please make her feel welcome."

Oh, so she's a new kid. Scarlett thought to herself. That's why I haven't seen her around before.

Frankly, Aurora looked quite embarrassed after the surprise introduction. Maybe Scarlett had been right about her not enjoying the spotlight. Whatever the case, that was the last interesting thing that happened for the entire rest of class. The rest of it was spent going over poetry… or was it a play? She wasn't paying any kind of attention, it could've been fractions and decimals for all she knew, despite the fact that they were in English class. She didn't need to know about Shakespeare and all of his friends, it wasn't like she was ever going to meet them. She had better things to do anyway.

Time ticked by slowly. Scarlett was sure she almost dozed off once or twice. She was only fully awake again when the bell rang, then she practically jumped out of her seat. It only took her a minute to put her notebook and pen back into her bag, but by the time she'd finished, Tyler was already talking to Aurora. Scarlett listened in on their conversation.

"I was just wondering if maybe you could show me around?" Aurora asked. "I know we don't know each other too well, but you're the only person I've talked to all day, and I get lost really easily around here."

"Sure. This place is like a maze to anyone new, so I'd be happy to show you the ropes." Tyler nodded.

"Well that was fast. I didn't even have to tell you that you get to skip two class periods." Aurora smiled.

That had Scarlett's interest piqued. It wasn't that she didn't like school, but she was feeling especially done with the world that day. A two-period break sounded like exactly what she needed. "Do you mind if I tag along?"

"Oh, um, sure." Aurora nodded. She looked back at Tyler. "You know her, right? I saw you guys walking together this morning."

"Yeah, I know her. This is my sister, Scarlett." Tyler gestured to his sister.

"Nice to meet you." Scarlett smiled. "I like your hair, by the way."

"Thanks." Aurora looked a little surprised at the compliment, but not in a bad way. It had done a good job of breaking the ice.

The next two hours were okay, if not slightly boring. Scarlett had severely overestimated how fun this would be. She was at least glad that their absence from class was officially excused. That was the bright side. The first place they went was the multi-purpose lab, which was used for most of the science classes. Next, they went to all of the important classrooms. Math, Social Studies, the works. Then on to the important but less necessary rooms, like the auditorium, the cafeteria, and the gym. They only briefly went over the principal's office, figuring that she had to have been there already. Just as they were finishing their tour, the bell rang to signify the end of period three. Students began flooding out of classrooms.

"And I guess that's all we have time for." Tyler clapped his hands once. "Welcome to Aurora High School."

"You know, I just realized how weird it's going to be to go to a school that I share a name with." Aurora glanced at a nearby banner that had the school's name on it.

"You'll get used to it eventually." Scarlett tapped her on the shoulder.

For a moment, things were looking up. Their little tour was over and done with, there were only six periods left in the day, and Scarlett had gotten to miss math and a study hall, one of which was one of her least favorite classes. But that little bit of optimism was quickly shot down. As the three of them rounded a corner, everything exploded into a burst of noise and motion. Faster than you could blink, a fight had broken out. It had to be about four or five guys, all beating the absolute shit out of each other. It didn't take long for a crowd to gather. Tyler took it upon himself to see what was going on. He pushed through all the people to get to the center of things.

"Hey! What's going on here?" Tyler barely had time to finish his sentence before he got decked in the face. Apparently this group didn't take kindly to people trying to mediate things.

Aurora gasped as Tyler was dragged into the fight. Scarlett felt for her. It was only her first day, and things were already going wrong. That must not have made her feel too good. Her mismatched eyes darted back and forth as she tried to keep up with all the flying fists. Scarlett suspected that she'd never seen a real fight before. She looked nervous.

"I'll… I'll catch up with you later." Aurora decided, turning around and speed-walking away. Scarlett watched her leave.

When she turned to face the action again, she saw Principal Adams making his way through the crowd. Three of the guys had fled the scene, leaving just Tyler and one other boy to take the blame. She didn't know who the second guy was, but he was taller than Tyler, which wasn't the easiest thing to be.

"What do you two think you're doing?" Adams crossed his arms.

"I'm sorry sir. I was just trying to stop the fight, I swear." Tyler's shoulders sagged. The other boy stayed eerily quiet, but still stood tall, seemingly not as ashamed of himself as Tyler was.

"Yes, well, joining in on the fight isn't really stopping it." Adams shook his head. "I'm afraid I'll need both of you to pay a visit to my office." He looked around at the rest of the students. "The rest of you, get to class. There's nothing to see here anymore."

It took a minute for everyone to leave, but eventually they did, until the last one left was Scarlett. "Ty, do you want me to come with you?"

Tyler nodded. Whenever possible, if they had to face a potentially scary situation, they would do it together. It had been that way since they were little kids. At that point, it had become a reflex for them to ask if the other needed support.

"Alright Miss Jones, you can come, but I will need to talk to these two separately. You weren't a part of the fight, so you don't have to be a part of the punishment." Adams told her. He began walking away, and the three of them followed.

A moment later, they found themselves in the waiting room of the principal's office. Tyler and the other boy sat next to each other on one end of the room, and Scarlett sat next to a different boy on the other end. Tyler mostly just stared at the floor, but he would occasionally glance at the guy next to him. This dude was very tall. Even Tyler was pretty intimidated, and that was completely unrelated to the fact that he'd just been beaten up by this guy. He had long black hair and dark blue eyes. He looked like someone straight out of a fantasy novel. And apparently, he was also very attentive, because he noticed Tyler looking at him.

"Is there something you wanted to tell me?" The boy asked. His voice was deep and serious, and he had a faint accent that Tyler couldn't quite place.

"Oh. No, not really." Tyler offered his hand. "I'm Tyler, by the way."

"I am aware. My name is Kaliis, though my friends call me Kal." The boy answered, not shaking Ty's hand and instead opting to ignore it.

"You put up a real fight back there, Kal. Do you do sports?" Tyler asked him.

"I don't participate in school sports, no. I take fencing lessons outside of school." Kal said.

"Cool." Tyler nodded appreciatively. "But if you ever wanted to join the football team, I'm sure we'd be able to find a spot for you."

Kal smiled, but just a little. It was barely noticeable. "My sister would kill me if I joined the football team. She thinks all of you are buffoons."

"Wow, harsh." Tyler laughed. "But hey, no harm no foul. Do you have any paper I could use?"

"I don't. Why do you ask?" Kal raised an eyebrow.

"I'll write down my number, maybe we could hang out sometime." Tyler looked around for a second, then got up to grab a napkin and a pen. He wrote down his name and phone number, then handed the napkin to Kal. "There you go."

"Thank you." Kal folded the napkin up and put it into his pocket. They both looked up as the door to the principal's office opened.

"Tyler Jones? Kaliis Gilwraeth? You can come in." Adams gestured for them to follow him, and they did.

Scarlett had been eavesdropping on Tyler and Kal's entire conversation. It seemed like Tyler had made a new friend, which was good. And also strange, given the fact that they'd met during a fist fight. But good nonetheless. However, when they vanished into the principal's office, she became eternally bored. She turned to look at the boy next to her. He was busy scrolling through the homepage of some website on his phone. She couldn't quite tell what it was, so she looked up at his face instead. He was quite possibly the palest person she had ever seen. It looked like the sun had never touched his skin. His hair was a light, light blond to match. The only thing that threw off his whole snow prince vibe were his eyes, which were such a dark brown that they almost looked black. She couldn't tell the difference between his irises and pupils. He wasn't the most impressive guy she'd ever seen, but all things considered, he was a little attractive.

"Whatcha doing?" Scarlett asked, leaning towards him and resting on the arm of her chair.

"Checking notifications. I've been in here for a hot minute and Adams still hasn't found time for me." The boy shook his head. "I guess two guys beating each other up is more important than little old me."

"Well what are you in for?" Scarlett brushed her hair out of her face.

"Someone locked three teachers' car keys into their cars. They assumed it was me because I kept leaving class." He shrugged.

"I'm going to take a wild guess: it was you, wasn't it?" She smiled.

"Oh, yeah, totally." He laughed. "Frankly, I would've been intimidated if it wasn't. I like to think that I'm the only guy in this whole school who can pull off a stunt that awesome."

"How did you do it?" Scar crossed her legs.

"You ask a lot of questions. This isn't an interrogation, is it? Did Adams put you up to this?" The boy smirked. He switched the tab on his phone to a time killer game.

"Don't worry, I'm not a secret agent. I'm just curious." She said coyly. The boy's smile dropped. He looked genuinely surprised that anyone would actually want to listen to him, which made her feel kind of bad. But she would've felt worse if he was actually looking at her instead of at his phone. "Anyway, what do you do around here? Outside of this room, I mean."

"I'm on the tech crew for the school play. I used to go to robotics club too, but I dropped out after I realized that I was making everyone feel bad about themselves." And just like that, his sarcastic facade was back up.

"With what, your skills in robotics or your charming personality?" Scarlett retorted.

"Why can't it be both?" He pointed out.

"It can be both when you tell me what I'm supposed to call you." She countered. "I'm Scarlett. Scarlett Jones."

"Touché." He turned off his phone for the first time since they'd started talking, and looked up at her. The moment he saw her face, his eyes widened and he sputtered like a broken engine for a moment before finding his words. "I'm single. Are you Fin?"

Scarlett tried her absolute best to hold back a laugh. This was something she'd witnessed many times before. He'd been trying to ask if she was single, but had failed miserably. "I'm actually not Fin, but I think you might be."

"...Oh." Fin realized his mistake. He shook his head a little to get himself back on track. "Yeah… Yeah, I'm Fin. Finian if you want to be fancy about it. Or Finian de Karran-de Seel if you're mad at me."

"I'll try not to be mad at you then, because that's a mouthful." Scarlett nudged his shoulder with her own.

Fin shrugged. "Yeah, it's hyphenated. It almost never fits on the line when I have to write my name on an assignment."

Scarlett smiled. "I'll tell you what, how about I put my number into that phone of yours, and I'll text you later?"

"Sure." Fin was quick to open up his contacts and hand over his phone.

"Do you have a habit of handing your phone to complete strangers?" Scar asked, typing in her name and number. The phone looked very new, and very expensive. There was no denying that.

"Not always. But one time I gave my phone to one of my cousins expecting him to give it back right away, and he didn't give it back for eight days. He's older than me, so I couldn't really do anything about it, but my mom and aunts got mad at him." Fin rambled. "He's kind of an ass, to be honest. Not to mention that I owe him a favor from one time when he washed the dishes for me. He's been holding it over my head for weeks. And I borrowed twenty bucks from him, so I owe him that too."

Scarlett handed his phone back to him, and just as he finished talking, the door opened. Tyler and Kal stepped out. Fin looked them over and let out a low whistle. Scarlett decided to do a science experiment, and glanced at him. He was checking out her brother. She made a mental note of that.

"Have you been chatting it up out here, Scar?" Tyler asked.

"Maybe." She stood up. "Don't worry, he didn't ask me out."

"You say that as if I would assume that he did." Tyler smiled. Scarlett conducted another experiment, knowing that Ty's smile had quite the fanbase. Fin was leaning back in his chair, eyes slightly widened. Yeah, he was definitely checking out her brother.

The door to the principal's office opened a second time, and Adams poked his head out. "Finian de Karran-de Seel?"

"Well would you look at that. I guess our time together has come to an end." Fin started to go towards the door. "But I'll see you around, hopefully."

Scarlett hadn't noticed before, but when he moved, she saw that Fin was in a wheelchair. She hadn't taken the time to really look, so she'd just assumed he was sitting in the same kind of chair that she was. She'd assumed that he was just wearing gloves because he liked them. Evidently, she was wrong. It was honestly pretty interesting, and she had plenty of questions, but figured that it would probably be best not to ask them. They'd only known each other for about fifteen minutes, it wasn't necessarily time to get super personal.

"Yeah. I'll text you later." Scarlett waved to him, and he waved back.

Then she, Kal, and Tyler left the office. As soon as the door closed behind them, Tyler let out a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad we're out of there. I don't know how much longer I could deal with Adams' 'disappointed' look."

"What'd he say?" Scarlett asked.

"He said that he was not mad, only disappointed, and that the two of us should have known better." Kal explained briefly.

"We got off with a week's worth of after school detention, starting Monday." Tyler frowned.

"Who would've thought! Star student Tyler Jones, in detention? Unbelievable." Scarlett pretended to be indignant.

"I know, it's not-" Tyler caught on to her sarcasm. "Oh, okay, I get it. But don't expect my sympathy if you ever get detention for a week."

"I wasn't expecting it anyway, you absolute child." She tapped him on the shoulder.

"Scarlett, you are three minutes older than me." Tyler said, gesturing with his hands out of frustration.

"Yup, three very long and important minutes." Scarlett nodded. "I'm glad you're with me on this one."

"I feel like this is not a conversation that I need to be a part of." Kal decided.

"Yeah, probably not, but we still like having you around." Scarlett winked jokingly.

The three of them walked down the hallway together, parting ways only when they had to go to their separate classes. Tyler had gym, Kal had math, and Scarlett had social studies. It was one of the only classes that she actually enjoyed going to. It might seem strange to some people, considering the rest of her personality, but history had always fascinated her. She liked learning about different conflicts and how they were solved. That was why she joined the debate team. She liked arguing when she knew it wasn't for real, and she was very persuasive.

Periods five, six, seven, eight, and nine crawled by slowly. When your day had been as exciting as Scarlett's had, anything less interesting was boring. After social studies was art. Then lunch. After that was science. And finally, gym. She hated going home after gym, because her hair and makeup would always get messed up, then she had to go on the bus that way. She wished that Coach de Stoy would let them take a few minutes after class to get cleaned up, but instead the class always went right to the bell. It was annoying. Plus, then she had to run to the bus every day, which was like a second gym class.

The bus ride home wasn't very eventful, thankfully. Usually there would be at least someone in the back yelling, or playing their music too loud, but not that day. And frankly, it was very refreshing.

When Scarlett and Tyler got home, they took off their bags and jackets and hung them on the hooks by the door. It was quiet for a moment, but not a long moment.

"Welcome home, you two." A voice called from the living room.

"Hey, Adams." The twins responded in unison.

They'd been living with Principal Adams since their father died when they were kids. The two had been close friends, and since their mother wasn't around, he was the next highest choice. The Joneses were also the only ones with permission to call him by only his last name. They usually tried to keep school and home separate, except for a few rare occasions. That day was one of those occasions. Upon walking into the living room, Tyler got another one of those disappointed parent looks. Scarlett took this opportunity to sneak upstairs.

"Tyler. Why, exactly, did you think that trying to intervene in a fight was the right choice?" Adams asked, putting down the book that he was reading.

"I don't know, they were really hurting each other! I had to do something!" Tyler raised his voice a little.

"You don't need to get upset with me. I'm not upset with you. I'm just worried about you." Adams clarified. Tyler pulled up a chair to sit across from him. "Sometimes you do have to try to help. But you also have to pick your battles."

Tyler sighed. "I understand."

"Good. That's all I needed from you." Adams picked up the book again. Tyler put the chair back and went upstairs to his room.

He sat down on his bed and picked up his phone from where it had been charging on the nightstand all day. He never brought it to school, it was a distraction. Upon opening it, he saw that he had a message from a few hours ago.

Kal G: Hello. This is Kal.

Tyler added him to his contacts and slid the notification away, then moved on. He opened up the chat he had with Scarlett.

Tyler J: Adams gave me a talking to.

Tyler J: I thought the talk today at school was enough, but I guess not.

Scarlett J: Is he mad?

Tyler J: He said no, but I think he is.

Scarlett J: Maybe if we get out of the house for a while, you'll feel better?

Scarlett J: Fresh air could be good, we should go to the park.

Tyler J: Could we invite some friends?

Scarlett J: Yeah, you text some people and I'll text some people.

Scarlett J: Meet me downstairs in 5?

Tyler J: Got it.

Tyler hit send on the last message, then switched chats. He sent messages to Kal, Aurora, and Cat.

Tyler J: Scarlett and I are going to the park, want to come with?

He got responses from each of them in no time.

Kal G: I am free for the rest of the day. I will have to bring my sister though, if that's alright.

Cat B: I bet I'll get there faster than you.

Aurora O'M: Can you tell me which one? If so, I'll be there.

After quickly responding to each of them, he got up and put his phone in his pocket. He speed-walked down the stairs and grabbed his sweatshirt. Scarlett was already waiting for him, having donned a light jacket and scarf. She was using her phone camera to reapply her lipstick when Tyler came down. After a final touch-up, she zipped her phone into her jacket pocket and smiled at her brother.

"Ready to go?" She asked.

"Ready." Tyler nodded. Then, they were out the door and on their way to the park.

Taglist: @taco-taco-belle

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typewriterghcst · 4 years ago

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Title: When the Sun Leaves the Field Fandom: The Cat Returns Rating: uhhhhh let’s go with. like. PG or PG13ish for. Heavy Themes. speaking of— Warnings: I struggled with how to word this, and I hope I can still manage anyhow with making it clear— there are a lot of parallels with suicide in this story, so I would advise that if you are very sensitive to that subject, you might give this one a pass. Other than that, y. yeah, there’s heavy overarching themes of death all over the place. The notes paragraph will probably clear up what I mean Characters: Cat King, Natori, mentions of other characters Summary: It’s good to have someone at the end of the road. Notes: For this meme, and the prompt of ‘When I am dead’ with the added bonus of ‘if it makes it painful: one-sided. :)’ bc @madamhatter is a sadist jfjfkd;a Or. Maybe just an enabler. Either way I absolve myself of all responsibility with this one :v Tho for the record, this is using the weird manga-inspired verse I use on the ask blog, and I will actually apologize for that preemptively 9_9;;

&&&

They had begun their trek in the early morning (what passed for early morning), not under the cover of darkness but simple isolation. They had left early in the interest of privacy. Of concern and long-lived affection. No one needed to know yet.

They stop for a meal in the Finch Kingdom. Natori thinks they must look quite a pair for those who are too young to recognize them, Claudius slouching languidly with one foot hooked against the table to tip his chair back and Natori himself sitting prim and timid with his feet gathered up beneath him and paws folded demurely on the table.

“...do you remember when we first met?” Claudius eventually asks, and it feels so sudden it takes Natori a long minute to register it. And by the time it does, that ever-present gnawing guilt has settled into its usual spot before its accompanying source’s arrival.

He shakes his head with a rueful smile. “You know I don’t.”

To that, Claudius doesn’t respond for some time, staring out at the mellow passersby and combing absently at his mustache, an idle habit he’s never been able to totally shake.

Finally, Natori speaks up again, gentle, low. “How was our first meeting, Claudius..?”

His companion gives a pensive noise or two, still absently worrying at a handful of long fur before his mind seems to come back to him. “Feels kinda weird to relay the story to someone who was there, babe.”

“Well, pretend I’m someone else, then.” A light, almost playful piece of advice, but one which seems to loosen Claudius' tongue.

"Don't really want someone else, though.”

"That's sweet of you."

"Heh. I'm always sweet, babe."

"Some of your courtiers might be inclined to say otherwise."

"Bah, what do they know."

Natori laughs. "Not enough, I suppose."

They lapse into another silence, then, lost in the murmuring chatter of the residents of the Finch Kingdom going about their day. Natori is just on the verge of politely asking when they might leave.

"It was a disaster. I made an ass of myself."

"Oh, it couldn't have been that bad." Spoken affectionately, but with perhaps a knowing edge.

"It could and it was," Claudius persists. “I'd seen you over and over again, always trailing after the queen. I could tell you weren't royalty, an' I made a… an assumption."

Somewhere, Natori is beset by both a distant humiliation and the fervent wish that he might remember more, that this description, vague as it is, might be just the trigger to jog his unreliable memory. Alas, the vague but deeply-rooted embarrassment is all that arises.

“You thought I was a companion of a certain, ah, character.”

“Oh, so you do remember, you fibber.”

Natori laughs again. “That was only the logical conclusion.”

“I know.” Claudius’ chair comes finally crashing down with a thunderous clap, and he’s unfazed by the curious glances and annoyed frowns the action brings the two of them. Natori rather oddly feels no compulsion to direct apologetic smiles or other motions to their fellow diners, either.

“Guess we should get a move on.”

“Yes.”

They leave the Finch Kingdom behind, and start not for one of its neighboring kingdoms, but for the aimless, trackless space between them. Unusually, Claudius wordlessly trails after his advisor, trusting wholly in Natori's knowledge in a way he hasn't in quite some time.

“Has your mind changed?” Natori questions once, and even he himself can hear the veiled wish that his companion’s resolution might be faltering, despite his best efforts.

“How do you think Lune’s doing right now? You think he’s noticed we’re gone yet?”

“...I would be quite surprised if he hasn’t yet, yes.”

“It’s too bad, Natori. You know?”

“I know.”

“Just too bad,” Claudius continues to mumble under his breath.

Natori doesn’t answer.

“He’s going to be fine, though, you know? I think we prepared him pretty good, myself.”

“I’ll be keeping my eye on him for you,” is Natori’s subdued, faint reply, and it’s this time that Claudius finds himself unable to form a response, so much so that a thick silence settles heavily between them for a long moment. It isn’t lessened by Natori turning to survey him with measured uncertainty, either, and it seems to Claudius that they spend an inordinate eternity simply sharing this somber gaze, and gradually coming to an unspoken understanding.

Finally, when he can’t stand it anymore, he does look away with a restrained snort. There’s a lump in his throat that’s somewhat easily ignored, more so than the impossible to define tangle of emotions in his chest, at least.

“Still got it, babe. Sure know how to set an old cat’s mind at ease.”

The hesitant but affectionate smile Natori gives him is an oddly exquisite pain, too brittle and too honest; he almost wants to look away.

“Oh, I’m going to miss you,” the other cat murmurs in a manner which seems almost involuntary, and Claudius thinks it sounds something like a lovelorn admission of guilt. Or perhaps he only hopes.

“Well, who wouldn’t?” He declares.

“Who wouldn’t.” Natori echoes obligingly.

They walk for a long time. There comes a time when Claudius gets bored of it and sits, and Natori settles down beside him without comment or complaint.

“It’s a sorry place for a nap, babe,” Claudius remarks.

Natori’s response, Claudius realizes, is to lean into his shoulder with a contented noise, and it’s a show of comfort and affection that does not pass him by. The ex-king decides to return the favor, though he rather quickly finds lying across Natori’s lap a far more inviting position. Natori laughs.

“Intolerable, still, Claudius..?”

He waits a long moment to respond. He’d been bored, restless, not necessarily fatigued, but now he finds his eyelids are inexplicably heavy, and he doesn’t fight the urge to doze a little.

“...nah. I take it back.”

He can hear the fondness in Natori’s voice when he eventually replies. “Well. I’m always pleased to meet your expectations.”

It’s this muted emotion which stirs Claudius to let go of the remorse he’s been holding on to since they left. Since before they left. Perhaps he’s held it since they first met, humiliating wrong assumption regarding the cat’s position and all. Love at first sight. It’s a terribly impractical thing, but he’s nothing if he is not ruled by that kind of passion and impulsivity.

“I should have done it, babe. You know? When I first had the thought, when I first felt it, maybe even way back when Sephie left— I should have set you up beside me with a crown, too. Made it official and everything. Bet no one would have objected.” Or, more accurately, had they objected, they’d have most likely been in for a very long drop.

The faltering quirk to Natori’s muzzle makes his smile appear particularly rueful. “I’ve never wanted a crown of my own, Claudius.” Even in times long past when he’d been blessed with one in response to faint acquiescence alone.

“But you would have gone along with it anyway, wouldn’t you? If I had asked you to?”

The permissive (if inextricably reluctant) hum Natori uses to agree with him feels strangely comforting. Familiar. Claudius closes his eyes again.

“I would have,” Natori eventually murmurs. “If you had asked me to. But I was always most content where I was, ha. So, tell yourself nothing was wasted.”

“I’ll do that.”

It isn’t the admission of reciprocated sentiment he’d hoped for, and it stings, but he supposes it will do at the end of the world. When he leaves, he contents himself with a brushed kiss atop the head and the barest, lingering touch of their entwined paws.

Natori returns to the Carp Kingdom alone.

#the cat returns #this took me a weirdly long tim #time #thank you for the prompt tho!#i enjoyed writing it #despite everything #ha

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is0gild · 4 years ago

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Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Chapter 24

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 7,564

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

When I awoke, Mother was gone. It made sense, seeing as how daylight was streaming in through the bedroom window now and I could hardly have expected her to stay all night with me. She'd probably left not too long after I'd nodded off.

Part of me wondered if she had ever really been there in the first place or if I had simply dreamed the whole thing up. It'd all just been so weird. Mother hadn't been that… well, motherly towards me in over a decade. It was a long lost part of our relationship that I'd dearly missed, so I wouldn't have put it past my subconscious mind to cook something like that up while I was dreaming especially now that I was back in my childhood bedroom where such old memories could be sparked. But no, I was still in my dress I'd worn for dinner yesterday evening and I wouldn't have gone to bed without changing first, not unless Mother had actually been here.

But that still begged the question: why her sudden and unexpected change in behavior after all this time?

Maybe… it had something to do with the wedding? Maybe me running out on it and disappearing for weeks without a word had taken its toll on her even more so than I'd ever realized? If so, then her little visit last night had probably just been a… a moment of weakness, and a fleeting one at that. Why else would she have waited until we were away from Father's and Grandfather's prying eyes? Once we were back around them, not to mention the rest of the family, her usual mask would probably be firmly back in place again. She would be prim and proper, cold and reserved, just like she'd been for years now and it would be like those precious few moments last night had never happened.

...or maybe I was being overly pessimistic. Maybe now I had an ally in Mother where I'd previously thought to have had none. Maybe The Talk™ tomorrow wouldn't be as bad as I feared, not if I had her and Anna on my side.

But honestly, who knew? Who ever knew anything really when it came to my family? I certainly didn't. Not anymore. Not for a long time.

All I could do was wait and see and hope the anxiety didn't murder me in the meantime.

I climbed out of bed, grimacing at my reflection in the vanity mirror, at what a rumpled mess my dress had become overnight. This was the second time this week I'd slept in a garment that wasn't meant to be slept in. This was dangerously on the verge of forming into a habit. I really needed to stop. Sighing, I started walking towards my luggage so I could dig out something fresh to wear. However, I was halted in my tracks by a knock at my door.

I hesitated in answering it, giving my appearance another once over in the mirror.

This time, my reflection responded with a wrinkle of her nose.

Ugh, everyone's a critic.

Ah well, there was nothing for it. No amount of hand smoothing would make this dress fit to be seen and I wasn't about to make whoever it was wait for me to change. Tossing my frazzled braid back over my shoulder, I moved towards the door and opened it just wide enough for me to poke a head out.

"Mornin', El!" Lea beamed down at me, looking far more presentable than I on day two of his whole rebel-without-a-cause aesthetic he had going on.

I smiled back with a soft, "Good morning."

Dipping into a bow, he swept a hand out to one side, "I've come to escort thee to breakfast forthwith, m'lady."

"My my, we'll make a gentleman out of you yet," I hummed a chuckle.

He scoffed with a big theatrical sniff. "My word, I say, perish the fucking thought!"

"Shoot, you were this close," I snorted with a shake of my head. "Just give me a quick minute to change."

Before I could shut the door however, he stopped me with his hand lightly snagging mine. "But why? You already look as gorgeous as ever this morning."

I stubbornly ignored the tiny flutter I felt inside my ribcage. Didn't he realize it was a bit silly to be pulling the whole googly-eyed boyfriend routine when it was just the two of us? Maybe he was just getting into character early before we went down into the dining room. I rolled my eyes, "Oh yeah, gorgeous enough to make Mother pale, Father choke, and Grandfather faint."

Smirking, Lea said, "All I'm hearing are a ton of pros and a whole lotta nada for the cons column."

My eyelids drooped but before I could reply, there was a sudden shout from down the hall, "Ah-ha! There you are!" A blur zoomed towards us, attaching itself to Lea's arm.

Or rather, herself, seeing as how it was Anna.

So… the prodigal sister had at last graced me with her presence.

"I thought I might find you here," she grinned up at Lea, who just blinked down at her in response. Then she directed that grin my way, "Hi, Sis! Bye, Sis! Alright, big guy, let's go!" She charged off once more, dragging Lea with her. Or rather… she tried to anyway. But I imagine Lea could be quite the anchor when he didn't want to move, so instead the hold she had on his elbow ended up snapping her back like a rubberband.

I quirked an eyebrow at her. "What's the rush, Anna?"

"Yeah, short stuff, where's the fire?" Lea asked.

"We gotta get you ready!" Again, she gave another tug of his arm.

Again, he didn't budge. "For…?"

"For a beautiful day out on the water," she stated as if it were obvious. We both stared at her blankly and she huffed. "We're going yachting!"

Both eyebrows shot up Lea's forehead. "We? As in you and me?"

"And Elsa," she added, stomping over to Lea's other side and pressing her shoulder into his arm, trying to shove him into moving. It was kind of like watching a chihuahua attempt to out muscle a great dane. Just as effective too. Panting from the exertion, she tacked on, "And Maren and Ryder too."

"Oh, okay," Lea nodded, then frowned. "...and Maren and Ryder would be?"

"Our cousins," I said before furrowing my brow at Anna. "Wait, they're here? Since when?"

"Since an hour ago," she grunted, still pushing all her weight against Lea and getting nowhere, her feet sliding and scraping against the carpet. "Auntie Yelena showed up early with them. Now Mom and Dad want to shoo us young'uns out of the house so we won't be in the way while this whole place is turned upside down by party prep chaos. So," she paused, red-faced and puffing for breath before brightening, "figured we could take Daddy's yacht out for a lil spin!"

Lea cocked his head, "Still don't get why you're trying t- oof, hey now!" David (aka Anna) had managed to catch Goliath (aka Lea) off guard by ramming her shoulder into his side, forcing him to stagger a step. "-why you're trynta kidnap me," he finished in a grumble.

Stepping back from him, she crossed her arms and fixed him with a dull stare. "...did you pack swim shorts?"

"Well no, but I didn't know we were gonna-"

"Exactly!" she cried triumphantly, latching onto his elbow once more. "So we're gonna go borrow you some from Ryder!"

"You coulda just said that in the firs-" his words were swallowed in a yelp as she suddenly bolted, this time managing to haul Lea tripping and stumbling behind her.

"Be ready to go in fifteen minutes, Sis! Meet us in the driveway! See ya there!" Anna's voice echoed down the corridor back towards me in their wake.

I called after her, "But breakfast-"

"We'll pick something up on the way!"

...she was still acting so very strange.

Sure, she was always a ball of energy, but normally she'd let me talk more than that before making a break for it. It'd almost felt like she couldn't get away from me fast enough. I knew she'd been in a hurry, but getting Lea seaworthy hardly called for the state of emergency she was making it out to be.

Now more than ever, I was determined to get to the bottom of her odd behavior. Luckily for me, Anna had slipped up and made the error of trapping us on a boat together for the next several hours. And even if said boat was a yacht, there still weren't exactly a lot of places for her to hide from me on it.

She couldn't possibly keep avoiding me there.

My mistake.

Anna very well could keep avoiding me here and in fact had been doing so successfully for the past hour. It was not a matter of whether or not she had places to hide so much as she just never seemed to stay still for more than ten seconds. She'd always kind of been the cartoon Tasmanian Devil given human form, but now she was that on friggin' steroids. Just a constant whirl of chaos that was always on the move.

"I'm flying, Jack!"

Then, of course, there was the fact that I had to put up with this dork.

I hung my head with a sigh from my position behind Lea, my hands gingerly holding his hips as he stood proudly at the bow of the yacht with his arms spread out wide to either side of him. "You know, this wasn't exactly what I had pictured when you said you wanted to reenact that one scene from Titanic."

He glanced over his shoulder at me with a toothy grin. "You wanna swapsies? I can let you be Rose for a bit!"

"...I'm good, thanks."

"Suit yourself! You're seriously missing out though," he shrugged, stepping down off the raised rim of the boat and onto the cushioned bench seating, using it like a staircase to get himself to the floor. The salty breeze played with his shirt on his way down - a very loose short-sleeved button-up that only had one button fastened in the middle, so peeks at his muscled torso were not uncommon and could be rather, hrm… distracting. The swim trunks he'd borrowed from my cousin were just shy of his knees and were a deep red with black silhouettes like palm trees at sunset.

His flip-flops hit the deck and he spun around, offering me a hand to help me down as well. Smiling my thanks, I gripped the wide brim of my beach hat with one hand while the other took his. My strappy sandals landed on the hardwood beside him, careful not to step on the hem of my long, strapless cover-up dress made of a thin, billowy white fabric that barely hinted at the blue two-piece I wore underneath it. It was a beachwear ensemble I'd left behind at my parents' home years ago. A good thing too since like Lea, I hadn't exactly planned for a yacht outing when packing my bags for this weekend.

"So," Lea chirped as he released my hand, "now that we've gotten that important and thoroughly pressing bit o' business outta the way, what's next on our lil agenda?"

My lips pursed to one side before I decided, "Let's try and find Anna."

Though there was really no try about it. Finding her wasn't the hard part. Getting her to stay and actually talk to me was. Still, I was on a mission!

Mission Make Anna Open Up About Whatever The Heck Her Problem With Me Is.

...I really needed to get better at naming these things.

As I turned to give a quick glance around the yacht, first person I spotted was Maren - short for Honeymaren, but she hated the name with a bloody passion and did her best to bury that info in the hopes that it would never again see the light of day. She stood not far off next to the ship's mini bar under the shade of the awning. Her dark hair was pulled back into a braid and she was sporting a purple swimsuit with a matching sarong.

The thing that stood out most however were the cheap, plastic star-shaped sunglasses currently perched on the bridge of her nose. They were particularly eye catching given that, one, she hadn't had them on a moment ago and, two, they were probably just about the last things one would expect to see her wearing. She seemed just as surprised to discover them on her face as I was, given the way she removed and squinted at them with a bemused smirk.

I could hear Lea's flip-flopping footsteps following behind me as I walked towards her. Arching an eyebrow, I pointed at the things, "Where'd those come from?"

"Ask Lil Miss Sunglasses Fairy over there," she laughed, popping them back on before jerking a thumb over her shoulder towards the helm. There Ryder stood manning the steering wheel in his yellow, turtle-print trunks, the sunlight gleaming off his short black hair. It looked like he too had recently received a visit from this so-called Sunglasses Fairy, for he was now (quite bewilderedly) modeling a pair of shades with big, cartoony red lips for frames.

Ah, and here the Sunglasses Fairy herself came now, her auburn pigtail braids flapping wildly about as she skipped towards us in her bright green bikini and boyshorts. Not to be left out of the latest fashion trend of her own making, Anna had on a pair herself shaped like flowers. And in her hands were-

"For you, oh dearest Sis of mine, I've saved the best for last!" she happily declared, sliding the shades with neon pink heart lenses onto my nose.

Joy.

Lea looked down at me and snerked, biting back a grin.

Boy didn't know how close he was to getting his arm pinched for such impudence.

Anna gave a small pout, "Sorry, Lea, but I only have four."

"No problemo. El and I can just share," he chuckled, stealing mine and donning them himself, waggling his eyebrows at me as he leaned back and propped his elbows against the boat railing.

Ugh, I wasn't sure what was more annoying: that he actually looked pretty good in them or the fact that he knew it and was being smug about it.

"Charming," I deadpanned before looking back at Anna. "Where'd you even get these silly things from?"

"Oh, I bought them all ages ago from one of those shack shops by the dock," she tossed a hand back towards the shoreline. "I've been keeping them hidden away for a special occasion."

My head tipped to one side. "...and that special occasion would be?"

She tapped a finger to her chin, "Hmm… Ah! National Fun In The Sun Day, of course!"

I gave her a flat look. "That is neither national nor an actual holiday."

"Is too!" Her chest puffed up as she planted her fists on her hips, "I'm the captain of this here dinghy and what the captain says, goes!"

"You can't just make up holidays, that's not how captains work," I crossed my arms.

"Yeah-huh! I'm the captain and I say so!"

"But-" I stopped myself, pinching the bridge of my nose. Just let it go, Elsa, otherwise we'll just keep going around in circles like this all day. "Nevermind. I was hoping, Captain, that maybe you and I could have a minute to-"

"Move over, Ryder! It's my turn to steer!"

Annnnd off she zipped again.

I had half a mind to chase after her but with the way things were going, I feared she might swan dive off the side of the yacht just to get away from me.

"What's wrong, El?" Lea frowned before taking off the heart shades and offering them to me. "Want these back? I hear rose-colored glasses make everything better."

I mustered a weak smile at that, arms hugging myself as I leaned back against the metal rail beside him and muttered, "Thanks but no thanks."

Perching the sunglasses atop his head now, he asked, "Seriously, why the long face?"

"...it's Anna," I grimaced, reaching for a tendril of my ponytail to twist between my fingers as I watched Ryder join his sister at the mini bar. They were just barely out of earshot so I couldn't hear whatever they were laughing and shaking their heads over. "She's mad at me or… something, I don't know. All I know is she won't talk to me, not really. Every time I try, something always comes up and she runs off."

Lea glanced towards where Anna stood valiantly at the helm, one hand holding the steering wheel steady while the other shielded her eyes against the sun. "Huh… now that ya mention it, it does seem like she's been avoiding you, doesn't it?"

"You've noticed it too?" So it wasn't all just in my head. Not sure if that made me feel better or worse.

"Maybe a lil," he nodded. Pushing himself off the rail, he turned to stand in front of me now. "But mad? Nah, I don't think so. She seems far too chipper for that." Lea rubbed a curled finger to his chin, "Maybe she's actually sad about something but doesn't wanna worry you so is just… trying to put on a brave front? Or she could have something important she wants to talk to you about but is too scared?"

"But that's ridiculous, Anna knows she can always talk to me about anyth-"

"Hard to starboard!" came a sudden shout from my sister before she jerked the wheel into a spin.

The yacht whipped around in a sharp turn, throwing Lea into a stumble towards me. I gasped, bringing up a hand to stop him while turning my head away and squeezing my eyes shut, waiting for impact.

But it never came.

Cracking open one eyelid then the other, I discovered he'd managed to catch himself by grabbing the railing to either side of me.

"Whew!" he grinned, looming mere inches over me, "That was close!"

...wait… my hand was still raised… and touching… something…

I slowly, reluctantly lowered my gaze towards it.

Only to have my face all but burst into flames and practically blast steam out of my ears.

For behold! There, my hand, in all its brazen glory, had found its way into Lea's unbuttoned shirt and that was without a doubt a big, heaping helping of man boob it was groping right now.

...very nice, delightfully sculpted man boob. Firm yet… soft, somehow? No, soft wasn't the right word… ah, supple! Yes, that was what I-

Now was not the time to be debating word choice!

Not while my friggin' hand was still on his bare friggin' chest.

Gah, what was wrong with me?! I really needed to stop sexually harassing the guy who had zero interest in dating at the moment!

Okay, remain calm, Elsa. Maybe he hasn't even noticed it yet. Maybe if I just discreetly removed it, he'd never even have to know it'd been there in the first place. Alright, easy does it… careful now, just take it one small step at a time… first lift the palm off… okay, good! Now the thumb… perfect. And up goes the pinky… then the next one… and the next… just the index finger to go-

Oh. My. God. Did I just goddamn trail my fingertip down his skin?! Pretty sure I'd trailed it. No, not trailed, I'd caressed! Caressed! Great. Just dandy! If he hadn't realized where my hand was before, he sure as hell knew now!

My eyes shifted about desperately.

Oh, this was uncomfortable. Quick! Do something to make it less awkward!

I looked him dead in the eye, brought up my hand and poked him in the nose with a tiny, "Boop!"

Nailed it.

Lea blinked. Then he gave a little snort, one corner of his lips curling up. "What was that?"

A clever and artful distraction, duh. One that was clearly working too, so ha!

"What do you mean, what was that?" I mumbled, hitching my chin and averting my gaze. "It was a nose boop, what else?"

His grin twitched wider. "Well, yeah, I could see that. What I meant was why?"

I couldn't help but notice he was still really close. That he still hadn't let go of the railing yet, keeping me trapped between his body and it. Clearing my throat, I said defensively, "You just have a very… boopable nose, is all."

"...is that so?" he murmured, eyes crinkling as he pressed his forehead to mine.

Dear lord, his rent-a-boyfriend act would be the death of me.

"Yo! Elsa!"

Thank goodness! Cousins to the rescue!

Closing his eyes, Lea exhaled softly before spinning around and shifting over to rest back against the steel rails beside me once more just as the two of them approached us. "Is it true?" Ryder asked excitedly, eyes bright behind the lip-glasses he'd yet to take off as he stirred his mimosa. "Do you really sell mall ice cream now?"

I winced slightly. "Oh… you know about that?"

"Avast ye landlubbers!" Anna's voice rang out again as she continued to pilot the yacht. "Weigh anchor and hoist the mizzen!"

"You kidding?" Maren snerked, taking a sip of her bloody mary and ignoring my sister. "Once the Duke found out, the whole family found out. You know how that old coot loves to run his mouth to anyone who'll listen."

"So it is true!" Ryder beamed. "At an Ice Palace, right? The place with that kickass reindeer mascot?"

"Um…" I furrowed my brow. He seemed oddly enthusiastic about this. "...yes?"

He pumped a fist, "Awesome! Love the place! Their ice cream is so good and all their commercials are hilarious! Have you seen their new one with all the reindeer singing a frigging rock ballad?"

Even with the star-shades, Maren's eye roll was plain as day. "You and your strange obsession with reindeer."

"What? They're cute!"

"Whatever, I just can't with you right now," she held up a hand in his face as she took a sip from her drink, looking at me again. "Seriously though, you ran out on your wedding, on your whole sweet cushy life… just so you could sell ice cream?"

"Land ho! Thar she blows!" Anna again.

Holding onto my hat so it wouldn't blow away as the wind picked up, I frowned. "Well… that wasn't exactly why I left…"

"But that's what you did," she insisted, eyebrows lifting with her tiny grin. "Do you even know about all the chaos that erupted after you turned up missing?"

I swallowed hard. I could feel Lea's fingers fiddling with a lock of my ponytail, but I hardly noticed it as I bit down on my bottom lip and shook my head. "Was it bad?"

"Aw man, the whole place went nuts after you pulled your vanishing act! You shoulda been there!" Ryder laughed before squinting skyward. "Although… I guess if you had been there, none of it would have happened." He shrugged, taking a big swig of his mimosa. "Anyway, it was wild! Our family was yelling, his family was yelling, a flower girl was bawling, the giant ice swan sculpture got knocked over and shattered into a bajillion pieces, a bridesmaid punched a groomsman, the-"

"Wait," I interrupted him, my eyebrows knit together as my gaze shifted over to Maren. Besides Anna, who'd been my maid of honor… "Weren't you my only bridesmaid?"

She smirked, lazily lifting a shoulder before letting it fall. "What can I say? I live for anarchy."

"Batten down the hatches! Swab the deck or it's straight to Davy Jones' locker with the lot of you!" It seemed Anna was really getting into character now.

"The butterflies," Ryder eagerly jumped back into the conversation right where he'd left off, "were released on accident at the same time the doves somehow got free as well and, oh man, the carnage! It was epic!"

My hands were fidgeting with each other. I had no idea when they'd started. My chest was beginning to burn and constrict.

"I still can't believe it," Maren wrinkled her nose in glee, chewing on her straw. "You ditching a guy at the altar. You, of all people. You've always been such a goody-goody. So well-behaved, so polite, so disgustingly perfect. Just goes to show you, I guess… it's always the sweet, innocent, quiet ones who'll surprise you."

Fidget, fidget, fidget.

It was getting harder to breathe.

"A total bloodbath!" Ryder was still going. "I mean, did you even know doves ate butterflies? Cuz I didn't! But those poor little guys never even stood a chance! Tiny insect guts were flying everywhere! Seriously... Best. Wedding. Ever."

"Heh-hey!" Lea suddenly piped up. "Are all these swimsuits just for show or we gonna," he clicked his tongue, jerking a thumb towards the water, "dive on in?"

He was taking the attention off me. I shot him a grateful if somewhat shaky smile. His arm slipped around my shoulders, giving them a small, reassuring squeeze as he rested his cheek against my hair.

"Please," Maren sniggered, "like we'd actually swim in the lake."

"Watch and learn, dude," Ryder grinned as he moved over to the plush seating that circled the edge of the ship's bow and pushed a button on a panel behind its backrest. The massive, seemingly decorative circle that was etched into the center of the foredeck began to hum and slide under the rest of the floor, revealing the hot tub underneath. Striking up a finger, Ryder then pushed a second button, this one turning on the jets.

"Ooo," Lea nodded in appreciation, "a jacuzzi that appears as if by magic. My my, how the other half lives." Then he huffed out a snort through his nose, "Leave it to the rich to find a way to take a soak in the middle of a lake without actually having to get in the lake."

Ryder scrunched up his face, "Lake water's gross."

Pointing at the hot tub, Lea said, "You do realize the more people get in that thing, the more it's just a boiling vat of human juices, right?"

"Thanks for that," Maren gave a mock gag before tossing her chin towards the edge of the boat. "What're you waiting for then? Lake's right there and all yours, Stretch."

"No thanks," leaving my side, Lea walked over to the ledge of the jacuzzi to dip a toe in. "Bring on the person stew! 'Sides, not every day I get to hop into a yacht hot tub. Wouldn't wanna miss out."

Setting his now empty glass down, Ryder said, "Not every day you get to steer the yacht either. Whaddya say, my man, want to give it a go?" He pointed towards the helm.

As if on cue, Anna bellowed, "Ready the cannons, ye scallywags, lest we be dead in the water!"

Lea gave me a quick glance and I shrugged. He scratched the back of his head, "Uh… sure! Why not? Be right back, boo!" He planted a swift peck to my forehead before transferring his pink sunglasses back to my nose. "If ya need me, just shoot me the heart-eyes with these and me n' my boopable nose'll come running."

I huffed and shoved his shoulder, "Just try not to crash us into anything." Fighting the upward tug I felt at one side of my mouth, I added more quietly, "Have fun."

"Always do," he winked before turning to follow Ryder towards the stairs that lead to the upper deck.

"Shall we?" Maren then asked, tossing her sarong to the bench as she stepped down into the hot tub.

I hesitated, glancing over my shoulder. Normally, I wasn't self-conscious about being seen in my swimsuit. But then, normally only people who were related to me ever saw me in it. The one exception there of course being my ex, but I'd never been awkward about it in front of him either. I'd never really been… anything about it. But now, oddly the idea of Lea seeing me in my swimsuit, it just… well, I don't know… did weird things to my pulse and made my skin tingle. It wasn't a bad feeling, per se… I wasn't quite sure what it was really.

In any case, the boys looked to be engrossed in a heated debate with Anna currently. It seemed the self-proclaimed captain wasn't quite ready to give up her post at the wheel yet. None of those three were even looking this way.

"...alright," I said at last, slipping out of my cover-up and letting it fall to the deck. Putting my hat down on top of the small pile of fabric as well, I lowered one foot in into the water, followed by the other before hastily taking a seat, letting the bubbling warmth engulf me up to my shoulders.

Stretching and luxuriating in the jacuzzi, Maren's glass dangled between her fingertips as she idly swirled about what was left of her bloody mary inside it. "I can see why you did it."

A crease formed between my eyebrows as I gave her a sideward glance. "Did what?"

"Got the hell outta Dodge before the first note of Here Comes the Bride could even chime out the organ," she smirked, sticking the straw into the corner of her mouth.

My lips pinched. "I thought you'd already established it was to sell ice cream," I grumbled, lifting the sunglasses to sit atop my hair now since the absurd heart lenses were already fogging over from all the steam.

She gave an amused scoff, setting her empty glass down on the rim of the hot tub. "I said that's what you did, but we both know that wasn't why. Not unless ice cream is roughly six foot seven, has green eyes to die for, and is rocking a smokin' hot bod."

"Oh…" I cleared my throat. Was my face turning red? Psh, that was just the jacuzzi. I think heat was cranked up a little too high in here, in fact. Yeah, that had to be it. I laughed nervously, "What can say I? He just, er… stole my heart."

Atta girl, way to sell the lie.

...that... was a lie… right?

What am I saying, of course it was! All I had was a crush. A simple, meaningless crush, nothing more.

Anna had finally retreated to the mini bar where she was sulking as she mixed herself a drink, so Ryder had set Lea up at the wheel, who was nodding at everything he was told. Maren removed her star-shades, gently biting down on one of the earpieces as her eyes drifted towards the helm. I wasn't particularly a fan of that sly little curve to her lips as she watched him. "Mmm, I bet that's not all he stole."

A small, incredulous splutter escaped me. "Maren," I scolded, splashing some water at her.

She snerked. "All I'm saying is I don't blame you. I myself would've given up a Prince Charming fiancé worth his weight in gold and risked any claim to my family fortune, all for one steamy summer fling with that hunky pizza boy over there."

Okay fine, no use denying it anymore. This thing my face was doing? Definitely a blush. "Don't you have a girlfriend?" I muttered, eyes darting about.

"Sure do and she is my world, my moon and my stars, my everything!" she beamed. Then her eyebrows bounced, "Still… doesn't mean I can't admire the view every once and awhile."

"Well stop admiring," I harrumphed, narrowing my gaze down at the frothy water.

"That's adorable! You really do like this one, don't you," she cooed, pinching my cheek. I just rolled my eyes and swat her hand away. "Hope you weren't too attached to your hat, by the way."

"My…?" I blinked. "Why?"

She pointed, "Cuz there it goes."

Sure enough, a gust of wind had come along to scoop it up and carry it off, only to let it plummet once it'd escaped the confines of the yacht.

"Cap overboard!" Ryder called out, cupping a hand to his mouth.

"I'll get it!" Lea grinned, already kicking off his flip-flops. Before any of us could react, he took off running, launching himself up onto the guard rail and diving into the waters below.

I inhaled sharply as I shot up to my feet. "Your boy is crazy!" Ryder was cackling as he steadied the abandoned steering wheel and shut off the ship engine. Maren whooped and clapped while a giggling Anna rushed to the edge, leaning over the metal bars to look for him.

I just hoped that big dummy didn't get knocked unconscious by the rudder cracking his skull open or something! All over a stupid sun hat, no less!

Thankfully, it wasn't long before Anna was throwing up her hands and cheering, which I took to be a good sign as I released the breath I'd been holding. Next thing I knew, Lea came rising up the ladder attached to the side of the boat, wet hair slicked back and the brim of my cap between his teeth so his hands were free for climbing. Clearing the last few rungs, he hopped onto the deck and grabbed the hat out of his mouth, hissing, "Shit, that water's cold! Brr, nearly froze my ass off!"

...or at least, I think he'd said something like that.

It was hard to be sure really. My eardrums seemed to be on the fritz while all my focus now directed itself towards his shirt. His sopping, soaking wet shirt. It was clinging to the chiseled contours of his abs in a way that was rather, ah… fascinating. Not to mention see-through. Yes, very, very much so. It was actually kind of beautiful, in a way. Majestic, really. Quite the sight to behold and-

-and fudge, I was staring.

Staring at him, who was staring at me.

Me, who was still standing in the jacuzzi and flaunting my two-piece like I was the friggin' star of Baywatch.

I sat back down so fast, water splashed over onto the deck behind me. Yes, oh blessed jacuzzi bubbles, cloak me in your warm, protective embrace. Face heated and eyes not quite able to meet his, I stammered out a quick, "Th-thank you."

"Of… of course! Happy to!" Lea said brightly. Huh… was he getting a bit of a sunburn? He started to walk forward with a goofy, lopsided grin, holding the hat out towards me, "Here ya g-"

Apparently misjudging where the ledge of the hot tub was, he stumbled head first into it with us. I jolted in my seat and Maren half shrieked, half laughed as water exploded everywhere. As soon as he resurfaced and was coughing up water, I asked, "Are you okay?!"

"Fine! Nothing bruised 'cept my pride. Wanna smooch it all better?" he snickered, leaning in close and making loud kissy noises. Eyelids drooping, I just put my hand on his face and shoved him away. Still chuckling, he once more offered me my now thoroughly drenched hat. "Believe this is yours, m'lady?"

I hid a smile behind my fingers. "My hero," I said dryly, taking it from him and setting it aside on the hardwood once more. Surely it was too waterlogged at this point to fly off again.

"Yoink," he plucked the heart-shades off me so he could wear them himself once more. "Mind if I join you gals?" he chirped, standing up in the jacuzzi to remove his soggy shirt. I did my best not to ogle him this time.

The same couldn't be said for Maren as she smirked up at him. "Would seem you already have, Slim."

He cocked an eyebrow at her as he took a seat at my side. Then he was bending towards me, muttering in a low voice, "Uh… should I be nervous about the way your cousin is looking at me?"

I snorted, turning and leaning in close so I could return the whisper into his ear, "Ignore her." Lea seemed to give a small shiver, but that wouldn't make sense. It was very hot in this jacuzzi, so I must have been mistaken. "She has a girlfriend."

"Did, uh…" he cleared his throat, "did anyone tell her that?"

"Don't worry. Apparently she's just admiring the view," I said, one corner of my mouth twitching up.

His eyes crinkled behind those pink lenses. "Good. Woulda hated to break her heart otherwise, seeing as how I'm already deliriously happy in a loving, committed relationship with the bewitching creature sitting next to me," he slipped one arm to rest along the edge of the hot tub behind me while taking my hand in his other one so he could bring it up out of the water and press his lips to my knuckles.

Click!

I glanced up at the sound to see Anna crouching down next to the jacuzzi, holding her phone up with the camera pointed towards us. "D'aww, what a great picture! You two are such cuties!" she squealed, looking down at her screen as her fingers swiped across it.

Lea had lowered our hands back down to rest underwater once more, his fingers interweaved with mine now. Which was a little silly, come to think of it, as no one could possibly be seeing us holding hands through all these bubbles. Perhaps he didn't realize that. Then again, I wasn't exactly rushing to take my hand back either.

Anna was still gushing, "Seriously, I'm becoming diabetic from sweetness overload h-"

"Cannonball!"

Maren's head shot up and she snarled, "Ryder, no! This is a hot tub, not a-"

Suddenly a big blur was hitting the water, sending a huge blast of water in all directions for the second time. Anna yelped, shielding her mobile with her body while the rest of us just did our best to block the mini tidal wave with our hands. It was amazing that there was any liquid still left in here with us by now.

"Wahoo!" Ryder cried out as he popped back up, bouncing with his hands high over his head in triumph. It was short lived however as his sister punched him in the gut and he doubled over with a grunt.

"Bonehead!" she scowled at him as she relaxed back into her seat. "You could've broken your dumb neck."

"And my phone!" Anna added as she gave said device a careful lookover.

"Whatever, you're all just jelly cuz you didn't think to do it yourselves first." He fished around in the water for his lip-shades that had fallen off before perching them on his head and taking a seat as he looked to Lea, "Hella cool, am I right? Up top!" He held up his hand. Lea just shrugged and obliged him with a high-five.

Maren sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Boys. Ugh."

Seemingly satisfied that no damage had come to her phone, Anna plopped down onto the ledge of the jacuzzi now and let her feet dangle in the water. "Pic of my fave cousin," she singsonged, snapping a shot of Maren tipping her sunglasses down and holding two fingers up in the peace sign. "And one of my idiot cousin," she deadpanned, pointing it at Ryder now who just crossed his eyes and razzed his tongue at her. Giggling, she then turned the phone camera back towards Lea and me. "I want a couple more of you guys! Go on, smoosh in, you two!"

...who me?

Awkward penguin, nervous wreck, ball of raw friggin' nerves me? "Smoosh" in with a guy? While we were both only in swimsuits and thus at least a good seventy-five percent naked? Smoosh?! I didn't even know how to smoosh! I'd never smooshed a day in my life!

Did my sister know me but at all?

She did remember Lea and I were only pretend dating, right?

I narrowed my gaze one her. "...excuse me?"

"You heard me," she said sweetly, a wicked gleam in her eyes as she tipped her head forward, smirking over those flower-glasses. "Snuggle in, Sis."

Oh-ho, that evil brat knew exactly what she was doing.

Fine. If I gave her this and let her have her fun, maybe she'd finally open up to me about whatever it was that'd been bothering her.

So I scooched an inch over towards Lea.

"Closer," Anna said, staring at her phone screen as she pointed the camera at us again and waved me over with her free hand.

A tiny huff in my throat and another inch over. My knee was brushing against his now.

Anna groaned, "Come on, closer! You two like each other, right?!"

Lea gave a sheepish laugh, scratching his cheek and whispering, "El, forget it, you don't hafta-"

"It's fine," I muttered under my breath, hard eyes still on Anna as I reached over my shoulder and closed my fingers around Lea's wrist resting behind my head there. Hesitating briefly as my face began to warm uncomfortably and the thudding in my ears grew louder, I finally tugged the arm down to wrap around my bare shoulders and leaned into his chest slightly.

"Ugh, closer!"

One of my eyes ticked. "Anna, any closer and I'll be sitting in his lap. Is that what you want?"

She smiled impishly, "I mean, if you think it'll help…"

Lea's hushed voice came to me again, "El, really, this isn't-"

"Lea, really, it's fine," I insisted through grit teeth.

Alright, Anna, you want closer? I'll give you closer, you little...

I twisted in my seat, hugged my arms around his neck and yanked him down, pressing our cheeks together. Not to mention our chests. Our very wet, scantily-to-not-at-all clad chests. But I tried not to think about that part. My cheeks were frying enough as it was already. His whole body went rigid against mine before slowly relaxing as I felt his arms tighten around me. "Here, Anna," I snapped, "take the stupid picture!"

Hold this pose any longer and my heart might just shatter a rib with the way it was thundering.

Still there was no click. She frowned, "Aw, c'mon, Sis, give us a smile! You're in wub, after all!"

...that's it, I was going to throttle her.

"Gotcha covered!" Lea announced. I'd barely even had a chance to register his words before he'd removed his cheek from mine only to replace it with his lips and blow a loud raspberry. All my tension immediately banished and a surprised laugh erupted out of me as I tried to wriggle free, but not before-

Click!

"Perfect!" Anna bit back a grin as she eyed the photo on her phone.

Lea had a cheeky grin of his own that he was shooting my way. Though my eyes glared, my lips smiled as I gave his arm a shove, which did nothing to erase his smug look. Before I could retract my hand however, he'd snatched it up in his so he could lace our fingers together once more. At least this time it was above the water for everyone to see.

Now that that bit of nonsense was over and done with, perhaps Anna would give me a minute to talk to her while she was still distracted by riding her photography high. I saw Maren poking a finger into her brother's cheek as she teased him about something, so our cousins probably wouldn't miss us if we slipped away for a second or two. Sitting up straighter and taking a deep breath, I began, "Anna, perhaps now you and I could have a-"

"Oopsie, looks like I need a refill!" she trilled, swiping up her glass from where it sat on the deck beside her.

I squinted at it. "...it's still mostly full."

"Check again." She downed the whole thing in one big gulp before puffing out a satisfied, "Ha! Be right back!"

Whoosh!

Gone again.

With a long, drawn out sigh, I slouched so low into the jacuzzi now, the foamy surface brushed against my chin. I could see Lea frowning at me out of my peripheral, but he remained quiet, probably just as much at a loss with this whole mystery situation with my sister as I was.

My eyes gradually drifted over to the mini bar where I could see her mixing up some new concoction. However, instead of the upbeat glow she usually had about her, I noticed her shoulders sagging a little. She was worrying her lower lip between her teeth, the corners of her mouth turned down. I couldn't see her eyes behind the sunglasses, but her brow was wrinkled, seemingly lost in thought as she hung her head.

Huh… that didn't look like someone who was mad.

Maybe Lea was right. Maybe there really was something that had her sad or scared.

But what could it possibly be?

And why wouldn't she just tell me?

Author's Note: Yay for some yacht fun! Cuz that's just what rich people do I suppose xD Again, since I'm not sure if all of ya'll have seen Frozen 2, the new characters introduced this chapter (including the briefly mentioned Yelena) were all from that movie as a buncha people called the Northuldra who live in an enchanted forest. Since in F2 it was revealed Elsa's mom was Northuldra, there is a VERY real possibility that Honeymaren and Ryder really are all canonically related to Elsa and Anna in some way, so I figured hey, why not turn them into her cousins in this? Now if only Ryder had gotten to see Kristoff's talking reindeer Sven plushie routine, I think Ryder would have positively exploded with happiness xD Real talk tho, boys and girls... don't pull a Ryder: do NOT cannonball into a jacuzzi.

Alright, we now have Saturday morning out of the way, but still have plenty of The Weekend to go yet! Next chapter, what will the rest of the day hold for Elsa? Will she ever find out what seems to have her baby sis so down? Not to mention Gramps' bday palooza is looming ever nearer on the horizon, what potential new "fun" could that lil party bring? And seriously, how WAS there any water left in that lil hot tub after those couple o' knuckleheads (intentionally or not) crashed hard into that thing? Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to those of you who’ve liked, reblogged, and followed so far, seeing those lil notifications always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

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