#but OOOH the urges are strong. i need them. they are my life forcs

[bpecial]

cantaloupe 🤤🤤🤤

[lizzaneia-elizalde]

Yandere(?) Jing Yuan

MY HUSBAND ✨

A little warning though. I quit playing HSR after 2.something. I don't remember. But it's because my devices can't handle it anymore :( at least I got Jing Yuan before I deleted the game. So I am probably going to put some wrong information here. Especially the timeline. Forgive me! Also,I lied. I'm not making this fic NSFW. Have some not so good angst LMAO Of course, there's spoilers so... Spoiler alert! Notes: Highly OOC Jing Yuan. He's a lonely man fr fr. Also, an extra long fic as an apology for disappearing like that lol. Also, not even sure if this counts as yandere. But just to be safe, i'm putting it here. So, dead dove, do not eat.

Being a long time trailblazer from the Astral Express made you develop quite the wanderlust in you.

You were originally from Xianzhou. A spoiled kid of a rich family that decided to embrace the free life when the Astral Express first visited your planet.

You developed a strong friendship with Himeko and Welt, alongside treating Dan Heng and March as your little siblings/children.

When Stelle arrived in the Astral Express, it seems that your little family is complete. Sure, Stelle may be a little gremlin with a Stellaron inside, but hey. Family is family.

When the talks of going to Xianzhou appeared, you volunteered to guide Stelle and March around alongside Welt. You did miss your family, and wanted to prove that you weren't the same immature person before.

Well, you know what happened next.

The wharf being abandoned, littered with mara struck soldiers...

It seems that Xianzhou became worse for wear.

Fearing for the worst, you urged the three to follow you and defeated the Mara stricken soldiers in such precision.

Seriously. You follow Nihility since you want to be more laid back in your life. But why does life keep forcing lemons down your throat? Now, it's even your family being dragged in your bad luck!

You got dragged by the three around until you all got to the square, and immediately bade goodbye for the time being. Promising to help them as soon as they need to. For now, you need to get back to your family.

Once you got to the manor, you burst through the door and was immediately smacked to shit by your parents.

"YOU PRODIGAL CHILD! NOW YOU COME BACK HOME?! HOW DARE YOU SHOW YOUR FACE..."

A nagfest, you took in their worry filled words with a sharp edge before calming them down. You asked if any in your family have been mara stricken, but all of them shook their head thankfully enough.

Then, you noticed a man by the tea room. It seems that your parents forgot etiquette and abandoned their guest.

"AH! Forgive us, General! It's just this child... Oooh this child!"

You took a peak and was stunned.

Jing Yuan. The guy whose family is from the Realm-Keeping Commissions? And he's the general now? That's...

"You remember Yuan-yuan, right? Y/N'er?"

Oh you remember alright. How can you not? You loved this man a lot.

You squirmed under Jing Yuan's golden gaze that's filled with an unreadable emotion that you're sure had to do with your past.

And the past is what he desperately holds onto up to this day...

"General! The astral express--"

Jing Yuan's usual relaxed demeanor stiffened, his eyes going rigid. If one looks close, the chess piece he's holding onto cracked, making it glitch.

His face softener a bit as to not scare Yanqing more who stepped back a bit.

"Is that so? Thank you for the information, Yanqing. You can go rest now."

The kid nodded before walking away and leaving Jing Yuan alone.

His world, once so bleak and dry, suddenly had a drop of rain that he once missed and took advantage of, thinking it won't go away.

"Y/N..." He whispered to himself, putting down the piece and washing his face with his palm.

Other than Jing Liu and the others, you were one of the few people he's close to. Ever since you both were in the academy, you've always didn't like his quite stubborn nature. He didn't like his academic strand, wanting to be a cloud knight.

He noticed you pulling a face whenever he cuts classes, sleeps, loafs around... Sure, you were spoiled to bits, but at least you have the decency to be good in school.

So, he made it a point to annoy you greatly. Always popping around the block wherever you were, following you while talking your ear off... Doesn't help that he's a classmate, it's a daily annoyance that you gradually welcomed over time.

It's a friendship born from being together all the time. You watch him train with Jing Liu, taught him stuff he didn't understand, and in return, he would teach you how to fend for yourself since you always told him you wanted to travel the galaxy.

And that friendship developed into something more intimate. Exchanging shy giggles, flirty whispers, firsts of everything... Even without a label other than lovers, you both knew that you two are destined and tied together. Soulmates, if you will.

He's happy that you were by his side. With the quintet and you, how much more happiness does he need in his life?

But sometimes, so much happiness meant that there will be a terrible thing happening the next day.

Fortunately for you, you left Xianzhou before the Baiheng incident in the process of saving the Xianzhou Yuque. It was a timely flight that Jing Yuan supported so that you will be safe from the chaos that will unfold.

Unfortunately for Jing Yuan though, he paid the price of seeing his friends fall one by one.

Baifeng, sacrificing herself when fighting Shuhu, Dan Feng creating a draconic abomination in the process of trying to ressurect Baifeng and solving the Vidyadhara reproduction problem, Yingxing being backfired and becoming immortal stricken with mara, and JIng Liu, also struck with mara.

He watches as his beloved quintet crumble to dust in such a short time, even defeating his own beloved master in order to save so many lives and bring justice to those lost.

Jing Yuan had no one. No one to turn to, no one to confide in.

In times like those, what he yearned is you. For you to return, for you to look at him with so much grief, concern, and care.

All he wanted is your hug, your reassurance that it wasn't his fault, and it wasn't his burden to carry.

But you didn't return. Not even a peep, not even a soul.

700 long years of waiting, of bottling up his emotions that it almost spilt over.

Sure, he's happier now, but is he truly happy?

Deep inside, he kind of resented you for being so blissfully unaware of what happened to him. Of what happened to the quintet. You never even contacted him in those 700 years. Did you just forget your relationship just like that? Did you move on from him? He thought both of you were together forever?

Then slowly, he got jealous. Of you, at first. Just travelling across the galaxies without a worry in the world. How selfish of you to just run off to the farflungs of the universe just to never contact him again. Shame on you. He's a worried lover! How can he not? Then, he got jealous of the people that you must have met. How much were they charming you that you forgot about him, your soulmate?

He started visiting your family in year 300 too. Consoling them and telling that you were gonna go back home. When? Soon. Like really soon.

He found solace in your family that started treating him as their own son. Taking care of him when he visits, entertaining him with a game of chess, maybe even talk about their life.

He also heard more stories about you. About your spoiled attitude outside of school, of your rebellious years, of your wants and needs to see the outside. It's as if he's living vicariously through your parents, and relieving your memories in order to not forget you.

Then, he starts yearning for your presence once more after just trying to forget you.

It's a never ending addictive cycle that he's lost in the deep trenches in.

You were the only constant in this godforsaken world, the wine he yearns to drown himself in in order to forget his problems. But his problem is the wine, his problem is you. But the alcoholic he is, he continue to guzzle down the addictive taste until reality blurs with fantasy. In which a picture perfect world existed were nothing went wrong, and you were still there back in his arms.

Over the years, he somehow got over it. Turned to tea, thought about stuff. But your family reminded him so much of you and told so much stories of you that he became so attached to the idea of you.

He started a little hobby of writing letters to your non-existent being. Thinking you'll read them in the future. He refuses to believe that you're dead and rotting in a ditch somewhere. He knows that you're alive. He knows it.

He wrote down what he wishes to tell you, on what he wanted to do with you once you come back like a little drink, maybe even roam around and show you what Xianzhou looks like after 700 years.

Then, it devolved into his frustrations, anger, jealousy, and grief about what happened in those measly years. On why he wanted to have you so bad with him, to have the only remaining friend with him by his side. He wants to cling to you, to finally have a full on restful sleep, but also yell at you for leaving him behind.

He thought of the people that made you forget him. Of the people that took you away from him. Yes, they may, no, they ARE the reason why you weren't returning home. They must be.

He knows he's wrong. And he's working on it. A few letters down the road had him apologizing, telling he's in the wrong, and started writing about what to do once you come back.

Until those letters carried a weight that he's thinking of.

What will happen if you decided to stay in Xianzhou this time?

What will happen if something or someone made you stay?

What if, Jing Yuan forced you stay?

An absurd idea, but those letters quickly became a drawn out plan on what he'll do to make you stay by him, by his side. Eternally until the end of both of your lifespans.

And those letters were now safely kept in his hand. They will not see the light of the day.

The time he knew that the Astral Express came to their wharf, with Yanqing telling him, he immediately ran to Fu Xuan to know who are the passengers of the train that stepped out to help.

And there you are. You chose the path of Nihility. Fitting for a person like you who wished for everything, yet nothing. A spoiled kid who only wanted meaningless vices and thrills to fill the void inside. You grew up so much just as him.

What is this feeling inside? Relief? Resentment? Guilt? Love?

Woah, love? Really? Does he really still feel love for you? Or is that just a byproduct of the putrid mix of emotions inside of him?

He always knew his feelings for you never disappeared. It was supposed to be just a harmless puppy love that is forgotten over time. Like come on, it's been seven centuries.

But seeing you there, with your mother still nagging you, and your eyes locked onto him with an excited, naive look on your face made those forgotten emotions resurface.

And unfortunately, became an unfortunate ingredient in the rancid pot of emotions he bottled up over the years.

The General, known for being laid back and relaxed, can feel that image slowly crack and crumble every step you take towards him with a smile on your face.

It's so painful. How can you have that sweet smile on your face while he had to endure so much guilt and pain that he doesn't deserve to undergo?

What's worse is that your smile was lifting so much off of his shoulders to the point that he wants to drag those problems back to his shoulders and stubbornly hold onto them just to prove you a point.

He can't believe you had so much power over him. It's driving him insane how your mere presence shook the centuries worth of healing that he did for himself.

The conflicting thoughts started to whirl in his head.

He wants you to stay, but he wants you to disappear now that you're actually here.

In those mere seconds, he composed himself and gave you a soft smile. A smile that usually had a lazy quality in them now looks rigid.

"Y/N, my love. How are you? It's been seven centuries!" Calm and composed. That's what he wishes his voice sounds like.

You, sweet, oblivious you, hugged him with such a smile on your face. After all, Jing Yuan was your lover. And you hoped that he didn't hate you that much from not communicating.

"Yuan! I'm so glad I met you here again! Wow... You're a general now! How cool is that?!"

Your excited voice grated his ears to the point that he wants to cover it vehemently, but he also wants to get a hold of it and hear it over and over again. Reassuring himself that you're actually here in the flesh with him and not just a figment of his fractured reality.

With a smile, you grabbed his hand and got out of your parents' manor, wanting to apologize to Yuan by catching up.

Are you really that insensitive? Such naive thinking that by only talking things out, the problem will be resolved. Well, in your defense, you didn't know what happened with JIng Yuan and the quintet. All you knew is that they grew apart from the looks of it.

You didn't undergo the same traumatic experience that Jing Yuan did, the agonizing isolation, the years of waiting for that somebody to come home, and your mental health devolving into something more sinister, something that crosses with your logic multiple times.

But here you are, flashing your carefree smile at the dying Jing Yuan who squeezed out a chuckle.

He wishes that you burn in hell. He wishes that HE burns in hell. He wishes to burn with you, spending the last agonizing minutes with you finally in his arms again.

He grasps your hand, wrestling out an apology in his mind to you.

But he can't let you go until you knew of the agony you left him with.

And that's going to take a lifetime with you by his side, shackled and ruined.

It has been a whirlwind of emotions.

You saw Dan Heng, turn into your old friend Dan Feng. Well, his visage anyways. Were you that blind to not see the similarities? Or were you blocking the image out of your mind in order to protect your own peace?

And Yingxing, no, Blade. When did he turn into this immortal, suicidal maniac who wishes for nothing but death for himself and revenge?

And it's Dan Feng's fault? Dan Feng would never!

Your image of Dan Heng/Feng started to mix, making you dizzy and confused.

Baiheng. She died? Did she really? So did Dan Feng's ritual work or not? Did she reincarnate? Is she somewhere out there?

What happened in those years?!

And Jing Liu... Jing Yuan's master. Mara stricken and committed a massacre. That Jing Liu?

Jing Yuan even defeated her himself... Oh gods, did he just carry that burden all by himself? All those years... Centuries of pain and suffering that he didn't deserve.

The carnage, the aftermath, the result of grieving.

It's almost too much to bear for you.

And you were just out in the world, travelling and being all wishy washy, enjoying yourself with your newfound friends?

For gods sake, you were Jing Yuan's lover! Did you just forget about him just like that? Then those promises. Were those fake and surface level?!

How about your old friends? Did you even consider them? In those seven centuries, did you not even think of them?

Of course you did! But you swore that you thought that they're going to do fine!

Guilt riddled your weary body. Exhaustion catching up to you as you wept in your room.

So much to process, so much to grieve. It was almost too much if it weren't for Jing Yuan there to comfort you. Telling you that it was okay, that it wasn't your fault.

But what if's kept popping up your mind. What if you returned earlier? What if you were there for Jing Yuan? What if you didn't actually leave?

And Jing Yuan was so nice throughout the whole thing. You only talked to Dan Heng for a little while, but you need more time.

You felt so selfish for being like this. Why are you so affected when you weren't even there?

That's it. You weren't there. You weren't there for your friends, for Jing Yuan who only has you.

Seven centuries of loneliness... How did he even endure it?

You wanted to share the burden so bad, to be with him and atone for those time lost. You want to be there for him.

You are a terrible lover. A terrible friend, and a terrible person. Those phrases continued to mingle in your mind and wore you down to your barebones.

Now, even a sneeze from Jing Yuan warrants you to panic.

And Jing Yuan had a sick sense of satisfaction from seeing you wallow in sorrow.

Again, he knows it's wrong. He knows that he shouldn't be delighted in seeing you suffer.

But that side of him loves the attention he thinks he deserves. The care that he's deprived of, the love that he's blatantly robbed of.

So, he eggs that anxiety in yours on more by talking about the past and the pain he went through, his eyes narrowing in an indescribable stare as your person gets hammered down more and more.

It was eating him alive. But he assures himself that this is just temporary. Once he felt satisfied, he will start fixing you up again good as new.

And, as your parents urged you to finally marry Jing Yuan, and you nodding in desperation to make it up to him more from the centuries of neglect as his lover, Jing Yuan apologizes in his mind once more, and holds you close.

Hello love, you certainly gave everyone a scare. They're all just thrilled to see you safe and sound. As for this latest little game of yours, thank the stars it's over. Did you have fun? Did you get everything out of your system? Good, good. Everyone is so relieved. Welcome home, Y/n. -Jing Yuan

(Original, unedited quote from White Diamond in Steven Universe)

[redgillan]

Under Pastel Skies - 8

Sugar daddy!Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: Modern!AU Bucky doesn’t need anyone, especially not a sugar baby. He isn’t that desperate… but she smiles so sweetly and she’s endearingly awkward, and he’s so lonely. She’s an artist, a painter, the type of person who always puts others before herself. Throwing caution to the wind Bucky offers her a place to live, a place where she can finally paint whatever her heart desires. He doesn’t need much in return; a friend, a muse.

Word Count: 3,734

Warnings: none

A/N: If this chapter had a name it would be “me, you, and steve’. Also I know how infuriating they are, so oblivious and dumb but isn’t it the point of pining ;) Thanks for your patience!

Wannabe sugar daddies, don’t interact with this post.

Bucky’s cab pulled over to the curb in front of his building. He tugged on the lapels of his coat, pulling it tighter around him, and braced himself for the blast of cold air waiting for him on the other side.

He hated the cold, hated winter. It reminded him of the day he lost his arm, alone on that godforsaken mountain until Steve found him. But he could deal with the cold if it meant he’d find you on the other side of that door.

He knew you were home, you had texted him about an hour ago telling him that you had a surprise for him. It had made him smile. He’d hurried home, desperate to see you even though he’d seen you that morning.

He had it bad.

He’d been restless since the gala, unable to sleep without dreaming of you, your velvet dress in a heap on his bedroom floor, your scent lingering on his bed sheets. He would wake up bathed in sweat, on the edge of coming.

He would deal with it with an ice cold shower.

Bucky had accepted the fact that his feelings for you weren’t as innocent as they once were. He had always thought you were strong, full of life and a little awkward, but lately he’d been wanting to kiss you, touch you, feel your warmth against him.

He wanted it so badly it hurt.

He wouldn’t say he loved you. He certainly felt something for you but love was something foreign to him. Sometimes he wondered if his feelings were even real. He’d gone from living an extremely solitary life to spending every single day with you. It could have easily been a product of his loneliness and your soft spoken demeanour.

He had stopped counting the number of times he’d almost kissed you on the lips. The urge was always there, eating away at him, but he always caught himself at the last moment, his lips landing on your forehead, your cheek or your temple instead.  

“I’m home,” he shouted, closing the door behind him. He bent to untie his shoes and kicked them off while he unzipped his coat. “What’s the big surprise? Is it something we can eat?”

He hung his coat next to yours on the hook and walked down the short corridor that led to the kitchen. As he walked, he became suspicious of the silence that hung in the air. Slowly he peeked into the kitchen and found you in the company of someone he thought he’d never see again.

“Steve?”

“Not edible, sorry, Buck.”

Bucky’s face broke out into an instant smile, ear to ear and ecstatic. “Fuckin’ hell, Rogers, you look like a yeti.”

Steve barked out a laugh as he stepped forward and hugged him. He wrapped both his arms around Bucky, almost lifting him off the ground despite knowing how uncomfortable hugs made him feel. Chuckling, Bucky returned his hug with one arm; the only kind of hug he could give.

“I’m happy to see you.” Steve pulled back and held him at arm's length.

Bucky looked over Steve’s shoulder at you who were standing behind the kitchen counter, grinning at them. “Is that my surprise?” You nodded. “Ugh, I was kind of hoping for pizza honestly.”

“Asshole.”

“I’m joking, man.”

Steve returned to his seat and Bucky followed. You grabbed a mug from the cupboard and fixed Bucky a cup of coffee. He gave you a grateful smile.

“I’m sorry you had to deal with this punk on your own,” Bucky told you. “Did he give you a hard time?”

“Nah,” you said. “He was pretty sheepish. Also, I almost gave him a heart attack.”

Bucky burst out laughing as Steve’s face and neck flushed red. You told Bucky the story of how you and Steve met outside his apartment building. Bucky doubled over laughing when you made a pretty spot-on impression of Steve’s confused face. Steve rolled his eyes at your theatrics, a smile on his lips.

“In my defense, no stranger has ever screamed my name like that.”

“Oh, if the alley behind the church could talk, it’d call you a fucking liar, Steve.”

“First, shut up!” Steve jokingly pushed Bucky off his seat. “Second, I didn’t know you had a girlfriend.” That sobered you both up faster than a cold shower. Steve caught a furtive sideways glance between you and Bucky. “Did I say something wrong?”

“I’m not his girlfriend,” you replied with a smile. “I’m his, uh-” you trailed off and looked to Bucky for help but he was unable to speak. “I’m his roommate.”

“Oooh! Okay.”

Was that relief on Steve’s face? Bucky’s stare hardened. A muscle in his jaw jumped when Steve engaged you in a conversation. He asked you how long you’d been living with Bucky and if you liked the apartment. His tone was conversational but Bucky knew him like the back of his hand, he knew Steve was flirting with you.

“Are you staying for dinner?” you asked Steve. Bucky’s head snapped up, his eyes wide. You picked up the laminated meal plan from on the counter. “Creamed spinach and baked eggs.”

“Sounds great,” Steve agreed.

“You don’t like spinach,” Bucky grumbled under his breath.

“I’m not twelve anymore,” Steve countered with an arched brow. It made you laugh. “Besides I haven’t eaten a homemade meal in... wow, probably years.” Steve turned to you. “I don’t know if Bucky told you but I’m a landscape photographer. I live in the wild most of the year. It’s kinda like travelling by foot on an endless backpacking trip. It’s amazing but the food is disgusting.”

“Yikes!” You grimaced in sympathy. “Well, Bucky’s an amazing chef. I keep telling him we should open a restaurant together.”

You walked over to Steve and mock-whispered in his ear. “If we ask nicely, he’ll probably make us some garlic bread.”

That made Bucky smile. His first instinct was to answer with his usual ‘I’d do anything for you, angel’ but he couldn’t say that in front of Steve so he bit his tongue. He saw the disappointment in your eyes, as if you were expecting that usual answer too.

“I should go upstairs,” you said. “I have a painting to finish. Have fun, boys.”

Steve watched you go, then he shook his head and heaved out a sigh. He waited until he was sure you were out of earshot before he turned to Bucky.

“She’s quite something, isn’t she?” he said. “So, are you two...”

“We’re friends,” Bucky said.

Steve nodded. “Is she single?”

“As far as I know.”

Bucky’s jaw was clenched hard, the tendons in his neck looked like they were about to snap. He loved Steve like a brother but, goddammit, he wanted him to leave and never return. He balled his hand into a fist, feeling a visceral urge to punch something.

Yet, Steve seemed completely oblivious to Bucky’s turmoil. After living in the wild for several years, he was having trouble picking up on social cues.

“Do you think I should ask her out? I’m a bit rusty.” He ran his hand through his long hair, tugging at the strands. “I should get a trim first, right?”

“And a fucking shower,” Bucky grumbled to himself.

Steve didn’t hear him, he was too busy glaring at his hair in the big mirror on the wall.

Bucky tried to push away that nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was becoming harder to pretend this was all innocent. Not when he had to physically restrain himself from punching his oldest friend in the teeth. Steve was allowed to ask you out, Bucky had no right to be jealous.

And yet...

“How long are you stayin’?” he asked, eyeing Steve’s backpack. It wasn’t unusual for him to take Steve in when he was between assignments, but things were different now.

“A few weeks. Is it going to be a problem?”

“Listen, if it were just me, I’d let you stay,” Bucky replied. “But I’m not alone anymore. She doesn’t know you, you’re basically a stranger, and you’re already thinking of hitting on her. I don’t want her to feel uncomfortable. This is her home.”

Steve blushed. “No, of course. I understand. I would never-”

“All I’m sayin’ is, she has the final say,” Bucky cut him off. “If she lets you stay, you can take the kids’ room.”

“You sure? It’s right next to her room. I could take the room upstairs, the one above the living room.”

“No, you can’t,” Bucky sighed. “It’s her painting studio.”

Steve stared at him with a suspicious frown. “Are you sure there’s nothing between you and her?”

“Yup, she’s just a friend.”

He tried not to fidget as he forced himself to hold Steve’s gaze. He kept his head high and acted as composed as he could even though his heart was jackhammering in his chest.

“Okay,” Steve drawled out, not entirely convinced. “If you say so.”

As Bucky expected, you allowed Steve to take the guest room, the one with the bunk-bed, though Steve told you that it wouldn’t be a problem. It also meant that he would be sharing your bathroom, and while it didn’t seem to bother you, it made Bucky really uncomfortable.

That evening, he sat down with you and Steve at the dinner table. He made sure Steve was seated at one end of the table, thinking that if you didn’t have him in front of you, you’d interact less. Bucky’s plan backfired pretty quickly. Steve had so many ‘I-lived-in-the-wild-for-ages’ stories that he monopolized the discussion –and your attention.

Bucky spent most of the night lost in his own thoughts, daydreaming, and only smiled when he caught your gaze. He snapped out of his haze when he noticed that he was alone at the dinner table. You and Steve were washing the dishes, talking and laughing.

He felt a pang of envy at the sight before him; it was supposed to be him and it scared him that someone could take you away from him. Then it hit him. He wasn’t special, you were kind and sweet with everyone. It was what had attracted him to you in the first place; your kindness, your fortitude and loyalty.

He couldn’t blame Steve for falling for you, too.

“Guys, I’m going to bed,” he said, standing on the landing between the two rooms.

You turned around mid-laugh and smiled warmly at him. “Good night, Bucky.”

“Sweet dreams, angel.” It slipped out. He didn’t even realize what he’d said, but Steve did.

Steve cocked a brow at his best friend’s retreating figure before he hung his head and let out a brief chuckle.

Over the next few days, Bucky’s mood didn’t improve. He was holding back, unable to reach out to you the way he used to. Steve was always there. Always.

In the morning Steve would come back from a run, sweaty and hungry, and wearing a shirt that was two sizes too small for him. He really laid it on thick, even by his standards, but you didn’t seem to mind.

In fact, you would often go out with Steve when Bucky was working on his new book. He took you to art shows, introduced you to important people and you visited art supply stores together, which annoyed Bucky more than he thought possible.

He felt stuck in a Garfunkel and Oates song, praying for Steve to go away.

I could've wished a thousand wishes for Steve to disappear.

Worst of all, Bucky was snappy with you. Especially after he inadvertently overheard you and Natasha talking about Steve. You painted a vivid picture of Steve’s ass. Figuratively of course, though Bucky couldn’t be certain that you didn’t have hundreds of notebooks filled with drawings of Steve’s ass.

“Hey, stranger.”

He looked up when you walked into his study carrying a tray with his breakfast –coffee and two slices of toasted white bread with butter and jam. You left the tray on a pile of papers and closed the door behind you.

“I was wondering about you, since you didn’t show up for breakfast.” You stood behind him and worked your fingers through his hair. He closed his eyes and let you massage his scalp, the tension slowly leaving his body. “Something’s bothering you. I can tell.”

Bucky was so relaxed that his filter was non-existent. “Yeah, Steve’s bothering me. He stole my angel.”

“He can’t steal a mythical creature.”

“You’re my angel,” he half-moaned when you applied pressure to his scalp.

“I haven’t been feeling like your angel lately,” you said, giving him another squeeze before you let go of his head. You took a seat on the armchair close to his desk. “You’re... I don’t know. You’re moody and irritated, and I don’t know how to help you. I know you don’t like surprises, and Steve showing up out of nowhere and staying here was a pretty huge surprise. It’s difficult to cope with change but I think you’re acting a little weird. I swear, Bucky, sometimes you look at Steve like you want to kill him. Is it because we spend time without you?”

Bucky straightened up in his seat and took a deep breath, trying to find the right words. “Yeah, I guess. You two are having fun and I’m stuck here, alone.”

“You feel left out.”

“A bit,” he replied earnestly. “But if you like him, you should go for it. He’s a good-looking guy, he’s nice. He’s also a dumbass but that’s part of his charm.”

You laughed. “What? Why are you telling me this?”

“I heard you and Natasha,” Bucky explained, blushing. “You said, and I quote: ‘he's got an ass you can bounce quarters off of.’”

You burst out laughing. “Oh, Bucky.”

“What? I’m just sayin’ if that’s what you wanna do... I’ll give you a bunch of quarters.”

“No, thanks,” you laughed. “I’m good. I keep my quarters for something else.”

Bucky speared you with a suspicious look. “So you don’t think his ass is like a juicy peach.” He blinked. “Also a direct quote.”

“Oh, no, I stand by what I said. His ass is so-” you lifted your hands and made a squeezing motion “-tight.”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” he rushed to say. “It’s not that impressive. Anyone can do squats. I do squats.”

“Fishing for compliments?” He rolled his eyes and shook his head. You looked at him with a fond smile. “Eat your breakfast before it gets cold.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

He reached for a slice of bread and bit into it, focusing his attention on his laptop screen. You got to your feet and walked to the door.

“Oh, um, by the way, how much of that conversation did you hear?” you asked, leaning against the half-open door.

“Not much, I left after the juicy peach thing.”

You hummed while nodding, your eyes cast down. When you looked up at him, a glint of something mischievous shone in your eyes. “You should have stayed a little longer,” you said enigmatically, your eyes roaming shamelessly over his body.

You raised your eyebrows and closed the door behind you, leaving Bucky speechless and confused. “Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?” he shouted, hoping you could hear him through the closed door. “Angel? Come back!”

Needless to say he didn’t write much after that.

Bucky made a conscious effort to stop being an asshat. A week later, he was in a better mood, and only glared at Steve twice –the first time when Steve put his hand on your knee and the second when he made a vaguely flirtatious remark.  

You let Steve and Bucky handle the dirty dishes, and Bucky was sure you did it on purpose. Your little smug smile said as much. Steve didn’t seem happy, he had never liked household chores and probably only did the dishes to spend time with you.

Bucky remembered Steve’s childhood bedroom; shades always down, his bed perpetually unmade, and a monster pile of clean and dirty clothes on his desk chair. He remembered Sarah’s exasperated sigh whenever she entered her son’s bedroom. It made him laugh.

Bucky had always been a neat person, something his mom always took pride in. ‘Look at my son who does his own laundry and sets the table without being asked. Look how well I raised him!’ After his accident, cleaning became an obsession, a way of controlling something that was uncontrollable.

“Did you get Sam’s text?” Steve asked, tossing the now-wet towel on the counter. “Emergency brunch tomorrow at 10.”

“Yeah, I know. Sam has a loose understanding of the word ‘emergency’. Last time he wanted to know if he could pull off a goatee. Not exactly an emergency.”

“Mhh,” Steve replied, thinking. “Are you coming?”

“Hell yeah,” Bucky chucked, “I wanna know what this new emergency is.”

Steve cast him a sideways glance while leaning his back against the kitchen counter. He mulled over something as he watched his friend clean the sink.

“So, um,” Steve started awkwardly. “I have a date tomorrow.”

Bucky’s hand faltered a bit. “Ah? With who?”

Steve looked toward your bedroom door and let out a very loud sigh. “A real-life angel, Buck.”

Bucky let go of the sponge and straightened up abruptly. He glared at Steve, hoping he’d heard him wrong. “What did you just say?”

“I have a date tomorrow night so you’ll have the place to yourself.” Steve smiled to his friend, blissfully unbothered. “I think I’ve been invading your personal space. You always look upset so I thought this would be a great idea. And I’ve been alone for so long, I need... relief you know.”

“Awesome,” Bucky replied, gritting his teeth.

“Great, I’m glad you see it that way,” Steve said, grabbing Bucky’s shoulder and squeezing gently. “See you tomorrow, Buck.”

He watched Steve walk to his bedroom and close the door behind him. Something inside him cracked, and he felt the overwhelming urge to throw something, watch it break into tiny pieces.

He took a deep breath and went in search of you instead. He found you upstairs in your studio, kneeling in front of a canvas, the handle of a pair of pliers in your mouth. It took you a few seconds to acknowledge his presence, and Bucky grinned when you let out a little shocked gasp.

“Did you have fun washing the dishes with Steve?” you teased, taking the pliers out of your mouth.

“I think we need a dishwasher.” He walked into the room and squatted down on his haunches next to you. “Whatcha doing?”

“I’m removing the staples on the stretcher bars so I can roll up the canvas and put it in a tube,” you said. “This way they’re protected and I can carry them pretty easily. I have a meeting with a gallerist tomorrow. Apparently Steve knows her well. He mentioned my name and she wants to see my work.”

“That’s amazing, angel,” Bucky exclaimed. “How can I help?”

“I’m almost done. I just need to finish this one. Can you grab that sheet of plastic on the desk? We’ll wrap it in it and then we’ll use a piece of canvas for extra protection.”

He followed your instructions and made sure not to ruin your hard work. Once the canvas was in the tube, you placed it against the wall next to two similar tubes. Then you cleaned up and put away your tools.

“I don’t know if Steve told you but-”

“Yes, I know,” Bucky cut you off. “The date. It’s great. Honestly.”

“Yeah.” You lowered your gaze and studied your shaking hands, unable to meet his eyes. “Listen, I was thinki-”

“I really need some time to myself anyway,” he talked over you. “So it’s great, y’know? We all get what we want.”

“I guess,” you replied. “It’s getting late, I should go to bed.”

“Getting up bright and early tomorrow, uh?” The jovial tone in his voice sounded forced, even to his ears. You nodded mechanically. “Well, good night.”

“Good night.”

You both stood unmoving, staring at each other. Your eyes were asking for something, pleading with him, but he was too lost to understand. He was lost in his own feelings, remembering something Sam had said a while ago.

There’s an entire world between like and love.

And it was true.

Like was doing the dishes with you. It was laughing and screaming while you chased each other around the living room, using fairy lights as lassos. Like was booping your nose when you watched him cook dinner. It was speaking gibberish after watching a foreign film.

Love was that sweet agony that made him feel more alive than he had ever felt. It was letting you hold his hand and play with his fingers even though his nose felt itchy. Love was seeing you wrap his bow tie around your wrist like a bracelet. It was walking around a deserted planetarium with you.

Love was the colour of your favourite lipstick; Carter Red.

“Thanks for your help,” you said, interrupting his train of thought.

“My pleasure.” He tried to smile but it hurt.

Everything made sense now. His crankiness and irritability, his sudden aversion to his oldest friend, the one who had saved his life. The one who had asked you out on a date –or so it seemed.

“Sweet dreams...” he paused, considering, then used your name instead of your usual pet name.

He had no right to call you ‘angel’ anymore. Steve had asked you out first, he had asked Bucky multiple times if he was okay with that, and Bucky’s answers had always been a gritted ‘yes’.

The truth was, his epiphany didn’t change anything. He wouldn’t have asked you out because there was too much at stake: your friendship, your livelihood, your career, the well-being of your family. He couldn’t put you in an uncomfortable position, couldn’t ruin your hard work.

And he was terrified of these feelings. They were too new, too raw.

You pinched your lips together and nodded, avoiding his eyes. He clenched his jaw hard, hating the resigned look on your face. Why did you look so defeated? Without saying anything, you walked past him and left the room, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

Part 9

[chocoships]

swap chase freaking out bc Anti disappears and he goes looking for him but finds out that he just fell asleep from exhaustion, then we get sweet fluffy cuddling action!!

[oooh boy this took way longer than expected. Sorry about that! I kinda had to strap myself in front of my computer today so I wouldn’t drift off to animal crossing again. I hope this is good enough to compensate for the wait!]

Chase was starting to get worried.

He was aware that he was probably just overthinking the situation again, Anti was just in his recording room like usual, it wasn’t anything to worry about. Sure, he’d been holed up in here for hours now but considering the recent circumstances it was understandable.

Anti had been plagued by a sudden increase of technical difficulties lately. It was frustrating, yes, but nothing that he couldn’t deal with. He could manage it well enough at first but it seemed like every issues, no matter how many times he tried to fix them, just kept piling on each others until it eventually all came crashing down. The culminating result of this frustrating event had been the loss of almost a week worth of work. The only silver lining in all of this was that most of it could still be salvaged, but it would undeniably take a lot of time to bring everything back to normal. Chase had tried his best to help Anti, but other than calming him down and supporting him there wasn’t much that the glitch could actually do. He would have offered to help him, perhaps ease most of sudden workload off his already exhausted partner, but it was quickly proven that having an actual living glitch near his computer simply added more to the whole mess. Anti was incredibly busy and the most that Chase could do right now was to leave him alone to work in peace.  

It should have been easy enough, right? Surely, the cold and fearsome glitch was able to leave his partner alone for most of the day?

Apparently not.

By the five hour mark, Chase was pacing back and forth in the hallway, muttering to himself.

“Relax, relax, you’re worrying over nothing. Anti’s fine, he’s just busy, he’s-” His eyes kept flickering toward the closed door in front of him. He hadn’t heard anything coming from the other side in a while, it was normal knowing that the room was mostly soundproof, but that simple explanation did nothing to ease the worries of the glitch. He didn’t know why he was so easily concerned about the well being of Anti, he was a grown man capable of handling himself just fine… most of the time at least. Alright, maybe his boyfriend wasn’t the best at taking care of himself sometimes, but if there was one thing he excelled at it was being left alone for long periods of time. It should have reassured him, but Chase had never really been able to shake off the nagging feeling in the back of his mind that always urged him to take care of Anti.

God, he’d really fallen hard for him, didn’t he?

He knew that at some point the urge to check up on Anti would be too strong to ignore, eventually he’d open that door. So… if it was indeed inevitable then taking a small peek in the room shouldn’t be a big deal. Yeah? He’d just be in and out, fast and easy, no need to interrupt Anti in his process to catch up back to schedule. Well, maybe he could also steal a quick kiss at the same time too. Just a small peck to satiate the need to smother the other in affection.

Alright, it was decided then. With a quick nod to himself, Chase took hold of the knob and slightly nudged the door open. 

“Anti? Is everything doing ok-” The glitch froze before he even had the chance to finish his sentence.

Anti was laying face down on his desk, unmoving.

In less than the blink of a second, Chase was at his side.

The glitch had seen this particular sight many time before now, but panic still rose in him for a short moment. His first reflex was to check on his partner’s breathing. A sigh of relief left him as he watched Anti’s chest slowly rise and fall.

He’s fine, he just fell asleep mid editing. There’s nothing to worry about. 

Chase was sure that if he had an actual heart it would still be hammering against his rib cage at this exact moment. Still, a false moment of panic was still better than a real one. A small smile formed on the face of the glitch as he watched the peaceful expression on his boyfriend’s sleeping face, but it slightly faltered when he noticed the deep bags under his eyes. Poor Anti, he never had the most healthy sleep schedule to begin with. All the additional stress and rush certainly didn’t help either, the exhaustion must have crashed into him if he blacked out at his desk like this.

Maybe Chase’s earlier worries had not for nothing after all. Goddammit, he should have acted on it sooner. It would have at least saved Anti the discomfort of falling asleep like that. As adorable as he was like this, this position couldn’t possibly be good for his back and Chase couldn’t simply leave him like this.

Without any hesitation, the glitch took Anti into his arms. The man didn’t even stir as he was carefully maneuvered into a bridal position, his body simply laid limp in the gentle hold. This moment could easily be seen as endearing if it hadn’t been for the circumstances that led to it.

With Anti securely in his arms, Chase started walking back toward the door, but as he entered the threshold of it the glitch stopped and turned his head toward Anti’s computer. He glared at the screen and in mere seconds it sprung to life. Chase didn’t bother to stay any longer as the electronic instantly powered itself back from sleep mode, the screen flashed frantically between myriads of opened tabs and scattered files of half edited projects just as the glitch left the room. There, that should save Anti the strain of panicking over if he saved his work or not once he woke up.

 It didn’t take long for Chase to reach the bedroom, but as he gently laid down the unconscious form of Anti atop the cover of their bed, one of his hand slightly tightened around his wrist.

The grasp was incredibly weak, could it really be called a grasp if there wasn’t any force behind it? It was more just resting on Chase’s arms than anything else. He could have easily slipped away from it, even glitch away, and let Anti’s hand fall back on the bed. There was nothing truly holding him back but the longer Chase watched the peaceful expression of his partner, the more his resolve crumbled away. 

It was highly probable that Chase was simply searching for any reasons to stay alongside Anti as he slumbered on, and this coincidence was the only thing he needed before making his decision.

A faint grunt escaped Anti as the mattress beneath him slightly moved next to him but it was quickly followed by a contented sigh when familiar arms found their way around his waist. Chase’s chest was pressed flush against his back, the comfortable pressure of his embrace was more than welcome. Anti practically melted into Chase’s hold, he didn’t even stir as the glitch buried his face into the crook of his neck. Leaving one small kiss before settling down into the cozy position.

As an inhuman entity, Chase might have no need for sleep but it didn’t mean that he couldn’t let himself drift off alongside his darling. Knowing fully that they were safe and loved.

[itskimtaehyung]

When the Stars Align (M)

Part of the Bangtan Assortment Collaboration 

Pairing: Min Yoongi x Reader

Genre: FakeDating!AU with a hint of roommates (well actually more like apartment-mates but roommates is catchier), College!AU, fluff, angst

Word count: 10.5k

Content/Warnings: Mentions of heavy drinking, drug usage, strong language, but also cute things like adopting a dog together

Summary: With cuffing season approaching its end, you thought you had escaped the pressures of finding a boyfriend for the holidays. That is, until your friends set you up on a blind date that goes horribly wrong. This prompts you to enlist the help of your roommate, Yoongi, to fake a relationship so your friends will stop meddling in your love life. And it turns out Yoongi is a lot better at this romance thing than you originally thought...

Spending Valentine’s Day alone sucks.

Even though some people claim they don’t care about being single on one of the many holidays created by capitalist overlords solely to profit off the purest emotion we as humans can experience, everyone cares, just a little bit.

Valentine’s Day is just about the fakest holiday known to man. Does anyone even remember the original meaning behind it anymore? You’re just painfully reminded of how single you are. No one even gets the day off, so can it really be considered a holiday? Although you admit you still can’t help but fall for its charms: The cute little teddy bears that line the grocery store shelves; pink and red, heart-shaped balloons, boxes, and pretty much everything; and candy, half-priced the following day. Also, seeing all the couples being lovey-dovey with each other kind of makes you wish you had someone to cuddle for yourself.

You’ve never really been in a long-term relationship. (Unless you count that boy in high school, who helped you raise your very own sack of flour in health class, equipped with its own voice box to cry every couple of hours, and you two were together all day, every day, for two months straight. Let’s just say that was a bonding experience in more ways than one, and you did very well in health class that semester. The two of you dated for a year after that.)

The thing is, in this fast-paced, ever-changing world, you get bored easily. Some of your relationships don’t last more than a month, a day, or even past the first date.

There is only one person you want to spend Valentine’s Day with this year, and you know he absolutely does not feel the same. And probably never will.

Let’s take a little trip back to last December.

You and your group of friends decided to go out for sushi at your favorite all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant. All of you had just finished finals, so you went out to celebrate.

“Y/N! Are you going with anyone to the New Year Ball?” Jungkook asked loudly over the chatter in the restaurant.

The annual New Year Ball is a huge holiday party put on by your school’s Student Association at the end of each calendar year. The original purpose of this social was for frats, sororities, and clubs to recruit new members, but the event is now used as a way for burnt out college students to drink and blow off steam after final exams. The Student Association books out the entire student center (all three floors of it) for the party of the year. You have no idea why the school would allow such a function, let alone fund it, but you can’t complain. You’re a sucker for free food and alcohol.

“No, I was just gonna go with you guys,” you said before stuffing a too-big piece of tiger roll into your mouth.

“Uh uh,” Hoseok interjected. “We all have dates.”

Taehyung, who was seated to your right, reached across you to grab the soy sauce. “Seriously, you don’t have anyone to go with?”

You shook your head, still chewing.

“What about Kai?”

Kai was a guy you met on a dating app last semester who you ended up hooking up and then never seeing again. He was a terrible person, so arrogant and full of himself. You felt your personalities clash the second you two met. But he was also a beautiful god of a man and you weren’t going to let him slip away from you before banging one out with him. After that, you deleted the app and blocked his number.

You forced the colossal piece of sushi down your throat so that you could finally speak. “Nooooo.” You shook your head vigorously. “That ship has sailed. Plus he’s a Capricorn.”

They all gave you a puzzled look that said they needed more explanation.

“Hello? I’m an Aries?” You waved your hands around, gesturing toward yourself, nearly whacking Taehyung with your chopsticks. “Aries can’t stand Capricorns.”

Taehyung rolled his eyes. “Oh no, you didn’t ask him for his birth chart on the first date, did you?”

“No.” You shifted your gaze away from him and sipped your drink.

“Jesus.”

“Okay,” Seokjin chimed in with half an edamame pod hanging out of his mouth, “but you really need a boyfriend. You’re the only one of us that’s single.”

Namjoon motioned for Hoseok to pass him the wasabi and ginger. “Yeah, sometimes we want to invite you places but worry you’ll feel awkward because all of us are bringing our girlfriends.”

“That’s fine! I love hanging out with your girlfriends! Sometimes it’s too much testosterone when it’s just you guys.”

“No.”  Namjoon shook his head. “We need to find you a boyfriend, too.”

“Joon, I don’t want–”

“How about Taeyong!” Jimin suggested.

“I don’t know, isn’t he kind of a fuckboy? I don’t want our Y/N to get hurt.”

“It’s just one date. Plus they’ll be with us. We won’t let anything bad happen.” Taehyung gave you a reassuring grin.

You huff. “Fine. Can you pass me the rainbow roll please?”

So, that New Year’s Eve, you got ready for the party as your roommate (flatmate, housemate, or apartment-mate are probably more accurate descriptions for what he is, since the two of you share an apartment/flat, but have separate rooms. However, for simplicity, let’s use “roommate” from now on) made dinner in the kitchen.

“Oooh, got a date tonight?” he teased, whisking together some eggs in a bowl as you were leaving.

“That’s none of your business,” you replied, shoving a gold hoop earring into your ear.

He eyed your outfit. “Don’t you think that dress is a little… I don’t know… Short?”

You resisted the urge to flip him off. “Shut the fuck up, you perv. I can wear whatever I want.”

Yoongi chuckled to himself. “Whatever.”

“Bye, Yoongi!”

“Don’t get too crazy out there, Y/N. You know how NYB can be.”

You simply rolled your eyes and left, shutting the door behind you without saying anything further.

You had to watch how much you drank that night, because your friends had declared you the designated driver for your date, which you’re still salty about. The six of them arrived shortly after you did, with Taeyong in tow. You had never met the boy before, but right off the bat you could see that he is undeniably handsome. Now you knew why people called him a fuckboy. With a face and body like that, you would use it to your advantage, too.

You greeted your friends in the lobby and before you could say anything further, Taeyong walked straight up to you.

“We’re going to find our girlfriends,” Jungkook informed you. And then the six of them left you alone with your date.

“Hi, I’m Taeyong,” he held his hand out, intending for you to shake it.

Wow, a gentleman. “Hi. Y/N.”

“I know, your friends have told me quite a bit about you.” He shot you a flirty smile.

Since you’re here, you might as well have some fun. “Well, that’s not fair, I hardly know anything about you.”

“Then we should spend the rest of the night getting to know each other, shouldn’t we?” He smirked, not breaking eye contact with you for a second.

Oh, he was good. A smooth talker with shiny brown eyes that could pull you in, hypnotize you, and leave you wanting to give him all of your attention.

“AY, TAEYONG!” The shout rang across the lobby of the Student Center, pulling you out of the little moment you just had with Taeyong. It was one of his frat brothers, marching over carrying three shot glasses. “Let’s do some shots, bro!”

“You know it!” Taeyong greeted his brother with a shoulder bump and took two of the shot glasses from him. He offered one of them to you.

Hesitantly, you took it, suddenly feeling a bit shy since you don’t really know either of these guys. Both of them took their shots and Taeyong looked toward you expectantly, waiting for you to take yours. You downed it quickly, and gave the tiny plastic cup back to Taeyong’s friend.

“Thanks, man.” He clapped his friend on the back.

“Yo, of course, bro. Listen, this really hot ABG was getting all up on me earlier, so I’m gonna go back over to her. I’ll catch you later, alright?”

“Yeah, I’ll see you later, man!” Taeyong waved his friend off. “Let’s get some more drinks!” Before you could say anything, he grabbed your hand and pulled you toward the drink table.

There was a lot of alcohol. More than enough for the entire student body to get absolutely wasted. The Student Association definitely did not skimp out this year. It looked as if they bought out the whole alcohol section of the nearest Costco.

“Oh shit!” Taeyong’s eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store. “We gon’ get turnt tonight!” He whooped.

“I have to drive you home later, so I can’t drink too much,” you reminded him.

“All good, Y/N,” he said while pouring himself some beer into a red plastic cup. “I’ll drink enough for the both of us.” He then added two shots of soju to his cup and chugged it quickly until it was all gone. You must have made a concerned face, because Taeyong placed a hand on your shoulder and said, “Don’t worry, I can handle my alc.”

For some reason, that didn’t reassure you too much.

“So how did you and your friends meet?” Taeyong had to shout over the music and the overall loudness of all the people around you.

You two were in one of the study rooms, which had been converted into a lounge for the party. Sofas lined the edges of the walls. You and Taeyong were now sitting in one of the more secluded ones in the corner behind some fake potted plants.

“I met Jungkook in elementary school, the rest of the guys were accumulated throughout high school and college.”

“Mhm.” He responded in a way that didn’t seem like he was actually listening. His hand was on your thigh, slowly inching its way upward. Maybe Yoongi was right, maybe this dress was a little too short.

“How did you meet them?” you asked.

Taeyong took a sip of his drink. “I know Jungkook, Jimin, and Hoseok from dance. The other three I just met tonight.” He was a little too close, and his breath smelled strongly of beer.

“Ahh, I see.” You were running out of small talk. You didn’t know what you could possibly talk about with him. From what you’ve gathered, he’s an economics major with enough units to graduate already, but he’s staying so that he doesn’t miss out on any of the parties his fraternity hosts. All he seems to do is drink and fuck, and tonight was no different.

As you were talking, his hand made its way even higher up your thigh, and at this point it was right at the hem of your dress. Taeyong teased the edge with his finger, looking into your eyes to gauge your reaction.

You shook your head and pushed his hand away. You couldn’t deny he was attractive, and you wouldn’t have minded sleeping with him, but this was not the time nor the place. “I’m not having sex with you on school property.”

“Come on, why not? I’ve done it before, it’s no big deal. Plus, I used to work here, so I know which closets we can get into without a key.” He winked at you.

You leaned in so that your lips were right next to his ear. “Save it for later.”

The boy smirked at you. “Fine.”

“TAEYOOOOOOOOOOONG,” you heard someone shout from across the room. You and Taeyong looked over to find an obnoxiously handsome guy in a letterman jacket holding a bottle of tequila. “SHOTS?!”

“HELL YEAH!” Taeyong leapt up from the sofa, throwing his plastic cup onto the floor, and bounded over to his frat brother.

You stayed behind and watched them from afar. A small crowd of dudebros gathered around them, holding out tiny plastic cups as letterman-jacket-guy filled them to the brim with alcohol. Taeyong took six shots, one with each of the guys, and bellowed triumphantly as soon as he downed the last one.

“BEER BONG?!” One of them shouted.

Taeyong hooted in agreement and followed his friends into the next room, completely overlooking your existence.

Where were your friends? You hadn’t seen them throughout the entire party, and you definitely were looking for them. In all honesty, you didn’t really like being alone with Taeyong. The two of you just didn’t click, and he’s very touchy when he’s drunk. Therefore, you were hoping that you would be able to find your friends and hang out with them as well, but you hadn’t seen them the whole night.

You took the elevator up to the third floor, where an actual, literal rave was taking place. The third floor was one big ballroom, and tonight, multicolored lights flashed and loud electronic music thumped as hundreds of sweaty, drunk college kids danced around. If your friends were up here, there would be no way for you to find them, so you gave up on the cause and took the elevator back down. You could still feel the pounding of the bass even after the elevator doors closed, and on your way down you wondered if that was safe, or if the vibrations from the music would compromise the strength of the cables and the elevator would come crashing down, inevitably leading to your tragic death. Yoongi would probably know.

With a ding! the elevator doors opened and you arrived back on the second floor. You were greeted with the sight of your date, a funnel connected to a tube which fed into his mouth, and one of his friends pouring an entire keg of beer down said funnel.

“CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!” The crowd around him chanted.

You sighed to yourself. Frat boys will be frat boys.

“It’s just one date. We won’t let anything bad happen.” You grumbled. That’s what your friends had said to you, but where were they now? Nowhere to be found. You tried texting your group chat with them, but none of them replied.

You went back to the secluded corner from earlier and sat down. You checked your phone again, and still nothing from your friends. You pouted and opened your messaging app.

You: how’s your night going?

You waited a few seconds and then felt the device vibrate in your hand.

Nerd: Shhhhh Halsey is performing You: smh you and your obsession with halsey Nerd: Not so much obsession as admiration Nerd: She’s on my list of top 5 people i want to work with one day You: haha in your dreams Nerd: It’ll happen just you wait Nerd: Also why are you messaging me? your date not going well?

“Y/N!!!!!!!!!” As if on cue Taeyong drunkenly stumbled over to you. He was so inebriated that he could barely walk. His friends had to support most of his weight.

“Oh my god,” you muttered.

When his friends let him go, he collapsed onto the floor, and was too drunk to pick himself up.

“What happened to being able to handle your alc?”

Taeyong struggled to lift his head up. “What are you talking about? I’m totally fine.” His words were badly slurred as he spoke, and you almost couldn’t understand him.

“Oh, jeez. Okay.” You stepped around him and bent over so that you could hoist him up by his armpits. “We need to get you home.”

“No! I’m totally fine!” When you got him to his feet he grabbed a shot glass from someone walking by and poured it into his mouth. The alcohol dribbled down his chin and the passerby shot him a look of annoyance because Taeyong just stole their drink.

You smacked Taeyong on the back of the head. “Stop drinking! You’re gonna kill yourself if you keep going.”

He stomped his foot like a child. “Noooooo!”

You began dragging him toward the elevator and he didn’t resist. When the elevator arrived, you pushed your date into it and pushed the button for the first floor. When the doors opened, you pulled Taeyong out and almost bumped into Jungkook.

“Hey, Y/N! Are you having fun?” He still hadn’t noticed how inebriated Taeyong was.

“I’m not in the mood for small talk right now, Jungkook. Where have you guys been?” You didn’t even try to hide your annoyance.

“Whoa,” Jungkook gasped, noticing your drunk friend for the first time. “What happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it. Can you tell the rest of the guys that I’m taking Taeyong home now?” You pulled Taeyong toward the entrance.

“Okay. Are you coming back? It’s still pretty early.”

“I think I’ve had enough for one night. I’m never forgiving you guys for this. Goodnight, Jungkook.”

Jungkook waved you goodbye. “Okay, get home safe, Y/N.”

You opened the door to your apartment and saw Yoongi sitting on the couch, sipping on a bottle of beer, and watching the ball dropping ceremony on TV.

“You’re home early,” he remarked. “Didn’t like your date?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” You kicked off your shoes and walked right passed him and into your room, slamming the door shut behind you.

“Goodnight, I guess.” Yoongi shrugged and returned to watching his program.

You and your friends regrouped for brunch on the following Sunday morning. Even the barely noticeable smell of alcohol from the mimosas that Jin and Jimin ordered brought back nauseating memories of the party.

“I can’t believe you set me up with Taeyong, who I later found out is a Cancer???? Aries are the least compatible with Cancers!!!”

“I thought that was Capricorns,” Hoseok asserted before stuffing his face with french toast.

“Them too! Capricorns and Aries usually can’t stand each other but when you find two that are compatible it’s like–”

“Anyway,” Taehyung interrupted. “It wasn’t even his personality that you didn’t like, it was his lack of control.”

“It doesn’t matter!” You protested. “It was doomed from the start!”

“Whatever. Enough of this fictitious mumbo jumbo.” Taehyung waved his hand dismissively. “So, Taeyong was an utter failure. Who else do we know who’s single?” The question was directed at the other five boys at the table.

“I don’t want you setting me up with anymore of your friends,” you told them.

“Too bad, we need to find you a boyfriend. You can’t let one bad date stop you from going on others.”

They didn’t seem to be taking no for an answer. You needed to put a stop to this fast. But how? You didn’t have time to think. Before anyone could respond with their suggestions, you blurted out, “I’m dating Yoongi!”

Taehyung nearly choked on his strawberry. “What? Your roommate? Isn’t he a Pisces?”

“And?”

“Aries aren’t compatible with Pisces.”

“And how would you know that, Tae? Aren’t you the one who made fun of me for looking up Kai’s birth chart? Aren’t you the one who just – not even a minute ago – called it fictitious mumbo jumbo?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Jungkook holds his hands out to stop everyone. “How did this happen?”

Jimin looked at you curiously. “Yeah, Y/N. You’ve been living with Yoongi for almost a year. Why now?”

“Uhhhh.” You wracked your brain for an explanation. How did you get together with Yoongi? You had to come up with an explanation that your friends would believe. “After I dropped off Taeyong the night of the New Year Ball, I came home crying.” Your palms started to sweat so you rubbed your hands together. “Yoongi was still awake watching the ball dropping ceremony, so he comforted me, and we ended up falling asleep on the couch together.”

“Did you fuck him?”

You kicked Seokjin under the table. “No! Jin, don’t be gross!”

“Owww! What? You’re the type to move pretty fast. I don’t know.” He bent down to rub his shin.

“Wait, hold up,” Jungkook cut in, ready to poke holes in your story. “Since when do you cry?”

“Hey! I cry! What are you talking about?”

“I don’t know. Sounds kind of fake. I’ve known you for more than ten years and I’ve only seen you cry once when your turtle died.”

“I can cry! I’m perfectly capable of crying!”

“If what you’re saying is true, then bring Yoongi with you the next time we get dinner together. Does Tuesday night work for everyone?”

All the boys nodded their heads.

Shit. You could feel your face getting hot. “Uhh, since the relationship is still pretty new, I’m not sure Yoongi would want to make it public just yet,” you lied.

“Come on, Y/N. We’ve known Yoongi for over a year, and we’ve known you for even longer. There’s no reason for you guys to hide from us.”

You groaned. “Fine, I’ll bring him. But don’t think I’ve forgiven you guys for setting me up with that trainwreck.”

“We’re sorry, Y/N. Really.”

How would you possibly explain this whole situation to your roommate? “Hey, uh, I told my friends we were dating so they wouldn’t set me up with another fuckboy, and now they want to do a septuple date.”???

You just know he would give you endless shit for this. For as long as you’ve known him, Yoongi has always been the sarcastic smartass who loves to poke fun at you.

From commenting on what you wear: “That’s not a shirt, Y/N.” (Also, remember your dress on New Year’s Eve?)

Giving you “helpful” hints when you try to fix something that broke: “You know that’s not going to work, right?”

To helping you with your math homework: “You get to ask me one question per month. After that I’m going to start charging you a fee.”

To some, his treatment toward you may seem harsh or mean. What a lot of people don’t understand is that you two are this way because you’re comfortable with each other. It’s not one-sided. You definitely roast Yoongi back. And it’s never serious. It’s a sibling type of banter.

Although the two of you are comfortable with each other, Yoongi also keeps to himself a lot, only sharing bits and pieces of him with you. He’s serious and stoic a lot of the time, and when he’s home, you mostly see him studying or watching TV. But you guess this is typical behavior of someone who’s studying to be a sound engineer.

He rarely tells you anything about his dating life. He had a girlfriend when he first moved in. You know this because he would bring her over every weekend, and you would hear them in his room. Every. Fucking. Weekend. But all of that stopped a couple of months ago. You know they broke up, but you don’t know why, or whose decision it was. Yoongi rarely talked about her, so you couldn’t tell if he actually liked her or not, or if it was just a sexual thing. Come to think of it, you couldn’t remember the last time he expressed feelings for anyone.

You turned toward your roommate, who sat next to you on the couch, reading one of his textbooks.

“Are you a sociopath?” You asked him, casually of course, as roommates do.

Without even looking up he replied with, “What in that tiny, little brain of yours prompted you to ask me such a thing?”

You smacked him with one of your throw pillows, which took Yoongi a considerable amount of convincing to let you buy because he thought they were “useless and a waste of money.”

“Because I’ve never seen you express emotion toward anything. Not even food.”

“Just because I don’t have an orgasm every time I eat pizza like you do, does not mean I’m a sociopath. For your information, I am perfectly capable of emotion. I just prefer to channel it into my music.”

You rolled your eyes. He’s so pretentious. “Then why aren’t you dating anyone?

He closed his textbook. “Jeez, Y/N. Not everything is about dating. I just got out of that messy relationship with Nayeon, remember?

“I thought you were just with her for sex? I didn’t know you actually liked her.”

“We were together for four fucking years, of course I liked her. You don’t just share such a big chunk of your life with someone and not feel something for them.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that you were together for that long. You never really told me much about her.”

He shrugged. “That’s because you entered my life during the last year of our relationship, and at that point we could already feel our relationship start to all apart.”

“She was here all the time, though.”

“Yeah, we thought seeing each other more would help fix us, but after a while it just got kind of tedious. So we called it off.”

This was good, this was the most information you’d gotten out of him in a while. “Do you still have feelings for her?”

“Of course, but it didn’t work out. It’s in the past now and I need to move on. My friends think that finding someone knew would help me get over it, but I need to take some time for myself.”

You nodded understandingly. “What were you like with her? You know, before all the bad stuff. I can’t imagine you being romantic in any sense of the word,” you jested.

“Hey! I was romantic! I took her to the beach and bought her flowers and stuff.”

“Wow. A real stunner, you are,” you said sarcastically

Yoongi rolled his eyes

“Hey, here’s a nutty idea.”

Your roommate raised an eyebrow at you. You thought long and hard about how you were going to do this. All the scenarios that played out in your head seemed utterly ridiculous, but you had to tell him somehow. This seemed like the least weird way to broach the subject with him.

“What if we like….. Pretended to date?” you asked hesitantly, wiping your sweaty palms onto your throw pillow. See? It’s not entirely useless.

“Why the fuck would we do that?”

“You know… Because my friends are trying to set me up with people… And from what you’ve said, your friends want you to start dating again, too.”

“Yeah, that’s what my friends want, but I don’t have to do what they want.”

“I’m just saying, you know… It might be beneficial for both of us.” You couldn’t look Yoongi in the eyes. Instead, your gaze shifted just about everywhere else: out the window, the TV, the ceiling.

Yoongi definitely noticed and could tell you were hiding something. His eyes narrowed at you. “What’s the real reason, Y/N.”

You shrugged and shook your head. “That is the real reason.”

“You’re a terrible liar.” His gaze grew more intense and you could feel his gaze burning holes into your face.

You sighed deeply. “Fine. So I… Uhh…”

Yoongi looked at you expectantly. Were you really going to tell him? You had to own up to your stupid decision. But it was exactly that: stupid.

“I may or may not have told my friends that you and I are dating.”

“Fucking hell, Y/N.” There wasn’t even any surprise in his voice. It was more like disappointment, exasperation. Like his exact thoughts were, typical Y/N, always up to the same shenanigans.

“I’m sorry! I panicked! I didn’t want to get setup with another Taeyong and you were the first person who came to mind! I just kind of blurted it out during brunch!”

Yoongi was silent for a long time, and you couldn’t tell what he was thinking. What would you do if he said no? What would you tell your friends?

After an eternity, he finally answered. “Fine”

You let out a sigh of relief. “Great. Our first date is tomorrow.”

“Fucking hell! Thanks for the warning!”

“See you then!” You jumped up from the couch and ran to your room before he could verbally abuse you further.

“Oh my god. Are you seriously wearing that on our first date?” Yoongi was standing in the doorway to his room as you eyed his outfit, which consisted of a white t-shirt underneath an unbuttoned red and cream plaid flannel, accompanied by ripped light wash jeans and old tennis shoes.

“Yeah? What’s wrong with this?” He gave you a mildly annoyed, confused look.

“Nothing’s wrong with it if you’re going to class. But this is dinner with my friends! Our debut as a couple! You can’t wear that!”

Yoongi sighed. “Fine. Then what do you suggest I wear.”

You huffed and pushed past him into his room, him following closely behind. You stared into his closet, eighty percent of which was completely black. Somehow, today, he managed to throw on the only non-black outfit he owned.

“No. No. No.” You grumbled as you sifted through his clothes.

“Why do I even need to dress nicely? I’ve already met all your friends. It’s not like I have to make a good first impression or anything.”

“Still! They would never believe I would date someone who’s dressed like that.”

“Hey! You know, you’re such a bitch sometimes.”

“I know.” You pulled out a red and black swirly patterned button down that was squeezed between two black sweaters. Ugh, there was no method of organization to this closet whatsoever. You caught a glimpse of the tag as you removed it from the closet. “Dior? Damn. I didn’t know you were the type to wear designer.”

Yoongi snatched it out of your hand protectively. “I’m not. Nayeon gave it to me.”

You gently took it back from him. “Okay, so it’s a touchy subject. I guess we’re not going with that one.” You put it back on to the clothing rack and pull out a long wool coat. “Valentino? You’re kidding me, right? Is there any nice stuff in here that you bought yourself?”

Yoongi shook his head.

“Now I know why she bought all of this stuff for you: so you don’t embarrass her everytime you two went out in public.” You sighed. “Well, I guess we’re just going to have to work with it.”

You pulled the red and black shirt back out and handed it and the coat to Yoongi.

“No peeking,” Yoongi warned. You nodded and turned around.

As he changed, you rifled through his closet for some suitable pants, so you wouldn’t accidentally catch a glimpse of your roommate shirtless. You found the pair of black ripped jeans that Yoongi always wore and decided to go with those.

“I don’t like this jacket,” Yoongi whined. You took it as a sign that it was safe to turn around.

The jacket reached almost to the floor, and his arms were tight against his sides, like he could barely move them. “You’re right. You look so stuffy. Like a little old man.”

“Hey! Listen up, bitch.” Yoongi squared his shoulders and took a couple of steps closer to you. “I may be older than you, but I’m also taller.” He prodded your shoulder threateningly with his finger.

“Not if I wear heels. Which is what I’m planning to do tonight.” You smirked at him.

“Fine, then I’ll wear my platform sneakers.”

“That still won’t be enough,” you teased.

He frowned and you chuckled at his reaction.

“I’m kidding. I’m not going to wear heels tonight. So, you still get to be taller than me.”

“Why does it feel like I’m receiving some sort of consolation prize?”

You rolled your eyes. “God, you’re so annoying.”

“Can I just go without the jacket? It’s not that cold outside.” Yoongi struggled to take off his coat so you walked up behind him and helped pull it down his shoulders.

“Okay, but if I get cold, what are you going to offer me for protection? How are you supposed to romantically give me your jacket if you don’t even have one?”

Yoongi groaned. “God, your ideas of romance are so antiquated.”

“And your ideas of romance are nonexistent!” You countered.

“Whatever,” he spat. “Just pick a jacket you want to wear then. It’s too warm out for me to wear one.”

You grudgingly agreed and grabbed a simple black blazer from the closet. The tag on the back said H&M.

“You guys! I’m so excited to try this place!” Taehyung ran up to where you and Yoongi waited outside the new omurice restaurant that opened up across town.

“I hope it’s good,” Yoongi said. “This would be the first omurice place here and I haven’t had decent omurice since I went to Kyoto a couple of years ago.”

“What is this? You? Min Yoongi? Getting excited about food?”

Yoongi shot you a warning look, which you ignored.

“If you miss it so much, why don’t you try making it yourself?”

“If you paid any attention to me at all, you would know I make it all the time, but it’s never the same.”

You frowned at him, offended that he would accuse you of not paying him any attention at home. “I totally pay attention to you!”

“Then you would know I made omurice just last Thursday!”

“Thursday is my busy day! I wasn’t home all day!”

“Okay!” Taehyung interrupted, clapping his hands together. He was probably afraid you two would either start throwing punches or angrily making out. Neither of which he wanted to witness at that moment. “Let’s get a table and wait for the others inside.”

“So did you enjoy it? Was it as good as the one you had in Kyoto?” You looped your arm around Yoongi’s and rested your chin on his shoulder.

Yoongi set his spoon down onto his now empty plate and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “It was pretty good.” He didn’t turn to face you because he didn’t want his face that close to yours. “But to be honest, nothing can top the one I ate in Kyoto.”

You moved your hand toward Yoongi’s, which was now placed limply on his thigh. He squirmed as you got too close to his crotch.

“Hold my hand, dumbass,” you whispered so that only he could hear. “And smile please.”

Yoongi turned his face toward you and gave you a soft smile so convincing, your heart fluttered for a split second before you came to your senses. He leisurely intertwined his fingers with yours.

“Thanks, you’re doing a great job,” you told him. Yoongi was never really one to seek out praise and validation, but you wanted him to know that he was doing a good job.

“Awww, you guys are so cute,” Hoseok cooed. “Y/N, I’m glad you’re finally dating someone again.”

“I don’t know why y’all are so damn concerned with my love life. It’s none of your fucking business.”

“It’s just that you haven’t been in a relationship in so long, this is quite interesting to watch.”

You twisted your face at Jungkook.

“So tell me more about how this whole thing happened.” Jungkook sat up attentively, putting his elbows up on the table and resting his face in his hands, wanting to hear every word you had to say.

“I already told you everything.”

“Okay, but I want to hear it from Yoongi’s perspective.” He nodded at your fake boyfriend.

“Shit,” you muttered and squeezed Yoongi’s hand. You raised an eyebrow at Yoongi, an expression that said, “You remember what I told you, right?”

Yoongi nodded. “Well, I don’t know what Y/N told you but, she came home really upset after the New Year Ball, thanks to you guys, and that’s when it kind of happened.”

“We’ve apologized so many times for that.” Jin rolled his eyes.

“And yet I still don’t accept your apologies,” you quipped.

You looked over at Jungkook to see that he was eyeing you warily. Your cheeks burned under his scrutiny. Did he still not believe you? Even after you and Yoongi’s blatant (albeit forced) displays of affection? Maybe because he knew neither of you were big fans of PDA. Or maybe because he’s known you for more than half your life and can tell when you’re lying 90% of the time.

Just when you’re about to crack under his gaze, the waiter comes over with the bill.

“So how are we going to do this?” Namjoon addressed everyone at the table.

“I don’t know. You’re the math major; you tell us,” Jimin retorted.

Yoongi grabbed his wallet from his back pocket with the hand that wasn’t holding yours. “I’ll pay for Y/N and me.”

“How noble,” Jungkook scoffed.

You leaned closer to Yoongi. “You don’t have to do that.”

“Of course, it’s our first date. Let me pay.”

You blushed. “Okay.”

Then the unexpected happened. Yoongi leaned in closer and gave you a quick peck on the tip of your nose.

You gaped at him momentarily and then immediately regained your composure. You turned around to see Hoseok and Jin looking at you fondly, Taehyung and Jimin making disgusted faces, Jungkook with his eyebrows raised in a look of surprise and horror, and Namjoon too distracted by figuring out how to split the bill.

Luckily, because of this stunt, Jungkook forgot about grilling Yoongi with the questions.

“Okay, so I’m going to cover it with my credit card and I’ll charge you guys on BuddyPay.” Namjoon announced, still totally oblivious to the kiss that just shocked the whole table.

Everyone else grumbled in agreement.

After the payment was sorted out, your friends trickled out of the restaurant while you and Yoongi stayed behind. The second they were gone, Yoongi dropped your hand as if you had the plague.

“God, your hand is so sweaty,” he griped, wiping his hand on his jeans.

“Sorry! I was nervous!”

“Aww. You get nervous around me?”

“It wasn’t because of you, asshole.” You slapped his arm. “It’s because I’m a terrible liar! I almost popped a blood vessel everytime one of them looked me in the eye. Especially Jungkook! I know he suspects something.”

Yoongi shrugged. “Well, if it means anything, I think you were pretty convincing.”

“Thanks. It doesn’t. Also why did you kiss me? We never agreed to any kissing.”

“Did that kiss really affect you that much?” Yoongi smirked and got up from his seat.

You huffed. “Fuck you, Yoongi!”

“A kiss is as far as I’m gonna go.”

You scowled and grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair, jogging a little to catch up to him.

By the time you caught up, he was waiting by the door for you. “How are we going to make it convincing if I never kiss you?” Yoongi rolled his eyes. “Also, if you pop a blood vessel, I’m not driving you to the hospital.”

You frowned. “Whatever. Let’s get out of here.”

“God, I’m so full,” you groaned once you got outside. “Can we walk around a bit?”

Yoongi nodded. “Sure. I’ve never been in this plaza. We can check out what they have.”

Out of the corner of your eye you notice a Critter Castle on the other side of the parking lot.

“Ooh! A pet store! Let’s go in!” You grabbed Yoongi by the wrist and hauled him across the parking lot.

Immediately when you walk in, Yoongi gravitated toward the puppies. There was a small one, with curly brown fur that he took a particular liking to.

“Hey there, little guy.” The puppy perked up and started hopping around in its pen. “You’re an excited one aren’t you? Hi.” He brought his hand up to the barrier, allowing the puppy to stick its nose through and lick Yoongi’s fingers.

It wasn’t often that you got to see Yoongi’s soft side. He was always either serious or sarcastic around you. But seeing him like this made the corner of your lips tug up and your heart feel warm.

What was this weird feeling? It couldn’t possibly be… Could it?

You shook off the weird feeling. “What’s its name?” You asked Yoongi.

Yoongi looked at the sign the hung on the edge of the play pen. “Holly.”

“So it’s a girl?”

“The sign says it’s a boy. Awww and he’s only two weeks old! So fucking tiny!”

You giggled. “Do you want him?”

“What?”

“Do you want to adopt Holly?”

“I– yes. But would you be okay with that?”

You nodded.

“Oh my god. Then yes, I want this dog more than anything.”

“Okay wait here, I’ll go talk to a worker.”

You returned a couple of minutes later to find Yoongi sitting on the floor, sticking his fingers in the holes of the pen and playing with the little puppy.

“So, I have some bad news.”

Yoongi sighed. “Y/N, always gotta ruin things.”

“Shut up! The worker said Holly is still too young to be adopted, but we can come back in a month and a half or so and if he’s still here we can adopt him.”

“Can we like, preemptively adopt him? Like put him on hold or something?”

“I asked and she said adoptions here don’t work that way since it’s not a shelter. We’re just going to have to come back later and hope for the best.”

You could see Yoongi’s face fall. “Okay.” He stood up. “It was nice knowing you, Holly. Hopefully we can meet again soon.”

“We’ll come back for you, Holly.”

The little dog yapped and hopped with joy, but when the two of you began walking away, he whined and put his head to the floor.

About a month passes and now it’s the present again. Pretending with Yoongi has gotten a lot easier and more comfortable. Your friends have invited you and Yoongi out to septuple dates with their girlfriends, and you genuinely have fun.

But having a month pass means it’s now February, and everyone knows what dreaded holiday comes in February.

You fling yourself onto the couch right next to where Yoongi is sitting. “So it’s Valentine’s Day next week.”

“And?”

“And are we going to do something special?”

Yoongi makes a disgusted face. You grimace at his grimace.

“Come on! Jungkook will definitely think something is up if we don’t post something cute on Instagram,” you whine.

For the last month, even when your friends didn’t invite you and Yoongi out to do stuff with them, you still took pictures of the two of you together to keep up appearances on social media. Yoongi was surprisingly good at it, knowing exactly how to pose or what caption to write to get a reaction out of people. Everyone seems to love sharing their relationship with the world, and Valentine’s Day is the prime time to do so, so it would definitely be odd if you and Yoongi didn’t do something sickeningly romantic for the special day.

“How about we just get one of those long candles and light it next to a rose and take a picture of that, then we can go back to living our lives like normal? Most of social media is fake anyway, so I don’t see why we actually have to do something special instead of just pretending we did.”

“Ooh! What if I get a bunch of rose petals and sprinkle them from the front door to your room? And then I caption it something like, ‘Came home from class and was greeted with this, *suggestive emoji*.’”

“No! No offense, but I don’t want to imply that I’m having sex with you.”

“We’re dating, it’s already implied.”

Yoongi’s face twists. “How long are we going to keep this up, anyway? I’m not going to fake date you forever.”

“Oh my god!” You exclaim, ignoring his question. “I’ve got it!”

“What?” Yoongi asks, his tone fearful.

“The pet store has discounted pet adoptions on Valentine’s Day.”

“Okay…”

“Let’s adopt Holly together!”

Yoongi’s eyes light up, but he tries to contain his excitement when he says, “So you’re serious about it? You really want to adopt a dog together?”

“Of course! I’ve always wanted a dog.”

Your roommate raises an eyebrow. “You never said anything.”

“Because I didn’t know you liked dogs.”

“So, you’re actually serious about this?” He asks again, just to be absolutely sure.

“Yes, Yoongi! I am 100% serious.”

He jumps up and gives you a big hug, squeezing you so hard that you almost can’t breathe.

That Valentine’s Day, you and Yoongi walk into your apartment with a new addition to your family. Yoongi insisted on holding him on the car ride home, and wouldn’t even let you hold him in the elevator ride up to the apartment. He is still cradling the small, brown puppy even after you’re inside, where it’s safe to let him run around.

“Hold right there,” you tell Yoongi after you both take your shoes off, with Yoongi struggling because he still will not let go of Holly the entire time. “Let me take a picture for Instagram.”

Yoongi holds up Holly so that he’s obscuring his face.

“No! We need to see your face!”

Yoongi sighs and lowers the little animal.

“Great, now kiss him.”

Yoongi puckers his lips and brings it closer to the curly brown fur.

“Perfect!” You snap the photo and post it to Instagram, captioning it, Father and his brand new son. Happy Valentine’s Day, babe *heart eye emoji*.“Cuuuute!” You exclaim.

“I know I am, but how’s Holly look?”

You give your fake boyfriend an exasperated look.

“I can’t believe we have a puppy now!” Squeal isn’t exactly the right word to describe how Yoongi says it, but it’s a pretty close description.

“I know right? We’re parents now.”

Yoongi plops himself on the floor and lies on his back. Holly hops around him, leaping across his legs and stomach. The feeling that you experienced in the pet store when Yoongi first met Holly returns, and you are filled with an inexplicable fondness. You get down on the floor and join them, and when you look at Yoongi, he smiles at you.

“Thank you, Y/N. I am so happy right now.”

“You’re welcome, Yoongi. I am too.”

A couple of weeks later, you come home after a rough shift at work. There was a huge dance contest going on at school tonight and afterwards a lot of the spectators flocked to the nearest boba shop– which happened to be the one you worked at. The line was long, the store was crowded and loud, and it didn’t help that your manager was yelling at all of the workers to put out drinks faster. At the end of the night, you had to turn some customers down so that you could close up shop, and a few of them weren’t too happy about that.

You’re exhausted when you step through your front door, your feet are sore and your muscles tense. When you enter, you see Yoongi sprawled on the couch as always, your nostrils assaulted with a pungent odor, quite a juxtaposition to the sickenly sweet smell of the boba shop.

You let out an exasperated sigh. “How many times have I told you not to smoke inside?”

“I wasn’t smoking.” Yoongi shifts his bloodshot eyes back and forth.

“I smelled weed the second I walked in the door.” You saunter over to the screen door that leads to the balcony and pull it open to let in some fresh air.

“That’s….. a skunk got in here.” His voice is mellow in a way that confirms your suspicions.

You cross your arms and give him an incredulous look. “A skunk?”

“Yeah.”

“We live on the third floor in the middle of the city. There are no skunks here,” you scoff. “Raccoons, I would believe, but not skunks.”

Yoongi rolls his eyes.

“At least share, will you?” You drop your aching body onto the couch next to him, resting most of your weight against Yoongi.

“Since when do you smoke?” He asks.

“I don’t usually. I get a really bad case of the munchies when I do. One time I smoked at Jungkook’s place and ended up eating six of those spicy cup noodles. My intestines were not happy afterward.”

Yoongi chuckles. He then pulls a blunt out of his pocket and lights it for you. You put it up to your lips and smoke it.

“Who’s smoking in the house now?” he teases.

You shake your head. “Where’s Holly?” You ask, ignoring his silly rhetorical question. You shift so that your head is now resting on his chest.

“He’s in my room sleeping. All he does is sleep.”

“Of course, he’s a puppy. He’s still growing.” You pass Yoongi the blunt and he takes a hit before passing it back to you.

“I love him so much.”

“I know you do.”

“He’s so small.” Yoongi remarks, except it comes out more like a whine.

“I know he is.”

He notices that you’re not being your characteristically talkative self, which leads him to suspect something is wrong. “Rough shift?”

“Mhm.” You nod with your head still resting on your roommate’s chest.

He slings his arm lazily across your shoulder. “Want to talk about it?”

You take another long drag from the blunt. “Nope,” you exhale.

Just as before, your cravings set in about thirty minutes later. You haven’t eaten since before your six hour shift, and you're now starving.

“Oh my god I want pancakes!!!!” You wail, springing up from your where your head rested on Yoongi’s lap. “I want pancakes so bad.” Your stomach grumbles at the thought of the fluffy stacks of cinnamon swirl pancakes that they serve at the Pancake Shack, lathered in thick, golden maple syrup, and smothered with butter.

“Y/N, it’s 2 in the morning. Everything is closed now.” Yoongi is always one to burst your bubble.

"But I want Pancake Shack!"

"Pancake Shack is closed."

“Make me pancakes!!!!!”

“I am not making you pancakes.”

“But I want pancakes!! Like so bad. I think I might die.”

“You may be the only person who gets more high-strung when you smoke.” Yoongi doesn't budge.

You pout at him.

Finally, he resigns. “Fine, I’ll make you pancakes.”

“Thanks, Yoongi.” You hug him and rest your head on his shoulder. The two of you lock eyes and your gaze lingers for longer than it should, and for a second, your heart stops. The intensity of the moment startles you and you pull away from him. “You know what. It’s late. Never mind, you don’t have to make me pancakes.”

“Y/N, I don’t mind if you really want me to.”

You shake your head. “No, it’s okay. I should go to bed. I have class in the morning.”

“Okay, if you say so.” Yoongi raises an eyebrow. You were just insisting that he make you pancakes. What made you change your mind so suddenly?

You get up off the couch and make your way to your room.

“Goodnight, Y/N,” he calls after you.

“Goodnight, Yoongi.”

Jungkook: hey jieun just broke up with me :’( can you come over?

You get the text late at night, a couple of days later. You’re already in your pajamas and getting ready for bed. But still, you don’t hesitate, because Jungkook is your best friend, and you could really use something to take your mind off of the forbidden feelings you’re starting to develop for Yoongi.

You: yeah i’ll be there in 10

“Hey.” Jungkook greets you with a sad smile when he opens the door to his apartment. His hair is a mess and he’s also wearing his pajamas.

You return the greeting and enter. “How are you holding up?” You ask him.

“Honestly, a lot better than I thought I’d be. I’m not as heartbroken as I expected.”

His place is a one bedroom studio apartment, so inside is just his bed, desk, kitchen, bathroom, and video game system. It’s cozy, and the two of you have had many heartfelt talks here. You used to come here whenever you wanted peace and quiet when you still had two other roommates at your old place.

“Why did you call me over? I thought you’d be a mess.” You kick off your shoes and jump onto the bed.

Jungkook shrugs as he sinks down next to you. “You’re my best friend. I just wanted someone to talk to.”

“Well, I’m here for you. Whatever you have to say. Whatever you want to talk about.”

He smiles at you. “Thanks, Y/N. How are you and Yoongi doing?”

“We’re alright.”

“I can tell he really likes you.”

You sigh, wondering if now is a good time to break the news to your best friend. What are you really waiting for? Why keep this going? Who does it benefit? “Jungkook, I have to tell you something.”

Jungkook raises an eyebrow.

You take a deep breath. “It’s fake. My entire relationship with Yoongi is fake. We were never actually dating.”

“I don’t believe that.” He shakes his head.

But it’s the truth.

Jungkook shakes his head again. “No. I know you both really care for each other. I can tell your feelings for each other are real.”

You remain silent. You and Yoongi have definitely grown closer in the last two months, especially after the two of you adopted Holly together, and you were having some feelings toward him, but you knew Yoongi didn’t feel the same. In the beginning, he made it explicitly clear that he had absolutely no romantic feelings toward you. Just last year, you two had The Talk about not being attracted to each other.

“You guys even adopted a dog together for god’s sake. You don’t just do that with anyone.”

Still you say nothing.

“That was real right? That dog is yours?”

You nod.

Jungkook runs his fingers through his hair. “I’m not going to brag, but I knew it was fake at the beginning, especially because it lasted more than a week, which is some sort of record for you.”

“Shut up.”

“But as time went on, I could tell you were growing to like each other, genuinely.”

You shake your head, still refusing to believe it. “He’s a Pisces, though. Aries aren’t good with Pisces.”

“Stop making excuses, Y/N. I think you should talk to him. Sort this out.”

"I may have feelings for him, but I'm positive he doesn't feel the same way about me." You grab one of Jungkook’s pillows and fiddle with a loose thread on the pillow case.

Jungkook sees what you’re doing and takes the pillow away from you, setting it down on the side of the bed that you can’t reach. "If you think that way, then you should end it. It's not fair for the both of you.”

You sigh deeply, knowing he’s right. “I thought we were here to talk about you.”

“We were. But I feel much better now, having my best friend with me.”

You give him a half hearted smile.

“I love you, Y/N.”

“I love you, too, Jungkook.”

He holds out his arms. “Come here.”

You crawl forward and give him a firm hug.

“Can I, like, at least practice in front of you? Because I have absolutely no idea how to approach this.”

“Of course. Anything you need, I'm here for you.”

You squeeze him a bit tighter. "Thank you, Jungkook."

The next night, you pace back and forth in your room, trying to figure out how you're going to bring it up to Yoongi. He's right on the other side of the door, on the couch, watching TV and petting Holly, as usual, and can probably hear you burning a hole in the carpet. You take a deep breath. It’s time. But what if he’s not watching TV anymore? What if he’s studying or doing homework? You shuffle over to your door, slowly cracking it open and peeking your head out.

He’s still exactly where he was when you got home earlier. Doesn’t he have things to do? Why is he always watching TV? You then realize that you just want an excuse for him to be too busy to talk, so you can avoid this conversation and postpone it for another time. Another time when you’re more prepared, when you’re older, and therefore wiser. But for some reason all the signs (really, just Jungkook) are telling you to do it now, providing you with the perfect opportunity, the perfect setup for you to break up with your fake boyfriend. Nothing like the present, right? You just gotta do it. Rip it off like a bandaid.

Apprehensively, you tiptoe out of your room. "Hey, Yoongi, I need to talk to you."

He turns his head toward you. “What’s up? What’s wrong?” His brows furrow when he notices your unease.

You walk over to the couch and sit down next to him. "Nothing’s really wrong, per se. But we do need to end this fake relationship."

“Well, it’s about time.” He sighs and picks up Holly from his lap and places him onto the floor. “We’ve been going at this for what? Almost two months?”

Your heart drops at his words, feeling like it's shattered into a million pieces. You know he didn’t feel the same way about you, but hearing him confirm it hurts a lot worse than you imagined. So, it really was all just pretend to him? You had been so stupid to let yourself fall for him, and now you have to deal with the consequences.

“I– Wow– has it really been that long?” You force a chuckle, trying your best to hide your disappointment.

“Yeah. It’s about time we start dating for real, right?”

“W– what?” You stutter, completely caught off guard. Out of all the scenarios you thought of, this was not one of them.

“Y/N, don’t tell me you don’t think there’s something between us.”

“I– I do. I just didn’t think you did.”

“Of course I did! Are you really that dense? I wouldn’t have volunteered to make you pancakes at two in the fucking morning if I didn’t.”

You breathe out a sigh of relief. “Thank you. You just saved me from a really difficult talk.”

“Were you going to break up with me?”

You nod.

“Did you plan out everything your were going to say? Rehearse it in front of the mirror and everything?”

“No.” You cross your arms in defiance. “I rehearsed it in front of Jungkook.”

Yoongi chuckles and it makes your heart warm. “You got Jungkook to help you?”

“Yeah. Don’t make fun of me.” You pout. “I’m not good at this type of thing.”

“You’ve broken up with plenty of guys before, though.”

“But none that I’ve cared about as much as you.”

Yoongi takes both your hands in his. "Don't worry. You don’t have to."

You feel as if a tremendous weight has been lifted off your chest. "So what now? What's different?"

Yoongi uses his hand to brush aside a stray chunk of hair that had fallen from your ponytail, and then delicately caresses your cheek. "Well, this, for one." He leans in and places a firm kiss on your lips. Yoongi had given you soft kisses on your cheeks and nose when the two of you were just pretending, and for a long time you wondered what it would be like to kiss him for real. Now you know, and it's so much better than you ever imagined.

You know how in those cliche movies, when a couple shares their first kiss, fireworks explode in the background and everyone cheers? That's what it feels like. It feels like every bad date, every disappointing hookup has led to you finding Yoongi. It's like the spring finally arriving and the clouds getting clear after a long, cold winter. Jungkook's right. Who cares if you're an Aries and he's a Pisces? The stars aligned in just the right place for you to find each other.

"And this," Yoongi breathes, softly brushing his hand against your breast and running it along your body until it reaches your thigh, all while still kissing you. "And this."

You squeal as Yoongi's hand moves under your legs and he scoops you up as he stands. You wrap your arms tightly around him, giggling and burying your face in the crook of his neck while he carries you bridal-style to his room.

Holly follows closely by his feet, wanting to follow his parents and see what they're up to. Once Yoongi gets to the threshold of his room, he gently shoos the little puppy away with his foot. "Not now, Holly. It's special mommy and daddy time." He then enters the room, letting the door close behind him.

Epilogue:

“I can’t believe we adopted a dog together. That’s so incredibly stupid. What if we break up?” You slip on your boots and put a harness around Holly, getting ready to take him out for your daily walk.

Yoongi slings on his jacket and shakes his head.  “Y/N. We’re literally getting married next week. I don’t think we’re breaking up any time soon.”

“But you admit that it’s a possibility!”

“I never said that.”

You peek outside the window to see that it’s still drizzling a little bit and grab Holly’s raincoat off the coat rack and put it on him. “There we go, baby.” You then attach Holly’s leash to his harness as Yoongi grabs an umbrella. “Damn, I can’t believe I still like you. I can’t believe you still like me!”

“Hey! How many times do I have to tell you! I have feelings!”

“Yeah, horny.”

“You’re insufferable.”

You step forward to fix the collar of Yoongi’s raincoat. “No, I’m not.”

“You’re right. You’re very right. I love you very much and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.” He leans in to kiss you on the nose.

You react by scrunching up your face. “Damn, that’s a long time.”

“You’re not having second thoughts, are you? Do you want to call off the wedding?”

“Of course not! We’ve been planning this for over a year! I definitely still want to marry you!”

“Okay, but I think I want to marry you more.”

“Will you stop that?”

“Stop what? Wanting to marry you? Uhhh… Not possible.”

You get on your tiptoes so that you could kiss him, and while you’re kissing him, Holly starts barking and pawing at your boots. “Okay! Okay, Holly! We’ll take you on your walk now!”

You give Yoongi one last kiss on the lips before the three of you set out into the rain.

A/N: Yoongi and reader’s dynamic is pretty much how one of my old housemates and I used to treat each other (except we never dated, however, we did adopt a fish together). Also this story in no way reflects my opinions on astrology. It’s all light-hearted I promise.

[offshore-writes-blog]

searching for a roommate: maybe also love (5/5)

soulmates!au  (part 5/5)

part 1/ part 2/ part 3/ part 4/ 

genre: angst and maybe fluff pairing: Mark x OC inspired by prompt:  8. “You’re so fucking hot when you’re mad.” 100. ”You’re my soulmate?!” even soulmates have a hard time admitting they want each other

expecting the apartment to be dead quiet, i’m startled by the noise from the TV. i hadn’t even strapped my heels on properly as i’d left henry’s apartment this morning because the cab i’d called had arrived much earlier. now, i was wobbling uncomfortably into my living room. as quietly as i can, i reach behind the couch to see over a sleeping mark; hugging our couch cushion; for fuck’s sake.

he looks so cute; all his features soft and angelic. i sigh softly; suppressing the urge to touch his face. the longer i watch over him sleep from where i stand behind the couch, my heart starts to ache a little bit. why can’t he be mine? no…not like that. maybe not like that? before i know it, my hands are reaching over to his face but his eyes flutter open. my hands never make it to him as i, quickly, retreat them.

“mark, hey.” i start walking over to the front of the couch. “good morning.” greeting for the both of us so he doesn’t have to speak just yet. mark’s still sleepy, i can tell because he looks around, trying to adjust his eyes. even in all that confusion, he shifts on the couch, telling me to sit; so i do.

“what’d you guys do after i left?” i ask, kicking off my heels and then try not to make it obvious that i’m stealing glances, ones that are longer than i can control, at him.

clearing his throat, mark just looks at me like he’s just seen me for the first time. now, he’s the one who’s indiscreetly staring at me. it’s with the same intensity as that night at the club even though he’s just woken up; barely said a word.

“what?” i finally choke out, finding myself almost frozen under his stare; half afraid if i move, i might ruin his concentration.

“we just watched a movie and uh,” his eyes finally shift away from me. “played truth or truth.”

“oooh, that sounds bad.” i chuckle. “ever played with them before?”

mark shakes his head, resting his head against the couch now and his whole body facing me. and something warm within is filling me up as i look at him, like i could exist forever happily with this moment captured.

“how brutal was it?” i mimic his posture, facing him down with legs on the couch.

“safe to say that there were no secrets left unturned.” he nods, looking behind me and then chuckles a little. “pretty brutal.” i just smile at him, wishing i’d been there despite having fun myself last night. “i wish you were here.” he adds quietly and meets my eyes.

“next time.”

we sit like that in silence for a few more beats till mark’s the one who speaks. “so i take it that the date went well?” when he mentions the date, we both stiffen like the moment has been spoiled.

i nod, lost in my own thought; remembering how henry’s nose scrunched up before he smiled. “henry is nice. so cute.” why did i add the last part?

“very cute, i assume.” mark’s eyes flash a playfulness as they dart over to the crook of my neck. i roll my eyes when i realise that he’s looking at a hickey. “so you like hickies?”

i groan, placing my hand over it. “no.” he throws me a quick look like; ///sure/// but i just force a smile. “didn’t realise he did that.”

“you don’t notice a lot of things.”

“what?”

“nothing.” he’s quick to reply. we just look at each other now and i notice a disingenuous on his smile; the one that doesn’t show his teeth or reach his eyes. i wanna say something but i feel like i wouldn’t wanna know why he’s sad. it’d hurt me too.

// bambam’s agency hooked him up with a beach house for the weekend, and we’re all heading over there tomorrow morning. it’s all we’ve been talking about this week; like excited children for a school trip. even mark seems to be lighter on his feet unlike the past few weeks. he’s been talking to a lot more.

but since, things between henry and i are still not exclusive yet, i’m treading lightly. i’ve decided to spend the night over at his and come back in the morning. a part of me wants to ask him if he’d like to join my friends and i but i feel like i’d been stepping on someone’s toes. just an instinct. or very very strong feeling from within.

“when’s jackson getting here tomorrow?” i ask, shutting my bedroom door behind me. mark’s settled on the couch, surrounded by all the cushions that i’d fixed this morning only to be wrecked by his majesty.

looking at me with his hair in his eyes, mouth slightly ajar. somehow, he still looks beautiful even in the most candid moments. “around 9?”

“alright.” i nod, grabbing my purse from the coffee table. “i’ll be home before that.”

“before 9am?” as i walk past him, i hear him ask.

“yeah.” i stop and turn to face him, still hugging the cushion to his chest but head turning to me. “i’ll be at henry’s.” though the words come out easily, my heart feels heavy. i’ve been careful not to mention anything about henry and i to mark; a part of me even thinks that mark has no idea that i’m still seeing henry.

“oh.” is all he says before i nod and start walking. but then, i hear him when i’m only a few steps in.“don’t go.” his voice hard.

“go where?” stupidly, i ask. i know but i ask anyway.

“back to him.” mark’s never really said henry’s name before and i guess he doesn’t intend to ever. now, he’s getting up from the couch now, walking toward me. nononononono. i can’t.

i speak before my voice completely collapses as he approaches me. “what? why?” god, i can imagine my fake confused face already. i wonder if he sees through my facade.

the next moment is forever away. we stand in front of each other. in the most gentle way, mark’s taking my hand but eventually he just holds onto my wrist. my eyes are trying to avoid his before i can’t take it anymore. i let it out.

“mark, you and i are soulmates.” i sigh and he lets go my wrist all of a sudden. “like, the way ray and i were. you don’t have feelings for me and i don’t see myself falling in love with you. so i need to do something about this whole romance thing. i’m not going to watch you find love while i get left alone.”

“you’re my soulmate?!” he repeats and stares at me for a while. wetting his lips, my eyes follow him as he looks away now. “how do you even know that?”

“i saw your mark. that night when you came back drunk. mark, it’s the exact same. and you don’t like me that way and i don’t like you that way. the only thing that tells me is that we definitely aren’t soulmates who end up together.”

“how are you so sure, arista? you can’t decide everything by yourself.”

“because you said so yourself. you don’t like me that way. and i know for soulmates, it’s instantaneous. that’s how it was for grace and bam. for ray and ed. my parents. everyone. this attraction. if you’re so sure that you don’t feel that way for me, i don’t see why i should wait around.”

“are you saying you like me?”

“no!” there’s this humourless laugh that escapes my mouth. “i’m saying this is me and ray all over again.”

“yeah, fine.” he sighs.

“i’ll see you tomorrow.” it’s almost the same sad sigh of mark’s that i mimic before leaving.

//

but i end up at ray and ed’s apartment. sobbing my cold bitch heart out because i think i’m in love with mark. like really in love with him. not just love him but in love. when i’d left the apartment, when the sadness of telling mark that i wouldn’t get to end up with him like ///real/// soulmates, i’d lost it. henry’s the last thing on my mind. i’d only remembered him when i’d reached ray and ed’s place and they asked.

they let me crash on their couch. they have a spare room but i don’t want to. this couch is pathetic enough. it matches how dumb i feel. how could i not be in love with him? he’s funny. like he has my weird humour. he’s cute and straight. incredibly bad chef but so am i. really quiet which helps tone down how obnoxious i am.

every time i stop crying, i remember again and start sniffling. this is so dumb. imagine mark, who’ve only known for like 8 months, seeing me get rejected not once but twice; once by his friend and the second by himself.

“mark, hi —“

without meeting my eyes, he walks past me and into the kitchen. “better hurry up, jackson’s coming to pick us up.” i can tell he’s mad again but for what? because i didn't stay when he asked me to? because he was feeling lonely? well tough luck, i was up all night crying anyway.

when i stand frozen in the living room, he comes back to me. i’m not sure if he can tell if i’ve been crying. ray’d convinced me that i’d still looked fine. but i guess not because mark gives me a really sad face.

“what happened?”

“nothing. i’ll shower.”

“no, seriously.”

“nothing. mark. it was a rough night.” i admit.

silence. shuffling. silence. “you can tell me.”

“later.” i mumble.

he sighs. “you can’t just keep doing things your way. can you just tell me?” the

“i told you nothing happened.” i whine and my voice cracks. everything just comes out all at once, the tears and just bitching at mark. “can’t you stop being nosy for once in your goddamn life? like for once, mark, fuck’s sake. i’m fine!” i yell and obviously i’m not.

i feel his arms wrap around me and i get all these fuzzy feelings again. i hate it. i hate it. why is he being nice when i’m cursing him out? he presses my head closer to himself too. this only makes me want to sob more. pushing him away, i slam my bedroom door in his face.

//

mark and i don’t talk in jackson’s car. although we’re sitting at the back together; acutely aware that our shoulders are touching because there’s so much shit in here. while jackson drives and jaebum’s sits shotgun, being noisy about something but even they can tell something is up. maybe? if they do, they don’t mention it but i can see the two of them look at me from the rearview mirror.

so it’s just a lot of talking from the front seat while mark and i mumble replies. each of us lying about how tired we are when really, i’d ruined the day for myself and mark already.

//

the day’s passing by fine and i feel lighter than i did this morning. compliments on my bikini definitely helped but i’m trying not to let that get to my head; even though i look fiiiine. jackson and i are sharing a beach towel; people-watching. neither of us feeling like heading into the waters despite the heat. maybe jackson knows i’m upset. same with jaebum, who’s on the towel beside us; reading.

leaning onto jackson for support, i sigh. he chuckles, looking over at me. in the most innocent and softest way, his eyes sparkle. like he’s my angel. without even wanting to, i sigh again as i watch our friends before us splashing around in the water. mark’s swimming way way way far alone. although he’d been splashing with the others just a moment ago there.

“i expect you to spill everything soon.” jackson mumbles and i lean away from me, rolling my eyes. gosh, he is so nosy. but what would i do if jackson weren’t so nosy? i’d be dead alone in my apartment probably.

“yeah, when i’m up for it.” i comply and start getting up but sit back down. “i’m gonna get a drink. do you want anything?” contemplating if i even want to walk all the way inside for another beer, the heat is alright but the effort in my sad state is a bit too much.

ignoring me completely, his eyes are somewhere else. not my face for sure. “when you get a mark there?” jackson asks.

“what mark?”

he gestures me to stand up and places his index finger on the back of my thigh. “this mark.”

i twist a little and see a massive birthmark-like thing; it’s literally the size of africa on a big globe. “oh my god.” my eyes widen; falling down onto the towel beside jackson. “shit. that’s a soulmate mark!” i can’t help but laugh out of giddiness.

“you know i know who has a mark like that.”

“shut up, who?” it’s the first smile i find myself cracking into as our eyes meet.

“um,”

in the back of my mind i already know the name before he says it.

my eyes drift to the horizon where the figure disappears into the ocean.

“mark.” he tells me, only confirming what my heart’s been feeling.

i’d gone to sulk alone after jackson’d done the big reveal. not really to sulk. but like, just take it in. so, we have two marks that are the same. so… mark is my soulmate. like my forever soulmate. like we might grow old together soulmate. wow. i realise everyone’s heading back to the house from my little sulky corner, which is just a big big boulder i’d been sitting on, i’m on my feet trying to catch up to them.

“mark!” i yell despite the fact that i feel (or actually am) a mile away from him; the beach is so big. and i’m terribly tiny. “mark!” i yell away, jogging closer. he turns, hair soaked and towel just hung over his shoulders. god, he looks ethereal. he watches me but really, makes no effort to walk toward me.

catching my breath, i stop only a few strides away from me. everyone’s already gone back inside but mark stays. his expression amused as i lean forward, still gasping for air. i am so very unfit and unattractive. god.

“mark.”

“arista.”

“you and i are soulmates. like for real.” i say slowly. “i mean—“

“god, you’re so dumb.” mark groans, looking up at the sky and looks back at me. “of course, i knew. i’ve always known.”

i gasp, not wanting to break into a smile as i push him with all my might. “why the fuck didn’t you tell me?!”

he laughs as i keep pushing him which has no effect on him. “because i thought you didn’t like me!” when he finishes his sentence, mark’s hands grab mine so easily. “i wanted you to realise yourself.”

“what if i never did?”

“that would’ve been impossible.”

“what if i’d taken forever?”

“that would’ve sucked but i would’ve waited.”

i roll my eyes, suppressing another smile. god, he’s so sweet. “no, you wouldn’t have.”

somehow this is the first time i’ve heard his laugh sound so loud and cute and soft. he nods, as he wraps his arms around. this time i don’t push him away. // “when did you know?” my eyes narrow at him to emphasise the last word and he laughs easily like i’m the silliest person to exist.

he hums as his fingers trail along my arm. the impatience gets to me so i nudge him, clicking tongue. again, he chuckles. “i knew the moment i met you.” mark narrows his eyes at me playfully; lips curled into a smile. i don’t think i’ve seen him smile more than i have in the past 2 days.

“shut up, no.”

“yes!” he exclaims with wide eyes, offended that i don’t believe him but his cute smile betrays him again. “arista, seriously.”

“what. how?” still in disbelief, i shake my head slightly. not because i don’t trust mark but because it’s just hard to grasp.

“that night at the club, i saw your mark. on your chest.” flashing me another toothy smile, he bats his eyelashes at me. oh my god. if this is what forever has in store me, i might die soon; cause of death: soulmate is too cute.

“so you were looking at my boobs?” i scoff. pretending to be annoyed, i push myself slightly away from him on the couch, where we’ve been cuddled up for ages..since we got back from the trip. yes, we are that gross in love couple now. 

he scoffs too. “they were… just out there.”

“and?”

“i saw the mark when you were sitting beside jaebum. at first, i thought i was seeing things but i just knew.”

“okay.”

“what about you?”

“when jackson told me.”

“no, i know you knew before that.”

“no, i didn’t!”

“when jackson told you, it was just a confirmation. even you know that.” he looks at me knowingly. wow, mark really is my soulmate. does he already know me like the back of his hand?

“then, obviously, i knew when you knew. why else would i ask you to be my roommate?” i pause and looking at him then at his lips. they look so inviting and soft. not to act like i hadn’t just spent the entire weekend kissing them but, i want them again. “and i remember how you looked at me.” i breathe, feeling mark come closer to me.

“how did i look at you?” he teases with a sheepish smile but he doesn’t let me answer; already pressing his lips to mine. always so gentle. for now anyways.

[lemonsandstrawberries]

Figaro Drabble #10  The Black Panther and The Little Panther

fandom: Stony (Steve x Tony)

universe: Figaro universe

summary: Tony and Steve leave for the weekend and T’Challa is the officialy appointed cat sitter.

length: 1 381 words

a/n: Figaro is back to fill your hearts with love and leave fur on your clothes! hope you like it! (that’s T’Challa meeting Fig, Bucky already met him, who will be next...?)

————–

Figaro Drabble #10  

The Black Panther and The Little Panther

“You think he is okay?”

“Of course, he is okay. Wait, who do you mean?”

Tony huffed in an irritated manner, entering the awaiting elevator and pressing the button leading to the penthouse. “Figaro, of course!” He answered, eyeing his boyfriend as it should be obvious.

“Oooh,” Steve scratched the back of his head, ruffling the short hair, “thought you maybe meant T’Challa.”

“No,” Tony scrunched his nose. T’Challa was easily the most responsible person he knew. He had to be, leader of the independent country, legendary Black Panther, yadda yadda… Maybe a role of a cat sitter for Tony and Steve’s cat was a role beneath him, but the king didn’t seem to mind. “Just you know how Figaro can be when I am not around.”

“Yeah, I know,” Steve smiled at the memory, remembering the little fluffy demon their sweet and calm cat became when Tony was away. He bit, he scratched, he meowed during the night. Steve was just relieved that this time he wasn’t the one who was left alone with the furry beast.

“Hope he is okay,” Tony sighed, wishing for the elevator ride to end and see his fluffy son.

“You need to stop worrying,” Steve urged and took Tony’s hand squeezing it gently. “We left him all the bacon in the world, I am sure he is fine.”

“I know, I know,” Tony agreed, taking the last private moment before Avengers duty and their lives catching up on them and moved closer to Steve, pressing himself against the muscled silhouette. “Sorry. I know I am ruining the end of our weekend.”

Steve only smiled and thought that indeed, Tony was doing that, but there was also a way to make things better. He cupped Tony’s chin and gently lifted it up, eyes locking for a second before lips met in a tender kiss. Long and sweet, just like the ones they shared during their short trip. The kiss ended with the ding of the elevator and a warm feeling.

“Everything is going to be--- HOLY SHIT!!” Steve yelled, his hold on Tony’s waist tightening as he pushed the startled brunet to the back and behind him.

Tony didn't say anything, just looked with wide eyes at their living room. Or what was left of it.

The curtains were pulled down and hanging miserably, shredded in some places to pieces. The small coffee table was upturned as if someone kicked it with full force. Tony's favorite arched floor lamp was laying on the carpet, the drum cast away, revealing a broken light bulb. And it was just beginning of the chaos.

It looked like a hurricane went through their living room. Steve walked out of the elevator and scanned the scene. It looked like a battle took place. There was only one explanation...

"Figaro?!" Tony called into the empty room, rushing past Steve. "Fig?!"

Steve tightened his fists. He had a feeling that this might happen one day. Tony and he were powerful men, a threat to many, and they had put at risk an innocent life. Steve was opposed to letting the public know that he and Tony had a cat, and one of his worst nightmares came true, right in front of his eyes.

Figaro was taken away.

"FIG?!" Tony continued to call. "T'Challa?!"

There was a scribble of something sharp on the wooden floor, and Steve heard someone running to them. They were not alone. Muscles tensed and ready, Steve whipped around ready to face whoever was coming at them, when he saw---

Figaro. The black and bronze cat ran into the living room at a speed neither Tony or Steve ever seen him run. With a screech of claws, he stopped near the couch, his fur standing straight and making him look like a fluffy pillow, when he crouched down, observing.

"Ah, Fig," Tony sighed in relief, clutching at his heart. Figaro was safe.

Still, something was off.

Usually, after a period of not seeing Tony, Figaro always trotted to him and rubbed around his ankles and demanded head scratches and love. This time, Figaro's eyes darted around the room, his mouth was slightly open as if he wanted to say something, his ears and tail were twitching, but the weirdest things were his eyes. They were almost black, his pupils were so dilated.

"What the hell---" Tony asked, not getting an answer and becoming more confused when Figaro leaped and squeezed himself under the couch with effort. Was he hiding?

Steve tensed again, hearing someone running. It wasn't an animal. Getting ready to fight again, he turned around, fists ready to deliver a punch when T'Challa sprinted into the room, bared teeth, fingers splayed and chest heaving with deep, growled out breaths.

"I know you're in here…" T'Challa rumbled out in Wakandan accent, and his eyes were as black and wild as Figaro's.

Tony and Steve were completely frozen, not understanding one bit. Did someone poison water supplies of the Avengers Tower?  

Before any questions could be asked, not mentioning about getting answers, Figaro took a leap out of his hiding spot and jumped on T'Challa's foot. Both Tony and Steve yelled, unsure of what would happen, fear dulling their minds.

And then it got even weirder.

When Figaro jumped on king's foot, T'Challa leaped to the back in a true cat manner, back arching in the air and landing on all fours. There was a tense moment, as both man and cat eyed each other before Figaro took a running start and knocked into T'Challa's chest with force. It was obvious that it wasn't strong enough to take down the Black Panther, but still, T'Challa dramatically fell on his back, holding Figaro pressed to his chest, all accompanied by Figaro's battle cry.

"What's going on here?!" Tony yelled, watching both men and cat rolling on the floor and hissing at each other.

That broke the trance.

"Oh!" T'Challa blinked, his eyes going back to normal size and mouth closing. "You came back earlier," he said as if nothing ever happened and sat up, gently putting Figaro down next to him. Figaro looked confused for a while, not understanding why their hunt was interrupted, but he obediently waited for it to resume. Seemed that Tony wasn't the only one anymore who could make Figaro listen.

"Yeah, we did. And?!" Tony shrilled, crossing his arms and demanding explanations. Steve was too shaken by the whole scene to even say a word.

"And I wish you a nice evening," T'Challa concluded with a bright smile. He crouched down and brushed a hand along Figaro's back. "You did well, Little Panther," came a praise in a warm voice, "until we meet again!" he said his goodbye and walked to the elevator.

"You bet your ass we will meet again… I am sending you a bill for the damages!" Tony called after the king, not getting anything in return, unless counting a cheerful smile, T'Challa quickly hid by pressing his hand to his mouth as the elevator door closed.

"That was weird," Tony grumbled, summarizing the whole situation. Steve blinked rapidly, trying to take everything in.

"Yeah, pretty much…" he said, still seeing the back leap and the way T'Challa's back arched in front of his eyes. It was like in those home videos when cats get scared of something. Seemed that Black Panther was not only a battle code and Wakanda's legend.

"Fiiiig," Tony called their cat, attempting to pick him up. He straightened up with a yelp, when Figaro looked at him with wilderness in his eyes and sprinted out of the living room, not done 'hunting' yet.

"Fig?!" Tony called in disbelief, "Figaro, come back here!" he rushed out after the cat.

"Tony, wai---!" Steve gave up, his boyfriend already gone. "Oh, great… And who will clean it?" he asked himself, looking around the room and the damages. Sadly, he also knew the answer and sighed to himself, going for the broom.

"OW! Fig!! What the--- OW!!"

 "Babe, you okay?!" Steve called hearing the yelping coming from their bedroom.

"He tries to bite my ankles! FIG, DAMMIT! AH! STEVE, HELP!!"

Steve rubbed his forehead and went into the kitchen. They would need a lot of bacon for this kind of mission.

[themonolithicmystique]

Jessica Jones, Guardians, Spider-Man, Ant-Man, and just all sorts of growth

This is probably the one where we really got off the handle, so just keep that in mind.

macrocondy3point0 After many trials and tribulations they finally arrive at the border And are greeted by Shuri 's toe

twitchystitch jessica looks up and up, and up some more "...Okay. It's a REALLY convincing illusion." shuri pokes them with her toe "With really good animatronics and shit."

macrocondy3point0 We haven't really established much about Shuri here have we? Other than she's really big and hangs out with Mantis (I think I should mention from the movie, Shuri is also meme trash) https://youtu.be/HTqNOGeGNeU https://youtu.be/Pe0qZQTDeHw

twitchystitch SHE IS A MEMING FIEND im assumign that shuri saw them coming from a distance and just had to be the first to greet them

macrocondy3point0 How did they not notice her?

twitchystitch she somehow overhard their talks on the phone with friends and

twitchystitch she couldn't resist the urge to greet them my guess is that they wren't paying attentio nwhere they should, she craated some kind of camoflauge cloak solely for this ocassion and jessica really is not expecting the giants to be Real

macrocondy3point0 How's patsy react?

twitchystitch jessica is stubbornly refusing to acknwoeldge obvious patsy is like "SHE'S EVEN PRETTIER THAN I THOUGHT SHE WOULD BE" about to swoon heart eyes ad sclaped hands *clasped

macrocondy3point0 And of course, where there's unrestrained excitement There's Mantis

twitchystitch OOOOH I HADNT EVEN THOUGHT OF HER see after ifrst both of them think something is a bit odd about the sky it's a lovely but unusual shade and then it starts MOVING THAT IS NOT THE SKY THAT ISS A REALLY GIANT LADY

macrocondy3point0 Her hand rushin down to scoop them both up

twitchystitch jessica makes a small startled noise, her skepticism is desperately trying to hold on

twitchystitch patsy is holding onto the nearest bit of finger for dear life they are brought up to m assive face dominated by huge lips which smooch 'em

macrocondy3point0 Shuri was impressive enough, but Someone as curvy as Mantis

twitchystitch "HI NEW FRINEDS!!!"

macrocondy3point0 What sort of thoughts do you think Mantis has about them at first?

twitchystitch "SO SMALL AND SO CUTE!" she instantly picks up on jessica's cynicism and skeptical nature and this makes her sad but it also makes her obligated to get her to be Happy (also consider that promximity to them makes Jessica increasingly strong, that she can do things like make Mantis move

twitchystitch only a tiny bit but still she is now extremely strong

macrocondy3point0 Once the shock wears off, she's gonna HATE it How do you think she first notices?

twitchystitch like first sign is that she pushes on mantis' finger and the finger moves this finger is as long as a continent, possibly jessica notices that as odd but so big that she cant process it but then some other time shel eans on mantis' foot mantis is slightly psuhed aside SHE CANT IGNORE THAT

macrocondy3point0 and that's only after a few minutes exposure An idea It's not just that she's gotten stronger, but that the vast majority of actions take ludicrously few calories to achieve So if doing something like pushing aside Mantis' finger barely burns, say, 10 Most average, everyday activities don't burn any at all

twitchystitch ooooh this sounds really interesting she might be fueled by calorie consumption now but it takes very ltitle to do ANYTHING, as you say so she starts building up a LOT of fat VERY fast

macrocondy3point0 Which in turn means that she holds onto calories REALLY easily

twitchystitch since almsot nothing can burn off an appreciable amount

macrocondy3point0 And since they're in Wakanda and being given food meant for Wakandan women

twitchystitch who are of course huge and strong its far more than she can easily process? LOTS OF WEIGHT

macrocondy3point0 How much do you think she packs on over their first night?

twitchystitch around, say, 50 pounds extra at this point she's cautious about what she eats

macrocondy3point0 (Also) (I bought this WG pack with Jessica and Patsy once, and)

Husky fat Jessica is a major cute

twitchystitch YES i was thinking the same thing?? i have a new favorite thing: Jessica being LArge and happy

Even the first one here is very good

twitchystitch THESE ARE REALLY GOOD TRANSITIONAL PICS chubby jessica is ludicrous degrees of Cute

twitchystitch (now i wonder if anyone has done JEssica devouring Kilgrave; I've a fondness for retributive vore) OMGOSH SHE IS ADORABLE THERE???? why is husky jessica so endearing

twitchystitch in the new turning of the marvel Earth, this is a standard look for models now reporters gotta be CHUB to make an impression

twitchystitch jessica becomign the calmer, more patient one is appealing imagine that as they get ultra husky Jessica becomes a lot more laid back and calmer

twitchystitch while patsy is increasingly less patient and has no more impulse control jessica IS her impulse control

twitchystitch jessica is totally capable of draining inentire kegs with ease now jessica is strong enough to jump to the moon and back with no calorie expenditure she just likes sitting around and not having to do anything

macrocondy3point0 I love it when characters get so big that they don't even need underwear for modesty's sake

twitchystitch SAME after you get to a certain point

twitchystitch underwear is impractical and too confining (your own body mass is your modesty somehow it makes sense to them

macrocondy3point0 Consider Jessica being remarkably cool for her weight Like, she barely produces much body heat So she's very chill to the touch

twitchystitch oooh i like this a lot its a good contrast to the ultra warm giants one time danny made a drink cold by hiding it in her fat folds for a while

macrocondy3point0 Imagine Jessica and Patsy meeting Okoye and Peter

twitchystitch (i have no diea what the defender dynamic is but im forced to assume they now all live together and its like a goofy sitcom) A GREAT DUO MEET UP jessica is stunned at them not just because of the size but because peter is blasting music real loud "HOW DID YOU EVEN GET A MUSIC THING THT BIG" she pauses "WHY IS IT ALL OLD SCHOOL MUSIC"

macrocondy3point0 Honestly, we don't address it much

macrocondy3point0 but those two must look INCREDIBLY lewd to outsiders

twitchystitch two gigantic immensely curvaceous women all dressed in the nude in the LEWD to say nothing of how touchy feely they are weith each other (a fun idea for mixing it up with these concepts; introduce someone who has nothing to do with the situation and how they freak out over the Lewdness) im forced to assume that these two are basically draped over one another

macrocondy3point0 One perfectly smooth, the other exceptionaly hairy Both sweating profusely

twitchystitch perfectly contrasting one another, in polar opposite ways

twitchystitch jessica takes a picture okoye notices the noice and picks them up "And who are you, spying on us?"

macrocondy3point0 the two of them get instantly soaked Is Okoye actually mad at being spied on, or is she teasing?

twitchystitch teasing she only gets mad when it's serious she would be mad at, say, loki showing up to Ruin everything (if you ever need someone to show up and cause trouble for Plot fun, loki is always there to do just that) she's just teasing these tiny new yorkers

macrocondy3point0 Not that she lets on, of course

twitchystitch she enjoys teasing and scaring regular human sized people in the sense of HEIGHT, of course (they're hardly human sized in girth) she gently squeezes them, smirking and combined with her sweat, it makes them all woozy in a pleasant way

macrocondy3point0 How long do you think it takes the two of them to pass the ton mark?

twitchystitch a couple of weeks, as while they retain almost all calories it takes them some time to start getting bigger appetites oens suitable to their station

macrocondy3point0 that's a good cat post

twitchystitch a thing non-cat owners never seem to be told about is how DANG WEIRD cats are at this moment my cat is sitting next to me, guarding my soda SHE IS A STEELY EYED SENTINEL, WHO ONLY OCASIONALLY FLEES FROM HER OWN SHADOW AND SMALL BUGS

macrocondy3point0 I love this AU we've created

twitchystitch it's so nice and full of Goodness got any ideas for an official name for it??

macrocondy3point0 Not really, unfortunately

twitchystitch ah well; if you tihnk of anything, i'm open to ideas~

macrocondy3point0 I'd imagine it takes a while for the two of them to really put on weight Or at least Jessica

macrocondy3point0 i'm thinking Mantis only really makes her stronger and calorie retentive Patsy burns calories at a normal rate, but Wakandan food tastes good

twitchystitch YES its a combination of mantis' feelings on her and jessica's powers making her retain callories patsy is more or less a normal human, minus the alterations but wakandan food is so filling and so good

macrocondy3point0 Jessica might not want to bloat up too fast

twitchystitch (plot twist, one of theire original reasons for closing borders was because they noticed that their food kept making outlanders super chub)

macrocondy3point0 Jessica is straining her clothes, and can go a long time without food So she eats sparsely

twitchystitch every time she does, she gains a notable amount of weight every meal her seams start straining

macrocondy3point0 She doesn't MIND the weight gain, thanks to Mantis' influence But she doesn't really want to burst her clothes

twitchystitch "I like these clothes. They're iconic and shit!" she's trying to moderate her weight gain and she's doing pretty well considering that

macrocondy3point0 (Her rear is always prominently outlined)

twitchystitch well, proximity to mantis and moderation do NOT mix (giant jessica butt is a must)

macrocondy3point0 It's the first thing that starts growing

twitchystitch imagine jessica initially being super smug about her engorging ass and then slightly concerned about how its starting to strain her pants "I like it getting big but... okay, seriously, what the hell?"

macrocondy3point0 When do you think she figures out that it's the food?

twitchystitch i want to say surprisingly like a week in she initially asumes its a weird function of her powers takes her that long to work out that its her food intake causing it

macrocondy3point0 Patsy's own gain probably helps her figure it out

twitchystitch "Okay, me getting fat as hell is one thing and a gifted thing, but patsy's regular human. No one in hell this is just about me."

twitchystitch she dmeands to know what the hell the Wakandans put in their food "the stuff of hopes and dreams" she is told, with a sttraight face (its a matter of national pride to mess with foriegners like thaT) (like australia and drop bears)

macrocondy3point0 (Patsy: Significantly gassier than Jessica?) (Especially given her increasingly short temper and impulse control?)

twitchystitch YES jessica has a LOT of self control patsy has none she will start aruging about something and just

twitchystitch let out a massive belch it is somehow angry

macrocondy3point0 How long does that switch take?

twitchystitch three weeks they get used to the food theier new states of being and the food and new state of mind makes jessica calm down a lot and just sit back while patsy is free to be the loud one with the shift in polinteness going in the world now she adapts not longer there after to being gassy and not caring

macrocondy3point0 For as much as Patsy eats, she's still behind Jessica in overall weight)

twitchystitch yes jessica is just the queen of massive weight patsy could stuff her face nonestop for a whole day and jessica could still make more weight in a signle leisurely meal

macrocondy3point0 She might not eat much, but whenever she does deign to eat, she eats a LOT and since she doesn't use any of it, it all goes to her body

twitchystitch YES table's creak a she eats and her digestive systme converts every gram into more biomass

macrocondy3point0 Patsy becomes incredibly jealous

twitchystitch in their world now, big is the new beautiful

macrocondy3point0 Even though Jessica would like to keep her clothes intact, she also gets a very smug sense of satisfaction in letting Patsy come close to touching her, and then surging ahead with a leisurely breakfast

twitchystitch whether your a giant or a fatblob, hyper curvy milf or just muscular, you gotta get BIG and she is super jealous jessica LOVES winning but she's more quietly smug than outright "AHAH HA" about it patsy seethes with envy wakandan cooks love jessica because she is an excellent taster

macrocondy3point0 I forget, did we decide if Wakandan women are taller on average? Instead of just the royal guard?

twitchystitch i dont think we discussed that but i think its a fine idea; how about the average wakandan woman is upwards of 7 feet but not to the extremes of the reroyal guard?

macrocondy3point0 They tend to baby the two outsiders

twitchystitch they're so small and kind of grumpy and its ADORABLE they can feed them all they want

macrocondy3point0 Even though Jessica can easily bench press ALL of them At once

twitchystitch they enjoy carrying them about like pudgy baskets the entire population of wakanda she could do it (including the giants?)

macrocondy3point0 Possibly would strain her enough to make her actually use all that excess energy

twitchystitch imagine Jessica doing something like punching out a god or similar ultimate foe

twitchystitch and reverting to her original build (she immediately would get back to building up the bulk) (she would probably be considering their Ultimate back up weapon in this case)

macrocondy3point0 Well, in case Mantis doesn't instantly take care of the problem like she does all problems

twitchystitch sometimes she doesn't notice in time or was distracted by a passing bug in her defense, the bug is VERY cute

macrocondy3point0 Imagine Mantis expanding random bugs to massive proportions because she takes a fancy to them for a moment

twitchystitch "LOOK AT THIS CUTE BUG" the ladybug is now the size of a truck or the Helicarrier

macrocondy3point0 I say the latter It's still tiny to Mantis but to everyone else

twitchystitch yes should the bugs have their mannerisms altered? like the bigger they get they become docile

macrocondy3point0 Yes.

twitchystitch giant beetles that people tame and ride like really big ranch animals shield's new base of operations is a very large ladybug

macrocondy3point0 They also become very soft

twitchystitch there's also a giant hive of kaiju ants, even mantis isn't sure why she made Those YES still chitinous but its squishy springy they make soft squeaking sounds

macrocondy3point0 What other sorts do you think she's expanded?

twitchystitch i feel like the uglier or more unlovable it is the more likely she has taken a shine to it and madde it big and Loved mantis is drawn to the things no one else considers

macrocondy3point0 So like?

twitchystitch so like an ACTUAL mantis or two cockroaches scorpions and spiders

macrocondy3point0 The mantises are as big as her

twitchystitch all just sort of roamign the land like mobile pillows with legs

macrocondy3point0 She's fascinated by them

twitchystitch YES they wiggle their antannaes at each other having a thoughtful conversation

twitchystitch "Oh my!" shes ays "how insightufl!"

macrocondy3point0 Their pincers and arms aren't sharp at all anymore Just large masses of squish

twitchystitch they instinctively hug things instead of biting off the heads of meates, they just bonk their heads together Mantis really rubbed off on them

macrocondy3point0 Even the other Guardians think it's just a little weird

twitchystitch "Mantis, we love you and endorse you but the bug thing is... weird, it's just weird, okay?" rocket yells, "THIS ONE IS MAKING GOO GOO EYES AT ME, I SWEAR, IT TOTALLY IS!!!"

macrocondy3point0 She responds by creating big bug friends for all of them

twitchystitch OBVIOUSLY they need to be more familiar with the bugs to love them properly peter: OH GOD THE SPIDER IS IN MY HAIR ITS IN MY HAAAAIR! (im forced to assume that spider man is riding the spider and is just kind of there) everyone gets their own bug friend tthat terrifies them bucky refuses to leave whatever he lives in wakanda HE DIDNT ASK FOR BUGS

macrocondy3point0 He keeps getting more, because Mantis is sad he doesn't like them and keeps sending more

twitchystitch all of them in bucky' house are impossible bugs from the pre-Cambrian era those really REALLY big bugs but

twitchystitch even more onstrous and spooky looking and huge now "YOURE WELCOME" she says cheerfully

macrocondy3point0 But soft

twitchystitch bucky silently vows revenge somhow they are squishy and huggable the bugs are like giant living plushies basically imagine bug themed plushies but Alive, that is what mantis creates

macrocondy3point0 They really just keep going on about their business, but with all their needs permanently taken care of They'll take empathetic impulses from mantis and do what she asks because she asks REALLY nicely

twitchystitch if someone with the right powers asks the bugs, they say they do as she asks because she is so sweet and nice the spiders web people up because clearly they need some nap times the bugs do their best to be Helpful but go about it in weays that tend to annoy people

macrocondy3point0 Imagine that happening to Okoye Standing on duty when a massive squishy spider sneaks up on her and webs her up

twitchystitch she is left trapped and wiggling and ENRAGED bits of her sweat sizzlign throug hthe webs the spider gives her a swing as if to say 'oh come on, you needed a nap'

macrocondy3point0 Imagine their bites being able to calm people down

macrocondy3point0 Mantis basically transforms their venom into feel good juice

twitchystitch I LIKE THIS EVEN MORE scorpions sting peoplee and they fall down, giggling and wobblign cheerfully all venom becomes Happiness

macrocondy3point0 Temporary bloating too

twitchystitch (des tihs effect bug themed heroes too??)

macrocondy3point0 i'd say so

twitchystitch people hit with the venom swell up even ones wheere its just thematic like Ant Man

twitchystitch spider man too scott kisses a date and she bloats up and gets all giggly

macrocondy3point0 Oh my god I love that What happens if he and wasp kiss

twitchystitch MUTUAL BLOAD AND GIGGLY but becacues a wasp's venom is more powerful than an ant's he gets more of it while she starts floating

macrocondy3point0 Do keep going I love this idea

macrocondy3point0 And might even ask for a quick write-up tonight Just because it's so great

twitchystitch i'd be good wit hthat!

macrocondy3point0 Do you think you could? A couple of quick paragraphs at most

twitchystitch like say peter gives MJ a peck on the chee and she starts floating up too, getting super giggly (yes! i could definitely do that!)

macrocondy3point0 I'll leave you to it! sorry

twitchystitch :)

macrocondy3point0 (Be sure they get Big) (Like, a quick peck produces Big) (A deep kiss?)

twitchystitch ULTRA BIG the more passionate and deep the kiss the more big

macrocondy3point0 Scott and Peter have a great power at their disposal

twitchystitch kisses that make BWOOMPH

macrocondy3point0 All thanks to Mantis

twitchystitch more powerful than super strength or size shifting

macrocondy3point0 It makes Peter's dates awkward though Scott mostly does it to Hope

twitchystitch often surprising her with pecks on the cheek her cheeks swell up and her curves swell out before her body expands hugely

macrocondy3point0 She finds it highly endearing

twitchystitch (MJ likes to tease Peter by inviting him to deliver one of those venom smooches)

macrocondy3point0 Also Definitely Black Widow

twitchystitch OH MAN I TOTALLY FROGOT ABOUT HER

twitchystitch YES DEFINITELY her venom kisses are EXTREMELY strong

macrocondy3point0 How much more than Peter or Scott?

twitchystitch hmm lets say that if Scott makes people bouncier and floaty and peter makes them swell out and almost eweightless than natasha renders anyone she kisses into a soft blob that floats completely free of gravity possibly going where she wants them to?

macrocondy3point0 Also, I'd imagine that they take much longer to deflate

twitchystitch yes with it depending on the venom strength of whoever does it

twitchystitch natasha takes the longest for them to deflate

macrocondy3point0 Peter's are quicker, but keeping in with the whole thing about Spider-Man having massive potential, they get big fast

macrocondy3point0 (It does make keeping a secret identity awkward)

twitchystitch just posted! YES he meekly is followed around by a stream of would be girlfriends that are interested in a quick smooch MJ is almost permanently kind of round because she REALLY likes being like this (she ends up developing self inflation powers as a consequnece its just what mantis does to ya

macrocondy3point0 (If I can go for maximum sin?)

macrocondy3point0 (What about Aunt May)

twitchystitch ALSO EFFECTED doesnt matter if the kisses are platonic or not the venom must flow into recipiewnts of affection or teasing, in black widow's case

macrocondy3point0 Who do you think Nat smooches most often?

twitchystitch apart from villains to keep them under control? she smooches hawkeye a lot in a platonic sense

macrocondy3point0 Yeah?

twitchystitch hawkeye ends up floating up even though he's fairly resistent to it through sheer stubbornness (hulk would also be effected

twitchystitch through sheer vulnerability to genuine affection

macrocondy3point0 But yes, aunt may

twitchystitch what if the kisses go both ways? like if they are kissed the effect happens so she gives peter an affectionate peck and starts swelling

macrocondy3point0 Which is especially cute given how slender and sinewy he usually is

twitchystitch YES

macrocondy3point0 Imagine if the first time he found out about Mantis' effect was giving Aunt May a good night kiss

macrocondy3point0 and the sheer SHOCK of it

twitchystitch getting him with his own venom? YES he comes to the compelte strong conclusion HE HAS DOOM KISS POWERS he declares he must remain forever celibate

macrocondy3point0 And yet

twitchystitch this lasts all of six hours when MJ pops up in the morning for a 'SUP SUP' smooch

macrocondy3point0 She doesn't know yet, but she kisses him full on the lips the second she sees him (She rushed in so fast, she didn't even notice Aunt May still floating on the ceiling)

twitchystitch aunt may is just "??????" just finding out he was Spider Man was enough of a shock and since MJ gets a full lip kiss the effect is much strongero n her

macrocondy3point0 Of course since it calms her down, she doesn't mind too much

twitchystitch she goes straight to full balloon VERY quickly MJ is DELIGHTED "SHIT ive never felt GIDDY before, this is frickin sweet"

macrocondy3point0 They run out of room VERY fast and she's still inflating

macrocondy3point0 Peter is MORTIFIED

twitchystitch he is pressed between a wall and MJ's expanding body (which she finds very pleasing indeed)

macrocondy3point0 Neither of them leaves until she starts deflating by like noon By which time she's already clammoring for more and eager to tell EVERYONE

twitchystitch by this point manits power's are doing enough weird things that the city just rolls with it and SHE GRABS PETER: "AGAIN, DUDE, AGAIN!!!" she busts into school, significnatly larger than before and yells

twitchystitch "SUP SUP GUESS WHAT PETE DOES NOW!"" he is mortifeied beyond measure

macrocondy3point0 Guess what you just did

macrocondy3point0 You just convinced me that needs its own mini-story

twitchystitch !!! THIS PLEASES ME

macrocondy3point0 Significantly larger MJ dragging peter into school, loudly announcing what he can do, and getting him to kiss as many girls as possible Think you can?

twitchystitch (i am seriously all about MJ developing inflate powers as a result too) YES I DEFINITELY CAN

twitchystitch mind sending in a prompt for that?

macrocondy3point0 Sent

twitchystitch AWESOME

macrocondy3point0 Looking forward to it (YOu think you could make notes about her voice and bounciness?)

twitchystitch -thumbs up!- my energy for talks feels pretty much spent for the day

macrocondy3point0 sorry

twitchystitch mind if i go off now?

macrocondy3point0 I don't mind but like

macrocondy3point0 This new direction has me VERY enthused sorry

twitchystitch (I can definitely do that!) its cool like having more suggestions for stuff would also be good for the writing of that

macrocondy3point0 I might send like five or six because i have so many ideas

twitchystitch (i glad i can help you come up with stuff that gets you so enthused, too!)

twitchystitch THESE ARE ALL GOOD go right ahead! heck whenever i give you an idea u got open permission to send it in

macrocondy3point0 Before you go, one more thing how often does MJ smooch Peter, and is the effect any different than when he smooches her?

twitchystitch hmmm i say that MJ is EXYREMEELY smoochy with peter it makes him floaty and get very rounded she loves doing this and then hugging him its like turning him into al iving plush

macrocondy3point0 Good thing he has his webs to pull himself along

twitchystitch sometimes she walks around, using his web as a leash or towline to keep him coming along

macrocondy3point0 Mantis bringing world peace leads to a lot of situations like this

twitchystitch all over the world sudden swells of bizarre and new powers makign everyone Happy

macrocondy3point0 Former heroes using their powers for weird things like this (Honestly, Peter spends more time bloated than MJ)

twitchystitch A world of Strangeness but Happiness

macrocondy3point0 (She's very dominant)

twitchystitch YES because she is so kissy and domineering

twitchystitch just grabbing him and smooching him until he bloats up

macrocondy3point0 she definitely loves doing it to random people too

twitchystitch i super endorse this dynamic sure she can inflate herself but she loves making other people puffed and floating and happy

macrocondy3point0 Do you think his venom is more potent if he releases it while inflated?

twitchystitch YES if he kisses while inflated people dont just go straight to balloon

twitchystitch but become much much larger

macrocondy3point0 MJ definitely loves getting kisses from him while he's blown up

twitchystitch imagine her clinging to him and recieving dozens of kisses

macrocondy3point0 (Does she have any cute nicknames for him?)

twitchystitch and as she swelled bigger and keeps him right against her body she calls him thigs like balloon boy, puffed up pete, puffy, things of that narure if its balloon or smooch related she's made a pun nickname for him

macrocondy3point0 (Also) (everyone with this power)

macrocondy3point0 (Massive lips)

twitchystitch YES, OF COURSE gigantic lips are one of my jams MJ typically puffs up her lips to large size even normally but anyone who gets hit by this especially if kissed

macrocondy3point0 Great on girls, great on boys

twitchystitch because the venom first goes to the lips gigantic pfufy smooching lips

macrocondy3point0 Peter becoming highly dependent on MJ

twitchystitch !!!! THIS IS AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT ADDITION

twitchystitch he becomes extremely fidgety and distressed wtihout an MJ kiss every few hours

macrocondy3point0 It probably takes a while though Like, she spends more time heavily inflated at first

twitchystitch im thinking that eventually, even her default is super curvy and puffy by this world's standards

macrocondy3point0 Because of how much she likes the sensation

twitchystitch YES

macrocondy3point0 How so?

twitchystitch even after she discovers that she enjoys pumping others up, she spends a lot of time like that LIKE SAY she is always at least a bit balloonified, so that her curves are puffed up huge lips, gigantic curves, a tendency to float when she walks

twitchystitch a surprisingly high pitched voice

macrocondy3point0 Of course, even though she's perfectly capable of doing so herself

twitchystitch when she hugs you, you sink into her

macrocondy3point0 she absolutely loves using Peter for it

twitchystitch yes she grabs him, pulls him into a kiss "It's mroe fun this way, ain't it Pete?" SMOOCH PUFF UP

macrocondy3point0 No I mean, to inflate other people

twitchystitch THAT TOO she yanks people in pushes them into a kiss with him and then they are orb shaped and floating up all giddy idea, some of that happiness is always transfered to MJ she gets giggly as an after effect

macrocondy3point0 This is all very good. (She probably insists on keeping him in a stretchy spider-man outfit at all times) (Just so everyone knows exactly what she has)

twitchystitch yes! its like he's wearing a sign she can pointe to and yell "LOOKIT MY MAN" its also convenient for the bwoomphing up

macrocondy3point0 It's been like a week since Peter wasn't floating. He finds that distantly concerning, but not too much.

twitchystitch it just feels too good to be a REAL bother and MJ likes it so he's happy with it

macrocondy3point0 what do you think becomes of Gwen?

twitchystitch i want to say she becomes MJ's partner in, if not crime, inflatation shennaigans

twitchystitch the more reserved and sweet one about it while MJ is more domineering about it

macrocondy3point0 She's usually riding on top of Peter

twitchystitch in er defense it is very very comfy up there peter doesnt mind whatever makes the girls happy makes him content

macrocondy3point0 What's his diameter on average anyways?

twitchystitch 12 foot diameter, maybe?

macrocondy3point0 Makes it rather difficult getting him inside

twitchystitch sure they could deflate him but

twitchystitch MJ gets mad at the notion HER PRECIOUS PARKER NOT BEING PUMPED UP AND HAPPY SHE WILL DESTROY WHOEVER SAID THAT but first she has to get him inside gwen and MJ just trying to shove hi mthrough the doorway, he squeaks al ot

macrocondy3point0 Fortunately, anyone who gets pumped up is quite malleable

twitchystitch they're almost like living huggable clay mj likes to sqush his cheeks until he giggles in this case, he rapidly ends up cube shaped

macrocondy3point0 So they're able to just

twitchystitch because of doorway

macrocondy3point0 stuff him through the door They also reassume their normal spherical form after a time Thing is most rooms aren't really large enough to let him do that so he winds up squishing up against stuff

twitchystitch their bodies tremble and eventually pop back into shape the rooms are just full of peter mj prefers to sleep like this now, with him as the bed or blanket

macrocondy3point0 gently kissing various parts of him for extra soft

twitchystitch its like kneading

twitchystitch but more fun for her

macrocondy3point0 This wasn't what he epected his life to be like when he started superheroing But it's nice

twitchystitch he didnt expect to get a girlfriend adn now he has MJ who is VERY nice and makes him happy

macrocondy3point0 Do you think she likes to mess with Aunt May too

twitchystitch yep! its more like good natured pranking aunt may isnt sure what she expected from what is basically gonna be her daughter in law

macrocondy3point0 Is there any difference in the way Gwen and MJ puff up?

twitchystitch i feel like MJ does it more gradualy; a bit of her arm here, her face there

twitchystitch its like a transformation sequence gwen likes to do it all at once if she can

macrocondy3point0 And their final forms?

twitchystitch but smoothly, while MJ's actual growth is abrupt hmmm i'm thinking that Gwen is a full round balloon while MJ is powerfu lenoguh that she can retain roughly human form, it's just well, extremely plush she CAN become a clasiscal round balloon if she feels like it, too

macrocondy3point0 All this inflating definitely pushes up their average heights if they ever return to fully deflated forms

twitchystitch YES how tall are you thinking

macrocondy3point0 Like 20 foot at least For all three

twitchystitch OOOOH YES (ironically a long time ago i contemplated mary jane having giantification powers) MJ is often at this huge size when she can, since she spends so much time a little bit inflated gwen a little bit less while Peter spends so much time inflated he has no idea of his new size until he is deflate

macrocondy3point0 Peter's likely tallest of the lot, really

twitchystitch and ironically the most submissive and totally devoted to their whims

macrocondy3point0 he never really stood a chance MJ is just too forceful a personality

twitchystitch she basically sat down, put her arm around him and said "yo you're my boy now" and he was like "okay" THIS IS HIS LIFE NOW

macrocondy3point0 and that was BEFORE all this

twitchystitch (i am EXTREMELY on board for this MJ/Peter dynamic) now he is literally living on a tether by her hand and very cool with it, too

macrocondy3point0 She's the one who wears the webshooters now They're the only way she has enough leverage to properly drag him along

twitchystitch "she's the one who wears the webshooters" is like code for dominance and he is the first one to insist that of course she ought to do it imagine her webbing his wrist and tugging him along "Cmon pete, we got places to be" (he sometimes catcheis himself about to say 'yes ma'am)

macrocondy3point0 What's an average day look like for them?

twitchystitch they head out, doing thier thing, going to get food and make sure all three of them are fed up with peter floating by on MJ's wrist usually she feeds him by hand because he's EXTREMELY passive

macrocondy3point0 MJ tips their servers with kisses

macrocondy3point0 they normally dont' complain

twitchystitch hard to complain when you get puffed up and full of JOY from it! then they usually wind up in the first adventure of the day such as herding giant beetles which are clogging up traffic

macrocondy3point0 oooh yeah They still get involved in various superheroics But it's more of the "solve a nuisacne" variety than fighting villains

twitchystitch exaclty!! oen time a whole bunch of balloon people got stuck and the job was to

twitchystitch figure out a way to get them to be unstuck

macrocondy3point0 MJ's solution was to make Peter REALLY big and then use his mass to shove them out into the open and tether them down until they deflated

twitchystitch YES she gave him a strong push and it was like shot-putting (this should be a sport) (bowling with giant puffed ups)

macrocondy3point0 Imagine their team-ups with Scott and Hope

twitchystitch technically its the Bug Team up but everyone knows its the smoochy puffing kiss guys and the ladies who give thme thier marching orders

macrocondy3point0 Hope allows scott to keep his form most of the time

macrocondy3point0 She's the one who gets puffed up most often Because she's a LOT better at using her body while in that state

twitchystitch her wasp powers make her good at navigating while in that state

macrocondy3point0 Scott tends to get overwhelmed by the euphoria

twitchystitch (also her wasp stings make peopel puff up too) IDEA SCOTT TENDS TO randomly switch size while puffed up one second he might go sub atomic in giddiness the next become a hundred feet high still orb-shaped either way

macrocondy3point0 You see why she doesn't trust him with it And prefer he smooch her into enormity

twitchystitch "Clearly im the only one that can be trsusted with this power" she say as she pulls him into a kiss that leaves her the size of a building and shockingly fleet for her size

macrocondy3point0 are there any meaningful differences between scott and peter's kisses?

twitchystitch HMMM i'd say that scott's kisses take place immediately, while peter's take a longer time to happen (additionally scott is more of a lovestruck fool everytime he smooches while peter is just going with whatever's happening

macrocondy3point0 Imagine the two of them interacting

twitchystitch they might be in balloon form or not but peter is like just swooning over them, while otherwise just sort of he sits and wobbles like he's grooving to inaudible music scott does his best to act like a big brother while a bit miffed that peter is technically more experienced with this than he is now

macrocondy3point0 still, if hope says no, it MEANS no (A great idea)

twitchystitch Hope's word, as far as he's concerned is much worse than the word of deities because

macrocondy3point0 (Jessica comes back) (MJ spies her)

twitchystitch her retribution is more swift and mad

macrocondy3point0 (Instant infatuation)

twitchystitch YES MJ takes one look at this Cool Badass and just heart eyes (IMAGINE MJ HAVING A POSTER OF HER EVEN BEFORE THIS HAPPENED

macrocondy3point0 how big would she be by the time she returns?

twitchystitch Jesisca: when the hell did they make posters of me??? her weight is probably

twitchystitch incalculablew by mundane means shei s SO heavy that her legs shouldn't be able to move at all but she's so strong it doesn't matter she just uses hoverchairs and doesn't care (if she's no talelr than before, than MJ will be 20 feet tall and able to pick her up squish hug that sounds ADORABLE

macrocondy3point0 the shock of what she saw in Wakanda means she's not TOO Surprised by what's going on here, but It's still a little eyebrow raising especially since she doesn't remember this spider guy being a big-lipped puffball

twitchystitch MJ is like "She is so HUGE, like its if you turned one of my balloon guys into solid fat... I LOVE HER."

twitchystitch jessica is like "I rmemeber you being a guy in way too much trouble WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED" peter points vaugely at MJ "she told me to smooch her" jessica: that explains fuck all peter: -shrugs-

macrocondy3point0 Jessica's probably wide enough to fill up a street

twitchystitch the streets shake when she walks

macrocondy3point0 and given that we said she was strong enough to move Mantis' finger on her first day of knowing her, a few months in Wakanda have made her POWERFUL

twitchystitch partly from the force of how much strength she exerts to move a sinclge stpe

twitchystitch NOW IF SHE WANTED TO she could probably kick the earth out of orbit she makes canon hulk look puny (IRONICALLY)

macrocondy3point0 And yet very chill about it

twitchystitch she's the most powerful Gifted in the world but she doesn't flaunt it or brag about it or ever really show it she's cool enoguh to know she doesn't need to show off

macrocondy3point0 She's ALSO not immune to a good smooching

twitchystitch MJ suddenly materializing 20 feet of lovestruck fangirl SMOOHC and jessica is puffing up

macrocondy3point0 those enormous lips smothering her head And pumping her entire body full of venom

twitchystitch her first thought is what the heck right after that as those lips are so soft

macrocondy3point0 Question is, is that enough to generate lift?

twitchystitch and the breath so nice

macrocondy3point0 Given her sheer weight

twitchystitch she thinks "...hey... that's kind of... nice..." and PPOMPH HMMM it does sound appealing for Jessica to be ballooned but so heavy she remained groundbound? imagine the huge bloaty fat ball still on the ground

macrocondy3point0 How MUCH does she expand though?

twitchystitch im imagining her fat spreading out so its something like a rather lumpy pancake OR, possibly

twitchystitch her body expanded to the point where her fat becomes a smooth orb the latter is obviously gonna be MUCH larger

macrocondy3point0 so you know which I prefer It's still very much got the texture and consistentcy of flab, but compeltely rounded out And yet STILL not enough to make her float It's like she's full of heavy gases

twitchystitch YES i like this some flying type people land in her sink in and are lost for hours

twitchystitch its liek quicksand but harmless and soft and fun

macrocondy3point0 MJ has wasp airlift her to a more open area

twitchystitch Jessica likes the opportunity to spread out not so much MJ making constant HORRIBLE PUNS at jssica's expense but she can live with it

macrocondy3point0 oooh what sort of HORRIBLE PUNS?

twitchystitch like say "This place looks great, Jess. Feel like 'spreading out'?" "Yeah sure" she says as she flattens

twitchystitch expanding outwards "that sounds like-" she stops the pun hit her "GODDAMIT, MJ."

macrocondy3point0 Imagine Mary Jane becoming damned and determiend to figure out what it takes to get her off the ground

twitchystitch do they need to get ever flyer on earth lifting her? A REALLY big helicarrier? the mother of all repulsor engines? she WILL FIND A WAY

twitchystitch SHE WILL GET THAT GIRL AIRBORNE

macrocondy3point0 I mean more how many kisses does it take To get a jessica balloon floating

twitchystitch MJ is willing to find out at least a hundred? each one smothering jessica's increasingly large face in MJ lip prints she is gonna test the HELL out of that

macrocondy3point0 How's Jess feel about that?

twitchystitch initially annoyed

twitchystitch but the kisses feel so NICE

macrocondy3point0 (Also, some of those kisses are DEFINITELY from Peter)

twitchystitch she starts swooning but she still acts

macrocondy3point0 (Especially since his are more potent)

twitchystitch reluctantly grumpy imagine peter and MJ smooching her from either side of her face like two fairies kissing a giant while JEssica pretends she's not flattered "yeah yeah, do whatever you guys feel like..."

macrocondy3point0 Oh my god

macrocondy3point0 Just had an idea Imagine Jessica idly talking about Wakanda and all the things she saw over there, and specifically bringing up the giant insect population And what she saw a spider doing to Okoye once and MJ starting to put things together in her head regarding Peter If ONE spider-bite made him Spider-Man...

twitchystitch OOOOOOOOH "So... what would ANOTHER do??" she asks with a devilish grin

macrocondy3point0 From THAT kind of spider

twitchystitch THE GIANT HUGGY SPIDER

macrocondy3point0 Peter's too caught up in smooching jessica to notice they're talking about him

twitchystitch jessica: Hey. happy dude. They're talking about you. PEter: ...whaaat... -smooching sounds-

macrocondy3point0 Imagine how chilly Jessica's body must be at that scale

twitchystitch soothing and cool just like jessica hereslf says MJ being a total DWEEB jessica just GROANS

macrocondy3point0 Assuming she CAN make Jessica float

macrocondy3point0 how big will she get by that point?

twitchystitch .... CITY SIZED?

macrocondy3point0 Imagine how ridiculously puffy her face would be by that point

twitchystitch just a mass of soft, her eyes not even visible dominated by a gargantuan pair of lips

macrocondy3point0 The sudden jolt of movement when she takes off, though

twitchystitch SHE IS ABOVE THE GROUND ITS GETTING BELOW HER

twitchystitch "SHIT I FORGOT WHAT MOMENTUM FELT LIKE?!"

macrocondy3point0 She'd also have to be in a RIDICULOUSLY good mood

twitchystitch to others she looks pretty mild but to anyone who knows her the faint smile and ocasional giggle SHE IS NONSTOP ULTRA HAPPY the rest of the Defenders do a spit take at this with perfect unison

macrocondy3point0 How long does it take, do you think?

twitchystitch to get off the ground or to reach this size?

macrocondy3point0 Well, they both come with one another

twitchystitch with her sheer size it takes her several days to clear the ground comepletely

twitchystitch after peter is introduced to the giant spider (he and the spdier spend a long time just talking to each other, somehow he says 'you dont just smooch at the start of a date') and he returns with buffed spider powers

macrocondy3point0 you know that MJ takes them all to Wakanda To show off what she's done with Jessica

twitchystitch it still takes a week of work or so to start pumping up jessica to floating size

macrocondy3point0 (Imagine Okoye and Peter being puffier than when she left thanks to that spider)

twitchystitch IMAGINE MJ REACTING TO SHURI AND OKOYE YES

twitchystitch okoye now looks utra thicc thanks to the puffiness while peter quill is almost mega chub from thep uffiness massive lips for both all the better for smooching each other up

macrocondy3point0 Okoye's slope downwards and rest upon her chest

twitchystitch SHE HAS THE MOST IMPRESSIVE PUFF SMOOCHES peter's face can fit between 'em qulll, specifically all of peter parker can vanishe between her lips

macrocondy3point0 Also, even though Okoye has been bitten more often by the spider trying to force her to rest, Peter has more of an allergic reation So she spends a lot of time just sort of lying down, rocking back and forth in her own softness

twitchystitch she is literally allergic to calming down the spider looms over them approvingly peter rocking in her own massive body (whoop, i am feeling tired - u -

macrocondy3point0 OK, last thing I swear Compared to the stature we left her lift, muscled with a massive gut, how much has Okoye puffed up?

twitchystitch NMMMHMMM

twitchystitch i feel that she looks VERY thicc overall due to thep uffing? it looks rather MILFy with her curves and softness HOWEVER she's still got a ton of muscle on open display she's just enormously squsihy to boot even her muscle is soft to the touch

macrocondy3point0 that puffiness doesn't JUST amplify fat after all

twitchystitch you poke, you sink into it ultra soft puff effect

macrocondy3point0 (What about her nipples?)

twitchystitch i lowkey love puff nipples permanently engorged maybe super big relative to her boob size?

macrocondy3point0 oh?

twitchystitch her nips being very big relative to her boobs, always making indents against whatever is covering her boobs if her hair is down and long enoguh to go there you can still make out the nips against her hair

macrocondy3point0 well, if she had hair

twitchystitch sometimes she pokes them and her finger sinks in

twitchystitch (CANT BELEIVE I FORGOT)

macrocondy3point0 How big have her breasts gotten anyways?  Because I was thinking for all her growth they initially remained modest But with this...

twitchystitch quill routinely swoons over her hmm consider some boob growth as a result of th espider's attention bringing out some of her maternal side and thus, boob size her boobs might still be modest by the new standareds of growth like maybe bigger than her head?

macrocondy3point0 They slope to the side because of the sheer mass of her belly

twitchystitch if thats not too small YES she seems a bit proud of how powerfu her stomach is that even boobs like hers are forced aside by its mass

macrocondy3point0 It DEFINITELY rests on the ground now

twitchystitch still got muscle on it she effortlessly moves because of pure Strength

macrocondy3point0 Also, idea Her butt is where the spider bites her most often, so that has gotten particularly big

twitchystitch YES her butt is almost as big as her belly?

twitchystitch (ultra soft and squishy quill sleeps on it most of nights

macrocondy3point0 like she wouldn't adore smothering her with it

twitchystitch imagine okoye just leanign back, massive butt pressing into quill' whole body with a smug smirk all the while

macrocondy3point0 which is impressive, given how much quill has puffed up she basically has parade float proportions now

twitchystitch she even floats up with movements, now and then she can float right into Okoye's arms

macrocondy3point0 why is it that the spider bites her too anyways?

twitchystitch spreading the love it felt bad that quill wasn't getting bites too insufficiently puffy

macrocondy3point0 (Also, while they've gotten big from multiple bites, don't forget that they get HUGE when bitten)

twitchystitch YES

macrocondy3point0 (And loving wrapped up in spider webs)

twitchystitch like a single spider bite will cause massive growth in the associated area the spider is like a therapist, will web you up and bite you until you are calm and in a position to discuss things imagine the puffed upe peopel being all wrapped up and loving it squeeing happily at the wraps

macrocondy3point0 (Ball Okoye)

twitchystitch she swells up into a massive round shape that peter can hug

macrocondy3point0 No more border guarding puffy nap time~

twitchystitch she just yawns rolls against peter

macrocondy3point0 (Of course it's less a ball and more a ball with three massive boulders)

twitchystitch dozes off the boulders make for more leverage! and more squish for naps

macrocondy3point0 Peter usually winds up bitten in her sleep and wakes up surprised that she can't move while Okoye is slowly deflating

twitchystitch that spider is super fussy when it comes to them it wants them to haev a balance of snuggle

macrocondy3point0 imagine peter's hairs puffing up too~

twitchystitch becoming a big, squishy mass, perhaps? rising up over her head, almost poofed up squishy to the touch

macrocondy3point0 well her body hair too

twitchystitch a fine layer of squish all over her body

macrocondy3point0 does anything happen with their sweating?

twitchystitch the sweat becoming like bubbles that float up and go on until they hit something Consider: the sweat causing mild puffing in whatever they hit

macrocondy3point0 wakanda is coated in them

twitchystitch literal pockets of swelling all over wakanda trees puffed up cliffsides that are more misty than usual because sweat bubbles popped and are reaining down mist turning whatever it tocuhes into Soft

macrocondy3point0 Okoye simply rubs the slope of her belly and looks out over the scope of the nation

macrocondy3point0 nodding to herself

twitchystitch she sees the gentled, puffed sight of the land and she thinks

"i have done good things"

macrocondy3point0 and then CHOMP

twitchystitch SPIDER THINKS SHE NEEDS MORE HAPPY the spider deserves to be its own character

macrocondy3point0 OK, very very last thing, I swear, then I let you go Sorry to keep extending this but it's so good (Peter - puffing - bulge -how much?)

twitchystitch > u <

twitchystitch MAXIMUM BULGE (ALL THE BULGE SIZE I SAY

macrocondy3point0 HOW MUCH

twitchystitch HOW ABOUT big as okoye's belly?

macrocondy3point0 Jesus how do they keep him modest?

twitchystitch HMMMM either the local fabrics are really, REALLY stretchy or with his current mindset he doesn't mind so much and

twitchystitch MJ is proud of what she has made (assuming that this is Spider Man Peter, not peter quill?

macrocondy3point0 it's often the tether point for webs yes

twitchystitch MJ: LOOK AT MY DUDE~! peter: -has just enough sheepishness to blush-

macrocondy3point0 Modesty's long out the window, and MJ wants to show off EVERYTHING she's got

twitchystitch she probably wears very little especially when puffed up because of this same pride peter is an extension of that

macrocondy3point0 is it usually flaccid or erect?

twitchystitch typically flaccid he's usually too chill to have a strong reaction otherwise MJ prides herself on able to get a Reaction out of him she says with lots of eyebrow wiggling

macrocondy3point0 Jessica's VERY impressed by it

twitchystitch "Holy shit." she gives a thumbs up at MJ

macrocondy3point0 a very slow, squeaky thumbs up

twitchystitch she doesnt move much but its so impressive that she just has to do SOMETHING

macrocondy3point0 MJ often angles him so she can sleep on it

twitchystitch (WHY IS THAT SUCH A CUTE IMAGE)

macrocondy3point0 what exactly does MJ do to get a reaction?

twitchystitch soetimes its as subtle as winking at him or puffing herselfe up to a size that he can see easily and sliding herself against him but she's not much for subtlety normally so its often things like just kissing him in a non-puffing up way the slightest tocuh from her can have a STRONG reaction from him

macrocondy3point0 how much does it expand?

twitchystitch well going by how that Okoye belly size is flaccid state lets say it gets at least a third larger? (possibly when its just a small reaction)

macrocondy3point0 peter squeaking meekly

twitchystitch (IT GOT MORE ADORABLE)

macrocondy3point0 jessica getting to watch the whole thing

twitchystitch MJ just grinning wickedly jessica raising her eyebrows very slightly

macrocondy3point0 he really is just her boy toy this is very good

twitchystitch boy toy peter being totally dominated by MJ is my new favorite thing i did not even know i wanted more of this but now i really do

[onouwu]

Squeea’s Heart

Furry x human thumpy sci-fi with a bit of input from a certain someone~

As dawn broke, Squeea headed to her favorite coffee shop in tight fitting pajamas which hugged her brown furred and lithe form, stifling a yawn as she walked. The top of her pajamas hid her otherwise quite visible heart, beating between her breasts outside of her chest thanks to some past experiments at the lab. She went to get a little caffeine in her system to start the day; with how tired she felt, she was sure she needed it. She wondered what would be awaiting her at home since her friend and lab mate, Mina, had asked if she wanted to have a bit of fun last night. While Squeea was much too tired, she said that maybe if she was in the mood today she'd be ready. And if anything was predictable, it was Mina's persistence.

As she went to take her order, she was surprised when a cup of coffee, just the way she liked it, seemed to materialize in front of her, along with a bagel in a little paper bag.

"Oooh, you saw me coming, didn't you, Grets!" Squeea let out, not even having to wait for her coffee to be made before Grets, a cute red scaled dragonkin and the manager of the shop, came with the booty right before her.

"Well, yeah, someone already ordered and paid on your behalf. Told me not to tell you, but don't worry, they're a good friend of yours, Squeea!"

"Oh, well I think I know who it is, that gal's pretty obvious, but thank ya!"

"Here's another one on the house, cause you can't just have one." Grets handed the second cup over to Squeea, a wisp of steam wafting from beneath the lid. "Come back any time, Squeea. Pleasure doing business with you and your friends." Greta gave the bunny a playful wave before returning to her other customers.

Squeea already knew Mina was up to something but she couldn't quite tell what. The thought buzzed in her mind as she took her first sip... the coffee was good. The bagel was fresh. She couldn't help but wonder what that lab rat had up her sleeve but she was prepared for whatever that gal was planning.

After a few minutes of sitting there watching the little television, her coffee got cool enough that she could gulp it all down as she did. She didn't feel any different just yet. Her heart was hammering visibly as it always does after downing a couple cups of coffee, and her curiosity rose about why Mina would preemptively buy her coffee unless she was trying to get her in a good mood for that fun she had planned. It'd be just like Mina to try and butter her up with coffee...sometimes it even worked.

As she walked down the road back to the house and lab they lived in, she felt unusually energetic. She couldn't stop smiling and wanted to run, her heart kept pounding now, visibly straining against the fabric of her top, and she began to connect that with the coffee she just had. When she got home Oleanna greeted her at the door with her sweatpants and sports bra on ready for her morning jog, Squeea started to blush as her eyes began to linger over her sister's taut body. 'Damn, girl' she mused to herself. She never knew her sister was so... well formed; how had she missed that before? Even as Oleanna walked out she found herself gawking while her sister went into a sprint and took off down the street. Her heart continued to hammer, even harder than before. It was unusual for it to last that long. The initial kick seemed to be the beginning of her caffeine high.

Oleander walked out of his room to head to a friend's house, and again the same thoughts crossed her mind. "Boy, is he slender and cute..." the thought zipped through her mind before she smirked, confident that Mina had given her coffee an extra little kick. As she sat there alone her hands sank to her thighs, rubbing against them, her arms squeezing her breasts against the organ which made it pump harder. Her legs shifted with her hands between them, thoughts of touching herself sent her large heart slamming against the front of her shirt in vivid contractions, so forcefully Squeea worried it was going to tear a hole right through her top!

And then the woman herself came walking out, the saucy blue haired minx. Wide awake and with a wiggle of her hips, she gave all of her secrets away with her deviant little grin, sitting next to Squeea in her jeans and bra.

"How'd you like your coffee?" Mina said with a bright grin, barely able to contain her amusement.

"I think my heart is about to pop and I couldn't stop staring at Oleanna's ass. Othwerwise, it tasted great."

Squeea's eyes seemed to drift toward Mina's soft and smooth yet sturdy figure, One more fitting of a lumberjack model than a researcher. Mina's laugh in response breaking her trance.

"well, figured it might help you get in the mood. Maybe I made it a little too strong..."

"Well, silly, of course I'm in the mood now!" Squeea remarked, foregoing the games and almost leaping from her seat down onto Mina's lap, wrapping her arms around the woman's body and letting her feel the hammering thrusts of the heart trying to jump out of her top. Squeea's eyes were full of lust as her hips automatically curled inward against Mina's legs, grinding softly, the heat radiating in all directions. Mina only bit her lip and slumped down to feel Squeea's grinding where it counts, her hands roaming over the large throbbing organ, pressing as if to try and contain it as it seemed to try to burst out of her top.

"Hmm, how about a little research and uh... relief for that poor thing!"

"Sure, as long as you know what you're doing."

Squeea could see Mina's bright eyes and excited smile and knew what was coming. She knew Mina's ideas of research were unorthodox, to put it mildly. To put it bluntly, they tended to result in a ridiculous amount of orgasms and a huge mess everywhere.

"Oh, of course! You know I have everything under control."

Mina then wrapped her arms around Squeea's body and lifted up, Squeea's legs wrapping around Mina's hips as she went in for a kiss, her body consumed with sensual desire, ready for anything Mina could do to give her relief. As Mina carried her "patient" into the lab, she laid Squeea down on the first bed she saw and began to pull her pajama pants off. Squeea lifted her rear to let them slip off before pulling her own top off to reveal the violent hammering organ between her breasts, a sight that instantly caught Mina's eyes. That lucious pump was shaking the top of her body with its intense motion, feeling even larger than before.

Finally the scientist left Squeea on her own for a moment as she went into her personal drawer and pulled out her special kit,. A clear purple tip gave away part of this kit's contents, though Squeea was hoping for such a thing as her desires and heartbeat grew more intense by the moment, each beat sending shockwaves through her body. Mina went behind Squeea and wrapped a blindfold over her eyes.

She could hear Mina preparing herself, then felt Mina's hands wrap around her waist, sitting behind her, her now bare legs pushing against her hips while a rubbery stick pressed against Squeea's back. Squeea squeaked, as she felt the cold rubber press along the top of her ass.

"Relief, you say?"

Squeea laid back against Mina's chest, feeling the woman's own heart beating hard but comfortably in her chest.

"Yeah..."

Mina's voice was sensual as she wrapped her arms around the lower half of Squeea's chest and picked her up, pulling the lithe little lapine up and droping her body into her waiting lap.

Mina's right hand then ran itself against the writhing muscular mass, gently tracing over the thick artery rubbing between the ventricle. She felt Squeea grab onto her thighs and push her self against her crotch, a needy lust seeming to wrack every ounce of her being. Mina seemed to greatly enjoy the feeling of the exposed meaty organ pumping against her hand as their bodies rocked against each other, struggling and squirming frantically against her fingertips. Mina felt the organ wring itself of blood and fill in powerful devotion to Squeea's body, the arteries surrounding it bulging as it squeezed the blood through its form. Her fingers found their way back over them, pressing against them, feeling the lifeblood rushing and passively resisting her hand through those delicate channels, hampering them from feeding the organ with life-sustaining blood.

With one arm wrapped around Squeea's belly to pull her in, Mina's other hand began to massage the exposed organ, interrupting its passive rhythm. She could feel it becoming agitated with her forceful kneading, beating harder and quicker against her palm. Part of her wanted to be gentle and let it work while the other part of her wanted to control it, make it work...the latter urge was growing stronger by the moment, Mina's evil side asserting itself. Mina's mind began to wonder if this bothered her partner, but the very loving and intense way Squeea pushed herself against Mina's rubbery appendage told her that Squeea was enjoying every second of her caress.

Finally, Squeea couldn't take it anymore and lifted her body upward, letting the strapped on dildo's tip drop between her legs. Mina let out a soft groan as she knew what Squeea wanted and complied, aiming the thing at the opening of Squeea's vulva and taking her hands off to tug Squeea's hips down on the shaft. As the rabbit's body was already dripping with pleasure, the rod sank into her body easily to loud and sensual gasps from Squeea's lips, her tall brown ears dropping to her shoulders while the top of her body rocked harder from the intense pounding of her exposed organ. Every beat seemed to jostle her ample bosom, making each breast in time to her heart's dance. Mina's hands were quick to return to place, her right now aggressively kneading into the contracting muscle, feeling its furious hammering and the torrents of blood being pushed into her aorta.

She centered her palm against the meaty throbbing mass, her other hand resting over it, fingers interlocking. She just had to give it one deep push. The urge was too strong, far too strong to resist. Finally, she very lightly and quickly pressed inward as the organ filled.

"Ooh..." Mina's fascination grew stronger as she felt Squeea's heart fluttering quickly in response before regaining its slow rhythm, agitated by the pressure interrupting its flow. A warm rush came over her as she watched the poor thing quake unproductively before pumping out its next beat even more forcefully, bloating up as if suddenly filled with air. Squeea seemed not much to care, enjoying such centered attention given to her heart as she sat there filled with Mina's rubbery shaft, her folds quivering around the false phallus.

Another push, this time deeper against the bloated organ, squeezing down hard. Mina couldn't help but enjoy the hard contraction going through the muscle, the feeling of the blood rushing into Squeea's aorta. The delicate and lust driven whimper from Squeea's lips as Mina manipulated her most vital organ was electrifying. Squeea's heart started to quiver this time, swelling irregularly. It was definitely not agreeing with Mina's interference. Mina was startled for a moment by the palpitation, but her urge to control got the best of her mind. She realized that whether or not it had its own rhythm, she could simply make one... and that was something she desperately wanted to do.

Before the organ could recover, her hands sank into the writhing mass, squeezing blood from it forcefully. The organ didn't seem to resist this time, pulsing meaninglessly before making one more big contraction then rippling as it slowly filled again. For a few breathless seconds, it seemed as if time had stopped along with the pulse. Finally Squeea spoke, weakly and with a slight lilt...

"You...might need to take over for it..."

"Aww, poor thing; Good thing one of us knows CPR!" Mina responded with obvious excitement in her voice.

Mina quickly but gently lifted Squeea by her sides and got up, lying the bunny down on on her back with her legs hanging off the foot of the exam bed. While her vision grew hazy, squeea could see Mina position herself between her dangling legs with the rubber dong resting over her vulva. Mina's eager eyes pointed at the barely pumping heart, Two strong hands soon to follow. Mina lightly pressed her palm into the soft quivering mass, then methodically ran her other hand over that one and curled her fingers between the knuckles.

With fingers interlocked and eyes full of depraved anticipation, Mina shoved her weight against the giant writhing organ. Squeea felt the blood rush from its chambers and through her body which made the arteries in the bun's neck bulge slightly. Even with slightly blurred vision she could see the rush of excitement in Mina's expression as she took pause only to watch the wobbly organ inflate while almost bouncing in its wild attempts to produce a full beat... obviously the result of her special brew. 'oh boy...' Squeea thought to herself, wondering if she was ready for what she got herself into.

Mina continued. Slowly at first, once a second Mina forcibly shoved her palm into the organ as it swelled. As Mina's pace quickened, Squeea's sight came back in full stride, and so too the flow her chemically enhanced arousal. Even the gentle rubbing of Mina's strapon drove Squeea mad, making her legs squeeze at the firm set of thighs between them; such candid expressions of lust only fueling the woman's depravity.

"Harder it is then." Mina spoke between compressions, taking the overstimulated and speechless bunny's body language as a sign of approval. As Mina's hands continued to relentlessly bear down on the exposed vital organ, making Squeea tilt her head back and pant out lustful candid moans, gripping Mina's arms while her poor heart strains under the explosive pressure of the woman's powerful and sensually driven hands. Thrust after thrust she felt sinking in against its meaty ventricles and the plump veins covering its surface, the dominant woman's heated breaths and sexual energy fueling her own lust.

As soon as Squeea felt like the abused organ could take no more, Mina stopped herself abruptly and took a few deep breaths. As Squeea slowly regained her senses, she looked down and saw the organ contract on its own. Slowly at first before picking up pace. While the sight relieved her somewhat, she had something else to worry about now...

Squeea propped herself up on her elbows.

"I...I think it needs some more help... It shouldn't be so slow right?" Squeea said in a soft, desperate voice. She could feel her body trembling in arousal. The poor bunny now on the edge. even a good enough breeze would send her over at this point.

"Of course. A little steady movement will help its recovery."

Had Squeea's thought process not been completely overrun with desperation she might worry, but those words came as relief.

Mina ran a hand up Squeea's body, causing her belly to quake under her palm and her back to arch as she walked her fingers over the rapidly quickening muscle. The woman's hand continued up, running over Squeea's neck and gently tilting her head back. Her hand affectionately scratched the underside of Squeea's big floppy ear against the bed as if to reward her.

Squeea jolted and let out a loud, heavenly moan as she felt the unmistakable tip of Mina's strapon press against the entrance of her drenched sex. Her once weak heart contracted powerfully and seemed to jump out of her chest. Intense orgasmic waves rippled through her overstimulated body as the shaft sank in rather easily yet Mina seemed to just be getting started.

As Squeea's body lie there clenching and squirming in orgasmic bliss, Mina took those gripping legs from around her body and began thrusting forward, watching the pumping mass beat hard and vigorously through its owner's orgasmic quakes, surrounded by her arched heaving chest and covered in straining arteries that seemed ready to burst, not unlike the heart itself.

The organ leaped from Squeea's chest with each aggressive contraction. The powerful organ's quick and violent movement drove her to push harder and deeper, timing her pumping with that of Squeea's heart, watching it jump from her chest after every thrust into her quivering sex. Seeing it strain and leap with such ferocity made Mina wonder how much stress the organ could endure. As she trusted harder, she could feel her own body getting tired, but she pulled through, wanting to eek out as much of this lapine's orgasm as possible. Squeea had to grab the sides of the bed as the pounding got harder and faster.

Suddenly Squeea's heart began to quiver again, this time more violently than before. It squeezed down with all of its might but it seemed as if the blood had nowhere to go. Instead of stopping, Mina continued pounding into the orgasming bunny's body while the distended, bloated ventricles hammered in on themselves and bounced against her chest from Mina's thrusting. Suddenly a loud pop filled the room as the organ burst in Squeea's final moments of orgasm, splattering the both of them and covering Squeea's chest in a bloody mess.

"Hmm, I had a feeling we'd be using the spare organ system today. See you when you wake up!" Mina said with a little too much enthusiasm for the situation.

[black-strike-otp]

part 81

Bleep :q Tis uninteresting chap I’m sorry. Things will pick up again~ Give it time.

~ Days Later ~

“What’s the rush this morning?” Novastrike yawned, watching as Blackout stole data from the console his servo and injected the finalized data into his personal datapad. “And what are you doing?”

“If I retrieve the documents via my processor and send it to my datapad, I can bypass security and hopefully leave less of a trail for Soundwave to follow,” he clarified. “Aside from that, if I tried taking the files straight from my datapad, it would register under the Decepticon database and be much easier to hack.”

Snapping her audios in an alert position, the small femme glanced over Blackout’s backside turned towards her. Her tail moved in nervous kinks a few times before coming to a pause as she vented. Looking over to where Scorponok was huddled up with his optics half-open on the floor briefly, she brought her gaze slowly back to Blackout.

“You don’t sound like you trust your old comrades anymore,” she murmured with remorse.

The scrapping of Blackout shifting on his pedes grated on Nova’s ears. She flinched back slightly whilst dialing back her reception a few degrees.

“Soundwave and I were never close. He only serves Lor- Megatron.”

“I’m sorry if it bothers you to do this. You... you know you don’t have to leave. We don’t have to leave.”

Blackout was clearly caught short by the statement. He turned his helm slightly and nearly moved to look at her better before the connections in his arm tugged taunt from the computer screen. Rumbling in his chassis, he turned back to the screen whilst his digits curled tighter around the datapad in his own servo.

“Why would you think I want to stay?” he inquired softly.

“Because you were a Decepticon,” she speculated while twiddling her digits together anxiously. “You already lost a chance to return to them back on Epads.”

Patiently, Blackout responded: “Every time I’ve said that I didn’t regret that, I meant that.”

“You don’t feel any differently now, being around them? Not even a little.”

“Different how?”

“I don’t know, different?” Nova offered uncertainly.

He was quiet. It made her nerves feel more frazzled. But after nearly a minute of his silence, he tugged the connectors from his servo free of the digital screen as the compressed data had been screened. Blackout slowly turned to look over at her, the thin lines from his other servo still hooked into his datapad as he finished the transfer.

“I definitely less valued than I did years ago,” he chided. “Megatron has lost respect for me, but the majority of the crew still fears me.”

Sighing, the small femme looked down at her nervously fiddling digits. “I just don’t want you to regret having an honest, genuine second opportunity to rejoin because of... me.”

“I make my own decisions,” Blackout reminded her lightly with a tender smile. “I don’t need to be here to prove to myself I’m worth something. I don’t need to take the verbal and physical beatings and mundane schedules anymore to impress any bot. I’ve got promises to keep that mean far more to me, and a dream to follow.”

Intrigued, Novastrike raised an optic ridge as she wondered aloud, “What dream?”

“Why, just making the most precious, most beautiful femme I’ve ever seen made of moonlight and glittering stars in her optics the happiest bot who ever existed, of course,” Blackout replied with a flash of a proud grin.

Ears flooding with light, she scowled at him while trying to repress her own smile as she hissed, “Trying to flirt and impress me, you stupid aft.”

“Did it work?”

“Well yeah it worked you thick-helmed giant, now get your fine as frag aft over here.”

Chuckling in the depths of his chassis, Blackout took a few very short steps forward as he hesitated, playfully teasing, “I don’t know, your words seem rather aggressive, how do I know you’re not going to try hitting me?~”

Growling quietly, she made a come here motion with one of her digits as she smiled. “Aggressive, huh? I come off as dangerous to you? Or is it just the swears?”

“Oh no, definitely hazardous,” he agreed swiftly, snickering as he inched closer. “A perilous risk to my spark. Can’t you hear the sound of my spark?”

“You soft-sparked jerk, quit teasing me.”

“I’d say by the smile on your face that you like me teasing you.”

A burst of laughter escaped Novastrike, clutching at her chassis with one servo. She gestured with her other servo wildly, watching as the play of light in Blackout’s optics seemed to grow more distinct in its hues of luminous red.

Shifting a little closer, Blackout turned his optics down to the datapad in his servo as he finished completing the transfer. The cables snapped free as he moved his personal pad to the other servo and flexed his digits, inspecting his arm.

“Are you just going to stand there and leave me hanging, Blackout?” Nova pouted.

“Why not? It makes you want me more,” he taunted with a sweet smile.

“Oh really?” she hummed, placing her servo to her hip. “Maybe I should just go find a different bot on the ship who’ll appreciate my presence and conversation then.”

Quick on his pedes, the obsidian mech advanced the rest of the way, one servo placing the datapad on the berth and sliding it away from the edge.

Nova shivered a little as he loomed over her.

“Mmmm, you don’t think I value and admire you enough? Is that what I’m hearing?”

“Well at the moment you’re being awfully mean,” she sulked while slowly batting her optics.

A deep bass rumble pressurized out of Blackout. It was meant to sound threatening; intimidating his enemies but she grinned wide as she caught his smile. A purr radiated through her chassis as she pushed herself to stand up and lean against his chassis. Her face nuzzled into his armor that held a residual heat from earlier.

Massaging slow circles against his plating, she pressed a kiss against the ink black armor. The slightest shiver moved through him; rendered powerless by the simple gesture.

Pressed so close against him, she could understand why he had teased her about giving him spark failure. Her audios could hear the sporadic beating; a rhythm to a beat strong and fierce that quickened and escalated with the pressure of her digits upon his frame.

Growling quietly, Blackout placed his servo against her backstrut, urging her a bit closer to his frame. One of his digits moved to trail along her spine. As she trembled, a sigh moving past her parted lips, he made the quietest laugh in his throat.

“I love you very much, Novastrike,” he stated softly; voice lacking any dark infliction or harshness. “And I do respect you; I adore you totally.”

Laughing breathlessly, Nova rested her forehead against his armor. “I know you do, you dork, I was only kidding around. I love you too.”

“And I can’t hear it enough,” he admitted quietly.

“I’ll be happy to tell you every day, and any time you want me to.”

“Reassuring me that I’m worthy of having a moon goddess in my life? You’re very generous, dear.”

Novastrike snorted quietly, patting his armor. “Handsome devil.”

Snickering quietly, Blackout shifted slightly as Scorponok chirped, scaling up his armor to dock in his backside. His servo moved up and down her back lightly while giving a quiet hum.

“We better go speak with Nighthawk and see how he’s doing,” he said quietly. “See if he’s capable of moving out of the med-bay today upon clearance from Infiltrator.”

“And Knock Out,” Nova added on, her voice muffled against his armor.

Her frame tensed slightly and then relaxed as she leaned her helm back as far as it could, giving him an accusatory glance.

“I know the difference between when you’re giving a loving caress, and when you’re coping a feel you dirty mech,” she hissed, swatting at his arm lightly as she grinned.

Shrugging, Blackout gave a cheeky smile in response.

“Feelin’ my aft and thighs,” she grumbled lightly, gently pushing at his armor. “I’m gonna feel you up later, sounds like a fair trade to me.”

“You’ll have to get me to sit still first.”

Squeaking, Novastrike slid forward as Blackout began to take a step back. She teetered, trying to save herself from falling. Before she could even lose her balance too much, Blackout scooped his servo around her bottom so she was forced to sit as he lifted her against his chassis.

Huffing, she glared daggers up at he beloved. “I don’t need you to sit still. You’ll be coming to me~”

“Oooh, is that so?” he chuckled, raising up his servo to his shoulder.

“Yeah you will,” she growled, a flicker of confusion on her faceplate. “Your shoulder? I thought you said we were going to see Nighthawk.”

“Yes. Do you not want a ride?”

“I mean, aren’t we supposed to be cautious about all this...?”

“We’ve been here enough days now that not all bots are going to be looking at us anymore like we’ve got three helms,” Blackout testified. “The Eradicon and Vehicon anyway seem to be fond of you. I don’t think they’ll be bothered to say anything or spread rumors.”

Offering a thoughtful hum, she leaned in first to press a very slow, lingering kiss against the corner of his mouth. While he glanced away bashfully, she hopped up and wiggled her aft against his shoulder comfortably.

“If you’re sure, love.”

Reaching up, Blackout booped her light on the top of her helm with his digit. A quiet giggle escaped her as she gingerly pawed at his servo as it retracted.

“Quite sure,” he stated while grabbing his datapad to subspace it. “Now if you’re comfortable darling, let’s be off.”

~

Looking between Infiltrator and Nighthawk, Blackout tapped his pede restlessly on the floor. The dragon insisted on going over his vitals for what had to be the third time since they’d entered the room. He didn’t seem too eager to allow his mentor to get up despite Nighthawk appearing just as jumpy. In that aspect, Blackout and himself had something very much in common: both of them were workaholics.

Only Blackout had found new ways to curb his desire to constantly work too much.

He moved his optics to look at Nova as she wrung her digits nervously in front of herself. Lifting his arm, he lightly stroked his digit against her side, nudging her lightly.

“How much longer does he need to have that patch on his chassis? Hasn’t it been there a while?”

“It was a brutal wound, Novastrike,” Infiltrator admitted calmly. “And he’s an older bot; it takes him longer to heal.”

“I’m not that old,” Nighthawk defended nervously. “I can still get around. I still work. I’m not senile or deaf; I can still hear you all just fine too thank you.”

Blackout smirked as he spoke up in defense of the ‘old mech’, “Nighthawk’s right. He’s a tough bot. He’s been dealt tougher blows.”

“Now, I wouldn’t say that.”

“I would.”

“Well thank you commander,” the seeker medic snapped. “I’m glad you know my life experiences more than I do.”

“On second thought, maybe you should drug him more Infiltrator. He’s a lot easier to deal with that way.”

The dragonic metal beast turned the most unimpressed blank expression his way. The small visor reader on the side of his helm flickered as he gave a heavy snort through his nostrils; steam moving out of his nose with annoyance.

“Blackout doesn’t mean that,” Novastrike spoke up in his defense.

He turned his helm towards Nova and gave a roll of his optics. Turning back to Nighthawk, Blackout felt some of the nervous tension leave his shoulder. It seemed since the medic got hurt, Infiltrator wasn’t quite as usually teasing and fun as he once was. He wasn’t used to having to dilute his jokes on Nighthawk to get a passable grade by the drake that looked like it wanted to wring his neck every time Infiltrator thought he might have gotten under his tutor’s armor.

Checking the results from his scan once again, the dragon gave a quiet muttering. He turned his helm just slightly to Nighthawk. The medic gave him a nod and supportive smile. Whatever decision his assistant came to, he would support it.

“You’re suitable, boss,” Infiltrator finally sighed, like he wasn’t happy about it. “The patch will need to remain in place to keep the wound from getting bacteria or spores in it from the other bots or whatever this planet may have. Lord Megatron still hasn’t approved the issue of having replacement parts sent in.”

Rolling his shoulders carefully not to send Novastrike toppling off, Blackout cleared his vocalizer. “Need me to look around?”

“No thank you hound,” Nighthawk stated with gentle mockery. “You wouldn’t even know what to look for. Isn’t that what you told me months ago?”

“Heh. Guess you’re right,” he agreed.

Pacing in front of Blackout, the dragon climbed up to carefully unhook some of the lines dangling from Nighthawk’s frame. The medic remained still, and as Blackout watched, seemed rather pleased and confident in his aid’s work. He couldn’t blame him. A lot of the dents had been pulled out already, wounds had been welded, there wasn’t a stain of energon anywhere to be found on his frame that had been cleaned properly and carefully.

Sure he was still a bit scuffed, his armor discolored, and a large hole in his chassis but he was online. The Nemesis had a lot better care and variety of items than most ships; and Infiltrator might still have had access to whatever odds and ends they’d managed to haul off in the Jaguar. That is, if Megatron allowed them to use them.

As Infiltrator stepped out of the way, Nighthawk swung his pedes gingerly over the side of the examination table. Blackout took a step back, glancing to the side as the dragon went scampering on the other side of the room. He came back carrying a staff in his maw and held it out to the seeker, tapping it against his side.

“I don’t need-”

He went quiet, looking at the pleading gaze from the dragon’s big shiny optics.

Venting, the medic snatched the cane with a sharp look at his assistant. Infiltrator just gave a toothy smile in response whilst his tail flicked back and forth behind him.

Placing his cane to the floor, Nighthawk slowly pushed himself up to his pedes. Blackout felt a sickening feeling in his tanks, and glanced off to the side.

Novastrike’s servo brushed against his cheek lightly.

Rumbling, he didn’t quite look to the seeker as he gruffly spoke up, “We need to find someplace more private to speak.”

“What did you have in mind?”

“Off ship,” Blackout responded. “In the mines. We’ll have it reported in as you going to look in on a possible accident, injured miner. It’ll probably slip under radar. Even with you injured, you’ve always been a mech quick to jump back into work. Lord Megatron probably thinks you’re terrified anyway and would want to get on his good side. Since I’ve been put on shift to guard the mines recently, it’s doubtful we’ll immediately raise suspicions.”

Nodding his helm, the medic adjusted his grip on his cane. “Alright,” he agreed.

“Novastrike and I will head down now and get to work so we’re not all clustering down together at once. Wait a few jours before heading down. Have Infiltrator send me a ping or something discreet since they’ll probably be far more curious with what you’re doing anyway wandering around.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Nighthawk chuckled. “Looks like you might not have lost all your touch yet.”

“I should hope not,” the large mech sniggered. “I’m going to need all the craftiness I still have in me to pull us out of this one.”

Much to his surprise, Nighthawk reached out with his servo. He patted his on the shoulder lightly, offering a fierce nod as his optics blazed with determination.

“Well, you won’t be doing it alone. We’ll be pulling some of the weight too; don’t think this is all on you.”

“Thank you,” he rumbled deeply, nodding his helm. “I appreciate that.”

Turning his helm just enough, he flicked his optics over to Novastrike. She appeared somewhat worried by her gaze, but offered a smile of encouragement. The dark sapphire and softer baby blues of her optics shone with resolve as she nodded with agreement.

“Couldn’t say it better than Nighthawk,” she agreed. “We’ve got each others backs.”

“Well our hides are going to take a lashing if we’re not down in the mines bright and earlier,” he reminded her. “Megatron was not terribly pleased with previous performances.”

“Oh, you mean working earlier than requested and no benefits? Yeah, I know. He’s like a soul-sucking-”

“Nova,” Infiltrator warned.

She smiled innocently at the dragon, then Nighawk’s amused faceplate, and then turned back to Blackout.

His spark practically melted. Damn femme and her virtuous face; you could hardly place the blame on her for anything. Not that he was in disagreement at the moment anyway.

“Alright you,” he muttered, poking her side gently with his digit. “Let’s go before you decide to mouth off and get yourself in trouble.”

“Me?” she asked innocently while placing a servo to her chassis. “In trouble? But I never cause trouble.”

Choking as he tried to contain his laughter, Blackout bid a respectful nod to Nighthawk and Infiltrator. The medic seemed highly amused watching him try not to laugh, smirking deviously.

Placing a servo momentarily on top of Novastrike to muffle her, the Decepticon Hound left the med-bay, hearing Infiltrator’s chuckling as he left.

[daisy-chain-gardens]

Exchange Romance - Part 3

Part 1 - https://daisy-chain-gardens.tumblr.com/post/162913902685/exchange-romance 

Part 2 - https://daisy-chain-gardens.tumblr.com/post/162947052535/exchange-romance-part-2

A/N - Me again. Sorry for the two week break but I went on holiday with my host fam so not really that sorry. I am sorry however for giving you ugly links again though because I haven’t had time to figure out how to make them pretty. This is un-edited but I’ll edit it in the morning. Shout out to the lovely @marieherondalebookfangirl because she is the absolute cutest. On a more content related note, I did some research and couldn’t find out when Betty’s birthday was so it’s now November 16th in this universe. If her actual birthday has been said somewhere and I missed it, sorry!

Summary: How will Betty’s birthday go down?

Word Count: 4,631

A ringing noise filled Betty’s room early, really early. She reached over and grabbed her phone. The bright momentarily blinding her as she fumbled around trying to lower the brightness and answer the call at the same time.

“Elizabeth, happy birthday!” Alice’s chirpy voice seemed about fifty times too loud for Betty’s ears at this time in the morning.

“Thanks Mum. You know it’s 5:30 in the morning here, right?” Betty croaked in the direction of the phone, her eyes still not functioning properly.

“Oh no, have I screwed up the time difference again? I was wondering why you were looking like that. Should I call back later?”

“No, no it’s fine Mum. I’m already awake so we might as well talk now,” Betty replied, ignoring her mother's dig at her appearance while she tried to sit up. She rubbed her eyes to try and get rid of the sleep stuck in them.

“So, Elizabeth, any big plans for today?” A smile crossed the sleepy blonde’s face as she thought about today. It was finally her birthday, her favourite day of the year. Jug was coming over later to hang out and then they were going to catch up with Ronnie and Archie to watch movies and eat takeaways. It wasn’t anything major but she couldn’t wait.

“Nothing special. V and I are gonna have some friends over for movie and takeout tonight but I’m not getting up to much during the day.” Although Betty had never been the best at lying to her mother, it was a whole lot easier when she was thousand of miles away. “That sounds … nice. Have you been using that face cream I sent over? You’re skin is looking a bit irritated, you need to drink more water.” Alice pointed out. The screen froze momentarily, giving Betty enough time to roll her eyes without her mother noticing.

“Of course Mum. I’ll grab some water when I get out of bed. 5:30 in the morning remember?” Betty retaliated, hoping that it wasn’t too obvious how irritated she was at her mother for already putting her in a bad mood. Typical Alice Cooper.

“Well everything is going well here thanks for asking Elizabeth. Polly is coming home in a couple of weeks but she’s already on holiday. Honestly, I swear they are always on holiday at that university of hers. This is why you’re over there Elizabeth, remember that. I want something better for you than what Polly has.” Betty felt  homesick at the mention of her beloved sister. The emotion quickly passed as it was replaced by disgust at her mother’s opinion of Polly’s education.

“I know Mum, I’m sure you won’t let me forget it.”

Alice continued to fill her youngest daughter in on various things happening in back in Wellington but Betty stopped listening after a while, having perfected the art of nodding and mumbling generic response at a very young age. A while later she broke out of her daze and interrupted her mother while she was complaining about a neighbour who had supposedly stolen one of their recycling bin.

“Sorry Mum but I need to go. Kevin was planning on calling me in ten minutes so I should probably get up and out of my pyjamas.”

“Of course Elizabeth. Happy birthday again. Don’t forget to drink some water before your friends call. I love you, have a great day.” “Thanks Mum, I will. Love you too,” Betty said before quickly hanging up.

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

Betty’s phone rang again at exactly 6:30. She hurried over to where she’d left it on her dresser and answered it quickly.

“Happy birthday Betts!” Her friend’s voice greeted Betty as her face broke into a huge smile at the sight of her best friend.

“Aww thanks Kev, you’re the best.”

“Betts, Imiss you so much, you have no idea,” he exclaimed, the corner of his lips turning down in a fake pout.

“Trust me I know,” Betty replied as she sat down on her bed. “I did talk to you guys two days ago though.”

“Yeah we know but it’s not the same,” whined Kevin. “Anyway, on a lighter note, how are you going to celebrate the big one seven?”

“Umm, well I’m spending the day with Jughead and then we’re gonna watch movies with Ronnie and Arch tonight.”

“Oooh, Betty. And what exactly are you planning on doing with a whole day alone with your handsome prince, hmm?” Kevin waggled his eyebrows in question, reminding Betty of a cartoon character as she burst out laughing.

“Probably nothing even close to what you’re thinking in that screwed up little heads of yours Kev.”

“I’m hurt.” Kevin held a hand up to his chest in mock offense.” “But seriously, what are you doing.”

“I don’t actually know,” Betty confessed. “Jughead said he was planning something but he hasn’t let anything slip.”

“How intriguing. Be sure to fill me in on everything, and I mean everything.”

“I always do Kev.” Betty joked. The topic then turned to more trivial things as Kevin filled in his best friend on the various gossip that was currently circulating. The conversation kept flowing and Betty started to feel like she was back at home, sitting in her pink room on the phone to Kevin as he talked her ear off. It was a strange feeling, to be going through such a familiar routine but feeling so detached from it. Kevin eventually had to leave but Betty sat there for a long time. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she stared out the window.. All she really wanted in that moment was to be able to talk to Kevin for just a little while longer. To slip back into that bubble of familiarity instead of sitting here in isolation. To go home.

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

Jughead strolled into the Lodge’s apartment at nine o’clock with a bunch of flowers in one hand and a small present in the other. He walked straight to Betty’s room and knocked softly on the door.

“Come in,” Betty’s voice sounded small and broken, forcing Jughead to open the door faster than he thought was humanly possible.

“Betty,” Jughead’s heart broke at the sight of her. She looked so small. Her hands quickly came up to her face to wipe away the tears but they just kept coming. He placed the flowers and the gift on top of her dresser before sitting down next to the broken blonde and hugging her tightly. He placed a soft kiss on the top of her head as she collapsed into him. “What’s wrong Betts?” Betty could hear the worry clearly in his voice as she pulled away from the hug, trying again to dry her teary eyes.

“It’s nothing, it’s stupid. Don’t worry about it Jug. I’m fine,” she replied with a fake smile. Jughead looked at her cautiously before resting his hand on one of her legs, his thumb moving in soft circles.

“Betts, come on, I know you. You don’t cry over nothing. What’s going on?” He asked again. She looked down at his thumb as the smile fell from her lips.

“I just … I’m just kinda homesick. I talked to Kevin this morning and just had this unexplainable urge to go back home,” Jughead’s hand moved from her leg to her check, brushing away the tears that had started to fall again. “It’s not that I don’t love it here, I mean it’s honestly a dream come true. In fact, I feel like this is a dream, like I’m not really living, you know? I feel like I’ve just hit pause on my life but no one else has. Everyone else is still carrying on with their everyday routine but I’m here on the other side of the world and no one cares. Everyone back home just assumes that I’m having the time of my life and everything is so easy and I’m living the ‘American dream’ or whatever. Everyone here just treats me like the new kid and makes fun of my accent. I just want things to be normal.” Her tears had dried up now as anger replaced her loneliness.

“Betty, it’s absolutely fine to be homesick. You’re allowed to break down sometimes. You’re allowed to cry and be angry and scream and kick stuff. You don’t need to be strong all the time. I don’t know how to help you with all of that stuff but I will personally beat up whoever makes you feel like you’re unwanted ok? Nobody should ever have to feel that way, especially not you.” Jughead pulled her into his arms again and this time she didn’t pull away. They stayed that way for a long time; Betty curled up around Jughead as he stroked her hair and whispered sweet nothings into her ear. A while later she sat up and looked out the window.

“It’s snowing,” she said quietly, her voice still hoarse from crying. She walked over to the window and Jughead couldn’t help but think how pure and innocent she looked. Her eyes were wide with wonder and she looked out at the white blanket falling over the town. Jughead got up slowly and stood next to her.

“Happy birthday Betts.”

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

Betty had become too entranced by the snow to register that she hadn’t yet eaten. He offered to grab some breakfast and she nodded absent mindedly, not fully registering the question and the white flakes drifted past the glass. He chuckled under his breath before exiting the room in search of food. Veronica was in the kitchen making coffee when he arrived. Jughead was planning on making some toast or finding some cereal but there was already a tray full of pastries on the bench. He searched the cupboards for a clean plate before loading it up with pastries and fruit.

“Hey Jug, is B ok? I thought I heard her crying this morning but I didn’t really want to intrude.” Ronnie asked before taking a sip of her coffee.

“Yeah she’s ok. Just a bit homesick. It’s kind of hard for her, being away from her family and friends on her birthday.” Jughead replied while filling up two glasses with orange juice.

“That sucks. I know how much she was looking forward to her birthday but I didn’t even think about that. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.” Jughead smiled up at he in response before continuing to empty the kitchen of various breakfast foods.

“Actually,” he said, stopping what he was doing and turning around to face the dark haired girl. “I do have an idea but it might be kind of hard.”

“Anything for B. Just name it and I’ll sort it out.”

“Ok, so…”

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

After their huge breakfast, Betty and Jughead put on their winter coats and stepped out into the snow. Jughead couldn’t stop smiling at his girlfriend. She was running and spinning and jumping around the streets as they walked. Despite his hatred of cellphones and what they did to society, Jughead couldn’t help himself when he pulled his out of his pocket and took some photos of the carefree blonde.

“You would think you’ve never seen snow, Betts,” Jughead quipped. He shoved his phone back into his pocket before she turned around.

“Well, I haven’t really. I mean, I’ve seen snow but I’ve never actually been outside while it’s snowing. Wellington gets cold but it’s right next to the sea so no snow for us.” Although her tone was slightly sad, Betty was beaming at the magical scene surrounding her.

“I guess I never really thought about that. Do you want to stay outside or should we find something to do indoors?” he asked her as her wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her tight.

“Outside, definitely.”

“Ok. I know somewhere we can go.” With that, she was off. She ran down the street, leaving Jughead far behind. Her laughter bounced around the deserted street and Jughead started to wonder if maybe snow was a bit magical. It had to be to turn the crying, broken girl he saw this morning into this playful, carefree Betty he was now chasing through Riverdale. She kept running and laughing and he kept chasing after her, street after street. Betty disappeared around another corner and Jughead followed not long after, his heavy breaths visible in the frozen weather. Once he turned the corner he stopped; Betty had disappeared. He looked around the empty street for the giggly blonde. He couldn’t see her anywhere and was just about to call her name when he felt something cold and wet on the back of his jacket. Sure enough, Betty was standing at the other end of the street, snowballs in hand.

“Watch out Betts. Remember you’re the one who hasn’t been in proper snow before!” He called out to her playfully as he crouched down to make his own snowballs. He managed to roll up two before he felt another one of Betty’s hit him, this time on the back of his head. He stood up to retaliate, only to find the street empty again. “Hey Betts! I got a present for you!” He yelled out while walking towards where he’s last seen her. He heard a faint giggle from behind a large letter box and slowly walked around it before throwing both of his snowballs at her, hitting her shoulder both times.

“Juggie!” She squealed before hitting her with her last ball. They both crouched down to make more, smiles wide on their faces and the sound of their laughter echoed off the houses. Several minutes later they were both soaked. Jughead had one snowball left and Betty tried to run away, only to be stopped by his arms wrapping around her waist and picking her up. Jughead put the snowball down her jacket and she squirmed and giggled as the snow melted down her back.

“I warned you Betty Cooper.” Jughead set her down on the ground in front of him and brushed a strand of hair back behind her air.

“That you did Jughead Jones.” Betty wrapped her arms around his neck and looked up at him for a second before pressing her lips to his. The kiss was slow but heated, soft, but passionate, all at the same time. He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up, spinning her around as she giggled against his mouth. Jughead put her down gently and pulled his lips away slowly. His eyes stayed closed as he leant his forehead against hers, trying to remember every second of this perfect moment. He opened his eyes slowly to see her looking up at him expectantly.

“Happy Birthday Betts.”

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

Eventually the smiling duo ended up at Sweetwater River. They held hands as the strolled along the snowy banks of the water before finally stopping at a large rock. Jughead sat down on the edge, Betty sitting right next to him and leaning her head onto his shoulder.

“Is this where you wanted to take me?’ Betty asks without turning her head. Her voice is soft so as not to disturb their peaceful surroundings.

“Yeah. This is kind of my spot,” Jughead replied. He reached over and put an arm around her shoulder before leaning his head on top of hers.

“It’s beautiful here, even with the snow. I don’t know why I haven’t come here before,” she wondered aloud. Jughead chuckled before replying.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed but Ron isn’t really a big fan of nature.” Betty chuckled as well at the thought of Ronnie coming into the forest.

“Definitely. I can’t really see her in anything less than three inch heels, let alone sneakers. Plus there are way too many creepy crawlies for her liking.” They fell into a comfortable silence, watching the snow slowly dissolve in the half frozen river and listening to one another breathing. There weren’t any birds around but Betty could imagine the music they would make in warmer weather. Despite them both being soaked from head to toe after their snowball fight, neither of the felt the cold when they were wrapped up in each other’s arms. Betty was so caught up in the their surroundings that she didn’t notice Jughead slide his phone out of his pocket and take another photo of her.

“Before I lived with Archie I used to come here a lot.” He barely broke their silence. His voice was so soft that Betty thought she’d imagined it. She shifted slightly to look up at his face once he moved his head off of her’s. “Once my mum left with my sister, my dad used to come home drunk more and more often so I’d come and sit on this rock. I don’t know why it was here but it made me feel safe. Archie and I used to come here every day during the summer when we were kids to go swimming or fishing and I guess it just reminded me of when things were simple. When my family all lived under the same roof. When I didn’t have to worry about my dad’s drinking. When I was happy. I used to sit here and write. I wasn’t much good but it kept me distracted. Being able to come here and sit in the quiet was so … it was what kept me going. Once I moved in with Archie I kind of stopped coming. I still write but it’s not the same. I used to make up stories about princes and dragons and far away kingdoms.” He chuckles and a small smile plays on his lips as he remembers his own innocence. He’s still looking straight ahead, his gaze locked on the moving water of the river before them. “Now it’s darker, more realistic. I feel like my writing kind of shows how I’ve changed, you know? How I used to be this little kid with dreams and fantasies but now I’m this screwed up teenager with such a pessimistic outlook on life that I can’t even let myself be happy because I feel like it’ll just be taken away from me.” Betty reached up and held his face between her hands, forcing him to look at her.

“You deserve to be happy Jug. You deserve it more than anyone else that I’ve ever known. You’re kind and smart and so much more. No one should have to go through what you’ve been through but you did, and that sucks. Look at you now. You're not this scared little kid running away from your problems anymore. You’re so much more than that. I’m so grateful that you have come into my life and allowed me to see this side of you. The soft side of you that you choose to hide from the world. I know that you’ve been hurt by people you love Juggie but that doesn’t mean that everyone you love will hurt you. That just means that those people who hurt you are idiots because they didn’t realise what an incredible person you are.” His expression softened as he looked into her eyes and saw her determination, her pain, and this light that was purely Betty.

He kissed her, hard. So hard that she fell onto her back on the rock, his body following her’s. The kiss only lasted a few seconds but Betty swore she saw fireworks. Jughead pulled back first but kept his body hovering just above her.

“Thank you Betts, for everything.” She placed a quick kiss on his lips before pushing him off her and sitting up.

“How about you shout milkshakes at Pop’s. It is my birthday after all.” Her green eyes now sparkled playfully, any hint of pain that she felt after their previous conversation had disappeared without a trace.

“Anything for you Betts.” He helped her up and the kept her hand held in his until they saw the familiar red glow of Pops through the blanket snow.

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

They got back to the Lodge apartment at about 7pm, takeout from Pop’s was still warm in their frozen hands.They’d spent many hours sitting in their regular booth, laughing over milkshakes as their clothes dripped onto the red vinyl. The walk home had been quick, their clothes will still damp and the wind had picked up, chilling them to the bone. They tumbled through the door, a mess of laughter and melted snow.

“Happy birthday!” Archie and Ronnie sang out from the living room. Ronnie hurried up the couch and hugged Betty tightly, catching the blonde by surprise. Archie followed in a less urgent manner and gave Betts and awkward half nod instead of a hug. Betty returned it with a chuckle.

“Thanks guys. We brought Pop’s for dinner.” Jughead held up the bag before walking over to the living room to set it up. “I’m just gonna go and put on some dry clothes, be back in a minute,” Betty said over her shoulder as she walked out of the room. She returned minutes later in sweats and a t-shirt. “Ok, I’m all good. You guys ready t-”

“Surprise!” Her three friends yelled from their spot by the coffee table. They stepped aside to let Betty look at what was on the table. She gasped and her hands flew up to her face.

“Oh my god! Guys, this is so cool! Oh, you shouldn’t have.” On the table in front of her stood all of things to cure her homesickness; marmite, pineapple lumps, hokey pokey ice cream, ANZAC biscuits, the list goes on. All three of her friends stood in front of her with smiles on their faces but Jughead’s was by far the largest. Betty wrapped her arms around his neck and then jumped, wrapping her legs around his waist. He reached his hands up to her face and kissed her hard. Both of them were smiling widely, pulling away from each other only to be pulled straight back in.

“Ok, ok. I get that you’re excited B but you’re room is literally right there.” Betty kissed Jughead once more before unwrapping herself from Jughead.

“Very funny V. Thank you guys, so much. This is honestly the best birthday I have ever had.” She bounced over to Ronnie and hugged her tightly. “Thanks Ron. I know that Jughead didn’t do all of this by himself. You’re the best.”

“I know B. And honestly, don’t worry about it. You know I’d do anything for you.” The bubbly blonde let go and then walked over to Archie. They looked at each other for a second before Betty stood up on her tiptoes and hugged him briefly.

“Thanks Arch,” she said quietly. He looked down at his feet before giving her a small smile.

“No problem Betty. I didn’t really do much, it was all these two really. I just helped carry stuff from the elevator.”

“Well thanks anyway Arch. Are you guys ready to watch a movie? I don’t know what to watch so you guys can pick if you want.” She was still bubbling with happiness and love for her amazing new friends.

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

The rest of the night was spent with good food and even better company. They ended up watching ‘Titanic’, much to Jughead and Archie’s disappointment. The girl’s shared a knowing look but kept quiet when they saw their boyfriends with wet cheeks after the movie. The pineapple lumps were finished as soon as Betty opened the packet but Archie didn’t quite understand how to eat marmite properly.

“No Archie! You need to put less on the piece of toast otherwise yes, it is disgusting.” They were all laughing at the strange faces that Archie was pulling. Jughead and Veronica were still refusing to eat the black spread which their kiwi friend was consuming at speed.

“I don’t know how but your accent seems to get stronger when you're speaking this weird stuff you like to call food,” Jughead teased, receiving a playful punch on the arm from his girlfriend before she kissed him on the cheek.

“Haha, very funny. You wish that you could have this accent,” Betty retaliated, trying to play it cool. The squeal that left her lips gave her act away as Jughead pulled her onto his lap and peppered her neck with kisses.

“I think that’s our queue Archiekins. Happy birthday B, don’t stay up too late,” she said with a wink as she dragged Archie towards the door.

“Don’t worry, I’ll cover for you Jug. Happy birthday Betty,” Archie called over his shoulder before the door slammed behind him.

“A whole apartment all to ourselves, Juggie. Whatever could we do?” Her tone was playful as she leaned back against him.

“Well, I still haven't given you your present yet. Do you want it or should I save it for the next cute blonde with a funny accent that waltzes into my life?” She kissed him softly in lieu of a response before hopping off Jughead’s lap. He took her hand and gently led her down the hall to her bedroom.

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

The parcel and the flowers were still sitting on the dresser where he’d left them this morning. Betty went and sat in the middle of her bed, legs crossed and hugging one of the fluffy pillows which Jughead had never really seen the point in. He walked across the room and sat down facing her, shoes hanging off the edge of the bed.

“Happy birthday Betts,” Jughead whispered as he handed the gifts over to girlfriend. She kissed his cheek before looking down at the present in his hand. Betty unwrapped the paper carefully, finding a piece of paper folded up inside. She started to unfold the paper but stopped when she felt Jughead's hand on her wrist.

"Not yet, ok? I don't really want to be here when you read it." He gave her a shy smile before looking down at the bed and picking at a non-existent thread. She placed the note carefully beside her and then cupped his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her for the second time today.

“Thank you, Juggie," she said softly. Their eyes met for a brief moment before his lips were on hers. This kiss was different from all of the others that they had shared. It was soft but needy, saying all of the words they couldn't yet. Jughead pulled back slowly, leaning against her forehead.

“I wouldn’t thank me yet, you haven’t even opened it,” he said jokingly, but Betty could see the uncertainty in his dark eyes.

“Thank you, Juggie,” she repeated. “Thank you for a birthday I will never forget.” Betty kissed him once more before falling back onto the bed and pulling the covers up around her. She was still holding his hand as he carefully removed his shoes and jacket before slipping under the covers beside her. She falls asleep with Jughead stroking her hair and a smile on her lips as she remembers her perfect day.

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

Betty wakes up to an empty bed. She rolls over in search of Jughead but only finds a piece of paper in his place.

Had to go and meet Fred. Sorry I couldn’t wait for you to wake up. Pop’s for milkshakes later?

She smiled as she read his messy writing. Betty sat up and picked her birthday present from Jughead off the floor. She sat back down on the edge of her bed. By the time she reached the end of the letter, her eyes were filled with tears. She read the letter four more times before grabbing her phone off the charger and texting her boyfriend three little words.

[voltronbutheadcanons]

oooh how about a scenario of hunk and lance falling in love with a pretty voyager after her ship wrecks and they find her washed up on their local beach

Wow, you really have a hit for love at first sight there, Anon? Me, too. Let me know if y’all want a P. II where Reader meets her shining men in armor! ~Mod Saffron

It was all Lance’s idea.

Normally, no one strides down Varadero Beach after a severe hurricane especially if the damaged parts of fishing boats and residents’ family canoes scattered the beach, presenting the vacation spot like an eerie wreckage. Fortunately, all residents had stayed inside as instructed by the local police and no one in the area was injured. Lance, however, had a spirit for adventure and risks.

Hunk, his roommate and long-time best friend, did not.

“Come on, Lance.” The Hawaiian boy whined, eyeing the wooden planks near him and tugged his windbreaker tighter around his wide torso as the breeze wildly whipped around him. “The government clearly told everyone to stay inside, away from the beach, until further notice.”

Lance’s chuckle was carried away by the howling wind, light but strong. “Chill out, my man. I read the weather reports myself and even checked out the ten-weather day reports ahead of time! Nothing is coming, at least nothing like Hurricane Mocha.”

Another giggle. “Cute name for such a feisty storm. Probably named it because--”

“Of all the brown wood around the beach, making it seem like a coffee swirl from bird’s eye view.” Hunk finished in a deadpan. “You’ve said this like a billion times.”

“And I will repeat it if I must, Einstein.”

He paused his bouncy gait and allowed his feet to sink into the soft sand, his toes wriggling between the clumps. Lance sighed, a pleased smirk spreading across his lips as he scanned the gray-iris horizon, and put a hand on his hip. “Yup. This, Hunk...this is the life.”

Hunk exhaled exasperatedly and looked toward the ice-sculpting waves for a soothing remedy from his seemingly insane partner. “This is not the life. Scoping the beach after a hurricane? Seriously, Lance, how dense can you get? We could get arrested!”

A scoff. “Ha! Us? Arrested? Don’t make me laugh.” Lance began to walk when he whipped his head back and looked straight into Hunk’s hazel eyes with a toothy smile. “Oh, wait. You just did.”

“Lance,” Hunk warned, an agitated tone coating his voice. His furrowed thick brows helped tense the atmosphere further and his body language held an unmoving command. At first, Lance did not believe his friend’s seriousness and started to stride when he was stopped by a hand tugging on his sweatshirt.

Lance glanced back and held a deep stare into his friend’s eyes, hoping to find an answer that would somehow move him to relent, but Hunk did not stop his piercing glare as he lowered his chin to emphasize his pointed ‘no’.

A defeated sigh emitted from his lips. “Fine,” Lance’s shoulders dropped and his eyes seemed downcast a bit. “Head back, I guess?”

“You know it.”

“Right…”

After studying Lance for a few seconds for any swift changes, he groaned softly. Hunk never stayed too angry for long and his nature didn’t appeal to the strict side of things anyways. He patted Lance’s back with a large palm and promised a few words of comfort with hot chocolate on the side. Mumbling an unheard answer, Lance stuffed his hands into his pockets and whirled around to return the way he came from.

They walked on in awkward silence, with nothing but the wind screaming behind them.  Each second passed, the strength of the gale picked up and nearly shoved the two boys over. It was as if it was urging them to walk faster. Something, more promising than hot chocolate, lay ahead with supposedly great benefits. Lance wasn’t sure if Hunk felt it, but he certainly did. His fingers curled in his pockets, trying to control the shaking that overcome his body.

Hunk looked behind him and did a full 360° scan of his current environment. “Uh, did we turn the wrong way?”

“No…?” Lance glanced briefly at his partner and raised an eyebrow, who was visibly confused and growing terrified by the minute. “We simply switched the way we came from originally.”

“No, no, dude.” Hunk’s voice was underlined with slight nervousness as always, but there was a deeper vibe to the anxiety than before. Lance felt the same adrenaline, but couldn’t put his finger on how they shared the same emotion. Hunk began to make big body swings and cradled his chest with trembling knuckles. Tears formed in corners of his eyes and his natural process of freaking out began.

“I’m getting this feeling that we’re taking the wrong turn. I mean, look how many more wooden planks there are here. There weren’t this many before. Were there this many pieces of wood before?! Gosh, I don’t remember. Uh, uh, ohhh my goodness. Man... I knew we should’ve stayed inside! How the heck do you get lost on a beach you’ve lived around for three years? Three years! Dang, Mom was right: always trust your gut, even when it’s not food. Agh! Where are you that I need you, Mom?!”

“Uh, Hunk?”

“What? What! What? Did you find an exit? Because that would really help us right about now!”

“No...look.”

“Wh--”

Hunk followed Lance’s straight arm to where he pointed a skinny finger and found his eyes scanning a clearer area than where all the elephantine scraps of wooden wreckage littering the shore. He was so caught up in his monologue about his gut that Lance’s quiet demeanor wasn’t paid attention by him in the slightest.

There, along the clearing, lay a body of a young girl. It was hard to tell, but she seemed old enough to reach the height of both Lance and Hunk. Her tattered uniform was soaked to her body, tightly sucked onto her skin like another layer. Her hair was mussed up, caked with sand and parts of glass. Her limbs were bent awkwardly, but gently enough to unwind.

They stared in silent awe for too long. They had to do something, but they were boarding teenagers in a foreign area, not even in a home to call their own. They could barely take care of themselves; how could they take in a stranger who was clearly in need of help?

“Do you think she’s...dead?” Hunk swallowed the silence, cutting the tension like butter.

Lance shook his head slowly, his eyes widening with every possible scenario that could occur should that theory prove to be true. “I don’t know.”

Suddenly, his feet moved forward, minds acting on their own and with every footstep his heartbeat grew louder and soon, he heard his own life force pounding away in his ears like a war drum. Hunk did not move but simply froze in shock and stared at Lance’s robotic movements. As he approached the girl, small movements from her body told Lance that she was still breathing and he moved faster with renowned energy and replaced his fear with another feeling: hope.

He knelt carefully behind her tilted head and grasped her sandy shoulder, bruised and cut from splinters, pushing it towards him so her face would be revealed. Hunk slowly approached his partner’s footstep imprints and mimicked his actions by grasping underneath her knee, delicately reversing her twisted stature.

Caressing her head in his palm, Lance craned his head curiously to the side and his eyes held a gentle gaze as his fingers nimbly swept the sandy hair from her face, revealing her soft expression and sealed lids. Hunk tilted his head forward to see the girl’s face a bit closer and he wondered what color those irises held beneath those lids.

Lance turned to Hunk with immediacy and a mutual agreement came between them: they were taking her in. Hunk would nurse her back to health as best as he could, and Lance would retrieve the best feminine clothing and all her needs from his lab partner’s old trunk. Contacting the authorities would come later. Her health state was top priority now.

[yamisnuffles]

Oooh baby gimme some of that sugar, ♞: Caring for each other while ill with Quinn and Astrazia

This went on unnecessarily long and includes a made up disease because I could only get lost in wookieepedia for so long. Set after the original SW story content.

Quinn was at Astrazia’s side half a second after she stumbled and her full weight was in his arms before she could fall. She pushed at him feebly in an obvious attempt to stand under her own power. Quinn shook his head.

“My lord, I cannot advise that. You should let me take you to the medbay for immediate treatment.”

“I’m quite alright, Quinn,” she insisted when she finally managed a wobbling step away from him. “I haven’t been sleeping well recently, is all. So if you would just stand aside-”

In theory, as the acting medic aboard the ship, Quinn should have had the final say over any patient on board. In practice, a Sith’s word was final. Against his better judgment, he did as she asked and stepped out of the way. She held her proud head high but barely made it another half dozen steps before stumbling again.

This time when Quinn caught her, he also peeled off one of his gloves in order to feel her forehead with the back of his hand. “You’re burning up.”

“I told you, it’s nothing.”

She shook her head and said something more. Whatever she meant to tell him, however, was lost in an unintelligible mumble. Her usually sharp eyes took on a distant quality and then she tumbled down. Or, she would have, had Quinn not been ready. He tightened his grip on her so that she barely sagged before her weight was supported and then swept her up into his arms.

He was halfway to the medbay when he ran into Vette.

“What happened? Is she okay?” Quinn merely arched an eyebrow and Vette threw up her hands. “Alright, alright. Stupid question. She’s not now, but will she be okay?”

That was a more difficult question to answer. Quinn frowned thoughtfully down at the unconscious Sith in his arms. Once in the medbay, he carefully deposited her down on the exam bed and then grabbed a nearby datapad. He quickly typed out a list of goods, stopped, and then added a few more items. He held the list out to Vette.

“You have access to… secondary channels to procure goods, correct?”

“Yeah, believe it or not, dealing with you Imperials isn’t always so great. It’s all paperwork and bureaucracy and hey, maybe we’ll enslave you as payment for this deal.”

Quinn pushed past his annoyance with a huff. “Yes well, if you could procure these items, I believe our lord will be fine.”

“Mr. By The Book telling me to go to the Black Market? I didn’t think I’d see the day.”

“Quickly, Vette.”

“Right. Be back before you know it.”

Vette snatched the datapad from him and departed with a mock salute. Once she was gone, Quinn sealed the doors and then commed Jaesa. “My lord is indisposed at the moment and I must put the medbay on quarantine for the time being. Until that time is up, you are in charge of the ship.”

“I understand.” Then, after a beat, Jaesa added, “Quarantine? Is it something so dangerous?”

“A precaution, only. Let me know when Vette has procured the ingredients needed for a cure.”

He cut the line to prevent further questions. Time was of the essence. He’d seen a particularly brutal breakout like this while he was stationed on Balmorra. Aeslexian Fever. If he was correct in his hurried diagnosis- and with Astrazia’s abrupt downturn in health, coupled with the high fever and loss of consciousness, he was fairly certain- not just Astrazia but the whole crew could be at risk if he didn’t act fast.

In a proper facility, there would be little risk, but this was far from a proper medical facility and he was far from a proper medic. He was capable enough in combat to keep his lord well, but this was a dire situation quite apart from the norm. His limited skills likely wouldn’t have been enough if not for his experience in Balmorra. Imperial Intelligence had managed to intercept vital intel from a Republic combat medic that gave them an effective treatment regimen. That particularly detestable doctor didn’t need to know Quinn would now be in his debt.

He started by drastically lowering the temperature in the room. He took a sample of her blood and ran a diagnostic that confirmed his diagnosis. Then, for what little good it would do, he wet Astrazia’s brow with a cool, damp rag. The sensation was enough to bring her eyes fluttering back open. Her gaze drifted about the room and then sharpened and settled on Quinn.

“Not a word about being right, Quinn.”

Her voice was so weak that Quinn felt his throat tighten in response. He spoke only when he was sure of himself. She couldn’t know how worried he was. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

She closed her eyes again but he could tell from her breathing that she was still awake. “I can feel your fear,” she said. “How bad is it?”

“I’m only worried because I have to rely on Vette. This far into the outer rim, there is no way we’d get what we need through Imperial channels.”

She smiled faintly. “Then I’ll be just fine.”

Quinn would never understand Astrazia’s faith in Vette, as capable as the twi’lek had proven herself over the years. However, in this instance, he found it oddly comforting. He believed in Astrazia, so if she believed in Vette, he would too. At least this once.

He replaced the cloth periodically to make sure it was still cool. Astrazia didn’t speak again. She seemed soothed for a time but then fever dreams took her and she was fitful. When she cried out, Quinn had to remind himself that it was likely the nightmares that caused her distress rather than any real pain. The fever would weaken her but it was largely painless until the final stretch when organs started to fail. With luck, she would never reach that stage.

He felt the ship jump into hyperspace and silently urged on Vette. He hated waiting at the sidelines. Even if he trusted Vette with his own life- which he decidedly did not- there wasn’t a being in the galaxy that he would bet Astrazia’s life on, except perhaps Astrazia herself. It maddened him to think she could be laid low by a disease likely spread to her by one of the lowborn thugs from the last spaceport they visited. She had bested the strongest Force users of their time. She could not be felled by something so… common.

Quinn wished he had advanced his medical training. He was sure their was a proper cure for the fever other than the solution cobbled together with whatever the resistance had been able to get their hands on. But he didn’t have time to research and, as Vette had pointed out, bureaucracy would hold things up in any case.

Minutes turned to hours. All he could do was wait and try to keep Astrazia comfortable. He folded one of her hands in his own and pressed it to his forehead. He’d rarely felt more useless. It was a torment.

“Stay strong, my love,” he whispered.

He awoke with a start, unaware of having fallen asleep in the first place. It took him a moment to understand what had woken him. His head was resting against Astrazia’s chest and for one drowsy moment, he thought the beeping he heard was somehow her heart. Then, finally fully awake, he realized it was his comm.

“Vette?”

“What’s this about a quarantine? Anyway, got the stuff you wanted. Should I come in, or…?”

“No, I would rather not take any unnecessary risks. I’ll meet you at the door.”

He reluctantly left Astrazia’s side and opened the door. As instructed, Vette was there waiting. She craned her neck to try to get a view inside the medbay but Quinn blocked her line of sight with his body. He took the offered satchel and promptly closed the door once more.

“You’re welcome,” Vette called from the other side.

She had a few more choice, non-Basic words to offer him that he was sure were curses but he was also sure he didn’t care. He would thank her later. For now, he had more important matters to attend to.

He pulled up the information he’d readied earlier, including his extensive notes from Balmorra, and set to synthesizing the crude but effective medicine. In went a number of foul smelling roots and herbs, along with- of all things- a portion of shed colicoid exoskeleton. The resulting concoction was a slurry that look every bit as awful as you would expect, given the ingredients, and smelled worse. Quinn could only imagine that it tasted repugnant, but that hardly mattered. What mattered was results.

He portioned out enough doses to bring Astrazia back to health, as well as a bit for each of the crew to make sure everyone stayed healthy. With some reluctance, he roused Astrazia to give her the first dose.

Once awake, she immediately wrinkled her nose. “Don’t tell me, I need to drink that.”

“I’m afraid so, my lord.”

She sighed. “Well, help me up, then.”

He propped her up, as requested, and then tipped the cup into her mouth. She drank it in one dutiful gulp and then stuck her tongue out.

“Absolutely vile,” she gagged.

He lowered her back down and ran another cooled cloth over her clammy forehead. “You should rest. I’ll wake you when you need to take your next dose.”

Astrazia grimaced. “Feel free not to wake me, then. For that matter, if it’s a choice between death and more of that revolting stuff, I choose death.”

“I know you’re joking, but I wish you wouldn’t.”

She opened her eyes just so she could wink at him. It was less of a reassuring gesture than it might have been if she wasn’t so feeble. “I’ll be sure to pull through, just for you, Malavai.”