#but can we please just look at the bigger picture instead of the few romance scenes | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

theskywaslookingback · 4 years ago

Note

tma fic recs please ? 🤲🏽

Oooooo yes! I never get asks like this, thank you!

[my tumblr fic recs tag is here for browsing]

I had to put it under a cut because it got...entirely too long barely half an hour into making it, sorry.

Under 5k

means of cartharsis by orphan_account [G] [965]

“You’d think – you’d that at this point nightmares would be second nature for me, hm?” Martin says, forcing a smile even as he tugs the blanket tighter around his trembling shoulders.

It’s meant to be a bit funny. Instead of laughing, though, Jon frowns.

“No,” he says simply, and matter-of-factly wipes the moisture from Martin’s cheeks with a tissue like he’s a crying child.

A Proper Sleepover by Goodluckdetective (scorpiantales) [T] [1.4k]

In a different world, one where Elias is not waiting for them outside the Lonely, everyone has a chance to savor a moment of respite. As much as they can get these days. If only to talk about things that long need to be spoken.

“Basira says we should all sleep in the same room tonight,” Jon says without looking up. “Safer. So we can keep an eye out for intruders and also each other.”

“So we’re having a proper sleepover then?”

Jon scoffs. “Technically we’ve been having a proper one for months.”

where i go, when i go there by rainny_days [T] [1.7k]

Martin wants Jon to hold his hand. Martin doesn't want Jon to hold his hand.

It's complicated.

all the other ways by AptlyNamed [G] [2.2k]

Jon loses his first soul mark when he is eight years old.

a palace from ruin by bibliocratic [G] [2.2k]

"What're you sorry for?” Martin asks.

“I should have asked,” Jon says finally. “I'd never.... you were always so private about him, so I mean, at first I wasn't sure he was even yours, but then – when you, when you went with Peter, and I – he was so small, and I thought he was h-half-dead. S-so I picked him up and I carried him. And I'm sorry.”

interiors by doomcountry [T] [2.7k]

In the doorway, he fumbles with his keys. Their sound is loud in the silent stairwell. You don’t remember getting here.

searching for a light (for a right) by Kalgalen [T] [2.7k]

Some people make the mistake of assuming he's naive about sex, for the simple reason he hasn't dated in a while. Tim has called him a prude, at one point, and implied that he was somehow afraid of the intimacy required by the act; he wasn’t entirely wrong, but this definitely isn’t the reason for Jon's disinterest and general bafflement toward what most people seemed to consider as "what makes them human".

Jon simply hasn't found the right person. That is all it is: high standards, and a reticence to let people in.

(In which Jon finds out society is wrong about what a romantic relationship should be.)

how to plant a garden in rocky soil by treeprince [T] [2.9k]

Sometimes you just need a good pair of hands to work out all the kinks in your life.

Good thing Martin has two.

A Weather In The Flesh by cuttooth [G] [3k]

"There is a span of years where Jon doesn’t touch anyone other than the occasional hand shake. It’s not so bad. He’s never been someone who’s needed physical affection."

Jon has never been any good at making people want to stick around.

I'll bring the motion by callmearctus [T] [3.1k]

A long series of kidnappings and international flights leaves its own special mark on someone. Before the Unknowing, Jon is a mess.

Martin helps.

A Bread Made In Heaven by Againstme [G] [3.3k]

Martin moves over and watches how his boyfriend handles the dough. He's awkward with it, tentative and gentle, as if he's scared of hurting it somehow.

"Is this, uh, am I doing this right?" Jon asks, still slowly stretching out the dough and folding it onto itself.

"Well," he says shifting closer to Jon again, "you could be applying more pressure. Here, let me help you out, dear."

Martin moves fully behind Jon, and reaches around him, putting his hands on top of his boyfriend's. Jon inhales sharply, but doesn't say anything else, just lets Martin's hand rest on top of his.

Martin's hands are bigger, but not big enough to entirely envelop the other's hands, and Jon's hands are much, much warmer than his own are. To see what they're doing, Martin moves his head to look over Jon's shoulder. Though he can't see his boyfriend's face from this angle, he can see how it is slowly growing red at the edge of his vision. He decides not to tease him on it, instead content with letting a smile spread across his face and slowly guiding their joined hands in the proper motion.

Or, Martin teaches Jon how to make bread.

stumbling and spinning by lady_mab [G] [3.3k]

“Things happened,” Jon says demurely, trying to untangle Gerry’s fingers, but it only results in him getting pulled in so Gerry can kiss him properly. “It’s not all that bad.”

“I suppose not,” Gerry says with a sigh, sitting back upright. “You somehow managed to snag an incredible boyfriend out of it.”

It takes a solid few seconds before realization clicks in Martin’s brain. “You mean me?” [...]

“You have to admit, Jon has great tastes,” Gerry teases.

nothing sweeter than local honey by beeclaws [T] [3.4k]

So Tim is content, one arm leaned into the spray, waiting for the water to warm, enjoying the feeling of homecoming underneath the gentle fuzz of jetlag, when he hears gasping, panicked breaths coming from the other room.

Tim and Jon, in the aftermath, relearning how to be okay.

When Words are Inadequate by Mugatu [T] [3.8k]

Meals and the preparation of are, for want of a better word, informative. Fact gathering. A place where they can fill in the gaps of their knowledge of the other.

Jon cooks for Martin, and they learn more about each other.

go softly by doomcountry [T] [4k]

And there is nothing else besides this.

Imago by cuttooth [T] [4k]

“Jon?” he asks tentatively, tightening his grip around the poker as it slips against his sweaty palm. The antennae twitch, and suddenly Martin knows that it’s Jon, the knowledge sliding into his mind in a surge of desperate affection, the same profound love he felt that first time he truly saw Jon in the fog of the Lonely.

“Oh,” he whispers. “It really is you.”

Jon changes, but he’s still the same to Martin.

shoreline by bibliocratic [G] [4.1k]

“Martin," Tim says kindly, tipsily, only mildly slurring. "Dearest, dearest Martin. You're wankered, babe. Last train to Stockwell fucked off hours ago because it is now piss off o'clock in the morning, and there's a sofa with your exact name on it at my place. Thought you said you wanted some handsome fellow to take you back to his tonight?”

Or: The OG Archive crew go drinking, Martin comes out, and gets some well deserved TLC. In that order.

get your epitaph right by bibliocratic [G] [4.2k]

Martin's daemon has tried on the shape of dogs and lizards and snakes and horses, and even – once, when he was younger and Mum took him to the seaside, a fish.

Martin's never seen his soul in the dressing of a spider before.

i've known the warmth of your doorways by beeclaws [T] [4.2k]

'I’m always in pain, Jon wants to say, even as he dismisses the thought as melodramatic. Between his growing collection of old wounds and scar tissue, the supernatural hunger for statements that hasn’t been truly satiated in months, and the unpredictable aches and strains his body threw off day by day long before he ever set foot in the Institute, some level of pain and discomfort follows Jon wherever he goes now. He is used to being in pain. He’s not used to someone holding his hand as he suffers through it.'

Jon catalogs the comforts he receives, and wonders how long he will be allowed to keep them.

lay down your weary head by Zykaben [T] [4.6k]

Jon has been running himself ragged, searching for every scrap of information he can possibly find about the Unknowing. He's exhausted and sleep-deprived but he can't bring himself to take a break, not now.

Luckily, Tim and Martin are there to make sure that their boyfriend gets the care and rest he needs.

only the sweetest words remain by bluejayblueskies [T] [4.6k]

This isn't how things are supposed to go, right? Jon remembers those ratty paperbacks from the charity shops, dime-a-dozen romance novels with broken bindings and yellowing pages and words that spoke of love and passion and sexuality in prose that was more than a bit too mature for someone whose age hadn’t yet reached double digits. Stolen glances turn into dinner dates turn into passionate kisses turn into…

Well, he’d never actually read those parts of the books, because it had all seemed so deeply uncomfortable and gross. But he got the picture.

Or, Jonathan Sims, on being loved

5k-20k

and they keep not letting go by Marianne_Dashwood [G] [5k]

It’s an electric feeling, something strange and new and familiar all at once, even though he has been holding Martin’s hand for most of the day. His stomach swoops, like he is standing on the edge of the precipice of realisation and staring into the void of unknowing. But at the same time, he does know. In this instant of contact between them, the last few years of cups of tea and small smiles and momentary glances, of panic and fear and only feeling safe with Martin’s solid presence in the room, despite his paranoia, rush into him, and oh, oh oh.

ready to call this love by yewgrove [G] [5.6k]

How is Martin supposed to tell Jon that he panicked, stupidly, when the lovely old lady down the village asked him what they were doing in this part of the world? Got the shopping! Oh, by the way, we're married now! Whole village thinks we're on our honeymoon, hope you don't mind!

Prenons-nous la main by luftballons99 [T] [6k]

They still haven't talked about it, any of it, not even to pass the time on the long train ride to Scotland. Instead, Martin fell asleep in the seat next to him, pressed into his side from shoulder to knee, and Jon thought about love confessions and verb tense and how the two fit together when you think you're dying.

or: Good cows, mediocre poetry, and other crucial topics of discussion.

This Must Be The Place by cuttooth [T] [6k]

“You said – you said we were going home,” Martin says softly.

“I did,” says Jon, and is grateful that Martin doesn’t comment on him calling the Archives home. “I – I don’t really know where to go. I, uh, I don’t have a flat anymore, I don’t think. We could find a hotel?”

“Let’s go to my place,” says Martin. His hand squeezes Jon’s, more gently than before. Most importantly, Jon notes, he doesn’t let go.

Jon and Martin go home for a little while.

Small Things, Simple Acts by ZaliaChimera [T] [6.6k]

Even after leaving London, Jon and Martin are not free, not really. Maybe they never will be.

But for now they can be themselves, and maybe in the end, that's enough.

house by tomatoes [G] [9k]

Martin can take care of himself.

roses, roses, roses by acetheticallyy (judesstfrancis) [T] [9.3k]

Rose scented laundry detergent. Running into Jon in the breakroom. Running into Jon on his way back to his desk. Rose scented detergent. Running into Jon. Roses. Jon. Roses, roses, roses.

a deeply annoying child by ajkal2 [G] [9.6k]

Jon is hiding under the desk.

----

There's a child in the Archives, who shouldn't be there.

Inseparable by voiceless_terror [T] [10.3k]

“You can stay.” The voice interrupts his internal panic, and he looks over to find Jon studiously avoiding his gaze, staring hard at a neighboring bush. Martin wonders what caused his sudden change of heart. “But you have to sit on the other side. And don’t talk to me.”

Jonathan Sims and Martin Blackwood meet as children. Some things change, others do not.

i'm almost me again, you're almost you by gruhukens [G] [12k]

After a second Jon steps in towards him, close enough that Martin flinches, but all Jon does is put two fingers under his chin with his free hand and raise it until Martin can’t duck away. Jon has never touched him so casually before – at least, not until today, and it raises a lot of thoughts and feelings that Martin is trying very hard not to process.

Much like a lot of other things that have happened, he thinks. Not that it’s horrible or terrifying or numbing like everything else has been: it’s just another thing on the list of things he doesn’t have the capacity to deal with.

---

In the wake of the Lonely, there's a lot that Martin doesn't really want to think about.

hello my old heart by firebirdsuite [T] [15.8k]

Peter’s wrong, of course. When it’s all over, Martin does still want to tell Jon everything. It’s just—well, there’s a few things they need to work through first before they can get there.

Martin and Jon find each other again in Scotland.

Over 20k

The Kindness of Strangers by TheOestofOCs [M] [23k]

It was easier to treat Jon like a monster when he wasn’t shivering against his back, brokenly humming—wait, was that…

“Are you trying to do ‘Hey, Jude’?” Tim demanded.

Jon stopped, stiffening. “Mm hrmh mm mmh hm,” he said defensively.

“You really can’t hold a tune, can you, boss?”

It was just an ordinary walk to a restaurant. Tim had insisted that if they were going to talk, there would be no tape recorders or weird Archives ghosts listening in. A bit of fresh air wouldn’t kill him, Tim had said. What could go wrong?

By the time Jon spots the white delivery van, it’s much too late.

The Stranger kidnaps Jon. Tim comes along for the ride.

Misjudged by ShastaFirecracker [T] [36.5k]

Martin's been a longtime listener of What the Ghost, so when Georgie gives a shoutout to her flatmate's Twitch channel during a Q&A, he checks it out - only to discover that her flatmate is also his most terrifying coworker at his new job. The first time they crossed paths, Jon yelled at him for incompetence. But on the streams, Martin sees an entirely different person - someone fun and relaxed, engaging and unfairly attractive. Over time, Martin begins to find that Jon buried inside his dour, awkward coworker. He also learns to live with the fact that his crush is painfully one-sided... or is it?

if we make it through the night everyone is gonna hear us (Series) by skvadern [Ratings Vary] [42.4k]

In which Sasha survives the NotThem (with a little help from a certain Distortion) and she and Jon spend s2 working together to try and make sense of everything that's happening to them. It goes...interestingly

the garden of forking paths by bibliocratic [T] [49.7k]

Whatever he had predicted might happen, Jon wasn't expecting to survive upon demolishing the Panopticon. He certainly wasn't expecting to be rescued.

Instead, he wakes up in an alternative universe where he's never been the Archivist, and Martin Blackwood doesn't exist.

Martin Blackwood wakes up somewhere else entirely.

it's only forever by lady_mab [T] [50.9k]

“The castle at the center of the labyrinth,” Jon breathes, recalling again the words from one of the past conversations with Martin. “He’s there.”

“Turn back, Jonathan,” the Goblin King says, and Jon is surprised to hear a slight edge of desperation in the tone. “Turn back before it’s too late.”

“I can’t,” Jon answers with the same tone. “You know that I can’t.”

The Goblin King’s grin is gone completely, and he regards Jon with a degree of pity before that melts into resignation.

Yesterday is Here by CirrusGrey [T] [53.3k]

"Who the hell are you?" Jon could feel his hands shaking. The man laughed, taking a step forward and raising a hand to point at him. "I'm you, from the future!" he said, then swayed, eyes going unfocused, and collapsed to the floor in a dead faint. -------- Post-season-four Jon and Martin time travel back to the season one Archives.

A Home For What Loves You by TheWrongShop [T] [151k]

It was completely fine that Jon was following up on this very normal, non-supernatural statement at midnight on a Friday. He was going to find nothing at all, and then he was going to go home and sleep for fourteen straight hours and feel absolutely no qualms about moving case #0150409 directly into the filing cabinet marked "discredited".

Or; Jon and Martin end up investigating Carlos Vittery's basement and finding the entity formerly known as Jane Prentiss together.

RATED E *MINORS DNI*

A Look And A Voice by cuttooth [E] [6.9k]

“Do you want to have sex with me?” Jon asks bluntly, and for a second Martin can’t breathe.

“It - it doesn’t matter what I - ” he begins valiantly, before Jon interrupts him.

“Because I want to have sex with you, and frankly it doesn’t matter if you think it’s for the wrong reasons. I’m an adult. I can make my own decisions. The only thing that matters is if you want to as well.”

Martin meets a guy in a bar and takes him home.

Warms The Coldest Night by cuttooth [E] [11k]

"Flame that warms the coldest night Bring to us the waxing Light, Be with us on Solstice Night." Gypsy - Bring Back The Light

There is mistletoe hanging in the doorway to the Archives when Jon gets in.

Curiosity by ShastaFirecracker [E] [11.6k]

“You know that conversation we had the other day about how one of the most important things for queer youth to learn is that it's okay to change their minds, because identity and self-discovery are always fluid?”

Behind him, Martin slipped oven mitts over his hands and pulled open the oven door. The scent of garlic and rosemary flooded the kitchen. “Yeah?” he said.

“I, um... I'd like to revisit the topic of sex.”

At the Interim (Series) by Rend_Herring [E] [41k]

A Measure Outside the Lines and The Residuum

triptych (Series) by Stacicity [E] [44.9k]

A collection of Jon/Tim/Martin fics

a steady hand, a delicate man by callmearctus [E] [52.8k]

Martin is the proprietor and manager of a very discrete and fairly exclusive brothel situated between Belgravia and Chelsea. Blackwood House excels at special requests and pleasing any client.

Except for Jon, who probably has never been pleased a day in his entire life.

Despite that, he still comes back. It eventually begs the question: how do you solve a problem like Jon Sims?

#statement ends #anonymous #fic recs #save #((this took me like two hours lmaooooo))

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mocacheezy · 4 years ago

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Things that made watching Transformers (2007) easier and even enjoyable:

[note: B'verse gets the treatment that it gets by fandom for good reasons. There are tons of posts that dissect the bullshit of these movies far better than my second-language-english-non-american self could ever tackle, so I am not doing that, or plan on doing that. But if I decide that I'll get through every continuity of the franchise I will find a way to make it fun for myself. And so, this is my search for golden nuggets in these movies, because they did bring in new fans to the franchise and that's why we have other continuities that we might not have otherwise. Credit where it's due, and some positivity for those that did find B'verse at least amusing if nothing else. ]

🍴🥄🔪🍴🥄🔪🍴🥄🔪🍴🥄🔪🥄🔪🍴🥄🔪

Frenzy

Anytime Frenzy was on screen made me smile because his movements and personality were hilarious, he is just so expressive despite looking like someone super glued a bunch of knifes together. I wouldn't know it was Frenzy if I didn't go to the Wiki, but no matter that, he was funny and that's what matters.

The original Cybertronian robot modes

We don't see them for long, but the glimpses were glorious. Just look at Optimus

Gorgeous. What I wouldn't give to see the details up close. Maybe I'll go looking eventually, but this is just so nice.

We also get a "sexily rises from the pool" scene with Ironhide (probably unintentional and I am biased due to being a robofucker. In any case, very very nice and Cybertronians look so good as aliens)

"Excuse me, are you the Tooth Fairy?"

You see this kid?

This little girl was the only human I cared about in the movie until I saw just how badass Mikaela is, and how cool the military dude is. I don't like kids, but I would lay down my life for this girl.

This one scene just makes me think of what would happen if her parents showed up way earlier. Ironhide would be her guardian and it would be both adorable and hilarious because "Honey, you have to drive in a sentient alien that looks just like our car because the goverment men said so or there will be consequences and potential alien threats."

There are so many joke potentials there; the cultural barrier, the "I am the ine that is supposed to keep her safe" glaring contests, there is just so much shenanigans that could happen.

Also, tea party with the kid. Tea party with the kid.

Sam Witwicky actually reacts like an average human would when faced with the situations he finds himself in

Do I like Sam Witwicky? No, he is the kind of character that I would want to punch irl because of his personality and actions. He is disgusting. But watching him scamper and scream and stutter when faced with giant metal robot aliens that can squish him like a bug? Good, that was a beliavable reaction and I enjoyed it a great deal.

Megatron. Just, ✨Megatron✨

(the best screenshot of the few I could take while watching, no, I am not going back for a better one, he looks perfect like this)

I also laughted at how they kept him frozen like a popsicle. And not even well, like, they COULD'VE made an actual freezer and pop him in instead of using those couple of tubes just so he was displayed for all personell to gawk at. HE CRASHED IN THE ANTARCTIC!

The design looks so good, because it looks ALIEN and POINTY and AGH!!! The colors? There are no colors that would make him stand out, he looks like someone opened a cutlery drawer, mixed up what's inside, threw in some extra knifes for a good measure and then shook the whole thing until this guy materialized from the pile. It is both incredibly annoying and satisfying.

🔪

Mr. Welker did an amazing job with his voice, I don't know what the directions were, but oh man it sure sent shivers down my spine. That is the kind of voice that spells "You are going to die" and I already have my coffin picked out.

EDIT: SO APPARENTLY! IT WAS NOT WELKER THAT VOICED MEGATRON.

It was Hugo Weaving, and yes the man did am amazing job, but I apologize a million times, I was CERTAIN that THE OG VA OF MEGATRON WOULD ALSO HAVE VOICED MEGATRON. LIKE, OKAY BAY, OKAY!

🔪

LOOK AT THE AMOUNT OF ICE! With how quick he came back fully online once Frenzy turned off the freeze liquid tubes, I bet he was half awake through the whole thing. Systems just below idling or something, in any case, AGENTS YOU ARE SO DUMB! WHO WAS GIVING SUBPAR FUNDING TO THEM, THEY BETTER BE FIRED!

I also was glad that Sam refused to call him by the name the sector asigned to him, despite Megatron being in stasis. And that he insisted they use the correct name. Good job Sam, acknowledge the threat by the actual name and show respect to a fellow sentient lifeform. Even though said lifeform is hellbent on destruction of the universe and your world.

ALSO, AND I CANNOT STRESS THE LAUGHTER AND AMUSEMENT HERE; the sheer DISRESPECT! They don't disassemble Megatron's corpse. No, these idiots, these absolute morons decide to dump him into the ocean, letting him sink to the lowest possible point (not sure if they did say it was the M' Trench or not), where there are proper freezing temperatures - good! You're learning, good job!! - just... In full. Full corpse. What's left of him. Just blup! Down with the fishies he goes!

I understand that they probably didn't know how to approach Optimus about it, but... At least behead the guy. He came back ONCE, who is to say he won't come back again?! Safety precautions my dears.

They also completely disregard what a giant extraterrestrial metal alien rusting away on the bottom of the ocean could do to the ecosystem at large. Like, I find this incredibly amusing, because this ISN'T something most folks think about when watching a movie but we have giant squids down there. We have so much weird things down there, the ocean isn't even fully explored AND YOU WANT TO CHUCK AN ALIEN CORPSE DOWN THERE?!

Now the real question: is he a looker? *looks at the pictures* hmmmm, depends on if you like knifes. Like, really like knifes. Like really, really REALLY want to get it on with a fine assembly of kitchen knifes that were exposed to the elements but somehow haven't rusted away completely.

I think he's neat.

Needs a good long powerwash though. Preferrably with something to help the whole "I was frozen for more than 50 years and sprang back to action as soon as I woke up" thing that happened.

My man needs to take a moment and get his bearings, like dude. Please. You can conquer the world after some energon and slow system boot-up period. The strain on the systems my dude, you ain't young.

Also love that this "death" was probably reused in TFP because lord golly, do we love our faves ending up under the sea. (Though Megan took a much bigger fall, Bayverse WAS PLOPPED INTO THE WATER LIKE A NEWLY ACQUIRED FISH I CAN'T YOU GUYS I CAN'T!)

In short: I love the comedy of american military giving such disrespect to an Alien Warlord. These guys are really sealing their fate.

I loved the way they got the Witwicky family to be important to the plot

The whole "selling my great great grandpa's glasses on e-bay" thing gives us a very good self insert/OC/rewrite/movie AU potential. Don't like Sam and his disgustingness? Find a way to write a cousin or some far off relative or hell, even just someone who buys the glasses off e-bay and go wild with it!

Archibald was also clearly an inspiration for Isaac Sumdac as far as I can tell, what with both of them using Megatron as a means of helping technology advance.

Only difference being one of them lived and actually talked to Megatron after he came back online and the other got driven to madness and death due to the amount of information beamed into his brain. Isaac also acquired a space baby daughter, so the guy is absolutely luckier of the two.

Mikaela being fucking competent and badass throughout the movie, and not being just fanservice eyecandy

I could do without the fanservice, but her personality? I loved it. I loved that she wasn't crawling to Sam and wasn't being "hard to get". Which is also why I was very displeased at the very sudden "oh yeah, romance! She returns his feelings after he took her for a ride and let her vent her frustrations!". The movie is 2 hours long and they could throw in some moments where these two connect?

Welp, it is an action movie, boy gets girl no matter what, can't complain about the staple in the genre.

However, Mikaela x Optimus? Now THAT is something I considered as soon as the two locked eyes and interacted. Like, even taking my shipping goggles off, these two could have a very interesting dynamic and Mikaela could be a very good protagonist. I wonder what the movie would be like with her as the lead and Sam being the fucking moron she has to drag along with her.

BUT ALSO! Can we talk about the horrible, excruciating fact that her and Bumblebee drove around with Bee's damaged legs dragging over asphalt all the time he was shooting at 'Cons? There were sparks flying! SHE WAS DRIVING BACKWARDS! She took command of the situation and did what she could because Bee still wanted TO FIGHT!

Also, they way she beat up Frenzy? Gorgeous, I want to slap Sam's non-existent balls off for not atleast saying "thanks". The dude would be sliced thinner than cabbage if she wasn't there.

The millitary man we are supposed to care about because his wife gave birth while he was on duty and we see his baby three times in the whole movie, actually being a pretty awesome and well-written character

Look, personally, I was a little confused at the reason why we were seeing his wife and baby interacting/the scene where she thinks her husband is dead. Mostly because I don't like kids, so scenes like that, when I don't even know who the character is, have no impact at all. Him having a baby isn't going to make me like the guy more, unless I know his character. Him being absent because he's on duty doesn't mean he'll be a good dad (though he looks like the kind of man that will try his best, and I like that in a man). So seeing his wife and kid at the start of the movie seemed pointless to me.

BUT! FOCUSING ON THE POSITIVES HERE!

Lennox is a good character and whenever he was on screen I was invested in what is going to happen to him. He's the kind of action movie lead that would have me invested, despite my meh interest in mainly gun fight oriented action movies.

Essentially, loved the guy, would love to see more of him while also being able to tell what's happening on screen. Also the comedy scenes he was in were usually funny.

Okay so these are the things I like about the first movie! It was very long, had to watch it on 2,5x speed because it simultainously dragged while ALSO giving me too much information, but the moments like these and the way my imagination latched onto characters I liked made it watchable. It isn't a movie I'd use to introduce someone to the TF franchise, but it provided me with lots of material for my imagination to run wild.

#moca watches #transformers #transformers bayverse #moca screeches #Yes the cutlery divider is due to the Decepticons looking like they do. It amuses me greatly.

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writerwrites · 5 years ago

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Little Town Street

Pairing: Andy Barber x Reader

Summary: A college fling with Andy Barber is rekindled when you move back to Boston and you’re both single.

Word Count: 3.7k

Warnings: Smut 18+, language, tinge of angst, Defending Jacob spoilers / all the warnings that would go along with the series, fleeting mentions of divorce and bad breakups

A/N: *THIS IS A ONE SHOT* This is the Week 3 prompt to the Optimistic Captain Donut Challenge created by @captainchrisbaby, @optimistic-dinosaur-nacho , and @donutloverxo || The Week 3 Prompt was based on All Too Well by Taylor Swift || I’m only 3 months late, minimum || Fall dividers by @firefly-graphics

Boston. Your heart raced just thinking about getting back to the place you went to college. The glide of the tassel across your cap and the memories of late night conversations over pizza and beer while elbow deep in a tort. You’d loved the smell of law books and the haze of the green lamps on the library’s oversized and ancient oak desks. The magic of that place was lost on you while you were there, as was the magic of the few relationships you managed to establish while getting your law degree. But here you were, the little suburban town just out of the city, boxes piling up in the empty living room as you settled into your newly single life at a small firm that liked your big New York City success. This was a needed change after a painful breakup. This was your clean break.

Covered in sweat with your hair in a messy top bun, tank top slithering up the steep curves of your soft sides while the sun kissed the back of your bronzed skin, you heard a honk at the intersection in front of your house. The unexpected sound jolted you and the heavy box of books slipped from your fingers and landed on your foot. Hopping to the steps of your new brick home, you looked over at the intersection. It was a near-accident that was the cause of the ruckus. Both cars now at a standstill at the center of the four-way intersection. It took a minute for you to process the shock as you rubbed at your aching foot, but there he was, thick brown hair and bright blue eyes looking at you through the windshield of a black Audi A6. Andy Barber.

With such a public court case and the subsequent car accident, every news-viewing American knew who he was and knew a little too much about him. The problem was that while you’d sat in your own office in the Big Apple, trying to put yourself in Andy’s shoes, you watched a person you once knew in a new light and while your now-ex kept bringing up the commentary of obvious guilt, you couldn't help but sympathize with the collapse of his life. It was too easy for you to slip into the heartache of a family stalked and ruined, a person left so completely exposed and judged by everyone that you’d trusted. It was, after all, why you’d left New York. It was a miracle you’d gotten your fresh start, the Barbers certainly didn’t. You could picture it, but you never speculated, never stayed on the channel when the case came on. Every fiber of your being couldn’t look at him, not because of what broadcasters said but because of the too real memories of a love lost.

You were the one that ended the stare-off, your foot aching more with every passing second. Jaw clenched and lips pressed into a line, you were just about to convince yourself that there was no way Andy Barber, your biggest competition in college and your first love, was outside your new home… and then you heard him say your name. God, it always sounded so good coming from his mouth. The last time you’d heard it he was asking you not to go, drunk outside the bar you’d had your first date telling you that what you two had was bigger than the careers ahead. He didn’t see the tears streaming down your face once you turned away to get in your cab. Maybe, after all this time, he thought you didn’t hear him scream your name.

When you opened your eyes Andy was there at the bottom of your driveway on that little town street, brows knit together with concern as he locked his car that was perfectly parked on the steep driveway like he’d done it a million times. “Don’t look so worried about me, Andrew. You’re the one who just nearly crashed a bajillion dollar car.”

He laughed, despite noticing how you’d used his full name like you two were standing on opposite ends of a courtroom- and maybe you were. But that laugh, the warmth of it wrapped you up and you were thrown back through the magic and memories of that romance once more. The plaid shirts you stole in the middle of the night to run to the kitchen for a midnight snack. Your skin was covered in goosebumps despite the heat as you remembered how Andy had peeled you out of his shirts to warm you back up with his skin on yours, the metal of the fridge pressed to your back. Every moment with him was crystal clear in your mind the smells of autumn and taste of cider and beer when your tongues met, the feeling of his beard scratching your thighs, and... It took his hands on your chin to pull you out of the pain and want of those happier days that you’d ignorantly run from scared of settling. “Are you sure the box didn’t land on your pretty little head?”

The sound that passed your lips was practically a damn purr, you mentally cursed him for pulling it out of you with familiar ease. Opening your eyes to look up at him, you wondered if the emotions of that tumultuous relationship sat at the forefront of his mind too and if it was written on your face. “Nope, definitely landed on my foot.” Swallowing at the sandpaper in your throat, you looked at the swollen discolored mess. “You didn’t have to see if I was okay.”

“First, yeah, I did. It’s been fifteen or sixteen years since I’ve seen you. Second, I saw you hop over here clutching your foot. I can’t leave a wounded deer on the side of the road, can I?” His hands were stubbornly placed on his hips and that’s when you noticed the pale indent of a missing wedding band on his left hand’s ring finger. His blue eyes followed your gaze and he rubbed at the spot like he’d not gotten used to the absence of the cool metal. A similar thin, faded line from a discarded engagement ring on your matching finger. “I guess we’ve both been through it.”

Offering him a small smile, he helped you up and as Andy’s strong hands clutched your waist you wondered if he’d remembered just how ticklish the space between your ribs and hip were when he was careful to not touch you there. When you grabbed at the perfectly tailored coat trying to hop around the man let out an amused grumble and scooped you up. “Aren’t we a little old for grand gestures?” Your head rolled back as you laughed and he turned to get you through the door without smacking your injured foot on the frame. “Jesus are you hitting the gym and benching thick girls, Barber?”

The laughter filling the house was only amplified by his unceremonious dropping of you onto the love seat. The crooked smile looking down at you made you melt. That look, it was a drug that you’d had you first taste of in a mock trial, when he knew he’d won his case and looked back at you in the seats behind him, taking notes. “Other than the box on the lawn, are there any more?”

“You don’t have to..”

“But I’m going to and I want to. Besides, you can’t.” Andy was already pulling off his coat, loosening his tie, and buttoning his shirt before you could protest... not that you were capable of it. He bit his lip when he caught sight of you drinking him in. The slacks and the undershirt that clung to him. “Like what you see?”

“It’s rude.” You stated matter of fact, gesturing to all of him. Andy raised his hands as if to apologize, heading to the door to get to work. Closing your eyes, you could perfectly picture that one picture of the two of you at your graduation. Inadvertently, you mumbled to yourself. “I miss looking that damn good.”

If your eyes hadn’t been closed maybe you would’ve seen the way he froze in the doorway, biting his tongue before stepping out. It wasn’t until you heard the hefty thunk of a box on the hardwood floor that you peaked your eyes open. A clear sheen of sweat glistened on his brow and you bit your lip, the heat running over your body was hardly from moving boxes or the summer heat pouring in the front door. “Please tell me the rest of it isn’t boxes of books, Legal Beagle.”

Scoffing at the old nickname you sighed, “Nope, it’s just bottles of wine and liquor and pictures. The remnants that I didn’t want to break or misplace in the moving truck that came a few days ago.”

“You’ve been here for days and you didn’t call.” His tone was surprisingly wounded.

“Well, Legal Eagle, you didn’t exactly shoot me an email either.” Andy’s eyes burned into you when you used his old nickname back, but you couldn’t decipher what that look really meant. Before you could ask or apologize he was turning back out the door, leaving you there to chew the inside of your cheek raw.

Andy made quick work of the boxes in your car while you nursed your bruised foot trying to unravel the feelings bubbling to the surface of your mind in memories and regrets. When the front door shut, you couldn’t even bring yourself to look up, eyes fixed on the bruise while you thought about the emotional bruising you’d caused each other. It wasn’t hard to really know why he hadn’t emailed, nothing funny in the broken pieces you bother were left to pack up and move on from. When had you started crying? Cheeks wet when his hands cupped your face, forcing you to look up at him, thumbs brushing the tears away. “Hey, if it hurts that bad maybe we should take you to get it looked at.”

Reaching up you grabbed Andy’s wrists, but you found yourself hanging there, incapable of pulling him off of you. Instead, your thumbs brushed across the inside of his wrists just applying a little bit of pressure before skimming your hands up the firm muscles of Andy’s forearms. Each of you tried to translate the signals the other was putting off. If it hadn’t been for the haze of being so close to him, maybe you would’ve had the sense to pull away. With a sniffle and apologetic smile you shook your head ‘no’- or at least to the best of your ability when he was still comforting you like no time or pain had passed between the two of you. How long had you been holding on to this first love?

This close you could see it, the little creases of age at the corners of his eyes and a little salt and pepper in his beard. Despite the way those lines seemed to crease his face like words of chapters you’d not been privy to, his blue gaze was unchanged and every welcoming detail of them looked at you like you hadn’t changed either. The moment his knee pressed between your thighs to your core you realized just how needy you were, whimpering and parting your legs as he lowered himself onto you. His hands moved down your neck to your breasts and a firm squeeze and the brush of his thumb over your nipples elicited another breathy moan from your lips. How long had it been since anyone had looked at you like that? How long since you’d gotten off?

“Andy,” The weight of his name on your tongue was dizzying, but the way he said your name back was just as heavy. You pulled his mouth to yours and he parted his lips to wrap around your bottom lip. His beard scratched at your chin, sending shivers down your body.

Picking your hips up from the couch, you satisfied the ache between your legs on his thigh. Smirking against your lips Andy pressed harder into your core. “You missed me.”

“To the bone,” The confession passed your lips and all you wanted was for him to stay, the thought alone so wholly selfish. Your eyes fluttered open, scared that it had been poison on his own tongue, noticing how he’d pulled away ever so slightly. “That wasn’t fair.”

Though it seemed like a poor apology, Andy was already shaking his head to reassure you that it wasn’t. That quiet, it wasn’t a trait in him you recalled. His hands moved down your frame and he pulled you onto his lap, careful to let you move your legs to straddle him and not hit your foot along the way. “Did you think I wouldn’t care that you were coming back?”

Before you could answer, he stole your air again. Andy’s lips pressed to your neck and he hummed as he tasted the salt on your skin. Then he found the spot he used to always mark, that spot that always seemed to peak just a little out of your favorite courtroom blouse. Gasping, your nails scratched softly at his sides. He took it as a hint and pulled off his undershirt, throwing it at the boxes that had his tie, coat, and button up. “Andrew. I’m trying not to assume anything here but…”

He looked up at you so sweetly that it erased whatever logic you were trying to pull on him with that one dopey smile. “Tell me this isn’t home.”

“I..” Your mouth bobbed open and you looked at him with wide eyes. Did he mean Boston or this moment on his lap like pieces were falling into place since you’d left.

Squeezing your thighs in his palms he repeated the question. “Tell me this isn’t home. Tell me you don’t remember the promise you broke. Tell me those boxes with pictures don’t have the pictures of us all over this town.” Was this a call out? If he hadn’t been looking at you with such heartache you would have looked away. “Maybe I asked for too much and maybe I was just as scared as you were about the future I saw for us… but tell me we didn’t just find our time.”

The tips of your fingers moved up his chest and settled at the sides of his neck, innocently tugging at his beard. Leaning forward you pressed your lips to his forehead and slipped off of his lap though your whole body seemed almost unamused by the cruel neglect of his warmth, your legs staying draped over him and one arm still linked through his. Looking over the boxes you found the stack with the bright blue sharpie, ‘winter clothes’ sprawled across the top as it sat halfway between the bottom of the stairs and the closet by the front door. “Grab that one.”

Andy untangled himself from you with his fingers burning across your skin, reluctantly slipping off the couch to grab the box. When he came back with it you noticed a hesitant look on his face. His eyes moved to his discarded clothes and you sighed and pulled him back to the small couch. “Want to tell me why you’re avoiding my questions?” Ignoring him you peeled the box open and moved a few things out of the way while you pulled out exactly what you knew you needed. “I don’t break over honesty anymo-”

Words seemed to escape him the moment he saw his scarf from the first time he’d gone home with you to meet your family. He didn’t do the meet-the-parents charade and the relationship had been new, but yours had welcomed him in and made him want his own one day. Andy never thought he’d settle with someone else, but that’s exactly what he’d done when you didn’t call, write, visit, or move back… he’d settled. That little trip was a memory he’d revisited often in the torment of waiting for you to come back. The pair of you had spent most of the holiday either studying for exams on your twin sized bed or pouring over old photographs from your childhood. Now you could practically see the memories flooding back as he reached for the scarf and brushed his fingers over the soft fabric.

So, it was your turn for a confession, an apology even. “I remember it all. I miss it all. We may have been young, but we weren’t wrong. No one knew me like you did. No one ever has. We grew up, but you lingered here.” Your fingers combed through his hair and tapped his temple before moving down his body to his sternum, tapping at his pulse, “... and here.” Andy covered your hand in his, drawing your fingers lower to the buckle of his slacks. Your cheeks went red and you nodded a ‘there too’ without being able to form the words.

“Do I get a hundredth chance?” The hope in his eyes was mirrored in your own, your racing heart no longer felt like a warning sign.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” A shaky laugh passed your lips. Andy wrapped his arms around you, tender, before he laughed too, his body shaking against yours. “Oh, this is a prank? Well, damn. That’s embarrassing.”

Andy looked at you and lunging forward, mouths ricocheting in a deep kiss, tongues hungry for the lost time. Only when you came up for air, the pair of you now buried in the couch cushions, did he speak up, “You deserve all the hell I’m going to give you for waiting this long to let me love you.”

“Does that mean you’re going to stay and rub my skin raw with this beard?” Squirming under him, the pair of you frantically reached for every clasp and zipper until there was nothing left between you. His lips moved down your frame and you surprised yourself, pulling him back to your mouth. “You’re staying with me Andy Barber.” Your fingers wrapped around his length and pumped him, brushing the head of his cock against your slit, already dripping. “You’re staying so beard on thighs can wait.” Pressing your mouth back to his as you continued to tease him you whimpered, not even needing to say it but recalling how much he used to love hearing it. “I need you. Don’t make me wait anymore. I need to feel all of you. I miss-”

The begging and pawing, he couldn’t take you slowly, not yet at least. Andy rutted himself into you, growling when your tight wet heat wrapped around him. He buried his forehead into the curve of your neck as he thrust into you over and over, savoring the way you gasped at his every slight movement. Andy worshiped the new softness of your frame and none of this felt like strangers trying to figure out how to get each other off. His thumb brushed back and forth across your swollen clit and, unlike anyone else, you stuttered his name as you got closer, clamping around him, hips bucking off the couch to meet every deep thrust as he slowed his pace to draw this out for both of you.

You loved the look on his face, the way he bit his swollen lips between a million kisses left on your sweaty skin. The way he lost focus when you said his name and how he gently grabbed your chin as you stuttered his name again; so close, so wet for him, so ready to finally get off. Permission, your legs shook and you whined as he kept you right there at the tipping point, building himself up to his own orgasm while he edged you. “Come for me, lover.”

The words were so welcome, just enough to push you over the edge and quickly chased by you begging him, “Stay inside me.” Andy throbbed inside you as you pulsed around his cock, your fingers digging into the meat of his thighs as your orgasm didn’t seem to stop, the room seemingly silent as the echoing thrusts and calling out of names tapered out to the sticky collapse of you both tangled up on the love seat.

Your eyes closed, exhaustion settling in, and Andy watched you breathing. Softly, Andy nuzzled his nose against the top of your head. “If you fall asleep, I’ll fall asleep.”

With a hum you nodded, reaching up to his hand that had settled on your breast, patting it, “Would that be so bad?”

More to himself, voice so low you almost couldn’t hear him. “I can’t lose you again. Can’t lose anyone else.”

“There’s probably a lot we can’t talk about, but this isn’t a dream, Andy.” Pivoting just enough to look at him you held his hand and kissed his chin. “I can’t lose you again either. I already lost a foot.”

There it was, that cheeky little smile. You both sleepy laughed and you watched his body relax. “You almost cost me my car.”

“I couldn’t run away again, even if I wanted to.” Crinkling your nose you smiled, brushing your finger over the smooth part of his skin where the missing ring marked him. He did the same. The scarf hung over the back of the sofa and looked up at him. “I don’t want to, if that wasn’t obvious.”

His blue eyes closed, his smile went soft, and Andy Barber fell asleep in your arms. If someone would have told you that this would have happened when you left New York you would have run back to Boston and spared the pair of you a world of pain. Though you were scared of bridging the gaps caused by the many roads the pair of you had taken to get here, you shut your eyes and smile at the reality that all those roads led home- to him. Like kintsugi everything seemed hopeful, incapable of breaking like the last time, stronger and made beautiful through the healing time of quiet apologies, verbal and physical.

It had been him all along, no denying it. Neither of you would ever have to ask the other to stay again.

All Content Tags: @tom-hlover

CEvans Content Tags: @void-hoechlin

#captainsweeklychallenge #andy barber x reader #andy barber x you #andy barber x oc #fic: andy barber #writer: writerwrites

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imaginesupply · 4 years ago

Text

Homecoming - Chapter Six

(I know it's Henry and not Sy in the photo, but it just fit too well with this chapter.)

Summary: The day has arrived, Captain Syverson is going home. For good, this time. He is going home to a civilian life he can hardly remember and a wife he barely knows, with memories of the war still fresh on his mind. Love might not be able to heal everything on its own, but it’s a good start.

Genres: Romance, drama.

Story warnings: Smut (always fully consensual), mentions of PTSD and nightmares and mental health, angst, hurt and comfort, fluff, mentions of war (minor), mentions of cheating (minor), mentions of pregnancy (very minor), police appearance (very minor), violence (very minor).

Notes:

It’s my first time writing for one of Henry’s characters and I’m unsure I did Sy’s character any justice.

This is a Capt. Syverson x OFC (Ada) story, written in 3rd person POV but OFC’s physical description is very limited so it could also be read as Capt. Syverson x Reader, I think.

English is not my first language, so there might be some mistakes. Proofread, but not beta’ed. We die like men and all that.

Timeline is a little wacky: The movie takes place in 2003 and the U.S. forces were withdrawn from Iraq in 2011, but I never set a precise date because I don’t think it’s essential for this story. However, some elements might not be realistic because if we set this story in 2003: Phone cameras quality was not as good as it’s now, but for the purpose of the chapters, I will need you to imagine you could film great videos with your flip phone haha. Plus, it says Sy is coming back after being deployed for more than three years which makes no sense unless we set this in 2006 or later. I am asking you disregard any time inconsistencies.

Also: I am not American. I only lived in the US for six months and it was in the Midwest, not Texas so please bear with me if I write something stupid.

Finally: This will be a Christmas fic and I intend to post the last chapter (there will be seven in total) on or before Christmas. However, religion is never mentioned in this story and the Christmas-sy elements of this story are limited to family gathering, gift giving and tree decorating.

Chapter Six starts after the cut. (Chapter Five can be found here.) Let me know if you wish to be tagged in the last chapter or if you wish to be removed from the tag list.

I will post a master list soon and put the link in the comments to make it easier to navigate.

Chapter 6

Chapter warnings: Smut, Christmas themes, mentions of therapy, embarrassing moments.

Ada didn't mind being woken up with soft fluttering kisses on her neck. She definitely didn't mind starting the day with the tantalizing rub of his beard on her sensitive skin and the hard press of his torso against her back, their legs entwined and his morning erection nuzzled against her butt.

What she did mind, however, was when any of this happened at the butt crack of dawn. Ada opened her eyes just enough to read 6:50am on the alarm clock.

"Sy," she groaned, stopping his wandering hands with hers, trying to trap them beneath her breasts. "Hold that thought for later, okay?"

She heard him chuckle behind her, his chest vibrating against her body as he freed his hands from her weak grip. "Later is for putting up the Christmas tree and the decorations," he teased, his right hand now drawing circles low on her stomach.

Ada groaned again, wanting to fight his tempting touch but unwilling to move away from his body heat. "I'll get up at 7:30." Those were the last words out of her mouth before she had drifted off again.

When she woke up once more, forty minutes later with the blast of her alarm clock, her back was cold and the smell of breakfast wafted through the air, filling her nostrils. Damn Syverson and his military sleep schedule! She had taken all her days off to spend them with him only to wake up even earlier than when she was working.

With barely open eyes, Ada threw on his shirt that hung on the chair and slowly made her way downstairs, following the scent of pancakes. She found Sy in front of the stove, just finishing up the last one before setting it on the huge pile of pancakes that looked fluffier than clouds. Ada had quickly learnt that while Sy was a disaster when it came to the art of cooking, he was the master of pancakes and barbecue.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," he greeted her and then smirked when he noticed her attire.

"Morning captain," she mumbled, walking up to him before patiently waiting until he leant down so that they could share a kiss. It always made him laugh when she did that: the adorable pout on her face when he didn't bend down for a kiss fast enough was worth waiting the extra second every time.

They ate in relative silence, mostly because Ada definitely wasn't a morning person, but the fact that Sy had a habit of stuffing his mouth full of food also played a role. When she was done eating, Ada pushed her plate and glass away, and brought her knees up to her chest, hugging her legs on the chair. She eyed her husband intently, waiting for him to finish eating with a grin on her lips.

"Why are you looking at me like that, darlin'?" Sy asked, eyebrow raised suspiciously before taking the last sip of his morning coffee.

Ada blushed, suddenly looking bashful. "Well… I was hoping we could go back upstairs and continue what you started earlier," she admitted in a tiny voice.

Sy laughed, a booming sound that filled the entire room before a shit-eating grin spread on his lips. "Tough luck, darlin'." He got up from his chair, standing in front of her across the narrow table. "Should have thought about that before falling asleep on me earlier."

Ada's mouth fell open. The cheek on this man! And what made it worse, was his huge smile that made him look like a very amused bear, with his hairy, tempting chest. He was toying with her. "Are you really saying no to sex?" She asked, cocking her brow. Sy wasn't really the type to turn down-

"Yes, no sex." He stated, suddenly looking very serious. "We have to head to the store to buy decorations, then put up the tree and hang the lights outside." Ada tried her best not to laugh. He sounded as if he were explaining a major, life or death, mission to her – not Christmas preparations. "You’re dismissed but I expect you back here in fifteen minutes, dressed and ready to go." With that, he turned around and started gathering the plates and silverware to put them in the dishwasher.

"Yes, sir."

Ada knew better than to talk back. First, when he had something in mind, it was nearly impossible to talk him out of it. Second, she hoped that the sooner they were done with this, the sooner she could get laid. Third, he had used his Captain voice that somehow always managed to make an obedient little soldier out of her.

Though, rationally, she also didn't want to make it any more difficult for him. He had confessed to her a few nights ago why he'd felt so uneasy when they had gone grocery shopping: the gondolas were too tall which led to lots of blind spots and the amount of people meant he couldn't rely on his hearing sense to detect potential danger. 'It just screams ambush,' he told her.

Ada couldn't quite imagine what he must have experienced that a supermarket or a store would translate into danger, but it was not her place to question him. Instead, she had kissed his forehead in bed and offered to start doing their shopping on her own. Sy had promptly refused, suggesting they simply go early in the mornings, when there were less people and less distracting noises.

Now at Target, she was immensely glad she had gotten out of bed, the sight alone was worth it. It wasn't everyday you'd see Sy pick up a bunch of Christmas tree baubles and inspect each one of them carefully before determining which ones were worthy enough to make it to their living room. Ada sneaked a picture for safekeeping and then decided to send it to his mom as well. Family dinner was fast-approaching, and she'd seize all the cookie points she could get.

"Darlin'," Sy called, catching her attention. He was holding up an inflatable Santa who, instead of carrying gifts, dragged a bag full of liquor bottles and sported a drunk grin on his face. It was tacky beyond words. "Do 'you think we should get this, or will it just upset the neighborhood kids?"

Ada grimaced but tried to disguise it with a smile. She’d die before letting that thing on their lawn. “I think a neighborhood dog would tear it to bits within a second," she lied, trying to appear apologetic.

"Yeah, you're probably right."

°°°

The lights were up. It was a much quicker process with Sy's help. It was also the occasion for Ada to just sit back and relax because he was adamant, she shouldn’t step on a ladder to help. Instead, she had a glass of bourbon waiting for him for when he finished. It was 5pm somewhere after all.

"You said we had a tree!" Sy's deep voice reached her from the basement.

Ada threw her head back, sighing, before hurrying downstairs after him. "Yes, it's in that box over there," she pointed at a white cardboard box behind a couple of spare tires.

"Woman, it's tiny!" Sy complained, picking up the box and setting it down between them. It was about as tall as her. It was not that small.

"It's the one I've used every year since I moved in. It's pretty enough and doesn't take up too much space,” she defended.

In front of her, Sy exhaled loudly through his nostrils before rubbing his beard. She knew that move. It's what he did to remind himself she was not a soldier under his command, but his wife, and that he better measure his words unless he wanted to sleep on the sofa.

"Look, darlin'," he said calmly, enclosing her small hands in his much bigger ones. "This is my first Christmas home with my wife. I refuse to put up a minuscule, fake sapling in my home and call it a Christmas tree."

Ada was slightly taken aback. She didn’t know Christmas was this important to him. Though it was true he had been overseas on Christmas the past two years, so she could understand where he was coming from with wanting this Christmas to matter. Besides, it was endearing when he put it like that.

With a nibble on her lip, Ada gave in. "Okay. They're selling trees in that parking lot by the pharmacy."

Sy slowly shook his head, a mischievous look on his face. "No. We're going to get our own pine tree from the woods."

You gotta be kidding me, she groaned internally.

°°°

Ada had no idea where they were. It hadn’t been that long of a ride, but there were no more houses or streets to be seen around them, just endless fields and a forest. It was only when Sy took a right turn, that she started spotting cars and what looked to be a very colorful barn which had been converted into a cozy boutique.

“Where are we?” She asked, staring out of the window as Sy looked for a place to park his truck.

“The Dallagher’s ranch,” he replied. “They do a corn maze and a pumpkin patch in the Fall, and in the Winter, you can pick up your own Christmas tree. My dad used to take Claire and I here every year.”

Oh… This was a family tradition. No wonder Sy made such a big deal about having a real tree for Christmas.

Once out of the car, they walked hand in hand through the dirt road until they reached the makeshift counter made of hay where you could get a handcart before heading out into the man-made pine forest and select a Christmas tree. Most people she saw, however, were already returning the handcarts and happily carrying their trees to their parked cars.

The old man by the cash register seemed to recognize Sy instantly, smiling warmly as he greeted him with a one-armed hug. Ada realized it was the ranch’s owner. “I haven’t seen you in years, Jack!” The old man exclaimed with a laugh before turning to Ada. “And who’s this pretty lady?”

“This is Ada, my wife,” Sy said, introducing them. He watched with amusement as Ada stumbled as the old man hugged her without a warning, taking her by surprise.

“Well, it’s great to meet you, Ada,” the man nodded once he had retreated, and then turned back to Sy. “Should I be offended I wasn’t invited to the wedding?” He teased.

Sy was already wrapping his arm around her shoulders, chuckling. “To be honest, Dallagher, there were no guests at the wedding,” he replied, amused at the way the old man frowned in a confused manner at that piece of information. “Actually, we came here to get a tree.”

“Of course!” Dallagher immediately turned and ordered the young boy in overalls to fetch them a handcart. “What size did you have in mind?”

“Something around seven feet,” Sy said, looking pensive as Ada looked up at him suspiciously, trying to figure out how much seven feet converted to in the metric system. Once she’d done the math, she pulled at Sy’s flannel sleeve to protest – that was way too big, it’d take up the whole living room – but the Dallagher’s grandson was already handing them the cart and leading them to the entrance.

“Trees that big are at the very back of the forest, you’ll have to walk a little.”

This turned out to be quite an understatement. Ada felt like they had been walking for literal years. While they had still come across other people at the beginning, mostly families, they were on their own now – that is if you didn’t count the many squirrels that kept appearing out of nowhere.

She stopped, grabbing the back of Sy’s red tartan shirt so he would be forced to pause as well. “Can’t we just take one of these?” Ads suggested, gesturing at the countless trees all around them. They were all pretty enough and considerably taller than her.

Sy huffed, biting his lip in amusement as he looked at her dispirited face. He’d told her she should probably get changed and wear more comfortable shoes before they left home, but she had insisted she wasn’t going to change clothes just to get a goddamn tree. “These are only around six feet, darlin’. And,” he paused, eyeing the trees more closely, “they’re not Nordmann firs. I want a Nordmann.”

Ada sighed defeatedly, but nodded all the same, starting to walk again when Sy took pity on her. “Do you want to sit on the handcart?”

The change on his wife’s face was instant, the frown lifting into a smile as she climbed on the cart and sat down in the middle, evening out her weight for him. “Is that better, darlin?” He asked teasingly.

She turned her head back just to make sure he saw her rolling her eyes.

By the time they reached an area with Nordmann trees that Sy considered nice and big enough, her butt was sore from the conjunction of the hard, wooden surface and the uneven ground. She wasn’t even sure she had made the better call or whether it would have been better to suffer in her new ankle boots instead.

“Which one is better?” Sy asked, pointing at two pine trees that looked virtually identical to her.

Ada shrugged, almost saying that he should choose before realizing how much time that would take. The man wasn’t picky about food, bedlinen or even the pillow he slept with, but apparently, he had to make sure he brought home the most perfect tree. She still couldn’t wrap her head around that. “The left one,” she said finally.

“Which one? Your left or my left?”

Breathing in deeply, she decided to just point at the tree she was talking about. Sy nodded thoughtfully and grabbed the saw he had brought with him and started to work on the tree. While she had been most eager to get this whole thing over with, it became an entirely different story now as she dreamily stared at her husband getting to work.

With most of his back facing her and one knee on the forest’s soft ground as he started sawing off the Nordmann fin, Sy looked absolutely delicious. The red flannel shirt unbuttoned over his white t-shirt and the jeans made him perfect sight with anyone with a lumberjack fantasy. Ada had never considered herself as having such a kink. A uniformed soldier, or even better, a captain? Hell yes. A strong, rugged husband capable of her breaking her in half? Also a big yes. A lumberjack? The thought had never crossed her mind in the past but there was no point in denying it now as she sat back on the wooden cart, watching Sy carefully saw down the giant tree.

She was wet. Horny. Aroused. You name it. It also didn’t help that they hadn’t had sex that day. Yet.

"Sy," she whined, just loud enough to get his attention, while swinging her legs in the air like a child.

"I'm almost done, darlin'," Sy responded, not bothering to turn around to look at her. "I want a nice, clean cut."

Yeah, and she want a nice, dirty fuck. Pouting, she watched him for a couple more seconds as he knelt in front of the base of the tree, deciding from which side he should bring the saw to the trunk next in order to make it even.

That was when Ada decided she was tired of waiting. Shuffling quietly, she slipped off her wet panties from under her dress and rolled them into a small ball before throwing it at her husband. It hit his left shoulder and rolled down his chest. Grinning wickedly, she leaned back on her shoulders and enjoyed the view, the muscles on his back shifting as he picked up the garment off the ground. If this didn't get her laid, nothing else would.

"Ada Metz Syverson," Sy groaned out her full name slowly, his voice even deeper than usual. He got back up on his feet and turned to face her, looking stern.

Suddenly she didn't feel so brave anymore, not when he had crossed the distance to her in two determined strides and went to tower over her small, sitting frame. His jaw was set, and his eyes were a darker shade of blue than usual. Ada moved her eyes down his body, her eyes pausing at the defined pectorals on his chest before sliding lower. He was definitely hard, the bulge on his jeans prominent.

"Just remember you asked for this."

She wanted to ask what this was supposed to be, but he didn’t give her the chance. “Legs,” he ordered, patting his shoulder as he came to stand just inches away from her. Almost unconsciously, she obeyed his order, her ankles coming to rest on the front of his shoulders, her feet framing his neck. “That’s a good girl,” he praised her with a quick kiss to her right calf before his large hands moved to the front of his jeans, just over the protruding tent and began undoing the belt and snap.

From this angle, Sy’s cock looked even bigger, the shiny glans flushed a deep pink. Ada swallowed tightly, her legs already shaking with anticipation and he hadn’t even touched her yet. Pumping his shaft with his right hand, Sy brought his left one to her core, rubbing the rough pad of his thumb over clit once or twice before sliding it between her folds. She was a dripping mess. Sy smirked when she keened eagerly at his touch, enjoying his ministrations until he pulled his hand away and brought it to his mouth, licking off her slick. “It’s good you’re so wet already because I just can’t wait to take you, darlin’.”

He wasn’t lying when he said he couldn’t wait. The next thing he did, was grabbing hold of his throbbing, hard cock and guiding himself into her. Ada moaned loudly at the intrusion, drowning out Sy’s own growl as her walls clenched around his cock, trying to get used to the abruptness and depth of the penetration.

“Fuck, Sy!” She cried out, not even sure what it was she wanted. “Don’t stop,” was all she could muster as he ploughed into her like there was no tomorrow, hitting her pleasure all at once.

He knew they were being too loud. They might be alone, but they were still out in the open air, and yet he just couldn’t find it in himself to care – not when she felt this good around his cock and her noises only heightened his fervor. If someone happened to stumble upon them, then they’d simply be in for a premium show,

It wasn’t long until her legs started shaking almost uncontrollably up in the air, prompting him to remove one hand from his steely grip on her hip and wrap his arms around her legs to keep them steady as he continued with jackhammer thrusts. “Are you going to cum for me, darlin’?” Sy panted, groaning out the question between clenched teeth even though he already knew the answer.

Ada didn’t manage to reply, the first waves of her orgasm already coursing through her when she moaned his name. Her hips canted up, her body tensed up like a bolt, and Sy knew he was done for right then. Her warm walls squeezed him impossibly tight inside of her, milking the cum right out of his cock while he fought to keep his balance as pleasure overtook him.

They came down from their heights slowly, chests heaving. Sy lazily removed her legs from his shoulders, massaging the strained muscles on her inner thighs before he set her legs down. This woman would be the end of him. “That was…” he panted, bending forward over her body to kiss her forehead, unable to find a proper adjective to describe what had just happened.

“Yeah,” Ada breathed out, nodding slowly.

Sy ended up having to carry her and the tree on the cart back to his truck because there was no way she was able to walk straight after that.

°°°

They finished decorating the giant tree. Ada had to admit it looked pretty although the red and gold decorations clashed with the color theme of their living room. She handed Sy the newly purchased baubles one by one – he was the only one capable of reaching the top.

On their way back home, she had somehow managed to convince Sy to stop at the therapist’s office – the one she had found had the highest ratings on Google. They had booked the first available appointment, which was just after the New Year and Sy had made it very clear to their secretary it was just a ‘testing appointment’ and that there was no need to set aside time slots for follow-up sessions yet because there was no guarantee he’d be back. His reluctance was palpable, but Ada was glad he was giving it a try at least. And if he didn’t like, then they’d figure out something else.

In the background, their wedding video kept playing and she wondered for how much longer she'd have to hear the sound of camera flashes as the chapel assistant took way too many photos of them in the most cliché poses you could imagine. Sy has insisted they put on their wedding video since they’d never gotten around to watch it and it fit the season, according to him. Slowly, the annoying sounds began fading away and Ada sighed with relief. Watching herself on TV sparked too much embarrassment in her.

"Hand me the big one with Rudolph, will you, darlin'," Sy asked from behind her, still meticulously decorating the tree.

Ada nodded, searching for the bauble he had in mind. It was still in the shopping bag, she remembered, lifting it off the floor to dig inside it.

Ada froze as a female chuckle was heard, unconsciously gripping the glass ornament too tightly in her hand. "Not that fast, Captain."

Behind her, Sy frowned. "What did you say?"

"Tonight, I'm in charge," she heard her own voice say - no, it was more like a purr.

"Shit!" Ada cursed loudly, letting the bauble fall back inside the bag and she hurried to the TV, her worst fear confirmed.

Sy followed her quickly, stopping just behind her, his hands on her shoulders. "Is that from our wedding night?" He asked slowly, his eyes locked on the screen as he watched his younger self being tied up to the bedposts by his wife.

"Yes," Ada cringed, her face a painful grimace. "I didn't even remember the sex tape."

"Me neither," Sy swallowed loudly, admittedly rapidly becoming aroused at the sight of his Ada doing a striptease on camera. She wore that red ensemble with the garter belt.

"I think the assistant never really ended the video after our wedding, only paused it and we later continued filming in the hotel instead of starting a new video," Ada commented, now understanding what had happened. How they’d even came up with the idea of filming a sex tape on their wedding night, she didn't know. Alcohol had probably played a part in it.

Sy was still staring in awe at the TV, enthralled by the sight of his wife deviously edging him, her hips swaying slowly, when her words slowly registered in his head. "Didn't we send copies of the video to our families?" He stammered, his voice uncharacteristically quiet and hesitant.

Silence fell between them as they both realized they had been dumb enough to send copies before watching it themselves. "Fuck!" Ada barked, seizing the remote to pause the video. "We sent that to my parents, your parents, your sister...," she listed, her face losing all color.

Suddenly, the sound of Sy's deep laughter filled her ears. She turned to him, aghast. How could he find this funny? This was peak cringe! She’d be one needing therapy after this!

"You know, darlin', watching this video was the first time my parents ever saw their daughter-in-law, before even meeting you in person." Sy explained, shaking his head with amusement.

Ada was mortified. No wonder Mr. Syverson had seemed on the verge of laughter the first time they'd met and Helen had given her the side eye. The woman had a USB stick in her home with an hour-long video of Ada fucking her son. "You know, Sy, this wedding video is also the first thing my parents saw of you." He stopped laughing abruptly, his face red, all amusement gone.

They both sat down on the couch next to each other, slowly coming to terms with the fact that pretty much their whole families had seen this, and never said anything, probably keeping it as an inside joke.

Sy broke the silence, his large hand reaching to rub her naked thigh. "You know, I don't think we should be embarrassed," he said, prompting her to stare back up at him, eyebrow raised dubiously. "The way you tied up my arms really enhanced my biceps and you looked adorably hot like a vicious kitten from hell."

°°°

@colourmeinblue @hail-horror-queen @youthought-iwasa-nicegirl @kmuir1 @madbaddic7ed @coffeebreathy @purplelove75 @summersong69 @helenaellie @rn7rocks

#henry cavill smut #syverson smut #henry cavill x reader #syverson x reader #henry cavill x ofc #syverson x ofc

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winryofresembool · 4 years ago

Text

Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 36

aka Caleo uni au

Fic summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out…

Chapter summary: New Year’s Eve

A/N: Oops, I'm late again. But this is the longest chapter so far (over 6k words) so I hope you can forgive me for that!

This chapter finally brings back some friends we haven't seen in a while and introduces a couple of new ones too. I'm not gonna lie, having read ToA just once about a year ago, my characterization is probably very off so my apologies for that!

Now, hope you guys enjoy this mega chapter! Please let me know what you think! It's suuper important.

Words: 6,2k

Genre: romance & hurt/comfort

Warnings: none

previous chapter / AO3

…

After the boxing day Leo and Calypso returned back to their flat and the ‘normal’ life. Calypso already started remembering the downsides of working at a flower shop as it was a surprisingly busy time of the year with the wealthy people of that area wanting some flowers for their New Year celebrations. She and her boss Demi were the only two running the shop between the holidays while the second assistant was on a break. The older woman promised Calypso a day off for New Year’s eve, though, claiming that young people like her should be having fun that day instead of working. She graciously accepted the offer even though she didn’t have any plans for that day; after the eventful Christmas she kind of just wanted to stay at the flat with Leo.

But as it happened, Hazel texted her the day before the eve that she was having a small ‘gathering’ with a few friends and since Calypso hadn’t seen her for several weeks due to the work and a break from the art classes, she told Hazel that she would come. When she had asked Leo how he would feel about it, he had offered to go with her. Usually he would have spent the New Year Eve at Jason and Piper’s annual party but it was not happening this year due to their complicated situation. The flatmates had still decided to not tell Hazel or Frank about their own, developed situation, because they hadn’t even told Leo’s parents yet.

“So what is this Hazel like?” Leo asked Calypso as they were getting prepared for the evening out. “She doesn’t mind a stranger coming to her party, right?”

Calypso almost missed his question because of Leo’s current state of shirtlessness. A moment earlier he had wanted to know if she thought he should wear a light red or a white shirt to the party and hadn’t bothered to put either of them on yet. Not that she minded. No, her boyfriend definitely was not a bad sight with his tan, strong body, a quiet voice in her head said. “Oh no, she doesn’t mind,” Calypso finally remembered to answer. “I think she was even happy to hear you are coming with me. Besides, you have met Frank before, so technically you are not a complete stranger.”

“Are those two dating?” Leo asked.

“No, they are not. Not officially, at least. Hazel likes him but due to various reasons they have decided they shouldn’t rush it. Sounds kind of familiar to me.” Calypso looked at him significantly.

“It does? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Leo raised his eyebrows, and Calypso nudged him on the arm playfully.

“Anyway, Hazel is great. She is the kind of person who seems really sweet on the surface but she would probably kick your behind if needed. She’s also kind of mysterious when it comes to her own story but I feel I can trust her. I may have even accidentally slipped her once that my flatmate is kind of neat.” She smiled at him shyly.

“Oh? So you’ve talked about me to her.” Leo grinned in response. “Hope you remembered to mention my good looks and quick wit…”

“Yep, and your modesty,” Calypso shook her head. “Seriously speaking, though, I find her very inspiring. Despite everything she’s been through, she’s thriving to do the things she enjoys, and she’s an incredible artist. Better than I, for sure.”

“Don’t sell yourself short. I like your art.”

Calypso was happy and slightly flustered about Leo’s compliment but she wanted to explain herself. “I’m not selling myself short; I am just telling the truth. She really is that great.”

Leo raised his hand. “Alright, I believe you.”

“Good. Uh, hey, how should I wear my hair for the party?” Calypso asked as she stepped in front of a hallway mirror, taking some hairpins into her hands.

“I… I like it the way it is?” Leo looked at her with slight disbelief, as if he couldn’t believe that she didn’t like her current hairdo.

“Thanks… I don’t know. I could leave it mostly free but maybe I’ll add some waves.” Calypso wasn’t quite sure why she cared so much how she looked because that wasn’t like her, but she figured it might have had something to do with her being nervous about meeting new people at the party. Hazel and Frank were probably the only ones she knew there, after all. Her paying attention to her looks definitely didn’t have anything to do with the fact that she liked it when Leo gave her that special look that he reserved only for her.

“Sunshine, just so you know, you are the kind of person who will always stand out no matter what you wear. Me? Well, you could perform your magic on me but I’d still look like Santa’s elf.”

Calypso couldn’t believe that her boyfriend clearly had no idea of the effect he had had on her only a moment earlier (and still had). “Leo, don’t let this get to your head but I think there's a certain charm in your elf ears.” She took one of his earlobes between her fingers and tugged it gently.

Leo’s eyes brightened at her comment.

“If that’s what you think, then screw what anyone else says.”

“That’s the spirit,” Calypso approved, letting go of his ear and almost leaning close enough to give him a cheek kiss, but then she withdrew quickly. Leo looked quite disappointed. “Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked teasingly.

“I thought that you were going to kiss me,” Leo replied honestly.

“I’ve heard that there’s a habit that you kiss your partner at midnight on New Year’s. It’s not midnight yet, is it?” Calypso blinked innocently.

“No, but…” Leo couldn’t come up with any arguments to Calypso’s statement so he didn’t finish his sentence.

“Sometimes good things are worth waiting for,” Calypso finished with a smile and withdrew into her room to change her clothes. While doing that, she admitted to herself that this phase where everything was so new was pretty exciting.

…

A little bit later Calypso was dressed up in a dark blue short dress, tying the bracelet she had gotten on Christmas around her wrist when Leo got out of his room. He had switched his usual mechanic’s overalls to a white collarless shirt, suspenders, and pinstripe pants. Calypso had a feeling that he would have also put his tool belt on if that had been socially acceptable. To her surprise, he seemed to have even tried to flatten his curly hair a little, although it hadn’t quite worked out.

“Wow, look at you. The only thing you’re missing right now is a hat,” she noted, ruffling his hair a little. What she actually meant was that she thought he actually looked very nice in his current clothes. It was quite different from what she was used to seeing on him – even at school Leo usually wore a casual t-shirt or a hoodie and worn jeans – but she didn’t mind either look. Leo frowned at her, though.

“Don’t look so concerned,” Calypso continued with amusement. “I just meant that you kind of remind me of some film stars of the past. I just can’t get my finger on who. It’s a compliment, though.”

Leo’s frown disappeared. “Alright, thanks.” Then he took a second look at her and his eyes got that funny gleam he always got when he was about to say something embarrassing. “Woah, Sunshine. I’m suspecting that you are made of copper and tellurium.”

“And why’s that, mister chemistry nerd?” she asked, although she could pretty much guess his answer.

“Because you’re CuTe.”

Calypso shook her head in disbelief, but couldn’t hide her smile. “Really, Leonidas? Out of all the cheesy pick up lines in the world you chose that one?”

“Nothing wrong with chemistry puns, mi sol,” Leo claimed. “But I do think that you, um, clean up nicely.”

“As do you,” Calypso admitted, feeling the warmth gathering to her cheeks. “But we should probably get going now before we melt each other with these compliments. It’s getting pretty late already,” she noted when she checked the clock of her phone before dropping it back into her purse.

“Okay, I’m as ready as I can be,” Leo replied and tugged a strand of Calypso’s hair gently before picking his keys and heading to the door after her.

…

Frank and Hazel lived on a different campus than Leo and Calypso so it took them a while to find it. The party was organized in Frank’s flat because it was bigger than Hazel’s. The latter had explained that Frank had applied for a two-room flat because he had several pets (who would however be spending their New Year at Frank’s granny) and he was lucky enough to be able to afford it due to his work and because he had inherited his mother.

“I’m not sure what I was expecting but not this,” Calypso told Leo when she noticed a cat tree and a big pile of toys for both cats and dogs in one corner of the house. “For some reason I pictured him having a gym or something in one of his rooms.”

“I guess never judge a book by its cover,” they heard a voice behind them say. Calypso felt heat rise on her face as she realized the speaker was Hazel.

“H-hi, Hazel!” Calypso stuttered. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Hazel waved her hand when she noticed Calypso’s expression. “I can see why you would imagine that.”

“Well, I shouldn’t have assumed anything either way,” Calypso muttered. “What about you, though? What is your place like? I really should visit you some time.”

“Way smaller and I have a couple of flatmates there. But to be honest? I like it that way. My father tried to buy me a new apartment several times but something always happened to those places, like they were cursed or something. One burned, one had some water damage, one was full of bugs… But I was able to get my current place because I do some odd jobs for a neighbor. So far nothing weird has happened.”

“Not that it’s any of my business, but didn’t you once tell me that your father doesn’t contact you all too often? Yet he was going to buy you an entire apartment? Calypso asked, confused.

“I think it’s because he’s proud as hell,” Hazel shrugged. “His cousin or something - a president at your uni, I think - bought his son an entire house in a nice area, and my father just couldn’t let him flex about it. Well, his plan didn’t quite work out as I just told you.”

“Wait, the son of our uni’s president… then do you happen to know Jason Grace?” Calypso asked, connecting the dots in her head.

“Yes, I do,” Hazel answered. “A distant cousin. We lived in San Francisco at the same time for a little while until he moved away. And now we’re somehow both here. Small world.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. Jason is Leo’s good friend. And this is Leo, by the way,” Calypso introduced, feeling weirdly happy about being able to introduce him to her friend, even if they were still keeping their relationship status a secret.

However, soon Calypso noticed that Hazel took Leo’s appearance in for a moment longer than was necessary and she couldn’t help but feel just a little bit uneasy even though she knew that she didn’t actually have a reason for that. Leo was dating her, and Hazel seemed very interested in Frank. But there was something unusual about her stare, and she couldn’t figure out what it was.

“Hello, Leo.” Hazel seemed to return back to her regular self as she shook his hand, although the color of her cheeks might have been a tiny bit darker than a moment ago. “I’m Hazel. Calypso never stops talking about you at our art classes. I’m not entirely sure if it’s extremely adorable or a little annoying.”

“What?” Leo turned towards her and she couldn’t stop herself from blushing. “Cal, I didn’t know that you are constantly talking about me behind my back! Hope they have been good things, at least.” “Don’t worry, they’ve been nothing but good things,” Hazel reassured him, glancing at Calypso mischievously.

While Hazel’s teasing reassured Calypso that she had simply imagined her interest in Leo, they were getting dangerously close to the relationship topic, so she tried to change the course of the conversation. “Hazel, you didn’t have to tell him that! Now he won’t stop boasting for the next two weeks,” she said exaggeratedly even though in reality she was secretly kind of happy that Leo heard about her compliments.

“Sorry, Caly,” Hazel grinned at her, not looking particularly sorry. Then she leaned closer to her, whispering. “Just a little help from a friend. I thought you were going to get together during your vacation!”

“Th-thanks, but that really isn’t necessary,” Calypso whispered back, hoping that her acting was good enough to convince Hazel that she and Leo hadn’t made any progress yet. To her relief, her friend got distracted when a guy who was at least a head, maybe even more, taller than Hazel, with dark, short hair appeared next to her.

“There you are,” the guy said. “Nico was wondering if…” When he realized they had company, he gave them a polite smile.

“Oh, hi! Nice to see you guys!”

“You both have met Frank before, right?” Hazel asked.

“Yep,” Leo confirmed. “Frank thought I was a bad dog owner, but quite frankly, that was an understandable mistake.”

“How is your dog doing now?” Frank wanted to know. “Hope he’s good?”

“Never better! He enjoyed following Calypso everywhere while we were at Waystation over Christmas,” Leo replied happily.

“So are you two…?” Frank turned his head between Calypso and Leo. Calypso couldn’t help but wonder how many times they would still be asked that question that evening.

“No, no, no,” Leo denied. “That’s crazy talk. Right Cal? She just came with me because it was a better option than spending the holidays alone in our flat.” Calypso nodded along even though she didn’t like that they had to lie to their friends. But it was her who had made the decision to not tell them.

“Yeah. We’re just flatmates,” she confirmed.

Luckily, Frank didn’t ask more. Again, Calypso noticed that Hazel was staring at Leo with that mysterious expression on her face and she was already going to ask if something was wrong when Hazel addressed Leo:

“Have we… Have we met before? I mean, before tonight? You look so familiar to me but you can’t be…” She frowned.

“I don’t think so?” Leo seemed a bit confused. “Not that I remember, at least.”

“Oh… alright. I guess you just really look like someone I used to know. You haven’t ever lived in New Orleans, have you?”

“No, I haven’t,” Leo shook his head. “I’m originally from Texas. And yeah, I’ve also lived in a few other states for short periods of time when I was moving from a foster home to foster home but never in Louisiana.”

“Alright, sorry for bothering you about that,” Hazel said.

“It’s OK. Now that I think of it, though… I did have some distant relatives in that area, but I haven’t seen those people since I was a baby.”

“Really? What’s their last name?” Hazel seemed to get more interested again.

“Valdez, like mine. I think the mom of the boy who was around my age was my mom’s cousin or something like that. Why? Do you know them?”

“Yeah… Possibly… The boy’s name is Sammy Valdez. Does that sound familiar?”

“Hmmm…” Leo stopped to think about it. “Maybe. The boy’s name did start with S. I’ve seen pictures of me playing with another kid who looked a lot like me in our relatives’ yard but I think I literally met him just once. I was like one back then.”

Hazel seemed a little bit disappointed by Leo’s answer. “Alright. Sorry, it’s just that Sammy used to be my only real friend until I moved away from there and I was just wondering if you knew anything about how he’s doing now. I guess you don’t.”

“No, can’t say I do. My fam… well, they weren’t particularly accepting of me after what happened to my mom…” Leo said bitterly. “One of my aunts spread some sick lies… So, yeah, I moved to a foster home and haven’t seen any of my relatives since then.”

“I understand…” Hazel said sympathetically. Calypso imagined that Leo must have been grateful that Hazel didn’t question him more about what had happened. “Sorry, this is not a good topic to talk about at a party. My curiosity just got the best of me, that’s all.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Leo waved his hand dismissively. “Let’s just move on.”

“I agree. Frank, were you going to say something about Nico before you got interrupted?” Hazel turned to him.

“Oh yeah,” Frank remembered. “Nico wanted to know if it’s OK that Will comes here a bit later. He’s working today, apparently.”

“No problem,” Hazel replied. “We may not have a lot of food and drinks left by that point, though, but he’s gonna have to deal with that.”

“Nico? Not Nico di Angelo, by any chance?” Leo joined the conversation.

“Yep, that’s him. He’s my half brother. I know, we look nothing alike,” Hazel commented when she noticed Leo’s expression.

“No, I was just surprised that you know him and Jason too… Soon you’ll probably tell us you know Percy Jackson too.”

“I’ve heard stories of him from the others,” Hazel chuckled. “But no, haven’t met him personally, at least yet.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you met him some time soon,” Leo predicted.

Calypso felt she had already been quiet uncomfortably long, just listening to Leo and Hazel talk and trying to figure out what to make of it. She couldn’t deny that she had felt a bit jealous at first but when she had learned that Hazel had only seemed that interested in him because he had looked like an old friend of hers, she had relaxed somewhat. Maybe the trust issues were a result of many failed relationships, if she could call them that given that most of them hadn’t lasted too long. Cursing herself for her unnecessary thoughts, she asked:

“So, is there anyone else I know here besides Nico?”

“I invited Rachel from our art classes too,” Hazel answered. “You remember her, right? She said she was really happy to spend the New Year’s Eve in any place that isn’t his father’s penthouse.”

Calypso remembered Rachel as a really enthusiastic and unique artist. She herself tended to try to make her art look a bit more simplistic while you really had to stop and look at Rachel’s art to be able to see its many dimensions.

“Yep, I remember her,” Calypso responded. “I’ve often thought about talking to her but there’s something a bit… intimidating about her, like she knows something about me that even I don’t know…” “She’s fine, though, when you learn to know her,” Hazel reassured her.

“That’s nice to know. If I see her, I’ll say hi.”

“Good,” Hazel nodded.

“Hey, Sunshine,” Leo nudged her on the arm. “I’m getting hungry. Maybe we should go and get something to eat.”

“Somehow he is already hungry even though he ate at home before we left,” Calypso said in disbelief. “How’s that even possible, Repair Boy?” Then she realized how the nicknames may have sounded to the others’ ears so she hurried to add: “Um, sorry, we’re used to using nicknames at our flat. With everyone. I’m Sunshine, Jason is a Lightning Boy and so on. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure he won’t eat everything!”

“It’s OK, there’s plenty for everyone. Also, if you plan to dance at some point tonight, watch out for my pink haired friend Lavinia. She is a little bit eager about tap dancing.”

“I don’t think we are gonna dance…” Calypso cursed herself for blushing like a teenager when she pictured herself going for a slow dance with Leo, standing as close to him as possible. “…But thanks for the warning.” Then she waved at the hosts quickly and started dragging Leo out of the room.

“Well? What do you think of my friends?” Calypso whispered when they were picking some nachos on their plates and no one was in the hearing distance.

“Hazel seems cool,” Leo replied nonchalantly. “But you really think I pay attention to anyone else when I have my amazing girlfriend next to me?”

“You’re so cheesy, Leo,” Calypso said but gave him her brightest smile. She might have also kissed him if it weren’t for the other people nearby and the fact that she was carrying a plate full of food.

“Part of my charm, babe,” Leo claimed, giving her that stupid grin that never failed to make her feel things. He sat down on an unoccupied chair near the table and started enjoying his nachos. “Hey, these are really good! You gotta try them.”

“Babe? I thought we already had our nickname discussion,” Calypso interrupted him. She sat down next to him but didn’t taste her nachos yet, instead expecting his answer.

“But it’s better than Mamacita, isn’t it?” Leo asked innocently.

Calypso couldn’t argue with that logic. “Well, yes, it is, but… maybe you should stick to Sunshine. Or just Cal. I’m not… huge on pet names. I’m just not used to them.”

Thankfully Leo seemed to understand. “Alright. I won’t call you a babe, then. My mom just used to say ‘a dear child has many names’ and it seems that has stuck with me. I think she meant that we have a tendency to give nicknames to those we care about. Maybe that’s the reason why I sometimes go a bit extra with the names I give you guys… especially you.”

“Oh. I see.”

There was something weirdly sweet about Leo’s reasoning behind his nicknames and Calypso couldn’t help but smile down at her food. She didn’t realize she had been lost in her thoughts for a moment until Leo said:

“Earth’s calling Calypso. Try this,” Leo handed her a nacho that had some sauce she wasn’t familiar with on it.

“Chili?” she asked when she tasted it and felt a slight sting on her tongue. It wasn’t a bad sensation, though; this sauce was notably milder than the one Leo had once fed her. “You really find ways to make me eat it.”

“Admit it: you liked it.”

Calypso was feeling a little brave because they were somehow still alone in the room: “Make me.”

Leo was about to lean closer to her when someone entered the room without a warning.

“Uh… Hi!” Nico di Angelo finally reacted to their presence when Calypso and Leo jumped a bit farther from each other.

“Hi, Nico,” Leo greeted him. “I wasn’t expecting to see anyone I know here but it looks like I was wrong.”

“Seems so,” Nico replied, not in a mood for small talk.

“So how is it going?” Leo asked. “And how’s Will?”

“It’s going,” Nico shrugged, combing some of his long bangs to the side with his fingers. “Been trying to take it easy lately. Doctor’s orders. Will works as an intern at a hospital and turns out they really needed his help on New Year’s Eve so he’s not here yet. Something about lots of fireworks related accidents and so on…”

“Fireworks suck,” Leo commented, and Calypso noticed an angry spark in his eyes. “They feel like such a waste of money and they cause people to lose their eyes and such.”

Calypso wondered if Leo’s hatred towards the fireworks had something to do with the fact that fire was involved but she decided to ask about it later.

“Tell me about it,” Nico agreed. “Anyway, how do you two know Hazel and Frank?”

Calypso briefly explained how she had met Hazel at the art class and Leo told Nico about Festus’ vet visit.

“Somehow Hazel even knows my second cousin from Louisiana. How crazy is that?” Leo marveled.

“Pretty crazy, yeah,” Nico admitted, not contributing more to the topic so Leo decided to ask about something else.

“You haven’t happened to hear anything about Jason or Piper lately? I accidentally ran into Piper at Christmas and she seemed to be doing OK then, but… I’m still a bit worried about them.”

“I don’t really know much.” Nico replied vaguely. “Just that Jason hasn’t been home much lately. He’s always training, or with Percy and Annabeth or… I dunno. Just avoiding dealing with the situation. Or that’s at least how Will has interpreted his behavior. He’s way better at reading others than I am.”

Leo let out a frustrated sigh. “If only those two talked it out, said what they really thought…”

Calypso couldn’t help but see the amusing side of Leo’s statement. She started chuckling at him and both Leo and Nico gave her perplexed looks.

“What’s so funny about this? I was trying to be serious, Cal.” He narrowed his eyes, folding his arms over his chest.

That only made Calypso even more amused. “I know, I know! I’m sorry. It’s just that… don’t you think that’s a little bit ironic coming from your mouth?”

“From my mouth…?”

Nico still looked like he understood nothing about what was going on, but Leo had at least a tendency to blush when he realized that Calypso was right.

“Oh, this is totally different!” he claimed. “I, um, have my reasons to keep my mouth shut in certain situations. But those two… they’re just being weird.”

“I’m not even trying to follow this conversation anymore,” Nico stated, going to gather some chips and a beer from the food table. “Will would probably be able to translate Leo’s incoherent speech but he’s not here so I’m just gonna eat quietly now.”

Leo gave him an annoyed look and focused on his own food for a while. Once finished, he told Calypso that he wanted to see where the rest of the guests were. Calypso, relieved that Nico hadn’t apparently connected the dots about their relationship, agreed to follow him, but soon she realized that it might have been a mistake when Leo was walking towards the dancing area.

Being on the dance floor usually meant that you were expected to dance.

And she was not ready to dance. At all.

First of all, she hadn’t danced in years and while Calypso usually wasn’t too self conscious about those kinds of things, she still didn’t want to embarrass herself in front of Leo and the others. Second of all, she was quite sure that people would speculate - again - if they saw her dancing with Leo and she didn’t want that. She may have told Hazel about her crush some time ago and she did trust her, but who knew what kind of connections the other people in the room had?

Suddenly she realized that she was being paranoid. The people at this party were in their late teens or early twenties and probably had never even heard of her father. And why would they care if she was dancing with him? That was a normal thing to do at parties. It didn’t automatically have to mean anything.

There were already a lot of people gathered on the dance floor when the roommates arrived there. A few were dancing a bit farther from the rest of the group, while the others were watching a pink haired girl with real tap dance shoes on showing her skills. She must have been Lavinia, Calypso concluded. And based on her determined look, she seemed ready to challenge anyone who dared to pass by into a dance battle.

“Lavi!” Hazel’s voice came from behind Calypso. “Are you showing off again?”

The group that was standing in front of Lavinia moved from her way, and Calypso got a better look at her. Her shoulder length hair was flying freely and she was wearing a purple T-shirt and black pants to go with her shoes. Calypso also noticed that even though she had stopped dancing, one of her feet still kept tapping quietly on the floor, as if she was unable to stand still.

“Sorry, Hazel. Couldn’t help myself,” Lavinia muttered, and Hazel’s expression softened a bit. Calypso was still surprised to see this side of her because usually she seemed very kind, but clearly she still had authority even over people who were way bigger and older than her whenever it was needed.

“It’s OK! But try to let the others dance too, and not just tap dance.”

“Alright,” Lavinia answered but rolled her eyes when Hazel didn’t look. Calypso could hear her whisper to the closest people: “She just doesn’t understand the art of tap dance.”

Soon after that, the people in the room started dividing into smaller groups, some trying to chat over the loud music, some dancing. Calypso and Leo tried to spot some familiar faces but Hazel had already disappeared somewhere and Frank, Nico and Rachel weren't nearby either. Just when Leo opened his mouth to ask something, Calypso noticed that Lavinia, who had stopped dancing, was approaching them.

“Hi. We haven’t met before,” Lavinia started.

“Yeah, hi. I’m Calypso. Hazel’s friend from the art classes.” She shook Lavinia’s hand and then turned towards Leo. “This is my b… flatmate Leo. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Lavinia Asimov. Hazel and I used to go to the same school,” Lavinia said, but Calypso couldn’t help but notice that even when she was shaking hands with Leo, she was actually eyeing her.

“That’s cool,” Calypso replied casually although she was starting to feel slightly weird because of the staring.

“So, Calypso, do you know how to dance?” Lavinia asked.

“Not really, I just know some very basics,” she replied. “Haven’t danced in years, to be honest.”

“I could teach you, you know,” Lavinia blurted.

“Really?” Calypso asked, slightly confused by the other girl’s eagerness.

“Sure, why not? I’m pretty good.” Lavinia grinned at her.

“Do you mean now or...?”

“Now or whenever you’d like.” The girl twirled a strand of her pink hair around her finger as she spoke.

It took Calypso a moment to realize that Lavinia was actually trying to flirt with her in her own way.

“Hold on. I’m really flattered, but… I’m already taken.” Calypso rubbed the back of her head. From the corner of her eye she could see Leo’s stance getting more relaxed when he heard her answer. “Sorry. You seem like a cool person, though.”

Lavinia seemed visibly disappointed by Calypso’s response. “Are you taken by him?” She pointed at Leo judgingly. “You could do better than that.”

Calypso wasn’t sure what to answer, given that she wasn’t supposed to reveal their secret to anyone, but to her relief Leo cleared his throat. “Excuse me, Miss Pink? We literally just met; what makes you think you know what kind of person I am? You’re right in one thing, though,” he continued before Lavinia could reply. “Namely, she is way out of my league. And her boyfriend would probably kill me if I looked at her in the wrong way.”

“But… didn’t you just say you two are flatmates?” Lavinia asked suspiciously.

“Oh, yeah,” Leo responded quickly. “Cal’s boyfriend lives far from our uni so it was more convenient for her to get a flat from somewhere nearer to it. He knows he can trust me.”

Calypso wasn’t sure what amused (and scared) her more: the lies Leo came up with or the way he managed to sound that convincing even though he was literally coming up with the story as he spoke. At least Hazel wasn’t listening because she probably wouldn’t have bought it. Eventually Calypso decided she needed to contribute to the story as well.

“Besides, my boyfriend knows that I would kick Leo’s ass if he ever did anything inappropriate.”

Calypso noticed that Leo’s mouth was twitching slightly, but he quickly pulled the poker face back on and rushed to nod along.

“Totally. I wouldn’t wanna try that.”

Lavinia finally seemed convinced enough. “Alright. Well… I think I’ll go and find something to drink now. Dancing makes me thirsty.”

“Okay, we might see you later.” Calypso nodded at her before she disappeared from view. Once they were sure that she was far enough, she breathed a sigh of relief.

“Whew, she really seemed convinced we are dating,” she whispered to Leo. “I was worried she wouldn’t believe us. Also, Mister Not-boyfriend, I’ll have you know I do not approve of lying but in this case it was probably for the best. So thanks.”

Leo grinned at her. “You’re welcome. Geez, Sunshine, do you see the effect you have on people? Everyone is falling on your feet.”

Calypso blushed a bit. “It’s a bit weird… I am not used to getting attention.”

“You’ll get used to it once I shower you with the Leo love,” he whispered and Calypso blushed even harder.

“Gods, Leo! Don’t say that here!” Calypso peeked around and was relieved to see that no one they knew was nearby.

“Couldn’t resist,” he claimed but then got more serious. “Uh, so… do you think dancing would be pushing the line that we have set?”

“It probably would,” Calypso said a bit sadly. “Maybe when we’re home, though.” She added quietly.

Leo seemed pleasantly surprised by her answer. “Oh! Okay. I’ll be looking forward to that.”

“Hey, listen,” Calypso spoke again. “Maybe we should split up for a moment. Nico and Frank could probably use your company and I’d like to catch up with Hazel a bit since I haven’t had a chance yet. Is that alright with you?”

“Sure, go ahead,” Leo nodded. “I need to make sure that Nico doesn’t eat all the miniburgers from the bar.”

Calypso chuckled. “Alright. Save some for me too! I've only tasted the nachos so far!”

“I will try,” Leo replied, emphasizing the word try. “Well, see you in a bit!” He waved at her.

Once Leo had disappeared, Calypso started looking for Hazel and found her from the balcony with Rachel and a couple of other friends of hers, watching the fireworks from the distance.

“Hi, you guys,” she greeted. “Looks like nice weather for the fireworks show.”

“Yep, it is,” Hazel agreed. “So… how did your little vacation go?” She went straight to the topic, smiling at Calypso slightly mischievously. “You and Leo seemed pretty chummy over there.”

“Chummy?” Calypso laughed awkwardly. “I don’t even know what that means,” she lied, trying to use the fact that she wasn’t a native English speaker as her advantage. “But the vacation was pretty good. Sure, there were some ups and downs as you can expect when you’re spending the holidays in a new place with people you don’t know very well, but overall? I had a good time.”

“I can almost see with my own eyes what exactly happened there now…” Hazel rolled her eyes. “Come on. Give me some details. Please tell me that some progress has happened.”

“But there really is not much to tell,” Calypso insisted. “I taught Leo’s little sister Georgina some baking and sewing and stuff like that and helped with the Christmas preparations and met some new people… Oh! And Leo’s family has an animal shelter; they had some adorable dogs and cats and…”

Hazel looked less enthusiastic when she realized that Calypso really was not going to tell her any news about her and Leo.

“So… nothing really happened?” she asked.

“No,” Calypso said as convincingly as she could. “Although we did have a good talk one day and I feel that we can be more open towards each other now. But we are not together. It’s not the right time for that yet.”

Hazel tilted her head, still unconvinced. “I heard Lavinia talking about you a moment ago, though. Something about some guy not realizing how lucky he was.”

Calypso started feeling she was reaching the limits of her acting skills, but she tried her best. “I… uh, may have told her that I was taken to make things less awkward. Sorry, I know that was extremely rude of me.”

“No worries,” Hazel reassured her. “I’m sure she’ll get over it quickly. Besides, I happen to know that there’s someone she really really likes and hasn’t just found the courage to ask her out yet.”

“Oh, I see. Well, I hope she manages to do that at some point.”

The girls proceeded to talk about other things, such as Hazel’s vacation, the foster animals of Waystation and their expectations on the upcoming art classes, with Rachel joining the conversation as well. Calypso was just laughing at Rachel’s story about the many uses of a hair brush (she had used one for painting and another for threatening her teacher who had misbehaved towards her) when Nico rushed into the balcony, looking even paler than usual.

“Calypso, I think you should come. Something’s not right with Leo.”

#caleo #leo valdez #calypso #heroes of olympus #percy jackson and the olympians #trials of apollo #my fics #caleo uni au

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secretbondsandloveconfessions · 4 years ago

Text

All Bastards Are Brothers

Just a series of kinda fluffy, kinda angsty one-shots about the brotherly bond between Rhys, Cassian, and Azriel. Stories are not connected.

Ao3:

Part 1: Knowin’ My Fate Is To Be With You

Azriel shows up to dinner one night with a hickey, leaving the Inner Circle full of questions. Rhys and Azriel have a heart to heart.

“Az, what's that?"

Mor asked. He traced her glance back to the crook of his neck where, after a moment of thought, he remembered the dark purple bruise given to him only a few hours before. He quickly covered it up with a wisp of shadow and feigned innocence.

"What's what?"

"On your neck there." She pointed at the shadow. "Was that a bruise?"

"There's nothing there."

"Bullshit, move your shadows."

"I don't think I need to, there's nothing there."

"What's going on down here?" Cassian turned to face them. This could only go downhill from here.

"Azriel has a hickey," Mor said, her voice chipper and mocking.

"I do not."

"Then why won't you show me your neck?"

"Why won't you believe me?" He shot back. He was always ready to accept a challenge, and as Mor stuck her tongue out at him, he did the same.

Cassian watched the two curiously before clearing his throat. "You know, Az, before you go all defensive, you should know you're blushing." Shit. That wasn't good. He could feel his face heat up faster than he anticipated. He didn't dare look at Elain, but he felt her heavy gaze. Her very own blush was likely brushing down her pale skin as she watched him get berated for the mark that she left.

"Fine." Azriel removed his shadows and hissed. "It's a hickey."

"I knew it!" Mor cheered loudly, gaining the rest of the attention of the table. He faced Cassian again, who had a feline smirk. "Who?"

He kept his mouth shut. Any name would be a lie—one that Mor would be able to sense—and he wasn't about to bring Elain down with him.

"Second one this week," Cassian said. "I think Azriel has a side piece."

"Second one?" Mor raised an eyebrow at him, and Azriel wanted to cringe at the memory of the training earlier this week. His face felt hot. If he had blushing before, he had to be scarlet by now, especially after Cassian walked over and pointed to the place between Azriel's wings, causing Mor to squeal with delight.

Azriel had chugged the rest of his wine by the time Cassian sat down again and cursed the Mother for his luck.

"Neck and the wings? I didn't know you had it in you, Azzie," Cassian teased. Azriel weaved the shadows around him further, wondering if he should just winnow away at this point.

"How long has this been going on? Do we know her?" Mor asked. "OH! Is it the female who hit on you at Rita's?"

Azriel kept silent, refusing to answer either of his friends' remarks. Though that only seemed to spur them on more.

"Azzie, she was a hot one, no wonder you kept her for yourself," Cassian followed, and Azriel braced himself as the blonde opened her mouth again, but it never came.

"Alright, leave him alone," Rhys intervened. "He's one snigger away from disappearing into the shadows forever."

Cassian and Mor protested, but he only raised another hand.

"You never stop them from mocking me," Cassian mumbled. "That's all I'm saying."

"You make yourself a target, boy." Amren chimed in.

Mor laughed loudly at that, before pouring both of them another glass. Azriel was thankful for the subconscious reaction and the change of subject.

However, he only got a few moments of peace before he felt Rhys's warm presence ask to enter his mind, and despite his better judgment, Azriel let him in.

I'm impressed. Rhys purred into his brain from the other side of the table.

Fuck you.

More like fuck you if we're going with the evidence.

What do you want?

Let's chat tonight. Rhys vacated his mind, though not without leaving in his mind a picture of Azriel's own face, thoroughly red and sheepish, and a mocking laugh. He knew Rhys wouldn't be his savior tonight.

———

Azriel would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous, so as he knocked on the open door of the study, he pressed his lips together and grimaced.

"You wanted to talk?" Azriel asked.

Rhys nodded, leaning against his desk. "I did, and I do."

Feyre sat next to him, absorbed in a pile of paperwork, and if Azriel was about to have the conversation he thought he was going to have, then he definitely didn't want her there. He sent a pleading look to Rhysand, who, much to his credit, understood. "We'll go out to the balcony."

With a kiss to Feyre's head, his High Lord led him out to the private deck, and the anxiety in Azriel's stomach soared, his shadows swirling around him.

"I'm assuming this is about earlier."

"You're seeing someone," He stated, watching as Azriel nodded. "And I had no idea. You didn't tell any of us, which makes me think that Amren's assessment was true."

"What did Amren say?"

"She muttered something to me about you being the only male she can stand because you hide every aspect of your romances. She was wrong, Az. You've kept them out of the spotlight, but you've never lied about being with them, not like you did tonight. It made me wonder, what makes this one different?" Azriel remained silent, unwilling to answer his brother's question. Luckily, Rhys answered it for him. "I can only think of three reasons why you'd keep the identity of your lover secret."

"I see you've put a lot of thought into this."

"It's not often that you take extra measures with a lover." A valid point. "I want you to be happy, brother, truly, so please don't hide yourself from me—you have a record of doing that, you know. Will you promise me that you won't lie about anything?"

"Will you promise not to tell the others?" Azriel asked him, quietly. "You can tell Feyre, I wouldn't ask you to keep something like this from your mate."

"I swear it on the graves of my mother and sister."

"I won't lie to you then." A fond smile crossed Rhys's face.

"Good, well, I want to make sure this person is worth it, so I'll start by asking, is this secret lover worth putting the strain forward?"

"Yes," was all he could think to say. He didn't trust himself to say anymore. Rhysand's smile got bigger, spilling over into his violet eyes, and Azriel felt himself blush a little once more. Rhys was always the most sentimental out of the three.

"Good. I'm glad they're worth it. Now, I have questions. Number one, you're ashamed of this person."

Azriel looked up in alarm. "Why would I be ashamed?" Cauldron, he would scream it to the entire Night Court that he loved Elain Archeron. The entirety of Prythian if he had to.

"I thought that maybe you had gotten tangled up with someone you shouldn't, like a Spring Court Lady, or a human, or I thought for a long moment, that maybe she wasn't a she after all..." Azriel raised his eyebrow at the last one.

"What?"

"Well, it occurred to me that I didn't know if you took males in bed, and then I started thinking, that if you really hadn't wanted us to know, you could and would hide it very well. I'm not here to judge, but if you say yes, then I feel like this chat will get a little more heartfelt than intended." Rhys rambled on, scratching the back of his neck. Azriel almost pitied him.

"I've never taken a man to bed, Rhys, and I do not plan too."

"Okay, good because I was lousy at talking to Mor about that."

"...and she's not lesser fae either."

"All right then, number two: is this a protective 'She's my mate' scenario?"

"No, I don't think we're mates."

"Are you sure?"

"Most people don't find their mates, Rhys," Azriel reminded him, masking the annoyance in his voice. Just because both he and Cassian found their mates didn't mean they all would.

"True. Number three: she's someone we know. In that case, my only question is how sweet, flower growing Elain is able to bruise an Illyrian."

Azriel gaped at him, demanding. "How?"

"The only person redder than you at dinner, which, by the way, was the highlight of this decade, was dear sweet Elain. Feyre told me that she thought Elain too innocent to hear it. I didn't quite think so."

"Are you going to have this little chat with her also?"

"Oh, I think she'll suffer enough from her own embarrassment than to have me do it again. Besides, you're more fun to torture."

"Can't you go tease Cassian?"

"We both know why I can't do that..." Rhys said candidly, and Azriel didn't dare to be hopeful that Rhys would drop the subject. Rhys's small frown turned into another smile soon after, and Azriel swallowed. "You hardly ever have anything for me to talk about anyway. I need to utilize this situation to its full potential. In fact, after you inform my mate of my win, I'm going to ask her to paint your lovely face...you remember the one?"

Rhys sent the same picture of Azriel's blushed face. Azriel rolled his eyes and spoke. "Shut it, Rhys."

To his surprise, Rhys did, choosing instead to turn towards the railing and look over the glittering lights of Velaris. Azriel did the same and took another sip of his wine.

"When do you think you'll tell everyone else?" Rhys said after a moment.

"Oh, I don't know, I'd rather have tonight fade from their minds before I say anything, though I suppose that's rather optimistic of me."

"I don't think Cassian and Mor will let that go, brother, but you can deal with them."

"Well, then there's always Nesta...And I'd rather not have my cock ripped off of my body."

Rhys cringed. "She's going to be a hard one to convince, my sympathies lie with you."

"My only hope is that she and Cassian can distract each other."

"Again, optimistic."

"True," he said cordially before quickly adding, "But I suppose it's up to Elain, really. She's much more conservative in these matters."

Rhys scoffed, "The irony in that statement. You two are made for each other."

"Excuse me?"

"Don't bullshit me. You do the same exact thing."

"I do not," Azriel insisted, crossing his arms over his chest defensively.

"Az, when's the last time you had a quick fuck?"

"Wh—?" Azriel sputtered. "That's none of your concern."

Rhysand gave him a long look before he turned it into a sickening grin. Azriel wanted to slap it off his face. "You were saying?"

"Go fuck yourself," he laughed.

#a court of thorns and roses #fanfiction #rhysand #elriel fanfiction #humor #azriel #elain archeron #bat bros #elriel #feysand #rhys #acotar #acomaf #acowar #acofas #elriel fic

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apenapaperandadoofus · 4 years ago

Note

Can you make a list on who you think is the most to least reliable of the RFA (+ Minor Trio if you want!) when it comes to pets 👀

gasp you know what yes (I've been wanting to make some lists for a while -maybe least to most bottom of each of the RFA characters LMAO-)

MysMe characters least to most reliable with a pet and what pet would they have:

11. Rika

LMFAO bet ya didn't expect that did ya!? Nah you probably did, anyway the reason why she's the least reliable for a pet it's kinda obvious, first of all, she would refuse to get her pet treatment when it almost turns blind and ma'am? Please help your dog???

Also if at any time the pet dies she would start another cult so let's not risk it with her. Instead of an animal maybe give her a rock instead pfttt (actually wait-no she'd probably throw it at our poor mint coloured hair boy just give her a dog plushy it smth she can't be trusted with alive things)

10. Saeyoung

You may be asking me, Amanda, why, Saeyoung absolutely loves cats he'd be a cool cat dad, and yes, you're right. But you also don't understand that this man's love for cats goes SO far that he will actually cause chaos all around him. He'd give the cat SO many treats, not only that, but he'd also cuddle them, and that's nice tight? Wrong. This man will try to stretch the cat, grab it and twirl it around, reenact the lion king and do the 'Simba' bit and everything. Not only that he'd completely use it to prank Zen and everyone else, overall, he'd be a great pet owner but it'd be too much chaos so let's just stick with loving cats from afar.

Also I feel like he'd get a snake for some reason, and he'd dress them up in like a fancy bowtie a hat, or an iguana or chameleon y'know? He'd go for the amphibian type :o

9. Ray

I love our boy, I really do, but honestly how do you expect him to take care of a dog if he can't take care of himself. 😢

Actually scratch that, if he had a dog he would definitely love it and spoil it, and we live for that but also:

honey focus on yourself too we don't want you to D I E

Maybe give him a hamster or smth, while he's hacking away and watching MC in their room the hamster will be spinning on it's wheel super happy

Or he can have some cute fishes 🐟🐠

And like his brother, because great minds think alike, maybe a chameleon. He'd be pretty scared of them at first but he found one under some flowers and decided to rescue it, and now he sort of ended up adopting it :D

Although I find it pretty unlikely that he'll get a pet, he's more into flowers anyway

(OH WAIT WHAT ABOUT BEES? YA LIKE JAZZ -im sorry pft but now I need to see Ray in like those bee farmer dress things lmao)

8. Zen

I could see him as the pet owner that takes their dogs on walks and such, but honestly, if he's allergic to cats he's probably allergic to other animals too, at least some with a lot of hair! Although I feel like he'd get one of those big dogs and he'd go on runs with it all the time. The dog would be like the ones that are mostly thought of as super dangerous or aggressive but it turns out they're a sweetheart. Either that or a poodle 🐩💀 (but like I said, he's probably allergic to animals with lots of hair.)

HOW ABOUT A PARROT? ZEN COULD TOTALLY PRACTICE HIS LINES AND SONGS WITH THE PARROT AJDNFBFB

7. Jihyun

Jihyun would be pretty good as a pet owner but honestly he'd be super nervous at everything at first. Welcome to the Jihyun apologizing to his pet show akdjdn. But would we trust him with a pet? He wasn't really able to take care of two teenage boys -although it was mostly because he was in a toxic relationship 💀

When he has his sight problems he could totally get those helper dogs? (Forgot what they're called I'm sorry T_T)

He'd probably get a more chill pet tho, maybe a cat (he probably likes them a lot too! Also they're pretty calming.) So he could have like the guide dog and a small kitty too!

6. Jaehee

She'd be an awesome pet mom lol. I don't think she'd get a cat after being traumatized from pet-sitting Elizabeth. Maybe she could get like a turtle 🐢

Or maybe a rat to reenact Ratatouille lmaoo

She wouldn't get big pets unless the MC wanted to adopt something (and if they're a couple, we all know what people who want kids but can't or just aren't able to adopt at the moment, do, they get DOGS AND CATS!!!)

So honestly she'd start understanding why Jumin pampers Elly so much, since your dogs basically your child now PFTTT

Maybe a bunny too? I could see her working with the bunny on her head lmao and that's adorable

Omg imagine her with a SNAKE, HOW BADASS WOULD THAT BE???

5. Suit Saeran

You may be wondering once again, WHAT AND WHY

Let me explain.

Suit would dffinetly get those scary and big dogs that have spiky collars and everything, and he'd probably call him something like Killer or Skull Destroyer, or maybe Blade lmao

And we all know he'd die for his dog. It's the only one he can trust ajdhdbdbd

He'd be like the bad boys that walk around with their dog everywhere growling at people (not just the dog, the two of them)

And "Spike" would be so well taken care of. Believers have to start doing draws to see who feeds the monster dog that always bites them PFTTT

The dog would also dffinetly know how to fight. It'd be cute if the only person he likes appart from Saeran tho is MC hehe

AND you cannot change my mind in this, ever since Saeran got "Dark Knight" (I'm experimenting with the dog names pfft) he's shown him a picture of Saeyoung and taught him to absolutely hate his guts, so Seven, buddy, maybe don't get to close to them lol

AND the backstory for this dog is that Saeran found him under some bushes, hurt, and the dog reminded him of when he was younger, so he took him in and that's how the doggie came to be :3

3. GE Saeran

Idk, he'd also get the normal-ish animals, like a bunny or a cat (he'd like how calming they are.)

He'd be awesome with animals too!

Also uhm, someone please draw him as a farmer AJDHDHD lmaoo that's the first thing that came to mind 😂

He'd be the person that likes animals but like....other people's animals? He'd love to see Elizabeth and such, but he wouldn't really want to have one (unless MC wanted to of course.) It's not that he doesn't like them, it's mostly because he feels more comfortable with other people's pets ajdjdbd

Also he doesn't want them to ruin the garden oop

3. In a tie with Saeran, Yoosung

I forgot about him and didn't want to change the numbers lmao

Yoosung is a vet, c'mon he knows how to deal with animals!

At first he'd be so freaking nervous and would be just like a helicopter parent, making sure the doggie is alright and such, but then he gets the hang of it and he's perfect.

We all know we got a bunny with him too in his GE :D so maybe a dog and a bunny! He'd have more than one pet I'll tell ya that.

2. Jumin

Listen he's the king alright? He pampers his cat SO much, and you can just TELL how much he loves Elly. We all stan a man that loves animals.

He'd probably get some exotic pets too, maybe a few horses and birds that are really exotic or something

But can you imagine him with like....a tiger PFT

He'd be like: omg this is a cat but bigger let me have one

It'd be like Sebastian from Black Butler lol

He'd also be up to a dog, it'd take a bit of convincing but if MC wants one then he'd snap his fingers and get them one immediately (I love this man he's so ADORABLE) and then they'd have two children and Zen wouldn't have to worry about just Elizabeth

1. Vanderwood

Yes! The one! The only!

He's the only one appart from Jaehee that has more than one braincell PFTTTTT

He'd have a pretty big and scary dog that would've an absolute sweetheart when you get to know them. Everyone at first is scared but the dog just wants to sleep and eat, that's all.

Vanderwood is super responsible, I mean after Saeyoung I'm sure a dog would be nothing. He'd also compare Seven to his dog lol "Not even Capitan America is that dirty!"

"you named your dog Capitan America...?"

"shut the hell up or I'm tasing you."

His dog would spend all day sleeping. Sometimes Vanderwood will take him on walks, and they really enjoy that time together.

Vanderwood romance route? Uh, no he's far too in love with his dog to be doing anything else PFT

And you cannot once again change my mind on this:

He talks to his dog when he's alone.

He will tell him about his day as he cooks or does the laundry. He'd be in an apron making some dinner and be all like:

"Ugh, today I had to take care of that no-good for nothing guy again. It's incredible how messy his house can get in just a matter of hours! Not only that, he wasn't eating properly again, that idiot. I had to practically drag him out of his chair and make him eat some food. Not that I'm worried. It'd just be a hassle to have to find another hacker as good as him. Seriously that guy...."

And the dog would be like excuse me do I look like your therapist please just give me food lolol

#mystic messenger #saeyoung choi #saeran choi #jumin han #choi bois #jihyun mysme #mysme #yoosung kim #jaehee kang #mysme zen

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shoujoinvestigation · 4 years ago

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Our 2019 Drama Recs

Yes, we’re writing our 2019 drama rec post in 2021...! We didn’t have one earlier simply because we didn’t get to watch enough rec-worthy 2019 dramas in time. But here we are, having caught up with some great 2019 dramas back in 2020. It’s better late than never - and the same goes for you if you haven’t watched any of these. :)

1. Royal Nirvana 鹤唳华亭 (2019) + 别云间 the special (2020) recommended by Admin JL

I just couldn’t go without ever expressing my ocean-deep love for Royal Nirvana. Life-changing. Monumental. Instantly an all-time favourite of mine after I binged it in emotional devastation. Honestly, it is not the easiest show to watch - it requires mental and emotional effort for its highly nuanced and poetic writing. But it’s also the surest way to etch a story into your heart.

It’s also a tremendously rewarding and cathartic story for me. It’s not everyday that we see such a strongly thematic and meaningful story, which means a hell lot to me with its exploration of father/child relationship, loss, obligations and morality - among many. Xiao Dingquan will forever be one of the most important, well-loved protagonists in my heart. We’re the choices we make more so than what we become in the end.

2. The World Between Us 我們與惡的距離 recommended by Admin JY

There are so many things that this show gets right that its critical acclaim is more than well-deserved. From mental health representation, influence of media, the concept of fairness, and showing the other side of a common dichotomous narrative, this show packs this all in a balanced, objective yet emotional portrayal within a mere 10 episodes.

Showing the aftermath of an unfortunate mass shooting, this drama explores the emotional perspectives of all those involved. It gives proper acknowledgement to the victims of tragedies yet balances out with very fair and accurate portrayals of the perpetrators' families and their own victimhood. At the same time, the show includes some of the most accurate and fair representation of mental illness that I have ever seen!!! Not only are mental health patients’ struggled deftly portrayed, but also the professionals’ perspectives and struggles are clearly represented.

The World Between Us is the wake-up call we all need to see beyond the biases we easily assume to see the the bigger picture, of the world not just between us but that brings us together.

3. Hello Debate Opponent 你好对方辩友 recommended by Admin JL

This is a pleasant little surprise of a coming-of-age story! Quite rare for a cdrama. Centred around a university debate club, the story goes hard on competitive debate representation which comes hand in hand with its sensible character writing and development. It’s a feel-good and quirky drama about growth and friendship - and can provide comfort and nuggets of wisdom to youths and anyone else alike. If anything, you’ll learn a thing or two about competitive debate with this drama’s involvement of numerous professional debaters in its production. :)

Watch the official episodes, subbed, on Youtube.

4. When the Camellia Blooms recommended by Admin JY

No handsome or rich chaebol to save the day, no dreams come true of getting rich or living in a luxurious home in the city, no flashy glamourous fashion-show-like clothes - When the Camellia Blooms is instead quite truly a down-to-earth breath of fresh air KDrama.

For a slice-of-life drama, it includes many elements subtly yet skilfully woven together with important themes of family, community bonds and self-confidence. Even amidst the realistic struggles of societal biases and single parenthood, the show never fails to inject positivity into the situation, and more so by emphasizing the value of kindness.

With a strong cast and diverse characters, a subtle but solid OST and beautiful sceneries, this is definitely a lovely and heartwarming drama that breaks the stereotype of what it means to have a strong female lead and even what it means to write a romcom kdrama.

5. Please Love Me 拜托请你爱我 recommended by Admin JL

If you’re a steadfast fake marriage trope junkie like me, look no further. This is a drama I wasn’t expecting to enjoy - many romcom webdramas have been more misses than hits - but very glad I did. Straight off the bat, it was already pleasing for its sensible character writing - and eventually continues to prove that it fundamentally understands how two very different people come together in a relationship. It even provided me with little surprises of the usual trope - it’s one of the few romance stories which has its leads’ relationship held up after a mutual confirmation of feelings. Youyou and Yi Han are so wholesome. <3

Watch the official episodes, subbed, on Youtube.

Have you watched these 2019 shows before? Tell us what you think!

~ Admin JY and Admin JL

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horansqueen · 5 years ago

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You & Me : chapter 49

A Niall Horan fanfiction ; rated MA

Sequel to AM CONVERSATIONS

CHAPTER 1 || CHAPTER 2 || CHAPTER 3 || CHAPTER 4 || CHAPTER 5 || CHAPTER 6 || CHAPTER 7 || CHAPTER 8 || CHAPTER 9 || CHAPTER 10 || CHAPTER 11 || CHAPTER 12 || CHAPTER 13 || CHAPTER 14 || CHAPTER 15 || CHAPTER 16 || CHAPTER 17 || CHAPTER 18 || CHAPTER 19 || CHAPTER 20 || CHAPTER 21 || CHAPTER 22 || CHAPTER 23 || CHAPTER 24 || CHAPTER 25 || CHAPTER 26 || CHAPTER 27 || CHAPTER 28 || CHAPTER 29 || CHAPTER 30 || CHAPTER 31 || CHAPTER 32 || CHAPTER 33 || CHAPTER 34 || CHAPTER 35 || CHAPTER 36 || CHAPTER 37 || CHAPTER 38 || CHAPTER 39 || CHAPTER 40 || CHAPTER 41 || CHAPTER 42 || CHAPTER 43 || CHAPTER 44 || CHAPTER 45 || CHAPTER 46 || CHAPTER 47 || CHAPTER 48

NOTES:

-4.4k -im sorry, i never proofread, i hate it. -there WILL be smut. but not only smut. -this is a romance, comedy, smut story. -for the summary, check my MASTERLIST.

READ AM CONVERSATIONS AGAIN ON WATTPAD HERE

- notes: one more chapter and this story will be over. im extremely emotional rn.

(both povs again! also i hope the smut scene isnt too disappointing)

PLEASE VOTE FOR ME!

I was nominated in 3 categories!

*Best Friendship (Liv & Niall)

*Best Smut (AM Conversations)

*Favorite Author

you can vote for me HERE! thank you if you do!

TAKE A LOOK AT THE CHARACTERS HERE

Chapter 49

NIALL

How we managed to actually fly to Vegas without any pictures taken or meeting any fan seemed like a miracle. Something was clearly on our side and I took it as a very good sign. I watched her as she threw her bags on the carpet when we walked in the suite I had rented for the week and her lips curled. She let out a few cute giggles before running to the bed and jumping on it. It was huge, shaped like a heart with red silk sheets and a velvet cover of the same color except a bit darker. Olivia started jumping more as she kept laughing and I rolled my eyes with a smile when I noticed the pillows falling one by one from the bed to end on the floor.

"This is the cheesiest shit i've ever seen." I pointed out with a chuckle. "And stop this, you're gonna hurt yourself."

She turned to me and stopped jumping before sending me a smirk. "Make me."

We stared at each other for a few seconds and suddenly, I jumped on the bed too and she let out a short scream. I wrapped my arms around her but one of my legs weakened and I brought her in my falling before we both bounced on the bed. It made her laugh even more and I smiled as she panted, her lips parted. I ended up on top of her and she spread her legs a bit as I layed between them. She finally looked in my eyes and sent me a fond smile that I sent back. I couldn't believe we were here and I couldn't believe we were about to do what we were about to do.

"In less than 12 hours you're gonna be my wife, how does it feel?"

Her traits softened and she brought her hand to my face, running her fingertips on my cheek and jaw slowly. "Like I'm exactly where I'm meant to be, doing exactly what I'm meant to do."

I let my eyes roam on her face and smiled again before bending down closer and kissing her lips gently. "With the only person I'll ever be in love with." I added, finishing her thought in a whisper against her mouth.

"Mmhm." she replied, bringing her other hand to my cheek and cupping my face. "But you're not supposed to shag the bride before she says 'I do'."

I smirked against her lips and couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "You really want to follow that rule?"

"It's good for building up the tension."

"The sexual tension, you mean." I corrected.

"Mmhm, and besides, you're probably going to fuck me in all the ways you want, whenever you want and for as long as you want... for a whole week. Right?"

"That's the plan." I whispered, gripping her hair in one fist as I held myself with my elbows on each sides of her head.

"What's a few hours, then?"

"You're gonna have to ask that question to my cock, petal."

She laughed again and my grip in her hair loosened as my lips curled. She was right, we didn't need to have sex now, we'd have plenty of time for that, and I was going to make sure she got whatever she needed and wanted during this whole trip.

"What do you want, my love. Food? A nap?" I just asked, raising my eyebrows. "Name it and it's yours."

Her smile faltered and she tilted her head on the side, her hair spread on the bed. She finally pressed her lips together before my name escaped them softly, in a murmur.

"Niall James Horan."

I chuckled with a fond smile and shook my head slightly. "I'm already all yours."

---

"I shouldn't have eaten a second piece of pie." she pointed out, trying to zip her dress.

I watched her squirm and groan for a few more seconds and let out a small laughter before placing myself behind her and zipping her dress easily. I leaned my chin on her naked shoulder and wrapped my arms around her waist from behind, my eyes closed. She smelled good, the same mix of honey and vanilla she always smelled, and something twisted in my stomach as I realized it was a smell I would always enjoy. For the rest of my life.

"It's a spray." she just said, making me open my eyes and frown.

"Excuse me?" I asked, moving back up to look at her as she turned to me.

She nibbled on her bottom lip for a few seconds while staring at me and finally, she reached for her bag, taking something out and quickly putting it in my hand. I frowned more, bringing it to my face, as I checked the product. It was, indeed, a body spray that she clearly also used in her hair. I turned the small bottle in my hand and finally nodded.

"I'm gonna buy this company and make sure they keep making this product until the day that I die."

She let out a short laughter and grabbed it from my hand before spraying more in her hair and neck. "Don't be silly!"

"Fine then, we'll stock a few boxes in the basement to make sure we have enough."

She turned to me and laughed again, wrapping her arms around my neck and pulling me closer. I felt her lips brush against mine and kissed her firmly.

"Don't make me regret telling you." she whispered, making my lips curl.

"Hey, we're getting married! There can't be no secret between us anymore!"

"Yea? Then I guess I have a few questions for you!"

I cleared my throat and took a step back, making her chuckle again. "We should just get ready, or we're gonna be late." I pointed out, half-joking. "And you know you're the worst at being on time. I'm not sure you've ever been on time before, have you?"

"I think my wedding day is a good time to start."

She took a step closer and worked on my tie, tightening it before letting both her hands slide on my chest. I brought my hands over hers and she looked up at me with a smile. I could feel my heart beating so hard in my chest and I couldn't remember a time I was more nervous than at this exact moment.

"Are you sure you didn't want the whole deal with friends and family?" she asked in a low tone, raising her eyebrows. "With the big dress and the reception and the wedding song and gifts and..." she shook her head and closed her eyes for a few seconds before they fluttered open again. "I feel like we're about to disappoint your mom. I don't want that."

"My mom just wanted us to be together." I let out softly. "I promise she'll be super happy for us. Don't worry. Today is our day, okay? And we'll only think about us. You and me."

She tilted her chin up and chuckled low. "We're so fucking crazy. Jumping in a plane the next day you asked me to be your wife to get married. Who does that? Crazy people!"

"Then I must be extra insane because I sincerely believe this is our best idea yet!" I laughed. "In this lifetime!"

She frowned and tried to stop a chuckle from escaping her lips. "Who are you and what have you done with my best friend? The most organized and less impulsive person I know?"

"I guess he learned how to be from the most spontaneous and messiest person he knows."

"You're about to marry that person, remember? Think you can handle it for the rest of your life?"

I brought my finger and pressed it on the tip of her nose, making her giggle a bit. "I know I can. I want it."

Slowly, I moved my head closer to hers but instead to kiss her, I rubbed my nose gently against hers, making her smile grow into a fond one. "Come on, petal. Let's get married."

---

The sky was dark, which was surprising, since I thought it was mostly sunny in Las Vegas. I glanced up and noticed a few clouds but I just grabbed Liv's hand and pulled her with me. We jumped in a cab and I checked my watch, making me realize that we wouldn't be late and it made me smile. Her dress was simple but white and with my black suit, I knew no one could doubt where we were actually going. The ride was short and when we got out, we both remained motionless and looked up at the sky who had turned a dark shade of purple.

"Can we be unlucky to the point where it'll actually rain in Vegas for our wedding?" she asked with a chuckle. "That's my legendary luck!"

"Well, they say 'for better or worse'..."

She laughed a bit but squeezed my fingers tighter. "That's what they say."

"Are you sure you didn't want to do that in the desert? Or with an helicopter ride, or something bigger like that?"

We stared at the chapel for a few more minutes and she finally sighed, making me turn around. She was smiling wide and it made me grin too. "This is exactly what I want." Her smile faltered and her lips parted suddenly, making my heart jump in my chest. "Shit, we forgot the flowers. And the witnesses."

"Oh." It took me a few seconds to move but my eyes fell on an old couple in their 60's that were walking close to us and when I stood in front of them, they looked a bit surprised. "I'm sorry, my girlfriend and I are about to get married... We totally forgot we needed witnesses.." I shook my head and sent them puppy eyes. "Could I ask for a few minutes of your time? I can pay, if needed."

They looked at each other and laughed a bit before looking at me again. "We just renewed our vows." the man let out, glancing behind me, probably at Olivia. "It'll be our pleasure."

I sent them the biggest smile I could and shook my head slightly. "I can't thank you enough!"

Quickly, I turned to my girlfriend and grabbed her hands in mine. Maybe we were going to be late, after all. "Give me five minutes, okay?"

She nodded with a frown and I started running, stopping nearby a man who was selling roses. I couldn't believe my luck and looked up at the sky again, telling myself that maybe it was not going to rain at all. I searched through my pockets and traded a good amount of money for too many flowers and ran back to the chapel, where Olivia was in deep conversation with our witnesses.

"That's amazing." I could hear emotions in her voice and I stopped next to her, my eyes roaming on the side of her face. "I hope we can stay married that long, too."

"Of course we will. I'm saying 'I do' for a lifetime, you're stuck with me!"

She laughed and turned to me, shaking her head slightly before getting on her tiptoes and cupping my cheeks. Her lips found mine and I smiled against her mouth.

"I'm supposed to kiss you after the vows, my love." I whispered, feeling my lips brush against hers. "Ready?"

She moved slightly away and I stared at her. I couldn't believe how much she glowed. I had noticed that she did glow more than ever on that day I saw her at the bakery. It was selfish of me, but today, I knew she was glowing partly because of me, and it made something stir in my stomach. I was happy because of her, and I wanted to bring the same kind of feelings to her than the ones she brought me. Looking into her eyes made me realize that I did and I licked my lips. Perhaps, the way she was glowing was reflecting on me.

"I've been ready for over two decades." she giggled and tilted her head. "You bet i'm ready!"

---

OLIVIA

We had a hard time choosing between being married by Elvis, or by an alien, and in the end, we opted for a simple officiant. I tried to listen to his words, but the way Niall was running his thumbs on the top of my hands as he held them made something stir in my stomach. I stared at him as he stood in front of me, and I couldn't help but tell myself over and over again how lucky I was. It was meant to be, I knew it now, but there were times in my life I had lost almost all hope. The dark times were in the past, though, and I wanted to focus on the future. I wanted to enjoy every single second I spent with Niall because I felt blessed in a way I felt I maybe didn't deserve.

"...until death do you part?"

I blinked a few times and noticed Niall's lips curl as he kept staring at me. "I do."

I filled my lungs and held my breath as I let my eyes roam on him. I suddenly became very emotional at the sound of those two simple words. Somehow, I knew he was aware of everything it implied, even if this whole ceremony seemed frivolous and a simple spur of the moment.

I blinked a few times and licked my lips when Niall raised his eyebrows. "I do." I just ket out in a low and soft tone. His face illuminated and his lips cuirled more before he squeezed my fingers tighter. I hadn't listened to the officiant's words, too lost in my boyfriend's eyes, but it didn't matter because no matter what he was asking me to promise, I was ready for it. I was ready to do anything to make this work, and make him happy.

"Oh, oh yea." Niall muttered, letting go of one of my hands to reach in his pocket. "I give you this ring as a symbol or my love and commitment." I bit my bottom lips as I stared at his fingers and I could swear he was nervous. He slid it on my finger, over the other one, and breathed in. "I'll love you forever, beyond this life. You're the only one."

My lips curled and I swallowed hard, trying to keep my tears in. I took the ring I had for him and put on his finger too, licking my lips. "I give you this ring just like I gave you my heart and all my love." I whispered, taking a short pause. "I've always been yours, and I promise that I'll always be."

"I now pronounce you husband and wife." I heard before swallowing again.

I let out a short and nervous laugh and moved closer to him. Just like when we kissed for the very first time, Niall's hands reached for my face, his fingers spread on my cheeks, jaw and a part of my neck. His lips found mine just as avidly as it had in that bar, after singing a song to me, and it brought me back to that day as a bunch of other memories invaded my brain. I thought that first kiss was incredible, and I remember when I kissed him again after over a year, back at my place. That time too, felt amazing. But today was different. The kiss we shared was full of promises and a future actually emanated from it. It was cheesy, and perhaps a bit silly, but it didn't matter if all this romantic jazz seemed to be coming straight out of a movie. It was my reality, and I wouldn't have wanted it otherwise.

I don't know how long we kissed but when his grip loosened, I heard a few 'woohoo's!' and 'congrats!' coming from our witnesses. Niall grabbed my hand and I bite my bottom lip, a bit embarrassed by the whole thing. We thanked the couple and shook their hands before walking towards the exit.

"You've got all the papers and stuff?" I asked, glancing at him.

"Mmhm, I do my love."

"Then, what are we waiting for?"

I turned to him and our lips curled at the same time. I let out a chuckle and he did too before we held each other's hand even tighter. Almost at the same time, we started running, pushing on the doors only to meet the lights of the town and I quickly looked up as I heard the sky growl.

"Shit, is that thunder?"

As if someone up there had heard my question, it started raining and I closed my eyes, feeling drops falling gently on my face. I shivered and Niall pulled on my hand as we started running again.

"Come on!"

I followed him, making our way through the cars and the people walking around. We looked a bit ridiculous in our wedding suits and dress, and I gripped his hand even tighter, realizing I left the flowers in the chapel. We were still laughing when we hopped in a taxi and I ran my hand in my face, knowing my make up was totally ruined.

"What are the chances of rain, in Vegas, in december?" Niall laughed, shaking his head. "Less than 5 percent i'm sure!" He turned to me and his smile faltered a bit. "Hey, you're cold?"

I shivered and nodded slowly before he made a quick head movement, inciting me to come closer. I did as he asked but quivered again in his arms. Despite the fact that he was warmer than me, his clothes were drenched too and it didn't really help but I didn't move, just enjoying the fact that we were cuddling.

We didn't talk on the drive back to the hotel, and we kept quiet in the elevator, too. It's only when the door of our suite closed behind us that he turned to me and smiled.

"We fuckin' did it." he just let out, shaking his head with a smile. "We got married. You're my wife."

I stared at him as a bunch of emotions invaded me. It was a mix of relief, happiness, excitement and love. I looked in the eyes of the man I wanted to spend my life with, knowing that I actually had just promised to love him forever, and it was not scary at all. It was pretty much the opposite of scary. I felt safe in a way I never did before.

"You're so beautiful." he let out in a low tone, taking a step closer and shaking his head slightly. "I'm in love with you."

I knew it was a lie. My make up was ruined, and my mascara was probably making big dark spots under my eyes, perhaps it was even sliding down my cheeks. My dress was soaked and so was my hair. All I cared about was the fact that my husband thought I was beautiful.

"If you think that right now, imagine when I put a little effort."

His lips curled a bit more but he just licked his lips. His suit was wet too and my eyes dropped to his chest. I moved my hands up and pushed on his jacket as it fell down on the carpet.

"Did we just get married?" I added as my whole body started throbbing.

"Fuck yea we did, petal."

"You're not gonna regret this tomorrow?" I asked again, raising my eyebrows.

"Not tomorrow. Not in a month, not in fifty years." he whispered, looking down at me as I unbuttoned his shirt slowly. "This was meant to be. Written in the stars, as you'd say."

I pressed my lips together, loosening his tie, and pushed his shirt away as it fell on the floor too. I pulled on his tie gently and he smiled, bending down until our mouths pressed together.

"You know what's next?" he asked, his lips brushing against mine.

"You're gonna fuck me into oblivion?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "No, I'm gonna make love to my wife. And I swear you're never going to forget it." he explained, kissing me gently again. "And then, I'll fuck you. All night. Until we both pass out."

I didn't say anything but smiled more and he wrapped his arms around me to reach for the zipper of my dress, sliding it down very slowly. He moved my dress over my shoulders and I shivered a bit, realizing that my skin was wet too, and when he got down one of knee to pull on my dress, I smiled more. He moved back up, letting his fingertips run on my legs and thighs softly as I stood in front of him only in my underwear. I started working on his pants and tilted my head, blinking a few times.

"I'm so in love with you." I admitted, moving closer and running my hands on his ass gently, pushing his pants down. "I'll never be able to explain properly how I feel. It's killing me."

"You don't have to explain. I know. Because I feel the same." he whispered.

It was hard to believe but I just swallowed, trying to keep my tears in. Was it even possible that he loved me just as deeply as I loved him? Two years ago, I would have said no, but right now, after we just got married and seeing the way he was looking at me, I allowed myself to believe it.

He placed his hands on my waist and turned us around, pushing me backwards to the bed. Instead to throw me on it the way he normally does, I just lied down slowly and when he got on his knees between my legs, I let out a short chuckle.

"There are... mirrors up there."

Quickly, he tilted his chin and I felt my heart twist in my chest when his lips curled. Fuck, he was too pretty for words, shirtless and in simple white boxers, his tie still hanging loosely from his neck. I reached for it and pulled on it, making him fall on top of me. He laughed but held himself with his hands on each side of my face and I smiled more.

"It's perfect." I added with a smirk. "That was I can look at your ass while you make love to me."

"Mm, alright. but later we're gonna have to try other positions so I can be the one looking at you." He chuckled, brushing his lips up and down on mine.

"Deal."

He moved closer again, his lips sucking on my upper one before kissing me deeply. I whimpered in his mouth and he finally brought his kisses down my neck and to my breasts. I felt one of his hands travelling on my waist and pulling down the side of my panties. I moved my butt up to help him and when he was back on top of me, I quickly pushing on his boxers, glancing up at the ceiling and smiling when I saw his ass reflect in the mirror.

"Oh it's funny?" he asked, moving away to look in my eyes, a big smile on his lips.

"Very. I think we should buy mirrors for our room at home, too."

"Great minds, pet. I was thinking the same thing."

I giggled but he kissed me again and I pulled more on his boxers. He squirmed a bit and the only piece of clothing that was left was the tie around his neck. I spread my legs more and his lips moved to my ear as he sucked on it gently. It took him about a minute but he finally pushed himself inside me, making my eyes flutter and my lips part.

"Mm, I can't believe I'm inside my wife right now."

I chuckled but immediately let out an other whimper as he ground against me. The whole thing seemed to crazy yet so obvious at the same time. The thought of us making love and being married was incredibly exciting and it made me emotional. He started moving in and out of me so slowly that I felt my eyes flutter and roll back every time he was balls deep inside me.

"I'm so close already, how do you do that?"

I knew it was a mix of love and lust that made us so horny for each other, and I loved it. He kissed my bottom lip and part of my chin gently as I moaned and arched my back.

"I love you, I love you so much." I let out a bit louder than intended.

"I love you too, I'm so happy to be your husband."

It was the first time he pronounced that word and for some reason, the thought was so good it made me reach my peek immediately. I started shaking beneath him and to suppress my moans, he pressed his lips against mine.

"You feel amazing, oh my god!"

He shut his eyes tight as he reached an orgasm and watching him cum made me feel dizzy suddenly. He pushed himself as deep as he could and stopped moving for a while, groaning near my ear and making my lips part. When he became limp on top of me again, I started running my fingertips on his back and down to his butt. He leaned his forehead against mine and kissed my nose gently before I finally opened my eyes.

"Ten minutes. Ten fucking minutes. And it's a miracle I lasted that long." he laughed.

"I barely lasted five, you're good!" I admitted with a laugh, making him smile more.

He looked down at me and I could swear his eyes were sparkling. This was perfect. It was everything I had ever hoped for. It was everything I had ever wanted.

"Now sit down." I proposed, raising my eyebrows. "Let me ride you." I shrugged. "Unless you're not ready for round two?"

"Oh you know me, petal. I'm always ready."

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fe-semi-decent-scenarios · 5 years ago

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How they act around their crush: GD edition

[This one’s for @glass-grapes. I saw your submission and am completely psyched that you love my blog! I know that I’ve only recently had it kick-off with a few posts, but I have been wanting to start one of these since January. Hope this is to your liking! (p.s I didn’t know if I should do pre or post time skip, so I did a little dabbling into both]

Claude:

We all know Claude here is both a go-getter and a tease

If he finds you interesting then there’s no reason for him to hide it. A battle of wits never hurt anyone, and boy do you two fight well

He is s a s s y. If you’re chatting with some other students he might stick his nose into the conversation to toy with you. It’s all in good fun, right? Just a little mini-game on his way to achieving bigger things

That’s what he tells himself

Some days he finds you a bit too alluring, and can’t help being self conscious of the other people around

Fiddles with his braid when you throw him for a loop

Will pay extra special attention to you in battle, and makes excuses to the prof. for why you should be near him. He really is a snake

Post-Timeskip he hides his bias even more. Not enough to fool his close comrades, but enough to avoid you receiving any extra attention from the enemy

Sometimes slips items in your room to distract from the stress. Tea, a new blanket, etc.

During the five year gap he keeps track of your whereabouts. After Garreg Mache fell he decided that his dream would take priority as planned, but also believed that one day you would be at his side

Wasn’t surprised at all to see you at the reunion, but that familiar urge to tug his hair returned too

Judith and Nader have already heard about you prior to your meeting. Much to his dismay they view his buried feelings as open range comedy

Lorenz:

We all know how Lorenz acts when he finds someone of interest. The guy is a huge flirt which causes the professor wayyy too much stress

He’s not as in-tune with his sense of romance as you would think. In the early stages he’ll treat you the same as all the other ladies: a potential partner for house Gloucester.

Date offerings, frilly words, gifts, acts of kindness. Ah tis but the duty of a noble, yes?

No.

One day he lets that stubborn side of his personality slip out, and you come back at him with just as much fire. He becomes so angered after it, but somehow hearing the words from you hurt more than if someone else were to say them

That’s when he knows that he’s in deep, and from then on he treats you more gently. He’ll watch his tongue around other women, and sets his sights on only you. His mannerisms are the same as before, but now he tries to learn more about you as a person vs. just the cold hard statistics

He’s a blusher. He has a naturally light pigmentation so it shows.

After the time-skip he’ll watch you like a hawke. Do you like his new hair cut? Surly it’s an improvement from before sorry bro it’s not

Sets his dignity aside to request that you be given a hexlock shield during battle, or placed near him. Claude won’t let him live it down

Ignatz:

He m i g h t avoid you, but please don’t take it the wrong way. That’s just how he is, you know?

Young Ignatz isn’t that confident in himself. You’re...well ‘you’. And he’s...well, ‘him’

Oddly enough he confides in HIlda of all people. It originally began with wanting to see if she was still on stable duty with him, but ended up with him working and her talking

When you’re nearby he chooses not to speak unless spoken to. If you didn’t know his tells he’d come off cold, but one look at his hands wringing together just proves he was nervous

Byleth puts you two on cooking duty together: que panic. He legit grovels at their feet to pick someone else. They don’t, and that evening he sketches a wonderful picture of you sifting through different seasonings

On your birthday he struggles to give you the gift he prepared. It ends up with Lionie giving you it while he watches from afar.

When you’re older he is much more verbal with his opinions

More often than not he lets those honey-coated words slip out, which usually end up with him excusing himself quickly

Invites you to join him during downtime at least once a week. Every day could be his last, and goddess forbid yours. He wants to spend time with you even if he isn’t the most graceful companion never mind that he’s a smooth-talking mofo

Raphael:

If there’s one thing Raphael is good at, it’s showing that he cares

The boy is a giant muscular teddybear. He will carry your things, he will spar with you, he will eat anything you cook without complaint, and he will hug you; hard.

Unlike everyone else he’s pretty open with his feelings. Life is short, you know?

If you make him particularly bashful he’ll laugh loudly. More so to cover up his own embarrassment than because he finds the situation actually humorous

Adopts this habit of constantly asking if you need anything. The guy loves to dote on people, and lookie here you’re the perfect target

Remembers all important dates like a pro. On your birthday he drops a gift right on your desk first thing in the morning

Goddess forbid anyone gives you trouble. Without the smile on his face he looks the murder type, and the guy uses it to his advantage. He will happily escort you anywhere you need to go

Once his sister is settled he might honestly stick with you during that five year gap. He’s made his feelings painfully obvious, and you haven’t chased him off. Why not stick around?

Hilda:

Yo she’s clingy

She knows you have to be a catch and a half to steal her heart, so who knows who else that you’ve smooth talked

Just like everyone else she’ll still get you to do her bidding...but, maybe a smidge less

She feels guilty, but won’t show it

Hilda will do all in her power to not let the news reach her family. The last thing she needs is Holst sending her more letters, or worse: showing up at the monastery

Y’all she will don her best perfume for you. She will push all her work onto Cyril and drag you to have lunch with her. This is normal Hilda behavior so she has no reason to be shy

Will flirt openly and proudly. If you recuperate she’ll go gossip to Marianne about how you’re ‘totally smitten’ with her

Post-skip she’s not much different. Most of her time is spent doing what she can for the cause, but when you see each other she’s more bold.

Like always she doesn’t like to have expectations pushed onto her. She does have one for herself though, and it’s to stay by your side.

Marianne:

During the academy years she tends to admire from afar

Her favorite memories are of when the professor signed you both up for choir practice. She loves your voice, and it was a time where there wasn’t any pressure for conversation

As time passes she’ll become less adverse to talking. Quiet greetings will be whispered when you cross paths, and occasionally you two have lunch together

Marianne is not as reserved as people assume her to be. She’s just had a rough time, and if you take things slow with her then she’ll gradually have a stronger presence in your life. She hopes that this comes true for you two

Eye contact hasn’t always been her forte. She does try to maintain it with you though

Her feelings remain at a stalemate through most of the academy days. Only when she bypass’ some more personal-issues does she let her emotions go free

About halfway through the war period she changes. Her stance is more vertical, and she becomes the one to take initiative in your relationship

She’ll still blush upon any physical contact, and in some cases she’ll lose her breath when you talk. Don’t take the momentary silence as a bad thing, she’s okay.

Occasionally she’ll be restless and unable to sleep, worrying about the future she now has in her grasp. You might find her scouring for a cup of chamomile late in the night

Lysithea:

She’ll deny herself immediately. For Lysithea the future is an anomaly. One of which that no amount of studying or research can uncover.

It’s painfully obvious that there’s a spark between you two. Anyone can see it, and Hilda has pestered her many times regarding confessing

If the situation was a bit different, she would. Lysithea is no push over, but she also doesn’t want to invest time into something that will bear no fruition

She keeps her cool around you for the most part...or at least until you’re out of hearing distance

Then she completely loses composure. Did someone say clammy hands? Because hers get slicker than lorenz’s hair gel

Leads to stress eating, not gonna lie. There are many late night trips to the mess hall, and many angry cooks over the missing sweets

Times are different post-timeskip though. She’s a bit more reluctant to let these feelings go

Occasionally there’s some open flirting on her part. If you recuperate then it becomes more frequent and less forced. The sassy banter between you two becomes the deer’s free entertainment

Leonie:

She’s commonly been viewed as ‘one of the guys,’ for her personality. So she’s very insecure about getting friend zoned

It’s not like she was actively searching for romance. It just happened, you know? One day something just struck a chord

She never took the time to picture sharing a life with someone. Most of her life has been spent worrying about her village, or working hard to attain some kind of recognition from the Captian

For a split second she considers going to Byleth for some advice. Now isn’t the time for school-girl crushes. Now is the time to be forging a path to the future

Decides to completely ignore the ache she feels when you’re nearby. Just...lets it go.

She’ll put hella distance between you two. The only time she’ll initiate contact is during sparring

After the timeskip she stays this way too. Well, until HIlda calls her out on her bullsh*t (if you haven’t noticed from all these. Hilda is a perceptive little cookie)

Just like anyone she’ll go through the moral dilemma of deciding to confess or not. She instead chooses to just let her feelings do as they please, and if something happens then it happens

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prettywordsyouleft · 5 years ago

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Forsaken | Part 4

Summary: As one of the Forsaken, Jinyoung had no right to covet anything as his own. When he stumbles across you standing in the middle of the village he had plundered, the memories of old make him risk it all, clutching at the past in hopes for a better future.

Pairing: Park Jinyoung x reader

Genre: warrior au / star crossed lovers / angst / romance

Warnings: death, kidnapping, cursing, a myriad of emotions - this is a really sad love story.

Index: Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15

The bed was cold when you rolled over in the morning.

Had it been a dream? You were certain Jinyoung had held you close all night long, breathing words of longing into your ear. And yet, as you sat up, he was nowhere to be seen, his belongings simply waiting for their master to return.

Were you also waiting now?

Your mind was conflicted. It felt too warm, too comfortable to be back within his arms. As Jinyoung held you within the forest, you were unable to get enough of him. But as soon as he wasn’t against you, rational uncertainties crept up on you.

The Jinyoung you knew wouldn’t kill anyone.

What had led him down such a dark and twisted path? The fact that you wanted to comprehend why he was here bothered you more than you wanted to accept. It shouldn’t be something you needed to understand. You were morally against the Rebellion. You saw no need for the power-hungry force taking what didn’t belong to them. You believed of its warriors as nothing more than monsters, spewing out curse words whenever they were mentioned in conversation.

You felt the emotions spill down your cheeks as you grappled with this situation. You would never have those conversations again. Further, you were now inside the Rebellion. The need to survive made humans wicked, you thought.

As the door opened, you initially glared at the intrusion to your inner turmoil, Jinyoung pressing his lips together in a firm line. Why did he just accept your response? Was his guilt that overwhelming that whatever you did, he would deal with it without any complaint?

You remembered how infuriating he could be when he didn’t possess an opinion when you could hold many.

“You are entitled to be how you please,” he said as if he had read your mind. “And you’re welcome to decline breakfast as well. However, given you didn’t eat yesterday, and you’re recovering from your fever, I suggest you do.”

You looked towards the wooden tray he had carried in with a single serving of porridge upon it. You glanced up at him and he smiled weakly. “I ate with the men.”

“Would they dislike it if you ate with me instead?”

“Word travels,” he replied as he scratched at the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Is my stay here causing problems for you?”

“No,” he answered too quickly and inhaled a deep breath. “No, it won’t.”

“So then can I eat with everyone else later?”

Jinyoung watched you cautiously. “Why?”

“Do you think keeping me cooped up in here is good for my mind? I spend far too long contemplating who you are and being angered at myself for considering to accept all this. I have too many questions, like how I ended up in these clothes and-”

“I didn’t look, I went by feel. And I was very quick,” Jinyoung responded, his ears turning red in the process. You stumbled to a stop over your rant and began to giggle. Jinyoung merely stared at you, mouth agape. “You find me humorous?”

“I find you puzzling. How, as a grown man are you so frightened of touching a woman’s body? Don’t you take all you can whilst on the road?”

“Where is your husband then? Why aren’t you married? I see no ring to state that you belong to someone else.”

“If I did, would I have died back there too?” you asked without thinking and watched as the hardness reappeared in his eyes. You sighed. “I could have had one.”

“I still would have taken you. I’m cold-hearted man, isn’t that right? Husband or not, I would have taken you as my own.”

“Isn’t it a good thing I’ve always been yours,” you muttered and then swallowed as you felt his sharp focus snap back to your face. Spooning a mouthful of the food into your mouth, you then choked from trying to eat too quickly.

Jinyoung handed you a glass of water and crouched before you. “Slowly, eat more slowly. It’s not going to be your only meal. I make sure my people are fed here.”

“It’s a different camp than the one you were found within,” you said and Jinyoung’s hand on your thigh gripped it momentarily.

“We need to stop talking about the past.”

“It’s all we have that links us. I’m not meant to be in this world with you otherwise and you’re meant to be dead like I was told. Dead beside my parents who hid you and-”

“What?” Jinyoung cut in, his eyes rounding. “What did you just say?”

Your expression softened as you put down your spoon, not realising he was actually clueless to the proceedings that happened after his departure.

“Y/N,” your father said in a hushed voice, his eyes imploring you to look up at him. You had spent the past week in bed, falling ill after the army troops dragged Jinyoung away from you, the same man before you having held you back from chasing after him any further than you had. You hadn’t wanted to see your father ever again and yet with the way he looked at you now, you grew aware of the urgency in his expression. “Take this.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a medicine that will help you sleep for two days without stirring. When I leave this room, you must take it, do you understand?”

“Whatever for?!”

“I just need you to do this without question, my child,” he pleaded, pushing the potion bottle into your hand. “Take it and hide the bottle immediately. I love you, please know this is the only way I can protect you.”

“From what, Papa?”

“Have you of my compass?” he continued and you shook your head. “Does Jinyoung have it?”

“I gave it to him before you dragged me back.”

“At least one of you will be guided well in this world,” he murmured and then produced another compass, this time, much smaller than the one you had once carried everywhere you went. Placing the chained gift within your hand, he pressed his lips to your head and then gave you a watery smile. “Use this to find him again.”

“But-”

“It will help you in life more than I will now. Please live.”

And with that the man got up and left the room, tears streaming down your cheeks as you obediently took the potion.

When you opened your eyes again, the house was silent. You eased yourself onto the floorboards of your bedroom, noticing the door that was once closed now open. Dashing into the master bedroom next to yours, you found it empty. Turning for the staircase, you thumped down them and into the front room, rocking back on your heels and shrieking at the sight before you.

Stepping outside and wailing for help of your bloodied parents, you rushed up to the neighbour’s doorstep and knocked on the door repeatedly until you looked into the window. Your blood ran cold, and you felt the world spinning around you.

Shakily pulling out the chain around your neck you held up the compass and searched for direction.

Jinyoung was shaking you now, breaking you out of your emotional revisit to the death of your parents, of all that lived in your town, aside from the small few who managed to escape before the Rebellion entered. You looked up at him, your eyes unfocused. “Stop shaking me.”

“Tell me what happened?!”

“What is there to tell of another town that was plundered and destroyed? Isn’t that what you know of so well?”

“They said you would be spared!” he exclaimed and you finally looked at Jinyoung, the tears running down his face freely. “If I went with them they would all be spared! I never ventured back there to keep you all safe!”

“Only I was spared. My father poisoned me so it looked like I had died from heartbreak. They killed everyone else.”

Jinyoung collapsed at your feet then, his head hung low, uncontrolled sobs leaving him. You didn’t reach out for him, feeling no comfort in reliving the horror of that time in your life. Before you had been found by a little old woman who was travelling through, you had attempted to find a way to take your life so you would be with your parents again. You had been told Jinyoung would be killed for hiding away in your town for as long as he had, and then your parents, along with everyone else who held the secret, paid the price for Jinyoung’s stay there. You hadn’t wanted to live without any of them.

And yet your father’s final plea prevailed, the lady taking you in and caring for you as her own. You carried on, trying to live in their stead as best as you could.

Your parents had died in vain and Jinyoung had been used as a pawn for a bigger picture. There was nothing that could make this situation any better.

At some point, Jinyoung got up and left the room. You hadn’t moved from the spot you were in when he left and didn’t even lift your eyes to the door when it reopened.

However, it wasn’t Jinyoung who entered.

“Hello,” a man said softly, edging around the room. You recognised his voice as one from the group you had travelled with and lifted your head to look up at him. He smiled gently. “I’m not here to harm you. I’m Jackson, Jinyoung’s right-hand man.”

“I don’t care.”

“I know you care about Jinyoung though. You’re that girl he left behind, aren’t you?”

“You know?” you asked curiously and Jackson chuckled softly.

“Not much, just that he carries a compass around that he stole from a girl who saved him as a boy. When asked about what you stole in return, he said his heart.”

“Where is he?”

“Did something happen? He rode out on his horse earlier in the day saying he had to go see Jaebum.” You merely stared at Jackson, not understanding what he meant. “Oh right, you don’t know the people here. Jaebum was taken at the same time as Jinyoung was.”

You thought back to that moment, remembering another young man shackled and being dragged away with Jinyoung. He hadn’t been found in your town, though you heard he had been hiding in a neighbouring village who had alerted of Jinyoung’s existence in the first place.

You worried over what Jinyoung would do.

He arrived back after dusk with another person, Jinyoung surprised to find you waiting with Jackson at your side. He gave Jackson a look and the man beside you merely shrugged before laughing loudly. “Jaebum, are you here for dinner, my friend?”

“I’ve dealt with his mood long enough that you better bring out the wine you found at that little cove a few months ago. I know you hoarded more than you let on.”

“Now now, I don’t think you should paint me so poorly in front of Y/N here.”

“She’s aware we’re all evil bastards,” Jinyoung grumbled as walked right passed you, heading towards the communal area that you had been taken to whilst he was away. There you had helped with preparing dinner, Jackson saying with Jinyoung away that everyone would suffer from Youngjae’s bad cooking.

“I’m not that bad!” Youngjae had corrected and then looked at you with a grin. “But I could do with some help.”

Cooking helped you stay out of your thoughts, but it didn’t ease your worry any. It baffled you to be this concerned over a man who was more than capable of looking after his own back. However, you had only just rediscovered Jinyoung. For what sins he had committed in this world, he was still someone you had missed terribly.

You weren’t ready to lose him again so easily.

“Will you be staying here long?” Youngjae had asked as you peeled the potatoes together and you shrugged.

“I’m not sure of my fate. Just that I’m here now.”

“A lot of us felt like that. I remember the first day I came here. I thought Mark would have me hanging from that tree over there by the end of it.”

“Really? Why?”

Youngjae chuckled and you decided then that you enjoyed the energy he possessed. “Well, I don’t know how much you know about the Rebellion but they’re not meant to help people.”

“No, they take what isn’t theirs and end the lives of many.”

“They do help people, here at least. I was meant to be dead anyway. My left leg had been damaged by another battalion that had taken my farmstead. I was a produce grower for a town over. When Mark rode by me with Jinyoung, I begged them to end my life so I could be out of my pain. Instead, they brought me here.”

“They saved you?” you asked, stunned. You then frowned. “I thought they don’t take prisoners?”

“Are we imprisoned here?” Youngjae asked, gesturing to the open space that he could walk around in. He patted his leg that you had noticed he walked with a strange gait upon earlier. “Instead of hanging me, Jinyoung and Mark took me to Jaebum who is a healer. He fixed my leg as best as he could and now I’m here. I’m grateful to serve these people even if I’m only good at growing food, not cooking it. It’s a safe place here. I’d much rather be close to the enemy lines than out there, oblivious to how your life could be ended.”

You thought over Youngjae’s words for the rest of the day, and when you were seated for dinner, smiling gently at those who sang your praises for how delicious the meal was, you glanced in Jinyoung’s direction, catching his eye briefly. He smiled before turning to Jaebum who was talking about some adventure they once took together.

Could this place be the starting point of nowhere?

_________________

Part 5

[GOT7 Masterlist] | [Main Masterlist] | [Request Guidelines]

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fantastic-bby · 5 years ago

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Pieces

Pairing: (F)Reader x Yugyeom

Word count: 6.3k

Genre: Soulmate AU | Fluff | Romance

Summary: As a messenger of the puzzle pieces, you spend your life delivering boxes to the people in your area every day. You take a particular interest towards one of the humans: Kim Yugyeom. Due to the fact that you’re a messenger, you don’t get to build your own soulmate puzzle while you watch as Yugyeom rushes out excitedly to receive his box every year on his birthday...

Masterlist

Yugyeom remembers the time he received his first puzzle pieces. The gift box appeared at the front door when he was seven, and without much thought, he put them together. There were five pieces, but only three of them connected to each other; the other two were lone pieces. He had asked his older brother about it, and that was the first time he was taught about the concept of soulmates.

According to his brother, he would receive puzzle pieces every year; they could come in numbers or they could come as one single piece. Yugyeom would have to build the picture slowly as the years go by and the finished picture would lead him to where he would eventually meet his soulmate.

When Yugyeom turned eight, he received two pieces. He stared at the pieces and with the help of his brother, he figured out where the pieces went.

He turned nine, he received seven. As some pieces do, they remain in the box until he can find their connected pieces. The pile of lone pieces were slowly building up and Yugyeom was disappointed when only one of the pieces from that set could be added to the growing picture.

Ten rolls by and he has one. Once again, he’s slightly disappointed that it’s only one piece. There are two disjointed corners that are slowly growing to meet the middle. But, the single piece doesn’t match up to any of the pieces that are currently on his desk.

He turns thirteen, there’s three puzzle pieces that help connect the bridge between the two corners.

By the time Yugyeom turns nineteen, he’s almost halfway done. But, he’s running out of free time to actually sit and continue building the puzzle. The empty boxes are stacked on top of each other in the dorms and the pieces are piled in one of the open boxes. The years are slowly going by and more and more boxes appear as all of the members are receiving their puzzle pieces from the unknown messenger.

All of the boxes that appear on the doorstep are coloured differently - name cards tied to the ribbons on top. They usually appear in the morning of their birthday, and as Yugyeom’s twenty-first birthday approaches, he starts looking back to the puzzle. His puzzle pieces are small, but the half finished picture looks big - and if he has the patient to calculate how many are left, he could probably calculate how many years he has before he’ll be able to find his soulmate.

Yugyeom’s gaze is locked on the pile of puzzle pieces, the sound of BamBam sleeping soundly in the bed beside him filling the otherwise silent room. He pulls the covers off of himself and quietly moves to the desk, turning on the table lamp and looking at the picture. Yugyeom plugs his ears in and sets his Spotify on shuffle as he lays down the pieces in front of him. He spends the whole night slowly putting together what he can, the pile growing smaller while the picture gets bigger.

By the time the sun’s rising, Yugyeom’s leaning back in his chair and staring at three lone puzzle pieces. There’s still one hole in the middle left to finish, and he can barely make out what the picture actually is.

“Did you not sleep?” BamBam’s raspy voice makes Yugyeom turn around, pulling his headphones out in the process to see his roommate looking at him with tired eyes. Yugyeom looks out the window, his mind only now noticing the sunlight slivering through the blinds.

His shoulders raise in a shrug before he turns back around, “I couldn’t.” He hears BamBam shift around in his bed for a moment before he hears footprints shuffling towards him.

“What does it look like?” his voice comes out deep - tired - as he looks at the picture.

“I can’t seem to make it out yet. There’s a patch in the middle that I can’t get to yet,” Yugyeom mutters, his thumb running over one of the smooth, glossy corner pieces. BamBam lets out a yawn before shuffling around the room to grab his towel.

“You should sleep, Gyeommie,” BamBam tiredly says as he opens the bedroom door. “at least take a nap or something. We have practice in a few hours.”

Yugyeom watches as he leaves before turning back down to the puzzle pieces. There was still a long way to go and he could only wonder how long it’ll be before he would finally finish the puzzle.

»»————-　　————-««

You skip along the hallways, gently placing the boxes down by each door. The colourful boxes in your backpack each have different destinations, different number of pieces, and different owners. You move on to the next building. Then, the next building - and the next - until your backpack is empty, signaling your end of the day. You pull your phone out of your pocket, texting the creator of the boxes to let him know.

(Y/n): I’m done for the day. Take me home, please.

There’s a pause before you feel the air around you shift. You close your eyes and open them to be surrounded by your living room. Slipping your backpack off, you rest it on the couch and move into your kitchen to start thinking of what to make for dinner. Your job on Earth is simple enough. You’re not directly related to any God, but you’re pretty much one of the only humans who are allowed to cross through the worlds.

You could almost say you're kind of like Hermes…? The story of how you even got this status is a huge mess of your family line. To sum it up, Zeus was being sketchy with your ancestors, he made Hera upset and to make up for it, your ancestors made a deal to work for Eros as some kind of a messenger. Since then, one person from each generation is chosen to be the messenger of the soulmate boxes. You’re almost like Santa - well, if Santa was multiple people and delivered soulmate puzzle pieces every day until you pass on the job to your children.

Unfortunately, you don’t have your own puzzles. The deal was that you’d work for Eros, but you would have to trust your soulmates in finding you on your own. That meant that you had no idea where your soulmate could be, and you don’t exactly meet the people when you give them their puzzles. You’re simply a passing figure that most humans couldn’t see when you were working.

You decide to just order pizza and take a bottle of rootbeer out from the fridge before plopping yourself onto your couch. You turn on your TV and just start randomly scrolling through your Netflix to find something to entertain you. This was your life. You’d deliver boxes everyday until your backpack would run out, then you’d head home, do whatever you wanted until the next day comes and your backpack has been refilled with boxes.

As tiring as it is, you’re pretty content with your situation. It was more tiring when you first started - you were sixteen - and as the years went by, it got easier. Adding to that, Eros changes the rules every once in a while, and when it was your turn, he had already been more kind to his human workers. In exchange for diligence, he would give you luxury. That meant that the harder you worked, the more he would give you. You would start at the bottom while you’re still living with your parents, and depending on how hard you work in between then and when you move out, Eros would have an apartment ready for you.

When the pizza arrives, you're quick to answer the door. You're surprised to see Eros there instead, pizza box in hand, but you let him in anyway.

"I need to talk to you, (Y/n)," the god hums as he places the box on the kitchen counter.

"What's up, boss?" you question as you open the box and sit yourself on the barstool, taking one of the slices. You watch as he reaches for one of the slices before pausing and looking up at you. "Go ahead." You wave your free hand at him and he happily takes the slice.

"I'm planning on giving you a bigger apartment," Eros states and you choke on your pizza. He looks up at you in shock as you start coughing violently, drinking your rootbeer to help wash it down.

"A bigger one?!" you ask in disbelief, voice raspy.

Eros simply nods as he takes a bit out of his pizza, "You've been working really hard since I gave you this one."

"Why not just give me a car or a bike or something? I don't live with anyone or anything. I'll just be wasting all the space." you suggest and he seems to take it into thought for a moment.

"Ah, would you like a pet instead?" Eros simpers.

Huh, a pet wouldn't be so bad. Wait, "What concept of pets do Gods have? Last time you gave someone a pet, you tried to give my grandma a dragon." Your eyes narrow accusingly at him and he lets out a nervous laugh, his hand moving to rub the back of his neck.

"Dragons aren't common, but I honestly forgot that dragons are myths to humans. So, I could give you a smaller creature instead," Eros offers. "Oh! What about a griffin?" Your jaw drops as you stare at him.

"Boss, griffins are not small,” you remind him.

"Yes, but they could help you get around faster. You can both be invisible to the normal human eye - other messengers would still be able to see you two, of course - but you wouldn't have to message me all the time," Eros explains just as he finishes his pizza slice, “they also make pretty good companions.”

You let out a small laugh, "Is this your way of getting me to stop asking you to move me all over the place?" He belts with laughter and you can feel it spread to you as well. You learned over time that Eros is actually a pretty cool guy. Sometimes he felt bad that humans were working for him which was one of the main reasons for his generosity - he was generally really nice, but he just felt like his workers deserved something in return.

“Will you agree to a griffin? I’ll get you a really cute griffin,” Eros concludes and slaps his hands together excitedly, “your delivery will come tomorrow, but you won’t know when it’ll be here.” With that, he disappears. You let out an amused chuckle as you pick up the pizza box and move into the living room.

»»————-　　————-««

The moment Yugyeom wakes up, he’s immediately rushing out of his bedroom. Even though he’s moved to his own apartment, he knows that the puzzle pieces should still show up at his doorstep. As expected, when Yugyeom opened the front door, there was a little yellow gift box wrapped in a red ribbon sitting on the ground. He felt a giddy feeling inside as he picked up the box and immediately went back into his room.

He moves to his desk where the almost finished puzzle was and opens the box. Yugyeom’s surprised when he sees almost more than ten pieces in it. It’s rare that he even gets more than five pieces. Nonetheless, he begins working on the puzzles. What the image is barely registers in his mind; it’s the last piece in the middle that does. This means Yugyeom has to wait one more year until he can finish the puzzle.

It’s only when he leans back in his chair that he takes a proper look at the picture. There’s a sense of curiosity that strikes through him when he realises what the image looks like. It looks exactly like his front door. The only missing piece is the number of the apartment. Yugyeom stares at the puzzles in disbelief. Would his soulmate suddenly show up in his building and he’d bump into them?

There’s a knock on his door that makes him turn away from his desk to see his flatmate peeking into his room. “Happy birthday, Yugyeommie,” Min smiles brightly. Yugyeom’s immediately engulfed with a sense of warmth as the older man enters his room and approaches him. “I see you’ve already gotten your birthday present from the universe,” he chuckles lightly, but he’s cut off when he sees the picture.

“Min-hyung, this looks like our front door,” Yugyeom points out and Min leans down to take a closer look.

“It really does,” He nods, “but, it’s missing the number. It could really be any of the apartments here.” Min stands straight and crosses his arms over his chest.

“Did you meet your soulmate before or after you received the last piece?” Yugyeom puzzles.

Min lets out a hum, “After. I hadn’t even finished the whole thing yet; I left the box in my room and made a note to do it when I had free time. The next day, I bumped into her at the park that was in the picture.” He explains, glancing at Yugyeom, “I don’t think we’ll meet our soulmates until after all the pieces have been delivered to us.” It’s more of a guess, but Yugyeom seems to agree with it, too.

Min leaves his room shortly after, telling him that he’ll take Yugyeom out for a birthday lunch. Yugyeom stays seated for a moment, staring at the picture. He will have to wait a whole year before being able to know exactly which door is in the picture.

He finally stands up after a moment and moves into his bathroom to get ready, but the thought doesn’t leave him alone even while they’re both heading to the mall. “You have a whole year, Gyeommie. Don’t worry about it,” Min tells him as they step into the lift, “today is about you and the fact that you’re twenty-three.” He smiles as he leads Yugyeom out of the lift and towards the restaurant, clasping his hands on his shoulders as they stand at the entrance.

Yugyeom’s genuinely surprised when he sees the entire restaurant empty except for his friends. Balloons decorated the lot, a large ‘Happy Birthday’ spelt out on the wall. There’s a wide smile on his face when he sees the birthday cake sitting at the edge of the table as Min guides him to his seat.

“Blow out the candles, Yugyeom!” Eun Woo encourages and everyone watches as he blows out the candles, cheers following after.

“Happy birthday, Yugyeom!” They cheered excitedly. Yugyeom’s heart is overwhelmed with warmth as his friends start handing him gifts, a cheery atmosphere building in the restaurant.

“How many pieces did you get today?” Jaehyun questions.

“Ten,” Yugyeom answers absentmindedly just as he takes a paper bag from Jaebeom, “I usually get less than that, so it was surprising. But, I only need one more piece which means that I only have one year left before I can meet my soulmate!”

BamBam whistles. “Our Yugyeom’s going to finally meet his soulmate.” A chuckle follows his words. Out of his friends, it was a bit of a shame to admit that Yugyeom was one of the last few to finally meet his soulmate. Only him, Jaehyun and Mingyu hadn’t met their soulmates yet. Even BamBam had finished the puzzle that led him to his platonic soulmate two years prior - and from her, she found him his current girlfriend.

“I bet they’ll be the sunshine of your life,” Jinyoung smiles, causing a wave of cooing from the rest of the group.

“Aww, Jinyoung hyung’s only this nice to me when it’s my birthday,” Yugyeom cooes, pinching Jinyoung’s cheeks playfully. The older man responds by swatting Yugyeom’s hand away with a playful scowl on his face.

“Jinyoung hyung’s barely ever nice to us when it’s not our birthday.” BamBam laughs.

“That’s because sometimes you make my life a living nightmare,” Jinyoung states softly.

“You love us, just admit it.” Jackson slings his arms over Jinyoung’s shoulders and starts to sway him side to side. Yugyeom spends the whole day with his friends. After lunch, they head on to the arcade and try to convince the guy at the counter that they should get a discount for the duck plushie since it’s Yugyeom’s birthday. It doesn’t work.

Jungkook still manages to win a little bulbasaur plushie from the claw game though. It was a race of who could get a plushie first out of the three people that were trying, and Jungkook beat Jaebeom and Mingyu. His magical hands somehow managed to win the pokemon after one try.

Jungkook raises his hands and starts wiggling his fingers at the other two, “I win this game all the time.” There’s a proud smirk on his face that Mingyu pouts at.

“Yugyeommie, I won a unicorn!” Jackson excitedly announces as he skips towards the younger man, a large pink unicorn in his hands.

“That’s great!” Yugyeom laughs as he sees how excited Jackson is.

“Come on, let’s go get Yugyeom a chocolate shake,” Jinyoung calls from the entrance of the arcade; almost like a mother duck calling for her ducklings. As ducklings would, everyone starts to follow Jinyoung out of the arcade obediently.

»»————-　　————-««

“Eclipse, come on.” You click your tongue, watching the Border Collie immediately whisk her head in your direction. She hops her way down the hallway to where you are, bumping her head against your leg. You’re glad Eros decided against giving you a griffin and instead just gave you a normal human pet; a dog. Eclipse was super bubbly. Her presence immediately lit up your lonely apartment, and she made a great companion who would follow you around when you were working.

As Eros said, she would appear invisible if you wanted her to - she seems to understand that. Eclipse seems to understand you as well. You’ve had her for about a year or two, and she’s grown to learn how to tell apart your feelings. She even brings you her favourite broccoli plush toy when you’re sad.

You walk out of the apartment building with Eclipse walking by your side. Your backpack was already empty from having sent boxes since before dawn. As you’re walking towards your home, you spot one of your favourite humans. You keep yourself invisible as you watch him from a safe distance - being invisible doesn’t mean they can’t feel you. Yugyeom’s always been your favourite human. Every time you deliver his puzzles, you would wait to see him step out of his apartment to pick it up.

You had taken note of the way he was growing more and more exciting as the years went by. There was a moment in time where you noticed that he hadn’t paid much attention to the boxes, but that was when you knew he was a fresh idol. Now, he was older and he was living with a producer. Somewhere along the time of him getting ready to move out, Yugyeom had gotten visibly more excited with seeing the boxes.

“Is this stalking?” you question Eclipse as you continue to follow the group. She doesn’t answer. You decide it probably is. You just find him really adorable. Back when you had to deliver to their dorms, you would always stick around to watch them practice. You concluded that your favourite thing about Yugyeom was the way he danced. His body control was amazing, and you were sure only a robot could move their feet the way he could.

For a moment you actually considered revealing yourself to him. But the sad truth always hits you whenever you see him open his front door and immediately reach for the box. Yugyeom’s only excited because he wants to find his soulmate, and while you watch him try and get closer to his soulmate, you can only try and wait for yours to find you. You follow the group until they enter a cafe and that’s where you decide that you shouldn’t follow them inside. “Let’s go home,” you tell Eclipse who responds with a bark.

Even though Eclipse can’t bring you around easily, you still like that you now have a companion who walks around with you. You don’t feel the need to message Eros anymore because you enjoy the walk back to your apartment. It’s more fun with the fluffy brown and white dog that follows you around. You stop at a park when you see her towards a tree. You swear her attention span is that of the squirrel she’s chasing - especially when she immediately turns her focus onto a lizard before coming back to you.

By the time you reach home, there's already someone waiting for you outside your door. "(Y/n)!" She waves at you excitedly when she sees you walking out of the lift.

"Nova?" You haven't seen the fellow messenger in a while, so you're not only surprised by her visit but also by her electric blue hair. "It's blue," you state as you unlock the door to your apartment, letting her in as well.

"Is it nice?" She questions as she runs her hand through her hair. "I got tired of blonde and it was already bleached so might as well." Nova's shoulders raise in a shrug. You let out a hum in response as you rummage through your fridge to find your last two cans of soda, pulling both out and handing one to her.

"What have you been up to? You disappeared after Chris had that party." The party was meant for messengers from all over the world to get together and just have fun, but it was also the last time you had seen Nova before she disappeared.

"Oh," The chuckle she lets out is awkward - embarrassed almost - making you even more curious of her whereabouts as you both sit on your couch, "Eros moved me to London because he said I wasn't getting anything done in Seoul." She explains softly. You can't say you're exactly surprised.

Nova was a year younger than you and she was a social butterfly. The problem that just added to it was that she loves to party. You always wondered how long it would be before she would get in trouble for partying instead of working.

"Are you back to working in Seoul?" you question.

"Unfortunately, no," She shakes her head, "I'm still covering a small area in London. I'm here because my soulmate’s here.” Nova’s statement made your eyes widen once again.

“Your soulmate found you?” you immediately question.

A soft chuckle leaves her lips, “More like Eros led me to her.” You watch as she takes a sip from the can before placing it onto your coffee table. “I came back because Eros asked me to visit you. I realised that it’s been like… what? Five - Six years since we last saw each other. So, he’s giving me a few days off and let me chill here since I’ve been working really hard in London. I found her two days ago when I was coming here. Her name’s Haneul, she lives a few floors below you.” You lean back into the couch with a soft smile on your face.

“That’s good,” you hum. There’s a comfortable silence that settles in your living as you sit together, basking in each other’s company. You would be lying if you said you didn’t miss her. Nova was the only other messenger that you were close with. She used to cover the area that was right next to yours, making it easier for the both of you to hang out constantly. Being a messenger is not exactly the most rational thing you could tell someone who wasn’t one.

After Nova had disappeared, you were devastated of course. You had known her since you were both in high school, and it was by chance that you two bumped into each other. You had just finished up sending boxes to the last apartment when you saw her. The golden ribbon tied to the strap of her backpack was the dead giveaway that she was a fellow messenger. Eros thought it would be nicer to have a way to try and see who was a messenger and who wasn’t, and he chose a glowing golden ribbon that only messengers could see.

There was also a weird charm about being friends with Nova. She knew most of the other messengers that were in Korea, and you bet that she had become acquainted with the messengers in Britain as well. She was the messenger that told you about Chris Bang’s messenger ‘get together’.

“What about you?” Nova’s voice snaps you out of your thoughts and you turn to give her a questioning look, “has your soulmate found you?” You shake your head at her question, turning away from her to see Eclipse already settled in her fluffy cotton bed.

“I don’t know who they are, and I don’t know if they’re getting close,” You sigh, taking a sip of your drink, “that’s the only thing I hate about being a messenger. We don’t get that giddy feeling of finishing puzzles.” Your words come out sad. Not being able to track down your soulmate was the only thing that bummed you out about being a messenger. “Plus, you never know whether or not they find the whole messenger thing weird. For all I know, they would hate that I do it.”

There’s a silence before Nova continues,“What about that Yugyeom guy? You’ve always been attracted to him - has he finished his puzzles yet?”

You shake your head, “His birthday next year is the last set. After that delivery, I won’t get to see him annually anymore.” Nova lets out a hum at that. She doesn’t want to add anything that might make you feel bad, but you appreciate her responding rather than just staying silent. “Maybe I’ll find another human to admire,” you chuckle, breaking the silence, “hopefully it’ll be my soulmate.”

“They’ll find you eventually,” Nova reassures you. “If you don’t have one, I’m pretty sure Eros would let you know.”

“I doubt that.” You’re very sure that if you didn’t have a soulmate, Eros would find a way to connect you with someone else without letting you know. “Boss is weird like that. He doesn’t like giving us details sometimes,” you chuckle.

Nova chuckles as well just as she places her now empty can onto your coffee table,“Who would’ve expected a deity would feel bad if they had to tell a human they didn’t have a soulmate.” She stands up and looks around your living room. “Looks like you’ve managed to please him, though,” she points out.

“I never minded the work. I actually enjoy it,” you shrug. “I never ask for anything from him. Boss just decides one day that he wants to get me something, and he’ll show up out of nowhere.”

“Ah! You’ve reunited!” The sudden voice makes both of you yell out of shock, turning to your balcony to see Eros walking in. The deity steps back in surprise before.

“Boss! What the hell?!” you yell, staring at him in disbelief. His sudden appearance should be a normal thing by now, but every time he drops in without a warning, it still seems to scare you.

“Give a heads up or something! You can’t do that!” Nova scolds.

“Oh, right, humans rob each other.” Eros muses as he closes the sliding door to your balcony. “I’ll remember to knock next time,” he chuckles, “I came here to talk to (Y/n), but I see you’re busy.” He gestures to Nova’s presence.

“Boss, you’re a deity, it shouldn’t really matter,” you state.

“Right, it shouldn’t,” he mutters. “Okay, well, not to eavesdrop, but (Y/n) your soulmate will find you soon, don’t worry about that - but this isn’t why I’m here. It’s about your location.” Eros added. You immediately get struck with fear. Was he going to move you somewhere else like he did with Nova? But you had been working so hard even after he gifted you Eclipse.

“Am I being moved?” you question nervously.

He quickly shakes his head, “I’m not moving you anywhere. I just wanted to give you a hint for your soulmate.” His words make you even more nervous, “they live here; in Seoul. You just have to wait until you deliver their last box, and they’ll come for you.”

“Why are you letting her know?” Nova asks, tilting her head in slight confusion.

“It’ll be soon,” Eros shrugs, “I thought it would be worth letting you know. I’m not letting you know their gender, but I will tell you that it’ll be next year.” The newfound knowledge just makes your eyes harden into a glare.

“Boss, I could’ve gone fine without knowing that,” you state. He shrugs once again in response.

“This is for Eclipse,” he pulls out a bag of dog treats and sets them on your coffee table. “That’s all I wanted to say. Have fun with the information.” He waves before disappearing before the two of you. You and Nova stare at the spot the deity stood; speechless.

“D-Did he really just come here to give your dog treats?” Nova questions. Her tone matches just how baffled you are as well. “He could’ve sent a fairy - or a messenger - or something that isn’t him.”

“We’ve been working for him since we were sixteen and he still manages to surprise us,” you muse before turning your attention to the dog treats. You pick up the packet and examine it; they don’t look like any kind of treats you have ever seen - or in this world at least. “Is this Greek?” You hold the bag up to Nova who tilts her head to try and read the writing.

“Oh my god, did he come here to give your dog treats only available to gods?!” She’s even more bewildered as she stares at the packet.

“Well, she is a gift from a god. So, I guess it works,” you chuckle as you place the bag down onto the coffee table.

»»————-　　————-««

“Your last puzzle is showing up tomorrow,” Min reminds Yugyeom as they sit in the living room.

“I know,” Yugyeom nods. He’s doing his best to hide his nerves in front of his flatmate. He wouldn’t want Min to know exactly how excited and how nervous he’s feeling.

“Are you nervous?” the older man questions, turning to face him. Yugyeom bites his bottom lip to stop his smile,

“A little bit, yeah. But I’ve been building this puzzle for almost my entire life,” He shrugs, “I don’t even know when exactly I’ll meet my soulmate tomorrow.” Min glances away from the TV to look at him.

“You wanna have an early birthday party?” he suggests.

“Tonight?” Yugyeom turns to him. Min nods before standing up,

“I’ll take you to Gangnam. We can invite your band mates.” The older man gives him a suggestive look and Yugyeom agrees. Might as well shake off the nerves with a bit of partying.

Meanwhile, you’re still running around the buildings to finish the last of your boxes for the day. Eclipse is following behind you, a satchel hanging from her mouth. She makes good help on days that you have to carry two bags filled with boxes. You place the last box down in front of the last apartment when you hear the sound of a door opening down the hallway.

Turning around, you see Yugyeom and his flatmate leaving their apartment. You feel a sense of sadness hitting you when you see your favourite person. Tomorrow would be his last box, meaning he’s most likely meeting his soulmate soon. You decide that you would linger outside his apartment for a bit longer after you drop off his box. Again; you know it’s creepy. But you’ve been delivering boxes to this person for the past seven years or so, and you know you’re going to miss seeing how excited he gets when it’s his birthday - he’s also pretty clumsy, so you’ll use that as an excuse to ‘watch over him’.

You’re so caught up in watching him leave that you completely forget what you’re supposed to be doing. It’s Eclipse’s bark that snaps you out of your thoughts. You turn around to see her putting the satchel down and pushing the top open with her nose; there’s still one more box in the bag.

“Huh,” you look at the box in surprise. “I must’ve counted wrong,” you mutter as you pick up the box. Your phone buzzes in your pocket and you pull it out to see a new message from Eros.

Boss: The address is not anywhere near him Stop getting sidetracked <3

Your head snaps up to the ceiling and you glare at nothing, but you know that Eros is probably laughing from his home in the skies. “Let’s go, Eclipse,” you grumble as you start making your way out of the building.

The next day, you do as you had planned; lingering around Yugyeom's apartment to see him one more time. You're lucky two of his neighbours share the same birthday as him because it gives you more time to linger around his apartment.

Eclipse follows behind you. You notice that she's extra hyper today for some unknown reason, but you don't really think much of it. You assume it’s because you fed her the Greek treats before you left your apartment.

You pull Yugyeom’s box out of your bag and lay it on the ground, staring at it before taking a step back. He turns twenty-four today, and this is the last time you would be stopping at his doorstep. Moving back, you hide behind a corner and wait until he comes out. When he steps out, Eclipse suddenly barks excitedly and runs towards him.

When Yugyeom reacts to the bark, your eyes widen because it means she’s not invisible. The border collie tackles the tall man to the ground and you curse under your breath as you chase after her.

“I-I’m so sorry!” you squeak out as you try and pull the large dog off of him. Instead of getting mad like you expect him to, Yugyeom throws his head back in laughter. You feel your stomach bubble at the sound of his laugh.

"It's okay. She's probably just excited," he chuckles as he runs his hand through Eclipse's coat. "It's weird, but this is the first time I've seen your dog around here, are you…" Yugyeom trails off when he turns to you. You know why he’s staring at you like that because you can feel it too.

It's a strange buzzing in your chest when you lock eyes, your heart beat picks up the longer his eyes stay on you. Yugyeom stands up slowly, his brown eyes wide and staring at you. With whatever sense you have, you run the feelings in your chest through your mind.

"You're my soulmate,” you mutter out in realisation. Yugyeom looks down at the box in his hands and fumbles to open it up. He pulls out the last puzzle piece before turning to his front door,

"And this is the last piece of my puzzle," he states when the numbers match his front door. "Why would we meet here?" He turns back to you.

"I'm the box messenger," you pull your backpack off of your shoulder and open it to reveal the many boxes, "I've been delivering boxes to you for the past five years." Yugyeom stares into your backpack with his jaw dropped before his eyes flick back up to you.

“Y-You’re the messenger?” he squeaks out. You nod. He looks down to the box in his hands. There’s that familiar insecurity of being a messenger filling inside of you.

“It’s not weird, is it? It’s a job that runs in my family,” you explain softly, “I-I can’t do anything other than this or else my parents wo-” Yugyeom cuts you off by leaning down and slamming his lips onto yours. You’re shocked, of course, but something about it feels right. The way his hand is gently cupping your cheek while the other wraps around your waist, the way his lips move against yours as if they were meant for you; everything about him feels right.

When he pulls away, you’re both breathless and panting. His thumb gently runs over your cheekbone while you squeeze his biceps. “I’ve been wanting to finish those puzzles since forever,” he confesses with a chuckle.

“As a messenger, I don’t get the feeling of building the puzzles.” Your words make his face contort in confusion. “Messengers don’t get boxes. We only deliver them to the humans by command of Eros.”

“The Greek guy?” Yugyeom questions.

You nod with a soft giggle, “Yeah, ‘the Greek guy’. He’s my boss, and I’m pretty sure he meant for Eclipse to tackle you.” Yugyeom turns his attention to the dog that’s sitting at his feet and looking up at him excitedly.

“She’s adorable,” he coos as he bends down to pet her.

“She was a gift from Eros, and she’s an absolute doll.” You giggle when you see how she’s already warmed up to Yugyeom. He looks up to you and stands straight,

“So, you’ve been sending boxes to me this entire time but you didn’t know I was your soulmate?”

You shake your head, “Eros doesn’t let us know who our soulmates are. We just have to wait for them to finish their puzzles and they’ll find us.” He stares at you for a moment before opening his arms. You take the hint and wrap your arms around him, resting your cheek against his shoulder. His embrace is comfortable.

“I guess you could say that I’m your missing puzzle piece, huh?” he snorts which causes you to sigh and clamp your eyes shut.

“Aaaand you ruined it,” you joke as you pull away from him. He smiles as he looks at you,

“I’m not wrong, am I?” he chuckles, “I’m your puzzle piece.”

130 notes · View notes

phoenix-downer · 5 years ago

Text

His and Hers

Sora/Kairi. Post-canon. Fluff, romance, teasing, happily married life, and tacky matching t-shirts. ~2300 words. For @angel-with-a-pipette, whose birthday is today!

Kairi liked collecting things. Fun things, pretty things, ridiculous things, practical things, weird things, tacky things. She also liked taking those things and making them into new things. And now that she and Sora shared a home of their own, she wanted to fill it with things that represented the two of them. Gluing thalassa shells to a picture frame she’d found at a flea market and then inserting a picture of her and Sora eating sea-salt ice cream. Making a scrapbook of photos from their wedding and setting it on the coffee table that Sora had repainted. Teaching him how to knit so they could work on a big blanket for the couch together with yarn she’d gotten from an old friend.

Sometimes, however, she found things that were perfect as they were. Today was one of those days. She was shopping for some necessities on the Main Island when she spotted the perfect things hanging proudly in front of one of the many little shops that had recently popped up. No local worth their salt would come here, but now that the Lanes Between had been opened up to commercial flight, the tourists happily would.

She giggled and covered her mouth with her hand. Two t-shirts were hanging side-by-side. One was blue with a white arrow pointing to the right, and the other was pink with a white arrow pointing to the left. The blue one said “I’m hers,” but the pink one didn’t say “I’m his,” it said, “He’s mine,” instead.

She wanted those shirts. They were ridiculous and tacky and perfect for her and Sora.

She blushed and shook her head. “No, I can’t get them, they’re completely impractical.” She started pacing back and forth. “Munny’s a little tight this month, and I promised him I wouldn’t buy any extra stuff today. What would he even think if I got these? We’d never be able to wear them in public, we’d have a good laugh and then never look at them again—”

She fetched her Gummiphone out of her purse. She’d take a picture and show him later. But right as she was about to, the phone started ringing.

“Sora?” she asked as she answered the call. “What’s up?”

“You’re still out shopping, right?”

“I am. I’m about done though.”

“Guess who had a good haul with the Heartless today.”

Her heart pounded in her chest. “You got more munny?”

Ever since she and Sora had gotten married, they’d spent less time fighting as they focused on building a life for themselves on Destiny Islands again, and that meant less munny in their bank accounts. Dropping out of school while they were still teens meant there weren’t a whole lot of job opportunities open to them, and their erratic schedules meant that most places didn’t want to hire them anyway. Sora had become a mercenary of sorts, traveling the worlds and fighting so he could still help people but also get to keep the munny the Heartless and Nobodies dropped. She went on missions of her own too, but they’d agreed that someone should be home whenever possible, and this month was her turn.

“I did,” he said, breaking her out of her thoughts. “I’m gonna talk to Uncle Scrooge about investing some of it with him like we talked about, and the rest we can put in our bank account on one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“You get something nice to treat yourself with. I know this month’s been kinda rough, and I wanna make it up to you.”

She smiled and looked at the t-shirts again. “Thank you.”

They discussed how much she could spend today, how much he would be investing with Uncle Scrooge, and how much would be going to their bank account, and then he ended the call like he always did: with a heartfelt “I love you,” which she returned in kind.

Some careful haggling on her end won her the t-shirts for only 2000 munny, and she still had leftover munny to get something else. Sora had told her to treat herself, but she wanted to treat him, too. She went to the Main Island’s department store and found a good bargain on something she knew would catch his eye.

Satisfied with the day’s purchases, she boarded the ferry to one of the smaller islands where she and Sora lived. It was bigger than the Play Island but much smaller than the Main Island, and it was their little oasis of privacy from the larger world. Their house was the only house on the whole island, and the previous owners had sold it to them for cheap because it needed so much fixing up. Kairi was proud of how good it looked now, of how much hard work she and Sora had put into it. They’d truly made it their own, and coming home to it felt wonderful.

She set the groceries on the counter and started unloading them, and she heard Sora come in when she was done with putting up all the stuff that needed refrigerating. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and sighed.

“I’m back,” he murmured as he kissed her shoulder.

“You’re home,” she said as she set the groceries down and rested her hands over his. Sharing their usual greeting like this would never get old, and she would always drop whatever she was doing to do so. He smelled so good, too, his natural scent mixed with a little sweat from exertion and the breezy smell of the beach.

“I missed you,” he said, and she could hear the pout in his voice as he kissed her neck.

She turned and faced him. “I missed you too.”

He cupped her face and kissed her, slowly and tenderly at first and then more and more passionately as she wrapped her arms around him. The groceries all but forgotten now that they were reunited, he swept her off her feet and carried her to their bedroom so they could pick up where they’d left off.

Afterwards, they cuddled and caught each other up on everything that had happened since they’d parted, then took a quick shower to cool down and clean up. Sora went around the house opening the windows to let in the late afternoon breeze after that, and Kairi returned to the kitchen to finish putting up the groceries and get dinner started.

She caught sight of today’s extra purchases again and smiled and stashed them away for later. Sora popped into the kitchen soon afterwards, and together they made dinner. Fried rice with pineapple, shrimp, chicken, and paopu fruit that they fed to each other with big goofy smiles on their faces as the sun set behind them.

It had taken a long time to reach this point, but Kairi wouldn’t trade their hard-earned life here for anything.

After they’d washed the dishes and put up the food, they cuddled on the couch as they took turns reading each other stories from a book Sora had been given on his latest travels. As Kairi finished up the most recent story, she brushed Sora’s bangs back and kissed his forehead.

“It’s good to have you back,” she said. Even though he’d only been gone a few days, it wasn’t the same without him around.

“It’s good to be home.”

He hummed happily as she played with his hair, then said, “Oh, I forgot to ask, what did you get to treat yourself?”

“Oh! I nearly forgot, too.” She untangled herself from him and went to get the bag out of the corner. “I found these at one of those new little tourist shops today, and I couldn’t say no.”

She pulled the t-shirts out of the bag and showed him, and he burst out laughing. She loved his laugh, loved how it made his entire face light up and how the sound started deep in his belly and echoed across the whole room. Soon she was giggling too, because it was impossible not to join with him. His laughter was contagious and warm and always made everything feel better.

“Kairi, they’re amazing! What a great find.”

“Right? I’ve never stumbled across clothes that suited us so well.”

She tossed the blue one to him and he held it to his body. “Yep, looks like it’s gonna fit.”

As she saw him sizing it up like he was serious about wearing it, her face flushed. “You don’t have to actually wear it, silly. I can take them back if I need to—”

“Don’t. I’m gonna wear this, and I’m gonna wear it proudly.” He looked at her and grinned, and she felt her blush getting darker. “What? It’s true, and I’m proud I’m yours.”

She ducked her face and giggled. “I would’ve gotten one that says, ‘I’m his,’ but they didn’t have any.”

His grin turned into a smirk. “Oh, we both know the ‘He’s mine,’ shirt fits you better anyway. Don’t you even try to deny it.”

“Guilty as charged.” She giggled and reached into the shopping bag for the other thing she’d bought. “I got a little something else, too, something I think you’ll like…”

He perked up as she pretended to rustle around for it.

“I wanted to get something for you, too,” she said, “something to treat you…”

Now she really had his interest. He craned his neck to try to see into the bag, and she shook her head and hid it behind her back.

“You have to guess what it is.”

“Chocolate? Candy?”

She shook her head.

“A new project for us to work on together?”

She shook her head again.

He laughed. “C’mon, gimme a hint please,” he said, putting on his best pout paired with his best puppy dog eyes.

“Starts with an ‘L.’”

He murmured to himself, trying out various L-words, and then paused. A grin spread across his face, a mischievous, playful grin, and he wiggled his eyebrows.

“Oh, I think I know exactly what’s in there, and you’re right, it is a treat for me.” He waited for a moment, building up the tension, and then said, “You got me lemonade, didn’t you?”

She stared at him for a moment and then burst out laughing.

“Just kidding,” he said with a grin, then sprang to his feet and gave her a peck on the cheek. “I’m looking forward to seeing you wear that lingerie for me later, though,” he murmured in her ear. “Tomorrow maybe, when we’re both feeling well-rested.”

“When would you like me to wear it, exactly?” she teased. “The morning, the afternoon, the evening…”

“Surprise me.”

She followed him to the bathroom and then to bed, and they fell asleep soon afterwards. They were both tired, him from his travels, her from the day’s errands. She slept like a baby with him here; not once did she wake up in the middle of the night. It had taken a little while to adjust to sleeping together, but once they had, neither of them slept very soundly without the other.

The next morning, she woke up to an empty bed. Strange. Sora usually preferred to cuddle with her in the morning as they soaked in the sunlight and murmured sweet nothings to each other. She rolled over onto her back, only for him to burst through the door with breakfast for her. Sausage and eggs and pancakes all neatly arranged on a plate her family had gifted them.

“Morning!” he called as he set the food on one of their bedside tables. That was when she realized what he had on.

“You’re actually wearing it. You’re actually wearing the shirt,” she said with a giggle.

“Darn right I am, and you should wear yours today, too.”

“But we were planning on going to the Main Island again today.”

“Exactly.”

“You won’t be embarrassed?”

“No. It’s like I told you, I’ll be proud. How could I not be when you’re my wife? Now eat up, we’ve got a lot to do today.”

They got some really great looks from random tourists they passed by, and Sora even called a few of them out on it and offered to take pictures with them, which made everyone laugh. One couple even took them up on the offer, and Sora charmed them into taking a photo of him and Kairi on his Gummiphone afterwards.

“There, now there’s photographic evidence,” he said very seriously.

“Of what?”

“Of my beautiful wife being as charming as ever.”

They finished up the day’s errands, and once they’d gotten home and had put everything away, Sora turned to her with another one of his mischievous smiles. She knew what he was thinking, and he knew what she was thinking. And not much more needed to be said about the subject.

“Now?” was all he said as he wiggled his eyebrows.

She giggled and nodded. “Now.”

He swooped her into his arms and carried her to their bedroom, and as she did, she couldn’t help but smile. The t-shirts were fun, but the reality behind them was so much better. She and Sora were finally together, and they would always have each other. His, hers, mine, ours, the labels didn’t matter so much as the truth behind them. And because they were so serious about being with each other, they didn’t have to take themselves very seriously at all.

And all the moments of joy and playfulness and teasing that came out of their love and commitment to each other—that was the best part of all.

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A/N: Happy Birthday to @angel-with-a-pipette! Thank you so much for your friendship and support over the past few years! I’m so glad we met and bonded over SoKai. Thank you for all the wonderful memories, all the writing feedback, and all the great conversations and discussions. I hope you enjoyed!

And to everyone else, as always, thank you for reading!

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love-killed-the-superstar · 5 years ago

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yay its day 2!! uhh this one’s very dialogue heavy lol

CASSUNZEL WEEK DAY 2 - SECRETS AND PROMISES

“Hey... Cass?”

“Mhm?”

“The Day of Hearts is coming up. Think you’ll stick around for it this time?”

“Eugh. You know there’s a reason I don’t like to come back this time of year, right?”

Cassandra rolls her eyes so spectacularly far back Rapunzel can’t help but laugh despite the gesture being directed at her.

“Well, since you returned I’ve been thinking about the first Day of Hearts we spent together.”

“Oh, geez, this again? Can’t we just put that whole incident in the past?” Cass grumbles.

She’s posing – stiffly as a whistle, mind – for one of Rapunzel’s signature portraits. Rapunzel knows that Cass gets restless whenever she paints her, but the request is a way she can keep her in one place for a while. (That, and Cass is one of her favourite muses; something about the sharpness of her eyes draws her in, and the delight she takes in trying to paint hints of her toned muscles under her formless clothing is unparalleled.)

Cassandra hasn’t been back for… over six months now. She’s missed her.

“You just seemed so… annoyed about the whole affair, even before that guy Andrew arrived in Corona,” Rapunzel continues, mixing up a creamy paint for the base of Cassandra’s skin. “Was it really because you were only pretending to date him?”

“No, no, it had nothing to do with him at the core of it, I just… don’t care for romance and hearts, and Shorty dressing as whatever the hell kind of messed up cherub he’s going for.”

“Sure, the sight isn’t for everybody,” Rapunzel laughs. “You still believe you don’t care for romance and hearts though, after all this time?”

“You’re an exception to the rule, all right? Besides, Corona has way too many public holidays for my liking.”

“All right, noted. I’ve just always wondered if there was something more to it. I know we don’t share everything, and I know you have boundaries. If you really don’t want to talk about it, I’ll drop the subject. Princess’s Honour.”

She holds up her hand in a scout-like salute, almost dropping her paintbrush in the process, and Cass laughs.

“As a rogue traveller, Princess’s Honour only goes so far these days.”

“Well, what about Girlfriend’s Honour?”

“Now that, I can work with.” Cass hums in thought. “To tell you the truth, Raps, I just don’t have a great experience with romance. Besides you, of course.”

“I have no experience with romance besides you and Eugene,” Rapunzel remarks. “Does that make us about even?”

Cass grins, shaking her head in exasperation. “Uh, maybe, I guess. Besides, even if I was looking for love – which I’m not, just to clarify – it’s not so straightforward as that.”

“What?! Why? I know you, er, don’t warm up to people so easily, but you’re smart and funny and strong, and you’re beautiful! Any man would-”

“Well that’s one of the bigger hurdles, to start with,” Cass interrupts. Her mouth pulls into a line as she contemplates her next words, her eyes darting between Rapunzel and the door as if calculating her odds of being able to make a hasty exit if things get too personal for her liking. “I don’t date men, Rapunzel. At all. I thought that would be obvious, since I’m in love with you, but...”

Rapunzel stares, brush suspended midway to the canvas as she processes that last statement.

“What, at all? But, I thought – even if you were pretending with Andrew, you still…”

“Seriously?! After all that happened you thought I would actually be attracted to that whiny, pig-headed-”

“Ah-ah-ah!” Rapunzel holds out her hand, and Cass stops her arm-waving tirade to glare at Rapunzel. “Please, Cass, I’m still painting you.”

Cass pulls a face and reluctantly moves back into her original pose, before starting again. “Rapunzel, did you listen to that ridiculous story about the sheepskin jacket? I had to hear it three times. And the preaching on and on about being a bibliophile, while I had to sit there knowing perfectly well he couldn’t even spell the word… Any shred of curiosity I might have had for how the other half lives – it left long before that last retelling, believe me.”

“He had a nice face,” Rapunzel offers.

“A nice face is just a nice face, it doesn’t mean anything. Don’t forget he’s tried to invade Corona twice already.”

“Hmm. Good point. Well, you have me now, so we can forget about that guy.”

“I honestly haven’t given that clown a passing thought in years.” She stands patiently as Rapunzel holds up a tube of paint against her tunic to judge how much warm blue to mix with the yellow in her palette. “Besides, you’re telling me our extremely brief sham relationship felt believable to you? I’m surprised. Romance isn’t something you can just… force.”

And Rapunzel gets that – no, really, she does. While her relationship with Eugene has had its share of rough patches over the years, it’s something that happened organically. After all that she’s been through with Cassandra, it should have been obvious that she’d never had even an ounce of fondness towards the guy she had almost mercilessly swindled. Some small part of Rapunzel just wanted Cass to have felt happy and safe with someone in the days before they got together, she supposes.

“I guess back then I didn’t know you as well as I thought I did,” Rapunzel admits. She etches out Cassandra’s sturdy frame in shades of moss green, each stroke a little bolder than the last. “Maybe I still don’t. But I’d like to, you know! Has there ever been someone else you liked, as more than a friend?”

“...Once,” Cass begrudgingly admits. “It’s not exactly a happy story.”

“But it’s your story.” Rapunzel peers around the canvas to meet Cass’s reluctant gaze. “If you’re willing to share it, I’m here to listen.”

“God, I’ve never talked about this with anyone,” Cass sighs, folding her arms over her chest. This time, Rapunzel doesn’t bother asking her to move back into her original pose, out of fear of detracting from the story. “Well, anyone who doesn’t already know, anyway.”

“It won’t leave this room,” Rapunzel promises. She mixes a shade darker than the tunic and begins to fleck in little details. Stitches, tears, stains, anything to bring the girl on her canvas to life as the girl in front of her begins to recount her tale.

“...Her name was Alix. When I was turned fourteen my education was finished and I got indoctrinated into being a palace maid by my father. Alix was the same age as me but had been working there much longer, so she sort of took me under her wing and taught me the basics of, y'know, folding laundry properly! Making beds to the palace standards! All that stuff.”

“You've never mentioned an Alix before,” Rapunzel murmurs. She tries to conjure an image of this elusive Alix. Was she pretty? Did they understand each other on levels Rapunzel fears the two of them might never? Did she go charging in out of the goodness of her heart, blind to the consequences, like Rapunzel so often does when it comes to Cassandra’s wellbeing?

“There's a reason for that,” Cass sighs. She peeks over at Rapunzel doubtfully. “This... isn't going to paint me in a favourable light.”

“I can take it!” Rapunzel says, almost indignantly. She reaches over, standing on her tiptoes and stretching out her arm as far as it’ll reach past the canvas, to squeeze Cassandra's hand. “It’s me, Cass. You can tell me.”

Cassandra cracks a smile and hangs her head. “All right, all right! But you've been warned. Okay, so... just over a year after we first met, we started… I don’t know, being a couple, I guess. Iit wasn’t anything serious. Or maybe it was. I don't know, it was my first time just – just being with somebody, you know? It was all new to me – liking somebody, liking another girl.”

Rapunzel tries to picture an adolescent Cass, running arm-in-arm with this girl, whose features she just can’t seem to imagine. It’s pretty surreal, seeing as Cass was such a closed-off person when they first met, that she could ever be this giggly teenager smitten over a first crush. Then again, hasn’t Rapunzel been witness to moments like that, when she takes Cassandra’s hand unexpectedly, or hugs her from behind, or puts into words just how much she cares for her?

Against her better judgement, Rapunzel abandons detailing on the tunic and focuses on Cassandra’s face instead, wishing to capture a hint of that life in her eyes; memories of times she’s caught her unguarded, rather than the gloomy face of her girlfriend in front of her.

“So the Day of Hearts is approaching,” Cass continues, “and we’ve been together for a few months. It’s been great. But then one day Alix decides that when the day rolls around, the two of us are going to sign Herz Der Sonne’s journal together.”

“Wow, that’s… that’s a big step.” What else can she say? She and Eugene only signed their names last year, and they’d waited to get engaged before feeling ready to take that next step. She can only imagine the immense pressure someone like Cass, who has always been skittish about committing to anything in the department of romance, would feel when propositioned with something like that.

“Thank you, exactly! It felt like the biggest deal in the world! It was a big commitment, we were way too young, and I didn’t even think we were together long enough to do something like that.”

Rapunzel frowns. “So what happened?”

“We argued about it.” Cass snorts. “She called me chicken, like if she psyched me out enough I’d change my mind. Can you imagine that, saying it’s chicken for not wanting to commit to someone when you’re just barely fifteen?”

Rapunzel can’t imagine. At fifteen she’d never even met someone she could consider a romantic interest. Even the few books in the tower gave her a very limited view on what romance was.

“Anyway, I told her no. A firm no. I didn’t mind us spending the day together, but I didn’t want a written reminder that would show the whole world who we were. Of course, that turned into a fight about, you know, identity politics and pride in ourselves and stuff that as a kid I really didn’t think too much about. Well, she stormed off and I finished my shift as normal.”

Cass’s face changes a little, from this tired exasperation to… something of a stormy expression. “But I didn’t realise that she’d swiped my keys in the heat of our argument. That night, she snuck in and signed our names in the book after dark.”

Rapunzel’s jaw drops.

“But – but that’s against everything the ritual stands for! It’s something couples are meant to do together, with – with complete honesty!”

“Alix didn’t exactly care much about the rules, it’s what drew us together in the first place. Anyway, the next day she told me all about it, like it was something to be proud of. Really gloated that now we were serious and she’d done it because she wasn’t afraid of her feelings or what anybody thought about us.” Cassandra’s eyes narrow at the memory. “So I took a swing at her.”

“With a sword?!” Rapunzel frets.

“What? No, with the end of my broom. We were working. You think I’d still be working in the palace when we met if I’d struck another maid down with a sword?” Cass’s mouth draws into a grim line, and she suddenly finds herself incredibly interested in her own feet. “Well, that turned into the two of us physically fighting, so we were put on latrine duty as punishment and my dad was summoned. I was so distraught about what happened I couldn’t even think about explaining it to him, but somebody happened to overhear what we were fighting about and showed him the book.”

She falls quiet, and the silence stretches on. Rapunzel stops her almost frantic etching of facial features to peer past her canvas in concern, before Cass finally speaks up again. “That’s how he found out about me. About who I was.”

“Are you okay?” Rapunzel asks quietly.

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s just kind of a horrible way for it all to go down, right?” She looks over at Rapunzel, eyes almost blazing, and utters, “My dad is a good man. He saw how furious and upset I was and marched right to the king to explain the situation. Hours later, our names were papered over and we pretty much never spoke of it again.”

Rapunzel thinks back to the times over the years that she’s spent flipping through the pages of the journal, recalling the one page with a simple square of embossed lilac paper neatly concealing the paper beneath, clearly a later edition. She had always wondered about it.

“And what happened to Alix?” Rapunzel ventures, as she mixes a deep raven for Cassandra’s hair.

“She was fired for breaking into the throne room after hours and desecrating royal property,” Cass recalls with a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sigh. “After all, your father is a stickler for tradition. Last I heard she took up a post in Pittsford, but I don’t keep tabs on her or anything.” She spreads her arms out in a theatrical gesture. “Anyway, there you have it. My very sad, very brief experience of love.”

“She sounds awful,” Rapunzel declares, shaking her head in disdain. Cass shrugs.

“She wasn’t. Misguided, inconsiderate and a horrible decision-maker, yes, but she wasn’t a bad person. We were kids. I like to think she’s embarrassed about what happened, but I guess we’ll never know.”

“...So that’s the real reason you hate the Day of Hearts.”

“Raps, we went through this already!” groans Cass. “It’s not to do with any one thing, I just… don’t care for commercial romance and public holidays, that’s all there is to it.” She pinches her brow tiredly. “But I hated the book for years after. Just knowing our names were in there, even if no one else could see, just made me mad.”

“I’m sorry that it happened to you,” Rapunzel says gently. “It wasn’t a fair situation.”

“Yeah, well, what’s done is done. Look, uh…” Cass folds her arms, shifting from one foot to the other uncomfortably. “Can you… not tell Eugene about any of that? Or anyone? Not like… that I’m a lesbian, you can tell anybody that. In fact, I’m pretty sure Eugene already knows that part. But… all the stuff about Alix. That whole chapter of my life is kind of embarrassing, and I just. I don’t like to bring it up, so.”

“Cassandra, I promised you,” Rapunzel says, setting down her paintbrush and moving over to her. She grabs her hand and squeezes tight. “This is between us. No matter what.”

Pinched expression melting into relief, Cass squeezes back and squares her shoulders. “Thanks. So, can I see this painting yet? Or move from this spot, at least?”

“Sure, come here.”

Rapunzel leads her over to admire the canvas. The painting is a little odd, compared to Rapunzel’s typical style; the pose is stiff and vacant, just as Cassandra had been stood herself, but the ferocious brush strokes and tiny details woven in amplify the tension radiating from her body language, almost to the point of appearing antagonistic. Likewise, her expression is bright, wide-eyed and challenging; just as it is when Rapunzel says something overtly romantic or daring that takes her away from her usual focused exterior.

The amalgamation of those characteristics creates a vision of Cass that looks ready to jump up and pick a fight at any moment. Rapunzel glances over at Cass, an apology on the tip of her tongue, only to find that her girlfriend looks somewhere between amused and enamoured by the final product.

“I, um, didn’t mean to paint you looking so confrontational,” Rapunzel begins.

“Are you kidding me? I love this! Look, Raps, as much as I love your usual paintings of the two of us smiling at each other and hugging in a meadow or the like, this… it’s unusual for you. It’s fierce. I really, really love it.”

She leans down and presses a kiss to the top of Rapunzel’s head, before pulling her into a side hug. Rapunzel leans into the hug, beaming up at her.

“I’m glad you like it. It makes the standing in one spot for too long worthwhile, doesn’t it?”

“Ehh, almost. I wouldn’t push it too hard, Raps.”

“...Hey, Cass?”

“Mhm?”

“Do you think you’ll ever write your name in Herz Der Sonne’s journal, after what happened?”

“Maybe. See, now that you mention it, there’s this girl who I really like…” Rapunzel cranes her neck to look up at her, unimpressed, and Cass’s mouth quirks into a grin. “I’m talking about you, Raps. Just so we’re clear.”

“No, no, by all means! If there’s someone you’d like me to meet…”

“Well, I’ll give you a hint, it’s definitely not Andrew.”

“Thank goodness for that.” Rapunzel reaches up to cup Cass’s face, gently pulling her in close. “And it’s definitely not that jerk Alix, right?”

Cassandra’s grin grows wider. “You’re not jealous of the girlfriend I briefly had when I was a teenager, are you, Rapunzel?”

“What? No! I just, y’know, wish she’d treated you better, that’s all,” Rapunzel grumbles. “You deserve better, Cass. You deserve the world and more.”

With a huff of laughter, Cass leans in and kisses Rapunzel softly. “Lucky for me, my current girlfriend knows how to treat me right.”

“You know, my magic girlfriend powers work best on the Day of Hearts,” Rapunzel trills, twirling a strand of Cassandra’s hair around her finger. “Just so you’re aware.”

Cass groans. “I better not regret it if I agree to stick around this year.”

“You won’t! We’ll keep it nice and lowkey. You’ll never even know it’s the most romantic day of the year!”

“Uh huh, keep talking…”

Maybe this year won’t be the year. In fact, after everything Cass has told her today, wouldn’t it be super insensitive to broach the topic of signing the book together in two days time? Still, as she glances back to the painting of the tough fighter of a woman staring back at her, warmth washes over her, settling comfortably in the pit of her stomach.

Some day, when the timing is right, wouldn’t it be wonderful?

#cassunzel week #cassunzel week 2020 #cassunzel #tangled the series #tts #writing #is this one my best work?? eh probably not but... a prompt is a prompt

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riceccakes · 4 years ago

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Earth, Wind, and Coffee: Chapter Three Analysis

chapter one analysis | chapter two analysis

back again for another chapter analysis. i think ive been looking forward to this chapter the most, it’s where some big decisions were made!!! this analysis is a long one, i hope that’s all right! i kinda got carried away. so, let’s dive right in, shall we?

some fun stuff before we start!

chapter three was supposed to be the last chapter of the fic

idk if any of you were there when i first started writing this fic, but it was only going to be three chapters with a possible epilogue. however, everything changed when i finished the end of chapter two. (lil atla reference there for ya) (sorry i know that was bad, moving on). like i said in my last analysis, i had an idea of what i wanted to happen (the separation of korrasami) so that they could come back together. it was just a matter of what separates them. so, i’m not sure where i got the panic attack idea but once i did, the rest of the story changed. i realized i couldn’t quite possibly finish the story in one chapter so i split the ideas i had and decided on it being four chapters

now, this being said, maaaaajor changes were made in my story outline. most notably: korrasami was going to be a couple in this chapter

this was originally going to be a full fledged “they meet, they get to know each other, they fall in love, happily every after” but the thing was, i planned on treating their romance as korra’s recovery; that being with asami is what made korra better, that all she needed was a partner, someone to love, and that is not what i wanted to portray with this story. i’ve never been a fan of stories that give a character a love interest and all of sudden their problems are fixed and they’re completely happy, and here i was about to do just that. i knew i’d never respect myself if i continued down this narrative, and when chapter two ended with korra’s panic attack, i realized her growth needed better love and attention. so, i changed what happened and gave her some therapy

this change in the storyline also let me explore more of kuvopal !!! (is that their ship name?)

so, back to LOVE WITCH for a second (because that glorious fic really did steal my heart) not only did it make me love kuvira’s character more, it also got me into the kuvopal relationship! and yet again, i wanted my own go at it. with the original timeline, there was just no space for me to include the lil bread crumbs of their relationship. however, however, however; by splitting the ending between two chapters (and adding some stuff in between) i was able to lay some foundation for them, which im very happy about :)

into the chapter we go:

let’s talk about the meeting! the whole reason this fic came to be! i’ll start by saying i always knew the project was going to get pulled out from under asami. 1) because thats some angsty/hurt shit right there and im a sucker for writing angst 2) i didn’t feel like creating a whole ass presentation because knowing my ass i would’ve made a powerpoint about it so i had every detail down to the font asami used and 3) getting the presentation taken away from asami was a pivotal point in her character arc.

i actually started the chapter in two different ways. at first, i’d written her whole entire morning with there always being one thing that was off. like, instead of a perfect omelette, it was going to split and asami would’ve had a scramble, still good, but not her favorite. instead of going through all green lights on her way to work, asami was gonna meet every. single. red. light. i would’ve gone through with this if it hadn’t felt strange; i wanted to give the impression that something bad was going to happen but i felt like having something go wrong with every thing in her morning was gonna be a dead give away that some even bigger big bad was about to happen, if that makes sense. so instead, i went with the picture perfect scenario, almost too perfect, if you ask me. and indeed, it was too perfect, because hiroshi was too much of a coward to tell his daughter any sooner that his board agreed to get a new presenter

im just gonna cite a bunch of my favorite lines/bits from this chapter because i really enjoyed writing it xD

Iroh has already begun but Asami hears no words, only a blaring ring in her ears. Her face feels hot and she wonders how red she is. She stares at the black binder, notes the natural grooves and curves of the material, the plastic covering over top of it, the metal spine peaking out at the bottom. She’s only brought out of it’s dark trance when she feels a hand be placed on her arm; Kuvira.

when you’re upset, do you ever just, hyper focus on one thing and its like you’re analyzing it under a microscope for the first time? yes? no? well, i do that, and personally, i do because if i focus on my anger/hurt emotions any more, im going to explode and i dont want to explode. so, this instance about looking at the grooves in the binder and each of the components of it just hits with me, idk if does with you too, but like bruuh.

Asami has her hand over her mouth, silently sobbing, feeling as if she’ll throw up. She leans her head on her wheel, her mind wanders to what could’ve been, what should’ve been. She feels as if her car is closing in on her, that the metal is compacting. The seatbelt keeps her locked down to the driver’s seat and she can’t leave if she wants to. The Satomobile holds her hostage and she lets it. Even while it’s hurting her, even while it’s harshly molding itself onto her, she stays at her father’s heel because, what else is she to do?

this is one of my favorite things ive ever done with asami’s character, is using future industries/satomobiles as a sort of vehicle (heh) for her relationship with her dad. this paragraph just kind of hurts, but the good hurt? but also not good hurt? it’s just, (and not me over here boasting about my writing or anything) it’s so poetic that she has this breakdown and she’s so upset with her dad, i mean “what should’ve been” like, asami KNOWS that the shit that’s just happened is more than wrong, yet asami is still somehow wondering how she can please her dad and it’s in the literal legacy hiroshi built for himself. “she stays at her father’s heel because, what else is she to do?” i remember writing that and being like “shit, am i really gonna do this? yeah” ugh, i could go on forever about how i love this section, but i’ll stop here for now.

Asami begins yelling, screaming at the top of her lungs, letting all the thoughts, all the insecurities her father gave her finally be released into the world. Kuvira lets her, simply nodding and following along on the couch while Asami paces her living room. She spews out word after word, about the work, about the presentation, about Iroh, his position, her position, the company, the CEO, and she only stops when she feels the weight of her father rest on her shoulders.

back with more diction; i really love this paragraph because of how we circle back to hiroshi. note how i first say “the CEO” and then a few words later say “her father” because, in a way, this is asami’s confession that hiroshi is CEO first and father second, if i haven’t already explicitly said so. it’s so heart wrenching and sad but my favorite thing about it is this isn’t even about korra. like THIS right here is a prime example about how i realized this fic became more than just a love story. in the planning stages of this fic, asami was going to go through getting the presentation taken away from her, but what was she going to focus more on? the fact that korra wasn’t around anymore. and yes, asami still does think about korra after this, but so much more happens for her. asami gets to know kuvira more, asami gets to know her lab partners more, (and my personal hc is that they’ve all been lab partners for two years and only NOW asami is getting to be friends with them in their senior year, but hey, better late than never!) and to me, what’s even better, is that a bunch of realizations come to asami w/o korra being there. asami is growing and the idea of being able to grow without needing to have a partner in order to grow is so important to me, not only for the fact that growth should be endless and something you do all the time for yourself, but asami literally wants to share it with korra. not boast about changing and growing and becoming better, but just be better with korra. sdlfakds i swear, im fangirling over my own writing, oops

okay, moving on from The Meeting and onto the rest of the chapter

this dock scene was also another part i wrote beforehand and it had a completely different ending in that asami was going to ask korra out on a date. of course, korra would’ve said yes, and then yay yay happy ending. this didn’t happen and i’m glad it didn’t. in one version of this dock scene, asami was actually going to be upset with korra for disappearing, and even worse, mad that korra wasn’t there to comfort her after the presentation. oof, i know. so so glad i didn’t continue down that line, cause it is toxic, and my girls aren’t like that at all.

Once Korra’s eyes meet hers, Asami says, “That doesn’t mean you always have to be on your own.” She smiles at Korra, at the girl who’s turned her world upside down. Her hand remains on Korra’s cheek and she feels the girl sink into her palm. “I’ll be here for you, and it seems like Tenzin will be too, what with saying he was calling you more. And you have his family, and your own family, even though they’re away, they’re here to support you, we all are. You can still be strong and turn to other people for help. It takes great strength to ask for help and I know for a fact you’re strong enough, those bags of coffee beans were nothing for you.”

i like this line of dialogue here for a few reasons, mostly because asami is so soft and so right and the joke at the really helped lighten the mood but didn’t take away from what she’d just said before. i don’t have too much else about the Reunions section, though if you guys have any questions or anything you wanna point out, please do so! i think what i will say is that i tried to be as real and gentle with korra’s progression. i was so nitpicky about everything i wrote because i didn’t want to get any of it wrong or over dramatized or fake. recovery from anything is so important and it takes time and it’s not a straight line so i hope i did a good job with it the rest of the fic.

moving on, i love the found family trope and this leads me into the next section, New Friends

when i think about this section, i like how soft it is, and i really enjoy the ending bits: korra recounting memories from the south, asami meeting tenzin. i think what i like about the end of this chapter is that, it kind of leaves the question: what’s next?

asami has grown, she’s changed, she sees the errors of her father’s ways but she’s not excusing them. korra has grown, she’s changing, she’s taken the first step in recovery. now it’s just a matter of, what happens with this growth now. and i really loved how i wrapped up the fic in the next and last chapter, so i hope you enjoy it too :))

honorable mentions:

there were a lot of changes in this chapter and one of them got changed twice! korra was gonna get a therapist but then i was like, we gotta get the krew together, and then i was like supppppoorttttt grouuuppppp, because lets be honest, all the krew has stuff they need to work through, and i know therapy isn’t for everyone, but mental health is so vital and important. asami is an advocate for therapy in the chapter but there are also other means to take care of yourself and your mental health and while i’ve never been to a support group, i understand finding comfort in knowing you’re not alone.

i guess what i’m trying to say is please take care of yourself and dont be afraid to lean on others. i know not everyone has the means to get a therapist/psychiatrist and i know that your friends aren’t made to only be your therapist. buuuut, don’t be afraid to reach out, there’s nothing wrong with needing help and support :)

anything i would’ve wanted to change?

honestly, i think the only thing i would’ve wanted to change was mako’s speech during the support group meeting. for me, it was a lil bit too poetically out of character. not to say i want to change the content, but rather the manner in which it’s presented. other than that though, i really loved writing this chapter :)

so this analysis was reeeaaaalllly long, i understand if not everyone made it to end. anyways, thanks so much for reading this analysis and the fic! once again, i’m very much open to questions and any comments, i love them very much! i’ll see you guys in the next analysis of the final chapter :)

#ricewrites #earth wind and coffee #coffee shop au #chapter analysis #writing analysis #korrasami #korrasami fic #korra #asami sato #lok

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