#but i found some time last night at midnight to doodle these out

[b0nkedmehead]

Been watching sm drawtectives, season 3 will be insane 🧚‍♂️🧜🧞‍♂️🧟‍♂️

[soobuneary]

A Kiss, and then a Bite (7) - Choi Soobin X Reader

Warning: cursing, uhh i think that's it this chapter?

Summary: You knew something was off about your roommate Soobin ever since the beginning of your living arrangement. One night he reveals his true self to you, and you know you can never go back to how things were before. Not that you would want to, anyway.

Word Count: 3.9k

*cross-posted on ao3

part one! part two! part three! part four! part five! part six!

Song: Follow You by Bring Me The Horizon

I want to apologize in advance if any details in this chapter contradict what I've written previously. I reread the previous chapters over and over but I still feel like I missed some stuff already disclosed. If you catch an error, please let me know! Okay, please enjoy! :)

The bed was empty beside you, you noted, as you stirred awake. Instead of Soobin, you found a note on his pillow. ‘I have a morning final, I’ll see you later.’ His handwriting was atrocious, and yet it was endearing, as was the shittily doodled heart beside it.

Thankfully the last of your final exams were tomorrow, and today was an open study day, so you didn’t need to worry about the fact you had woken up so late. So late, in fact, you heard the front door open.

You climbed out of his bed. Heat was already finding your cheeks at the thought of seeing him after what had happened last night. That embarrassment furthered when you realized you were only wearing your underwear and one of his t-shirts.

His bedroom door creaked open, “Are you still in here, Y/N?”

“Yeah,” your voice was more of a squeak as you adjusted the shirt. Looking presentable was futile, most likely, but there was an attempt.

When you looked up at him your breath got caught in your chest. Much like yesterday, your roommate who often opted for hoodies and sweats, was wearing a white button-up with a blue sweater over top. His midnight black hair was parted to one side, and you couldn’t help but think how unfair it is to be seen next to a being so inhumanly beautiful.

He smiled at you. “Just getting up?”

A second wave of embarrassment washed over you. “Yes.”

“No need to be shy with me.” He walked closer to you, stopping when he was within arms reach so he could gently rub your forearms. “Do you have any plans for today?”

“Umm, only studying for my finals tomorrow. Why?”

His smile turned shy, and he started to look more like the roommate you’ve been with for the last several months. “I’m meeting up with my parents tonight, and I want you to come with me.”

For a few moments your brain stopped working. While Soobin was technically a vampire, a creature that should be terrifying in theory, he was someone you could trust. Going in somewhat blind to who knows how many vampires seemed like a terrible idea. 

He must have seen the cogs turning in your head. “There’s no pressure, Y/N.”

He seemed to be saying that to you a lot lately, and you appreciated how much he respected your boundaries. “Is it just going to be your parents?”

“No,” he made a face like he was making a list in his head. “Some of the other clan members as well, and my brothers.”

“You have brothers?” Something pleasant whirled inside you for learning a new side of him.

He sensed your newfound excitement and nodded. “We all three turned around the same time, but I’m the oldest.”

Soobin as an older brother, you mused. As much as the idea of walking into a pit of vampires scared you, you desperately wanted to see this newly revealed side of him.

“So where are we going then?”

“Not far.” He stepped even closer to you and intertwined his hands with yours. “They are already staying in the city. This dinner is to celebrate my father’s 400th year as leader of the clan.”

You looked down and away from his face. His father hadn’t seemed so happy with you the first time you met. “Are you sure I’m welcome? I don’t want to go where I’m not wanted.”

“I’ve already asked, it’s fine.” He released one hand so he could use it to tilt your face back toward him. “And no one is going to lay a finger on you. That’s what you’re worried about, right?”

You had to admit it, “Kind of.”

His hand slipped from your chin down to your shoulder. “They may be vampires, but they’re not savages.” He laughed, “If anything, they’re more diplomatic than humans.”

You nodded. As long as you don’t stay out too late you’d be okay for your finals the next day, right?  “Okay, I’ll go with you.”

Soobin pulled you into a hug, and your worries began to melt away. If he wanted you there, surely he would protect you if anything went wrong. A small part of you acknowledged that in human terms it was way too soon for you to be meeting his parents. You hadn’t even established what you two were yet. Maybe vampires, you thought, moved much faster despite living so long.

“It’s not too soon, I think.” His voice was a whisper, like he was saying it to himself, but you heard it.

You pulled away from him slightly. “Are you reading my mind?”

He looked down at you, further away now but still in his embrace, and grinned cheekily. “Not in a weird, vampire-power mind-reading way. But yes, I think after knowing you for a while I know a thing or two about you.”

You put your cheek to his chest and listened for a heartbeat that you knew in the back of your mind wouldn’t be there. “Yes, yes, we’ve established that you’re a Y/N expert.”

He laughed, and you felt the rumbles against your cheek. “You know far more about me than I ever imagined sharing. So I guess that makes you a Soobin expert.”

You hummed in response. You didn’t want to think too long about how giddy it made you to know he felt safe sharing with you.

“Y/N?”

You looked up at him once more. “Yes?”

“We’ve got some shopping to do.”

—

Soobin explained to you on the way to the mall the details of the celebration taking place tonight. Vampires, he explained, were ‘way too into’ formal events and lavish parties. Tonight was no exception. That didn’t stop your rush of nerves, however, whenever Soobin led you into a store you knew you didn’t belong in.

You were surprised that the security at the door didn’t stop you when they saw you, until they smiled and welcomed Soobin by his name. Of course they knew him, there was no other way they’d let you, dressed in ripped jeans and off-brand sneakers, in this store without a few questions.

Of course they knew him, and you felt slightly uneasy thinking about if he was a frequent visitor because of the gifts he always got for his donors.

You didn’t have time to ponder it, as Soobin grabbed your hand and led you through the store. The two of you walked past all the racks until you reached the very back where the dressing rooms were.

“Mr. Choi, it’s a pleasure to see you again.” A middle-aged woman with a sleek, brown bob and dressed in business casual welcomed him. She shook his hand and then looked over to you, her expression faltering some before she went back in retail mode. She smiled, “Who is this?”

Your uneasiness from before grew larger than what felt safe. Who were you? His friend with benefits? His roommate that he fucked last night? Just a friend? Somehow the last one hurt the most.

“This is my girlfriend, Y/N.”

You couldn’t let yourself get too happy, you thought, as he might’ve said that to avoid any awkward conversations about why he was bringing someone who was just his roommate here.

The woman clapped her hands together. “Alright, and what is the occasion?”

Soobin casually put his hands in his pockets. “We’re going to a dinner party thrown by my parents.”

“Leave it to me, then.” 

He left you with the worker, much to your dismay, to browse the men’s clothing section. The woman, whose name you had learned was Stephanie, was kind enough. She asked about what kind of clothes you were comfortable with, and worked to find something that was both comfortable for you and right for the occasion.

However, the dress you ended up with was hardly appropriate for meeting someone’s parents. It was dark blue with a sweetheart neckline with short sleeves off the shoulders, but almost short enough to be a good clubbing outfit. Almost.

Soobin, who had wandered back over, lit up like a Christmas tree when he saw it though. When seeing his expression it seemed you had no other choice.

After you had changed back into your clothes, you walked over to where Soobin was paying for the dress, some strappy heels, and a dark blue tie for himself. You really hadn’t meant to look at the screen, and your eyes widened in shock at the price. If you were the confrontational type you could’ve tried to stop him, but you bit your tongue and let him pay.

When you both arrived home you went your separate ways into your own rooms to get dressed for the evening. You opted to wear dark pantyhose under your dress, for protection against the cold, December air but also to make your dress slightly more modest. You tried to make your hair and makeup look as glamorous as the dress, and after putting on the black heels you stepped shyly into the living room.

Soobin was standing near the entrance of the apartment with his back toward you. Upon hearing your door creak, he called out, “Are you ready, Y/N?”

You walked over to him. “Yeah, I think so.”

He turned to face you, and his expression turned soft. His eyes scanned you over, and you could feel your body heating up at his inspection. “Wow.”

You awkwardly laughed, “I clean up pretty good, right?”

His eyes found yours, and you could’ve fallen into them if you gazed long enough. “You look beautiful.”

“Thanks.” The air was comfortable and you wished you could’ve kept looking at him like that forever. His lips upturned in a small smile, his eyes holding more adoration than you’d ever seen, and it was all for you; if only you could pause time.

He pulled a small but long box out of his pocket. “Turn around, please.”

Anticipation of what you knew was coming filled you with joy. “Okay.”

After a few moments you felt the cool touch of a necklace hit your skin. He clasped it on, and you looked down to inspect it. It went down low, almost into the neckline of your dress. It was silver, and held a small teardrop-shaped sapphire.

“Oh my god.” It was the only thing you could say as you held the jewel in your fingers.

You could hear the smile dripping in his voice. “Do you like it?”

You turned to face him. You didn’t think you were ever going to get used to the expensive gifts, but that didn’t mean you could stop the happiness of knowing he picked something out with you in mind. No matter how cliche, and no matter how much this felt like a cheesy romance novel, you allowed yourself to enjoy this moment. “It’s beautiful.”

You took in the sight of him. He wore a black button up with his blue tie, dark gray, fitted suit pants and a gray coat over him, and damn, he was the one who looked beautiful, you thought.

He slipped a hand into yours. “Shall we?”

You nodded and braced yourself for what was to come.

—

The ride to the venue was short, but Soobin spent the whole ride giving you the rundown of his basic clan history while he drove.

Soobin’s clan of vampires was one that began in Europe, and had made its way around the world over time. The vampire he saw as his father, Peter, was ‘ancient’ according to Soobin, and no one knew how old he truly was. He didn’t remember much about his human life, but had he been turned in his mid-thirties. He joined their current clan, the Aldrich clan, then later took over as clan leader in 1624 when the clan had been relocated to the forming United States. Soobin had been turned in 1832 in Korea, where the Aldrich clan had been at the time and when the random-turning movement he mentioned before had been happening. He was taken in by Peter a few months later.

“What about your brothers?” You were taking all the information he was giving you and processing as quickly as you could.

“Their names are Taehyun and Kai. They were turned around a year after me, and I was the one who found them.”

“Found them?”

He was looking at the road, but you could see in his eyes his sympathy as the memory refreshed in his mind. “They were so confused, so hurt and needed guidance. I found Taehyun while hunting in the woods. He looked wild, he had a thirst and he didn't know how to quench it. He explained to me what had happened, saying he didn’t know if I’d believe him, and then led me to his best friend Kai.” He smiled again, the sadness leaving him as he grinned. “We took them in and they’ve been annoying me ever since.”

You laughed, “Isn’t that what brothers do?”

“I guess so. ”Just then, Soobin turned the car into a hotel parking lot. It looked gaudy and grand, and the thought occurred to you that maybe you didn’t know exactly how rich his family really was. You knew they must be wealthy, sure, but this was a bit much. Then again, he said vampires had a taste for the lavish things in life.

When he pulled up the valet station, he grabbed your hand and turned to face you. “Ready?”

You could hear the nerves in your voice. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

He pulled your hand up to his mouth to kiss it gently. “That’s my girl.”

After opening your door for you and giving the keys to his car to the valet attendant, Soobin led you to the top floor of the hotel where his clan had rented out a lounge. You wondered the whole way up if the hotel staff knew they were entertaining a multitude of vampires for the evening.

‘Some’ of his clan members turned out to be quite the crowd. The lounge lights were dim, and everyone around you was dressed so extravagantly that despite knowing you looked good enough to be there with them, you started to feel self-conscious. Everyone you passed looked at you as Soobin led you to a table near the back of the room. Either news had spread that you were coming or every single one of them sensed the presence of a human among them. Their expressions varied, some indifferent, some courteous, but the ones you couldn’t ignore were hungry, to say the least.

Finally, the two of you reached the back of the room and approached a small round table where two men already sat. Soobin pulled your seat out for you to sit, which earned a sound of amusement from a younger-looking boy. He was blonde and honestly looked like a Greek statue. His features were carved so beautifully, you noted as you sat.

The blonde laughed and clasped his hands together. “Hyung is on his best behavior.”

Soobin shook his head as he sat beside you, “I always am, Kai.”

That was his brother Kai. “Hello,” you introduced yourself, “I’m Y/N.”

Kai smiled brightly at you. “No introduction needed. Everyone knows who you are here, you’re a legend.”

That made you nervous. “A legend?”

The brunette beside him lightly elbowed his side. “Don’t scare her.” He looked at you, and his eyes were big and clear. He was as equally beautiful as the man beside him. “I’m Taehyun, pleased to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” You sounded confident and friendly, which was good, because on the inside you were a wreck. You were right; everyone knew about your attendance already.

“What I meant to say was,” Kai stated, “Everyone is happy to have you here. Not everyone is brave enough to willingly enter a vampire den.”

Brave, he said. He’s kind. “Thank you.”

Soobin interjected, “Have you talked to Mom and Dad yet?”

“No.” Taehyun answered, “They’ve been busy saying hi to everyone. It’s going to start soon, though.”

Soobin noticed the confusion on your face as he turned to you. “I told you vampires are super formal, yeah? My father is going to make some kind of grand speech, then a few more speeches probably, then everyone is probably going to get wasted.”

“Not me!” Kai chirped. “I have a final tomorrow morning!”

“You’re also a student?”

“Yes!” He answered, “I go to the same university as you and hyung.”

“What do you study?”

 Kai grinned widely at your interest. “I’m a music student. I want to be a producer.”

“That’s so cool!” You looked at the man beside him. “Are you also a student?”

“Yes.” Taehyun replied, “But I don’t live or attend university here. I still live at the main house.”

Just then, someone tapped a microphone and cut the conversation short. “Good evening, everybody.”

Everyone in the room stopped their conversations and looked toward the main stage of the lounge. A tall, dark-haired man spoke. “As the clan’s head advisor, I want to thank every member from our clan and ally clans who came to celebrate Peter tonight.” There was light applause before he continued. “Peter Aldrich has been a long-time friend and leader for many of us, and it is a great honor to have him and his wife at the head of our clan for so long.”

His speech went on for a bit, but as he spoke you quietly observed the room. Vampires of many different appearances were gathered here. Some looked as old as eighty, and others as young as children. How old those ‘children’ really were though was a different story.

A loud round of clapping and cheering caught your attention. When you looked back toward the stage, the announcer was hugging the man you recognized as Soobin’s father, Peter Aldrich. After a few more moments of cheering, his father took the mic and began to speak.

“Thank you, everyone. I want to start by saying it has been my life’s biggest privilege to lead this clan.” His eyes scanned the room until they fell on your table. Soobin let out a quiet exhale, but you heard it. Gently, you placed a hand on his knee to show your support.

Peter turned his gaze away and continued, “You are all my family. We have experienced life's biggest joys and losses, the fortunes and misfortunes, together.”

His speech went on. Beside you, Soobin was starting to look more and more uneasy. You leaned over to him and whispered, “Are you okay?”

He turned his face toward you and whispered back, “Yes. I’m just hoping this goes okay.”

“That what goes okay?”

“My sons.” You pulled away from him as Peter caught your table’s attention again. “I would like to thank them for giving me the sense of family I once feared had been taken away. Watching you grow has been my life’s greatest joy. Soobin, Taehyun, Kai, if you would come up here please.”

The three men stood and left you alone. Fear overtook you as you were suddenly alone. Soobin had said before that these vampires weren’t savages, that they were diplomatic, but still you felt unsafe without his protective aura beside you.

They stood beside their father, and god, you couldn’t help but notice how their otherworldly beauty shined so much more when they were next to each other. It was a triple kill.

“I won’t decide tonight, but,” Peter placed his hand on Soobin’s shoulder. “Sometime soon, one of my son’s will take my place.” You watched for Soobin’s reaction, looking for any sign of anxiety, but he looked composed. “I hope when that time comes, you will trust my judgment and welcome him with an open mind and heart.”

He wrapped up his speech, and as the party commenced in full swing you stood. There was a strong need within you to check on Soobin, to make sure he felt okay, as you knew taking over this clan was the last thing he wanted.

You were intercepted by the woman who had come to your apartment before, his mother. “Excuse me, dear. May I have a minute?”

Your blood ran cold. You didn’t want to be apart from him a minute longer. You wanted the safety net that his presence provided. But you nodded, you felt unable to deny a request. “Of course.”

As you followed her to the balcony, you caught Soobin’s gaze across the room. He was surrounded by his clan members. They were congratulating him, presumably, but he looked at you. His eyes were pooled with concern and uncertainty.

You willed yourself to look away and stepped out onto the balcony with his mother.

She walked all the way to the railing before she turned to look at you. “I’m sure you know who I am, but I’ll tell you anyway. I’m Caroline, Soobin’s vampiric mother.”

The moment after he had drank your blood flashed back to your mind, when his phone had lit up with a call from ‘Caroline’.

“Yes, hello ma’am. My name is Y/N, I’m Soobin’s roommate.”

She smiled wryly. “His roommate.” There was an uncomfortable silence before she spoke again. “We didn’t know why he was so intent on going to university again, and why he was so adamant about living away from us. But, oh, is it clear now.”

You shifted your weight on your feet. You were under heavy scrutiny. “What do you mean?”

“There’s nothing worse than playing dumb.” She took a step toward you. “It’s obvious he’s grown an attachment toward you, and it’s caused him to not prioritize his responsibilities to his family.”

You swallowed hard. “Have you considered his feelings at all? I have nothing to do with him not wanting to be leader of the Aldrich clan.”

Caroline raised an eyebrow. “You’re quite bold. But boldness can equate to foolishness.”

“If it’s foolish to stand up for him, you can call me a fool.” Normally you wouldn’t be so brash, but your anger on his behalf fuelled your confidence. “But I think you should try to hear him out.”

She sighed, then turned back toward the railing of the balcony. “It’s so easy for you to take his side when you know nothing about the situation, I suppose.”

“What should I know, then?”

“You should,” another sigh. A pause, and then, “You shouldn’t know anything. You shouldn’t even know that vampires exist. It's cursed knowledge, and something that will only lead you to despair.”

Your heart thumped painfully in your chest. Was she not angry, but sympathetic? Emotion was bubbling up inside you, and although you had never admitted this to anyone, not even yourself, you had to tell her. Someone had to know that it wasn’t a curse to know Soobin. “There’s something you shouldn’t know as well, but I’m going to tell you anyway.”

The noise of the party was emanating from inside, but the air felt silent. She was silent.

“I’m in love with your son.”

You didn’t breathe, you couldn’t, and she stood still. Neither of you said anything for a few moments, until she finally turned to face you.

“You were right.” She closed her eyes and shook her head, and a sad smile overtook her beautiful face. 

“You really are a fool.”

Taglist: @human-misery @agnes13stone @lun4mizuka @xodidarks @dalnimmie @iknowimlate18 @roseynoodles @usuallyunlikelyfox @cryingdonuts

Thank you all for reading! <3

[yearningandstillnotlearning]

A r t .

- B.E.

Blurb :p | no use of any names for the characters, just “she” and “you”

a/n: first fanfic posted ever im so nervous | this was my yearning from some months ago i decided to make it into something more | please comment on your opinion on this im nervy

Not fluffy nor sexual but a secret third thing (sensual)

︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶

Have you got colour in your cheeks?

Leftover snack packets and crumbs of cookies and sugar littering the couch of the living room, clock read 12:38AM, its past midnight, yet for two girls with a sleep schedule as theirs, the night is still young, too young.

Family and friends long gone, others went home others went on dates, and another stayed behind to cherish this very moment.

Are there some aces up your sleeve?

Have you no idea that you’re in deep?

Laughs had hit the walls hours ago when they were once gathered up to 7, and even now at 2 laughs are still bouncing back and forth. Sneaky giggles and stupid jokes, unexplainable videos that just seem so funny when its late and for once youre not alone.

Energy drinks on the floor next to the bed and an annoyingly bright light hitting at the side to make up for the lack of sun, yet thats the last thing to bother you right now. Theres nothing that could actually bother you right now, not when you finally have her in front of you.

Ive dreamt about you nearly every night this week

Sketchbook in your lap, pencil in your hand and coloured pencils scattered along your side on the bed, criss crossed bodies mirroring each other face to face.

Even if your face wasn’t able to stay in one place. Even if your face couldn’t handle the urge to heat and melt your makeup off in the process, even if you couldn’t handle looking at her, as much as you couldn’t handle her looking at you.

How many secrets can you keep?

Your heart thumping in your chest the same way it does when you’re at a club next to the speaker, body shook with the beat of the speakers and the bass, and you couldn’t tell if its from the amount of energy drinks you’ve consumed this evening or her presence.

But this is better, oh this is way better, theres no eardrum-breaking noise, or people squished up together, stomach-stirring drinks, uncomfortable heels. None of that.

This is simply adrenaline in itself, it was the excitement pumping in your veins.

Cause theres this tune i found that makes me think of you somehow and i play it on repeat..

Emotions thumping at your heart and in your veins causing your blood to rush to your face, cheeks burning red, but the colour showed at your ears, palms so sweaty you hold your sketchbook carefully to not wet and bend the paper. Neck and collarbone stained with red rash spots, just how into her are you?

Shes not stupid now, you tell that to yourself to sleep better at night. She has noticed everything, a simple blood rush is nothing. The way you look at her when everyone is talking laughing and you’re quiet? When your choice of “recharging” your social battery is looking at and through her? When you’re alone and suddenly your voice drops to just above a whisper, sweeter than any sugarcoated candy? When you doodle her and her only out of so many people, there are 5 other people with you two, yet who do you draw the most? You spend all your effort and time on her, enjoyably so.

Until i fall asleep,

A hand picking up your own has a wave of goosebumps sent across your body, a wave of heat while doing so. An amused laugh breaks your gaze, from the mixed hands, up to her own stare.

Shes staring at you, and you’re wishing she would stare nowhere near you. The fear in your brain banging like a migraine, wordlessly telling you she sees it all, and the very same fear in your body, giving her all the confirmation she needs. Her eyes softening as her one-sided laughter dies down, and you’ve yet to actually see her. So far you have been too caught up in your own thoughts to see in front of you until now.

A hand holding your burning one to her also heated cheek, and a twinkle in her eye right between that blown out pupil and icy blue cloud that dances like the stars do on the dark night sky right outside the window.

“I knew you felt it too, Im not crazy to like you”

spillin’ drinks on my settee.

[hugsandchaos]

He’s In The Walls!

Summary: Uhh, I did the writing version of doodling last night and forgot to post it. Once again, the ranch hand tries to trick Danny into getting some sleep. Key word: tries.

Word count: 1,235

Twilight peered into the room and internally let out a mixture of a sigh and a groan. Just like he saw earlier, Danny was still awake, sitting by the fireplace, still reviewing and studying the same textbook over and over. His red notebook was left open and folded in half next to the small, but rather thick book with blue and black colors wide open. Danny called it “Algebra Two”, which was something he was supposed to start learning in over two months from the day he ended up tagging along with them.

He was determined to use any free time he had while on this adventure to get a head start, though, because according to him, math wasn’t his strong suit and Algebra is apparently part of math. It made sense, but at the same time, it frustrated Twilight a bit that it was his first thing to do when he had free time.

Unless it was nighttime. He’d instead be found outside stargazing. Except tonight.

Tonight, Danny had been reading and doing practice problems since before the sunset, right after he finished helping around with chores and dinner. It was as if he didn’t notice day had already passed by. Twilight wouldn’t be too surprised. The young teen could get pretty deep in the zone if he was left to it for long enough.

Danny reached for the mug placed on the carpet next to him and lifted it up to take a sip of the contents, but then he paused and looked inside.”Huh, must’ve drank faster than I thought.” He muttered to himself. Twilight’s mood was lifted and a smile briefly appeared on his face when he heard that. Before he could try to put his plan into motion, however, Danny stood up. He yawned and turned to go into the kitchen. There was the sound of water and movement before he came back to sit down next to the books again.

He lifted both arms up and groaned a little before letting his arms fall back down. Danny just sat there for another few seconds, eyes staring at the fire in a tired daze, then looked back at the books. Twilight decided now was the time to make his move.

The ranch hand wordlessly entered the room and began walking towards Danny. Surprisingly, he went unnoticed until he came close enough to kneel down and put the blanket around Danny’s shoulder.”Twilight? I appreciate it, but I’m not cold—“ Danny stopped his response when he noticed that the ranch hand had actually wrapped it around his shoulders. Twilight lightly pushed him down and reached one arm down so he could get his legs, too.

“Hey, what are you going?!” Danny asked, a little irritated. He moved his legs around and tried to worm out the arms that were now pinned against his sides, but he was tired after everything that transpired over the last few days.

It affected all of the members, really. Twilight had just gotten up for some water, but when he saw Danny, he went and got a spare blanket. Now he was going to use it to wrap around him and finally ensure he’d get his sleep.

Danny wriggled around in protest, but his movements didn’t have even half as much strength as usual. When Twilight successfully managed to wrap his entire body in the blanket, Danny had finally stopped fighting, but the glare he shot Twilight’s way had a small fire that wasn’t extinguished yet. The ranch hand wrapped his left arm around Danny and picked him up. As he left the room and took a turn to the right, the kid’s irritation grew with his stuff now left behind.

“Are you going to explain?” Danny asked.

“Kid, you’re falling asleep at the books and it’s midnight. You’re going to bed.” Twilight said. He turned his body and maneuvered through the doorway meant for one person, not one person plus another wrapped in a blanket.” ‘N don’t bother tryin’ to get free anymore. I know that your strength’s spent, ‘n that tea you were given actually helps with sleep, not stayin’ awake.” He added.

The hallway itself was luckily wide enough for three people, so the ranch hand was able to carry Danny without worrying about hitting him against the wall. The long window following down half of it allowed faint moonlight from the unseen moon to paint the hallway in a very dim, calming white light. It was a little quiet for a few more seconds, and Twilight had allowed himself to hope that the cozy cargo he was carrying had fallen asleep already.

“Smart move, cowboy.” Danny said. He said it in that kind of note where it’s half spite, half genuine respect. Twilight breathed out a very brief laugh from his nose as he crossed the hall towards the door on the other side, which had an unclaimed bed inside.“You know what the only problem is?” Danny asked.

Feeling a little smug about how things turned out, Twilight couldn’t help but think that whatever he was about to say or do wouldn’t be an actual problem. Sure, the kid was stronger than he looked, but any sudden bursts of fighting energy had likely already been spent. Still, he wanted to know what he was going to say for the sole purpose of seeing him when it didn’t work.”What’s that?” Twilight asked confidently. While he was focused on opening the door, he failed to notice the white light coming from Danny.

“I’m already gone.”

As soon as he started speaking, Twilight noticed the lack of weight where Danny once was. He could no longer feel the young teenager against his body and the blanket that he’d previously used to secure him fell from his arm and onto the floor. The ranch hand looked down bewildered to see nothing but empty space where Danny was supposed to be. Twilight’s eyes widened in shock as he looked around almost frantically, genuinely concerned about how the kid had disappeared and where to.

As he glanced around, his enhanced hearing picked up on a small laugh coming from the right. When he turned, he couldn’t see Danny, but something told Twilight that some kind of presence he didn’t notice before had just left the narrow room through the wall right in front of him.“He’s in the walls...” He muttered. He then picked up the blanket again and held either side in both hands. He readied himself and relied on the very odd sensation his wolf senses picked up as he ran back down the hall. He already knew that the books were probably already gone.”He’s in the goddessdamn walls!” Twilight repeated, but kept his voice down to a whisper.

When Time looked out his window to see Twilight running across the field and out of view of the window, his first thought was that something was incredibly wrong and sat up. Then, just as quickly, he saw the ranch hand return carrying a sleeping Danny into the house. He smiled a little and laid back down to go back to sleep.

The next day, he’d confirm with Twilight that Danny stayed up late studying again, and Malon would hear them and swear to have a word with him.

“Hylia help him.” Twilight joked.

“Oh, pup, Hylia would only be able to stall her for a few minutes.” Time said

[hellospriggan]

Enjoyment

I am thinking a lot this week about the value of enjoying things. I'm coming off a bad week or two of mental health (existential dread about the state of the world and what it even means to be human anymore), and a few things these past few days really perked me up, so I want to think about that.

Monday was my & Jarod's thirteenth wedding anniversary. He got me an amazing album-- it was someone I hadn't heard before, but he thought I'd like it, and I instantly loved it. I love music, and it felt so nice that he had heard it and known I'd like it, and that he didn't even try to get me to listen to it beforehand to make sure-- he just went for it. He's always been anxious about getting me things like clothing or jewelry. It was one of the most thoughtful and touching gifts he's ever given me.

Roses! I'm trying to stay off Reddit, but my bestie sends me things from the gardening subreddit pretty often, and I usually end up scrolling through for a little bit. I keep taking screencaps of people's roses. Roses make me absolutely giddy. We are planning some backyard projects, and I am dyyyyyyiiiing for them to be done so that I can finally plant some roses.

Dolls. Every couple of years I go on this obsessive kick about dolls. I once printed out like a fifty page tutorial on sculpting ball jointed dolls from scratch (god, back when there were still written/illustrated instructions instead of YouTube videos, those were the days) but never got around to making one. Or buying any. Anyway.

I was a 90s kid and my biggest toy loves at that age were My Little Pony, Barbie (and all of Mattel's Disney dolls, because it was still Mattel at that point), and stuffed animals. I'm really fortunate in that my parents kept everything-- all of those toys are still safely packed in my dad's attic. I checked on everything a few years ago and was unprepared for how giddy I felt after finding mermaid furniture. There is something about those plastic accessories that transports me. Small and beautiful. Precious.

I think it's valid to be cynical about capitalism, and marketing to children and getting them to constantly want new things, but I think there's also a beauty in recognizing that someone, somewhere, got to live their dream and actually design those dolls and their accessories. Some of them are legit just so beautiful and thoughtfully made. Children need toys, they need books, they deserve for those things to be beautiful and special.

This is all a very long-winded way of getting to the point that I've had a life long appreciation of dolls, and that got kicked into high gear this week. I had this idea of getting a few dolls and modifying them to look like my OCs, to help with posing and drawing. And then. I found one and I audibly gasped aloud because her face made me think of Gideon, as I'm currently rereading Gideon the Ninth, and then that spiraled into "what if I outfitted her to look like Gideon, and also made Harrow" and THAT spiraled into a positively embarrassing amount of time spent on eBay looking at Barbie sized combat boots. And then of course I found other dolls that were gorgeous. Someone save me.

So then last night I was thinking of my various collections, and that I've been confounded about how to display things, and is there a point in collecting if it's just going to live in a box in my dad's attic? It feels a little depressing and wasteful. And for the first time ever, I thought: why does it all have to be out at the same time? What if I had one small shelf, and every month I picked different things to put out on it together? I would be going through my collections, engaging and interacting with them and getting that delicious little dopamine kick. I literally fell asleep making mental lists of potential themes: strawberry, roller skates, cats.

So yeah that's my TED talk about dolls, I'll keep you posted on The Shelf because I'm really excited about this idea. And about Gideon & the midnight hagette.

[reidsnose]

doodles

overview: reader doodles on her hands a lot and spencer has to give into the temptation of coloring it in

genre: flufffffff

a/n: sorry ive havent posted a fic in like a week, ive been in quite a slump but i had this idea well after midnight but i just had to write it so lmk what u guys think of this one :)

masterlist

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doodling on your hands: a once nervous habit that had seeped into your everyday life and now is just a regular habit. nearly everyday you would come to work with clean hands and get home with a mini art gallery on your non dominant one.

Spencer admired this from the moment he noticed it. at first he thought you had a tattoo but when you came back the next day with it completely gone, he was a tad confused, only to catch you doodling on that very same hand a couple hours later on the jet. he thought maybe it was an occasional thing, a habit you'd quit once you got better situated into the team, but after nearly a year you still left work almost everyday with some cutesy sketches drawn on your hand.

Spencer found himself looking forward to your doodles, imagining in his head what you might draw each day, and thinking of all the colors you would add if you had the time. being the great profiler that he is, he noticed a pattern: you subconsciously correlated your doodles with your mood.

after especially hard cases or just bad days you always drew roses.

when you were very happy you drew all sorts of fruits.

anxiousness bore little swampy creatures and lily pads.

tired days filled your hands with random, intricate designs that you didn't even have to try hard to make.

and content was anything else.

he was so impressed and absolutely adored your little coping mechanism. watching you concentrate on making those teeny pieces of art simply for your own pleasure was definitely a sight to see. the way your eyebrows furrowed and tongue poked out a bit was absolutely positively adorable. and soon he had noticed that he was looking forward less to the doodles and more to watching you draw them. and after that he began looking forward to just you.

you were sat on the jet with your back to the corner of the last seat on the plane, creating a pattern of roses on the back of your hand. Spencer plopped down in the seat next to you, growing tired of watching from so far away.

"that bad, huh?" he asked, noticing the type of flower you were gracing your hand with.

"hm?" you looked up, confused.

"you only doodle roses on bad days." he explained, pointing to your hand.

"what? no i don't!" you defended, " i just think roses are neat."

to be fair, you were having a bad day but he could've profiled that without the doodle. he cant be right, can he? there was no way you had a mood system for your doodles! unless there was.

"repetitive strokes are therapeutic, so roses being rough days make sense. the spiral in the middle followed by however many layered petals you want is a perfectly repetitive while still interesting enough to doodle."

"if i didn't know any better i'd say you've been spying on me, Dr. Reid," you teased, enjoying the slight rouge that appeared on his cheeks.

"what! no! i'm- i'm a profiler i notice patterns! i just- spying sounds creepy." he stammered.

"ok. how about admiring." you jabbed, turning a little red yourself.

"fine. but you know coloring helps too." he flipped back to the old topic of conversation.

"unfortunately i only have the standard blue, black and red ink."

"roses are red." he chuckled.

"interesting point," you bent down and reached into your bag, pulling out a red pen and handing it to him, "knock yourself out."

"what?" he looked at you slightly bewildered.

"coloring is therapeutic, you said it yourself. and you and i both know that you need something to relax you after a case like that. we all do." you explained, trying to be as nonchalant as you could knowing his skin would touch yours.

he grabbed the pen and clicked it open, coloring smoothly and slowly inside the lines you had already made in black, careful not to go over them and smudge the ink. you and him both tried your best to ignore the warmth shooting through your bodies from every place your hands touched. his fingertips lightly grazing your knuckles as he worked.you worked your way up your arm, giving you both space to work and by the time you landed, you had a half sleeve garden of surprisingly well colored (and somehow shaded) red roses.

you went home that night and bought a pack of colorful (washable) pens, hoping this little rose garden with him wasn't a one time thing. and even if it was, you would want to add your own pop of color to your doodles.

thankfully it wasn't.

you and Spencer found yourselves drawing and coloring on your hand a lot. he would catch you doing it and pop in over your shoulder just to add a touch of color where he thought it fit. and you began to feel sad washing off what the two of you had created that day, feeling nostalgic for time that has hardly passed.

and sometimes on the jet you would get tired of your own skin, so you would draw little doodles on his hand, often times leaving a little heart at the base of his thumb. these little hearts he avoided washing off for as long as he possibly could because they felt like a part of you was always with him. he started doing the same thing to your hand, a sort of signature the two of you shared.

most days, the doodles on your hands were pretty much fully colored in.

but now Spencer began to worry. what if you get ink poisoning because of his coloring? sure, the risk was statistically low, improbable even; but never zero. so one night after work he went out and bought a little sketchbook and on the front he scrawled,

"y/n's super duper special sketchbook"

upon receiving it, after giving him a hug he never wanted to let go of, you took a sharpie and started editing the title he had given it. so it now read:

"y/n and Spencer's super duper special sketchbook"

the two of you used up a whole page that day, front and back filled with all types of fruits. Spencer smiled to himself, knowing this had made you very happy. you took a second to take a step back and admire him doing the very thing he admired you for. and you understood why; he just looked so precious and you suddenly realized you craved the feeling of his hand touching yours. so you leaned over and drew a little black heart at the base of his thumb. he looked up at you, smiling widely before returning a red heart to the base of your thumb.

and you guys tore through that book, using a page a day and filling it cover to cover in no time. your own personal handmade coloring book. it turned out to be both of your most prized possessions, a pang of sadness filling your chests as you finished the last page.

you felt bad taking it home with you that night, wondering if maybe Spencer wanted to keep it. maybe you should keep it at work so you can both have it. thats the fair thing to do. you looked down, smiling sadly at the little red heart on your hand.

he did want to keep it. but he had a better idea in mind. he looked down, smiling excitedly at the little black heart on his hand.

the next day when you arrived to work all your worries were solved. on your desk laid a new sketch book entitled:

"y/n and Spencer's super duper special sketchbook: volume ii"

you laughed as you read a small lilac post it note that said, "i want to keep this one please" signed with a little red heart in the corner.

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ultra mega super cool taglist:

@mac99martin @imhreid @spencersmagic @hollydaisy23 @raelady1184 @a-broken-pact @padfootswife @hey-there-angels @star-stuff-in-the-cosmos @sonnydoesrandomshit @coffeereid-deactivated20210303 @averyhotchner @laurakirsten0502 @reidyoulikeabook @rem-ariiana @spencerreid9 @vampire-overlord @takeyourleap-of-faith @s1utformgg @violetspoetic

[bukojuiice]

— genshin boys as your late night study buddy

ೃ ft. childe, diluc, kaeya, zhongli, xiao and albedo x gn! reader

ೃ 200-299 words per character!  (they are your bfs in this! bc MAN do i desperately want one of the genshin boys to cram school works with and shower me with luv and affection.) ♡

ೃ tags: college au, modern au, and lots of fluff. 

ೃ thank you so so much for 1k notes on my very first batch of genshin hcs! i appreciate all the luv it received and i can never thank all of you enough 🥺 i’ll be making a genshin masterlist soon to compile all of my current and future works so pls stay tuned for that!

ೃ if you want to be a part of my taglist, answer this form! ♡

ZHONGLI:

– Zhongli would be a very chill study partner. He will always keep his cool and focus, never letting his attention stray away from less trivial things. If he can focus, he’ll focus. There’s always this sense of comfort surrounding him that brightens up your mood and productivity. The both of you are sat in this long table, papers, books, and cute matching pencils are sprawled about. You lean your head on his shoulder, as he serenades you with his deep and butter voice, explaining all the formulas to you. Being able to study in peace and quiet with him is always a blissful experience. He never fails to brew you green tea (as it helps the brain function) even if that meant going down to the kitchen at 2 in the morning. He always brings a small humidifier and some essential oils with him that can help brighten up the study mood and that emits a wafting vanilla pinecone scent to keep you happy. (He’s just fancy like that.) When he doesn’t understand the concepts right away, he’d turn to you, his sharp amber eyes gazing at yours with nothing but innocent and love, and asks: “(Y/N)... what reference is this supposed to be? pepe the frog? kermit the frog? here come dat boi? aren’t they all just amphibians? what are the differences between them? I am very intrigued.”

CHILDE:

  – Childe loves a challenge. An academic challenge. He loves the thrill of finishing school works the night before the deadline, he loves studying for a pop quiz twenty minutes before the bell rings, and most importantly, he loves to pretend he doesn’t know how to solve point a to point b if that means getting to spend time with you as you tutor him on how to do so. He’s at the top of the class, He’s popular and friendly, He’s the captain of the Archery Team, and one of the vice council members of the Fatui Club. But, no other title will ever come close to being your study buddy. You and Childe always chill on the bed whenever you study. Especially when the both of you have the sudden urge to just laze around. Well, it is the wee hours of the night, so just lounging around and trying to resist the urge of sleep is pretty understandable. Sometimes, the two of you would take power naps in between study sessions. This meant cuddle times! Childe will always cuddle with you, (he’s the big spoon and you are the smol spoon) and often times you would be immersed into your textbook while he’s scrolling through his phone and looking for some of the current and popular memes. He’d poke you on the cheek and show you what he’s found. It was quite annoying sometimes and you would reprimand him for it, but it never fails to make you laugh. You jokingly suggested one time that the two of you sneak in the library after closing hours, and your chaotic boyfriend turns to you with the biggest smirk plastered on his face. “Let’s do it baby. I know the law.”

DILUC:

–You and Diluc are the cutest pair of night owls. So, studying late at night is never a problem with him because with the help of each other, the both of you are unstoppable. An actual power couple. Batman and his love interest who? I only know (Y/N) and Diluc. Mondstadt University should be giving you the title of #NoSleepGang for the “Campus Cuties” awards because the two of you are able to ace every test still despite lack of sleep.  You and Diluc are very very organized. The both of you own matching couple planners (that the both of you had gifted to each for Christmas) and have your entire study schedule planned out already. Since the two of you prefer to study at night, your dates are usually done during the day. Which meant never having to worry about the upcoming finals whilst you’re at a cute little café with him. The both of you have respective desks whenever you study together, but you never fail to gaze at your crimson-haired boyfriend with the cutest pout and biggest puppy eyes. He always gives in and next thing you know, your swivel chairs are practically glued next to each other and the both of you are cuddling in your seats. One thing that Diluc never fails to do is pamper you with comfort food or little gifts that you love after a long and tiring week of hell (aka exams) It’s such a sweet gesture and the blissful relationship that you have can’t get any better than this.

“I got you some boba and that necklace from Pandora that you’ve always wanted. I-I’m so proud of you (Y/N). You did great, my love.”

KAEYA:

- You are the Lawful Good to Kaeya’s Chaotic Evil. Kaeya is always tempted to ask for answers from your professors. He’s quite the teacher’s pet, but with good intentions. That’s just how he rolls. Every time he jokes about going to the faculty to help out and the answer sheets are just out in the open, waiting to be snatched, you always glare at at him and punch him softly on the arm, every time he tries to bring up the idea. To which he would always reply with, “I’m kidding. Just kidding my love.” You and Kaeya have amazing study hacks. He is always able to find a movie that is somewhat related to the topics that the both of you are currently studying about. For example, when the topic was an introduction to different branches of science, Kaeya chose Big Hero 6  as the “Educational Movie Of the Day.” He is always able to find something fun and informative for the both of you to watch. Well, Kaeya does find fun and interest in everything. Another effective strategy that both of you do is every time you or him get an answer right, you reward each other with either a kiss on the cheek or a bear hug. Both of these affectionate gestures give you butterflies in your stomach anyway, so it doesn’t matter which is which. With the ideas that Kaeya constantly makes up every single day of your study sessions, there’s a high chance that you’ll never fluke a test ever again.

“Oh. That’s pretty cool of you (Y/N). You got 30 correct answers! If we count everything, so I basically gave you 15 forehead kisses and 15 bear hugs. Congrats! I know we’re going to ace our finals!”

XIAO:

– Xiao is extremely intelligent and talented in a myriad of things. However, he lacks self-confidence. You’ve sworn to your boyfriend that you’d help him gain confidence in his academic abilities. Which is why you became study buddies in the first place. It served as dates with him too! Although he stubbornly refused at first, his reasons being that he can do things by himself and he doesn’t need any help. You continued to encourage him that this was going to help the both of you and it was a way for the two of you to bond, and Xiao hesistantly agreed right after. As the captain of the soccer team, “The Liyue Adepti”, The only free time that Xiao has was during the evening which is the reason for your scheduled late night studies with him. This brought so much more intimate and sweet moments with him though! It meant sleepovers with him, midnight snack runs, and casual early morning strolls in the park. It became sort of a routine. Your hand interlaced with his, the crisp morning air, the little chirpings birds, and the tranquil swaying of the trees brought so much comfort to the both of you. Xiao would be the type of student to not speak up unless he’s called. Even if he knows the answer. The both of you sit on some floor pillows whenever you would study. So, whilst you read aloud, Xiao always hugs you from behind, resting his head on your shoulder.

“I don’t deserve the patience and love you give me, (Y/N). I am eternally grateful for everything you’ve done for me. I hope you know, that I’ll always be here for you.”

ALBEDO:

- Being the university’s library assistant has it’s perks. Access to infinite knowledge, quiet solitude within the library walls, and being able to hang out with your boyfriend. It was truly a perfect deal. After classes, Albedo would be heading straight over to the library to do his work. You’d meet him there and wait until he gets his work done, and then the two of you head home together or have dinner. Albedo likes to plan things in advance. He’s quite busy, being a part of university’s alchemist group and as a library assistant, but, he will always study with you. He even brings Klee with him at times too! She’s always an energetic and cute addition, + she tattles on and on about how in love Albedo is with you and how he would never shut up about you at home. Albedo puts a lot of effort into creating review materials for the both of you. He makes very intricate drawings of modules, dioramas of certain science models, and has all the formulas memorized for him to list down. He’s a genius after all, and although you’ve constantly told him time and time again that he doesn’t have to make a review paper specifically catered to you, he still insists. He always gifts you one whenever it’s exam week (he adds extra detail to them during your finals) The cutest thing about these papers are scribbled about in all of the pages. The cutest doodles of the two of you with hearts and flowers drawn all over. Albedo + (Y/N) is even written in the last page, along with a heartfelt message: 

“I put all my faith and belief in you, (Y/N). I know you can do this. I’m proud of everything you’ve reached so far, my beloved. and I know you’ll reach greater heights. Let’s continue to excel and thrive together. I can’t wait to spend the rest of this journey with you.”

[liiilyevans]

Midnight Chat

So, this is a day late because I’m terrible like that. We didn’t get to the waking up bit, but anyways, hope you enjoy. 

Partner: @justfinishthis

Prompt: ‘we’re at a music festival and you crawled into my tent when drunk and fell asleep, now you’ve woken up bewildered and to be honest I should be more annoyed but you’re just so fit’

There was a loud thud near James’ tent that had him sitting up quickly and scrabbling for his glasses. It was dark out, even the lights from the festival didn’t illuminate anything in his tent. Finally, he was able to find his glasses, which were under a piece of the blanket, and put them on. The front of his tent had been opened and there was a figure kneeling there. 

“James?”

James breathed a sigh of relief at Lily’s soft voice. Now that he had his glasses on, he could make out the top of her hair, still pulled into a bun with some pieces hanging down in the front. When James had left the festival to come back to his tent, Lily had still been dancing with her friends. He knew that she would be in late, but he hadn’t expected her to come into his tent. 

There was something between them. He knew that much. There were long looks shared across the room when their friends were around, soft touches whenever they thought they could get away with it, and secret smiles for their inside jokes. But they had never slept in the same bed before. To be honest, they hadn’t even shared a kiss. 

(There was that one time. It was around Christmas, and Lily had stopped by his flat to drop off a few presents she had for the girls. She wanted to leave them there because she knew that her friends were nosy as hell and would search her flat til they found them. James had been struggling to make snicker doodles that day. He’d almost forgotten Lily was supposed to come over. She’d arrived to find him covered in flour and clearly frustrated. Before he knew what was happening, Lily was making her way over to him and they were cooking together. Once the cookies were in the oven, James had thought throwing flour at Lily was a good idea. One way or another, James had ended up with his arms around her and her face awfully close to his. Until Remus walked through the front door, and she found an excuse to leave.)

(But that didn’t really mean anything.)

“Lily?” James said, softly. “What are you doing here? Is everything ok?”

Lily put her hands on the ground and started to crawl toward him. James scooted back until his back hit the fabric of the tent. She crawled through the tent until she was between his legs, her face inches from his own. He could smell the harshness of the alcohol on her breath, and could just make out the wideness of her pupils which almost swallowed the green of her eyes. 

“Good morning,” she whispered.

“Lily, it’s the middle of the night,” he replied softly. “What are you doing here?” 

“The girls and I just got back,” she said, tucking her legs under herself. “I missed you.”

Well, what was he supposed to say to something like that? It had to be the most inconvenient time for Lily to be saying things like “I miss you” or crawling into his tent. His mates were just a few feet away, damn it, and last time James checked, tents weren’t that sound proof. 

“I think we should get you back to your tent,” James said.

“But I don’t want to go back to my tent,” Lily whined. “Your tent is so much more cool.”

She flopped down next to him, one of the stray hairs from her bun falling into his lap. 

“I know, Lily, but-” James stopped speaking when Lily sat up and tugged her shirt over her head. He could just make out the outline of her breasts and maybe if he leaned a little closer he could find out if her chest had freckles like her face did. 

Lily giggled and James snapped out of his trance. 

“It’s really hot,” she said. 

Oh, shit. 

“Lily, you’re really drunk, and I think you need to put your shirt back on.”

“I think you need to talk yours off.” 

“Brilliant idea,” James muttered.

He tugged his shirt over his head and tossed it at Lily. She caught it and pressed it up to her chest. The sight made James want to explode in his pants. He wished he was the fabric so he could be pressed up against Lily’s breasts like that. 

With a grin splitting her face, Lily wiggled around til her head was inside of his shirt, then she popped through the other end, and tugged the shirt down her body. She flopped back down.

“Has anyone ever told you, you smell amazing?” she asked.

“Um, no,” he said. “I don’t believe that anyone had told me that.”

“Well, you do,” she said. “Like the woods and man.”

“Man?”

“Yeah, man. Like a man smell that a lot of guys have.”

“A man smell?”

“You’re making fun of me.”

“Never.” 

James grinned down at her, and Lily smiled sleepily back at him. 

“Will you hold me, James?” she asked. 

Well, fuck, how was he supposed to say no to that?

“Yeah, sure,” he said before slide down and wrapping his arm around her. 

“We’re still friends, right?” she muttered.

“Yeah,” he said, wide awake. “We’re still friends.”

[sinsetcurve]

JATP FIC RECS

Oneshots-

All Those Little Moments- A series of the individual, chronological threads that make up the tapestry of the love of Julie and Luke.

It’s Always Been You (Even if it’s fake)- Julie Molina is not an idiot. She’s insanely smart and extremely talented. But, she does tend to do idiotic things. The most idiotic being telling her family that she's dating Luke Patterson and is bringing him home for spring break.

Ray and Rose and that Guy Trevor- Ray's POV on Rose's friendship with Trevor, through the years. (In which Trevor is kind of guilty but also kind of innocent.)

Head Over Knees- That one time Alex had an existential crisis over his knees.

Wrap Me Up- Julie is absolutely miserable. She’s caught a nasty flu and is so busy pretending to be fine that she’s totally pushed away everyone who could be taking care of her. Luckily Luke is more than prepared to step in.

Promises Kept- This is a missing scene from the fic We Found Wonderland. You need to read that first to really understand what's going on here. This cover's Luke's reactions to major events towards the end of We Found Wonderland.

I’m Still Breathing- Julie has asthma and when he was alive Reggie did, too. So, Reggie helps her out and cements himself as her big brother.

I’ll Love you There, Too- In her heart, Julie knew that Luke was going to propose eventually, she just didn’t know that it would be so soon, or how nervous he really was to do it.

This Hurt that I’m Holding’s Gettin’ Heavy-When Carlos got home from school Tuesday afternoon, he wasn’t expecting to find one of Julie’s bandmates in his bedroom, studying his bookshelf.

Come Again Bright Days- Julie and Luke haven’t spoken since they graduated from high school. But one night during their senior year of college, they find themselves in the exact same bar for the exact same reason: they were dragged there by their friends in an attempt to make them feel better after their respective break ups.

But Suddenly from somewhere out of the blue, I see a different light around you- Julie and Luke, family friends, end up sick together. While cooped up sick at Julie’s, a little conversation leads to a lot of secrets.

Like You Could Love Me- Julie hadn't slept in almost 48 hours. Luke was waiting for her on the porch when she gets home. Exhaustion + unspoken feelings and things are about to get interesting.

Not So Secret Relationship- Alex and Willie have been secretly dating for about a month and they've had yet to tell their friends about it. Alex decided he's finally ready to come clean to them.

There’s one thing on my mind- home didn't seem like home anymore for luke patterson, and so he was desperate to find a new place to write music. after an especially brutal fight with his mother, he finds himself in front of l.a. books. he isn't expecting to get much out of it, it was solely a last resort. but then he sees her, julie molina, and he ends up coming back every week just to keep seeing her. bookstore au

I’m Gonna pop some tags- Alex thinks working at Julie's family's thrift shop over the summer is going to be a good way to make money while also hanging out with his friends. Good. Easy. Fun. He isn't prepared for the skater who ran him over to be Ray's new hire.

Always- Luke is in love with Julie, and she loves him too. But it's not meant to be, he's been dead 25 years and she has a whole life to live. He wants to know why they can't just rewrite the stars, and eventually she finds a way.

He’s a little into it- Willex Hockey AU where Willie and Alex are on opposite teams.

Do a Kickflip!-It's Spring 1995, and Julie wants to spend some time at the new skate park. Unbeknownst to her, five boys are waiting to turn her summer (and life) for the better. Or! 5 times Julie ran into Sunset Curve, and 1 time she met with them intentionally.

Multi-Chaptered-

This is Where I want to Be- Luke is going through heaven and hell in his life and things take a turn when a especial someone drops unannounced into his life making him question his sanity. OR: Luke has a wicked beauty as his guardian angel and loses his mind

I’ve Got This Crazy Feeling This Isn’t our First Time Around- One second he is rocking the night away, the next he wakes up bloodied and battered in an alleyway. Found by a frantic curly-haired girl, he comes to realise nothing makes sense. He doesn't know where he is, who she is or how he got there, but one thing's for sure: It's not 1995 anymore.

Walk a Mile in my Doodled Shoes-The one where the boys use their newfound possession abilities to help Julie out of jams.

If I was you (I’d wanna be me too)- When Carrie wakes up, the morning after Julie and the Phantoms play the Orpheum, her father is gone. When her father has a breakdown, Carrie is forced to move in with Julie's family, and must confront some uncomfortable truths - about her family, her life, and herself. A house full of ghosts just comes with the package.

Time Of Our Lives- Alex, Reggie and Luke have been given an unexpected new chance at life. Will they fulfil their dreams this time?

We Found Wonderland- At the end of season one Julie isn’t able to save the boys and they are jolted out of existence. But what if there was another way? Julie finds herself back in 1995 with a chance to stop the boys of Sunset Curve from ever dying at all. But will she able to find her way home afterwards? Will she want to? Or has Alice really gone down the rabbit hole this time...

Midnight at Mona’s- Julie Molina expected many things on her impromptu road trip to Texas. She expected Flynn to be confused but ultimately supportive; she expected to relax and gain a new perspective; and she expected (or at least hoped) to rediscover the music she’d lost over the past year. What she did not expect was to be bunking with cranky rancher Luke Patterson, or the mysterious (and quite possibly magical) karaoke bar that would lead them on an adventure full of new friends, dangerous enemies, fun music, and a whole lot of love.

How Wonderful Life is While You’re in the World- Red, White & Royal Blue but Willex.

Our Life is a Playlist- They were best friends, they were family, and Julie had come to believe that they were soulmates. By the time the kids had turned thirteen, life had started teaching them the hardest lessons.

That’s Life- Julie Molina feels invisible most of the time. So what happens when she finds herself unexpectedly "married" to her handsome, popular, longtime-crush, Luke Patterson? She is about to find out. When she and Luke are randomly paired up to work on a project together for their Reproductive Health class, they have to learn to navigate the world of adulthood side-by-side for better or worse. All while dealing with the reality and drama of high school. Julie quickly discovers she's not as invisible as she once thought she was, especially to Luke. Does extra time spent together mean sparks will finally fly between them, or will it all go up in flames?

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[shiverfm]

hiya! i’m gemini, 24, and i prefer he/they pronouns. if you happen to see a streak of orange hair across town.. that is most certainly park hangyeol, the current owner of the park radio station and that voice you usually hear on the radio at midnight, but also that face that you see at the midnight tattoo parlor during the day.

like this post and i’ll come and find you! you can also take a peek under that read more for some more details, check out his profile or some plots and come let me know if anything peaks your interest- i look forward to talking with you all soon!

PROFILE / PLOTS

/ hangyeol’s been here his whole life, and there’s something to say that during that entire time, he never got along with his father. not that he was around much, always in seoul for his job while he stayed back with his mother, and not even really her, he was with his grandparents, who spent more time with him then the both of his own parents combined.

/ and so he had always been exposed to the hatred that his father exposed for the radio station, that it was dated and old school and nobody listened to that anymore, enough to see the tension between him and his grandfather who intended the business to be passed down through the family, but had skipped a generation unlike it should have.

/ when hangyeol graduates, he takes ownership. he had been planning it for a long time, wanting to see his grandfather be able to retire, spend his days with his grandmother in their little cottage, to not have to see him trying to keep up with the place even during the late nights. it’s convenient that he gets kicked out of his family home on the same day the words leave his mouth, and that it was the last time he had a face to face conversation with his father.

/ of course his grandparents offer to let him stay. and of course he refuses. not to burden them any longer as he had all of the years of his youth, he happens to make a deal with the owner of the arcade to please let him take up that big, empty room in the back where they used to store the old pinball machines, he’ll take care of the place and make sure nobody breaks in.

and so that’s where he lives, and where he keeps it quiet that he does, not wanting everyone to know just how far the hatred his father has for him runs. he knows it’s a small town, gossip spreads, but this is one thing he wishes to keep to himself.

/ so he’s usually the one you hear at midnight. at three am. playing music to accompany that one aching melody that hangyeol’s never been able to place, but sometimes it catches him drifting off on the spot, only to wake back up with a start when he starts to feel shivers run down his neck. he tries not to think about it.

during the day, he’s at the midnight tattoo parlor to try and make enough money for rent, since everything he gets from the station goes right back into it. he’s got a random, eccentric collection of tattoos up and down his arms from practicing on himself when he was looking for a second job to make ends meet.

/ if you happen to see someone riding around on a motorcycle around town.. well. that’s hangyeol too. just can’t tell it’s him because he’s got the helmet on. but it’s his baby, ever since he found it laying around in a junkyard a few years ago and decided to tune it up for himself. he goes on rides when he’s too stuck in his head or he can’t think of the right lyrics to fit the little melody that’s been playing in his head all day.

/ so he writes his own music. produces it too, the whole bit. posts it online underneath the alias NABI and doesn’t look at the numbers for his own sake. just keeps making music. so he’s always carrying around a journal, and it’s full of lyrics and doodles and anything else he can think of. his grandfather gave it to him, and he’s had it by his side ever since.

/ find him on the pier or kicking up sand on the beach. slinking into the back of the arcade or stumbling out of the radio station early in the morning and squinting at the sunlight. on his bike, chasing down sunsets and running away from his mind. sometimes he wonders if he should leave altogether, but he thinks that the town isn’t what he actually wants to get away from, not really. and theres the fact that it always seems to be pulling him back in.

[chibi-mushroom]

Hey everyone! Finally get to post my piece for the memory of promises zine! check out the link here if you want to grab one of your own copies in the leftover sale! I was so happy to be able to join in on this zine, and I hope you guys enjoy all the work that went into it! (Also keep in mind this was written before MoM.)

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Namine rubbed her temples and looked at the clock. Midnight already. DiZ was not going to like this. The next time he came into the white room would bring on some lecture or punishment of some kind. She had been working furiously all afternoon trying to get past this one section of memory, but there was something that was keeping her back. Her pulse began to race. She was feeling sick. The door to the white room opened and with a squeak, Namine ducked under the table, fearing the familiar stride of the man in red.

"It's okay, it's just me. You can come out now." A soft voice sounded in her ears. "You're safe. DiZ said he needed to run an errand and wouldn't be back for a couple of days."

Slowly looking up, Namine could see the outstretched hand of the only comfort she had in this lonely place. "Riku. You're back."

She took his offering and stood up. He hadn't let go of her hand just yet, blindfold still covering those beautiful blue green eyes he had. She was glad it stopped him from seeing things like her girlish blush. He was only offering his hand as a friend. Besides, it was wrong for her to want to be with him- nobodies weren't supposed to feel anything. So why did she?

"You're shaking." Riku stated simply. "Have you eaten anything today?"

So he could even feel the slight tremor in her hands. "No, not exactly."

"Do you want me to get something for you? I think there are some leftovers in the fridge."

"No, I'm alright. I have to get back to work." Namine tried to take her hand from his, but he held onto it all the tighter, leaning down a little to be at eye level with her. 

"You were working when I left, and I can tell you haven't gotten any sleep. How are you expecting to take care of Sora when you can't take care of yourself?"

Right. Namine thought. He's just like DiZ. All he cares about is getting Sora restored. You're just a tool.

Still, she couldn't help but notice the way her breath caught in her throat as his blinded eyes sunk to meet her tired ones. Maybe she should take a small break. All of this stress was making her read too much into small gestures.

Namine simply nodded, and Riku left to warm her up some food. Sensing that going back to Sora's memories would be futile, she grabbed her sketch pad and turned it to the very last page. This was her secret page, covered in things she thought about. Mindless doodles she drew when she was waiting for the computer to check on Sora’s physical well-being.

The sketch pad was not necessary for her magic to work. She could rearrange memories- crush the hearts of her poor unsuspecting victims- without it. She used it though to help her concentrate. By visualizing the memories, she was able to make a more convincing edit or capture the feelings that were hiding beneath the surface. So many times she had drawn Sora, Riku and Kairi together. And sure there were strong feelings of both love and jealousy, but had she not had her sketch pad, she might have missed Sora's emotions of gratitude for two stalwart best friends, confusion about school topics they had recently studied, and hope that Kairi would want to go with him to the first school dance, even though he knew they would just go together and bail early to hang out on the play island like they always did whenever the school had some social.

"Here you go. It's nothing special, but it's better than nothing." Riku interrupted her thoughts with a plate of food.

With a gasp, Namine hurried to cover her sketch pad. Even though she knew he couldn't see it, he moved so gracefully that she sometimes wondered if he really was blind. Although those first couple of days made the mansion quite a bit louder with his cries of annoyance as he bumped into furniture. He even fell into the secret compartment that hid the computer lab, but luckily managed to land safely.

"Drawing something you don't want anyone to see?" Riku smirked. 

"No!" Namine replied a bit sharper than she thought. "Maybe."

Riku laughed as he set their plates down and pulled a chair over. "I'm only kidding. You don't have to be working on Sora nonstop. If you want to take a moment for yourself, then do it."

"No, I need to be working on Sora. It was my fault he's like this in the first place. I want to keep my promise." Namine picked up the white plastic fork. For once would it hurt to have some color around here?

With a sigh, Riku held his hand out for her to hold. "We've been over this, Nam. What happened wasn't your fault. You were being used." Softly Riku muttered "you still are."

Namine looked at him for a moment and then looked down at her food. She picked at it for a few moments before softly sliding her hand in his and taking a couple of bites. She ate in a comfortable silence, simply feeling the pressure that came from the gentle touch. This sort of thing wasn't unusual for them. They could usually be found in silence with their hands connected. But the mountain of pressure from the recent block in memories and lack of self care was threatening to squish Namine with its enormous weight.

"How's the restoration going?" Riku asked.

Namine's stomach began to twist around itself. "I'm….not sure." 

Riku squeezed her hand, urging her to explain. Namine sighed, unsure of how to continue. Would he get mad if she told the truth? He had slowly been becoming more like DiZ, after all. He used to be there with her when she was getting told off. These days, Riku was never usually in the white room for more than five minutes unless it was late at night.

"You remember what Sora's mom used to tell him all the time, right?"  Riku recalled.

"Never talk to strangers on the play island?"

Riku chuckled, remembering a secret promise. "A problem shared is a problem halved. If you tell me, it might relieve some of the pressure on you."

There was no avoiding it, not as long as he held her hand. 

 "It's just that, well-" Namine fumbled for the words. "There's been a bit of a roadblock. I've been doing my best to sort it out, tracing the connections, but it's like the memories slip away as soon as I think I have a grasp on them. I may have gone through half a notebook trying to find a solid piece."

There was a pause, as if Riku were considering what to say. 

"I'll go get you a new notebook tomorrow, then. As for the memories, we'll get it figured out. You need to take a break, anyway."

"No!" Namine swallowed back further emotion. Maybe she really did need some sleep. She was being more irrational than she expected. "No, it's fine. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong."

"Don't say stuff like that. If there's anyone who can make this situation right, it's you. Please, just take a few hours to rest tomorrow, okay?" Riku squeezed her hand again.

"I don't really have a choice here, do I?" Namine sighed.

"You always have a choice. I'm just asking you as someone who cares a lot about you."

Someone who cares? Namine thought. She slowly nodded in reply. Maybe a break was exactly what she needed.

"Thank you, Riku."

One Year Later

Again Riku tried to beat Marluxia, and again he was defeated. He only had this last battle to finish, having started against the organization members he recognized or had personally fought against. Which, admittedly wasn't many, but after several attempts, he was down to the last. It frustrated him that he still wasn't quite used to the keyboard controls, and Sora's moves were much less based in strength and relied much more on magic. Riku had never been very good with magic, focusing on perfecting his cure and dark firaga spells instead of learning the large array of magic that his friends had mastered. 

Some keyblade master I turned out to be. Riku thought, sitting back in his seat and folding his arms. I can't even stop my two best friends from leaving me again. This is just like back then…

His mind began to drift away with thoughts of Castle Oblivion and Twilight Town. He heard the door open and gentle footsteps move toward him.

"Hey Aerith. We can work on that scarf in a minute. I have to get some more ethers for data Sora first."

"I take it the fight didn't go well then?" A soft voice walked closer.

He closed his eyes and shook his head. Not Aerith. 

"Hey Namine. How could you tell?"

Namine placed a hand on his shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. "You're really tense. Besides, I could feel your frustration from a block away."

What anger and annoyance had once plagued Riku's mind had since washed away. All he could register was how reassuring Namine's hand on his shoulder felt. She smelled nice, too. A faint blush warmed his cheeks. Ever since Kairi had insisted on going to sleep and Terra had left for the dark realm with Aqua and Ven, Namine was the only person Riku shared everything with. She had heard him vent several times, and she had been helping Aerith teach him how to knit. It was her delicate fingers that had lead him through the steps of a cable.

"I guess I need a little bit of a break." Riku said with a sigh. "Wanna go get some ice cream or something?"

"Sure." Namine smiled, stepping back so he could get up and stretch. They began to talk as they walked to their usual ice cream shop. 

Since Scrooge, Huey and Dewey had returned home, the ice cream shop had been manned by one of the local citizens. He usually gave Riku a discount, so Riku usually put some munny in the tip jar. It had become routine over the past year to go whenever Namine came to visit from Twilight Town.

"How is everything going with Roxas and Xion?" Riku asked, sitting down and unwrapping his fruit bar.

"Slow." Namine replied, taking a small lick from her chocolate cherry ice cream cone. She wanted to try all of the flavors, and this was the last one. "Not too bad, but I think I preferred the strawberry cheesecake the best."

"That was a flavor Kairi always liked." Riku smiled softly. 

When he saw the way Namine looked for just the hair of a second, he realized that was probably the wrong thing to say. He inwardly cursed himself and his inability to be the suave guy all the girls had thought he was growing up. Kairi and Namine didn't get much of a chance to talk after she got her replica body, as Kairi had almost immediately asked to be put under. Riku wondered what it was like living inside a heart of pure light. Just like Castle Oblivion, she didn't talk about it much.

"We should get some for her when she wakes up." Namine continued to eat her cone. There was an uncomfortable silence for just a moment before Namine spoke up again. "Who were you fighting when I came in?"

"Marluxia. He was the head of the castle, right?"

Namine nodded.

"I never really got to meet him as I was down in the basement back then. I'm sorry you had to deal with a guy like him."

"It's alright. I...had some support. There was Sora and Donald and Goofy. And despite everything I did to him, there was your replica, too." Namine spoke slowly, choosing her words with care. "But don't feel bad. He made his decisions, like everyone else."

This time, it was Riku's turn to nod in agreement, taking a bite from his treat.

"After the data battles are all said and done, what happens next?" Namine asked softly.

"I...don't know. All I know is that I've been having these weird dreams lately."

"I wondered. You look tired." Namine grabbed on to Riku's hand, intertwining their fingers.

Maybe it was a reflex, maybe it was a force of habit, like how they used to sit back in the old mansion. Either way, the touch on its own was enough to pull Riku away from the dark thoughts that usually sat at the horizon of his mind. He squeezed her hand in response.

"Don't hesitate to call me if you ever need someone to talk to. I miss our little midnight chats." Namine admitted.

"I do too." Riku smiled softly. "They really helped clear my mind back then."

"A problem shared is a problem halved, remember?" Namine was glad she could actually see his eyes as she recalled back to his words that helped her through her time at the old mansion. "Care to share anything?"

Riku paused. He sighed before starting to speak. After he told her of the recurring dream he'd been having with the buildings and the feeling of being watched, he also admitted to the weight that had been pinned on his shoulders. 

"I know it might sound silly, but I can't help but wonder if these dreams are connected to Sora somehow. I just wish I could understand it more." Riku finished his bar and set the popsicle stick on the bench beside him.

Namine had just finished her ice cream as well, wiping her face with the napkin. "Maybe it's time you take another journey."

"With the data battle still to fight and Kairi still asleep? I can't leave now."

"Maybe not now, but after the last battle is won." Namine gently pulled his hand close to her and began massaging it. "But that means I can't follow you. Will you be alright on your own? Maybe you can check Kairi's dreams."

"I...don't know. I haven't used my dream eater powers in a long time and the process is still kind of fuzzy for me." He could feel his muscles relax as she worked at his weary hand.

Doubt was rising in his chest. Maybe she was right. Who was he kidding? He wasn't ready for this kind of thing. He wasn't like Sora or Kairi who could follow their hearts at a moment's notice. He couldn't always feel the way it was trying to lead him.

But as he saw Namine patiently working on his hands, the stiff muscles being brought to relax against her fingers, a light shone through the storm of his doubt. How he hadn't realized it before was a mystery. Ever since they had met, she had been the light in the dark, just as he had provided shade for her in the brightest situations. As she finished the massage, she tenderly squeezed his hands, reassuring him that she was there and willing to help. Surely that was love.

He felt love for her, no question. But with Sora and Kairi gone and asleep, there never seemed to be a good moment to tell her what his heart really wanted to say. 

"We...we should be getting back." Namine sighed. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"No, but then, I'm not really all that sure of anything anymore."

"If there's anything I know, it's that things will get better. We'll find Sora. I don't know how or when, but we will." Namine took his hand again, standing before him.

Namine took a quick breath and then leaned over, placing a quick kiss atop his head. Ordinarily, she wouldn't be able to reach, but since he was sitting down, she could offer a small token of her affection and confidence in his abilities.

She and Riku's faces filled with blush, although a smile tugged at her lips. Namine didn't have enough courage to kiss him on the lips like she had wanted to for so long, but this was safe. He couldn't spurn her for a harmless kiss to the head. After all, what was some reassurance between friends?

"Thank you, Namine." Riku had a hard time looking at this angel of a woman without his heartbeat increasing.

To think she was willing to be by his side after all this. He decided there and then that he would listen to his heart and tell her of his feelings...after they set everything right. Once Sora and Kairi were home and together, then they could sort out their own relationship. It would give him yet another reason to bring his best friend home. 

He could still feel the kiss on his forehead, and it brought a genuine smile to his face. He stood up and began walking away from Merlin's house.

"Don't feel like you have to stop working on the data battles on my account. I just wanted to make sure you were doing alright." Namine stopped for a second.

"We can get back to those soon enough. I need a little longer before I get back into it." He took his trash and threw it into a nearby can. "There are some fountains that are really pretty this time of day nearby if you want to check them out with me."

A smile formed on Namine's lips. "I'd love to, Riku."

[svtshine]

Tattooed in my heart

Pairing: Minghao x reader

genre: Soulmate!au, Fluff

type: oneshot, imagine

ability: Soulmates that share the same tattoo, which is located on a random part of your body. It glows when you’re going to meet your soulmate

extra: i’m not actually sure if minghao has this tattoo or if it was edited. Feel free to tell me if you know :’). But it’s still really gorgeous and beautiful, inspired me to write this

You were five when first felt the hot searing pain on your wrist. It shocked you and you immediately found your parents, tears running down your face at how painful the feeling was. After a while, a beautiful 8 figure formed on your wrist like an infinity sign, it was gorgeous you first thought, slightly sniffing after enduring the pain for an hour.

Your parents showed you their tattoo, and explained how soulmates worked. Everyone is born with someone they were destined to meet, to love and to spend their whole life with. There were different ways one would be able to find their soulmate. Matching tattoos, being able to feel their pain for example.

It seems that you, alike your parents, had matching tattoos with your soulmate. You stared in wonder of the beautiful figure and wonder what it meant

It was around the age of twelve when you learnt the true meaning of your tattoo. The infinity 8 symbol represent everlasting love and good fortune. Infinite energy, infinite love and endless abundance. You loved the tattoo at first sight, and now understanding the deep meaning that it symbolises made you love it more. You couldn’t wait to find your soulmate, you believed that whoever he was, was someone who would love and appreciate for infinity and beyond.

It was a nice evening, as you made your way to the restaurant you were working at for your night shift. You sighed as it was going to be a long night, but the beautiful colours that painted the sky made you wanna smile.

It was sunset, the hues of orange, yellow and pink mixed together and formed a majestic sight to behold. The wind also complimented the scenery and you stopped for a moment to admire it.

You knew it was hard to be alone, but the thought that one day, you were going to meet the one, that would protect you, love you and take care of you, regardless of any situation. Someone you could pay all of your attention towards and wake up every morning to make them breakfast, was worth every second. You hoped, somewhere out there, your soulmate could watch the very same scenery that you experienced.

You turned your attention from the array of colours as you felt a sting on the inside of your wrist. Your tattoo was glowing slightly and you scrunched your eyes brows in confusion as this has never happened before. However, the alarm on your phone set off, reminding you that your shift was going to start soon. You took one last look at the sky and rushed down the street

Your tattoo glowing brighter with every step

“Minghao, let’s go. coups hyung said we’re all gonna go get some late dinner” Hoshi said as Minghao looked away from the mirror in the practice room and replied with an ‘okay’

He stared back into the mirror for a while, noticing how his tattoo on his back, was emitting a small glow.

“hyung, am i thinking too much? why is my tattoo glowing” Minghao asked frustrated because this was the first time his tattoo had ever done that he didn’t know why it was doing it.

Hoshi came over to check and sure enough it was really glowing, “i don’t know man, but i’m sure it’s fine” hoshi patted Minghao’s back. Minghao packed up his stuff, “we’ll just ask the rest later” hoshi said waiting at the door. Minghao nodded and took one last look at his tattoo that he has grown to be fond of.

He loved the number 8, in fact his stage name was chosen after his tattoo. Coming from a chinese family, Minghao loved the chinese meaning of the figure 8 and what it stands for. Loving it more since it became his tattoo.

He was aware about soulmates, and he longed to meet his destined soon enough. In seventeen only woozi hyung has found his soulmate, and only accidentally. She is very kind and bright, always bringing refreshments for the boys whenever they finished practice. But the one thing that minghao envied about them, was the way they looked at each other. Woozi hyung and his soulmate that it. They always looked at each other, eyes filled with adoration and pure love.

Minghao wanted that, to look at someone and just smile by them laughing or doing something random. To spoil someone and to love that person with his whole being. He couldn’t wait to meet his soulmate and always wondered how it would be like, the first time meeting them.

His tattoo glowed brighter with every thought that passed his mind.

It was a slow night, as you sat on the counter and doodled on a note pad, the design of your tattoo. It was close to ten now and most of the families and couples have already left. There were only a few customers left in the restaurant.

You continued sketching your tattoo and hummed a soft melody to yourself. You looked up to check the time and got lost staring at the second hand ticking.

The sound of the doorbell jiggling pulled you away from your thoughts and you double checked the time, it wasn’t very often customers came in at this timing.

“Welcome, how many of you are there—“

Your eyes slightly widened at the sight of 13 young men that were all way taller than you, pooling into the restaurant. It was a large group and they were all wearing masks or hats almost to cover up their identity.

“Hi, can we have a table for 13?” The one infront spoked politely. His deep voice shocked you but the way he spoke with a warm tone made you less tense.

You flashed them a smile and took 8 menus in hand and guiding them to a table at the back. “Of course, we can only give you this table, it’s the biggest and there’s more space here”

The boys started choosing their seats and flipped through the menu. You took out your notebook and pencil, preparing to write down a very large order.

Minghao continued to stare at you as you focused on what Josh hyung wanted to order. He didn’t miss the way your eyes widened as you took in their whole group but he found it cute.

Even Mingyu whispered to him, “hey she’s pretty don’t you think?”

When you directed them towards the table at the back, he found your voice super satisfying, there was just something about you. That made him want to know you more.

When you finally reached him, since he was sitting at the end of the table. Your whole page was already filled with orders but you continued asking, “what would you like, sir?” looking at Minghao for the first time

He’s handsome.

The way his hair was styled, and how great he looked in his outfit even thought it was coming to midnight and you probably looked like shit compared to him. For a moment you just stared at his lips moving, it was like moving in slow motion and you couldn’t help but focus on them instead of his orders.

Minghao realised you were staring at him and he blushed slightly, praying that under the dim light you won’t be able to notice it. He waved a hand u tik you shook your head slightly and apologised to him before biting your lip.

Oh god that was so freaking sexy—, stop Minghao

You broke away from your thoughts and blushed, apologising to the handsome one infront of you.

“i’m so s-sorry, could you repeat yourself?” you stuttered.

The rest of the boys resumed conversing within one another so only Minghao attention was on you.

“it’s really fine, i’ll get fried noodles and hot tea please.” He looked at your badge, “Y/n”

You nodded, writing it down and announced that you were going to come back with the food.

Minghao’s eyes continued following you as you prepared the plates and interacted with the chef while preparing to serve them their dishes. You just seemed, perfect. he could almost see you glowing under the lights. Minghao didn’t understand why he was so attracted to you.

You served their drinks before going back and getting the dishes. You folded up your sleeves since you didn’t want to accidentally stain it, forgetting your tattoo for a second.

Minghao noticed there was a tattoo on your wrist, but under the lights he wasn’t too sure of the design. He also realised that you were able to memorise all their orders without even needing to ask them twice and found that super cool.

As you walked towards him with two plates of steaming food and placing the fried noodle dish infront of Minghao, that was when he realised he was staring at the same tattoo that he had on his back.

For a moment, he was still taking in the fact that he’s actually seeing his tattoo somewhere else that wasn’t his back. His eyes widened in disbelief and shock.

Minghao instinctively grabbed your wrist after you let go of his plate and looked up at you. Your eyes were as big as his, “T-this tattoo, i have the same one. O-on my back. Oh my god, i found you” he stood up and hugged you tightly.

You processed the information and proceeded to hug him back as tightly as the members cheered you on, some already knew as they recognised tour tattoo but didn’t want to spoil it for Minghao.

Minghao wrapped his arms around you and pulled away, brushing the stray hair away from your face and behind your ear.

“I think this is why i was so attracted to you ever since you entered but, i’m really going to need proof” You whispered shyly as you stared at the man infront of you, who you hoped deeply that really was your soulmate.

“y-yeah of course, do you have a staff room or something here? with more privacy?” Minghao questioned, still smiling and in a daze as he stared at you.

You looked at your manager, and judging by the noise and hoots from your soulmate’s group, he understood you guys needed some privacy and even gave you a thumbs up as you led Minghao to the locker room at the back that was only for staff members.

Minghao closed the door behind him and turned behind from your gaze. He took off his shirt and let you stare at the tattoo on his back.

he heard you gasp in shock as you left gentle traces on his back, following the lines of the tattoo.

“it really is you. I-i can’t believe it, i’ve been wishing for this day ever since i was a kid, oh god i even thought about meeting you just a few hours ago” You said quickly, voice clearly showing you were nervous and exciting about finally finding your soulmate. “what’s your name soulmate?” you asked

“Minghao, love” minghao said, wearing back his shirt and turning around to face you. He lifted his hands and his eyes silently asked if he could wrap them around your hips. You nodded and he instantly pulled you closer to him, admiring you.

“i’ve been dying to meet you too, Y/n. and can i say, you’re gorgeous, i’m so lucky you’re my destined” You loved the way your name rolled off his tongue and blushed as he complimented you.

You wrap your arms around his neck, “Minghao, you’re really handsome too. I can’t wait to get to know you, and i’m really grateful you’re my soulmate”

Minghao smiled at you and leaned in closer, hesitating as he was scared that you weren’t comfortable with it. After you nodded in approval, he softly placed his lips against yours.

it was, magical. A soft moan escaped you as Minghao’s hands came up to sneak around your waist and your hand pulled on his hair ever so slightly. His lips never stopped moving against yours. The two of you pulled away for air.

Minghao laid his forehead on yours, and the both of you smiled at each other. the same thought crossed your minds.

“thank you, for letting me have this blessing as mine”

and your tattoos, glowed brighter than it ever did before

Masterlist

[amazingphanisnotonfire-imagines]

FP//The Midnight Club (part 5)

hey!! here’s part 5 if anybody cares. and here’s part 4 if you need to catch up! i hope everyone is doing well! and if you’re not, thats okay. everybody has dark days but they will get brighter. i promise. 

Usually a week drags in Riverdale, but when you’ve got three more weeks of weekend detention, they go by way too fast. In the blink of an eye, its 9am on Saturday morning again, and you’re all sat in the same room as you were last week.

A lot has changed in the past week. After last weeks detention, you and FP had an actual series conversation, and even though you still haven’t forgiven him, you’re trying your best to move past it. Not for your sake, but for the baby’s. No matter how much a dick he may have been, FP still has a right to be in it’s life, and he still helped make it so, it’s not like you’ve got much of a choice. 

Plus, it’s not like you want to go through this alone. You’ve watched Alice the past week, and you can safely say you don’t want to go through that. The stares, the whispers, the people shuffling away from her. 

Right now, its just a rumor. Of course you know the truth, so does FP, Sierra and Hermione. But to everybody else its just something Alice has said to ruin FP’s reputation. Everyone knows she likes him...a lot, and so they’ve figured she’s just making it up to spite him. 

But soon, people are going to notice the growing bump, and even worse they’re going to notice you’re matching one. So if you’re going to go through this, you’d rather FP be at your side...at least for now, until you can figure out what to do. 

“Welcome to Saturday Detention...again.” Principal Featherstone’s smug voice feels like fingernails against a blackboard. You lean your head on the desk and pout at FP who’s sat beside you. He returns it making you giggle a little and you hear Alice scoff behind the two of you. 

“Just ignore her.” FP mumbles and presses a kiss to your head.

“Its nice to see you all back...especially you Miss Smith seeing as though you disappeared half way through last weeks.” He looks at Alice and she smiles back at him sarcastically. “I also see we’ve got a few new faces in as well. Hiram Lodge and Tom Keller, very nice of you to join us.”

Featherstone starts registration but no one pays attention to him. Sierra and Tom are too busy sharing notes between them and failing to hide their laughter. Penelope is already working on her essay, despite not knowing the subject and it makes you wonder if she somehow broke into his desk to find out what it was to get a head start. Hiram and Hermione share shy looks and soft smiles that end in Hermione blushing and quickly looking away. Alice sits in the corner, playing with her pen while staring up at the ceiling, and you sit beside FP, a hand resting on your invisible bump as you try and keep your breakfast down.

Morning sickness seems to have hit you hard, and no matter how much makeup you put on, you still look paler than usual. FP holds your hand in his, squeezing it every so often to try and distract you.

The bad girl

“Alice Smith?”

The rebelling Catholic

“Hermione Gomez?”

The teachers pet

“Penelope Blossom?”

The artist athlete

“Fred Andrews?”

The political animal

“Sierra Samuels?”

The good girl

“Y/n Y/ln?”

The ladies man

“Forsythe Pendleton Jones, Jr?”

The criminal

“Hiram Lodge?”

And the sheriff

“Tom Keller?”

As soon as the last name is called, Penelope’s hand goes straight into the air and you and FP share an annoyed look.

“Yes, Miss Blossom?”

“What’s the essay topic this week?”

“This week, I want you to write another 1000 word essay on why you think you’re here.” He replies and everyone groans again. “Don’t have fun. I’ll be back at lunch.” He finishes before walking out and into his office.

Lunch time rolls around and its spent in your own little groups.

Alice sits on the windowsill and assaults the aging wood with her knife. Penelope scribbles furiously against the paper and by the time you stop for lunch she’s had to ask for more paper twice. Fred twirls around another pair of drumsticks he was hiding in his bag, and every so often he bangs them against the desk, trying to come up with a tune.

Sierra and Tom spend the majority of the three hours making out in the corner of the room, Hermione and Hiram do the same in the opposite corner. And you and and FP spend the three hours doodling stupid pictures on your paper, whispering in each others ears and sharing quick kisses.

After lunch though, your previous activities get boring and you all are looking for something else to do. You lean your head on FP’s shoulder as the nine of you try and come up with something to keep you entertained.

You don’t really want a repeat of last week, it ended with secrets being spilled and fights being started. Nobody has talked about what was revealed, but it the knowledge of each other’s lives hang heavy over your heads. 

You ask Fred how his father is doing and he always replies with a small shrug and forced smile. You and FP have even been over a few times, just so Fred isn’t alone with him. You keep him and his father company, talking about school and football and it seems to cheer up both him and his dad, even if its just for a little bit. 

You all watch Tom and Sierra talk in corridors and try and hide the pity in your eyes when they part ways to go to class. You notice how they scoot closer to each other in class or at lunch, trying desperately to be seen by each other but not anyone else.  

Fred has asked FP if he wants to hang out after class more, so for the past week he’s been shared between you and Fred. He goes to see Fred while you’re at Vixen practice or studying, and then when he knows your home, he sneaks in through your bedroom window to spend the night with you. 

Everyone has noticed just how much time Penelope spends at school, even after classes. She sits in the library for hours on end, reading whatever book she can find and you can’t help but feel sympathetic. A few times you’ve found yourself sitting at the same table as her while doing homework. Neither of you say anything, but she knows you’re there, and even though she won’t say anything, she’s grateful for the company. 

“Hey Y/n.” Fred says, breaking the silence and pulling everyone from their daydreams of going home. You sit up and hum a reply. “You didn’t get to play secrets and sins last week.”

“Thats okay.” You shrug and lean back in your chair.

“Well, we’ve got nothing better to do. You may as well have a go.” Sierra says and you glance at FP for help.

“Yeah, come on Y/n. Spill your guts.” Alice teases and you send her a look. She’s been quietly fuming for the past week, every time she see’s you and FP playing happy, a deep scowl settles on her face and it doesn’t seem to go away. 

“Shut up Alice.” FP mutters.

“There’s nothing really to tell.” You reply and hold your hands up.

“We all know thats a lie.” Alice continues and slowly walks towards you and FP.

You look at FP unsure of what to do and he shifts in his seat, holding onto your hand tightly. The rest of the group sit and watch on confused. Everyone knows of the tension between you, FP and Alice. But this looks like something more.

If only the knew how much more there was.

“Don’t.” You mumble, only FP and Alice hear and a smirk twitches at the corners of her mouth. She looks at FP who gives her a pleading expression and a part of her almost doesn’t want to do it.

“Y/n? Is there a reason you and FP are so cozy all of a sudden. I thought the last you heard he’d got some other girl pregnant. Have you forgotten that or is there another reason you’re playing happy families.” You flinch at the last word and shuffle further towards FP.

“Shut the fuck up Alice.” FP warns and stands up. Alice also stands and the two of them glare at each other while you sit in the middle of it and try your hardest not to cry.  

“Whats wrong FP? Why does the word family make you so upset? Oh thats right, because you’re starting one aren’t you.”

“Nobody believes its mine Alice.” He replies and you look at your hands. You’re not so sure about that. In fact you know its his, why would he go to her and tell her they’ve got a problem if its not because he’s gotten both of you pregnant.

“Thats not the family I’m talking about. No, you don’t care about your bastard child, it’s the legitimate one I’m talking about.”

“What?” Hermione asks the question thats on everybody’s lips as they watch the interaction. But before she has a chance to answer, a chair dragging against the floor stops it and within an instant you’re up and out the door.

“Thats right.” She smiles. “I’m not the only girl Jones knocked up. Am I?”

[patrick-hockstutter]

If you decide to write bowers gang fan fiction again, could you do like a “bowers gang quarantine” basically what it be like being quarantined with them. I know it’s modern but like still

Y O we doin this right THE FUCK now. And I love the idea of doing this modern day! I actually got a modern Bowers Gang request ages ago that I always wanted to do but never got around to, so I’ll mix it in with this! (and maybe do it after this, who knows, quarantine got me feelin’ some type of way...)

Victor:

This boy is so easily stressed out that he’s in constant need of a soothing activity to keep his mind busy

So you immediately introduce him to the world of face masks and bubble baths

And it’s like this boy has t r a n s f o r m e d

He’s constantly just GLOWING

But he still needs to keep his brain busy, face mask on and ready to go

Victor is an Animal Crossing baby right now

If he goes anywhere, his turquoise switch lite is always in hand

Everything going on has got him so stressed out, so he focuses 100% on his island (which is fucking beautiful at this point)

He then convinces you to get the game and a coral switch lite, and you also get to the point where you can’t put it down

The two of you can be found laying in bed all day visiting each other's islands, filling up your museums, and paying off your loans to Nook

(wearing face masks)

When he’s not playing Animal Crossing, he’s channeling all his energy into his doodles

With some encouragement from you, he starts streaming his art on Twitch and surprisingly gets a pretty good following

You love seeing all the support he’s getting on social media but you juuuuuuust can’t help yourself...

So you post a picture of him laying in bed, playing Animal Crossing with a bright green face mask on and his hair pushed back on Instagram

He’s embarrassed at first, but it eventually gets turned into a relatable meme and he honestly is quite proud of that

It can now be seen as a custom emote for his Twitch subscribers

(and as your phone lock screen)

Belch:

Honestly couldn’t be happier to be on government mandated lockdown

(especially with you)

Belch is such a homebody so he is in complete bliss rn

The two of you spend most days snuggling, snacking, binging shows on Netflix and watching conspiracy theories on YouTube

Y’all watch so much tv at this point that you’ve actually moved the mattress into the living room and made it into a deluxe blanket fort

The two of you swore to start cooking more since you couldn’t go to restaurants anymore, but damn did Domino’s have some good ass coupons...

Long story short, you ordered pizzas more times than you’d care to admit

But whatever, self care, am I right???

Belch also used this time as an excuse to force you to learn about cars

He always said that if you were gonna drive one, you’d need to know how to fix it

You’d always figure out how to cute your way out of it, but not this time

There was n o  e s c a p e

He taught you to change your tires, headlights, oil, brake pads, check all your fluids, the air filter, E V E R Y T H I N G

By the time Belch was done with you, you were basically ready to open up your own auto shop

But then it was straight back to the blanket fort

And although Belch was straight vibin’ in quarantine, god did he miss driving

So he would take you on these nice midnight drives

Sure, he would blast music as loud as he could, but it was so relaxing to look at the stars and the occasional deer that passed by

Henry:

Absolutely follows 0 of the rules at first

He’ll go to the grocery store if he damn well pleases whenever he damn well pleases

Even if he doesn’t need or want anything, the big ‘fuck you’ to government orders is enough for him

At first he just lounged around all day watching tv, but he finally started to get bored

So he started sneaking out of his house and into your bedroom despite the lockdown order

And as much as you wanted him with you, you refused to let him inside

You were a goody two shoes, what could you say? (but of course this is why Henry was drawn to you; he got off on tainting you any way he could)

So he persisted, but you could tell he was doing it mostly to be a jackass

Until one day he showed up looking like a lost puppy, so you caved

You were also a softie, what could you say?

Henry wouldn’t say it, but you knew the lockdown order had finally sunk in and he realized that he would have to be quarantined with his father

So you decided to be his safe haven (and his constant distraction)

You introduced him to your PS4 (he’d never had the luxury of having his own game system) and it opened up a whole new world for him

Games like Destiny and Red Dead Redemption really gave him an outlet and he especially loved that he could control what he did with his character in Red Dead

Which then led him to RPG games like Wolf Among Us and Until Dawn

The two of you would pull all nighters playing these games, constantly debating on which choice to make and how it would impact the story

And when you two weren’t playing games, the extra time quarantined together actually encouraged him to start opening up to you

So one minute the two of you might be swearing at a video game while the next you might be deep in conversation over a cozy cup of cocoa

Patrick:

You thought he was a nightmare before?

Well, I hope you’re prepared to handle him 24/7 for god knows how long

This boy is jumping off the fucking walls okay

And he can’t take it out on the Losers Club, so it has to come out somehow...

This motherfucker starts a prank channel on YouTube and decides that you are his target

Sometimes it’s as harmless as pretending he factory reset your iPhone

Sometimes it’s as infuriating as destroying your eyeshadow palettes and pressing sidewalk chalk into the pans

Sometimes it’s as terrifying as him chasing you around in a monster mask with a kitchen knife while you’re just trying to paint your damn nails

But no matter how pissed you get, he gives you that dumb stupid cute smirk you love to hate and kisses you, reminding you why you tolerate him in the first place

And as much as you think you can, you really can’t stay mad at him for long

Because when he isn’t devising more dubious schemes for internet views, he is alllllllll over you

Somehow being quarantined has amped up his testosterone an ungodly amount

And there’s only so much PornHub’s donated free subscriptions will take care of

But when all these fun and games finally come to a rest, Patrick is jumping off the walls in a completely different way

He has never had to be cooped up for so long, and his mental health disorders are really getting the best of him right now

It gets worse during the night, so you’ve started taking him out to stargaze to calm down

Afterwards, he finally starts to calm down and you actually get to spend some quality time with him

You’ve also found that puzzle games give him something to problem solve with rather than focus on his own labyrinth of a psyche

And in these moments the two of you can finally relax, listen to a creepy yet hilarious episode of Last Podcast On The Left, work on some sort of puzzle game, and enjoy some peace and fucking quiet for once

[pink-imagines]

memories

request: when we were young with todoroki🥰❤️

a/n: ngl i kinda almost started crying while writing this. i also used some inspo from Adele’s song All I Ask with this, so yeah

warnings: angst, mentions of explicit content

masterlist

requesting rules

song promptlist  click here to listen to the song!

Maybe in some other timeline the out come was different... which was why everyone was so shocked about it. You and Shoto were basically highschool sweethearts, you brought out the best in one another. He became more social if you were around and you got more confident. The two of you complimented each other so perfectly, like two puzzle pieces or yin and yang. You knew everything about each other and always knew what you should say to the other, even in the most dire situations. That’s why nobody expected you to break up.  When you left UA you were still together and started working at seperate hero agencies. You never saw each other that much and whenever you did you were too tired to do anything. So fights started, they were silly and didn’t actually have any meaning but they were taking a toll on both of you. This went on for a few years but the last fight was the worst of them all...

“Why can’t we just relax for once, instead of shouting at each other!?”, Shoto exclaimed. “I don’t know, you tell me!”, you sighed, “It’s just like you to put the blame on me!” It wasn’t just like him. He was actually always putting the blame on himself, you didn’t know why you’d say that. You watched as his face turned from anger to disappointment and sadness. Your heart broke at the sight and you got a tight clump in your chest. It felt as if someone had stepped on your ribcage with a big pair of boots. “Maybe we should stop...”, he whispered, “This isn’t good for us. Or our careers for that matter.” “Are you running away from me?”, you were holding back tears, “You know what? You’re just like your fucking father!” “What did you fucking say to me!?”, it looked like he was about to attack you, but he stopped himself. You stared at one another. No. This wasn’t good. You didn’t want to leave him but maybe... that’s what you had to do. “I’m sorry...”, you sniffled as the tears started to fall, “You’re right... it’s over. We’re breaking it off.” He didn’t say a word, and if you knew him well enough it was because if he did he’d also start crying. Shoto simply nodded and walked past you towards the door of your apartment. “I’ll... see you around...”, he muttered. “Goodbye, Shoto.”

Just thinking about you put that tight feeling in your chest back. In highschool you never really fought, it only started a few months after you started working... but the summer before you started working was possibly the most wonderful thing you had ever experienced. You spent a few days with the rest of the graduating class. All of you would go out on picknick’s here and there and sometimes you’d go to the beach. Either way it was always fun and you’d always go home with butterflies in your stomach and aching cheeks from laughing too much. That wasn’t your favourite memory of the summer, though. That would have to be when you and Shoto took a trip to your parents’ cottage by the mountains. They let you stay there for a week if you promised to clean the place up a bit... you just didn’t tell them about the fact that Shoto was following along. Okay, maybe you lied and said you were going with your girl friends... but that didn’t really matter in the end, they never found out anyways. The memories floods back to you every so often, sending butterflies to your stomach.

“Hey, is this you?”, Shoto asked as he flipped through an old photo album. “I thought I told you not to look at that!”, you exclaimed and tried to take the album from him. Of course he held it up above his head so that you couldn’t reach it and looked a bit closer at the photo. “You’re very adoreable.”, he chuckled before finally handing it to you. “Can we just forget about it and finish cleaning this up?”, you sighed and put away the photo album in the newly cleaned bookshelf. “Awe... are you embarrassed?”, he teased with a smile. Shoto never used to do that until you two started getting more comfortable, even when you were just friends. You were very happy that he had learned to be himself around you. “I’m not!”, you turned around to him and hoped that your cheeks weren’t as red as they felt. “You’re blushing.”, he pointed out, making you hide your face in your hands, “No, don’t hide... it’s cute.” He slowly pulled your hands away from your face and pressed a soft kiss to your lips. “Let’s finish cleaning up, okay?”, he grinned as he made an attempt to hold back his laughter at your flustered face.

You smiled at the memory... you had ended up cleaning up the entire house after that. It took a while but it was worth it in the end, and it wasn’t so bad since he was there. That wasn’t the best part of that trip though...

“Can I tell you something?”, you asked. “Of course.”, Shoto answered. The night was filled with stars, you could even see them through the green trees. The sun had just set and the moon was making it’s entrance. You were laying on a picnic blanket, looking up at the stars, and finally relaxing after a whole day of cleaning. It still surprised you that Shoto actually wanted to help you. Who would volunteer for cleaning? “You can’t laugh.”, you turned to you side so that you were facing him. “Sure.”, he said and looked over at you from the corner of his eye. “Promise me you won’t laugh?” “I promise.” You took a deep breath and laid back down on your back. Shoto slowly reached for your hand and took it in his own, giving it a comforting squeeze that said “go for it, you can tell me anything”. “Before we started dating I...”, you chuckled nervously, “... I used to get jealous when someone else would flirt with you... even if I didn’t have the guts to do it myself.” Shoto started laughing and you let go of his hand to, once again, hide your blushing face.  “I’m sorry...”, he said after he finished laughing, “... that’s normal though, isn’t it? I mean... I did that too.” You looked at him. His cheeks were flushed, his hair was slightly messy and he had a big smile on his face. Shoto took your hand once again. “So don’t be embarrassed about it, please.”, he turned to his side, “I don’t want you to be embarrassed about anything around me.” “Okay.”, you whispered as you were slowly closing the small gap between the two of you. You could feel his breath on your face... it smelled like mint, that kind that makes your mouth ice cold if you drink water.  “Can I kiss you?”, he whispered when you were mere inches away from each other. “Yes.”, was the only thing you managed to get out. The soft kiss turned into something that you had never done before, but you were still so calm. There was nothing to be scared or ashamed of, it was just Shoto. Between the breaks of the kiss, where you’d finally get to breathe, he kept asking if what he was doing was okay. You could only nod, your head felt like it was spinning. Maybe it was the world that was spinning around you, actually. It didn’t matter, it felt right. 

You had a few firsts with Shoto, but that one was probably the most memorable and most important. It brought you even closer than you were before, which helped the relationship evolve... just for it to break right in front of you. But you didn’t have time to think about that right now... you had to get going to your highschool reunion. 

The car stopped outside of the school and you reluctantly got out. You wanted to meet your old classmates, yes... and even if it had been five years, the wound still felt fresh. Maybe it was because you kept reopening it as soon as you tried to get into any other relationship. It didn’t matter now, you had to do this. For yourself and your pride. 

UA still looked about the same as when you went there. They had moved the tables around in the cafeteria a bit and the hallways seemed... longer. Maybe that was your imagination. You decided to go exploring further, since you did come here a bit early. So you went back to your old classroom... it was still the same. You walked over to what used to be your desk. Was it always so small? Somebody had doodled on your desk, and at first you were a bit mad about it until you read the text. Two names were scribbled down on the desk with a heart surrounding them. With a sigh you started scrubbing it away with your thumb. This sort of shit gets you in trouble during your lectures, you thought to yourself as you tried to imagine the person sitting here. They looked just like you, because you could only really think about the time you did the exact same thing.

“Y/L/N, are you listening?”, Midnight asked you in front of the class, interupting her own lecture. “Um, yes ma’am.”, you quickly looked up and placed your hand above the scribbled name on your desk. “Oh really?”, she walked up to your desk, “Show me what you’ve been so actively writing on your desk. I hope they’re notes.” The class chuckled, which didn’t help the fact that your face was burning hot. Shoto was sitting right beside you and you had to do everything in your power to not look up at him. Slowly, you revealed that you had indeed written down his name on your desk with a small smile. Midnight got an amused glimpt in her eyes as a big smile spread across her lips. If she were to say it out loud you would simply not look at him and when the lesson you’d have to run out of the classroom. You did the mistake of looking up at Shoto, he looked at you with a hint of a smile on his lips... nevermind, maybe you should jump out the window immediately instead. “Very well, Y/L/N.”, Midnight smacked her lips, “Make sure you erase that and actually listen to what I have to say. This’ll be on the test so pay attention and try not to get distracted any further.” You looked at her in shock and she smiled before motioning to your eraser and walking back to the front of the classroom. You had never erased something as fast as you had then.

Everybody had asked you about it after the lesson and you really couldn’t answer. So you made sure that the unknown student’s doodle was completely gone. “You do know we don’t have cleaning duty anymore, right?”, you heard a voice behind you, it was Izuku. “Oh my goodness, Izuku, you made it!”, you grinned and engulfed him in a hug. “They let me off early for once.”, he grinned and hugged you back, “It’s been a while. How are you?” “I’m good, how about you?”

Your conversation kept going as you slowly made your way to where the meet was happening and you finally remembered why you came here in the first place. You hadn’t seen these people in ages, even though you spent every day with them for so many years. It was worth anything to meet them again. Maybe Shoto wouldn’t even come. Maybe he didn’t have time to do so. But of course that wasn’t the case and would never be the case.

When he walked in it felt like time stopped. He didn’t spot you immediately, he simply walked in and started greeting old friends like normal. As soon as he did sparks were flying... literally. A small flame appeared on his right side, right by his eye as they widened... not in shock, but because the memories were coming back so quickly. He looked like a movie... and when you heard him speak he sounded like a song. You hadn’t seen him all these years. Not once, you were too scared to do it. Now he’s right in front of you... he’s walking towards you. Why did this have to take such a long time? It felt like everything was in slowmotion.  “Hi.”, he said. “Hey.”, you answered. Izuku looked between the both of you, as if everything was normal... until he remembered what had happened. He was actually there, comforting you...

“Hey, you’ll be alright, Y/N.”, he said through the phone, “Do you want me to come over... I... uh... I can buy you ice cream?” “... that would be nice...”, you sniffled, after hours of sobbing. “Okay I’ll be right there.”

He had grown into a big brother figure for you. You were friends during highschool, when he was more of an awkward but nice guy. How he had managed to grow into such a confident person, you’ll never know... though you would really like to know that right about now.  “I’m gonna go ahead and excuse myself. I have to say hi to the others!”, Izuku walked away from you and your heart dropped to your knees. How could he? “You look good...”, Shoto said quietly and you finally looked back at him. He stood tall. He always had, but now it was more intimidating. “Thank you.”, you said, as if you hadn’t worn this dress in hope that you’d get some sort of reaction out of him, “You too...” What were you supposed to do? He was finally right in front of you... before you had so much to say but now your mouth was just dry... “Listen I-” “I’m-” You stopped and looked at each other before breaking out into a mild laughter. It wasn’t a laugh that made you bend over and slap your knee, it was more of a nervous laughter. But as soon as you got to take a breath in, when you then breathed out it felt as if you were breathing out all of that awkwardness. “Sorry, you go first.”, Shoto said quietly. “I’m really sorry... about what happened...”, you admitted. “It’s... it’s fine. It was years ago afterall.”, he smiled sadly, “How are you doing, Y/N?” When he said your name like that your heart skipped a beat, just like it did the first time he said your first name.

You were sitting on the floor of Shoto’s dorm room, trying to study. Emphasis on trying. You kept getting distracted by the smallest things and you really couldn’t help it, from the snow outside to him moving in the slightest. “Do you want to take a break?”, Shoto suddenly asked. “Sure.”, you hummed and put down your pencil. The two of you made your way to the kitchen to get yourself a break-snack. Which really just meant that you wanted to make tea. You got the tea that you wanted, green tea, and started boiling water. Shoto stayed by the counter and simply watched you. He never wanted tea when you made some, so you didn’t bother to ask. You didn’t know a lot about him and, though you wanted to know, you felt like it wasn’t time to ask yet. “Could you get me a cup, Todoroki?”, you asked, as the cups were put way too high up. He let out a hum and easily took down a cup for you. “Shoto.”, he said quietly. “What?” you turned to him, he was standing so close. “You can call me Shoto.”, he said calmly. “Alright!”, you nodded and tried your hardest to not get flustered, “Then... then you can call me Y/N.” “Okay... Y/N.”

“I’m doing fine.”, you answered, “Work has been hectic, but that’s expected-”, you paused as soon as you looked into his eyes. “No... I meant like... with that...”, he took a deep breath.  “As you said...”, you looked away from him again, “... it was years ago...” “Y/N, I-” There it was again, you couldn’t handle it anymore. “Sorry, I have to go to the bathroom...”, you muttered and walked away as quickly as you could.

When you had been in there for a while you heard someone opening the door. He wouldn’t walk into the girls’ bathroom, would he? “Hey, Y/N? We know you’re in here.”, it was Mina! “Yeah, how are you feeling? We saw you with... yeah...”, and Ochako! “I’m fine.”, you walked out of the stall, “I just had to... get away for a while.” They hummed in response, you worked with Mina a lot since you were at the same agency. Mina immediately knew when something was off after your break up and called Ochako, so they knew everything. “You know what, Y/N?”, Mina puffed up her chest, “That was years ago, and yes it was tough but you’re tougher! So let’s go out there and enjoy ourselves!” “Yeah, we’re finally able to meet everyone again!”, Ochako grinned, “So let’s have fun, ‘kay?” “You’re right.”, you smiled.

From then on you simply enjoyed yourself, even though you did feel his eyes on you from time to time. Sometimes you’d look back, only to look away when he’d look at you.

The reunion ended pretty early, since most of you had work the next day and you really couldn’t be too tired for your line of work. You still had one thing to do while you were here.  After saying goodbye to your former classmates you walked towards the trees by the school. There was one specific tree that you wanted to go to, just so that you could get some closure. It was an old big tree, probably the biggest one there. In a moment of total instinct you rested your forehead against the bark and softly put your hands on the tree. Sure, it was weird but for some reason it just seemed right. This tree was the place where you’d made so many good memories... you just had to thank it at least once.

“You never really talk about yourself, Shoto...”, you muttered out of the blue. Shoto had his head in your lap as you played with his hair. It was so warm today so you decided to study outside, but you ended up like this instead of actually studying. “I guess I don’t.”, he looked up at you, “Do you want me to?” “I mean I don’t want to pry, that’s not what I meant!”, you laughed nervously, “... it just feels like you always listen and never get to talk.” “It’s always been like that, really.”, he shrugged. “Well, isn’t it... tiring?”, you asked, “Wouldn’t it feel like a weight off your shoulders to talk?” “I’ve never thought of it like that.”, he said, “... maybe you’re right. Is there something you want to know?” “Oh! I... um... sorry, I-”, you started babbling out apologies. Shoto grabbed your face softly and pulled you down to meet his face. You stared into his eyes in shock. He wasn’t usually this foreward, even if you had been dating for a while. “I’ll tell you one thing, Y/N.”, he whispered, “I don’t care if I have to listen or talk, as long as it’s with you.” Your eyes fluttered shut as he pushed up his body slightly to meet you in the middle and kissed you for the first time.

The cherry blossoms had already bloomed, so it wasn’t as pretty as it was back then... but the tree still brought a smile to your lips. “I guess we thought about the same thing.”, someone said behind you. You turned around to meet his heterochromic eyes. A sad smile grazed your lips, it didn’t matter what had happened... you can’t forget what had happened between the two of you. Yes, it was over, but the time you had was magical. There was nowhere to run now, you just had to face him straight on. “It’s not that big of a surprise is it? It’s beautiful.”, you turned back to the tree, “... and it’s special...” “If you want me to leave, just say so.”, he sounded if he was ready to go. “No.”, you turned back around to him, “Please stay with me.” He looked at you for a while before nodding and walking up to the tree and sitting down with his back against the bark. You sat down next to him and put your head on his shoulder. It was a habit, but he didn’t seem to mind since he put his head on top of yours. “You never answered my question before.”, he whispered softly. “... I’m doing alright.”, you said honestly, “There are just a lot of memories coming back now and it’s... it’s scary.” “Tell me about it then, that used to help right?” “It did.”, you chuckled, “I’m not gonna lie, I have tried to move on for a while. But it’s hard when you really know me better than anyone.” “I get it...”, he nodded, “... but what do you have to lose? What if you just try?” “... but what if I realize that I can’t ever love like that again?” He was quiet. But it was nice. He smelled like he used to, it was comforting. Your heart started racing when he took your hand in his. “I’ve tried too...”, he admitted, “It didn’t work.” You turned towards him, as he did the same. You didn’t get a good look at him before... he had only slightly changed. Maybe he had a few more scars... bigger under-eye circles... it didn’t matter. It was him. And you couldn’t help it. You leaned foreward and kissed him. As soon as you did, he kissed back and brought you in closer by your waist. He still tasted like icy mint and his hands were still gentle. You got up on your knees, but the action was too quick and you ended up tumbling over him instead. “Sorry...”, you whispered. “Maybe we shouldn’t be doing this here?”

You couldn’t believe that you were at his apartment after all these years. You didn’t see much, it was all mostly a blur, but you did see the new nice apartment complex and the fact that he still had his old furniture. While walking through the apartment the two of you stumbled over anything that was in the way because you never really broke the kiss at all. Maybe you had too much to drink before, or maybe he was making you spin the way that he had that night. Either way the rest was just a wonderful blur.

The next morning you woke up to the sun shining through the window. Shoto was sleeping soundly beside you. You wished you could stay but... this was too much, you had already over stepped by being here at all, let alone sleeping with him. Both of you were getting older, you couldn’t fool around like this anymore. Though you did wish you could keep the image of him like this in your mind. He was laying peacefully with his face on the pillow, his back was exposed as the covers weren’t fully covering him and his hair was ever so slightly messy. He looked like an angel... but maybe you were biased. You were about to leave the bed when you felt the bed shift. “Wait.”, Shoto said in the raspy voice he always had in the morning. “I’m sorry, Shoto.”, you shook your head, “I have to leave.” You got up and started putting on your clothes which were scattered across the floor. He got up next to you and quickly pulled on a pair of underwear before following after you. You went to what you assumed was his bathroom, which was correct, and washed your face. “Y/N, please. Just stay here for a while, we should talk.” “It’s bad enough that I’m here, Shoto. This is so stupid!”, you held back your tears, “We split, that should’ve been the end of it!” You walked over to the door and put on your shoes, ready to leave. “The worse decision I’ve ever made was letting you say goodbye, I’m not doing that again!”, he exclaimed. “Whether you let me or not, I’m going to leave.”, you couldn’t look at him, not even when he grabbed your hand. “Please, Y/N.”, he sighed, “I can’t stay away from you anymore.” “I want to go back to that... so bad...”, you sniffled. “Then please let me back in.”, he pleaded. “I would if I could.”, you assured him and he let go of your hand, “But I don’t trust myself enough yet.” You opened the door and stepped out of his apartment. He didn’t stop you or go after you. You heard a thud on the other side of the door, which you could only assume was him falling to the ground. You slapped your hand over your mouth to keep in the sobs. If you can’t get over him, how were you supposed to ever get over anything?

-

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[captainsuke]

Yusuf should be asleep, he should be wrapped around his husband's body, taking strength from the warmth he's never quite felt anywhere else.

Instead he's in the kitchen, the cool metal grip on his pistol warmed by his hand wrapped white knuckled around it.

He'd heard a noise.

He'd dreamed he'd heard a noise.

It doesn't matter. It's late and the little cottage they are currently calling home is empty, except for his sleeping husband, and Joe, standing vigil in the dark.

(rest of fic under the cut for all you ao3 haters)

There's a small gap between window and wall, and the wind flows through it with a whispering wail. Once all houses creaked and swayed and whistled with the wind, little leaks with pots that were emptied in the morning, a row of fine dust along the window sills and under the doors gifted from a night of wild wind. Now these things are considered nuisances, problems to be torn down and rebuilt new and unremarkable. His heart feels heavy tonight, the feeling of long years catching up on him and curling it's fingers around his soul.

Joe looks out the window of his and Nicky's little Maltese cottage, the moon shines bright enough behind shifting clouds that even the slivers of light allow Joe to see the branches of the apple tree in the front garden sway with the cool night's breeze. Many summers ago they'd laid in the shade of that tree, eating the sweetly tart fruit until they'd made themselves sick. He has a sketch - or eight - of the passing shadows dappling Nicky's face as he'd laid back, full and content.

A memory stacked upon another memory from the days they'd done the same with Andromache, years and years ago, four, five hundred years ago, filling their bellies with overripe apricots after several long hard years of fighting and barely being able to tell if they had even made a difference, let alone actually helped anyone. Even now Joe can close his eyes and see Qýuhn's hair blowing free in the cooling winds coming up along the Peloponnese peninsula. Andromache's fingers sticky with pasteli, her cheeks rosy where she laid them on Qýuhn's thigh. Nicolò, sunbleached and glowing in the golden of light of a Mediterranean sunset.

He remembers retelling the apple story when they'd all met up again, Booker with his ever present flask, Andy sharing long drinks from it, all them tired but smiling, leaning heavily of the heavenly taste of crisp apples and the folly of gorging on enough fresh fruit to upset their stomachs. Because it made Booker laugh. Because it gave them all something to laugh about, to distract themselves from the weather turning and Sèbastien's eyes growing cagey as the winter's teeth started to bite.

Nicky had stoked the cottage's fire til they'd been sweating in front of the tiny hearth, toasty and ridiculous in their undergarments, with thick woolen socks on their feet in respect for the wild weather that battered at the windows. He'd felt happy that they'd managed to turn that haunted look to smiling eyes that crinkled at the edges. Had that moment meant something? Anything? Nothing? Was the glow in his eyes merely momentary? A trick of light and the gleam of drunken eyes?

Would this be the rest of his days? Questioning every moment, desperately searching for where he went wrong, where he should have noticed Booker's pain. Looking for the moment that had been Sèbastien's last straw.

It's funny, Joe can joke, he can laugh, he can make vague reference and yell angry accusing words, he can recite a bit of original poem he's writing as he speaks, but he can't work out how to open his mouth and say the words why did you hurt me?

He's always horribly envied Nicky's ability to put his hurt away, to shelve it for later, or never if he feels it best. Even as he's pulled his hair out in frustration as his other half willfully tears himself to pieces in an effort to find a way to please everyone.

Oh, he knows they're both different shades of Not Dealing Well, both of them like a purpose to distract themselves.

Foolishly, stupidly, for a wild moment Joe wishes for someone else to try for them, to attack them, just so he can slip back into the head space of being a unit, a simple moving part in a machine much larger than himself, Nicky and him working hand in hand, two halves of a whole.

He desperately wishes for that feeling, for anything other than devastated, tearing, hating hurt that sits on his lungs like peine forte et dure, each time he feels like the worst of the pain has occurred he remembers some other occasion, some other memory now colored by betrayal.

He can forgive, he can sympathize, he can hold his brother close and cry for the losses he's suffered.

But anger stabs through at the thought of him not returning that empathy. Like he and all the kin before Booker haven't suffered days of death and nights of death. Day after day, month after month of unimaginable loss, not knowing how to stop it, how to help it, just enduring as time pass uncaring of the pain felt.

He's held Nicky as he begged for the end, for them to finally (please, please, please) be released from the unrelenting years of horrors, just as Nicky has pulled him close while he cried, screamed, wailed for even the slightest chance of reprieve. From the widow with dead eyes and fevered blush, burying her last child and going back to work at the sick houses, for the children with nothing – nothing - yet who could still muster a smile, for Nicky spitting blood, choking, drowning, dying, then coming back to do it all over again. Never ending and relentless.

This is stupid.

He is being stupid.

Awake in the middle of the night, stalking around their Malta house gun in hand, the most unnatural state of himself, but unable to rest, convinced that if he relaxed, if his guard dropped for a moment, he would lose it all.

He places the gun on the table, sits down, there's no peace or answers to be found in an old cottage kitchen by the sea at midnight.

All there is, is the long shadows of moonlight between furniture, the evening dishes neatly washed and drying on the sink, a glass full of pens on the table, Joe's gun now sitting atop Nicky's latest writing attempt. Never long, never complicated, Joe found himself devastated by each small letter his husband left for him, even the three thousand that merely read I love you ♥♥♥♥, he held each one to equal esteem, though Nicky barely seemed to remember writing them, he would just smile and say I was thinking of you.

you unmake me.

you remake me.

everyday

Doodled across cheap lined notepaper, tucked under his dinner plate. They'd shared that meal just a few hours ago, Nicky's eyes had been tired but he'd kissed Joe's curls with a soft smile as he'd served dinner.

A meal that had taken more than half the day to create because if Nicky had the time he found peace in simmering oil and tomatoes, in adding all the extra ingredients that might make an Italian swear but had delighted them so when they'd first tasted them, that now they'd add them to whatever meal they could.

It'd been less than a week and Nicky was already on first name basis with the halal butcher a few blocks away, and many a day they stroll the streets, collecting fresh produce from the little garden markets, stopping by Zakaria's so he could wrap the evening meal with a only my finest cut for my favorite customers and a wink, despite having claimed the same to the little Italian grandmother before them, blushing and waving her hands in a flustered, delighted stop motion.

Joe closes his eyes, feeling suddenly overwhelmed, like his heart would be beat out of his chest, fall out onto the floorboards that they'd sanded and placed lovingly when they'd first started rebuilding this little cottage. Nicky could live his life with just Yusuf and the sea and be happy, but Joe needed people, needed to see people living their lives no matter how mundane. No matter how out of sorts he's been since they arrived, exhausted and devastated from London, Nicky hadn't forgotten that.

And so Nicolò knows the butcher by name, and, in turn, Zakaria's fisherman boyfriend, who stocks the butcher shop with the freshest of catches and shies away from company, with deep sad eyes and ankle bones that jut out like he needs a Nonna to fuss over him.

And so he's befriended the old ladies from the markets who give him unsolicited advice on his roses, on his apple tree, on the lush green vine that flowers bright bursts of color, on how to keep That Nice Young Man He's Always With happy.

And so each of these people is a friend of Joe's as well.

Joe takes one last long look out the window. Daring anyone who might be out there to take the moment. To give him a reprieve from his thoughts.

But the apple trees branches are the only thing moving. Wind rustling leaves the only sounds to be heard over the soft ebbing crash of waves in the distance.

There's no respite to be found tonight, he thinks as he put his pistol away. Part of him aches to remain armed, to keep vigilant, because last time, last time, but he won't walk into their bedroom with a loaded gun in hand. Not tonight when he feels like his very soul has been twisted, not when he still feels as if unseen eyes are watching him.

As Joe closes the bedroom door behind him, eyes open slow but sharp, immediately awake, perhaps awake before Joe came in. His Nicky is a light sleeper, more prone to 3 or 4 hours sleep before waking alert and ready to face the living hours,.

Nicky's eyes go soft, the faintest of gentle smiles curling his lips as he focuses on Yusuf.

“Where are you, my love?” he asks with quiet rasping voice of someone newly woken.

He doesn't know, he feels adrift, but Nicky's hand moves, reaches out and Joe crosses the room to take it as the lifeline he needs.

“What do you need?” His voice is steady and calm and ready to promise anything in his power to Joe.

And Joe feels his heart constrict, he can't live without this man, he thinks wildly

(a flash, a dagger in the dark, Nicolò on the ground, a halo of his blood, his beautiful skull, his precious brains scattered across the floor without second thought)

he wants to know Andy's okay, he wants her and Nile here immediately so he can see for himself that they're safe, he wants Qýuhn in his arms so much it physically aches. He wants her dark humor and her sharp eyes. He wants to hear her screech like stepped on cat whenever something delighted her. He wants Booker snorting into his wine at some stupid joke, he wants to know he's alive, that he hasn't thrown himself into another stupid situation.

In the morning, he thinks, in the morning he'll speak to Nile, her occasional furtive texting isn't quite as secretive as she perhaps thinks but none of them had felt the need to tell her to stop.

In the morning, he can wait til morning to soothe the lies and worries that his anxiety haunts him with. Til then, he threads his hands tighter with Nicky's, lets him pull Joe to bed, lets him rearrange them til he's flat on his back with Joe's head is resting on his chest, Nicolò's heartbeat in his ear.

He keeps a hold of Joe's hand, brings it up to his lips, presses a kiss to where they're joined, then curls it close to Joe and his chest, as if shielding it against the rest of the world.

“You, just you.” Joe tells the darkness.

“You have me,” Nicolò says, his breath, his lips, his jaw moving against Joe's curls.

“What do you need?” He asks again, free hand coming to rest, cradling Joe's head, gently gently he feels fingers move lightly in tiny soft circles.

“Tell me something.”

Joe pulls their joined hands close, presses his own kiss against Nicky's long fingers, holds it close enough for his breath to warm skin “Please. Tell me something good.”

It's a hard ask, he knows, he knows, every good moment of their lives can be tied to a bad one, the past could be a minefield with no directions or signs. But Nicolò rarely shied from a challenge.

“Did I ever tell you of the time Qýuhn demanded to know my intentions with you?”

“But she loved you!” He mumbles against their joined hands.

“Yes she did, but she loved your heart just as fiercely.” Nicky's chest moves against Joe's cheek as he snorts, amused, “We'd had to have been intimate for almost a year by this time, but she had me feeling like a sham of a man standing before the most beautiful man's guardian, offering a pauper's dowery.”

Joe starts shifting to argue but the hand on his head keeps him still, gentle but firm.

“It was good. To be reminded that you had someone else who would fight for your happiness, that my love for you was visible enough to be challenged, a reminder that we both still had family even if it looked very different to what we'd been born with. It'd been nice to know no matter how much I felt I didn't deserve, I'd been ready to fight for the right to let that be your decision.”

“You do deserve me,” the gentle circles on his scalp are making him sleepy but he puts a token argument, the principle of no one was allowed talk shit about Nicky, not even Nicky, one he was always ready to defend.

“Hush, you asked for a story, this is my story.”

“Scusi, scusi,” he kisses Nicky's hand again, “tell your story, tell me how you convinced me that Qýuhn you were worthy of my hand in marriage.”

He swears he can hear Nicky smile in the dark.

“I didn't, Andromache came in and declared they should leave us to make our mistakes and then stab which ever of us was most in the wrong.”

Joe can't help but laugh. “Qýuhn like that?”

He feels Nicky's soft laughter vibrate through his skin, he wants to die like this, in a moment like this, just the two of them entwined.

“No, she called Andy soulless and unromantic, they went outside to spar. We didn't see them again til morning, and Qýuhn never mentioned it again, so maybe Andy had a little romance in her.”

“How have I never head of this story?”

Nicky's answering chuckle is a delight.

“You came back and we had the house to ourselves for the entire night.” The hand on Joe's head flexes, like he wants to hold Joe as tight as he is can but its as much as their position allows. “It was a good day. We were loved, we are loved.”

He wants to crawl inside Nicolò, live forever embraced by his heart, to feel every lung full of breath press against him

“Sleep my love,” Nicky says leaning low to press his cheek against Joe's curls, to place an unaimed kiss to his forehead.

Sleep.

Nicky’s heartbeat is a sure and steady thing against his ear

(a monitor screaming as his lives hand falls limp against restraints)

Joe squeezes his eyes tightly shut then forces himself to relax, to hear the beat that's been by his side for a thousand years. He thinks of crinkles at the sides of Qýuhn's eyes when she grinned, the way she'd look to Joe when she found something fun to share.

He thinks of the way Booker's face grew soft in the late of the night when the game had long ended and everyone had gone to sleep and it was just the two of them, keeping the sleepless night company.

He thinks of the glow of Nile's face when they walked the halls of the National Museum, her excited but obviously knowledgeable commentary, how he itches to draw the lines of her joy over and over til he gets it just right.

He thinks of Andy in Marrakesh, the feel of her ribs reverberating with the force of her laugh as he swung her around. She's mother, weird aunt, odd stranger, honored elder, pain in the ass know-it-all older sister and so many more things he can not think to name, but she's theirs, and it's going to take a lot more than mortality to take her from them.

He swears it.

Finally he thinks of Nicky.

Nicky with long hair in his face, of the ever changing color his eyes across the firelight, of the weight of his body passed out, sated atop Yusuf, of the weight of his body lifeless as Joe pulled him somewhere to revive safely. The heaviness of his gaze and the weightlessness of even his smallest smile. Of his hands as they held Joe together, the gentleness of his touch as he put him back together. Of the unique light in his eyes, the fire that burns brightest when his sword is out. He thinks of words freely given when speech was hardest, he thinks of the uncountable I love you's, the innumerable languages he's learnt just to speak them and hear them back.

He thinks of hot blood spattered across his face and the way Nicolòs eyes would fight to meet his own when the end was coming. He thinks of the tightening of hands before they became unbearably limp. He thinks of the bad deaths, of eyelashes glued together with tears as hes gasped alive and the watery smile that followed. He thinks of Nicky moving, his sword swinging, on broken ankle, spitting blood and still moving.

His head, his heart, his life is full, and sometimes it feels like he'll drown with all that's in it.

Nicky's hand moves from his head, moves to stroke down his spine, long and slow in repetition.

Sleep he says again, his own voice thick at the edge of sleep himself.

Joe hugs a small breath, then slows his breathing to match the deep level breathing of Nicolò asleep. He thinks about the first time they slept like this, arms around each other, tangled and holding tight. He thinks of the countless times he's rubbed his nose against the back of Nicky's neck as he tried to catch just a little more sleep time.

There's a heaviness growing in his limbs as he half dreams of Nicky as he wraps himself around and burrows himself closer to Nicky. Slowly, steadily and then suddenly all at once, the sense memory of nine hundred years in this man's arms lulls him into sleep.