#but right before the hiatus started we did a level up so at least I get to look forward to trying new things when we go back!

[canarydraws]

Updated Victor’s portrait

[blossoms-phan]

I have been watching old videos in tour preparation and was staggered by how much happier and healthier Dan and Phil both look now. You can see how suffocated by the whole thing they were back for a period pre hiatus. Those years where the enjoyment and fun had gone is a tough watch.

I dipped out for a while and missed this period, and so looking back now you literally see the lights dim in Dan's eyes over a year or so, and how fed up of forcing an act he was.

The absolute chaos and fun and joy that has been post hiatus really emphasises just how tired and over hiding and lying and being yes men they must have been. It makes me appreciate this new era of content so much more. I would watch them watching grass grow, if it kept them smiling and happy and fulfilled, rather than making content for us, that made them that miserable.

oh :(( anon this really broke me and i have a lot of thoughts about this tbh.

as someone who's been lucky enough to watch them change and grow over 10 years, i think something we all know is how it's nothing compared to now, but like there was a clear shift around 2018 with tour and just the way that they presented themselves publicly. in part, they started to become a little bit more comfortable with each other and carefree about sharing certain things. again, looking back this sounds strange to say but im talking purely compared to the years before then- it was absolutely different. of course, we all know that this time was extremely difficult for dan, struggling with authenticity and "living his truth". i love ii, this is in no way dogging on it bc i think there's room to be proud of it and what they did but also the entire concept of "giving the people what they want" is almost poetic considering dan's internal turmoil during this time, like with what he said during one of those reaction videos- "c'mon dan, give the people what they want and then you can disappear forever." multiple people on here have put it like this before but there are certain points like in ii era liveshows where you can tell dan is just buzzing with this restless, frustrated energy, like he's stuck inside his own skin and can't crawl out of it.

i will say that i think just on some practical level, i like to tell myself that it wasn't all doom and gloom pre-hiatus and that there were obviously moments of happiness or comfort or things that they genuinely enjoyed doing, like travelling the world or something as small as playing a fun game. but i would be lying to myself if i denied the fact that they absolutely struggled at points, and that dan was fed up of struggling with the pain of wanting to be his true, authentic self, but being scared. again though, it's not all bad. this was the first time that dan started to accept and at least think about coming out, and all those moments where they signed pride flags and he would say things like "hopefully one day" to people who told them their stories really cements his point that the acceptance and support his audience gave helped him. the hiatus was so important for their personal growth, to heal their relationship with us, and like you pointed out they really were "yes men"- phil constantly pointing out how learning how to say no has helped a ton.

there are no words to describe this new era other than pure fun, joy, and whimsy. it's been an absolute privilege to see their personal growth, to watch them allow themselves to focus on themselves and be happy and open and watch them have the time of their lives and reassure us that they're enjoying it and not going anywhere anytime soon. i'm right there with you, i just feel so happy and appreciative of being here experiencing this new era with you all and them, and i just want them to do whatever makes them happy and fulfilled. which is what i think they're doing right now with the tour, and they knew it mere months after the comeback which they had no real long term plans for, but we showed up for them, and they know that which is why it makes the idea of our mutual "healing" and entering this new era together so exciting <3

[buggywiththefolkmagic]

Buggy's Book Reviews: The Old Mountain Spellbook

Well well well, look who has returned after a long hiatus while life kicked my ass from here to Sunday. Let's get started with a bang shall we? TW: Slavery mentions, appropriation, generalized frustration at the writing space currently with the rise of ghost writers and AI.

This is: The Old Mountain Spellbook by Alda Dagny

Rating: 1/10 

Buckle up. This is gonna be a bumpy ride. Prepare to be shocked, horrified, and gobsmacked.

For context the cover art of this book caught my eye and then I read the small blurb of a subtitle for it and cringed so incredibly hard that the moment it showed up in my Spotify audio book list, I had to give it a listen for a measly 3 and a half hours of my life while at work. 

I regret this decision so very hard.

For further context:

This “author” Alda Dagny has also written books on…”The Secrets of the Nile” a three part series called “The Old Norse Spellbook:”, and “Secrets of Mesoamerica”. 

My head hurts from thinking about the gall to “write” on such a wide variety of topics in a seniority form. But before I get ahead of myself let me go back into my proper format for these reviews.

Pros: SOME of the information is right. The mentions of planting by the signs and how the signs works was very accurate. The generalized description of grannies, while very surface level and focused far too heavily on the midwife aspect, which don’t get me wrong is super mega ulta important! Was right if not very generalized. That’s about all I’ve got. 

It does mention that Hoodoo is a closed practice that stems from African Dispora/the Trans-Atlantic slave trade which good for this “author”. You will understand why that term is in parenthesis later! 

This book also included a Bell Witch mention twice which made my Tennessee heart hopeful for like two seconds.

Cons: Gods help me. For starters, I know this was likely not a choice this “author” made, but why in the seven hells did the publisher pick an AUSTRALIAN PERSON to do the narration for this book? The mispronunciation of Appalachia and Asfidy are now burned into my brain for life. I do not appreciate it. The MINIMUM a narrator should do is glance through for proper pronunciations. 

My gripes with the audiobook out of the way let’s get into the meat of this review: The book’s contents and why I believe this was ghost written/stolen from other places and put forward by an ai generated “author”. 

The second entire chapter of this book, a whopping 40 minutes of the audiobook, is all about Hoodoo. The real thing that got me was it SAYS that Hoodoo is a CLOSED PRACTICE stemming from Africa Diaspora. And what does this book do anyway? Break Hoodoo down into stupid candle magic and mojo bags and tell you how to do “it”. I was surprised it got the origin of Hoodoo right! It was RIGHT! And then it shits on itself. 

Examples: Hoodoo shares similarities with wicca. Tarot is incredibly important to the practice. And it is a religion and not a practice. The practice is “rootwork”. Did I mention that Hoodoo focuses on “doing no harm”? Oh and the third eye is important too, especially to Hoodoo despite it being a Hindu concept. I cannot make this up.

The wording of this book is also incredibly strange. I don’t have a ebook version to double check but I am positive the words Furthermore and However are included at least 50 times. EACH. The book also repeats itself numerous times. A good example is with the Furnace Ghost story it tells in the 4th chapter I believe? Where it repeats the same end of sentence with just slightly different beginnings within the same paragraph. There’s also other phrases used at the end of chapters to usher in the next that just read…weirdly? Examples: “Let me set the stage” “You are not going to want to miss this.” What are you writing a script or a book? 

Now for the proper “Appalachian Magic” side of the book. It consistently uses the term Granny Witch, and states numerous times that witchcraft was just fine! Appalachia did not care and the “fear” of witches never penetrated the mountains. But yet a “granny witch” would use faith not as a proper form of healing, oh no! It was “to keep doubters at bay”. So faith healing was a cover up and not the actual practice itself. 

This book also has two whole chapters on legends and myths, which is fine, if it didn’t focus on the ones everyone knows like Bigfoot and Mothman only. Like it doesn’t cover any of the smaller localized things or spirits at all. Just the things you could easily find if you googled “appalachia spooky”. Hmmmmmm. Strange isn’t it? 

This book also stated that tarot and black tourmaline was ULTRA important to Appalachian magic. Like where does that come from? There’s another chapter dedicated to the phases of the moon and “spells”  which they mean in a modern new-age witchcraft way and definitely not Appalachian, although I will give it props for saying the moon phases and astrology are different here. Because they are.

Tiktok was mentioned twice; it appropriates dreamcatchers and other Hoodoo items in the “non-Hoodoo” sections of the book. Hell, it even said, accurately mind you, that Mothman has even “spawned fanfiction”. It even got the information on where Roanoke was…wrong.  Roanoke is in Virginia. This book claims it is in North Carolina. 

The most damning thing however, and I use that however in a very sarcastic tone, is the “author” herself. I painstakingly typed in some text from the book and was surprised to see it come back as “human written”. I don’t think that’s quite true, if it is then they text portions must be stolen from other sources and shoved into a book form. Because this author? A bot.

Her profile image used on Amazon, which is the ONLY SOURCE of information on her, no socials, no google, nothing. Is AI generated. Proof is here: 

And a blurb from the book I wanted to include as well. The first of many furthermores used.

The author's Biography, which again is the ONLY SOURCE OF INFORMATION on this supposed person, says as follows: "Alda Dagny has always been drawn to history. Growing up in Scandinavia, history has always been all around her, gods and goddesses, pagan rituals and spells. Ancient ruins that dot her homeland captivated her from an early age, giving her a lifelong love of all things history. " That's all I can find. That's it. Just AI and or ghost writing/theft has officially found itself in the AFM space. I hate this society.

[goldenpinof]

curious about your perspective – what do you think is the primary reason for the current comeback, and for the large scale of it (daily videos, new heavily marketed merch, etc)? are they trying to make up some monetary loss? is it true revitalized passion? the influence of the new management? lead-up to a major project/announcement? i'm guessing there's an element of at least the first three, but interested in your opinion as a noted non-cynical cynic (compliment btw)

under the cut because that's a lot. and it's not even all of my thoughts, unfortunately.

no one is gonna read it. but if you are, i'm sorry in advance.

ahaha. about merch. did you notice how they just continue to promote the calendar and the catboy sweater even though the initial release and promo had a deadline aka till December 1st? this is a fishy marketing right there. and i would love to know: why they did what they did (i'd assume they printed more calendars than people ordered by Dec 1st, but that's not our problem as customers. we shouldn't have been put into a framework in the 1st place if there was a chance for this shit to go south. this theory goes against the "pre-order" with a start of shipping in 2-3 weeks); why their managers allowed it (from a legal perspective); and why dnp didn't say anything. anyways.

i do think that Dan is trying to compensate for wad losses. and i know that he was "joking" about not making money or making negative money on tour. but i saw ticket sales a day before each show (only public information, not the inside official data from venues), it's still on my blog. and the sales didn't look good. so, how much of it was a joke? and compensating by making content that we and they enjoy isn't a bad thing, btw! i also think that he feels guilty for leaving us and the dnp brand behind for so long without actually giving us anything in return. thus so many comments on this 5-year hiatus and potential future ones. blame youtube originals, i know. not really his fault, but his choice of (the lack of) communication is his fault. and again, i always come back to wad. something fucking clicked in his head when he saw not as many people as he hoped for (or expected), how dedicated were some of those who still supported him during wad, and also he realised that without stronger managers he was not gonna make it solo. and he dragged Phil along because they do everything together and only then it works the best, and also dnpg's return in full force needed new energy for the amount of sponsorships they decided to do (i think, it's mainly Phil's pushing, because he is pro-sponsorships, they just need to be more careful with it on dnpg because Dan (hopefully) has principles when it comes to this. which is amazing. you go, girl!)

i'm very suspicious of dnp's new management right now. so idk. i think, again, most of it comes from Phil, because Phil thrives on their gaming channel, and that's basically the only easy way to survive on youtube and make money right now (for him). i'm glad dnp separated dnpg from their solo careers at least on the management and content levels. it gives Phil the room to use dnpg as a brand to pitch and fund his ideas/projects if it's ever needed. and now, after we survived the hiatus, they can pause dnpg for a couple of months to focus on their solo projects without losing the majority of the audience because technically we would know the reason and also we grew a thicker skin.

i do think that Dan is using dnpg to later help himself with a stand-up special or tour or some sort of series (danisnotokay). i also think he will use it to promote wad dvd (which is good. i will be disappointed if he doesn't use dnpg. like, bitch, why are we even here then? those who went through wad with him, i mean). i wonder if Inter Talent (i'm separating their name intentionally at his point because they piss me off) was smart enough to announce Dan and Phil's signings 2 weeks after UTA announced Dan to just make us pay attention to Dan's solo career again. as a hint of something coming our way. you know what i mean? i wonder if it was intentional. like UTA made a huge announcement, Dan retweeted it and posted it on instagram stories. it was a big deal. meanwhile, dnpg began thriving again and our eyes were on Dan anyway, so of course we noticed that solo career was on the maps again. Inter Talent was basically silent as another representative of Dan (and Phil), despite having them on the website for at least a month. and now 2 weeks after UTA's announcement (which was on November 22, 2023) Inter Talent was like, "hello? do you remember we signed Dan? and also Phil, and their joint channel?" Dan said wad dvd is almost cooked. wouldn't it be genius to stir our interest up step by step? (a part of me still thinks that Inter Talent's social media managers are just slow as fuck though. also they don't even care to check facts about their clients. UTA didn't fuck the announcement up like that, btw. and i doubt Inter Talent realises how nosy dnp's audience is, and that we are very likely gonna notice and spread even this stupid announcement. maybe they are dumb and it's me who is a fucking genius planning steps to present wad dvd to the masses, ugh. when will Dan pay me, like for real.)

i'm surprised you don't think it's heavily connected to new projects. i would bet my kidney it does. Dan will fuck off the moment he needs to focus on danisnotokay or someone offers to sponsor another tour (which, please, someone do. i need to see him for professional reasons). the question is, fuck off for how long and if it's gonna be communicated thoroughly or not. i'm not saying he will leave for 6 months without giving us something in return to balance things out. no, no, no. i don't think he would dare. but 3-4 weeks, maybe 2 months? sure.

is it true revitalized passion? well. *nervous laughter* i'm gonna defend Phil like i'm a phillie, even tho i'm not. he wanted it just as much as we did. so i believe it's a true revitalized passion at least on his part. i hope he fights for it if it's necessary, i hope he asks us for help if needed. i hope he threatens Dan with an actual divorce and forever home if needed. like, bitch, if there's a chance to keep dnpg alive without Dan actually losing his will to live, we should use that chance. Dan's stubbornness and delulus are not the reason to kill the most fun and profitable thing they ever created aka dnp brand. let it exist, even if alongside solo projects, even if it's 2-3 videos a month. damn, even 1 video (i don't mean during pauses made specifically for the peaks of solo projects). i do think Dan enjoys the attention, money, and possibilities their returned audience can give him. he also enjoys working with Phil. he certainly does not enjoy promoting their videos. and he is lucky he has Phil for that. is it a true passion for the gaming channel and joint branding solemnly? i genuinely don't think so. now, this dnp brand puts Dan into a framework, unfortunately. and i understand his desire to grow as a "strong independent Dan", and i wish him the best. i will root for him no matter how much of a floppy-ding-dong it can potentially be. i want him to fulfill his dreams and have a team that will fight for his interests. and i hope to god, UTA and Inter Talent are the ones. don't fucking tempt me with your unprofessionalism. but do i think Dan's head and heart belong to dnpg or dnp brand? no. i'm happy that he is at least trying. a part of me doesn't even care about the reason. i'm curious, but in hindsight, it wouldn't matter or change anything.

other thoughts, because apparently i decided to vomit on a keyboard tonight:

i'm glad dnp took back a bit of control over the editing on dnpg. i hope they will try to edit more themselves when gamingmas is over. or they will teach their editors better. because man, we need to slow down with these cuts.

i do think that dnp brand will expand, and dnpg and merch aren't the only things we should expect. (twitch, podcast or liveshows, onlyfans or its equivalent, vlogging series not limited by ditl, and other things that i forgot). reaction videos are already a thing and it's very funny because it's what youtube wants, so Dan must feel amazing right now falling for it :)) it's good thought because it's fun and torture for all parties involved.

i think by these reaction videos they are trying to rewrite their internet history a little bit for those who are new. it's not gonna work with us but at least dnp can control the narrative in new people's heads (i wonder for how long though).

with new people, the phandom will become more generic and dnp will love that. it can actually help Dan with new projects i think. Phil as well, but we don't know shit about it right now.

i wonder if Dan returns to working with charities.

if they involve more phannies, not only artists, it's gonna be interesting.

in case i'm wrong, don't step on my neck, i don't know anything for a fact. half of it is alleged, the other half is wishful thinking <3

[traegorn]

I need to stop doing this to myself.

(A Rant Where Trae Has Written Too Many Books This Month)

So since most of you started following me because of Witchcraft or podcast stuff, I realize a lot of you don't know how much fiction writing I do.

Primarily what I've published are comics. The big one is UnCONventional (which ran from December of 2009 to December of 2019), but I also did a steampunk comic called The Chronicles of Crosarth (which I put on hiatus in like 2018 intending to come back to... but I haven't, and I make no guarantee that I will even though over 650 of the 800 planned pages are done). Crosarth is... fine? The art isn't great in either of these, but UnCONventional carries itself with the humor.

But that's all old stuff. You may be like "Trae, what have you been producing for the last four years," and the answer is "not a lot." I got major creative block with the pandemic. Peregrine Lake, the "Northwoods Gothic" comic I was supposed to launch in 2020 (which has some characters from UnCONventional in it) didn't materialize when I said it would. What storytelling energy I had went into Stormwood & Associates and The Meatgrinder (my two actual play podcasts), but that was it.

And then 2023 happened, and the juices started flowing again.

Peregrine Lake is moving forward -- but with me just doing the writing. My urge to draw has not returned, but my urge to write has. A friend of mine, Ethan Flanagan, is drawing it, and I've written the first year of comics. It likely won't launch any time soon (the artist I'm working with is busy as hell so we want to get a shit-ton of the comic done before we launch it -- we have like the first month and a half of the comic ready?). But yeah -- it's happening. I hoping for Spring, but we'll see.

The other thing though is that I've started writing, like, novels. I've always had like twenty ideas in my head, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I decided to start with the idea I cared the least about (in case I fucked it up): A queer urban fantasy story.

In the last month and a half I've written complete drafts of two different novels in this setting, and am halfway through another one... and have another one outlined.

I, uh, had some ideas.

If you're asking yourself "Hey Trae -- what the fuck? That's a lot" you need to know a few things that aren't obvious. At one point in college, in 72 hours, I produced over 40 pages of text between three research papers. All were for 300 level courses, and I may have disassociated while writing them because I frankly don't remember most of it. But, like, they were decent papers.

One of those papers is in Google Scholar.

Anyway, yeah. I haven't been sleeping great because I've been obsessively writing, but you might ask "Why didn't you just write one and get it ready to publish?" That's a great question. Because I wrote a book, and when I was 3/4 of the way through it I realized something very important: This book would make a great sequel to a book I haven't written. I've been writing book two in a series where I haven't written book one yet.

Well fuck.

So I finished that draft, and I went and wrote book one. Now that book? That book I'm getting ready to publish. I expect to have it out in January. Part of my editing process involves setting what I think is a completed, good, revised draft down for a couple of weeks and then returning to it with fresh eyes. We're in that waiting period right now.

But I still had a bunch of energy.

So the first thing I did was a revising draft on book two (the one I wrote first), but I finished that. And had more energy. And more stories in this setting kept popping up.

So I started a third book. And I'm halfway through the first draft of that book. But then I realized yesterday... shit, this isn't book three.

This is book four.

I need stuff to happen before we get to this story.

So now I've outlined the actual book three, and am working on literally both of these books at once (I'll take a break for Christmas and then go do a final edit on Book One).

And... I'm just like... why am I like this?

I need to stop myself for a few days and get more sleep.

[solarwynd]

this is a little random but seeing how the contract negotiations for bp members went and that some of them are establishing their individual agencies made me realize something. for bp members, we know that they’ll likely have group endeavors that are few and far between, but we know that in the case of bts that is a risk that hybe cannot take by any means.

we’ve already unpacked a lot of the reasons why hybe was so intentional on providing jk with every possible tool and then some. i think an additional layer to that was likely related to them retaining the rights to the members solo endeavors. even if they failed to keep all of the members in-house for their solo gigs then at least they got to maintain their “biggest asset” which would calm investors’ concerns if any of the members decided to dip in the solo aspect. this also worked as a way to coerce the other members to continue their solo careers with hybe since it was very intentional that when the company is interested in investing in you there are “incredible” results. hence, their absolute lack of effort for any of the other members bc that would prove that the true determinant of success is the company’s full support.

i think manipulation is an inevitable part of any contract negotiation so it seems logical that the company, in order to mantain control over the members, would want to assert dominance/power over them. even if they’re not being manipulated they are in a relatively volatile position right now. all of them are used to a level of success and not many people would give that up for integrity 🥶. i don’t know if any of the other members would or wouldn’t go that route but im sure at least some of them would. i don’t know if i’d blame them either, it’s just business after all.

as we’ve established before, jimin did ruin a lot of their plans to show a stark difference between jk and the rest of the members, so they had to get heavy-handed with the mediaplay and imo they succeeded. jimin had as good a year as jk, new jeans, stray kids, seventeen, all of these kpop acts being super pushed in the media as the “next big thing” but for some reason he’s not getting half the press they are. 🤔

sorry, i went on a tangent in the end but its hard not to get on my soapbox when it comes to jimin lol

Yea I saw what went down with bp and it’s the best of both worlds for them because I feel like they’ve always been more interested in their solo endeavors than their work as a group. For BTS it’s trickier like you said because even the smallest hint of that something is afoot that would lead to them finding different labels for solo work would be be blown up by the media. Which in turn, cause investors to get skittish. Even that 2 month hiatus they first took back in 2019 had people claiming that they were disbanding and would follow 1D’s foot steps.

The lack of effort in the other members is ,like you said, because they wanted jk specifically to stand out since he’s the canidate those chose to do so. But Hybe’s main goal is to show investors that they can make a star through their resources. Bang even said along the lines of this in an interview because that’s what the music industry abides by at large. Billboard’s most recent rule change after like crazy hit #1 also came about this way because they said fans had too much power and it was the labels job to tell GP what the “next big thing” was gonna be. It’s why you see other kpop groups, even though they’ve possibly made a name for themselves, you still know the company they hail from first because the company is the driving force behind their rise to fame. Hybe wants to be a dominant force in the industry by their own name and not just because they’re known as the label that houses BTS. Still think if they wanted to show this they should’ve started with an up and coming and not a member of bts since that just defeats the purpose and is already showing people your dependent on that member’s pre existing fanbase but whatever.

Bang PD is a bastard, but I don’t think he’s trying to “control” BTS. At least not in the way SM does to his groups. I’m not giving him the benefit the doubt in this scenario, but I still fully believe BTS knows their worth and know that hybe is nothing without them. I’m sure there have been multiple instances where they probably had to compromise (the english trilogy for one) and they’ll probably be more in the future. I do agree with some of them being accustomed to a level of success, but it’s not that it’s because hybe is responsible for it. It’s off their own talent and armys backing them. So I doubt in the case if one of them was given an ultimatum of loosing that artistic integrity or going the route jk has (if offered) they’d get shelved, cause hybe still needs them. I know there’s always the possibility of that happening though. It’d be real annoying but I don’t think I’d be as irritated as I was with jk because I’ve seen and know what they’re capable of on their own. In contrast to jk where he just threw in the towel without trying (which is where 60% of my frustration at him comes from). As long as it’s still their print of music quality with their work ethic behind it. I could deal.

Jimin’s not getting as much press as those groups and jk, because hybe has made it so on their end. lol. That’s the entire act of suppression. They gave jimin the barest amount of congrats after FACE era as to not seem completely neglectful, but beyond that they didn’t go out their way to give him his flowers. So it’s not that the mediaplay was successful, hybe is just doing their best to ensure jk is the only one who’s talked about. But even that isn’t working because Jimin’s just too much of a talk point. You see these people on twitter with blue ticks constantly mention him for engagement money and whatever move he makes generates interest because he’s just a natural draw. Literally the worst member for hybe to try that tactic on tbh lmao.

[dwtsfun]

Top 5 Louis Partners

So after a long hiatus, I am back with this series that I like to call "Top 5 Favorite Partnerships". Creative, right? Anyway, we will be doing some pros that I was struggling with before because they were a little more sporadic in their appearances on the show than the staples. I will be doing the staples too. I realized I missed some of them because they weren't quite done with the show the last time I wrote this up.

So we're gonna start with Louis. As many of you know, I have my issues with Louis. But he was a great pro and he did have a few really great partnerships. In fact, he had 6 that I enjoyed a lot. But unfortunately Lisa Rinna didn't make the list after much deliberation. These are the five, however, that made it.

5. Kendra and Louis, Season 12

The reason that I put Kendra over Lisa was because Kendra was a much more natural dancer. These two worked really well together. If they had problems, they hid it well because their dances were mostly full of smiles. Their rehearsal packages were usually pretty fun as well. Kendra wasn't the best dancer on her season and they both knew this. But Kendra was dedicated and each week, she would improve on something. She went out at the right time, so she had a full season in my opinion. These two even pulled out one of my favorite dances of season 12 and one of my all time favorite sambas ever done on the show. Favorite Dances: Rumba, Samba, Cha-cha

4. Niecy and Louis, Season 10

Niecy, like Kendra, was not the best dancer of her season. They knew this. And season 10, like season 12, was one of those seasons that everyone knew exactly who was going to be in the finals. So these two just kinda had themselves a good time. Louis is typically someone that is going to get along with any of his partners. I think that makes him a good teacher, as he can adjust to each of their needs and strengths (and he wasn't cursed with a Kate Gosselin type). Niecy is a comedic actress and comedienne, so they played that up in many of their dances. And when they weren't dancing, he kinda stepped to the side as she would work her charm. I also think these two ended up at 4th for me because clearly, a lot of Louis's teachings have stuck with Niecy for a long time. She gave us the best guest judging appearance of this past season and was maybe a top 2 (non-dancer) guest judge that we have seen on the show. Favorite Dances: Argentine Tango, Viennese Waltz

3. Sabrina and Louis, Season 15

That All Stars season was a mess. I know I keep saying it, but it is true. However, it gave us new and improved versions of Apolo, Shawn, Kelly, and Sabrina. Louis tapped into a part of Sabrina's potential that I'm not sure that Mark would've been able to do. Louis got her to be vulnerable and pull back with her dancing. And that pushed Sabrina to a level of being almost untouchable on that dancefloor. I hate that she was eliminated in week 6 again, as we had just gotten to a point where the competition was gonna get extra interesting. These two had so much more left to give. It still stings that we have never gotten a full DWTS season out of Sabrina. But such is life. Favorite Dances: Waltz, Rumba

2. Kelly and Louis, Season 9

What would this list be without Kelly Osbourne. This was an incredible partnership. It is one that I actually think about at least once a week. The transformation that Louis helped Kelly make over those 10 weeks was one that I will forever remember. If you remember watching The Osbournes (the reality show), you remember how much of a mess Kelly was. She talked about it periodically throughout the years before she was on DWTS and even on the show itself. And you could not only see the major changes in her body, but also in her confidence. On top of all of that, Kelly was also a good dancer. She had great technique, took direction well and shocked me each and every week. I could go on and on about the good things about this partnership, but I have to cut it short. Just know that Louis will forever have my respect for the way that he worked with Kelly and made sure to keep her encouraged throughout their time on the show. Favorite Dances: Viennese Waltz, Quickstep

Monique and Louis, Season 3

So Monique was probably the celeb that solidified me being a DWTS fan. I was a huge HSM fan and loved Taylor, so her being on the show was amazing. Monique was an extremely talented dancer and Louis recognized that from the jump. He always challenged her with difficult and interesting dances and I never felt like they ever rested on their laurels. Outside of her foxtrot and their tango, their entire season was full of hits and I really hate that she didn't make the semis over Joey Lawrence. They had truly incredible dances. Especially because the judges were extra harsh on these two and would nitpick them to death while Joey was kinda blah more often than not, and would tend to score higher. Anyway, this is definitely my favorite Louis partnership and one of my favorite partnerships on DWTS of all time. Favorite Dances: Rumba, Mambo, Cha-cha

[wander-wren]

hello warrior cats community

i am clawing myself up out of my grave to announce that Dusk to Dawn has finally been completed. yeah i just dumped five chapters in there. woo.

now, i did have to condense the last, idk, 13 or so chapters into two parts, just speedrunning the highlights, because i am so tired and busy right now, but the plot is there. it exists. and that's about as much as i can ask for.

so you may assume that that's the end of the story. i mean, D2D was a bit of a mess. it took two and a half years and i spent most of that time on hiatus and tearing my hair out. but what's that quote? the only thing worse than writing is not writing. and at least half of my motivation to finish D2D was to get to the parts that come after.

which means that, yes, i'm still going to continue my rewrite. i just have to reevaluate and adjust.

the initial plan was for all parts to have roughly the same level of scale as D2D (which was planned to have ~200k words), or be even longer. this is because i have adhd and dangerous levels of optimism. i know there are people out there who can sustain themselves for multiple hundreds of thousands of words writing fictional cat rewrites, but i am not one of them. i can't do that, realistically.

so, i'm scaling back. PO3/Three of Swords and OOTS/Sign of the Four are both going to be around 50-70k. aiming toward the lower end there, but i know i have a tendency to, uh, go slightly overboard. see above. this way, i have a better chance of finishing both fics in a timely manner, and for 3OS especially, i won't have to drag the beaten corpses of plotlines that have been established for half of D2D on forever and ever.

what this also means is that i'm going to do a LOT of cutting and reshuffling. if it wasn't already clear, 3OS is not going to really attempt to stick to canon at all, not like D2D. we're going off the rails bonkers. Rule of Cool, etc etc. SOT4 will likely be the same.

and what comes after that? well, i'm so glad you asked. i've mentioned before that my plan for the end of OOTS is to have the clans only technically win the great battle. a pyrrhic victory, if you will (guess who just learned that phrase, hehe).

after that happens, there will be an interlude fic, probably about 50-70k as well, but potentially longer because i really love the concept. currently the working title for that is Pyrrhic/Pyrrhus. i might change it. it's already had several title changes. but it exists!

after THAT, if i'm still hanging around, i'd love to do an AVOS rewrite. that's about as far as my ambition extends, though. the problem is that post-OOTS, the clans' population is devastated (seriously, they need to lose way more cats) and their culture completely changes because, well, duh. that makes it very hard for the story to bear any kind of resemblance to a canon built around the old four clans. like, most of the cast of AVOS/TBC simply would not be born bc their parents died.

but yeah. we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

as far as a timeline goes, optimistically i'd like to start posting Three of Swords by the end of 2023. yeah, that's a long way away. i'm busy, y'all, and the Most Ideal thing would be to have it almost completely done so we don't end up trapped in another 2.5 year disaster.

if you would like to encourage the fic to move faster, you can feed my brainworms by asking me stuff or throwing ideas my way! on this blog, preferably. i know i made a sideblog for the 'verse, but i don't feel like dealing with it right now. i'll leave it up in case i change my mind, though.

if you made it all the way through this, hi! thanks! it's been fun. i gotta go write.

[thegreaterlink]

Reviewing Star Trek TNG - S4E6 “Legacy”

THAT'S RIGHT! I'M NOT DEAD!

I promise I wasn't taking another mid-season hiatus. This has just been delayed through a combination of work, writing and general procrastination. Sorry about that.

Anyway, on with the review.

THE PREMISE

The Enterprise tracks the crew of a Federation freighter to a colony on Turkana IV, the birthplace of the ship's late chief of security, Tasha Yar. An away team beams down to find themselves in the midst of a war between the colony's two factions, the Alliance and the Coalition. They discover that the Alliance is holding the freighter's crew hostage, and the Coalition's leader, Hayne (Don Mirault) offers Ishara Yar (Beth Touissant), Tasha's sister, as a liaison.

MY REVIEW

Yeah! Tasha Yar! Remember her? The show… kinda does!

Ishara can’t be played by Denise Crosby, though. Only Soongs get to have that level of family resemblance. At least she carries her sister's penchant for the most 80s haircuts the 24th century has to offer.

Regardless, Data manages to form a connection with her which thankfully does not involve intoxicated sex. In fact, he probably talks more with her in this episode than he ever did with Tasha, despite his claims to the contrary.

“Tasha and I spent much time together. We had a number of conversations.”

You’ll just have to take his word for it. After all, writing scenes like that would’ve required things like "effort" and "proofreading" and "second drafts."

Ishara gives them the gist of how the colony went to hell, explaining that Tasha left shortly after the factions abolished the government and asked Ishara to join her, but by that point she had already joined the Coalition.

They then get a message from one of the hostages telling them that they have twenty hours before the Alliance starts killing them off. The crew acknowledge that they're probably being deceived by the Coalition, but that this is an opportunity they can't pass up... even though the Federation seems to have known about this conflict for a while now and has made zero attempt to intervene. Hmm.

Anyway, our heroes construct a plan to infiltrate the colony and install an amplifier into the freight's escape pod so they can use the pod's vital sign monitor to locate the hostages. Ishara will beam in first and trigger the alarm to create a diversion.

Before the mission starts, Dr Crusher acquires Ishara's DNA in sickbay to verify her identity while she asks Data about her sister's death.

Ishara: How did she die?

Data: Lieutenant Yar was killed on Vagra II by a malevolent entity.

Ishara: In battle?

Data: No. She was killed as a demonstration of the creature's power, without provocation.

Ishara: ...That's not how I intend to die.

Wow. They actually almost acknowledged how bullshit her death was. I’m impressed.

The plan goes a bit tits up, with the away team being delayed by Geordi needing to fix the scanner while O'Brien fails to beam up Ishara before she gets taken down by a phaser blast.

I guess random instantaneous deaths run in the family.

Okay, that's not true. Ishara is injured but survives the attack. After all, do you see a red blotch on her face? I didn't think so.

I can appreciate Riker's sentiment of going out of his way to save Ishara after Tasha died on an away mission under his command. Picard even gives him a little "good job, but don't do it again" nod, then goes to sickbay to check on Ishara.

Ishara: I don't run away when things get tough, like some people. Like my sister did.

Picard: Let me tell you about your sister. The first time I saw Tasha Yar, she was making her way through a Carnellian mine field to reach a wounded colonist. Her ship had responded to their distress call, as had mine. When it was all over, I requested that she be assigned to the Enterprise. Her ship's captain owed me a favour. In the months that followed, she never once failed to put the safety of the crew before her own, and she died doing the same. I'm sorry you never knew the woman Tasha became. I think you would've been proud of her, and she of you.

Look, I've not been the least bit subtle about my disdain for this series' treatment of Tasha Yar, from mostly treating her like a glorified extra before killing her off with next to no fanfare, but I can appreciate the creators attempting to rectify their mistake and trying to pay tribute to her like this. This episode even rectifies The Measure of a Man's little fuckup by emphasising that Data and Tasha's relationship was based on more than that one time they had the space equivalent of a drunken hook-up.

Thoroughly convinced, Ishara gets back to helping the crew with their plan to rescue the colonists and some more bonding with Data, to the point where they consider each other friends. She even comes to terms with Tasha's decision, realising that she wasn't weak for wanting a better life in a more constructive environment.

I'm pretty sure Ten Forward has done more therapy for these characters than Counsellor Troi ever did.

It makes it all the more infuriating when we find out that she's secretly been working with the Coalition to deceive them and that the whole thing has basically been a lie. Though it's clear at least some of her newfound affinity for the crew (specifically Data) is genuine.

After using the Enterprise's phasers to drill down to the colony, an away team consisting of Riker, Data, Worf and Ishara beams down and frees the hostages, but then Ishara slips away in the confusion and Data finds her trying to disable the Alliance's security grid.

Data tries to intervene, since this would make the Federation technically responsible for the Alliance's defeat, but she is still fully prepared to kill him if it means the success of her mission. And God bless him, Data actually looks heartbroken at the realisation that their friendship was merely part of the deception. Data manages to stun her, but they realise that she did fully intend to carry out her threat of killing him.

Hayne demands her return, and despite Riker's objections Picard agrees to return her. He reflects that they all trusted Ishara so much because they were trying to get part of Tasha back through her sister, to the point that they saw more of her than was actually there.

Ishara and Data share an understandably awkward walk to the transporter. While she reaffirms that she did what she had to do, she claims that not all of her experience was a lie.

Ishara: You know Data, I wasn't always lying to you. That time we spent talking, that was the closest thing to friendship I've ever had... if that means anything to you.

Data: ...Energise.

It's quite fitting, really. One way or another, both Tasha and Ishara learned not to fuck with an android.

A few days later, Data goes to talk to Riker about Ishara, and they have a nice little conversation which I just have to include here.

Riker: In all trust, there is the possibility of betrayal. I'm not sure you were prepared for that.

Data: Were you prepared, sir?

Riker: I don't think anybody ever is?

Data: ...Then it is better not to trust.

Riker: Without trust there's no friendship, no closeness, none of the emotional bonds that make us who we are.

Data: And yet you put yourself at risk?

Riker: Every single time.

Data: Perhaps I am fortunate, sir, to be spared the emotional consequences.

Riker: Perhaps...

And so the crew takes off, apparently content to leave the occupants of the colony to tear each other apart. The end!

Yeah, this ending is... not the best. And the same goes for this whole episode. The conflict is nothing we haven't seen before, aside from the presence of Ishara and her interactions with the crew adding some much-needed flavour to an otherwise formulaic plot. And while there are some interesting ideas about the impact that Tasha has left on the crew, much like her they could’ve used some more development.

6/10 - Serviceable, but nothing special.

Previous Episode | TNG Masterpost | Next Episode

[tobesobri]

Traditions | 17.3k

a/n: it's been a while since I uploaded writing and for some reason I decided to sign up for this challenge and by some miracle actually managed to write something for it 🤯anyways, this is for the Valentine's Day Challenge by @1dffchallenges and it's honestly just a bit of fun, enemies to lovers little bit of angst and some smut! so i hope you enjoy! I'd always love to know your thoughts!! (also pls excuse any errors, I wrote this in a week with little editing lol)

prompt: doube date

dialogue: “So let me get this right. You want to hire me as your date for a Valentine’s Day Party?”

Pink and red were speckled throughout the entire office, whether it was a bouquet of chocolate roses, a banner of hearts, or stuffed bears residing next to bowls full of heart-shaped candies. Every employee’s section of the office had been filled to the brim with decorations as well. Pink and red ribbon taped carefully around the edges of their desktop computer, little store-bought balloons, also heart-shaped, grouped together and tied to desk chairs. 

And Y/N, dressed in her typical all black outfit, rolled her eyes as she paced through the office toward the one section in the back that was immune to all things heart-shaped, pink, or stuffed. 

She sat down at her desk with a loud sigh, her purse hitting the floor in its usual spot just before she slipped out of her jacket and draped it haphazardly between her back and the chair. It’d be wrinkled by the end of the day, but she didn’t care all that much, nor did she put much thought into the stains on her purse from leaving it on the floor. All she concerned herself with, after settling in, was getting straight to work… which was put on hiatus when she came face-to-face with both a pink and heart-shaped sticky note plastered onto the center of her computer screen. 

Groaning, she ripped it off and moved to turn her computer on before she bothered to read whatever was written on the note. She considered three potential suspects while she pulled her keyboard down onto her desk and logged in. There was Kayla, who worked front reception and was one of the main culprits of all the Valentine’s decorations. A strong contender. It could’ve also been Ines or Carmen, her closest work friends whom Y/N knew both owned a pad of pink, heart-shaped sticky notes. 

However, when she finally let her eyes fall to the note as her computer loaded up, the handwriting didn’t match any of the women she knew, and she was quite positive that none of them would have written was was sprawled out in black ink either.

Roses are red, violets are blue. I will fill your office with teddy bears and balloons, if you don’t send me your half of the proposal by two.

Harry.

She crumpled the note and tossed it into the bin under her desk. He could go fuck himself for all she cared. Sure, she was nearly done with her portion of the work and would be able to send it to him before then, but now that he’d pestered her about it, he’d be lucky if she even bothered to send it to him at all. 

She didn’t doubt the promise, i.e. threat, he made on the note, but being surrounded by teddy bears and balloons would be worth making Harry’s life just a tad miserable.

After opening all the apps she’d need to get her work done, namely Photoshop and Illustrator, she connected her drawing tablet and set up the rest of her work station for the day, both on screen and off.

Harry had worked at the company for about two years longer than her and she’d started off as an intern while she was still in college and, after graduating, was hired as a permanent graphic designer. They had never really gotten along ever since Harry—jokingly—asked her to get him a coffee once… or twice. Unfortunately for her, though, they ended up working well together and their boss had stuck them both on the same projects ever since. Especially after the month-long project last spring that had been their most successful one to date. 

While she came up with the design parts of client projects, Harry handled the more technical side of things and they’d never really argued much over each other’s work even though they clashed constantly at a more personal level. 

“I see your feeling festive.” Just as she’d gotten into the groove of her typical morning and had forgotten all about Harry’s stupid note, his voice interrupted her entire thought process. So when she swiveled around to find him leaning into her little office space, it was hardly a surprise when she glared at him, even though he feigned offense at her bitterness.

“You got my note, I presume.” He let himself into her space anyway, holding a mug of steaming coffee she was sure he’d just made in the workroom, and leaned up against the opposite side of her desk that housed a much larger, digital drawing tablet for when she needed to do more intricate design pieces. 

She just swiveled back around to face her computer again and went back to work as if he was no longer there. Pretending to ignore his existence proved to be quite difficult when the very particular woodsy, vanilla scents of his cologne met her nostrils and filled her entire office. Not to mention, the sight of what he’d been wearing singed the backs of her eyelids so that she still saw him every time she blinked. It was as if her brain refused to let her forget what he looked like in his white button-up, sleeves rolled to the crooks of his elbows, all tucked into his fitted black trousers that tended to get the imaginations going of all the women in the building. 

Not her though, of course. She was better than that. Obviously.

He cleared his throat, still very much present in her space and still very much giving her a migraine. “So will it be ready by two?”

“Well, I planned to send it to you before lunch.” She tweaked the spacing between letters of a potential logo for the millionth time. “But now… I think I might need the rest of the day.”

She heard rustling behind her and knew he was shifting his weight impatiently and running a hand through his hair as he often did when he was… displeased. “I told you I’m leaving early tomorrow and I need it no later than two.”

She cocked her head to the side, still staring at her computer screen and not giving him an ounce of satisfaction. “Did you tell me that?” She teased, an amused smirk lifting the corners of her mouth when she heard him groan behind her. “I must’ve forgotten.” Shrugging, she went back to her work.

“Unlike you,” he snapped, “some of us actually have a love life and I’d appreciate you not fucking up mine.”

She froze then, only for a split second, when his words sank in. Two thoughts raced through her head. The first a string of curse words because of his assumption that she didn’t have a love life. But the more prominent and worrisome part of his statement was that he did have one. And that he was leaving early tomorrow—Valentine’s Day—so he could get ready for a date.

Throwing both her prickly exterior and heartbreaking smirk up again, she turned to face him. “I’ve known you for three years now and if anyone has the potential to fuck up your love life, it’s you.”

He narrowed his eyes at her and her gaze fell to the hand that seemed to wrap a bit tighter around his Bugs Bunny mug. His knuckles whitened and she met his heated stare again, pleased with herself for getting him riled up before he’d even finished his morning coffee.

“So,” she continued before he get get a word of retaliation out, and sat back against her chair, crossing her legs confidently as she folded her hands in her lap. “Who’s the poor girl you’ve tricked into going on a date with you this time?”

Harry had a terrible track record. The longest relationship he’d been in lasted for two months, and that was well before she’d known him. Everything else he had was just a one or two night thing and nothing more. Sure, it was all more than she had, but she preferred it that way. Harry seemed to resent the fact that he couldn’t keep a girlfriend to save his life.

“You don’t know her.”

Her smile widened. “How long have you been seeing her?”

“Couple weeks.”

“Ooh, that just might be your second longest relationship, Styles.” 

“Well at least I’ve had one.”

His jab didn’t have an affect on her however, and he knew it wouldn’t because it never did. He knew she didn’t give a damn about relationships, or at least that’s what she claimed anyway. He couldn’t think of many twenty-four year old women who actually wanted to be alone. He actually couldn’t think of a mid-twenties anyone who wanted that.

“You’ll have to try harder than that.” She said nonchalantly, which irked him even more than he already was, and then swiveled away from him one last time, picking up her drawing pen and getting back to work.

“What’s your issue with relationships?” He went on and she knew he was headed right down a path intended to hurt her feelings just as much as she had his. So, she tensed slightly and braced for impact. “Is it a commitment thing? Or can you just not find anyone to put up with you for longer than five minutes?” 

She let his words sink their teeth in and then smiled to herself. “Hm. Seeing as you’ve been in my office now for,” she checked the time at the top right-hand corner of her screen, “eight minutes, maybe we should date.” She lifted a brow, awaiting his next response. 

It felt a bit like a cat-and-mouse chase bickering with Harry and since she was usually the cat, it brought her way too much pleasure fighting with him.

He scoffed. “Like I’d lower my standards for you.”

That one hurt, she had to admit. Not out loud or to Harry, but it still stung because it was true. He’d have to drop his standards to the floor to even consider dating her and she knew it. 

“Maybe,” she began, still half focused on her work, and ignored his comment all together, “some of us like being alone.”

“Nobody likes that.” He responded quickly and she heard a shift of his weight again and then his voice once more a few moments later. “It’s nice to be by yourself sometimes, yeah, but you can’t tell me you don’t want someone to come home to at the end of the day.” He crossed one leg over the other as he gripped the edge of her desk for support and just when she thought he was done, he kept going, “Someone you can vent to about your annoying co-worker.”

She glanced at him through the little portable mirror hanging above her desk—mostly used to make sure she looked decent before meeting with clients or, sometimes, Harry—and saw the tight smile on his lips. Almost as if that’s what he wanted, like he was talking about himself and not her. 

She’d slowed her progress down while he’d talked until she was no longer working at all. She no longer swiped her pen across the pad or had any idea what she was even doing when she focused solely on his words. Because, once again, whether he was talking about himself or about her, he was right.

“Yeah well,” she quickly hid herself back behind her wall and made her hands function properly again. “Some of us also don’t have the luxury of choosing whomever we want.”

She imagined him smirking at that one because, buried deep within her words was a compliment. That he was handsome enough to actually have anyone he wanted.

Instead, when she glanced at the mirror again and found him, there was the complete opposite of a smirk on his face, and as he stared down into his mug, clearly lost in thought, she wondered what the tightness in his jaw and the frown pulling on his lips meant.

She sighed and stole his attention away from his coffee. “I’ll have it to you before lunch. You can go now, unless you’d like to argue some more and slow me down by another…” she glanced at her clock again, adding up all the time he’d been standing in her office, “fifteen minutes.”

Without another word, she listened to the drag of his footsteps as he finally left her office space. And although she was glad to be rid of his distraction, the room felt so much bigger and so much colder and emptier without him in it. Shivering, she slipped back into her jacket and spent the next few hours doing nothing but staring straight ahead at her screen as she made final adjustments to her designs. 

Any other conversations with Harry were had over email as he worked in his own respective office, messaging her with every little concern he had in order to get his work done efficiently so that he wasn’t stressing to finish it tomorrow before he had to leave. Even though Y/N considered not responding to him a few times, just to spite him and slow him down for her own amusement, she found herself feeling guilty after leaving him hanging a couple times. Sure, she hated Valentine’s Day and everything surrounding it, but she’d almost hate even more the idea of both her and Harry being miserable tomorrow, so she inevitably gave in and cooperated with him. She’d probably regret it when he came back on Thursday spreading around the office all the gory details of his date, but at least he wouldn’t also be in a shitty mood. Her days were both boring and slow whenever Harry wasn’t having a good day. And although she’d blame it all on selfish reasons, it did also make her sad to see him frowning around the office and sulking when all she wanted to do was bicker with him and make him smile again, even just a little bit. But it was easier leaving him to his own devices than risk him finding out she cared about him enough to not wish sadness upon him.  

She couldn’t say the same for him. Harry probably relished in the days she came into the office in a sour mood. He probably celebrated and threw a party whenever she was upset, and, even so, it didn’t change how she felt about him.

The sun had long set and most of the office was gone by the time she finally called it quits and began packing up her things and giving her computer a rest for the night. There were still quiet murmurs from other workaholic employees, which comforting her knowing she wasn’t completely alone in the building, since the last time she’d done that, it took everything in her not to have a panic attack all the way to her car. 

Even though her boss told her countless times not to stay past five o’clock, as he told every other female employee that worked for him that he didn’t wish to see attacked after sunset in the city. Of course, when she was the only one who didn’t listen to him, he hired more guards and one of them rounded the corner into her office space, ready to escort her all the way down to her car.

“Figured you were still here.” He leaned against the walls of her cubicle and watched as she startled, twisting to meet his eyes for a moment before she settled and returned to slipping her belongings into her purse. 

“I don’t need you to escort me.” Zipping her purse, she rose from her chair, checking one last time across her desk to make sure she’d grabbed everything she needed to take home with her before turning to him as he still lingered in the opening of her little office. 

William had been hired a couple months ago, and was only a year older than her, but even so he was more than a foot taller than her and his biceps were about as big as her head. While the entire office drooled over him, she tended to keep her eyes and her thoughts to herself. 

“You say that every night you stay late. Just let me do my job and shut up about it.” He smirked at her and when her eyes met his again, sharply, glaring at him, she groaned and whirled past him toward the elevators. He followed swiftly behind, knowing she’d close the doors on him if he didn’t keep close enough pace with her, mostly because she’d done it before.

As he took his spot beside her and she pressed the button for the parking garage at the basement of the building, a familiar voice rang out through the office.

“Wait!” As if she wasn’t already annoyed enough with William’s presence, his stupidly large arm held the elevator doors open as Harry slipped inside a moment later.

“Thanks, mate.” Harry said exclusively to William as he caught his breath and stood wedged in the middle between the guard and Y/N, who was inching closer and closer into her corner to get away from Harry.

“You have any plans tomorrow?” Harry asked, his attention solely on William again while the elevator took off down through the levels of their building. Not fast enough for Y/N, of course.

William sighed, crossing his arms and trying to resist smiling. “Me and my girlfriend take turns surprising each other every year. And it’s her turn this year… so I guess I have plans, but I don’t know what they are.”

“Damn, way to make us feel incompetent.”

Y/N whirled her head to glare up at the side of Harry’s face. “Speak for yourself.” She warned.

Harry just ignored her though. “What did you guys do last year?”

Again, William stifled a grin. “I had been saving up for a while and took us both to Paris.”

“Shit.” Harry’s eyebrows rose and Y/N rolled her eyes away from him, watching the LED screen above the elevator doors as they neared the bottom levels of the building. She knew Harry and William had become friends, mostly because Harry was annoying and befriended everyone. Except her, of course. She heard his stupid voice again and wished she could just transport herself directly into the front seat of her car and be done with the both of them. “And now she has to do better than Paris.”

Y/N glanced around Harry just in time to see William smirk and she should have known what was about to come out of his mouth before it did. “Well, I don’t consider much better than her mouth ar—“

Y/N cut him off. “Ew! Are you serious?”

Both men eyed her curiously just as the elevator came to a stop and, with a ding, the doors opened. She flew toward them quickly.

“Y/N wait, I have to—“

Again, she cut him off, turning once she was out on solid ground. “I’ll be fine, besides trying to rid my mind of that image you just burned into it.” She turned on her heel and headed off toward her car.

William made a move toward her and Harry grabbed his arm, “I’ll walk her. Forgot she’s a bit of a prude.” They shared an amused look and Harry jogged out onto the concrete and asphalt until he reached her side.

“I heard that, you know… and I know for a fact your car is not parked in this direction.” She seethed and he just smiled to himself, happier than ever that she was in the mood to bicker with him, because he wasn’t quite in the mood to leave yet, where he’d have to wait till tomorrow morning at nine-thirty to see her again. And she wasn’t always the most talkative person on Valentine’s Day, either.

“Why are you the only female in our building not foaming at the mouth over him?” He asked instead, referring to William.

He heard her scoff. “Just because he’s attractive doesn’t mean I have to be interested… or want to hear about his girlfriend sucking his—“

“Cock?” Harry finished for her and within a second she spun around to face him, forcing him to stop in his tracks just inches from her now. His smirk only grew when he saw just how quickly he’d gotten her all flustered. 

And then, as they started each other down, the hardness in her face softened and she drew out a breath, forcing his eyes to fall to her lips and his smirk to fall from his mouth. He thought back to last spring, when there were numerous late nights with her just like this one. When he went home and couldn’t stop thinking about…

“Why are you looking at me like that?” She asked and he blinked a couple times before he lifted his eyes.

“Like what?” He furrowed his brows, trying to track down all the resentment he had for her but he couldn’t find it anywhere anymore. He couldn’t summon it and say something that would save his ass from being caught looking at her like he wanted to kiss her.

Like he wanted to taste her and feel her against him, and hear what she sounded like when he tugged at her hair for more.

“Nevermind.” She shook her head, silencing the chaos going on in his brain. And then she turned, continuing the walk to her car with or without him, but, when she heard the echoing click of his shoes against the asphalt once more, she knew she wasn’t rid of him yet.

“I don’t suppose you’ll give me a ride back to my car, will you?” He easily stepped back into place beside her like nothing had happened.

She didn’t say anything for much longer than he was comfortable with. And then, finally, they reached her car and she sighed. “Get in before I change my mind.”

As she went for the driver’s side, he took quick steps to the opposite side, watching her over the top of her little Honda as she unlocked her door, and then, after clicking the button, his door as well. They both slipped in at the same time and while she fastened her seatbelt and settled in for her drive home, he sat perched with his backpack in his lap, knowing he’d be out of her car within only a couple minutes.

He still glanced around at his surroundings as she backed out of her parking space. “Should’ve guessed your car would be as neat as your desk.”

She didn’t say anything as she drove in the opposite direction of the exit toward the section of the garage Harry always parked in. It was closer to the elevators because he always came in before her and snagged a prime spot. She preferred an extra few minutes of sleep over walking an extra fifty steps.

And he started up again when she continued to not talk to him. “Most artists I know of are super messy.”

“I’m not an artist.” She gritted out through her teeth as she came to a stop once she spotted the rear-end of Harry’s BMW. Although she knew it well enough to distinguish it from the other black BMWs in the garage, it also helped that Harry had an old, faded license plate cover filled with a collage of cute pictures of puppies. He’d said it won him bonus points with women, but she also knew his screensaver at work was a picture of puppies as well, and no women he was interested in ever saw that.

He peeled his eyes off his car and looked over at her. “I know you can draw, too.”

She paused, gripping her steering wheel. She did enjoy both art and design and she knew Harry knew the difference between the two. She just didn’t know why he always insisted on bugging her about it. 

“Yeah, well that doesn’t make me an artist.”

When he didn’t say anything, she glanced at him just in time to find him shrugging a shoulder like he was agreeing to disagree. Even if she couldn’t draw, he’d still consider her an artist because the things she managed to design always blew his mind and if that wasn’t art… 

She rolled her eyes. “Are you going to get out, or do I have to drag you?”

He grinned, and it was almost as if her eyes refused to see anything else but his dimples and the bright whites of his teeth, and the birthmark to the side of his mouth… 

“I’m going.” He assured, and yet he still hadn’t moved an inch. “Even though I’d love to see you try to drag me.” With her knuckles whitening on the steering wheel, he chuckled and unzipped the small pocket on the front of his backpack, withdrawing his keys as he finally swung her door open.

Once he was out, he gripped the top of the door and leaned back in to find her staring straight ahead. “Drive carefully, yeah? Would be quite tragic for your bitter ass to die on Valentine’s Day.”

She reached over and, despite having to brush her knuckles along the side of his thigh, grabbed the handle of the passenger door and yanked. His body remained in her way, however, and he was unfortunately a lot stronger than her.

Then she finally looked up at him, and those thoughts he had earlier surfaced again as much as he’d tried to bury them. This time though, he didn’t fight it as he glanced at her lips once more, then back at her eyes, which had widened slightly just before the dimples reappeared in his cheeks. “And I guess I would miss bickering with you every day.”

With that, he was gone and she retreated back to her seat as he shut the door for her. She had no idea what to think about what had just happened. Why he’d looked at her like that again. What that look even meant. 

By the time she reached the freeway, she’d convinced herself she was just seeing things. Harry wasn’t looking at her in any other way he had before when he was intent on pestering her. But, as she took in the scent of him still lingering in the cabin, she allowed a small part of her to hope she was wrong.

Her eyes fell on the man down the hall from her door as she slipped her key into the lock, her brows furrowing as she watched him. It wasn’t unusual for their paths to cross, as they tended to get home around the same time, but it was quite odd to see him sitting on the floor outside his apartment, his head in his hands. 

They’d said hi to each other a couple times in the mailroom, but she definitely didn’t know him well enough to go up and ask what his issue was or try to fix it for him. And after it was confirmed that he hadn’t, in fact, lost his keys, as they sat beside him on the floor along with his phone, she figured it best to leave him be. 

Turning her key, she pulled her gaze from him and disappeared from the hallway.

The second she was inside her apartment, she felt all the weight lift right off her shoulders, especially when her cat came racing up, screaming at her from the floor while also coaxing her toward the kitchen to fill the food bowl. Whatever was going on with her neighbor still very much on her mind, she tried to focus instead on relaxing and getting both her and the screaming Pretzel some dinner. 

She tried to remember his name as she heated up leftover pasta. She knew it started with an A, but her brain was coming up short. So, while Pretzel crunched on his food in his corner of the kitchen, she tried her hardest to remember. 

And it was no question why she cared so much. Her neighbor was someone she was actually interested in, and she had been since she first saw him. Of course, she was never foolish enough to think he was into her, but she still let herself fantasize. He was tall, nearly black curly hair atop his head always in a state of disarray, and he had the most beautiful blue eyes she’d ever seen hidden behind his glasses. And, if she was being honest with herself, he was just a darker-haired version of Harry. Maybe that’s why she liked him.

The beeping of her microwave tore her thoughts from the dangerous path they’d been headed down. Harry’s voice rang in her head a moment later.

Like I’d lower my standards for you.

She’d needed to hear him say that, because sometimes her thoughts got carried away when it came to Harry and sometimes she did let herself be a fool who hoped. But after he’d said that one damning phrase, it was enough for her to stop. She didn’t meet a single one of his standards, inside or out. 

Still, she tried her hardest not to go back out into the hall and make sure her neighbor was alright. Maybe he just needed someone to talk to and it wasn’t like she was doing anything important. Even if she didn’t have a dumb crush on him, as she did Harry, she still didn’t enjoy seeing him in the state he’d been in.

Before she could work up the nerve, however, a knock sounded through her quiet apartment.

She held her breath as she opened her door, really hoping it wasn’t the boy from across the hall, since she was still blanking on his name, but she couldn’t imagine anyone else knocking on her door this late into the evening. 

So when she inevitably found him there, looking down at her through his annoyingly long lashes as she took in the horrible state he was in—red, inflamed eyes and hair that needed to see a brush rather than his hand—she completely lost her breath instead.

“Uh, sorry, I… saw you come in and I know we don’t talk and this is a weird thing for me to ask but…” He ran said hand through said messy hair and she found her breath again while looking up at him like she’d do whatever he’d asked just so he’d stop frowning.

He sighed, glancing down the hall toward his apartment and then met her curious and somewhat concerned gaze. “Can I come in?”

She recoiled. “Um… why?”

“Well, um, I was hoping you could help me with something and I’d rather not have the entire floor know about it.”

She was beyond confused now, but still, she stepped aside and let him pass, assuming that if he was actually a murderer he would have done her in a lot sooner than this. He had plenty of other opportunities. Plus, something in his face just… made her want to trust him.

She closed the door and turned to him, watching as his eyes scanned her kitchen and where her food still sat before he twisted around, eyes wide. “Shit, I’m sorry for interrupting.”

She shook her head. “It’s fine.” And after clearing her throat, she crossed her arms over her chest. “What do you, um… what do you need help with?”

He swallowed and she watched his Adam’s apple budge in his throat. “I don’t imagine you’ll like me very much after I ask but… I need a date.”

“What?” Again, she nearly flew out of her skin.

His eyes darted back and forth between hers, gauging her reactions and very obviously on the verge of seeing himself out and pretending this never happened. Instead, he stuffed away his pride and went on. “My ex… she, uh… well we broke up a few months ago and I saw her the other day and she’s seeing someone and we were talking and I… told her I was seeing someone too and so she invited me to go on this stupid double date with her… but the thing is… I’m not actually seeing anyone and I just told her that so she’d be jealous but she didn’t seem jealous at all and I don’t exactly have many friends to ask for help and I saw you and…” He rambled, but she managed to understand his predicament just fine. 

“A double date? With your ex?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know either. She’s… she does weird shit but… I still want her back.”

Y/N’s heart ached in her chest. As much as she detested relationships, she was a sucker for other people’s relationships and she was definitely a sucker for her beautiful neighbor, even if he was asking to use her to make his ex-girlfriend jealous.

“Not that I’m saying yes but… when? And where?” She finally asked after thinking things over for a moment.

“Tomorrow night… I can pay you. I will pay you, I mean… but, seriously, you don’t have to do it I just thought I would ask.”

“Where is this date at?” She repeated when he didn’t answer that part of her question.

“At this party… and bef—“

She cut him off. “Okay so let me get this right. You want to hire me as your date to a Valentine’s Day party?”

He lifted a brow, “Well, there’s more… she wants to get dinner before going to the party.”

She shook her head, looking away, “I don’t really do Valentine’s Day…”

“You wouldn’t have to do much. I’ll pay for your dinner, too. Whatever you want. I just… really need your help and you’re my only option.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You realize I’m not exactly…” she waved at her face and his eyebrows screwed together in confusion. “I’m not easy on the eyes and I don’t think taking me will make anyone jealous.”

He didn’t say anything for a while, just stared at her incredulously. She shifted her weight nervously and he finally opened his mouth. “You don’t actually think that, do you?”

Her features scrunched up and she kept her eyes planted on the middle of his chest. And then he realized that she, in fact, did.

“I’m so sorry… I shouldn’t have asked you to do this.” He also realized that using her to make his ex jealous would possibly hurt her more than it would help him and he could no longer fathom putting her through that. “I’ll figure it out. I’m sorry.” He moved to walk past her, back to his apartment but she stopped him before he got far.

“No… I’ll help you.” And then she realized his identity was still somewhat of a mystery to her. “This sounds even worse than what you just asked me to do, but… I completely forgot your name.”

He breathed out a laugh. “It’s Adam.”

She knew it had started with an A!

“Y/N.” 

He smiled wider and nodded. “I know.” And then his face grew sad again. “I am really sorry I’m asking you to do this on Valentine’s Day, it’s definitely not my proudest moment.”

She waved him off. “I wasn’t going to do anything anyway. Just tell me what you need me to do.” She didn’t bother brining up the whole payment thing. She didn’t really care about being paid. He was nice, the only nice person she’d encountered in her apartment building and if getting him back together with his ex meant she’d never have to come home and see him in the fetal position on the floor again, she’d suffer through a date and a party on her least favorite holiday.

It was somehow even worse than it’d been yesterday. The decorations seemed to triple in size. Not an inch of the office was untouched by something pink and she prayed whoever had put up even more decorations had spared her little cubicle.

“Oh, hey, Y/N!” One of the receptionists most responsible for the overflowing decor, Kayla, called her over to her desk not even a minute after Y/N had arrived. And she stalked over until she saw the package Kayla pulled out that instantly lifted her spirits.

She stopped in front of Kayla’s desk and took the thin box from from her, already knowing what it was and thanking god for the timing so that her entire day wasn’t completely miserable. It was a new drawing pad she’d ordered, a bigger one that she hoped would be a bit more efficient to use than her current one.

Even with her back turned to the rest of the office, she sensed Harry’s presence long before he stopped beside her with his mug in hand.

He lifted a brow at the package in Y/N’s hands just as she reluctantly turned to look at him. “Getting gifts sent to the office? That’s a first.”

She rolled her eyes and stuffed the box under her arm, holding herself back from running off to her office to set it up. “Jealous?” She cocked her head.

And instead of his condescending smirk and a hateful response to go with it, the sparkle in his eyes seemed to fade as he eyed the box again, genuinely worried now that it was actually a gift from someone. 

Before either could say anything, they all turned to find a delivery man walking up to Kayla with a giant bouquet of flowers in tow. And so it began. Although, when Kayla took the vase from the man eagerly, a bright smile on her face because Kayla loved love a little too much, Y/N couldn’t help but think about Adam. About how the only time she’d managed to get a date on Valentine’s Day was when it wasn’t even real. Instead, she’d stupidly agreed to help her cute neighbor win back his ex-girlfriend in exchange for a free dinner.

It was… pathetic. To say the least.

She felt Harry watching her, too, while she eyed the bouquet of flowers as they departed reception with Kayla and made their way to their recipient. As stupid as she found everything about the holiday, she couldn’t help but want someone to send her flowers. To give her anything for that matter. To have thought about her for at least a second of their day. Harry cleared his throat and she tore her eyes away.

“So… what’s in the box?”

“None of your business.” She rounded him, heading to her office, but he grabbed her free arm to stop her short and didn’t speak until she met his gaze again.

“Can we meet up in my office to finish the proposal? Think it’ll be easier to get it done than over email.”

She had every reason to be suspicious of him. They almost never worked in each other’s offices. When they did work together, which was often, it was in one of the empty conference rooms and it was usually at the beginning of the process when they needed the space to plan things out. The last time they’d really been in each other’s offices was last spring. Figuring he just wanted to get things done so he could be out of the office on time, she let it go.

“Give me fifteen minutes.”

He watched her walk away, watched her even as Kayla returned and noticed his gaze and giggled at him as she took her spot back behind her desk.

“It was something she ordered for herself, by the way.”

“What?” Harry whipped around again, not having even realized the other woman until now.

“I know you two pretend to hate each other but I see the way you look at her, Harry.” Kayla lifted a brow at him as she began typing on her keyboard.

He feigned disgust. “I’m seeing someone, you know.”

“Are you?”

“Yes.” He insisted. “I have a date. Tonight.”

She lifted her hands in surrender. “Okay… I’m just saying.”

“I don’t look at her.”

Kayla suppressed a smile and snorted instead. “If you say so. I guess you didn’t also sneak into her office this morning, either.”

“I think all these flowers and stuffed bears and heart-shaped things have gotten to your head.” He pointed around to the decor littering her desk while holding his mug steady.

Kayla met his eyes and her smile slipped off her face. “Harry, please don’t mess with her.”

His face screwed up. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“If you don’t like her then don’t lead her on.”

“I don’t think she’s capable of being led on.”

Kayla froze for a moment and then nodded. “You’re right.”

He wasn’t sure what she meant by that either. “Why are you being weird?”

“Because,” Kayla sighed, brushing her curled brunette hair onto one shoulder and then lowered the volume of her voice. “I happen to know she doesn’t think very highly of herself and I’d rather not see her get hurt, especially not by you.”

Now Harry froze. The hand that gripped his mug tightened and he didn’t even flinch as it began to burn his skin. He heard Y/N’s voice in his head then as he drowned out his surroundings.

Some of us don’t have the luxury of choosing whomever we want.

He had instantly regretted what he’d said to her yesterday when she’d told him that. And now hearing Kayla, in a way, confirm what he’d read between the lines of Y/N’s words… his chest tightened in quite possibly the worst way ever. He’d hated himself most of the day after telling her he’d never lower his standards for her and he could say he was just bickering all he wanted, but he knew now for certain she took it the wrong way. And he wished more than ever that he hadn’t said something so horrible to her, especially when it was the farthest thing from the truth. 

And the real truth, that he was trying desperately to shove away with stupid remarks like that, was that he didn’t meet her standards. She wasn’t into relationships and he knew he wasn’t good enough to change her mind.

“How do you know that?” He finally asked.

“That Christmas party last year… she’s a really happy drunk until she’s not.”

He flinched. “Did she say something?”

“I don’t want to get into it, mostly because I don’t think she remembers and would probably kill me if I told you but… just leave her be.”

He hardened back up again. “She does’t have any interest in relationships anyway, ‘specially not with me.”

Kayla scoffed. “She’s a really good liar.”

Harry stood there for a few more moments, feeling as if his life had just gotten flipped upside down. He’d been in such a good mood mere minutes ago before his dumbass waltzed into reception all because he’d seen Y/N. Because, despite everything and despite the fact he was already attempting to date someone else, it was Y/N he wanted to be close to all the damn time. Groaning, he turned on his heel and left for his office, hoping she wasn’t there waiting for him so he could have a moment to himself to gather his thoughts.

In a hurry to open her package, Y/N slumped down into her chair tossing her purse on the ground at her feet and pulling out her box cutter in a rush of movements. She was so distracted, in fact, that she didn’t even notice the little stuffed frog, the box of chocolates and envelope sitting on the other side of her desk near her mouse. Instead, she unboxed her new tablet and began setting it up, not noticing the gifts until she went to turn on her computer. And then she froze.

With reluctant hands she grabbed the envelope first, her name printed on it in perfect cursive. She knew nobody in the office who had such good penmanship. Opening the card in hopes of finding out who had placed the items on her desk, instead, she just found it signed as ‘secret admirer.’ Rolling her eyes, she set the card down and realized it had to be from her boss. Sometimes he remembered to go around and give everyone little gifts on the holidays. Obviously he’d remembered this year. 

She dug into the chocolates as she set up her tablet and began calibrating it to suit her needs before finally testing it out in the little bit of time she had before she needed to make her way to Harry’s office. 

And once that time came, she left everything in its place, besides the box of chocolates, which she continued to pick at while she made her way through the room. What she didn’t notice while stuffing her face with candy was that… no one else had a stuffed frog or chocolates or a cheesy little card on their desks.

She rounded the corner into Harry’s office, which was a real office and not a cubicle that he usually shared with one other person who was thankfully out with clients for the day. She knocked on the doorframe to get his attention after just watching him focus on his screen for a moment. Harry was cute when he was focused.

But then he turned to her and his eyes fell to the box in her hand.

When he didn’t say anything, she held it out toward him. “Do you want some? I think Andrew was feeling generous this year.”

Harry’s eyes quickly panned up to hers and his brows furrowed as if she’d just punched him in the gut. And she couldn’t make out what that expression meant no matter how hard she tried. 

“He didn’t give me anything.” Harry motioned around his desk.

“Maybe he doesn’t like you.” She shrugged, setting the chocolates down on his desk while she grabbed his office mate’s chair and pulled it up beside him.

Harry sighed, turning to his computer for a moment and then watching her from his peripheral while she picked out another piece of chocolate. “I didn’t see anyone else with chocolates on their desks this morning.”

Y/N just shrugged. “There was a frog too. And a card.”

“And why do you think he’d give you all of that and no one else?” Harry hoped she’d get the hint but he didn’t hope too hard. She was still Y/N after all. And he really didn’t mean to sound so bitter… well, okay, he did. But he knew she’d misplace his bitterness, crushing what little hope there was to bits.

“Maybe he likes me better than all the rest of you.”

Harry scoffed, shaking his head as he put his attention back on his screen. 

“No one else in this office would give me a card signed as a secret admirer so… maybe I did something I don’t remember doing and he’s thanking me?” Now that she really thought about it, and if Harry was right… then it really didn’t make  much sense. It’s not like she was Andrew’s favorite employee.

Harry just lifted a brow and then pretended to lose all interest. 

Sensing the tension, she slipped the box closer to him. “Here. I think you need a knock-off Snickers if you expect me to work with your grumpy ass.” He made no move to indulge her, however. And so she went on, continuing to poke the bear. “Why are you in a lousy mood anyway? Isn’t this your favorite holiday? And you get to leave early.”

His eyes fell from his screen and he stared at the brick of sticky notes below his monitor before mumbling, “I’m sorry about what I said yesterday.”

Taken aback, she searched what she could see of his face for answers to what he was apologizing for. He’d said a few things she could imagine deserved an apology and yet, so did she. Maybe she should have been the one to apologize to him first.

“I didn’t mean to say what I did.” He finally turned to meet her face on. He’d hoped the frog and the chocolates would have been atonement enough, but considering she thought they were from their boss and not him, he just had to suck it up and actually say what he meant.

She shrugged. “It’s fine. I can be a prude sometimes.”

He searched her eyes for a moment and then shook his head, “No that’s not… I meant what I said earlier in your office… about lowering my standards. It was a stupid thing to say and not true in the slightest.”

But then she smiled and he grew confused. “Yes it is. It’s okay to have standards, you know.”

“I know that. But if we… I wouldn’t have to lower my standards. And it was cruel of me to have said that to you.”

She couldn’t stand looking at him any longer and averted her gaze, clearing her throat. “Well it doesn’t matter so… can we just get this proposal done?”

He’d wanted to spend how ever long it took to convince her that it did, in fact, matter, but Y/N was persistent, more so than him, and so he’d given in and they moved on to being productive with their time. And in less time than he’d anticipated their proposal was finished, being sent off to Andrew for approval before their presentation at the end of the week with their clients.

Harry sat back in his chair and she returned her own to the other desk where it belonged, all while he watched her. 

“What do you do on Valentine’s Day?” He asked, just trying to get her to stay longer, knowing that if those were his true intentions, then he was fucked. That he wanted to be around Y/N, even though he was seeing someone else, albeit for just a week so far, even though she’d never want the same from him. 

Maybe he was just as terrible with relationships as she claimed if he always chased after what he couldn’t have.

“That is also none of your business.” She grabbed her box of chocolates from his desk, his voice pinning her in place again though.

“Let me guess… it involves chocolate, your cat, and the most anti-romantic movies you can find?”

He would not think her very prudish if he knew what else she did on Valentine’s Day while alone in her apartment, but she figured it was best to keep that to herself. Instead, she smiled at him. “Something like that.”

He narrowed his eyes and threw his arms up behind his head as he laid back in his chair, watching her curiously like he was trying to figure her out. Meanwhile, she was trying to not make it obvious she was staring at his biceps as they just about bulged from underneath the sleeve of his pink button-up. He’d done it on purpose though, so as much as she tried to hide it, he still grinned with satisfaction when she became flustered.

“Well, have fun with that, then.” He nodded, and for a moment while she was lost in his eyes and growing embarrassingly hot, she wondered if he could read her mind. If he knew exactly what not-so-innocent things she did on Valentine’s Day. Then he brought his arms back down to rest his elbows on the edge of his desk, pinching his bottom lip between his fingers and watching as she rolled her eyes, held her chocolates close, and left his office. 

Adam arrived right when he said he would at five-thirty. It had given her plenty of time to change out of her work clothes and into one of the few dresses she owned, to at least seem somewhat convincing that this was a real date. She also fixed her makeup and put on a pinkish-nude lipstick before switching out her bulky purse for a smaller crossbody. 

When she opened the door to him, he most certainly did not disappoint. She almost let herself get lost in the delusion that it was a real date when she saw him dressed to the nines and cleaned up for the first time since she’d known him. And she especially got a little lost in it when he pulled a small bouquet of flowers from behind his back and handed them to her. 

“You didn’t have to—“

“I know.” He gave her a once over when she wasn’t looking. “You didn’t have to do this for me either.”

She quietly accepted the flowers and let him in while she found a vase and filled it with water. He leaned on the counter, watching her as she did so.

“You look… beautiful, by the way.” He blurted out once she had cut and placed the stems into the vase. Her hands froze, though, and when he met her eyes, he knew he’d made a mistake.

“You’re paying me to make your ex-girlfriend jealous. Please don’t flatter me.”

“Sorry.” He muttered, although he was beginning to wonder if the bigger mistake was not taking her out on a proper date that had nothing to do with his ex. 

She sighed and adjusted the strap of her purse. “Let’s go then.”

He went over all the final details on the Uber ride to the restaurant. Things about his ex he thought Y/N should know about. And he made sure she knew, for about the hundredth time, that she didn’t have to do anything she didn’t want to. And she reminded him for an equal amount of times that she never did anything she didn’t want to do. So, settling that, he helped her out of the back of the Uber when they arrived and opened the door to the restraint for her as well. Everything that she’d expect from a normal date, which only left her disappointed when she reminded herself it wasn’t.

She waited quietly, and tried to catch her nerves, while Adam talked to the hostess and gave her his ex’s name for the reservation. The place was packed and anyone who didn’t call ahead surely would not be getting a table tonight. She’d never been out on Valentine’s Day, though, so it was like stepping into a brand new world for her. And as she followed both the hostess and Adam, she paid more attention to all the couples enjoying their meals than anything else.

Except for when he reached back and grabbed her hand, entwining their fingers just before they came to a stop. She blinked her eyes at their hands for just a moment before he gently pulled her around next to him. And whatever way she’d felt about holding Adam’s hand went right out the window when she locked eyes with Harry.

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit.

The last thing she expected to find, while Laura, the gorgeous blonde ex-girlfriend, stood to hug Adam, was Harry fucking Styles. And what a fucking coincidence it was, almost as if this was her karma for feeling the need to constantly help people. 

Adam’s hand slipped from hers but she didn’t even notice it anyway. She and Harry still stared each other down and neither of them moved a muscle either. Well, besides the one in his jaw as it tightened. Then he did move, glancing over at Adam with a blank expression before landing his gaze back on her again. And then his eyes fell to the glass of water in front of him and she felt like she’d been released from chains he’d tied around her wrists.

“This is Y/N,” Adam’s hand went to the small of her back, guiding her forward to meet his ex-girlfriend and Harry’s current… whatever they were. 

Laura held out her hand, her smile a little too forced. “Laura. It’s nice to meet you. Please, sit.” She ushered them to the table as she took her spot beside Harry again. Adam, of course, took the chair opposite Laura, which left Y/N in the one opposite Harry. 

This would be a long, hellish night.

She couldn’t help but wonder what Harry was thinking. That maybe she’d come to crash his date. Or, even worse, that he’d already figured the whole thing out. That Adam was paying her to be here. She really hoped he’d never find out because it was just embarrassing enough to make her want to change her name and move across the country, thousands of miles away from him. Harry finding out that she couldn’t get a real date to save her life… beyond humiliating.

“This is Harry.” Laura motioned to him and he just barely lifted his gaze, nodding at Adam and ignoring Y/N entirely. “You know,” the blonde went on, glancing between Adam and Y/N, “I was a little shocked when you told me you were seeing someone again.”

Adam just shrugged.

“How did you guys meet?” 

Y/N left all the talking to him. Mostly because she was still in shock that she was sitting across from Harry. And she hadn’t even taken the time to properly take him in and realized he’d also changed his clothes since work. Swapping his wardrobe out for a fitted black button-up, that wasn’t buttoned all the way to the top as his shirts normally were. The sleeves were already rolled to his elbows. He’d shaved off the scruff along his jaw as well and fixed his hair so that it was combed back out of his face, although a a couple rebellious strands hung down onto his forehead. He looked… like absolute perfection. And he was being forced to be on a date with the ex-boyfriend of the girl he was seeing and his annoying co-worker. She felt terrible for him.

“Oh, uh, well we live on the same floor.”

Laura nodded, clearly anticipating more. “Is that it?”

Y/N felt Adam tense up beside her and so she took over, easily spinning a lie. “I ran out of milk one night a few weeks ago. He’s the only one who answered the door.”

She noticed a flash of movement in her peripheral and turned to find Harry’s gaze on her again, one eyebrow lifted curiously. He was either wondering how she hid it so well, or trying to figure out what to ask in order to reveal their ploy. He never said anything, though.

“Sorry, um,” Laura’s tone changed as she glanced between Harry and Y/N, both of them looking away when the other girl interrupted. “Do you two know each other?”

Harry grinned, sitting back against his seat and folding his hands in his lap. “Something like that.”

Y/N rolled her eyes. “We work together.”

“Really?” Although her tone said otherwise, Laura’s face said everything about how she felt upon hearing that bit of information. 

Adam twisted his worrisome gaze to Y/N, but she ignored it. Harry, however, did not.

“Don’t worry, mate. I was under the impression she was celibate up until now.” With that, Y/N kicked him under the table and he sat forward to swallow the groan that very nearly left his lips after she’d jabbed him in the shin with the toe of her heels. “Guess she’s really good at hiding things, though.”

Adam just chuckled nervously and Y/N shot him an apologetic smile, trying to reassure him that this date would still work out despite Harry. 

“What a small world.” Laura laughed, trying to break the tension but dinner hadn’t even started yet. 

Sometime during the main course, Laura excused herself to the bathroom and Y/N almost, in a desperate attempt to flee both Adam and Harry, invited herself along. But she figured it’d be worse to be alone with Laura than with them. Laura might ask questions she wasn’t prepared for. So, she stayed put, as much as it pained her to do so.

“So, Adam, what do you do for a living?” Harry asked suddenly and she wanted to kick him again. Mostly because his tone was that of a jealous teenager and he’d waited until Laura was gone to pester her ex-boyfriend who most certainly did not deserve Harry’s pestering.

“Oh, uh, I’m an artist. I work for an animation studio at the moment but I’m trying to get into freelance.”

Harry’s eyes shot to the suspiciously quiet girl sitting across from him. “So is Y/N.”

Adam turned to look at her, but she just glared at Harry. “Oh, I didn’t know that.”

Harry titled his head as he narrowed his attention in on Adam again. “So you’ve known her for a few weeks and you never asked what she did?”

“Harry.” Y/N warned, trying to kick him under the table again but he dodged out of the way.

“Well… she said she was in graphic design… not art.” She had told him that, during their crash course yesterday while they got to know as much as they could about each other in a span of a couple hours.

“I think it’s the same thing.”

Adam just shrugged. “I guess. I don’t think I could be a designer, though. Most artists make what they think looks good, designers create things to appeal to customers.”

“Just ignore him.” Y/N advised and Harry was the one shooting her daggers and attempting to stomp his foot on top of hers under the table this time.

“You and Laura used to date then? She never told me how you split up.” Harry moved on.

Adam swallowed nervously. “She broke up with me.”

“Why?” Harry pushed and Y/N looked at him like she wanted to kill him, which he ignored.

“I, uh… I had a drug problem for a while. I was not the best person to be around sometimes. But after we broke up, she helped me with rehab and everything.”

“Guess that explains why you’re on such good terms.”

Now Y/N really wanted to do more than just kick him. 

Adam grabbed Y/N’s hand under the table and pulled her straight from her violent thoughts about Harry. And he didn’t lace his fingers between hers, instead, it felt as if he had just been looking for something to ground himself with. And her hand resting on her lap was the closest thing he could find. It didn’t, however, go unnoticed by Harry and his jaw clenched as he stared at the point in the table where, just below, there their hands met almost as if he was trying to set everything on fire.

Laura returned shortly after that. 

As promised, Adam paid the entirety of both his and Y/N’s bill, even though she attempted to snag it from him, seeing as the date had gone to shit and it was all her fault. Well… maybe it was also Harry’s fault a little bit too. But she definitely did nothing to make Laura jealous. Adam, on the other hand, did a great job at making Harry jealous just by existing and being Laura’s ex, whom she was still friends with. 

The four of them stood outside on the curb awaiting their Uber after dinner was over, agreeing upon splitting one car to get to the party instead of taking two. Laura was apparently very cautious about fossil fuel consumption.

Y/N shivered as she stood between Adam and Laura, wishing she’d bright a jacket instead of relying on a long-sleeve dress to keep her warm. Then an arm wrapped around her shoulders and Adam pulled her close, running his hand up and down her arm to form heat. She tensed up, though, forming into an immovable brick. She had no idea the last time she’d been that close to another person, let alone a member of the opposite sex. When he felt her go rigid, he leaned down until his lips were at her ear. “Is this okay?”

She just nodded and tried to relax. Which turned out to be quite easy because Adam was warm and he smelled nice. She, of course, didn’t let her mind wander off too far. He was still in love with his ex. He’d still shove cash into her hand at the end of the night for her troubles and go on with his life.

Adam let go of her when the car pulled up and quickly went to the passenger door to confirm with the driver. Then he opened the back door for the three of them to climb in, Laura going first, then Harry, and, at last, Y/N, while Adam slipped into the front seat beside the driver.

While the car took off, Y/N was shoved into the corner when Harry moved closer to her in order to find both his and Laura’s seat buckles in the dark. Eventually, he settled back into the middle and gave her some space again. When she made no move to do the same as them, Harry turned to look down at her. 

“Put your seatbelt on.” He whispered.

Her eyes whirled up to his. Wordlessly, and of course after rolling her eyes, she grabbed her seatbelt and he made room for her to buckle it in. Then she sat back in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest while she stared out at the traffic through her window.

She would have stayed in that exact position the entire trip, too, if Harry’s knee didn’t insist on bumping into hers constantly. And she couldn’t tell if he was doing it on purpose or not.

When she glanced up at him, and found the corner of his lips curl upward, she figured it was, in fact, purposeful. So, with the hand closest to him as her arms were still crossed, she poked him in the side, right against his ribs, hoping it hurt.

“Ouch.” He whined, covering the spot with his hand dramatically. Everyone in the car glanced at Harry, all except for Y/N who snickered as she returned to staring out the window.

Harry wasn’t giving up, though. This time, with his arms crossed in his lap, and glancing at Laura to be sure she wasn’t watching, he walked his pointer and middle finger up the outside of Y/N’s thigh, close enough to her hip to make her squirm slightly when his touch tickled her. And as soon as he got her attention, he looked down at what he was doing and pressed his middle finger against her, meeting her gaze with a smirk.

In the same moment, the driver turned up the music in the car as they waited tirelessly at a red light. It was better than silence or listening to his passengers breathing. But Harry mentally thanked him and turned his attention back to Y/N, leaning into her slightly until his lips were at her ear and she shivered for an all new reason.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a dress before.” He whispered for her ears only. The music was especially loud in the back and he wasn’t sure Y/N had even heard him.

Especially since she didn’t respond right away. But how could she? Harry’s fingertips were still grazing her thigh, as if trying to emphasize the dress she had on. And his stupid knee was pressed right up against hers. She couldn’t think straight.

Though when she finally turned to him and whispered back, “Don’t get used to it,” he knew she had, in fact, heard him well enough. 

He leaned again, “Afraid I already am.” 

She hated that there were butterflies in her stomach. That he was saying such odd things to her when his date was sitting just on the other side of him. The date who most definitely met all Harry’s standards.

Huddling away from him, she stuck her eyes out the window and kept them there the rest of the trip.

It was just past eight when they arrived, a fifteen-minute trip up through the city taking half an hour due to all the Valentine’s Day traffic. Another reason she hated this holiday.

The party was being held by Laura’s best friend, who’s name Y/N did not care to commit to memory. In the elevator ride up to the penthouse, though, Harry stood close to Laura, his arm wrapped around her waist and Adam to Y/N, although he didn’t touch her. She wouldn’t have minded if he did, but she figured it was best to keep those boundaries in place anyway.

Pink and golden balloons littered the ceilings of the penthouse. The drink cups were also pink, as was the communal punch bowl that Y/N steered clear of, having no idea what was in it, or who had already spiked it. She knew nobody at the party besides who she’d come with, though she assumed both Adam and Harry were somewhat acquainted with Laura’s friends. 

It was most definitely not someplace Y/N ever saw herself being at, not only because it was a Valentine’s themed party, but also because she wasn’t exactly comfortable around so many people. Especially when those people were all so unfamiliar to her.

“Here,” Adam handed her a drink and then grabbed one for himself. She downed the thing in one go, needing to take the edge off. It might’ve been a slight mistake when the alcohol burned the back of her throat, but she didn’t care too much when she grabbed another.

Then he was leading her into the dancing pit of bodies where they huddled close enough so that his lips were at her ear. “Is it alright if I touch you?”

She glanced over at where Laura and Harry had been left, finding both her hazel eyes and Harry’s green ones glued to the both of them. She wasn’t sure what Harry’s deal was, but this was her moment to fix things and make Laura jealous, so, turning back to Adam, she nodded.

He eased his hands onto her waist as they began swaying to the music. And then he pulled her closer, his hands slipping to the small of her back as her arms wrapped around his neck, being careful with her own movements even though she desperately wanted to sink her hands in his hair.

And, god, he smelled so good as her head rested in the crook of his neck. And he felt good, too, as he moved against her body. She knew it wasn’t real, and that the alcohol was making skewing her perception of things, but it was still nice. Nice to be held and to just let go for a change.

Over Adam’s shoulder, Y/N caught Harry’s eyes again. His jaw clenched and he looked the same as he did back at the restaurant. Angry. And then she realized that maybe she wasn’t really trying to make Laura jealous anymore at all, but rather Harry.

It was dumb, she knew that. He’d have to like her in order for her to make him jealous. But… the way he was looking at her. The way he had looked at her. His eyes lingering too long on her lips. What he’d done in the car ride here. 

She heard Adam in her ear again. “I think it’s working. She just stormed off into the kitchen.” Then he pulled away and she realized she hadn’t even seen Laura. Just Harry. Harry and his stupid, obnoxious green eyes.

“You owe me more than just dinner.” Y/N teased but Adam grew serious.

“I know. And since you refuse to accept my money, I’ll have to figure out another way to repay you.” He smiled and then twirled her around so that she no longer had any line of sight toward Harry. He pulled her close again, one hand going to her waist while the other stayed locked to one of hers. “Suppose I could start with making your coworker just as jealous… although I think he already is.”

Confusion flooded her features as she peered up at him. 

“Oh, come on! He was ready to rip my head off when he realized I’d grabbed your hand. And when I put my arm around you? I thought I might be better off just giving you my jacket and freezing to death instead.”

“I don’t…” she shook her head in disbelief. It was one thing for her to be pretending to make Harry jealous in some delusional hope that it’d work. But this… this was a whole other thing.

“I’m actually quite interested to see what he does if I kissed you.”

She was shocked at first and then, possibly due to the alcohol, just as interested. “Are you asking my permission?”

“Are you saying yes?”

Y/N hesitated. “Is she back?”

Adam’s eyes scanned the room and Y/N realized he hadn’t asked to kiss her for Laura’s sake at all.

“She is.” He finally announced. 

Without any more second guessing, Y/N’s hand slipped to the back of his neck and pulled him in. As soon as their lips collided and she tasted the alcohol on him, she knew that she’d never agreed to this without it. Or maybe she would. Adam spun them back around again, deepening the kiss as her eyes opened and fell into the direction she’d last seen Harry.

He was still there.

Still watching.

His hands in fists. His jaw tightened into a crisp line. His nostrils flared. His eyes… sad.

She pulled away. Adam steadied her, grabbing her shoulders when she swayed. But, as she caught her breath, the dizziness went away. 

“I’m going to find the bathroom.” She told him and after he nodded, she left, forming a rift for herself through the bodies that danced all around them until she was in the clear. Then she was avoiding Harry as she walked past him, not so sure his gaze was still set on her. Maybe she’d gone too far. She didn’t often just kiss people for no good reason and that’s exactly what she’d just done with Adam. She barely even knew him.

She didn’t exactly need the bathroom, just an open, empty and quiet place. And so, she fell back against a wall in the foyer and ran a hand through her hair.

“That was quite the show.”

She startled at the sound of his familiar voice and looked up just as he stopped a few feet away from her. “What are you talking about?”

He lifted a brow. “You expect me to believe that that you, anti everything to do with this holiday and with relationships and romance, are actually dating that guy?”

“Is it that hard to believe?” She crossed her arms, willing to go as far as she needed to before she let Harry see the truth. That she was that pathetic. 

“Yes.” He didn’t even hesitate to respond and she flinched.

“Well, I’m sorry that you have a hard time believing that someone may actually like me.” She had no reason to nearly be shouting at him and no reason to be saying what she was because Adam didn’t like her.

“That’s not what I said. It’s hard for me to believe you just dropped all your ideas about relationships for some guy with obnoxious blue eyes.”

“I didn’t.”

“So then what is this?”

Y/N hesitated. Hating that the truth was about to boil over out of her mouth for him to see all the embarrassing bits of it, but she had no other way of convincing him. And it didn’t really help that Adam was so far out of her league that it wasn’t even convincing to begin with. Nor did she want to convince Harry of anything either. It was clear now that he hadn’t been jealous, he was just trying to figure out when she stopped hating relationships so much.

And the truth of that was she never really hated them. It was just easier telling herself she didn’t want it than admitting no one ever actually wanted her.

She trembled, not even sure why, but he was making her incredibly nervous, so much that she wished she could rewind and stay squished next to him in the back of the car forever. Being that close to him... his stupid fingers on her thigh, whispering things in her ear that made her head spin. She’d much prefer that than standing in front of him now, seeing every ounce of judgment he was about to throw her way.

“What do you want me to say, Harry?” She shrugged and dropped her eyes to the white marble floors between them, focusing on calming her anxiety while she was no longer looking at him. “He needed a date and I felt bad for him.”

“What does that mean?”

Letting her head fall back against the wall, she stared up at the ceiling this time as her eyes burned with embarrassment. “He paid me to be his date so his ex-girlfriend didn’t find out he wasn’t actually seeing anyone. That’s what it means.”

Harry didn’t say anything.

“So, yeah.” She folded her arms, looking down at the floor again, still unable to meet Harry’s eyes and see the look that would be on his face. A smirk of amusement at her expense. Even probably his dimples, taunting her and turning her into the joke she already was. “You were right. I can’t find anyone to tolerate me, which is why I’m on this stupid date that isn’t even real.”

“Him kissing you seemed quite real to me.”

There was more exasperation than humor to her laugh. “It wasn’t.”

Harry seemed to finally understand. “He’s trying to make Laura jealous.”

Y/N just nodded. “I promise I didn’t know you were going to be there, that he was trying to get her back from you.”

“You still kissed him though.”

She couldn’t argue that, nor could she tell him the real reason she’d agreed to the kiss. That it wasn’t exactly Laura she was trying to make jealous. She’d never live that one down, if she ever managed to live any other aspect of this night down.

When she didn’t say anything, he stepped closer. “Why did you kiss him?”

“I’m sorry, Harry I just... I don’t know.”

He shook his head and took another step, making her eyes widen when he was close enough that she had to crane her head back to meet his gaze. “Seemed like you were trying to make me jealous.”

She swallowed, not exactly in the position to laugh it off and argue with him when he was this close and all she could feel were the traces of his fingertips on her thigh. Her voice was quiet when it finally came out. “Making you jealous would mean I assumed you liked me in the first place... which I’m definitely not stupid enough to assume.”

A crease formed between his brow and his stupidly perfect jaw hardened as if he was biting his tongue from saying something. And fuck him for choosing then to finally stop opening his mouth.

Just then, a pair of drunk guys, one on the other’s back, came racing through the foyer, screaming at the top of their lungs while a few others followed quickly after them. It was enough to force Harry away from Y/N again, enough for the both of them to step out of the little bubble they’d been in together the past ten minutes.

Once they were alone again, their eyes gravitated toward each other and just when she thought Harry might say something after all, he flipped around on his heel and left. And she watched as he turned the corner and mixed back into the party.

After a few moments to gather herself, she followed him, not exactly sure what she was going to do now that Harry wouldn’t talk to her and it felt weird being with Adam while Harry knew everything. But, whatever plans to keep herself occupied no longer matted when she spotted Laura.

Making out with Adam in the middle of the room. 

Without even thinking, she turned to locate Harry and he might as well have been a source of gravity because her eyes fell right to him within a second. And he was watching them too. He knew. 

He met Y/N’s eyes and she wasn’t quite sure if he was upset or not. She couldn’t really read anything on his face, and stopped attempting to when he moved towards her and she had other things on her mind, like where he was going and if he was going to bother taking her with him.

Shortly after he stormed past Y/N she made sure he wasn’t going to leave her behind and chased after him. She didn’t know Adam very well and definitely not Laura to want to stay with them. And everyone else in the room were complete strangers to her. Adam had promised he’d take her home, but he probably hadn’t expected to be making out with his ex by the end of the night, either.

Harry didn’t say anything, not even when they’d reached the foyer and Y/N asked where he was going. He just located his jacket and slipped it on before making his way out the front door.

And right when she thought he really was going to leave her behind, since she was the reason he’d just lost Laura to her ex, he held the door open and glanced over his shoulder at her while she still stood on the other side of the threshold.

“Are you staying?”

Without a word, she sprung into motion and trailed right behind him into the hallway like a lost puppy, letting the door shut behind her that cut them off from the music as it faded into the background behind them.

It was a silent trip down the elevator, mostly because she had no idea what to say that would sound sincere and he didn’t say anything at all. At least not until she followed him through the lobby until he stopped on the curb just outside the main doors.

She took up the spot next to him, eyes glued to the side of his face as he took in a deep breath of fresh air, or at least as fresh as traffic allowed it to be.

Then he spoke, and it seemed like the first time she’d heard his voice all night. “I’m the one who gave you the chocolates and the frog.”

She narrowed her eyes, both not exactly sure why he’d just said that or if he was even being serious. “What?”

He looked down at her. “It wasn’t Andrew, it was me.”

“Why?” She breathed and while she was positive she’d be freezing cold soon, the fresh air after being surrounded by so many people felt good. It felt freeing and she wondered if he felt that way too.

His eyes scanned hers before he looked away. “Well partly to apologize for what I said.”

“What’s the other part?”

Sighing, he turned his entire body to face her now. “Something else entirely…” He trailed off, only confusing her more as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and stared at his feet. “I didn’t tell you because I know you don’t like all this stuff, but seeing you with him tonight... I wish I had.” 

“It’s not that big of a deal. It’s just a frog.”

He shook his head, grinning. “It’s not just a frog, Y/N... because the thing is,” he paused to catch his breath, “I’ve been in love with you for... a really long time… since last spring. But with you being the way that you are, I never thought you’d feel the same way.”

She opened her mouth and then closed it.

“And then you come in with that guy and...” He pulled his fingers through his hair. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more jealous in my life... because all this time I thought you weren’t interested in relationships, but you just weren’t interested in me.”

Inhaling, she summoned every ounce of courage she could fathom. “You were right about why I kissed Adam.” He lifted a brow, waiting for her elaboration which never came. “You were right about other things, too. I wish I had someone to come home to almost every single night I got to bed alone. No one—“ She cut herself off, trembling again as tears stung her eyes. “I pretend not to be interested so I can ignore the fact that no one’s ever wanted me.”

“That’s not true.” He had that same look on his face as before, when she’d told him she wasn’t stupid enough to think he liked her.

She just nodded. “And I’m sorry but... why would you want me when you could have someone like Laura?”

“Y/N...” He huffed and stepped closer to her, the heat from his body making her shiver. “This is not the first time I started seeing someone to get over you... in fact, all my relationships since I met you have been shit.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“Well you’re very anti-relationships so I think I was justified in wanting to avoid you rejecting me… especially since we work together and it would have been really awkward.”

“I don’t, uh... I...” She stammered, not really sure what to say to him even though her heart was screaming at her in full volume. 

He held his breath and then, in almost a whisper, “Is this the inevitable rejection?”

“No.” She didn’t even hesitate that time and at this point, her mind no longer controlled the words coming out of her mouth as she let another organ finally speak for itself. “No, I liked you the second I saw you, Harry... and at no point tonight was I ever trying to make Laura jealous.”

The corners of his mouth began to curl into a smile. “That was very cruel of you to do to me.”

“I didn’t think you liked me at all twenty minutes ago, Harry.”

“Twenty minutes ago,” he fully invaded all of her space now, leaving the smallest gap between their bodies as he could get away with, lifting his hand to her jaw and rubbing his thumb over her cheek. “I was still on this date with the wrong person.” 

“I think the date is over now.”

“No,” his eyes fell to her lips just like they had before. “It’s not.” 

“You’re looking at me like that again.” She mumbled, out of breath.

He lifted a brow and didn’t once remove his eyes from her lips. “Like what?”

“Like…” she trailed off, not having the courage to say it in case she wasn’t right. 

“Like I’ve wanted to kiss you for a very long time and I’m tired of pretending?” 

“Something like that, yeah.”

He grinned, both of his dimples making an appearance just before he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. And once her brain realized what was happening, she sunk right into him, letting his arm wrap around her waist as his other hand tangled its way into her hair to bring her closer. She threw her arms over his shoulders and he hunched lower to meet her. She staggered back a step when he did, nearly losing her balance but he caught her instantly and then drew his lips back as he laughed.

“This is not how I expected tonight to end.” She couldn’t help but think the way he struggled to catch his breath was possibly the hottest he’d ever been. Not to mention the tiny bit of her lipstick smeared on his face. She could look at him just the way he was right there and then for days and be perfectly satisfied.

“It doesn’t have to end yet.” She fully blamed her sudden burst of confidence on the cold, but refreshing February night. And maybe she also just wanted to get out of it before it caught up to her and she would, yet again, regret not having a jacket.

“Oh?” She wanted to smack the mischievous smirk off his face and leave him there on the curb. “And here I thought you were a prude.”

“You thought a lot of things about me that weren’t true, Harry.”

He thought about that for a moment and after realizing she was right, he then wondered just how wrong he was when he’d called her celibate. “I suppose… I’d quite like to find out just how wrong I was.” He slipped a loose strand of her hair back behind her ear, which is where his lips ended up as he whispered softly, “And I’d also quite like to show you just how wrong you were about me not liking you.”

They stumbled into her bedroom in the dark, Pretzel racing out between their twisted feet in a hurry, screeching at them in the process. Harry giggled against her lips, “Your cat sounds friendly.” 

“Well, since I was supposed to be spending tonight with her, and chocolate, and anti-romantic movies…” She pulled away from him, watching as his smile spread further. Maybe she could actually believe he’d been in love all this time. 

“Right… I’d be upset too.” 

She shook her head and kissed him again, then pulled back a second later. “You know that’s not actually what I do on Valentine’s Day.”

He lifted a brow and waited for her to explain but she didn’t.

“And what is it that you do, then?” He finally asked, curiosity getting the best of him, although he had some inkling as to what she was talking about.

Her smile was devoid of innocence as her hands fell to his belt. Harry’s shirt had already been lost to the kitchen floor. Her dress hardly covering what it was supposed to once Harry had gotten his hands on it. 

“Maybe you’ll get to find out.” 

When she brought her lips back to his, after undoing the buckle just under his navel, he spun them around and led her backwards to the bed. He wasn’t sure how far it was, but hoped he was headed in the right direction. And because of that, when her knees did finally bend over the mattress, he practically came flying down on top of her. 

She squirmed out from under him, crawling back towards the pillows as she watched him at the end of the bed while he stood and removed his belt completely, trying not to drool at the sight of him. At the sight of Harry, her fucking annoying ass, perfect, beautiful, coworker standing shirtless at the end of her bed where he was also about to be…

He pushed his trousers down off his hips and they fell to the floor with ease, almost with the same amount of ease that her eyes fell to the tight boxer-briefs he wore underneath. She swallowed as he adjusted the waistband back into place, quite certain that, even in the low light, her eyes were not deceiving her.

The bed shifted at her feet as he joined her, and then it took all her willpower to not fling herself at him as he crawled up the length of her. As he settled himself between her thighs and she felt every last, very hard, inch of him pressed against her. She couldn’t be blamed for the whining moan that she let out in his ear as his lips became familiar with the shape and taste of her neck. She also couldn’t be blamed when her hips instinctively collided with his.

He just giggled again and shook his head, the loose strands of his curls tickling her forehead. “Easy now.” He warned in a hushed mumble, his lips vibrating right against the vein in her neck that pulsed so much faster the more his free hand began to wander up underneath her dress.

He left her speechless for multiple reasons, but the main one was when she felt his fingers tracing down her thigh and then, moments later, after he shifted his weight and used his knees to keep her legs open, she sucked in a breath of air as she felt him pressed against her clit, forcing her nails to dig into his back but he didn’t seem to mind.

Coming back down to kiss her, he began moving his hand in expert little circles, grinning against her mouth every time her body begged him for more. It wasn’t long that he complied, either, when he sat back on his knees between her legs and tugged her underwear off for good, throwing it to the depths of her bedroom floor. He wouldn’t have known where they landed even if he tried because his gaze belong to her only as he lowered himself to his elbows before her, kissing his way up her thighs until he reached her center.

When she squirmed away from him, he wrapped his arms around her thighs and pressed his hands into her hips after gently moving her dress out of the way. 

“You know when we used to stay late at the office working?” He asked suddenly and the heat of his voice against her made her squirm again, but he held on tight. “And you would get sick of sitting in an office chair and made me promise not to tell Jim when you sat on his desk instead?” She had no clue where he was going with it, but still, she nodded. “Every single time I turned to look at you, I thought about doing this.” Before she could get words out or even a coherent thought, she felt his tongue on her. And this time when she jerked against him, she nearly slipped out of his hold until he grabbed her again and pulled her back down, digging himself further into her as she struggled to breathe properly.

She dug her fingers into his hair when he brought her close to the edge and showed no mercy. And somehow, she’d managed to get the sole of her foot up onto his shoulder in order to kick him away, but it didn’t matter much because he never budged. Not that she wanted him to, but he just felt so good… 

“Harry!” She shouted, pulling at his hair and making matters worse for herself when he moaned against her sensitive bundle of nerves. He let her come, never once lifting his mouth from her even as her hips jerked off the mattress and she very nearly pulled his hair out. When she stopped screaming, her voice caught in her throat because she was lost to her own orgasm, is when he lifted his mouth, replaced it with his fingers and watched her as she came down. As her eyes fluttered shut and her chest heaved, her lungs struggling to get oxygen back into her system. Her hold on him loosened as she came undone around him, melting into his hands it seemed like.

And when he began rubbing his index and middle finger into her, once she was far and beyond overstimulated, and he knew that, she reached down with a whine and grabbed his wrist with what little strength she had in her and pulled him away. His hand fell to the other side of her hip, which he used to his advantage to pull himself up over her again, his other hand taking her dress with it until he was able to tug it over her head and toss it. Then he came back down to kiss her, letting her taste herself on her lips. He rubbed his thumb across her cheek and when he pulled away, found her looking at him finally. Although it was with heavy lids as she still struggled to regain her bearings.

Before they could get much further, a loud crashing sound from the other room made both of them nearly jump out of their skin. She shot up instantly, grabbing hold of Harry’s bicep before moving him out of the way and sliding off the edge of the bed. 

“It’s just the cat.” Harry would have probably said the same thing even if it was not just the cat, he’d say anything just to get her to stay with him.

“I know but it sounded like…” her voice trailed off as her feet hit the floor and the moment she went to stand on her own two legs, her knees buckled. He reached to grab her waist but she righted herself before he could. She didn’t see the way he hid his cheeky smirk at the fact that he’d been so good, she was still dizzy.

“You good?” He asked as she stumbled her way into a shirt. With only a groan in response, and what he was sure was her middle finger, she left him alone in her bed to investigate the noise. Sighing, he laid on his back and got comfortable amongst her pillows. And after about three minutes, decided to locate the remote to her TV to entertain himself. 

He flipped onto his side and felt around her bedside table, but his fingers never landed on anything remote-like. So, frustrated, he reached up and switched the lamp on. Again, he found nothing. Looking further, he realized the table had a drawer and so he pulled it open in hopes of finding the damned remote before she got back. 

But what he found instead was so much better than turning on late night news.

“Fucking cat knocked over my vase.” Y/N was back within ten minutes. Harry had left the light on, but made sure it wasn’t obvious he’d gone snooping into her drawer, at least not yet anyway. She crawled back into bed beside him and it was then he noticed the bandage on her thumb.

“Are you alright?” He forgot all about what he planned to tease her with when he gently grabbed her hand to inspect the damage.

“Yeah. I was in a bit of hurry trying to clean up the glass…” 

Harry rolled his eyes and dropped her hand. “I would have come help you.”

She just smiled up at him as he fit his arm around her shoulders, his bicep under her neck. “That’s alright.”

He shrugged. “It was for the best anyways that I didn’t.” When he smirked, she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him.

“And why’s that?”

She followed his other hand as he reached for something and then, moments later, it reappeared with a very familiar pink object clutched in his grasp. “Because then I wouldn’t have found this.”

Her first reaction was to pry it from his snooping fingers, but when she reached across him to grab it, he way too easily held her back and, at the same time, held it far out of her reach. 

“So this is what you do on Valentine’s Day, then?” He flicked his wrist back and forth, waving her vibrator in the air as he taunted her.

“If you don’t give that back to me,” she reached for it again to no prevail, “you won’t be doing anything, least of all, me.”

He clicked his tongue. “Why would I give it back when I plan on using it?”

She froze and he chuckled at her reaction.

“Would be rude of me to break your traditions, wouldn’t it?” 

She swallowed, her eyes slowly meeting his again. The appearance of his right dimple told her he wasn’t playing any games. She had no idea how many times he planned to make her come tonight or whether or not she’d even be able to walk tomorrow at work. But, given the stupid look on his face, she almost began making plans to call out sick instead.

“Do you actually know how to use that thing?” She finally asked, glancing at the wand still held very firmly in his hand.

He looked at her like she was crazy moments before he pivoted and pinned her onto her back, settling himself into the position they’d been in before the interruption of the cat. 

Just, this time… he was clicking on her vibrator and watching her face as she began to regret her words. 

“‘Course I know how to use it. The real question is,” he brought his lips to her ear, the soft vibrations and the sound of his voice mixing together like sin itself. Even more so when he nipped at her earlobe. “Do you know how to handle it?”

[cat-induced-fever-dream]

Acquaintances

Pairing: Wanda x Fem!Reader

Genre: Fluff

Description: Wanda meets someone who doesn’t treat her like a villain, but she doesn’t know who you really are.

Notes: I promise it’s fluff and not a trap. Also sorry about my hiatus, I’m just super unmotivated to do anything. So here’s my feeble offering to try and get back into writing.

- - -

Wanda groaned at the sight of a man with a camera. All she wanted was to pop down to the shops, buy some paprika, but alas, even a shopping trip was gold for the paparazzi. Maybe if she hid behind an aisle he would leave. But she heard the door open behind her. Ducking quickly behind a stack of tuna cans, she scanned the rows for the precious package.

She knew she wasn’t the favourite of the public, and the guilt of what she’d done ate her alive every night, but she was sick of being blamed. All she did was try her best, but this was the kind of thanks she got.

She frowned a little when she saw the man round the corner. She steeled herself, not wanting the tears to spring to her eyes. Turning around to face him, she- There was a person talking to him. You had a shopping bag in your hand, so you must have been another customer. Dressed smartly with a blazer, but paired with jeans and sneakers, you looked friendly, but the cold look you gave the man said otherwise. You exchanged words quietly with the reporter, and he seemed to refuse you, turning back to look at her. Realising that this was the perfect stall to get out of the store, she resumed her search. Cumin, Ginger, Paprika! Quickly glancing back to see how long she had, she saw you hand the man a business card as he hurriedly shuffled away.

“Sorry about that,” you turned to her, looking genuinely apologetic.

“Why?” she asked, it coming out harsher than she meant for it to. “It wasn’t even your fault.”

You shrugged. “You don’t deserve it.”

Wanda frowned again at this. She didn’t even know you, but you helped her out, so the least she could do was be polite. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” you smiled. The two of you started to walk towards to counter. More like she did and you kind of happened to as well. “What are you cooking with the paprika?”

Sliding the bag to the cashier, she turned to face you properly. “I was making a traditional Sokovian dish.”

“I’m a big fan of trying different cuisines,” you replied, eyes sparkling with curiosity. “That sounds delicious.”

Wanda’s not really sure why you’re trying to make conversation, but you didn’t seem to have an agenda, so she indulged you with a response as the two of you walked out of the store. “It is, my mum always had the best recipe.”

“Ah well, my parents weren’t around much, so I can’t say the same,” you laughed, throwing your shopping in the back of what must have been your car.

Wanda hadn’t even realised she had walked with you to your car. That was embarrassing. “Well, it was nice to meet you, but I should be going now,” backing away as quickly as she could without making a fool of herself.

“Wait,” you called, “do you need a lift back?”

“You’re a stranger.”

“Well I know your name is Wanda,” you grinned cheekily, opening the passenger door. “And my name is Y/N. Guess we’re not strangers anymore. So, what do you say? It’s the least I could do, with that man bothering you.”

She’s not sure what compelled her to agree, but she found herself sitting in a plush leather seat as you adjusted the rear view mirror. Tapping the dashboard screen, you pulled up a map to Avengers Tower and backed out of the parking lot.

You didn’t seem to mind that she didn’t make conversation, bopping your head gently to whatever pop song was on the radio. Instead she spent the time trying to figure out who you were and why you were being so nice. “It’s rude to stare, you know?” you winked at her.

Wanda felt the heat rush to her cheeks. “Wha- No, sorry,” she mumbled. She’d done it again, made herself look dumb. You giggle, returning your eyes to the road. Trying not to stare at you this time, she observed the fancy watch adorning your wrist, and the sleek interior of the car. You must be a businesswoman of some sort, since this clearly wasn’t your average suburban car. But you were wearing jeans. Maybe a lower level employee than?

She sat there musing, until the door suddenly opened. “We’re here,” you smiled, gesturing at the grand tower that was now her home.

Why couldn’t she stop being so awkward? This was the third time. Unbuckling the seatbelt, she stumbled out, clutching the paprika to her chest. “Thanks again.”

“Anytime, Wanda.” And with a small wave, you hopped back into your car and drove off.

- - -

Heading straight to her room, Wanda abandoned her plans for paprikash. The whole interaction was quite frankly, baffling. No one was ever nice to her, except for the Avengers. But you clearly knew who she was, driving her back to the tower without an address. Tossing her jacket on her bed, she sighed. It’s not like she’d ever see you again. That’s when she noticed the card peeking out from the pocket. There was a phone number printed neatly on it, and a cursive scrawl underneath. “I am actually interested in the dish though. Could I have the name of it?”

She hadn’t exactly interacted with anyone else, so it must’ve been you. Running her thumb over the ink, she was hit with a renewed sense of energy. Grabbing the paprika, she dashed back down the stairs.

- - -

You’re spinning around in your office chair when your phone goes off. Clicking on the message, a small smile makes its way into your face.

Unknown Number: this is the dish i was talking about

Unknown Number: *image*

Unknown Number: it’s paprikash

- - -

“Hey Wanda,” Tony called, a carefully wrapped package in his arms, “this came for you.”

One look at the scarlet wrapping paper, and she knew who it was from. “Thanks Tony,” she said, grabbing it and running to her room.

Setting the package gently on her bed, she untied the ribbon and unfolded the wrapping paper. Nestled in the middle, a box of cookies.

She grinned to herself. Wanda’s been texting you for a couple of months now, and now she could really say that you’re not strangers. She knows that you can’t cook, but you can bake. You’re a businesswoman “of sorts” you say, and that you’re a pretty busy person. But regardless, you hang out with her, chilling in the local coffee shop, going shopping, even just a stroll around the park. She also knows that this happiness she gets when she sees you is definitely not platonic.

Opening the lid, the chocolate aroma wafts into her room. Her favourite of your baked goods. There’s a note tucked into the side of the box, and she delicately pulls it out. “Be my girlfriend?” she read, the handwriting obviously yours. Wait. Be my girlfriend? She sat there dumbly for a couple of seconds before it hit her. You’re asking her to be your girlfriend. Wanda scrambled for her phone, snapping a picture to send to you.

Y/N: those cookies look delicious, who sent them?

The witch rolled eyes at your antics, but played along.

Wanda: idk, but i just got asked out

Y/N: whoaaaa, did you say yes?

Wanda: yes you dumbass

Y/N: okay, under other circumstances that would’ve hurt, but i’m too excited to care right now <3

Wanda: ...

Wanda: did you try to bribe me with cookies?

Y/N: it worked, didn’t it?

Wanda: i can’t believe i actually like you

Y/N: honestly, me too

Y/N: sorry it’s a busy day, but you wanna come over for dinner?

Wanda: sounds good <3

Y/N: i’ll come pick you up, see you then girlfriend

She didn’t want bugs in her room, so Wanda grabbed the box to put in her kitchen cupboard. Balancing a cookie in her mouth, she was about to close the lid, when a hand pinched one. Eyes immediately glowing red, she locked onto Sam as he backed away, half eaten cookie and hands up in surrender.

“Do that again and I will give you nightmares.”

The Falcon whistled lowly. “Okay. Protective over cookies. Got it.”

“There’s cookies?” Bucky asked, strolling in.

“No.”

“Oh okay.”

- - -

The heroes were sprawled on the couches playing a game of UNO when Wanda came down the stairs.

“What are you doing with that hoodie?” Tony asked sharply.

Wanda furrowed her eyebrows. “This.. hoodie?” she replied, tugging on the drawstrings of the soft item of company clothing she was wearing.

“Yes! That’s my enemy’s!”

She didn’t really want to get into whatever nonsense the genius was spouting again. “My friend lent it to me.”

“You have friends?” joked Sam.

Steve gave the man a warning look. “It’s good that you’re adjusting to life here.”

“I think the important question here,” Natasha said from her spot, “is where are you going?”

“Dinner,” she replied, trying to look as nonchalant as possible. She tried to fight the silly smile that crept into her face whenever she thought about you, but she mustn’t have hid it well enough, since the red headed spy gave her a sickeningly sweet smile.

I hate you, she projected.

Nat winked back.

“Based on the way Miss Maximoff keeps anxiously glancing at the door, there is likely to be someone waiting for her,” Vision piped up. “I have searched the Internet databases, and from what I have gathered, your casual outfit means that you are going with someone you are familiar with. The sharing of clothes is usually reserved for close friends or romantic partners only.”

Of course the android had to get involved.

“Your heart rate seems to be speeding up Miss Maximoff. Are you okay?”

“Wanda Maximoff,” Tony asked slowly, “do you have a boyfriend?”

That’s when all hell broke loose.

“Who is he?”

“Is he hot?”

“Where did you meet?”

“How did you even get a boyfriend?”

“Can we meet him?”

“What-“

“Okay,” she groaned. Well it was bound to happen eventually. She just wished she could’ve gotten even a few months without the teasing. “I have a girlfriend, yes she’s hot, yes I’m going to have dinner with her, and I’ll ask about meeting. I’m going to go now.” With that, she stepped into the elevator.

“Don’t think this conversation is over witchy,” called Tony, as the doors slid shut.

- - -

“Hey,” you smiled as she slid into the car. “What took you so long?”

“The Avengers found out.”

You chuckled at that. “What, did they interrogate you or something?”

“Something like that.” She paused. “They want to meet you.”

“Are you sure?”

“They’re my family, and they’ll love you as much as I do.”

“Cute,” you grinned, “but I don’t know about Tony.”

“Trust me, they’re a mess a lot of the time, but they’re good people.”

You checked through your phone. “I haven’t got anything on around lunch tomorrow. I can come by then, how does that sound?”

“So you’ll come?”

“Anything for my girlfriend.”

- - -

Her green eyes locked onto you amongst the bustle of suits in the lobby.

“Hey.”

You adjusted the grey fabric of your pantsuit. “Hey yourself.”

“Did you wear the suit to impress me?” Wanda asked, delicately tugging on your tie.

“Actually, I’ve got a meeting with the investors later. Gotta make an impression, you know?”

“Well consider me impressed,” she whispered against your ear.

Blushing, you allowed Wanda to lead you to the elevator.

- - -

Clint wasn’t sure what to expect with you. But if Wanda liked you, you were sure to be one of the good sorts. So maybe like a cute girl she met at the cafe or something. He sure as hell wasn’t expecting the confident girl dressed in a suit to step out of the elevator.

All of them were lined up in the common room and he’s pretty sure any normal person would have been intimidated by the sheer amount of Avengers in front of them, but you stepped up to them absolutely unfazed.

“Mr Rogers,” you offered your hand to shake, “a pleasure to meet you.”

Steve was expecting to have to take the lead with introductions, but here you seemed to be handling yourself fine. “Likewise.”

“Is Mr Stark here today?” you asked him.

“He’s a bit busy at the mo-“

Clattering and a string of curses interrupted him. And of course, the man himself stepped into the room, Iron Man debris in his wake.

“Tony,” Steve scolded.

“What? Did you think I’d miss meeting the girl who stole the heart of our cold antisocial emo?”

Wanda tossed a couch pillow at him, but he brushed it off.

“Tony Stark,” he declared.

You shook his hand politely. “I know who you are Mr Stark.”

“And you are...?”

“Y/N L/N.”

The genius might have been singed from his armour, but the moment that name fell from your lips, he yanked his hand away, as if he was burned.

“L/N. As in L/N Corporations?”

“That’s me.”

Abruptly he turned to Wanda. “Do you know who this is?” he hissed. “The greatest rival to Stark Industries. I thought you were introducing your girlfriend.”

You gave him a winning smile. “I am her girlfriend Mr Stark. And you may have made me your rival, but I can assure you that you are not mine.”

Sam snorted.

“What are you doing here then? Are you here to try and steal data? You can’t...”

You paid him no mind as you winked at Sam. Spotting the metal arm, your eyes widened. “You must be Bucky, right? Princess Shuri told me she’d been working on some vibranium projects. I’d love to take a closer look some other day if you don’t mind?”

“How do you know Shuri?” Stark spluttered.

“You think that she only talks to rich boys who need her help? Sorry to burst your bubble.”

Nat couldn’t help but smirk at this.

“Oh and I’ve actually been working on some prototype Widow Bites as a bit of a free time project,” you added. “If you’re interested, your opinion on usage would really help me to refine them.”

“Of course.”

“Traitor,” Tony glared.

It’s at this point your phone began to ring. Glancing down, you offered a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry, I’ve really got to take this.” You turned to face the wall as your friendly tone turned professional.

The Avengers huddled together as your call went on.

“Is she using you for information?” Tony scowled.

Wanda scowled back. “She’s my girlfriend Stark. Not everything is about you.”

He looked as if he was going to say more, but Steve interrupted.

“Look Tony, she seemed like a perfectly lovely girl.”

“Yeah I like her,” added Sam. “She can keep your ego in check.”

“If Wanda likes her, I’m fine with it too.” Clint said.

Wanda gave him a thankful look.

A cough came awkwardly behind them.

“I really hate to cut this short everyone, but something’s come up back at the office. Investors are a pain.”

“Yeah go on back to your investors then,” spat Tony.

“Wow” you drawled, heading back to the elevator, “is the rich card the only thing you can play Stark?”

The light on the wall indicated that the cab had arrived, and you stepped inside the carriage which would take you back down, as Peter stepped out.

“Oh hey Y/N, what are you doing here?”

“I was just leaving Pete, but swing by later, alright?”

“You know it.”

“Oh and I heard you liked the hoodie I gave Wanda, Mr Stark,” you called. “I can grab you one as well, since it’s my company. But I really do gotta run now. Nice to meet you all!” The metal doors slid shut on your grinning face.

There was a silence, before Tony turned on his protégée. “How the hell are you on a first name business with her?”

“We’re friends?” Peter offered.

“Friends?”

“She went to college with me. She was super smart and we hung out and stuff. You know, what friends usually do.”

Squirming under his mentor’s gaze, he continued. “She was too smart for college though, so she dropped out and started her company. It didn’t mean we stopped being friends though.”

“Why didn’t you tell me Underoos?”

“She figured you might overreact, especially with the web sho-“ The boy’s eyes widened, and he made a mad dash for the stairs.

But Tony grabbed his wrist. “What were you saying?”

Peter sighed, running a hand through his hair anxiously. “She helped me out with my web shooters in college, and since then, she’s been developing them with me.”

“What?”

“She knows I’m Spider-Man and I work with her on my tech,” he said slowly.

The man surveyed his teammates, making deliberate eye contact with each and every one of them. “Traitors, the lot of you,” he huffed.

“I mean you gotta admit it,” laughed Sam. “She’s college age, and built an empire to rival you. Not to mention that she’s pretty, smart, has better PR and actual time management skills-“

“Okay I get it,” the genius cut him off.

“Don’t be upset,” Clint smirked, “you can’t lose if you’re not her competition.”

Tony stomped off.

“Don’t worry about him, he’ll come around,” Steve said gently, nodding at Wanda who was fiddling anxiously with her rings.

“She was cool,” added Nat. “Tony can be a pain in the ass, but he knows she’s a good person.”

Her phone buzzed in her hand.

<3: i’d say that went pretty well

Wanda: cannot believe you didn’t tell me

<3: i’m really sorry babe, please don’t hate me

Wanda: i could never

<3: just didn’t want him to stop you from fraternising with the enemy or whatever

Wanda: i’d break the rules for you any day

<3: how romantic

<3: so miss rebel, you coming over tonight?

Wanda: depends if you’re still wearing the suit

<3: anything for you ;)

[bamboobrat]

succession s3 e9 recap: what am i going to do with a soul anyway? 6/6

and here we go. it's the moment when the roy kids are left all to themselves and "betrayed" (and i say that very loosely) by the people that they love and trust and think are in their corner.

roman approaches gerri for help. he genuinely seems to beg on his knees.

and gerri makes it very clear, in front of everyone that her job is to ensure the interest of the shareholders.

not to mention her own.

"But it doesn't serve my interests. How does it serve my interests?"

How does it serve my interests?

How does it serve my interests?

a comment in stark contrast to whatever it seemed to be before, where she considered her and roman's interests to be aligned somehow because they were a team.

when i tell you that my heart broke into a million pieces....

do you think this was a way for gerri to assert herself or do you think she really doesn't give a shit about roman at all?

queue all the heartbreak fan fic in 3 - 2 - 1.....

fucking dickpic piece of shit, ruining my #1 ship and his own chances at happiness.

oh well, i guess this is succession. tension and angst for the hiatus and (hopefully) season four it is! i'm not entirely opposed to that either.

and then, in another turn of events, tom arrives.

and logan gives him a pat on the shoulder.

because tom, tom has reached girlboss level. tom has come into his own. TOM HAS ARRIVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh and he also was probably the person who told logan about the siblings and their plan. no?

to be fair to tom, it would have happened pretty much anyway, right?

the timeline doesn't make sense that it was tom's phone call that made the difference. it seemed like they had talked to caroline for a long while that day, right?

and so tom telling logan about the siblings and their plans was really just a way of securing himself in a situation where the siblings were fucked to begin with?

or?

anyway, tom has arrived....

....only to find the roy siblings crying on the floor.

roman stumbling across the room to sit on the floor sobbing.... yep, that is heartbreak, my friends. it's all heartbreak and betrayal and omg everyone is going to be so pissed next season. even more than before.

shiv looks like she's about to murder tom, which i somehow think is fair? even though i also think tom's position is fair? these people are all fucked up - i don't know who to root for.

which i guess is a nice way to wrap it all up. i don't know who to root for. except i like that tom got a little win. i like that gerri made it through. i feel sorry for the roy kids who were completely fucked over, but also they are all pretty terrible people, especially if they amass any type of power whatsoever.

before starting the season, my theory was always that season one was kendall's season, season two was shiv's, and that season three would be roman's.

now, i agree with my previous self that this season was definitely the season of roman roy. he watched him grow and succeed and fail - just as we did kendall and shiv.

a part of me feels it's unfair to shiv, as the second season also morphed into the story of kendall and can't possibly be called her season at all. so maybe we will get more badass shiv in season four? the last shot seems to tease it, at least. i want shiv to be angry and fucking capable.

the first i know she can do. the second, fingers crossed.

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6

[imonthinice]

The Criminal Psychology Majors, Jason Todd x Fem!Reader Part 20/?

Word Count: 2.2k

Author’s Note: Y/N - your name

***IMPORTANT*** The Criminal Psychology majors will be taking a temporary hiatus as I’m getting my second dose of the vaccine today<3 I don’t know when I’ll be coming back because I don’t want to burn myself out on this series just to give content while I’m gone, yknow

Warnings: Swearing, Forgetfulness, No beta bitch we die like Jason Todd

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7) (Part 8) (Part 9) (Part 10) (Part 11) (Part 12) (Part 13) (Part 14) (Part 15) (Part 16) (Part 17) (Part 18) (Part 19) (Part 20)

They danced and sung the night away at the Gala. It ended at around 2:00am and everyone went back to the Wayne Manor. 

Somehow it came out that they should play Uno of all things. Uno is known for being the “Friendship Ruiner” or the “Relationship Ruiner” of the world. So, of course, they played it. Why wouldn't they?

Y/N dealt the cards. She was not quick about it. At all. She really struggled to deal the cards to the entire group, but she still tried. It was the thought that counted. Or at least she thought it did.

But no one seemed to mind she was a little slower with her cards-dealing. Which was different to the up-beat, face-paced life all of them lead. One would have expected that they would want a crazy fast dealer, but no one cared.

They played well into the night, with Jason ending up tapping-out and laying in Y/N’s lap. She played with his hair and leaned down to show him the good cards she got, at least until he fell asleep. She spent the time bonding with his family. 

They had always liked her. From the first time they all met her, they knew she was going to be something real. They were even impressed that Jason and her hadn’t fought yet. They were both hot-headed when they wanted to be, so when it was obvious that they put the relationship ahead of their own prides, it was something else.

They knew of the first time they had one of these moments. Y/N was at a dance competition, but Jason had to dip because of “Family Issues”, she was upset. Of course, she wanted him there and it looked like they were going to get into a huge spat about it. But, when she won that competition, she got up there and she said,

“This one is for my family, my friends, the extension of my family,” she paused, “And my boyfriend, Jason.” She smiled, “He isn’t here right now because of family issues, but he told me to follow my dreams, and here I am,” she said while raising her medal slightly, “This one was for you, baby.”

And that’s when his family knew that pride was stupid to them. Relationships are growing, changing together. And while they both stayed hot-headed, they changed that slight detail in themselves to be better partners. It was admirable.

Y/N ended up winning the last game. Half of the Waynes were sleeping, either at the coffee table where they were playing or in their rooms. She glanced over to the clock, 6:00am. She knew her parents were getting up soon, so she texted her mom,

Hey mum! So do you still want Jay and I to come over for the barbeque? 

And she nudged him a little. Everyone else had left the room, so she was trying to wake him up. So they could go to his room. He groaned.

“Baby, do you want to sleep in your bed?” she whisper-asked him, leaning down to his ear and stroking his hair. He groaned and got up, started walking to his room. She followed suit. He was on his bed and passed out before she even got up there.

She laughed and walked over to him, fumbling with his suit jacket. He mumbled something about taking him on a date first, and she laughed again.

“C’mon, work with me here, you’re going to be uncomfortable if you sleep in your suit, my love.”

He groaned and took off his jacket before unbuttoning his shirt, while she got his belt undone.

“God, take me on a date first,” he mumbled.

“Shh,” she said, placing a finger over his lips, “Just go to bed, Jay.”

He sloppily kissed her neck before she cupped his face and used her position to straddle him to the bed. She kissed his forehead before getting off of him and going through his clothes. She needed something, a shirt, pants, anything she could wear.

She fumbled with getting her own dress and gloves off, ending up throwing the dress over his desk chair, hoping it would minimize wrinkling. She undid her corset and threw it on his desk. Her heels were sitting at his desk chair. The gloves on his desk.

She crawled into bed with him, being the big spoon, burying her face behind his neck. She pulled out her phone to look at her texts. One from Artemis,

Hey, dude. That dress, oh my God?

She laughed into Jason’s shoulder and sent back,  I know. I know. I know. I killed it. You can’t say I didn’t.

You’re literally so right because again, oh my God. You did NOT need to wipe the floor with the rest of the guests. I mean, Selina was there and you were on her level.

That’s impressive. Selina is stunning. But I’d argue I was just below every Wayne lady.

Well, eventually you’ll be a Wayne lady.

C’mon. It’s been 6 months. 

You say that like the thought hasn’t crossed your mind at least once.

Yeah, but I don’t talk to anyone about it. 

You should start talking about it. Most people think about their weddings.

Okay, anyway. Why are you up so early?

I was studying most of the night with Wally.

Ah, “Studying”. Nice.

I wish! No, we were actually studying. Not like you and Jay at your little Gala. Actually had to study.

I have to study too, but exams are like next week.

Wish I could relate. Mine are today. 

And you didn’t sleep? Dude.

Shh, you’re not my mom.

She laughed and fell asleep cuddling Jason. Her phone was opened, so it died. 

----------------------------------

Jason woke up first. Looking at the time, it was 12:00pm. Y/N was sleeping behind him, still loosely holding him. He smiled. He hoped that the night before had fixed some of the issues between them. Well, he hoped there was no issues.

He didn’t want work to be more stressful than it already was. But, they were having issues. He thought it was because of finals, but he feared there was more to it. Maybe it was the fact that he’s famous. Maybe it was the fact that she couldn’t handle the fame. He hoped it wasn’t anything to do with the fame.

But the comment about the people with daggers at her throat obviously wasn't about anyone else. It was the press. He knew she had issues with the press. He always would. She always would.  He wouldn’t blame her if she walked away from him because of the press. Break up or a break, she was allowed to give up because of the press. He hoped she didn’t. He hoped she never would. He didn’t want to jinx them, but he really, really, hoped that this wouldn’t end in flames.

He looked at her. He remembered the first moment he knew he loved her. They were having dinner at this hole-in-the-wall restaurant that he had seen on patrol one night. She was scarfing down the food, and he wiped away the mess on her face with his thumb. He knew then. He knew in that moment that that was it. She was it. 

He was whipped and he knew it. But every time his siblings or dad brought it up, he mentioned current or past relationships they had. The only people who weren’t whipped in the Wayne household were the women.

Or maybe the all were, they were just good at hiding it. He turned around and cuddled her back He stroked her hair. He ran his fingers through her hair. 

She did it to him a lot. Physical affection was something that he was used to at this point. He still didn’t know how to feel about it, but he had ended up letting Dick hug him more often. He didn’t say it was because of her, because she didn’t outright run up to him expecting hugs, she was okay with hand holding and small touches of affection. It wasn’t because of her that he started letting people in.

But he did think she was a turning point for him. For his affection. His love style. She gave a damn about him and made it clear. It wasn’t like love he was used to, but it also opened his mind to people trying to love him.

She shifted around a bit. She ended up turning her back to Jason so he became the big spoon, and he buried his face in her hair. She groaned and tugged at the blanket on his bed, pulling it onto the two of them. He helped her get it on them. She groaned again.

“You up?” he whispered.

“No... I’m in deep sleep,” she said with a slur to her speech.

“My mistake, really.”

“It is.”

He pulled her closer, “Can you wake up?”

“No.”

“That’s sad. I wanted to talk.”

“You can talk.”

“Okay so,” he said, “I realised something. Some people would say you’re changing me, that I’m becoming someone else because of you,” he paused, “I’d have to disagree. You’re not doing anything.”

“Uh huh.”

“You’re just inspiring me to do better. You influence me. You don’t intentionally go in and change me, I change because I love you.”

“That’s nice honey.”

“You could pretend you’re interested in what I have to say, my love.”

“I’m tired, Jay.”

“I danced you to Hell, I guess.”

She groaned, “I guess I can’t go back to bed, now,” she flexed her wrist, “You’ve interrupted my sleep.”

He cuddled in closer to her, “I am not sorry.”

“Of course you’re not, why would you be?” she said while she turned to face him, “You just want to see me.”

“Damn, you got me.”

She yawned, “We need to study eventually.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“I just did.”

“School’s annoying. It’s on every last never but also none of them. It’s stressful but I also met you from it. It’s something I excel at but also causes me pain.”

“I know, babe. I know,” she said as she searched for her phone, finding it, dead and under her leg. “Fuck, killed my phone.”

“Where did you even have that all night?”

“Dress has pockets. But I didn’t bring my charger,” she sighed. “I had texted my mum too.”

“Texted your mom about what?”

“She wants us to go to a family barbeque after exams.”

“That’s so suburban of your family.”

“Yet they live in a massive city. I guess you'll see my family? you like them, don't you?” she asked. 

He had met her family in January of that year. He got along with her mom and dad, in spite of the language barrier between him and her dad. There was difficulty understanding each other, but they got along in their love for rock music. It warmed Y/N’s heart.

Her mom liked him just because he made her happy. They didn’t really need to get along, but they did. They both cooked, and her mom had dragged him into helping her when Y/N was watching figure skating with her dad. Apparently they hit it off.

“I have literally no idea,” he said.

“How do you not know?”

“Your sister has something off about her.”

“You know, that’s fair. I don’t blame you for that one.”

“Yeah, have you noticed she’s very... obsessed with vigilantes?”

“And you thought I was obsessed,” she joked, “Yeah, she takes it a little too far. The whole, “I want to marry a vigilante to infiltrate and kill them” thing was obviously a joke, but I feel like there was some truth to it. That scares me.”

“Thank God I’m not the only one.”

“If you don’t like her, don’t worry about it. i don’t care if you like her.  We’ve had  a difficult relationship all or lives. If you can be civil, it’s a win.”

“Did you have an ex openly hate your sister?”

“Yep. And he’s an ex for a reason.”

“That’s fair. I would hate it if someone openly hated one of my siblings.”

“Unless it’s Dami.”

“Unless it’s Dami, that’s very true.”

“Still don’t know what you have against that kid, he’s very sweet.”

“That’s what he wants you to think.”

“Well, then its working.”

“What a master manipulator,” he laughed. “It’s the principle of the matter, Y/N.”

“It’s the principle of the matter, Y/N,” she mocked.

“Okay listen,” he laughed, “It is. He’s a menace.”

“But you love him.”

“It’s unfortunate. He's my brother, but he is also whatever. I don’t know. He’s amazing, he’s a genius, but who knows. Maybe one day we won’t fight all the time.”

“Imaging hoping you don’t fight with your sibling.”

“Family issues, amirite?”

She groaned and got over him, “Where are you going?” he asked.

“Fuck, I don’t know. Just need to get up, to be fair.”

“Coffee?”

“Eh, probably not.”

“That’s new.”

“You betcha. I don’t feel the affects of caffeine withdrawal yet.” She looked at her dress, it was wrinkled. Which was whatever. She knew it was going to happen. She went searching for all her stuff and put it on his desk. It was spread all out over his room, she didn’t know how it happened.

“How did your shit end up everywhere?” he asked.

“Probably the same way that all your shit ended up everywhere? I have no idea.”

“What, did we fuck?”

“No!” she laughed, “Do you not remember?”

“Days are blurring together, so.”

“Well that’s not... normal?”

[c-is-for-circinate]

Episode 125

Gosh what a great episode.  We have hit such a good run lately, folks.  I am so utterly pleased to be Back In It like this.

Just.  Alura!! and Kima!!!  And Emon, god, the way everybody’s faces lit up with shock and joy and wonder at the idea that, even for a brief period of time, even just to visit a tower, they would set foot in Emon again, for the first time in their characters’ lives, it was so good.  I never love this show so much as when the players are full of love and joy, and this was very very good.

Other thoughts:

If I recall correctly, Kima’s sword was given to her not because nobody else could use a two-handed broadsword (Grog at least could’ve taken it up, and I don’t think he was currently bonded to an evil talking sword at the moment when they found it), but because it could only be attuned by a paladin.  I was super surprised at Kima giving it to Yasha on that front, since theoretically, all joking aside, Fjord is actually the only  member of the team who could actually use it!  I’d wondered if Matt was walking back the rule on his own item, or making an aasimar/zealot exception, but after that dream now I’m wondering a whole bunch of other things.  Is Yasha going to multiclass in paladin too? Is there going to be a whole NEW line of aasimar dream quests now that she’s got her wings and all?  Inquiring minds want to know!

So I like everybody else have a hundred thousand feelings about Beau and Zenoth and the Cobalt Soul right now (I spent that whole conversation with Yudala just staring at the screen going “Holy FUCK”).  I think the thing I haven’t seen said yet, the thing that’s sticking with me, is the moment between Yudala saying “Zenoth is under arrest”, and Yudala explaining why. Because, in that moment?  I would lay real good odds on Beau’s brain churning through, ‘shit, is that our fault?  Is he on the hook for something we did at some point and maybe implicated him or just forgot about completely?  Do we have to find a way to get him out of this too?’  After all, since Beau’s promotion to Inquisitor, Zenoth became something like a vaguely grudging ally.  He’s done research on the team’s behalf.  They are assholes to him only on the level that they’re assholes to people who’re basically their allies but they wouldn’t bend over backwards to really actually like.  Before this conversation, I’d put money on Beau ranking him above several other technical allies on a list of ‘people we have to work with sometimes in spite of our vaguely antagonistic relationship that we created by being reflexive dicks to literally everyone around us’. And that context just...it makes everything about this just so much more.  It’s not just that Beau was resigned to never getting justice or validation or being free of her abuser(s).  She’d normalized everything so hard it was a shock to get acknowledgement that said abuser even existed. And like...Idk.  There’s a difference between ‘this person hurt me and is still actively trying to hurt me’ (hi Trent Ikithon), vs, ‘this person hurt me and I cut them out of my life and that’s fine and all but they sure don’t seem to feel any remorse’ (hello Beau’s dad), vs, ‘yeah this person hurt me back then but I guess it’s all just sort of fine now? like, I didn’t get an apology or anything, but they don’t seem interested in hurting me any more either, sooooooooo...guess that’s good?’  The third situation is such a weird place to be in.  It’s such a confusing place to be.  It’s so rarely something that gets brought up as a situation where the abuser/aggressor still deserves to be held culpable.  And shit, but seeing it play out this way means a lot.

With their second eye each on the way at the start of next episode, I sure am going to need Beau and Caleb to start working out how to use those fuckers.  C’mon, Caleb, where is your Identify spell when we need it?  When do our characters start getting infinite at-will scrying slots and antimagic cones?  Get on it, Mighty Nein!!!

I feel like I trimmed like 3/4 of the Critrole blogs off my dash between everyone going various different ways during hiatus, and then the shipping mess circa Rumblecusp when we all came back.  I need more good CR follows.  This may have to be a quest for tomorrow morning.

[weirwoodking]

i know we are on a got hate hiatus so this is a mockery meant as a joke it's not even rage filled. maybe you don't remember this because of how random and utterly hilarious that benjen saved jon snow from.... something... (? i wanna say wights) in s7. like he came back from the dead in s7, had a different hair colour (for some reason his hair was a horrendous red/orange??). so he throws jon on his horse, saves the day, maybe he dies but i'm not sure, and it is never explained what happened to him during the six seasons he was gone and his different hair colour. it's the funniest mystery i've ever witnessed. benjen stark deserved better <3

Firstly, we are never truly on a GOT hate hiatus, even if we’re not openly talking about it as much. Also, Benjen deserves better, present tense. And he’s gonna get that better story, in the books.

IIRC what they did with Benjen was turn him into the Coldhands figure in their version (even though GRRM has explicitly stated that Coldhands isn’t Benjen). Their explanation was like... he got attacked by wights and he was brought back by the singers as half-wight/half-human, and he can’t go south of the Wall so he’s just been hanging out up north since book 1 (apparently never caring to get in contact with anyone in the Watch, not even during the Great Ranging). And then in season 7 during that episode that made even casual show-watchers start to realize how ridiculous the writing was, he turns up at the last second to save Jon after he almost drowned and then he swings a little fireball around at the zombies (sacrificing himself) and sends Jon off on his horse. I don’t remember the hair color change, but it wouldn’t surprise me. They really did like giving the Starks the wrong hair colors.

Now, you’ve prompted me to go on a little rant, because what really pisses me off about that deus ex machina-Benjen moment is that Jon was somehow miraculously okay. So... he goes out on an expedition beyond the Wall (with no hat/scarf/clothing for his head or neck) and they immediately lose all their food and water. Then he’s stuck on an island in the middle of a frozen lake surround by the literal fucking gods of winter who “bring the cold”, so it’s probably sub-zero (Fahrenheit, I’m American) temperatures. Then he fights a battle after having not been eating or drinking water for like at least 12 hours. Then he falls into a frozen lake in multiple layers of heavy fur, somehow he gets out on his own (with his sword in his hand), and then is immediately put on a horse while still in sopping wet clothes and rides off into the cold wind. And then hours later he arrives unconscious on the horse (how exactly was he holding on?).

By the time he gets back to the Wall... excuse me but his organs are failing if they haven’t failed already, and, IIRC (I’m not looking up the scene to rewatch it), he wasn’t shivering when they got him off the horse, which means that his body is no longer trying to regulate his temperature and you’re not going to be able to fix this shit with just some blankets and the magic of wishful thinking. So, unless you’ve got some medieval form of heated IV saline and warm humidified oxygen, HE’S DEAD. VERY, VERY DEAD. Oh, and apparently he suffered no frostbite, not even on his nose or ears. Big shift from the books, where Jeyne Poole gets frostbite on her nose from the escape in the snow. (Also, if you want to try and make the excuse of “well maybe the power of R’hllor made him cold-resistant” or whatever… no. It’s not stated or implied that that’s what happened. Post-res Jon in the books may react differently to temperature, but in the show he was presented as just being a revived human with an unaffected body.)

The show is just all-around absolutely ridiculous in the portrayal of injuries, especially since they constantly talked up how much they prided themselves on the “gritty realism”. You’ve Jon getting shot like three times in the back and somehow not getting a punctured lung (and recovering fast enough to lead another ranging beyond the wall before the wildlings arrive from either side). You’ve got Arya getting deeply stabbed multiple times in the stomach and then jumping in a dirty canal (if the blood loss or organ damage doesn’t kill her, the infection definitely will). You’ve got very little or no armor (see: every Jon battle scene) and no appropriate cold-weather clothing. You’ve got Jorah having all the dermis (and hypodermis too, I think) flayed off his entire upper body. You’ve got Jaime somehow surviving getting tackled off a horse into a lake/pond in full battle armor and somehow coming out the other side completely unscathed and un-sunk to the bottom. I never saw 8x5 but weren’t a ton of main characters in KL as it was being burned? And no one felt any effect from the dust and smoke inhalation? The most fantasy-like part of the TV show was everyone’s miraculous plot armor against any sort of bodily harm. Unless, of course, you get stabbed once in the stomach with a dagger when you’re a woman getting put down like a dog, then you bleed out and die in 20 seconds.

The most infuriating thing is that the books are comparatively on a very strong level of realism with injuries. Just using Jon as an example (because he seems to be George’s personal punching bag), he suffers second degree burns from his right forearm to his fingertips, and he has to constantly flex and move his hand to keep the muscles from stiffening up. When he gets shot in the leg an entire chapter revolves around it being treated, and the injury has lasting effects on him, he has to walk with a crutch for weeks. When he gets assassinated, he thinks of himself as only having been “grazed” by Wick’s knife, but blood immediately wells between his fingers when he puts his hand to his neck, and the next moment when he tries to reach for Longclaw he’s suddenly too weak to grasp it. So we can infer that the slash wasn’t just a graze, the knife probably hit his carotid artery.

GRRM puts so much care into making the physical traumas and their consequences realistic, just like he does with the mental trauma of his characters. I know we joke about stuff like “the more she drank the more she shat” but I personally love that GRRM was like “nope, if you drink unclean water it’s not gonna end well for your digestive system”. The show just full on winged it and made different standards for reality wherever and whenever they felt like it, failing to portray physical trauma just as badly as it failed to portray mental trauma.

[themfchase]

raven unit v (m) jjk

Jeon Jungkook x Reader

‒ raven unit. (m) chapter five: safe house. ✎  [8k words]

genre: political!Au, taskforce!Au, warcrime!Au

warnings: smut, angst, gore, violence, drug mentions, alcohol mention, graphic description of violence, death, oral (male receiving, sorry not that much smut in this chapter) With your life at risk and several people around you dead, your loyal head of security makes sure your safety is taken care of when he’s out of the picture. Three ruthless, dangerous and deadly men take on the task to protect and hide you, Min Yoongi, Jung Hoseok and the one in command, Jeon Jungkook. masterlist. chapter one. chapter two chapter three. .raven unit: drabble #01 drabble #02 n/a: After a long hiatus due to work, I’m here to finally post the fifth chapter of Raven Unit. The next chapter will be the final chapter of this series and I can only say for now, it’s been a ride. I really hope you enjoy it. It’s shorter than the others and highly unedited, but I just wanted to post as soon as I could. Please, send me messaged, anything, your support and love for this series has been what motives me to keep going and I’ll never take that for granted. Thank you so much. <3 Now onto the chapter. 

You had spotted Jimin and Jin a couple of times as you and Namjoon were quietly still in your corner, watching as the partygoers spoke to each other avidly. The discrete radio in your ear was also dead silent, only to be used in case something changed. The tension had eased a little as you drank a single glass of wine. Maybe you should have eaten more before leaving.  Namjoon remained quiet as he observed the party, eyes now giving away his soldier ways as they sharpened to any sudden movement close to you, and you were thankful for the silence.  Looking around your eyes searched for Jungkook, you hadn’t spotted him after he had threatened Namjoon, you’d feel a lot calmer if you could just see him, keep your eyes on him. Make sure he was safe.  A gasp left you when you felt a warm palm against your own, head turning to look at Namjoon that offered you a comforting smile.  “Loosen up, nothing is going to happen, all you need to do is to be yourself.” He smiled, and you frowned. Be yourself is the last thing you needed to do. “Well, you get the point.” Your lips parted to give him a witty answer when you were interrupted by the sound of a voice.  “Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to The Elizebeth Gala.” Your gaze moved to the tall man sporting a fine tailored suit, he had a glass of champagne in his hand and he looked oddly familiar. “I’m pleased to see everyone has adhered to our masquerade theme this year.” He continued, he was young, perhaps a little older than Jin, but still oddly familiar. “I hope you all enjoy the event, dance, enjoy the food and the music, it’s a pleasure to receive you all.” He makes a quick toast, eyes moving in your direction, and for a moment you’re nervous. Once everyone goes back to their conversation, the man is slowly making his way towards you, your eyes slightly building behind the mask and your hand automatically wraps around Namjoon’s arm.  “Mr. Kim, fancy seeing you here.” He stops in front of you both, gaze moving towards Namjoon. “Mr. Wang, I’d say the same, wouldn’t expect you to be out so soon.” Namjoon retorted politely. Your brows furrowed. They knew each other. The handsome man scoffed, eyes rolling as he downed his champagne and placed on a passing tray.  “Well, they can’t keep me locked forever, I have good lawyers.” He placed his hands in his pockets, shrugging. “I guess I owe you one.”  Namjoon chuckled, a melodic laugh that was too unfair to be true.  “Don’t get caught next time or I’m keeping them.” You didn’t understand what they were talking about, your gaze moving from one to the other as they had the cryptic conversation.  “And who might this beautiful lady be?” The man’s gaze shifted to you, eyes boring down your figure, but not in a nasty way.  Namjoon’s lips parted to answer, but you quickly extended your hand.  “Raven, it’s a pleasure.” You smiled at him, finding newfound confidence within you.  The man lifted a brow, taking your hand, but to your surprise he lifted the back of your palm to his lips, placing a kiss to it.  “Enchantée.” He - cheesily added.  “So, Mr. Wang, how do you and Namjoon know each other?” You wrapped your arm back around Namjoon’s arm once again, the man stifling beside you.  “Please, call me Jackson.” The man winked. Too many cliches for one man, but suddenly the name rang clearer in your head. Jackson Wang. You had a faint memory of seeing the news and his name popping up when they announced they had one of FBI’s most wanted under custody “Oh, Namjoon, and I go way back. He’s safe kept some of my... Art a few times when I was... Unavailable.” It all came back to you now, one of the most infamous con artist of all time. Had made million-dollar heists. Art. Banks. Politicians. “But of course, my collection isn’t by far as vast and luxurious as Namjoons, I’m sure you’ve seen it.” His gaze shifted to the man beside you, Namjoon stood silent, looking straight at the other man.  “Oh, I’ve seen it.” You faked a wide grin. “Was quite taken back by the Caravaggio first time I saw it, matter of fact, I think I heard somewhere that It had been stolen a few years back...” You furrowed your brows, bringing one finger up to your lower lip inquisitorially. “Isn’t that right, Joonie?” You tilted your head to look at him.  Namjoon has his tongue poking on the inner side of his cheek, annoyed.  “Oh, the Caravaggio, if he doesn’t take good care of it, I might just sneak in someday and take if for myself.” Jackson continued, but Namjoons brows raised.  “Oh, you can definitely try. But my security is better than the Louvre, my friend, where I borrowed it from, and plus, I don’t mind killing intruders.” Namjoon smiled widely, bringing the glass in his hand to his lips.  “Are you at least going to finally tell me how you breached that?” Jackson lifted a brow.  “Nope,” Namjoon answered, emphasizing the ‘p’ as he took yet another sip from his drink.  “Well, in that case, I think it’s time for me to return to the party.” He chuckled, looking your way. “Raven, it was a pleasure meeting such a stunning woman.” He gave you a slight bow and made his way back to the crowd.  You and Namjoon were quiet for a while, not a word exchanged, but you couldn’t help it, you started shaking your head, dumbfounded by the information you just got.  “A fucking con artist.” You blurted out.  Namjoon quickly pulled to further back onto the boat.  “Keep it fucking down, people can hear you.” He whispered, quickly looking around and bringing one hand up to fix his hair.  You turned in his direction, crossing your arms.  “So is everything about you a pissing contest?” You questioned, and he rolled his eyes, finally a semblance of a non-poised man.  “I just enjoy art.” Was his answer.  “You can just go to a museum and enjoy it there, in case you’re unaware.” You retorted.  “I didn’t steal it, I borrowed it. Besides, the Art Mafia is very real and I assure you more people are safe with some of them in my hands than they are in museums.” Namjoon shrugged.  “I knew there was something fishy about you.” You chuckled, the alcohol making you a little more loose than you’d be.  “Doesn’t my sketchy persona make me even slightly more attractive?” The corner of his lip lifted in a smirk. And you’d be lying if you said it wasn’t attractive as fuck. But the real thing ringing in your head was... Was Namjoon flirting with you? You took in a deep breath. He knew what he did to you, they all knew.  “Maybe, or maybe it just makes you seem lame.” You teased, a tipsy chuckle leaving you.  “Oh, Raven, I can assure you, I’m far from lame.” That sobered you up. He was certainly flirting with you. But unknown to you, someone was listening in, and that someone walked away right before what you said next.  “Don’t start getting ideas, now, Joonie, I’m a taken girl.” You brushed off his flirting.  “Nah, you’re not my type anyway, I just enjoy the chase.” You suddenly felt comfortable around him for the first time, as if a wall had fallen between you both. And you both talked about art and other things you had in common for the next hour. You had even forgotten what your situation was for a moment before something rang in yours and Namjoon’s ear.  “Suspicious movement on level three, keep your eyes open.” It was Hobi, your nerves suddenly spiked, and you were on high alert.  “Hoseok, what’s up?”  You heard Jungkook's question over the com.  There was a beat of silence before he answered.  “Found two bodies in the laundry carts, I think we have company.” That was more than just suspicious movement. That meant they had found you. What didn’t make sense, though, was how? You quickly eyed Namjoon, he only nodded, it was time to move.  Making your way through the crowd, he guided you by the hand, your eyes quickly moving to the waiters, Yoongi, Taehyung they were all looking, one hand hovering perfectly over where their guns would be. And then you saw another face, one you didn’t know, a menacing one, wearing a disheveled waiter’s uniform, a small bloodstain on the corner of the shirt.  Your eyes bulging as the man walked slowly through the crowd, eyes all the faces, looking for you. He slowly made his way towards you and Namjoon, still not looking at you, and you quickly spotted Jungkook, he had spotted the man as well, but he wouldn’t be able to make his way to you in time, the boat was almost over the border. You were almost there, just a few more minutes.  As the man made his way towards you, it was as if things moved in slow motion, Jungkook reaching for his gun, the slow movement of the man’s eyes moving in your direction. You had to make a decision, and you quickly pulled Namjoon back, turning your back to the man and slamming your lips onto Namjoons.  He stiffed in place as your lips met his, but quickly cupped your small face with his large hands, almost covering most of it as he kissed you back. You kept your eyes open, gaze moving as the man went right past you, not even stopping to look at the kissing couple.  As soon as he was out of sight, you pulled away, quickly turning your head to meet a frozen Jungkook. His eyes glued to you then his gaze moving to Namjoon. He shifted as fast as you could think, gaze darkening, featured hardening, and he took one step.  “Jungkook, not here.“ You heard Jin speak over the com and he stopped, but you could almost see the anger bubbling in his features before he took in a deep breath.  “We’re moving.“ He spoke over the com and you followed him with your eyes. Hands quickly lifting to your lips.  “You can worry about that later, Raven, we have to move.” It was Namjoon who bought you out of your screaming thoughts, pulling you in the crowd and walking to the Jackson, that spoke avidly about something with someone.  “It’s time to repay your debt.” Namjoon interrupted the conversation, making Jackson just glare at the person he was talking to, the same walking away.  “Hit me.” He spoke with amusement.  “I need to get off this boat effective immediately, has to fit at least eight people.” He looked around as he spoke, making sure the second possible attacker wasn’t close.  “I have a motorboat in the back of the boat, should fit everyone.” Jackson didn’t even question. “Follow me.”  You were moving the moment Jackson took a step, skipping as you tried to follow their quick steps.  “Back of the boat,” Namjoon spoke over the com.  As you made your way through the large waste boat, one by one the boy’s appeared behind you, your head turning to spot them, and Jungkook in the back with dark eyes, not even looking in your direction. Once you were finally at the back of the boat it was dark, the boys quickly going past you as Namjoon stopped in front of Jackson, the man putting his hands in his pockets.  “We’re crossing the border as we speak. A couple more minutes and you shouldn’t have any trouble,” Jackson informed.  “You have two armed men on the boat, they’re dangerous, keep your eyes open.” Said Namjoon.  “Oh, I already had seven armed men to worry about. Two more shouldn’t be a problem.” He shrugged. “Besides, I could tell the story of how I helped get the president’s daughter to safety at parties in the future.” You furrowed your brows once his gaze met yours.  “Oh, you didn’t think I wouldn’t notice, did you? I can spot fine art from a distance, sweetheart.” Your mouth opened, but you closed it, not really knowing what to say.  “Time to go,” Jimin said, you turned your head and noticed the motorboat was already on the water. “ Namjoon thanked Jackson and pulled you along with him. He helped you onto the motorboat, and soon enough, you were on your way, watching the big boat disappear as water splashed lightly around you from the speed you were going.  The boat was silent, everyone quiet and looking ahead, even Namjoon as the only light source was the moon shining above you.  You sat at the far back of the boat, watching them with their backs to you, Jungkook stirring, sailing. You had a dreading feeling that you had messed up. A dreading feeling that it would be hard to overcome this, but you just hugged your arms as the harsh wind blew your hair, messing it up.  The party was over.  It was back to reality now.  It must have taken an hour for you to finally reach the docks. Not one word spoken once the boat was anchored at the dark, empty docks. You had made it, one step closer to being safe, one step closer.  You almost lost your step once your feet met the rotting wood from the dock, Yoongi quickly gripping on your arm, making sure you wouldn’t fall before he was walking beside you, following the others. Your eyes were trained on Jungkook’s back. It was unusual of him to leave your side when you were out in the open like this, and it made you want to curl into yourself.  You all walked until you stopped in front of three cars, Hobi and Jimin quickly moving to uncover them as Namjoon threw a black backpack over the hood and began to undress. You turned around, looking at Jungkook as he too began to undress.  “Jungkook.” He didn’t look at you, didn’t even react. You sighed. “Jungkook.” You tried again. He continued to undress. Back to you.  Losing your patience you closed the gap between you both, gripping at his arm and he quickly pulled it away from you.  “What?” He questioned sharply. You furrowed your brows, a scoff leaving you.  “You can’t be serious. Jungkook, I had to do it.” You started to argue with him, but he remained quiet. You could feel the other men quickly glance up as they all changed. “Jungkook, fucking talk to me.” You insisted once he finally finished putting his gun in his holster.  “Fine, you wanna talk?” He turned to face you. “Let’s fucking talk, Raven.” He quickly gripped at your arm and pulled you into the back of one of the cars, throwing another backpack beside you before he shut the door.  “I’ll drive with her, you guys go along, I want Jin in front of me, Hobi behind me.” He commanded before getting in the driver’s seat and starting the car. “Get dressed.” He commanded to you before he started driving.  You huffed, almost like a teenager, but obeyed, quickly changing into the clothes inside the bag, the same black cargo pants, and the plain shirt. You took off your heels and put on the heavy boots, undoing your hair, taking off your jewelry, and stuffing it all inside the bag before you crawled into the front seat, sitting beside him.  “Put your seat belt on.” He once again commanded coldly. You did so then crossed your arms and it was quiet. The road was dark, it was mostly dirty all around, you could see Jin’s car in front of you and Hobi behind you through the review mirror.  “Talk.” He said.  “I’m not speaking to you while you’re acting like an asshole.” You shook your head.  “Oh, stop being a fucking spoiled brat.” He spat, not looking in your direction.  “I fucking kissed him, so fucking what, Jungkook, there was a man ready to fucking kill me coming in my direction I needed to think fast.” You argued.  “Ah, I see, think fast, so the flirting before that had nothing to do with you suddenly deciding to fucking kiss not only my soldier but my fucking best friend, one I have fucking history with?” He condescendingly asked.  “Of course not! What the fuck do you think I am? I’m in a life-death situation and you think the first thing that comes into my head is to make out with your fucking flirty friend, fuck you!” You lose your patience.  He’s quiet for a few seconds, then he shakes his head.  “So you admit you two were flirting?” You rolled your eyes, both hands coming up to rub at your face in frustration.  “Yes, we fucking flirted, Jungkook. But not only was it playful, but I also told him to not get ideas because I was taken.” You looked away, out the window to the pitch dark desert. “I’m not fucking Irina, I’m not going to sleep with all your friends, I just want you.” And if you hadn’t seen his expression on the reflection of the window, perhaps you wouldn’t have regretted saying those words. You quickly turned to look at him, his brows deeply furrowed, a look of grief in them as he went quiet.  “I’m sorry.” Your voice was quiet. “I’m sorry you lost someone you loved, someone you let go of.” You reached a hand towards him, placing it gently on his cheek. “But I’m not her, Jungkook... I playfully flirty with your friends, but... I don’t want any of them, and they don’t want me.”  “That’s easy for you to say, I can see the way they look at you.” His voice came out contained. “No... They don’t want me. I know they don’t... They respect you and they respect me. It’s just banter... You don’t have to give me up for anyone.” You leaned forward, the seatbelt making it hard for you to reach him fully, but you placed your lips on his cheek, and his eyes fluttered.  “I wouldn’t...” He spoke softly, stance relaxing. “I wouldn’t give you up... Not you.” He quickly glanced at you, before looking back at the road.  “I’m sorry I kissed Namjoon, but it really was a way to hide my face in an unsuspicious manner.” You apologized, thumb grazing softly at his cheek.  “Motherfucker, now I’m going to have to find a way to deep clean your mouth.” He chuckled. “Did he slip in tongue? I swear to god, I’ll use bleach.” He shook his head, and it was your turn to laugh.  “Mmm, maybe a little.” You teased, and he squinted, looking in your direction. “But I know a better way to cleans my mouth from him.” You tilted your head, one hand moving to unclasp your seat belt. Jungkook quickly furrowed his brows.  “What are you doing?” He questioned, putting his eyes back on the road.  “Cleansing my mouth, commander.” You reached down, hand pressing into his clothed middle, and his lips parted.  “Y/N, we’re in the middle of a mission.” He warned you.  “Nothing is going to happen.” You comforted him as you felt his cock hardening under your palm.  “What if something does happen, am I supposed to just start a shootout with my boner hanging out?” He quickly glanced at you.  “Jungkook, shut up and let me suck your cock.” You started to undo his pants. He didn’t argue. Smoothly, you pulled out his hard erection from his pants, eyes shining once his hard engorged head met your eyes, licking your lips as you started to slowly pump him. His gaze fell to the motion of your hand moving up and down slowly on his length.  “Eyes on the road, commander, I know for a fact you’re good at multitasking.” You leaned down, mouth engulfing his tip and sucking on it gently.  “Fuck.” He whispered out, you could hear the light thump of his head against the seat. The curse gave you more motivation, sinking further onto his length, tongue lapping as you took in as much as you could before pulling away, a string of saliva connecting you to his cock. You pumped him a few more times, noticing his grip tight around the steering wheel, and you looked up at him. Fuck, he was hot. Lidded eyes, slightly swollen lower lip. He must have been biting on it. You decide you want this to be the best head he’s ever had, so you sink back down onto his length, further down until you could feel him in the back of your throat, unable to breathe. Your throat closed around him and he dragged out groan sent a shiver down your spine and straight to your core. Bobbing your head, you repeated the motion a few times, taking him in deep and stilling, hearing him pant just above you. Little grunts and groans leaving him as you did your best to bring him closer to his edge.  Your mouth pooled with drool, jerking off what you couldn’t fit in your mouth, and eventually, you felt a hand rest on the back of your head, fingers threading into your locks before he was gripping. You allowed him to control your motions, understanding that he was a man of control, and he pulled at your head and pushed, setting a pace that made his sounds louder, breathless.  “Fuck, just like that, baby.” He cursed out, and you whined, you wanted to see him. Wanted to see the look of pleasure on his face. His eyes shifting from your head to the road, sharp attention allowing him to drive and edge at the same time.  It wasn’t until you felt yourself choke around his cock at one hard press of your head down that he hissed, croaked out, voice breaking when he spoke.  “I’m gonna fucking cum.” He almost whined out.  And you went faster, bopping your head, drool sticky hands playing with his cock and his groans become more frequent, louder. His grip on your hair tightened until it was painful and he was twitching and spilling into your mouth. Hot spurs of cum coating your tongue and throat as he ground upwards to rise his high.  Like a good girl, you helped him until nothing more came out, swallowing every last bit of his release before you pulled away, sitting up again. He panted, hand moving to the steering wheel again, and you helped tuck him back into his pants before he looked at you.  There was the dangerous, hungry gaze that sent jolts of arousal down your body. You truly felt like he hadn’t shown you just how much he would devour you. And you were eager to find out.  “Fuck, you’re so beautiful.” He whispered out, hand moving to clean the drool from the corner of your swollen lips and bringing it to his own, sucking the thumb into his mouth.  It was amazing how something as simple as that made you blush, calling you beautiful. It made you forget everything, just like at the party, it made you forget you were being hunted down, chased, that you had witnessed, almost felt death multiple times. Right here, with his warm body just beside yours... You felt like you were already saved.  A few hours went by. It didn’t nearly seem like it while you both talked about things you hadn’t had the opportunity to talk about before. Trivial things, really, but in a setting like yours, it was more than welcomed. You had found out Jungkook was obsessed with games. Mostly shooting games, of course, the soldier would be obsessed with shooting games. He defended himself by saying it had improved his strategy views and you laughed at him. His laugh, though, was truly mesmerizing, when he was free, full-body laughter that made your heart feel like it could stop beating at any second. That boyish smile of his when he made fun of your disastrous prom date. It almost felt perfect, if your mind didn’t suddenly sabotage you with the heavyweight of your duty to the world. Jungkook noticed the shift in your demeanor but decided to let you process that on your own, offering his support by placing his hand on your knee. You took it, interlocking your fingers. Soon enough you were going uphill on a rocky road, the car bouncing, and he took his hand away to have a better grip at the steering wheel.  The safe house was atop a hill surrounded by a deep, large forest. The house looked old but large. It was made out of heavy wood, and you could tell it was well taken care of. As soon as the cars pulled up into the large vast driveway, you could see the sky turn a light blue color, indicating the sun was rising, and you didn’t even notice how tired you were before you saw the change. Everyone parked, and Jungkook turned his head in your direction, a deep sigh leaving him. It was as if he could finally relax.  “Welcome to the Safe house, Raven.” His voice came out raspy, and you offered him a soft smile, reaching out for his hand and taking it. There was a silent conversation going on between you both. Everything you both had gone through to ensure your safety, how close to death you had been, how in the middle of this all you still found a way to find love, even if it was all still so fresh. A knock to your window brought you both back to reality, finally exiting the car. Jungkook walked to you, taking your hand as you both met up with the other men.  Namjoon kept his eyes cast down, hands in his pockets. It was different seeing him in anything other than a suit, but you couldn’t deny that it also fitted him perfectly.  “So... Uh...” He began, Jungkook lifting a brow in amusement. “You’re not mad about the kiss, right?” He finally lifted his gaze to his commander.  Jungkook chuckled.  “Nah, it’s fine. She did what she had to do.” Jungkook nodded. “Besides, you’re free to kiss right now if you want, I wouldn’t mind at all,” Jungkook said, and you looked at him, brows furrowing. He only shrugged. You squinted your eyes.  “She sucked your dick in the car, didn’t she?” Yoongi was the one to ask, Jungkook only smirked.  “Yeah, definitely gave him head in the car,” Hobi added in.  “What the fuck?” You cursed out. “Do you guys really need to talk about me giving Jungkook head or not in the car right now?” You felt your face burn hot. Why were they like this?  “It’s not a discussion, you did give him head in the car, I could see your head moving.” Jimin fixed the straps of his backpack.  “Oh my god.” You rolled your eyes.  “Not the first time Namjoon would get dick breath, though.” It was Taehyung’s turn. Everyone looked at him, silent. “What, too soon?”  You all fell into laughter, it felt like it was finally over, deciding to participate in the fun, you pouted your lips.  “Joonie, give me a kiss.” You playfully said.  “You all are children.” Namjoon crossed his arms.  “Let’s settle in, I’m fucking starving.” Jin finally spoke, taking the first step towards the house.  The inside was dark, yet cozy, it had a big fireplace with a large couch and a few armchairs, Jungkook was quick to walk into a room. You only watched everyone move around as if they were familiar with the house. Taehyung and Jimin quickly starting a fire while Namjoon looked through the cabinets for some coffee, Jin and Hobi sat down on the couch and groaned. Everyone was tired.  You looked around for Yoongi, only noticing him walking back from the same room Jungkook was in and joining the other two on the couch.  “Jungkook put up the motion sensors, it’s safe sailing now.” He slumped on the couch and relaxed. Jungkook finally made his way back, watching you, still frozen in place, looking around. “Love what you did with the place, by the way,” Namjoon commented from the wide-open kitchen on the opposite of the living room. You looked at Jungkook.  “So, this is your safe house?” You questioned him, watching him place his hands in his pockets and make his way to you.   “This is my house.” He admitted. “Your original safe house was meant to be somewhere else, I changed things up last minute.” He said looking at the boys and back at you.  You both were quiet for a while, a shy smile playing on your face.  “So, are you going to show me around, commander?” You looked down, reaching out your hand to tug on his shirt.  He sighed, leaning closer to you.  “You really have to stop calling me commander if you don’t want me to fuck you in front of everyone.” He teased, voice raspy.  “There are literally nine rooms in the house. Get one.” Yoongi shouted from the couch.  You chuckled, Jungkook mimicking you.  Jungkook showed you around the house, Yoongi wasn’t lying there were nine rooms, eight bedrooms, and one control room. You saw monitors that showed cameras that spread all over the forest area, they were all motion-triggered and on the wall, Jungkook had a waste collection of guns. You noticed there were no pictures on the wall. If this was his house, you’d think he at least would have pictures of his friends, but to your surprise there was nothing.  He showed you his room. It was simple, a bed, bedside table, no television. It felt... Lonely. But this was after all his home.  “Do you want to rest, Namjoon made some coffee, we’re taking turns keeping watch for the first week.” He leaned against the frame of his bedroom door, crossing his arms like he always did, muscles bulging out, making you really tempted to “rest” with him for the next hours. But for some reason, you were no longer tired, you just wanted to sit down with them, spend some time with everyone.  “No, it’s fine, I just want to relax a little.” He nodded and took your hand, walking back to the living room.  You all sat down in front of the newly lit fire, everyone with coffee mugs in their hands and quiet, all of them contemplating that we had made it. Finally made it.  The responsibility of what you had to do next weighed on your shoulders. But you just looked at their faces, faces of the men that risked their lives for you, that someone took you in, someone that came from a completely different world than them.  “I found out what Namjoon does for a living.” You said, breaking the silence as you brought your own mug of coffee to your lips.  The conversation spurred on after that, Namjoon telling everyone about how and why he got into being a con artist. Everyone pays attention, Yoongi makes fun of him for it and everyone joins in on the laughter. And soon enough the conversation becomes more serious.  “So, Y/N... Do you know what you’re going to say?” Hobi is the one that asks, you’re head is resting on Jungkook’s shoulder and he has an arm around your waist, playing with the material of your shirt. You think about it for a few seconds.  “I guess I’m just going to tell the truth.” You begin. “If people want to believe me or not, that’s up to them, but I’m going to do my part and it’s probably going to open up an investigation.” You took in a deep breath.  “And after that?” Jin was the one that asked. You moved your gaze to him, remembering the conversation you both had at Seamore. After everything was over, what would you do?  “I... I don’t know. I guess it all depends on the outcome. I’ll go back and continue my duty in my father’s place for as long as the people need me, but... Once that’s over, I think I’m done.” You look down at your fingers, contemplating going back to your “normal” life, leaving these men behind.  “I think you’re really brave,” Taehyung spoke. “You went through hell, held yourself pretty well despite losing everyone you trusted, your family, you could just disappear, be presumed dead. But you’re choosing to set the record straight. To fulfill your duties.” Jungkook sighed beside you, you wondered if he also was thinking of the aftermath of it all.  You nodded, a soft appreciative smile tugging on your lips.  “I know this might sound cliche, but... I lost my family, and I feel like life gave me a new one. You know? Like... Six brothers.” You spoke softly.  “Count me out, I’ve thought about fucking you before.” Yoongi chimed in.  “Yeah, me too, sorry...” It was Taehyung’s turn.  “Well, you did kiss me, so...” Namjoon added.  “If one more person speaks up, I’m bringing out my knives,” Jungkook warned.  The boys chuckled, and you pursed your lips, chuckling right after.  “What about you guys, though? What now?” You asked, wrapping an arm around Jungkook’s middle, looking at them.  “Well, I’m going to need to head back to Red Hawk sooner or later.” Jimin sighed out. “Get back to work.”  “Yeah, Gallaticus has been unattended for a while, I might have to go back too,” Taehyung said.  “I can stay for a while after the first week, but I have a job coming up that I need to strategize, so, not for long,“ Namjoon said while resting his head on his hand.  “Same for me, my men need to come back,” Jin spoke out.  You looked at Yoongi and Hoseok, waiting for their answers, but all they did was look at their commander, they were with him till the very end. Jungkook sighed, letting his head rest back on the couch.  “I guess... We go back to our lives.” He finally spoke. You could tell there was a lot going through his head. Doubts, worries. “But you’re free to stay for as long as you like.” His gaze moved to you. You leaned up, pressing your lips to his softly, his eyes fluttering closed as you kissed him tenderly. It wasn’t an answer, but it was an appreciation.  After another hour, everyone started to retreat into their bedrooms, Jin and Jimin taking the first watch. You knew you were safe here, but Jungkook wanted to be sure, so for the first week, they’d take turns. Jungkook pulled you into his bedroom, he was tired, you could see it on his face. He was in his home, he could finally relax, you were safe.  Once you both changed, you walked over to him, wrapping your arms around his middle, resting your head on his back, and taking in a deep breath. He turned in your hold, wrapping his large arms around your tiny frame and walking backward until the back of his legs hit the mattress. He didn’t even mind falling down onto it with you in his arms, he soaked in it. In the feeling of you.  “Thank you.” You whispered out, nuzzling into his neck as if your life depended on it. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” You repeated it like a mantra, feeling your throat burn, your eyes burn.  He soothed you, caressing his hand up and down your back, pulling you flush against him.  “You don’t need to thank me. I was just doing my job.” He whispered, pressing his lips to your temple.  “I love you.” You let out in a broken voice, feeling the weight of the world almost lift off your shoulders.  “I love you, little dove.” He searched for your lips, pressing soft, tender kisses to your lips over and over. And then you both stayed like that, in each other’s arms, until you were both asleep.  A routine settled during the first week. Jin and Jimin would take watch during the night and sleep during the day, Taehyung and Namjoon took the day shift. Yoongi, Hobi, and Jungkook decided to continue your training while you were there to keep up not only your strength but their own. It was almost domestic, waking up with Jungkook every morning, soft kisses and morning voices, morning sex - a lot of morning sex - and getting to watch them act more freely with each other. It truly felt like a family. Your new family. Namjoon left once the first week was over. You gave him a long hug, hard and thanked him for everything. He said you were always welcome to come visit him and talk art once everything was over. The second to leave was Jin, not before cooking the most delicious breakfast you ever had and hugging you as tight as he could. You almost cried once he left, but held your tears when he said that you knew what to do now, that he was proud of how far you had come.  Once the second week rolled around Taehyung and Jimin decided it was time for them to leave.  They were both by the door with their backpacks, a lingering sadness on their faces after spending so much time with you.  “I’m going to miss you.” Taehyung hugged you tight. This time you couldn’t help the tears hiding your face into his neck. You didn’t want him to go, you didn’t know when you would see him again. Hugging Jimin, you dried your tears and watched the men say their goodbyes to each other with long lingering hugs and a lot of shared thank you’s.  Once they took off you leaned against the door frame with the three remaining men. The three men that had been with you from the start.  “Hey, Yoongi, and I are going to collect some wood, want to come with us?” Jungkook took you out of your thoughts as you still looked at the empty road ahead of you, where Taehyung and Jimin had left.  “No, I’m fine, I think I’m going to rest for a while.” You said.  “Yeah, I could use a nap,” Hobi added.  “You two get some rest, we’ll be back soon.” Jungkook smiled, leaning in to peck your lips.  Once they’re gone, you sit on the couch, going through all your memories with the men that had left, deciding to lay down you feel something hard underneath you. It was Jungkook’s black notebook. You look at it for a while pursing your lips, your eyes moving to the front door before deciding to take a look.  You weren’t expecting what you saw.  They were sketches.  Some were of people you didn’t know, but you could make out the boys, Yoongi laughing, Hoseok sleeping. Namjoon seated on a rock, Jin with his arms wide open. Jimin doing pushups. Taehyung’s boxy smile. These were all sketches of Jungkook’s family. You flipped through the pages until once sketch caught your eyes. It was you, sleeping against a car window, your pants pulled down your legs. The second was of you smiling in the dessert, a fire in front of you. You flipped through the pages of more and more sketches of you in situations you remembered. Some of only the boys, some of you with them. Your face kept showing up again and again, and you realized why Jungkook didn’t have any pictures around his house.  Because he registered his favorite memories. You found yourself bringing your hands to your lips, more tears filling your eyes.  A knock to the door breaks the moment, your brows furrowing. Jungkook and Yoongi wouldn’t knock, perhaps it was Jimin and Taehyung back because they forgot something. You quickly made your way to the door, opening it without hesitation and a smile on your face, the smile, though, quickly disappeared when you were met with a familiar face you hadn’t seen since the day you met Jungkook.  “Phillip.” You breathed out, surprised by the sudden visit.  “Miss Y/L/N.” He smiled at you. “I’m so happy to see you well.”  You were speechless for a while, still standing at the door.  “Yes... I’m safe.” You said.  “I knew I had chosen the right team to take care of you.” He smiled wider. “Is Jungkook here, I wanted a word with him regarding the mission.” He looked past you, through the door.  “Oh... No, Yoongi and him went to get some wood, but they should be back soon, please, come in.” You made way for him to enter the house.  You shut the door and guided him towards the living room. He sat in one of the armchairs, smiling at you and you sat right across him.  “I can see you guys encountered some trouble.” He said, pointing at the scar on your shoulder, your fingers quickly lifted, tracing the outline of it as the memory came rushing back to you.  “Yes, we had some trouble, but... We pulled through in the end.” You said.  “And have you already decided what to do?” He asked, and you furrowed your brows. “Regarding Jefferson John, I mean, have you decided how you’re going to expose him?” He rested his hands on his lap, the same soft smile on his lips.  “Well, I recorded a video on my first week here... I just haven’t decided what to do...” You started. “Wait... How do you know about Jefferson John?” You questioned, you remembered clearly that you hadn’t told anyone other than the boys about your suspicion. “How do you...?” Suddenly you felt highly suspicious about Phillip showing up, you also remembered Jungkook telling you coming to his house was a last-minute call, how did Phillip know? You didn’t think Jungkook would have told anyone out of the circle.  You suddenly stood up. Backing away from the man, your back hitting the kitchen counter.  He didn’t say anything, instead, he stood and took two steps.  “You have to understand miss Y/L/N, the world is cruel, I’m just doing my job.” He said in a calm voice as if the meaning of those words didn’t indicate that he was going to kill you.  “W-why get a team to protect me, w-why go through all that trouble?” You spat at him, rage fueling in your veins.  “Oh, I had to make sure no one else got the hit, of course.” He said simply.  You blindly patted under the kitchen counter behind you, looking for the gun you knew Jungkook had hidden.  “I selected my best team to make sure an asset as valuable as you were protected, you must understand.” He reached for something on his hip and you heard the click of a gun behind him.  “Hobi!” Your eyes bulged once you saw the man with a gun pointed to Phillip.  “Ah, Hoseok, fancy seeing you here. I guess I miscalculated.” Phillip didn’t even look at him, only pursed his lips, putting his hand back down.  “Phillip, I really don’t want to shoot you,” Hoseok said between clenched teeth.  “That’s why you’re not in charge.” He said before you heard a loud shot come through the window, shattering the glass and hitting Hoseok right on the side of his body.  Your eyes bulged, a loud ripping scream of his name coming from you as you watched him fall unconscious on the floor.  Phillip took out his gun, pointing it at you.  “Stay where you are.” He said, walking backward and kicking Hoseok’s gun further away from his hand. Tears streamed down your eyes as they were glued to your friend’s form, blood soaking through his shirt.  “Now, where were we.” He looked back at you right before you heard gunshots in front of the house. Jungkook was back, you took the moment of Philips distraction to launch yourself forward onto him, hands gripping at his wrist where he held the gun, using your elbow to hit at his jaw and try to disarm him, but he was well trained and you, well, you were barely trained.  It happened fast, Jungkook barging into the house, pointing his gun at the man and you, back flush against Phillip, his arm around your throat and a gun muzzle pressed to the side of your head.  “Let her go.” Jungkook sounded dangerous. He sounded possessed. Sweat dripping down his face and a look of pure rage in his eyes.  “I thought you were smarter than this,” Phillip said, a disappointed tone to his voice.  “I said, let her fucking go, Phillip.” He growled out.  “What are you going to do, shoot me?” He questioned, raising a brow. “You work for me, put your gun down.” He scoffed at Jungkook.  But Jungkook remained in position, ready to shoot.  “Stupid boy.” Was all Phillip said. “Bring him in.” He shouted and from the door came Yoongi at gunpoint, a man in all black with a black mask pressing his gun to the back of his head.  Jungkook’s eyes bulged, looking from you to Yoongi. And right there you understood his internal battle.  “Put the gun down, Jungkook, you’re outnumbered. If you don’t your friend dies.” Phillip grinned.  “Jungkook, don’t put the gun down.” Yoongi warned and hissed when the armed man pressed the gun harder onto his head, spitting out a “shut up”.  He looked at you, ultimate dread in his eyes. And right there you understood what he had said in the desert. When you’re in this line of work, people you love can be used as leverage. Your head went back to the memories you both had shared, to his black notebook. You were happy, he had made you happy, you could see it in his eyes, filling with tears, with dread. Fear, ultimate fear, and grief, one he knew he would feel.  You swallowed the hard lump in your throat as tears streamed down your face.  “It’s ok...” You said. “It’s ok, it’s not your fault.” You reassured him, nodding in the man’s tight hold. “I love you... Thank you for letting me love you, thank you so much for l-letting me love you.” He shook his head, the silent tears falling down his cheek. You could see him tremble.  “Jungkook, please, please don’t fucking do this,” Yoongi argued, receiving a strong hit to his side.  “Put the gun down, Jungkook... It’s ok, I love you.” You watched his stance falter, and you closed your eyes, ready to embrace what was coming next.  You heard the familiar sound of gunshots, the familiar feeling of something hitting you, but not in the head, almost just like the first day, and your body slumped down to the floor, the pain radiating all through your body before you blacked out.  n/a: see you in the next and final chapter of Raven Unit.