#but some changes come with his personality being a little more playful/'friendly' and he's younger- about ichi's age

[todayisafridaynight]

okay wait why does rggo jo sawashiro look like That. what is the rggo stuff with him i know nothing

contacting my associate for this one. hang on.

[kinglyisms-archived]

𝑪𝑨𝑺𝑰𝑴𝑰𝑹 𝑹𝑶𝑺𝑬 𝑷𝑹𝑶𝑭𝑬𝑺𝑺𝑶𝑹 𝑨𝑻 𝑨𝑳𝑼𝑻𝑶𝑹𝑨 𝑨𝑪𝑨𝑫𝑬𝑴𝒀 𝑺𝑨𝑻𝑶𝑹𝑼'𝑺 𝑨𝑺𝑺𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑵𝑻

origin: Abarith

gender: Male & Female (changes at will)

age: approxamately 50 (appears late 20's)

species: half-human / half-incubus

height: 5'9"

Birthday: March

Sexuality: Whoever gives them attention

Eye color: Purple

Hair color: blonde

Gift: Incubus

ᴘᴇʀꜱᴏɴᴀʟɪᴛʏ

Casimir is a very smiley person, even when he doesn't want to they'll force a smile onto their face so that they can keep from making themselves sad or someone else. Typically a very happy person though he manages to keep a good and playful mood, even trying to brighten someone who seems to carry an air of despair around them. Being an incubus they don't like to be around people who carry negative emotions and if they have to be they'll try to cheer the person up.

Bright emotions are what they like to feed off of, what makes them feel good but he doesn't feed until the last possible second when he has to. Casimir is coming to terms with what he is, but doesn't care for talking about it even if the subject is brought up. Despite this though he knows not feeding will end up killing him and thus, chooses to do so only when it becomes far to painful to keep from doing it. He'd learned, from Luka, that starving was a far more painful processes than living.

ʜɪꜱᴛᴏʀʏ

   Casimir was born to a completely normal human mother and a father he never met though was told frequent stories about them when he was younger. According to his mother, he was just some man she picked up at a bar that showed her a rather good time. His mother, having been fairly young to have a child, was rather unprepared to bring a new life into this world. Her home was to small, she didn’t have the spare funds to do it, or the support system one would require when raising a child. 

   Despite this, Casimir’s mother gave everything she had to take care of him. To raise him despite the odds being against her. She was just a human woman who didn’t quite understand all the hardships that came to Casimir, all the ways in wish he was different. Casimir was drawn to happy emotions, to people, to hugging anyone even if they were a stranger. Though cute when someone is little, it quickly turns malicious when he gets bigger. Weirder when he’s ten and kissing other children. 

   Often scolded and disciplined for his overly friendly personality, for the affection he threw around so freely, Casimir tried to stop from touching anyone without their permission. This quickly grew dangerous when he grew hungry, but was sated off enough by attention from his mother. The warm hugs, the kisses to his forehead, the loving affection. Despite the cruel things people said to him, or the way they attacked her for her parenting, she still loved him unconditionally. 

   At twelve he lost his mother to a sickness that swept through the town, taking quite a few human villagers. His tiny heart broken, his world shattered, he found himself picked up by Satoru and brought to the Academy. As a ward of Alutora and Satoru, he trained closely under the Headmaster, admiring him almost as a father figure but the closest thing he had to as a friend as well. 

   Casimir studied hard to understand what he was but also how to gain control. For a very long period of time in his early years he absolutely detested what he was and though part of that hatred and frustration carried over later in life–he’s grown somewhat to accept it. He understands he can’t change what he is and the town Vampire, Luka, had taken the time to sit down and explain what happens when people like them decide to not feed. Starving is worse than living, starving and hurting someone is worse than just feeding. 

   At this point in his life Casimir teaches at Alutora. His primary class is History and Emotional Stability. He also holds a reading circle for the younger children in the library every morning before lunch. 

   Casimir’s favorite place is Starlight, it’s easy to find people to feed from there.

Abilities;

Teleporting: Akin to ‘blinking’. A simple spell that works better if they’ve visited/seen the place before. Most demons are able to use this. (doesn't have full control)

Emotional Drain; (through touch) feeding on the emotions of another person (usually done by children). It's not filling for an adult and an adult would still need to feed and it only works on strong emotions. Emotion drain causes no harm to the human/ provider.

Feeding; The actual sin. The Incubus feeds off the life energy of others (typically given through sexual acts). Kisses, while gives a little, doesn't sustain their hunger for long. Different types of sexual acts gives them certain amounts of sustenance.

Obsession; Kisses can be like a drug with just a little bit of power. If he wants to he can make someone be completely dependent on him and mindless, an unbreakable bond that only he can break. The human will feel that they could never live without him. He can't quite control this yet and has accidentally done it before.

[kinglyisms]

𝑪𝑨𝑺𝑰𝑴𝑰𝑹 𝑹𝑶𝑺𝑬 𝑷𝑹𝑶𝑭𝑬𝑺𝑺𝑶𝑹 𝑨𝑻 𝑨𝑳𝑼𝑻𝑶𝑹𝑨 𝑨𝑪𝑨𝑫𝑬𝑴𝒀 𝑺𝑨𝑻𝑶𝑹𝑼'𝑺 𝑨𝑺𝑺𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑵𝑻

origin: Abarith

gender: Male & Female (changes at will)

age: approxamately 50 (appears late 20's)

species: half-human / half-incubus

height: 5'9"

Birthday: March

Sexuality: Whoever gives them attention

Eye color: Purple

Hair color: blonde

Gift: Incubus

ᴘᴇʀꜱᴏɴᴀʟɪᴛʏ

Casimir is a very smiley person, even when he doesn't want to they'll force a smile onto their face so that they can keep from making themselves sad or someone else. Typically a very happy person though he manages to keep a good and playful mood, even trying to brighten someone who seems to carry an air of despair around them. Being an incubus they don't like to be around people who carry negative emotions and if they have to be they'll try to cheer the person up.

Bright emotions are what they like to feed off of, what makes them feel good but he doesn't feed until the last possible second when he has to. Casimir is coming to terms with what he is, but doesn't care for talking about it even if the subject is brought up. Despite this though he knows not feeding will end up killing him and thus, chooses to do so only when it becomes far to painful to keep from doing it. He'd learned, from Luka, that starving was a far more painful processes than living.

ʜɪꜱᴛᴏʀʏ

   Casimir was born to a completely normal human mother and a father he never met though was told frequent stories about them when he was younger. According to his mother, he was just some man she picked up at a bar that showed her a rather good time. His mother, having been fairly young to have a child, was rather unprepared to bring a new life into this world. Her home was to small, she didn’t have the spare funds to do it, or the support system one would require when raising a child. 

   Despite this, Casimir’s mother gave everything she had to take care of him. To raise him despite the odds being against her. She was just a human woman who didn’t quite understand all the hardships that came to Casimir, all the ways in wish he was different. Casimir was drawn to happy emotions, to people, to hugging anyone even if they were a stranger. Though cute when someone is little, it quickly turns malicious when he gets bigger. Weirder when he’s ten and kissing other children. 

   Often scolded and disciplined for his overly friendly personality, for the affection he threw around so freely, Casimir tried to stop from touching anyone without their permission. This quickly grew dangerous when he grew hungry, but was sated off enough by attention from his mother. The warm hugs, the kisses to his forehead, the loving affection. Despite the cruel things people said to him, or the way they attacked her for her parenting, she still loved him unconditionally. 

   At twelve he lost his mother to a sickness that swept through the town, taking quite a few human villagers. His tiny heart broken, his world shattered, he found himself picked up by Satoru and brought to the Academy. As a ward of Alutora and Satoru, he trained closely under the Headmaster, admiring him almost as a father figure but the closest thing he had to as a friend as well. 

   Casimir studied hard to understand what he was but also how to gain control. For a very long period of time in his early years he absolutely detested what he was and though part of that hatred and frustration carried over later in life–he’s grown somewhat to accept it. He understands he can’t change what he is and the town Vampire, Luka, had taken the time to sit down and explain what happens when people like them decide to not feed. Starving is worse than living, starving and hurting someone is worse than just feeding. 

   At this point in his life Casimir teaches at Alutora. His primary class is History and Emotional Stability. He also holds a reading circle for the younger children in the library every morning before lunch. 

   Casimir’s favorite place is Starlight, it’s easy to find people to feed from there.

Abilities;

Teleporting: Akin to ‘blinking’. A simple spell that works better if they’ve visited/seen the place before. Most demons are able to use this. (doesn't have full control)

Emotional Drain; (through touch) feeding on the emotions of another person (usually done by children). It's not filling for an adult and an adult would still need to feed and it only works on strong emotions. Emotion drain causes no harm to the human/ provider.

Feeding; The actual sin. The Incubus feeds off the life energy of others (typically given through sexual acts). Kisses, while gives a little, doesn't sustain their hunger for long. Different types of sexual acts gives them certain amounts of sustenance.

Obsession; Kisses can be like a drug with just a little bit of power. If he wants to he can make someone be completely dependent on him and mindless, an unbreakable bond that only he can break. The human will feel that they could never live without him. He can't quite control this yet and has accidentally done it before.

[kageruna]

☆.｡.:* Kageyama, Sugawara, Kuroo, and Bokuto with a clingy and affectionate s/o .｡.:*☆

Warnings: None!

Genre: Fluff

Reader: Gender neutral

A/n: This is my first post that’s like this so sorry if this turns out bad! I’m still new to the writing platform so I hope I’ll be able to learn about it more the more I’m here! There is a cursed amount of pleading emojis and i can already tell that that’s gonna be a theme in my fics so sorry in advance if emojis make you frustrated or uncomfortable <3

Kageyama Tobio

➷ is a very flustered bb boy!!!

➷ at first he doesn’t know what to do and just freezes and shoves you off of him without thinking it through (he quickly regrets it but he freezes even further and doesn’t know what to do ksjdnfi)

➷ you might be a little bit shocked and bummed out and it’s ok to feel that way!!! you want attention from your gorgeous boyfriend after all 😤

➷ however he’s also trying his best!!! he hasn’t had this much physical affection before so it’ll take some getting used to!! he’ll try extremely hard to overcome it soon and give you the love and attention you deserve tho!! awwww what a sweet bb

➷ he’ll DEFINITELY still be prickly sometimes even later on into the relationship and not be 100% comfortable unless you’ve been in the relationship for a long time

➷ he still gives you the hugs and cuddles and lets you be clingy but especially if it’s in public, he won’t immediately melt into your embrace or indulge you 100% :(

➷ he’ll let you cling onto his arm whenever you guys are walking around or doing anything together but he’s desperately trying to hide his embarrassment with a scowl and bright red cheeks and ears 🥺🥺🥺

➷ he’ll give you little hugs of reassurances and maybe if you’re lucky, you’ll get little kisses on the head in public but he’ll still be extremely flushed 😭😭

➷ he’s even more open in private tho 🥺

➷ he’ll rather die than have his teammates see him being extremely mushy and lovey-dovey with you so he’ll save those really cute moments for when you guys are together alone <3

➷ further into the relationship he’ll open up and will be a lot more comfortable with you!! he’ll be less reserved and indulge you even more in public ❤️

➷ when he gets more comfortable in the relationship, he’ll even start being clingy too and it’s the most adorable thing ever because even though he still wants to cuddle or hug you spontaneously he’ll be quiet about it and have the cutest little blush on his face and a little pout 🥺

➷ it’ll be really really obvious that he wants attention even if he’s trying to be secretive about it so please indulge him 

➷ he wants little kithes and huggies too 😤😤

➷ you guys are such a cute couple, people either look at you while cooing or with a look of exasperation because it’s THAT obvious that you guys are madly in love with each other <333

Sugawara Koushi

➷ he will be clingy RIGHT BACK AT YOU

➷ even if you guys are just starting your relationship, if you’re already so comfortable with him and are able to be your true clingy self with him then he’s totally gonna be his own clingy self too because the openness makes him so extremely happy!!

➷ it reassures him that you really do want to be with him and are willing to be vulnerable around him awwwwww 🥺

➷ once you guys are hugging or cuddling, it’s over. you guys will be stuck like glue until you physically can’t be with each other anymore KSJFIU

➷ he pouts when you guys have to stop being with each other 😭

➷ if he could, he would just hug you for all of eternity

➷ he loves you THAT much

➷ he LOVES pda as well 🥺

➷ he won’t care if he’s inside his room, in the middle of a crowded area, in school, wherever

➷ he can and WILL hug you and be just as clingy as you with him

➷ honestly a match made in heaven

➷ even later on in the relationship, you guys never change

➷ you both will still be just as clingy as the beginning of it and it’s honestly so cute 🥺🥺

➷ of course, this is suga though so he’s gonna be chaotic at some points

➷ he’ll tickle you, blow raspberries onto your skin, shift around a lot just to slightly annoy you, and other things that that playful brain of his thinks up of

➷ sometimes you just want to cuddle without any distraction but lo and behold, he’s gonna still tease you

➷ however, if you genuinely need a cuddle session without any distractions, he’ll totally give you the cuddle session you want

➷ because he’s such a tease sometimes, you decide to get your own revenge sometimes >:)

➷ you’ll act all innocent and he’ll come to you wanting hugs and cuddles but at the last possible second, you’ll move out of the way so that he stumbles into the couch or sofa or wherever you have your cuddle session

➷ his reaction is priceless

➷ anyways you guys are INSEPARABLE when you start hugging and cuddling and honestly people look at you guys with such genuine envy in their eyes because they wish they could be in such a cute relationship like yours 😌

Kuroo Tetsurou

➷ he teases you SO MUCH

➷ it’s honestly insufferable at some points KSJDNFI

➷ like you just want to be clingy and affectionate with your boyfriend that’s IT!! 😤😤😤 why can’t you just hug him peacefully like you want to?? 😭😭

➷ even with all of the teasing tho, he loves it 🥺🥺

➷ in public you’ll always be really close to him no matter what and even though he teases you for “not wanting to get lost and needing a guardian with you” and other bs like that, he has such a sappy smile on his face he’s barely older or even YOUNGER than you in the first place stop acting like as if your s/o is a child kuroo 😡

➷ yes he might tease you like there’s no tomorrow but he secretly enjoys how clingy you are

➷ you notice and are fully aware of it and try SO HARD for him to admit it but his teasing self just simply can not

➷ he will though when you’re having a really slow day and are actually cuddling without him being annoying teasing

➷ those moments make you SWOON oh my god 😩

➷ he also becomes super affectionate and it’s the CUTEST THING EVER

➷ you cup each other’s face and give each other little kisses all over and hug each other until you have to let go 🥺🥺🥺

➷ sometimes he even becomes the clingier one and you pull away from him and tease him back just to get back at him for all he’s done to you 😈

➷ he’ll pout and beg you until you give. he will literally NOT stop begging until he gets what he wants he’s so spoiled

➷ one time you tried to resist for 30 minutes but LITERALLY THE WHOLE 30 MINUTES HE WAS WHINING FOR YOU TO COME BACK AND CUDDLE WITH HIM

➷ he’s so whiny and spoiled when he gets like that but he’s your whiny and spoiled baby ❤️

➷ people always laugh because of your relationship but they all know that it’s all sickly lovey-dovey friendly banter between you guys <333 they WISH they can have a relationship as fun and loving as yours 😼

Bokuto Koutarou

➷ HE ADORES IT

➷ god he LOVES how clingy you are

➷ he will be TWICE as clingy as you no joke

➷ usually it’s the other party needing you to get off of them but with Bokuto, it’s the other way around 

➷ he’s so so happy that you’re just as physically affectionate and that you want to be with him just as much as he wants to be with you 🥺🥺🥺

➷ he almost never gets into emo modes when you’re with him 

➷ i mean why would he go emo if the literal light of his life is right there next to him???

➷ exactly

➷ like suga, he does NOT care where you guys are. you both will be extremely clingy and affectionate wherever with little to no regard of the people around you guys

➷ he wants you to know that you’re his number 1 so he’ll keep his attention on you all the time 😭🥺

➷ of course you do the same for him because he’s literally the sweetest person you’ll ever meet how would you NOT always keep your attention on him??

➷ you guys also peck each other’s lips whenever you meet it’s SO CUTE

➷ your cuddle sessions are the sweetest thing ever oh my GOD my heart is literally hurting so much and i’m almost tearing up i want to cuddle with him SO BADLY 🥺

➷ he has the most secure, loving arms and when he wraps them around you with all the love he can possibly give, you practically melt

➷ he basically does the same whenever you wrap your arms around him too 🥺🥺 he’ll literally be smiling like such a dork you can only watch in complete awe at this beautiful man

➷ all of that love is just for you and you alone and you don’t know just how lucky you got

➷ and he’s the exact same with you

➷ everyone wishes for the type of relationship you have with bokuto <333 it’s literally perfect, you guys love each other so much words can not even describe it ❤️

Comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated! Thank you for reading ♡

[laurenairay]

1 with Matthew Tkachuk possibly if you want to?

Thanks for requesting this one, anon! I had a lot of fun writing this one – maybe I should write more for him in the future? 

Tagging @danglesnipecelly for getting me on the Matthew Tkachuk train the first place! 😘

“You owe me.” “Fine, whatever you want.”

*

Summer. The start of warmer weather, longer nights, ice-cream dripping down your fingers, the happiness that only true sunshine could bring. It also meant gatherings of friends from far and wide, those still living at home in St Louis like you, or those who ventured out of state and further afield. Friends whose lives had taken then far away from home, but the lure of summer always brought them back. Friends, like your neighbour Matthew Tkachuk.

You’d already seen him a couple of times since he arrived home a few days ago, a wave from your house next door and a pizza night when Taryn had come back home too yesterday, but you couldn’t wait for summer to sink into his bones, to give him that freedom he’d been missing too.

That’s when summer would really start.

Growing up, he’d always had that big brother vibe, despite you only being a couple of months younger than him, and you were glad for his steady friendship. But for the past few summers, things had changed slightly. Those friendly brotherly vibes had shifted, the airs of childhood having long faded away, and a teasing playful vibe had turned up in its place. Summer had never lasted long enough for you to figure out how you felt about this change, to be honest. But you were hoping that this was the year, this was when you finally figured out what it all meant.

You were sitting in your room, putting away some laundry when your phone buzzed with a call. The Best Tkachuk. Huh.

“Hey, Matty, what’s up?” you said, smiling.

“Hey, I need your help,”

Woah.

“What’s wrong? What happened? Are you hurt?” you frowned, dropping the last of your clean socks onto the floor.

“Oh, no, no I’m fine. Well, I’m stressed out because I’m trying to do this dinner thing and…damn it, can you drive me to the grocery store?”

“Why don’t you take your mom’s car? Or the car that you and Brady are sharing?” you asked, confused.

“Mom and Dad took Taryn out to the mall to get some new sneakers. And Brady took off in the car to see that girl he’s sneaking around with that he thinks we don’t know about,”

Oh yeah, Brady was super obvious.

“There’s a grocery store you can walk to in 15 minutes, Matty,” you mused, rolling your eyes.

“I went to that one yesterday and I thought I picked up everything on my list but I missed an ingredient because they didn’t have it,”

His voice was getting a little petulant, a whining tone, making you grin. You were going to help him, obviously, but it didn’t hurt to make him work for it.

“And I should help you…why?” you said simply.

“Because if I screw this up when I said I didn’t need any help then Brady and Taryn will never let me hear the end of it!”

“Again, why should I help you?” you teased.

Matthew groaned down the phone, making you smile.

“Because Brady chopped off your favourite Barbie’s hair when we were kids and Taryn scratched up your 13th birthday CD?”

He had a point…

“Try again,” you grinned.

“Because you’ll have my everlasting gratitude?”

“Hmm…”

You trailed off, pretending to think, earning another groan, although you were pretty sure he’d figured out your game by this point.

“Please?”

The softness of his voice made butterflies fizzle in your stomach at the vulnerability. How could you say not to him?

“Yeah, I’ll take you to the grocery store, Matty. Let me put on some shoes,” you said, smiling.

“Thank you, so much,”

You just laughed, shaking your head. “You owe me,”

“Fine, whatever you want,”

“Ooh that could be dangerous,” you teased.

“I can handle it,”

You grinned at what you knew was a smirk in his voice. This was much more like it. “I’ll see you in just a minute,”

And with that, you ended the call. It didn’t take long for you to get some shoes on, and by the time you were downstairs, Matthew was waiting by the car. You bit your lip to hide your smile at how good he looked, sleeveless shirt exposing those sculpted arms, beautiful eyes dangerously focused, hair mussed and wild. Damn. You wiggled your fingers at him in a wave, smile coming through properly at the look of relief on his face.

“You’re a lifesaver,” he groaned, getting in the passenger seat of your car.

“I know,” you mused, “What went wrong?”

Matthew huffed out a laugh, running a hand over his messy hair as you pulled out of your driveway. “You know how mom always throws the big neighbourhood get-together when me, Brady and Taryn are all home for the summer?”

You nodded, knowing it well. “Yeah it’s this weekend, right?”

“Right! Well, I said that I would cook for the family tonight, give her a night off before the big party,”

“She does deserve the rest,” you nodded.

God knows that poor woman put up with enough thanks to all those big personalities.

“Exactly! She deserves it. I got the recipes for her favourite foods, and I planned it all out properly because I want to make it special for her, but I literally forgot the key ingredient for the spices in the main dish and it won’t be the same without it,” he grumbled.

“That’s really sweet of you, Matty. You’re a good son,” you said softly.

“I try,” he mumbled, blushing lightly at your compliment, “But if I don’t get it right then Brady and Taryn will make fun of me for ages,”

“I don’t know how your mom puts up with all of you, really,” you snorted.

Matthew blushed a little more, but laughed. “Yeah, I know we’re a bit much. You love me anyway, right?”

“Don’t push your luck, Tkachuk,” you said dryly.

When Matthew pouted, you just laughed, shaking your head. Having grown up next door to the Tkachuk family had always been a loud intense ride, but your friendship with Matthew, especially now that he’d settled more into himself, was something you cherished. And it was times like this, when he went out of his way to make his mom happy, that reminded you of just how sweet he was. You may only really see him in the summer now, your lives having taken you in different directions, but you missed him like this.

“You know she’ll love it, whatever you make, because you made it, right?” you pointed out.

Matthew smiled, a little shyly, but shrugged. “I’d hope so…but I still want to do it well,”

“There’s the Tkachuk fighting spirit talking,” you laughed, pulling into the parking lot of the grocery store.

Matthew laughed as well, a bit more of his usual sparkle coming into his eyes as you parked the car.

“I’ll be really quick, I promise,” he grinned, unbuckling his seatbelt.

“Yeah no worries, take as long as you need. Just remember that you owe me, Matty,” you grinned back.

You saw a flash of fire in Matthew’s eyes, making those butterflies flare up again, but you managed to keep your face calm and collected.

“Oh I haven’t forgotten, trust me,” he murmured.

He winked as he walked towards the store, that little smirk on his face that you loved, leaving you a little stunned before you shook your head with a laugh. Looks like you had a lot of thinking to do before the big party this weekend.

[coexiising]

Good Neighbors - Chapter One

SUMMARY ✦ You were excited to learn that someone was finally moving into that old house next to your own. The Skywalker-Amidala family seemed like a great addition to your friendly neighborhood, with their two twin kids and happy personalities. Though, the more you get to know your neighbors, the closer you get to the husband of the family: Anakin Skywalker.

WARNING(S) ✦ Modern! Anakin Skywalker, Alternate Universe, Infidelity, Eventual Smut, not so slow burn, Eventual Romance, Neighbors, and they were neighbors, anakin looks so good in a suit, sneaking around, forbidden love

NOTE ✦ I’ve been wanting to write a Modern! Anakin fanfic for a while now, so here we go! This will be a multi chapter fic, I don’t know how many yet but expect a lot because I’ve got some ideas to play out! This chapter is more of an introductory, but expect some more spicy drama in the next coming chapters. 

»»————-　✼　————-««

As tradition goes every year, you could smell the smoke coming from the middle of your neighborhood's culdesac while you made your way outside your garage with your mother, who held a large tray of potato salad in her hands that she insisted she carried herself over to the white tables in the distance. It was hot outside, early July was coming strong this year with the heat, reaching a staggering eighty nine degrees outside and it was already well past noon. Though, you should’ve been expecting the heat, since it seemed to creep up on you every time this yearly cookout happened.

It had been a little tradition, jokingly deemed a ‘holiday’ by your younger brother, that had been going on for as long as you could think back to. You could remember being five years old and running around with the neighborhood kids and jumping into your pool after eating the bountiful amount of food that was supplied for the families that participated. It used to be a handful of them, three or four families that came and had a small little barbeque together. But over time that changed, and now it became a whole neighborhood thing.  

The dads of the block always started earlier to get everything set up, which was really the long white tables where food could be set and setting up the large grill on the pavement. And the moms always slaved away in their kitchens making some type of side dish, whether it be fruit cups, potato salads, or whatever. You were twenty two now, almost done with your undergraduate degree, and you wondered if you would ever find this sense of friendliness anywhere else when you eventually moved from your home. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to leave, it was just more convenient for you to stay and you didn’t mind your family that much. They were supportive, there for you no matter what, and your home was close to your University anyways.

“I wonder if Lisa is going to wear that ugly dress she bought the other day,” Your mother stated, making short, languid strides next to you. “She brought it to the house a few days ago when we were having a little wine date and I didn’t have the heart to tell her that she was definitely not twenty five anymore and that dress did not hug her in the right places.”

You laughed, jokingly hitting your mom on the shoulder. “Mom, come on, it can’t be that bad.” She didn’t respond, only grinning towards you with a hint of playfulness filling her eyes behind her thick, black sunglasses. Your eyes scanned the crowd already forming, kids on the outside running around with a ball. You knew a lot of them, even held some of them as babies after they were born. But when you took another glance at the group, you saw that there were two you didn’t recognize. A boy and a girl, both looking similar to one another and the only difference being the slightly different shades of their hair. “Mom, who are they?” You asked, pointing to the girl and boy who were now fighting each other for control over the soccer ball.

“Oh, they’re the kids of the new neighbors,” Your mom answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. You looked over at the house next to your own, a two story one with white coloring and many windows. It had been for sale forever and it became quite the local news when someone actually bought it. You guess you hadn’t realized that the people who bought it were now occupying it. “They’re twins, I think. The mom and dad are on the younger side too. Courtney says that the husband is working at that law firm down on first street and apparently the wife wants to run for senator in a year.” How the hell did she know this much about everyone? You shouldn’t even question it at this point, since she was friends with all the neighborhood moms who loved to gossip.

Looking around for any unfamiliar faces, you were surprised to see none. Were they not coming out for the cookout? It seemed like the perfect place for them to meet everybody. “Oh!” Your mom exclaimed. “I forgot the tongs on the kitchen counter, could you go get them for me, please?” Without a second thought you nodded, turning on your heel and making your way back towards your house. As much as you loved your mom, you were sometimes annoyed with her forgetfulness, especially because you asked her if she had everything three times before you left just a few moments ago. Oh well, it wasn’t that big of a deal, you would be in and out in no time.

You walked up the well cut grass of your lawn to your front door, sandaled foot almost hitting the concrete when you heard the creak of another door. It belonged to the door of the house beside you, the light tapping of shoes making their way onto the patio filled your ears, feeling somewhat foreign since you weren’t used to hearing anything from that house. You wondered what it looked like inside, if everything was rusted and worn. It had to have been almost ten years since someone lived there.

But when you turned to finally get a look at your neighbor, your thoughts were completely halted.

Your mom was right, he, most likely being the husband, was on the younger side. He had to be in his early thirties, still a lot of youth painting his broadened features. His skin was lightly tanned, it was hard not to notice the way that the sun seemed to do a good job in painting his long, muscular arms that reached to close the door behind him. He was wearing a short sleeved shirt and black pants, though it wasn’t like something that you had seen other dads wear before, it was more formal, more pristine like he was trying to make an appearance. But if the story checked out, he was supposed to be a lawyer, it was his job to look professional. You continued to look at him, almost shamefully so as your eyes trailed from his clothing to his face, taking in the sharpness of his jaw and the blues of his eyes that very much reminded you of the light blue sky above you now. And then to his hair, which was cut short and had a golden glow to it.

Right as you were about to turn and get into your house, the ball that had been with the group of kids came flying your way, hitting against the door next to you and making you jump at the loud noise. It was lucky that it didn’t fly through a window, or your parents would’ve gone ballistic. You could hear some of the parents start to shout at the kids, telling them to stay away from the houses if they were planning on kicking that thing off of the ground. The same kids you were questioning earlier ran up your lawn, most definitely to retrieve the ball that would’ve hit you dead on if you hadn’t been gawking at their father.

“Luke, I told you to not kick it that way!” The girl, Leia, yelled towards her brother, a little stomp in her step as they made their way towards you. You picked up the ball and held it in your hands, kneeling down and waiting for the kids to approach you. Luke shook his head, shaggy hair falling into his eyes and saying, “It wasn’t me! It was that other guy over there. Why do you always blame me!” You laughed, the dynamic almost reminding you of you and your brother when you were younger.

Handing them the red rubber ball, they both gave you a small ‘thank you’ and Leia muttered a tiny ‘sorry’ and they went on their way. Watching as they went, you didn’t even realize that someone else was walking up to you. Still kneeling, you looked up and saw that it was your neighbor, looking down at you with a tiny, pleasant smile on his face. You blushed, realizing the awkward position and stood up, ignoring the heat coming to your cheeks and offering a smile to him as well. Being this close to him, you could see that he was tall as well, standing a good couple inches over you. Usually this would’ve made you feel intimidated, but for some reason it made you want to draw closer to him. You mentally scolded yourself for thinking this way, knowing that he was your new neighbor, and not to mention he had two very cute twins and a wife who was probably beautiful.

“Sorry about that, I hope they didn’t scare you that bad,” He said, taking a glance at his kids who were already starting another round of whatever game they were playing with the others. His voice was low, but there was a sense of calm to it. It wasn’t rough or gravelly, almost like honey as he spoke to you. “I haven’t seen you here before, do you live here? I think I’ve seen your mom and dad around but we were waiting until the cookout to introduce ourselves.” Kind of a stupid question to ask since you were standing on your porch with your keys in your hand, though you gave him the benefit of the doubt.

“Yeah, um,” You thought back to the day you saw your neighbors two cars parked in the driveway, was that a Sunday? No, it was a Monday. “I’m usually around here more but last week I had to pick up a couple shifts at work to help my friend.” Your coworker and friend came down with the flu and had to find someone to cover her ships ASAP, and you weren’t doing anything important and stepped in to help.

He nodded. “Makes sense. I’m Anakin Skywalker, you already met my kids but they’re Luke and Leia.” Skywalker. A strange last name that confused you for a moment, realizing that you’ve never heard of anything like that before. Then again, you hadn’t heard of the name Anakin either, but somehow the unique name fit him.

“Y/N,” You responded, giving him a nod.

“Y/N,” He said, like he was testing the name out on his tongue. You tried to ignore the feeling you got when you heard it come out of his lips, which were very nice by the way when you took a second to glance at them. It sounded good in Anakin’s voice, and you found yourself wanting him to say it over and over again if he would. There was a moment of awkward silence between the both of you, a random amount of tension that you didn’t know if you were imagining or not. Then Anakin opened his mouth again to say, “My kids were looking at the pool in your yard the other day when they were exploring our backyard.”

“Oh, yeah,” You said. “They’re welcome to come over any time and use it if they want.”

“Are you sure?”

It was normal for the people in the neighborhood to use it if they wanted to. It was a big underground pool that had been built when you were a little kid. “Yeah, everyone does. Just make sure to ask someone before and they’ll most likely say yes. We like to get the most out of it every summer.” You realized that you were supposed to be back with your mother, she was most likely getting antsy as to what was taking so long. So you took the opportunity to leave, even though you wouldn’t mind staying and talking to your new neighbor for as long as he wanted to. He wasn’t just attractive, you thought that he was nice too.

“Well, I need to get something from the house and get back to my mom. See you later, Mr. Skywalker.”

“Y/N?”

“Yeah?”

“Just Anakin is fine.”

You felt your cheeks heat up. “Right, see you later, Anakin.” He gave you one last smile and right as you turned around, you could’ve sworn you saw a wink. You turned on your heel, ignoring the eyes he clearly had on you and making your way into your house. The moment the door was closed, you leaned against the wood and closed your eyes, replaying that last moment over and over again in your head. Had he really winked at you? Or was that just your mind spinning some kind of fantasy?

Oh, Christ.

It was hard to ignore the butterflies swarming in your stomach.

[sundaysundaes]

Remember Me

Mark Lee X Reader X Lee Donghyuck (Haechan) | Smut, Fluff, Angst | 14k | Soulmate AU, Friends-to-Lovers AU

CHAPTER 2 OF 2. Part 1 is here.

Summary: “The mysterious cuts and bruises that suddenly appear are actually injuries that your soulmate has obtained, and you share the same marks on your skin.” For Donghyuck and Mark, it's not just an old saying, it's not merely a concept, it's the truth. But as they grow older in a world where everyone puts their faith in the marks that attach their hearts to their soulmates, they have to stop believing.

Notes: This used to be an EXO Fanfic of mine called Remember Me but I want to share this story with my NCT family as well, so I rewrote several things and added more scenes to fit Mark and Haechan’s personalities better.

10

It takes Lee Donghyuck approximately ten times to ask Mark Lee to join their soccer game before he realizes that maybe Mark just really hates playing soccer. Or just doing sports in general, for that matter.

“I’ve told you, I don’t want to!” Mark shouts, cheeks reddening in anger. Donghyuck holds up both hands in the air, backing away. Mark is twenty-one years-old while Donghyuck is a year younger. Since Mark needed to be treated at the facility for his injuries back when he was in high school, he had to repeat another year and so he registered late in his new university in Seoul. Seeing how he’s a freshman like him with no friend other than Zhong Chenle in college, Donghyuck thinks they should get along better. Donghyuck has always been friendly and nice to anyone around him—Yukhei would agree on this straight away—but sadly, not everyone replies to him in the same way.

“Okay, okay,” Donghyuck says, laughing softly at Mark’s little burst of anger. “Chill, man. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just thought that maybe you wanted to play because, you know, you kept looking at us—”

“I wasn’t looking,” Mark harshly responds, tearing his gaze away from the other boy to glance at the girl who owns his heart since forever. “Well, I wasn’t actually looking at you anyway.”

Donghyuck furrows his brows at Mark’s last line that’s almost too quiet to hear. He’s pretty sure that Mark kept stealing glances at the field a moment earlier, so if it weren’t because of Donghyuck and Yukhei playing soccer with their upperclassmen, who was he staring at?

“I’m sorry,” Donghyuck says anyway, and he means it even when his tone sounds too playful. “Well, if you ever change your mind, you can just come over, okay?”

“I don’t do soccer,” Mark bitterly responds as he picks up his book back and places it on his lap. “Now can you leave me alone, please? I want to read in silence.”

Donghyuck scrunches up his nose at his attitude but decides to be the better man. “Alright,” he says, giving him the space he needs. “My name’s Lee Donghyuck, by the way. Nice to meet you, Grumpy Pants!” he exclaims with a cheeky grin before he runs back to the field. Mark Lee is unapproachable, but that only makes him more interesting to Lee Donghyuck.

***

11

It takes eleven minutes after the whistle has been blown for Donghyuck to score his third goal that day and she cheers loudly with her hands in the air before she realizes that she’s supposed to stare at her crush secretly. She clears her throat and tries to calm her racing heart as she sits back on the bleachers. Her eyes are still following the boy with the number 66 on the back of his jersey and her heart warms when she sees how his fluffy brown hair flutters under the wind.

That boy’s name is Lee Donghyuck. He’s one year younger than she is and he’s probably the brightest, and the funniest person she has ever met. He’s a bit weird, though, because every time he talks to her, he always speaks like he has known her for his whole life. And he does look familiar somehow, but she can’t remember why. 

Last spring was the first time she met him. She was looking around the campus’ ground, getting to know the environment better before she enrolled in the university by the next semester. And then a ball hit her on the head, making her tumble to the ground.

“Oh, shit! Sorry! Are you okay?” A boy ran to her with a familiar smile and beautiful sun-kissed skin that glistened slightly with sweat. He helped her stand on her own feet and kept apologizing for two times more until he saw her face and began to shout her name over and over again, voice getting louder each time. 

“Holy shit, it’s really you! I can’t believe this!” Without permission, he suddenly leaned in and wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her off her feet as he laughed wholeheartedly. “Jesus Christ, Noona, it’s been years!” He was crushing her with his hug and she felt strange, afraid even. “I can’t believe I’m seeing you again! I’ve been looking for you every—”

Out of fear and discomfort, she hastily pushed him away. “D-don’t touch me!” she said, backing away and a wounded look fell upon his face. 

“N-noona, it’s me,” he said, attempting to calm her down by reaching out a hand. “It’s me, Donghyuck. We used to play together, remember? At the beach? In Jeju?”

Frowning was her response and nothing more, not remembering his identity at all and that made her sad because that boy seemed like he was really hoping for her to remember him. “I’m—I’m sorry but I don’t know you,” she said and the boy seemed heartbroken for a few seconds before he shook his head and smiled brightly once more.

“Oh wow, then this must’ve been super awkward.” He laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his head before he offered her his hand. She could tell he was shaken up by it but he didn’t make it seem obvious. “I’m Lee Donghyuck. I’m sorry for being so weird. You just remind me so much of my old friend. But I got your name right, didn’t I?”

She nodded her head once, shaking his hand. “How do you know my name?”

“Let’s just say I’m a bit psychic,” Donghyuck replied, grinning boyishly and something stirred in her heart. She felt like she knew him but at the same time, she didn’t. It was weird but Donghyuck never worried about such a matter. He kept on talking to her, sporting his cheery grins and beautiful eye-smile as he did and his presence somehow filled the pang that had been so hollow in her heart. 

“Yo, Sleepyhead!” Wong Yukhei calls as he scurries over to her side. He’s breathing hard, beads of sweat forming and rolling down his temple. The man is 183cm tall with silky dark brown hair and a voice deeper than any man she’s ever known. “What’cha doin’, girl? Been here long?”

“Hey, Yukhei,” she greets with a smile, offering him her canned orange juice and Yukhei drinks it in one gulp without hesitation. “Just hanging out. Did you guys win?” she asks, trying to pretend like she wasn’t paying attention to the game (which is somewhat true because she only paid attention to Donghyuck).

“Oh, come on, we all know you were watching the game,” Yukhei says as he flops down next to her seat. “Or were you watching me?” He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. Wong Yukhei is always blatant with his flirting but nobody ever takes him seriously. It’s common knowledge that Yukhei never wants to have a relationship with anyone other than his Soulmate. People tend to date anyone they want while they wait for their Soulmates to appear but Yukhei is a different case. Yukhei only wants the girl who owns the same scar as he has on his wrist.

“Hey, just a friendly advice here,” Yukhei says, “I know you really really really like Hyuck but fucking hell, woman, do you really need to stare at him all day long with that dopey, lovesick look on your face?”

“Hey!” She hisses, slapping his back. “Shut up, okay? And I wasn’t staring at him. I was watching the game.”

“Sureeee,” Yukhei slurs the last syllable. “Then what’s the score? No peeking at the scoreboard.”

She can’t answer. Seeing how Yukhei keeps on mocking her, she eventually sighs and buries her face in her hands. “Is it that obvious?”

“So obvious. Too obvious, even.”

“Do you think he knows?”

“Honey, I think even my grandma knows you have a crush on him.”

“Oh my God,” she sobs to her hands and when she lifts her face, her cheeks are in flame. “Well, it doesn’t matter. I can’t date him anyway, Not until I’m sure that he’s my Soulmate.”

Yukhei furrows his brows. “I didn’t know you were like me.”

“I just think it’s a safer option, you know?” She utters, huffing to the air. “Why would you waste your time dating someone who’s not your Soulmate when you know it’s not gonna work out in the end? Better choose the one so you won’t hurt anyone.”

Yukhei nods proudly and pats her head. “I feel you, Sister. I feel you.”

“Shut up, you’re gross,” she says, punching Yukhei playfully by his shoulder but the said man groans loudly and dramatically acts like she just struck his arm with a javelin. Yukhei stands up and barks, “Sure, when it’s Wong Yukhei, you go around and punch him like a sag of potatoes but when it’s Lee Donghyuck, you worship him like a freaking Greek God! Real fair, Sweetheart, real fair!” Then he throws a flying kiss toward her direction before she has the chance to actually kill Wong Yukhei. She just hopes that Donghyuck didn’t hear him.

She sits back on the bleachers, her heart thumping loudly but Donghyuck never stares back. He’s always like that when he’s too focused on his game. It’s part of his charm, really. 

It’s only Mark Lee who does, staring at her from across the field. He’s a fellow freshman she once met at the library, helping her with finding her books. She always thinks he looks kind of familiar as well but she doesn’t know why. Perhaps some kind of a déjà vu?

She didn’t see him sitting there before (her eyes were too focused on Donghyuck, like always) and Mark never really goes out of his class at break times anyway. He used to always spend his days in the library, working there and reading suspense or science-fiction novels even when he’s read them a thousand times already. This is the first time she’s ever seen him out on the field. Perhaps he’s watching the game too?

She smiles and waves her hand at him. “Hey, library guy!” she mouths, grinning but Mark never mirrors her smile in the same way. He always seems sad, she notices, like he’s trying to achieve something but something forbids him from doing so. She wonders what he craves so badly that he has to force himself away from enjoying his life like he’s supposed to. 

***

12

It’s twelve past twelve on a Sunday afternoon when Zhong Chenle passes a watermelon to Mark’s lap and speaks, “Bro, I know it’s not my business but your ex-girlfriend has a huge crush on that kid Lee Donghyuck.”

With a knife in his hand, ready to slice the watermelon into small pieces, Mark freezes and looks at Chenle with heavy pressure in his eyes.

“Whoa, dude!” Chenle immediately backs away, gulping when he realizes he just made Mark upset when the man is holding a knife in his hand. “Be careful with that shit, okay? You look like you’re about to kill someone!”

“Not someone, just you,” Mark replies, looking away and begins to slice the fruit. 

Chenle takes his seat back with more caution in his steps, just in case. “Look, Mark, I don’t want to make you mad.”

“A bit too late for that,” Mark replies, jabbing the knife into the fruit, and Chenle almost shrieks, fidgeting on his seat. The Chinese boy winces a little as he prepares to receive a strike from his friend but it never came. Instead, his friend throws him a small smile and Chenle knows Mark’s been kidding around. Chenle can never understand his sense of humor.

“You have a terrible sense of humor, has anyone ever told you that?” He calms his heart down. “You’re still not over her, huh?” Chenle asks, receiving a freshly cut watermelon from the slightly shorter guy. Mark doesn’t answer him and instead, he grabs his own piece of watermelon and strolls over to lounge on the couch. The sun is blazing outside, sitting on its throne, and burns everything considering it’s the middle of summer and even with this thin layer of clothes he’s wearing, Mark just can’t stop sweating. 

“Dude?” Chenle calls, following him to the couch, and steals a glance at him. Mark is just there, sitting and staring at the fruit without doing anything much other than breathing. “Hello? Earth to Mark, you alright there, buddy?”

Mark slowly moves his gaze back at him and for the first time in forever, he pulls on a gentle, but heartbreaking smile. “I would’ve gotten over her if I could but it’s hard.”

Chenle hums quietly. “You guys loved each other that much, huh?”

“Loved?” Mark chuckles, proffering his piece of watermelon to his friend’s hand in case Chenle wants more. He does. “It wasn’t just love. She was my everything.” The Chinese boy snorts at that but he can actually sense the truth behind Mark’s words, which is why Chenle chooses to stay mute. “I was about to propose to her, you know?” Mark confesses, crestfallen. “We were nothing but stupid brats going on about love and crappy things like that and I had this stupid ring with me that I wanted to give her. I was about to make a promise to be with her forever. I didn’t care whether she was my Soulmate or not. I didn’t care if we were too young to be engaged. I just loved her so much—I still do but…”

But she forgot about you, Chenle wants to say but he decides to keep himself in silence. While Mark was hurting physically during that period after the accident, she was losing her mind. She had recurring nightmares and she lost almost every part of her memories. She lost her childhood, she lost her friends, and most of all, she lost him. She couldn’t see Mark. He never existed in her world. Her loss of memories had helped her to recover quicker than him and her parents also made her go to many therapy sessions in her last few months at the hospital. She’s now healthy and happy and Mark is grateful for that but, of course, a huge part of him died with her that night before the first snow fell upon their smiles.

Chenle forms a question after a while. “Why don’t you try and approach her again, then? You know, start over. Maybe she could fall in love with you again.”

Mark absentmindedly touches the skin around his nape. “It’s better this way,” he says, smiling weakly to the ground. “She’s happier without me in her life.”

“But you’re hurting,” Chenle counters. “And I’m not sure you’re gonna get better tomorrow if you keep being like this.”

“You’re right, I’m never gonna get better.” Mark laughs softly. “I’m gonna remember this forever and I’m gonna live through this every day. When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I remember is how I agreed to go with her to town that night. If I hadn’t gone to her grandmother’s place, if I hadn’t gone with her outside—”

Chenle shakes his head. “You didn’t know what would happen—”

“It doesn’t matter!” Mark shouts breathlessly, his hand going over his heart. “It happened and I lost her. That’s it, Chenle. Nothing’s going to change that.”

Chenle looks conflicted and hesitant for a few seconds before he reaches out and pats Mark on the shoulder. “Everything will get better,” he says, trying to spread joy to his friend. “You’ll forget her when you meet your Soulmate. Try to live your life like me, buddy. No good will come from worrying over things that have been done.”

Mark returns his smile but his eyes stay cold.

His dreams always consist of her smile and how her eyes once turned crescents when she whispered, “I love you too, Mark Lee.” His dreams always reel in the way she held him close that night, how she wanted to make him feel happy, how she wanted to be with him, how much she missed and loved him.

It never happens in real life anymore. Mark Lee never existed in her life that way. And that is why Mark stops waking up with a smile on his face.

“Chenle,” Mark starts, “Are you friends with that guy?”

“Who, Donghyuck? Yeah, he’s cool. Gets pretty whiny and annoying most of the times, but—”

“There’s something I want you to tell him.”

“O… kay…” Chenle is startled by the sudden gravitas in his tone. “What is it?”

“She believes in Soulmates,” Mark says, smiling to himself and somehow Chenle can see the disappointment and frustration in his eyes. “She has a scar on the back of her neck. So if he doesn’t have the same scar, it’s better for him to just stay away since he’ll end up hurting them both in the future.”

Chenle analyzes his friend’s expression but he’s still left clueless. “And you’re okay if he turns out to be the one for her?”

Mark glances at him, smiling while his eyes show nothing but a pang of guilt and pain. “At this point, Chenle,” he murmurs, “I actually wish for it to happen.”

***

13

“So she believes in Soulmates too, huh?” Donghyuck asks, his shoulders are slumped forward in disappointment. It’s Friday the 13th and while everyone is feeling spooked out over the infamous urban legend, Donghyuck is feeling upset over an entirely different reason. “Damn it!”

Yukhei snorts. “Dude, everyone believes in Soulmates; it’s only you who don’t. It’s basically, like, written in the law or something.” When Donghyuck shoots him a look, Yukhei just huffs. “All I’m saying is it’s not just a myth, dude. This shit happens.”

Donghyuck knows that but he’s really interested in her—well, he’s always been interested in her, since back then when they were young even. Donghyuck didn’t think he’d be able to meet her again but well, luck is apparently on his side. Not that much, though, because she forgot about what they used to have. Donghyuck learned along the way that she’d gotten into an accident in high school and that was how she lost her memories. He understands the situation and he’s willing to restart everything again because even after all this time, Donghyuck still likes her. And for these past few months, Donghyuck has become so close to her once again and it’s like they’re back to that time where they used to play together on the beach with sands under their feet. She still smiles and gazes at him in the way she did back then and Donghyuck thinks her beauty lasts for eternity.

She even said one time, as he was trying to catch his breath after his soccer practice, that he reminded her of the sun, the way he shone so brightly when he played on the field, how his every movement and smile drew attention from the crowd.

“You should be called Haechan,” she said sheepishly, bumping her shoulder against his in a playful manner. “I think it fits you more. What do you think?”

His heart was racing for an entirely different reason. He couldn’t believe that even when she had lost her memories, she still repeated the same thing in the exact same way. So Donghyuck swallowed hard, trying his best to appear nonchalant, and said, “I think that’s the stupidest pet name someone has ever given to me, but it’s okay. You can call me that.”

It would be great if they could be something more. But well, if she believes in Soulmate and if Donghyuck turns out to not be the one she’s waiting for then they probably shouldn’t start anything to begin with.

“This whole Soulmate thing sucks balls!” Donghyuck whines, kicking a pebble stone to the side of the street as he walks next to his tall friend on the sidewalk. “I really want to try and be with her, you know? I didn’t try anything back then because we were too young to understand our feelings but now we’re older and I really, really like her but God-fucking-dammit, Yukhei, what if I’m not her Soulmate? What if she won’t accept me?”

Yukhei pats his friend on the back. “Well, you still have your chance, Hyuck. Maybe someday, she’ll fall and bruise her knees or something and you’ll get the same scar—her scar. Who knows, right? Maybe you are her Soulmate.”

Donghyuck doesn’t put a lot of wish on that. He’s never much of a believer anyway. “She doesn’t seem to have scars now, though,” he says, “So how can we tell who her Soulmate is?”

“But you don’t have scars too, do you?”

“Actually, I—”

“Donghyuck-Hyung!” A skinny boy with fluffy blond hair, calls from somewhere behind him. Donghyuck turns around and grins when he sees the boy approaching him. “Hey, asswipe! What’s up?”

“I told you not to call me that.” But Chenle reciprocated by giving him his personal high five. After a quick chatter, Chenle drops his smile and displays a solemn look on his face. “Hyung, there’s something I need to tell you.” 

***

14

It’s on the next day, June 14th, when Donghyuck literally steals Yukhei’s key (he thinks Yukhei wouldn’t mind anyway) and drives his motorcycle for less than a mile, heading south. Donghyuck doesn’t waste any more time. Since he heard what Chenle told him yesterday, Donghyuck has been so anxious. He needs to see her now and he needs to see her fast.

That afternoon isn’t actually chilly, but Donghyuck brings his black leather jacket with him—just for luck. He wears a thin white shirt underneath it and a black full covered helmet on his head. He’s brought another helmet with him, not caring about the possibility of her rejecting his proposal of an impromptu date. Donghyuck has always been that confident.

Getting the address of her house isn’t actually easy, but it’s not the hardest question in the world either. When he stops in front of her house, his wristwatch says it’s 02.14 p.m. He still has enough time to go watch a movie with her and have dinner together—if she agrees to go on a date with him in the first place. 

Jumping out from his—or rather, Yukhei’s—motorcycle, Donghyuck takes off his helmet and ruffles his short hair, pushing back his fringe with his lean fingers. He doesn’t say it often but he thinks he looks a bit hotter when his forehead shows and if he’s going to charm this girl off her feet, he needs all the luck he can get. And that is why he’s putting his RayBan sunglasses on too.

He picks up his phone and dials her numbers. She answers on the second ring and it’s cute that her “Hello?” sounds more like a panic shout rather than a friendly greeting. “Hey, baby,” Donghyuck jokes with a grin, but it makes her gasp. He hears her stutter out his name in return. “Can you go out to your balcony for me?”

“W-why?” she asks, a bit breathlessly for some reason. Donghyuck secretly hopes his voice is the reason behind it. He likes to think he has that effect on her, because sometimes, when she wears her floral blue shirt combined with her white skirt, she has that same effect on him as well. That feeling of needing to breathe when you’re already breathing. It’s weird but he likes it.

“Just do it, please?” he begs, even displaying his puppy eyes though he knows she won’t be able to see them.

“Umm... O-okay then…” 

A moment later, she appears on her veranda, wearing a short, casual navy blue summer dress with a white collar that looks like a sailor’s. Her hair is untied, flowing over her shoulders and Donghyuck can already tell that she’s about to tuck some strands of her hair behind her ears. He always loves it when she does that. He’ll love it even more if one day she gives him the chance to do it for her.

“Umm, I’m already out,” she nervously mumbles out, pushing her locks to the back of her ear. Her phone is strapped to her ear and she examines her surrounding until her eyes land on the man who’s leaning on a (stolen) bike.

“Hey,” Donghyuck smiles that one smile he knows could drive women crazy. He adds this thing with his eyebrows just in case she’s not affected by his smirk. “So, I woke up this morning and I thought of you. Wanna go out on a date with me?”

She gapes, her cellphone almost slides down from her hand. “I-I’m—” Even Donghyuck can see her blush from under there. “Donghyuck-ah, I—”

“How many times should I tell you?” Donghyuck sighs, playfully sending her a glare. “Just call me by that name you gave me.”

“D-didn’t you say it was stupid?”

“It’s stupid because it makes me feel special.” And he doesn’t lie, not in the slightest. “You make me feel special.”

Her face burns even more. “Look, I don’t think I can go—” She takes a look behind her, worriedly glancing to her room. “I’m supposed to stay in my room and—”

“Have you ever broken any rules before?” Donghyuck asks and if she hadn’t lost her memories, she’d say yes and tell him that that’s the exact reason why she got into that accident. But this new version of her only gnawed at her lip worriedly. “Come on, Noona. You don’t need to tell your parents.” He’s extremely persuasive, especially with that signature eyebrow-raise of his with his eyes twinkling mischievously after he took off his sunglasses. “Just come with me. I’ll take you back home before they even know you’re gone.”

It’s tempting. Donghyuck’s offers are always tempting and he looks really good in that leather jacket while sporting his messy pushed-back hair. She once thought Donghyuck looked the best wearing his soccer jersey on the field because he appeared so young and boyish that way. But this. This exact style. He reeks of masculinity and pure sex—

“Are you coming?” Donghyuck snaps her away from her reverie. She continues nibbling on her lip in anxiety, looking back again before she glances at the boy once more. “Okay, yes,” she finally says and Donghyuck tries not to jump and stab the air in victory. “I can’t go down from the stairs, though. My father’s in the living room.”

“Well then, jump,” he simply says, walking closer until he stands just below her balcony and tries to be as quiet as possible as he strolls through the bushes. “Come on, Noona. Jump. I’ll catch you.”

“T-there’s no way I can do that!” Her cheeks spark bright red. “I’m wearing a dress!”

“Well then, I’ll close my eyes.” He spreads his arms wide to catch her and simply closes his eyes like he said. “See?”

“How are you planning to catch me when you can’t even see me?!” She protests and Donghyuck wants to laugh because her shrieking voice is so pleasantly cute.

“Hey,” Donghyuck says, opening his eyes again just to gaze straight into her eyes. “I won’t let you fall. I promise. Don’t you trust me?”

Something in the tone he uses lights a spark in her chest. “O-of course.”

“Then trust me.” Donghyuck smiles again and shuts his eyes closed. “Now jump.”

She still hesitates, thinking this over and over again with her hand pressed nervously against her chest. Finally, she decides to just get this over with. “I’m—I’m a bit heavy, though.”

“You’re not heavy, you’re pretty,” Donghyuck smoothly says and on any other occasion, she would have laughed because that’s probably the worst line to say at the moment. “Now come on. Jump.”

“But Haechannie—”

“Jump!”

And she does. With a rush of adrenaline pumping through her veins, she jumps in her sailor dress with only her phone being held in her hand. She’s about to yelp but the fall is too fast that it ends before she can scream. True enough, Donghyuck manages to catch her with his arms and she falls with a small ‘oof’ to his chest. 

“Hello Kitty panties?” Donghyuck teases, his spine being pressed against the ground and although it does hurt a little, everything is worth it since she is now lying on top of him. “Really, darling?”

She gapes, blushing madly, and lands a small slap on his chest to cover her embarrassment. “You said you wouldn’t look!” She makes too much rustling noises over the fuss, while Donghyuck tries to contain his laughter. He would’ve let her hit him again if he didn’t hear someone’s footsteps closing on them.

Her father is now walking through the front door. 

Donghyuck does the most brilliant thing to do at the moment—according to him anyway—which is to roll to his side and hide both of their bodies behind the bushes. She ends up lying on the ground with Donghyuck’s body covering her. He holds her head close to his chest so she won’t knock herself on the ground. Her ear is pressed against his heart and she cannot focus when Donghyuck pulls her closer and warns her with a whisper, “Be quiet...” 

Her father doesn’t take a detailed look around the place, probably wondering whether it was just the neighbor’s cat doing noisy things as always. He ends up leaving after picking up the newspaper that he forgets to retrieve in the morning.

When the sound of the front door being closed reaches their ears, they both let out a relieved sigh. “Holy shit, I thought I was about to die,” Donghyuck says, laughing when he sees her holding back her smile. “Your hair’s a mess.” He reaches out a hand and fixes her fringe and that’s when she realizes that she’s in such proximity to his face and she’s literally lying underneath him.

She immediately pulls away and stands up properly before she slightly bows with her face blazing hot. “I’m—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hold you like that—”

“Hey, relax,” Donghyuck says, cleaning the dirt off his ripped jeans as he stands up as well. “It was my fault. And I was enjoying every second of it anyway so...” He grins that familiar boyish smile of his and although she pouts and pushes him playfully by the shoulder, inside her thumping heart, she feels alive.

“I can’t believe you saw my panties,” she mutters, fixing her hair as her cheeks continue to burn. “So embarrassing.”

“I think it’s cute.”

Her face is about to explode. “You promised you’d close your eyes!”

“I didn’t.” Donghyuck wiggles his eyebrow once in a teasing manner. “I only promised you I’d catch you. And I did, right? I didn’t let you fall.”

She looks away, trying her best to calm her racing heart. “Y-yes. Thanks.”

“My pleasure. Now, come on,” Donghyuck says, taking her hand without permission (not that she’d mind) and guides her to his—Yukhei’s—ride. “I’m thinking of relishing our childhood memories and—” he stops when he sees her frowning and he looks flustered because, “God, I’m so stupid. Of course you wouldn’t remember.” His voice is quiet before he gets a grip of himself and clears his throat. “What I want to say is, there are two choices you can choose: First, it’s a safe option where we go out to the movies, choose whatever it is that’s lame enough so you’ll get bored and start talking to me during the play—hey, stop laughing!” Donghyuck pokes her on the cheek when she giggles at his words. “And then we’ll get dinner afterward before I take you home. Or second, and this is the more daring one, we go to the nearest beach and see whatever the hell that’s going to happen there and just let God decides where we go next.” He gives her another spare of his helmet. “So what do you wanna do?”

She thinks about it for a few seconds, just to build the hype, before she says, “I’ll go with the second option.”

“Well, I am hurt,” Donghyuck mutters. “You just thought talking to me during the movie would be boring, didn’t you? You’ve underestimated my interpersonal skills, woman.”

“It’s not that,” she replies, grinning as she sits behind him and wraps her arms around his waist. “I’m just worried that you’re gonna order pizza for dinner and I don’t think that’s gonna be romantic.”

“Ah, so you want our situation to be romantic, do you?” Donghyuck teases, her plan backfires. “I knew you’ve always had the hots for me.”

Her jaw hangs low on her blushing face. “That’s not what I—” And her words end up with a scream when Donghyuck suddenly drives off. She winds her arms tighter around his waist and Donghyuck laughs because she’s adorable in the way he finds to be the cutest form possible.

To her, this is the first date she’s ever experienced. She has never been with anyone before him and she likes Donghyuck so much because he seems so carefree and fun, while on the other side, dangerous and unpredictable. He’s a bit four-dimensional and she wants to know what’s hidden more under those multilayer personalities of his. But what attracts her the most is how she feels familiar and safe in his presence. She feels like she can trust him as if she’s known him for her whole life.

Had the accident never happened, she would’ve noticed how different Donghyuck is if being compared with her past boyfriend, Mark Lee. While Donghyuck is impulsive and daring, Mark has always been the cautious one. Mark is the guy who pays attention to every little thing that happens to her—even when she doesn’t realize it herself. While Donghyuck, on the other hand, is that person who desires simplicity. The boy who says, “I want you” instead of “I need you”. And that’s entirely different than how Mark, the boy who offers commitment and loyalty, had promised her once.

But memory is just a memory. Donghyuck used to live in the shadows of her mind, but now he’s alive and there’s no way he’s going to let her go for the second time.

It’s time for Mark to stay in the darkness and just let go of what he used to have.

This time, the table has turned.

***

15

Mark Lee sighs for the fifteenth time that day because his mother keeps on pestering him to go back to his daily therapy session but he’s not having any of it. Not today. He’s already tired of having to go to the doctor every day only to hear the line, “There hasn’t been many changes but don’t worry, we’ll get you better soon, Mark,” or maybe in some better days like yesterday, he got a “Good news, Mark! We can start the surgery by the end of the week! That is, of course, if you’re willing to follow the procedures and healthy enough to undergo the surgery.” 

Mark is scared to his bones but he doesn’t tell anyone that. Being consumed with fear isn’t something he wants to be proud of and he knows that it won’t do anything other than making people worry about him more. He’s had enough of that. So he just smiles and tries to get better for his mother.

Not today, though. Today, he needs to let go.

This is why tonight, he puts on his sweater and strolls out of his house without telling anyone. He rarely breaks any rules but today, he just wants to get out and breathe the outside air as much as he wants to. He takes a deep breath and with trembles in his fingers, he reaches out for his brother’s bicycle. The memory of the accident is still clear in his head but he’s already promised himself he’d move on. And this is him, moving on.

He rides the bicycle slowly, still remembering to take care of his condition. He keeps pedaling until he reaches her new address. They used to live next to each other, but after the accident that happened with Mark, her family thought that it’d be better if they stay as far as possible from each other. But here he is now, standing in front of her gate with an anxious heart and shaky fingers, just like how it was when he picked her up for their first date.

Mark weakly smiles to himself. “Just say your goodbye and leave, Mark. Just do that and move on.”

He presses the doorbell and waits.

A moment later, she comes out wearing a knitted sweater Mark once gave her for their second anniversary and that sight of her made him feel like the earth is sinking below him. Why is she wearing that? He screams in his mind, as his eyes grow wide. As far as Mark knew, her parents tried to keep every little bit of Mark away from her, to keep her safe just in case it’d bring something painful to her shattered memories. Her mother probably mistook it for her own sweater and that was why she didn’t throw it away.

“I’ll call you later, okay, Haechannie?” she says, giggling to her cellphone as she walks toward the fence that separates her from him. “I know. Of course, I’ll brush my teeth. I’m not you.” She laughs quietly, muttering ‘one sec’ to Mark as she tries to drag open the gate. “Okay, hey, I really need to go. Someone’s here.” 

Mark tries to stop the wounded look from appearing on his face. Someone, Mark thinks, smiling bitterly. She doesn’t even know my name.

“I’ll call you—” Then she laughs again, her cheeks getting red and Mark secretly hopes that it’s because of the cold, and not over Donghyuck’s words from the other side of the line. “Yes, okay, good night. I’ll see you later, Haechannie. Bye.” Then she shuts her phone and looks at Mark apologetically. “Oh God, I’m so sorry. My boyfriend just kept on babbling,” she explains, chuckling in embarrassment. “Hi, is there anything I can help you with?”

Her laughter still sounds as airy and adorable in his ears and Mark tries to erase the sickening feeling in his gut after knowing that he’s no longer the reason behind her laughter.

“Hi, uhh…” Mark rubs his nape, clearing his throat. “You probably don’t remember me, but umm—we’ve met at the library? I helped you with your books.”

She frowns for a few seconds before her eyes light up. “Ah!” She exclaims, smiling widely at him. “You’re the library guy! Hi, yes, of course, I remember you.”

Library guy. He can’t take it anymore. “It’s Mark,” he murmurs.

She blinks. “What?”

“My name,” he says, louder this time. His fingers are curling into fists on the sides of his jeans. “My name is Mark Lee.”

“Oh,” she says, throwing another heartwarming smile as she offers him her hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Mark Lee.” The way she says his name still feels natural to his ears, which only makes him suffer harder. She tells him her name, wanting to give him a firm handshake.

“I already know your name,” Mark says, and somehow his tone seems cold. She drops her hand with a surprised look on her face. Mark wonders whether she sees the dejected look he displays on his face because her smile vanishes completely and she seems utterly heartbroken. To her, Mark looks exactly like Donghyuck used to stare at her sometimes—that look when someone wishes to be remembered. She doesn’t know what happened in the past but she knows she’s hurting him somehow.

“I’m sorry,” she says, almost in a whisper. “I have… I have a bad memory so… If we’ve met before and I can’t remember you, I’m… I’m really sorry.”

Mark wants to slap himself on the face for being so selfish. He just hurt her again. She doesn’t even know him and he just hurt her again. “No, it’s not that,” Mark hurriedly explains with a reassuring smile. “I know you because I once saw you writing down your name when you borrowed the book. I work at the library, remember?”

She blinks twice before she lets out a relieved sigh. “Oh... Right…” she utters, smiling to herself. “Well, I… Thanks for helping me out back then.”

She looks just as beautiful as she used to when she snuggled up against him on the couch. Mark brings his hands into the pocket of his jeans so he won’t accidentally stroke her cheek or lace their fingers together. “No problem.”

“So, what’s up?” she chirps and Mark realizes he needs to find a better excuse than this is probably the last time I can see you and that’s why I want to say goodbye properly.

“It’s umm…” It’s painful for him having to lie straight to her face like this. He never once lied in front of her when they were together but now that they’re living separate lives with no connections to each other, it feels like that’s what he’s been doing all the time. Just lying, forcing himself to smile,  distancing himself from everyone, and pushing himself to say her name effortlessly even when the pain in his chest is overwhelming. “Nothing important, really,” Mark says, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. “I just came here to remind you that you need to return the book by tomorrow.”

“What? Oh!” She gasps, placing a hand over her mouth. “You’re right! Oh God, I almost forgot. Thanks for reminding me.”

Mark only smiles back and his eyes are soft and gentle. “No problem. It’s my job anyway.”

She laughs a bit. “Such a hardworking young man. Next time you could just call me, you know? You don’t have to come over to my house. It’s freezing.” The way she talks is always fascinating to see and hear. Her smile never leaves her face and her hands are constantly moving animatedly every time she opens her mouth. Mark can actually feel his heart racing at the sight of her. “Oh, look at that.” She announces, glancing at Mark’s hands that are starting to go red from the cold. “You’re not wearing any gloves. Wait for a sec, will you? I’ll get you some!” And she hurries back into her house before he can stop her.

When she comes out a moment later, she carries a pair of her gloves (Mark remembers well the salmon pink color and the white stripes at the end of it) and her cheeks glow in a darker shade of red when she says, “These are mine but they’re a couple of sizes bigger on me so I hope they’ll fit.” She tucks his hands inside the gloves exactly like that time before Mark pushed her against the fence and poured his feelings against her lips. When she’s finished, she also asks, “There. Better?”

Mark can’t stop himself from feeling hurt. It’s like his heart is being ripped apart and he can’t do anything to prevent it. Before he knows it, his eyes grow hot and his vision starts to blur. He doesn’t let his tears fall though. He quickly covers it with a grateful smile. “Thank you,” he says and she smiles back, squeezing Mark’s hand in a friendly way before she lets go.

“You’re welcome,” she cheerfully says. “By the way, Happy Christmas Eve.”

Mark smiles while his heart is breaking. If he closes his eyes right now, will the earth swallow him whole?

“So, Mark Lee,” she begins, leaning her back to the fence. “Is there anything else you want to remind me of? Did I forget to pay for the book or something?”

There’s a lot of things he wants to remind her about. The warmth of his hand, the sound of his voice when he confessed to her, the taste of their first kiss, everything. But every little joyful memory he has of her will only inflict pain on her behalf so he holds himself back. Mark laughs, shaking his head. “No, you’re okay,” he says, staring at her with a gentle smile constantly displayed on his lips. 

After a while, she playfully raises an eyebrow in question. “What? Why are you staring at me?”

Mark doesn’t know what’s gotten into him, but at that moment, he reaches out his hand and pushes her bangs out of her eyes, just like how he used to do back then. She freezes on her feet, her eyes growing wide, her breathing stalls.

“I’m—” Mark splutters. “I’m sorry, I just—” He panics, his hand going over his chest, feeling his heart thumping fast and it begins to hurt—more than anything he can ever bear. “I’m so sorry.” And he turns around, carrying his bicycle with him before he pedals away through the night. His heart is screaming with more pain for the distance he puts between them.

She stands there on the ground with parted lips. Her eyes are fixed on Mark’s back as he drives away and then suddenly, a tear slips out from the corner of her eye.

“Oh…” She falls to her knees, hugging herself with her arms as she cries and cries and cries harder over something she doesn’t even know what. She just feels so hurt, as if something is tearing every bit of her heart apart. She covers her mouth as she sobs louder. Breathing becomes hard, just as hard as she tries to explain why is she feeling like this. Why does she feel like someone is leaving her? Someone very important, just like a piece of her soul. What is happening?

“Honey!” Her mother comes out with shock written on her face and cradles her into her arms. “Darling, what happened?”

But she doesn’t know. She doesn’t know what to say. She just feels like dying. She just feels like she can’t breathe.

It’s as if a promise had just been broken and there’s nothing left of it to reminisce.

Mark stops and jumps off his bike the second he makes a turn a few meters away from her house. His hand is curling against the front of his shirt while the other one is holding him up from not lying flatly on the ground. He’s on his knees and he coughs to the cold night, gasping as if he was on the edge of losing his life. Her name is on the tip of his tongue and everything feels like knives, piercing through his skin.

He was so close. For a moment there, Mark saw her looking at him like she remembered him. She’s not supposed to remember him.

It hurts and Mark can’t fight his tears back anymore. He cries.

***

16

Donghyuck is staring at the latest episode of his favorite drama on channel 16 with drowsy, half-lidded eyes as he places his head on top of his girlfriend’s lap. They were in Donghyuck’s dorm room, specifically on his single-sized bed and she’s there, stroking his hair softly because Yukhei is out playing basketball with the new Chinese student and that means they can have quality time together.

Dating Donghyuck has been easy and she is enjoying every second of it. Donghyuck, that peculiar human being, likes to impersonate people as his daily jokes and it has become quite of a habit. From his usual Michael Jackson impersonation to something way more extreme such as creating new personas for himself. 

It started a week ago when Donghyuck picked her up to campus wearing ripped, washed-out jeans, black boots, and a wifebeater underneath his black leather jacket. The weirdest thing was, he had a cigarette sticking on the side of his mouth but it wasn’t lit—Donghyuck never smoked anything in his entire life.

“’ Sup,” he said, lowering his voice to make it sound deeper after he spat to the ground in a manly way (based on his own opinion, of course).

“What on earth is happening to you?” She asked, staring at him bewilderedly from head-to-toe.

Donghyuck pretended to blow some smokes from his cigarette. “The hell are you talkin’ ‘bout, girl? I’m a gangster. This is what gangsters do. Now hop on my bike, you little shit.”

She just stared flatly at him. “I’m not gonna go anywhere with you talking to me like that.”

“But I’m a gangsta! Gangsters swear, sucker.” 

“And you think swearing is attractive?”

Donghyuck snickered, breaking out of his character. “Alright, alright, I’m sorry. I’m just trying on something new,” he explained, taking her hand and kissing her knuckles once. “You look very pretty today. Now, will you please go with me? We’re going to be late.”

“And you look ridiculous.”

“I know,” he chuckled and then he began to get into character again. “But I’m serious. Get on my fucking bike, bitch.”

She sighed but rode away with him anyway.

On the next day, he dressed up in a pair of baggy pants, a shirt with the words “Nerds for life” written upon it, eyeglasses that were too big for his little face, and sneakers that were way too white and way too clean.

“Good afternoon, my fellow specimen!” He saluted, holding a Star Wars graphic novel in his hands as he sat beside his girlfriend on the bleachers. He was supposed to get ready for another soccer game that was going to start in another half an hour, but here he was, dressing like a dork and bugging her like always.

“Let me guess,” she sighed, rubbing her temple. “You’re a nerd.”

“A nerd, I am not,” he said, imitating Yoda from the Star Wars franchise. “But a beauty, yes you are.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Ridiculous, I am not.”

“Will you stop it already?”

“Stop, I can not.”

“Shut up!” She was beginning to laugh when Donghyuck kept talking like that as he tried to kiss her. “No! Don’t kiss me! You’re gross!”

“I am Donghyuck Skywalker and you are my mate, Princess Leia!” He announced, suddenly standing on one of the seats and opened his arms widely above his head. “We shall roam the entire universe! Just us two, you and me, with your beauty shining brighter than the stars!” Then he jumped back down, placed his hands on his hips, and smirked as he spoke, “Now open up your hangar ‘cause my starfighter needs refueling—”

“HYUCK, OH MY GOD, JUST SHUT UP!”

That happened almost every day for at least an hour-long, but him dressing up like an idiot was enough to attract the entire campus and to make his girlfriend dying from either laughing too hard or drowning in secondhand embarrassment—the latter tends to happen more often. From being Hyuckcutio—the desperate lover from the medieval age (he wore a cape and had a rose between his teeth), Donghyucko Mucho—the Spanish guy who fell hard for his Rosalinda (he had a fake mustache on his face), to Donghyuck Dawson—the American dude whose heart still sailed for his Rose DeWitt Bukater even when the ship fucking sank. 

She found him to be amusing and it was really entertaining watching him work hard to impress her. But if she had to choose, the moment she loved the most would be when Donghyuck dressed up in a plain white tee, washed-out jeans, and a smile that was bright enough to make other people look at him in a daze. His brown hair wasn’t styled in any way, and it looked so fluffy with bangs falling over his eyes. 

He sat on the bleachers next to her and playfully bumped his shoulder against hers. “Hey, baby.”

His girlfriend smiled back, cheeks glowing in pink. “Who are you trying to be now?”

Donghyuck shrugs. “Myself.”

“Hmm…” She hummed before she kissed his cheek. “I think…” I like this one the most. “You look ridiculous.”

Donghyuck laughed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as he ruffled her hair. “I know.”

“Something weird happened to me yesterday,” she confesses, playing idly with Donghyuck’s dark strands as she hangs around on his bed. Donghyuck’s head on her lap is a comforting weight she tends to miss when she’s alone in her room. “There’s this guy who came to my house late in the evening and he looked familiar but I can’t place who he was in my mind.”

Donghyuck turns around and looks up at her. “Maybe he’s an old friend?”

“Maybe,” she sighs. “He kept on staring at me and when I asked him why, he kind of brushed my hair and I just cried.”

Donghyuck raises his right eyebrow. “You cried?”

She nods, looking worried and dispirited so Donghyuck lifts his head off her lap and pats her head. “Hey, hey, hey,” he says, giving her a playful smile. “Don’t worry about it, okay?”

“I don’t know what happened, it’s just—” She exhales heavily, lacing Donghyuck’s fingers with hers. “I suddenly felt so sad and there’s this pain aching in my chest. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“Hey,” Donghyuck kisses her knuckles to soothe her down. “You’re okay. Nothing’s wrong with you. That guy was probably some sort of a voodoo believer or something and he tried to hypnotize you. I’m just glad you’re not hurt.”

She smiles, giving her boyfriend a flick on the nose. “Stupid. That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Sure, it does!” Donghyuck swiftly pulls her by the leg and she falls to the bed with a giggle on her lips. Donghyuck climbs up her body, kissing her cheek before he grins at her.

“What?” she asks, her eyes have that teasing twinkle in them. “You look like you’re about to kiss me.”

“No, I don’t.” Donghyuck snorts. “What, just because I’m lying on top of my girlfriend with my face being this close, you think I want to kiss you? Such confidence you have.”

She retaliates with a playful shove against his shoulders and Donghyuck laughs before he pins both of her hands to the bed. He leans close and kisses her lips, gentle like usual but also has that fiery spark behind it. 

She tenderly smiles and lets him kiss her one more time before he sighs and trails his fingertips along the side of her face. “What now?” she asks, grinning teasingly.

Donghyuck’s playful smirk has vanished away from his face. “You know I love you, right?” he asks, his face serious as he traces her bottom lip with his thumb. This is actually the first time she hears him say those three words and she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t surprised. 

She parts her lips to speak. “Why are you suddenly—”

“I just thought you should know,” Donghyuck says, his eyes are deep with sincerity and adoration. “I’ve actually been in love with you for a while. I guess I’ve even loved you from back when we were kids.” He chuckles quietly to himself when he sees her frowning. “You don’t remember anything, do you?” He twirls a strand of her hair around his finger. “Back then when I hit you with my ball and you just stared at me with that cute look on your face? You don’t remember that?”

“So that spring wasn’t the first time you hit my head with a ball?” she gives him a look and Donghyuck laughs before he kisses the corner of her mouth.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “I guess I have the knack in running to damsels in distress and hitting them on the head with my ball.”

“Yeah, with you being the cause of their distress.”

Donghyuck pinches her cheek until she bursts out laughing. He rolls to his back and brings her forward to lie on top of him. She balances herself by putting her hands on his chest and Donghyuck tucks her hair behind her ear. “Do you love me?” he asks, quietly and she can see the insecurities in his eyes. “I mean, it’s okay if you don’t but—”

“I do,” she hastily answers before he starts rambling nonsense. “Donghyuck you’re my Soulmate. Of course, I love you.” She bends her head down to kiss him deeply, tugging his lower lip with her teeth. “I do. I love you.”

Donghyuck groans lowly before he flips her back to her previous position, him hovering above her. He parts her lips with his and begins tasting every corner of her mouth, making her moan delicately against his warm lips. She cards her fingers through his hair before she rests her hand on his nape, touching the scar that has the exact same shape as hers.

A mark that indicates they’re both connected as Soulmates.

***

17

The clock indicates that it’s 05:17 p.m when his mother hugs him close to her chest. “You’ll be alright, Mark,” she whispers in his ear, her voice breaking. “I will just be right here and we’ll meet again in a few hours, okay?”

Mark Lee smiles brokenly to his family as he leans back on his wheelchair. His father pats him on his shoulder, “I’ll see you later, Son.” 

His older brother gives him a familiar punch to his shoulder, teasing him although his concerned eyes betray him. “You’ll be okay, buddy. Think about it, we can play soccer again after this and I don’t have to hold back for your weak ass.” And Mark only chuckles softly before the doctor drags him away to the surgery room.

“Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad,” Mark says, waving his hand and he can hear his own voice ready to shatter into pieces in the next seconds. “Bye, Hyung.”

And he dedicates his final farewell with a thought of her name.

“Everything will be fine, Mark,” the doctor says, eyes sparked with reassurance though his words mean nothing to Mark’s ears. The patient lies on his bed, taking a deep breath before the nurse injects a needle into his skin. “We’ll get you a new heart so you can ride your bike all day long again like you used to, okay?”

“Okay, Doc,” Mark simply responds, mirroring his smile that soon drops to the ground the second the older man glances away.

“Can you count to ten for me?”

The boy nods, beginning to count as the liquid runs through his veins, making him feel numb and sleepy.

“One.”

He remembers that one morning when he first realized he was in love. It was when she appeared in front of his room, breathless with a frantic look on her eyes, and screamed at him for not telling her that he was having a fever. She skipped school that day, no matter how many times her mother tried to drag her back there, saying that she wanted to stay at home and take care of her best friend.

“Two.”

Mark remembers the second month after they started dating. Of melted ice cream cones and chocolates they shared after school was over. And those secret kisses they stole from each other when their parents weren’t looking. Mark remembers how she used to compare him with summer, and when Mark pouted because he thought she was talking about how his pale skin easily got burned under the sunlight, she only laughed, kissed his cheek, and said, “You’ll always be my summer, Mark.”

“Three.”

He remembers how they used to speak those three words every night and every morning of every day. He remembers how they used to be so shy and he also remembers the day those three words became a promise. A promise, in Mark’s case, that lasts forever. But one that she’d forget in the near future.

“Four.”

Mark had only sung to her with his nervous fingers playing his acoustic guitar four times, but the adoration and the love she had in her eyes lasted for four years.

“Five…”

“There are five reasons why you should fall in love and stay in love with me, Mark Lee,” she once said with a smug smile on her face. “First, I’m a natural beauty.” Mark yawned and she threw her pillow at him. “Second, I’m a loving and caring person.” Mark rolled his eyes and he got a glare in return. “Third, I’m smart—like hella smart.” Mark began to bury his face in his pillow and she flicked him on the ear. “Fourth, I’m sexy.” Mark stared at her with boredom in his eyes as he clapped his hands nonchalantly. “What, it’s true! You said so once, don’t you dare lie to me! And last but not least, I’m your best friend and I’ve understood you as well as I know the back of my hand.” Mark secretly smiled at that.

“Well,” he said, “you know how many reasons are there for you to love me?”

Her eyes twinkled in a teasing manner. “How many?”

“Just one,” Mark said, lacing his fingers with hers.

“And that is?” she asked, looking up to him through her long, beautiful eyelashes.

“It’s because I love you,” Mark said. “Unconditionally and everlastingly. That should be enough reason for you, right?”

And he muffled her happy giggle with a kiss to her lips.

Mark’s eyes start to grow heavy. “S… Six…”

He remembers the way she blushed when he swatted her bangs away from her eyes. Remembers the way she warmed his hands, puffing her cheeks when he was risking his health for her sake. He remembers the way she gasped against his mouth, her spine pressed against the fence, her fingers fisting at the fabric of his sweater. 

“Se…ven…”

“What are you doing, Mark?”

“I’m writing a song.”

“What’s it called?”

“Seven days.”

“Why?”

Mark went flustered and he nearly fainted when she stole his notepad and kept herself moving, dodging his every attempt in retrieving it, before she read on the lyrics he wrote.

“Surprisingly, a week feels really short. Any time spent with you, to end it, it’s a pity. I’m still curious about everything about you. I fall for you more as I get to know you.” 

She sent him a look and Mark immediately babbled, “It’s not specifically about you, it’s about people in general—“ But she muffled the rest of his excuse with her lips, hands tugging around his collar, pressing him closer than ever.

“Eight…”

They just turned eighteen but Mark had her lying underneath him, fingers trembling and lips bruised from his feverish kisses. “I want to be with you. I want to make you feel good. Let me be yours.”

“Am I making you happy?”

“MARK, WATCH OUT!”

A tear slips away from his eye as he begins to close his lids. And the boy never gets to finish counting because his dreams stop there. And now, nightmares welcome him with open arms, just as darkness begins to envelop him once again.

Like an old friend.

***

18

“Don’t you think Yukhei will get mad?” she asks, giggling as she buries her face in her boyfriend’s chest, still peppering small kisses now and then. The clock’s ticking, showing the number 18.18 on the screen of her cellphone. They’re still mostly naked underneath the sheets—with her dressed only in her lingerie and Donghyuck only wearing his boxer—not caring that his roommate, Wong Yukhei, can come back there any second.

“What, because we just had sex on his bed and cuddled afterward?” Donghyuck says, and he chuckles when she punches his shoulder. “Hey, I did say I love you but easy on the hands there, Mike Tyson.”

She beams at him and giggles again when Donghyuck begins to hover above her and trails butterfly kisses from her neck to her collarbones. “Shouldn’t we shower? I feel so dirty,” she says, chuckling when Donghyuck licks a long stripe on the sensitive skin.

“Well, I’m about to do something dirtier to you so why bother?” He slides his hand down her stomach, making her fidget a little with his silky smooth touch, and hover his fingers above the line of her lingerie. Noticing how she nibbles on her lip, anticipating something to occur, Donghyuck smirks. “If I ask you to beg, would you do it?”

Her cheeks turn scarlet but she quickly retorts with, “No way in hell.”

He pouts, jutting out his lower lip. “I could make you feel really good, though.”

She can’t stand being the opposite of him when he’s being sinfully seductive like this. “I’m leaving,” she announces, attempts to wiggle herself free from his hold but he catches her with a snicker tumbling off his lips. Settling her down on his lap, he lays a hand on her spine while his other one sneaks around her waist, bringing her close until his lips graze the supple skin between her breasts.

“You’re leaving?” Donghyuck murmurs, landing another trail of kisses between the valley of her breasts, tongue darting out to taste her skin. “But I still need to worship my Goddess.”

She wants to send him a snarky remark but she’s too deep in pleasure to care at the moment. She sighs and runs her fingers through his hair. Donghyuck flips her around, laying her back to the bed, and spreads her legs apart so he can fit between them. She becomes nervous from the intensity of his gaze as if he’s being consumed by desire and he wants to drag her with him.

“I can’t believe you’re mine,” he says, bending down until she can feel his breath fanning the inside part of her thigh. “I’ve been wanting you for so long, you don’t even know.” His eyes never leave hers as he sucks bruises on the sensitive skin of her thigh. “And now that I have you where I want you, I still couldn’t get enough. What should I do?”

She swallows hard, instantly closing her eyes when he pushes her lingerie to the side, fingers dipping inside her warmth. His eyes glimmer with lust, wetting his lower lip once as he’s captivated with her sultry expression. “Fuck, you’re so sexy like this.”

Her fingers are twisting against the sheet when she hears his praise followed quickly by the heat of his tongue rubbing against her clit. She’s drowning, intoxicated by his every move, her orgasm nearing close.

But then Donghyuck suddenly stops and breaks away. His eyes are stern and wide, filled with horror.

She frowns as she follows his gaze, landing her eyes on the middle of her bare chest. There’s a long cut, fresh and red, that starts to appear inch by inch on her skin. It begins from a few centimeters below her collarbones to the skin between her breasts, until it stops just a few inches away from her navel.

“W-what is this?” She sits up straight, touching the cut with trembling fingers. She doesn’t feel any pain, which means—

She takes a look at Donghyuck’s chest—at the man who claims that he’s her Soulmate—and finds nothing. There’s no scar on his chest. The mark comes from someone else.

Donghyuck’s not her Soulmate.

Donghyuck’s gawks at the sight before he stares back at her without blinking. When realization appears vividly on her face, he gulps and stutters, “I-I can explain…”

“GET AWAY FROM ME!” She screams, her eyes filled with hurt and betrayal. And when Donghyuck just gazes at her in shock, she pushes him away by his shoulders with so much force, he almost topples off the bed. “GET OUT!”

“W-wait—” Donghyuck tries to explain, standing on his feet with his eyes filled with fear of being thrown away. He looks like death is approaching him. “Noona, please, listen to me—”

“No!” She throws everything she can reach by her hands—his pillow, the sheets, his clothes—while her eyes begin to grow hot and the pain of being betrayed and blatantly lied growing more vividly behind her chest. “How dare you do this to me, you—”

“Noona!” Donghyuck holds her wrists and tries to keep up with her struggle. “Please, calm down and listen—”

“I HATE YOU!” She bites back, crying with her teeth gritting behind her lips when Donghyuck has her pinned back down to the bed. “I hate you…” her voice reduces into a softer tone but somehow it adds more fresh wounds to Donghyuck’s feelings. He knows she doesn’t hate him just like how he will never be able to hate her, no matter what she does. Soulmates or not, she truly does love him. But this... This new scar on her chest... This still changes everything.  

Donghyuck’s eyes turn sorrowful—there’s no more light in them. No joy, no mischievous gleam, nothing but a disappointment he has brought upon himself. “Noona…”

“I believed you,” she sobs, staring at him with broken eyes and quivering lips. “I believed you, Haechannie—how could you do this to me?”

Donghyuck loses his grip, feeling all of his strength leaving his body. “I’m…” He swallows and reaches out a hand when she throws her wrist above her eyes. “Noona, there’s a reason why I’m doing this—”

“Your scar!” She suddenly yells, eyes filled with nothing but rage. “That scar on the back of your neck—is that fake?”

“Noona—”

“Answer me!”

Donghyuck freezes, his throat feels dry when he speaks. “Yes,” He finally admits and he can almost hear her heart shattering apart. “Yes, it’s fake.”

She lets out a breath, one hand going to the side of her head. “I can’t believe it…” Her breathing goes a bit ragged. “I can’t believe you’ve been lying to me—”

“Yes, but—”

“After all this time,” she says, staring at him with new tears in her eyes. “After all this time, Haechannie… You’ve been lying to me.”

Donghyuck endures the pain that comes every time she says those words. “Noona, please, you need to listen to me.” And when he tries to take her wrist again, she pulls back immediately.

“Can you please leave?” she asks between her quiet sobs but her tone is definite. “I’m… I’ll be away before you come back so just—” 

“Noona, can we at least talk—”

“Hyuck, please,” she cries, fisting the sheets underneath her. “Just leave me alone.”

And Donghyuck does as she says because he feels that if he stays just a second longer, she’ll break apart even more and he never wants to see her like that. He’s supposed to bring smiles to her face—to make her laugh just like the old days, but look what he has done now? 

Goddammit, Hyuck.

He hurriedly puts his pants on and he’s already standing at the door before he can even place his shirt back on. “Noona…” He whispers, taking a last look at the girl who’s now hugging her knees to her chest and crying miserably to her hands. “I’m so sorry.”

But she doesn’t hear him. She doesn’t want to hear him.

Just let me be alone.

Donghyuck brings his gaze down to the floor. “I’ll give you some time to get ready. I’ll make sure you’ve left before I come back,” he says, closing the door behind him. “Goodbye, Noona.”

This situation seems familiar but it feels way, way much worse.

 ***

19

Mark Lee 

18: 01: 19 

“Doctor, how is he?” Mark’s mother quickly asks the man when he steps into the waiting room. Her husband stands behind her with a stiff hand on her shoulder, praying for his child’s health. Mark’s older brother bites his lower lip, waiting anxiously for the moment he can breathe in relief because he knows his little brother will be fine.

But that turns out to be wrong when the doctor shakes his head and says, “I’m sorry.”

The surgery has failed. Mark’s body rejects his new heart and he can no longer be saved.

Life ends but their sorrow stays.

***

20

After passing twenty minutes of trying to calm herself down, burying herself under the sheets during those dreading minutes, she finally gets up from the bed. Her hands are still shaky when she collects her clothing and dresses properly. She stares at herself in the mirror, taking a glimpse of the new long scar in the middle of her chest before she buttons her shirt up. Something must have happened to her other half—she needs to find out what it is. She needs to know who it is.

She closes her eyes. Everything hurts and she doesn’t know why but that man’s face—the guy who stood by her gate last night—keeps appearing on her mind. But every time she remembers him, another wound breaks inside her chest, and tears begin to roll down once more.

Exhaling a deep breath, she searches for her phone. She quickly scrolls through her contact list and dials the numbers she’s been searching.

Pick up, pick up, PICK UP!

A woman’s voice comes through the line. “Hello, Yongsan Municipal Library, how may I help—”

“Yes, hi,” she hastily greets, voice still filled with quivers but with more strength behind it when she introduced herself. “I’m looking for this guy named Mark Lee—he w-works at your place a-and—” her voice breaks at the end, trembling with tears that’s about to flood her eyes. “Can… Can you please, let me speak to him?”

There’s a silence on the other side of the phone and she wonders whether that lady doesn’t understand the words she just said or for some entirely different reason. 

Please let him be okay.

“You’re looking for Mark Lee?” she asks and she nods until she realizes she can’t see her. “Y-yes,” she croaks out.

“Well, he hasn’t come here since two days ago,” the lady explains while her heart sinks below her stomach. “He said he was about to go through surgery—”

“Surgery?”

“Yes, for his heart,” she answers and her hand unconsciously goes to her chest. It’s starting to make sense now. “I heard he got into the operation room a few hours ago. I’m still waiting for the news, actually. It’s—oh wait, I got a mail. Maybe this is it.” There’s a rustling sound going on in the background and she waits with her heart thumping loudly. A few seconds later, she hears a soft gasp, “Oh my goodness.”

“Ma’am?” she starts. “Ma’am, what’s wrong? Is he alright?”

Say yes. Please say yes.

Another silence before the lady comes to answer her with a voice so quiet she almost mistakes it as a whisper. “Mark Lee has passed away, just a few minutes ago. He was—”

She drops her phone to the floor in panic and quickly unbuttons her shirt again. She runs to the mirror, focusing her gaze at her reflection and she finds nothing.

The scar on her chest has vanished, not even leaving a trace of it behind. Just like the memories she had with him.

Donghyuck doesn’t really leave the room even when she has screamed at him to do so. He’s closed the door behind him but he doesn’t walk away. Instead, he slides down to the floor, pressing his back against the wooden surface, and waits. The hallway is empty and Donghyuck shivers from the cold.

God, you’re so fucking stupid, he thinks to himself. You shouldn’t have agreed with Chenle. You should’ve known this wouldn’t have worked.

Donghyuck traces the scar on his nape—the fake scar that he made to make her believe. To make her think that he was her Soulmate.

He feels like he’s about to vomit. He’s so sick of himself. Disgusting, he thinks, you’re a piece of crap, Lee Donghyuck. He closes his eyes, biting on his lower lip as his mind flashes back to his conversation with his younger friend, Zhong Chenle.

“Hyung, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“You said you wanted to get close to her, right?” Chenle had once said to him. “She has a scar on the back of her neck. That’s the clue.”

Yukhei reached out to see what was hidden behind Donghyuck’s collar. “Shit, dude,” he said, hissing, “You don’t have it. The scar—you’re not her Soulmate.”

Donghyuck’s heart flopped and it took a moment for him to recover. “W-well…” He barked a laugh, masking his disappointment though he wasn’t fooling anyone. “Well then, there goes my chance.”

“No, you still have a chance,” Chenle corrected. “I know who her Soulmate is. And he’s dying.”

“W-what?”

“Mark Lee,” Chenle said with sorrowful eyes and a broken heart. Donghyuck knew perfectly who he was—that guy, the owner of prominent cheekbones, thin lips, and pale skin who constantly refused his offer to play soccer together. “Mark Lee is her Soulmate, Hyung. But he’s... He’s dying. His heart is weak and that’s why he doesn’t want to get close to her. He knows he’s not gonna last long.”

“B-but—” Donghyuck splutters, frowning. “Does she know about this?”

“No,” Chenle shook his head once. “They used to date and she didn’t even know it back then. They didn’t know it back then. Then they got into an accident and she lost her memories. Mark thinks it’s a chance for him to stay away from her.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Donghyuck shouted angrily. “He’s her Soulmate! She deserves to know! They deserve to be together even just for a while—”

“He doesn’t want to. He’s given up, Hyung. He wants me to tell you that.” And his next words were the last thing Chenle said before he left with an apologetic look on his face. “I know you want to push Mark to be with her but I think you should stop. He thinks it’s better this way.”

Donghyuck hissed under his breath, pushing his hair back in frustration. “Jesus fucking Christ.”

Yukhei gaped before his friend confronted him and asked, “Yukhei, what happened when your Soulmate dies before you know them?”

The tall boy realized where Donghyuck was going with this. He remembered how Donghyuck hadn’t gotten any scars on his body yet.

“You’ll find yourself another Soulmate.”

With that in mind, Donghyuck ran through the corridors, stepping into the faculty he knew Mark Lee was in. The paler boy was in the middle of his literature class and Donghyuck just went in, blurting out, “Sorry Prof, it’s an emergency!” to the lecturer before he yanked Mark out of his seat. The older one was quiet, following him without asking questions until Donghyuck shoved him against a wall in an empty hallway.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Donghyuck asked through gritted teeth. His hands were grasping tightly against the fabric of Mark’s collar.

Mark stared at him back with cold, almost challenging eyes. “I should be the one who asked you that. You’re the one who suddenly dragged me over here.”

“She’s your Soulmate!” Donghyuck nearly screamed at him. “Do you know how rare it is to find your Soulmate at such a young age?”

Mark only kept his face straight when he replied, “So you’ve heard.” 

“Yes, I’ve heard, you asshole,” Donghyuck spat back. “And from your friend too because apparently, you’re too busy being such a fucking coward to tell me yourself!”

Mark’s eyes darkened at his degrading words but he didn’t say anything.

Donghyuck exhaled in exasperation. “Look, Mark. do you know how much she wants to find her Soulmate? How much she wants to be with you? You’ve known all along and I know you guys had a history together so why the hell aren’t you two together now?”

Mark’s jaw clenched before he broke their eye contact. “It’s better this way.”

“Why, because you’re dying?”

Mark’s eyes grew hard before he closed them. “Among many reasons.”

Donghyuck was on the verge of punching him so hard across his jaw but when he saw the wounded look that flitted through Mark’s eyes for just a few seconds, he restrained himself. Instead, he just asked,” How could you be so selfish?”

Mark immediately turned to look at the other man with a hard glare, his heart beating fast from his rage. “Selfish?” Mark asked, his tone sounded almost as sharp as a knife. “I’m selfish? Donghyuck-ah, I’m letting the person I care about the most in the world fall into another man’s arm because I don’t want to hurt her! If I die, she’ll—”

“She’ll what? She’ll be sad? Devastated? Well, hey, news flash, Mark. Everybody dies!” Donghyuck exclaimed. “You say you’re dying but you can never know when you’re actually going to die. My condition is as good as a person can be but who can guarantee I’m gonna live long? What if I get into an accident? What if I suddenly get sick and die the next day? You can never know so don’t use that as an excuse, you coward!”

Donghyuck had a point; Mark knew that. But it wasn’t easy.

Mark just shook his head. “I can’t do this.”

“Of course.” Donghyuck scoffed. “And that’s why I said you’re being selfish.”

“You want to talk about being selfish?!” Mark was losing his patience. “Try to look at yourself! You’re here, pretending like you care and want us to be together when it’s obvious that you’re happy with all of this because you get to have her for yourself—”

Donghyuck punched the boy with his right fist. He couldn’t help it. He snapped.

The punch wasn’t hard enough to knock the teeth out of his mouth but it was hard enough to make Mark feel lightheaded and fall to the floor. He hissed, rubbing the pain off his jaw, and leaned his back against the wall. 

“Fine,” Donghyuck said, staring at the boy who looked up at him with a new bruise forming along his right jaw. Donghyuck could see how much Mark wanted to be with her and how much he tried to convince himself to do so. But he could tell how Mark was afraid. That boy almost lost everything once—he knew how awful it was to be left alone. He didn’t want that to happen to her and though Donghyuck understood that, he just couldn’t accept it yet. “If you want to give up on her,” he said, “Then go. Do it. I’m not you so I don’t know how you feel but I can see that deep down inside, you still don’t want to let her go. But the thing is, Mark, I’m gonna fight for her. I’m gonna make her happy. Soulmates or not, I’m gonna try to make her feel loved because I am—I’m in love with her. But I am not happy taking her away from her Soulmate—from you. That’s your fault. You had two options and you chose to leave. That’s your own decision, so don’t try to make yourself feel better by telling me how I feel. You don’t know me.”

Mark brought his head down, nibbling on his lip. His eyes felt hot and he felt downright awful about himself. He didn’t mean to insult Donghyuck—he was just angry for a second there. His emotions had gone over control.

“Then go make her happy,” Mark said, picking himself up from the floor and walked away. Donghyuck stared at his back and nodded with a sincere promise even when the boy could no longer see him.

“Stupid,” Donghyuck murmurs to himself as his flashback ends. “Mark’s right. You’re selfish. You’re such an idiot.” He punches the ground beneath him a few times out of frustration before he slides his fingers through his hair and pulls on the roots. He doesn’t notice how he just cut himself along his knuckles, his skin breaking and bleeding slowly through a thin layer. “You can’t even be sure you’re her next Soulmate, Hyuck. You’re just an idiot. An idiot and an asshole and you just lost her for the second time in your pathetic little life.” He closed his eyes and leaned back to the door. 

Noona, please forgive me.

She slides down to the floor and hugs her knees to her chest. Pressing her temple to her knees, she sobs until her entire shoulders begin to shake.

Mark Lee was her Soulmate. And he knew—that’s why he came to her house that night. Why didn’t he just tell the truth? And why did he look so familiar? So familiar and yet she doesn’t remember anything. Why can’t she remember him?

God, I beg you, please. Let me remember him, she prays under her muffled sobs, if he ever meant something to me, please, let me remember him. I don’t care if it’ll hurt me, I don’t care. I just want to remember him. That’s all I ask.

Mark…

But as Mark dies, the permanent scar he gets on his chest before his final moment dies with him as well. The memory of him never suffices and Mark is just a shadow, following her everywhere but one that she cannot see.

She braces herself to glance one more time at the scar on her chest but there’s none. The cut has disappeared. She’s just as good as new.

Except for the faint cut that recently appears on her knuckles.

***

[dweetwise]

i’ve been kinda quiet while finishing a project over on ao3, but now i’m back with some riconti to share <3

ship: felix x ace (only implied; can be read as platonic if you wish!)

word count: 1640

Someone to Lean On

"—and I thought for sure she wouldn't pick me up! I ran straight into her after being unhooked, but she didn’t even hesitate calling my bluff. Well played, Spirit!"

Felix kept half-listening as Ace rambled on about their latest trial. They were walking back to the campfire together through the fog, having both been sacrificed by the ruthless katana-wielding killer.

It wasn't uncommon for Ace to wait around for him in the plane of nothingness if he didn't survive the trial. Felix had lost count of how many times he'd regained consciousness only to see the familiar, smiling figure calling over to him through the fog.

He wondered if Ace knew how much he appreciated the gesture. The gambler’s friendly banter was always a welcome distraction from the harrowing experience of having every fiber of his being torn to shreds and consequently be reassembled.

But this time was different. Felix could barely make out Ace's words, his own thoughts sounding deafening inside his head despite the silence of the fog. His body didn't feel like his own; it was like the Entity's claws were still twisting and turning around his insides. 

Felix’s feet dragged behind him and when they eventually came to a stop, Ace stopped right with him and patiently waited for their journey to continue. Only once Felix made no move to do so did the Argentine’s brilliant smile falter from uncertainty. 

"Felix?" Ace asked.

"I can't do it," Felix said.

According to people back at the campfire, it had been over a year since Felix was taken into this horrible realm. It felt even longer than that; with nothing in this world but means to make them suffer, Felix was starting to forget the things he used to enjoy.

"Sure you can, champ!" Ace grinned.

Felix knew Ace was trying to be encouraging. He knew he should go back to his play-act, should plaster on a fake smile and brush off his struggles as nothing more than a bad trial, like he’d done countless times before.

But he couldn’t.

"No," Felix said, a surprising determination in his voice. "You don't understand."

“What do you mean?” Ace asked.

Felix wasn’t sure how to describe it. The more he thought about this world and the absolute wrongness of it, the harder it was to pinpoint its exact cause.

He felt lightheaded and almost delirious. It was like he was in a dream; a terrible nightmare that he couldn't wake up from. Nothing in this place made sense, yet all this time he had accepted it as truth. What if it was all a figment of his imagination?

"Is any of this real?" Felix asked.

Ace’s smile made way for a confused frown, and his expression was the only thing in their surroundings that looked lifelike. The unnatural fog surrounding them felt neither damp nor cold, the unending darkness somehow allowed them to see perfectly, and even though there was nothing to guide them they still knew exactly which way to go.

Felix felt his breathing pick up as he only now seemed to realize the vast emptiness of nothing they were standing in. He’d been here countless times before but never fully aware of it, and his heart was racing as he frantically looked around, feeling the terror rising in his chest—

Until a warm hand was placed on his shoulder. 

"Hey, deep breaths," Ace said, turning Felix to face him.

The touch helped to ground him and the panic started to fade as Felix looked into familiar brown eyes. Ace felt real, but how could he be sure?

"It doesn't make any sense," Felix said. "The Entity doesn’t exist. It simply can’t."

Ace said nothing. Whether he was giving Felix space to speak or thought he’d finally lost his mind, Felix didn’t know.

"What if this is just a nightmare? What if I'm going crazy—having some sort of episode from work stress, and I'm really hospitalized in an institution?" Felix said, his frantic eyes finding Ace's. "What if I'm in a coma, or—or I died, and this is all my brain shutting down? What if this isn't real?"

Felix realized he was shaking. Ace looked at him silently; like he was pondering what to say. Felix didn’t think he’d ever seen him look so serious.

Abruptly, the embarrassment hit. Felix broke eye contact and stepped back. Even if he was losing it, he didn't need to drag Ace into this—

"So what?" Ace asked.

"What?"

"If you wake up in a hospital tomorrow and realize none of this was real, what does it matter?" Ace said. "It's not gonna change that this feels real."

Felix was silent, mulling over the words.

"I think that, sometimes, it's best to just take things at face value," Ace continued. "Fucked-up things like the Entity exist? Alright. One of them yoinked us into its world for fun? Sure. Whether we like it or not, right now we're stuck here—might as well try to make the most of it."

"Don't you want answers?" Felix asked.

"What I want is to get the hell out of here," Ace huffed dryly.

Felix couldn’t remember Ace ever talking about an escape before. The gambler had always seemed surprisingly well-adjusted to their predicament, but he should have known that even the most optimistic person would be eager for the chance to find a way out of this nightmare.

"But since that's not on the table, I'll take the next best thing of living to see another day," Ace said. "And if I wake up in a real bed tomorrow and it was all a dream? Even better."

"Have you never thought about it? That this could just be a product of your mind?" Felix asked.

"Briefly, yeah," Ace said. Then he smiled. "But then I remembered how shit my imagination is. No way I would've been able to come up with something like this."

Felix huffed out a dry chuckle despite the situation.

"But it's probably easier for me," Ace said. "I know you tend to overthink things. And with the kind of year you've had? I'm kinda surprised you've adjusted so well."

Felix hadn’t thought about it that way. After the numerous panic attacks and freezing from fear in his first trials, Felix never considered himself particularly well-adjusted to his new existence. He owed most of his meager success to the people around him, always there to lend a hand and pull Felix up when he wasn't strong enough to do it himself.

And most of the time, that person had been Ace.

"I had some help," Felix said, offering a hesitant smile.

"Ah, true—almost forgot about Élodie," Ace grinned. "Must be nice, having a friend like that in a place like this."

Felix didn't have the heart to correct the assumption. Having the familiar face of a childhood friend among their teammates had no doubt been beneficial for both Felix and Élodie while they learned to survive this new world.

But it wasn't Élodie who had been by Felix's side those first months. It wasn’t her encouraging words that got through to Felix when he felt paralyzed from inaction, or her who took the time to involve him in the group when Felix was too lost in his own head to participate.

"It really makes a world of difference, having a good friend," Felix said.

Ace kept looking at him, until his face spread into a bright smile at the realization.

"Well, in that case, can I offer you some friendly advice?" Ace asked.

"Of course," Felix agreed.

"Don't get too wrapped up in the 'how's and 'why's," Ace said. "It's just gonna consume you. And…"

Felix waited as Ace paused in an unusual gesture of uncertainty.

"I'd hate to lose you," Ace said.

He was still smiling pleasantly, but his eyes betrayed his real emotion; it was the first time Felix had seen genuine fear in Ace's eyes. And it wasn't from a brutal mori or the hopelessness that they might never escape.

It was from the possibility of losing Felix.

"Alright," Felix said. "I'll try."

"It's a start," Ace said, his demeanor back to the usual playfulness. "You ready to head back?"

Felix realized he felt much calmer now than only minutes prior. There was still an uneasiness in the back of his mind due to the unspeakable horrors that haunted them on a daily basis, but he felt grounded. This wasn't just about him; no matter whether it aligned with the objective truth, this was their reality.

"I think so, yes," Felix said.

"'Atta boy," Ace said. 

Ace's hand left his shoulder, and Felix immediately missed its warmth. The moment of camaraderie they had shared was exactly what he had needed. Even Ace seemed more at ease, his smile relaxed as he fell into step beside Felix.

"By the way," Ace said conversationally. "If this is all in your head, could I request you make it a little… I don't know, less guts and gore, more flowers and booze?"

Felix chuckled. "I can try."

"Oh, and while you're at it, can you give me one of those makeovers?" Ace said. "Make me like ten years younger? I think I’d look great in brown hair—ooh, and a six pack too!"

Felix listened to Ace ramble with a smile. It would never cease to amaze him how the seemingly lighthearted man could go from joking to serious and right back to silly banter in just a few short moments. Ace was like a bolt of lightning; chaotic in nature and gone in the blink of an eye, but always managing to calm the storm in Felix’s head.

"Ace?" Felix asked, interrupting Ace still talking about his hair.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you," Felix said.

Ace’s smile flashed bright and warm in the darkness surrounding them.

"Anytime."

[insfiringyou]

BTS - Somebody Else (V x Da-eun) & (Max x Cassandra)

Contains: Fluff, parenting, slight angst, smut, first date

Set a month after the fic ‘A Chance Meeting’ where V asks for Da-eun’s phone number. He agrees on a date with the stylist and Cassandra and Max spend some alone time together. 

You can find out more about our headcanon universe and ongoing storyline here and more about our headcanon girlfriends here.

To read each member & their girlfriend’s headcanon universe fics in order, follow the links here: RM   /   Jin /   Suga /   J-Hope   /   Jimin   /   V   /   Jungkook & our full masterlist of fanart and fanfictions can be found here

If you wish to follow all member’s storylines in chronological order from the beginning, you can find them listed here.

Rated content below the cut

PART ONE 

Taehyung smiled, opening his mouth in a playful gesture as the baby dropped the wrapper on the floor; the infant licked the dark substance from his tiny, sticky fingers with a grin. The man opposite reached for the pack of wet wipes on the table in front of him, slipping a few from the hole in the top and stretching to hand them to Taehyung who took them with a quiet thanks.

“No problem.” Max sat back down and leaned back in the chair, watching as Taehyung wiped the chocolate from the baby’s lips, trailing it across his cheeks and forehead, where a strand had managed to become lodged in the boy’s dark hair. “He loves that stuff but he gets it everywhere.” 

Taehyung looked up briefly at the sound of the man’s voice, dismissing it with a lazy gesture. “Babies are supposed to be messy.”

“He’ll never sleep now…” Cassandra rolled her eyes with a sigh, shifting against the cushions of the small, two-person couch she shared with her boyfriend. She had spent all afternoon trying to get Gabriel prepared for his evening walk with Taehyung; making sure he was changed and fed, but the child had been restless, throwing his dinner on the floor in a tantrum before attempting to climb the stairs; pulling the safety gate from the wall in the process. Her limbs ached from chasing him, but his demeanor changed when his father showed up at the door. He climbed in the stroller without kicking up a fuss and, according to Taehyung, hadn’t made a sound on the mile-long trip to the park. It was times like this she jokingly wondered if Gabriel had been the right name to call him. Lucifer might be more apt. 

Max had shown up shortly after the troublesome pair had left, and the cup of warm tea he made was most welcome. He helped her tidy the living room in anticipation of them coming back, and insisted she sit back and relax as he did the washing up. Her feet were sore and he kneaded them gently, resting them one by one in his lap until the sound of the door opening made her pull away. The thought of Taehyung seeing them made her uncomfortable, and her soles were feeling much better anyway. 

“It’ll be fine.” Max murmured cheerfully, pulling her away from her thoughts. “I can go and sit with him if he wakes up.” Cassandra frowned at his casual taking of Taehyung’s side and he touched her thigh, giving it a little pat. “It’ll give you a chance to sleep.”

“I could stay if you need me to.” Taehyung offered, his gaze suddenly fixed on the couple. 

She shook her head, frown fixed. “I thought you had a date?”

He opened his mouth to speak but Max cut in, interest peaked. “I didn’t know you were dating.”

Taehyung was silent for a moment before offering a small shrug. “We’ve only been texting.”

“How long?” The other man asked. 

“A month or so.”

Cassandra turned to her boyfriend, sensing the other man’s discomfort at being questioned, she took over, elaborating for him. “She’s a stylist.” 

Max grinned teasingly. “Your stylist?”

Taehyung shook his head. “No, a friend’s. We haven’t met yet.”

“Where are you taking her?” The older man asked.

There was a long pause and Cassandra suspected he wasn’t going to reply, realising that Max, who was an open book when it came to conversation, hadn’t yet sensed the other man’s uneasiness. Taehyung lowered Gabriel gently to the floor. The infant had started to wriggle in his grasp, as though sensing the change in atmosphere. 

“Le Rouge, in Gangnam.” He murmured. 

“Oh, it’s nice!” Max turned to his girlfriend with a warm smile. “We’ve been.”

“Make sure you try the Coq au vin.” She chipped in. 

The younger man shrugged once more. “I’m not that hungry…I was thinking of just going for drinks.”

She looked at him, eyebrow cocked. “Have you told her that?”

“What do you mean?” He replied, voice slow. 

She tried not to roll her eyes. “She might not have eaten.” 

He sighed quietly, wanting to change the topic. “I’m sure we can figure it out.”

Cassandra fell quiet, eyes falling to her son who had started to whine under his breath, babbling incessantly as he clung to the dark fabric of the sofa, attempting to climb back onto his father’s lap. He was growing fussy and she checked her watch. 

Max watched her do this and got slowly to his feet. “We should put him to bed now.”

“I’ll do it.” Taehyung interrupted. 

Cassandra joined her boyfriend, shaking her head lightly as she stood, gently reminding the man opposite. “You’ve got somewhere to be.”

“Are you driving?” Max asked, stepping aside to allow Cassandra to edge past him. 

The younger man shifted in his seat but accepted Cassandra’s offer. “Taking a cab.” His eyes followed as she bent down beside him, scooping the child in her arms easily as she had done thousands of times before. Their eyes met and she gave a soft smile, nodding towards his printed shirt. The colours were jeweled in tone; feathers decorating the crisp, white fabric. It was a wonder he had managed to stay clean with the baby around.  

“You look nice.” She complimented. 

“Thank you.” He murmured quietly. 

She nodded, straightening her legs. “I hope it goes well.” Gabriel had finally grown quiet, his eyes closing sleepily and she lowered him towards his father who kissed his cheek softly, smoothing a stray lock of hair from his forehead. 

“Goodnight angel…” 

He watched her walk towards the hallway and felt his chest swim simultaneously with warmth and sadness at the sight of them leaving. Max followed his gaze, sea-blue eyes observing, but not quite understanding what he was seeing. He sat back in his chair, sensing the tension the other man was feeling and wanting to alleviate it somehow. 

“Do you want something to drink since you’re not driving?” He offered politely. “Something to settle your nerves?”

The younger man’s attention was drawn for a few more moments by Cassandra climbing the stairs to the second floor with Gabriel walking in front of her; his arms held up to stop him from falling, before turning back. “If you want.” 

Max stood up, heading towards the kitchen. “Do you like craft ale? We got a batch from a local brewery.”

“Anything’s fine.” Taehyung murmured without interest, watching as the older man unclasped the safety gate which shielded the kitchen from young, adventurous hands. He heard the fridge door open and the gentle hiss of cap tops being popped, before the other man returned, clutching two bottles. He handed one across the table before settling back down in his previous position on the opposite sofa. 

“Has it been a while?”

Taehyung frowned. “Since what?”

Max shrugged easily. “You dated.”

The younger man looked away, thinking. “I’ve been focused on other things lately.”

Max nodded with a smile, remembering tidbits of information from Cassandra. “I heard about your house renovation. Is it going well?”

“Almost finished. I just have the nursery to decorate.”

He gave a murmur of approval in reply, before falling silent, unsure what else to say. Max had met Taehyung on a handful of occasions, though their conversations were usually brief; it wasn’t him he was coming around to see after all. He hadn’t yet grasped a good sense of his personality, though he seemed to be shy, reserved even. Max wasn’t used to making small talk, but wanted to be friendly; the other man was Gabriel’s father after all, and it would help Cassandra if they got along. “It’s good that you’ve made it work.” He eventually said, approvingly. Taehyung looked at him with a blank expression and he quickly clarified. “You and Cassandra...most people can’t.”

“Me and Cass aren’t like ‘most people’.” He replied, making Max laugh. He held up his bottle in cheers.  

“I’ll drink to that!” He grinned, pressing the bottle to his lips. Taehyung followed, mirroring his motion and taking a few small sips. Max put his bottle on the table, watching the other man drink quietly, musing over whether he should say what he had planned. The young man opposite seemed more relaxed, having grown used to his company, so he pressed ahead, a little cautiously, seeking approval. 

“We were thinking of taking a little vacation this summer…”

“Where to?” Taehyung asked.

His voice seemed casual, uninterested, so Max continued. “Sweden.” He cleared his throat a little. “Lund, my home town.”

Brown eyes met blue across the space. “Will Gabriel be going with you?”

Max hesitated, brushing his fair hair from his eyes and touching the back of his neck. “Would you be okay with that?”

Taehyung was quiet for a second, before replying. “If Cassandra’s comfortable with it.” He looked towards the doorway automatically, towards the staircase. He could hear Gabriel whaling loudly upstairs, Cassandra’s frantic hushes just audible as she tried to get him to settle in his cot. Max followed his gaze, reading his thoughts, and shook his head knowingly. 

“She might take a while.” He confirmed. “You don’t want to be late.”

Taehyung fell silent, as though wishing to protest, but finally stood up, collecting his phone from the coffee table and sliding it into his shoulder bag. He hadn’t quite finished the drink, but a quick glance at his watch told him he wouldn’t have time. He wasn’t that thirsty anyway. 

Max trailed behind as they walked into the hallway, the older man sipping his beer along the way. “I hope you’ll come again soon.” He smiled. Taehyung paused by the stairs, considering whether he should go up and say goodnight. 

“I’ll let her know you had to go.” Max said gently, and Taehyung looked back, nodding in acceptance. 

“Thanks.” He murmured, reaching for the door handle. 

PART TWO 

She felt hot under her thick, woolen coat and hoped her foundation was staying put. The evening was unexpectedly warm, a contrast to the past few nights when she had taken the bus back from her company’s headquarters downtown, and she was beginning to regret her attire. There was no one behind the reception desk and she looked around the dim room frantically, checking the small face of her watch and hoping he hadn’t left already; that was if he had shown up at all. There were a few couples seated around the circular tables, along with a family on the long, bench-like table near the window, clearly celebrating a birthday. Golden balloons were strung along the backs of chairs, and the conversation among them was heated and familiar. She couldn’t see him there and reached into her handbag for her phone, wondering if she would be brave enough to text. 

Her gaze was averted when an older man came out of a back room, closing the door quietly behind him and glancing across the desk. She hoped he couldn’t sense her embarrassment and wondered whether she should just leave, before he beckoned gently to her. She took a step closer to the desk and he leaned across to whisper.

“Could I take your name?” 

She pulled away and looked at him. His expression was hard to read and she felt her cheeks turn red. 

“Kang Da-eun.” She replied, wondering a second too late whether it had been a good idea to tell a stranger. 

He nodded. “This way please…”

She looked around the room, noting the busy atmosphere, before following cautiously towards a beaded curtain at the end of the corridor. 

“Can I take your coat?” The man asked, pulling the strings aside as she ducked beneath. It made a soft, musical sound as the beads shimmied back together and she looked around the small room, spotting the lone figure immediately. The walls were a deep, fleshy kind of burgundy and the soft, warm lighting only made the room seem smaller, more intimate. Her heart seemed to stop as the man seated at the far end looked up above the menu, straight at her. His hair was a medium brown, tousled a little above his dark, dark eyes and the expression he gave seemed intense, though she couldn’t quite read it. She still couldn’t believe she was meeting him in the flesh; though she recognised him immediately. She had been too preoccupied over the prospect of him not being there that she hadn’t quite worked out what she would do if he was. Da-eun became aware that the server was waiting patiently at her side, and she belatedly turned to him with a blush, smoothing her dark hair away from her perspiring forehead. 

“Oh, thank you…” She slipped off the tweed coat, fumbling a little with the oversized buttons, before handing it to him. He hung it on the stand in the corner, before promptly disappearing back through the curtains. When she turned back her date was standing, pulling the wooden chair from the other side of the little table for her to sit down. She walked over shakily, hoping her feet wouldn’t give out from under her as she joined him. The chair squeaked as she sat on it and she felt herself cringe even further.  

“I’m sorry to be late. The bus was delayed.” She blurted, eyes following as he sat back down and met her gaze. 

“Which number did you get?” He asked, voice low and surprisingly soft. She felt the pulse in her hands and knitted them together in front of her on the table. 

“The one from Hannam-dong.”

He nodded, though she wasn’t sure he really understood. She wondered how long it had been since he had taken public transport. She looked around nervously, observing the framed photographs which hung, clustered on the walls. They were placed a little chaotically in the small space, but she thought that might be the point. She recognised a few of the places shown, though she had never been there herself; the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower. “It’s really nice here.” She smiled, tugging a little at the hem of her dress; wishing it wasn’t so warm or that she had chosen something less modest. “I feel under-dressed.”

His eyes flickered to the garment, lingering on the decorative pattern which adorned the thick, woolen dress. “Don’t worry.” He murmured. 

“Have you been here before?” She asked with interest. 

“No.” He said, making her fall silent. She touched her cheeks with the back of her hand, realising, as expected, they were warm to the touch. He noticed and leaned forward. “Do you want something to drink?”

“Just water.” She nodded and he pressed the call button at the side of the table. 

“Still or sparkling?”

She blinked. “Still.”

The waiter was prompt, walking through the curtain a few moments later and Taehyung requested water for them both. She took advantage of the moment to fix her fringe again, which had started to cling unattractively to her forehead. She feathered the dark locks with her fingertips, making sure the older gentleman had once more retreated behind the doorway before she spoke again. 

“I wasn’t sure if you’d come.” She whispered honestly, a little ashamed of herself. 

Taehyung looked at her. “Why?”

“I thought…” She shook her head to herself, a little smile playing on her lips. “It might be a prank.”

“I wouldn’t prank you.” He said smoothly. 

“I know…It’s just…” She started, already feeling flustered. “I see people on T.V all the time, where people pretend to be someone they’re not.” She paused. “It’s usually for their credit card.”

The other man was quiet and she worried she might have offended him. She opened her mouth to clarify, but he changed the topic. “Did you like the flowers I sent?”

Sitting back in her chair, she nodded with a smile at the memory. The pale, delicate Baby’s Breath had arrived at her workplace the previous week, wrapped carefully in brown paper. It reminded her of something a child might pick in the spring and she had later wondered if he had done just that. “They were lovely. I didn’t think they were for me at first.”

“I wrote a card.” He affirmed. 

She quickly nodded. “I know. I just didn’t see it until Ara pointed it out.”

“Do you like working with Ara?” He questioned. 

“She’s really nice.” Da-eun confirmed. “She told me how you met.”

Taehyung sat back, threading his fingers together. “We’ve known each other a long time.”

“I heard.” She thought for a second, curious about something she had heard rumours of in the news. “Are you working on a comeback?”

“Not really.” He murmured dismissively, looking over her shoulder when the waiter returned with a jug and two glasses. “Thank you, you can set it there.” He gestured, pouring the drinks for them both without fuss. He continued speaking as he placed her glass carefully in front of her. “How did you become a stylist?”

She took a few mouthfuls, soothing her dry throat. “Well…” She gulped, setting it back down. “It’s a funny story.”

“I’m listening.” He said.

She looked up, observing that he was indeed watching her closely, before she continued the story. “I had a friend from school who worked with Mamamoo, and she had to pull out of a photoshoot because she broke her arm.”

“How did she break it?” He asked.

“What?” She looked up, eyes wide.

“Her arm. How did she break it?” He asked patiently. 

“Oh…” She looked down, remembering. “She fell down the stairs before a business meeting. Her heel just snapped.”

“Sounds painful.” He commented nonchalantly. 

“It was.” She confirmed, feeling more confident now she was making conversation and that he appeared to be interested in what she had to say. “Anyway, she couldn’t mix the colours with only one arm. So she asked if I could step in.”

“Did you go to beauty school?”

She nodded with a smile. “I’d just graduated. I couldn’t believe my luck.”

“That’s very fortuitous...” He wandered off, taking a few sips of water as he thought to himself. She watched his eyes grow dark. “I would have liked to have spent more time at school.” He eventually said. 

“You still can.” She replied softly. “What would you study?”

He was quiet for a second. “Art maybe…or Photography.”

Her smile widened. “I’ve seen your pictures online…they’re really good.”

“I’d like to be better.” He murmured. 

She nodded sympathetically. “It must be hard to balance your time.” 

He met her gaze, caught off guard. “Why?”

Da-eun frowned. “You have a son, don’t you?”

She saw his expression shift and immediately realised her mistake. “I’m sorry…” She backtracked, turning red with embarrassment and looking down at the table. “I saw it online.”

“So did most of Korea.” He said dryly. 

She sensed a note of sadness in his voice she couldn’t quite place; regret perhaps? She knew why. She didn’t need Ara to tell her what the backlash had been like. Her own reaction as someone who had known his name for years was one of shock and slight disbelief. She knew for those who followed him more closely; the fans who attended his shows and bought his records, the news would have seemed like a bombshell. It had never occurred to her before how this must have affected him. She took a deep breath, steadying her nerves. “We don’t have to talk about it, if you don’t want to.”

He shifted slightly in his wooden chair, his demeanor relaxing. “Maybe another time.” He confirmed, surprising her. Da-eun watched as he reached slowly across the table, fingertips skimming the back of her hand briefly before pulling away. She felt her skin prickle at the touch. “I want to know you better first.” Taehyung whispered. 

She moved her gaze from her hand, where his own had been only seconds before, to his face which seemed soft in the dim glow of the lamp. “I think I’ve told you it all…” She admitted, only just realising how open she had been with him during their messages. 

“You still live with your parents and sister?” He asked, already knowing the answer but seeking confirmation.

She nodded. “When I’m home.”

His mouth twisted a little and she wondered if he was teasing her. “Do they know you’re on a date?”

She nodded again, trying this time to hide her blush by talking clearly, with an air of confidence. “I said I’d be back by ten…”

“I’ll make sure you’re home in time.” He said softly, sitting back in his chair. 

“Thanks.” She mumbled, sensing a shift between them. Looking across at him, he suddenly seemed less defensive, as though he was finally starting to relax. She nodded towards the single menu that rested between them, noting the neat, spindly calligraphy on the front page. “Have you eaten?”

“No.”

She felt her stomach grumble in reply and picked it up sheepishly. “Did you want to share something? I hear the chicken is good.”

“I heard the same.” He replied coolly, gesturing towards the laminated sheet. “We should get two. I don’t want you to go hungry.”

She glanced at him with a smile, belatedly feeling just how hungry she was. Her stomach had been uncomfortable all afternoon, churning with nerves, and she hadn’t been able to manage more than a few bites at lunch. She knew how much Idols had to watch their figure; having seen for herself what Ara and the girls were subjected to while preparing for their comebacks, but the fact he didn’t seem to mind her having an appetite came as a relief. 

“Shall we get a starter too?” She asked hopefully. 

He nodded easily. “You should order as much as you want.”

“Maybe some onion soup?”

He smiled. “Sounds good. Do you drink?”

She blinked. “Alcohol?” 

He nodded. 

“A little bit.” She replied, though immediately realised that was an exaggeration. The last time she had alcohol had been two Christmases ago, and even then it had only been a taste.

“Do you want some wine?” He asked. 

She hesitated. “I don’t know much about what’s good.” Da-eun answered honestly. 

He nodded in acknowledgement. “I’ll order. Is a Cabernet okay?”

She looked at him blankly, but agreed. “Okay.”

***

She had managed to finish her small glass of wine, but only just. It’s bitter taste had taken her by surprise and if she had felt the room warm before, it was now like an oven. Taehyung had taken her lead and made sure his own glass was small, though he had drunk two. He gestured towards the bottle, still more than half full. 

“Do you want any more?” He offered, putting down his fork and wiping his mouth with a napkin. 

She shook her head with a smile. The room seemed to be lit with a soft, fuzzy glow; the man opposite cast in a halo of light. She had never been drunk before, though she had heard it was fun. She wasn’t sure tonight was the best night to find out. “I’d better not. I have to get the bus home.”

He looked at her, expression straight. “Are you driving it?”

Da-eun laughed loudly in response, his reply unexpected and funny. It was the first time he had attempted humour all evening, and it was welcome. “No…” She shook her head, eyes streaming a little as she calmed down. 

He settled back in his chair comfortably and she suspected he might be feeling proud of himself for getting a response from her. She wondered how long it had been since he had made another woman laugh.

“It’s pretty strong.” He confirmed, noting her roughed cheeks and giddy demeanor. “You could take it home with you. For your parents.”

She looked at the drink, frowning. “I’m not sure they’ll let me on the bus with a bottle.”

“I’ll call you a taxi.” He offered. “I said I’d have you home by ten.”

His words were reassuring and she felt her heart skip in her chest. She hadn’t been sure earlier in the evening if meeting him had been such a good idea. While their messages had been friendly enough, she wasn’t certain he really liked her that much. But his offer to get her home safely was sweet and much appreciated; the prospect of riding the bus so late at night had been making her a little anxious as the evening drew to a close. Perhaps he was just as nervous about the date as she had been.

“I’ll get my coat.” She smiled, getting to her feet.

***

The cool air sobered her up and she tucked her coat tightly around her midriff. “It’s getting cold.” She commented, though felt it was welcome. 

“Yes.” He murmured, walking side by side with her along the pavement until they reached the point where the curb dipped into the road. “The taxis stop here.”

She turned to him, only just noticing the clear height difference between them. It was strangely comforting. “Thank you for buying me dinner.” She smiled. 

“Did you like it?” He asked. 

“Yes.” She confirmed, quickly adding. “Thank you.”

Taehyung pointed to a black cab which indicated right at the end of the road in the distance before pulling into the side street. “This will be for you.” He confirmed. “I texted ahead.”

Da-eun looked up with a polite nod. “Thank you.” She wondered what came next; whether she should bring up the topic of a second date. The dinner had been nice, and she had warmed to him considerably during the course of the meal, but she couldn’t be sure whether he felt the same. Taehyung gave a little wave to the car which pulled into the taxi bay beside them. 

“It was nice to meet you.” He said, watching her tuck the handbag beneath her arm a little more securely. She waited to see if he would say any more and when he didn’t, took a tentative step towards the cab, feeling awkward. He moved away and, noticing from the corner of her eye, she took it as a sign the date was over. Da-eun gently loosened her grasp against her purse and pulled open the zipper, knowing that while she hadn’t opened it during the date, she was strangely prone to losing things. Noting that her bank card and phone were accounted for, she allowed herself a quick glance over her shoulder and saw Taehyung walking away, back in the direction of the restaurant. He looked a little cold in his thin shirt and black trousers, and she wondered if he had left the rest of his belongings inside. Disappointed, but unsure what else she had expected, she turned back to the car and gave a small wave to the driver who gave one back in reply. She considered whether she should get in the front seat, though knew she would be useless at making conversation during the trip. Instead, she reached for the handle to the back.

“Do you have everything?” The voice behind her took her by surprise and she jumped a little, almost dropping her purse in the process. She turned towards Taehyung, failing to hide her shock, but managed a nod. 

“Yes, I think so.”

“Good…” He murmured, breath turning to mist in the cold air. He fell silent before stepping forward. “Can I kiss you?”

Her mouth opened uselessly, though she knew she must have managed a nod because a moment later his lips were pressing against her cheek, his touch soft as he pecked her gently, the sound filling her ear. He was surprisingly warm despite the cold night, and she felt a tingle after he had pulled away; her nostrils briefly filled with his dark, woody scent. The fragrance was unfamiliar, though she hadn’t much experience with colognes, and it filled her stomach with butterflies. 

“Goodnight…” He whispered, straightening up. 

She blinked stupidly in reply. “Yes.”

“Text me when you get home.” He requested, reaching out to tuck untuck the collar of her thick coat, as though protecting her from the cold, before he turned to leave. “I want to make sure you’re safe.”

She nodded, though her voice was suddenly quiet; she felt like a mouse. “I will.”

The driver seemed to be growing inpatient behind the wheel and she gave a final wave as Taehyung set off once more in the direction of the restaurant, briefly turning back to watch her get inside before the car pulled away from the edge of the curb. 

PART THREE

Earlier that evening…

“That sounded difficult.” Max smiled, automatically switching to English now they were alone and the apartment was finally silent. The cries from upstairs had only begun to taper off during the past five minutes, and the relief was apparent on Cassandra’s face as she gave a knowing smirk in reply and sat on the sofa, leaning into his touch as he wrapped one arm casually around her shoulder, bundling her against him. “It was the bastard sugar.” She replied in the same language, making him chuckle. 

“One won’t hurt him.” He protested lightly. She rolled her eyes dramatically, realising he was taking Taehyung’s side in this. 

“As long as you’re the one to stay up with him when he inevitably wakes up at 3am bouncing off the walls…”

He looked at her, holding his palms out with an easy smile. “I offered, didn't I?”

Cassandra looked around the small room, only just noticing. “Is he gone?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I gave him a beer.”

“How chivalrous of you.” She quipped dryly, tucking herself closer, body heavy with exhaustion. 

“He seemed stressed.” Max shrugged, mispronouncing the final syllable, drawing it out.  

“Yeah…” She murmured, growing silent in thought. “For a second I didn’t think he’d go.” She admitted. 

“First dates are scary.” He agreed. 

Cassandra pulled back to look up at him, her cheek pressing against his lower chest as she grinned mischievously. “Was it scary dating me?”

He shrugged against her, matching her smile. “You are easy to talk to.” He thought for a moment. “And my Korean is not that good yet.” He added.

“Me neither…”

He grinned, whispering. “You lie.” She laughed softly in reply as he looked at her, tucking a dark lock of hair behind her ear and smoothing her cheek with his knuckles. “I’m very lucky.” He said soberly. 

Her mouth twisted in a playful leer. “Oui.” 

His smile remained. “Do you feel the same?” He asked. 

“Oui.”

He sighed dramatically. “You know my French is no good.”

“Non?” She teased, voice heavily accented. 

“Non…” He agreed, bending down to meet her lips in a gentle kiss. He cupped her jaw, opening his mouth against hers and meeting her tongue as it brushed his softly, before pulling away and welcoming the feel of her weight against her body.  

“He seems like a good guy.” Max admitted and she shifted against him, eyebrow raised. 

“Taehyung?”

He nodded. “He’s good with the baby.” He said, falling silent when she didn’t reply. A thought had been playing on his mind, though he had never asked. Now, the timing seemed right. “Were you ever worried how he would react?”

“To having a baby?” She questioned. 

Max gave a sound in confirmation. “He’s young.” He explained.

“Honestly…” She said, shrugging. “Yes.”

“I mentioned us going to see my family in the summer.” He gave her arm a gentle squeeze. 

She looked up at him, voice turning stern in disbelief. “You didn’t…”

He moved his shoulders; his shrug shaking her against him. “He was okay with it.”

Cassandra frowned, a little shocked. “Really?”

“He said it was up to you.”

Another eye roll. “How kind of him…”

Max looked at her, observing her expression. “Did you think he’d stop you?” He asked, genuinely curious. 

She grew quiet, before answering carefully. “I don’t see how he could.” She gave a small sigh. “We’re not together anymore.”

He couldn’t help but grin, gently touching her nose with his index finger. “Fortunate for me…” He smoothed it along her bridge lovingly before moving to her forehead, trailing it across her skin. “Shall we book the plane?”

She didn’t answer at first, and Max wondered if he should repeat the question, before she chimed in, a little tentatively. “I’m not sure Gabriel could handle the long flight.”

“I flew to Australia when I was his age.” He explained. 

She shook her head against him. “I don’t want to put him through it yet.” Her hand reached for his and she held it lightly, hoping he wouldn’t take offence. “Maybe this time you could visit them yourself…until he’s older.”

“We can talk about it later.” He agreed, wrapping his fingers around hers and giving her hand a soft, reassuring squeeze. The sweater she was wearing had ridden down her chest a little, and he eyed her cleavage for a moment, before dipping his spare hand lower to cup a breast. She had closed her eyes, but gave a murmur of approval as he closed his fingers around her flesh, massaging her a couple of times before slipping his fingers beneath the hem of her sweater to brush the cup of her bra. 

“Are you sure he’s asleep?” He whispered. 

She nodded against him, grumbling sleepily. “For now.”

He dipped lower, sliding beneath the thick fabric to tease a nipple and welcoming her sigh as he brushed the sensitive bud. “Do you want to?” He asked, watching her eyes open.

“Can we do it here?” She asked, pulling away from his body to change position. “I don’t want to wake him.”

“Okay.” He agreed, taking her cue as she laid along the length of the sofa, facing away from him. He tucked himself behind her, already feeling himself stiffen beneath his trousers as she nestled her backside against the forming bulge. She wriggled a little, trying to get comfortable and he groaned in response, unfastening the button on his jeans and letting out an inpatient gasp as she reached behind with one hand to feel him through the fabric. She offered a long, slow squeeze which made him buckle into her grasp, untucking the edge of his boxer shorts as he pulled them down a little to free himself. Reaching around her body, he moved under her sweater, stroking her stomach gently before palming her breast once more through the fabric as she sought out his cock, wrapping her digits around his thickness and jerking him roughly against her covered backside.

“Is this good?” She whispered, keeping her voice low. 

“Amazing…” He spluttered. “I’m not hurting you am I?”

“No…” She sighed, tightening her grasp. 

“Your nipple is so hard.” He remarked, tweaking it a little through the padding as she unfastened her jeans with one hand, tugging the fabric along with her underwear down just enough to expose herself to him. 

“Touch me…” She gasped, moving her hand to his and placing it between her thighs where he smoothed his fingers along the curved outline of her pubis, running through the dark mat of curled hair before dipping between her folds. 

“I love your hair.” He whispered against her ear, panting at the sensation as she squeezed along with length.

“My cunt?” She moaned, moving her lower body against his fingers, encouraging him to explore further. 

“Yes…” His breath was warm against her face and neck as he kissed the skin there sensually, tongue flicking against her.

“Say it.” She begged. 

“I love your cunt.” He repeated back to her, moving his hips in time with her motions, pushing into her palm as the tip slipped across her fleshy backside, humping her. 

“Do you want to fuck me?” Cassandra asked, breath catching in her throat.

“Yes…” He pleaded. 

“Put your cock in me?” 

He groaned loudly in reply and she held him tighter. 

“Fill me with your cum?”

His voice hitched as he tried to speak. “Fill you…” He wandered off, giving a final grunt as he spilled himself into her hand, trying to catch his breath as he stilled against her. She realised, too late, what had happened and slowed her motions, uncurling her digits from around him and pulling away. 

“God…” Max cried, bending over to kiss her cheek. “You’re so hot.” His voice came in jagged as he murmured against her cheek. “I couldn’t help it.” His eyes moved to her hand and he shifted against her, sitting up on the sofa as she moved around to rest her feet on the floor. “Let me get that…” He quickly offered, reaching for the wet wipes on the coffee table and wiping her digits before she could protest. He bundled the tissue and dropped it absently in the garbage can beside the sofa, pressing his lips back to her face. “You look so sexy.” He mumbled against her cheek, hands moving to squeeze her bare arse cheeks. 

Cassandra pulled away, a little sleepily. “So do you.” She reached for her jeans, meaning to pull them back up but he beat her to it, pushing her hand away gently. 

“Let me do something for you…”

She watched silently as he knelt on the floor, fitting himself between the sofa and table and looking up at her with wide, blue eyes. His intent was obvious, and Cassandra passively sat back in the chair as he stroked along her thigh, fingering the edge of her clothes and sliding them down her legs. He discarded them on the floor and she placed both feet on the sofa, spreading herself wide for him and watching as he leaned forward. His lips were gentle as they kissed along her labia, holding her open with two fingers and licking her folds with the tip of his tongue. She closed her eyes, blindly reaching for him as he tucked himself closer and stroking the strands of hair at the back of his neck. He moaned in reply to her touch as she held him against her, letting out an approving groan as he kissed her clitoris lightly, peppering it with soft, sucky kisses before focusing on her inner thigh which he showered with equal affection. She felt her eyelids growing heavy and forced them open, wanting to watch and appreciate him as he moved back to her clitoris which he sucked between his lips.

“That’s nice…” She whispered, encouraging him nearer. He wrapped his arms around the backs of her thighs, opening his mouth against her. The moans she gave in response were genuine, though she feared she lacked the energy to reach her peak. Giving a last attempt, she splayed her fingers across the back of his head, holding him to her as he licked across her clitoris in small, circular motions. He groaned once more against her body, clearly enjoying the act, and she hadn’t the heart to ask him to stop. Shifting on the sofa slightly, she let go of his head and ran her fingers lightly through the pale, blonde strands, increasing the sounds of her breathing steadily until she forced a series of raspy, throaty gasps and stilled against him. He pressed a lingering kiss against her inner labia, just above her cunt, and she eased him away gently. He looked up at her with a soft smile and she met it affectionately. 

“Thank you.” She whispered, kissing him softly when he moved up her body and opened his lips against hers. “Is it too early for bed?” She asked when he pulled away, stroking his stubbled cheek with her index finger.

He shook his head. “No. Do you want a nightcap?”

She thought for a moment before getting to her feet, bending down for her discarded underwear. “I want to keep a clear head in case Gabriel wakes up.”

He reached for her spare hand and she took it as he pulled her into a loose embrace. “Okay.”

***

Thank you for reading. To read each member & their girlfriend’s headcanon universe fics in order, follow the links here: RM   /   Jin /   Suga  /   J-Hope   /   Jimin   /   V   /   Jungkook

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[danceworshipper]

Giulio Moretti - HPMA Character Profile

template by me // images created using the zepeto app

NOTE: I am a cisgender female. As such, I have been hesitant to make a trans oc and will not be going into much detail about Giulio's experiences specifically related to his gender. If anything in here feels iffy to anyone not cisgender, please let me know and I'll correct it

Personal

Full Name: Giulio Antonio Moretti

Gender: Male (trans)

Sexuality: Demisexual, polyamorous

Birthday: June 1st

Age: 11

Birthstone: Alexandrite

Zodiac Sign: Gemini

Blood Status: Full Veela

- I'm mostly using these headcanons written by @carmilla-the-bird, though over time I might end up changing a couple details

- I'm not certain if full Veelas would even use wands/go to magic school but these ones do because I say so

- What I'm specifically adding is that since HPMA takes place later than the full HP series, there has been a new method developed to allow full veelas to better coexist with wizards. This comes in the form of a clear gemstone that can be inserted into any piece of jewelry, usually necklaces. While the stone is worn, the charm [or allure, as I call it] that all veelas have while glamored is dampened by up to 80%. Another effect is that when angered, the veela won't be able to lash out with their fire magic, unless they've trained their magic well enough that's it's less of an instinct and more of a conscious choice. Minors are legally required to wear it at all times, except in their own home with only their family around. Once an adult the veela can choose whether they want to wear it or not. The stone has a similar trace to underaged magic, so when a Veela who's a minor takes it off, the Ministry is alerted and their location will be tracked

3 Positive Traits:

- Empathetic

- Resourceful

- Playful

3 Negative Traits:

- Irritable

- Addictive

- Pessimistic

Usual First Impression: When meeting Giulio, most people see him as a spoiled and stuck up little boy. This isn't true. He's just very wary of strangers, so he doesn't tend to leave a good first impression. Once he's more comfortable around someone, his positive traits outshine the more negative ones

Location

Birthplace: A Veela-specific clinic in southern Italy. His mother travelled there for all of her children's births, and the midwife there is the woman who delivered her

Current Home: His family home in England, a medium sized house under a strict Fidelius charm, which his aunt is the Secret Keeper for. His bedroom is on the second floor, looking out over the fish pond in the backyard

Future Home(s): Fresh out of Hogwarts he'll share an apartment with Lori with heavily warded Floo access. Later homes TBD once his love interests are planned out

Favorite Place: The little house the family rents for a month every summer in southern Italy. The town is full of good culture, and better yet, good food. It feels peaceful, even when there's a loud festival going on

Disliked Place: The woods a mile down the road from his home. The woods are the last place Giulio saw his grandmother before she went missing, and now they feel like they're haunted. He refuses to go on walks there anymore

Appearance

Face Shape: Round, slightly pointy chin

Eye Color: Deep teal

Hair Color: Whitish blond

Hair Style: Self cut (horrifies his mother), slightly uneven, medium length. Not brushed every day, fluffy

Skin Tone: Pale

Freckles/Spots: A few beauty marks on his face, two near his right eye and one on the left side of his chin

Scars: None yet

Piercings/Tattoos: None

Height: 5'7" [fully grown]

Weight: ~ 135 lbs [fully grown]

Physique: Thin. Luckily for him, Giulio's family has always had rather "boyish" bodies - wide shoulders, not very curvy - but he's still got too much woman in him to be fully happy with his form

Clothing Style: Baggy tops, loose pants, nothing fancy. Giulio tries to attract as little attention as possible, because while he's glamored people stare at him a lot anyway, even with the dampener. He does like colored pants, but his tops are usually grey and black. His dampening necklace is the most eye catching thing he wears (as it was a gift from his missing grandmother) and he wishes he could take it off, but he legally can't

Carried Items:

- The last picture of him, his sisters, and his grandmother ever taken

- A lighter. He likes having the fire near him since he can't access his own fire magic

- His hair scissors, for whenever he feels like it needs to be trimmed

- A container of Silly Putty he got from a Muggle convenience store

- His water bottle

Magic

Wand: 10" Veela hair wand in Fir wood. A very pale colored wand that's a bit rough around the edges. The hair is from his younger sister Martina, who yanked the strand right out and handed it to the wandmaker after no wands appeared to choose a very defeated looking Giulio. The wand was made while Giulio watched, and he checked it many times throughout the process to make sure it felt like it would have him, which it did.

Animagus: As a veela, Giulio can transform into pretty much any bird shape. He has no need to go through the animagus process

Boggart Form: Him, fully matured, very womanly, and in a wedding gown just like the ones his older sister Alessia fawns over

Riddikulus Form: Him in a ridiculously exaggerated Bloody Baron costume

Amortentia (to others): Someone smelling Giulio would smell new pillows, the faint burning metal scent that clings to him, and the dry shampoo he uses

Amortentia (to them): He doesn't smell any sort of romantic interest yet. What he smells now are safe, comforting smells, like the cigars his mother and aunt smoke, the perfume all his sisters use, and the smell of his favorite restaurant in southern Italy

Patronus: Bird of Paradise

Happiest Memory: Receiving his wand once it was completed, and finally feeling the connection and power he'd heard so much about but thought he'd never have

Mirror of Erised: Some might consider it sad, but all he sees is him, happy, the way he wishes he was - including not looking at all like a Veela. Someday this will change

Family Spells: It's not really a spell, but the Morettis have a particular bird call that, when paired with the right charm, will alert every living family member to the caller's location, should one desperately need help. It's only to be used in emergencies. Giulio isn't sure he wants to know why his grandmother never used it

Inherent Magic: Veela stuff - storm sense, fire, bird transformations, allure, slight levitation abilities

Family

Grandmother: Francesca is not an ideal parental figure. She grew up in a time when full Veelas were treated with nearly the same suspicion and prejudice as werewolves, so she's very anti-human. However, she was still one of Giulio's best defenders and most treasured family members. She places a huge importance on family and is the one who came up with the idea of the special danger call. Francesca went missing when Giulio was seven, and there have been no clues as to what happened.

Mother: Valentina is a kind, gentle woman who cares for her family before anyone else. She and her sister were taught all their lives to be nothing more than a pretty face, and while Bianca rejected this, Valentina embraced it. Even now, with her own mother nowhere to be found, she has trouble remembering to be herself. She wears her necklace at all times, terrified to be without it

Father: Giulio never knew him. He's not sure he even has one

Aunt: Bianca is, in many ways, the exact opposite of her sister. Bianca embraces all of her less than proper instincts, and even walks around in public completely unglamored, acting as a good deterrent to anyone who might want to come say hi, innocent intentions or not. Gets angry very easily, and has caused public property damage more often than Valentina would appreciate

Sisters: Two older sisters, one younger. All Slytherins while in school

- Alessia, six years older, prefect. A headstrong young woman who takes advantage of her allure to get what she wants, and is skilled enough to fight off anyone who gets too "friendly". She likes to have a collection of boy toys she never lets get too close, but secretly only has eyes for the Hufflepuff prefect, Lina.

- Emilia, four years older, Quidditch captain. Hates her allure with a passion and refuses to even think about romance until she's out of school. Could kick anyone's ass, and will do so if she feels the need to. Very protective of Giulio, has gotten into at least eight shouting matches with those who misgender him

- Martina, one year younger. The baby of the family. A bit of a spoiled brat, and too young to fully understand exactly why her older siblings are all so wary of strangers, or letting her out of their sight. She dreams of being the Minister of Magic, and of being able to take her "stupid, ugly, and stupid" necklace off for good

Pets: The two family screech owls which trade off being at school/home, and an Abraxan Giulio found on Hogwarts grounds that likes him a lot

Family Values: The Morettis hold nothing higher than each other. The family's main priority is sticking together, and always doing whatever they can to help each other achieve whatever they wish. The family is also, as a whole, rather reclusive

Opinion of Family: Giulio loves his family. For all their faults, they hold true to their values and he couldn't imagine one of them ever betraying another. Even if they won't ever truly understand him, they've all tried and they do what they can, and it means more than he can say

Friendships

Introverted or Extroverted: Introverted

Best Friend: Oleander Loris. Her anger issues, her weird pink eyes, and her tendency to drag him along to social outings are all things that Giulio comes to appreciate over time. He originally became curious about her on the train ride to school, when she stumbled looking at his older sisters but didn't notice him at all, and they spoke for the first time in Flying class. Lori is definitely a force to be reckoned with, and the fact that she's not affected by his allure in the slightest makes him feel really happy

Worst Friend: TBD

Friend He Didn't Expect: Cassandra. They aren't the best of friends, and maybe they can't be considered friends at all, but she doesn't hold the contempt she seems to hold for most others for him

Who He Wishes Was His Friend: Kestra Fernera. She's got fire powers, and she doesn't have to be chained down by the Ministry. He thinks she's super cool, and is very jealous of her and how popular she is, but he's far too nervous to try and talk to her

List of Casual Friends:

- Brian Haywood-Reese @catohphm

- others TBD, but likely the main cast of the game. Mc friends welcome, if any are interested!

Romance

Current Crush: None

Current Partner: None

Past Partners: None

Future Partners: TBD

His Type: Pretty much anyone who's able to look past the allure that Giulio hates so much and also isn't afraid of him in his natural form, though most people haven't even seen it

Hogwarts

House: Slytherin

Prefect Status: No

Quidditch: Not on the team, but plays casually

Clubs: TBD

Organizations: None

Favorite Class: Flying. Duh

Least Favorite Class: Potions. It gives him a headache surrounded by all the fumes

Favorite Professor: TBD

Least Favorite Professor: TBD

Timeline

Young Childhood:

- Giulio realizes young that he hates the idea of being a girl, and insists that his mother change his name. His family thought it was a phase, but once they realized it wasn't, they became more serious and started to see what they could do to help him

- He's a sheltered child, learning early the importance of staying close to a trusted adult. He sees the horrors of what can happen to a Veela caught unaware at a young age when he almost loses his mother to someone who wanted to sell her, and never looks at strangers the same way again

- At five years old Giulio is given his dampener necklace. He refuses to wear it until his grandmother forcibly puts it on him. He decides it's not that bad, though it feels like it's choking him and he doesn't like the muted feeling in his hands that comes from the loss of his instinctual magic

- At seven years old, Giulio is on a walk with his grandmother in the woods when he hears a loud screech. She sends him back toward the house, saying she'll be right behind him. Hours pass, and she never follows. There's no evidence as to what that screech was, or what happened to his grandmother

- At eleven years old, Giulio spends a week traveling to different wandmakers around Europe trying to find a wand so he can go to school in the fall. For some reason, his magic is picky and not a single wand even comes close to working for him. When he's given up all hope, his little sister Martina asks if the wandmaker takes custom orders, and rips out her own hair to be used for Giulio's wand. It's the first time Giulio cries happy tears, hovering his hand over the uncompleted wand and feeling it call to him already

School Years: TBD once I'm able to play the game

Post Graduation: Giulio moves into an apartment with Lori soon after graduating. While she immediately starts work, Giulio takes time to find some higher education, and work on training his Veela magic now that he can take his necklace off whenever he wants

Career(s): TBD

Marriage and Children: TBD

Death: Giulio will be murdered by [redacted] in order to save [redacted]'s life, but he'll be very old (around 200) and will have outlived his lovers, so he doesn't see it as too much of a shame. He'll be buried in the family garden and have some lovely flower bushes planted over him

Notable Facts Not Previously Mentioned

- The Veela magic in Giulio recognizes him as a boy as soon as he does. When his allure kicks in, anyone attracted to men finds themself affected, while those strictly into women do not, even though male Veelas are practically unheard of

- His aunt Bianca paid a personal visit to Hogwarts before he was enrolled, ready to throw flames if he was going to be put into the female dorms. Luckily, she didn't need to worry, as once the situation was explained it was settled with a simple change in his paperwork

- Giulio hates being cooped up indoors for too long. Even in the coldest days of winter, he'll spend as much time as possible outside

- Starting in third year, Lori will figure out how to get the necklace off of him without alerting anyone [putting it on herself within a few seconds], and Giulio will occasionally spend a few hours free and in his natural form in the Forbidden Forest. Unbeknownst to him, wearing the necklace saps at Lori's magical core, and it takes her a day or so to regain her strength if she wears it for more than thirty minutes

- Giulio will likely have three partners in the future. He could never even imagine having one, so if his younger self was told he would have three he would probably have a difficult time believing it

- Cutting his hair so frequently doesn't affect his magic like his mother feared it would, though he does feel nauseous when he does it

- The dark teal eyes are something only he and his sisters have, which is how he knows they all have the same "father" or whatever they had. His mother, aunt, and grandmother all have the traditional black eyes. Not even Alessia ever saw any type of man around when her younger siblings were born, so there are no clues as to how the four of them exist

- As much as he hates the dampener, it does him a lot of good when he's younger. He gets angry easily and often feels very defensive, so without it he could have gotten into a lot of trouble

- Though he doesn't like his allure, Giulio will sometimes take advantage of it like Alessia does if he wants to get out of something. He won't fight it, he'll play nice, and let whoever he needs to back off get a little dazed

- He wanted to hide the fact that he was a Veela when he first came to Hogwarts, but with two older sisters and his allure he couldn't

[spencers-renaissance]

Trees and Seas Have Flown Away, I Call it Loving You

Summary: Derek says something hurtful, but it happens to lead to just about the best thing that's ever happened to Spencer.

Tags: hurt/comfort, fluff, angst, making up, bullying, angst with a happy ending, autistic spencer, coming out, getting together

Pairing: Morgan x Reid

Word Count: 3.2k

Masterlist // Read on AO3

Spencer is having one hell of a morning. He’d slept late, a significantly rare occurrence for him, and the metro had been delayed and diverted, leaving him to walk a decent chunk of his journey into work. To top it all off, he’d left his pencil case at home, leaving him stuck with cheap office supplies on a paperwork day. 

He hates days like these, when his mood is so seriously affected by events beyond his control, and he knows he’s just going to continue to fester in his own self-prescribed misery if he doesn’t take some drastic steps to change the way he’s feeling. 

After a moment of staring into space as he considers his options, he decides on a few deep breaths to try and calm himself down. Surveying the mess on his desk after opening his eyes, he tackles that next, sorting through case files that can be filed away and organising the notes he’s currently working on as well as rearranging his personal items to stop them taking up so much room. Already feeling better, he takes a few sips of water and some painkillers for the headache he can feel coming on, and locks eyes on the break room. His mid-morning coffee is due.

Elle and Derek are chatting at the counter when he pushes the door open, and he smiles at both of them. He’s still getting used to being around Elle. She’s so confident and intimidating that he’s not really sure if she likes him that much, and it definitely doesn’t help that she reminds him of the girls he used to go to school with, the ones who found it amusing to laugh at the much younger autistic boy, hiding his stuff and calling him names, standing by and laughing when the older boys would beat him up. 

He tries very hard with her, though. Maybe this would be a good opportunity to build more rapport, he thinks, so he listens in while he refills the coffee machine’s water. It’s definitely got nothing to do with how much he wants to climb Derek Morgan like a tree.

Derek looks over and catches him up in that thoughtful sort of way that always gets Spencer’s stomach fluttering. “Elle’s just telling me about the hot date she had on Saturday,” he winks, nudging her in the side. “He seems like a catch.” He sips innocently at his coffee and Spencer realises belatedly that he’s being sarcastic and watches for Elle’s response. God, he wishes conversations weren’t so damn convoluted.

“Oh, fuck off, Morgan,” she says, rolling her eyes. “You’re just jealous because I got laid and how long’s it been for you? Months?”

It’s Derek’s turn to roll his eyes, looking over at Spencer in a way that has him flushing pink. “Come on, Greenaway,” he laughs, “you know full well I’m not exactly lacking in that department.”

Elle gives him a dubious look, before raising her eyebrows and sipping her coffee. “Whatever you say,” she says in a patronising tone - the kind that reminds Spencer of an adult indulging a fantastical child. Derek laughs again, tapping lightly on the underside of her mug and causing it to spill over her hand a little. Spencer envies how easy it is for other people to elicit such a beautiful sound from Derek’s mouth; the few times he’s intentionally made Derek laugh he’d felt like he won a trophy, the sort he’d frame in a cabinet and show off to visitors, giving them a tour of the limited map of Spencer’s victories with a proud smile on his face.

He watches the exchange a little awkwardly, not knowing how to respond to these two very dominant personalities discussing an area he’s not overly familiar with. Unfortunately, they don’t ignore him forever and Elle looks over at him, her intense, fiery gaze already stirring up nerves in his stomach. “Anyway, what about you, Reid, when was your last hot date?” she teases, and he cannot for the life of him figure out if it’s friendly or malicious. 

He flounders for only a second, cheeks heating up steadily, before Derek interjects. “Oh come on, Elle,” Derek scoffs. “Not sure Reid’s whole ‘twink aesthetic’ thing is quite what women are after, is it, pretty boy?” 

Instantly, humiliation bleeds into his veins. His stomach swirls and he feels dizzy, completely out of his depth as his face reddens even further and he starts to sweat. The playful nudge that digs into his side doesn’t do anything to bring him out of the protective trance his mind’s gone into. “I--” he tries, but he’s cut off by Elle clearly growing bored of the conversation and pushing off the counter-top to leave. 

She turns around for a moment as she heads towards the door, walks backwards a few steps as she delivers the final, devastating blow. “Hey, you never know, Reid,” she grins, “maybe the whole virgin genius thing will win them over instead.” She chuckles to herself as she leaves the room, door swinging closed behind her softly, leaving Derek and himself standing there in a vacuum.

Today of all days. It’s been a long time since the last time such a crushing level of humiliation was burning inside him, but he remembers the emotion like muscle memory. His body knows exactly what to do as his gut swirls and his head spins, sweat beading on his skin as though the very little self-esteem he had left is leaking steadily: the stopper that had been keeping the small amounts of confidence he had inside him degraded and dissolved by his coworker’s careless words, nothing there anymore to stop it leaking out of him. 

It’s not new. But the sting is so much more visceral when it’s shocked into him by two people he considered friends and one person he was hopelessly, desperately in love with. It feels exactly like high school and university did: the toleration of his presence for intellectual reasons, for everything Spencer had to offer, but ultimately the social rejection of him as a human being when it actually came down to it. He was useful to the team for as much as he could give them. And that was it. 

Derek takes a sip from his mug as Elle leaves, but he doesn’t notice Spencer’s completely frozen state until he tries to move on to another topic. “Spencer?” he asks, obviously concerned at his non-response and completely oblivious to his inner turmoil. “What’s wrong?”

He can’t find the words to respond, but he does manage to meet Derek’s eyes and he just stares at him for a few seconds before he shakes his head and looks away again. Derek’s clearly confused, but that only makes it worse. Is he overreacting? Or is Derek just truly that oblivious to the cruelty in his words, to his feelings? 

Feeling the tears burning in his eyes and adamantly refusing to cry in the middle of the breakroom, he turns around and hurries to the bathroom without saying a word. 

⭐️

He barricades himself into a stall and sits on the closed toilet seat as tears steadily spill down his cheeks. This is exactly the reason he hasn’t told a soul at the FBI -- how would a group of alpha personalities who were likely the most popular kids in high school, likely would have bullied him if they’d attended the same school, that he was gay? 

The humiliation stings more coming from Derek. Such negative association with his sexuality had proved himself right: this was a secret he needed to keep quiet. It just hurt so badly that the man he loved seemed so dismissive, so rude about something so integral to his being, and the allusions the entire exchange had to previous traumas had him struggling for breath through the steady stream of tears. 

It takes him a few minutes but he eventually manages to calm himself down. He splashes some cool water onto his heated skin and tries his hardest to breathe deeply, even though it feels almost impossible at first. Usually when he gets worked up and has a meltdown or a panic attack he’s able to talk himself out of it after he’s calmed down a little; able to rationalise and apply logic to the situation, which tends to illuminate either an overreaction or a clear path through the problem.

That coping mechanism is not applicable, though - Derek and Elle truly hurt his feelings and there’s no way around that. Instead, he just tries to push it to the edge of his mind. He thinks through the quantum physics problem he’d started at breakfast, and the logical progression through the formulas and rational reasoning he has to use brings his heart rate down and he feels at least a little calmer, even if the twisted knot of dread and grief and pain still sits heavy in his stomach. 

He’s just solved the physics problem in his head when the door swings open and he can hear Derek’s signature tread on the bathroom floor. “Spencer?” he calls quietly, pausing as the door closes behind him for just a second before making his way to the end stall. “I know you’re in there.”

“I am in here,” Spencer confirms, resenting how weak and watery his voice sounds. 

Derek sighs heavily. “I didn’t get it until I talked to JJ,” he admits, speaking through the door. “I was confused why you suddenly acted so strange so I asked her what she thought was up. I thought it was all friendly banter. To be honest, I didn’t even realise what I’d said until I was explaining it to her. But you gotta understand, pretty boy, I never meant to hurt you. I’m so sorry.”

Spencer squeezes his eyes shut, but the tears still escape anyway, spilling down his tears in an expression of silent grief as he listens to Derek. He takes a deep breath in through his nose and swipes the tears away from his cheek with his fingertips before unlocking the door, revealing the most apologetic expression he’s ever seen. It doesn’t make him feel much better. He still meant what he said.

He smiles weakly. “Don’t worry about it,” he says, and his voice sounds so vulnerable, it’s giving him away. 

Derek’s expression doesn’t ease at Spencer’s forgiveness, he doesn’t smile and consider the issue done and dusted, he frowns harder, eyes desperate. “No, don’t dismiss it,” he says. “I hurt you, and that was wrong. I shouldn’t have said what I said, and Elle shouldn’t have either, okay, kid? I’m really sorry.”

“I know, but I’m used to it,” Spencer says, trying for a light tone and missing the mark by an embarrassing amount. 

“Well you shouldn’t be,” Derek frowns. “If you’re so used to it, though, then why did this affect you so much? I’ve never seen you lose your cool like that.” He looks genuinely confused, and combined with the sorrow smothered across his features, it’s a pitiful sight. 

“Don’t push, Morgan,” he warns, looking back down at his hands. His back hurts from his awkward, hunched position on the cold porcelain of the toilet. 

“Seriously, Spencer, I--” Derek looks completely bewildered, caught off guard by the way he clearly expected this conversation going and the road it’s actually taken. 

“I’m gay, alright?” Spencer interjects, loudly. He looks up fiercely into Derek’s eyes as he says it, but the fight quickly drains out of him and he looks down at his hands again, tensing automatically in fear of his reaction. 

Derek doesn’t say anything though, so when Spencer eventually looks up again, he finds a strange expression on his face. Not mild disgust or confusion or awkwardness, but relief and fear and frustration. 

“Spencer, I--” He cuts himself off as he shuffles his feet and looks away, but Spencer doesn’t miss the mournful tone as he realises the true impact of his words, how they must have hurt him. “You’re gay? That’s… why my comment was so hurtful, I’m so sorry. I never wanted to imply any kind of homophobia, I mean… I’m bisexual,” he admits, the same fear Spencer had felt swirling in his stomach written on Derek’s features. 

“You are?” Spencer replies, surprise colouring his tone. He feels a surge of hope rise in his chest and he forces himself to tamper it. Just because Derek likes men absolutely does not mean he likes men like Spencer. In his experience those kinds of people tend to be fairly rare. He stands up from his uncomfortable seat, meeting Derek’s eyes properly for the first time since he entered the toilets.

What he means to do is give him a hug, or maybe have some sort of conversation on a more equal playing field. He does not mean to kiss him. 

But when all of a sudden Derek’s lips are on his and Derek’s hands are cradling his cheek and waist so gently, surely it would be rude not to kiss him back. So he does. Far too passionately for a public bathroom in an FBI building, by all accounts.

They break away eventually, and Derek immediately panics. Spencer can see it rise in his eyes and body language, so before he can say anything he pulls him into the stall properly, shutting the door behind them and kisses him again, more gently this time. It’s the most confident thing he thinks he’s ever done, and he’s damn proud of himself because he does not want to go another day without Derek kissing him as tenderly as he is right now, without his hands roaming up and down his sides, without the careful brush of his fingers against the side of his head as he pushes a strand of hair back behind his ear as they pull away again. 

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that, pretty boy,” Derek whispers, and Spencer can feel the gentle brush of his breath against his lips.

He’s lost for words again, but in a completely different way from just minutes before, and he absolutely cannot believe this is happening. Today of all days. 

“Me too,” Spencer confesses, smiling slightly as he allows himself to convey the vulnerability he’s feeling on his face instead of building up a wall in front of it as he usually would. It doesn’t take long for reality to set in though. “But we are in an FBI building and we could definitely lose our jobs for this.”

“Right,” Derek acknowledges, looking up as he puts a bit more space between them, as much as the tiny stall allows. “Later, though, we could maybe do this… not in a government building?” 

Spencer’s always wondered how it feels to be on the receiving end of Derek’s romantic charm and charisma, and it’s rather overwhelming. Derek’s smiling cheekily as he interlocks their hands and waits for an answer and Spencer’s finding it a little hard to breathe again.

“Like… a date?” Spencer squeaks, face flushing again -- though admittedly in a much more pleasant manner -- as he prays he hasn’t got the wrong idea.

“Yes,” Derek smiles, “like a date.” He pauses and takes a breath, grinning wider for just a second before he suppresses it slightly and looks back at Spencer. “How about… I swing by your place at 7 and we head to that new Italian place you’ve been talking about?”

“Really?” Spencer asks, face open and vulnerable and honest. He hopes to God that he’s not being mocked right now. It’s happened before. He’s not sure Derek really understands the amount of trust he’s placing in him, the burden that might bring. 

“Yes, really,” Derek chuckles, bringing a hand up to rest at the side of his face again as he thumbs gently over his cheekbone. “I’m gonna wine you and dine you, baby, just you wait and see.”

Spencer knows he won’t be able to speak without squeaking embarrassingly again, so he just nods emphatically and beams at Derek. 

“I’ll see you at 7, then, pretty boy,” he winks, pressing a brief kiss to his lips. “I’ll be counting down the hours.”

⭐️

Taking care to exit the toilets separately, they return to their desks, filling out the paperwork left over from their most recent case. Spencer is certain that more than one coworker picks up on their shy, knowing looks, shared over the top of coffee mugs and cheap printer paper,  but he can’t find it in himself to care. The very thing he’d craved for almost three years, since he first stepped foot in the bullpen and was introduced to Derek Morgan, was within his clutches and he was going to hold on to it no matter what it cost him.

Things feel different almost immediately: ‘pretty boy’ is infinitely more affectionate, the previously platonic touches are lingering and meaningful, Derek’s completely unnecessary paperwork consults seem more affirming and reassuring than ever. The idea that he could possibly spend the rest of his life with Derek Morgan’s hands on him, his passionate kiss on his lips, his compliments and nicknames warming him from the inside out, feels almost dizzying. He knows he’s smiling stupidly, he also knows that JJ and Elle are smiling knowingly, but he just doesn’t care.

He drives himself home and dresses in his smartest suit as soon as he gets back, even though Derek isn’t due for another 30 minutes. For reasons he refuses to acknowledge, he tidies his apartment while he waits and then takes a seat on his sofa, tapping his foot in anxious anticipation. By the time he hears a knock on his door, his heart’s in his mouth and his stomach is fluttering wildly, but that all fades to irrelevancy when he locks eyes with Derek.

“Dr Reid,” he says calmly, smile providing a soft kind of light to his face and Spencer wishes he never had to look away. He passes him a beautiful bouquet of flowers, and Spencer knows enough to recognise it’s a curated bunch, not a hasty supermarket buy but a thoughtful, purposeful trip to the florist. 

“Wow,” Spencer says, and he absolutely tries to fight down the emotion rising in his throat but he isn’t quite successful. He takes the offered bouquet and examines them in closer detail, tracing an index-finger along the petal of a yellow daffodil. “New beginnings,” he whispers as tears spring to his eyes. He stares at it a little longer before looking up to meet Derek’s softened, deep brown eyes. He’s still in disbelief that someone would go to the lengths of researching the language of flowers for him, knowing it was something that he liked. “Thank you.”

“New beginnings,” Derek repeats, taking another step closer, “love me, desire, wisdom, and affection returned.” He lifts a hand to rest on Spencer’s cheek again and looks deep into his eyes for just a moment, conveying all he needs to with one look, and leans in to kiss him.

⭐️

Aaaaand this is the conclusion to my 12 Fic Challenge! Thank you to everyone who supported my fics through this journey, I can’t believe all the amazing things it’s led to and I’m so happy that this is the fic to end it. I’m so excited for what’s next in store, so stay tuned! <3

@strippersenseii @criminalmindsvibez

[gagmebucky]

hiiii i wrote this awhile ago but took it down because i was 👉🏼👈🏼 embarrassed about it (because i do not have the skill to pull off peter parker) and sorta still am but everyone’s been so nice to me about it i thought the best way to repay the kindness by posting it for those who did like it 😅 (originally inspired by spider man 2 with andrew garfield but loosely set in the 2018 issue of the amazing spider-man.)

in which the guys are making fun of peter and accidentally see a video of him fucking you. (includes avenger!peter x girlfriend!you, peter’s pov, voyeur!steve and voyeur!bucky, a sex tape featuring d/s dynamics, bondage, praise kink, exhibitionism, unprotected sex.) 

do not repost.

—

Despite being twenty-one years old; a proper adult who lives with his high school sweetheart, a photographer doubling as a seven-year veteran vigilante in the dangers of New York, Peter Parker is still considered as a super-powered amateur to his seasoned peers. 

Nonetheless, given his success in countless battles in the state, country, world and even galaxy-wide, he more than qualifies to hold the title of Avenger; it’s official now. A laid-back induction ceremony and his very own identity card: a sturdy rectangle, shiny with full clearance and all. Yet, as an official member, his teammates still treat him like he’s that same goofy, out-of-his-depths sixteen year old.

To be fair, yes, his style of heroism isn’t the most serious. He favors levity in the face of danger, a cheeky flare with smart quips and an infuriating grin. Even after taking a beating from the worst of foes, his demeanor never wavers because in the end, he wins. The villains are slayed and the people are saved, even comforted by the boyishly confident way he works. 

But beyond that persona, he has grown into a skilled warrior. On that note, he wants to be regarded as such—at least, to a certain extent. The jokes and teasing, poking fun at his age or the shenanigans he gets himself into, don’t bother him. No, his playful wit handles it with relative ease, and he’s a good sport about it. The only thing that he’d want to see change is some recognition that he isn’t a naïve kid anymore and is fully capable of taking charge when needed.

With his recent acceptance into the gifted pantheon, he’s intent on making that known. The jesting can continue but he wants it to be with an understanding of his capabilities. Luckily, a perfect opportunity has presented itself to showcase his abilities: a training session. 

He’s late. And yes, he knows that’s probably not a good impression to make.

In his own defense, it isn’t technically his fault. He forgot that you, his personal alarm clock (amongst other things), left early this morning because you volunteered to help his aunt move. Four years of mornings and nights, he’s gotten used to—and prefers—your languorous wake-up call.

Without your reminder, he regains consciousness fifteen minutes after the scheduled time and ends up scrambling to the compound. In a flurry, he throws on his suit—unknowingly backwards, he realizes later—trips at least three times over his own footing before he finally springs out of the balcony with webbed bursts.

When he reaches his destination, Captain America and the Winter Soldier are unimpressed; mid-simulation, it powers down. Both super-soldiers whirl around to face him, fixing raised eyebrows at his disheveled arrival.

He adjusts his now front-facing suit and shuffles forward into the space with as much confidence as an interrupter can have. “H - hey, guys,” Peter greets sheepishly and manages what he hopes is a charming smile, absentmindedly fidgeting with his phone. “Lookin’ good for a couple of geezers.” 

Unfortunately, Steve Rogers is not charmed or disillusioned from the tardiness. “You’re late, Parker.” His arms fold, and he shakes his head when punctuating his disapproval with an echoing, “Again.” 

Thankfully, to his right, more relaxed and cool, Bucky Barnes steps up. “C’mon, Stevie. Y’can’t be that surprised,” he chimes in matter of factly, contrasting against his friend with amusement sparkling in his blue eyes. “What’d you expect with Parker?” He gestures at the younger superhero. “Kid’s gonna be late to his own wedding.”

(Beside the point, but worth noting, he will not be late to meeting you at the altar. That is, of course, if you accept when he pops the question. Which is going to happen relatively soon, considering he has the ring in his nightstand drawer.)

The consult seems to relax him. “Yeah, I guess you’re right and—Peter, you—seriously, man?!” Steve sputters the last bit when he glanced over to see him blatantly check the notification that’s vibrated in his hand (on the device that is ruled to be stowed away during training). “Now the phone?!” 

Even though he shouldn’t, being on thin ice with Cap and all (pun not intended), Peter’s gaze flickers down to see your contact name appear on the screen, and he can’t resist. While Bucky guffaws a laugh at his audacity, he’s swiping up to pull up your text thread. 

> you 😛❤️🥰, 10:37AM: spider boyyyyy you’ll never guess what i found in a box labeled ‘peter’s junk’ ;;;)

peter, 10:37AM: those magazines are NOT mine and i don’t know how they got there.

> you 😛❤️🥰, 10:38AM: not quite but close, naughty boy

> you 😛❤️🥰, 10:38AM: for a man who depends on keeping secrets and a penchant for home movies, you might ought to keep a lock on your phone unless you want someone to see me like this...

> you 😛❤️🥰, 10:38AM: (video attached)

Immediately, he recognizes the pornographic thumbnail. One glance, and he’s remembering the first couple of times you guys explored the exhibitionism side of things. It was at the end of his freshman year of college and taped on a phone he thought he had lost. But he must've forgotten it at his aunt’s house, and she tossed it in the box until you came along. 

Although there’s been plenty more made, he recalls that one being a shared favorite, his especially. When long-distance duty calls, it was his go-to media. The angles, your face and body beneath the lights, the sounds it caught, you once asked if he considered switching to cinematography instead of photographer

Subconsciously, his teeth run over his bottom lip, feeling that blazing spark of desire igniting in the pit of his gut, partially at the memory and partially at what’ll happen once you guys can re-watch it together; his thumbs start typing away with that message.

“Peter!” Steve’s exasperated voice snaps, but to no avail—the real gall of the youngster, or the effect of you. His weight shifts toward his best friend, and he nudges him with his elbow. “Kids these days!” The hundred-something year old’s gaze cocks a brow back over. “Is that why you were late? Blowing off training to text your girlfriend?”

The text delivers with an audible bloop. Finally, his concentration gives, and he can look up, though his expression is clueless from the last minute. “Huh?” His brain registers what he missed, and he winces. “Sorry, Cap. My bad.”

Bucky chuckles. “Give him a break, Steve,” he faux comes to his defense, a teasing quality underlying his tone. “He’s young and in love. It’s not his fault he’s pussy-whipped.” He cracks him an antagonizing grin as Peter rolls his eyes. “He can’t go an hour without sending those little weird pictures with heart eyes, or she might not know he’s thinking about her.”

“As if you know anything about romance, old man,” he fires back and presses past them with squared shoulders, correcting him quite seriously: “And they’re called emojis, by the way. But that’s not what I was doing, if you want to know so bad.”

The brunette tilts his head thoughtfully, and small hackles arise for reasons he doesn’t understand, or pay attention to. “You know, I do want to know really badly,” Bucky decides and poses a question to his left, “Wouldn’t you, too, Steve? Aren’t you curious what his girlfriend sent that was so much more important than training?”

The blond mimics his actions and clicks his tongue. “Yeah, I am.” 

Peter’s eyebrows pinch while his skin tingles and the hair on the back of his neck stands straight up. “What—” Before his senses process it, one of the super-soldiers plucks his phone out of his hands and darts back beside his best friend. His jaw drops as he tries to follow after him. “Bucky, you asshole—”

“Some spidey senses, huh?” The Winter Soldier lifts it high over his head, utilizing his six-foot stature against his five-ten like elementary school bullies do and older siblings to their juniors. “Haven’t ‘cha heard about sharing with the class?” He laughs and practically stiff-arms him to squint up at the screen. “Aw, he can’t wait to see her. What’s it been, more than two hours since you two saw each other last?” 

Conceding to the height difference, Peter stops his physical efforts and diverts it to someone reasonable. “Cap, you gonna help me out here?” he addresses the entertained onlooker in the most friendly voice he can manage. 

“The kid’s got separate anxiety not just from his girlfriend but phone too, Buck,” Steve drawls with a lopsided curve of his lips. He side-steps Peter to stand next to Bucky, and for a second, he thinks he’s on his side despite the tease, but he simply adds a stern, “So be careful. You don’t want to break it, or Parker will have a fit.”

Peter crosses his arms and scowls. “Ha, ha,” he retorts dryly, only somewhat amused by their banter. He tilts his head up at them, and the duo look thoroughly pleased with themselves. “You know, you guys are kind of dicks.”

“No, we’re your mentors, kid,” Steve corrects with a wink and rests his arm on his friend’s shoulder. “This is a lesson. No phones—” He jabs his thumb back in reference to the device’s unlocked screen: “—when you’re supposed to be training.” 

“Yeah,” Bucky chimes in upon glancing up from his phone. “And a little advice, women don’t like clinginess. Try being a little more stern and see how that works for you. If you’re able to manage that. But I won’t hold it against ya if you can’t.”

“Uh-huh,” Peter patronizes with a bob of his head, biting back a response pointing out the hundred-something year old’s inexperience. Instead, he focuses on the electronic readily loaded up with some private content. With that, he decides to do the rational and mature thing and ask nicely. “Noted. So, uh, can I have my phone back now?” 

To his shock, Bucky merely flashes a smirk and his thumb scrolls half-heartedly over the thread. Thereafter, he leans toward Steve and raises his cell for him to see. “Oh, look, it’s a video,” he teases. “What could Y/N send that would take priority of training?” 

There’s an unspoken let’s see then a metal finger taps the play button. Before Peter can think, much less react, Captain American and the Winter Soldier are watching how he effortlessly renders his pretty little girlfriend into a cute nonsensical yet eager mess— 

In his point-of-view shot, the ratio holds in portrait view in a bid to capture every bit of you. Above you, the camera focuses on you and your beautifully debauched state beneath warm lighting where it’s unalienable that the camera was made for you. 

Your eyes are dilated brightly, desperate with desire as your lashes flutter up at him. A sheen coats your features and glistens like glitter at the highest points of your face while the shape of your face is framed by your stretched arms. 

Your wrists are bound over your head, splotched with expertly sprayed strong, white webs. The mesh sticks them together in a criss-cross, comfortable but nearly impossible to break out of, fixed in place atop his headboard. The tautness tugs a mild strain on your figure so your breasts are jutting out like an offering, and it’s obvious he’s taken advantage of it. Darkened marks adorn your glowing complexion, peppered across your décolletage with imprints of his teeth; including your nipples, sucked swollen and tender. 

The angle trails down until it reveals the sight of him mercilessly pounding inside of you. His better-than-average girth is sliding in and out of your tight channel; slicked in shared translucent essence, creaming around the base, your inner walls visibly clinging to his cock with every backward stroke. His hand splays on your mound, using his thumb to abuse your engorged clit. He easily keeps the sensitive nub pinned under his control despite your wildly twisting hips. 

Like the display, the soundtrack is equally obscene. Loud, your stuffed depths gush and squelch as skin slaps rhythmically. Your breathy, wanton moans overshadow both, drawn out whimpers, almost nonsensical other than the syllable of his name. A melody of neediness, you sound so fucking pretty, (depraved, like a whore, you once told him during your little film marathon with a sly smile), and for him specifically.

The frame pans upward and confirms you look just as good. A perfect mess, unhinged by the skilled ministrations of your boyfriend. Passion beads on your forehead like reflections off of a diamond. Panting, your lips are plumped from kissing parted with mewls of pleasure. 

“P - please—I need to—can I - I please—” You’re begging like the sweet little thing you are, incoherent babbling the result of his excessive edging. Of course, you know better than to give into the sensations ravaging you; instead you ignore your visceral desire and ask him for your release. “Peter, please!” 

A deep chuckle vibrates behind the camera as his big hand slides into view, trailing over your jiggling tits to the slope of your throat. “Maybe,” he says breathily and grasps the line of your jaw between his fingers. “Open your mouth first, babe.” 

No more preamble necessary, you follow his direction, your pink tongue flat over your Cupid’s bow. Immediately, a long string of his saliva drips into view and onto your taste buds; the vulgar act is accepted with a swallow and a quivering moan of, “T - thank you.” 

“Good girl,” he praises huskily, and the voiced approval has you visibly shivering. “Alright, then, pretty girl. Make it good for me, and c’mon—”

Before your otherworldly reckoning washes over you and his teammates can watch your bliss immortalized in film, Peter snatches his property back. 

Not much force is necessary as Bucky’s grip has been stunned loose. A dark expression permeates on young hero’s face but not because of embarrassment; if he was still nineteen or eighteen, he would’ve been mortified that his titular superiors caught a depraved glimpse of his sex life, on both his and your behalf. Rather than, there’s just a flit of annoyance when he folds his arms.

“Shit,” Bucky is the first to speak, exhaling the swear raggedly. His blue pupils have widened in obvious attraction, dilated dark, blinking rapidly as if it’ll help calm him down from the clip of you, his innocent seeming girlfriend, all ruined and begging. “Parker, fuck, I - I didn’t know you got down like that.” 

There’s a swell in his chest, pride beating steadily while he remains reticent-faced. He prefers you keep your bedroom activities secluded there. Yeah, he likes to be in control and you like to be controlled but it’s only in a sexual nature. Yet, their reactions—stunned, embarrassed and viscerally affected—surges smug satisfaction he’s never known before through his veins. 

Even the prestigious Captain America is bothered, though he may try to hide it. He clears his throat, a flustered pink coloring his cheeks. “Peter, uh,” he says, barely maintaining the confidence to look him in the eye after witnessing his girlfriend like that. “We - we shouldn’t have invaded your privacy like that.” 

“Uh-huh,” is Peter’s response, a hint of a smirk curling on one side of his lips. “Why don’t you guys call me after you’re finished with your cold showers, and we can actually train. Until then, I’m gonna go to my girl who’s more than eager to handle mine.” He pauses. “Maybe if you guys ask nice enough, I might let her show you how well I’ve trained her.”

[little-ghostlee]

Hiya guys!!!! Thought it’d be important to do some headcanons about Ghostbur so you know what you’re dealing with if you decide to interact with me!!! So here we go!!!!

General HCs

• He’s t a l l — 6’5 to 6’6, but tends to slouch quite a bit, especially when he’s super transparent and ghostly, where he appears to only be 6’2 or 6’3 ish

•Even though he’s super tall, he’s surprisingly super duper light, due to him being a ghost and everything, so it’s super easy for anyone to just come around and pick him up, which he loves

• He’s a very touchy feely person, touch is definitely his love language, and will take and give affection at any chance that’s given to him!

• He’s extremely oblivious, to most things going on around him. He only remembers good and nice things, which can make certain situations very interesting, and he never understands if he’s bothering someone at a bad time. He doesn’t try to of course, but he just loves hanging out with everyone any chance he gets, even if it’s at a bad time

• Likes to follow people around throughout their day, just so he has someone to be around because he really doesn’t like being alone. He promises the person won’t even know he’s there, he’ll just observe, but he never sticks to that and always starts a conversation with the person, he’s just such a talkative, friendly guy, he simply can’t help it!

• Is very intent on having bonding moments with everyone he meets, he wants to build or rebuild good relationships with everyone and will do everything in his power to make sure everyone likes him

• He tries his best to comfort people, but he’s just absolutely TERRIBLE at it

General Tickle HCs

• Lee-leaning switch (about 85% lee, 15% ler)

• Uses the stoplight safeword system

• Absolutely can not say tickle when lee or being tickled to save his life. It absolutely kills him to have to say it ever

• Loves tickle fights, be it winning or losing them, he loves the playfulness of them!

Lee HCs

• CAN NOT SAY ANY FORM OF THE WORD TICKLE!!!! At all!!! If he has to, he stutters so much, and blushes super hard, and covers his face and gets all whiny and tries everything in his power to avoid saying it

• It really depends on the day for him if he’s okay with asking or not! Some days, he’s super duper flustered by the idea of having to ask, and he absolutely can not stand having to walk up to someone and ask them to tickle him. On other days, he’ll go right up to someone, plant himself in front of them, or somewhere near them, and expose his spots and say “do the thing? Please?” With his best puppy eyes and pout, hoping he would get away with just that. If he can’t, then he gets flustered and denies ever trying to ask in the first place

• Would like to be restrained sometimes, but if the anticipation gets too high, he’ll go all transparent and slip right through the restraints, which just doesn’t work out for him. If he gets restrained and then the tickling starts soon after, he won’t have time to process going transparent and won’t be able to while being tickled because he can’t focus on it

• He loves being made to hold his arms up by himself, he loves the challenge of it, even though he’s super bad at it

• Will protect himself from a tickle attack if he senses it coming by going transparent so the other person can’t touch him

• If he gets too flustered, his blush will turn blue instead of being red. It always starts out red, but as he slowly gets more and more flustered, it slowly starts changing into a blue shade

• He absolutely adores tickle games, he has no trouble asking for the games, he just thinks they’re so fun, and make him so giggly and flustered, he always has the most fun when someone plays games with him like that

• Just gets super giggly and squirmy if he’s in a lee mood, just in general, over anything at all

• He generally has a very gentle laugh, it’s hard to really get him going, unless you get one of his death spots, those cause him to absolutely explode

• Going along with his obliviousness, if someone asks for his spots, he’ll give them up pretty much right away, then realizes what he’s done once it’s too late

• Absolutely LIVES for the aftercare portion of tickling, he loves to be cuddled and taken care of afterwards, because it always tends to tire him out, no matter how gentle it may be

Ler HCs

• Is usually a super gentle ler with people, especially when first meeting or tickling someone

• Once he’s more comfortable with someone, he’s a bit more ruthless, but he’s still very careful and makes sure he never goes to far

• Some people don’t like that he won’t take it as far as other lers, especially when they want to be wrecked, but some of them find it to be really comforting to know that he’s always so attuned to their needs and makes sure not to go to far, even if that means going a little bit far enough

• Got tickled a lot as a child, so he’s learned a lot of really good tactics from those who got him as a kid, specifically Techno, who got him a LOT when they were younger, and he got to test out his skills a lot on Tommy as well, so he’s developed quite the arsenal of tactics

• Loves to tease, so much, his gentle voice with such teasy words really seems to get people badly

• He loves to play the Tickle Monster, it’s one of his favorites, and he changes his voice to match his character and everything! It’s one of his most perfected games and teases because Tommy loved it so much when they were younger, so he used it on him a lot

• He loves to build up, anticipation is one of his favorite things, he can’t stand it for himself, but uses it relentlessly on others. He could tease the thought of someone’s death spot for ages before actually going for it

• Loves to coo at his lees, and complimenting them makes him so happy!

• He giggles along with his lees! He can’t help it, they’re just so cute!!!

• Tickling others seems to tire him out just as much as being tickled, and he goes all out for aftercare, making sure the lee is okay before insisting they cuddle and nap if the lee is okay with it!

• Loves giving reward tickles, giving someone tickles for doing a good job at something, or to congratulate them!

• Even though he has his favorite ways to tease and tickle, he has a very “the lee is always right” approach to tickling, so if he knows a lee has a favorite way to be teased or tickled, or knows that they don’t like it certain ways, he’ll be sure to take that into account before tickling them

Spot HCs

• Bellybutton - 10/10 (His absolute most sensitive spot. He’ll absolutely c o m b u s t if tickled there. Will do ANYTHING to get someone to stop tickling him there it’s so bad)

• Thighs - 10/10 (An EXTREMELY close second to his bellybutton. Just like with his bellybutton, he can’t stand it and will do anything to get it to stop. He kicks a LOT with this spot)

• Stomach - 9/10 (Super duper bad spot, he always tries to curl in on himself or arch his back or suck it in to protect himself, but it hardly ever works out for him)

• Underarms - 9/10 (Is super protective over this spot in particular, once it gets exposed, he’s pleading as much as he can to be let go and “please no, not there, I’ll die!!!”)

• Lower Back - 9/10 (Where his stab scar is. He absolutely cackles when this spot is traced, or spidered on, and it makes him arch his back like crazy to try and get away)

• Knees - 8/10 (Not as sensitive, but he still laughs pretty loudly when they’re squeezed or when they get spidered or scribbled behind)

• Ribs - 7/10 (Can’t stand it when this spot is massaged into. He laughs semi-loudly, but he mainly just squirms to get away and slams his arms down to try and protect them)

• Feet - 7/10 (This spot makes him curl his toes at just the thought of it. He giggles really loudly at this spot, but he’s just a little embarrassed by this spot, because this spot makes him snort like crazy!)

• Hips - 5/10 (This spot makes him giggle, but it isn’t too bad! He squirms a LOT when this spot is gotten, but not too much else happens when he’s tickled here)

• Ears - 4/10 (This spot is truthfully probably one of his absolute favorites, and it flusters him to no end, because it’s a melt spot for him, makes him let out little giggles, but this spot also gives him little hiccups, which always seem to entertain the ler to no end, but it embarrasses him a lot)

• Upper Back - 4/10 (Just Like with his ears, this spot is a super good melt spot for him, especially his shoulder blades, and it makes him giggle super lightly, and very childlike, and he tends to kick his feet when this spot is tickled, even though it eventually makes him all melted and calm. I count shoulders in with this spot, because they’re pretty sensitive too, and make his super giggly and blushy, and he scrunches up adorably when they’re tickled)

• Neck - 2/10 (Isn’t very sensitive at all, he’ll scrunch up slightly from it, but he only lets out a few giggles, but doesn’t react much)

• Cheeks - 2/10 (The face is a spot most lers wouldn’t think to check, but his cheeks are actually quite sensitive, and spidering or feathering ever so lightly over them will cause him to giggle like crazy and shake his head back and forth to try to escape the sensations. Though it isn’t a very bad spot, it is quite a melty spot, and tickling them will make him super compliant and blushy, and raspberries there are his absolute favorite)

[starrynite7114]

Trust

A/N: I was able to fulfill a request during my study break! This was fun to write and pretty short, but I hope you all enjoy it! I’m working on Snapshots and Misconstrued, Snapshots may be out first, but regardless, I’m working on a few things! 

Requests are still open, if you want to make a request, feel free to do so!

“So you don’t trust me” and “fuck you” with EZ or Angel 🥺. I love your writing ❤️ also you don’t have to do both prompts if they don’t mix! - Anon

Masterlist

Tagged: @iambabyharry : @justahopelessssromantic : @briannab1234 : @marvelmaree : @carlaangel86 : @everyhowlmarksthedead​  : @trulysuccubus​ : @claytoncardenasbabymama​ : @ifoundmyhappythought​ : @chibsytelford​ : @whyisgmora​ : @jadert15​ : @gemini0410​ : @woahitslucyylu​ : @enamoured-x​ : @encounterthepast

Relationships were complex. Whether it was family, friends or a significant other, there were many layers to it.

With significant others, jealousy was a part of relationships. A layer that could be seen as a way to show your significant other that you care or it could drive a wedge in your relationship. 

Angel was hardly a jealous man, okay, that was a lie. He didn’t even like it when another man he wasn’t familiar with breathed the same air as you, but he trusted you with all of his heart. He just didn’t trust these fuckers around you. But it wasn’t his fault. You were charming, beautiful, people were just drawn to you.

Lucky for Angel, Santo Padre was a small town and people never tried to cross that boundary with Angel. They were respectful, but they would never make a move on you or even flirt with you. Angel was well known to threaten anyone who even looked your way. You were the only person that brought this out of him. His past girlfriends, he didn’t even bat an eye when they would flirt with other guys. For him, those girls were just women he went through and now he had you and it was a whole different feeling. But this showed him how much he loves you, how true his feelings were for you.

It may also have to do with the fact that he felt you were out of his league. He was human, insecurities come, but you were the one thing he knew that he scored out of pure luck. 

Here he was now, watching as your ex-boyfriend, some prim and proper douchebag you met in college. He was currently in Santo Padre on business with Galindo. He was going to help build this new development in Santo Padre. To say he was annoyed was an understatement. This ex-boyfriend of yours, Dante or whatever the fuck his name was, decided to visit you at your grandmother’s bakery, that you’ve been helping with since you came back. 

Angel was going to pick you up to bring you back to the clubhouse since they wanted to do a BBQ and of course, you were such a big part of the club at this point, it would be weird if you weren’t there.

But with Angel seeing this before him, he was irritated, no, he was pissed. 

He knew David, a prick that pursued you relentlessly. 

He also knew how nice you were. You didn’t mean to be inviting, but people gravitate towards you. 

Angel could tell you weren’t exactly comfortable, but he hated how friendly you could be. This guy did not need to be here. 

You looked outside and saw Angel, sitting on his motorcycle, smoking. Your man looked so good, but you could tell he wasn’t exactly happy that Dylan was in your grandmother’s bakery after hours. He came in a little late and he had very full intention of staying and speaking to you. He was always a nice guy, but you could tell he could be a bit pushy if he truly wanted something. 

Currently, he was trying to entice you to attend this BBQ his mother was throwing for Memorial Day weekend at Texas. He didn’t want to be bombarded with relationship questions and wanted to take you along to keep his mother at bay. His mother had adored you, which apparently was a feat, but you knew this wouldn’t go over well with Angel. Personally, you didn’t want to go either.

Your phone vibrated, breaking Dylan from one of his babbling. You gave him a smile and picked up your phone, it was from Angel.

                                                Hubby <3

Get rid of Doug before I do.

Looking up, you found Angel still sitting, that smirk on his face. 

Dylan, his name is Dylan. Calm down papi. He’s just asking me to go to his mother’s BBQ next month. He’s harmless, he’s with someone else now.

Placing your phone down, you focused on Dylan once more.

“I know you don’t like your mother’s matchmaking ways, but why not just bring Kristin?” You advised. 

“Cause my mother hates Kristin, she’s my high school sweetheart, fucking hated her.” Dylan shook his head. “Kristin is a great girl, but she always compares them to you.”

“Well, I am quite memorable.” You laughed, shrugging. 

“Humble you are.” Dylan shook his head. “I always wondered why we didn’t work out.”

“We weren’t happy at the end of our relationship Dylan, I was here and you were in Temecula. Believe me, things worked out for the best.”

“You can’t possibly want to stay here for the rest of your life. It’s dead space here.” Dylan never understood why you decided to stay in Santo Padre. For your biker boyfriend? He met Angel, and he didn’t understand how you could tolerate being here. 

“I don’t expect you to understand. I feel at home here.” 

And it was true, you did feel at home here, well mostly, you felt at home cause you were with Angel. 

You two met in middle school, but you ended up moving away to Las Vegas with your parents. You tried to keep in touch through MySpace then texting every once in a while. After graduating college, you came back to Santo Padre to help your grandmother out after a nasty fall. It was nine years ago that you came back and you had texted Angel after you settled down. You had a crush on Angel when you were younger, but it faded when you two parted. Almost instantly when you two saw one another again, the attraction was immediate. But you didn’t want to start a relationship with Angel, knowing you most likely would leave Santo Padre.

But the city always somehow pulled people. 

It was insane. 

You never wanted to stay in a small town, but you found comfort on just knowing everyone and if you were being honest, you couldn’t leave Angel. He was always a part of your life, but being in his presence, seeing how he grew up and the charm he had, you couldn’t walk away. You tried, but he always pulled you back to him and you two weren’t even together. When he finally asked you out on a date, it was cute, and you two were just at the beach, watching the waves, sitting in peaceful silence. He broke it by asking that and you still remembered how you blushed and how you immediately said yes. He chuckled and the rest was history. 

Now, things were different. 

It was peaceful here to some degree. You liked the pace of life and your family was here.

“I think you’re settling.”

“I think it’s time for you to leave.”

You and Dylan both looked towards the door and Angel had just walked through. Dylan gulped. He didn’t scare easily, but Angel could be imposing. 

“You’ve overstayed your welcome Donnie.” Angel tilted his head towards the door. 

“Nice seeing you Y/N.” He made his way towards the door, bowing his head when he passed by Angel. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew Angel could kill him if he wanted to. He didn’t want to push his buttons. 

Angel locked the door after him, turning to you and shaking his head. 

“You really need to entertain that mother fucker?” Angel questioned. “He fucking asks you to go to Texas with him and you just what? Entertain the idea.”

“Fuck you, Angel.” You spat out. 

“Oh, there’s time for that later querida,” he smirked, but it wasn’t his playful smirk, it was his smug smirk that he always had on when he was irritated and ready to press your fucking buttons. “Settling huh?”

“Angel, you know that’s not how I feel.” You frowned. “Why are you going to let Dylan get to you?”

“Because, he shouldn’t even be fucking here. Why does he come here every fucking week? Do you like going down memory lane with him? Do you like knowing that if you get tired of me you have that chump waiting for you?” Angel knew he was being irrational, but Dylan was visiting far too frequently. It was like you were enticing him to come and see you. “Do you talk to him regularly?”

“Unfuckingbelievable. So you don’t trust me?” You scoffed. “I’m not the one always surrounded by women, willingly throwing themselves at them. Also, how the fuck do I know that you don’t fuck other women while you’re on a run?”

Angel scoffed, looking at you in disbelief. “You fucking serious? You think I fuck other women?”

“No, no I don’t.” And you didn’t. You love Angel and knew he was loyal to you. He was never a cheater, never seemed that way. If he was in a relationship, he was all in and was solely focused on you. “Angel, why are you being unreasonable, if I trust you, why wouldn’t you trust me? Why would I cheat on you?”

Angel sighed. He fucked up. He didn’t actually think you would cheat. But seeing Dylan was a reminder that if you wanted, you could leave him and be with someone else. That once upon a time, you had a life without him and Dylan was that reminder. He fucking hated it. If he didn’t acknowledge his name, he wasn’t important, but he was. Looking at you and just how visibly upset you were, Angel grimaced. He made his way over to you and wrapped his arms around you.

“I’m sorry baby.” He apologized, placing a kiss on the top of your head. “I love you, I just, insecurities are a bitch.”

“I know, but Dylan is hardly someone you should be insecure about. There was a reason why we broke up. We never meshed well. Maybe in college we did, but priorities changed. He never understood why I had to come here and be with my grandmother.” You pulled away from Angel. “I never loved Dylan, especially not the way I love you. Please keep that in mind. You’re my world Angel, I couldn’t leave you, unless you do cheat on me then I’ll cut your dick off too.”

Angel laughed then, kissing you on your lips. “You’re fucking crazy.”

“You like crazy though.”

“As long as it’s you, I fucking do.”

[devauer]

𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍:  family  dynamics.

*these  dynamics  are  subject  to  change  if/when  i  write  with  Kol’s  family  members  but  in  regards  to  people  outside  of  these  specific  dynamics  this  is  how  I  interpret  their  relationships

𝐌𝐈𝐊𝐀𝐄𝐋:  As  a  child  growing  up  Kol  was  both  terrified  of  Mikael  and  in  awe  of  him.  Mikael  was  strong,  powerful,  respected  among  their  community  and  had  been  victorious  in  various  conflicts  with  neighbors  and  against  Saxons.  He  heard  all  of  the  tales  of  Mikael's  conquests  and  triumphs  and  he  wanted  to  be  just  like  him  in  that  regard.  However,  Mikael  was  also  extremely  abusive,  particularly  towards  Klaus  and  Esther.  He  ruled  their  household  with  an  iron  fist;  Kol  remembers  being  afraid  to  even  breathe  too  loudly  out  of  fear  of  Mikael's  violent  outbursts.  As  Kol  got  older  he  became  spiteful  and  resentful  of  Mikael.  He  hated  how  afraid  Mikael  made  him,  he  hated  how  powerless  and  helpless  he  felt  whenever  Mikael  attacked  Klaus  and  he  hated  how  their  entire  family  cowered  in  the  face  of  Mikael's  anger.  Kol's  spite  and  resentment  of  Mikael  drove  him  to  become  obsessed  with  becoming  strong  and  powerful  so  as  not  to  be  afraid  anymore.  He  turned  himself  into  a  weapon,  with  sword,  shield  and  axe,  with  bow  and  spear,  and  with  his  magic  and  as  he  became  stronger,  faster,  and  more  skillful  with  magic,  Kol  would  often  act  out  in  order  to  prove  to  himself  that  he  was  not  afraid  of  Mikael  anymore.  This  determination  to  be  fearless  carried  through  to  when  Kol  became  a  vampire  as  well.  Even  when  on  the  run  from  Mikael  with  his  siblings,  Kol  was  often  determined  to  confront  Mikael.  Kol  still  has  a  deep  hatred  and  fear  of  Mikael  and  when  he  found  out  about  Mikael's  death,  he  was  relieved.

𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑:  Kol  has  very  few  memories  of  intimacy  with  Esther.  The  majority  of  his  memory  of  her  is  the  way  that  she  favored  Elijah,  Klaus  and  Rebekah,  how  she  would  dote  on  Klaus  and  teach  Rebekah  how  to  hone  her  magic  but  what  he  remembers  the  most  is  how  often  Esther  would  berate,  belittle  and  degrade  him,  how  she  would  constantly  compare  him  to  either  Finn  or  Elijah,  how  she  would  always  make  him  feel  as  if  he  was  not  enough.  Kol  never  felt  particularly  liked  or  loved  by  Esther  growing  up  and  as  he  got  older  he  determined  that  Esther  was  indifferent  to  his  existence  entirely.  As  a  teenager,  Kol  grew  to  despise  Esther  as  well.  He  considered  her  weak,  neglectful  and  cold  and  she  was  largely  removed  from  the  ongoings  of  his  life  thereafter,  he  only  interacted  with  her  when  he  felt  like  he  had  to  or  because  he  felt  pressured  by  his  siblings  to  be  civil.  Despite  these  feelings,  he  was  horrified  when  Klaus  told  them  that  Mikael  had  killed  her.  Over  a  thousand  years  of  being  a  vampire,  living  his  life  free  of  parental  oversight  caused  Kol's  resentment  of  Esther  to  peak  when  she  was  resurrected,  irritated  that  he  was  expected  to  listen  to  her  after  living  his  life  so  long  without  her  involved.  Her  betrayal  only  escalated  Kol's  feelings  of  anger,  severing  whatever  lingering  feelings  of  care  that  he  had  for  her.

𝐃𝐀𝐇𝐋𝐈𝐀:  She  was  a  stranger  to  him  so  he  felt  nothing  but  anger  towards  her  after  she  targeted  his  siblings.

𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐘𝐀:  Finding  out  that  he  had  an  older  sister  was  a  shock  as  neither  Mikael,  Esther  or  Finn  spoke  about  her.  Kol  has  mixed  feelings  about  Freya,  in  large  part  he  still  considers  her  to  be  a  stranger  and  an  outsider  as  she  hasn't  lived  or  experienced  the  past  thousand  years  alongside  them.  When  she  first  appeared,  Kol  distanced  himself  from  her,  unwilling  to  accept  her  as  family  despite  Freya's  efforts  in  becoming  more  familiar  with  him.  When  Freya  and  Elijah  sacrificed  Davina  to  save  them  from  Lucien,  Kol's  anger  towards  Freya  grew  tenfold.  She  was  a  stranger  to  him,  a  stranger  that  he  had  been  willing  to  trust  with  someone  he  considered  precious  and  she  betrayed  that  trust.  Over  the  years  and  since  Davina's  resurrection,  Kol's  resentment  has  faded  somewhat.  He's  civil,  even  friendly  with  her,  he  appreciates  her  wit,  her  humour  and  her  power  as  a  witch  and  should  she  ever  ask  him  for  help,  Kol  is  willing  to  come  to  her  aid,  but  he  has  not  learned  to  trust  her  again.

𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐍:  As  a  young  child,  it  was  Finn  that  Kol  latched  himself  to.  Mikael  was  frightening  and  abusive,  and  Esther  was  neglectful  and  indifferent,  so  it  was  Finn  that  Kol  would  go  to  for  comfort,  security  and  guidance.  He  followed  Finn  around  wherever  he  went,  he  would  sneak  into  his  bed  at  night  when  the  thunderstorms  raged  or  the  winters  were  fierce,  he  would  mimic  and  mirror  Finn,  trying  and  oftentimes  failing  to  be  just  like  him.  As  Kol  got  older,  he  stopped  doing  this  but  out  of  his  siblings,  he  was  always  closest  with  Finn.  Despite  the  way  that  their  personalities,  views  and  opinions  clashed.  Finn  was  dignified,  obedient  and  calm,  while  Kol  was  boisterous,  rebellious  and  temperamental.  While  they  were  polar  opposites,  they  seemed  to  work  well  together  in  large  part  because  Kol  respected  Finn  above  anyone  else.  When  they  became  vampires,  Kol  relied  heavily  on  Finn's  morality  and  judgement  in  order  to  control  his  own  impulses  and  bloodthirst.  Finn  was  able  to  ground  Kol  in  ways  that  none  of  their  other  siblings  were  able  to  and  while  Kol  might  have  hated  it,  Finn  constantly  reminded  Kol  of  his  humanity.  When  Finn  was  daggered  Kol  made  numerous  attempts  to  find  and  undagger  him,  and  to  convince  Klaus  to  release  him  to  no  avail.  Eventually  as  the  centuries  passed,  Kol  stopped  trying.  Convincing  himself  that  sleeping  was  a  mercy.  When  they  were  both  undaggered  and  Esther  returned,  Kol  made  an  effort  to  reconnect  with  Finn  but  when  Finn  sided  with  their  mother,  that  betrayal  hurt  and  cut  deeply.  After  Finn  was  killed  by  Elena  and  Matt,  Kol  avenged  him  by  killing  Matt  and  mourned  his  death.

𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐉𝐀𝐇:  Kol  feels  most  insecure  around  Elijah.  Growing  up  Elijah  always  appeared  as  the  favored  son  by  both  Mikael  and  Esther  and  by  his  other  siblings  so  he  always  represented  an  impossible  standard  to  Kol  which  led  to  Kol  often  challenging  Elijah  into  petty  games,  competitions  or  dares  in  order  to  beat  him  while  growing  up.  Once  Kol  grew  into  a  young  adult,  these  feelings  subsided  somewhat  and  Kol  was  able  to  see  Elijah  with  more  clarity  than  he  had  as  a  child  and  as  a  teenager,  though  he  still  felt  some  jealousy  and  inadequacy,  he  cared  for  and  respected  Elijah  deeply.  Kol  has  a  desire  to  earn  Elijah's  approval  and  love,  mostly  he  just  wants  Elijah  to  like  him  though  this  usually  causes  Kol  to  lash  out  and  leads  to  self-sabotage  as  Kol  doesn't  like  that  he  wants  these  things  from  Elijah.  Over  the  centuries  Kol  has  however  grown  to  resent  Elijah,  particularly  his  relationship  with  Klaus  and  Rebekah,  as  without  Finn  as  his  support  base,  Kol  has  felt  consistently  isolated,  alienated  and  rejected  from  their  triumvirate,  these  feelings  only  growing  after  the  numerous  times  in  which  Elijah  helped  Klaus  dagger  him.  When  Elijah  helped  Freya  sacrifice  Davina  to  the  New  Orlean's  Ancestors,  Kol's  anger  towards  Elijah  increased  into  aggressive  arguments,  violent  outbursts  and  grudging  silent  treatments.  Despite  this,  Kol  still  cares  for  Elijah  and  will  not  let  anything  happen  to  him.

𝐊𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐒:  As  children  and  even  teenagers,  Kol  and  Klaus  didn't  spend  nearly  as  much  time  together  as  they  should  have.  Growing  up  neither  Kol  or  Klaus  shared  in  the  same  interests,  leaving  very  little  for  the  pair  of  them  to  bond  over.  Kol  also  despised  the  way  that  Esther  would  dote  on  Klaus  and  it  wasn't  until  Kol  was  a  young  adolescent  that  he  really  recognized  the  hatred  that  Mikael  felt  towards  Klaus  or  understood  the  abuses  that  Klaus  suffered  at  their  fathers  hand.  As  a  teenager,  Kol  tried  to  connect  with  Klaus  through  combat  training,  joining  Klaus  on  hunts  and  training  in  sword  and  shield,  and  even  spear.  It  wasn't  until  Kol  was  a  young  adult  that  he  grew  to  appreciate  Klaus'  other  interests,  such  as  art,  and  had  Klaus  design  and  pin  one  of  Kol's  very  first  tattoos.  When  they  became  vampires  and  Klaus  began  to  change,  becoming  angrier,  vengeful  and  malicious,  they  developed  a  playful  but  malicious  rivalry.  Competing  against  one  another,  bonding  over  kills,  their  savagery  and  wildness,  especially  in  the  early  years  against  the  Christians.  Despite  their  apparent  closeness,  they  shared  too  many  similarities  after  their  transformations.  When  together,  they  become  incredibly  destructive,  when  they  aren't  fighting  or  hurting  others,  they  are  fighting  and  hurting  each  other.  Kol  and  Klaus  are  able  to  get  along  for  a  short  period  of  time,  but  inevitably  they  end  up  butting  heads  and  few  people  survive  when  it  happens.  Like  Elijah,  Kol  wants  Klaus  to  like  him  and  he  wants  to  feel  connected  to  him,  but  after  centuries  of  resentments,  betrayals,  grudges  and  lost  competitions,  there  is  also  a  deep  and  conflicting  anger  and  resentment  that  Kol  feels  towards  Klaus.  Regardless,  he  still  cares  about  him  and  Kol  will  still  help  him  if  Klaus  asks  him  to.

𝐑𝐄𝐁𝐄𝐊𝐀𝐇:  As  his  younger  sister  and  being  six  years  his  junior,  Kol  feels  understandably  protective  over  Rebekah.  Growing  up,  he  tried  to  be  there  for  her  but  was  quite  easily  overshadowed  by  both  Elijah  and  Finn  and  Kol  struggled  to  determine  what  kind  of  relationship  he  wanted  and  could  have  with  Rebekah  as  she  already  had  three  very  protective  and  caring  older  brothers  to  look  out  for  her.  Eventually,  Kol  settled  on  being  Rebekah's  enabler.  Where  their  brothers  would  shelter  and  protect  her,  Kol  was  the  one  who  encouraged  her  to  do  as  she  pleased,  whatever  interests  or  desires  that  Rebekah  had  that  might  have  been  frowned  upon,  Kol  would  help  her  achieve  them.  If  Rebekah  wanted  to  learn  to  hunt,  he  taught  her,  if  she  wished  to  learn  how  to  be  a  shield-maiden,  Kol  helped  her,  if  she  wanted  to  leave  the  village  and  explore,  Kol  would  go  with  her.  Together  they  were  mischief,  daring  and  reckless.  When  they  became  vampires  this  did  not  end,  Kol  encouraged  Rebekah's  playful  maliciousness  and  her  vindictiveness  and  was  something  of  a  bad  influence  on  her  until  Rebekah  came  into  her  own.  After  Finn  was  daggered,  Kol  considered  Rebekah  to  be  the  sibling  he  was  closest  with,  which  made  Rebekah's  betrayal  of  him  that  much  more  painful.  Kol  holds  a  deep-rooted  grudge  over  this  betrayal  as  he  felt  that  Rebekah  chose  Klaus  and  Elijah  over  him,  further  driving  Kol  to  feel  isolated,  alienated  and  rejected  by  his  own  family.  While  he  is  still  somewhat  prickly  towards  Rebekah,  she  will  always  be  his  little  sister  and  he  will  always  love  her.  If  she  calls  on  him,  Kol  is  willing  to  help  her.

𝐇𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐈𝐊:  As  the  youngest  of  their  brood,  Henrik  got  all  of  the  attention  from  their  parents  and  siblings  alike  and  while  Kol  did  possess  some  jealousy  because  of  it,  he  loved  his  youngest  brother  dearly.  Kol  was  fiercely  protective  of  Henrik,  whenever  Henrik  did  something  wrong  or  took  a  prank  too  far  or  even  by  accident  did  something  that  he  might  be  punished  or  scolded  for,  Kol  was  always  willing  to  take  responsibility,  even  if  it  meant  that  he  had  to  endure  severe  punishment.  When  Henrik  was  killed,  it  was  one  of  the  last  moments  that  Kol  ever  wept,  devastated  by  the  loss  of  his  brother.  Despite  over  a  thousand  years  having  passed  since  the  day  that  Henrik  was  killed,  Kol  still  remembers  it  vividly  and  still  finds  it  an  extremely  difficult  memory  to  recall  due  to  the  emotion  that  it  elicits.

𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐋:  They  do  not  like  each  other  in  the  slightest.  When  Kol  first  met  Marcel  he  perceived  him  as  a  threat  to  his  own  relationships  with  Klaus  and  Elijah.  Kol  felt  as  if  Marcel  was  replacing  him  and  resented  the  amount  of  attention,  care  and  interest  that  Klaus  and  Elijah  showed  to  him  while  simultaneously  being  disturbed  at  how  similar  Marcel  was  to  their  deceased  brother  Henrik.  Kol  lashed  out,  forcing  Klaus  to  choose  between  him  and  Marcel  when  he  threatened  to  transform  Marcel  into  a  vampire  when  Marcel  was  only  fourteen.  Klaus  chose  to  dagger  Kol  and  Kol  has  held  a  grudge  against  both  Klaus  and  Marcel  for  it  ever  since.  As  adults,  they  still  can't  stand  each  other,  while  they  have  a  begrudging  tolerance  of  one  another's  existence  purely  because  of  their  relationships  with  the  people  they're  both  close  to,  such  as  Rebekah  and  Davina,  they  rarely  seek  the  other  out  to  interact  and  only  work  together  when  they  share  a  common  goal.  Otherwise  they  avoid  one  another  as  much  as  possible.

𝐇𝐀𝐘𝐋𝐄𝐘:  Kol  likes  Hayley  well  enough.  She's  strong,  intelligent,  loyal  and  brave,  things  which  Kol  respects.  However,  while  Kol  might  like  her,  they  don't  particularly  enjoy  each  other's  company.  Their  relationship  is  somewhat  tense,  swapping  banter,  insults  and  arguments  that  can  occasionally  go  too  far  as  they  still  don't  quite  know  each  other  well  enough  to  know  where  each  other's  boundaries  or  trigger  points  are.  Kol  at  least  attempts  to  be  civil  with  Hayley  for  the  most  part  but  still  considers  her  to  be  something  of  a  stranger.  Despite  this,  Hayley  is  one  of  the  only  people  who  hasn't  betrayed  him  so  he  is  more  willing  to  agree,  work  with  and  listen  to  Hayley  without  an  attitude  in  comparison  to  his  siblings.

𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐄:  Kol  struggled  with  Hope's  existence  for  a  long  time,  uncomfortable  with  having  such  a  helpless,  defenseless  and  innocent  creature  inserted  into  his  life  and  for  a  while  Kol  wasn't  able  to  be  around  Hope  at  all.  Hope  represented  a  life  that  Kol  and  his  siblings  were  no  longer  meant  to  have,  she  was  a  young,  innocent  little  girl  surrounded  by  violent,  aggressive  monsters  and  her  simple  existence  constantly  reminded  Kol  of  his  life  when  he  had  been  human,  of  a  life  that  had  been  stolen  from  him  and  reminded  him  of  the  person  that  he  could  have  been  had  he  never  become  a  vampire.  Kol  slowly  warmed  up  to  Hope  as  she  got  older  and  while  he  does  feel  protective  over  her,  he  distances  himself  from  a  caregiving  role  in  her  life  because  he  does  not  feel  suitable  for  the  role.  He  does  not  treat  her  with  kid-gloves.  He  respects  her  decisions  and  her  choices  even  if  he  might  not  agree  with  them,  he  respects  her  boundaries  and  is  more  willing  to  act  as  support  rather  than  adviser  and  is  there  only  when  she  needs  him.  He  doesn't  question  or  berate  her,  and  he  doesn't  judge  her  and  while  this  means  that  he  is  reliable  if  Hope  ever  calls  on  him  for  help,  it  also  means  that  he  is  not  as  emotionally  close  with  Hope  as  perhaps  he  should  be.

[et-lesailes]

dada

pairing: dad!bucky x reader, ft the avengers + their children

word count: 1760

summary: bucky’s desperately trying to get your daughter to say “dad”, but she has other ideas in mind.

themes: fluff and some hangout fun w the whole gang :))

taglist: @sebabestianstan101, @pining-and-tired, @gogomez-509, @a-distantdreamer

note: requested by anonymous // so this is my first bucky fic (the other stuff i’ve written has been drabbles) and therefore i tagged the people who asked to be on my permanent taglist for anything i write. if you would like to be on this taglist, please send me an ask. if you would like to only be on my chris evans taglist, also send me an ask, but please specify that!

“Daaaad. Duh- ahh- dd. Dad. Daaa-daaa. Dada.”

You rolled your eyes fondly as you watched your husband sitting with your one-year-old daughter on the floor, desperately trying to get her to say “dad”, shaking your head to yourself. “Bucky, don’t take it personally, most babies just tend to say “mama” first,” you pointed out to the soldier, a smile crossing your lips. “You know she still loves you just the same.”

“Do you, Winnie girl?” he asked with playful skepticism, leaning in close to her face before giving her a kiss on the forehead. “But babe, it’s not even like the only word she can say is mama. She says “wawa” for water, “mo” for more, and you know just as well as I do she loves to say no. What’s so hard about “dad”?” he sighed, running his fingers through freshly cut brown hair. 

“Wawa!” Winnie trilled, and you chuckled softly from your spot on the couch, reaching over to pick up her sippy cup from the coffee table to hand it to her. “Every baby has their own pace. She’ll get it soon enough, I promise. Now go check on dinner, everyone should be getting here soon. I’m going to go change Winnie.” You stood up, leaning down to kiss your husband’s head before scooping up the little girl in your arms. The two of you were having the Avengers over for dinner that night, considering everyone was in town for once, and you were looking forward to catching up. You practically saw the team as your own family (even if Sam tended to hit on you every now and then to piss Bucky off), and you were grateful Bucky had found a family in them too.

You were still upstairs when you heard voices coming from the front door, identifying the guests as Steve, Sam, and Nat. You chuckled to yourself as you finished getting Winnie in her new dress; those three made the perfect team, and you were pretty sure they knew it too. After running a comb through her wispy chocolate brown strands that just barely covered the surface of her head, you picked her up again and came downstairs, smiling at the three conversing with Bucky and ignoring the back-and-forth between him and Sam-- those two could go at it for hours, if allowed. “Hey, guys! Thanks for coming!” you greeted them, holding Winnie close. “Winnie, look! It’s your aunt and uncles!” The baby flounced around in joy in your arms, a giggle erupting from her lips-- you swore she loved everyone, what with her bubbly self, and from the stories you heard, her friendly and already caring demeanor reminded you slightly of pre-serum Bucky. 

“Thanks for inviting us. Kitchen smells great,” Steve commented with a smile, then looked towards Winnie with a deep chuckle. “Hey there, sweetheart.” Sam grinned as he pushed past Bucky, coming over to lightly tease Winnie’s hair. “Did you miss your favorite uncle? Say SAM, Winnie, S-A-M, SAM.” You took it he knew about Winnie’s current vocabulary dilemma. Bucky rolled his eyes as he stepped closer to you, raising an eyebrow. “She’s one, Sam, she’s not ready for the spelling bee yet.” Sam scoffed, retorting, “You really are an old man, aren’t you? Are spelling bees even a thing anymore? And if they are, promise me you won’t put my precious niece through them.” 

“Okay, okay, enough guys,” Natasha interrupted, rolling her eyes in amusement. “Hey. You look amazing,” she greeted you with a smile, coming over to give you a hug. “And Winnie, you look adorable, as usual-- but your name should have been Natasha, just saying.” She shot you a playful glare and you laughed, nudging her in response. “What, is Nate not enough?” you teased, referring to Clint’s youngest son. 

As the five of you conversed, along with Winnie giggling and blabbing along, more of the team started to pull up on the street of your home. It wasn’t long before all of you were sitting in your living room, laughing, talking, and catching up; fortunately for Winnie, some of the Avengers’ children had even come along-- you couldn’t help but watch fondly as Lila was trying to help teach her to walk, Morgan gushing over her tiny dress, and Cassie occasionally picking her up to playfully twirl her around. Cooper and Nate were trying to seem uninterested, far too “boyish” to participate, but you still caught the occasional smiles from them as Winnie would stumble towards them. She seemed especially fond of Peter, almost constantly crawling towards him at top speed and lifting her arms out in a gesture indicating she wanted to be picked up. 

“I’m gonna make that child say “Sam” before she says “dad”, Bucky, just letting you know.” Sam smirked playfully smug at your husband, and he shot him a (semi) playful dirty look. “I mean, seems like they have about the same difficulty level,” Rhodey commented with an amused expression, and Bruce arched an eyebrow. “Well, actually, if you look at the phonetics of it, it might actually be slightly easier for her to say--”

“Okay, let’s try not to make the children fall asleep, Bruce,” Tony joked, giving him a little smirk as he thumped him playfully on the back. “Look, Barnes, you can’t force these things. Just let her say it on her own time.” Bucky sighed, looking back towards his child currently clambering all over Peter’s lap. “Yeah, Cassie took forever to say ‘dad’, but look how much she loves me.” Scott pointed out with a little grin, and his daughter laughed, the same cheeky grin spreading across her own lips. “You’re alright,” she replied, sticking her tongue out playfully. “Did she take forever because you were off somewhere being incarcerated?” Sam asked with a raised eyebrow, and everyone burst out laughing incredulously. “Sam!” you exclaimed, reaching over to playfully smack his chest. “C’mon, man, low blow!” Scott rolled his eyes, though he was still smiling; quite honestly, none of them were the type to be sensitive to such jokes-- after all, they had to have tough skin to save the world. “What would Uncle Scott be doing in a car?” Morgan piped up in confusion, her tiny nose scrunching up. “Probably time traveling,” Steve replied with an amused smile, and everyone chuckled again. 

“Hey, mind if I get another drink from the kitchen?” Peter asked as he stood up, and you smiled nodding immediately. “Of course, help yourself!” Tony raised an eyebrow playfully as he glanced towards the younger, sternly calling out, “No alcohol, mister!” The high school student rolled his eyes, making a face at Tony before going into the other room.

“C’mon, cupcake. Sam.” Sam got down on the floor, even lying on his stomach to get to Winnie’s level. “Just say SAM.” Bucky blinked, and you could tell he was already feeling challenged and competitive; the soldier immediately got down onto her other side. “No, no, no. DADA. Da-da. Daaaad. C’mon, Win, just say it. I know you can do it.” She looked at both of them as if they were crazy, but then looked back towards Bucky. You blinked, actually now invested as you leaned forward. Being her mother, you could read her well, and she actually seemed like she was getting ready to say something. “You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?” Bucky asked with an excited smile, nibbling on his lower lip. “C’mon, sweetheart. DAAAAADA.” She looked at him, breath barely inhaling, mouth slowly opening...

“Hey guys, did you know Coke was the first soda to make it into space? Do you think they sell it on other planets? Captain Marvel would probably know, right?” Peter suddenly entered the room again, eyes fixed on the can as he pondered this over. However, before anyone could respond, Winnie’s little head suddenly whipped to the side to look towards the voice she recognized. With a cute grin on her face, she called, “Pee-yah!” 

Everyone froze.

“Did she just….” 

“Yeah,” you nodded, looking towards Pepper slowly scoffing in amusement, “I think she did…”

“Wait. What?!” Bucky looked shocked, staring down at his daughter in disbelief. “Winnie. What did you just say?”

“Peeeeeeyah!”

“Oh, my God.” Rhodey laughed, shaking his head. “Jesus. This is great. Man, how’s that feel Bucky?”

“Maybe it’s just blabbing?” Steve suggested hopefully, always one to try and make his best friend feel better. “She’s probably just putting random syllables together.”

“Hey, kid. Winnie, who’s this?” Clint suddenly stood up, standing next to Peter and gesturing to him with a raised eyebrow. It was only then that Peter looked up from the can, clearly having missed the moment and blinking in confusion. “Huh?” he asked, but everyone shushed him. She was silent for a few minutes, simply beaming up at one of her favorite Avengers before finally bouncing in place. “Peeyah.” She declared simply; there was silence for a few moments before everyone suddenly started cracking up, save for Peter who was still confused, and Bucky who looked simultaneously astounded and defeated. You couldn’t help but giggle yourself, standing up and kneeling down beside him leaning over to kiss his forehead. “Bucky, please don’t think into this too much. It doesn’t mean anything.” He groaned loudly, playfully burying his head in your lap. “I know, I know, but come on! Couldn’t it at least be Steve or something?” He gestured to Peter who was still looking around with a somewhat dumb smile on his face, clearly figuring he should just join in on the laughter even if he had no idea what was happening. “He isn’t even able to appreciate it, God damnit!” Nonetheless, you could see your husband was starting to laugh too, and you stroked his hair comfortingly as you giggled. “We’ll work on it. I’ll train her every single day if I have to,” you joked, looking up towards your adorable daughter as she now started crawling towards her parents. “Right, Winnie? You’re going to say “dada” soon, I know it.”

The baby smiled cutely, trying to crawl up onto the free space of your lap, tiny hands pressing all over his head in the process. “Aaah. Ah ah ahhh.” She blabbed in response, and the soldier let out a playful growl, suddenly sitting up and pulling her to his own lap. “You and your mother really know how to drive me crazy sometimes, you know that, sweetheart?” he kissed her forehead before leaning over to kiss yours, sighing heavily. 

“Let’s just have dinner already, I don’t want to talk about it…”