#butt the goal were flowers so

[vintersight]

Flowers!!! :DDDD

[luvrxbunny]

flower

pairing: bf!Miguel O’Hara x f!reader

summary: You won’t let Miggy play.

warnings: 18+ MDNI, sad feelings, clothed sex, cum in pants (lmk if I forgot anything)

wc: 2.2k

a/n: Gwen is 21 just for drinking purposes— everyone say thank u to @naeverse for giving me an alternative to google translate for the spanish!! ily bby!! 🫶🏾

Miguel is like your best artwork, in your opinion. The way you took the hard seed he was and watered, loved, cared and nurtured him so he could bloom into the flower he was today is one of your greatest achievements. 

When you met him he was cold, closed off, and angry. It took months of breaking down his wall before he could even admit his feelings for you, it took even more, to get him to express his feelings for you. It was like luring a stray cat, slowly getting him closer, and more comfortable with you before pushing your physical feelings onto him. You coaxed him out of his cave of isolation, of touch deprivation, and showed him how it felt to have someone love on him. 

You were so proud when he started coming to you for simple little things, like a kiss or a hug. You’d be working and he’d stride in, tall and confident just to ask you, shyly, for a kiss. For a long time you explained to him that he didn’t always need to ask you, you were okay with him just coming in and kissing you. You also had to explain to him that he’s allowed to ask for more than a hug or kiss, he was very resistant on that matter but you managed to break him. 

One day he woke up in the middle of the night, you were asleep next to him and he needed you. He laid there for an hour, debating on whether he should wake you up or not. When he did wake you up, you couldn’t have been prouder. You made sure to let him know that as you rode him. 

At first, he wouldn’t even hold your hand or hug you in public. He got comfortable with PDA much quicker than the others, it only took him a few weeks. He plunged himself into it head first.

He went from barely touching you to being all over you. He started sitting you in his lap, resting his arms over your hips while standing behind you, or laying his head on your stomach whenever you guys were chilling in the lounge.

He even got into the habit of running his fingers over your tummy, going under your shirt or dissipating your suit just to feel you. Or he’ll just grope you through your suit, it doesn’t alway seem sexual for him… more like he enjoys the closeness, the intimacy of touching you, holding you in places no one else can. For example; your boobs, your ass, and his most recent, most consistent obsession… your pussy.. just cupping, your clothed pussy.

He says it’s calming for him, most of the time he does it absently. The goal isn't to make you cum, or prep your for his cock. He just loves touching you. It made you unbelievably happy to see him like that, your secretly sweet boy, loving all over you, not caring who’s around. It was one of the best things to ever happen to you.

Which is what makes this current conversation so awkward. 

Hobie is rambling on and on about how disgusting PDA is. Miguel isn't around, thank god. He went to get a drink and never came back. Hobie has been ranting about how inconsiderate, and inappropriate PDA is as you awkwardly sip on your drink, feeling oddly targeted. Jess and Gwen agree with him, saying that it’s not that serious but definitely annoying. You’re just wishing for them all to just stop before Miguel returns, terrified that he’ll retreat back into his shell. That you’ll loose your sweet flower.

“ ‘M jus sayin’ it’s not like they can’t wait ‘til they get ‘ome. I jus feel like… come off it, y’know? Like you’re in public, right? Jus... keep it in your pants.” You down your drink and decide to finally butt into the conversation. 

“Hobie. I love you but you’re the same guy who doesn’t believe in consistency.” You earn a little chuckle from the table. “Get in a loving, serious, consistent relationship, and tell me you’ll never want to be affectionate outside your house.” The words spit from your mouth with more venom than intended but you stand your ground. 

“Aye, I guess. But like, some people don’t know when to dial it back.” He laughs with Gwen as you get up to leave. Jess is sending you an apologetic look that you smile at briefly before turning to walk away. You’re stopped by a.. wall? 

You open your eyes to see what you ran into and see Miguel smiling down at you. “Where are you going?” You smile back at him, genuinely, and tell him a half-truth. “I was looking for you! Where have you been?”

Miguel looks a little drunk, his face flushed, and his eyes hazy. You guys have been drinking but it usually takes more. He shrugs and sits in your seat, patting his leg for you to sit in his lap.

You start toward him but then Hobie’s words play in your head and you shake your head softly at him. He looks confused but nods at you and falls into the conversation, now talking about the latest mission. 

You’re standing there considering Hobie’s words. If you imagine how you and Miguel act from an outsider's perspective… you can see why they’d find it annoying. Anxiety curls and makes a home in your chest as you flip through all your favorite memories of you and Miguel, all of them now tainted. You head over to the bar silently, needing another drink when you feel someone behind you. 

You feel pressure on the top of your head and know it's Miguel, placing a kiss on your head, another recent habit of his. You do nothing, ignore it as he wraps his arms around your waist and leans into you. “Oh, Peter B. says Hello. He was here earlier for a bit. That’s what took me so long. He made me drink with him too. Puede que haya bebido mucho.” 

(“I may have had too much to drink”)

A smile makes its way onto your face as you listen to him, his accent thicker with his intoxication. He’s leaning on you, not for support but just to feel you against him. You guys stand there in comfortable silence until you feel Miguel’s hand begin to slide from your hip to your pelvis, it slides underneath the band of your skirt and you stop him. “Not now, Miggy. Sorry.” Your drink arrives, you pay, and leave. Miguel follows behind you, slightly deflated by your rejection. Your mind is still on Hobie’s words. 

Are we “too much”? Do we take it “too far”..? Maybe we should just dial it back a little... 

You guys arrive back at the table and Miguel tries again. His hands come to your waist and quickly slide down, trying to get under your skirt. You don’t say anything, you keep talking to Gwen as you pull his hand out.

The night goes well from that point. Miguel makes more advances that are gently rejected or avoided by you. You all gradually get drunk as the night goes on, Miguel drinks a bit more than he usually would and recluses himself to a table next to where you guys are sitting. Jess leaves first, Gwen and Hobie following her not too long after.

You and Miguel decide to leave and Uber home in silence. He usually talks more after hanging out in a group, saying everything he thought but couldn't say, giving his rating on the interaction, and more. This time, however, he’s silent, looking out his window with furrowed brows the whole ride. The silence only breaks once you both are in the apartment and you speak up. 

“Why are you so quiet tonight?” You’re staring at his back as he stands in the living room. He doesn’t answer you at first, he just stands there before sighing and turning around. 

“Why won’t you let me play with you?” His voice is weaker than you’ve ever heard it, his eyes look sad and desperate and his hands are wringing each other. You’ve never seen him like this, nervous and unsure. It breaks your heart. 

You rush over to him and wrap him in a hug. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you wanted to that bad, baby.” You let him go and kiss his cheek. “I—“ You sigh defeatedly. “Hobie got in my head about PDA. I don’t know why I listen to him.” Miguel lets out a sigh of relief at your words, some of the tension leaving his body. 

“That idiot? Yeah, no. Don’t listen to him, amor.” You smile at him and he kisses you softly. When you pull away he still has that nervous look in his eyes. “Do you wanna play with me now?” you ask gently. He nods so timidly that you regret ever rejecting him. You kiss him with a smile as he walks you backward, only stopping once your back hits the wall.

His breath is already speeding up, his chest heaving as his hand slowly slides up your skirt. The moment his fingers come in contact with your clothed pussy he groans out, louder than you. You’re shocked by his reaction as he keeps rubbing your clit, gasping, and moaning with you as if he was touching himself. 

His mouth is open as moans tumble through his lips. He’s not looking at you, just watching his fingers move on your pussy. His eyebrows draw more inward the faster he moves his fingers, his moans turning into whines the faster he goes. 

At some point, his fingers roll over your clit more perfectly than you can handle and your hips buck into his hands. His knees almost buckle at the sight as he lets out a deep, rumbling groan. 

“Santa mierda.” His eyes roll back as he feels your wetness soak through your panties and dampen his fingers. He’s desperately hard in his pants and his hips are thrusting up into the air in time with his movements over your pussy. “Echaba mucho de menos esto, cariño”

(“Holy shit.”)

( “I missed this so much honey”)

You giggle at his apology. He tends to do this a lot when you have him extra worked up. He always feels bad because he knows you can't understand him but the truth is that when he gets you like this… Whining, moaning, and pressing into him.

He cannot function.

He can’t think about anything but breeding you, getting his fat cock into your soft pussy, and painting your cervix. He’s not worried about what language it happens in. His brain can’t focus on things like that, he’s tried.

Your hips thrust up into his hand as you grip his biceps, your nails digging in painfully, making him moan even louder. His fingers move against you perfectly, the Spanish falling from his lips pulls you closer and closer to your orgasm. Your legs start to twitch and tense, your knees weakening as the burning in your stomach grows. Your hands come up around Miguel’s neck to pull him closer to you. 

“You’re making me feel so good, Miggy. Fuck- I love you so much, baby.” He lifts you off your feet, pressing you up against the wall and lifting your legs over his waist. He takes a step forward and buries himself in your neck, his hips come forward, pressing his bulge against your mound with a groan. “Yeah, good. Good, Miggy- shi-it.” You feel his fangs slide out of his mouth and press into your skin as he whimpers. “Holy- Miguel, I- fuck, like that baby please.” 

His whines turn to groans as he thrusts against you like he was actually fucking you. His hips swivel into yours, stuttering as he listens to your moans. “N-nena, estoy tan cerca. Maldita sea, te sientes tan jodidamente bien, mi amor. Siento que no puedo respirar. Mierda, te sientes increíble.” 

(“B-baby, I'm so close. Damn, you feel so fucking good, my love. I feel like I can't breathe. Shit, you feel amazing.”)

You moan louder at his words, the way they roll off of his tongue. You can’t even describe how you feel when he speaks, especially in Spanish. It feels like his words vibrate through your ears, to your stomach, and settle in your core, winding you up as tightly as you can go. ��Yeah? Oh, I’m gonna c-cum. Fuck- talk to me, Miggy. T-tell me how it feels, honey.”

Miguel can feel his eyes roll back into his head at your words. You know he can’t speak English right now, and he knows you love it anyway, the thought has him hurtling toward his orgasm. “Te sientes tan perfecta, nena. Voy a correrme tan fuerte por ti. ¿Lo quieres? ¿Quieres que te dé mi leche, miel? Te lo daré, todo por ti, nena. Mierda.” 

(“You feel so perfect, baby. I'm gonna cum so hard for you. Do you want it? Do you want me to give you my milk honey? I'll give it to you, all for you, baby. Shit.")

Your legs crush his waist as you cum, trembling in his arms as his hips keep fucking against you, his moans growing in volume. You bring your hands up to dive into his hair, pulling at it, gripping it as he growls into your neck. He’s trying to hold off until you’re done, he wants to keep going, he wants to make you cum for so long that you can’t breathe but the way you’re grasping his brown locks makes it impossible. His muscles tense, his hands squeezing you into a bruising hold as his groans devolve back into whines, his body shaking as his cock explodes. 

He cums so hard he thinks he blacks out for a moment. His cock pumps out rope after rope of his cum into his pants, he wishes it was inside you for a moment and he’s cumming harder at the thought. His hips continue to buck into you desperately as he moans out your name. You feel one of his hands leave your waist and rest on your cheek shakily, pushing your head in his direction and placing a kiss on your cheek. He grunts as he bucks against you one more time before putting you down. 

You knees give out the moment you touch the ground and Miguel holds you up with a chuckle. “¿Qué? ¿No puedes soportarlo, cariño? ¿Tus piernas ya no funcionan?” He teases you as he carries you to the bedroom, your head rests on his chest, feeling the vibrations as he speaks. 

(“What? You can't stand, honey? Your legs don't work anymore?”)

“You better hush up before I fuck you.” You spit back at him jokingly but you feel his pace falter at the threat. 

“Uh, Qué... ¿Cuál es el dicho? Don’t threaten me with a good time?” He says in a teasing tone but his eyes are already clouding over again, desperate. 

(“what... what's the saying?”)

thank you so much for reading!! please please please give any feedback you may have! I want it all! also if you liked it please take a look at my masterlist!

[seokjinsonlyone]

this how i think bts would be if you both knew you liked each other but you weren’t dating yet

a/n: you guys been looking forward to this one hope it lives up to your expectations 🥹👉👈 and you should like totally lemme know what you thought about it after you're done

namjoon:

calls you on the phone every night; asks about your day and genuinely wants to know every little detail no matter how insignificant; gets shy when you ask about his

always extends an invite to you to join him at a museum; he goes to so many so often so he understands if you can’t go every time but he really likes it when you can go; likes hearing your thoughts on different pieces no matter how ridiculous bc you’re really not that well versed in art and architecture; he also likes the look in your eye and how intently you listen to him when he actually explains the intent behind the art

wraps his arms all the way around you, completely engulfing you when you hug; gives you an extra squeeze and rubs circles on your lower back before letting go

pet names start slipping out willy nilly; beautiful, princess, pretty girl, lovely; like the more and longer he likes you the less your name come out his mouth

he got mad rizz dog; like everyone once in a while he's gonna hit you with a pick up line that catches you off guard; gon have you giggling and blushing; but he also will be giggling and blushing afterward bc he gets shy after being cute

lowkey wants your approval for everything; doesn’t NEED it but he’d like it tho for sure; like would let you listen to his unreleased music and wait with bated breath while you listened until you gushed about how good it all was

if someone came up to him while y’all were hanging out and started flirting with him he would not notice at all; you’d wait until he was done carrying on the conversation and (semi)jokingly be like “so when’s the date” and he’d be soooo confused; “huh?” “they were totally flirting with you!” “really?” “if they smiled any harder they cheeks would’ve split open and did you see how hard they were laughing? you not that funny joon 🙄” “i’m sorry i didn’t notice. i promise i wasn’t flirting back tho. the only person i wanna flirt with is you.”

seokjin:

turns red whenever you’re around; like just constantly feels called out even if no one said anything bc it’s like he knows how he feels, all his friends know how he feels, and most importantly you know how he feels; embarazzing

becomes your local fruit dealer; like whenever his family or friends give him a bunch of produce from their various farms you’re definitely on the list of people he gifts them too; he gives you a bigger share than his members too <3

sends you pictures of the food he cooks and always saves you a plate after hearing you talk about how good it looks

asks for your switch code and invites you to play games with him whenever he has down time; like will stay up to 4am playing mario strikers or nintendo switch sports with you

gets really good at origami bc one time you met up and he felt awkward not having anything to get you so he used the gum wrapper in his pocket to make you a paper airplane; now every time you meet up he has a new paper sculpture; like you end up with a whole drawer of paper hats, planes, cups, flowers, frogs, ninja stars; has a cute little message written inside that makes you smile each time you unfold them

overly helpful; like he tryna do whatever he can for you; he’s holding your bag, opening doors for you, at one point he even goes so far as to lay his jacket on the bench y’all sitting on so your butt won’t be cold 💀

his number one goal when y’all are around each other is to make you laugh; like it doesn’t really matter if you’re laughing with him or at him as long as he hears that cackle he considers the interaction a success

yoongi:

not used to initiating any kind of interaction (outside of work) with people so he just lingers around you and hopes something happens; takes you a while to realize that’s his way of asking for attention

pretty much willing to go along with whatever to make you happy; like if you were complaining about never having anyone to go to the store with he’d offer himself up so fast and that’s how you’d end up with him in ulta helping you pick out lashes

has to get scolded by seokjin repeatedly bc the one text he sent him in the past month was left on read but he replies to you almost immediately every time you message him

silently takes care of you; like if you were eating together and got choked up on something he's just gonna get up and get you a bottle of water then slide it over without ever looking you in the eye; or if you complained about your hands being cold he'd start carrying around those hand warmer pouch thingies waiting for the next time you said something then he'd just put them in your pocket

starts opening up to you 🥺

it may not last for long but when you’re speaking with him he’ll look directly into your eyes

his hands flinch a lot when you're around; sometimes he's just hit with the inexplicable urge to hold your hand or touch you in some sort of way but he hasn't quite figured out y'all's dynamic yet so he's afraid to go for it

hoseok:

becomes zendayafied; like if you think it’s bad with jimin… you ain’t seen the worst of it; you might as well be richard pryor at the apollo the way he be cracking up over any and every little thing you do; his laugh can be heard halfway across the world

he stalks your ig page and replies to all your stories with a series of emojis; shows them to his friends and goes on and on about how cute you are

sends you a bouquet of flowers and texts you a little later on asking if you got them so you send him a picture of you holding them and he responds “☹️ i was hoping you’d be in the pic but all i see are flowers”

notices the little things about you; like he’s the type to compliment your earrings or your nail color

thinks everything you do is like super great; like if you drew a little doodle on a post it note or something he's gonna keep it and in his phone case; like 100% the type to actually display a painting you did in his house even if you feel like it looks like an 8 year old did it

has a special hyper focus on you; i just imagine y'all being at a party and you're in a group and he's being hobi ya know chopping it up with everyone kekeing and the like and you could be there next to him but not really actively participating in the conversation but if you tried to slip away to like get a drink or whatever he would grab your wrist and licherally stop mid sentence to ask you where you were going; would leave the group to go do whatever you wanted to do as well

adds a bunch of heart emojis to your contact in his phone; [yn ❤️😍💜🥰💞😘💖🤩💓😚💘]

jimin:

buys you a scarf when it gets chilly bc he notices you never have one on and he doesn’t want you to catch a cold; personally wraps it around your neck himself before you go outside

perpetual flirt; like there's some kind of innuendo to everything he says to you

is able to pick up on your moods scary easily so he knows when you’re a bit off and lets you know he’s willing to listen if u wanna talk; whether you choose to take him up on his offer or not he gives a really big, tight, long hug which helps you out more than you’re willing to admit

is easily flustered by you; like if you told him you liked his hair or his sweater or something he's gonna do that thing he does where he looks down, smiles, and then hides his face

always trying to impress you; like if you told him you admired people who were good at art he finna brush up on his skills a little and then next time you see him he gon have a sketch pad in fron t of him doing some crazy doodles; or if you told him you liked his voice when you're around he'll be acting like he's being nonchalant playing it cool but be putting in mad effort humming one of your favorite songs adding in some jazmine sullivan type runs

tries to meet up with you as much as possible; like your presence is addicting to him and he wants to take in all that he can; definitely calls you at some point if he can't see you that day even if it's like 1am and you're definitely asleep he's gonna chance it and call you; "are you awake?" "no" "oh i'm sorry i'm sorry i just missed you today" "missed you too mini" "i bet you looked pretty" "thank you but you have to let me get back to sleep" "alright alright imma let you go but one more question" "what's up?" *starts giggling* "what are you wearing right now?😏" "😐 i'm hanging up" *giggles even harder* "okay okay i'm done i'm sorry for waking you sleep tight beautiful" "night mini"; and then he's awake for another hour and a half staring at the ceiling with a big smile on his face thinking about how much he likes you

always walks you to your door when he's dropping you off home and won't leave until you inside with the door closed even if you insist on seeing him off as well so you just gotta watch him walk off from the window

taehyung:

gets shy after complimenting you; the “you look really pretty today” to tata mic face pipeline is strong

goes out of his way to find out when you'll be at certain places and then acts like it's a coincidence when y'all run into each other

feels all tingly inside when you like something he recommended; like if he recommended you a song and you listened to it later and then texted him about how much you loved it you would not be able to wipe the grin off his face

he fishes for compliments from you; like will get all dolled up in his 3 piece suit, hair slicked back just bc he knows you’ll be around and wants you to tell him he looks nice; if you don’t initiate it he will; will stand next to you and be like “ahh i just felt like wearing this today, it’s my favorite one. i think it looks nice. doesn’t it?”

squishes your cheeks between his hands when he deems you as being too cute

takes an active interest in your interests; like if you were really into some group and you told him about it he'd go and listen to their songs and send you his favorites and if they ever toured he's definitely getting y'all tickets to their show; or if you really liked to do paper mache or something he's gonna set aside a day for you to show him how to do it

has his arm around the back of your chair when y’all sit next to each other bc he can’t work up the nerve to actually put his arm around you

jungkook:

walks so close to you that your hand bumps together with every step; takes about five minutes of contemplation and hand flinching before he takes your hand in his; probably puts your conjoined hands in his pocket; looks down at you for about five seconds to gauge your reaction but quickly looks away when you make eye contact; tips of his ears are red the whole time

invites you over to play with his dogs, literally; no funny business is happening; he can’t be with you like that when he likes you as much as he does not until y’all are official just so he has confirmation that you’re on the same page

he be staring at you; like whenever you not looking at him he’s looking at you; watching, observing, admiring, mentally cataloguing all your little quirks, stockpiling them for a rainy day (re: waiting for the right time he can jokingly imitate you)

sometimes it feels like it’s one step forward two steps back with him bc every time he reaches what he feels is “the next level” he has to stop and reevaluate his feelings so he gets distant; but when he’s sure of how he feels again he goes back to following behind you like a lil puppy

his crush on you gets fatter whenever y’all are in a group conversation bc you always notice when he’s trying to say something but can’t find the right timing and create an opening for him to speak

always sits next to you; like there could be 10 empty seats in a room and he's always gonna jam himself as close to you as possible even if he doesn't plan on saying anything

y'all would have a couple late night convenience store dates; like y'all would be on the phone at like midnight talking about how you're craving ramen and snacks and next thing you know he's offering to pick you up and then you sitting next to him in da local 7/11 wit a cup ramen, a diet coke, and some sour gummy worms; he'd lightly gasp and go stiff for a second before relaxing a bit if you randomly laid your head on his shoulder after you finished your food complaining about how full and tired you were; would go back and forth with himself over whether he should just wrap his arm around you but ultimately just decides on leaning his head against yours in return

[neytirisheaven]

i can’t lose when i’m with you

warnings: you know the drill: no use of y/n, strong language, sirius calls reader “darling/my darling”, reader is a gryffindor, reader almost gets attacked by remus, slightly suggestive near the end, ooc peter (NO YOUNG PETER SLANDER), a few smoochies at the end, this is barely proofread so i apologize for any mistakes

sirius black x fem!reader word count: 6.5k

summary: in which sirius struggles to ask you out on a date, so the marauders assist him in his goal, aka the 4 times sirius black tries to ask you out and the 1 time he succeeds

notes: so…….. let’s not talk about the fact that i posted this so fucking late and let’s talk about the fact that it’s sirius black…..!! anyways so this is probably not cohesive and there are probably a lot of plotholes and inconsistencies in here but i was STRUGGLING to write this okay, like i would write 700 words and then dip because i literally couldn’t pull anything else out of my ass

LUCKILY, OUT OF the seven years you’ve spent at Hogwarts, you’ve never been so much as looked at by the infamous Marauders. Sure, they messed around with your friends, and you’ve attended their rambunctious parties after a Quidditch win, but you were fortunate enough to not be bothered by them. 

That was, until the one and only Sirius Black laid his eyes on you. 

You had vowed to never even come close to fraternizing with a Marauder—besides the occasional conversations with Remus—let alone fall into their trap of tricks with their corny pickup lines and their woo-worthy smiles. 

And you were going to stand by that vow. No matter what. Or so you thought.

i. i’d touch that fire for you

It all started when you were peacefully sitting at your regular table in the Great Hall, talking to your friends about the newest gossip about a few of the prefects in the year below you. You prodded at the slice of your pumpkin pie, not too interested in the food as you were in the drama that seemed to be unfolding before your eyes.

But, to your demise, your gossip was cut short by a loud declaration of your name—wait, your name? No, this had to have been a joke. Right?

You slowly turned around in your seat to find Sirius Black standing right behind you, a bouquet of flowers magically appearing in his hands as soon as you locked eyes with him. He tossed his luscious hair over his shoulder and beamed brightly at you, gaining a few coos from the girls sitting around you. 

“My darling,” he began, “it would be an absolute honor if you would allow me to take you out on a date to Hogsmeade next Saturday. Would you fancy a trip down there with me?” It was probably the fanciest he had spoken since he had dinner with his whole extended family, and he could’ve only hoped that he could woo you over and finally gain your affections.

You, on the other hand, were not willing to fall for what was obviously supposed to be a prank. Why the four pranksters had chosen you, of all people, to be the butt of this prank, you would never know, but it didn’t mean you were to act clueless about it the whole time. 

“Go find someone else to prank, Black,” you muttered under your breath, sending your friends a confused look as you turned back to them. Only a few moments later, you felt the gentle tap of someone’s finger on your shoulder, causing you to turn around once more and look at the same boy that had now turned the bouquet into a three-tiered cake in a matter of seconds. You repeated yourself once more, “I’m not interested in your little jokes. It’s not something I look for in a person. But good job for trying.” You sent him a pitiful smile and returned to your conversation with your friends almost immediately, as if you were desperate to get out of the situation you found yourself in. You were desperate.

Sirius’ face fell as soon as you turned around, finally understanding that you were serious about everything you said. He just assumed you were playing hard to get. He didn’t think you saw it as some prank he was trying to play on you.

His dejected eyes met James’ soft, brown ones, only encouraging him to go even more all out compared to what he just did. It wasn’t the best idea, and both Remus and Peter could see it, but when Sirius was as enamored with someone as he was with you, it meant he was serious. Pun intended.

The raven-haired boy practically skipped over to his friends, James transfiguring the layered cake back into Remus’ water goblet and placing it in front of his friend. “We thank you for your sacrifice,” he spoke with no humor laced in his tone, causing the brunet to scrunch his nose up and return to the Muggle book he was currently reading; The Hobbit.

Sirius’s gaze flickered to the thick book in his friend’s hands, then shot up as if a bolt of lightning had struck him. “That’s perfect, Moony! My darling loves reading Muggle books! I’ve seen her with them in the library many times,” the boy exclaimed excitedly, bouncing around like a kid in a candy store.

“You go to the library? Willingly?” Peter questioned with his mouth full, earning a chastising smack to the back of his head.

Remus spoke up, “He’s trying to get her attention. We’ve got to give him some credit for that.”

“Thank you,” Sirius thanked the boy through gritted teeth, a bit peeved that one of his best friends had no faith in him. They had known of his crush on you for all of two months, and in all of his experiences with girls during his time at Hogwarts, he’d never been prepared for a feeling like the one you gave him. “Anyway, since you’re so invested in all your Muggle books, d’you think you could grab me one on your next visit to the Muggle bookstore?”

The three boys tried their hardest to look past Sirius’ flushed, pink cheeks as he requested a simple yet slightly embarrassing task. Peter and James shot each other a look before the latter leaned over the table with some brotherly advice hanging off the tip of his tongue.

“Just don’t be too annoying about it, Pads. You don’t have seven years for it to get less annoying like I had with Lily. Just, y’know, charm your way through it like you always do. I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

ii. long as you dreaming ‘bout me, ain’t no problem

The atmosphere of the Quidditch stadium was always tense, especially whenever it came time for Gryffindor to play against Slytherin. The stands were full of students boasting their house colors, strictly separated into hues of greens and reds. Linus Spinnett animatedly narrated the gameplay, throwing in a few jabs at the Slytherin players here and there. 

You watched as James and Sirius sped past you, side-by-side, unable to avoid their gazes. The latter called out your name, but you only ignored him and hid the bottom half of your face behind the scarf wrapped around your neck. He took a sharp turn and began spinning in small circles right in front of you in an attempt to get your attention, but you remained unbothered.

“Don’t you have better things to tend to, Sirius?” Your friend groaned from beside you, wrapping a comforting arm around your shoulders as she tried to shoo him away. “Go win the game, and maybe she’ll talk to you.” 

Planting a chastising hand on your friend’s bicep, you whispered through gritted teeth, “Don’t encourage him! He’ll have the wrong idea.” Before you could even turn to Sirius to correct your friend’s statement, he already flew away with a dopey grin plastered on his face. It only motivated him more throughout the game, the quaffle landing in his arms more than anyone has seen before. Even James was surprised. 

“Pads, what’s with you?” The Potter boy muttered, inching closer to his best friend. His eyes were trained on the bludgers being beaten around, but his complete focus was on his friend and his out-of-character actions. “I appreciate the need to win, but mate, don’t you think you’re being a bit harsh?”

Sirius took the time to look around at the stadium, his eyes landing on the three Slytherins clutching their arms, then at the scoreboard that showed Gryffindor leading by thirty-five points. “I’m being perfectly normal, Prongs. Thought you’d want to win.”

“I do, but–” James’ rebuttal was cut off by the sound of Linus’ voice echoing through the stadium, rejoicing in the Gryffindor seeker’s successful accomplishment.

“Berthia Thomas has caught the golden snitch! Gryffindor wins the game!” 

Sirius’ ears perked up at the exclamation, immediately soaring down to the young seeker and not-so-gently taking the snitch out of her hands. “Do you mind if I take this? No? Great, thanks!” The ends of his Quidditch robes chased closely behind him as he flew all the way up to the stands, meeting you with a smug grin. The golden, engraved ball sat peacefully in his hand, its wings flapping softly against his palm. “For you, my darling,” he smiled at you, offering the snitch like an olive branch in a peace offering.

You eyed the small object in his hand, then glanced up at the scoreboard with the teams’ respective points: Gryffindor, 220 and Slytherin, 70. With a heavy heart and a sharp glare at your friend beside you, you reluctantly took the golden snitch from his hand and held it between your thumb and your forefinger. 

Sirius felt a shiver climb down his spine at the feeling of your soft fingertips brushing against his calloused palm. Even the slightest touch between the two of you could make him melt. 

“Thank you, Black.” Your voice was almost as soft as your touch. Offering him a small smile, you ushered your friend away from the front row and pushed past the crowd that was now gawking at the supposedly sweet actions of the infamous Sirius Black.

But you didn’t want to fall for it. Everyone who attended Hogwarts, even the clueless first years, knew about them. Everyone who attended Hogwarts had either witnessed, experienced, or heard of their silly little pranks, and you were not one to be fooled so easily by them. 

With a fleeting glance, you looked back over your shoulder to see the boy’s figure slumped over the end of his broomstick, sadly looking down at the area of his palm where your fingers so happened to touch.

iii. i don’t got nobody, just with you right now

“Oh, come on! He’s practically courting you at this point! Just let him confess to you, and maybe you’ll see that he’s not trying to pull some elaborate prank on you!” Your friend lectured in the safe space of your dorm room, tugging on the collar of your sweater to try and knock some sense into you. 

You protested her points, “You say that as if he isn’t known for leading girls on and breaking their hearts. I don’t want to be another girl for him to add onto his list.”

“James has matured, look at him and Lily! I’m sure if you give him the chance–” “Have you seen him? Potter may have matured, but I’m not too confident in Sirius. He has to do more than just offer me a golden snitch or flowers or a three-tiered cake. Physical offerings do nothing to rid him of the reputation he’s been building for himself since first year. If he’s serious about fancying me, then he has to do something meaningful.” 

Before your friend could refute you any further, you looked at her with a heavy gaze to effectively quiet her. The two of you returned to the light gossip you were talking about prior to bringing up Sirius Black, and a few hours later, you both agreed to part ways so you could find a comfy spot in the library to study.

She dropped you off at the entrance on the way to her rendezvous with a Ravenclaw boy in your year, bidding you a curt goodbye before breaking out into what could be considered a skip through the long hallways of the castle.

You pushed through the doors and felt solace in the smell of the books and the soft rustling of students passing between the aisles. The librarian promptly gazed at you and offered a nod, to which you returned with a small smile. 

Gazing up at the tall shelves of books, you thought to yourself and began trying to think of which books you required for a successful study session for the evening. Your feet seemed to be leading you to the very back of the library, where you noticed the smallest flicker of yellow light behind a multitude of bookshelves. As you inched closer, your ears picked up the softest whispers being passed between what seemed to be two people.

You furrowed your eyebrows, wondering who could possibly study back here, where the bookshelves are impossibly closer to each other and leave no room for a singular person in the aisle, let alone two people to comfortably study. Grabbing a book off a random shelf to incriminate yourself less in case it was two students chatting about something not meant for curious ears, you pushed past the last row of books to find—

Sirius and Remus? In a rather spacious area, might you add. 

They sat at a table placed flush against the wall, a small candle being the only source of light besides the sunlight from the windows that barely reached the back of the library. It was a comfortable spot, albeit the many efforts it took to get past all the tight bookshelves. They hadn’t even noticed you at first, too engrossed in a piece of parchment they had placed onto the table. 

The two boys only noticed you when James had joined in, your eyes bulging out of their sockets when you watched him walk through a bookshelf. Well, it was supposed to be a bookshelf. You weren’t surprised that he had seemingly walked through a solid object, no. You’d done that plenty of times whenever you boarded or left Platform 9 ¾ throughout the years. You were left rather bitter that you put in all the effort to squeeze through all the stacks when you could’ve just walked through the bookshelf. Not that you would’ve known, though.

You looked up when James called your name. Sirius and Remus did, too. “When did you get in here? I would’ve noticed if you walked in,” the curly-haired boy frowned. 

“I, uh, wedged myself through those bookshelves. Didn’t know there was an actual entrance.” You jutted a thumb over your shoulder and pointed to the very compressed bookshelves. Feeling quite awkward in your current position, with James frowning at you (or more specifically, how you got in), Remus smiling softly at you, and Sirius staring at you, you shuffled closer to the exit. “I’ll see myself out, now. Sorry. I won’t tell anyone about this, either, if you’re worried about that.”

As soon as you stepped foot past the fake bookshelf, you heard Sirius whisper-shouting at James to bring you back into the secret space. 

“Wait!” He called out for you louder than he should have, quite possibly alarming the whole library of their whereabouts. With pursed lips, you swiveled on your heel and walked back through the bookshelf, shooting James a questioning look. “So, uh,” he repeatedly looked at you, then behind you, then at you again, “you said you went between those small gaps in the bookshelves?”

You nodded your head, unaware of how Sirius was urging the boy to keep the conversation going while Remus struggled to fish something out of his bag.

“We’ll have to seal that, then.” James spoke more to himself than to you.

Glancing over to the gaps, you spoke up once more. “And just so you know, the only reason I came back here was because I could hear Remus and Sirius whispering. You might want to look into that since you yelled rather loudly. Don’t want anyone else coming back here, do you?”

At your revelation, James immediately turned to his two friends with his eyes blown wide. You then heard a whispered chorus of “You didn’t cast it? I thought you did! Well, I didn’t cast it!” and before they could say much more, you lifted your wand and silently casted Muffliato around the whole area. 

Sirius looked at you with more admiration in his eyes than ever before. He was practically looking at you with heart eyes, as if you were all the stars in the world joined together into one girl. 

“Also, those gaps are wide enough to be peeked through. You might want to seal it up or put some charm on it so that no prying eyes look through.” The bell of the clock tower rang and bounced around the castle walls, almost as if cueing you to leave. “Well, that’s where I take my leave. And I stick by what I said earlier. I won’t speak a word of this.”

Finally leaving, you walked through the exit and shuffled through the aisle, only to be caught by the wrist. You looked over your shoulder to find Sirius smiling cheekily at you, holding a book in his hands. You turned around, a bit uncomfortable at how your arms harshly grazed at the wood of the bookshelves on either side of you. They were much more spacious compared to the shelves on the other side, but it still left little room for two people to be standing together.

He held the book up to you, allowing you to read the cover. “I bought this for you. I know you’ve been wanting it for a while,” he offered, gently putting it in your hands. “I also wanted to let you know that I didn’t conjure it up or anything. I bought it with my own money and all. If that means anything to you.” Bringing a hand up to his nape, he shyly rubbed at it as he watched your eyes dart from the book to his face.

Your mind was running at unfathomable speeds, trying to figure out how Sirius Black, of all people, found out how you wanted that specific book. You only told two people about it, and you and Lily had only spoken about it today in the confines of your N.E.W.T.-level Potions and Arithmancy classes, neither of which you shared with any of the Marauders. It wouldn’t have been enough time for Sirius to go out and buy it himself, if you were to trust his word on it.

That only left—Remus. You were quietly discussing it in Transfiguration while Professor McGonagall was helping a struggling student. The both of you had already completed the task as soon as she assigned it, so you turned to each other and talked about your shared love for Muggle books. Merlin, you felt so stupid. You thought he would respect your wishes of not wanting to be bothered by Sirius, but apparently not. “Remus,” you whispered lowly, quiet enough for the boy standing before you to barely hear what you said.

“What?” Sirius’ face flushed. “No, no. Moon—Remus didn’t have anything to do with it. Well, not really. But I bought this because I overheard you telling him about it in Transfiguration last week.” 

You brushed away the odd nickname for Remus and visibly relaxed, hesitantly hugging the book to your chest. “I see. Well, in that case, I’ll use this book well. Thank you, Sirius.” Turning around and walking away, you spared no time exiting the library with the book in your hands, leaving the raven-haired boy to celebrate. 

You had accepted his gift and called him by his first name! Two wins in a row!

iv. how can i snooze and miss the moment?

Surprisingly, Sirius had left you alone for the past three days. You hadn’t seen a day without him at least trying to court you, but for some reason, it was as if he’d turned into a ghost. It wasn’t like you minded, but it felt odd. Unnatural, even. 

When it came nighttime, and you’d officially been left alone for three whole days, you decided to take a walk down to the Black Lake. You wanted to be left alone with your thoughts, the cool breeze of wintertime nearing, and the glimmering light of the full moon. The sound of a wolf howling flew past your ears, but you paid it no mind as you knew you were safe. There was no such thing as a werewolf on school grounds, it was impossible. You’ve had some suspicions in the past, but they can’t have been true.

Your hands plucked at the blades of grass beneath you, feeling the lush plant life beneath you. You had found a spot against a tree facing the lake and watched peacefully as the ripples of the water distorted the mirrored image of the moon and the trees around it. 

Twigs snapped behind you, and your right hand flew to your coat pocket where your wand lie, but you were just taking precautions. It was probably just some other student wandering around after curfew, too. Everything would be just fine. 

After half an hour of thinking to yourself, the sounds of the nature around you were becoming more stressful than relaxing. With a cautious step to the side and a meek glance past the thick tree trunk, you slowly made your way away from the Black Lake and towards the castle. 

The faded footpath beneath you had turned into a muddy walkway long before you began attending Hogwarts, but it still felt unsettling. The canopy of the tall trees blocked the moonlight shining down on you, and their rustling leaves became ominous rather than peaceful. 

Your hand remained snug in your coat pocket, feeling the wood of your wand against your palm. The howling wolf that was once far, far away now sounded impossibly close to you, and the multiple twigs snapping all around you caused you to grip your wand even tighter. “Hello? Is anybody there?”

No response. More twigs snapped. The ground beneath you began to shake.

“Hello? This isn’t funny! If this is supposed to be a prank, then cut it out!”

Still no response. 

And then, out of nowhere, an earth-shattering growl echoed from right behind you. You turned slowly, pulling your wand out of your pocket in a fearful manner. Coming face-to-face with a werewolf, you realized all your reassurances of it being impossible were wrong. And you were about to die.

Pointing your wand at the creature, you looked into its eyes. They seemed familiar. Comforting, even. But this was a werewolf, and they were monstrous creatures, according to your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. You took a small breath and shakily held your wand up.

Just before you could cast a spell in its face, you got pushed to the side. You fell back against a tree with a wince, watching as a stag headbutted the werewolf in the chest with its antlers. “What the—” Your words were cut short by the feeling of something harshly tugging at the hem of your coat, successfully dragging you away from the scene. A yelp left your lips, your fingertips clawing at the ground in an attempt to escape whatever wrath you were facing now.

Looking down, you found a black dog pulling you by its sharp teeth, its eyes boring into you like you’d known each other before. You stopped trying to escape. You just let everything happen as you stared back down at the dog. ‘What was so familiar about these animals,’ you asked yourself, unaware of the werewolf bounding after you. 

It had gotten past the stag, which was nowhere to be seen. You assumed you were going delusional. The werewolf, still familiar as ever, picked you up and growled, your wand now in your hand as you prepared to cast as many offensive spells as you could. Incantations left your mouth as quickly as you’ve ever casted before, but they did nothing to stop your impending doom. 

The most you did was a large gash along the creature’s arm, but the injury only aggravated it more. Lifting you up as high as it could, the werewolf threw you to the ground as you braced for impact, feeling your body hit the ground just before you blacked out.

When you woke up, you found yourself in one of the infirmary beds with Madame Pomfrey tending to your injuries. Your collarbone was shattered, and you received a few cuts on your cheek, but it was nothing the lady couldn’t fix. You were only in the infirmary for observations and precautions. 

As soon as she stepped away, you were met with the embarrassed smiles of James, Sirius and Remus all on infirmary beds opposite of you. “Wha—why are you three here?” You questioned suspiciously, examining each of their injuries for ones similar to the wounds you saw on the creatures the night prior.

James had bandages wrapped around his ribcage and an ice pack on his head. Sirius had multiple gashes along his side and a cast on his left hand. Remus had the most wounds of them all: a large scratch along his cheek, a deep cut on the side of his head, a bandage wrapped around both his forearms, a cast on his right foot, and a gash on his bicep.

Wait, a gash on his bicep?

“It was you, wasn’t it?” You spoke quietly, finally realizing why Remus always disappeared whenever it came time for a full moon and why James and Sirius always missed classes the day after. “James, y—you were the stag. Sirius, you were the dog, weren’t you? And Remus, oh, Merlin,” you gasped softly, remembering all the painful spells he must have had to endure from your wand. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve known.”

The lanky boy shook his head, “No, there was no way of you knowing.” He tried to reassure you even though they all knew it become more obvious every month. “And if you’re concerned about the spells, I’m fine. I got more wounds from these gits than from whatever you casted.”

“Only if you’re sure,” you muttered softly, eyebrows furrowed from the concern for someone you hoped to consider a friend. In fact, you hoped to consider all of the Marauders friends. It was obvious they’d matured from the pranksters they used to be in their younger years, and you were frankly relieved to find out that they were as bad as you thought they were. 

You didn’t seem to notice how Sirius looked at you like you held the earth up with your bare hands, and if you did notice, you didn’t mention it. You kept your focus on Remus, his terrible injuries, and how he seemed to be unfazed by them. You felt horrible.

“Stop looking at me like that,” Remus said lightly, as if reading your mind. “I know what you’re thinking. You don’t have to feel bad. I’m used to it at this point.” Opening your mouth to explain how that was why you felt bad, the boy shot you a look and spoke your name chastisingly. You stayed quiet for a while.

“Sirius?” You called out for the boy in the bed directly in front of you. He reacted far too quickly and far too eager to not be embarrassed, but you ignored his actions and spoke up once more. “Why did you save me? You could’ve helped James with Remus.”

The boy pushed himself up so he could sit properly with his back leaning against the headboard of the bed. He ignored the sharp pain in his hand and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. “Couldn’t let you die before the Hogsmeade trip. Speaking of that, since I saved your life and all, I think it’d be a great opportunity to repay me by being my date to Hogsmeade?” Sirius’ statement came out as more of a question. His shoulders were tense and his breathing became rapid, though he wouldn’t admit to anyone how easily you could break down all the confident walls he��d built up. 

“I would’ve rather died, then,” you joked. 

“Ah, then I’d just have to save you all over again.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

Sirius beamed brightly at you. “Is that a ‘yes’ to Hogsmeade?” 

Shaking your head at him, you let out a small chuckle. “We’ll see.”

While you and Sirius playfully bantered back and forth across the infirmary, James leaned over to find Remus smirking right back at him.

“Are they flirting?” The curly-haired boy mouthed to his friend. 

“It seems like it.” Remus mouthed back, a smile tugging on his lips.

“I bet five galleons we catch them snogging after Hogsmeade.”

Remus smirked between you and Sirius, still too engrossed in your conversation to notice what was going on around you. “I bet you ten galleons we’ll catch them snogging as soon we get released from here.”

“Deal.”

v. you just too important

After you got released, you returned to your classes like usual and dodged the multiple questions your friends asked daily. You only brushed them away when you couldn’t come up with a sorry excuse as to why you ‘suddenly started talking to Sirius Black,’ but you always told them the most extravagant lies you could string up when you had the chance. 

The more time you spent talking to each other, the more you realized why all the girls dropped to their knees at the chance of being with him, even if it was just for one night. The more time you spent talking to each other, the more you realized that you were starting to fall for him. And it scared the hell out of you.

You even tried avoiding him when you first came to the realization that your feelings for Sirius were more than simply platonic, but your efforts only lasted a day before the boy sought you out and annoyed you until you were forced to give in. 

So, as the days went by, you became closer and closer. And your feelings for each other became stronger and stronger. This time, though, you didn’t want to fight it. Not at all.

“Darling,” Sirius called out in his usual sing-songy tone as he strode into the Gryffindor common room. He ignored all the odd looks he received from the others and grinned once he found your figure next to the fireplace, entertaining a first year by feeding the flames a few old textbook pages. “Ah, there you are! Remus and I were looking for you!”

You smiled softly at the sound of the boy’s voice, but you didn’t turn around to let him see how he’s finally broken down your walls. “Did you need me, Siri?” 

The new use of the nickname might have made Sirius scream his lungs out if he wasn’t in public and wasn’t still actively trying to hide that he was terribly in love with you. Instead, he only stared at you with a lovesick expression plastered onto his features, causing you to scrunch your nose up at the lack of a response.

You turned your head to look up at the boy, your doe eyes only pulling him in even more. “Sirius? Are you okay?” Chuckling awkwardly as he continued his intense, locked gaze on you and your pretty face, you redirected your attention to the equally awkward first year sitting beside you. “Well, if you’re going to stare, then you might as well sit down, yeah?”

Almost immediately, the raven-haired boy fell to the ground and sat crisscrossed, politely placing his hands in his lap as he watched you speak quietly to the young girl, her body relaxing when you placed a comforting hand on her. It was weird to have Sirius just staring at you in the beginning, but after a while, it was like he wasn’t even there. All he did was observe and listen.

He observed how you smiled gently at the girl whenever she spoke up in her small voice. He observed how your eyes lit up with fondness whenever you felt her touch. He observed how she leaned into you without hesitation when you offered to braid her beautiful, light brown hair. He observed how amazing you were with people younger than you, with kids. And he sure as hell observed how you would be a great mother and how he so desperately wanted to make y—well, that was a thought for another day.

Your gentleness was so endearing to him, it only made him fall for you more than he already had, if that was even possible.

Peter, who had been watching the interaction from afar, seemed to have had enough of the lingering tension and opportunities that weren’t acted upon. He wasn’t as aware of the whole situation as Remus and James were, but he was smart enough to piece all the little details together and figure out that both you and Sirius were too scared and were just waiting for the other to make a major move.

So, the boy took the situation into his own hands and dragged his friend away by the collar, taking him up to their dorm room despite the many, many efforts (albeit weak) made by the stronger boy. 

“Wormtail,” Sirius whined as soon as he heard the door shut. He pretended like he didn’t know what was going on, but in reality, he was grateful that Peter inserted himself into the situation before the pining became too strong. “Why’d you bring me up here?”

“You know why,” the boy hummed as he scoured through his bedside drawers, looking for his stash of food he always had stocked up. “She likes you. A lot. And Pads, if you don’t make a move on her now, who knows who’ll be there to take her away from you. I know how you feel about her, she knows how you feel about her, and practically everyone else at Hogwarts knows how you feel about her, so just snog her already!”

To Sirius’ surprise, as soon as his friend found the box of chocolates, he didn’t take any for himself and instead walked straight out of the dorm room. The blond boy walked down the curved stairs of the tower and found you sitting in the same spot you were in before he dragged Sirius away. 

As soon as you laid your eyes on him, you furrowed your eyebrows and beckoned him over. “Peter, did something happen with Sirius?”

“Ah, perfect! I was just coming to find you. Pads says he doesn’t want to eat, and I was thinking that if you offered him some chocolates instead of me, he might want to eat them. He hasn’t eaten the whole day.” The boy was speaking out of his ass, but he was tired of your unbearable pining, and frankly, so was everyone else.

You furrowed your eyebrows, confused by the sudden shift in character, but you shrugged your shoulders and took the box out of Peter’s hands. Patting the first year’s shoulder, you bid her goodbye and explained your task to her, pushing yourself off the ground and following the blond boy up to his dorm room.

The light box sat in your hands as you watched him rap his knuckles against the door, backing up until he stood behind you. The two of you patiently waited for Sirius to open the door, and as soon as he did, you felt Peter’s hands on your shoulders. Before you knew it, you had fallen directly into Sirius’ arms, effectively pushing the both of you back into the dorm room while the door shut behind you. 

The box of chocolates fell from your hands, but it was the least of your concerns when your front was pressed against Sirius’ chest and your faces were centimeters away. 

“Oh, um, I—“ you stammered, placing your hands on his chest to gently push him away.

Sirius, on the other hand, had other plans. He wrapped his arms around your waist with a smirk, his eyes flickering down to your lips every few seconds as he spoke. “You know I fancy you, right?” You only nodded at his question, but your flustered expression was enough to encourage him further. “And I fancy you a lot. Like, a lot, darling.”

Your inability to hold eye contact with him may have been embarrassing to you a month ago, but right now in his arms, you could care less. He spoke softly to you, his gaze filled with awe. He made you feel loved, despite all your past thoughts about him and his attempts to get you to go out on a date with him. 

Sirius’ voice grew impossibly quieter as he looked into your eyes. “Please tell me you like me, too.” 

Looking at his pleading expression and the way his lips just looked a bit too tantalizing with the way he bit it while awaiting your response, you couldn’t help but wrap your arms around his neck and pull him in until your lips collided.

It felt like fireworks, the way his lips moved perfectly with yours. It was like nothing you had ever experienced before. Granted, you were never too occupied when it came to your love life, but Sirius was the best kisser you’d ever come across. His hands were planted on the small of your back, bringing your body even closer to his, and your hands raked through his luscious hair.

Pulling away and ignoring the small complaint that left his lips, you smiled at the boy, “Yes, I like you too, Sirius.”

Despite the fact that you had just kissed him, his eyes still lit up brighter than you had ever seen before. “Really? Are you serious?”

“No,” you laughed, the teasing glint in your eyes telling him exactly what you were about to say next. “You’re Sirius.”

He threw his head back and groaned at the joke, “Merlin, you’re perfect.” And then he pulled you in once more. 

The kiss, this time, was more heated, more intense than the first. It was hungrier, with your lips mashing together and your teeth clashing. But it was still filled with love. Filled with the thing Sirius had fought for when he approached you that day in the Great Hall. Filled with the thing he was desperate to gain when he offered you that golden snitch after his Quidditch game. Filled with what he hoped to receive when he bought you that Muggle book you were obsessing over. And most importantly, filled with the very thing that took over when he saw you at the Black Lake, terrified of what would happen if he lost you. 

You were both so engrossed in the kiss that you didn’t even notice the door creaking open. James, Remus and Peter peeked through the small crack to find you and Sirius all over each other, your hands tangled in his hair and his hands inching lower. 

Remus smirked at the curly-haired boy squatting next to him, holding his hand out with a cocky grin. Annoyed, James pulled ten galleons out of his pocket and begrudgingly placed it into his best friend’s palm, but all three of them knew that no matter who lost the bet and no matter how annoying Sirius would get later on, they were all just happy that you two were happy.

[freesia-writes]

Ch 11: Farmer's Market

~ Master List ~ Previous Chapter ~ WC: 3.1k

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The Town Square Farmer’s Market was a glorious cacophony of colors, sights, and sounds, and nearly everyone on the island crammed into the large cobblestoned area to peruse the various wares for sale, to snack from a plethora of food vendors, and to socialize in groups both large and small. There were breads and baskets, fruits and flowers, and vegetables of all kinds. Local artisans displayed their creations, and various opportunities and upcoming events were advertised at informational tables. 

One of these tables was occupied by Echo, who had commandeered Hunter and Crosshair to promote a new class that would soon be offered at his Defense Training Academy. While the school as a whole was a rigorous and in-depth program with the goal of preparing a makeshift military to ensure the island’s safety in case of invasion or attack, he’d received repeated requests for smaller-scale civilian opportunities. After a bit of brainstorming and discussion, the brothers had agreed to offer some one-day workshops for personal self-defense. There was very little crime on the island, mostly consisting of young scallywags trying to exert premature independence by stealing or vandalizing, but Echo firmly believed that there was no such thing as too much precaution, and he wasn’t alone in the sentiment.

It was an uncharacteristically warm day, providing a nice reprieve from the chilly weather of late. Cheerful music drifted across the plaza as people milled about, occasionally stopping at the DTA table to ask questions or enroll. When a sufficient crowd had gathered nearby, Echo announced that a quick demonstration was about to take place, catching the attention of other passersby. He explained the benefits of knowing how to protect yourself against a variety of attacks, then gestured to Hunter and Crosshair for the first scenario.

“I hope this makes you happy,” Hunter muttered, playing the part of the assailant. He was better at hand-to-hand by nature and by engineering, and they both knew it. So it took a particularly bitter amount of humility to intentionally allow himself to be bested by the sniper, although the tables would be turned in the next example.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be gentle,” Crosshair hissed beneath his breath, blocking a sudden swing and twisting Hunter around with an awkwardly bent elbow, pulling him against his front and pausing while Echo narrated. They stayed that way for a moment before breaking apart, preparing for the next encounter. This time it was Hunter who would be defending, and he caught a somewhat malicious glint in Crosshair’s eye as they squared up to each other. 

Echo described the setting and approach, then the brothers moved into action. But what was supposed to be a simple surprise attack from behind turned into a swipe of the legs, dropping Hunter on his butt with a less-than-graceful thump. Crosshair was on him in a flash, but he was ready, twisting in a catlike motion to launch his brother backward with a well-placed foot. Springing to his feet, they were on each other immediately, swapping blows and blocks with lightning-fast precision. Perhaps it had been a rough week, or there had been some built-up angst in the silver-haired soldier, but Hunter could sense his frustration rising. 

A flashback came unbidden, transporting Hunter to the training facility on Kamino, where he had tried to convince Crosshair to leave the Empire and rejoin them, but their chat had been interrupted by the sudden activation of wave upon wave of droids. They’d grappled then as they did now, with Crosshair’s attacks being messy and scattered whereas Hunter’s were tight and precise. A particularly wide swing gave Hunter an opening, and he charged, wrapping both arms around Crosshair’s waist and bringing them both to the ground, where he pinned him quickly.

“What is wrong with you?” Hunter panted, tufts of hair falling in his face as he looked down at the narrowed eyes of the sniper. But a wry grin curved across Crosshair’s thin face in response, and he jerked his chin toward the crowd. Following his gaze, Hunter noticed that they had attracted quite an audience, all of whom were staring at them in hushed amazement with wide eyes and open mouths. 

“Thought we’d give them a real show,” Crosshair muttered, pushing Hunter off as he released him. Echo was glaring daggers at the two, having been left out of this particular plan, but his indignation was short-lived as his table was immediately flooded with awestruck onlookers clamoring to learn how to do that. Hunter rose to his feet, brushing off his shirt and extending a hand to Crosshair, who took it with a satisfied grin, then rested a gentle hand on Hunter’s shoulder. “Good job.” 

“You could have told me,” Hunter huffed.

“What’s the fun in that?” came the provoking reply.

“Hot dang, that was awesome!” a bright voice rang out, distracting the two from their lighthearted stare-down. Luciana had pushed her way through the crowd, clapping her hands together as she beamed at each of them in turn. “Where did you pick up all that?” 

“It’s all from Echo’s magnificent teaching,” Crosshair said with affectionate sarcasm. 

“Man. I’ve gotta get me some of that!” Luciana giggled. “Those were the fastest moves I’ve ever seen.” Her congenial pat on Crosshair’s shoulder slowly shifted into a slow stroke down his spine that momentarily threw him off his game with a confusing mixture of aversion and flattery. He sniffed disdainfully, repositioning his shoulders before leaving to join Echo at the table without another word. Unaffected, Luci turned to Hunter, rosy cheeks framing her winning smile as she continued, “Want to try me?” 

“What?” Hunter hadn’t the slightest idea what she was asking. Surely it wasn’t an invitation to fake an attack on her, after what she’d seen? Perhaps this was more of her flirting? She reached up to carefully remove her colorfully beaded earrings, one at a time, and tucked them into her sling purse before tossing it off to the side. Pulling a stupefied Hunter onto a grassy knoll, she tightened the bandana that was tied around her messy red curls atop her head before squaring up to him.

“Come on,” she said playfully, “Get me.”

“Get you…?” he echoed, still dumbfounded. She was wearing flowy white pants and a small, white crop top with lace sleeves that rested below each shoulder. A golden piercing sparkled in her belly button, accentuated by the low-rise of her pants, and she moved forward, pushing him in the chest in an impish challenge. Hunter’s mouth went dry, hands awkwardly clasping and releasing at his side.

“I can take you, Xyrgio,” Luci goaded, making a kissy face at him. “Unless you’re afraid of messing up your hair?”

“I mean… alright…?” Hunter said, calculating the swiftest way to end it with minimal risk of hurting her… or touching something he shouldn’t. He really didn’t see a point to all this, but she didn’t seem to be inclined to let him off the hook anytime soon. Better to get it over with when it seemed inevitable.

Without warning, he leapt around her side, bringing an arm up to brace it across her collarbone, his entire focus centering on avoiding certain areas and being gentle. But she wasn’t so soft, moving far too quickly as she steadied herself with a foot behind, grabbing Hunter’s forearm with both hands and throwing her torso forward, using a calculated pivot point to catapult him over her shoulders. He landed on his back in front of her, too shocked to be insulted as the wind whooshed out of his lungs, and he stared up at her with an open mouth as she stood over him, upside down in his slightly blurred vision. 

“Told ya so!” she chirped happily, giving Crosshair a wiggly-fingered wave as he clapped loudly from the table behind them. “Sorry, was that too much?” she asked, reaching down to grab both Hunter’s hands and attempting to pull him up to his feet. It took him a second to be anything more than dead weight, but he eventually stood up, regaining his composure with a slightly flustered grin. 

“Looks like you know a thing or two,” he muttered, rubbing the small of his back. She adjusted her top, scooping her breasts up to restore the perfectly-curved cleavage, and neatly tugged her sleeves to lay gently across each bicep. 

“When you’ve been as many places as I have, you’ve got to have a few tricks up your sleeve. Especially in my lines of work,” Luci said, giving him a suggestive wink before moving to cup his cheek. “But don’t worry, I won’t beat you up anytime soon.”

Hunter chuckled absently, still not sure what to do. Fortunately, he was spared from any further humiliation by a sudden hug from Luciana, a pat on the chest, and a chipper goodbye as she darted off to buy fruit, or meet a friend, or whatever she’d said as she disappeared. Not a second had passed before Crosshair appeared with the biggest smug grin Hunter had ever seen, and that was saying a lot. 

“Maybe she should be teaching the class…” he remarked, dodging the elbow Hunter threw at him. 

“What was I supposed to do with that?” a flustered Hunter asked, more genuine than rhetorical. Crosshair shrugged in response, pulling a toothpick from his pocket and lazily tucking it into the corner of his mouth.

“I would have kicked her ass.”

* * * 

Early afternoon found the team packing up, the Market dwindling as everyone’s commerce and conversations finished. Hunter and Echo remained, putting the last of the table supplies into a cart drawn by one of the island fathiers, which were used frequently by the locals for everything from farm labor to recreational riding. The two clones paused by the cart, Echo giving Hunter an unreadable look.

“What?”

“You and Cross alright? That seemed a little heated.”

“I never know,” Hunter sighed. “He’s been a little edgy since he started at the observatory. He said it was just to impress the crowd.”

“Well, it worked…” Echo noted with a dry chuckle. 

“Meh. He’s always got something up his–”

“Hello!” Echo interrupted, nodding behind Hunter to Lyra, who had approached from the last stall of the market. A large canvas bag slung over her shoulder was full of flowers and fruits, providing a pop of color against the loose sage green jumpsuit she wore beneath a long beige cardigan. 

“Hi,” Lyra said sheepishly, offering a small wave to both. “I was told I had to come see the fighting.”

“Oh really,” Hunter said, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. “And who told you that?”

“I don’t even know,” she chuckled, “But it sounded like the showdown of the century.”

“It felt like the cheap shot of the century,” Hunter grumbled, hand returning to his back where his spine had hit a particularly hard patch of dirt. 

“Aww, I’m sorry,” she said sincerely, “You hurt?”

“No.” His answer was almost too fast, and Echo bit back a smirk at the thinly-veiled indignation.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I can barely walk after yesterday,” Lyra offered, patting her own backside. She was of course referring to the tumble she’d taken down the beach cliff, landing squarely on her tailbone on the rocky shore beneath, but Echo knew nothing about that, a loud guffaw bursting out of him.

“Oh really?” he said, turning toward Hunter with an overly-dramatic tilt of the head. If looks could kill, he would have been dissolved on the spot, but he was free to waggle his eyebrows and nod enthusiastically. “Sounds like you two have been having some fun!”

Lyra may have been a little awkward, but she was no spring chicken, and she clapped a hand over her mouth, face turning bright red. It was endearing enough to distract Hunter from the eighteen different ways he was considering how to skewer Echo alive, and he shook his head to clear the thoughts as she spluttered.

“Oh gosh, no, not like that, I just meant…” she paused for an incredibly nervous laugh, “I fell when we were hiking, and landed on my butt, and… Geez. Well, nice to meet you.” She finished by burying her entire face in her hands for a moment before lifting it to look at Echo. 

“At ease, soldier,” Echo teased, ignoring Hunter’s suddenly sharp look. But Echo had an excuse for the potentially-identifying language that the others didn’t, with the Training Academy and what he’d shared about his own history of being in the private military of some abstract, remote planet. It was Hunter who remained paranoid in comparison, still carrying his lifelong vigilance to protect his family in any situation. Echo offered her his hand, which she shook as weakly as she smiled, “The name’s Echo. And you must be Lyra.”

“Yes. Echo. Hi,” she offered. “Hunter and I are just friends,” she blurted out, causing Echo to do his best to stifle another laugh. The phrase created an odd sensation for Hunter, but he pushed the thoughts away.

“Yes. I’ve heard,” Echo nodded. “It’s good. Hunter could use some friends.” The aforementioned (ex) Sergeant took advantage of Lyra’s distraction as she shifted her canvas bag from one shoulder to the other to swiftly stick an elbow in Echo’s ribs, dropping his arm back to his side as Lyra straightened and nodded to both of them.

“Well I’ll add this to my list of wildly successful introductions,” she said with a self-effacing sarcasm that brought a little grin to Echo’s face. “And I’ll see you both soon, perhaps?” 

“At the first self-defense class, right?” Echo said in earnest. “It could be quite useful, you know. Especially hanging out with these types.” He jerked his head in Hunter’s direction. “Although he did get thrown by a girl earlier so maybe it would be unnecessary…”

“Ooohhhh-kay. Thanks Echo. Lyra, you’ve met him. Echo, this is Lyra. Both of you, nice to meet each other… All that... Time to go,” Hunter burst out, having had as much as he could take of Echo’s merciless ribbing. The mischievous brother and Lyra shared a smile and wave as Hunter gently took her by the elbow, steering her back toward The Market, which was almost entirely cleared by that point. “Sorry. He’s an idiot,” he muttered, letting go of her arm quickly as though just realizing he was touching it. 

“It’s alright,” she chuckled, “I kinda set him up for that.”

“Yeah,” Hunter agreed, giving her a warm glance before returning his eyes to the path ahead. “He doesn’t need much ammunition to take it and run.”

“He sounds like fun,” she said sincerely. Then, more quietly, “It seems nice to be surrounded by family.” There was a wistfulness to her tone, and a heaviness settled on her shoulders that Hunter wanted to ask about. But her body language was clearly closed, so he didn’t press.

“Most of the time,” he quipped.

They shared a smile, then continued walking toward the business district called The Cobbles, weaving their way through the tall structures of town on the wide paths that zig-zagged down the side of the hill. It was somewhat steep at times, but the locals had built everything cleverly into the side of the land, taking advantage of the gentler slopes and trees to nestle each home and apartment building along the trails. The Town Square wasn’t much higher than The Cobbles, since both made up the relative center of the village, and they were passing the central garden in about fifteen minutes. It was a small, stone-walled community area full of flowers, vegetables, herbs, and a few trees, with a large fountain in the middle that contributed a soothing sound. 

Lyra paused at the gate, wrapping both hands around the strap of her bag. Hunter followed suit, glancing at her in curiosity as he’d assumed she’d either join him to his butcher shop or continue past The Cobbles to her cottage. 

“I bought some flower bulbs today, mostly for my garden, but I thought a few would be a nice addition here,” she explained. 

“Got it,” Hunter nodded, absently running a hand over his dark, tousled hair. He’d left his bandana behind him for the most part, except on occasion, and with Omega’s insistence had sometimes opted for a man bun atop his head, with scattered pieces still falling around his neck and shoulders. “Uhh, you going to the lunar festival?”

“Yeah, for a little while at least. It’s… quite the party…” she said, clearly conveying her distaste. It wasn’t judgmental or dismissive, just an acknowledgment of something they both shared – an aversion to excessively loud, raucous situations with large crowds and lots going on. “You?”

“We’ll all be there.”

“Okay, well if I see you, there’s one particular food stand with goodies from Plata that you absolutely have to try. If you want.”

“Deal.”

She rummaged in her bag, seeking the bulbs she’d mentioned, and it seemed as though neither of them could bring themselves to walk away. Hunter shifted his weight, tucking a hand into his pocket, and then finally took a deep breath, giving her one last smile and nod, and turned toward his shop.

“Oh, Hunter?” she said softly. The way she made his name sound surprised him through and through, sending a wave of warmth and tingles through him with its smoothness and the slight grit in her voice. He swung around to face her again with an inquisitive look.

“Yeah?”

“You got thrown by a girl?” She said it so simply and innocently that he couldn’t help but laugh, rubbing the back of his neck before lifting his eyes to the sky.

“Yeah. The bartender from the tiki bar on the beach… uh… She wanted me to try to attack her, or something… Because Echo was advertising his classes and Crosshair and I were displaying some techniques.. And I… Well, she… She was insisting, and I didn’t…” His increasingly flustered attempt to explain was as frustrating to him as it was adorable to her. “I was trying to be gentle and careful and… well, she wasn’t.”

“I’m sorry,” Lyra said, lips pressed together somewhere between a smile and a smirk. 

���I should have known better,” he admitted dryly. 

“Bah,” she shook her head, her usual warm self. “Women can be treacherous.” With a grin and wave, they went their separate ways.

.

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[kneelingshadowsalome]

okay okay…how would konig propose to reader?would he do it because he really loves her or he wants a wife? i keep trying to wrap my head around him being romantic, but idk if he is able to be tbh

You know, I’m reading this biography of Arnold Schwarzenegger (Total Recall… lol) and he proposed to Maria Shriver on a lake holiday ;__; Like, they were in this boat Arnold was rowing around and I thought: this is so König coded!

So yep König would take his girl on a boat ride so that she can’t escape when he pops the question. He also wants to propose in the most romantic, intimate possible setting! It doesn't hurt that it's midsummer too, the birds are singing and bees are buzzing and flowers are blooming and there’s a soft breeze playing in her hair, perhaps she’s wearing a dress again because it’s so hot.

König has a tendency of losing his shirt every now and then, but this time, he will intentionally leave it on the shore as the day is one of the hottest summer days yet, and he knows he will get sweaty when he rows that little boat. His Engel suspects nothing, the cutest girl in the world just takes in the lake view, not paying attention to how this guy is rowing a little too enthusiastically for it to be a short simple joy ride on a hot summer day…

And then he just suddenly stops, deciding this is as good a spot as any, puts the oars away and reaches for his pocket. He doesn’t even get to say the words before her hands fly on her mouth when she sees he’s pulling out a ring. König was supposed to drop on one knee and ask for her hand but Engel starts to cry from happiness and he is so excited to go to her and put the ring on her finger that he capsizes the whole thing.

Our overexcited hero then has to save his angel from drowning and the ring slips and ends up somewhere at the bottom of the lake. König spends the rest of the afternoon diving to get it back while Engel relaxes on the grass, naked, trying to dry their clothes in the sun and admiring what a great lung capacity her future husband has O_o deep diving for the ring for like 15 times before he finally finds it and brings it to her, rising from the lake like some Olympian God, muscles wet and bronzed in the sun, smiling so, so wide when he finally gets on one knee before his lady ❤️ They’re both naked like Adam & Eve in paradise, the world around them is like it was the first day when God created it... It’s not what König had planned, but in a way it’s even more romantic than his original idea!

And as for your question does he truly love reader or simply wants a wife… Well, both!? People always say it’s girls who traditionally dream about getting married but in König’s case, he was the boy who dreamed he would some day win a girl and get to take them home as a prize take care of them.

He has never been a dating kinda guy, if König gets up close and personal with you, his main goal is to propose at some point. (Imagine if you wanted a relationship but didn’t want to get married because of this reason or that, didn’t see it necessary or smth, and König would be like… "Ok…" and internally cry himself to sleep :'( )

Not relevant to this but Arnold 'The Austrian Oak' also blurted to Maria’s mom that her daughter has "a nice butt" first time he met the Kennedy family. I cackled. I think that's so autistic/awkward/cringefail König coded too.

[salternateunreality2]

Sephiroth, but instead of eldrich-horror-from-outer-space, Gast, Hojo and Lucrecia didn't mess up and injected him with actual cetran cells, so he's way less dark, mysterious and depressed and way more of a hippy goofball. They send him to a battle and he wanders off to smell some flowers

Hojo: KILL THE BUNNY, SEPHIROTH.

Sephiroth: BUNNY!!! *picks up bun, snuggles, listens to bun* Hmm, ok, I'll tell him. The bunny says you're a monster. And that her name is Fluffaggedon, Empress of Darkness, and you're going to die. *whispers with the bun*

Hojo: ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!! JUST KILL IT!!!!

Lucrecia: He can talk to animals?! I only went to get cigarettes 3 years ago and he's already developed this much?!?!

Hojo: YES THAT IS HOW BABIES WORK.

Lucrecia: Neato mosquito. Any eldritch horrors we have yet to unearth? Maybe he can befriend them!

Hojo: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

Fluffaggedon: *twitches her nose*

Sephiroth: Awesome! Let's go! *escapes the labs for the 47th time that day, finds a herd of chocobos, becomes weirdly obsessed with the baby chicks*

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

A few years later...

Sephiroth: I'm going to get cigarettes!

Hojo: STOP SAYING THAT EVERY TIME YOU TRY TO ESCAPE! I am at my wit's end with you, you worthless-

Sephiroth: Maybe I'll run into my egg donor while I'm out!

Hojo: *finds the nearest paper bag to hyperventilate into*

Sephiroth, when he gets to newborn!Cloud's crib: Look, Fluffaggedon, there he is!

Cloud: 🐣

Fluffaggedon: *waggles tail*

Claudia: Um, hello?

Sephiroth: We love your child. He is the one. We will adopt him and be his friend and follow him to the ends of the earth.

Cloud: BUH 🐣

Claudia: Uhhh...would you like a snack? While I call your parents?

Sephiroth: No thank you, my parents are pretty evil and neglectful, and I would prefer to spend my time staring at your baby in wonder.

Claudia: ...

Sephiroth: 😍

Fluffaggedon: *cleans ear*

Claudia: ...okey-dokey, artichokey.

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

A few months later....

Claudia: Sephiroth, kiddo, please don't bring animals that will poop on the floor inside the house anymore, Cloud is teething and will try to eat anything.

Sephiroth: 😍 You are a wise and kind mother. Will you be mine?

Claudia: Yeah, sure, works for me. Grilled cheese or pasta for l-

Sephiroth: PASTA! 😍😍😍

Fluffaggedon: *happy butt wiggles*

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

A few years later...

Sephiroth: Mother, I need to go get cigarettes in Midgar, there is a child who needs me.

Claudia: Well, we need to start packing then. You get yourself ready and when you're done, come help me with Cloud's stuff.

Cloud: 🐣NO I HELP SEPH. AND I DO IT MYSELF.

Claudia: Whatever gets the boat afloat.

Fluffaggedon: *wise whisker twitches*

Hojo: *knocks on the door*

Sephiroth: *opens the door* Hello, asshole. Mother, this is my sperm donor. Sperm donor, this is my mother. We're going out to get cigarettes together.

Hojo: WHAT THE FUCK, YOU WERE HERE THE WHOLE TIME!?!?!?

Sephiroth: Yep. Leave now. *slams the door*

Fluffaggedon: *pushes a plant out of the window above the front door, almost kills Hojo, who leaves*

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

In Midgar...

Jailbreak for Ifalna, Aerith, and Nanaki, but Sephiroth's primary goal is in the slums.

--

Sephiroth: Hello, soulmate. You may share my mother now that yours is dead. Come along.

Lazard: What the actual fuck.

Sephiroth: This is my Cloud. Say hello, Cloud!

Cloud: If you huwt Sephy, I kiww you.

Lazard: What the actual fuck.

Claudia: I mean same, he's my kid, but if you need a place to stay, I'm collecting children. Apparently.

Lazard: Well ok then.

Sephiroth: *happiest kitten*

----------

Hojo dies of an aneurysm when he finds the note Sephiroth left behind.

"Ugly Sperm Donor,

Fluffaggedon says it is time. Goodbye, and good riddance.

Sincerely,

Sephiroth Strife 🌸🦋"

[kanmom51]

Run BTS Mini field day - Part 2

Part 2 of part 2...

Cr./to the creators of media used in this post.

So, where were we?

Oh, yes, slippery soccer.

Let the games begin.

On the right we have the blue team - JM, RM, Hobi and Suga.

On the left we have the red team - Tae, Jin and JK.

Now let's just have at it, cause hectic is too calm of a word to call what went on there, lol.

There's no way I can describe everything that went on there, and I don't intend to. I will also not share who won this round.

Like I said GO WATCH IT. It's definitely worth it.

What I will do is share some moments with you all. Cute moments. Funny moments. Lovely moments.

So, let's get it.

I guess there will be no forgetting that name for JM in the near future, lol.

I think, although this isn't by order of things happening in the episode, that I will start with Jin and his cahoonas.

Cause why not?

If only for the comic effect...

JK's reaction. 🤣 🤣

After all, this is serious business we're talking about.

JM was finding it hard to stay up on his feet, lol.

And there's more.

I did tell you we had butt slapping, didn't I?

Well I also gave you the first installment of it in my post a couple of days ago.

But there was more butt.

Hey, no complaining. I didn't say it was all tuppy tuppy handsy handsy.

Ok ok, if you insist, here's some handsy stuff too.

We got the hug.

JM wanted that hug so bad.

For scoring a goal that is.

Now, this was hilarious.

Jin, being hit in the balls, got a penalty kick, which Hobi kind of stopped, only to hit JM right in the head and wham, straight into the goal.

But yeah, he finally got to get his hug. With a member of the opponent team...

And we got it from a different angle than in the promo.

Just look at that smile.

Found it kind of funny that none of them had a word to say about JM hugging a member of the opposite team. All RM had to comment was to the legitimacy of him even getting a hug. 🤣

JM and JK are still relatively kinda clean at this point (well, JM has some soapy pants, but yet to be soaked).

And then the chaos begins.

The game is surprisingly close. And the red team have a tactic they try to put in place which involves JK holding on to JM and RM so Jin can score the goal,

a tactic to be utilized by JM a little later and it somehow ends up like this:

That growl JK...

(Disclosure: The JM climbing on JK bit, was in the promos, but not in the actual episode (we knew as much, didn't we?) and it was inserted into this edit by the clip's creator.)

And Tae, is that him enjoying them rolling in the soap, adding more lubrication or him trying to cool them down? Just one more life mystery. Lmao.

But also, there was clearly editing going on there. We have been fooled once again folks. BH editors depriving us of some evidently (I mean look at what's going on there) good Jikook content.

One thing I ask myself about whatever it was that was going on there, and that is: what the hell did it have to do, if at all, with playing soccer? 🤣 

Game ended, and one hug, evidently, was clearly not enough.

And breaking it down.

After the games ended, the winners were announced, Jin got a gold medal as well announcing he got 1st place with Astronaut at M countdown,

and the hectic couple, a.k.a. Jikook, took over the final MCing.

Bonus: A little bit of cutie Koo.

and a little bit of cutie Jiminie.

This is what they had to say at the end:

I can't help but wonder how the flowers ended up with JM.

Bridal bouquet?

And just for fun, I love ending my posts with a little reminder from this episode, something to carry us for a little while longer, you know, till 2025. 😭 😭

[blucassiopeia]

Thunder and Lightning

"A prelude spin-off for an upcoming fic"

warnings: afab!reader, long courtship, fluff, goal-driven individual, 9.2k LONG

A Kageyama Tobio x reader oneshot

a/n: inspired by this

“‘You ever think about us?” He asks me after a night out. We were sitting on my porch, waiting for his cab.

“Of course I do. I think a lot about how timing really is everything. We had the chemistry, we had the love. We had the whole universe; except for that one little detail; we weren’t ready for each other.”

We look at each other for the first time in years; and just like back then, there is so much love in our glance. And yet, somehow the timing is still not right. And it seems this is how it will always be for the two of us — just like thunder and lightning — our timing will always be a little off.” — CCZ

It was raining on a March afternoon and the end of the school year is nearing; and you're still here, listening to your english lit teacher reading a literature she likes the class to make an essay out. You can't help but sigh as you rest your chin in your hand, staring out to the rain as it pours outside the building.

The english lit will be the last class before homeroom and you can't wait to have the day dismissed to be in that place again, like yesterday, like the years before. Karasuno High just doesn't have that sport and the venue so you still have to travel 15 mins to Sendai, so...

You heard her giggle beside you and she poked your arm. "Let's go out during homeroom, Y/n. Our adviser's in a meeting with the others anyway."

You hummed and slouched on your chair, sighing more than usual. The day feels a little off for you, like a pending hurricane about to happen, if the rain outside isn't it.

"Just let him do his thing, Ran. Don't meddle."

"But, Keii~"

You heard a raspy chuckle at your back and you tried to ignore it. You don't even have the energy to butt in, wondering what's wrong with you. You feel your brows furrowing at the confusion.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the current class and you had closed your eyes in relief. You quickly got up and turned to your bestfriendーwell, you don't know if you are to her but she is to you. "Restroom."

She stared at you and nodded, smiling. She has a bunch of chocolates and plushies all over her desk and under, and you have too but not as much as hers. You smirked at the thought as you made your way to the floor's restroom. Ran's pretty famous in Karasuno, much more outside of school because of her achievements, skills and reputation. Her boyfriend's(?) nice, you met him once. And she's too dense for the others on her big circle of friends.

You shook your head then you wash your face in the sink, and as soon as you are through, you went back to your room to rest your seem-heavy body. Well, tried.

"Y/n! Can you be my girlfriend?"

That line shook the hell out of you, much like the thunder outside, but more thunderous when the boy, still bowing in front of you, small bouquet of flowers in hand, is in your room with all your classmates staring at the scene. You tried to open your mouth, to say something but no words were pulled from your tongue. Your eyes darted to the amber-eyed boy that's already grinning, eyes not on you, poking on Ran's shoulders that's grinding her teeth, seated on a chair behind the boy.

"Can I court you, you idiot! I told you!"

Your eyes returned to the dark-haired boy, ignoring Ran's comment and stammered a "DoーHa-Who are you? Do I know you?", still in shock. Yeah, there are chocolates and some other stuffs under your desk but no one dared to ask you out like this.

The golden haired boyーKeiーstiffled a laugh to which Ran slapped his shoulder so hard Kei got knocked to the side, to the boy beside him.

"No. Umー"

After he placed the bouquet on Ran's desk, which was behind him, he walked out to the door, head still low, to where an orange-haired boy was waiting for him, jaw dropped and wide-eyed. You recognized him instantly, how could you not? He's Hinata Shoyo of the volleyball team. Your wide-eyes turned to Ran who has her jaw already dropped at you, too. Laughs soon resounded through your classroom and you felt your cheeks burned as you saw him laugh too.

"God, it's bad to laugh but, seriously Y/n? Who are you? Do I know you?" And he laughed again, and your cheeks can't get any redder.

"Shut it, Tadashi!" Ran snapped at him and you feel your world swirled. "Oh my God, Y/n. You don't know Kageyama Tobio? Really now? Andーughh oh my goood!" She covered her face with her hands and exasperatedly ran it to her hair.

"Hey! What Tadashi huh? That's Guchi-guchi for you."

Huh? Kageyama Tobio? The star-setter of the prefecture? Ran'sーyou don't really know much about her friends and team except Shoyo, Kei and the other oneーfriend? Why would he be in your classroom and ask that question to you? You gripped the nearby chair as your world really swirled.

"ーKei. She knows him. She was just maybe shocked? I don't know."

"Somehow feel bad for Ou-sama butー"

His laughs with Kei's woke the rest of your senses. You were blinded by the light but it was immediately shadowed by three poking heads. You groaned as you felt your hot breaths, you can even feel your ears and eyes burning too. You blinked twice as your vision adjusted, tears forming in the corners of your eyes due to the burning feeling.

"A boy you didn't know surely had a fever effect on you, Y/n. I wish I had that effect on Yachi-san too."

"Wanna do it like Ou-sama?"

"No, no. I'll do it much better."

"Get out. Both of you."

Kei and Tadashi mumbled through their breaths, pouting and blaming each other as they got up and really went out of the clinic to go on with their topic.

"So noisy." Ran mumbled as she ghosted a hand on your forehead. Your lips curled up slightly at the gesture. "You're still hot. I used your phone earlier, texted your brother to get you. 39°C Y/n, can't believe you really went to school like this."

You smiled at her. "No fever this morning. Maybe because of the cold rain." And you were surprised your voice got hoarse. You swallowed hard and felt a pain in your throat, eyes squinting at the feeling.

Liar. You stayed up there all night until your legs hurt because you can't sleep. That's why you're burning up right now.

"Is she okay?"

You heard a new but familiar voice out of ajared door of the clinic. It's that same boy from before you fainted. You chewed your cheeks, remembering what'd happened.

"The girl that doesn't know you is already awake, Tobio."

"Don't tease Ou-sama like that. Should be hardーHey! Where are you going?"

Ran quickly got up on her seat and peeked at the door. You could see her glaring at Kei and Tadashi through the slight gap of the curtain from your bed. The duo behind the door went silent by it.

"Go ahead to the practice when homeroom's over. I'll wait for Y/n's brother." She went back to your side and sat at her chair while dialing in her phone. "You're still dizzy, Y/n?"

You shook your head and smiled.

"Tobio, can you please please gather Y/n's things and bring it here in the clinic?ーAh, no butsーYes, Tobio. Let the two idiots help you if you can't do it alone.ーYes. Bye."

She sighed and looked at you, her smile felt tired. "Don't know what to feel, really. But we'll talk after your fever's gone, okay?"

You nodded and suddenly felt drowsy all of a sudden through her silent hums and peaceful atmosphere, with the still calming rain outside. Can't practice today, huh. You're dumb, Y/n.

Embarassing.

Embarassing.

You're embarassing, Kageyama Tobio!

If people hasn't seen a much grumpier Tobio, then they would see it now as he trots through the halls to your classroom, Class 2-4. Still irritated about Kei and Tadashi's teasing, and Ran's favor that includes your things. Wait, scratch the latter, it's not irritating if it includes you.

He noticed Shoyo came out of his room to peek on him, and he hated how his eyes linger on him. Tobio glared at him as he passes but Shoyo ignored it and followed him to your classroom anyway.

And Tobio ignored the wide eyes, snickers and murmurs when he entered your room, went straight to your desk and plop on your chair scanning your things before carefully organizing your things into your cute bag. It was not long when the two idiots Ran mentioned came back from the clinic, brows up in his figure, and seating back to their respective chairs just behind your desk and Ran's.

"She has gifts too, under."

"Help me." He growled at Tadashi who just grinned at him, still feeling the aftershock of the embarassment an hour ago, but it was not long too when Tadashi decided to help. Because there were really many small ones, compared to Ran's big packs of chocolates.

Tobio noticed Shoyo hovering, watching, keeping an eye at the chocolates and on Tobio, pale orange brows furrowed and lips upturning to a pout. "She rejected you."

The two idiots didn't really tried hard to suppress their laughs, much to his dismay, but he just ignored them and continued on picking up the chocolates. Until he found a box with a familiar name on it.

It was a box of chocolates from a boy in his class. His face soured at the sight of strawberry and cream colored chocolates under the transparent film and tossed the box to Kei's desk. "Snack." And the three guffawed, immediately dividing the chocolates inside to four.

Tobio kept inspecting your chocolates, tossing the ones from the senders that he knew to Kei's desk like the first one. And he stopped at one in a little pouch, read the tag and snapped his scalding eyes to Tadashi who immediately raised his hands in surrender.

"Obligatory! Got a same one for Ran and Yachi-san too! Look! The same rose colored pouch!" Tobio readily ignored him and tossed the pouch to Kei's desk while Shoyo rummaged in Ran's chocolates too.

"Hey! Put that back in her pile!"

The three went as noisy as they get while sorting your chocolates, leaving Kei in an immeasurable agony in the wake of his realization that he forgot his headphones. "I hate White Day."

Your classmates stared at the scene at the back of their classroom, enjoying the way Tobio didn't deny them the showcase of his possessiveness in terms of who must give you chocolates. And he thinks you might hate him after this but he pleads in his mind that you'll be patient with him for he doesn't know how to act when it comes to youーhis first romantic feeling. He shall maybe ask Ran for advice on how to act, which he already did and obviously failed but it's all on his incompetence, or an advice from his sister Miwa. He closed his eyes as he pictures her sister's grinning and teasing.

"What. Are you four. FUCKING. Doing?"

Tobio saw Ran entered the room and immediately was seething when she assessed the situation, saw the pile of chocolates in Kei's desk, and on a plastic bag dangling in the side of your desk, and on Shoyo who was already munching out of a box of chocolates in Kei's desk, Tadashi in mid-pick from it, too.

Tobio pouted as he turned his head away from her eyes and immediately gathered the rest of your chocolates and stuffed it all in the plastic bag he pulled from one of your classmate for your chocolates. And with the flowers he bought for you, he stood and left with your things in his arms.

When he reached the clinic's door, the little flowers he purposely picked wrapped in delicate rose gold wrapping paper shake and it was a while when he realized it was his hand that's shaking. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, creasing the paper more in his hold. Then he opened the door.

There are a few moments that left Tobio scared and running, or extensive fear that'll leave him dead, that'll make him wish he's dead. Being abandoned by his teammates, being left out, or Ran, Oikawa, or the both of them.. and Atsumu, too. But Ran's the scariest of the people out there, or maybe his sister when he'll leave his dirty dishes in the sink. Orー

This.

He thought you were still sleeping. He thought he was gonna just drop your things beside your sleeping figure, and maybe revel at your sleeping face a few seconds to engrave in his mind for the days to come, and then leave silently. He thought gravely wrong.

Your attention turned to him, cutting off the conversation you had with your brother at the sudden sound of the clinic's door opening. Tobio's knees was buckling when you met his dark blue eyes, and he somehow melted on the spot.

"Yes?"

And Tobio's eyes fell on a boy older than him, might already a college student ,he thought. Tobio was sensing a protective stance from the older boy as he glides in the room achingly slow and guard up like a prey carefully prancing to a predator's cave praying to go unnoticed and unscathed.

"My things!" In Tobio's peripherals, you attempted to jump out of bed but the boy beside you held you down in the bed. He fought the desire to look at your pale face and settled your things down carefully to an empty chair near your bed, his flowers on top of the pile.

He shuddered when he remembered what you'd said barely two hours ago, and he wanted to leave right now and he would. Tobio's bow was rushed and his feet was shuffling fast, covering the distance of your bed to the door when you suddenly called out a "Thank you, Kageyama!"

His shuffling momentum was hard to resist as he closed the door and took a few steps more before he registered what you just called him out for. He was left confused as he hastily made his way back to his own room, your words, your voice that he swears was like a siren calling onto him replaying in his mind like his GC ringtone. And he slowed down, relaxing his pace and a soft smile plastered in his face.

And the rest of the classroomsーinfested with his sheepish admirersーhe passed didn't let that sight pass by, and bet that they knew what happened in your classroom, an incident that got them bitter with you and of how you responded to their King. Yet no one will dare touch you as the days went by, afraid of the consequences of their pathetic bullying.

But you did mind Tobio's actions because one, your newfound haters would stare at your every move, much when you're alone. You wanted to confront them but it might ignite something that shouldn't, so you let them.

Two, the note Tobio left with his irises are bugging you til you fall asleep, for nights.

swearing 'am not a stalker but seeing you gliding thru ice with confidence gives warmth in me to strive harder in mine too. irises for you, my confidence.

You scoffed firsthand, thinking What confidence? He even walked out on me.; thinking about how did he knew about your sport. You were sure you were secretive because you didn't want to announce to the world what you're doing, and letting others see you compete and then, failing in front of their eyes. You don't like that. But the second time you stared and really look at the irises, it somehow gave you the same thing Tobio thought you gave him. And his penmanship somehowーdon't judge Y/n.

Third was this. Tadashi courting Hitoka and immediately getting a yes from her. If it happened a month before receiving the irises, you might already be crying your heart out to sleep. Strange. It wasn't as painful as you imagined it would be. Your unrequited feelings for Tadashi of a year was somehow wavering without you noticing. And it gave you confidence to talk to him eye to eye now, brave that he won't see anything other than genuine happiness for him and his girlfriend.

And fourth, you didn't hear from Tobio since that day. Sure, you dwell on the same floor, on the same building, and on the same school but no news of him, even at the slightest sighting. And you were curious why. You're sure he's thinking he was rejected, because that was what Ran told you when she talked to you about that as soon as your fever's gone. Shoyo reportedly assumed you rejected Tobio, and the whole Karasuno population was thinking that was it.

But no. God no.

You were clearly misunderstood, but no crying on spilled milk right now. You'd let the others think what they want to think. What bothers you is what Tobio might think of you.

"You're strange. But don't worry, he's okay with everything you can give him, Y/n. And he didn't gave up on you. Spoken directly from his mouth. Though, he's really really busy right now."

Ran was talking in a moderate tone, ignoring the fact that Kei and Tadashi might be listening to them even if they had their own conversation on your backs. And she winked at you.

"You're interested with Tobio now huh?"

You scoffed and sat against your chair properly. "No." But Ran didn't buy that answer as the events after that Friday held evidence.

Hyacinths with a bit of white tulips graced your desk as you came up that Monday and it smelled so sweet, it calmed your weary bones from the kind of practice you had that weekend. Your classmates present at that minute were already teasing you with Tobio and you just had to shake your head in hopes that they will stop with the teasing.

forgive me. i don't want to hover around and pressure you, impose myself to you. love watching you from afar doing things you love. still uncertain about what you think of this, and i care about that, but i'm not gonna give up on you. that, i assure you, my hyacinth.

"Ah, Y/n-san." Ashen colored hair peeked from the door and you remembered him from one of the boys that lingered with Ran last school year. You don't know his name, but his trademark hair had made you remember who he is, well, who was he. You pursed your lips thinking you don't have a clue on what was his name.

The boy bowed to your classmates in excuse and made his way to you, carrying a messily gift-wrapped box. He handed it to you, grinning. "He said you'll need it so use it."

"Huh? Whー"

"Just take it, Y/n-san. Please." He nudged the box on you when you pushed it slightly back to him. "They'll be late. Ran-san's scary today."

"Okay." You trailed your fingers to the flowery designed wrapper as you placed it on your desk. "What's your name?"

"Yokiro-des!"

You nodded, "Yokiro-kun, tell Kageyama-kun that I appreciate this, but he need not do this.." You trailed in your last phrase, which saddened the boy's face.

"Y/n-san, Kageyama-san's really smiling lately, and out of nowhere. He's also more focused on volleyball, heard him and Ran-san talking about working him off to get picked on World Youth camp this year."

Why was the kid telling you all this? You were maybe too confused that it reflected on your face to which he chuckled as more of your classmates piled into the room, eyeing you both.

"What I am saying is that, he's more motivated now because of you, and we are liking that change. Though, Suga-san said not to pressure you.. but please Y/n-san.. let him do these things to you." And he bowed in front of you, shocking you. You immediately held his shoulders to stop him from bowing, and he did, smiling as he straightened up his back.

"Kageyama-san's a good man, Y/n-san."

Tobio sneezed and sneezed as he went on setting for Shoyo for the spike-receive drill Ran had made them practice, Tadashi and Kei on the other side receiving.

"Are we not done yet?" Shoyo whispered to Tobio as Ran ranted out to Tadashi and Kei again.

But Tobio's attention wasn't with him, nor on Ran, nor anyone in the court. It was on the other side of the building, on a girl talking to his kouhai who he asked to give the gift.

"And you! Tobio! Why are your fingers bloody? It's smudging on their arms and hands!" Shoyo just noticed his hands and irked out, getting his towel and wiped his blood-smudged hands.

Tobio sighed and looked at Ran, "Can we go now? I can't fail any subjects this summer."

Ran scowled at him and walked out from the court. He sighed again and went for his tumbler in the side of the court.

"Thank you, Ou-sama."

"Oy! Ran! Your shoes!"

"I HATE YOU!"

In normal days, Tobio might've let Ran drag on with her vents about her boyfriend but not now. He's gonna be late for Math and he can't always take Tadashi to tutor him for that, after he knew what was he to you accidentally. Ran somehow mentioned it, just the surface of it, never intentional to spill it to him, but it's all the same.

And he's trying so so hard not to hold that up on Tadashi, his friend obviously was oblivious of you having a crush on him, he almost thinks that the trio is as dense as they can be.

The whole month after that courting incident was intense for him. He rashly told Ran to give him doubles of what she can give to him, making his academics also a priority, too. And the weekends were with Miwa, learning how to knit, or with his Eita-san and his guitar, or secretly with you, watching your routines.

The latter was his calm through his stormy month, and it will be through the times to come. And the thought of you will always be with him, even during the time when he was really picked for World Youth. The Karasuno team was overjoyed of that feat, and you are, too, when Ran relayed to you the news. I mean, that's World Youth, whoa great feat, you thought.

"Tell him I'm proud of him, Ran. Okay?"

You heard a collective teasing hum at your backs and you smacked Tadashi's thigh that was just behind you. They were teasing more through the month after the hyacinths, their other volleyball kouhais are in it too whenever they have the chance, him in a distance watching with his blueberry eyes. And you wanted to let him know that you loved the rose colored earmuff and a dark blue scarf with your messily knitted name in white. use it whenever you skate, hoping this is not imposition. just want to keep you warm, cant get you fevers now. you have to continue practicing. i believe in you.

"Where's the World Youth now? Still in Poland?" Tadashi asked through the lunch one day after Tobio's camp started. You, fourー well six because Shoyo and Hitoka are here too in Tobio's absenceー were sharing tables to have lunch together.

"Tobio said it's Norway this year, and two weeks. Good thing he doesn't have failed subjects this year." Ran sighed in relief and quirked a brow on you, and winked making Hitoka chuckle in your side. "He did good Y/n."

You unconsciously nod and smiled as you ate and Shoyo snickered, earning your attention. In that swift moment, he immediately put down his phone and went on eating, and Kei noticed that.

"Do that again with me, Hinata."

"You only want to stimulate him, Kei."

"That's the point, Ran." Kei grinned and reached out for your hand across the table. "Exchange seats with her, Tadashi-kun. Can't slip this chance to torture his simpleton head." He murmured low that made you blush, much more when Tadashi snickered and abide to Kei's schemes, transferring your bento on Kei's side.

Your brows knitted when Kei wrapped his arm around your waist as soon as you took your seat, "Just for a picture Y/n. This will turn out good, I promise." He whispered in your ear, breathy and you glanced at Shoyo grinning, taking pictures of you and Kei.

"Don't want him to feel insecure." You mumbled back at him that froze him in his seat, stared at you in awe. The others with you can't make out what you said, but Kei did, he was so close how could he not hear you. Kei cleared his throat and took his hand away from you, leaned away in silent apology.

"Don't send that, Hinata."

"But I already sent it at the GC."

You pursed your lips as they synched movement, pulling out their phones. You wanted to lean on Kei to take a look but it's inappropriate for you after what you've said, but he sensed you wanted to know what's happening and did the unthinkable.

They guffawed amidst the incessant dings went on from their phones, and a soft ding from yours, and it went on. You pulled your phone while your eyes are on them watching you fish out your phone.

☆ VOLLEYBALL IDIOTS - MAIN ☆

OWL | Akinori

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! @Tobio Kageyama

CAT | Mori

That's fast unlike @Tobio Kageyama

DT | Mai

What the hell, Kei! That's foul!

JZJ | Yuuji

@Tobio Kageyama

@Tobio Kageyama

FOX | Tsumu

Invite her to the Okinawa trip next week!

We'll have more fun without Tobio!

CRW | Koushi

@Kei Tsukishima! 😤

CRW | Ryuunosuke

WHAT THE HELL! THE BRO CODE @Kei Tsukishima!

OWL | Yukippe

LMAO! @Tobio Kageyama my condolences

ITC | Motoya

Oh ho ho ho @Tobio Kageyama

SJ | Hajime

Not good Kei but LMAO

@Tooru Oikawa @Tobio Kageyama

CAT | Tetsu

🤦‍♂️

FOX | Samu

Hey! Stop teasing them!

@Tobio Kageyama

FOX | Rintaro

LOL! @Tobio Kageyama say something! Stop with the seen!

*attaches 6 pictures*

Kei Tsukishima added you in the group chat

Kei Tsukishima changed your nickname to TOBIO'S Y/N

CRW | Tobio

Just woke up and this happens

Tobio Kageyama kicked Kei Tsukishima in the group chat

Shinsuke Kita added Kei Tsukishima in the group chat

Kei Tsukishima kicked Tobio Kageyama in the group chat

Keiji Akaashi added Tobio Kageyama in the group chat

OWL | Keiji

Stop it. You two. Have shame on Y/n-san. SMH.

CRW | Tobio

Good noon there in Japan, Y/n. Hope you're having a nice lunch. 🥰

I'm sorry for the commotion.

You can leave if you don't like it here. I'm sorry.

CAT | Lev

Why are you calm here but so angry in the other GC, Tobio?

CAT | Sou

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

CRW | Tadashi

LEV!

STZ | Eita

LOL! 😆

FOX | Rintaro

I swear I don't know him

TOBIO'S Y/N

It's okay @Tobio. I'll be staying if y'all dont mind. Feel free to kick me anytime. And good morning! Have your stretches and breakfast.

And that was Kei's idea. I'm sorry.

CRW | Ran

First interaction through phone 👀

CRW | Yuu

👀

SJ | Akira

👀

JZJ | Hana

👀

OWL | Kaori

👀

STZ | Taichi

@Morisuke Yaku, tea!

CAT | Mori

🍵

CRW | Tobio

Okay, then stay 🥰 I hope you wont mind them being noisy.

FOX | Aran

Contrasting from GC to GC, I see.

TOBIO'S Y/N

Be yourself guys. Please don't mind me.

Happy to meet you all. 😊

You heard Kei and Tadashi laughed at their phones, typing away but nothing from them came up to the GC. You quickly considered what was said that there's really another GC where Tobio went amok. You smiled and patted Kei's shoulder before continuing your lunch, and Shoyo captured that again, sending it to the GC where Tobio's cursing Kei out and about. The agony of Tobio being halfway across the world is unsurmountable, he wanna strangle Kei like hell.

And you were really invited to the week-long Okinawa summer trip happening that weekend, but you had to decline. First, you're busy with the practice and the national competition you're preparing for is four months away, you have to focus. And second, it's kinda off thinking that Tobio is out of the country and doing everything he can to improve himself and you are just gonna go with his friends and laze out from practice. If he's working hard, you'll have to work hard too.

You shook your head at the thought as you untie your boots and blades and change to your slip-ons, keeping the skating footwear in your reserved locker in Sendai Ice Rink. It's already 7:33pm and you're hungry as hell, should go home directly, but the skies had plans.

"Y/n, someone asked me to give these to you." The friendly guard handed you a bouquet of red carnations, a box of pizza and is this chicken?, and an umbrella. Your eyes widened at the sight of it. You knew who was it from, you don't have to ask. He came home already.

"Where's he?"

As you were running, you're aware that the skies are having lightning shows and distant thunders are audible. It might rain soon. But you held the umbrella on one hand, the foods on your other, bouquet tucked into the plastic, bag with your tumbler, polaroid and towels not so heavy on your back.

missed your voice. missed how you seem to dance in my eyes. missed how your eyes glitter everytime i sneak a glance on you. missed you. so much. sorry for being away without saying a proper bye. wont do it again. hope red carnations can express enough the longing I have to see you.

For the past two weeks, you were left wondering about how you feel about Tobio after Kei said to sort out your feelings and work around it. You were left wondering how will you react if ever he's in front of you, standing, staring back at you even if he's got nothing to say; wondering how will you feel when he spills his heart for you just a little, face to face, again. How would you feel right now. How these months changed your perception of him, how he evolved in your eyes.

You have to see him, right now.

Heavy drops of rain came while you're halfway to the bus stop, huffing, catching your breaths, you opened the umbrella and went on running, wishing for Tobio to still be there. He still has to be there.

And you're thankful that the gods had answered your prayers, because in a distance, you can see Tobio's standing figure under the bus stop's shed, enjoying the rain in his fingertips, luggage just beside him. And he looked captivating. You stopped running and walked slowly as cars from the exit of the parking lot of the ice rink went by. Your eyes are still training on Tobio, basking his pouting side-profile to which you scoffed.

And he may have heard you scoffing through the sound of the rain and thunder because he had turned his head to you in surprise, as cars still pass by in front of you, his blueberry eyes still as deep and inquisitive. You can feel the hairs on the back of your neck rising at the seem-familiar but unknown feeling you can't deny you have been feeling when he's around you like this. This is some sort of a confirmation is it? You smiled at the thought as you watched the cars pass and to him.

He has many instances to which you make his heart skip a beat, and this was his worst one. He can feel that his heart did skip a beat, his throat constricting, eyes maybe watering, breathing heavy and raspy, hands all clammy and sweaty on the handle of his luggage, and wobbly legs. He can feel it to his bone, that he missed you. And you're standing just a few meters away from him, cars passing between the two of you, his umbrella in your hand, the food he ordered and the bouquet on the other. Your hair's all messed up and your breaths ragged, he thought maybe you ran all the way here to catch up to him and it made his heart swell a bit more.

He huffed as he composed himself, Eita, Tooru and Hajime's words kept ringing in his ears: Breathe in and breathe out. Don't scare her away, Tobio. Be clear and straightforward on your intentions, no sugarcoating. But don't give up even if things go wrong, it'll be alright.

Tobio watches you as you glanced up to the cars and back to him, a small smile plastered on your face, to which he feels all giddy. He's too whipped for you.

As soon as the cars were gone, you made your way to Tobio's space and shot a playful quirk on your brows that left him stunned.

"Okaeri, Kageyama."

You saw him steady his breath and huffed, smiling, which surprised you. "Tadaima, Y/n."

You smiled back as you walk past him to the bench of the bus stop. "Let's eat these together." You sat and tap the space beside you and Tobio made his way there and sat, all nervous.

"It's for you. I-I can't eatー"

"C'monー" You placed the pizza and chicken between the two of you, the flowers and your bag atop his luggage. "ーI'm hungry but I can't finish these all."

He squeaked an "Okay." to which you laughed lightly, biting your lip to control the laughter when you saw his face contorted in realization that his voice failed him.

"Don't be so nervous. Won't bite." You winked at him as you got a piece of pizza and offered it to him. "Eat." Pouting, he bowed his head and took the pizza slice you offered.

"Can't believe you went straight here from the airport." You took your own slice and ate, eyeing his luggage. "What time did you arrive?"

Swallowing his bite, he turned to you, "Arrived at Haneda by 3:30pm, then here by 5:45? Bought these at the station."

You offered another slice to him, eyes drifting to the flowers as he took the slice. "You should've went straight home and waited for Monday to see me." Lightning flashed through the skies as you spoke. "You should've went for a proper dinner with your family as you've been away for two weeー"

"I wanna see you immediately after I arrived here in Miyagi, Y/n, before I get to see everyone else."

You felt your heart hammering through the thunder and you can't help but smile. You put your hand down your thighs, with the slice in your hand, quivering breaths eliciting maybe from the soft winds, you wished it was from the winds.

"You know, Kageyamaー" You instinctly rubbed your knees with your free hand, head low as your voice. "You make me feel giddy."

You heard his soft hum at the end of the thunder, "You make me feel giddy, too."

The heavy rain failed to hide the soft tension between you and Kageyama. You stared at the highway where the cars and buses pass by through the growing minute of unspoken silence and soft breathy chuckles, the slice of pizza in your hand ignored for a while.

"I'm sorry Y/n." He said after the chuckles between the both of you curbed. "Am I going too fast? Am I pressuring you in some way?"

You smiled and hummed, shaking your head on his question, still can't manage an eye contact with him knowing it'll take your feelings a little bit higher and deeper.

"Not at all." You cleared your throat to spill the thoughts that have been messing with you through these months. "I should be the one to apologize. I spoke without thinking, might've offended you."

This time, Tobio was the one who shook his head and wide eyed, staring at you still head low and with a soft smile. "Y-you made me realize something, Y/n. That we should know each other more before getting to that stage. We still have our own individual goals to accomplish and I want us both to reach them beforeー"

Anxiousness was building up in his chest and the next words might've been a little louder, disturbing the peaceful sound of the heavy rain and thunder.

"If you really wanna be with me, Y/n. T-that's if you really wanna be with me." But it went breathy through the end, his voice wavering in embarassment and nervousness.

You were too stunned to speak for a few minutes, eating the slice to ease your nerves. And the anticipation for the worst gets the better of Tobio, his thighs were popping and you might've noticed it because you kicked his shoe gently and smiled at him, staring at his blueberry orbs under the light of the bus stop shed.

"I was really anxious of what you might've thought about what I blurted out of shock, of what you might've thought about me. And that, I might wanna pin more memories of you in my corkboard.. Kageyama Tobio."

You averted your eyes as you felt your heart throbbing on your throat, swallowing a large lump as you go. His blueberry eyes held storms, and you fought the feeling of being swallowed because you might like it there, too fast, too soon.

"And I like the thought of us reaching our own goals first, coz I might wanna date a world-class setter someday."

You heard him suck his breath harshfully and choke on the pizza he's eating. You fumbled fast on the side of your bag for your tumbler and handed it to him, to which he took immediately and drank from. You laughed when his choking calmed, wide eyes staring at you, lips opening and closing in attempts to speak out.

"Calm down, will you?" You spoke through your laughs, finishing the slice of pizza and taking a piece of chicken.

"I also wanna date a world-class figure skater someday, too!"

Your laughs went louder, Tobio can't get enough of the image you're showcasing in front of him right now. It's like a small rainbow amidst the brewing storm. He can't thank the people enough who were responsible of pushing him to confess to you. Without them, he might never got a chance to be here, witnessing the spectacle of your laughs that sounded more thunderous than thunder itself, shaking his whole being.

"Can we take a picture?" You asked while taking out your polaroid from the bag, setting the flowers on Tobio's lap who nodded sheepishly.

You took two pictures out from your polaroid and a ton out of your phone and his. Some of those were wacky, some just him eating, or you eating, or both of you eating. One with you holding the bouquet, one of him laughing because you told a joke before you hit the shutter and one of him trying his best to pry your fingers from your phone to which it resulted to a picture with your faces squished together for the whole frame,his face all scrunched up and you laughing.

"I'm saving this last one. This is exclusive." You took notice of his pouting face to which you laughed again. "I'm uploading one pic and I'll be tagging you cutie, is that okay?"

He nodded, pouting while eating his piece of chicken. "Just be ready to be bombarded with comments." He offered you a chicken piece. "Continue eating, the bus will come by in a few minutes."

You took a bite on the chicken he's holding out next to your mouth while your attention and hands are still on your phone and posting the picture. Welcome back, future world-class setter. Then you tucked your phone back in your bag and took the chicken from him and ate.

You continued casual talks with Tobio as you both ate and wait for the bus. Getting to know him from his perspective was actually better than how Ran and the others view of him. From his family, to how he started volleyball, up to how he begged for Ran to drag him to where he is right now, the star-setter of Miyagi next to that Oikawa Tooru that he had mentioned.

He was raw, and part of you wanted to be a part of that rawness.

And Tobio could feel the crows in his stomach whenever he asks you questions and you answer either with a giggle or a smile. He swears he tries to pay attention to your answers, and he did, but with the auditory memory of it being mixed with your giggles and smiles. He wanted to embed them all in his mind.

"Thank you, Y/n. For giving me a chance." Tobio blurted out as he takes the umbrella from your hand, kissing that hand tenderly and respectfully as the bus finally comes into view. He rubbed the back of your hand with his thumb, creating gentle circular strokes as to which you both stared at as the bus came to a halt.

You squeezed his hand and tugged lightly to make him follow you into the bus, glad your stop and his are just on one way, but that just means you have barely 15 minutes until you both will be dragged back to your priorities, your goals.

The bus was half empty when you both piled in. You sat by the window, hand still intertwined with his as he sat beside you. You both felt the drain from your athletic bodies as you leaned on his shoulder and his head on yours, the gentle hum of the running bus along the rain, the hushed murmurs of the passengers and Tobio's breaths giving you peace.

"Thank you for having the courage to ask me out, Kageyama. Now, I'm assuring you that I won't entertain anyone but you. I wanna make this work, because I'm starting to like you." You mumbled through your breaths, confident enough that he heard every single word you said, and he did because he chuckled and his next words will leave you fumbling and giddy all over again.

"Then stop calling me Kageyama, Y/n. You have to get used on Tobio or anything other than my last name because you'll be bearing that in the future, too."

You sucked your breath and froze, and he did too, maybe surprised at what he had said, both of you resembling deers in the headlights. You swallowed hard as you felt your face burn, entangling your hand that he held just to cover your face and leaned back on the seat, with a sound between a groan and a whimper.

"IーI'm sorry. Got ahead of myself. I'm sorry Y/n."

You peeked at him and he had his eyes shut close and he was mumbling incoherent phrases you can't understand, maybe cursing himself for what he had just said.

"I'm really curious as to why Shoyo said you're not good with your words, Tobio." You brushed the back of your hand with his to get his attention. "Don't worry." You cooed at him, smiling when he caught your gaze. "If things go well, we'll get there. Let's do task focus first, hm?"

"Can you promise that it'll be me when you reach the top, Y/n?" His voice was low as his head hung, laced with shame, pursing his lips, like he don't wanna utter those words. "I'm really pushing my luck, am I?"

"I can't promise.." You trailed and smiled at him, "But can I try my best and show you?"

His eyes were wide-eyed, and you grinned at the sight of it. Who else won't be surprised? Just four-five months ago, it was Tadashi, but now.. you have started falling for this man in front of you, and hard. The bus stop has witnessed the evolution of your feelings, and it's all thanks to Kei, and to anyone that brought Tobio to you.

The feeling isn't like with Tadashi, it's calm even when the surrounding elements were on rageーthe eye of the storm, a serene feeling. And you can't deny that you have the feeling that with Tobio, it's where you belong, all along. So you wanna do everything to make this right.

Now the challenge to the top is before you.

"I'll wait for you, even if it takes forever Y/n."

You smirked. "Why? Are you already on top, huh? You just represented Japan to the world, that doesn't mean you're at the top already."

"HEY!" His voice went louder, clearly offended and you just giggled at his scrunched up face that faltered at the sight of your laughing eyes. The passengers of the bus glanced up at both of you, embarassment momentarily creeped up your skins. Tobio immediately composed himself and huffed, turning away his face from you, chin up.

"The coach of Italy's Ali Roma was there in the World Camp and he said he'll recruit me and wait for me to take the offer. Poland's ZAKSA too." It was his turn to smirk at you, who has your jaw already dropped at what you just heard.

"Shut.. up.." You're still in the trance of shock. Italy and Poland are world-renowned in the world of volleyball, along with Argentina and Brazil, and Tobio was just invited to two of those countries. "Oh my God, Tobio."

He huffed and took your hand, "I planned to inform you after your national championships in November to reduce the pressure butー" His smile was soft now, blueberry irises staring at you. "I want you to be included in every decision I will make, even if it's still not appropriate in the state of our relationship now."

"I don't know what to feel. You're pressuring me but you're too sweet." Your voice was breathy as you leaned back to your seat, hand clasped hard at his. "But I won't give in on the pressure. Task focus."

He kissed your hand again and gave it a squeeze, somehow sending you your needed support. "You can do it, I know you can. I'll be right here, your number 1 supporter."

And you held onto what he said, onto all of his words as you pin your pictures with him in your corkboard along with the pictures of the bouquets he has given you.

Tobio was slumped on the hardwood floor of Fukurodani's volleyball court, eyes glued on his smartphone, with the rest of the teams on practice games on the courts. He came excusedーactually beggedーfor the games that late November afternoon as he watched you in his phone live from Niigata, on a national championship participated by the whole country. He asked to be with you in your competition but you vehemently declined, reminding him of both your goals.

He doesn't know much how the competition works but he knows your basic moves and some of the names of those twirls and loops. What he was waiting for was if you could do that quad-axle you've been practicing for the last 4 months. Well, he doesn't mind if you could do it or not, you're still the best for him without that move but you specifically told him it was important because that move equivalents to a large point. He whined first, reminding when you almost got yourself injured, but he somehow put his faith on you that you can do it, in a condition that you won't be injured, ever.

He saw you gliding into the rink, and his nerves all went perked up. He breathed out, puffing his cheeks to which Ran saw from the bench and took a picture of him, sending it to the GC, where the others were also watching online after Tobio told them you're competing. Atsumu even teased you that you should've invited them, the college ones, to watch live in Niigata, Tetsurou placing bets on that quad-axle and Eita whining why didn't you use any of his songs for your performance, or even in your free skate one.

And you were thankful for them, as you started gliding with the fast-paced music through the ice, wishing all your routines will go well, and reminding yourself that this will be a one step closer to Tobio.

And Tobio prayed to the gods as he watched, practically wishing for everything to go well with you not falling and uninjured, and maybe a bonus: winning. And he did shouted victorious when that anticipated quad-axle was perfectly executed along the end of your performance, pulling the whole gym's attention to him, initially getting a heavy hand on his shoulders from Ran from the scare but he didn't care. Your hardwork for that stunt was paid off as later that early evening, you were announced as the national champion of the event.

In his high spirits, he played the last set of the practice game for the day, and of the training camp, and Karasuno dumped Inarizaki by 16:25.

And that Wednesday after the extended holiday, your win was celebrated by the whole school, not curious at all as to how they knew because Tobio posted your polaroid photo with him that night after winning, took a photo with the future world-class figure skater before anyone else does. And it melted your heart, now a bit more as you saw him waiting for you with the whole volleyball team in the hallway to your classroom, a bouquet of red dahlias in hand.

told you you can do it. congratulations on your first hurdle, on to the next one. will be with you every step of the way with full faith and confidence. you can overcome everything, i believe in you.

And the week after that, you received a text from the Figure Skating National Team, inviting you to join them as soon as you graduate high school. To your excitement, you bolted to Tobio's room, ignoring the calls of your english teacher as you storm through the halls, bounding and phone in hand.

Tobio was wide eyed when he saw you, immediately approaching you with concern, running his fingers to fix your hair and before he could blabber his concerns, you shove your phone into his face, making him more wide eyed and he hugged you maybe too tight you felt your bones nearly crush beneath his arms, teases from his classmates and maybe from those peeking to the hallway for the commotion were evident.

"Y/n! So proud of you! The National Team! It's the National Team!"

You smirked with pride seething through your skin as you pulled away, "Got there first. Hurry up, slow poke."

"Are you challenging me?"

"Kageyama, we're still in the middle of the class."

"C'mon, miss. It's rare to see Kageyama-kun like that!"

"Excuse me, Kimoto-kun?"

"Yep!" You snickered at him and bowed to his chemistry teacher. "We'll talk later." And you swiftly stood on your toes to place a kiss on his cheeks, much to his bewilderment, made his face burn like hell, and you were oblivious as you hop back to your classroom typing a reply to the National Team.

Tobio seethed through his teeth, in annoyance to the challenge and flusteredness and giddiness for your actions. He can't wait to be your boyfriend so he can kiss you properly. So he took the challenge a little more seriously.

You're rubbing your palms together as your team are voicing their words of encouragement for you, your eyes on him. He's just as nervous as you, with a few of the Olympic team on his back with their own words of encouragement.

Tobio mouthed a "Hug?" through the noise around both of you and you obliged, making a beeline to him and crushed yourself into his open arms. You immediately felt calm with his arms wrapped around you and you chuckled at your own realization as he kissed your head.

"Hey! Tobio! Her hair! Don't mess with it!"

"Ran. Let them. She's nervous."

"But plushie!"

You peeked at Ran and her husband with their twins and 3-month-old baby, but Tobio covered your eyes, "Don't peek on them. You'll get ideas too far off from our plans, and I might like it." You laughed because he read you too well, washing your nervousness and tension.

"I must winー"

He shook his head and kissed your forehead, brushing his fingers on either of your cheeks as you both heard your name getting called out to get ready.

"Go bring them your thunderstorm, and take your last step towards me. I'll be waiting."

Tobio never cared of you winning. Him knowing you're doing your best to make a name for the world to revel is enough for him, and he'll not dare say that in front of you, for he values the challenge you both made for yourselves four years ago in that bus home.

He saw you taking grand wins and heartbreak losses throughout these years and he's proud of you with all that he is, that you didn't gave up, determined to reach that goal. It makes him feel giddy, heart swelling more and more, thinking that he is one of your motivation, because he's waiting for you to reach the top where he already is.

You're already at the center of the Grand Prix Final event, gliding through the ice, after 3 qualifiers to which you aced and were seeded from the world championship last 9 months in Pyongyang, Korea and Milan, Italy. This is the perfect time to have grand slams within a year, and you'll be satisfied as your name would surely be resounded through the world like thunder.

While performing the song you picked and dedicated for Tobio, you can't help but to shed brushes of tears, remembering everything that has got you to this stage, what you did to get to him, all the pictures from your corkboard through the 4 years playing on your mind like a powerpoint. And Tobio stood there in awe as he watched you perfecting everything you have practiced for this day, cheers from his noisy olympic teammatesーwell, it's mainly Atsumu and Koraiーbehind him. And he can't help but sniff and wipe his tears rolling to his cheeks, making Ran's twins laugh at him.

And if you get the chance to glance up at him during the length of the performance, you smile and wink at him through your tears, the event umpires taking notice of that little action, soon taking notice of the Japan's Men's Volleyball National Team in the ISU Grand Prix Finals, too. And taking notice of the blueberry eyed man on which the focus was on you alone, ignoring the teases from his friends.

That moment will trend more than your 3 grand slam wins that year, as you finally kissed Tobio on his lips to which he pulled you more in for a deeper, much awaited kiss of four years, saying yes to being his girlfriend.

"Huh? I thought you're already in a relationship?" Korai blabbered as he inspected your trophy, Ran's 3-year old curious little girl on his lap inspecting the trophy too.

"He even bought a ring not long ago, Y/n."

Your eyes widen on a red-faced Tobio who was now battering Shoyo, with Toshi in between. You groaned as you covered your face of which you felt reddening too, and you feel your entire being getting giddy deep to your bones as your team went teasing as soon as they heard of it.

God, Tobio really knows how to fluster you even after all these years. You're convinced that he's the lightning of his own storm, and you're glad you were strucked with that lightning, meeting his expected effect, a thunder so loud it'd be heard across the world.

And you love him, and this time if he'll ask you that progressingly bold question, you know you'll not double take on saying yes this time.

Semi Eita | Sugawara Koushi | Kuroo Tetsurou | Akaashi Keiji | Sakusa Kiyoomi | Oikawa Tooru

Reblogs and interactions are appreciated. Theories will be entertained. Cassie 2023.

[lyranova]

Hi Lyra! Congratulations on your blog anniversary! 💖💖 Wishing you many more wonderful years of creating such amazing content!

For your anniversary asks can you please answer 16 18 & 19 for the lovely Zera and (if I may be the tiniest bit self indulgent) 8 & 14 for Langris? Thank you so much, dear! Sending you lots of love & well wishes. Cheers!! 🌻

Hiya Acacia! Thank you so much, hopefully I’ll be able to create things for many more years to come 😁! (Even if that means I’ll only be able to create every now and then 😆). Of course, and I hope you enjoy 🥰!

Zera:

16. What goal do they most want to accomplish in their lifetime?

The goal Zera most wants to acomplish…hm, I think in a way she already has acomplished that goal 🤔! The goal she wanted to achieve most in her life was to open her own flower shop, and she managed to do it. So maybe, if she were to have another goal, it would be to start a “franchise” and have many more ‘Cinnamon’s Flower Shops’ all over the world 😆!

18. What advice would they give to their younger self?

“ Be careful who you play pranks on! Because one day you might come across the wrong person and they take your joke sooo seriously that you find yourself in a situation that you can’t really get yourself out of! But at the same time…you may find that you don’t want to get out of it…oh! And you’re going to want to be even sneakier when you smuggle, because that’ll come back to bite you in the butt!”

19. What does a perfect world look like to them?

A perfect world to Zera is one where she still runs her Flower Shop, is happily married to William, and is surrounded by a group of their children. On the weekends the family goes to William’s childhood home, which is vacant after his mothers passing, where they get to relax and have peace and quiet. When they go back to Clover she gets to spend time with all of her friends and have “Wine Nights” where they laugh, giggle, and talk about many different things. She gets to watch her kids grow up, fall in love, get married, and maybe even have kids of their own.

That’s Zera’s perfect world!

Langris:

8. Is there a ship that makes the most sense for this character (can be romantic or platonic)?

Both platonically and romantically I feel like the ship that makes the most sense is Finesse. She helps keep him calm, and gives Langris a different perspective to look through (if that makes sense). She also knows just what life was like in House Vaude for him and Finral, so she understands him a bit differently then others. She also has no issue scolding him if he needs it (it isn’t a harsh scolding, but more of a “gentle” one). So whether it’s platonic or romantic I thinj Langris and Finesse make a good pair!

14. What trait do they find most admirable and how often do they find it?

I think Langris admires strength the most 🤔! As for how often he finds it…not very. I think Langris has such a high standard for strength that he rarely finds anyone that “meets it”. I think the two people he’s met that has met that standard are Yuno and William (eventually Finral joins that list)!

[juuuuunaaaaaooooo]

Rules: List the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern!

Thanks for tagging me @entwinedloop <3333

1 - Remember You

Beth was naturally curious, but ever since she'd met Rio, the most mysterious and cryptic man she'd ever known, her curiosity had increased tenfold, at least about him.

2 - Time Is Running Out

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight." Beth lifted Rio's head, pinched his nose, leaned forward and put her open mouth over his. She blew to breathe air into him. When she saw no result, she stood up and started CPR again. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight."

3 - My independence would be liberation for me

Rio was just putting his black T-shirt back on when Beth came out of the bathroom, her damp, wavy hair hanging over her shoulders. She was wearing a royal blue kimono bathrobe, partially adorned with small pink and red flowers.

4 - I Dream Of Her Again (I Also Dream)

Hands, small golden-skinned hands, held a large hen's butt, half-filled with water. The child holding the container took a few steps forward and placed it on a gray and white marble counter.

5 - Love is more important than reputation

Namra was used to thinking fast, she had been educated and trained to do so, from a very young age. Her mother's goal was that she should be the best in class or even in extracurricular activities.

6 - The Bosses of Detroit

Beth was giving herself a makeover in front of the small rectangular mirror on the wall between the dining room and the living room.

7 - Beanie Or Not Beanie

1-

The first time, Beth didn't notice anything. After all, they were outside, and it was a cold winter. That hadn't stopped them from fucking in a dark alley, against a frozen brick wall. Rio's head buried in her neck, his cap tickling her skin, as she clung to him like a buoy, while he hammered away at her, like a jackhammer.

8 - A Bad For A Good

Beth held out a paper bag that contained her older child, Kenny's, breakfast. "I love you." She ruffled his hair and did the same with her other three children.

9 - Teach-A, Teach-A, Teach Me

"Are you going to kill me?"

10 - Rio and the Boland kids

As Elizabeth finished preparing the meal, Rio set the table and when he finished, he placed a kiss on her temple and walked up the stairs to join Kenny in his room. The door was open, and the 14 year old was quietly doing his homework.

Pattern : Hm... 99% of the time I start my fic by a description or a reflection about my pov character. and for brio one, I think they are 99%^^ in Beth Pov (third pov)

Everyone was already tag so...anyone who want to do it!!! It was fun!!!!

[kateandanthonyaremyparents]

ETERNAL FLAME

-

Kate and Anthony were arguing, probably about something silly, but Kate doesn't even remember how it started. She only saw how her husband was getting more and more frustrated with her with every second that passed by. To be honest, that was kind of her goal for the evening anyway. 

She liked getting Anthony so worked up he didn't even care who saw it, because at the end of the day it was the bickering that always led up to the most amazing nights, with Charlotte as their latest perfect little example.

Tonight was actually the first night they went out together after her birth.

And it was a good night. Kate had felt excitement running through her veins from the first moment she saw her husband walking down the stairs with his gorgeous navy blue jacket on, and the butterflies in her stomach hadn't left her.

It didn't help how he kept looking at her during the evening. Every time he took a sip from his drink, his tongue stuck out a little too obscene. He made sure she was the only one who saw, but it was undoubtedly deliberate, meant to tease her and make her cave. 

Kate soon had seen her husband felt the same, and after that all was allowed. She tried to ignore how he bit his lower lip and made sure he always saw her neck, she wiggled her hips a little too obvious, sucked on her finger a few seconds too long, all with the knowledge he couldn’t stop staring at her, because he never did. Her Anthony was always looking at her.

That was the game they secretly, only conforming with their eyes, decided to play; who will give in to their desires first.

Although it was very clear there would be no losers at the end of the night, Kate didn't want to. A loss would be just as satisfying as a victory. It was just the principle of the thing.

So besides the obvious teasing, they had started arguing. Theve bickered about Hyacinth's dress, about the flowers in the garden, about Miles' new tutor, about the dinner they had that evening. It didn't stop, even when they were dancing, so close it was impossible to tell where he began and she ended, they argued about who got to lead.

It had led them here, in the gardens, panting heavily, undressing each other with their eyes.  Anthony practically dragged her out of the carriage, took her hand in his a little too roughly for any other night, but right now Kate didn't mind, because he led them to the gazebo. The gazebo where their life had started. The dynamics hadn’t changed; she was as furious with him now as she was then. The major difference was Kate, at this moment, after years of being married to her husband, it was forever, and no matter how they vexed each other; they would always end up together, probably naked. 

So when her husband finally snapped, ready to give in first, she waited a few seconds to take in her victory before she kissed him with such passion, she felt her husband's knees shake.

When she felt his lips on hers, his tongue entering her mouth, his hands on her butt and in her hair, it tasted sweet; victory always did.

[seeds-and-sins]

The Only Truth Series - There is No Truth

Pairing: Oz “The Penguin” Cobblepot x F!Reader

Rating: T (Curse words, adult themes, mutual pining)

Description: In the beginning, barely months into your undercover gig at the Iceberg Lounge, Oz and you have already grown so close. You are conflicted.

Author’s Note: I promised I would post little one-shots here and there as they came to me. As I post more, I will present everything in one big timeline so that the story is a bit more comprehensive. Anyways, if you haven’t read into the future, the link is posted below under ‘First’. This part takes place in the past, but I suppose it can be read and considered separately.

First

Third

Your shift was almost over when Oz called you up to his office. It was not unusual for him to call upon you. After dropping the former floor manager like a sack of potatoes, and placing you in their stead, Oz and you had gotten much closer. You were glad for it-at first-because it brought you that much closer to your goals in figuring out Intel about the Iceberg Lounge and the going ons of Falcone and Cobblepot and the crime syndicate.

Now, it made you uncomfortable.

Oz, not knowing you were a cop to begin with, was so sweet to you and he treated you with such respect and fondness. Once he placed his trust in you, he was sold on all of you. You figured he didn't do that often with others, asking for your advice and constantly giving you quite major tasks to complete. You worked your butt off to keep that trust intact. It was just overwhelming, because you really enjoyed the praise and the admiration, and you knew you shouldn't. Oz liked you. Oz liked you A LOT. He confided you in over everything and anything and he never relented.

He bought you flowers, took you out to candlelit dinners, you had never seen him treat anyone else the same, and you were starting to wonder what exactly his intentions were.

If he asked you to have sex with him, if he tried to turn you into one of his sugar babies, or trophy girlfriends, what would happen if you denied him? You would never get this close again, and you scarcely thought anyone else would.

So, you put on a happy face, because you thought it was the only choice you had at the moment. You didn't want to disrupt this entire investigation, all because you had flown a little too close to the sun. You tried to keep it friendly and professional, without leading him on, while simultaneously battling with your inner desire to give into all that he was offering.

You should be disgusted by him. You should hate him. He was a criminal. How many of your fellow cops had died by his hands? Or rather, his demands? Or the demands of his boss? He was a monster.

If he knew who you truly were, all of this kindness and sweetness would mean nothing. He didn't care about the real you, he didn't know the real you.

But you couldn't help but start to miss him, he was so warm and jovial and truly a testament in opposition of all the horrible stories you had heard about the man. When you were away from him, you thought about him. You often wondered what he was doing, or if he was thinking about you. These were feelings that did not fit well with the objective of your mission. You weren’t there to have feelings. you shouldn’t. But it was becoming more and more difficult with each passing day.

When you proceeded through the curtain of beads that created some semblance of privacy into his office, you were being bombarded by brooding limbs and a massive build.

"OZ!" You gasped in surprise, his arms locked around you, holding you in place and his scarred lips laid purchase upon your supple cheeks. You hated how much you actually liked it, how the first thing that came into your mind was that this was pleasant. His lips smacked again and again and you feigned a laugh, pressing your hands to his chest and lightly pushing him away. "My goodness, what's gotten you so happy?" He didn't release you, and so you were stuck in his embrace as he grinned down at you and there was a certain charm to that smile that spread a contagious happiness unto you, as much as you tried to contain it.

"It's cause for celebration, honey." He spun you around and it was comical, paired with his little waddle, from his injured knee, but you held on for dear life. Don't let his looks deceive, Oz had a very muscled figure. There was the soft over layer of fat and flesh, but beneath it all he could surely show some strength. "Since I hired you, you've saved me twenty big ones alone."

"Oh," You shrugged, his hands reluctantly rubbing down the length of your arms as he withdrew, clinging to your fingers in a last chance to keep you connected. "Are you sure it was me?"

"Ahh, such a humble little thing. Look at this. Look." He hurried you to the couch, plopping you unceremoniously down beside him. He procured his big book, of accounting and profits and all sort of things involving the money that fluctuated through the Iceberg Lounge. Surprisingly, he was willing to let you look into something so exclusive and vital to his business. More proof that Oz Cobblepot trusted you dearly. It struck a pang of guilt straight through you that you quickly had to stamp down. In your collective laps, he opened the book and flipped through the various pages, till he landed on what he was looking for and pointed at an excel table detailing profit margins for the entire club. "You see, baby. You did this. You should be proud of yourself." You bit your bottom lip shyly, not particularly keen on all of the attention, but the praise did make you light up. You shouldn't be so happy, you were fueling a criminal empire by simply keeping undercover. "I'll have to admit, all the changes you made after I promoted you..." He shrugged, cocking his head down at you. "I was a little skeptical, but you proved me wrong, didn't ya?" You ran your fingers over the page, now wasn't the time to stare too long-it was suspicious. You really don't even know how this was possible. Since you started working at the club, everything you did was just, 'fuck around and find out'. You didn’t know the slightest bit about the night life industry aside from the cheesy videos you had watched on YouTube in preparation of your role at the club. To think that you had made such an influence, in such a short time, despite your lack of experience, was startling.

You couldn’t risk looking too surprise, you were supposed to be a confident businesswoman.

"Well, if you didn't let me make those changes, then none of this would have been possible." You smiled up at him, he tutted under your chin, returning the book to the table and closing it.

"I'm taking you out tonight, hmm? I already made reservations, we're going to the Ocelot." He rose, buttoning up his suit as he did, name dropping a place so extravagant and then slowly walking away as if it was by any means normal.

"The Ocelot?!" You exclaimed, following not far behind as he moved to his vanity and began to put on some of his jewelry. You grabbed his shoulder and squeezed his arm to get his attention. Not that you didn't have it already, but he was very caught up in the excitement of it all. "You can't be serious, Oz. You're going to spend the same amount of money that you were just celebrating, over dinner?!"

"Big Whoop. Let me treat ya'." He smirked down at you, then faced you again, cupping your cheek. "You deserve the best, you know that." You softened, unable to shake the feelings that he incited in you, especially when he was staring at you like that. Like you were the only thing he cared about. It was too much all at once, all the time, with him.

"Oz..." You held his hand. "I-I-I just-"

"Please." If you said 'no', you knew he would be crushed. You were certain someone who carried himself with so much confidence, the slightest bit of rejection would damage his self esteem instantly.

"Okay." You chuckled, he didn't stop himself when he ducked down to your height and pecked your lips. You froze up immediately and he made no time to gage your reaction before he was rushing past you, grabbing his coat off the nearby rack, and bellowing that he had a few things to finish.

"I'll meet you outside, 'kay. I have to go tie a few loose ends and then we'll be free to go."

You were left behind to think about all of the implications that came with that chaste, thoughtless kiss. It was soft and sweet, part of you craved for more and the other part of you screamed that you were too close to the sun. You should ditch Oz altogether and head straight to the station, you had enough information; a few name drops and witnessed drug transactions. That would be enough, right? Why proceed further into the darkness, further into danger?

No.

Something else was going on here. With Maroni gone, the criminal underworld should be struggling, but it wasn't. Business flourished here, at the center of it all, the Iceberg Lounge. So many people had died because of this world, because of their fortunes. You had come so close, closer than anyone had ever come, and probably closer than anyone would ever be.

This entire investigation sat on your shoulders and you couldn't give up now. Not after everything you had done.

Begrudgingly, you gathered up your things in the dressing room and headed to the outside of the club. Oz was most likely going to settle some things with Falcone first before heading out for the night, so you expected you would be waiting for a little bit.

Before spilling outside into the chilly Gotham air, you picked up a short conversation with Max, one of the twins. Considering Max and Charlie were two of Oswald's most trusted henchmen, you often went to them to covertly pry for information. Sometimes you would hit a home run, be it a new location for where Oz would sell his drops, or a new drug route for Falcone. Without offense, Max and Charlie weren't the brightest bulbs in the bunch and they talked all too easily.

You bid Max a farewell, explaining that you would be leaving with Oz for the night. Luckily, he didn't comment or send you any sort of expression that jolted tension through you. You couldn't handle the idea of rumors traveling through the club, rumors could damage your reputation and they could also damage your success thus far in this operation. By name dropping Oz, maybe you guaranteed that Max wouldn't say anything. Oz and you had gone out many times in the past, but this felt different. You knew you weren’t the only one who could see that.

You wrapped your jacket around you tight to ward off the harsh winds. Gotham could get really cold at night, even in the summer, and it was absolutely freezing outside. You weren't in the right attire for a trip to the Ocelot, one of the most prestigious restaurants in all of Gotham. It was owned by the Wayne family, or rather the younger living heir Bruce Wayne. You had only ever seen it's expensive décor and lavish dining experience from the outside, but you had one day dreamed of being able to have that experience for yourself. You never thought you would, considering everything was worth an arm and a leg and a kidney and maybe an eye or a heart transplant. In fact, being undercover had opened you up to experiencing a lot more of the lavish things in life. On a cop’s salary you could barely afford what you needed, under the Penguin’s wing you could have anything you wanted. Needless to say, you'd thought you needed to give up your entire life in order to eat at the Ocelot. Now you were going to go there with the same man you were trying to put behind bars.

Ironic, you supposed. If Oz knew who you really were? Well, you probably would be dead by now.

"Hey, you!" You swear you saw your life flash before your eyes when you spotted him, approaching you, outside the Iceberg Lounge, like an old friend. "My goodness! Is that really you?! It's been what? Eight months? Nine, maybe."

"Kenzie! Oh, gosh!" Your eyes kept nervously flitting back to the metal door leading into the Iceberg Lounge. You felt a heavy weight on your chest, it was as if you couldn't breathe. Could this job get anymore stress inducing? "I must admit..." You feigned a laugh, "I have been very busy."

"With what exactly? Huh?" Kenzie had a cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth, crossing his arms with an arrogance and proudness about him. It aggravated you even further. It was the reason you took this job to begin with. To prove them all wrong. To be better.

You were a nobody. You walked the beat, kept your badge on your chest, you weren't looked at twice, you were looked down on. When the Chief asked for a volunteer for a secretive undercover operation, you felt like you needed to be the first one with your hand up. To prove them all wrong. To be better.

Clearly, you had made the right choice. No one had made it nearly this far. You were doing so good at this point, that the Chief was determined to keep you in as long as possible. What lengths could you go with the success you had? This little interaction could ruin it all.

"Don't think I really need to be telling you 'bout my business..." You gritted your teeth, adjusting your dress down as far as it would go out of discomfort. The dress you wore often in this line of work, short and tight-fitting, made you feel all too exposed in front of this asshole. "Hey? What are you doing here?" The immediate shift in his posture told you everything, and to some extent it lessened your worries. He was a double agent, a crooked cop, a pig paid to dig holes by the man himself. You should have known. It disgusted you, knowing his betrayal, but also, in realizing that your own betrayal was just as bad. The difference being, it was coming from the other side.

You had it a lot worse than he did in this moment. You were on the wrong turf, this wasn't your playground. If you were found out here, you could get killed. Who was to find him out here? No one. This was his home base. If you were both at the GCPD, this would be a completely different story.

"Haha, very funny, toots. You can't tell me your business, I can't tell you mine." You knew it was a risk: at any point in time, Oz could come through that door and your cover would be broken. Kenzie would lay it all out, calling you by your real name, reminiscing over stupid one sided interactions, half of which you don't even think happened. And in Oz knowing that Kenzie was a cop on his payroll, he would put the pieces together and realize you were one too. You acted fast and snatched Kenzie up by the lapels of his brown leather jacket, with a gasp his cigarette dropped from his lips. The momentary surprise was killed with a mischievous smirk and he gave you a once over. "You want a piece of this. Don't make me force you to ask nicely, honey." Your eyes rolled hard and you gripped tighter.

"You think I'm an idiot, don't you? You got bought out by Cobblepot, hmm? That's it, right?" His mustached lip twitched into a scowl, he struggled slightly from your vice grip. The height difference proved difficult, but you were confident you could still knock him on his ass if you needed to. Even in this dress.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" You raised an eyebrow at him and he squeezed his eyes shut in aggravation. His larger and stronger hands lifted to grab your forearms. "What are ya' gonna'do 'bout it? I've got more years on you than you could know."

"I'm undercover, you dipshit. One wrong move and I'll relay the message."

"Undercover?" He spat, glaring down at you. "For fucking-"

Creak!

The both of them flinched, immediately releasing each other as if they had been burned. Hobbling from the metal door appeared Oz, his eyes immediately narrowed on the both of you. Your heart jumped into your throat when you thought he might have heard what Kenzie said. You probably should have taken the stealthier approach, but if Kenzie was smart he would understand the situation here. If he ratted to Oz, then you would rat to the GCPD and he could say goodbye to that pension and that job and that stability. While he played goon well into the night, his day job would be gone and Oz would probably give him up knowing that the cops were already so close to home. You wouldn't be surprised if he served some time for his betrayal too: bribery was a criminal offense, for sure.

"Ey, sweetheart..." He greeted softly, narrowed eyes flitting between Kenzie and you. From the corner of your eye, you watched Kenzie awkwardly shift his feet. "Did I-uh-interrupt something?" He asked cautiously, you glanced at Kenzie and shrugged, sending him your harshest glare with your eyes alone.

"Not at all! We were just talking." You crossed your arms and anxiously sidestepped backward, so you weren't so close. "This is Harry-Or..." You pretended not to know his name, shooting him an expectant look.

"O-Oh, yeah!" He blurted out, "Just Kenzie."

"Yeah-Yeah-Yeah, I know Kenzie." Oz took the empty space beside you, almost assertive and dominant right off the bat. You gulped as he gave Kenzie a sideways glance. "What were you talking about, huh?"

"Uh~"

"The weather!" You practically screeched, forcing an all too bright smile up at Oz. He didn't seem all that convinced, or pleased. Your stomach twisted into knots.

"Kenzie..." Oz's voice was low and rough, commanding respect and authority.

"Yeah, boss?"

"Get back to fucking work. I don't pay you to slack." He grumbled, Kenzie nodded vigorously and responded with a choppy, "Yes, Sir." He scurried back inside without sending you a second glance.

You felt a second of relief before you realized how quiet it was all of a sudden, Oz was frigid and still and he wasn't uttering a single word. He was giving you the side eye, the sort of glare he might give when he was absolutely pissed.

Fuck. You fucked up.

"If you want to go join him, feel free. I can go have dinner by myself." Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion and you cocked your head at him. You hated how your hand instinctively raised to rest on his forearm.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm not stupid. You two know each other, s'no point in lying about it." Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. You were fucked beyond imagine. You swore sweat was pooling off the edge of your brow.

"What do you mean?" You repeated again, because you honestly had no idea what to say. You were a deer in headlights. Oz stood taller and frowned, shaking his head.

"Look, honey, if you're taken, then tell me. Don't lead me the fuck on." He pushed past you, your touch drifting from his the further away he went. He procured a chain of keys from his coat pocket, disappearing around the corner just as you rushed after him.

"Oz! Please! I don't understand. I just met him!"

"Baby, now you're really angering me..." He stopped and turned to face you, you didn't halt your hurried footing in time and you were bumping into his broad chest. For someone with a waddle to his step, handicapped knee, the man could move when he wanted to. The expression on his face was dark and the little lighting on this stretch of street, out beside the entrance to the Lounge, it didn't help much in emphasizing the deep lines that scoured his face. It only made him look more menacing, but you refused to fear him. Not now. Your biggest fright was in thinking that perhaps your cover had been blown. "You were clinging to him. When I left the club, I saw it all." You gobbed like a fish, "What? Is this some game to you?" Hushed. Crackly. These were the words that described an uncertain Oz. In this moment, he was very uncertain, and brutally beaten inside.

He would have killed you right away if he knew the truth, but now you were starting to see that it was only rejection that filled his beating heart. He was oblivious to your true nature.

He thought you were with Kenzie. He thought you were dating someone. He thought you were taken.

This was your chance to set the record straight. To let Oz know that you couldn't pursue a relationship with him. It would certainly make this operation easier for you, but was that really what you wanted? You shouldn't want to do the opposite: tell him how strongly you feel for him. And using your job as an excuse? Being caught frolicking with the boss? Wouldn't do much good for your cover. Saying no to your boss?? It wouldn't end well.

Again. This was a difficult situation no matter what choice you made.

But you needed to make a choice.

You put rational thought aside, and you made it.

You stepped closer into him, the rebound of your accidental bump into him didn't leave much space between you both already.

"He was coming onto me." You lied through your teeth, "So, I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt..." You snatched up the collar of his coat and yanked him down to your level. "And I told him I wasn't interested, and I probably would have kneed him between the legs if you hadn't shown up..." You turned your head down slightly, Oz's beady eyes were trained on you like a hawk to their prey. "And I didn't want you to know because I thought you'd be upset." Wrong bird. Hawks weren’t so soft. Hawks weren’t so forgiving.

There was a stark silence that followed. It was agonizing to say the least.

"Oz..." You continued, slowly releasing him. "I'm not with anyone. I'm not leading you on. I'm just-" I'm not who you think I am. I'm afraid. I'm falling for someone I shouldn't be. "You're my boss. We shouldn't."

You awaited a response, a movement, a noise of approval, a noise of disapproval, something.

"Well?!" You snapped, "Can't you just please say-" He grabbed you and yanked you into a searing kiss. The ridges in his lips, healed scar tissue, were surprising soft and smooth. Your hands cupped his cheeks, one thumb subconsciously caressing in circles on the thicker edges of his scar line. The kiss deepened, tongues intermingling. His taste was bold bourbon and Cuban cigars, paired with the smell of sharp cologne that flooded your senses. He was turning you, closing you in against the nearest concrete wall and you were trapped when he pressed you taut to the surface. He locked you in with his hulking figure, broad and big and although plump, firm and sturdy.

He pulled back first, pressing his forehead down to yours and you could feel the breath of his smile off his lips. You exchanged a wave of heated exhales, one of your hands held his shoulder as an anchor and the other continued to brush along the contours of his lesser scarred cheek.

"I'm sorry..." He huffed out, sounding genuinely ashamed for his outburst. "I can't stand it anymore."

"St-St-" You gulped, that kiss literally took the breath out of you. Your heart was beating a million times per second and it felt like your entire insides were melted. "Stand what?" His pointed, jagged nose brushed yours and he sighed.

"I know I ain't much, but I'd give ya' everything you ever wanted. You would never wish for nothin'." The husky pit of his voice was doing something to you, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to your cheek so gentle and so tender that you must had been in an alternate reality. "Seeing the way other guys look at you, seeing you-" He swallowed, "Seeing you away from me. It doesn't feel right." Now it was your turn to be quiet, taking in those words as he intermittently placed kisses along your cheeks and jawline, up to the slope of your jaw that fit in junction with your ear. You closed your eyes, hands sliding up and wrapping around his neck. "Tell me to stop and I'll look the other way. Tell. Me. To. Stay..." He grunted each word into your ear, hands fisting into the hips of your coat and you pressed your cheek into his. "And I'll be yours forever."

"Are you sure?" You didn't realize the tears streaming down your cheeks. You wanted it so badly. After all these months, trying so hard to do your job, you just wanted to give in and take a break.

When you both first met each other, it was almost like, neither of you were really interested. There were plenty of fish in the sea-Or why even fish at all? On your end, it went much deeper. You shouldn't be falling for the same person you were trying to incriminate. On his end, he was determined to not date any of the women that worked under him. But it was Oz's vulnerable side that reeled you, it was your ferocity that made Oz intrigued.

You didn't even know how to manage a club, but somehow, within a two months you had taken the spot of the former manager and you had gained the respect of your fellow employees. Pretty soon, Oz was paying attention. And it was the sweet things that he did for you that made it so hard to hate him otherwise. You would forget what he had done and put your own desires ahead of you. That was how you ended up here:

Maybe you spent too much time with him.

Maybe you laughed too much when he cracked a joke.

And when he spoke, you listened a little too closely.

What was more important to you now? Oz? Or your entire career? Gotham City? Or Love? 

Was it worth it?

"Am I sure?" He asked, a lilt to his voice of disbelief, "Course I'm sure. Not a single hint of doubt," He pulled back enough to pinch your chin and draw you back into his gaze, that flickered in the little light. "You sure?" You smiled, genuinely, and nodded your head.

"Let's go eat. I'm starving." You were the first one to say it.

And the searing kiss continued once more.

The happiness didn't last too long, when you realized what all of this meant.

There was no honor to the things you did.

[samodivas]

i'm glad you're interested in qazaq names! most of them are dithematic of mixed turkic, arabic + persian origin, and the stress is on the last syllable except for foreign names which i'll mention a bit later. popular elements for girls are ay (moon, turkic), nur (light, persian) & gül (flower, persian), f.ex. aynur (moonlight; fun fact: this is a feminine name in qazaq, but masculine in tatar), aygül (moon+flower), aysuluw (moon+beautiful, both turkic). bek (prince), han (khan), sultan are popular for boys, like aysultan, imanbek. of course we also use religious names like musa, iliyas, and it's not unusual to mix them with the above elements, like nurislam, älihan (äli-ali the caliph). some names can be standalone, like arman (masc, dream) or gauhar (fem, diamond). there are also superstitious feminine names to give parents a son, like ulbolsın (let there be a boy), uldämet (desire a boy), ultuwar (she'll give birth to a boy), ulbala (male child). i actually hate that tradition bc it's basically telling your child you were disappointed in their sex and you wanted someone else :( other superstitious names are names with bad meaning to protect from the evil eye, usually masculine, like kötibar (he has a butt), names with the qul (slave) element (älimqul–scholar+slave), or "traded" children, like tölegen (paid for), satıbaldı (bought), satılğan (sold). a longed for son can be named tilegen (wished for), qudaybergen (the qazaq bogdan basically—we have 3 words for god so there are variants too). there are few unisex names, quanıc (joy) and jeñis (victory) are the first to come to mind, but i can't think of many others. some foreign names are commonish, like elvira, zhanna, albina, while others have a distinct soviet vibe like roza, klara (all feel dated though). marat, damir, & dias, common masculine names, are also of alleged soviet origin—i can see it for the former two, but dias besides the spanish communist has arabic origins (bright) so i'm not as sure about that one. history-inspired names are trendy nowadays, like tomiris & zarina after the saka queens, alan (masc) after the ancient alans. typical qazaq nicknames are formed using the first syllable or letter and adding -äke (æ-KEH) to it, f.ex. maqsat (masc, goal, any other M name) - mäke, jandos (masc, soul+friend, any other J name) - jäke. -jan (soul, persian) is an affectionate suffix, like -ka in slavic languages so to speak, so älim can become älimjan. more russian suffixes also persist, like gulya for gül names. feminine qazaq names don't typically end in -a, so if you see one, it's probably russified (gülnar-gulnara, iñkär-inkara). it used to be more common in soviet times, when russian nicknames were used for qazaq names, f.ex qurmanay (fem, sacrifice+moon) would become katya instead. as for surnames, in soviet times you'd get a slavic suffix (-ev, -ov, -in) but nowadays more and more people remove them, so qanat (masc, wing) tastemirov (rock+iron) becomes qanat tastemir, plus there's the grandfather thing i talked about. parents can choose to give their child a russian or qazaq-style patronymic, like kayratovich/kayratovna (qayrat - will, energy) or qayratulı/qayratqızı. matronymics aren't a thing as far as i'm aware. in official docs we use surname - name - patronymic but outside of that the usual order is name - surname or name - patronymic - surname (or name - patronymic if the patronymic IS the surname!). when addressing a senior (in age or rank) in a russophone environment we use name - patronymic, in a qazaq speaking environment however we use name - mırza (sir) / hanım (ms), f. ex qayrat mırza, gülnar hanım. i tried fitting in everything i could and even then i'm sure i probably forgot something—sorry for the wall of text😵‍💫if you wanna share any bulgarian naming customs i'd love to hear them!

That's super interesting, thank you!

We have some similarities but I'll put them under a cut to make the post more compact on people's dashboards.

The first thing I want to mention is a naming practice, which is relatively new - from the past 30 - 40 years, I believe, maybe just a bit older.

Typically, naming your child after a relative (usually your own parents) is the way it goes. So you have Georgi, his son Ivan, and the grandson is Georgi, and then he names his own son Ivan and so on and so forth. I've seen this which much less common names and my own family has this tradition on nearly every side. The names are cyclical -they come back in a generation or two, grandparents to grandchildren is usually the row.

However, it's increasingly common to "name" your child after someone by using no more than the first letter of their name. Grandma Sevda gets a grandchild named Sonya and the parents tell her "It starts with the letter S for you!"

Personally, I think it's a little bit insulting because it's essentially saying "well, see, grandpa Tzonko (version of Stanko, meaning "stay with me"), your name is just so fucking ugly I could not bear the thought of my child having it, but I wanted to stroke your ego. So meet baby Tzvetan ("flower") because the first letter is all I could tolerate!"

But on the other hand, it lets you be a lot more creative with names. Instead of having your child be Maria the 17th in your family line, they can be something unique that you still feel is connected to the tradition. A girl I know has a similar tradition in her family where they cyclically use the letter V to name the next generation, which is kind of nice because it isn't totally restrictive, like having to name your kid Vasil or Vasilena - they can be anything, like Velichko, Veneta, Venera, Vurban, etc.

Origin of names.

Bulgarian names are also of mixed origin, most commonly Slavic and Greek, often with Hebrew origin if they are biblical, and with occasional Turkic, Arabic, and Persian influence or meaning.

Slavic names tend to have "enchanting" or literal meanings, so they wish for certain characteristics upon the child, such as being "red" (Rumen, Rumyana), "kind/good" (Blaga, Blagoi), "healthy/sturdy/strong" (Zdravko, Zdravka). Snezhana (snow) is likely to be born when there's a lot of snow, Zornitsa (morning star) in the morning, Nedelcho, Nedyalko, and Nedelin ("not-doing"/Sunday) - on a Sunday.

Names of Greek origin are Bulgarized so Dimitrios is Dimitar (endless nicknames: Mitko, Mite, Mitak, Dimo, Dimcho, Dimi, Mityo, etc.) and Georgios is Georgi (nicknames: Gosho, Gogo, Zhoro, Zhore, Gyore, etc, etc.) and sometimes regional variants like Gyurgi or Gyorgi. These names have mostly come into use through religion, so all of them are usually connected to saints and feast days that people celebrate.

Turkic (and Turkish) names are usually avoided because of a lingering distaste for Ottoman rule, but elements like Gül are persistent and it's not too uncommon to find someone Bulgarian named Güla or Gülka.

For Arabic and Persian, the most common and beloved name I can think of right now is Biser (pearl) with the feminine equivalent Biserka. There was a theory that it's one of the only Proto-Bulgarian words (i.e: Turkic or Indo-Iranian origin, depending on which camp your theory is in) but it's much likelier to simply be an Arabic loan that made itself at home.

Christian Bulgarians use translated/Slavicized versions of Biblical names (Ivan and Yoan = John, Yordan = Jordan, Lazar = Lazarus, etc.) and Muslim Bulgarians tend to go for Arabic names from the Quran (Ali, Hassan, Ibrahim, Nebahad, Shaban).

I'm making the distinction that Muslim Bulgarians typically use Arabic names because Muslim Turks in Bulgaria most commonly use Turkish adaptations of Arabic names. It's just a small detail that's been emphasized to me both academically and in the flesh by a religious Muslim Bulgarian before.

The most common historical names are names of Tsars - Simeon, Samuil, Petar, Asen, Kaloyan, Ivan, Aleksandar, and Boris. Also khans, from the beginning of the country's history as a state, with the most popular choices being Asparukh and Krum.

Some foreign names have been replacing Bulgarian ones, so instead of "Elisaveta" you get "Elizabeth" and instead of "Stefan" you get "Steven" (but written in Bulgarian Cyrillic which honestly makes them painful to read like... Стивън just ain't it). Names like Alice and Vivian and others have also been increasingly more common. Personally, I don't like some of them as much as others. And it is 100% a personal bias because I will absolutely judge someone naming their child Kristin instead of Hristina but I won't judge my best friend for doing it with a less basic Western name. (e.g: Vivienne, Carolina, Pascalina)

Pronunciation/stressed syllables.

I feel like this is entirely intuitive and prone to constant change but maybe that's because I pronounce Todor differently every time I say it... I believe the stress depends on the length of a name.

Three syllables or more - stress on the second syllable. e.g: KrisTIna, DiMItar, EvGEniya, AlekSANdar, etc.

Two syllables or less - stress on the first syllable. e.g: KRIsi, MItko, ZHEni, SAsho.

Superstitious names.

The name „Момчил“ (Momchil) is given to a boy that was very wanted, as it basically means "male child" but I'm not sure if girls have ever received „Момчила“ (Momchila), however, there is another type of "enchantment" people used to put on their kids.

Names like Stoyan, Stoil, Stoyko, Stanko, Tzanko, and Tzonko are all names that say "stay with me". Trayan (or Trajan, if you're in the Western Balkans) is also common but it has one more meaning (Slavic origin would say sturdy, withstanding, etc. But the Roman origin is the name of an emperor + likely meaning "the Thracian")

Another common practice in the past was that people who had many daughters (or many children in general) would name the final one "Stiga" (literally the word for "Enough") to prevent future (female?) children from being born.

We've also had superstitious names with bad meanings for protection! (And I admit that Kötibar made me giggle.)

The most common "bad" name would be Grozdan or Grozdanka meaning "ugly" (grozen). But it's appeared more in fairytales than in kindergartens in the past decades. It's also very similar to the word "grozde" which means grapes, so I think it's a name that combines both meanings somewhere in its past.

Unisex names.

There aren't many unisex names left in Bulgarian, if there were many. The most common one would probably be "Tony" - short for feminine and masculine forms of Antonio, Antoanette, Antoan, Anton, etc. But interestingly enough a lot of old-timey male names used to sound a lot more feminine than they do today.

e.g: instead of "Andrey", it was "Andrea"; names like "Dragota" and "Enravota" are also uncommon now. "Nane" is a very colloquial name that I haven't heard used for an actual person but it's like in the English "Tom, Dick, and Harry" type anecdotes. It's also debatable if "Nane" is the vocative case for "Nanyo" or "Nancho" or something else entirely. It's usually a man in the anecdotes but it can easily be from "Nanka", which is feminine.

Most common nicknames just shorten a name to its first two syllables and end with „и“ (-ee), e.g: Hristina = Hrisi, Teodor = Tedi, Viktoria = Viki. For some names, you choose a more comfortable syllable. Antonio = Toni; Aleksandra = Sani, etc. Some names you end with "-sho", like Petar = Pesho, Mihail = Misho, Todor = Tosho, Aleksandar = Sasho, Aleksandra = Sasha, etc. Another common theme is using the first syllable of a name (or nickname) and then repeating it. So Maria becomes Mimi, Bilyana = Bibi, Dilyan = Dido, Dilyana or Diana = Didi, etc.

It's a very rich nickname economy here.

Official names.

Most documents here are NAME - PATRONYMIC - SURNAME, so I was always surprised as a child when TV shows had Americans writing their last name first. I think the only exceptions here are your ID card and passport because those are international documents, but most things you would sign with your name requires all three in their usual order.

It's interesting that Qazaks sometimes use patronymics as a last name because this was also an option during the regime here. Some teachers (and some of my relatives) used to use their patronymics very strictly. I think it has to do with honouring their fathers. I recently spoke to an old lady talking about how strictly she made everyone refer to her as her patronymic because she was proudly her father's daughter.

We usually address each other by first name only but if you want to be formal, you can avoid a name entirely and use "Miss/Mr/Mrs" (we don't have that neutral Ms that English speakers use to not disclose marital status) and use the plural form of the "you" pronoun as a form of respect.

There's definitely more to be said but I think we were thorough enough for an impromptu off-the-top-of-your-head type of explanation 😄

[hana-the-ghostieee]

so remember this bahooey? if you don't feel like clicking, uhm basically i took the screw you pusu band, tuyu's/omutatsu's bus-chan from the songs anoyo-iki no basu ni notte saraba and shuuten no saki ga aru to suru naraba and wondershow-ified her cuz she somehow ends up getting in some of my ruikasa posts (that barely exist cuz i almost never make them. dw my head is brimming with other less angsty ideas. [insert fluffy beach scene here but we're not talking about that now])

and well... i never really mentioned what happened to ruikasa with the inclusion of bus-chan to wxs soooo uhm. here.

so you know how bus-chan's songs are about suicide, right? uhh yeah... (i think you know where i'm going with this I'M SORRYYY)

uhm MEGA trigger warning suicide under the cut (uh oh. also besides the trigger warning this text post is VERY long)

uh huhh. so my ultimate scrunklies end up oofing themselves. don't ask me how or why. somehow and somewhy (a part of me wants to say they deserved this for eating my brain packed with fandoms at their fixer dinner date but also. THEY DIEDDD WAAAAAA)

i'm thinking for tsukasa it's more of a kako ni situation where he somehow messes up on one of their shows and it all just. spirals down from there while for rui we just. jump right to anoyo-iki

and right before darkness, a butt ton of white triangles cover their vision, as if they're entering sekai and all that jazz (they oof separately btw. and in numerical order, 1 goes before 2)

and then when they come to (apart from each other obviously) they wake up in essentially the real world, just. there's no one there. not even miku. (also did i mention it's like midnight forever. heh 12:00) so they explore this "sekai" and stuff! and it's just you know blah blooh bleh what is this place is this where you go when you die i must've deserved this then. where this au starts is essentially shuuten no saki "a warm flower bed, how inviting.../and bathing under this sparkling river.../and at night, all of the stars, they're just so close/but even so, there isn't anyone here!"

and before you ask yes. i am sitting on the floor, on my knees, raising my hands, asking myself what i have done and why to reach this

i'm literally just doing this on the floor

and theeen. they finally find each other. at first they're like OH MY GOD WHERE WERE YOU WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE with the huggies and the crieses and then the realization sets in WAIT YOU DIED TOO NOOOO YOU NEVER DESERVED TO DIE TTTTT^TTTTT just. "i just never wanted you to ever end up like me"

did i forget to mention. uhm time in this "sekai" (i'll keep using quotes idk what to call it) works differently than time irl, so irl the whole looking for an endpoint thing takes about a week, but in the "sekai". honestly who knows how much time has passed.

anyways from that point they're just working out their feelings. the main goal here is to have the accept what has happened and move on, i guess? they're supposed to find their self-worth (which in this state? is going to take a while.) but also. ruikasa confessioooon hehe!!! so back when they were still alive they had crushes on each other but of course. never got around to saying it. so now they've confessed and are trying to make the other see what he sees and then they slowly start to regret oofing themselves

from the start of this thing about two days has passed irl and yeah everyone pretty much found out they're gone (saki was lying on the floor screaming crying the liquid water out of her body. leo/need suspected something and was met with that scene. and they're all going to comfort her. basically time to take a break from whatever this above paragraphs are.)

anyways when they (scrunkles) finally accept they are worth something and regret oofing themselves and are like. "if there's an endpoint, a way out of here, please, i want you to go, just take it and leave" oh my goodness finally

the sun rises and miku FINALLY arrives (not like any miku or version of miku bound to any sekai but THE miku hatsune) (the appearance of hatsune miku) and she's like "hi i'm hatsune miku, not the wondershow miku but THE hatsune miku big deal i know. so i see you've finally realized your true feelings once more and blah" and they go "okay so can you... i don't know... resurrect us into the real world of humans?" and then she goes blink blink "i may be the one to watch over all of the sekais, and maybe control them but even i only have so much power. i can take you to another place, but it won't be what you expect." and then they're like "...what--" and then miku takes them to ~the in between~. you know. the in between of all the sekais to ever exist. the white triangley space where you as in the player can talk to miku. anyways cue journey by deco*27 (the miku version)

so miku's like "welcome to the in between! this is the place in between all the sekais and explanation stuff there are about as many sekais as there are people probably and whatever and here's rin and len and everyone else, say hii" and then she goes "so. as vocaloids we can just show up in any sekai whenever we want, but once we enter, we get another persona influenced by the feelings of the creators, or in your and mafuyu's case, creator and can't leave. in your cases thooouuugh, i'm pretty sure you can just. hop in and out of a sekai kind of like how you do normally, except when you exit a sekai you go back here rather than the real world. you can also enter a sekai and project onto their devices too! so you're basically one of us vocaloids, without the robotic voice" and then rui's like "...so if i hop in say this sekai i'll interact normally and stuff, just when i exit i go back here" and miku goes "mhm!" meanwhile tsukasa's just. "WHERE IS SAKI'S SEKAI I NEED TO APOLOGIZE TO HER NOOOOWWWW SHE'S PROBABLY CRYING OVER ME" and kaito's like "okay okay. hold on i'll pull up the school sekai for you" and yay tenma siblings reunion!!! and he explains his situation and stuff and his boyfriend follows him and they explore all the different sekais like me scrolling the ruikasa tag on ao3 and whatever.

i do feel like they'd probably hang around the empty sekai more (cuz ~ eMoTiOnS ~ and ~ fEeLiNgS ~ and they have hands on experience with the suicide and the self harm)

wow the freakish amount of crack-fic i could work on from there is stupid. just imagine not only tsukasa, but rui too showing up in the street sekai. "hmm. i sense a new presence." "WAUGH HOW WHAT WHY ARE YOU HERE" "wait HOW DID THEY GET HERE" "guys calm down they're just rui and tsukasa??? i mean yeah, how did they get here but why are you guys scared of them??" "WE HAVE TO BE THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE FREAKING DEAD HOW-WHA-WHY-WHAAA???" "wait they're dead??? oh my god what's going on???"

hweh that's all =w=

[shinysugar]

Breaking Horizons

Part 2

PAIRING: Pete “Maverick” Mitchell x OC (Saturn)

SUMMARY: Sarah “Saturn” Hastings is one of the first female pilots to be able to attend the legendary Top Gun. Alongside her RIO, Bookworm, her one, and only goal is that trophy at the end, but Maverick is looking for a trophy of his own - and his may end with a ring instead of a plaque.

WORD COUNT: 2021

WARNINGS: Sexism, Cannon typical violence

The O-Club was bustling as usual. Civilians dressed up in the hopes of snatching their own officer for the night, and the officers themselves dressed to the nines in formal attire to go fishing themselves. Saturn herself was dressed down for the occasion, she wouldn’t have even been there if Bookworm hadn’t been egging her on all day. You see, Saturn was Bookworm’s secret weapon when it came to finding a hookup. She’d sit at the bar, dressed down like the other girls, and have a few drinks. Then, when the moment was right, she’d seamlessly introduce Bookworm to whatever group of ladies she had infiltrated. It was a well-practiced routine that worked most of the time, except for that time in one of Japan’s red light districts, but Saturn’s Japanese wasn’t great at the time! She didn’t expect that the woman she had set him up with was a hooker!

But regardless, Saturn had let her hair down for the night. She’d even put a little yellow flower in her auburn hair for the occasion, letting her whole outfit scream “Tourist”. Still, despite how annoying it all was, Saturn still did it without much of a complaint. Not many RIOs wanted to fly behind a woman and if it hadn’t been for Bookworm, Saturn would have been delegated to a desk job like so many of her fellow women. Getting Bookworm laid was the least she could do for her friend, and the cookie baskets he got for her afterward were always a plus.

But unbeknownst to Saturn, someone else was on the prowl that night as well. And the pretty little thing from Top Gun was certainly on the top of his list.

“This is what I call a target-rich environment,” Pete “Maverick” Mitchell said to his RIO, Nick “Goose” Bradshaw, over the loud music of the O-Club.

“You live your life between your legs, Mav,” Goose chastised, slapping his friend’s back before leading him through the bar.

“Goose, even you could get laid in a place like this!”

“I’m telling you, I’d be happy to find a girl who’d talk dirty to me.”

Beers in hand and settled at the bar, Maverick and Goose watched men and women come and go around them. Just off to the side, they could see the guy who dropped his notebook all over the floor in class. He had a drink in hand that he was sipping, looking off to where they couldn’t quite see. And just in front of them, Goose spotted their most well-known classmate.

“Mav, you wanna know who the best is?” Goose asked, pointing to where he was standing, aviators on and a blonde broad on his arm, “That’s him, Iceman. That’s the way he flies, ice-cold, no mistakes. Just wears you down. You get bored, frustrated, and do something stupid, and he’s got you - hey, hey, Slider!” Goose caught the attention of Ice’s RIO who was just walking through, “Thought you wanted to be a pilot, man, what happened?”

“Goose, you’re such a dickhead,” Slider laughed, “Who’s butt did you have to kiss to get in here?”

“Well, the list is long, but distinguished,” Goose joked back.

“Yeah, well, so is my johnson!”

“So you’re flying with Iceman, huh?” Goose asked.

“It’s Mr. Iceman to you-”

“Hey, Mother Goose! How’s it going?” Ice interrupted, greeting his old friend and pointedly not Maverick.

“Good Tom!” He turned to the man beside him, “This is Pete Mitchell, Tom Kazansky.”

“Congratulations on Top Gun,” Ice said drily, not even letting Maverick get a word in before breezing to why he was really there, “Sorry to hear about Cougar. He and I were like brothers in flight school, he was a good man.”

“Still is a good man,” Maverick pointed out, but the tension was already thickening.

“Yeah, that’s what I meant.”

“Thought so.”

“Say, you need any help?”

“With what?” Maverick asked after a pause, not entirely excited about whatever Ice’s next topic of conversation would be.

“You figured it out yet?” Ice clarified, “Who’s the best pilot.”

“No, I think I can figure that one out on my own.”

“I heard that about you,” Ice was in his face now, “You like to work alone.”

“Mav, you must’ve soloed under a lucky star, huh?” Slider cut in, despite his friendship with Goose, the well-wishes clearly did not extend to his pilot, “I mean, first the MiG, and then you guys slide into Cougar’s spot.”

“We didn’t slide into Cougar’s spot. It was ours, okay?” Goose defended.

“Yeah, well, some pilots wait their whole career just to see a MiG up close,” Slider took a drink, “Guess you guys are lucky and famous?”

“No, you mean notorious,” Ice deadpanned, “I’ll see you later.”

“You can count on it,” Maverick replied, watching the other men go.

“They were abused children,” Goose tried to cheer up his friend.”

Maverick simply smiled and nodded, “We’re gonna have a good time.”

And as their beer bottles clinked together, the two men spun around to get a better look at the club floor, eyes hungry and wandering. Women were cheering and drinking, eyeing up the two men just as much as they watched them. It was as if the entire bar was filled exclusively with young singles, the perfect hunting ground for Maverick. He knew he was attractive and he knew he was good, but lately, things were getting just a bit too easy for him judging by the way just one charming smile and wink sent a small trio of women into giggles and whispers.

“Okay, I guess it's my turn, isn’t it?” Goose said, setting down his drink, “All right, the bet is $20.”

“$20, right,” Maverick echoed, already searching for his target.

“You have to have carnal knowledge, of a lady this time,” Goose clarified, the last incident with a very convincing crossdresser still fresh in their minds, “on the premises.”

“On the premises,” Mav replied, but he was only half listening.

He had found her.

He recognized Saturn from across the bar, though he had to admit it took him a moment. She looked so different out of uniform, dressed in a pair of slacks and a nicely fit white blouse. She had been breathtaking in those ugly khakis, but here, with a smile on her face and a drink in her hand, she was positively angelic. Or at least, that’s what he told himself he would tell their future kids.

Sarah “Saturn” Hastings was the perfect challenge. He had heard enough scuttlebutt about the female pilot who tossed engagement rings into the ocean like they were pool rings. Flew like a beast and every single squadron boasted they knew what she was like between the sheets until her RIO swore he had never heard of those pilots in his life. She was like the holy grail of aviators, and by God, Maverick wanted to take a drink out of her.

“You’ve got to be kidding, Mav,” Goose said, looking between him and the girl sipping her cocktail at the bar, “No way you’ll get anywhere with her! Easiest $20 I’ll ever make!”

“A dime a dozen, Goose,” Maverick said, “Besides, someone's got to take a shot,” He looked at Goose hard, placing a hand on his shoulder, “She’s lost that loving feeling.”

“She’s lost- No, she hasn’t!”

~**~

When the music came to an abrupt stop, Saturn thought that someone must have fucked up and gotten everyone kicked out. It wouldn’t be the first time something like that had happened. Juicer and Pony Boy once got into a brawl that broke the bartender’s leg and got everyone banned for life, and Saturn was tired of being kicked out because of her squad’s stupidity.

“Excuse me, miss,” Saturn turned around, at the tap on her arm, a frustratingly familiar voice from earlier in the day cutting through her hen-hunt.

The handsome man who thought he was better than everyone else.

She never learned his name, but she knew that he knew exactly who she was. That glint in his eye when he grabbed her arm, she had seen it a thousand times before, but she was curious. What exactly did he have in store for her?

“Hey, Saturn,” She looked up to see Goose, recognizing him from earlier, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of this.”

And for a moment, she really thought he was going to take his pilot by the arm and take him away. He was called Mother Goose for a reason after all, but breaking into song, truly, was something she never expected in her wildest dreams.

“You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips~!” The handsome stranger sang into the karaoke microphone.

Saturn’s mouth opened slightly of its own accord, her cheeks turning a fierce shade of pink. Julie, the girl Saturn had been chatting to, drunkenly slapped Saturn’s thigh laughing jovially at the turn of events.

“There’s no tenderness like before in your fingertips~” Goose took over, snapping his fingers in a way that seemed to get the entire bar transfixed.

Saturn tucked her lips in, trying not to smile at the unbelievable cliche she was experiencing, but that just seemed to egg the men on.

“You’re trying hard not to show it~”

“BABY” The pilots around her chorused, much to Saturn’s horror and embarrassment.

“BUT BABY! BELIEVE ME I KNOW IT! YOU’VE LOST THAT LOVING FEELING! WHOA THAT LOVING FEELING! YOU’VE LOST THAT LOVING FEELING NOW ITS GONE, GONE, GONE! WHOA WHOA WHOA! Ba-doom, ba-doom, ba-doom boom boom ba-doom!”

“Alright, Flyboy,” Saturn said, at the very least to get them all to stop, “Sit down.”

The handsome pilot sat down beside her, laughing as the others continued to sing. But his eyes stayed fixed on Saturn. Saturn turned on her stool to face him, taking a sip of her Long Island Iced Tea and taking in the man she had been serenaded by.

“I’ve never been sung to like that before, Flyboy,” She told him.

“I’m full of surprises,” He replied easily, tipping his bear towards her with a charming smile.

“Sarah Hastings,” She introduced herself, shaking his hand, “Callsign, Saturn, but I have a feeling you knew that already.”

“I’m Maverick,” He said, “And I’ve heard a thing or two, but I prefer to find things out for myself.”

“You mean get shot down?”

“Well I made it this far, didn’t I?”

“I suppose you did, Maverick,” Saturn smiled back, leaning against the bar, “And if this is as far as your hands go?”

“Then maybe I’ll just have to sing to you again.”

“What, you got more than one routine?” Saturn teased, but she really was curious.

“I’ll have to come up with another one, but uh,” He flashed her a grin, “I think you’re worth the extra effort.”

“I’ve had more than my fair share of flirty aviators try to get in my pants, Maverick,” Saturn said, grabbing her coat, “I’m a pilot, through and through, just like any other man in this room. Even if I want to, the risk for me is much higher than the risk for you. I deserve more than that.”

Maverick handed Saturn her drink, “I know,” He said, “I’ll earn it.”

Now that got her attention, it was easy to just lay it out and wait for the man to walk away. No one was interested in someone who was high maintenance, even just for a good lay. But there was just something about Maverick. She couldn’t put her finger on it; what made him different from the others. He looked like them, talked like them, acted like them, and yet - there was just something. Maybe it was the soft buzz of alcohol, the cheesy pick up, or maybe it was the fact that Saturn was lonely, but for Mav, maybe the rules could be bent a little. Just enough to see where things went.

“Then work for it, Flyboy,” She told him, leaving him at the bar with a grin on his face and an even bigger one cutting across hers.