#by the way I don't have this album in my collection yet

[yyoon5]

See my issue with this song is that it makes me want to buy byredo perfume...and the issue with that is that it's expensive and I don't like to waste my money on trivial things. Not to mention I hardly ever use perfume due to the chemicals in most. Yet whenever this song comes on I wonder...

[renjunphile]

for the rest of ours ᡣ𐭩 song eunseok

୨♡୧ WORD COUNT: 13.4k ୨♡୧ PAIRING: riize's song eunseok x female!reader ୨♡୧ TAGS & WARNINGS: chaebol heirs!au, rich kids!au, one sided enemies to lovers!au, arranged marriage!au, angsty at the start, overall fluff, reader is selfish and mean to eunseok for a good chunk of the story, brief unrequited love but y/n is an unreliable narrator tbh, second chance romance, she fell first but he fell harder trope, drinking, partying, non linear narrative

୨♡୧ SYNOPSIS: you find song eunseok to be utterly and despicably insufferable. too bad he's your fiancé since birth! and there was nothing you could do about it!

୨♡୧ NOTES: OHHHH im having such an intense eunseok rot that i had to write the most gut wrenching and nonsensical piece that becomes to sickeningly fluffy at the end. theyre just so in love with each other and there's literally no plot at all!!!!!!!!!!! lowkey one of the worst pieces i've written in recent times since i rushed it but i will edit and add scenes and plot in the future :> but for now, enjoy! ♡ i.b let my by zayn at the end :)

˗ˏˋ જ⁀➴ ˎˊ˗

It may be disturbing for some and horrifying to say, but your eyes hadn't even fully formed in the womb to open and your limbs weren't even well defined enough to have joints when your life was signed off to another's. For goodness' sake, it had barely even been a month since your tiny, minuscule heart started beating! What would the Song's have done if you grew up ugly?

You sighed to yourself, muttering under your breath how Korea's third richest family should be grateful you were akin to art in anyone's eyes. You were looking through the dusty photo albums that the housekeeper found while tidying the primary study of the mansion, and you grimaced at the photos of your fiancé that appeared from even the very first page.

It was bad enough that you were engaged before you were born, but did he really have to attend your birth? He probably didn't even have memories then! But there it was, under your fingertips: a perfectly preserved photo of a 3-month old Eunseok bundled up in sleep suit being posed next to where the nurses placed you after they literally just took you out of your mother. You don't even think the umbilical cord had been cut yet.

"Y/N, Mr. Song is outside," your favourite housekeeper coos at you from the double doors going into the study. You give her a terse smile and stand up from your father's office chair, straightening your silk gown before taking her hand as she helped you down the marble stairs of your home.

You roll your eyes (mostly to yourself, but you didn't mind if he noticed) as you saw his car parked at the bottom of the stairs leading to your front door.

"You can't even be bothered to come and collect me? Or open the door for me?" you sneer as soon as you settled yourself into the passenger seat.

"Well hello to you too, my lovely wife," Eunseok smirks, immediately revving and setting off around the fountain of your courtyard.

"I'm not your wife," you snap, deciding to ignore when the word 'yet' seems to slip under his breath, "But seriously Eunseok? This car? I'm going to look so stupid trying to get out of this car in my dress and heels. Why do you love sitting on the floor so much?"

Eunseok has an extensive car range. One that any car junkie would envy, but Song Eunseok knew nothing about cars. He just had them because he could. This car was a sports car where you had to sit in such a ridiculous position just so the car could look cool on the outside.

"It's white!" he defends himself, slightly whining in a cute way to which you swallow down a positive reaction. His eyes flicker over to you momentarily and his tongue traces across his bottom lip, "You look gorgeous, by the way. Very bridal."

You're wearing a white silk dress that looks like it's made for your body. It's draped so beautifully around your hips and hugs every part that needs to be accentuated. You loved this dress the second you saw it in Paris, but you never thought then that it would be used for this occasion. 

"Just shut up and drive," you quip. It takes a few moments of silence for you to feel bad even though his expression remains neutral and you sigh, "I guess you don't look too bad."

"Aw, I knew you were in love with me!" he teases again, a phrase he liked to use every time you said something to him that wasn't snarky, sarcastic or an insult.

You choose not to reply, instead taking in the bright lights of Seoul as he pulls into a main road. You haven't been back in a while, holing yourself up in your penthouse in Manhattan, but you always loved the sight of home.

"But seriously, Y/N," Eunseok coughs to get your attention, his voice dropping down low and suddenly serious, "This actually might be your last chance to back out of this. Just say the word and I'll turn this car around and take you straight to Incheon and you can run away around the world long enough until they find me a new bride."

You turn to look at him, perplexed by his words, "And you? You actually want to get hitched off to some random?"

Eunseok shrugs, not meeting your eyes, "You're not some random. I've known you since you were born. I've known you'd be my wife since the day I could understand what that meant. But if I have to find a replacement because you don't want to do it anymore, I will."

"Gee, ever the gentleman," you deadpan, "I think want is a pretty strong word. I don't want to marry you, but I guess I will."

"You're not backing out? Not leaving me looking stupid up on the altar?" Eunseok taps his finger on the leather steering wheel.

You think about his words sincerely. There's really nothing more in the world that you'd love than to run away to a small little town on the southern coast of Italy- somewhere quaint and quiet where you'd find love and spend the rest of your days cooking, cleaning, baking and finding peace in the ocean. There's nothing more in the world that you want more than for someone to ask to marry you because they were in love with your soul and not having you by their side would be like torture in the cruelest form.

Alas, you're Kang Y/N of the powerful Kang family, the eldest child of your father and the next heir waiting to take over the conglomerate. And because you're Kang Y/N, the eldest daughter of the second richest family in Korea, you were contracted to marry the first son of the third richest family in Korea. After that, your companies would merge and you would overtake the Kim's as the sole ruler of the country.

"It's my duty," you swallow nervously as you begin to recognise the streets of where you were driving, signalling that you were soon approaching the venue, "It's fine, Eunseok."

"I wish it wasn't just fine. I wish this was what you wanted." he breathes out and your heart stops beating for a second before anger seeps in through the cracks of your heart.

"Do you think it's any girl's dream to marry someone that doesn't love them?"

Eunseok sighs as he presses on the breaks, moving through the lifted barrier where they had closed a portion of the street in anticipation for his car and your arrival. He twists his body to look at you, "Y/N-"

"It's fine, Eunseok," you grit your teeth as you repeat your words, eyes trained on the paparazzi camped out on the steps of the venue, eager to get a glimpse of you, "Let's just get this engagement party over with."

˗ˏˋ જ⁀➴ ˎˊ˗

Song Eunseok had to follow you around the world like a lost puppy.

When you said that you wanted to go to that boarding school in Switzerland where only the richest sent their kids, Eunseok was in the seat next to you on that first class flight. When you said that you were going to Oxford to study for your undergraduate degree, Eunseok was tossing away his dream to study at Harvard to join you getting drunk at 18 under the grey British sky. When you said that you wanted to do your masters at Columbia so you could live in New York City, Eunseok was moving into the apartment across yours while he worked at the company his dad created in New York just for him to have something to do there.

If you said jump, Eunseok had to say how high?

That was just the name of the game considering the Song's had more to gain from this arrangement. Your family was richer. Your family was in a greater range of industries. Your family's money went back a lot further than the Song's. And you- you were the most stunning woman in Eunseok's eyes and because of him, you were stripped of your choice to fall in love. That's why the Song family gave you princess treatment from the second you were able to demand things. 

You had protested until your vocal cords went raw when they found out that they were sending Eunseok to university with you. For years up until you turned 18, you had imagined finally getting away from Eunseok for once, even if just for 3 years. He had always talked about Harvard and with the grades to boot, you thought that you'd finally have an ocean separating you.

It certainly wasn't an easy fight at the airport as you threatened to drop out of university the second that you even stepped foot into the new country. All your father did was bat his eyelashes and give you a heartfelt, "Please, princess? Just do this for us."

The phrase 'just do this for us' nearly knocked you sick nowadays after over 2 decades of hearing it spew out of your father's mouth. Ultimately, yes, you were lucky to have such a loving family that never pushed anything evil or truly despicable onto you. This was the one thing they needed from you. They obliged every want and wish for the trade-off of giving your hand in marriage to the Song's first born son.

In June of your third year of university, a couple months out from your graduation, Eunseok turned up at your door completely drunk.

"What are you doing here?" your arms were crossed tightly, trying to cover as much of yourself as possible as you were clad in the smallest pyjamas for the British summer heat.

He grinned goofily up at you, eyes lazily fluttering open and closed, "Hi, Y/N. I'm drunk." He was leaning against the doorway, nearly making out with the frame.

"I can see that," you sniffed the air and grimaced, "And smell it. But what are you doing here?"

"Can't I visit my lovely fiancée on her 21st birthday?" he batted his long eyelashes sweetly at you, taking one step into the apartment. You gazed at him hesitantly, taking one step back.

"I don't think anyone would appreciate their fiancé turning up on their doorstep piss drunk at 2am," you spat, "If you truly wanted to wish me a happy birthday, you would have left me alone."

"I lost my keys," Eunseok groaned, "I didn't know where else to go."

It should be sweet that out of all the places he could have chosen to go to in the city, he went to yours. Instead, it made you feel angrier.

"Eunseok, stop bothering me," your words contrasted your actions as you pulled him into your apartment and locked the door behind him, "Go sleep in the spare bedroom and leave as soon as you wake up. I'm going out for breakfast with my friends tomorrow so lock the door behind you and keep the key with you 'til you see me next." You pulled the spare key out of the drawer and placed it in his pocket.

Like a pathetic dog, Eunseok followed behind you as you led him through the apartment your parents had bought for you.

"Can I sleep with you?" he murmured.

"In your dreams, Song," you retorted, stopping in front of the spare room door, "Plus, you stink like shit."

"Ah, it's okay," he sighed dreamily, resting his head against the door, "We have the rest of forever to sleep beside each other."

You let out a frustrated screech, shoving his chest, "Can you let me live in peace? Why do you have to keep reminding me?"

"In the hopes that one day the thought of it won't make you sick or angry," he replied, opening the door of the room.

Your strong gaze faltered, "What are you- in love with me?"

"No," Eunseok shook his head, "I could learn to though, if you wanted me to."

"The only thing I want from you is to be far away from me," you ran your hands through your hair to soothe yourself, "And even that you can't do."

"I'm sorry, Y/N. Thanks for letting me stay," Eunseok gave up on his tyranny and dropped his voice, "Happy birthday."

You muster up a near half-smile, turning to return to your bed where you'd be tossing and turning until your alarm went off, "Goodnight Eunseok."

˗ˏˋ જ⁀➴ ˎˊ˗

The worst thing about your arrangement with Eunseok was that it was kept secret.

Of course, it was an open secret in your families and to the company- and there were always rumours about it since you two ended up always together around the world. But it wasn't like it was announced to the world at any point to protect the prospective merger happening when you and Eunseok came of age.

That made relationships very hard indeed. It always had to end in heartbreak, at least for the other person.

The two of you agreed that you could see other people if you wanted to, and you agreed on this the same day you had your very first heartbreak.

"Eunseok, can we talk?" you poked his side to catch his attention. Eunseok was bouncing his basketball up and down while he spoke with his friends just outside the school courts. It had been 2 months since you moved back to Korea after spending 3 years in Switzerland at boarding school, where you quickly became homesick. Eunseok followed you home immediately.

Your fiancé bid his friends goodbye and gave you a sweet smile, "Yeah of course. What's up?"

You led him to the adjacent square that was thankfully deserted and settled just under the bloomed cherry blossom tree in the middle, "Um."

Eunseok giggled at your hesitancy and pushed your hair behind your ear, "What is it?"

16 year old you blushed terrifically at that moment, highlighting your plump cheeks and shining eyes as Eunseok peered down at you.

"I know this is um, pretty stupid," you began, breaking his stare and looking down at your Prada loafers, "Well basically, my friend Jimin- you know Jimin?- she told me to-"

"Just say it, Y/N."

"I like you?"

It came out more of a question as you quirked your eyebrow up at your fiancé.

His eyes went wide, taking in a deep breath, "Y/N. You," he paused, "You like me?"

"Yeah," you exhaled, "Is that so bad? We're going to get married someday."

Eunseok looked around and noticed his friends turning the corner to the courtyard, presumably to look for him, "Look, Y/N, I'm sorry but I thought we were going to, you know, try experience life like how others do and meet people and do whatever we want to until they tell us we need to get married. I didn't think we were obliged to date."

Your eyes began to water and your lips began to quiver as sheer embarrassment sunk into your bones, "So what? You want to date around?"

Eunseok reached out to cup your face but you quickly took a step back, feeling humiliated and slightly bettayed, "I'm sorry Y/N. I didn't know you felt like this towards me. Look, can we talk later? I'll swing by your house after basketball practice, okay?"

From the ages of 0-16, you would say that you and Eunseok were close childhood friends. Even though you had no concept of marriage or love, your parents had forced the two of you to be together through every occasion with weekly play dates and attending the same schools. When you finally understood what being engaged to each other meant at around 12 years old, it made you swoon that you were going to spend the rest of your life with your best friend, who you'd always found endearingly cute. He became more handsome as the years went by and at 16, he was the object of all of your desires.

He was manly, he was protective, he was sporty and most of all, he treated you so well. He would run around town with you no question to go shopping and indulge you in all of your cravings even if you needed to have ice cream at 10pm in the dead of winter. He would take the train with you all around Switzerland to see different lakes and ski resorts. He would help you study in the library and pass you your favourite snacks whenever it seemed you were getting tired. He would give you his jacket on the breezy nights watching the local sports matches.

You were so blinded with your affection towards him that you had convinced yourself that he did those things because he liked you back. Because he wanted to treat his future wife well.

The day Eunseok stamped all over your little heart was the day you waged a one-sided war against him. Eventually, Eunseok began reciprocating your snarky attitude and the rest had been history.

You told your maids and house security to refuse entry to the grounds to Eunseok that night, but because of your parents' unconditional offer to Eunseok to make your house also his home, he had spent a good part of the night on the other side of your bedroom door trying to get you to open it so he could apologise. For a man you were once smitten for, it was easy to put on your headphones and drown him out until he got exhausted and left.

˗ˏˋ જ⁀➴ ˎˊ˗

Eunseok opens the car door for you and offers out his hand. In the darkness of his car, you grimace slightly, but force yourself to take his hand and use your free hand to smooth your dress out as you exit the car. The flashes from the press are blinding and carry on all the way up to the bottom of the staircase leading into the venue your parents had hired for the evening.

You try to keep a pleasant smile on your face as Eunseok passes his keys to the valet men before wrapping his arms around your waist. It comes nearly naturally to him, from all the photos your parents had made you pose together in dating back a decade or two. But it's your first official public appearance together, so the flashes intensify and you're taken aback. Eunseok feels you stumble slightly and begins to lead you along the carpet rolled out up to the stairs.

There's shouting from every direction- asking where your dress was from, asking if you were dating, asking why you were with the 'rival' company's son all the time- nothing new to you. After you traverse up the stairs, the two of you turn around and give a small wave at the cameras. You feel Eunseok drop his head down to yours, so you nestle yourself into him a bit more. How sweet, you thought to yourself, pushing down the urge to throw up at all this fakeness.

"Last chance to run," Eunseok murmurs as the doorman opens the glass doors into the foyer.

"Are you begging me to?" you counter, "Why do you keep insisting I back out?"

"I'm not. I just feel guilty, so I'll make up a solution if you want to stop all of this," he whispers into your ear. To others, it's an endearing moment as you keep your face neutral.

"It is all your fault. You should feel guilty. I'm not doing this for you or your family, but for my family. If this is what they want, then I'll oblige," you nod your head firmly.

While Eunseok's family was definitely benefiting more from the merger, it did come with some advantages for your family too: less competition in the market, combined success superseding the current top conglomerate, and for your parents: the knowledge that their first born child was going to have someone that was born to and raised from a good and rich family- someone that would be able to take care of you no matter what and understand your life in a way no other civilian could.

You know that your parents' argument for you to marry this guy was weak- there were plenty of good, rich guys from other companies- but you had been happy with the arrangement at the start and by the time you were 16 and he was breaking your heart, the companies had already started slowly merging or putting the plans into place. It was honestly a shame to your parents that other than rejecting you, Eunseok really had no faults. He was always polite, always courteous and intelligent enough to take over the conglomerate with you when the time would come.

Eunseok drops his arm from your waist, instead sliding his finger between yours.

"Miss. Y/L/N, Mr. Song," your family's general assistant approaches you in the foyer with a tight smile, "The event is about to begin. Please follow me to the stage. Are your speeches prepared?"

"Mhm," you hum, tugging Eunseok with you behind your assistant, "The rest of the family are here?"

"Yes. They're waiting by the stage," she replies as nerves finally settle into your stomach. You suddenly can't even look at Eunseok anymore as the gravity of the situation clicks into your mind. After this, you were going to be officially engaged in front of the world and you were going to be his bride in no less than a year from now. There was no turning back anymore.

Eunseok has to shoot you a look to stop you shaking on the stage as your father and his begin their speeches about their company, and the new era and blah, blah, blah. You tune them out in order to focus on your breathing and make sure you don't barf the second you step up to the podium. After minutes of nonsense, you feel Eunseok place his hand on the small of your back, signalling you to take to the stand.

"Um," you began, suddenly losing all the lessons you had learned in your public speaking classes growing up, "Thank you all for joining us on this occassion. As my father said, we are transitioning into a new era of our company and as I take on the role of COO, we believe it's important to have good people by your side to support you. While my family and the Songs are joining together in business, we are also joining together in family," you look over at Eunseok, who gives you a reassuring nod, "Song Eunseok and I are to be wed in one year's time. We have been close friends and partners since we were born and I couldn't imagine anyone better suited to be by my side. We can go into this business partnership fully trusting each other and our companies and we would be grateful if you could give us your support. Thank you."

You step away from the podiums as gasps ring through the crowd. The business venture was nearly an open secret in the industry, but your relationship with Eunseok was based on rumours only, having never confirmed it. Now that you have, it would stir up all these new rumours- were you only getting married for the merger? Did you two actually love each other? What about all the eligible bachelors and bachelorettes that had been conniving to get even a bit of your or Eunseok's time to beg for your hand in marriage?

Eunseok takes his place beside you, wrapping his arm around your waist again as your families smile together for the pictures. The engagement party also doubled as a celebration for the merger, so at least all of the spotlight wasn't on you.

You're glad that your friends are here. They're all business heirs too, since like attracted like at your school. Your best friend Minjeong attacks you with a hug the second you step down from the stage.

"Ah, my best friend is getting married," she sighs dreamily into your ear, "You know what, Y/N, at least he's handsome. It's harder to hate someone when they look that good."

"Then you marry him," you chide, half-joking, "The problem has never been his looks. It's the situation."

"He doesn't hate you half as much as you hate him," Minjeong tuts, "And he's in the same situation. He never got a choice either."

You know deep down that she's right, but you're committed to making his life hell until the ends of the earth for breaking your heart. If anyone could say anything about you, it was that you could hold a grudge.

"Whose side are you on?" you prod her arm, but she rolls her eyes and links arms with you to join Eunseok and his friends.

"Happy engagement, lovebirds," Sungchan greets you with two kisses on your cheeks, "So excited to be at your wedding."

"I'm sitting you at the back," you retort, sticking your tongue out. You hated that Eunseok's friends were genuinely nice and funny people. It was so hard to distance yourself from Eunseok when your friendship groups had been deeply intertwined since you all could walk.

"Not when I'm a groomsman, right Eunseok-ie?" Sungchan swings his arm around his friend's shoulder, pulling him close, "Now tell me, who's the best man?"

Eunseok shoves his arm off, "You can just draw straws for it."

"I'll be the best man, hyung," Seunghan grins cheekily, "I'll make sure to give a really good speech, okay?"

"It's almost as if it's a real wedding," you smile bitterly, "Jeong, you'll be my maid of honour right?"

"You have to ask me properly," Minjeong whines, "We're going to do this wedding right, okay? My best friend will only get married once. I'm not letting you let your wedding planner do everything; we've been planning our dream weddings since we were 10 so we'll do it according to that."

"C'mon Y/N," Wonbin bumps his shoulder with yours, "We can make it fun. We know you'd rather not marry hyung, but he had always been the groom in all the weddings you'd plan when you were young. Now it's like a dream come true."

"Yah, Park Wonbin," Eunseok grits his teeth at his friend for bringing up the past. You wince at the reminder as Minjeong slaps his arm.

"Y/N, I think your mother is calling over you and Eunseok to dance," Shotaro calls for you softly, and you turn around to see your mother desperately signalling to you to join her on the dance floor.

"I'll see you guys later," you bid your friends a goodbye as you follow Eunseok into the crowd.

The night crawls by. It's nearly painful as you fake a smile with every passerby and acquaintance who congratulates you for your engagement. It feels like you're getting stabbed in the heart over and over again as everyone coos over how in love the two of you seem and how they always knew you were going to end up together. It crushes you as Eunseok leans down to your ear while you dance, apologising for how this was your life.

You get into his car after the party. The ride home is silent, apart from the noise of the city around you that seeps in even through the rolled up windows. Eunseok won't even dare breathe too loud in fear of making your life even less like what you had dreamed it to be.

He pulls up to your house and you make a quick move to unbuckle your seatbelt and open the door in one motion, but Eunseok wraps his hand around your wrist gently, bringing you back down.

"What is it now, Song?" you sigh in frustration, closing your eyes in defeat.

"I know this night has made your hatred for me 10 times worse," Eunseok begins, shuffling in his seat to reach into his inside pocket, "And I know that what we have isn't real to you, but I thought you at least deserved this."

Your eyes flutter open and you look over to him. He uncurls his clenched hand, unveiling a shiny ring in the middle of his palm. You bite back the gasp that bubbles up through your throat, and you reluctantly take the ring between your fingers without looking at him.

It's exactly your dream ring. It's what you imagined the love of your life to propose with when you were younger. It's what you wanted to be someone's physical manifestation of their love and devotion to you. That makes it all the worse when it comes from Eunseok.

"I remembered," Eunseok reads your mind, "When we went ring shopping when we were young for fun because you wanted to make sure I would propose with the right ring. I hope it's still what you want."

You can't bear to look at Eunseok at all, so you clench the ring in your hand and open the door, "Goodnight Eunseok. Thank you. Get home safely."

There's 100 steps between your front door and your bedroom. It takes what's left of your energy to hold back the sobs that threaten to escape prematurely. As soon as your bedroom door clicks shut, you collapse against your floor and break down in tears.

Why did Song Eunseok have to be such a good man? Why did you have to hate him? He was yours now, and that was what younger you wanted all along. Why were you taking it out on him? You had been holding onto a grudge for so long and he had been trying to make amends in private ever since, despite going along with your whole enemies thing for his own fun.

You hated how you knew that Song Eunseok could and would give you the life you wanted. You hated how all you wanted to do was love him like it was your choice and for him to love you back like it was his. But in this world, you were privileged enough to have everything you ever wanted, aside from the choice to love whoever you wanted to.

You hated how you didn't even have a choice in loving someone who didn't love you back.

˗ˏˋ જ⁀➴ ˎˊ˗

You fought with Eunseok nearly every time that you saw him through your university years. You found problems in the way he positioned himself too close to you and problems in the way he would distance himself and act like strangers when you did complain about that. You found problems in the way he didn't talk to other girls despite rejecting you and found problems when he would go on dates after you said that.

In short, Song Eunseok was a problem to you.

Yizhuo was forcing shots into your hands and demanding that you downed them with her as you tried to tune back in to the party going on around you. You couldn't think of anything else the second that Song Eunseok walked through the door arm in arm with some girl.

It was the last party of your undergraduate university days, since exams had finished and you were going to graduate in just a couple of weeks. Someone had rented out some kind of manor in the outskirts of Oxford, dedicated for everyone to stay at and party for a weekend. You knew the organiser through a friend of a friend, but everyone that had been invited was someone you either knew personally or knew of. The spoilt brats community at your university was large, but tight.

You obliged Yizhuo's request and bitterly downed the drink, hissing as it burned through your tracts, "What is this? It tastes disgusting."

"Alcohol isn't made to taste nice," she tutted at you, following your line of sight before sighing, "I guess it's time to get you more so you don't have to be sober looking at that."

Minjeong shook her head on the other side of you, "I can't believe he would bring someone here. He knew you'd be here. So disrespectful."

You saw that Eunseok was about to turn, so you quickly spin away in order to avoid eye contact, "It doesn't matter to me. We're not dating."

"But he's your fiancé," Yizhuo stomped in defiance, "He should have some respect for you."

"Since he didn't want to date me, i'd rather him date other people. Then it just looks like he rejected me because he didn't like me as a person," you affirmed, taking another shot with Minjeong.

"Y/N, please. You were 16 when you confessed and 16 year old boys don't have the most mature outlook on life," Minjeong argued, coughing after the bitter shot, "I'm sure he's not stupid anymore. You grew up hot and he's practically tripping over his own feet trying to chase after you."

"He's not chasing me," you scoffed, "He brought a girl here."

"Oh, you're impossible, Y/N," Yizhuo cried out, beginning to slur, "What do you actually want that poor boy to do? Even I would be confused with the way you act."

Your best friends have been trying to knock sense into you since you turned 18 and Eunseok gave up his dream to study at Harvard to be with you in England. They had claimed that Eunseok realised his feelings for you and wanted to make up for rejecting you. You claimed that if that was his intention, he would have told you that by now instead of pestering you by inserting himself into your new life without reason.

"He can do whatever he wants," you turned your nose up, "I don't care about him."

"Well you better act that way. He's coming," Minjeong warned you, suddenly disappearing with Yizhuo and leaving you stranded with your fiancé walking towards you.

It honestly felt like the grim reaper floating over in slow motion before he came to collect your soul. You fought hard to control the grimace on your face as he stopped in front of you.

"Y/N," he greeted softly, leaning in to give you a hug. You stood still, but you don't push him away. You ignored the way your heart skipped a beat when he pressed his cheek gently against the top of your head.

"Eunseok,"

"How were exams? You're graduating this year, right?" his head is tilted at you, eyes focused into yours.

"Why are you even asking? I'm sure you know my plans for the next 10 years considering you're still following me around," you scoffed, "Does your new girl know you're moving to New York after graduation so you can stalk me while I do my masters?"

"Are you jealous?" he smirked suddenly, gentle demeanour disappearing, "She's just a friend."

"Does she know that? I don't care what you do, Song. I just feel bad for the poor girl whose heart you're going to break when you tell her you're engaged," you feigned nonchalance, pouring yourself another shot, "I guess it's my fault for telling you to have your fun and experience things since apparently you'll be so devoid of love when you get married."

"Y/N," he trailed off, grabbing the soju bottle that had appeared in your hands, "You know it's not like that. I didn't mean it like that when I reject-"

"Save it, Song," you rolled your eyes, "Your girl is coming. Don't go blaming me when time comes to break her heart."

You turned away in time and managed to snatch back your alcohol before arms wrap around Eunseok's and a high pitch voice squeals to him about how she lost him. You find Sungchan somewhere in the crowd and convince him to call you a taxi to take you back into the town where your apartment was. Before he could even confirm the booking, you had already disappeared into the crowd, the shots you had taken truly seeping into your blood and making your head spin.

You don't really remember what happened the rest of that night, but if you try hard enough, you can remember being tucked into a bed on the third floor, big eyes peering down at you as you tossed under the duvet, a hunched figure sat at the end of the bed on the floor and a soft voice singing you to a deep slumber.

˗ˏˋ જ⁀➴ ˎˊ˗

"It's gorgeous, darling," your mother's voice takes you out of the focus mode you're in. The sunlight seeps through the stained glass, illuminating the sunroom at the back of your house. If you look down through the windows, you'd find the garden that your mother has been cultivating for decades. The rose garden with its arches and its vines was where you'd dreamed to get proposed to when you were young.

"You think so?" you showed her the sketch in full, turning the pad, "Do you think it's easy enough to create in real life?"

"We can make anything you want happen," your mother takes a seat in the lounge chair next to yours.

"Can you make Eunseok love me back?" you hum dejectedly, shading in the corset of what would be your wedding dress.

"He does, sweetheart. You just refuse to see it," your mother swiftly utters, and you stop your drawing, clenching the pencil tightly in your fist.

"Why does everyone say that?" you growl, "Everyone but Eunseok."

"Because you act like you hate him. You act like marrying him is the worst thing in the world. You act like there's nothing he could say or do that would bring him back into your favour despite you loving him all these years," your mother is lecturing you now, "He follows your lead, my darling. He will go to the ends of the earth for you and he always has. What more does he have to do for you to accept the way he shows his love? What more can he do to have your forgiveness?"

There's tears welling up in your eyes and your mother takes the drawing pad away from you to examine the dress you had envisioned. She carries on while you chew your lip and fight back the tears.

"You're going to be beautiful in this dress. One year's time will fly by, so make amends with Eunseok by then. Even if you don't go into this marriage as lovers, at least go into it as friends. That will make your life easier."

"I don't want to be friends," you grit out.

"Mhm, you want all or nothing. Why don't you ask him, then? He threw the ball in your court when he asked you if this marriage is what you want. Someone who doesn't love you or care about you wouldn't give you the option to run away to save yourself, you know?" you hate how insightful your mother is as she grabs your left hand, "This ring is beautiful, Y/N. He knows your heart like it's his."

"Cause it is his," you choke as the tears begin falling, "And he stamped all over it 8 years ago."

"He was just a young boy back then. He's followed you all over the world to be by your side ever since. He's sacrificed his own life to make your dreams come true. You have no choice but to marry each other, but he's been making choices to give you the life you wanted," she strokes your hair gently, "Can you give the boy a chance?"

Over the years, your parents had apologised to you for putting you in such a situation. They had told you that if you truly, inside your heart, didn't want to get married to Song Eunseok, they would call the whole thing off. The marriage was a way to ensure the merger wouldn't go awry by putting you and Eunseok as collateral if one side ever did try to betray the other. Tying the two of you together in marriage was a way to prevent either families from ruining the other.

You considered putting a stop to things more times than you could count on your fingers, but selfishly, you would imagine yourself on a rocking chair on a porch, hair grey and skin wrinkly and when you would look over to see who would be on the other chair, Eunseok was the only one you could imagine with you.

"But I've treated him so horribly all these years," you hiccup, trying to stop your crying, "There's no way that Eunseok would love someone like me."

"Because you won't let him," she stands up and places the drawing pad back in your lap, "Y/N, your father and I love you very much and all we want is your happiness. We haven't opposed this marriage despite how hard you've tried to push Eunseok away because we know that if you let him, he would make you truly happy. You're the only person stopping that happiness."

You ponder on her words for a while after she leaves, adding little details to your dress. For someone who was acting like this wedding was going to ruin their life, you sure were investing a lot of your free time into it. Maybe Minjeong had gotten into your head; unless you planned to divorce Eunseok (after the 5 year clause, per the contract), you were only going to get married once, so you should at least do it in your style.

Wonbin was right at your engagement party. You'd been planning your wedding since young. You knew exactly which flowers you wanted to adorn the aisle, which flavour of cake you wanted to eat, which song was going to play while you walked down the aisle, and whose eyes you wanted on you on the other side as you did. Eunseok had always been your dream man- he was your first crush, your first love and your first heartbreak all rolled up into one devastatingly handsome package. You imagined him in his crisp suit, laughing through his tears because you just looked so beautiful, and the thought of that takes you out of your fantasy and back into the room that was filled not with tears of happiness, but of silence.

You look down at the ring. The sun is hitting it perfectly, making the diamond shimmer in the beam. You slide it off and inspect the band for the first time, wondering what size he got since you didn't even know your size. Your heart stops when you first notice it. It's so small that if you blinked at that moment, you probably wouldn't have even noticed it and you would've lived the rest of your life not knowing it was there.

You run your nail against the engraving, your breath hitched as you read it.

To the one I'll always choose.

It's always been about choice. This whole time, it's been about your freedom to choose.

You and Eunseok weren't born with the privilege of choosing the one who was going to love you so hard that it would drive you crazy. You were instead born with a silver spoon in your mouth and a signed contract that because your family was going to have a girl first, that girl would be married to the Song's first born when the time came.

There was no question or argument about it. You grew up beside Eunseok knowing you were going to spend the rest of your life together, so you chose to learn everything about him. You chose to learn that he loved playing basketball with his friends and that he became silly and unserious when around them. You chose to learn that he doted on his much younger baby brother and that he would fight anyone and anything that could bring harm to him. You chose to learn that Eunseok had a soft heart that had its very own soft spot reserved just for you- one that grew bigger after your hatred for him did as well.

While you chose to hate Eunseok for rejecting you, he chose to stick by your side anyways. He chose to join you in Oxford, even if most of his friends went to America to study. He chose to live at the block just down the street from yours, so he could walk behind you to lectures and check that you were okay every day without overwhelming you. He chose to sleep on hard floors and wake up with kinks in his neck because he chose to sing you to sleep while you were drunk and then refused to leave to sleep in a nice bed so he could watch over you and protect you in your state. He chose to take on a job in New York for two years instead of joining his father's company straight out of business school so that you had someone to accompany you on your midnight walks through New York City. He chose to give you the choice to leave if marrying him was truly a burden you couldn't bear, because your happiness was the grand reward of the consequences that he would bear in your place.

When you chose to hate him, Eunseok let love grow in the emptiness that you left behind instead. He would choose you a million times over and over again until the day you'd finally see it. Your hatred for the situation stemmed from the fact that you thought your choices were stripped away in being arranged to marry. You wanted Eunseok to love you not because he had to, but because it was his choice to.

You were too blind by your rage to see that Eunseok had been choosing you over and over again not because of the arrangement, but in spite of it. That was the greatest love of them all.

-

On the next sunny day, Eunseok joins you on the bench in the middle of the rose garden. You'd been sketching up ideas on how you want the aisle to look like. You were thinking light flowers along the bottom with candles dispersed to illuminate it. In your dreams, you'd get married at sunset in a glass pavilion that could hold only your closest friends and families. As the sun started dipping, the candles would take over as the source of light and bathe everyone in a soft, golden glow. In your dreams, the light would reflect onto Eunseok's face, highlighting his sharp cheekbones and large, round eyes that were peering down into yours.

"What did you call me over for?" Eunseok sits on his hands and looks around. It's spring time and the garden is at its most vibrant and beautiful.

You hold out your hand in front of you, "I found the engraving on the ring."

Eunseok takes a sharp breath in, "Ah you did?"

"Did you not want me to see it?"

"I had just hoped that whenever you did see it, you would believe it," Eunseok whispered, "It's true, by the way."

"I know," your response has Eunseok turning his head so fast it almost gives him whiplash.

"You do?"

"Mhm. You chose to follow me around the world despite me hating you and you having to give up on your dream schools just so you could try to prove yourself to me. You chose to keep giving me gifts on birthdays when we were abroad since my family often couldn't make it. You always choose me. Why?"

"In part to make amends for the mistake I made when I was young pushing away your feelings like that without thought," Eunseok explained, "But for the most part because I care about you and I want to make the best of a bad situation we're in. I know that no one wants to be in an arranged marriage. I just wanted to show you that I could give you the life you wanted. That you could be happy with me."

Your heart aches at his words as you realise how truly misguided your perception of him was. You had thought that he was following you around to torment you and to remind you that you could never be free, but all this time, he was letting you live your dreams and staying by your side to show that he was supporting you.

"I've treated you so badly over the years and you still want to marry me?" you meet his eyes that have been trained on you since the moment he sat down.

Eunseok giggles and reaches up his warm palm to your cold face, "Hm, your words are harmless Y/N. You've shown your affection to me in other ways; I know you love me."

You roll your eyes and push his hand away, "In your dreams, Song."

"Mhm, actually in your dreams," Eunseok teases, "Considering you've been dreaming about marrying me for 10 years."

"And I don't know why. I must be sick in the head for that. Did you hit me in the head when we were young or something?" you retort, trying to move away from him.

Eunseok lets out a full-bodied laugh that sends butterflies through you instead of the burning rage that usually ensued whenever he was having fun in front of you. He stretched his arm around you behind the bench and pulled you closer to him, "Just admit it, Y/N. Everyone knows you've had a fat crush on me since we were teens and it's only ever grown. There's a very, very fine line between love and hate."

"I still hate you," you grumble, "This doesn't mean anything."

Eunseok drops his head down, pushing your head into his shoulder. Your first instinct is to recoil away and grimace, but Eunseok's grip on your shoulder is tight, so you try to relax in his hold.

"You'll always be my girl, Y/N. You just have to accept that."

You hum and watch the bees buzz around the rose garden, "I've always wanted the whole ordeal- the crushing, the pining, the courting, going on dates, having your firsts, moving in together, proposing how you want. I feel like that was taken away from me before I even knew what they were and even if we do those things, how would I know what's real and what's fake? What you're doing because of me and what you're doing because of the arrangement- that kind of stuff."

Eunseok's heartbeat is slow and strong, "The arrangement only brought us to each other. How can I make you believe that everything I do for you is because I want to?"

"How about we start with when you rejected me and left poor little 16 year old me heartbroken?"

Eunseok scoffs, "Y/N, I was stupid, okay? It was a mistake, I was young and I was too blind to see what was in front of me. You were still special to me back then and I have always cared for you, but I didn't know what I wanted back then. I grew up and haven't looked back since."

"And the girls you brought around at university?"

"Because you were demanding that I dated other people," Eunseok rolls his eyes, thinking about your past explosive arguments about relationships, "I just went on dates here and there, but never anything serious. I always let them know that I couldn't commit, but you know there was a line wrapping around Oxford wanting to date me."

You chuckle at that. Everyone was falling over their feet for the chance to get just a second of Song Eunseok's time, the same way he was doing to you. He was incredibly popular and girls would approach you to ask you to set them up, but you would always growl and send them on their way.

"You were only the most eligible bachelor because you're the son of the third richest family in Korea," you sneer, jokingly.

"And I'm handsome, charming, intelligent and kind," Eunseok lists off his traits on his fingers, "But everyone knows you've always had my heart."

"I don't know if I can believe that."

He shrugs simply beside you, "Doesn't matter. I can show you now."

"What?"

"We can date from now on. I'll show you how I feel. Then in one year's time, you'll be gladly getting married to me instead of having to be dragged up the aisle kicking and screaming by your family," he says it so casually that you question if the shocked reaction you're having is the abnormal one.

"Date?" you splutter out, completely bewildered, pulling away from him, "Us two? Now?"

"Why are you saying it like it's crazy? I basically just confessed to you," Eunseok crosses his arms in front of his chest and tilts his head in confusion, "Are you rejecting me? Is this payback?"

You wave your hand in dismissal, "Yah, you're really confusing me here, Eunseok. I don't know what I'm feeling right now."

He laughs again, and he's glad that he can finally laugh with you for the first time in years. He takes your hand between his and squeezes assuringly, "It's okay. We can figure it out together as we go. Just stay by my side, okay?"

You sigh into the breeze. The air was crisping up as the sky began to illuminate in visions of pink and purple. You look over at Eunseok and the reflection of the sun makes his eyes look iridescent. One thing you've always known about Eunseok is that with him, you felt safe, so you nod and squeeze his hand back, "Yeah."

˗ˏˋ જ⁀➴ ˎˊ˗

The first time you saw Eunseok again after your undergraduate graduation, it was in New York City at the end of summer.

You had spent the entire summer travelling nearly every country in Europe with your friends, while Eunseok was forced to come home and start learning how to actually work in his father's company before he started his role at the New York branch. You were glad to have this summer without him considering the two of you spent your summers together as children and as teens, your friendship groups overlapped so you also had to hang out with him.

There were endless boxes in your apartment since decorating your space was one of your life's great pleasures. The boxes were organised by room and had been shipped out from England at the start of the summer when you moved out. They'd been collecting dust, so all your windows were thrown open in the summer heat to air out the apartment and the dust. Of course you had AC, but there was something about the noise of the city traffic and the hustle and bustle travelling up to your apartment that made you feel like you were truly in the city.

The knock on your door made you groan instantly and you had to suppress the urge of banging your head into the coffee table you were decorating. You took small and slow steps to the front door, but the pattering on the door wasn't letting up.

"Already here to bother me on my first day? It's only been like 3 hours since I got off the plane," you sighed as you came face to face with your dreaded fiancé.

Eunseok rolled his eyes and pushed past your shoulders into your kitchen, "I know you missed me. I brought takeout since you probably haven't eaten and don't have any food yet." Eunseok held up a bag of his favourite Korean food in the city and placed it on your dining table, dishing out the styrofoam boxes.

He arrived in the city a week and a half before you did, moving into the apartment across the hall so he had been able to get himself settled into both his job and his city before you came to rain down terror on him.

"What makes you think I want to eat with you?"

"I bought it, so I'm gonna eat it. Up to you if you wanna starve or not," Eunseok shrugged, already making himself comfy in one of your expensive dining chairs. He took out some plastic cutlery from the bag and began to dig in to the beef bibimbap he had ordered for himself. There was another few boxes of food in the bag, all of which smelling amazing and instantly causing your stomach to grumble.

Sheepishly, you took the seat across from him and scavenged through the food. He had ordered you some tteokbokki and a stew with some rice. Either he knew you too well or it was a lucky guess. For the sake of your heart, you settled on the latter choice.

The two of you ate in silence for a while, not really looking up at each other and just staring passively at your food. Silence was few and far between when it came to you and Eunseok. It was always hushed arguing or full blown insulting between the two of you no matter where you went or how inappropriate it may have seemed to others. You were sure there were rumours that the two of you didn't always get on despite being photographed together so often, but your families' PR teams were experts in mangling all those 'rumours'. 

You broke the silence first, "How's the new job?"

The heir in front of you coughs and looks at you strangely, as if he couldn't believe you would ask him that, "It's... work. Not horrible and met a couple friendly colleagues. Having this job does make me feel so grown up and responsible, though," after the initial shock of you initiating a conversation, Eunseok began blabbering about his new position at his family's company.

"Well then hopefully it makes you more mature," you snide.

Eunseok scoffed, "Trust me, Y/N, when I say that I'm the more mature one out of us. You'll find out what I mean one day."

"If you were mature enough, you'd know to oppose this crazy marriage with me," you turned your head away from him, feeling the anger bubble up again.

"And it's because I'm mature enough that I'm not," he shrugged, "Unlike you, I don't think this marriage will be the worst thing that can happen to me."

"I'm honoured," you retorted, "I don't know why you think that when all I've done is make your life difficult. Why would you think I can't continue for the rest of our lives?"

He smiled coyly at you, pushing a drink that appeared in the bag towards you, "You'll get tired, sweetheart. Then you'll fall in love with me."

You feel sick at how he's all entirely wrong. Despite that, you appreciate how he's always able to diffuse any tension between the two of you even if his words are always cocky and arrogant. z

You don't say anything to him for a long while. When you finished up your food in silence, he packed everything anyway and placed it in the correct bins. Wordlessly, he began to unpack your boxes with you, unwrapping everything bubble wrapped and placing it on the kitchen counters for you to organise. You would have protested this act of service, but he's right- fighting him all the time does get tiring.

In this light from the living room as the sun setting made your apartment glow and burst with light, Eunseok looks radiant. You hope he can't see you admiring him from the next room. It's almost as if you're a normal couple, moving into their first home and starting their new life together. It's a melancholy sight as you ponder the what if's.

He breaks down all of your boxes flat, humming to himself a song that you think you've heard at the end of parties when you'd be sat on someone's bedroom floor just talking or playing cards half-drunk. Eunseok turned his head towards you and you whipped your head away so fast it hurts your neck.

"You still have this?" he held up a mug that instantly flashed you back to 6 years ago. The mug is majority a light pink and wonky in places since you made it yourself from clay. It was a few months process making and painting the mug, but when you were 15 with the biggest crush on him, having a mug brandishing "Y/N + EUNSEOK" on it made you feel giddy inside.

"All my other mugs broke," you lied through your teeth, snatching it from his grip and placing it in a random empty cupboard, "My mother packed it for me when I moved to Oxford."

"Mhm, okay," you could tell he was smirking but you made yourself busy with the plates, "I'm gonna take the boxes down to the recycling. Do you want any more help?"

"I've had enough of you for today," you breathed out. Too much time with him truly drove you crazy, "But thanks."

"Anytime, princess. I'm just across the hall if you need me and I'll get your number whenever you get it set up." he wiped his hands on his jeans and have you that charming smile that made you fall in the first place.

You see him out wordlessly. You don't argue when he turns up the next day demanding for your number in case you ever needed anything from him (or if he wanted to come and bother you). You feign annoyance when one morning he's insisting that he ran out of coffee in his apartment and wanted some of yours. You leave him in your apartment because you were running late to class, but when you get home, you open the cupboard and try not to fall all over again when you see a matching, much lumpier, handmade blue mug that brandished the words "TO FOREVER <3" on it next to yours.

˗ˏˋ જ⁀➴ ˎˊ˗

You're tossing and turning in your seat as Eunseok shakes you gently. He laughs when you groan under your breath as he wakes you up, "Sit up. We're landing soon."

The sleep you got on the flight was long, but you still woke up incredibly tired since you kept getting woken up for meals. You were grateful that you could fly first class with separate seats and beds, otherwise you'd be much more groggy than you already were.

Buckling yourself in the seat next to Eunseok's, you yawn, "Eunseok, what the fuck is an engagement trip?"

"A trip celebrating our engagement, duh," he looks at you like you're stupid, so you shove him as hard as your tired body could muster, "Like a honeymoon but before. Never too many excuses to take a vacation. Plus, we're going to be busy this trip."

You've never taken a vacation with just Eunseok before. Sure, you've lived in three different countries together outside of Korea and gone on a couple of vacations as children and with a large group of friends, but never just the two of you with a purpose.

"I don't understand why our wedding planner couldn't just pick a venue for herself and call it a day. Why must we go all the way to Italy and do it ourselves?" you're up to your neck in work, but you couldn't protest when you found a week blocked off in your calendar by your assistant, telling you it was 'orders from above' AKA your father.

"It was my idea," he confesses with a shrug, "Won't it be nice if we actually like where we're getting married? If we chose it ourselves because we can see ourselves getting married there?"

It feels like your heart is clenching at the insinuations behind his words. He wants to get involved with your wedding planning, like it's a real wedding. You sniff and turn away from him. It is a real wedding, you remind yourself. You were going to get married legally and this wedding was real, no matter the intention behind it. No matter if you loved or hated each other, it was a real wedding.

"Yeah. Everywhere in Italy is nice so at leadt it'll be a good trip," the past couple of months since you've been officially engaged to Eunseok, you've been attempting to be nicer and hold back your retorts. You've made an effort to argue less and he's been trying to get on your good side. You've both been busy with work considering the news of the merger brought a whole new wave of problems, so you've had no time to interrogate his profession to "date" you. Thank gosh, because your heart would not be able to take that.

The plane lands soon enough and before you know it, you're in a private car going to your hotel. You were staying in Milan, but driving around Lake Como and Tuscany to tour the list of potential venues that your wedding planner had come up with. You were definitely going to be exhausted by the end of it.

The drive was relatively silent, just listening to music and looking out of the window, but when you arrive at the hotel, Eunseok opens the car door for you and snakes his arm around your waist as you walk up to the front desk, "Hello. We're checking in to the penthouse suite. For Song?"

The hotel clerk smiles sweetly, handing over your keys swiftly, "All ready for you both, Mr Song. Congratulations on your engagement."

You're spluttering a thank you with flushed cheeks as Eunseok drags you over to the elevator, "You told them?"

"I just wanted the free champagne that I assume will be up there," he grins cheekily and you roll your eyes. As if he couldn't afford it.

You are however delighted to find a small cake beside the bucket of ice cold champagne and you dig into the red velvet goodness as you watch Eunseok open up your suitcases and hang your clothes up in the master bedroom wardrobe meticulously. You're halfway into the cake when he drags his suitcases out of the room.

"Wait, where are you going?" you frown.

Eunseok snickers, "To the other bedroom? Why? Do you want me to stay with you?"

"Oh. I just didn't know there were two rooms." you say sheepishly.

Eunseok stops in his tracks, hand on his suitcase loosening, "So you went into this trip okay with the thought of sleeping with me? If so, I'll stay here with you then."

"No!" you call out, "Just- just shut up and go."

The smirk on his face is smug as he nods and continues his leave, "Alright, sweetheart, but let me know if you get nightmares and want company."

You bear the butter knife at him and he laughs melodically on his way out. You pop the champagne yourself and drown a glass down, hoping you'd be able to make it out the trip unscathed. He's running into the room with a pout after hearing the loud pop of the corkscrew, so you pour the both of you a glass and you clink them together as you chugged them back.

The days pass by similarly. You wake up and have breakfast together before embarking on a sleepy drive to a venue. You have lunch in endless terraces and gardens under the sun, basking in the heat and evaluating the venue you saw that morning. You both ooh and ahh at different venues that all look the same before you find a flaw in it that stops you from making the decision to host one of the most important days of your lives there. Some are too big, some too small, too pretentious, not pretty enough, the flowers aren't the ones you envisioned, the location too secluded or not enough. You always agree on the flaws of the venues and it's the penultimate full day when you make it to the final venue on the list.

"If I don't like this venue then I'm not marrying you," you huff in the car as it pulls up the driveway.

"Who knew wedding venues were so complicated?" Eunseok exhales in frustration, "Should we just get married in Seoul?"

You puff out your lips, "Italy was always my dream, but I was naive to the process."

Eunseok smiles and takes your hand, "I have faith in this one. At least I hope." The commitment he has to giving you your dream wedding despite it all is unwavering.

When you enter the final venue, you think that maybe it was the last on the list for a reason, since you're blown away every step you take through the grounds. The hallways to the main room is ornate and delicate at the same time, with pretty floral paintings wrapping the walls and big windows letting in the golden light. The room where your reception could be held is stunning with murals all over the walls and a dome ceiling that compliments it perfectly. It's neither too big, nor too small and there's little nooks and crannies for guests to nestle themselves in. You could see yourself in the middle, slow dancing with your head on your husband's shoulder.

"This is nice," Eunseok awes, coming up behind you with the grounds manager, "Very pretty."

You nod in agreement and ask to see the gardens, since you always wanted to get married outside in the sun. The manager gushes over the outside while she leads you out and your heart is pounding in anticipation. Eunseok probably guessed how giddy you were, because he joins you by your side and gives you a hopeful look.

"We're here. Most brides start from here and have the aisle straight down to the arch."

She throws open the double doors and you gasp in admiration at the sight in front of you. The stairs going down to the garden seen steep, but grand. You envision that your father could probably help you hobble down to the garden, where it was staged as a wedding venue. There's chairs laid out in rows, decorated in tulle and bows with an aisle adorned in flowers. At the end of the garden, there's an arch with vines wrapped around it and flowers creeping up. From where you were standing, you could see that this garden was actually on a balcony overlooking a lake that seemed to be glowing and sparkling as the slight wind caused some ripples on the surface

"I'll give you two some time to explore?" she proposes, to which Eunseok nods and wraps his hand around your wrist, tugging you down the stairs.

"First impressions?" he's looking around with blown out pupils as the two of you reach the bottom of the stairs and the beginning of the aisle.

"I like this one a lot," you shyly admit, "It's exactly what I imagined."

"I love it as well. Why don't you walk down the aisle and see how you feel. Imagine yourself on the day," he's taking off in front of you, running swiftly to the arch before you could even take a breath and get a word out.

At his antics, you let out a full-belly laugh and straighten out the ivory dress you happened to be wearing. You look down at the slip dress hitting your ankles and think it might be fate you chose to wear this specific dress on this specific day. You look up and find Eunseok suddenly frozen still at the other end, hands intertwined in front of him and his eyes trained solely on you.

When he notices that you meet his eyes, he gives you a gentle smile as he mouths to you, "Come here."

It takes you a few breaths to actually muster up the courage to follow his direction. You think that walking down a straight path shouldn't be such a big deal, but the thought that this could be the very steps you take to marry the same man at the end in less than a year's time strikes your heart.

The aisle is a soft and smooth stone, perfect for walking on in high heels. It's wide enough that a wedding dress wouldn't drag along the sides and knock over the flowers and long enough for anticipation to build as Eunseok gazes down at you from afar.

"Y/N," Eunseok calls over.

You take the first step and your breath catches in your throat. All you can look at is Eunseok now, with his shirt unbuttoned at the first three to expose some chest and his hair falling over his eyes. He keeps fidgeting with his fingers, as if he couldn't stand still and his lips are puckering and stretching as if he had much more to say.

The second step is easier than the first and the third one even more so. By the fifth step, Eunseok is chewing on his bottom lip and you're ridden with anticipation to meet him at the end.

With each step you take down the aisle, you're flashed back to all the crucial moments in your life with Song Eunseok so far.

You were sandbox best friends. You learned to walk together, and then ride bikes with each other. You learned to swim in the same swimming pool that still remained in your garden. You learned to ski and snowboard with each other in the blustery mountains of the alps. You were each other's first heartbreaks when you were teens. You took your first alcoholic drink together with your friends by the Han river, faces flushed red and hearts beating out of your chests at the prospect of getting caught. You got blackout drunk together for the first time during your first week of university. You posed together as you threw your graduation caps up in the air at the end of the three years. You chased each other around New York City, running around in blocks after he snatched your phone from your grasp when you would ignore him. You begrudgingly invited him to ride swan paddle boats with you in every lake and river around the city since he was the only person that would drop everything for you at a moment's notice. You would leave containers of home cooked food outside his doors when you noticed he was getting swamped with work, knowing he had the tendency to either order too much unhealthy takeout or stop eating altogether when busy.

With every step you take to meet Eunseok at the bottom of the aisle, you accept that Eunseok has been with you for every step of your life.

He's an arm's length away when you notice his eyes are glossier than usual. Eunseok refuses to break the stare between the two of you as you arrive in front of him, exactly where you would stand under the arch if you got married at this very space.

"Are you crying?" you whisper, afraid of your own voice.

He chortles and dabs at his eyes, "It's just the wind."

"Mhm," you hum, fighting back the smile threatening to expose your emotions, "What do you think?"

Eunseok takes a bold step towards you and closes the gap between your bodies. He's closer than you've ever had him and you can nearly feel his breath on your skin. It's making you dizzy but all you can do is keep your eyes on him.

"Eunseok," you murmur in a hushed tone.

His head is drifting closer down to yours, forehead nearly touching. If you moved your face even just by a centimetre, your noses would bump and you knew you wouldn't be able to stop yourself.

"Let's get married here," Eunseok nudges his face forwards. You have to stop yourself from pulling back even with the drumming in your chest, "You're going to look so beautiful. You do already."

"I like this place. Our parents would like it here too."

Eunseok's eyes flutter shut as he sighs and shakes his head gently, "No, let's get married here because we want to, not because our parents would like it. Let's get married because we want to."

"Eunseok," his name falls out of your mouth like it's the most sacred word you can say.

His forehead is still pressed against yours, his eyes squeezed tight and his palm comes up to make home on your cheek, "I love you. I always have."

Sincerity drips from his words and you know that this time, it's the real thing. It's the words you'd been dying to hear him say sincerely for a decade. It's the words that underlined every fight and argument you've had as adults. He finally and bravely bares his heart to you for the first time, still considerate as he always had been by giving you the choice to determine what will end up of the two of you.

There's something different about his profession of love after all you'd experienced together. Back then, when you confessed that you liked him, the world would probably say it was just some puppy love- a silly high school crush. Something that would fizzle over and dissolve when you would experience the real hardships of life and what it could throw at you. You think that a late confession carries a profound and heartfelt meaning like no other.

"Seok-"

He cuts you off before you could finish, pulling away from you and causing you to open your eyes, "I don't need an answer yet, Y/N. I just need you to know that I want to be with you. I want to be your boyfriend, your husband, your partner- whatever you want me to be. I want to make you only happy from now on, instead of angry or resentful. I want to be by your side and keep following you around the world. I want everything with you."

You've never felt more sure of anything else in the world when you bounce up on your tiptoes and capture his face between your hands, pressing your lips against his. It feels like every nerve ending in your body is on fire, but at the same time feeling relief as if this was the one thing in the world that could finally relieve you from all the anger and bitterness you had been displaying and trying to internalise for all these years. Deep down, you could never ever hate Song Eunseok, the boy who has had your heart since you were just young.

He's rigid for a split second while he processes your own confession, but he quickly regains enough composure to part his lips and deepen the kiss, moulding your lips to each other's. It's unlike anything he's ever felt before and he finally understood the real pleasure of kissing someone you really love. As he runs his tongue along your bottom lip, Eunseok knows that he could do this for the rest of his life.

"Song Eunseok, I love you too," your eyes are glistening with adoration as you pull away from his kiss, "Let's get married?"

When he finally looks you in the eye at the moment you give yourself back to him, he can't help the tears that finally break free from their barrier. He's laughing as he finally pulls you to his chest, wrapping his arms around your body in desperation of keeping you close to him. You nuzzle deeper into him and he tucks his head into your neck. His body is shaking with the laughter of relief and his heartstrings tug when he feels his shirt dampening at the exact spot where your face laid.

"You're the one I'll always choose to love," he coo's into your ear words that travel straight into your heart, "For the rest of my life, for the rest of yours."

You look down at your hand and breathe deeply as the ring glistens on your finger. The Italian sun makes it shine bright as the symbol of your love. You start thinking of what you want to engrave on the inside of the ring that you want to get him. You start thinking of the dress and suit you'll be wearing at this very spot soon enough. You're dreaming of the house you move into together and of the company you'll spearhead by each other's side. You fantasise over your future kids- the kids you hope will have his eyes and your nose. You yearn for the life you know Eunseok will give you and your heart is finally at peace, knowing it will always be him.

˗ˏˋ જ⁀➴ ˎˊ˗

[in-som-niyah]

hi!! i’m literally so obsessed with your work i’ve been scrolling your profile all day 😭😭 i was wondering if you could write something about jason x fem!reader getting married? mostly fluff but ill never say no to some good smut

a/n: "i’m literally so obsessed with your work i’ve been scrolling your profile all day" WHAT DO YOU MEANNNNNNNN STOP UR GONNA MAKE ME CRY THIS IS EVERYTHING TO ME HELLO??? like wdym u like my work so much u spend so much time on my blog i love u gimme kiss

anyway this prompt is *chefs kiss* bc we all know Big Bad Jason Todd™ is such a loverboy softie but most of all he loves hard.

I think that before he met you he never thought that he would be so enamoured with someone who also feels the same way about him at the same time, that also wants to marry him??? He thinks he's too flawed and violent and abrasive for someone to even like being around him. So marrying him??? haha you're funny.

But after YEARS (yes, it takes him years of a committed relationship with you to fully trust that you actually like being with him for an extended period of time, let alone forever) of handling his emotions, outbursts and injuries with grace while still giving him a whack at the back of his head when he's being stupid, he considers marrying you.

Remember, Jason Todd is fucking scared himself, and he doesn't want to scare you off with a ring that literally promises forever with him. Though he loves you, he wants you to be happy in the end. Will you be happy with him in the end?

It takes a lot of mental and emotional strength to overcome these fears that swirl around his head.

When he does get over it though, he's so attentive yet sneaky when picking your ring. There's a luxury jewellery store on the way to your favourite clothing store at the mall, and he literally takes you to the whole mall just to pass by the store. He always looks to see what your eyes catch, what you like and don't like. Doesn't matter if he ends up spending hundreds since you're at the mall so much, he'll do it just to make sure he gets exactly what you want.

Jason also uses his extensive detective training to find out what cut and stone you want on the ring. He's ok with diamonds, but would want something more unique and personal for his love. He wants something that always reflects you, no matter the occasion.

Side note: once the ring comes he would definitely put together a photo album of pics he took of the ring in plain sight while you're completely oblivious just for shits and giggles

Finally, when it's time to pop the question, he doesn't do flashy and big productions with lights and letters and petals and stuff.

He would be dancing in the kitchen with you on a lazy Saturday, eating pancakes and bacon and when the song ends just casually asks "if I were to ask you, would you marry me?" Now he looks collected as he lovingly smiles down at you but is actually shitting himself until you say that you would in fact marry him if he asked. Then he reaches into his back pocket and pulls out the most perfect, detailed, gorgeous ring you could ever ask for while properly asking you to marry him. Cue the waterworks (from both of you) and the celebratory make-out sesh.

Y'all definitely fucking the night of the proposal though

I feel like it would be realllllly possessive since yk you literally belong to him now

"tell me who this pussy belongs to, pretty girl" Knowing full well you can't answer because your eyes have already rolled back mid-stroke and you're babbling incoherently. It does, however, put a smug ass smirk on his face.

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

a/n pt2 bc i can't shut up: i hope u like it!!! i wasn't in the mood to write anything smutty but idk im in my soft era for jason i just want his stoic self to love me :(((((

[lovings4turn]

☆ these are the days . . . (j.m.)

— a couple of days in the life with your boyfriend

+ title taken from 'these are the days' by inhaler.

+ just fluff. dividers from cafekitsune! and always, likes and reblogs are much appreciated

it's another friday night. though in any other city such an occasion calls for a big, crazy night out, stars hollow is not really that kind of town.

jess hangs his head from the edge of your bed, surveying the cds you're leafing through from his upside down position as you sit on the floor next to him. your cd collection in no way rivals that of lane - in fact, you don't think anyone's could - but you still pride yourself on just how extensive it is.

"that one," he hums, straining a little to nod his head in an appreciative gesture towards the 'elastica' album that currently sits in your hands.

wordlessly, you hold it out to him and admire the way his deep brown eyes narrow as he attempts to bring the upside-down cover into focus. anyone else would be surprised at the gentle way in which jess plucks it from your fingers, but jess is nothing but soft in all matters pertaining to you.

in all honesty, the thought that seemingly everyone in stars hollow apart from you see jess as some cold, harsh ‘teenage dirtbag’ is, quite frankly, hilarious. so much so, that you can't stop a small laugh from escaping your lips, a sound that jess instantly picks up on.

he turns away from the cd to look at you once more, treacle brown eyes obscured by the way he squints and furrows his brow in a silent question.

"something funny?" he questions, though there's fondness laced in every word.

"nothing, nothing," you placate, but jess knows you far too well for this schtick.

"yeah, right." his tone is sarcastic, but the crooked smile he shoots you reveals he's more amused than anything. “cracks in your floorboard tell you a joke or something?”

you knock his shoulder with your own, a gentle reprimand that you don’t even mean.

“just thinking,” you admit. “like, ‘s funny that everyone sees you as some sort of devil incarnate, yet here you are, staying in on a friday night to ransack my cd collection.”

“it’s not ransacking if you enabled it,” jess refutes, raising a thick eyebrow teasingly. “but if we’re talking theft, i believe you still have at least three of my books laying around here.”

an indignant laugh escapes your lips as you sit up straighter, but before you can protest, jess is pointing to various corners of your room.

“i spotted franny and zooey when i came in, y’have high fidelity resting on your desk, and i swear please kill me is still sitting in your bag.”

“touché,” you concede, knowing that jess was absolutely correct in his accusations. “i’ll make it up to you.”

jess perks up at this, turning to face you better. he’s still upside down, and you’re surprised he isn’t dizzy from all of the blood rushing to his head in this position, but you aren’t complaining.

you’ve studied jess countless times when he’s standing the right way up; here was an opportunity to admire him in a totally different perspective.

“yeah?” he asks.

his grin tugs the corner of his mouth up into a smile, as though it’s attached to a string with you, the puppeteer of his joy.

a hand comes to trace your cheek. it’s warm, loving. all you can do is nod before your lips meet his own. it’s a tad awkward, jess still hanging from your bed, but he manoeuvres his neck to ensure your kisses become seamless.

as your tongue slips between his parted lips, jess decides that the discomfort his neck will feel tomorrow will be more than worth it.

saturdays are reserved for the infamous diner rushes.

without you there, you’re sure that luke and jess would have killed each other ten times over today alone.

your vantage point at the register allows for you to remind jess to refill people’s coffees or take a table’s order. instead of stalling, like he does when it’s just him and luke, he goes without hesitation, wanting to be back to you as quick as possible.

luke learned not to comment on it. the first time he’d bore witness to jess refilling kirk’s coffee the moment you’d asked him to, he’d made some witty remark about jess being wrapped around your finger.

jess had stubbornly refused to refill any more coffee cups that day in protest.

currently, he’s standing at the counter with you, watching you doodle onto his order note-pad. though luke keeps shoving plates into his hands and sending him to different tables, jess is keen to see how your drawing progresses each time he returns.

he’s glad he has a decent enough memory to remember the orders he takes; he would rather scribble them onto his own hand than ask you to hand his notepad back.

it’s after he gives taylor doose his omelet that he returns to his notepad in the centre of the counter, turned around so he can see it properly.

artistically speaking, it’s no masterpiece. but to jess, it’s priceless.

there, immortalised in black ink, is a glorified stickman portrait of the two of you. jess is in what he thinks is supposed to be a metallica t-shirt, and one of your eyes is a little bigger than the other, but jess doesn’t care. all he notices is that stickman you has stickman jess’ hand clasped tightly.

the moment his shift is over, jess pins it to his wall.

ᝰ.ᐟ tags ; @faerieroyal

[rebel-by-default]

I've figured out my issue with FivexLila

"I thought Five needed to be with someone, whether it be a boy or girl. We thought we had an opportunity with Lila."

Yet again, female characters exist only to fulfil a male character's arc. Lila was, for once, quite a well-rounded character.

There could have been a very interesting (albeit painful) view into how relationships that may seem perfect, where two people are very in love, still don't work. The destruction of Lila and Diego's relationship could have been a very real, very painful storyline.

In many ways, I stand behind that point, they were a great partnership but it was not in any way healthy. They constantly betrayed one another, failed to communicate, didn't respect the other.

Instead, Lila was used as a pawn to further another character's development. Female characters either require romance, or are a prop for another's development. Viktor (in s1 and s2 as Vanya), Allison (in s1, s2), Lila (s2, s3, s4), Jennifer (s4), Grace(s2), Abigail (s4). If there isn't romance, there's almost certainly motherhood.

The only female characters to remain free of romance are almost always, inevitably, antagonists. (The Handler, Fey, Allison once she loses her relationships)

Note how Viktor's relationship stories stopped when he transitioned.

When are we going to collectively realise that women and afabs are more than just objects to romance, pawns to further other people's storylines, or that their character development can be something more than falling in love?

Anyway I'm going back to streaming Paris Paloma on repeat and raging against this bullshit patriarchy. (New album is out my friends, go listen!)

TLDR: I'm sick of female characters only motivation being romance. I'm sick of female characters being used only for romantic relationships. Give girls swords instead of boyfriends.

[vimbry]

*if you've heard a couple songs but don't really know much about them, or haven't listened in a long while, you can play!

update: the highest votes went to gudetama. but was it correct? here are the full titles and albums.

❌ "put your hand inside the puppet head" - they might be giants

the opening verse makes reference to leaving one's job and how "it's sad to say, you will romanticise all the things you've known before. it was not, not, not so great". according to flansburgh, "the lyric revolves around the idea that looking back on anything colors it in sentimentality".

❌ "I'll sink manhattan" - they'll need a crane (ep)/miscellaneous T

this is a flansburgh song, but linnell explained its meaning in a 1989 interview with NME as "a song about a guy who somehow figures out how to sink the island of manhattan just to kill his ex-lover, so it's his apology to the other people he's gonna kill in between. he's just gotta do it!"

❌ "meet james ensor" - john henry

it's about james ensor (belgium's famous painter).

❌ "wicked little critta" - mink car

from the tmbg unlimited collection: "forged in the crucible of an eastern massachusetts junior high, this song expresses the dreams, fears and hopes of a new england young adult" the lyrics seem to suggest said young adult fantasising about being a sports star alongside bobby orr and john havlicek while goofing off outside.

❌ "working undercover for the man" - mink car

from flansburgh: "it's more a meditation on the "mod squad" [a 1968 crime series about cool undercover detectives] than anything else. the idea of the narc just seems... like, those episodes of "dragnet" where they have the young undercover dress in a hippie suit."

✔️ "talent is an asset" - kimono my house

the lyrics illustrate an overly-cautious family shielding their very gifted child from others, to keep him studious and soak in all the glory, and is heavily implied to be little albert einstein through puns on relatives and relativity. it's not by them, tho. it's by the band sparks. it came 2nd, so I think many of you recognised it (or really wanted to see the results!)

❌ "bee of the bird of the moth" - the else

"this is a song about a creature called a hummingbird moth, which imitates another creature, which imitates yet another creature. it's completely fucked up, and can only be explained in song!" so they did.

❌ "2082" - join us

thewrap's review of the album describes this song as, "a science-fiction short story (...) a protagonist who travels into the future, finds himself hobbled but still unhappily alive all the way into the next millennium, and travels back to the title year to smother himself with a pillow in a mercy killing". fun!

❌ "call you mom" - nanobots

referred to by linnell as an "oedipus pan" song, the lyrics follow an unfortunate young man beginning a relationship with a woman, getting dumped due to his behaviour of treating her like a mother figure, then infantilising a possibly younger woman in a different relationship and in turn leaving her, who goes on to experience the same issues. fun! (altho, the final chorus actually still refers to her Mom leaving, not her dad, I got the details wrong there in the poll).

❌ "gudetama's busy days" - dial-a-song / my murdered remains

yes, that's a real song. quote flansburgh: "(...) it is really just about feeling isolated from the world, even if you are in a crowded place and manically trying to keep up with your life. the character of gudetama appealed to me because he is such a mopey sad sack."

❌ "marty beller mask" - album raises new and troubling questions

this is real, too! it's just about how marty beller was actually an alter ego of whitney houston the whole time. he's not, but wouldn't that be interesting. the song name-checks multiple of her own in the lyrics. it was temporarily retired out of respect following houston's death (4 months after its release), returning to live performances ten years later in 2022.

[neetily]

↳ EVENT 20. M!Alex DOL (Breeding & Jealousy Sex)

— ✧ warnings: Breeding, Fluff, Fluffy, Established Relationship, pregnancy ment, very vague mention of typical DOL trauma — ✧ word count: 4,642 — ✧ genre: smut (18+)

— ✧ A/N: reposting from my old account since i was asked to! formatting might be off, but it's still readable.

After a strong urging for you to take a much needed break in the midst of moving into the old farmhouse, boxes piling up as high as they can possibly fit—honestly, he's got no idea how you could have packed so many items from what sounded like a relatively small room back at the orphanage—he takes the opportunity to sift through your belongings for you. Not in a snooping way! He'd just like to help you as much as possible, seeking your consent before even opening a new box. Once you nod at him though, he gives you a hefty pat on the back to help scurry you away for some relaxation, his voice cheery and loud despite the tiredness that rests in his bones from already helping you lift everything up the stairs. "Don't worry, by the time you're done chilling I'll have most of this done for you!"

And he means it, because he wants to be dependable. Wants so desperately to be someone you can rely on, who you can seek strength and stability from— in all senses of the word. But right now, he means physical strength. Making sure you're settled enough in the kitchen with a nice cool glass of lemonade before he heads back up stairs, eager to get the bulk of the unpacking done tonight so that the farm feels just as much of your space as it is his. Seeking to drench you in as much of married life as possible, even if he's yet to propose. It's just, well... He can't imagine sharing the farm with anyone but you. Pretty little you, God, even just the thought of calling you his wife genuinely fills his chest with butterflies. But a princess needs a throne, and he's eager to situate you on his bed by the time night falls.

Which means doing the dreaded unpacking. Better him than you, he thinks. You can rely on him for whatever, okay? Even something as simple as picking items up and placing them down; he'd do just about anything for you.

"All right," He lets out a loud sigh, tightening the belt looped around his ratty old trousers to show the room itself he means business. Ain't no one, and no thing, gonna stand in the way of the love of his life enjoying her time in the farmhouse, even the messy room created by your overabundance of things. "Time to get to work."

And he's quick with it too, all those days training in the barn, tending the fields, carrying and counting inventory; it's all lead up to this moment. Unknowingly training to move his love into his room, the shared space quickly becoming more and more your own with how much he pulls from the boxes, the thought of which causes his chest to tighten with adoration. A dumb smile plastered on his face as he finds and looks through a small photo album. He's not sure if he was the intended audience, but he takes the private opportunity regardless. Wouldn't you? A secret glimpse into your life before him, soft little aww's and quiet little laughs shared only between himself and the precious versions of you in the album. It's nice getting to see this side of you, learning all about what sort of memories you hold close enough to your heart to add to the book. His thumb smooths over a couple of really endearing photos of you— particularly when you were younger. He can only hope to be added to your collection some day in the future, his cheeks heating up at the mere thought.

Carefully, he places the book into your bedside cabinet for safe keeping. Intending on talking to you about all of the pictures later on tonight, whether they embarrass you or not. You were a cute kid, too. In the meantime though, he keeps sifting through your boxes to find and place more sentimental items.

And, oh! There's another album. A bit bigger, and a whole lot fuller than the other one. Giddy with excitement to explore more of you, he tenderly picks it up to flip through. Except, what he doesn't expect is the contents of this album, thought it'd be difficult to describe his feelings as anything resembling disappointment.

"Oh, wow." He gasps to himself, marvelling at the professional quality of the images in this album; almost as if you had them done at a studio or the likes. His curiosity piqued, he continues to flip. One after the other, his skin slowly prickling with heat the further he progresses.

With each new page, another item of clothing seems to disappear from your body. A sickly feeling bubbling away in his tummy, like a car crash. It feels bad to continue looking, like he's found something he really shouldn't have, but he just can't stop. A shake in his hands present as he turns page after page, his heart sinking at the sight of you eventually stark naked in photographic form. An evidence trail of your life before him, God, fuck, he knows he shouldn't be feeling so sick to his stomach but he can't fucking help it.

You're just so pretty in the photos, posing perfectly, like a practiced model would. Fuck, you should have told him you had these photos done, even if only to satiate his own perverted curiosity. Cock tenting in his tight jeans, regret mixing with the jealousy in his tummy from tightening his belt earlier. The more he stares, and the more he flips, the bigger his bulge grows. Not just because of how pretty you look, but because he's envious. Red with selfish resentment— not at you, God, never would he be mad at you for something like this. But at everyone else? Fuck, of course he's upset! Angered at the mere idea of anyone else seeing you look so pretty and exposed, and more than likely not appreciating you for how precious you are. Sick with worry over whether you had intended on him seeing the pictures or not, and then even more troubled at the prospect of these images being the product of coercion; he's not forgotten about all of those horrible stories you told him of your life before the farm, his heart hurting for you even now as he recalls the shared tears late at night.

He feels a lot of things, really. Jealousy mixing with lust mixing with worry mixing with fear. He's so... So in love with you that he just wants to make sure you're okay, yeah. That's all. Tossing the album to the side unlike how delicately he treated the previous photos, and swiftly undoing his belt buckle, adjusting his half hard cock up to rest at his waistband for now. Hard on aside, he stomps down the old creaky stairs with his cheeks ablaze, tunnelling straight to the kitchen where your pretty face is illuminated by the golden hour sun.

Shit, he's immediately out of breath. The sight of you tilting your head back at him so curiously like that is so cute, and for a moment he forgets all about his worries in favour of simply watching you, looking at you with hearts in his eyes as if you were the sun itself. You've got no idea—no matter how often he tries to show you—just how much he loves you. How a single glance from you is all it takes to have his cock twitching in his pants out of sheer love, greedy with how much he desires you, to make you feel okay, to place a balm over those old wounds you've shared with him by pulling you into a tight unprompted hug.

"A-Alex—! What's gotten into you?" You giggle all cute and shit as you gently wrap your arms around his neck in reciprocation and it's probably his most favourite sound in the whole wide world. So soft and light, a reminder that there is good yet on this awful Earth.

He takes a moment before replying. Keeping his hips away from your tummy in fear of ruining the soft moment with his unfortunately hardening cock; he just loves you a whole lot, okay? Too busy tightening his arms around you, squeezing your body against his own, arching over you to inadvertently press your head right against his chest. "I uh... Found your lil modelling portfolio upstairs and—" Well, there isn't an and. Or, there is, but there are too many of them. Various questions swirling in his occupied mind, he can't decide which one to settle on first, leaving dead air between two bodies that he resolves simply by inhaling your scent. A soothing balm to his anxious mind.

You're the first to actually break the silence. "Oh, I see... They're nice pics, right?"

"Too fuckin' right they are," He laughs above you, squeezing you once more before letting go, only so that he can easily lift you up in the air and place you gently down on the kitchen counter; the sun hitting your face in such a sweet fashion that he's almost pouty about it. "So fuckin' pretty, God... Can't believe yer all mine now." He huffs, knitting his brows together out of unadulterated frustration for how attractive he finds you. It's a bit of a nuisance, especially as his cock presses heavy against the edge of the counter, made worse only by the way your legs innately hook around his waist like he was home, pulling him closer so that he's in reach to lightly rub his nose against yours.

The way you're acting almost unbothered in response to his prompting just about calms his racing mind and heart completely, a large hand coming around to wrap securely at your back, the other playing with stray strands of your hair between his thumb and forefinger. It's difficult to ignore just how hard he's getting, not only from the close proximity he's sharing with you right now, but because he feels this primal urge to prove his worth. A deeply buried nature of his to be on top, secure his position by your side by any means possible. Dumb caveman brain convinced he has to show you exactly that with his cock, which he'll get to, he just has to completely settle the score first.

"Were they... Y'know, consensual?" He whispers, afraid that if he were to ask any louder then the worst could come true. His grip on you is equally as careful, unwanting to damage you during such a vulnerable conversation.

And the brief pause you offer him before replying, simply blinking at his intense gaze, fills him with even more worry. Though it's easily and promptly forgotten about the moment you open your pretty lips again. "Oh, yeah! I just needed a bit of extra cash and— Alex... I hope you aren't upset about them?"

No, fuck, he didn't mean to worry you in return! Doing his best to rectify his misgivings by offering you a quick peck on the lips, worsening his already swollen and twitchy cock that just begs for release, now that he knows that you weren't at all tricked into revealing your pretty body. Your comfort is his top priority, first and foremost. Cock be damned.

"No it's— I don't mind, I get it." He swiftly reassures you, making a point to rub soothing circles against your lower back. The world is a scary place, and he'd never shame you for whatever you had to do to survive, y'know? "It's just... I mean, I dunno, fuck," He sighs, frustrated with his inability to verbalise his feelings accurately, all his wants and wishes getting tangled up due to the lack of blood circulating his brain. S'your fault, he muses to himself. If his cock wasn't so hard, he's sure he'd be able to articulate exactly why he's feeling so conflicted right now, pressing his erection against the counter edge to seek some release.

He exhales, and he tries again.

"Y'should take some just fr'me next time. Can't believe the whole town got t'see ya like that before me." All huffy and pouty sounding, resting his forehead against your own when you laugh sweetly at him again. He knows he's acting childish, but when it comes to you, he can't seem to help himself from acting so petulantly. Doesn't the universe understand who you belong to?

A low hum breathed against his lips pulls him back from his indulgent thoughts, your tone genuine and sincere when you regard him. "... Are you jealous, Alex?"

His back straightens at your accurate assumption. "Sure am! You got no idea, babe," playful paws tug at your top, an indication of want, or need? He settles on the latter, given how hard his cock throbs for you when you smile gently back at him, like you understand his plight. "Wanna show everyone that yer mine now. S'at okay?"

"Course it is, whatever you'd like."

With your blessing, he decides to immediately indulge. Maybe a little too much to your liking, keeping his idea of claim a secret for now as he eagerly paws at you. Not out of a genuine attempt to withhold information, but rather, he's far too focused on the pretty girl right in front of him to even think about spilling all of his thoughts. Too busy unbuttoning his pants and swiftly throwing his shirt to the side, prompting your legs to reattach to his hips once he's helped you undress your lower half too.

But when you move to take off your shirt too, he stops you. Tense fist wrapped a bit too tightly around your wrist in his utter urgency to stop you.

"Keep it on. Y'look so nice right now, the way the sun is hittin' ya?" He wolf whistles, a boyish smirk plastered on his face when you shy away from his affections, instinctively closing the remaining gap between two bodies only to feel his already drooling tip press between your folds. Accidentally, at first. And then more purposefully when you don't pull away, his ego stroked tremendously when you cling to his neck once again, seeking comfort in the form of his upright, clenched, toned body; just how he likes. Rely on me, he begs of you with a slow push of his hips forward, gasping openly at how sweet you sound when his tip rocks lightly against your clit. Need me, he implores when he settles his hands on the edge of the kitchen counter, grasping on to it for dear life as he resolves to a simple back and forth. Slow enough to relieve some of the built up tension in his body, to ease the ache of jealousy coursing through him, aiding his lewd actions; but also slow enough to tease you. To get your nails digging into his back out of sheer desperation to see how far he can go, how jealous can he get?

You'll see. Fuck, you'll see soon enough, cause he's so hard. Can you feel how he throbs against your puffy clit? Dripping jealousy from his tip, fat beads of precum trailing down your pretty little slit as a confession of love. See how much I spill for you? he asks with every hump, pace increasing minimally with every thrust. A promise for more, his mind full of nothing but love for you. Or, maybe horny love suits better. A man dumb with it, peering down at you with a half lidded gaze and drooling all over your cunt with affection. From his point of view, he can see down your shirt too. Salivating at the sight of your hidden tits, raising one hand up just to play with em. A light squeeze here, a full grab there.

"What, um... What are you planning on— Oh—" His tip catches on your hole, effectively shutting you up for a second or two as he continues to rock against you. Not inside yet, just taunting you from above, teasing his fat tip in circles around your hole until you finish your words.

He only wishes the world was here with him to witness how easily you fall apart on his cock. How well he treats you, cooing down at you with only the utmost amount of love and affection. Doting on you like he's never been in love before, pecking your forehead as a reminder to continue in spite of the cock between your legs and the hand on your tits.

You gulp before replying, and he takes it as thanks for making you feel so good. Good enough to distract you from your train of though, even if only momentarily. "What are you planning on doing, Alex?"

To show the world who you belong to? Well, he thinks to himself. There's really only one way to completely claim you, isn't there? A knowing smirk making its way to his lips, quickly turned into an open mouthed moan at the way you angle your hips against his tip; a silent plea for more. And who is he to deny his future wife anything that she wants? Helping you into position with big strong hands, keeping you pinned on top of the counter and dipping his hips down, only pushing them up and forward when he's sure he's got your attention on him for the big reveal. "Just—" He pushes forward a little more, sinking into the feeling of your cunt accepting his tip by dropping his forehead to your shoulder, moving the groping hand on your tit to the small of your back to help pull you closer to him, to meet his hips. "Gonna knock y'up, 'kay? That way," He stops mid sentence again, spurred on to hold his breath by the extra tight squeeze of your cunt upon hearing his words; pretty pussy likes that idea, doesn't she? Stretching you out with his words, cock pulsing against your squishy insides with the promise of breeding you so full that there's no way anyone would not know that you were taken. That the pretty girl they must have seen all over town, pictured on billboards, magazines, wherever the fuck your images were used, is not single, but a loving, gorgeous, beloved mother. Pinned down to his used kitchen counter, panting heavily against his bare chest, angling her hips towards him until he finally gives her all of his cock and she's flush to his own body. That's who you are, aren't you?

"That way, nobody will touch y'ever again." He finally finishes his sentence now that he's buried balls deep into your little cunt, humming lowly to himself from how soft and warm it is inside of you, how your walls thrum along his length with pleasure. Pretty girl, you're always so good to him, you'll let him show his love for you in the most permanent way possible, won't you? A little breeding, just a smidge, really. Heavy breeder balls taut between his legs as he warms his cock inside of you, inhaling sharp and deep through his nose due to how annoyingly good it feels to just rest his cock inside your cunt. Little hole twitching around him, insides squirming as if begging for him to continue.

And so he does; slowly. A lazy draw of his hips back, a gentle push of them forward again, really making you feel every single inch his cock has to offer your perfect angel cunt. A sigh escapes him in return, partly due to how in love he is just rocking into you like this, how completely adorable you look when shivering on the countertop before him, the feeling of your thighs shaking around his fit waist coaxing more precum out to coat your insides sticky. But also, sighing because he's so happy. For once, a lazy afternoon is spent nicely. "Pretty little things like you have t'be knocked up, y'see," He elaborates, flashing you a signature smile to allude to his joking intent. Though, his smile is quickly wiped off his face and replaced with a more serious furrow of his brows when you pout so prettily up at him, bottom lip quivering from how fat his cock is; splitting you in two, is he?

"Otherwise—" He thrusts, hard. A full length fuck inside of your tiny little hole so that you're forced to accommodate his size, the resulting high pitched whine you let out from the unfair entry leaves him more than a little breathless. Gasping for air, wanting so badly to prove himself not just to you, but to the whole fucking world that he's worth you. He's worth all of your love and attention, above all and anyone else. And that starts by impregnating you, right? I mean, it makes sense in his lust addled mind right now, looking down between your legs only to get hypnotised by the sight of his big cock disappearing into such a little space over and over again. "Others might get the wrong idea, right? That yer free, and I wont let that happen t'ya ever again. Promise, fuck— Keep, keep squeezin' me like that 'n I won't last long, babe."

Your hands scratch and tug on his skin, grasping for any semblance of stability as he pounds you into the counter, fast fucks that have your body rocking back and forth with him. "Can't—" You whine pitifully, but you sound oh so cute when you can't help but express enjoyment for his rough fucking, both hands planted firmly on your ass to lift you mid air a little, allowing him an easier leverage to fuck you as fast as he wants to now. "Can't help it, Alex— Ah! You feel so good—" Absolute need present in his touch given your ego stroking words, how greedy he is with fistfuls of your ass, desperately leaning closer to you just so that he can shove his tongue into your open moaning mouth and suckle on your tongue. Dripping saliva for you to swallow as much as he sucks all of yours down his throat. Greedy with his thrusts, hammering his hips into you at such a speed that he even feels a little dizzy with it, but he can't seem to stop himself from humping forward again and again when your angel cunt sucks his cock off so well, fuck.

You've ruined him, truthfully. His heart happy at the thought of being not only your husband, but the father of your future child. Knowing that you think he's an acceptable enough partner to care for your child turns him on so much, it's a little silly. Has him moaning loud against your lips and drooling precum about as much as he drools over your tits. Sloppy with his kiss and his fucks, his hips stuttering into you when you pull away from his face just to pull his body closer.

Can you feel how hard his heart beats for you when you snuggle your face against his chest? Feel the tacky sweat coating his skin, the amount of effort he's putting into pounding you in the kitchen is proof of how much he loves you, y'know? Perhaps a bit too possessively so, seeing as when he lifts you higher to instead place you gently down onto the much more suitable cock height table, he's still fucking into you with each step he makes towards the old thing, like he can't even fathom the thought of giving you a slight break from his heavy balls slapping against your ass with the promise of seed.

But you look so cute under him like that, his hands at either side of you mussed up hair, taking in the sight of your heaving chest with an almost pained expression himself. It only takes a single look down at your hole, a ring of cream marking his cock as if it were your own claim, for him to start thumbing away at your pretty neglected clit. So glossy and shiny for him, the feeling of your slick gushing out with every frantic fuck he gives your hole causing his head to be thrown back momentarily; he can't keep his eyes off of you for too long.

"Gonna be such a good mom, I jus' know it." He slurs above you, voice strained from how fast he fucks, barely able to catch his breath enough in time to dote on you some more. "Even better wife, if y'ask me—" A smile breaks out on his face, borne out of how well your tight little cunt attempts to milk him already, as if asking: please!

But, to show just how serious he is about reminding the town of who you belong to, he indulges you first. Flicks his thumb over your swollen clit with purpose, still yet fucking into you, but with imprecise thrusts. Too fixated on how your back seems to arch every time his thumb circles your clit, aided by the copious amounts of slick you drip onto his cock. Dipping his hand down to collect some more before returning back to your sensitive spot, pressing down a little more firmly until he feels that tell tale quiver of your insides.

Still hammering his hips into you, helping you remain in place as his thrusts threaten to fuck you off the table, loud with how hard his body smacks against your own, he encourages you. "C'mon," He leers at you, sending you a lopsided smirk at the way you writhe and wail for release. You're so close, he can tell. "Go an' cum on my cock, it's okay."

And to show just how much you accept his affections, to reply with yes, you've proven yourself worthy, he watches with dirty intent and narrow eyes as you do exactly that. Convulsing around his fat cock to beg for his seed, your hands on his own to coax his orgasm out, the tender domestic nature of your touch as you cream his cock goes right through him, straight down to his taut balls before he even has a chance to warn you of how close he is. Simply folding in on himself, pressing his toned chest against your smaller body as he rocks his hips into you with milking purpose. Moaning a cry of your name, pressing his lips against your cheeks, neck, lips, fuck; wherever he can reach, really. Babbling nonsense praise at you as he idly fucks himself empty into your abused hole, bullying his fat load as deep as possible in hopes of impregnating you on the first fuck.

Though, now that he's gaining a bit more clarity to be able to think about the ramifications of that, having to fuck you several times until his seed takes root doesn't sound too bad, actually. Breathing heavily against your face when he holds himself up to take in the sight of how ruined his future wife looks when full of cum. To the brim too, some of it seeping out around his cock from how fat he still is, still giving you miniscule little humps as he comes down from such a powerful high.

"You uh— I mean, fuck," He laughs above you, the dumb dopey smile you flash him has him a little awestruck, if he's honest. His fingertips just itching to squish your chubby little cheeks for eternity so that he can always place kisses upon such a cute expression. "I meant it, jus' so y'know. Wanna make ya a mommy."

"I know, Alex."

Three words. Quite simple, really. But they're all it takes for him to know that he's found his future wife for real, and that he need not worry about the town ever again. And as such, neither will you. Not while he's still by your side.

[lemoncrushh]

The Entertainer - Story Page

Summary: Set in the 70s, Sky Jones, a young woman from L.A., meets Harry Styles, an up-and-coming musician and frontman for the band Wildfire. Told in first person from Sky's point of view, she shares her journey and what it's like to fall for a rockstar.

Author's Note: This was originally written and posted way back in 2017. An oldie, but I'm finally getting around to finishing the sequel. I figured before I start reposting that, you need the original story. Hopefully there are some newer fans/readers who haven't read this one yet. A ten-part series, each chapter acts as a track from an album. Within each chapter, there will be song lyrics. Be sure to check the bottom of each part to get a list of the songs included. It makes for a great soundtrack, like a movie. This story is very special to me, and I hope you enjoy. Inspired by the song "The Entertainer" by Billy Joel.

I am the entertainer And I know just where I stand Another serenader And another long haired band Today I am your champion I may have won your hearts But I know the game, you’ll forget my name And I won’t be here in another year If I don’t stay on the charts

Reposting daily! Links will be updated as I post.

Track 01 - You Have a Great Collection

Track 02 - Looks Like Rain

Track 03 - Pick a Memory

Track 04 - Pajamas & The Holiday Inn

Track 05 - It's Always Been About the Music

Track 06 - No Concern of Yours

Track 07 - Let's Hit The Road

Track 08 - I Don't Wanna Be Alone

Track 09 - Make Some Beautiful Music

Track 10 - Let's Make the Most of It

The Playlist

Another note: Though this story does include some sex, I would not consider this smutty at all, just in case that's what you're looking for. The sequel, however, will contain a lot so...lol...it's your call.

I do require that you be at least 18 to read my fics though.

MASTERLIST

[real-life-senshi]

Aino Minako's Discography

So I was chatting with a friend who I dragged into watching PGSM about how Minako's portrayed in PGSM and all the hints we get in subtler ways about her change in character throughout the timeline and story... and then this led to us chatting about Minako's music. So now here's my brain dump. lol

From the PGSM Memorial Art Book, the CD listed here from left to right are:

I'll Be Here (album)

C'est La Vie (single)

VENUS (album)

IMITATION (album)

Kiss^2 Bang^2 (single)

There could be more singles before that, but if there are we don't know what they are. We do know there are other new songs Minako produced in-universe, including Happy Time, Happy Life from the Special Act, but we do not have a copy of the CD past Act 47.

For each of the albums, we find the name of the songs are very telling, and often very connected to the wider PGSM and Minako's storyline.

Act Zero states that IMITATION is Minako's 1st album.

Translations of the song titles:

始まりの伝説 [Hajimari no Densetsu] (The Legend of the Beginning)

IMITATION

負けるな!クリスマスガール [Makeruna! Kurisumasu Gaaru] (Don’t Lose! Christmas Girl) Act Zero is hinted to take place on Christmas Eve (the Silent Night bgm), or at least definitely near Christmas.

LOVE vs DREAM

うれしくて… [Ureshikute…] (I'm So Happy... / Be Happy...) There's a double meaning that without knowing more detail it'd be hard to determine the best way to translate the song title.

ナイショ! [Naisho!] (SECRET!)

ハートはORANGE [Haato wa ORANGE] (Heart is ORANGE)

白い出会い [Shiroi Deai] (White Rendezvous) As both Endymion and Serenity have white outfits in PGSM, I imagine this is alluding to past life.

MAKE UP! POWER!!

Songs 1, 7, 8 and 9 have very clear past life or Sailor Venus lore connection. While 3 and 5 seem to allude more towards Minako's story of battling her illness. Songs 2, 4 and 6 have more of a vague name that could allude to the duality of Minako's position as a teenager and idol, her secret about her illness, or her memory of Sailor Venus.

Regardless, the song titles suggest that even before meeting Artemis, Minako seems to have dreams or impressions of her past life. Possibly between these impressions/memories and her illness, Minako copes and processes her thoughts and emotions by making music. This has become my headcanon and how I write Minako in my fanfiction.

VENUS - released in Act 1 is Minako's 2nd album.

Translations of the song titles:

C'est la Vie~私のなかの恋する部分 [Se ra Bi ~ Watashi no Naka no Koi Suru Bubun] (That’s Life ~ The Part Inside Me That's In Love) The pronunciation of "C'est la Vie" is synonymous with the Japanese pronunciation of "Sailor V". Mischievous, punny Minako strikes again.

Star girl

For your dream

ETERNITY

Come again

月のキセキ [Tsuki no Kiseki] (Miracle of the Moon)

Be Free!

A Q U A  This song's name was likely done to allude to Ami it's shown in Act 2, Sailor Mercury's debut episode.

Happening ☆

戦う女神⋅おんな [Tatakau Megami ⋅ Onna] (Goddess of Battles ⋅ Woman) This could have been translated to Goddess of War as well. Googling the 4 first characters yields results that include Japanese articles on Athena. In-universe, since Ami has been referenced in AQUA, this title could be alluding to Sailor Mars, but it's more likely to be alluding to the collective Sailor Senshi team.

Lucky Joker Possibly alluding to Usagi? Or maybe Motoki? lol

ア⋅イ⋅ノ♡セレナーデ [Ai no Serenado] (Serande of Love)

The song name of VENUS is a bit more mixed bag of meanings, including song 8 alluding to Ami. But the allusion to the past life and Minako's identity as Sailor Venus is significantly more prominent. There doesn't seem to be any mention or allusion to Minako's illness.

This makes sense, since in Act 2 we viewers wouldn't have a clue about that part of Minako's storyline yet. In-universe, this suggests Minako embracing more and more her past life duties and being on the path of deprioritizing her personal situation and health condition.

I'll Be Fine is Minako's 3rd album, released sometime after Act 47.

Reminder in Act 47, Artemis and the Senshi were given a pre-release of the album, as Minako wanted to surprise Artemis and Usagi with gifts.

Romance

I’m Here

C'est la Vie~私のなかの恋する部分 [Se ra Bi ~ Watashi no Naka no Koi Suru Bubun] (That’s Life ~ The Part Inside Me That's In Love)

肩越しに金星 [Katagoshi ni Kinsei] (Venus Over My Shoulder)

Kiss!2 Bang!2

さよなら～sweet days [Sayonara~ Sweet Days] (Farewell~ Sweet Days)

This album has nearly all the insert songs we hear between Act 1 - Final Act that Minako sang. The only exception is I'm Here.

Songs 1, 3, 4 and 5 have names that allude to the idea of love, which is Sailor Venus's power. Songs 2 and 6 specifically have names that match the theme of the song lyrics, revealing Minako's candid personal thoughts and feelings surrounding her illness.

The fact that Minako passed away in Act 47 before the album was officially released to the public... my friend @greenyoshi72 said Minako wrote her own requiem... 😭

[lets-try-some-writing]

What do you think about how the bots would think about seeing pictures or videos of when the kids were smaller. Like a video of Jack in middle school with a lisp from his retainer or pictures of Miko having an awful haircut her parents got for her to make her look more “presentable” as well as her fighting tooth and nail for them not to watch an old video of her piano recitals. Raph’s glasses being a little too big at first because he had insisted on getting glasses from the adult section like his dad and grandpa and they weren’t the right size for his head yet and the multiple little tools he made growing up to try and hold them up until his head grew.

Little things that as they got older they found embarrassing but just are general parts of growing up.

Pfft. This idea is rather humorous. I added my own little twist to it too.

Embarrassing Pictures

The whole situation began when June brought a camera into base to take pictures of the children. It was nothing new, Miko took pictures all the time, so the team didn't question it. However after June started making a fuss over the pictures, trying to convince the children to smile and whatnot, the team became vaguely interested. Once asked, June revealed that she intended to add the photos to her photo album, electing a groan from Jack. And when asked to explain what that was, she told the team all about how she liked to take photos to save and look at again in the future.

Suddenly very interested in seeing photos of the children, the team gathered around June and asked to see her photo albums. June was perfectly happy to oblige and returned to base a day or so later with not only her photo albums, but also ones she had managed to haggle off Rafael's parents and Miko's host family (Why they had the albums was a mystery, but some liked to theorize it was because Miko didn't want her parents to have them to show off). The children were mortified as June put the albums under a magnifier and projected the pictures onto big screen for the bots to see.

Jack's baby pictures came up first. And in the beginning they were pretty tame. It was a few photos of when Jack was an infant and aside from the odd bath photo and a picture of him dressed up as his favorite superhero, everything seemed fine. It was mostly just images of him being a cute kid, which the team found to be both fascinating and adorable. They hadn't realized humans could get any smaller, so seeing a tiny version of Jack doing adorable things not too dissimilar from what sparklings did on Cybertron brought smiles to their faces. Of course then Jack's middle school photos came out and suddenly the teenager couldn't look anyone in the eyes or optics as pictures of him with his braces and then retainer were shown to the team.

Ratchet: *pointing at the picture of Jack with his retainer* Is that some form of human torture?

Arcee: *suddenly very worried* Jack, are you already at home?

Jack: NO! WAIT! I mean-! Look, I had to wear a retainer for a while to fix my teeth, that's it.

Miko: *laughing* You really do look like you are being tortured in that pic!

Jack: Shut up!

Bumblebee: You had to have a cover over your teeth to fix them? Why not just remove them and put them back in the right way?

Rafael: *softly* Bee... no. Humans don't work like that.

Thankfully for Jack, he wasn't the only one who got a taste of humiliation since soon after Miko's own photos came on screen. Just like with Jack, it was mostly cute baby photos (which the team collectively cooed at and more than one may or may not have saved a mental screenshot for later). However by the time her photos from between the ages of eight and twelve were brought up, she started wishing for the sweet release of death.

The worst haircut she had ever gotten was the beginning of the torture. In the photo she was frowning and trying to fight back as she was held in front of the camera, a shoulder length bob cut and bangs taking the place of her usual wild hairstyle. This earned her a bit of mockery from Jack who was still feeling rather bitter about her prodding at his pictures earlier. However it didn't end there, her parents had also recorded several of her recitals which began playing as June hooked them up to the projector. She tried to stop it, but could only watch in horror as the team witnessed her horrendous singing combined with her rather remarkable skill with the piano. The team weren't all that concerned, finding it mostly cute, but Miko wanted to die right then and there.

Bulkhead: You play that instrument well Miko. Why haven't you played that one around base?

Miko: BECAUSE ITS EMBARRASSING!

Optimus: Is it? I find you talent with that instrument rather pleasing.

Ratchet: *under his breath* She screams like a Turbo-fox.

Optimus: *kicking Ratchet lightly* Your voice is lovely too.

Safe to say Miko didn't walk away from her photos being shown around mentally sound. But with Rafael's own photos up next, she opted to try and draw attention away from herself by mocking her younger friend as his baby pictures were displayed.

Rafael honestly didn't have all that many embarrassing photos up until an image of him duct taping his grandfather's glasses onto his face came on screen. Young Rafael was waling as he tried to rip the tape off in the photo, causing the team to chuckle in amusement much to Rafael's horror. After that more and more photos of him trying and failing to wear adult glasses came on screen, each more dooming than the last as Jack and Miko laughed. One image showed him with glasses almost three times the size of his face tied to his head with string as he tried to walk around looking normal only to run into a wall.

Jack: *laughing* You ran into a wall?

Rafael: I was eight!

Miko: You look like a bobblehead!

Rafael: ...

Bumblebee: Why did you not just get normal sized glasses?

Rafael: I wanted to be like the grown ups...

Optimus: That is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, I believe I have some pictures of Bumblebee doing something similar...

Bumblebee: Optimus no! Please no!

It was too late. Before anyone could do anything about it, Optimus helped June put her albums away and highjacked the projector and uploaded images directly from his personal databanks. Bumblebee died a little inside as Optimus unapologetically showed pictures of him being a feral monstrosity and tearing up furniture and consoles around high command. He could only heat up in embarrassment as Optimus then proceeded to show pictures of him doing numerous other things ranging from eating rations like an animal, shooting Prowl with a blaster by accident, to picking out his first earth alt mode and the subsequent car wash that came with it.

Rafael: Why a Volkswagon Beetle? That's such an old model.

Bumblebee: I liked it alright!

Arcee: He thought it was cute.

Bumblebee: NO! I DID NOT!

Ratchet: He did. And he even thought it was the height of motor transportation on your backwater world for nearly a month.

Bumblebee: RATCHET!

As if contented, Optimus finally stopped sharing his pictures after Bumblebee started steaming from the stress of having his past exposed. But Ratchet being the slightly malicious medic that he is took the chance to throw Optimus under the bus in turn. He hooked up to the projector next and began sharing pictures of Optimus back when he was Orion Pax, much to the Prime's silent humiliation. Pictures of him eating wild animals innocently, him screaming at a stray cyber-cat on all fours, him getting drunk as pit the one time he allowed Ratchet to take him to a bar, and all sorts of photos of him gnawing on things came up one after another. It was a different time, but Optimus should have known better than to assume Ratchet wouldn't have collected such incriminating photos of him.

Bulkhead: Prime... are you eating a datapad in that picture?

Optimus: ...

Arcee: Why were you crouched on top of the bookcase with a electro-dove in your mouth in that one?

Optimus: ...

Bumblebee: *squinting at a photo* W-Where you trying to size up a statue?

Optimus: I wasn't always a Prime.

Ratchet: Who could have guessed.

Optimus: You weren't always and honorable medic either Ratchet.

Once again taking his place by the projector, Optimus plugged back in and began airing out all of Ratchet's past escapades for all to see, the children practically forgotten in the midst of the silent battle going on. The Prime quickly began cycling through dozens of photos of Ratchet high as a kite doing stupid scrap like pole dancing, screaming at mecha, and throwing things. And before the medic could process that, Optimus pulled out even more of him competing in street races, competing in drinking contests, and even a video of him swearing up a storm at everyone and everything while drunk. Ratchet could do nothing but silently offline internally as he watched his dark history get replayed.

Bulkhead: So... a party ambulance?

Ratchet: Shut up.

Arcee: I should be asking you what's humming doc.

Ratchet: I was young and dumb. Weren't we all at one point?

Bumblebee: Young and dumb usually points toward breaking someone's window or accidentally trespassing, not getting stoned, drunk, and then doing incriminating things.

Ratchet: ...

It only got worse from there as Ratchet pulled up the pictures he had acquired from Bulkhead and Arcee's files on their own little misadventures as younglings. The children were completely forgotten as the team became focused on airing each other's dirty laundry for all to see. And the children had no problem with that as they watched the dark past's of their favorite Autobots gets shown around like contraband reading material.

[goatcheesecak3]

Specs x f!reader

If you want the m!reader version just ask! I normally put them out with the f!reader fics, but I'm not actually sure I have any male readers, and I just wanted to get this out quickly since I haven't posted a fic in a while teehee

Warnings: none

Fic type: fluff

Summary: on an endeavour to get a new lego set, you run into an incredibly cute (yet very nerdy) guy by the name of specs.

You had just arrived at the toy shop, and entered feeling a little embarrassed. It always made you feel a little strange being the only adult in the shop, but it was worth it for the love of your life: lego sets. To say you were a bit of a nerd was an understatement, you spent most of your days discussing fan theories from shows and films on tumblr, your best friend was your xbox, and of course, your extensive lego collection was your pride and joy.

You had been browsing the lego aisle, oblivious to the rest of the world, when the album you were listening to through your headphones came to an end. Without the deafening drum of music playing in your ears, you became aware of your surroundings. You could hear two voices from further along the aisle whispering.

"Go talk to her then"

"Maybe I will"

"Go on then"

"... nah, she looks... too busy"

"Or maybe you're just too chicken"

"Hey! I'm not a-"

Both voices fell silent when you glanced toward them and gave an awkward smile.

It was two men, one tall and plump. He seemed lethargic and expressionless, as he slowly moved his jaw in circles munching a sandwich. The other was short, jittery and very skinny. When his gaze met yours he blushed profusely and stared at the ground. It didn't take a genius to figure out who the "chicken" was. Luckily for him, you found him quite cute.

You removed your headphones and confidently approached the two men, a welcoming smile plastered on your face so as not to scare them off.

"Excuse me? Could I get your advice on something?" You asked.

The shorter man looked up in surprise, he seemed somewhat like a startled puppy with his big eyes and jumpy mannerisms.

"Uh.. advice? Sure, what can we help you with?" He said.

"You see, I'm torn between these two sets," you continued, gesturing to two different boxes, "which one do you think I should get?"

The man thought to himself for a second, before pointing to the box on the left.

"Get the TIE fighter, it costs a little more but the average price per piece is cheaper, so you're saving money in the long run" he said confidently, having just done the maths in his head.

"Christ, where were you when I nearly got scammed on ebay" you joked, picking up the box he'd recommended. "I'm y/n, by the way" you smiled, holding out a hand for him to shake.

As he not-so-subtely wiped a nervous, clammy hand on his shirt, the man shook yours.

"Steven, but uh, everyone calls me specs, because, we'll y'know" he motioned towards his glasses, "and this is T-"

He looked to see that his accomplice had already wandered off, distracted by a box of sour candies.

"That's tucker over there, he's my... well we work together" he explained, stumbling over his words.

"Specs, I like that, it's cute" you said, flirtatiously. "Well specs, I don't mean to be too forward, but could I buy you a coffee some time? As a thanks for helping me out here?"

Specs breath caught in his throat as he struggled to respond. Truthfully, he wasn't expecting to get this far. Nevertheless, he knew his answer was an enthusiastic yes.

"Yes, that would um, that would be lovely. Do you think I could perhaps.. get your.."

"My number? Sure!" You chuckled, secretly enjoying how nervous he was,  what could you say,  you enjoyed the ego boost.

You scribbled down your number with the notepad and pen that specs had conveniently kept on his person.

"Call me some time, handsome " you remarked with a swift kiss to his cheek as you made your way to the till with your lego set in hand.

Specs lightly touched the spot on his face where you had kissed him, his eyes never leaving you. His heart leapt. Did that really just happen? He refused to believe it was real until later that evening, when he recieved a text

This is y/n! Are you free for a coffee tomorrow evening? X

A/n sorry this took so long! I've been on a week long bender taking a break for my mental health, so writing fics has kinda been on the back burner lmao. But please please PLEEEAAASE leave a request for me, I pinky promise I'll get around to it sometime <3

[gretavanfleetposts]

Make Her Happy

Author's Note: I took way too much melatonin last night and, as I laid there on my death bed this morning, I finally wrote it, Josh unable to make your date so he sends Jake instead, because I love silly little unrealistic situations. This is also unedited because I still can hardly see straight lol like it was A LOT of melatonin. I took it and 20 minutes later realized what I had done and said…fuck. Anyways, idk, enjoy

Content Warnings: fingering, oral sex (f. receiving), dirty talk, overstimulation, penetrative sex (18+ minors do not interact), swearing

Word Count: 6k

You'd spent over an hour preparing Josh's favorite pasta for date night, setting up plates meticulously with pretty napkins folded beside them, drinks already poured as the night grew later and you grew even more antsy for his arrival. You'd hardly had a moment to yourselves with the new album coming out. Josh had been busy and when he wasn't busy, he was exhausted. But he'd promised you a date night and you were going to make the most of it while you still had him under your fingers, frilly blue lingerie tucked away under your clothing and all.

You were giddy with excitement when you heard the doorbell, though Josh didn't usually use the bell. You didn't care though, and as you plated the last of the pasta on his end of the table, nice and hot and ready to be enjoyed, you skipped over to the door to greet your boyfriend.

And, given all of the work you had put into the evening, given all of the excitement you'd felt, even given the way you'd held off on touching yourself last night in favor of letting Josh be the one to get you off, it was entirely understandable that when you flung the door open, your reaction was what is was.

"Oh, you're not Josh."

Jake's face immediately fell from a wide grin to that of a displeased grimace.

"Good to see you, too," he said sarcastically as he pushed past you into your house to shirk off his coat and chelsea boots. "Josh got caught up with his voice coach," he explained as he moved.

You sighed, your disappointment easily showing through your demeanor. You weren't surprised, really. He'd been canceling a lot lately. You understood, of course. Well, you tried anyway. You tried to be the loving, supportive girlfriend no matter what.

Still, it sucked to miss another night with him.

"Guess I'll just put this in Tupperware then," you murmured as you moved to collect the dishes from the dining table.

But Jake stopped you with a quick grab of your wrist as he pried a plate from your hand and set it back down on the table.

"Well hey, now, I haven't eaten," he protested, his look turning into that of a wounded puppy the longer you gave him the glare you'd been sending him.

"It's for Josh," you explained, picking the plate back up again. "He's been talking about it all week, I'll just save it."

But Jake took the plate from your hands once again.

"Well he sent me to…fill in. So by that rule, you have to share."

"What do you mean 'fill in'?" you asked cautiously, your hesitation growing as that look in his eyes did, a look that somehow suggested he was up to something. The twins were up to something. That was never good.

"He knows he's been very hit or miss lately," he shrugged. "He didn't want to stand you up again. 'Make her happy,' he said."

You scoffed at him despite the way he almost looked like he genuinely wanted to eat dinner with you.

"That's ridiculous, I am happy."

"Yeah?"

"Yes, thank you," you said a bit more sternly before adding, for good measure, "I don't need a filler."

You'd eat alone, like you did every other night he'd had to cancel. You'd put on the TV and knit or read a book alone, too. And then you'd go to bed alone and let your vibrator do the work you really wanted Josh to do. It was fine. You understood.

"So you're going to let all of this work go to waste yet again? How many times has he done this this month?"

You didn't answer, mostly because Jake didn't need to hear it, didn't need the satisfaction that no, you really didn't want to spend another night alone. But God, you didn't. You wanted someone to eat with you, someone to curl up on the couch with you, someone to touch you. No, not someone. You wanted Josh.

You sighed as you dropped your gaze to your feet. "I know he's busy. It'll be better once the album is out."

"Such an understanding girlfriend," he answered in a mocking tone, earning an eye roll from you.

"Okay well if he really sent you, why didn't he text me first to at least ask?"

For all you knew, Josh had let Jake know he'd be late and Jake had decided to swoop in and save the day. Not that you really thought he'd do that but still.

"Have you checked your phone?"

"Of course I've-" you started before realizing your phone had been charging in another room while dinner had been cooked. You hadn't in fact checked it in a while though you weren't entirely sure it had made any noise either in that time.

Holding up a finger to Jake silently, you retreated from the room to find your phone, sitting there on its charger with 100% battery and a single text from Josh that you had clearly missed.

"Can't make it tonight. I'm sorry, love. Let Jake keep you company tonight. And then I'll make it up to you. I promise."

Surely that didn't mean…

No, why would it? It was ridiculous to think Josh meant anything other than let Jake have dinner with you. Were you really that desperate that you hoped there was another meaning?

You met Jake in the other room where he still stood, only now with a wide, smug grin plastered across his face as you gave him a conceding look without ever admitting you had in fact gotten a text from Josh.

"Fine. But dinner only," you relented. "Then you can go home and I can go to bed."

With my vibrator, you finished the sentence silently.

You were pent up, to say the least. But you could fake a date with Jake for an hour or two. Surely you could.

"Dinner only," he agreed with a smile that suggested it would not just be dinner only.

Okay, maybe you couldn't.

—

Admittedly, you'd hoped that by the time dinner was finished, he would excuse himself for the night. But he didn't, and after helping you stack dishes into the sink to be washed some other time, he took your hands in his and pulled you into him with a hum, a makeshift song for you to dance to in the kitchen. And any other night, you might have twirled with your boyfriend's brother in your kitchen, might have even giggled when he accidentally stepped on your toes, but you were aching for a moment alone to relieve yourself of the tension that had been building in your body when you had thought you'd be spending the night with Josh. And his hands.

"Jake, I don't want to dance," you groaned as you resisted his attempts like a spoiled child not getting what she wanted.

"Oh come on, this cannot be all you do on date night with him," Jake pushed back, refusing to let your wrists drop from his hands.

"It's not, I just-" you started but he cut you off with a shake of his head.

"Okay well, if it's not then you have to do with me whatever you'd do with him. I'm the substitute tonight. His orders were don't let the date fall through."

You ignored the feeling that sprang up deep inside your stomach at the implication that Jake would do whatever it is you usually did with Josh.

"Since when do you listen to him anyway?" you groaned again, still tugging helplessly at your wrists.

Was Jake strong? Oh god, stop thinking.

"Since I was sent to make his girlfriend's night not shit," he corrected you in a stern voice that almost sounded frustrated but more than anything, sounded adamant.

And you couldn't help but sigh and stop the struggle you were putting up as your shoulders fell.

So you weren't getting a moment alone. Not for a while, at least. That's okay. You'd waited a few days to get off with Josh already, what was a few more hours?

God. Hours.

"Okay, okay, fine," you relented, not doing much to hide your disappointment although Jake seemed satisfied as he gave you a soft, "Good," and let your hands fall.

"Now what do you usually do after dinner?"

Well, that was a bit tricky.

We usually do what I've been wanting to do all night.

You couldn't say that though.

"Well, usually we…" you started, trailing off and hoping he'd find the rest of the sentence in the silence. But clearly, he didn't. Or maybe he just wanted to hear you say it out loud. That was probably it, the smug bastard.

"I'm listening," he said as he cocked an eyebrow.

"Usually we…ya know…" you started and trailed off yet again, lifting your shoulders to mimic the way your eyebrows moved in insinuation.

He made a face back, covering the amused look he had in his eyes. "God, on a full stomach?"

"I don't need your judgment," you snapped back, your mood declining the longer you were denied an orgasm.

"Alright, alright," he backtracked, "and then what after?"

You shrugged. "And then sometimes we watch a movie, sometimes we just talk, sometimes we play a game. Just depends on…stuff."

You knew what you meant by stuff and it seemed he knew what you meant by stuff too because he nodded and suddenly the stark amusement was back, flooding his stupid, beautiful face just like it did his twin, though on much rarer occasion.

"Okay well, I'm more of a sex before dinner type of guy but I guess we can switch the order. Movie first though, you don't eat pasta before running a marathon."

Surely he was kidding. Although, it didn't really seem like he was kidding. Still, the stunned silence on your face earned a laugh from him, utterly pleased with himself as it were, and he dragged you into the living room, choosing to ignore your silence to keep the night going as best he could.

Silence was probably better than the disgustingly horny thoughts that suddenly filled your mind at the thought of Jake filling his brother's role in that way. His hands holding your hips, his mouth against your skin, his cock-

No, silence was definitely better.

"What movie?" Jake's voice shook you from your string of filthy thoughts as he flipped through Netflix titles carelessly, remote in hand.

"Um, it was Josh's night to pick so I guess that means you get to pick," you answered meekly as you found the corner of the couch and snuggled up with the pillow, trying to be discrete as you squeezed your thighs together in an attempt to put yourself out of your misery, even just a little bit.

"Fair enough," he answered in a low voice, navigating to one of his favorite movies, a documentary about pirates that thankfully was only an hour long.

You could suffer for another hour.

But as the opening credits came rolling across the screen, he pulled a blanket from his corner of the couch and gestured you over to him with a wave of his hand.

"Come on, I won't bite."

You couldn't help but chuckle at his choice of words.

"I'm not entirely sure I believe that."

He gave you a laugh back as he lifted the blanket for your approaching body and let it settle over top of you, pulling you into his side easily with one arm.

"Well, I guess if date night usually includes biting," he mused, turning his eyes back to the screen.

"Sometimes it does," you shrugged against him as you got cozy.

Maybe it wouldn't be an hour of suffering. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad at all. Although, the heat from his skin left you almost dizzy as you curled up next to him.

Pirates. Just focus on the pirates.

"I am sorry he's not here," Jake's voice caught your attention again. "And I know he is too."

You already knew Josh was likely beside himself over the fact that he had missed yet another date. And you weren't angry. Sexually frustrated? Sure. But not angry.

"It's okay," you sighed. "Thank you for coming. I do appreciate it."

"Yeah, of course."

When the movie ended an hour later, Jake shut the TV off, leaving you both alone in silence and now, in the dark, leaving to think back to Josh's text about Jake keeping you company and then Jake's more forward comments about pasta and marathons.

"I'm gonna go clean up from dinner," you said as you cleared your throat and pried yourself away from Jake's body heat to stand and head toward the kitchen. But Jake stood after you.

"I can do that," he offered in a soft tone, adding after a much huskier, "Later."

You were almost afraid to ask.

"Later?"

He nodded with a thin smile on his lips and eyes that drooped a little more toward the bedroom-y end of the spectrum. Not that he didn't almost always have 'fuck me' eyes. That was a trait the three brothers shared.

"Yes, after you're asleep."

After I'm asleep. Are you planning on soothing me to sleep, Jake?

"Didn't realize you were planning on staying that long," was all you said back, trying desperately to shove the thought of your aching center from your mind and act like you were perfectly fine, nothing was wrong, you weren't hoping Josh was letting you do what Jake looked like he was planning on doing regardless.

"Well, I think we've missed one crucial part of the night," he gave you a shrug back. So nonchalant. But then his eyes turned a little bit darker and you saw every intention behind them. "And I don't plan to miss out on any part of date night."

You weren't sure if the scoff you meant to give him had happened out loud or in your head.

"You're not serious."

"I am very serious," he nodded. "Josh said-"

"There's no way he meant-"

"You want to read that text again?"

You were silent for a pause, knowing his text was inconspicuous and you were likely just looking for any green light to act on your more horny of feelings, before you gave him a shake of your head.

"Okay but surely that's not what he meant. I mean, I'm not going to have sex with you, Jake. I can't have sex with you."

You weren't entirely sure you were saying it for him though surely that didn't hurt.

"Why not?" was all he asked back.

You were incredulous at the question. "Why not? Why not? Do you hear yourself right now?"

"You wanna call him and ask?"

"No, I'm not going to call him and ask!"

Finally Jake rolled his eyes and pulled his phone from his pocket, clicking around a few moments before handing it to you, outstretched with a text exchange between him and his twin open on the screen.

"Here."

"Missing our date again. Can't make it out of the studio. I hate the idea of her there alone, eating the pasta I asked for by herself yet again."

"Want me to go eat it for you?"

"Will you? I just don't want to disappoint her again. I don't want her to be alone."

"Yeah, I'll fill in"

"I'm giving you permission to give her the whole date experience, just this once. Just please make her happy."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"I've seen the way you look at her. I'm not an idiot. Just this once."

As you finished reading through the text messages, you couldn't deny the feeling of anticipation building again the way it had when you'd heard the knock on the door earlier in the night, thinking it was Josh.

You and Josh hadn't touched each other in a while, hadn't really found a moment between the busy schedule of being in a band and the exhaustion that seemed to follow him those days. And you really were desperate for the touch of another person, although it was hardly desperation that would lead you into Jake's arms.

You watched as he put his phone back in his pocket and stood with a waiting look, waiting for either a quiet yes or a very loud no, probably.

He could take care of you. Maybe not as well as Josh can but, guitar fingers, and all…

"I can't believe I'm agreeing to this," you sighed as you shook your head, really stunned that it was happening at all, feeling even more riled up now that you knew it wouldn't just be you and your vibrator yet again.

But Jake wasn't stunned though, rather, he was pleased, and you eyed him carefully as a wide smile spread across his lips.

"Is that a yes? Are you gonna let me make you happy?"

You took a deep breath, a very deep breath, before you finally nodded, moisture already pooling between your legs quite shamelessly.

"That's…that's a yes."

It seemed impossible that his smile could grow even wider, but grow it did at your consent.

"Well shit now I'm nervous," he mused as he stepped toward you and took your waist in his hands to pull you into him without so much as letting you warm up to the idea.

But you gave him an eye roll knowing he was full of shit and hoping it hid your own nerves.

"No you're not," you answered back in a voice much closer to a whisper despite your best efforts not to let the nerves show in your voice.

"No, I'm not," he repeated with a devilish grin, and suddenly your heart was practically leaping out of your chest. "This isn't going to be very Josh-like," he said again, lifting one hand to your neck to let his thumb push your jaw up and angle your face toward him.

"I wouldn't expect it to be," you said in a whisper back, your voice already failing you, it seemed.

"I just need you to do one thing for me."

"What's that?"

"Let yourself relax," he smiled, probably smug due to the way you were practically melting in his hands already. "It'll be easier for me to make you feel good if you do."

You felt a knot form in your throat at his words, 'make you feel good', and you gulped it down.

"I don't know if I can," you admitted, your eyes locked to his as your breathing came faster in the background.

"Just breathe. I'm just here to make you happy," he smiled again as he dipped his face low to press his lips to your collarbone, earning a sharp gasp and the opposite of his order to breathe as he did so.

The feeling was immediate, the need, the pure ache. You wanted him to touch you, you wanted more, you wanted his hands and his lips all over your body. You needed him to help you come.

"I'll go slow, I promise," he assured you as he pulled you by the waist harder into his body, his lips growing feverish as they kissed along your skin up the side of your neck and along your jaw. "Ease you into it," he mumbled.

God, I don't want to go slow. Please don't make me go slow.

Your body practically cried out for him, for his touch. It was entirely different than Josh's. He felt entirely different than Josh. But it was breathtaking nonetheless, made all the better by the feeling that it was something you weren't supposed to have, like a deep sin that made your mouth water.

"What if I don't want you to go slow?" you breathed out in between the movements of his lips scrambling every coherent thought in your brain and he pulled back with a smile on his lips and a chuckle on his tongue.

"Then I'll go as fast as you want me, baby."

With that, he delved his hands into your hair and brought your face to his, kissing you hard and practically short-circuiting your brain in the process.

Oh god, he was good at that.

Never breaking the kiss, his hands searched blindly along the path to your bedroom, saving you from bumping into a few things along the way, before his hands finally got busy stripping you of your clothes when you reached the destination.

You might have been embarrassed, too, being seen by your boyfriend's twin naked for the first time, if it hadn't been for the desperation you'd been feeling for days now drawing you to him and his touch without shame. And once your clothes were happily scattered along your bedroom floor, he connected your lips yet again and backed you up against the nearest wall where your head hit with a thud, the pain absolutely nothing compared to the electric pleasure it sent jolting through your body.

There, with you against the wall, he silently sank to his knees, lifting your leg gently up over his shoulder as he came eye-level with your heat.

Fuck, yes, put your mouth on me. A tongue is so much better than a toy.

You were afraid to look down at him, afraid you'd remember it was Jake there instead of Josh and suddenly freak out before you got what it was you wanted. So instead, you fixed your eyes to the wall opposite you and didn't dare stop him as he dove between your legs, flicking his tongue across your aching, throbbing clit.

"Oh fuck," you gasped, your hands immediately moving to grab at his hair.

It was harder to grab than Josh's but just as easy to pull.

Your hips sought friction along his face as he ate you with fervency, his tongue taking turns flicking your clit and rolling it on the tip of his tongue and delving into you to taste you better.

And Jake's tongue was good but Josh's tongue was better. But when it came to fingers though, it was the exact opposite, evident in the almost pornographic moan that slurred from your lips as Jake prodded a finger into you and began to pump while his lips wrapped around your clit to suck.

"Holy shit, that feels good, don't stop," you breathed out like it was A singular word as your leg still up around his shoulder clamped down tighter, drawing him closer to you and keeping him there.

He only hummed against you, lapping at your clit like he was starved as he continued to curl his finger to brush against your g-spot like he'd had no trouble finding it, soon adding another finger to the mix as he worked to relieve you of the tension that had wound so tightly over the course of, well, the last month really.

You shamelessly ground against his face, writhing against the wall, making sounds louder than you would have thought in his hands. You'd be embarrassed when he came up for air but for now, your focus was tunneling in on one thing and one thing only, the thing you'd been needing since before he'd set foot in your home: the orgasm about to tear through your body and release itself on his tongue.

The wet sound of his tongue lapping at your center was obscene but it only spurred forward your pleasure as the first waves of your orgasm began to roll through you and an ungodly noise escaped your lips like a cry.

God, it felt good to come undone at someone else's hands other than your own, especially Jake's very skilled ones.

He worked you through it diligently, lapping it up until you were so sensitive, your hands pushed his face away and you squirmed against the wall. But Jake didn't stop his movements, didn't even slow them.

"Oh god, Jake, please, too much," you pleaded with him as he continued to pump his fingers in and out of you.

He seemed almost to press his lips harder against you, seemed to suck your clit harder as you writhe and struggled to see straight, struggled to stand straight.

"Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck," you whispered as your vision began to go blurry, and suddenly overstimulation threatened to turn into another orgasm, a little more dull but still breathtakingly pleasurable as it approached out of almost nowhere.

He kept going to push you through it despite your body trying to retreat from the feeling. And with your fingers unable to find any purchase against the smooth wall, you held onto his head for dear life to keep your legs from buckling.

And then the second one hit you, taking every bit of air from your lungs as it did. You were pretty sure you were hurting him, too, with the way you grabbed at his hair and pulled, but you didn't really care and he didn't seem to care because he worked you through it with his fingers, licking around the sensitive bundle of nerves instead of directly over it as his fingers curled and grazed that spot with a slower rhythm until he stopped altogether and stood to his feet, catching you against him before your legs had the opportunity to give out.

"Those fucking noises," he whispered into you hair as he gave you a minute to breathe and regain your strength.

Only a minute though.

With his hands in your hair again, he pulled your head back to look at him, taking in the way your face flushed and the drained look you were already wearing with a pleased smile.

"I need you to stand for me, okay? Just a little longer," he asked in a soft voice that could have killed you, really. Like he was pleading with you to be good for him just a little longer.

And God, did you want to be good for him just a little bit longer.

With a nod of agreement, he walked you back toward the bed.

"Good, turn around and put your hands on the bed."

You did as you were told even though your legs were absolutely shaking and you weren't entirely sure how long you'd be able to maintain the position.

But then you felt the heat of his skin behind you, the rock hard feeling of his erection pressed against the back of your leg, and you no longer cared about the burn. It didn't even register in your mind.

"Tell me if I'm too rough, okay?" he asked in a whisper against your ear as he leaned over you one last time.

Please be too rough.

"Yes, sir," you whispered back, something you'd never said in bed before since Josh wasn't really the type but something Jake seemed to utterly enjoy judging by the way his cock twitched against your thigh.

"Ooh, I like that," he answered, a smile palpable in his voice as he straightened.

From behind you, you heard the work of him pulling a condom out of somewhere, probably his wallet in his discarded jeans, and you waited as patiently as you were capable of for him to wrap it around himself and line himself up with your entrance. Not that patient, truthfully, as you stood there practically presenting yourself to him, pushing back against nothing until finally it was him there.

"Such a good girl, falling in line for me so easily," he dropped his sweeter demeanor in favor of one a little bit cocky for your taste.

Not that you weren't falling in line very easily for him.

But every thought in your head flooded out the window as he pushed into you, one long, languid thrust to the hilt that had you moaning at the feeling, the strength of your arms being tested under the weight of dizzying pleasure.

"I think you secretly wanted this the moment I showed up. I think you like being a little slut," he grunted as he withdrew and gave you another sharp thrust.

"Yes, fuck, I wanted it," you admitted. Really anything just to spur him on.

"What was that?" he asked in a growl, his hands grabbing your hips and holding you down on his cock as you clenched around him.

"I wanted it, sir," you corrected yourself in the sweetest voice you could manage.

It seemed to please.

"There it is," he muttered as he rewarded you instantly with a threatening pace.

It was wholly different than being with Josh, the way he spoke, the way his teeth clenched as he fucked you like he was trying not to spill inside of you already. He was a lot rougher although there was still something gentle in the way his hands wrapped around your hips and guided you back to meet his thrusts, even if his words were far from gentle.

"Fuck, you are tight," he mumbled to himself before raising his voice to speak to you again. "I wanna hear you. I wanna hear you beg for my cock. Beg me for more."

He really didn't have to ask twice.

"Please, Jake, more, keep going. Your cock feels so fucking good inside of me but I need more. I need it harder," you begged, practically sobbed, totally unaware that you had called him Jake and not sir.

But he had caught it.

"Fuck, that was almost perfect, baby," he said with a frustrated tone as he halted his movements suddenly, begrudgingly.

"Fuck! No, I meant sir, please, sir, don't stop," you begged as you realized your mistake, your hips wiggling to try and do the work yourself, to try and coax him back into fucking you.

"You're gonna have to do better than that," he answered, breathing already labored despite the fact that he was still very much in control of the situation.

You were doing the work yourself, pushing your hips back onto his, but there wasn't much power behind it and it left you wanting more, desperate to come again even though you had twice before.

"Please, sir, fuck me harder, please," you tried again, saying anything you could think of that might have ignited some mercy in him. "I need to feel your cock filling me up, I need to come all over it, sir."

And finally, he lifted you into a stand by your hair, just to whisper into your ear, "See? That's how you get what you fucking want," before dropping you back down onto the mattress and thrusting into you so hard that you had no time to regain your stance as he fucked you face first into the mattress, using it as an opportunity to get better leverage to push into you.

You were fairly certain you were leaving the planet, fairly certain you were ascending to something higher, practically drunk on his cock and his words, his fucking words. And the flow of obscenities and unholy noises on your tongue came freely, uninhibited as he fucked you into an almost mindless state.

"Is this what you want, you little slut? You want me to fuck you into the mattress like this?"

"Yes, sir, just like that, just like that." It was broken sobs more than words as your eyes began to water.

Josh didn't fuck you like this and while you didn't need it to be a regular thing, it felt good to be had like this after the frustration of not seeing your boyfriend yet again. It felt good to be taken care of.

It felt good to just be railed, really.

His hand splayed flat on your back between your shoulder blades, keeping you pressed into the mattress, which was probably a good thing as it muffled your cries, and with your legs shaking and your ass still presented to him, he angled up to hit your g-spot better, harder, doing most of the work now to keep you standing.

You were going to come, it wasn't really a choice. It was going to tear through you without any mercy if he kept doing what he was doing and saying what he was saying.

"You gonna remember the way this feels? You gonna remember how it felt being drunk on my cock when you're alone with your fingers inside of you and a toy pressed to your needy little clit?"

I'm going to think about it almost every day.

You couldn't even form words as your eyes began to roll and pleasure began to take over.

"Yeah, I think you are," he grunted in smug satisfaction.

"Sir, I'm gonna come," you sobbed suddenly, not entirely sure if you'd need permission but not wanting to risk it just in case.

You desperately needed to come around him, you needed it more than you needed air in your lungs.

"Not unless you ask fucking nicely, you're not," he growled, hips still snapping hard up into yours, even as his rhythm began to falter.

It was hard to form words but you did your best to find something that would satisfy him. The truth, as it turned out.

"Please, sir, can I come? Can I please come on your cock, sir? I want it so badly, so fucking badly," you begged as you cried through the pleasure.

"Well shit," was all he said for a second as he pounded into you like he was going to come himself.

But then finally, he seemed to regain himself and he tangled his hand in your hair to pull you back onto his cock with even more force.

"Come for me, baby, come all over my cock. Make a mess of it."

It was all you needed to come screaming his name into the mattress as he released inside of you with an unholy sound that you'd remember until the day you died.

His movements were choppy that time as he worked you through it, milking himself at the same time before he finally pulled out and left you standing there, legs like jello as he took a step back to admire his work.

"Now that's a fucking sight," he whispered to himself.

And then he was there helping you stand and carrying you to the bathroom to clean you up.

"I didn't break you, did I?" he asked as he set you down in the bathroom and began wiping you off with warm water.

"No, no, I'm-I'm good," you answered, voice still just as shaky as your legs.

It made him laugh.

"Little bit rougher-"

"Little bit rougher than-yeah," you nodded, absolutely out of breath.

A lot rougher than Josh.

Interesting.

"Let me get you to bed," he said finally as he finished with you and himself, helping you back to the bed you'd come from.

"There's no part of date night that I missed, is there?" he asked as he tucked you snugly beneath the covers, into the warmth of relief from the tension, finally.

"Well, Josh usually stays with me," you gave a light smile and he laughed again before nodding.

"Of course," he whispered as he climbed into bed next to you, keeping a bit of distance between you but not arguing when you practically burrowed into his side.

Just for the night.

"I know this is never happening again," he started after a beat of silence, "but for what it's worth, I'll be thinking about it for a very long time."

It was your turn to laugh and though you agreed, you didn't admit it.

"Thank you, Jake," was all you said. "Thank you for a good date night."

When you woke, it was Josh next to you instead of his twin. And in the sleepy haze of early morning, you stared up at him, the beautiful boy sleeping peacefully, and you couldn't help but smile to yourself as you drifted back to sleep.

[brights-place]

Hi, could I request a Riff x quiet shy reader?

Like, someone who has a passion for rock like Riff but is too shy to display their talent, but Riff loves them anyway despite their shyness (in fact he finds it cute)

(It can be fluff or Nsfw)

Riff X Introvert! S/O

Pairings: Riff X Reader

Warnings: Fluff, FOR MY FELLOW INTROVERTS!

A/N: Riff is so underrated like PLEASE! look at him he is so VGASJNVHWEHNB anyways I hope you enjoy this one I’m like contemplating my life choices lmaooo

- You and Riff were an iconic pair riff being sleezy and the mellow guy yet still being a little mischievous while you were relaxed, calm and didn't really have that much energy like other rock trolls! - How wrong was everyone! especially riff who thouht you were boring and not really a rock troll - but when he saw the passion you had while playing 'I am a poser' on your guitar he was wide eyed and enjoyed seeing you jam out - You were more introverted and riff would always be the one to speak up and have an arm around your shoulder or waist lazily - literally loves how shy you are but is also flustered at how badass you look when playing your instruments - He loves jamming out with you together as he enjoys seeing that wicked smile on your face as you do the rock n roll sign at the end of every song cheering about how good it was to be able to rock out with riff -Riff knew that even though you don't feel comfortable expressing aaround others that your always happy to just be around with yoru fellow rock trolls quietly headbanging scared that you would scare the other rock trolls - Riff loves to cuddle with you when they're alone and would smooch your cheek

- Only YOU! can wear his beanie and take it off of his face when your alone he enjoys it and would kiss you - Riff likes to tease you but always in a lighthearted way.

- Riff often seeks out your opinion and values your input in some situations because your his partner and wants to know how you would feel about what he does - Riff and you are always finding new bands to listen to and discovering new songs together to jam out too

- Riff loves that you have your very own little record collection full of both of your favorite albums

- Riff tries to help you get better with your social skills and be able to rock out with the others - After awhile though riff showed you how to get better at opening up - when barb and carol walked in on you headbanging and shouting the lyrics to a song riff was smiling that you were acutally rocking out happily - Thing is though riff didn't tell you he brought them over and the fact barb was so excited to see this side of you hell even carol was so happy! - Riff loves your small habit of asking him to drum to random songs you have heard while listening to music together

- Riff always encourages you to practice guitar and helps you with music theory and techniques well the techniques he was given by barb when he first tried to play guitar but failed and instead chose drums

- Both of you are always making your own music together jamming on guitar and drums and coming up with new tunes together happily

- When riff convinced you to jam out in public spaces and preform so he was happy that you accepted that idea after a while of contemplating you both occasionally perform at small live shows or open mic nights and are always have a great time and get a great reception

- He enjoys being with you no matter what and would like to help you be more open so when he succeeds he cheers to himself

reblogs + comments are appreciated ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

©brights-place 2023 — do not repost on another platform, copy, translate or edit my works! if you fit my DNI list please don't interact

[joesalw]

I spent $3k on eras tour tickets and like god knows how much on my stupid costume. I've made so many bracelets and I have a permanent tattoo on my leg of a line from august. as much as I haven't ever really liked it, I'm known for being a swiftie. I didn't like matty healy at all and was kind of part of the speakupnow movement without knowing it (lol), and I was really excited for this album as an english major. for that to be what I got? I've never really gotten along with other swifties, and I've said on multiple occasions that my experience as a swiftie has been incredibly isolating (even despite spending $3k on tickets and collecting most vinyls) but god, I don't think that I'm crazy when I say that some of these people are wild if they think that this album was a #girlboss move.

you guys have talked a lot about the other songs so I won't go over it again, as entertaining as it is, but one of the songs I haven't seen a whole lot of negative discussion about is but I can do it with a broken heart. babe. how are you going to promote that song (with awful lyrics btw) with videos of the eras tour and flashing to the crowd during the line "but the crowd was chanting MORE!" like I'm sorry I expected you to do your job at a concert I spent $3k trying to attend? how does making your audience feel guilty for trying to support you help you in any way, shape, or form? obviously I think she's allowed to feel poked and prodded at and overexposed bc I'm sure it was difficult, but also I can't feel sorry for her after shit like guilty as sin?.

anyways I pre-ordered a vinyl bc I thought "old habits die screaming" and I have to print out a return label for it now, haha. I haven't even opened the box yet, that album was so bad.

This is so valid because why are you crying that your fans expect you to do your job properly for the money they spent on your show???? Most of her fans even go feral with the bare minimum she does. And it's not the fans fault that she decided to do a 3 hours long show for 3 days per week. It was her own idea and own decision. Even though I agree that her fans are spoilt sometimes because they keep asking for more content the more she gives them, but again who made them like this in the first place? She! Nobody asked for an album in the middle of her tour with 16 wait 31 songs but she's dropping it it's like she can't stop feeding her fans. But at the same time she's complaining that they want more from her. And she's also complaining that the fans ruined her relationship like "sorry if you decide to have a moral compass that goes against me and my racist pretty baby boyfriend you are not my well wisher!" That's pretty much what she said and I think she did her fans so bad with this album. But they're still defending her with their lives, idk both swifties and taylor deserve each other at this point!

[withoutyouimsaskia]

Healed (Sandman One-Shot)

GIF: Originally posted by @spaceslayer​​​

Pairing: Morpheus/Dream of the Endless x gender neutral reader

Summary: One-shot. Reader self-insert. Established relationship. Fluff. You hurt yourself at home and Morpheus tends to you. 

Warnings: injury, blood, physical intimacy.

Word Count: 1.4k

Sandman Masterlist

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

Sunday mornings were your favourite part of the week and this particular one was proving to be no exception.

Glass of orange juice in hand, you chatter away to Morpheus about some of your most pleasant childhood memories. He is seated next to you in your bed and looks devastatingly beautiful lounging against the numerous squishy pillows arranged behind him. A green coloured plate sits on your lap, scattered with golden toast crumbs and blobs of melted butter.

The conversation you are having has been influenced by the dreamscapes you had lived in last night. You had been overflowing with nostalgia when you had awoken and this had led to you opening the door to memories of your younger self.

It always brings Morpheus immense pleasure to know that his dream creations not only satisfy you but also inspire you to open up to him. Talking about yourself was not something that came naturally, and goodness knows, Morpheus could relate to that, therefore it felt wonderful to see you so uninhibited. The gratification your partner is experiencing from this is reflected in the smile gracing his ethereal features.

You stop talking when you notice his expression.

“What is it?” You are overcome with a rush of self-awareness.

Morpheus takes your free hand and squeezes. “Nothing. I am simply wondering whether the images conjured in my mind by your stories match what you were actually like as a child.”

You take a sip of your zesty drink. “I have some photographs, if you want to see them.”

He strokes tenderly over your cheekbone. “I would like that very much.”

You throw off the duvet and exit the bed.

A chest of drawers stands across the room. You walk to it and kneel down to access the bottom compartment. It’s the one that induces unstoppable reminiscing when you open it. Ticket stubs. Birthday cards. School reports. Photo albums. You reach for the collection you want to show Morpheus and go to push yourself up to standing again.

Unfortunately, the manoeuvre goes slight awry and you lose your balance, falling forwards and smacking the bridge of your nose on the edge of the unit.

The impact is painful and sends aftershocks down to the roots of your teeth and up across your forehead. 

“Oww,” you comment in an undertone, sitting back on your bottom.

Morpheus is by your side in an instant.

“Are you alright, my love?”

You are looking down, a little dazed. “Hmm?”

His cool hands cup your face and he gently encourages you to look at him. His countenance shifts from worry to something stronger.

“You’re bleeding.” His tone is level but you cannot deny the sense of panic that is also there.

You reach a finger up, grimacing as you make quick contact with the mark; it comes away smeared with red.

“Oh dear,” you murmur.

“Where are your healing supplies?” Morpheus asks. 

You can't help but giggle.

"What is it?"

“Healing supplies,” you laugh again. "How old are you?"

He quirks an eyebrow.

You frown. "Hang on, don't answer that."

You begin to feel an unpleasant trickle of liquid working its way over your skin. It is a sizeable amount; you position your hands under your chin to catch any drips.

"There’s some stuff in the kitchen. Top shelf of the big cupboard.” You eventually clarify.

“Stay here. I will return presently.”

He gets up with enviable fluidity and goes downstairs.

Sitting alone on the floor, it makes you feel a like a lost child so you get up and position yourself on the bed. The initial shock is beginning to fade and is leaving you with a pain that flares with every beat of your heart. The escape of blood is showing no signs of stopping just yet either. You tip your head back to try and slow its release.

Morpheus’ footsteps back to you are silent as ever meaning you only know he has returned when you hear him speak.

“I thought I told you to wait over there,” he chides softly.

He has paused in the doorway, a small bowl of water and the basket of first aid supplies in each hand.

You look down coyly. "I know. But at least this way we know I probably don't have concussion."

He purses his lips but does not argue the matter any further. 

You take the bowl from him once he has sat beside you. The astringent smell of diluted disinfectant whacks your nasal nerves.

Morpheus rolls up the sleeves of his long sleeved top, revealing his slender, pale forearms. He leans closer to inspect the injury properly.

“How deep is it?” You ask fearfully.

“It will not require stitches, only a dressing.”

His long fingers pull out a handful of fluffy white from the cotton wool packet. He dunks it in the water for a brief interval and squeezes the excess liquid out.

He puts his hand on your jaw bone to steady you.

"This will likely cause discomfort,” he warns.

He isn't wrong. You are wincing sharply as soon as he makes contact and your hands twitch with a desire to make him stop. Involuntary tears mist your vision as the disinfectant does its work.

“I apologise,” he whispers, ocean eyes full of sadness for the further pain he is inflicting.

“It's okay. Keep going."

He continues with a meticulousness that completely matches his character.

You flinch again and again, resorting to sitting on your hands to keep them from blocking him. You know this is necessary and do not want it to last any longer than it has to.

“I have nearly finished,” he reassures, as if he heard your thoughts.

“You promise?” Your voice cracks a bit from the sensory overload.

“I promise,” his reply is husky and soothing.

Less than thirty seconds later, Morpheus is dropping the soiled cotton in the nearby bin. He appraises the area again.

“It’s clotting now.” His tension lessens a fraction and he reaches for the basket once more. He pauses, caught between the pads of gauze, the rolls of bandages and the box of plasters.

Your focus drifts between his hands and the expression on his face. You have always found it fascinating to watch Morpheus work and even more so to watch him thinking.

In the end, he looks to you for guidance.

“I think a plaster will work,” you say with a little smile.

He nods his thanks and picks through the box to look for one of a suitable size.

After one final wipe to remove the new spills of blood, Morpheus applies the plaster to your face. He eases the edges flat against your skin and pulls away.

“How does that feel?” He holds your gaze unwaveringly.

“It’s unsurprisingly sore but otherwise comfortable.”

“Good, and you have not developed any dizziness?”

“No.”

He is visibly relieved. He then comes closer again and presses a lingering kiss to your forehead. The simple act makes you feel so beloved that you could swoon right there. You are infinitely grateful to have him to take care of you both physically and emotionally.

“Thank you,” you say wistfully.

“Of course, my love.” The way he is looking at you is blush-inducing.

“What now?” You inquire.

He smiles mischievously. “As your healer, I would encourage you to stay in bed for the remainder of the morning and rest.”

You grin at his joke. “Oh, well in that case, I guess I should follow your advice.”

You rest your head on his shoulder. "Where will you be?"

You know that he is eventually going to be needed back in the Dreaming. It was something you were accustomed to but it never failed to bring on a hint of melancholy.

He smiles, reading between the lines of your question.

"Right beside you, if you'll have me. Someone has got to keep an eye on you, my fragile little human."

"Sounds good to me." You look over to the photo album that had been left on the floor. "Are you ready to be overwhelmed with the cuteness that is me as a toddler?"

“More than ready, my love.”

You laugh and bring your lips to his.

[leonsleftbicep]

Bake Me Back To Eden

Chapter: I

Ao3 Version

Word Count: 1,375

tags: Bakery AU, Modern Setting AU, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, Vessel/II/III are dating, IV doesn't know them… yet!, Trans II, Nonbinary Vessel, Genderfluid III, They/Them Pronouns for III, It/Its and They/Them Pronouns for Vessel, Vessel and III are very creature they deserve creature pronouns

Summary: IV runs a bakery called Ivy Sprigs Bakery & Records, The Echo's work along with him. II, III, and Vessel are customers that don't yet know IV. yet! -- this is being cross posted on here and Ao3. alt names that are more "human" are used at times for the vessels, but i try my hardest to keep up with the numerical names for parts that are not being spoken verbally. The echo's or the esparas have made up names as well for i do not know their actual names and don't really want to use their actual names.

the alt names i will be using for each vessel and espara is listed below. please keep in mind that these names are fake and not anyone's actual names.

Vessel: Verna II: lii III: Thea IV: Ivy Espera/Echo 1: Evaline Espera/Echo 2: Erie Espera/Echo 3: Elanor

---

Ivy Sprig Bakery and Records. A newer place that opened up just a walk away from Vessel’s house. It was II’s idea to check out the bakery, after the couple of times he bought coffee there on his way to work. He thought it was time to show them this cute little hobbit hole of a bakery. 

III was apprehensive about all of this, not knowing if they would like anything. Vessel was just nervous in general. Vess hates going out in public, everyone stares at them because of its height. II might be the only one not nervous, for the main reason that he knew there was a certain person he had a feeling that would change their minds. 

The three of them walking through an alleyway while II led the way. “ii are you gonna kill us or something, this is shady.” III says unnerved by this as they hold Vessel's hand. “where almost there, you know i'm not a big fan of main roads for numerous reasons” II smiles as he walks, taking a turn that leads to the front of Ivy Sprigs. “Here we are” II exclaimed as the two taller beings look at this lovely little bakery, with a dark cottage core almost witchy vibe to it. “I call dibs on the records!” III calls out before they run into the cafe. Both II and Vessel giggle as they hold hands and walk into the bakery. 

they find III already scouring the records for old albums from a band they enjoy. III does squeak and bounce around when they find a limited edition color variant of a record.

“I'll go get coffee, while you watch him” II speaks softly to Vessel as he gets up on his tippy toes just to kiss Vessel's cheek. Which makes the taller blush and hum in agreement. 

II making his way to the cafe/bakery section of the shop, he knew III and Vess would be on their way soon after III found their records. II gets in line and soon feels the presence of his two tall lovers, which calms his paranoia.

III’s jaw drops to the floor all of a sudden. II just chuckles when he feels Vessel also fluster, just by the way they are clutching onto II’s shoulder. “I told you guys I would change your minds” II say with a grin as he also checks out the person they are collectively looking at.

The person in question is a lovely brunette with grays at his temples and widows peak, thin wire oval glasses low on his nose as he smiles and talks to customers. ‘Ivy’ was the name on his apron, which if they all thought right he was the owner. II had met the man a couple of times, though never really had a super meaningful conversation with him. 

“How can i help you lads today?” IV asks as he looks between all three of them. Smiling when he sees II “oh it you Lii!” IV expels like he was surprised. “Its II, i just say Lii for simplicity” II nods, knowing a lot of people find his name odd.

Ivy types out something on his ordering tablet, “i'm guessing the usual black eye” ivy smiles. II hums in confirmation, “and anything those two would like?” IV asks as he gestures to III and Vessel. “They are your partners, right? you mentioned a Vessel or Verna? And some one you called Red?” Ivy asks as he pulls out cups and starts to write down II’s name on it. 

“Black coffee, please” Vessel says with a slight shake to its voice before they just whisper to II what they want. “And a blueberry scone” II adds on, wanting to make sure vessel got all it wanted. “And what's your name sweetheart” IV ask’s vessel so he can write down the name on their cup. Vessel at first flusters at the pet name being used so smoothly. “Vess- no, put down Verna” Vessel says with a soft smile, which makes II squeeze its arm gently in congratulations. 

III smiles when IV turns to ask what they want, “what do you recommend..” III looks at IV’s name tag “..Ivy?” they finish with a smirk. IV just smiles “i fear I- it might be too sweet for you” he tries to flirt back.

II kicks III in the ankle “OW!”. this sight makes IV laugh and snort, which amazes all of them. “goodness. okay, too answer your question Red” IV say with a big grin “my favorites the cafe miel, coffee wise. but tea wise, i usually go with a london fog” IV responds as he plays with his pen “your pick though”.

III leans against the counter as they think, “I'll try the cafe miel” they say “as long as it's, as sweet as you” III purrs. “oh jesus christ” Vessel whispers “this is the same thing they did to me when we first met” Vessel tells II. 

IV just snorts and writes it down “what's your name?” he asks with a soft expression “unless you just want me to write down Red?”. III shakes their head “put down Thea, but you can call me III.. or whatever you want” III chuckles. “III you are horrible at being subtle” II groans and crosses his arms as Vessel rests its chin on his head. 

IV gets pulled away from the cashregister by evaline so she can discuss something with him. III just watches that and then giggles and turns to II and Vessel “i'm not trying to be subtle, i'm trying to get closer” III admits. 

II’s eyes widen “you just met him, Thea!” II yelps. “I feel like that's what you said to yourself when you met me, Lii” III counters, being a smart ass.

Vessel takes a deep breath “ok my loves, can we not get into a tift at the moment. Both of you need coffee, and some food” Vessel says as it takes their partners hands. Both III and II take a deep breath. 

“I'm going to finish ordering, you take III to look at the records. Try and find me something please” II mutters as he pulls away so he can finish the order with Elanor as vessel and III walk off to cool down.

After coffee and some food II and III hold hands as they feel normal now. “Sorry that i was rude” III apologizes. “I accept your apology. But you aren't wrong, there was a reason that Vessel was the one to start dating you first before I did. And it was because I felt it was too soon” II explains, even if this might be odd to discuss in the middle of a bakery. 

IV walks over after finishing up what he needed to with evaline. “Sorry I had to walk away, evidently someone wants an ambrosia salad style cake for their wedding.” IV laughs as he takes off his apron and pulls up his sleeves to expose his forearms. Which the three men gawk at, seeing the ivy tattoos wrap around his wrists and up.

“So can I get you three anything before you head out?” IV asks with a soft expression that makes his eyes look more blue then they were before. 

“Some ivycakes” III blurts out as their face reddens. “I've never heard of that, we do have angel food cake though!” IV responds obviously.

II clears his throat and chimes in, “we are good, we are just about to go purchase those records Thea picked out and then head off home.” II excuses. 

“Well, come back soon. it was great to finally meet your partners, they are very sweet” Ivy says as he makes eye contact with III. which II notices, and so does Vessel by the way it grabs II’s waist and squeezes gently.

After they pay for the records and walk out the bakery, Vessel finally speaks about its experience. “I like Ivy, he has pretty eyes. I wonder if he's single” Vessel smiles as all three of them walk together. 

“The ivycakes thing was about his ass… i asked for a slice of his ass” III explains. 

Both II and Vessel look over at III in surprise.