#can any truthfully claim to capture it?

[choccy-zefirka]

Woe! More Rogue Trader fic be upon ye! This time with Repressed Old Man!

The sin to which I am confessing is the most despicable and dangerous of all. The sin of thought. Thought is a distraction from service; thought is a back door carelessly left open to invite the Archenemy. I should know that; I do know that! Yet despite my best efforts to better myself, to temper myself into the dynasty’s unbreakable shield, the thoughts find their way in.

It all began when Her Ladyship, the new Rogue Trader, asked me about my past. A reasonable line of inquiry for any new leader coming into her own, in a region of the Expanse so far from her old home, surrounded by so many new faces, each tangled in a political web generations in the weaving, which she was not yet privy to. I, of course, endeavored to respect her curiosity. I answered each question truthfully and to the point. But… But the way she phrased them; the way she addressed me when she said she wanted to know more about me… She referred to me by my rank, as is proper — but before that word, she… She used the word “my”.

She called me hers.

Of course I am hers. As the ship is hers, as the sacred Warrant is hers, as the colony worlds we are yet to reach are hers. I should have acknowledged that and moved on to the next matter of the day… But I thought on it more than is appropriate. More than is right — more than is righteous.

I went astray.

That short, tiny word pierced me like a lasigun; it carved a wound in me that I can still feel. Burning.

The sensation only worsened the next time Her Ladyship addressed me like this. What makes it all the more shameful, all the more vile, is that this second instance was a mere slip of the tongue. Her Ladyship was clearly not quite in control of her faculties, after partaking in the sinister rites of the Bloodspun Web — I warned her not to be so reckless, not to jump between the turbine blades, but she insisted she had to do it. Of course she did. Uprooted from the life she had once known, she has always sought kinship among her fellow Voidborn, from the Vox Master to the assassins in the deepest bowels of our ship. Can I fault her for that? Can I even presume to dissect the thought process of the Rogue Trader herself? I do not know.

I do not know.

I must be going mad.

Certainly, my head spun with utter madness when she swayed against me, still affected by the fumes the death cultists had had her breathe in for their ritual… She cupped my face in her hand, and looked at me with heavy-lidded eyes, and said my first name. With “my” in front.

A horrifying transgression again all protocol, I know. And thank the Throne she does not remember doing that. But I do. Sinfully, unforgivably, I do. I always will. I remember the sweetness of my name on her lips. The assertion that I was hers.

I replay this recollection in my mind in my darkest, basest hours as I lie sleepless in bed. Every pulse of heat that rushes through me at the thought brings me nothing but shame and disgust with myself. Yet I cannot stop. I…

I want her to call me that again. I want to hear that I am hers while her hand rests on my bare chest, feeling how the sound of her voice stirs my heart. I want to watch the most minute motion on her beautiful, beautiful face as she pronounces my name; to capture it and never let go. I want to taste that sweetness even stronger, deeper; I want to steal it from her very tongue. I want to show her just how right she is to claim me as hers; I want to offer acts of service far beyond anything I have done in her name thus far. I want —

Heart plummeting, a collar of suffocating ice suddenly locking around his throat, where just moment ago, a vein pulsed frantically with red-hot blood — Abelard Werserian freezes… And then hastily erases the vox message he has been so painstakingly recording for the confessional.

What was he thinking! This cannot come to light! Even with the voice scrambling graciously used by the acolytes to obscure the identity of the sinners that spill their souls out to them; even with all the precautions he took to avoid directly referencing his rank and his name — “my Seneschal,” Her Ladyship called him; and then, in a lapse of sound judgment, “my Abelard” — he cannot allow others to hear this.

Firstly, who does he think he is, gossiping about how the Rogue Trader acted under the influence! His soul still feels like untethering itself from his body when he thinks back to Idira grinning slyly at the stumbling, disoriented Rogue Trader and drawling something outrageous about her being “adorable”… The nerve! Surely, he cannot stoop down to that level!

And secondly, what if the rot that nestled within him, the seedling of Chaos he is not taking proper care to smother — what if it spreads to whoever plays back his confession? This cannot stand. Even if his… fantasies were nothing but a harmless diversion — he is the Seneschal, damn it! And old enough to be the Rogue Trader’s... by the Throne, he cannot even begin the calculations!

No.

These impure thoughts will stay where they belong. In a cage of tightly gritted teeth.

***

“Thank you once again, Your Ladyship, for tracking down these disturbing confessions!” Initiate Kiotus half-sings, making such a grandiose sign of the Aquila that one might think he is about to take off the ground and fly into the aether.

A lopsided tic of a smile touches Astra von Valancius’ pallid features. As Voidborn, she is built out of odd, stretched-out lines and awkward angles, looming almost xenos-like over most of the people around her. If Kiotus truly were to float off on the wings of his religious fervor, she would have easily grounded him with a small pat on his head.

She shakes her head, as if reprimanding herself for inevitably swerving towards her most beloved subject: rocks. Close behind her, as always, Seneschal Werserian furrows his brow, almost imperceptibly. Perhaps he would have liked to side with Kiotus over her; or perhaps he regrets not getting to hear more rock ramblings (he is, after all, one of the few people in the inner circle who withstood an entire torrent of theories about the curious asteroid fragment on display in the late Lady Theodora’s study).

“It was no trouble, truly. Though I am still quite… perplexed about why you’d find the confessions disturbing. There’s nothing wrong about feeling that good people died before their time, or caring for orphans… And I truly wish those lop-eared kleppas were not extinct. I wonder what environment they would have lived in; perhaps on a rocky mountainside, with plenty of shallow caves for shelter —”

“Well, Your Ladyship,” the Initiate clears his throat, twiddling his thumbs in front of his pristine robe. “Those were the confessions that stood out to me the most. If we were to go through all the dozens of love confessions as well —”

Lady Idira Tlass, who started demonstrably acting like she was dozing off the moment she set foot into the chapel, perks up with mischievous interest. The Seneschal, meanwhile, turns pale.

“Love confessions, you say?” Lady Tlass asks, eyebrows raised.

“It is truly nothing,” the Initiate hurries to reassure the Rogue Trader’s most esteemed retinue. “Ever since Your Ladyship has started showing more leniency towards the… lessers in our flock, we have had an influx of messages with… quite crudely worded praise of your beauty. We thought it best not to distract you with such trifles; unless, of course, you would like to dispatch enforcers and punish the insolence…”

Like a long-legged bird taking a drink of water on the rice terraces of an agri-world, the Rogue Trader throws her head back… And laughs.

The sound is loud enough that poor Kiotus nearly leaps backwards into the confessional’s cogitator. Yet the Lady Navigator, also a near-constant companion on the Rogue Trader’s journey, appears to sense no mirth in it. She cocks her head to one shoulder, also bird-like, and studies Lady Astra with unblinking crimson eyes.

“That coil of black-blue sadness around your laugh…” she whispers softly. “I am so sorry. I know how you must feel.”

At last, the Rogue Trader catches her breath.

“What an absurd idea! I am probably further from beautiful than we are from Terra! Those poor people are just trying to get in my good graces… Probably because they are starving. I must do another inspection at the enforcer outpost to see if the bastards started stealing ration cards again. Well, thank you for the entertainment, I suppose”.

With a tap of two fingers against her signature naval hat, she departs to do more of her voidship rounds. Her retinue follows suit, and only the Seneschal lingers, with an expression that Initiate Kiotus would have best described as “heartbroken”… If it were any of his business.

[valeriefauxnom]

Another Stealth Edit in Dragalia Lost!

So, as I unfortunately cannot find the vocal lines for, Leonidas was known in his Gala to have a vocalized line that said the name 'Euden' whereas before Dragalia went to hell and back to obscure any mention of his name despite the obvious fact that it is his name. Whether it was with "Your/His Highness" "Prince" "Turkey" or "Brother", they were quite creative in monikers to avoid saying Euden.

They, predictably, changed it incredibly fast to 'my brother', but the original line, was, if I recall, something like "Whatever awaits in North Grastea, I am certain Euden will find his way to the truth of things". They just substituted 'my brother' for Euden and then voila! No more 'Euden' vocalized.

But oh, I remember.

I, however, just happened to notice another stealth edit today, though, that they did similarly quietly.

Where? The Blood that Binds, you know, the story where most the fam teams up to kick the Replica(-aaaaaaaaaa!) Alberius' butt?

It's in the second part of the story, where not!Alberius nearly murders everyone before they're saved by Euden and Zethia finally arriving to provide some much-needed reinforcement as Euden goes toe-to-toe with Alberius as Zethia heals.

When the twins show up, however, Alberius comments this, per the wiki:

Indeed, I found this line captured in several videos of people recording the event as an archive.

However, others (and I do mean plural, this isn't just one person), instead recorded a different line Alberius says at this exact interval!

The line in question?

Now, when I first saw this, I thought maybe that this was the original line and that they changed it just to again keep any mention of the Forbidden out of Dragalia and appease the great Nintendo on high. The former feels a bit more awkward, even if one can still kinda see the air of 'ugh, how many more can there be?' attitude to the sheer number of descendants trying to fight him. To me, I honestly thought it would be the changed, the hurriedly slapped-in edit as ordered to keep Dragalia that much Purer.

But when I looked at the dates of these uploads, I found something curious. Those that had the first line where actually updated earlier than the ones with the later line. Unless several people all got their recordings earlier than the others but then somehow chose to wait a week-month to upload their clips, the second line is the edited version!

Which means that the Dragalia translation team slipped in a comment from Alberius' replica expressing the sentiment of, 'damn that dude had a lot of sex'. Color me surprised!

What's funnier is the implications, because this replica knows Alberius' memories. He's the most capable person 'alive' in any sense to be fully capable of commenting truthfully as to what Alberius got up to, even if it is through his own lens corrupted by the Progenitor.

However, it's also a bit of a logical fail. The replica also knows Alberius lived 300 years ago, and yet seems surprised and annoyed with how many descendants there are. Even if Alberius only had one kid, 300 years is more than enough time for the blood to multiply into the size of the family there is today. Additionally, Alberius himself seems to intend to have multiple children:

...And yet he's personally attributing the fact that there are 7 heirs in front of him to Alberius. Perhaps he thought he woke up to a world as if Alberius were Genghis Khan, bloodline incredibly far-reaching where it seems you can't throw a stick without hitting one of his descendants?

To that, I'd like to just claim the comment's because of the potentially lacking knowledge of this replica. Sure, he may know how to fight, Alberius' life, all that, but that doesn't necessarily mean he has the best grasp on how quickly natural reproduction in humans can boom a single bloodline's number. A silly little goof much as the dragons make goofs regarding human lives and their qualities, like Zodiark failing to realize that humans cannot fit in a chamberpot or that they do not eat raw meat. I still wonder what drove the translators, though, to make that change.

Whatever might have driven that comment, though, that doesn't change the fact that the replica of Alberius flat-out said that his original was, ah, busy, which was not the new lore I had intended being able to be found in Dragalia!

That just leaves the question as to whom, since Dragalia also had a severe allergy from discussing any of the queens in Alberia's history. Myriam, of course, died alone before Alberius ever created a kingdom. The only other character of note in Alberius' vague shipping world is Midgardsormr, as long-joked about in the fandom from both comics and stories, but he doesn't exactly complete the apparently-full love story either, with Alberius having at least one descendant. It's too bad, since the only other note of relevance about the subject at all is Midgardsormr expressing severe doubts of his dating prowess:

...Did Midgardsormr end up being a wingman to Alberius? If so, what did that look like?

"Hey, how are you doing?" (cue massive, revered dragon landing behind him)

"Why are you running, aren't dragons cool???!"

Listen, I've just opened up a whole can of worms unintentionally here, because somehow Dragalia decided to say of all things that Alberius had a storied love life, shall we say.

I wonder how many other little changes the devs might have made over the years, if they're willing to tweak things like this. Does anyone know anything else about little stealth changes the team tried to sneak in without anyone noticing?

[theaterpug-writes]

Hi! I absolutely love your fic Misfortune, and I’d love to hear more about the universe surrounding it! I’ve always been curious about the dynamic that was hinted at with Erik, Pietro and Luna, from what we saw it seemed very nuanced!!

I'd really like to start by saying that I'm so glad Misfortune resonated with you! It's tied for my favorite work I did for House of Dadneto 2024, and I hope that if there's a 2025 event, I'll be able to live up to my work in 2024. I also want to say that I adore A Quiet and Starry Place and am excited for any upcoming chapters!

Within Misfortune, I tried to capture the idea of people's words, actions, and beliefs not completely coinciding. Whether it be Wanda claiming not to care about Erik outside his relationship with Pietro while still visiting him (albeit on the astral plane) or Erik denying that Luna's birth and humanity has any impact on him, while joining the X-Men for that very reason. I also tried to show the breakdown of communication within the family unit, and how that only leads to more pain.

When Pietro got married to Crystal, Erik wasn't there. He never truly got an answer as to why, though it was mainly due to Erik being a fugitive after his failed rebellion after the attempted assassination of Charles Xavier. Crystal's pregnancy was announced soon after the wedding, and Erik seemed to be excited at the prospect of being a grandfather again. He gets along with Crystal, although he only visits twice during the pregnancy so Pietro and Crystal don't get in trouble for meeting with a fugitive. Even though Crystal is royalty, he doesn't want to risk anything.

Pietro wants Erik to be proud of him, he wants to have a good relationship with him. To Pietro, having a relationship with Erik and considering him his father alongside Django is both possible and okay. He considers Django his father, and Erik as his father as well, one does not cancel out the other. Wanda has a harder time reconciling the two, so she uses Pietro as an excuse to get closer to Erik, as she doesn't want to betray Django, Marya or Magda. That's one of the reasons he still hasn't met Billy or Tommy. That and the fact Wanda's afraid they'll get hurt if anyone finds out about their relationship to Erik.

When Luna is born, and born human, Pietro is afraid.

He's heard what people say about his father, and seen the things his father has said and done when it comes to coexistence with humans. He doesn't think he'll harm Luna, but he thinks that he'll ignore her, and that he'll pretend that both she, and he, don't exist. Crystal encourages him to tell Erik about his doubts and fears, but he doesn't, he only tells him his daughter is born human.

Truthfully, Erik never considered this.

He figured she'd either be born mutant or inhuman, and either one was fine with him. But to be baseline? That wasn't a possibility.

Pietro waited to tell him until he was already holding Luna, but the second she was placed into his arms, Erik loved her. He saw his own eyes-the eyes of his son- staring back up at him, and blonde hair that's a perfect mix of that of her mother and of her father. She was perfect, and he'd do anything to make the world safer for her.

But then, Pietro fearfully told him she's human. Only a moment later he took her back, afraid of what Erik might say. While Erik's loved many humans, that's not what he's known for.

His granddaughter will grow up hearing all about how Magneto fought against the humans, and she'll think that he doesn't love her. He does love her, but at the same time, she's human. He can't really reconcile the idea of his granddaughter being a human. She just can't be, yet she is.

While he doesn't believe in the possibility of true human-mutant coexistence, he does believe in her; and making the world safer so that Tommy, Billy, and Luna Maximoff can grow up unafraid.

He couldn't live with himself if she was afraid of him. He can't live with himself while his son is afraid of him.

He would destroy the world at the drop of a hat, but he'd keep it safe for his grandchildren. Human and mutant alike. He'll try coexistence if only to make Luna happy. It doesn't mean he won't fight for mutants with the same vigor he always did, it just means he'll try to live alongside the humans and advocate for peace.

He'll try it, just as he'll keep his promise to an old friend.

So, he packs up his meager belongings, and joins the X-Men. Not only for Charles, but for his children and grandchildren too. Perhaps this way he can prove to his son, his granddaughter and even himself that he hasn't already damaged his relationships beyond repair. He remains aware that every move he makes is being monitored, not only by the UN, but by his son too.

When word reaches Pietro that his father has joined the X-Men and has been saving humans and mutants alike, he sends him a gift. A way to let him know he still loves his father, and wants to maintain their relationship. Because Erik hasn't talked through any of this with him, he doesn't know how his father feels about Luna, or if joining the X-Men has any correlation at all. A few days later, Wanda decides to visit Erik in the astral plane.

As for the gift, I have my own opinion on what's inside; but I worry that whatever answer I give won't live up to what the individual reader thinks is inside. If you want to know what I originally wrote to be in it before letting it be ambiguous, let me know, and I'll reveal it and it's significance to Pietro as a person.

I hope this in-depth examination of character motives makes sense, and thank you for reading this long! I've always found Magneto to be a very interesting character, so I knew I wanted to do a character study to open House of Dadneto. In fact, this was the third fic I wrote for the event, but the first I posted. I had already written Polaris and Acceleration, Tangential Speed and the Practicality of Fatherhood when I started planning out Misfortune!

I've also considered following more of the X-Men 97 plot through the lens of this AU, but I'm not sure if I'll end up doing it or not. I have plenty of ideas when it come to Episodes 3, 5, 8, 9 and 10.

[feeling-horsey]

>Equius: Hunt the Wolf (P4)

Rushing into action was a stupid way of going about things. Despite what some people seemed to believe about you, it was not your style to charge into any situation fist-first. Sure, you could solve most problems that way. You had the raw power to slay most foes. The challenge came in not slaying them. That seemed to make people angry, when you explained it. It made them think you were arrogant in your strength. Boisterously claiming you could solve easily solve problems they struggled with, yet refusing to do so because you held some moral high ground.

Truthfully, it was a hard claim to deny. You do take the moral high ground. You do think you can solve those problems. But what you don't understand is how it is a bad thing. Surely, someone as STRONG as you.. They would want you to do good, right? Don't they understand how badly you want to kill? Don't they understand how hard you are trying for them? How hard you are trying to stop yourself from being a monster? A villain? You do not need to kill to survive. You do not have to fight for your life. So why should you be allowed to do it? For the greater good? That was a lie. You could do just as much good without killing. You need only be STRONG enough to find another path. For you, killing would never be a necessity. It would merely be for convenience. And worse than that.. Pleasure. How good would it feel to finally cut loose? To no longer treat the world as if it was made of cardboard? Would you be able to stop yourself from indulging completely, once you had felt it? People do not understand what would happen, you think. They do not know what beast is locked in the cage. They're simply tired of it's whining, and wish for it to be let out. You had to keep it locked away. You had to do things the right way. All things. And you could not accept anything beneath perfection. You knew, with your power, that the smallest of slip ups would be all it took to cause so much agony. So you took your time. You hovered above the Narrows' farmhouse as you contemplated your course of action. The innkeeper had been correct. Speaking to the Narrows would only cause them undue suffering.. But nor could you act with them so near the danger. Especially not with what you were about to do to their livelihood. So you did what you had to do. Wielding the void was not as simple as people thought it to be when they saw it in action. To them, all they saw was the effect. The creation of something from nothing. But they did not consider, not truly, what it took to make that happen. Your conjuring would be a simple one. Single elements were the simplest things for you to create. Flat, plain surfaces of it were even more simple. Even still, it took a considerable amount of concentration to attune yourself to each pocket of void within the space surrounding the farmhouse. To capture it all, in it's entirety, and hold it within your mind in the exact shape you desired. Then to twist it's very existence, the very being of reality itself to be the opposite of what it was. Not only that, but to do it so that it was the exact type of opposite you wanted it to be. You often analogized it to flipping a light switch.. Turning nothing into something, or vice versa. But that wasn't quite right. It was more like switching turning ten million dials all to the exact, specific setting you wanted, all at once, simultaneously, and making sure you did not make a single mistake in their shape or frequency. It was easier when you had your Companion to assist. When his night-infinitely scoped mind could do the work of holding the picture steady while you worked the switches. That was gone for you now. Still, you had much practice in this now. And thankfully this time, all the dials need to only be set to one setting. 26. Iron flashed into existence, encasing the home. It fit perfectly to the shape of the building, making it appear as if it had been dipped in iron when it was created. The only difference was how it was pockmarked with thousands of small holes, enough to allow air to flow into the gaps of the home while keeping anything larger than a grain of rice from entering or leaving. That simple cage of iron was the best you could do to keep them safe from you, and from themselves. It would not compare for the cage you had in mind to ensnare the wolf.

[kooldewd123]

My New Year's resolution this year was to read more. I'm sure a lot of people around here can relate to this, but I was a massive reader as a child who started to fall off as I grew up. I barely read anything new at all throughout college and the latter half of high school. At the start of this year, I was suddenly hit with a massive urge to try and return to my roots again, and for probably the first time ever, I suddenly had a New Year's resolution I actually intended to follow through on. Still, I knew that my attention issues would make this hard for me unless I gave myself some sort of structure.

Enter Animorphs. Not only was this a beloved series from my childhood that I had been wanting to revisit for a long time, but it happened to fill my needs perfectly: with 54 mainline books total, I could easily pace myself at a book a week, and with each book only taking about an hour or so to read, it would be a nice, low-commitment way to ease myself back in. And for an added kick in the pants, I started a reread thread to hold myself accountable to.

Although revisiting the series that genuinely shaped me into the person I am today has been a magical experience, it was never the main goal. My hope in starting this project was that by weaning myself back in with a weekly diet of quick, digestible books, I would get myself back into the proper headspace of wanting to read more often. And now that we're nearly at the halfway point of the year, I'm so glad to be able to say:

It fucking worked.

Not counting Animorphs, I've read more books this year than I have since... probably middle school. And it's not just me going over the collection on my bookshelf, either - most of them have been entirely brand new to me, some of which I hadn't even heard of until I grabbed them off the bookstore shelf and thought "huh, that sounds neat." It's really thrown me back to childhood experiences and overall been a fantastic refresh of my mental state after stagnating a bit in some of my media-consumption habits. This has been a much longer preamble than I anticipated, but I wanted to make this post to go over the books I've read so far this year and some of my thoughts on them! So here we go, in no particular order:

Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan: This is the reason I said "most" of the books I read this year were new. The Riordanverse is my second favorite book series after Animorphs, and I've also been meaning to reread it at some point as well. The Disney+ series earlier this year really gave me a strong urge to revisit the books, but I wanted to wait until after the show was over so it didn't skew my expectations too much. And, yeah. It's been just as great a series as I remember. I've only finished up through Battle of the Labyrinth so far, but I want to go through the whole Riordanverse eventually. HoO are some of my most-read books ever, and ToA has been itching at the back of my mind for months. The Kane Chronicles and Magnus Chase never captured my interest as well as the Greco-Roman stuff, but I'm excited to take another look at them and see if my feelings have changed.

Loki's Ring by Stina Leicht: A space captain travels to a mysterious pathogen-infected planet to save her AI daughter... is what the blurb on the back of the book says. Truthfully, I think the marketing on this one is a bit misleading. I picked it up expecting to get a sci-fi mystery thriller set on a spooky planet, but what I got instead was a more political piece about the crew trying to negotiate between all the different parties laying claim to the planet. It's not a bad book by any means, but just not something that appealed to me personally and I couldn't help but feel a bit burned by the description.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman: I've heard a lot about Gaiman's work, and about this book especially, so this was one of the books I was most excited to start reading. And there was a lot I enjoyed here: Shadow was an interesting protagonist, I loved this take on modern gods, and Gaiman's interpretation of Americana as a concept was fascinating. But for some reason... I dunno, this one was just a slog to get through for me, despite how much I felt like I should have loved it. I hate to admit it after how highly I've heard him recommended, but I think Gaiman's writing style might just not be my thing. I'd be willing to give him another shot if I was in the right mood (the idea of checking out Sandman has crossed my mind a couple of times), but sad to say I probably won't be delving into his works like I was hoping to. One of the biggest disappointments I've had with a piece of media in a long time.

Eye of the Sh*t Storm (The Frost Files #3) by Jackson Ford: Now this one was a surprise in the complete opposite direction. I grabbed this one on a whim, completely missing the fact that it was the third book in a series. The Frost Files follows the adventures of Teagan Frost, a reluctant government agent working in Los Angeles with psychokinetic abilities (or as the book puts it, the ability to move sh*t with her mind). The opening to this book nearly lost me, leaning into some drug humor that's not really my taste, but what followed was a frantically fun adventure with zany humor, strong tensions, and characters that bounced off each other perfectly. I was sold on the series pretty quickly, but by the time I decided I wanted to read the other books, I was already too invested in this one to stop. I have the first book ready on my shelf to read at some point, but I need to search some local bookstores for #2 and #4 first so I can read the whole thing straight through.

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins: Can you believe I've never actually read these books before? For some reason, my mom took a super hard stance against these books in particular and never let me read them, and when my dad told me she was being stupid and gave me the entire trilogy himself, I just... put them on my bookshelf and never actually got around to reading them. I admit I was a bit worried going in. I don't often enjoy romance in stories, especially since figuring out I'm aro, and these books have a reputation for kickstarting the entirely overdone dystopian YA love triangle trope. I was very pleasantly surprised, then, that the romance wasn't actually as major a part of the story as I expected, and the extent to which it was used was entirely in service of the story's themes and message. In that vein, one of the most interesting parts of these books to me was being able to see the origin point of so many tropes of the genre. It's clear why this trilogy is a masterpiece, and finally being able to take it all in illuminated all the ways that Collins inspired the YA writers that came after her. Katniss is a remarkable protagonist, and the story resonated in ways that are even clearer to me now than they would have been to me if I had read it back then. I feel like I got a surprising amount out of these books. I downloaded the movies to compare, but never worked up the motivation to actually start watching them.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury: At one point, I decided to try and go back to some books I read in school to see what I would get out of them now that I'm more educated on the subject matter they're tackling. I was actually looking for 1984, but couldn't find it (I guess Barnes & Noble must have gotten rid of those look-up computers during COVID or something so I was basically just wandering around blindly trying to figure it out myself) and ended up with Fahrenheit 451 instead. So how did I feel about this one? Weirdly ambivalent. Censorship and the preservation of information are two of the issues I'm most concerned with in the world today, but for some reason this book just did absolutely nothing for me and I can't really say why. Nothing about it really stuck in my brain the way I expected it to. I did eventually find 1984 and Animal Farm, so hopefully those ones give me more to think about. I actually never even read Animal Farm in school, so that'll be a new one for me.

The Arc of a Scythe Trilogy by Neal Shusterman: I'd heard this trilogy come up a couple of times before as the big new YA series. For the uninitiated, these books take place in a utopian future where all of humanity's problems have been solved: crime, poverty, corruption, racism, disease, even death itself. The only arbiters of death left in the world are Scythes, an order tasked with taking the lives of others in order to maintain the value of life and curb overpopulation. And let me tell you, this series is absolutely a new favorite of mine. I brought these with me on a road trip and chewed through Thunderhead, The Toll, and Gleanings on the bus in a way I didn't even realize I was capable of anymore. The world is well fleshed out in an incredibly elegant way, with boundaries loose enough to provide for amazing twists yet firm enough to still provide stakes. The differing philosophies the Scythes each have on death and duty in a post-mortal world are an absolute delight to see unfold. And the story plays its cards excellently, slipping in details at just the right moment for them to slide under your radar before suddenly exploding into prominence. Thunderhead and The Toll in particular use the medium of text in much more interesting ways than anything else I've read recently, leading to some amazing scenes I couldn't stop myself from flipping back to and reading all over again. I'm gonna be thinking about this series for a long time, and I really hope we get another companion book like Gleanings as an excuse to take another plunge back into this world.

Lore by Alexandra Bracken: Every seven years, the Olympian gods are turned mortal for a single week, and anyone who manages to kill them takes their power. if i had a nickel for every book on this list about gods in the modern world- I haven't really gotten that far in this book so far, so it's only here as an honorable mention. It hasn't hooked me yet, but I feel like I'm only just starting to get out of the intro section and into the action, so there's plenty of time still left for it to pick up. Plus, I got distracted with life stuff and couldn't give it my full focus for a while, so I'm probably not giving it as fair a chance as I should.

It's been fun reading them, it's been fun talking about them, and here's hoping I can keep having fun with them in the future.

[westdallasgang]

Translation of Clyde Barrow's four page letter written to Ex-Barrow gang member, Ray Hamilton. This letter was most likely written by Bonnie who had the neater handwriting. Clyde also wasn't very literate and misspelled a lot in his own hand-written letters.

"Raymond, I’m very sorry to hear of your getting captured, but due to the fact that you offered no resistance, sympathy is lacking. The most I can do is hope you miss the chair. The purpose of this letter is to remind you of all the dirty deals you have pulled. When I came to the farm after you I thought maybe the joint had changed you from a boastful punk. However I learned too soon the mistake I had made. The first thing that aroused my suspicion was your suggestion of shooting Joe Palmer in the back while he was asleep. You soon learned how I felt about such cat ideas. Since then I’ve found your reasons for wanting to do this was because Joe was on the farm with you and knew what kind of a guy you were. The next impression was when we got the road blocked on us in the Ozarks and you were too yellow to fight. You cowered in the floorboard, afraid of being shot.

Now that you’re in the Dallas jail you have a tested pal, W.D. Jones, you might get a few pointers from him on how to impress the people you were an innocent, or possibly forced companion of the ruthless Barrow gang. You might be as lucky as he was in making them believe I kept you handcuffed or tied. When you wanted to get your Prostitute Sweetheart I thought it OK. But when you were so persistent about her going to town alone. That idea wasn’t so hot. I thought then and truthfully believe now that should she have gotten off without Bonnie she would have spotted us all. She hails from a rat family and you couldn’t expect better from her. You exposed your hole card when you stole the money from us on the Lancaster job. That’s what I have my rear vision mirror for to watch suspicious people. When I demanded a shake down you offered such strange excuses for having the money on you. I should have killed you then. I would have saved myself much bother and money looking for you. Far after you writing that letter saying you didn’t stoop so low as to rob filling stations I have done nothing but look for you. Should I have found you, you wouldn’t have had a chance to give up. You couldn’t stand the rift of the outlaw life. For one reason you were too yellow and knew you could never surrender with me and another reason you wanted to play ‘Big Shot,' sleep in hotels and ride passenger trains. You weren’t intelligent enough to know that you couldn’t live like a king and stay out. I don’t claim to be too smart. I know that some day they will get me but it won’t be without resistance. You only carried your guns around to show off or else kidnap women and children. I guess you find where your boastful long tongue has gotten you. Maybe you can talk yourself out of the chair. Or maybe you can write a few more letters (try one to the governor) at least it will gain you some publicity. When you started the rumor about Bonnie wanting a cut of the loot you sure messed yourself up. I have always taken care of Bonnie and never asked any thief to help me. I hope this will serve the purpose of letting you know that you can never expect the least of sympathy or assistance from me. So long.”

— Clyde Barrow

[multipleoccupancy]

She was mad right? How could she think this was all a dream? He was older than her and had been around longer than her so it just wasn't possible. Theo was still glaring at her as she tied her hair up, claiming she didn't understand the situation any better than him which Theo was in two minds about believing.

"So you're telling me that you can just appear anywhere in the world when you fall asleep? Why here?" Scepticism was written all over his face but she had explained that she didn't understand the situation either. There wasn't much more for him to argue about for now, accepting that even if she did know, he wasn't likely going to get a solid explanation out of her. He was just puzzling as to why and how she was specifically in Ophir with them.

He still didn't like the idea of her falling asleep and apparently teleporting, leg fixed in and out of the situation. How was he going to explain any of this to Chief? Why should he bother trying? He didn't know Violet and she appeared to be unharmed and not captured by the monster so maybe he should just hand her over to Chief, he'd know what to do.

There was nothing to hide the deep frown that appeared on his face at the question that followed. What year it was? Seriously? "It's July 25th, 2004," he answered truthfully and waited to see what it was she would come up with next.

𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐎 & 𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐓 @multipleoccupancy

"It's not what I'm saying," she retorted dryly, frustrated by the situation, "when I'm awake, my leg is broken! But here, it's perfectly fine." Violet could see that this conversation would lead nowhere. She supposed it was fair enough. Even if Theo was just a fragment of her imagination, it was never agreeable to be told that you're not real.

She took her ribbon out of her pocket and tied her hair with it. "Look, I don't understand this any more than you do," she offered like one would wave a white flag. With her hair out of her eyes and tied in a ponytail, it was easier to think. She wasn't trying to understand what was happening, she knew what was happening! She was somehow dreaming about her dad's memory. But if Theo refused to listen, then she was going to need another explanation.

"All I can tell you is that I fell asleep, and I woke up here," she started to explain carefully, her voice softer now, "it doesn't mean this is a dream-" Oh, but it was a dream! "but I'm not lying when I say I fell asleep."

Finally, Violet had an idea. "What year is this?" If this was a memory, it was happening in the past. She could maybe convince him that she was time-traveling. It was far-fetched, but certainly less vexing than being told he was just a part of a dream.

[faintwalker]

2/2 

Iwashi

[galactic-potterhead]

𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐨𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 ⋮ 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 ⋮ 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 ┄ Harry Potter x Female Original Character (platonic), Draco Malfoy x Female Original Character ⋮ 𝐅𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐌 ┄ Harry Potter

𝟎𝟎:𝟏𝟐

𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬

Note || I don’t know what I just wrote but the tears wont stop. Im in love. (Not to be narcissistic or anything-) It Was In Me by Avril Lavigne was the vibe for this chapter. Please let me know if I missed any warnings because I will happily add them!

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲:

After facing the wrath of her mother, Avalon finds herself under the stars with the-boy-who-lived and their bond begins to form.

𝐂𝐖: This chapter will contain mentions of poverty, child abuse & neglect, character death, childhood trauma, fluffy Harry and Ava moments, anxiety.

Word count: 1.1K

<- Previous Chapter || Next Chapter ->

The night sky twinkled above like a hoard of fireflies, displaying every ounce of hope that filled Avalon. She adored the stars as much as Orpheus treasured Eurydice. To her, each star carried a dream belonging to every single person in the world, placed up in the sky to showcase that everyone has aspirations.

Avalon was definitely a dreamer. She was a wild spirit that carried her mother’s heart in every step. The subjects that she looked forward to most at Hogwarts, were Astronomy and Care of Magical Creatures. Avalon loved hearing all about Charlie’s dragon reserve, and she kept every single one of her mother’s astronomy stories in the back of her mind.

If someone were to ask her to choose between the two, she’d probably short-circuit.

— Harry’s voice cut into her peaceful silence, and she couldn’t help but jump. “Avalon? What are you doing out here?”

She shifted her head in his direction, only to see that he was still dressed in his day clothes.

“I’ve been sneaking out to look up at the stars since I was five.” She claimed, smiling slightly at the memories of her childhood.

He didn’t say anything as his figure approached. Instead, he simply sat beside her and peered up at the sky. “Mum used to tell me that every star above is a lost soul sent to look after their loved ones.” She paused for a moment, sparing the curious boy a small glance. “I like to think that as long as those stars gleam, there is always hope.”

“I think that’s a wonderful way of thinking about them. Me personally, I can’t see the stars back with the Dursleys.” Harry says, glancing her way briefly.

“Can I ask you something, Harry?” She asked, shifting to face him, her side slightly inching from the grass scratching into her skin.

“Go on,” he encouraged, shifting to face her as well.

Her eyes beamed with a light that represented something he hadn’t felt since his first time arriving at Hogwarts.

“Does Hogwarts change you? I promised dad that I wouldn’t change.” Her words seemed to hit deep, because for a moment, he just stared at her.

She felt that anxiety from before slowly seep up from its hiding place, but refused to let it control her before he could answer.

“Yes. Hogwarts does change you. Sometimes, for the better. Other times. . .” He explored truthfully, his eyes softening with every word.

Avalon swallowed back the anxiety and nodded lightly. “I can choose whether it changes me for better or worse, right?” Her question was so innocent, and for the first time in years, it felt like someone understood her.

He smiled softly, turning back onto his spine. “Of course! Hogwarts is a place for opportunity. Only you can choose what to do with the changes being presented to you.”

His words calmed her heart, so she rolled onto her back and looked up at the stars, weight instantly lifted from her chest.

“Punch me if this is insensitive, but, do you remember anything about your parents?” She felt his body tense beside her, but the shooting star captured her attention.

“I see glimpses.” He mumbled, causing her head to roll in his direction, curiously sparking her.

“Sometimes in my dreams, I see her green eyes, her cooking apron, and even her red hair. She was beautiful. I didn’t need a photo album to know that.” He says, a warm smile stretching across his face.

Harry’s loving smile caused a chain reaction, setting off a smile of her own. “I’m sure she was,” she commented.

“And with my dad, I saw his glasses. There was always a part of me that felt like I resembled him. A photograph proved my theory to be correct.” Harry continued, shifting one of his arms under his head to get comfortable.

“Even the dishevelled black hair?” She asked, playfully, receiving a small laugh in return which told her all she needed to know.

“What subject are you looking forward to at Hogwarts?” He asked, after a moment of silence.

“Astronomy and Care of Magical Creatures. Though, I reckon Potions wouldn’t be too bad either.” She responded, yawning quietly.

“I wouldn’t count on enjoyment being part of potions. The potions master has some vendetta against children. A total muppet, that one.” He snorted, causing her brows to furrow.

“Really? That’s a shame. He probably has deep-seated family issues.” She commented, sympathy for a man she hardly knows immediately filled her.

“He has deep-seated issues alright…” Harry muttered, exhaling deeply.

There were more moments of peaceful silence, until Harry caught sight of something on her temple. “Hey, how’d you get that?” He asked, aiming a figure at the scar she acquired years ago.

“Oh, I hit my head on a rock after getting swept by the river current. Charlie, — who im sure, Ron has told you about, — wanted to teach me how to swim.” She began, her nimble fingers picking at her sleeves. “He hadn’t anticipated the river to be as wild as it was, and his back was turned, only for a moment.”

“How old were you?” He asked, tilting his head.

“Six. Mum nearly croaked when Charlie brought me home, his shirt pressed against my head.” She says, a simper pulling the corners of her lips.

“I used to tell the other kids in school that I got my scar from an actual lightning bolt.” Harry ventured with a small chuckle.

An overly amused grin spread out over her face. “There’s no bloody way they believed that!” She exclaimed lightly, disbelief overwhelming her senses.

Harry laughed, nodding frantically. “No! They actually did! Even claimed that I’d have super powers because of it.”

The pair broke out in fits of laughter, unable to stop. It was as if all the worries had been suctioned from the atmosphere.

And if they had eyes in the back of their heads, they would have seen a dishevelled, Molly Weasley, standing in the centre of the kitchen. Her worry slipping away at the sight of the two.

The scene in front of her was truly a heartwarming moment and she planned on cherishing it for the rest of her life. With one last smile, the mother left the two children under the stars and returned to her sleeping quarters.

For the next few weeks, Harry and Avalon laid under the stars, talking about anything and everything under the sun. It became the new normal for them; a tradition, if you will.

One that Avalon hoped to continue until every star crumbled into stardust.

Because Avalon could count on Harry being there to collect each speck in order to fabricate stars of their own.

|| Taglist ||

@alwayssnivellus

[pandoras-princess]

Next Best Thing (Tommy Shelby x fem!reader, John Shelby x fem!reader) 18+

*gif not mine//credit to owner

A/N: Hello my lovely peopless! 🌸 I have had the worst writer’s block and honestly it felt like this part was going to go on forever. But we’re here and we’re over it 🤗 I’m actually quite proud of how this one turned out despite everything so I shall keep it short and sweet but I will say please please read part one before you read this if you haven’t already, this part won’t make sense otherwise but that’s it for the nagging I swear 😚 sooo without further adieu I give you part two 😁😁 Happy Reading Peoples! 🥳🥳 as ever I appreciate every like, reblog and follow, feedback is always welcome 😌

Summary: It’s been half a year and you’ve settled quite nicely into your job at the Garrison, as well as all the perks that come with it. Your relationship with Tommy takes an unexpected turn, igniting a fire within John he hadn’t known was simmering...

Pairing: (OOC) Tommy Shelby x fem!reader, John Shelby x fem!reader

Warnings: Swearing, explicit mentions of sex, smoking

PART ONE PART THREE PART FOUR

━◦ ♡ ◦━◦ ♡ ◦━◦━◦ ♡ ◦━◦ ♡ ◦━

It’s been 6 months since your first shift at the Garrison, and running the bar isn’t the only thing you've settled into.

After spending the night together in his office, you and Tommy came to a mutually beneficial arrangement. You provide him with some much needed stress release, in return he provides you with the love and adoration you so desperately crave, even if only for the brief moments spent in your bed.

As the intimate meetings became more and more frequent, there was still no doubt in your mind that you were little more than a functional lay to the man.

Truthfully, you were anything but functional because with every encounter Tom could feel his heart falling for you.

At first, it was how you'd light a cigarette for him right after sex, plucking the stick from your lips to tuck it between his before you lit your own; it was the way your wild curls would encompass your face like a halo at even the smallest tilt of your head; it was the way you could handle any rowdy punter at the bar with a few choice words and a look that could put even the hardest man in his place. And now? Now, it was absolutely everything about you. Tom found his head clouded with thoughts of you constantly, the only relief taken from being in your presence.

What started out as a bit of harmless fun, had now become a nightly occurence.

Tonight being no exception, you skillfully roll over him, careful not to place any unwanted weight on delicate body parts. Tom pulls on his cigarette, inhaling the harsh smoke as he admires the after-sex glow radiating off your naked form. The only marrs on your skin were the hickeys he made in an eager bid to claim you as his own.

You set about gathering your clothes, unaware of the adoration swimming in the blue irises behind.

“What're you doing?”

“I’m getting ready to leave” you chime, now all too accustomed to the usual routine of sex and a quick smoke before walking home or sneaking Tom out.

Returning to the bed in hopes of retrieving your underwear, Tommy’s large hand wraps around your thigh holding you in place, and any thoughts of the discarded fabric are dashed.

“Stay.”

It was not a question but a statement, the silent pleading in his eyes a far too familiar feeling of your own.

“Are you sure? Because I distinctly remember you sayi-”

“I know what I said, that's not what I want anymore” he interrupts, perfectly aware of the words about to be repeated back to him.

Straddling his waist, his hands come to rest on your hips, thumbs drawing invisible circles on the soft skin beneath as your hands trail mindlessly along his toned chest, goosebumps appearing in their wake.  

“What do you want then?” The question comes out breathily, and your heart pounds against your ribcage at such an intensity you were sure it was audible.

“I wan’t you, Y/N.”

There it was. The words you’d been waiting to hear for what felt like an eternity.

You ignore the niggling voice in the back of your mind; the voice reminding you that this decleration of- of- whatever it is, was coming from the mouth of the wrong Shelby brother.

“Is that so, Mr Shelby?”

Tommy is cast back to the very first time you’d given yourself to him - bent over his desk and shamelessly moaning his name as he pounded you with such force he worried the aged wood might just give out from under you - and he remembers just why he’d had this change of heart in the first place.

You were perfect. Plain and simple.

Of course you had your quirks, everyone did. But try as he might he couldn’t find a single one that put him off. The more time spent together the more he was convinced God had crafted you entirely for his sake.

“Yes Y/N that is so.” Tommy’s fingers connect with your waist and your angelic giggles fill the air, the smile tracing his lips deepening.

Flipping over so that his body is snug between your legs, he continues his relentless tickle attack, relishing the feel of your body squirming underneath him as you desperately try to get away.

“To-tommy sto-stop tickling me!”

Your dainty hands barely manage to prise one hand from your waist before the other reconnects, rendering your muscles useless as you collapse into laughter.

“O-okay you win! I’m yo-yours, all yours!”

“Ah the magic words.”

Opening your eyes, you’re met with Tommy’s beautiful face beaming down at you, having obviously accomplished his mission. Draping your slender arms around his neck, you pull him into a kiss and his hands roam your body, tracing along each and every curve before settling for burying in your curls.

For the first time in six months, you and Tommy made love. Well, the first and second time, to be exact.

Hours later and Tommy is peeling his body off of yours, lungs begging for oxygen as the fragments of your mind recollect themselves - the ecstasy of your orgasms positively mind blowing.

“Tommy?”

“Mm?”

“Do you mind if we, um, maybe wait before telling everyone. I just don’t fancy them sticking their oar in, m’ really quite content just us” you muse, shifting into place beside him. Your touch dances along his collarbones, exploring every groove and crevice on its travels to his jawline.

Eyes closed, a lop-sided grin gracing those oh so plump lips. Silky brown waves marvellously tousled from hours of your fingers raking through them.

The man truly was a work of art.

Tommy hums softly in response, one lid opening to peer down at you before capturing your hand in his, lightly pecking each of your fingers along the way.

“Anything for you, Princess.”

With the ghost of his soft lips lingering, your focus shifts to the rhythmic beating of his heart, the rise and fall of his chest, the ever so slight twitch of his fingers. And so, wrapped securely in the arms of tender loving care, you drift off to sleep.

The next morning your small figure is weaving throughout the back streets of Small Heath, now an expert on the roads less traveled by Peaky Blinders and Co.

With blood pounding in your ear drums and your heart thuddering in your chest, you sneak through the creaky door making a beeline for the stairs.

“Where’ve you been?”

You reluctantly enter the kitchen, finding Polly at the breakfast table with a cup of tea to her left, an ashtray to her right and a heap of papers inbetween.

“Out.”

“Out where?”

“No where.”

“That hickey on your neck says otherwise” she smirks, finally raising her head to look at you.

Your hand pointlessly rushes to cover the purple bruise darkening by the minute on your jugular. “Shit!”

“So how is Tommy?”

“I’m sorry?”

“I said how is Tommy?” Polly repeats the question, panic creeping up your throat like bile.

“You mean... you know?”

“You didn’t really think I wouldn’t notice my own nephew sneaking in and out of this house every night. Give me some credit” she quips. “Don’t worry your little secret is safe with me.”

The parilysing fear immediately dissolves and you plunk yourself down at the table, a dreamy sigh leaving your mouth as you lay your head to rest in your palms.

“Oh Pol, it’s wonderful! He’s so- so-”

“Please, spare me the details.”

“-so perfect!”

“Y/N, he’s Tommy Shelby - perfect isn’t a word within that man’s description.”

“Well it is in mine” you mumble.

“Anyway since you’re here you can help me. We’re having a gathering tonight and I want everyone here so I need you to go and tell them. In the lounge, 6pm sharp.”

“Fine” you huff, rising from the table.

“Oh and Y/N, make sure you cover that thing up before you see John, we don’t need any more murders around here.”

Red hot flames lick at your cheeks and Polly’s lips stretch into a smirk once again, chuckling to herself as she returns to the paperwork before her.

By 6 o’clock all members of the Shelby clan are slowly trickling into the lounge. Tommy and yourself are the first to arrive and he immediately chooses the right corner seat, guiding your body into the empty space beside him.

“Alright Pol” Tom greets his aunt not bothering to make eye contact as he notices a stray curl fall into your eyes, gently tucking it back in it’s rightful place before leaving a quick kiss on your temple.

Polly’s eyes twinkle with amusement as she hands you both a whiskey.

“You’ll want to be a bit more discreet than that when the others turn up.”

“Yes thank you Pol” Tom replies sarcastically as you direct your attention to ridding your jumper of non-existent fluff.

“Alright Polly.”

Your head snaps to the source of the gruff voice, butterflies fluttering against the confines of your ribcage as you lock eyes with John.

“Ye alright love” he plants a kiss on the top of your head before collapsing into the free corner of the sofa.

John was a man of few words, those that didn’t know him might even say simple. But when it came to you, the unspoken language of Jonathon Shelby was one of the few you could speak, thus giving rise to the overly affectionate nature of your relationship.

If this was a few years ago - before Esme, before Tommy, before that tart in the back alley, when everything was right with the world - you’d be tucked up next to John, curled into his side with a strong arm wrapped firmly around your waist. His fingers would absentmindedly trail along your skin, a private joke or snarky comment whispered into your ear every now and then. And when he laughed, oh god when he laughed, each muscle would flex around you drawing you in closer, forcing every fibre of your being to fight the urge to kiss him.

But this was not a few years ago and things had changed, the harsh truth slapping you in the face like a wet fish as you catch sight of Esme trawling into the lounge; each butterfly erupting into a tiny globe of fire as she settles herself between you and John.

How beautifully ironic you thought, shifting yourself closer to Tommy.

Eventually Ada and Arthur arrive and the night rolls on. The whiskey burns through your veins, blending with your blood on its way straight to your head. With a fair amount of Dutch courage under your belt your body was craving the intimacy it was used to on a night like this. So taking your chances you snuggle into Tommy, allowing yourself to relax when you feel his arm instinctively snaking around you.

The action - which could easily be passed off as a caring moment between two friends - hadn’t gone unnoticed, and every muscle under John’s control seized up at the sight.

More stories poured out, along with many more drinks - you’d half a mind to suspect Polly was purposely fueling you with alcohol - and the more brazen you become, your legs now laying over Tommy’s with his left hand resting comfortably on your thighs.

You gently tap on the waistband of his suit trousers, and hope that Tommy understands your silent request. The movement was much too slight to draw any attention and he brings his left hand to scratch an itch that wasn’t there, before casually placing it over yours, giving it a gentle squeeze when he’s sure nobody has noticed.

He forgot, however, that Ada was positioned with a clear viewpoint of the loving act, sitting smugly on the arm next to him as she put two and two together. She thought the pair of you had been awfully happy lately, much too happy for it to be coincidental.

As everyone focused their attention on Polly and her latest crazy tale, John’s jaw clenched and unclenched for the hundredth time, the muscle aching under the constant tension. He sat on the other side of the sofa, soundlessly raging as he thought over the countless nights you’d been draped over him like that, whispering and giggling, eyes glistening with mischief as he shared another secret joke with you. Now here you were, draped over his brother, whispering and giggling as your eyes glistened with what he hoped was the large amount of whiskey you’d ingested, and not the same mischief you once shared with him.

Esme attempted to replicate your position, and she was met with John’s hand roughly pushing her aside. He wasn’t sure how much more he could take. He wasn’t even sure why he couldn’t take it - it’s not as if you’d ever be stupid enough to fall for his brother’s plan.

“Tommy stop!” you giggle, brushing his hand from your curls as he pretends to mess them up.

That was enough. “C’mon Es we’re going.”

Your laughter dies down as you look up at John, his blue orbs cold and hard as they stare back at you.

For once, you couldn’t place the unvoiced emotion set on his face. For once, you couldn’t read the man you once considered your best friend.

[notnctu]

cupid’s arrow - h.rj | 7 days

━ sweet greetings from the 7 days fluff series 

genre ❥ slight angst, fluff !!  details ❥ college!au, friends to lovers!au, genderneutral!reader ━ where renjun makes a bet to get you to fall in love with him.  warnings ❥ explicit language, light banter word count ❥ 7.1k  synopsis ❥ The silly boy has no idea what he’s gotten himself into when he makes a bet with his arrogant friend to get you to fall in love with him. Renjun never intends to confess, mainly because his past unrequited loves have demolished his confidence. So a low stakes gamble causes him a great deal of stress and pride, wishing that it was as easy as striking you with Cupid’s Arrow. While he wants your feelings to develop organically, he actually doesn’t know what he’d do if you did end up liking him back. Because to him, you have always been someone unattainable and out of his reach  taglist ❥ @yourmagnanimousholiness​ ; @lovelycharm05​ ; @watermelonxes​ ; @jaehyunsjasmine​ ; @mjlkau​​ <3

a/n ❥ this is author doie ❀!! uhh this came out a little more angsty than i had planned it to be.. anyways its been a long time coming and we’re still working on the requests hehehe uhh keep an eye out for some blog updates bc we are starting school soon :) thanks for sticking with us so far! lots of love for everyone<3

Huang Renjun catches a glimpse of your enchanting figure across the lecture hall and how you effortlessly slide into your usual seat near the front. The tap against the tiny turnout table with your pen, ruffling your hair to only have it fall back in place beautifully, and aura alone suffocates him.

In a three hundred person lecture, all he sees is you. The only person in the room who has his undivided attention and while it might be entirely infatuation by your attractiveness, the mutual friends you two share describe you having a heart of gold.

A heart that is impenetrable. Strong, sturdy, shining metal that no one has been able to get through, but Renjun thinks that it’s because you can tell someone is undeserving. Keen and observant eyes, it’s a good thing that his stares don’t linger for long.

As he walks down the descending steps to sit in the row behind you, he remembers a very drunk night over the past weekend and an idiotic bet that has him punching himself. He wishes that he never agreed, but the liquid pride in him could not bite his tongue.

“(Y/N)?” His friend scorns and Renjun slaps his forehead at the slip of your name. Truthfully, the alcohol is messing with his head and he’s saying things that are no longer in his control. But how could he have possibly let the one secret he holds to himself out into the small crowd.

He mumbles profanities underneath his breath, trying to limit light from hurting his blurry vision, and rubbing his throbbing temples. “Yes, (Y/N).” There is no confidence in his voice at the whisper of your name.

“Dude, (Y/N) is way out of your league.” The headache just doesn’t have an end. He knows this; there is no way you’d ever bat an eyelash at him first. Renjun just likes things that are impossible to him, a poor habit of his.

“I bet I could get (Y/N) to get with me first before you ever can.” Then, Renjun’s eyes shoot open wide and the view of the arrogance laughing in the dimness slowly boils his blood.

Renjun may seem like the weaker link to pick on, but he is not one to give up a fight. While his friend has an advantage, the last thing Renjun would want is for you to fall for a horrendous two faced personality.

He’ll charm your pants off and when he gets what he wants: the victory and your vulnerability, he’ll hurt you. Would you be able to see past his fake genuineness or actually fall for the person he plays so well? Renjun can’t let anyone hurt you if he can prevent it.

“I bet that I can get (Y/N) to fall in love with me.” Renjun stumbles to stand up proudly, making himself bolder and more intimidating. Nevertheless, the drowsiness intoxicates him and he can barely keep his line of vision focused.

He sees the disgusting smirk on his friend’s face and a hand extends out for Renjun to shake. “Okay. Let’s bet on it. If you can’t get (Y/N) to fall in love with you, they’ll be mine and you can’t speak to them ever again.”

“Nice use of claiming someone who barely knows you exist.” The alcohol didn’t take away Renjun’s sharp sarcasm and the constant rolling of his eyes.

Renjun truly has no confidence at the game he decided to engage in, his only motive is to protect you from a bad guy. He wouldn’t even know how to handle the potential chance that you could like him back, did you have the ability to do so?

He never had the intention to confess to you, his heart has been broken all too much already by unrequited loves from his past. And if he had to be honest with himself, his admiration for you has become so strong that even he’s afraid to be someone to taint it.

What are the odds that the entire row behind you is already filled? Renjun’s throat closes when he sees the empty seat right next to you and the professor starting up his presentation. Other students push past him to hurry into empty seats before lecture begins, and his own feet pick him up toward you.

Like a magnetic pull, you attract him with an inexplicable force so naturally. Clearing his throat, he swallows the anxiousness that blocks him from speaking. 

“Is this seat taken?”

This is it. This is the first of many looks you two will share, and Renjun’s heart pounds at his chest to wait for your eyes to meet his own for more than a second.

As if the room falls silent and everything is in slow motion, Renjun captures the very image when you blink up at him with beautiful dazzling gentleness and the utter sugar of your lips curling upwards. And he’s stunned, hoping it doesn’t show on his face.

“No.” It’s a simple reply and nothing worth jumping out of joy about, but he tries so hard to hold back the growing smile of your acknowledgement. You are being polite, but something inside of him feels giddy and like static running through his veins.

“Thanks.” Dropping his bag, he enters the seat carefully and sits with his hands folded together on the tiny table.

You examine the attentive boy, as his focus is trained on the lecture slides and the unprepared professor messing with his mic. Chuckling, “you don’t take notes?”

Renjun is surprised at your sudden interaction, completely blindsided by your friendliness. He wasn’t sure how well that would have worked, but your curiosity speaks for you. “I actually forgot my laptop today.” The heavy device sits in his bag at his feet, but he doesn’t dare take it out after the lie.

The soft ‘oh’ that falls from your mouth is too cute and Renjun clears his throat to bring him back from his daydreams of you. Looking apologetic, he shrugs and pretends to gear his attention back to the professor, who finally starts the long awaited class.

“I can send you my notes for the day, if you’d like.” The kindness in your voice does not go unnoticed, in fact, it causes Renjun to hold onto it for a little longer to fuel his undying crush for you.

“I’d love that—” Perhaps he shouldn’t have used the word love for the strictly friendly gesture. “—you’re a lifesaver. Uh, how should I refer to you as?” Playing dumb is his only way to get to you, for now.

“(Y/N). And you?” You hand your phone toward him with social media popped up to input his user handle.

Renjun introduces himself as his sweaty fingers type, and he wonders if he should have polished up any photos that may have you steering away from him. However when he returns your device, the smile that lights up your face allows him to breathe easily.

“I knew you sounded familiar. You’re friends with Jaemin, right?” Your whisper grows soft as you multitask to make conversation and jot down a few important bullet points from the slides. Renjun tries hard to dissect the information as well, but the boring tone of his professor is nothing compared to his crush finally having conversation with him.

“We’re housemates along with two other people.” His body is able to relax now that he’s broken the wall of introductions. You carry yourself to be more intimidating than you actually are.

When he peeks back over at your concentrated expression, your lip is hidden by your top row of teeth and your quick eyes dart between the monitor and your page. How are you so good at literally everything?

“A small world.” He picks up your every word, “well Renjun, since this class has basically ruined my life, would it be too much to ask if you’re down to study with me?” And despite the fluorescent lights being absolutely dull, they still dust your eyes with an enticing glitter.

He must have been staring for too long because you start your sentence of doubt, but Renjun stammers over his response. The professor isn’t quite happy with the small overlap of chatter and shoots a glare at the two of you.

That’s definitely not a good way to start, but it’s memorable. Renjun motions for your pen, and scribbles in his own font the answer to your offer:

I’d love that :)

Then, his heart soars back into the clouds once again at the grin that settles and your written response:  

Me too <3

How does one get someone to fall for them? If Renjun knew, he wouldn’t still be single and infatuated with someone too good for him. He wishes that it’s as simple as the myths make it out to be, where all Cupid had to do was draw his bow and launch a loving arrow that pierces through the heart — an instant love.

But playing Cupid himself is harder than anticipated. He has no handy tools to assist him with his goals. He just has himself, lacks luster and is invisible. Can he be more painfully boring?

And he looks at you with literal hearts in his eyes. An excitement that awaits him, the true meaning of a head turner. That is you. And all he can offer is his mere presence.

“So how did you and Jaemin meet?” Looking up from your blinding laptop screen, Renjun feels the light tap underneath the table from your foot. He chuckles at the subtly adorable affection, and your own way of showing it.

This has to be the third round of study sessions you two shared, and bit by bit, he falls more and more for you despite it needing to be the other way around. The captivating get-to-know you conversation of favorites all down to your aspirations and goals.

The intelligence of you, your wisdom, your perspective. While he did not have this insight before, knowing it now only makes you more alluring. He can’t believe you’re even sitting with him in his shared living room, just the two of you.

“We met at orientation. He’s persistent.” Renjun laughs lightly and you smile in return, nodding along with his statement.

“Wish I met you guys at orientation. I was never the one to reach out to people first until college forced me out of my shell.” He hopes his ears didn’t deceive him, but Renjun had to do a double take: you said you guys, which includes him, right? You wish you had met him earlier?

But the latter shocks him a bit. If he recalls your first meeting, you were the one curious enough to continue speaking to him. “I would have never guessed.”

“Really?” There is a notable light in your eyes as you tilt your head. “I don’t seem shy?”

“Not at all…” He has to stop himself from going on an incredible tangent about how greatly outspoken you are, it gives away too much on how observant he’s been.  

“I’m good at hiding it then.” You examine the soft shade of pink on the tips of his ears and his averting shy gazes. “What are you good at hiding?”

Your question leaves him speechless and gripping at any ends of answers. There are a number of ways he can go about it, but the truth is not one of them.

What is he good at hiding? His unconditional affection for you. He’s good at concealing every heavy heart beat at your smallest actions. He’s good at keeping a regretful secret bet.

But as those options pop into his head, he doesn’t want to say any of them. So, he opts for a white lie instead and hopes that the hesitation doesn’t sell him out for being a nervous wreck.

“I’m good at hiding what I fear.” You blink at him, clearly intrigued to want to know more.

“You do seem pretty fearless, Huang Renjun.” There is a brief exchange of eye contact and Renjun swears that his pounding heart can be heard in the silence. A smirk on your lips as you return to your work, he’s warm inside from the usage of his full name. And you don’t even realize the effect you have over him.

“So, you and (Y/N) are close. How did that start?” Jaemin jumps onto Renjun’s neatly made bed. The covers are now ruffled and tossed from the impact.

Jaemin isn’t home very often, but in the rare times he has been, it’s always during the study sessions with you. The first time you came over, Jaemin tried not to talk up a storm from seeing a familiar face. He respects Renjun’s relationships, so he tried his best to keep from prying at the boy.

“You finally want to know?” Renjun scoffs lightheartedly, punching his housemate lightly on the shoulder as he swivels around in his chair. With an excited wide smile, Jaemin tugs at his friend’s arm as an endearing sign of persistence. “Okay, okay. We have the same class.”

“(Y/N) really approached you in a three hundred student lecture?” A tone of disbelief settles in Jaemin’s rhetorical question. He cocks an eyebrow, waiting for Renjun to tell some truth.

“Not exactly. I sat next to them and a conversation just happened.” Renjun shrugs as if it’s nothing big, as if it hadn’t been for your curiosity that started this blossoming relationship.

“Spare me the details.” Jaemin sits up to hold Renjun by his shoulders. The pressure feels oddly crushing, like a whole weight dropping on him. Jaemin stares him dead in the eyes. “What are your motives, Huang Renjun?”

His mouth hangs slightly open from the question. “I can’t be friends with (Y/N)?” Almost defensively, Renjun furrows his eyebrows at his friend, but he can tell Jaemin has caught onto his lie.

“I heard that you made a bet with a certain shithead.” Jaemin rolls his eyes at remembering their horrible mutual, a crime to even consider him as a friend. He drops his heavy hands from Renjun’s shoulders and falls back onto the mattress.  

The alarming expression of grave danger, Renjun is screwed. He gulps the gathered saliva in the back of his mouth, searching for a plausible explanation. “I was drunk.” He slaps his forehead at the stupid reasoning as Jaemin shoots upright to begin scolding him.

“Let me explain,” Renjun covers his mouth to halt Jaemin’s excessive nagging. “I like (Y/N), that’s how the bet even came alive. I slipped up and then he was saying all this stuff about (Y/N) being out of my league.”

“Which is true.” Jaemin adds, quite muffled but doesn’t slip past Renjun.

Renjun glares and thanks him sarcastically. “I made the bet to protect (Y/N) from him. He was provoking me by saying that he can get (Y/N) first and since I was heavily intoxicated, I didn’t think before I spoke.”

Jaemin holds Renjun warmly, seeing that his friend needed a hug from the saddened memory. It’s all too obvious how regretful Renjun feels. “So I’m trying my best at carrying the bet because there’s too much at stake.”

A chill runs down his spine remembering the consequences. He just can’t fail. Jaemin pulls away and lightly pats Renjun’s hair. “Cupid has made you into a fool for your crush.”

“He’s made me into a bigger one for thinking I could get my crush to like me back.” Renjun sighs in defeat and groans loudly. Why does this frustrate him so much? Perhaps it’s the lack of ability to actually get someone to like him back.

Renjun has been single for his entire life, not by choice. He’s done the movie cliches of a confession: a bouquet of roses, a poster, a night under the stars. And not one has ever accepted his feelings. He doesn’t blame any of them since he still struggles with finding things to love about himself. What is there to love about him? He can’t seem to find any redeeming qualities worth mentioning.

But you. You, alone, is simply worth an honorable mention. And now that it’s been well over a month of your friendship, he can confirm that you’re everything he’s ever wanted and more.

“Why don’t you start by being (Y/N)’s friend first? Love doesn’t just happen in an instant, no offense to Cupid or anything. I mean.. isn’t it all just a myth anyways?” Jaemin picks Renjun’s falling chin and he can see the glossy eyes of sadness. They swim with frustration and guilt.

Like an epiphany, Jaemin gave Renjun a starting place. For weeks, Renjun racked his brain for an easy solution out of it all. In reality, he didn’t need any wicked form of magic for foul play. He just wants to be by your side for as long as you allow. And a part of him is scared for you to like him back.

You’ve always been too out of his reach. Standing on a pedestal, you’re something unattainable. It’s lucky that you even bat an eyelash at him. He’s admired you all too much, Renjun won’t actually know what to do if you ever did like him back.

This all stems from his inner insecurities, like a recurring thought: what is there to like about him? Or is he even good enough for you?

If someone had warned him that love could become this confusing, he would’ve sacrificed his heart for something less complicated. To feel. To love. Renjun wishes he can remove the love bow that pierced through his chest.

On a random Friday night, Renjun’s phone rings with an unexpected caller ID. He pauses the song he’s been listening to for the past hour to pick up.

“Renjun! I’m sad and drunk right now.” Your voice is incredibly slurred and he can barely hear you with the loud background noise. “Can you come pick me up?”

“Are you over on Third Ave. again?” He despises that place. A house on the corner of Third Avenue right off the interstate from campus that throws weekly parties. These parties are overcrowded with creeps and cheap booze. Unfortunately, you’re favorite place to run away to.

This isn’t his first time coming to get you. Over the past few months of your established friendship, you’ve sent him numerous amounts of drunk texts calling for him. This is the first time you actually called, preluding to a really rough night you’ve been having.

You sigh into the receiver, “you remembered.” like you’re on the verge of tears, he can hear the quiver in your tiny voice.

“I have your location, idiot.” Renjun smiles at your silly drunk reactions, finding you more enduring from the innocence. “I’ll be there in a blink.”

“Okay, I’ll close my eyes so I can open them to you.” You giggle before hanging up and Renjun can’t keep the widest grin off of his face. He’s rushing out his door, not wanting to wait another second to see you.

One thing Renjun realized after finally growing close enough to you is that through all his infatuation, you’re still a human. While he thinks of you in a sparkling cascading glitter waterfall, you’re made of the same softness that Renjun has. You’re not perfect and he needed to stop idolizing you as if you’re some shiny trophy.

No, he’s learned that he needed to love you for who you truly are. And the moment he broke down your layers, the glass tears that fell from your cheeks were real. The pain through your confident façade, Renjun needed to love you at your lowest.

He saw you for you, not the attractive person from his lecture he drooled months over. You are the exact reality that movies are afraid to portray. You’re courageous, chic, charming. But you’re also shy, soft spoken, and silly. You’re like waking up during dawn and marveling in the silence of a sleeping society. You’re also like smiles on a sunny day and living in the moment.

Renjun is lovestruck, wildly in love with all that you are. The only thing that brings down his spirits is the lingering bet he made several months ago and he hates how it’s always gnawing at him. It’s like an echo, bouncing off the walls of his mind. He can’t shake it off. Most of the time, he tries to focus the moment in front of him, but it has him tossing and turning in the middle of the night.

Without much surprise, you stand in front of the overflowing party house with eyes cutely squeezed shut. A friend by your side to wait with you. “Open your eyes.” Renjun yells as windows roll down and he double parks the car.

Your eyes gleam in the darkness and bidding your friend a quick goodbye, you jump into the familiar vehicle and embrace your good friend with a longing hug. Renjun chuckles at your adorable actions, patting your shoulder lightly. Despite the cheerful welcome, the mood immediately shifts when he hears your tiny sniffs and feels the tears on his shirt.

“C’mon, your favorite ice cream flavor is waiting for you at my place.” As he whispers positive affirmations, you can only cry harder into his chest. “You’re not feeling too good tonight, are you?”

It’s way too obvious of a question to ask, he knows. Truthfully, he didn’t know what to say and comforting is not his strongest skill without it turning it into a life lesson. He knows what you need, just someone to acknowledge how you’re feeling and to listen.

“I’m feeling the worst tonight. I don’t want to talk about it. Maybe later?” You pull away from his arms, even if he isn’t ready to let you go. He helps buckle your seatbelt and wipe any remaining wetness on your cheeks.

Your hand briefly touches Renjun’s which causes the boy to freeze at the sudden action. Your hazy smile is unclear, but you lean into him before he can process all the randomness. A kiss on his cheek, the most delicate feeling of lips on skin.

Renjun explodes inside, like hazardous fireworks on a cloudy night. He wants to enjoy it, but his circumstances make it difficult for him to. “Thanks for coming to get me.” Your body slumps back onto the seat, a pout on your lower lip. Renjun shifts awkwardly in his seat, buckling his seatbelt to begin the ride home. He can’t find the words to say.

You’re being too casual about what had just happened, as if you’re ignoring it all. Or you simply have no control over anything that you’re doing. “Let me tell you a secret, Injunie.” The sugarcoated nickname. You’re definitely too drunk at the moment, and whatever you do now will be long forgotten the next morning.

Renjun still doesn’t say anything, relishing in the kiss on the cheek just seconds ago. His fingers lightly touch his face, grazing upon the very part your lips came in contact with. He’s truly through the moon and— “I used to have the biggest crush on Jaemin.” Renjun abruptly steps on the brakes, whipping the both of you in your seats.

His heart is falling, it’s plummeting and he can’t do anything to save it. “I really didn’t expect such a surprised reaction.”

Renjun clears his throat. “I’m just caught off guard.” Not a lie, he really wasn’t expecting a confession and his heart to break right at this moment. “Why Jaemin?”

He knows why Jaemin. He’s a social butterfly with no caution to the wind and a heart made of pure kindness. A welcoming friendly figure that won’t hesitate to feed into someone’s need for words of affirmation. Not to mention, Jaemin has a good few inches above him and looks of a poster kpop idol. Of course, you liked Jaemin.

“He has such a good heart. I guess I just like guys who think of me first, as selfish as that sounds. I don’t prioritize myself, so it would be nice if someone else did.” You fiddle your thumbs and Renjun is impatiently tapping his fingers against the wheel.

The red traffic light before you enacts two different feelings. Renjun wants this ride to end as fast as possible. You want this ride to last forever.

“But, Jaemin is seeing someone.”

Your head ducks down and out the window at the shining streetlamps; you know very well about Jaemin’s love life. “I didn’t expect anything from him. I just liked him for him. He came to pick me up every time I would ask, I guess I have a thing for guys who do that.”

Renjun tightens his grip, heart pounding at your statement. You peer up to look at your friend in the lack of light. His glasses sit low on his nose bridge, a soft cotton shirt hugs his torso, and pajama pants that clad his legs. A mess bed of hair as the cherry on top.

After Jaemin, you swore to yourself that you wouldn’t fall for anyone so easily. All of that was thrown out the window the very first night Renjun came to your saving. Despite contrary belief, your heart is not as impenetrable as people make you out to be. And as tough as you can be, it was too hard not to be the slightest interested in him.

Ever since your first meeting, Renjun has always been cool and collected. He’s a hothead at his best, but too playful for any serious damage. Renjun reminds you of yourself. Like a huge impenetrable wall built against any trouble to enter, he is as guarded as you are. He’s timid, and while you had tried your best to hide your own, Renjun simply embraces that part of him.

Renjun stayed after every tearful night. He’s helped you through every difficult study guide, if anything he saved your failing grade.

Renjun puts you first throughout anything; asking if you want the booth seat at restaurants, strategically walking on the outer side so you can avoid driving cars, always has your favorite snacks without you asking. Every tiny gesture, may you be slightly delusional, seemed as if he loved you. And if he did, you wouldn’t mind one bit because you wanted to love him back.

“What about you? We’ve never really talked about our love lives before.” You speak up in the silence, Rejun being awfully quiet tonight. He hopes you don’t blame him, but everything has been too overwhelming. He is no longer sure on what he wants to do or how to react.

“My love life is too sad to talk about.” He’s never wanted to talk about it with you, in case he’d slip up and say something too revealing. “It’s a long list of unrequited loves. I’ve given up on professing my feelings to someone at this point.”

“What would have to happen to get you to confess?” Your eyes coin a mischievous twinkle.

Renjun feels his palms grow sweaty, a bit nervous with this conversation topic. 

“Something catastrophic.”

Something catastrophic did end up happening. Renjun wishes he could disappear, or if he runs away, would anyone notice?

He stands behind your fuming stance. In any other given situation, Renjun would be more than flattered that you’re standing up for him. However in this case, you’re making a fool out of yourself on his behalf.

“Oh, so you haven’t told (Y/N) about the bet?” Of all the nights Renjun decides to accompany you on a Friday evening, he runs until the one person he never wanted to come within ten feet to.

Truthfully, the night was going well. He ran into a few of his other acquaintances from his club, others from his classes. You held onto his arm the moment you two entered the party, afraid to lose this precious boy in the dense crowd. People walked by and expressed how cute you two looked together.

You poured him drinks that will make his head throb and you busted dance moves that made his heart throb. You were the epitome of a fun time, like an explosion of positive endorphins. Your toothy smiles. Your bright electrified eyes. Your sweet laughter. This was the last beautiful image he had of you before everything came falling apart.

“What bet?” You quickly turn around to face Renjun. His hand scratches the back of his neck and his gaze stays staring at his own feet. Your throat grows tight from Renjun’s hesitation.

“He made a bet with me that he could get you to fall in love with him.” Please stop talking, Renjun begs in his thoughts. He tightens his fist, unable to form words to speak. The thumping of the loud music makes it hard to focus.

“He—” Shaky voice and stuttering… even you are having doubts of Renjun’s character. “He wouldn’t do that.” Your eyes bounce between him and Renjun.

“I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you don't know him very well then.” Renjun’s arrogant friend crosses his arms coolly, a smug smirk unfolding on his face.

“It’s true, (Y/N). I did make the bet and I regret it every waking day.” Renjun finally speaks up, but you’re out the door before he can continue.

There isn’t another thought in his head when he’s running after you; you’re already so far down the road. The secret was bound to be revealed, but he wasn’t ready for it. He was never going to be ready for this day because his first mistake was making the bet to begin with.

He should have thought about you. He should have just swallowed his pride and talked his friend out of it. Was that a choice? Could he have just done that instead of letting it fester into such a problem?

Out of breath and out of mind, Renjun calls out your name. When you spin on your heels to walk toward him, his heart reaches for you. However, you push at his chest and he almost falls backwards.

You’re angry, more than angry. You’re upset. You have every right to be. “What were you thinking, Renjun?” There is a small crack in your voice and he can see your tear stained cheeks under the moonlight. “Am I even your friend? All this time… you had an agenda. Were your actions all fake, then? You wanted to manipulate me into falling in love with you?”

Your words are hitting like large bricks. You are questioning the past five months of your friendship and everything Renjun has ever done for you. A false reality, Renjun didn’t actually give a damn about you. He wanted to prove some odd male status. Could you be any more blind?

“Please let me explain… I was drunk out of my mind that night and the bet I made was stupid. It was before proper evaluation. Does it make it okay? No, I understand that.” Renjun speaks with his hands, clearly panicked and frazzled by the way they waved around in the air. “The bet… I did it to protect you from that guy. I didn’t want him to hurt you.”

“So you hurt me instead?” If someone were to listen closely, they would be able to hear the shattering of two hearts tonight. On this late evening, two hearts are broken under the moon and stars.

But it’s pitiful because the arrow that struck Renjun remains intact. He still loves you, which is why it pains him so much to where he can’t breathe. The information in his head is scattered, like an alarm blaring through his empty brain.

All he knows is that he loves you. You are the one thing he’s afraid of losing. From the first words you two exchanged, his fear that he hid all too well is and always will be losing you.

“That was not my intention ever. I never wanted to hurt you.” Renjun takes a step closer, but you take one back.

“Well you did because your little bet… it worked. I love you, Renjun, so congratulations.” There is bitterness and an inexplicable amount of heartbreak that lace your venomous confession.

All of his life, he thought that if one person liked him back, he’d be the happiest person in the world. Possibly confused at how to proceed with the information, but definitely glad that someone could see any redeeming characteristics in him.

But he feels all the opposite. Your confession keeps his heart broken. If anything, it puzzles him more. “How..? Why would you ever like me?” There were no tricks, no attempts at flirtation, nothing out of bounds of being your friend. He just had himself. And if anyone in the universe were to like him, he’d never expect it would be you.

You groan, growing more infuriated at Renjun. “Because you’re everything I wish I could be. You’re level-headed and insightful. You’re calm and cool, without any necessary arrogance. The way you make me feel… I feel important to you, at least, I thought I was.” Your voice continues to drop softer and softer, “how could I not like you?”

The butterflies could not come at a better time. Hearing you compliment him when he found it difficult to look past his own self deprecation, he’s beyond any levels of shock. Nevertheless, he feels apologetic and knew that this is all too good to be true.

“I’m sorry, (Y/N), for making that terrible bet. But, I need you to know one thing: our friendship was genuine. All I’ve ever wanted these past months is to make sure your sweet smile stays resting on your beautiful face.”

“Why? You didn’t know me! You used me for some … pride gamble. I was nothing to you the day you made that bet.” You shout harsh words at him, and Renjun can’t hold back any longer.

This is what he meant by something catastrophic. When he’s pushed to the edge of a cliff, all his buttons are pressed aggressively. Everything falling apart. The loose ends coming undone all too quickly to grapple. He never wanted it to come to this.

“That-That’s not true! I loved you long before that regretful night! You mean every single moment of happiness to me. You’re every ray of sunshine that kisses my skin, every blue sky that reminds me of good days. You mean everything to me.” Genuine words pour from his lips, hoping that you’ll understand what’s left of his heart.

“You’re confessing?” You gasp, practically dazed at the amount of metaphors he compared you to. “Something catastrophic.” A small moment of recollection and a mumble under your breath, you’re understanding what he meant by the phrase he used several nights ago.

“Yes because I can't lose you. I’m a mess of feelings at the moment, but I just know that I’m scared to wake up to days without you in them.” Renjun pleads, the night air causing goosebumps to rise on his arms. His eyes are full of melancholy and fear as he waits for your response.

And you want to forgive him, but would that mean your heart is being too easy? You feel lingering pain, but your eyes reflect Renjun. “To think I thought you were pretty fearless.” Scoffing, you roll your eyes at him and are completely unsure what to do next.

Nevertheless, you’ve wanted someone like Renjun at some point in your life. You hoped for better days and those didn’t start happening until you two met. Renjun went from being your distant study partner to being your number one person to call. He’s wiped more tears than any boy has.

The difference between Renjun and Jaemin is while Jaemin is known to have an extravagantly warm presence, Renjun’s is hidden underneath all the quietness. Like a breakthrough, getting through Renjun felt like getting through to yourself. You needed him to aid in your own self love.

All you’ve ever wanted is to be seen and Renjun saw you.

“I forgive you.” Renjun can finally breathe and rest his tense muscles. But when he reaches for your hand, you take it away. “But it doesn’t mean we are okay. I’ll approach you when I’m ready.”

It’s not easy to love as it’s not easy to pretend that everything can go back to normal after being hurt. You need him to understand that, would he wait for you? The many others before didn’t.

“Okay.” That is all he can say, in the midst of a defeat, he still wishes that you’d stay by his side. But he wrestles that desire with transparency and having organic feelings. Nonetheless, he values the latter. If you did really somehow manage to love him, you’ll come back when you’re ready. He knows. He understands. He sees you through and through.

And he watches you disappear back into the house to find a friend to drive you home. He loves you, but love can also be consequential.

It’s already midway into the school semester and not that Renjun is counting or anything, but it’s been practically a whole month since the night at the party. He’s done nothing, except sigh in despair and reminisce about the memories before they were ruined.

While Jaemin’s efforts to console him are much appreciated, it doesn’t do much for the fact that you haven’t acknowledged Renjun’s existence for a whole thirty days.

And although he’ll wait a lifetime for you, the question of when he should move on ponders his clouded thoughts. His intensively agonizing desire of wanting to be by your side has dwindled down now. Renjun just wants to see you happy.

“Hey Cupid,” It’s a newly despised nickname coined by the one and only person who knows how to push at Renjun’s buttons — Lee Haechan. Haechan knocks obnoxiously at his door and does not wait around to hear an answer, “get your sad face out here.”

“Go away, Haechan. I’m not in the mood.” As Renjun mindlessly skims over his calendar for important dates, he is pained by the reminder of your upcoming birthday. You had marked it yourself a while back and specifically told Renjun that his attendance is entirely mandatory.

Times have changed now, right? You’ve been radio silent for weeks and as much as he hates to say this to himself: you probably don’t remember making such an assertion. Why would you? You’re most likely not thinking about him anymore anyways and maybe that’s for the better.

“Hey! Lovestruck Asshole, I’m not going to tell you again. Get that arrow out of your ass and come outside now.” Just the demand alone in Haechan’s voice irritates Renjun enough to where he’s storming to open his door.

But what it reveals is not the smirk of his annoying housemate, instead, it is the image of the very first time Renjun ever laid eyes on you and the moment Cupid’s Arrow struck right through his heart. It’s a rush of nostalgia that surges through his veins.

You sit with a hand underneath your chin and elbow pressing into a flat surface for support. The dazed stare of daydream as you’re unaware of your surroundings, yet still waiting for something exciting to catch your attention. And just how lovely you look in the softest rose colored shirt and how your lips, still barely glistening from a quick swipe of your tongue, are slightly agape into an expressionless rest.

All before your eyes trail to the distraction of another body entering the room and for a brief second, make eye contact with Renjun as he’s all the more astonished by your grace. Then like a scene that’s imprinted in his head too clearly, your gaze drops back down to the floor and you’re back to your inner thoughts.

As if the pierced arrow in his heart is triggered, Renjun rediscovers the feelings of a newfound infatuation — a crush. Though baseless except in regards to physical attraction, he’s nonetheless amazed by how quickly you take his breath away… again.

Unlike the first memory, you actually speak to him as you’re now familiar with the starry eyed boy. “It’s been a while.”

The color in your voice that he’s missed hearing is pure music. He clears his throat as if he’s afraid of his own vocal chords breaking from nervousness.

“H-Hey, yeah. It’s been a while.” Renjun repeats dumbfounded that you’re even sitting in his shared living room.

“How have you been?” There you are being polite, but the giddiness still runs like static through his veins at being asked about his well being.

“Lost.” He blurts out the first word that comes to mind. Perhaps, he should stop using words with such heavy implications to friendly gestures. Your head immediately pops up and he scrambles to correct himself. “I mean I’ve been distracted lately.”

“Sadness really does take its course.” You tread lightly, testing the waters with a small grin. The atmosphere is oddly comforting, like feeling you can’t quite replace.

Renjun looks rather rough around the edges, but you don’t blame him since you did show up unannounced. However, the glint in his eyes is much of a delight to see. The way his small mouth curves into the tiniest smile and the gentleness in his regular cadence remind you of past long days full of laughter. The best part of them all — you spent them together.

“My birthday is coming up soon.” Jumping straight to the point of your visit, you stand up to approach him. “I plan to host a small party… and I remember saying a while back that your attendance is mandatory.”

Renjun catches his breath in his throat and he could run gleeful laps around the room if it isn’t for the poorly spaced complex. “So are you still down, Huang Renjun?”

“I’d love that.” He smiles greatly at your offer and as simple as that, your arms wrap around his torso into a long awaited embrace.

“Me too.” You mumble into his shirt and take a deep breath of his lavender scented detergent, “I’m ready. I’m ready to have you in my life. I’m ready to laugh with you. I’m ready to lay in your company. I’m ready to give you my heart.”

As you finish your last sentence, his arms wrap around you too and pull you into a tighter hold. “You have always had mine.”

Renjun can finally remove the arrow that unforgivingly stayed stuck in his heart for the longest time. Your reciprocated love fills up the hole that is left behind. He can now love you with a full and whole heart.

[recklessmark]

chapter one: flechazo

—from DISCRETION series

Summary: you incidentally met a notorious CEO and your gut told you that you must claim this man. and even the fact that he’s engaged to someone else didn’t stop you from achieving what you want.

Pairing: CEO! Mark x Designer! Reader

Words: 1419

Warning (this chapter): none

(flechazo means falling in love at the first sight)

The loud music of the bar blasting in your ears, the scent of those liquor filling your nostrils. Colorful led lights flashing, the people here are either filthy rich spendthrifts or debauched players.

Of course can not forget our signorina, a truly prominent designer, Miss Y/N Y/L/N.

You lay your back on the chair, crossing your legs. You have been looking at that one exact direction for ages, rossy glistening in your eyes, a slight curl displays on your lips.

“What are you looking at?”

Alicia asks, having no clue what catches your eyes since she’s sitting opposite you. But by observing your facial expression, she thinks that you have found your new prey. Couldn’t hold herself from curiosity, Alicia turns around to see the thing that grabbed your attention. After a moment glancing around the place, she finally finds that one bewitching ‘thing’.

“Y/N, you’re looking at him?!” Following Alicia’s finger, you nodded. She went blank for seconds and then frantically shakes her head. “Y/N, don’t play with fire. That man looks hot but inside him is a cruel, merciless monster!”

You didn’t look away from the man, nor blinking, however, feeling annoyed when your friend is babbling around your ears. “How could you know?”

“My dad told me! He’s the CEO of the NCT’s company, frankly a monster! Y/N look, a twenty-two-year old man only took a few years to have a blatant status around the world. Even my dad had it 15 years to be successful. You should know, that whole human being is not simple!”

In general, she’s trying to forbid you anyway.

You tilt your head to the side, “Isn’t it interesting?”. All of your ex boyfriends are the typical filthy rich young masters, they only know how to waste money buying luxury stuffs for you, as long as you like. Moreover, they are nothing but deadbeats.

Boring!

What you want, who you want, is the man right before your eyes. He exudes a strong charm that you can’t even take your eyes of him. That majestic look, the arrogant face holds a pale smile which makes you feel that the whole world is collapsing in front of him. Suddenly you thought of an intention to subdue him, you must claim his heart at all cots.

The strong will in your eyes makes Alicia frightened. You were born in a high-class wealthy family so your biggest merit is prosperous and your defect is having a lot of money. Therefore it’s not strange when there are many guys having a crush on you. Until now, the number of your ex can be counted to dozens, even Alicia herself doesn’t play that much. It’s a fact that you just simply enjoy being loved by people, you have never been serious in your relationship. But this time she can not find any joking on your gorgeous face, there’s even determination and seriousness which makes her startled.

“Y/N! Y/N! Are you fucking crazy?!”

Alicia wildly yelled but you do not care, keep stepping towards the man. You know, you certainly know what you’re doing is insane but you still do it anyways. You can’t help yourself when those eyes looked at you, it’s like you’re standing on a mountain cliff. Even that faint smile, it’s a perfect cover and you want to ruin it instantly. The closer your distance is, the faster your heart beats. Your body is filling with both excitement and anxiety. The stripper of the bar is clinging on him, her hand comes to draw on his chest and suddenly she stands up to sit on his lap. The entire scene is captured in your eyes.

If there’s someone who is lunatic at the point no one can beat them, Alicia wants to give that award to you. You truthfully don’t know how outrageous Mark Lee is. Moreover, Alicia’s dad said that that guy is also one of the most infamous mafia boss, once he shows up, everyone is persuaded.

You’re facing Mark now, your stunning face is like a sparkle in the darkness, an irresistible smile appears on your lips.

“Mark Lee, I want you to be my man!”

One sentence, truly makes everyone frightened. Some are so scared that they don’t even dare to look, some are so thrilled to see what’s happening next.

How about Mark Lee?

His doe-eyes, glistening with some menace, is carefully observing you. Though, you didn’t faze, confidently facing him, pretend like you don’t feel the danger he’s radiating. You can affirm that this is absolutely the boldest thing you have ever done.

“You? You’re genuinely enchanting but daredevil like that, you must be an idiot. You’re insisting Mr Lee, who do you think you are?”, the stripper scornfully mocks you.

With this type of people, you don’t want to waste your time, “If I didn’t know who he is, I wouldn’t call him Mark Lee. Furthermore, there’s no need to know who I am, you only need to know I have money and I’m asking a man to be my boyfriend, it’s totally a normal thing!” Your words is like a knife, scratching her skin. “Oh, and put your hand off my man and get out of my way please!”

“Who are you to tell me to go?!”, she talks back.

“Enough! Go now!”, a low warm voice speaks up, like a cut in an intense string.

You cross your arms on your chest, not only appearance, even his voice is appealing.

“Still don’t want to go?”

You tilt your head, glancing at the stripper, “You really think that he told me to go?”

She frowns, thinking that you’re talking nonsense, “What else-“. She turns her head to the side, catching Mark’s sharp eyes, causing her to almost pass out.

“I said, you, go!”

The woman immediately stands up and quickly walks away, but she didn’t forget to give you a hateful look. You don’t care, your eyes are still sparkling with admiration towards Mark. She really ruined your bougie reputation. You naturally step forwards to take a seat next to Mark. Almost everybody was fazed, except of one man, Jung Jaehyun, who is smiling softly at you.

“You’re honestly attractive.”, he said.

You really don’t know if it’s a back-handed compliment. However you still be respectful, “Thank you!”

On the other hand, Mark Lee is quietly sitting there, the faint smirk is disappeared, even the red liquor in the glass is gone. Until now you can genuinely smile, “Hi! I’m Y/N L/N, the one and only daughter of the Secrectary of the Treasury. I really like you! Be my boyfriend, how about it?”

Jaehyun is sitting opposite, almost choked on his drink when he heard you introduction. And Mark Lee, from the beginning, has been simply looking at you with the different eyes from usual. Jaehyun shakes his head, “Y/N you should back off, he has already engaged with his fiancé.”

“Is she beautiful? Does she has a lot of money like me?”, you seriously ask.

Jaehyun doesn’t know how to say this, he silently look at Mark. “Pretty thing, she’s nothing compared to you but Mark loves her, a lot.”

Immediately, you raise your head up to give Jaehyun a glance, “Oh so it’s definitely that typical pathetic love. I don’t care!”

This answer...

Being brought through one by one surprise, Jaehyun feverishly chuckles, he walks towards you, “How can you be that sure?”, his face is an inch from yours.

You frown, pushing him away, “I can’t stand the alcohol scent!”

Can not stand alcohol scent.

“So why would you sit next to Mark this close? He drinks champagne!”, Jaehyun’s eyebrows furrow in confusion.

You lay your back on the couch, “Because I like Mark, I like whatever he does.”, you casually say. Jaehyun almost wanted to vomit all of the food that had been consumed in his stomach, your words were too lovey-dovey, weren’t they?

Suddenly, the one who has been keeping quite speaks up. “What drink?”

No one can understand Mark’s instant movement, however, you turn your head smiling widely at him.

“Mocktail!”

Alicia approaches you from a long distance, she has been perceiving everything. “Y/N, we have to go.”, she shoves her phone in her jacket, although she didn’t say anything, both of you still understand.

You take a deep breath, trying to ease the anxiety on your face. “Goodbye, we will meet again!”, you stand up, giving Mark the last smile.

Jaehyun looks at two figures walking away, wondering what happened.

—next: chapter two-encounter

this is slightly slow-burn y’all, please be impatient, they’re not going to fuck from the first chapter. 💀

©️  DREAMYKRAM. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

taglist: @nuoyii @jjikyuu @generantionct @keemburley

[jinkicake]

Let Me Take Care Of You

Bokuto, Kuroo, and Nishinoya with an innocent virgin s/o.

Bokuto Koutarou x Reader

Kuroo Tetsurou x Reader

Nishinoya Yuu x Reader

For anon~ Sorry if there are typos, I hurt my finger and haven’t been able to type as well or as fast as I normally do. I tried reading over it a couple of times but honestly, reading my work can make me nauseous. I haven’t been feeling the best lately, so hopefully this is okay~ 

S M U T T Y

WC- 1,417

~~~

Bokuto Koutarou

Bokuto seems to be very innocent himself, like volleyball is the only thing on his mind so I don’t think he focuses on much else

That being said, he is probably just as much as an innocent virgin as you are LOL

Like of course he gets sexual references and jokes because hello,,,,, porn exists but it would take him a few moments to get it

Bokuto seems like such an airhead so I feel like sexual jokes could go way over his head

He wouldn’t get the joke until ten minutes later so he’ll laugh super loud and be like ‘oooh’ even though it was three conversations ago...

Sometimes you would have to explain the joke to him,,,,

He likes to be very careful and is very thoughtful of his advancements with you just because, even though he is eager to play with you, he wants to do it right. Bokuto wants to please you in the best way possible and doesn’t want to dive into anything blindly

When Bokuto finds out you’re a virgin, he needs to take a step back, he would be soooo gentle with you and always take his time to make sure you feel good

He never wants to make you feel uncomfortable or to push your limits accidentally, he always asks to make sure it is okay with you first </3

Bokuto is just very loving and gentle, virgo thingz, so he will always be soft with you even if he is thinking about fucking you into next year

“I want to do something for you.” Bokuto tells you and you glance at him from the other side of the couch.

“You want to do something for me?” You ask and he nods, reaching his arms out to you so that you’ll crawl into his lap. You do, except when his hands grab your biceps to situate you, he puts you on his thigh instead of on his lap. “Koutarou?” 

Bokuto slots his lips over yours and moves his hands down to your hips, his thumbs rub circles over your clothed body and soothe any nerves that are crawling to the surface.

“Let me make you feel good.” He whispers against your lips and you find yourself chasing his lips the moment he pulls away. It becomes very hot, fast. His lips crash into yours and he takes your bottom lip into his mouth, he slowly runs his tongue along the inside of your teeth and sucks on the flesh gently. You squeeze your thighs together around him and rut your hips into his thigh. The friction on your clit is so satisfying and Bokuto finally starts to do what he had originally planned. The hands on your hip move you along his thigh slowly, working a burning pleasure to build up inside of you. “How does it feel?”

“It feels so good,” You moan softly and brush your mouth against his, Bokuto gladly captures your lips once more and swallows every noise you have to make.

Kuroo Tetsurou

Before I begin I would like to acknowledge that Kuroo is horny all the time, next. I feel like I always have to say this as someone who is also horny all the time. hehe

I know I continue to write Kuroo as some freaky sex god even though we all know deep down he is a huge dork,,,, but truthfully he’s both! I know this Scorpio and he’s a nasty bitch~~

Therefore, he would tease you all. the. time.

Kuroo would purposely make sexual jokes just to see you blush and get all flustered

He’s one of those people who thinks it’s hot you're a virgin *clown emoji* like…

I just see him getting off on you being only his, like he gets to be all your firsts

And you’re probably his firsts too like,, come awn this dork is a virgin as well!

Maybe not his first kiss,,,, somehow that’s Kenma LMAO #bestfriendthings

If you ever decide to play him at his own game with dirty pick-up lines, Kuroo would LOVE it and he’d be so flirty with you, he’d just be so entertained. Imagine his eyes darkening and he has that smug smirk on his face, he’d think it's so cute that you’re trying to make him flustered,,,

It works, flirting with Kuroo works ever time and he does in fact become very flustered.

Your eyebrows furrow at the way your boyfriend stares at you, he’s been watching you closely for the past couple of minutes and you almost want to turn away. The popsicle in your hand is melting rather quickly and you try to work around it as you fast you can, licking up the sides of the frozen dessert to make sure none of the sticky liquid coats your fingers. Kuroo watches you with dark eyes and you want to glare at him because you already know what he is thinking about. You continue to ignore him and try to focus on your tasty treat, but when some of the liquid creeps onto your hand Kuroo is quick to grab your wrist.

“Kuroo.” You scold and move the popsicle to your other hand so you can bring it up to your mouth, Kuroo mimics your actions and brings your sticky fingers to his own mouth. His tongue peeks out past his lips and he licks from the bottom of your fingers all the way to the top. Not once does your boyfriend break eye contact with you as he takes your entire digit into his mouth, sucking on it deeply to clean it off. The dessert in your hand ends up on the floor as you continue to watch him and steam practically gushes out your ears when he moans around your fingers. When he finally removes your fingers from his lips he sends you a cheeky wink, his face already falling gracing his natural smirk.

“Ah, delicious babe. You got anything else?”

Nishinoya Yuu

Nishinoya would soooo milk your innocence, omg not in that way…

We aren’t there yet ;-)

Whenever someone says a dirty phrase or joke he would cover your ears and hold you close to his chest, shouting at them not to deflower his little petal

“Don’t say such gross things in front of a girl!” He’d defend and then turn to you with a big grin on his face “Don’t worry (Y/N), I’ll protect you”

Nishinoya acts this way in front of you for the brownie points, just to be a ‘mature and cool’ guy. But we all know him and Tanaka go stupid during every practice

He’s either super fluffy with you or very dirty, there is no in-between

When he gets that look in his dark eyes, you know something is going on in his head. Just know that Nishinoya loves to spoil you.

And Nishinoya has no problem spoiling you

He most definitely calls you ‘princess’, next, hehehe

Baby boy can go from 0 to 100 real quick and I love that about him

“Tsukishima!” Your boyfriend yells as he tackles the first year who is just about a foot taller than him, Nishinoya goes on to scold him and say that he shouldn’t say whatever inappropriate thing he had. Especially since you’re in the gym!

“Noya senpai, you said even worse at practice yesterday-“ The blonde snickers, and Nishinoya pulls at his hair, gritting his teeth. You continue to talk with Kiyoko as you wait for your boyfriend to finish his rounds until the two of you can finally leave. Except, when you and Nishinoya eventually leave you’re not walking home just yet. Nishinoya takes you back to his empty classroom claiming that he ‘left his notebook’, but the second you close the door he is on top of you. His hands rest on either side of your head as he pins you against the classroom wall.

“Princess,” He starts and you suck in a breath as you stare at him, anxiously waiting for whatever he does next. “sorry I had to sneak you away, I just wanted to have you all to myself.” Nishinoya confesses and your heart beats louder in your chest. “You can understand right?”

You immediately nod to answer his question and continue to stare into his eyes, you notice a change. It’s almost like a glint flashes before his eyes darken and he tilts his head to stare down at you. “You’re all mine, always.”

It’s not as if he is asking you, more like confirming his own statement and you press yourself further into the wall when he leans his face closer to you.

“Let me remind you.”

[mintvender]

I really like the jealous Y/N! How about this time the boys are jealous? :]

Alrighty! Little anon, I apologized for not posting this sooner. Something came up this week and prevented me from finishing this. 🌿💚🌿

Harem!AU

BTS’s Reaction To Getting Jealous

A/n: Also special announcement of this blog hitting 50 followers! Thank you everyone that have been supporting me and my work on the journey through the Harem Au! It was such a surprise to me when we managed to grow so fast in such a limited amount of time. I have quite a few ideas for upcoming AUs but we are still quite new so develop is meant to happened. Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed this 🌿 🌿 🌿 .

Masterlist

Kim Taehyung

When Taehyung got picked to be the Royal Consort, he thought that he would finally be able to spend the most time with you like before you guys have met Namjoon. Oh how he was so wrong. At least with Namjoon, he would have a reason to stay with you for a few hours for the monthly checkup but for him, he had to wait for you to take the initiative! As the consort, his contact to the outside world can only be reserve for private moments, and he can’t just randomly visit you whenever he wants to nor go on a date whenever he wants to. To make it worse, the others have been teasing him about getting neglected by you. Taehyung knows this might not be true but seeing how many people had come to hate him because of his status, he’s secretly afraid that you would come to hate him.

This especially worsens when more people entered your private circle. With Seokjin and Jimin being overly flirtatious with you, Taehyung almost had no chance to even have a night with you to himself. But being with you for so long, he of course knew you the best and know how much affections you have towards him. Using that information, he would purposely cling to you whenever he had the chance like a puppy marking its territory. With his witty mind, he knew just when to pull away before crossing the line. Sometimes, Taehyung would jokingly sulk within your arms about how you don’t spend enough time with him, but it will all be well as long as you promise him the opposite and smother him in affection.

“ Y/NNNN, I was feeling so lonely without you. Others even started to tease me, too...HMPH. Compensate me by spending more time with me! We can do anything, sleep, talk about politics, even go on missions.”

Kim Namjoon

As the head of the physcian department, there are several meetings every season that he must be present as a representative of the royal physicians. Namjoon have been extremely lucky to not have his usual time with you be corrupted with these meetings, but that soon came to an end as the upcoming meeting was rescheduled to days before the initial date. Unfortunately, that day was the day where he had your monthly checkup. Even though Namjoon could easily just rearrange the time, he finds that the change would be too bothersome and would mess up his neat schedule. As a result, the day of the your monthly checkup, Namjoon will be attending the meeting while the vice-head will be doing his work. The meeting unsurprisingly smooth and he found himself back in the castle just in time. What did not go as plan was when he heard you suggesting permanently changing the person in charge of your health to someone else.

As calm as he can be at times, Namjoon was bewildered by the nonchalant comment. Expectedly, his next action was to ask you why and try to untie the knots, despite already fearing the worse. Personally, Namjoon found comfort in the time you guys spend time with each other, an he has a feeling that you resonate to that as well. When you explained that with how busy he is with his other work, maybe being your personal physician won’t be that efficient in the long run. Not wanting to lose your guys’ time to another, Namjoon immediately refused your claims, stating that he was more than happy to put the extra effort for you. With what he said in mind, Y/N nodded, accepting his claims.

“ I’m afraid I would have to correct you on this. I do not find it frustrating nor annoying or any of sort when being made responsible for your health. In fact, I find it very much rewarding getting to spend more time with you.”

Jung Hoseok

As a minister’s son, it was shocking news to you with how familiar Hoseok seems in the streets. The boy was literally bouncing from one end to the other, seemingly knowing everyone in one of your guys’ dates. Truthfully, you’ve never seen someone so happy just being outside, especially someone that was born from the riches. You just assumed that nobles would frown in distasteful or worse whenever they are forced onto the dirty grounds of the streets, accustomed to having carpets payed everywhere they go. But how the miniature had proved you wrong. Amidst the moment, Hoseok could be mistaken as just a normal civilian if it wasn’t for his stunning face. Any lady that past by would have to stop and stare at his bright smile.

Hoseok, knowing that he won’t get lecture when out in the streets, decided to be his self for once and began socializing with them. You on the other hand, just stood by him casually, watching him enjoying himself, deciding to take him out whenever you have to go outside as well. everything was going smoothly until a person came up to the group, casually creating a conversation between him and you. Deciding to be polite, Hoseok greeted him but was ignored by the guy. Seeing how impolite he is, Hoseok tried to be as polite as possible but his patience was slowly running thin when he started to flirt with you. The last straw was when he jokingly said bringing you home to do the deed; Hoseok stood up, knocking his chair over with a loud ‘thud’, silently muttered greetings to the ones who were present, before pulling you towards the entrance. On the way, Hoseok couldn’t help but hold your hand tight while his eyes continue to agitated, predicting any other offender before they can even do anything. Seeing how serious he was, Y/N tried to comfort him, hugging him to prevent confusing any other people walking pass by. Looks like your little sunshine is not as bright when he is in a bad mood.

“ He was literally flirting with you the whole time! We will never go outside again... No, we will go outside but... Why didn’t you use your sword when he was being touchy with you?”

Min Yoongi

Yoongi is envied by many because of how much time he gets to spend time with you but the man himself just thinks that he is repaying you by taking away part of your worries. Regardless of the reason, he had got quite used to being alone with you most of the time whenever you’re in office. There will be times where people will come into your study but the time you guys’ spend alone with each other easily outweigh that. Besides, those poeple knew better than to flirt with you in front of your consort who is the highest rank in the harem. Even if he’s a fallen prince and has no power, Yoongi could still easily handle the minor officers on his own. Yoongi may be more vulnerable and desperate around you but he is still a prince that was train to become the future king. He, however, will only resort to that method when absolutely necessary, afraid of tainting your image of him, despite you knowing how skillful he is in this domain. Most of the times, he is very thankful that he is the resilient but sometimes, he must say that he somewhat regrets of deciding not to end those people in these situations.

Anyways, Yoongi, your little consort as well as little kitten, was behaving more like a feline as Jimin continues to flirt with you. The handsome brunette was onc again capturing your attention with his flirtatious remarks. Normally, Jimin would have a specific time slot that he would save to go visit you which was during the night. Today, however, Jimin decided to come and visit you during the evening, intervening with Yoongi’s perfectly peaceful time with you. It only got worse with Jimin obvious teasing smirks whenever he looks Yoongi’s way, as if silently challenging him to a fight. Now, similar to a panther, Yoongi stepped towards Jimin, and pick the said boy up and ‘kicked’ him out of the room, claiming that Y/N still have many things to do. Turning around, Yoongi could only smirk but immediately blushed when he met your amused gaze. Opening your arms, you offered him a hug, Yoongi could only obey and continued to flush when in your arms.

“ His actions prevented you from finishing your work so I-I wanted to...”

Jeon Jungkook

Despite hearing some pretty outrageous remarks in his life, his time with you is by for the strangest. With you seeming so experienced in your role, Jungkook had to somehow match your pace in his as well. As a result, Jungkook find himself especially hard working whenever he is alone with you. Not saying that he isn’t hard working at other times, Jungkook just puts out more effort when he is alone with you. Others who only see you in public, assumes that Jungkook sucks at his job and tried to degrade him from his position, knowing how much benefits would approach them when becoming your personal guard. Jungkook, of course, knew about their intentions but ultimately decided to ignore them as he deemed it not worth his attention.

The thought remained in one of the small crevices in his head, seemingly forgotten until one of the minister mentioned of a possible candidate for the second personal guard at your side. Like a sharp knife penetrated his heart, Jungkook felt dissapointed when you did not do anything but a “needing more time to think about it” comment. On your way back to your office, you asked Jungkook a question that suprised him. But of course, he honestly answered your question and before he knew it, he witness your direct rejection of the minister’s offer.

“ Truthfully, I do not think it is necessary to have another by your side. He would just only hinder you. I doubt that he would even be able to protect you when anything unexpected comes up. I-I also have a feeling that the minister is planning something, and I don’t trust him.”

Kim Seokjin

Seokjin knows that the moment he decides to chase you, there will definately be many candidates that would block the way. Despite this, he found himself enjoying most of their company yet a part of him still remain conscious of what’s happening behind the curtains with each of them. He knew that there might be a chance of you having an intimate relationship with one or even more of them with you being a ruler an all. But Seokjin could not accept how his heart would tighten every time an affection is aimed towards you. If it was in the past, he would have proudly intervene and claimed his status as your fiancé but now that you guys ar adults, doing that will cause more harm than good.

As a result, whenever Jin sees you be intimate with just anyone, the merchant made sure to lecture you on your guys’ next meeting. Complaining how you’re too open and that anyone could presume the wrong idea about your intentions. He would then show you all the ‘safer’ positions, purposely doing it in front of the servants for the to go gossip about your intimate relationship. Seokjin made sure to make some of them extra touchy to rile up the entire harem.

“ You are a nation’s ruler but why are you so naive! They may be your consorts but what would others think when you gets touchy with each other? No! You have to do this, raise you hand higher, straighten your back...”

Park Jimin

Jimin, your lusty and flirty consort is bound to get jealous when he sees his person get smothered from someone else. Contrary to what people would envision his jealousy would be, it would depends on how ‘severe’ it is — as Jimin likes to say. With how he is trained, his vulnerable self-esteem would be blown away if he witness some things that caught him off his guard. Especially, with Taehyung, who he can somewhat resonate with, it will be a journey for him to not withdraw and go talk to you.

Anyways, it was one of those nights where you and Taehyung were cuddling in bed when Jimin came in, excited for your guys’ night together. However, his smile turned upside down when he saw the pile you both had accumulated on the bed. Knowing that it was his time to exit, Taehyung left the room and the two of you were left in an awkward tension. Jimin, who was crossing his arm, eyes not daring to meet with yours, lips jutted out forming a pout, remaining in his original spot. Y/N, despite how tired they are, dragged Jimin to their bed and let him sulk for however long. Let’s say that it was less than what he would admit, before he snuggled into Y/N’s warmth and went to sleep also.

“ HMPH!”

Copyright © 2021 MintVender

All rights reserved.

[doctorgerth]

My request is Part II of Make Me, please!!!! THANK YOU!!!

It’s FINALLY here! This was surely a beast to tackle and Hawkins is a bitch to write for, but I hope I wrote this to your liking. I can’t apologize enough for you having to wait so long, all I can hope is that it was worth the wait! Thanks for requesting a part 2. It was my first time continuing something I’ve already written and though I might have beaten my head against the wall a few times, I really did enjoy it. ☺️

description: The tension between Hawkins and a certain kunoichi breaks. They fuck. That’s the plot. (female reader)

warnings: 18+ content / spoilers (kinda?) / explicit sexual content / explicit language / switch!Hawkins / restraints / choking / glove kink (if you squint) / foreplay / unprotected sex / rough sex / possibly ooc Hawkins

Part One 

Make Me pt. II (Basil Hawkins)

(look at Eru’s amazing gif!!!!! Ahh, I love it so much!)

Word Count: 3.7k

“Tell me your plans, or else.”

Even amidst the suffocating suspense, she wouldn’t dare let him take control just yet. With a roll of her hips, she ground her sex against his, eliciting a delicious moan from deep within him. If she played her cards right, she’d have him writhing underneath her in no time, forgetting all about this petty interrogation and even his own name.

“Do your worst.”

   Hawkins didn’t need the cards to tell him that he was going to fuck her right there in the interrogation room.

   Truthfully, he had consulted the cards earlier that morning for his daily reading, and when The Lovers card revealed itself, he had wondered if maybe he had gotten rusty in his tarot reading since arriving at Wano. Hawkins had been far too occupied with headliner duties, after all. That paired with his naturally withdrawn nature, he avoided any kind of romantic interactions (or rather, all interactions that didn’t involve work) with any denizen of Wano. That certainly included the countless courtesans Orochi had insisted on offering to both Hawkins and Drake as new headliners. Knowing these things, he simply disregarded the card entirely.

   Perhaps taking up such offers from any of those courtesans would have actually proved beneficial in the long run. Because in this moment, even if the probability of (Name) escaping freely afterwards was unmistakably high, he was utterly bewitched by her. All that occupied Hawkins’ thoughts were the temptations of her clothed cunt rubbing lecherously against him. Never had he felt more pathetic, giving in to such trivial desires he had otherwise easily suppressed in the past. Yet, he didn’t dare fight it. He couldn’t. Not when it was her.

   “You’re so hard for me already, Basil.” She cooed in confidence, eyes closed blissfully as she focused on grinding against his growing bulge.

   “Don’t talk.” He hissed through gritted teeth as his fingers dug helplessly into the meat of her thighs, moving her manually. He leaned back against the chair, mind hazy with a ravenous desire he hadn’t felt in quite some time; if ever. Maybe a quick release would help get his head back on straight and he’d finally get some valuable information out of her. If he’d have any ounce of willpower after this exchange, that is.

   She hummed in delight and could feel her panties begin to dampen the more he controlled her movements with newfound desperation. His breathing became ragged as he basked in her intoxicating heat. Low groans escaped from the back of his throat into the open air as she met his movements with a teasingly slow roll of her hips, greedy for more of his erotic gasps.

   They continued like this for some time, exchanging breathy pants of pleasure as they moved in time, simply grinding their bodies against one another. The two were conscious of their delirious repressions. Stress, frustration, the looming danger that was polluting the Wano atmosphere; all of it could be felt in the way they moved against each other. Desperate for each other’s touch. Yearning for release.

   “Your subordinates could come in any minute-”

   His hand flew to the back of her neck, pulling her down until their foreheads collided with a soft thud, noses touching, “I said, don’t talk.” He growled as he drew her in, at last claiming the lips he had dreamed of all these years.

   Their lips moved together in haste, attracting each other like magnets. It didn’t take long before they had to pull away for air, only to return with increased fervor, the kiss intensifying with each passing second. His lips felt so soft, just like she had remembered. Soft and supple, with a hint of maple. An effect of his straw abilities, she had assumed. Either way, it was deliciously tantalizing and she knew she’d end the night drunk off his taste. A warm and inviting buzz was already numbing her to the core.

   His back found its way against the chair as she pushed against him, trapping him between the chair and herself. She pulled away, her lips red and puffy from the sweet abuse.

   (Name) smirked down at him, “I can’t exactly strip with my hands bound like this, ya know.”

   He inhaled deeply through his nose, and slowly exhaled through his mouth, as if attempting to regain his composure. She rather enjoyed, perhaps more than she’d care to admit, witnessing the enigmatic blonde in such a disheveled state. It was gratifying to know that she had such a titillating effect on him.

   “I suppose I could help you. Give me any trouble and you’ll be sure to face the consequences.”

   “Though I do like the sound of that... I’ll be a good girl, I swear.” She leaned down to his ear, “Unless you want me to be bad?”

   “As if I’d let you.” A sudden ripping sound brought her attention downwards and she gasped as she observed his straw powers tearing away at her clothes, discarding them haphazardly into piles on the floor. The feeling of the straw on her skin once again was strangely arousing, especially as it crept along her more private areas in teasing manners.

   He sighed in, what sounded to (Name) like, disappointment, thus bringing her attention back to him. Stiffening underneath her, his eyes flickered from her to the deep purple lingerie that she sported. He looked almost dejected, but she could never be sure with him.

   “Is this for someone else?”

   She stifled a laugh, amused by his chagrin, “Just laundry day. Don’t worry, it’s all for you to enjoy.”

   She noticed the tiniest hint of a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips and as she tried to savor it, just as she blinked, it quickly faded to his default bored, pouty lip. Hawkins seemed to be in deep thought as his hands reached up hesitantly to observe the fabric. It looked incredibly soft and intricate, he was actually impressed by the design, but more so overwhelmed by how stunning she looked in it. Hawkins was always an enthusiast of lingerie aesthetics, it truly felt as if fate was mocking him.

   “May I?”

   She yanked at his hands and settled them along her chest with urgency. He held back a contented sigh as he gently felt along the fabric, squeezing and grasping at her breasts, appreciating the look and feel of them in the seductive attire. Light mewls escaped her lips as his hands felt electrifying against her skin. Such simple touches left her frenzied with desire, and she failed to recall a time she was ever left so sensitive to anyone’s touch.

   The bra was low cut, just barely covering her pert nipples that were already peeking above the lace, begging to be released of their confines. He pulled the fabric down to just below her breasts, letting them spill out. He took his gloved hand to her nipple, intrigued to observe her reactions. Two fingers pinched at the hardened bud, rolling it between his gloved fingertips. She inhaled sharply, head lolling backwards as she encouraged him on. His hold on her nipple tightened and he pinched harder, twisting and tweaking at it with ardor.

   Captivated by the smooth skin of her stretched neck, Hawkins leaned forward to trail sharp kisses along it, undoubtedly leaving bruises in their wake. He trailed down her throat, clavicle, and finally made home at her breast as he latched on, taking the bud softly between his teeth. A loud moan escaped her now and he eyed up at her, observing how her mouth hung open and she continued to lean backwards, a silent request for him to continue his ministrations. His free hand flew to her back, supporting her and holding her in place as she opened her chest up to him.

   “Basil…” She whispered pleasurably into the air.

   He hummed in response, enamored with the way his name dripped off her lips like nectar. Hawkins wanted to keep her like this forever; her body fitting wonderfully in his arms, her skin littered in goosebumps, her siren call of his name. He took his time, making sure to capture each look she offered, each sound she made in order to store these memories into the depths of his mind.

   “Please, more.” She cried out, lifting her head up and staring at him below her. With long lashes peeking from behind blonde curtains, he looked absolutely stunning as he held her, both in his arms and between his teeth. Her cunt fluttered at the sight.

   He studied her face, the way her eyes stared down at him with pure lust. Giving her breast one last squeeze, he trailed his gloved hand down the lacey fabric, reaching behind and curving along the swell of her ass until his fingers reached her dripping core. He rubbed at her eagerly, trailing and prodding two fingers along the damp cloth. Her hips bucked, another silent plea for more. Easily sliding her panties to the side, he traced around her warm entrance before slipping a slender digit inside, taking his time in entering her knuckle-deep.

   “Mm!” She whined as her body jolted at his entry. His long finger explored her cavern as it slipped between her walls, curling ever so slightly with its exit.

   “So tight…” He whispered dreamily to himself against her skin. Resting his forehead against her chest, he slid in and out of her at an agonizing pace, simply enjoying the way she squeezed around his finger with each entry.

   “I’m tired of you hiding from me, Basil.” Her voice grew shaky as he did not hesitate to add another digit inside, “It’s no fun being naked alone.”

   It was a bit tasking as her hands were still bound, but she managed to rip his shirt in similar fashion to his ripping of hers earlier. The tattered shirt hung loosely on him, revealing smooth, pale skin that she was more than excited to get her claws on. He looked up at her, a hint of anger in those crimson eyes that only made her clamp around those fingers in wanton.

   Reaching down to his pants now, she struggled with removing the sash until Hawkins grabbed her hands roughly, “Stand up.” 

   She was surprisingly quick to comply as she rose to her feet, watching him remove his shirt swiftly, and taking mental snapshots of the dents and divots of his beautifully sculpted torso. His skin looked like marble. Hawkins was smooth and lean, yet there was still an undeniable strength evident in the curves of his muscles. He could have easily passed as a statue before her, and she marveled at him as such.

   “Turn around.” This time, she was a bit hesitant to follow orders as she wanted to spectate his removing of his pants, but she knew it’d be best to listen to him if she wanted to get her way.

   The sound of various clothing falling to the floor made her ears perk up and it took everything within her not to turn around to catch a peek. She remained obedient, however, waiting for his next orders. When the binds around her wrists disappeared, her interest piqued.

   “Turn around and remove the rest. Slowly.”

   As she obeyed, a warm heat danced in her body as she admired how nearly god-like he looked sitting in the chair, stark naked. She licked her lips at his hardened cock making itself known between his thighs. He was thicker than she’d expect for such a lean man, and the length was definitely something to boast about. Not that a man like Hawkins ever would, which, in turn, only made him all the more desirable. As if reading her thoughts, he smirked, “Don’t make me wait any longer.”

   Gathering herself, she did as he commanded and made a point to take her time in stripping for him. Unclasping the bra in the back, she allowed the straps to fall down her shoulders before swiftly discarding it to the floor. It was hard to not be distracted by the way he touched himself, intently watching her every move and giving his dick a few slow pumps. Nevertheless, her fingers hooked underneath the band of her panties and she maintained eye contact as she pulled them agonizingly slow down her thighs, then kicked them off with her feet.

   He was amused at her brazen nature. How she never shied away from him, especially now as she stood entirely bare in front of him. Instead, she allowed him to ogle her body, towering confidently as his eyes meticulously traced her every curve. Hawkins had half a mind to continue the show, observe her as he ordered her to touch herself. Though at this point, he was far too eager to do it himself.

   “Sit.”

   “My, you move fast, Basil. I don’t think I’m ready.” She had hoped he didn’t hear the nervous quake in her voice.

   “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you are well prepared.” As she approached, he swiftly flipped her around and settled her bare ass in his lap, just in front of his twitching cock. She could feel it throbbing against her backside and her entire body burned red hot in consequence.

   Gently, he grabbed her arms to lock them behind his head. He nuzzled his face into her neck, taking in her sweet scent and placing a tender kiss along a mark that had just begun to bloom from his ministrations earlier, “You feel amazing. I think I’ll keep you just like this.”

   He promptly used his powers to bound her wrists once more, locking her arms in place. (Name) gasped as the stretch was a bit uncomfortable, but she came to enjoy the warm fire that burned in her belly. He then hooked her legs over his knees, driving them outwards in order to spread her open completely. He took advantage of his abilities yet again in order to secure her ankles around his calves, ultimately granting him easy access to explore every inch of her body. His gloved fingers immediately traveled south to toy with her sensitive button, while his right hand crept up to fondle her breasts.

   High-pitched whines escaped her as she struggled against the restraints. With her hands bound behind her and Hawkins keeping her legs spread widely apart, she felt utterly vulnerable to his affections and on the verge of overstimulation. She didn’t, couldn’t keep back her cries of his name while he rubbed vigorous circles onto her clit. Her pussy throbbed, clamping down onto nothing over and over as his hand crept further up to caress her throat, squeezing just tight enough to strangle her cries yet grant her enough air to breathe.

   His damp forehead fell against her cheek and she shivered as she felt his incredibly warm breath on her skin. He plunged two fingers inside her, while using his thumb to keep special attention on her clit, “Fuck! Basil, I-I’m gonna-”  

   He squeezed tighter around her throat, restricting her airflow for only a second or two, all the while increasing the intensity of her impending orgasm, “Let go.”

   As if releasing her from a spell, she did exactly that. Coming undone on his fingers with what would have been a loud cry if he hadn’t held such a firm grip. As he loosened his hold, she focused on her breathing, whining as his fingers exited from her abused and soaked cunt. He freed her from her restraints for the second time, but she hardly had the strength to move as she fell slack against his body, still working on catching her breath.

   He couldn’t help but chuckle, “Don’t tell me you’ve given up? I’m hardly done with you.”

   After a moment, she smirked and stretched her body, turning to face him, “I say it’s time to get you prepared.”

   He peered up at her, intrigued by her statement. She licked her lips, wasting no time in taking his dick in her hands to give it a few encouraging pumps. He hissed loudly at the contact, an electric wave of pleasure shocking his entire body. She dropped to her knees, leaning down to take his cock into her mouth.

   “You don’t have to-” He choked on his words as she abruptly took him inside her mouth, enthusiastically coating his dick with her saliva. She took him in as much as possible and he gripped at her hair as he focused on not coming on the spot. Damn, how long had it been since his last release?

   She could probably tell he was close already since she only sucked him off for a few seconds more. As she arose, she made quick movements to settle herself on top of him, grabbing at his soaked cock to place it at her entrance. His gaze followed her, challenging her. It was far too late to turn back, they both were well aware. There was a brief moment of hesitancy, but as his cock twitched shamelessly in her hand, they knew they were far from throwing in the towel.

   (Name) slid down onto his member, the both of them moaning out in unified bliss at the feeling of at last being connected. They remained still as they gathered their breaths, taking a moment to adjust, and reveled in the intimate feeling of each other. She was inconceivably warm and tight. Hawkins had to mentally remind himself to breathe.

   As she regained her composure, she began a steady rhythm of bouncing in his lap, eliciting the most delicious moans she’d heard from him yet. His eyes closed tight in intense pleasure and she was confident she now had him fully under her control.

   “Still worried about my, mmm, affiliation with the Straw Hats?” She panted with a smirk, “Who knew you had a thing for sleeping with the enemy~”

   He scoffed breathlessly, securing his strong arms around her to pull her in close. (Name) couldn’t help but gasp as his soft lips ghosted over her own, seeking her out in the midst of their tangled passions. He traveled along her skin with gentle strokes of his lips and tongue, “Only you.”

   A violent shiver coursed through her as those two words echoed loudly in her brain. Had she heard him right? Just what did that mean? Her mind was now a dizzying storm of questions. Her movements had slacked in consequence, and as she realized, she forced him back against the chair in order to pick up the pace.

   Slender fingers wrapped around his throat and squeezed gently. She shivered once more as his ruby eyes offered her sweet submission and his lips curved upward into a teasing grin, “Tighter.”

   She bit her lip to suppress her whimper, all the while she gripped his throat tighter as per his request until his eyes fluttered close; a look of utmost bliss painted along his face. (Name) rode him with intensity, her lips spilling out shameless praises and calls of his name as she angled herself in order for him to hit all the right spots. Her grip remained firm, and the vibrations of his strangled moans drove her closer to the precipice.

   His grip around her suddenly tightened and his breathing became staccato, a sure sign that he was close as well. Her legs were aching, and just as they were about to give in, Hawkins adjusted his hips so he could thrust up and into her from below. The pair moaned loudly, nearly in sync as he fucked her relentlessly. She was first to fall over the edge, Hawkins made sure of that. As her tight cunt squeezed around his cock, he followed suit merely seconds afterward, pulling out to paint her abdomen white.

   (Name) fell against his chest in utter exhaustion and Hawkins held her against him. Her fingers mindlessly threaded through his hair as the pair basked in the afterglow. His thumb brushed over her lip, pulling her up to him for one last searing kiss. She smiled against his lips, savoring one last drop of him for the night. She was inebriated beyond comprehension; a little unsure if she could walk home properly. His demeanor returned to neutrality and looking at him, it was almost hard to believe she had him a moaning mess just moments before.

   “Am I free to go, Mr. Headliner?”

   He sighed, deep in concentration. Keeping her still in his lap, he reached over to gather his loose articles, or rather, what was left of them. Not much remained of her worn clothing and though his own left little to be desired, it’d be enough to cover her until she could retrieve new clothes.

   “That depends. Do you plan to return these most treasured clothes of mine? I could have you thrown in jail for collusion and thievery.” His eyes gleamed with mischief as he cleaned her off and helped her get dressed, trying his absolute hardest not to ravish her all over again from the alluring sight of her draped in his clothing. She’d surely be the death of him.

   (Name) scoffed with an amused smile, “Think you could possibly capture me again, Basil?”

   He guided her towards the exit, “I believe the probability that I’d let you escape me twice is lower than you think.”

She leaned in, tracing along the prominent red lines she had etched onto his chest. In a low, sultry voice, she whispered, “And what’s the probability that you’ll interrogate me again?”

Hawkins went ramrod stiff. His eyes were easily drawn to her lips and any second longer in that heated tension, he would have taken her right there, all over again. Thankfully, her sweet laughter suppressed the carnal desire that was threatening to consume him once more. She was somehow life and death, simultaneously.

   “Well, let’s leave all the probabilities for your cards to decide. You might like what they have to show you.” She winked before swiftly escaping through the window.

   After her departure, Hawkins closed the window quickly, placing his forehead against the cool glass. He stood like that for some time, replaying every detail of their session over and over until he became overwhelmed. How Hawkins, a dignified man dedicated to his duties, could let such a paramount criminal escape so easily was baffling. Even still, despite all consequences of his careless actions, all he could think about was seeing her again. She lingered on his skin. The touch, smell, and taste of her would not be so easily washed away. Not that he wished her to be.

   He retrieved his discarded cloak to wrap around his bare body, and as he opened the door to some rather bashful subordinates who could hardly look him in the eye, he paid no mind, barking out orders to cut through the awkward tension.

   “Fetch me some new clothes and my deck of cards. I wish to be alone for the rest of the evening.”

[faulty-writes]

I'd like to request a follow up to that scenario with the intern of Nighteye that causes a stir between his two boys. One where Mirio gets his turn to shine with y/n by taking yn on a, in his words, "romantic date!" to the aquarium after overhearing yn offhandedly telling Nighteye how she'd love to go sometime during a day off. They pet some penguins and Mirio learns A LOT about fish from the reader that day - being a marine biologist was the backup plan in case being a hero just didn't pan out.

[ So I know this is a request but it just so happens for my hero bingo event that one of the square’s is "Aquarium Date” so I’m taking this and running with it. Even if it’s past the event deadline. So @bnhabookclub this is my piece for the Hero Bingo Camp Event. Theme: Aquarium Date. Now that I said that, I hope you enjoy! ] 

[ Part 1/Previous One Shot located here. ]

Mirio was completely smitten with you, despite the small rivalry between Izuku and himself. He wanted to be the one to capture your heart and even though Izuku was a good friend of his. All was fair in love and war, right? Given, he knew he had to be careful when he asked you out. Both because of Izuku and Sir Nighteye, who didn’t seem so tolerant of his work-study students chasing after his intern. Despite the previous bet, he had made with All Might, which still made Mirio a little angry.

But, overall it seemed Sir Nighteye had lost interest in seeing who would eventually capture your heart and made it a point to speak to Izuku and Mirio about it. He claimed he would not allow any romantic interactions or relationships to take place in his agency, something Mirio was a little indifferent about. Truthfully, he didn’t know what Sir Nighteye even thought of romance. He wondered if anyone in the past had captured the interest of his teacher, but considering the fact, the man was married to his work. It was highly unlikely, Mirio, on the other hand, wanted someone in his life.

That someone was you, of course, he had thought of countless date scenarios. But, none of them seemed as though they would impress you. He had tried to think of places you might like, but he was worried that you’d get bored. Especially if you had been there before. In short, he was stuck. He continued to rattle his brain, what would be a good date? He thought he’d never get the answer and he knew he’d have to hurry before Izuku decided to make a move and snatch you away.

“Maybe I should just take them somewhere I like, after all, as long as I can make my sunshine smile. Well, that’s all I could ever want,” he muttered to himself as he walked down the hall that led to Sir Nighteye’s office. He stopped a few feet from the door when he noticed it was slightly ajar, something that Sir Nighteye didn’t approve of. He knew the man liked his privacy and was very strict when it came to the privacy of others as well, everything and anything that was said in his office stayed there. He was about to turn and leave when the sound of your voice caught his attention.

“Uh…” he latched onto his bottom lip, he knew better than to eavesdrop. But, he thought there was a chance he’d overhear something that might be the solution to his current problem. So, with that in mind. He tip-toed toward the open door and prayed he wouldn’t get caught. At first, he was confused as to what you were talking about, but it began to make sense when you mentioned the aquarium. He couldn’t help but smile when you claimed you’d love to go one day and he knew he’d make it happen.

That was the perfect date idea! Of course, he may have been a little too excited when he asked you. “Hey Y/n!” he called, waving his arm like mad. “Hm?” you turned, your hand still resting on the handle of the double doors that led outside. Your day had just ended, you knew Sir Nighteye often stayed past hours to complete the paperwork for the day. Despite your offering to help him, it seemed as though he’d prefer to handle it himself. “I was hoping I’d catch you!” Mirio said in his normal cheery voice, something that made you smile.

“Oh? Is something wrong?” you questioned as you dropped your hand and turned to face Mirio, it was a little amusing how he towered over you. But, it helped his overall image as a hero. He shook his head before flashing his signature grin at you. “Nope! I was just wondering…” he paused and glanced to the side, something you found unusual considering Mirio tended to be upfront and honest. Especially when it came to his feelings, but you already knew he had somewhat of a fancy toward you. “Are you okay?” he turned his attention back to you and nodded.

“Yeah heh, sorry,” he said before clearing his throat. “Um, so I was wondering...would you maybe like to go out with me? I was thinking we could go to the aquarium!” your eyes lit up, how did he know you wanted to go there? “Sure, I’d love to!” Mirio felt his heart accelerate, “O-Oh! I...t-that’s great! I can’t wait, sunshine! You have off tomorrow, right?” you couldn’t help but smile, “Mmhm,” you replied with a slight head nod. “Great! I’ll see you then!” Mirio happily exclaimed before pulling you into a hug, you cried out at the unexpected action. But you couldn’t deny the fact that it felt nice.

The next day, you found yourself feeling a little nervous as you stood next to Mirio in line. He had insisted on buying the tickets, even though you told him you wanted to pay for your half. But, Mirio said it wouldn’t be a proper date unless he spoiled you which made you blush furiously. Though you still felt some guilt knowing that you were on a date with Mirio and Izuku was busy at Sir Nighteye’s agency. You hoped the feeling would go away, but Mirio seemed to notice your expression. He wrapped an arm around you, “Hm?” you looked at him, noticing the way he smiled.

“Something wrong, sunshine?” you glanced to the side and shrugged. “I’m just thinking, that’s all. I hope Izuku is alright, does he know you asked me out?” given it wasn’t as though you belonged to either male, but you didn’t want to cause a fight or get in the way of their friendship. Still, Mirio seemed a little jealous that you even mentioned Izuku. You didn’t miss the way his nose flared up and his eyebrows lowered. He removed his arm from around you and stepped up to the booth where he finally purchased the tickets.

He held them between his index finger and thumb and proceeded to wave them in front of you. “Why don’t we worry less about work and the outside world. I want this date to be special, so…” he extended his free hand to you. “Let’s go inside,” he insisted and you looked at his hand before shifting your gaze to his face which still held a kind smile. “Mm,” you hesitantly reached out and took his hand, he seemed satisfied and turned to walk into the entrance of the aquarium. Immediately your eyes were drawn to the round glass walls and ceiling which cast a dark blue shadow over you.

Mirio seemed equally as stunned as the two of you stood together, watching the various colorful fish swim freely behind the glass. It made you smile and you pointed toward the ceiling, “You know, fish have been on the earth for more than 500 million years. Can you imagine being that old?” Mirio turned to you and you took note of his wide-eyed expression. “That’s...amazing, I didn’t know you knew about fish,” he replied and you shrugged, “Yeah well, I studied to become a marine biologist. Just in case, I mean you never know when your current career will end,” you felt Mirio squeeze your hand.

“W-What do you mean, sunshine...I thought you wanted to be a Pro Hero?” he tilted his head, was he wrong? You lowered your hand and shrugged, “I do, I guess. It’s a little discouraging considering I’m only an intern. It’s always been my dream to become a Pro Hero and have people look up to me but, I’ve also always had a love for marine biology. The ocean life and all that. So, I thought maybe I could do both,” you explained, it wasn’t something you normally shared. But, you trusted Mirio and knew he wouldn’t go telling anyone behind your back.

“Let’s see what exhibits they have, I heard you can pet the penguins and spend time with injured seals!” you were a little excited and it certainly showed as you pulled Mirio forward. “Whoa!” he stumbled before attempting to keep up with you, a soft chuckle escaped him as you ventured down the vastly open and dimly lit hallway. You glanced back and forth, enjoying the sight of the fishes that continued to swim around. You came to a gentle stop when you spotted a directory, “Let’s see…” you muttered as you looked over the map.

“We’re here right now...maybe we could go visit the sea turtles,” you suggested as Mirio released your hand and reached to grab a pamphlet. “Hm,” he tilted his head as he opened it to reveal a map of the aquarium. You turned to look at him, waiting for a response. “Whatever you want to do, sunshine. I got a map, so we won’t get lost. Heh, that is...unless you want to,” he said with a playful wink which caused you to flush. “Heh, um,” you glanced down, nervously rubbing the back of your neck as you willed your cheeks to cool.

“We’ll see...I...I mean, uh, let’s just go see the turtles,” you muttered, the hand that was on the back of your neck came to clasp your forehead. Did you just make a fool out of yourself? You didn’t particularly like finding yourself at a loss for words, but somehow Mirio was making you nervous. You knew he didn’t mean to, it was just his playful personality. You took a deep breath before you began walking, according to the directory the turtle exhibit was at the end of the current hall you were in. You turned your head, once more watching the fish swim by before you were pulled back.

“Hm?” you paused and turned to look at Mirio who had reached out for your hand, a bright smile on his face. “Gotta make sure I don’t lose you,” he teased once more, “O-Oh, uh...yeah,” you replied, mentally telling yourself to stop blushing. The looks you got from people as you walked to the turtle exhibit didn’t exactly reassure you, but you partly wondered if it was because of the fact you were with Mirio. He was pretty recognizable outside of his Lemillion costume, you hoped there weren't any reporters around.

The media would do anything for a juicy story or rumor surrounding a Pro Hero. You tried to push such thoughts to the back of your head, you were unaware that you were holding your breath until you approached the turtle exhibit. Which consisted of a large pool, the water was clear blue and sure enough, a few turtles were swimming without care. “You okay, sunshine?” Mirio asked, clearly concerned as to why you took a sharp breath. “Hm?” you nodded, “Oh yeah, just nervous. Don’t worry,” you replied as you looked at the turtles.

“Do you think we can get one to swim over to us?” a smile was on your face as you walked over and wrapped your fingers around the small railing that ran around the length of the pool. Mirio quickly followed behind you, “We can try!” he said as he leaned over and dipped his hand into the water, splashing it a bit. “Hey!” you cried out and grabbed his arm. “Don’t do that, it might startle the poor things!” you exclaimed and Mirio frowned, “Oh! Sorry!” he said as he pulled his arm back, though your hand still kept a firm grip on him.

“It’s fine,” you replied with a smile, “Just wait until one comes over to you,” Mirio nodded and focused his attention on the water. Watching a few turtles bob their heads along the surface and others dive into the water to snack on some of the greenery. You continued to watch, smiling as one turtle turned to look at you and part of you wished to know what stories those dark orbs could tell. Either way, you held your breath once more as the turtle began to swim toward you. Mirio leaned over and let his head rest on top of your shoulder.

You shivered at the added weight but found it pleasant nonetheless. You smiled and reached out when the turtle brushed against the wall of the pool. A bright smile came to your face as your fingers skimmed over the top of the turtle’s head. Feeling the smooth and moist texture of it, you turned to Mirio. You exchanged a friendly look before Mirio reached over, deciding to pet the turtle’s shell. “Wow, feels kind of slimy,” he said as he pulled his hand away. “Mmhm, that’s normal,” you replied as the turtle ducked its head underwater and swam away.

“Where do you want to go now?” you weren’t sure if you could make time to visit all the exhibits, but you still wanted to visit as many as you possibly could. “Let’s see,” he reached back to pull the pamphlet out of his pocket. You watched as he unfolded it, “Well, we could visit the coral reef exhibit. Unless you want to visit those injured seals or the penguins!” your eyes lit up, “The penguins! I’m not sure about the coral reef. But, I’d love to pet the seals too. We could visit the octopus exhibit on the way there,” you rushed past Mirio who looked confused before quickly following after you.

“Did you know octopuses have three hearts and blue blood? They’re intelligent too!” you said with a big smile, “Three hearts? Well, I guess that means they have a spare to give to their octopus soulmate!” you couldn’t help but snicker at Mirio’s words, “I’m not sure if that’s how it works. When octopuses mate, that's usually the end of their life cycle,” Mirio’s face twisted with an emotion that could only be described as somewhere between disgusted and sad. “They die?” you almost expected his bottom lip to start quivering.

Still, you shrugged. “I guess it depends on the species, but I’m pretty sure. I read it in a book once,” you replied as you continued to walk, “So you like books about sea animals?” Mirio questioned, leaning down with a knowing smirk on his face. “I like to read about ocean life, yes. I must own a thousand books,” you chuckled, feeling a tad embarrassed. “That probably sounds silly, huh?” Mirio shook his head like an overactive puppy. “No! I mean, if it’s something you like and makes you happy. Why would it be silly?” he questioned and you pressed your lips together, unsure of what type of answer to give him.

You tilted your head, “I guess I don’t know,” you muttered before Mirio grabbed your arm, you squeaked as you stumbled back. “Ah, what?” Mirio pointed his finger to the side, “Huh?” you blinked and followed that finger, you had nearly walked past the octopus exhibit. Though the entrance to it had an oval-shaped door and the lighting inside was tinted purple, was that normal? “Too busy thinking, sunshine? Sorry, but I couldn’t just let you walk past the exhibit,” he said as he released your arm, “Uh, right…” you said as your cheeks flushed once again.

Were you really getting that distracted? Mirio just smiled, he noticed the way you were blushing but decided not to say anything. Though he thought seeing you act so shy was adorable. He stepped closer and wrapped his arm around you, pulling you close. “Don’t get too shy on me now, I mean I don’t mind if you are, but you really don’t have to be nervous around me,” he said and you turned to look at him. Mirio had such a warmth about him and those eyes that glanced down at you held such kindness.

You looked away, “Sorry, I love this date. Really, thank you for bringing me here,” you said as you turned to look at the octopus exhibit once more. You missed the surprised expression Mirio gave, but it soon melted into another smile. “You’re welcome, I knew you liked the aquarium and it’s nice to see you so happy,” he replied before guiding you into the purple lit room. It was rather small and two large tanks were built into each wall. But, you tilted your head. “Where’s the octopus?” you questioned, your eyes scanning the seemingly empty tank.

“Maybe it's sleeping?” Mirio suggested as he approached the tank and laid his hands on the cool smooth surface. He then leaned forward and pressed his cheek against the glass, you couldn’t help but chuckle at the scene. It was kind of adorable, but you walked to the second tank and much like Mirio, placed your hands on it. “Do you see anything?” you questioned as your eyes continued to search for any sign of an octopus. Mirio frowned and leaned back, “Nothing so far, hm,” his eyes scanned the tank once more.

“Strange, well that’s okay. Maybe we can come back later,” you suggested as you turned away from the tank and offered your hand to Mirio. “Are you sure?” he didn’t want you to miss out on anything, but maybe the octopuses would be more active later in the day. You nodded, “Yeah, you want to go see the injured seals? I want to pet them if I can,” you replied, your heart always ached for injured animals. It was sad, but as long as they knew not all humans were bad. Mirio’s smile widened and he finally took your hand, squeezing it gently.

“You can pet them all you want, uh wait…” he once more reached for his pocket and pulled out the map. “Looks like kind of a long walk, but it’s near the cafe. We can have lunch there if you want,” the thought of food made your stomach growl which caused Mirio to chuckle. “I’ll take that as a yes,” he said, “Hey...it’s not my fault you mentioned food!” you barked, but it only seemed to entertain Mirio all the more. “I’ll buy lunch,” he insisted before guiding you out of the room and down the hallway. You passed by several exhibits, though you noticed some were exclusively for children.

Given that didn’t stop Mirio from looking at them with interest, you kind of hoped he wouldn’t try to drag you into one of the children’s activities. You also noticed there was a tour guide explaining the various exhibits to a group of people, you enjoyed the thought of a tour guide. But found it more exciting if you ventured around the aquarium yourself or rather, with Mirio. Your feet were aching by the time you reached the seal exhibit. “Hm, seal and sea lions?” you questioned as you read the banner that was plastered above the entranceway.

“Well, maybe they didn’t want them to be separated,” Mirio suggested, which had you turning your head to look at him with a raised eyebrow. “What?” he questioned and you shook your head, “Nothing,” you replied before walking through the door. You paused shortly after when you noticed the small hallway turned into three separate entrance ways. “What the…” you then noticed there was what looked to be a street sign cemented into the middle of the floor.

“This is a strange way to give directions, wouldn’t it be more fun if you had the element of surprise? You could choose which room you went into and find out what’s on the other side yourself!” Mirio exclaimed and he sounded a little more excited than he should. “I mean...it’s also good to have direction,” you muttered as you leaned forward and carefully read each sign plate. “This says the injured seal exhibit is through this door,” you said, pointing to the closest one to the left.

“Great, let’s go,” Mirio said, taking the lead. You were surprised how narrow some of the hallways were and part of you felt annoyed by how little lighting they had. About two minutes passed before you finally reached the end. You were greeted by a rather impressive setup. The injured seal exhibit had an employee stationed at every corner, more than likely to prevent the seals from getting injured further.

There was a small road of concrete stretching through the exhibit and what looked to be a mountain of rocks. You took note of the flat rock surfaces as well and the impressive amount of water for the seals to freely swim in. A few others were in the exhibit as well and you smiled as you watched a young girl interact with one of the seals. You felt bad seeing the scars that littered the sea creature’s body, but the freshest one seemed to be around their neck.

“Some seals get captured in fishing lines because they’re searching for food, they escape and the fishing line gets embedded into their skin. It’s kind of sad how much litter, nets, and such people leave in the ocean,” you commented as you crossed your arms, a pout on your lips. Mirio frowned, he didn’t want you to be upset. “Hm,” he tapped his chin a few times, “I got it!” he said and without warning, scooped you into his arms.

You cried out, getting the attention of everyone in the exhibit. “W-What are you doing?!” you exclaimed, your heart was pounding in your chest which only matched your dark red cheeks. Mirio could be too much sometimes and the way he turned to look at you with that confused expression only seemed to make things worse as if he didn’t register how his actions affected you.

“Sorry, sunshine. But, these rocks look kind of slippery and I’d hate to see you get hurt. Plus, I can carry you to the water. I think a few seals are taking a swim, maybe we can get their attention?” he suggested with a big goofy smile, however, you returned it with a blank stare. “Heh,” he didn’t seem to mind the fact you said nothing in response and you securely wrapped your arms around his neck. You noticed he took slow and careful steps, more than likely because he didn’t want himself getting hurt either.

That would be a lousy way to end a date. You could hear the sound of the seals calling to one another as you neared the water and Mirio carefully lowered you to the ground. “Uh thanks,” you replied as you stared at the water, a smile coming to your face as you watched the seals splash and play with one another. “They’re so cute,” you commented and Mirio smirked, “I think I know something cuter,” you struggled to keep a smile from coming to your face as you looked at him. “Please don’t say it’s me,” you replied in a dull tone and Mirio frowned, “Fine, I won’t say it. But, that doesn’t make it any less true,” he said and you playfully rolled your eyes.

“I’m sure,” you replied before your attention drew back to the seals. One of them had climbed onto the smooth warm surface you stood on, like the other seals. This one seemed to have a few nasty scars but appeared to be a curious little fella. You watched as it sniffed the air and tilted its head when it caught sight of you. Carefully, you crouched and held your hand out, “Come here, it’s alright,” you assured and held your breath as you watched it inch closer to you. Using those oversized flippers to pull itself along.

“That’s right, come here. I won’t hurt you,” Mirio crouched down beside you, laying his hand on your shoulder as the seal closed the distance. “Aw,” you smiled as you ran your hand over its slick wet head which it seemed to enjoy. “They are pretty cute up close,” Mirio said as he reached over and proceeded to pet the seal as well. You liked to think all animals enjoyed receiving attention, the seal seemed over the moon to have two people petting it. But, then it let out a noise that startled you and caused you to press yourself against Mirio.

“Huh, wasn’t expecting that,” he said as the seal made the noise again, you turned your head as you watched another seal come up from the water and begin to walk over to you. “I think it’s calling for friends,” you replied as a third seal climbed onto land. You turned to Mirio with a concerned expression. “I think we might have given them too much attention,” you said, did all these seals want pets? You weren’t sure, but it certainly seemed that way. Mirio raised both his hands and gave a determined smile. “I’m ready! It’s the least we can do to help these poor guys!” he said and you couldn’t help but smile.

Tamaki always claimed Mirio shined like the sun and you were beginning to see how. Nodding, you turned back to the three seals. “Okay, let’s see how many we can pet, just be careful of their fresh injuries. We don’t want to aggravate them,” you said before Mirio and yourself got to work. Petting an animal was supposed to be a joyous activity, but you almost regretted letting Mirio’s determination drive you. Considering your wrists and hands were aching by the time you walked out of the exhibit.

“Mm...maybe that was a bad idea,” you whined as Mirio cracked his knuckles, “I gotta admit, those seals really wanted attention! But, we did a good deed and maybe they’ll remember us for it,” you shrugged, “Maybe,” lowering your hands, you paused and looked at Mirio. “So, are we going to get some lunch now?” Mirio nodded, “Sure! I’m pretty hungry, I hope they have something good,” the cafe itself was rather cute, it had several tables and benches one could sit on. The counter was colored blue like the ocean and the menu was in the shape of a whale.

You ordered a hot beverage and a sandwich, Mirio ordered large fries to share and a burger with an oversized soda. “How do you stay fit if you eat like that?” you questioned as you took a bite of your sandwich, Mirio shrugged. “I’m always working out my body, a hero has to keep their strength up,” he replied before taking a massive bite of his burger. “Right…” you replied before getting up to retrieve more napkins, with the way Mirio ate. You’d need them.

“Ah! That was good,” Mirio said, seemingly satisfied with the lunch he had. You nodded, “Yeah, it was pretty decent for a cafe,” you said as you two entered the hallway. “Wanna go pet those penguins now?” you asked with a smile, “Yeah!” Mirio declared as he threw his fists into the air. “I can’t wait, I know it’ll be cold. But, petting those little guys will be worth it!” you chuckled, nodding in agreement. “Yeah, maybe we’ll see them huddle together. Huddling helps them stay warm, you know?” given most animals huddled for warmth, it was especially adorable when penguins did. “Oh,” Mirio quickly ran behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist.

“Ah, hey!” you could feel yourself being pressed against his chest and looked at him with some confusion. “Like this?” he asked, making it a point to bury his nose into the crook of your neck. “U-Uh…” a shiver ran down your spine and yet again you felt your cheeks grow hot. Mirio’s soft hair brushed against your skin and his hot breath caused goosebumps to rise when he spoke. “I love hugging you, sunshine. I kind of never want to let go, I know that’s kind of silly and all. But, isn’t part of a date being nice and close?” his words were spoken with a purr and he tightened his arms around you.

“U-Uh, I g-guess!” you replied, almost choking on your words. You swallowed back any extra saliva lingering in your mouth and grabbed hold of his arms. Trying to ignore your rapid heartbeat. “C-Can you let go now? We’ll never get to pet penguins like this,” you noted and Mirio tilted his head, almost looking confused about your request. He pouted and dropped his arms soon after, “Fine, I guess that’s true. Heh, maybe we could...huddle together later?” he questioned, reaching up to rub the back of his head.

You saw a faint blush appear across his face, it almost looked adorable. But, you supposed it matched your surprised expression. “You...y-you want to cuddle later?” you questioned, reaching up to brush a piece of your hair behind your ear. “Heh, if that’s okay! I totally understand if it’s crossing boundaries just…” he glanced down and his hand nervously tugged on the collar of his shirt. “Uh…” honestly you weren’t expecting this, but what harm could it do? This was a date. “I mean...if you want, I’d love that. We’ll...see how the day pans out,” you replied, “Let me see that map,” it was amazing how much walking you had done today.

When Mirio handed you the map. You quickly realized the penguin exhibit was on the other side of the aquarium, you felt like groaning. You lowered the map and looked at Mirio, placing your hand on your hip. “Get ready to walk,” you said with a perky smile, the only benefit of walking so far was that it gave time for the food in your stomach to settle. When you finally neared the penguin exhibit, you smiled at the fake snow decorations that surrounded it. You also took note of the temperature change which caused you to shiver. 

“I wish I brought a coat,” you said, or at least a sweater. “Me too,” Mirio said as he rubbed his arms, goosebumps were rising across his skin but he paid no mind as he turned to you. “I bet if we hug the penguins, we’ll stay warm,” he said with a smile and you shrugged, “Maybe, heh. Let’s go,” you urged, trying to will yourself to stop shivering. You reminded yourself a little cold was worth it if it meant you could pet penguins. You walked through the door, down another small hallway before you walked into the penguin exhibit. You took note of the sign that cautioned you to watch your step.

The habitat itself was covered in a thin amount of snow and was constructed of both icy and rocky surfaces. Much like the seal exhibit, there was a fair amount of water for the penguins to swim in and you could make out a few floating ice glaciers that were preoccupied with a few penguins. You smiled, your breath evaporating into the air. Looking around, you took note of the other aquarium goers. Some of them were children and they seemed to take joy in wrapping their arms around the penguins and hugging them for dear life.

The sight made you chuckle, “Isn’t that cute?” you questioned as you pointed to the scene, “Hm?” Mirio followed your finger and smiled, “Yeah, I almost wish I could have brought Eri. She’d love this, but then again. I think I’d get a little jealous I wasn’t getting all of your attention,” he said with another playful wink, you partly wondered if that was his way of flirting. It was somewhat humorous and you chuckled, “I think you get enough attention as is,” you replied before turning to the penguins. Watching a few of them waddle around, “Let’s go see if we can get one’s attention,” you said before reaching over to grab Mirio’s hand.

You carefully walked down the snowy path before stepping over the edge to get onto the second level near the body of water where a few penguins were just returning from their swim. You smiled as you watched the droplets of water fall from their slick feathers and bent your knees. “Come here,” you urged, watching one of them shake off the extra water and flap its wings. You looked at Mirio before creeping forward, the penguin in question turned to look at you. Those dark eyes studied you a moment before it began to waddle away.

“Ah, hey, no!” you cried out, slapping your thighs. “Maybe another one will be more friendly,” Mirio suggested and took the lead this time. He was tempted to use his quirk, but he decided against it. Knowing it could cause the penguins to become panicked. Regardless, most of the penguins waddled away and made a path as you two tried to get one of them to come over to you. “Maybe if we sit down they’d come?” Mirio suggested and without warning, plopped himself onto the ground. You stumbled a little, your body slightly bent as Mirio still had hold of your hand.

“A little warning next time?” you said, “Oh right, sorry,” he adjusted his position so he was sitting cross-legged and tugged on your hand. “Hm?” you tilted your head, “Sit down with me or you could sit in my lap so you don’t get any snow on your pants,” you jumped in surprise, “Your...lap?” you questioned, looking at him with curious yet suspicious eyes. He only nodded in confirmation and you looked around, given it wasn’t anyone’s concern what you were doing on your date. You turned back to Mirio and shrugged, “I mean I guess it couldn’t hurt,” you replied before lowering yourself into his lap, it was a little embarrassing and an overall new experience for you.

When Mirio wrapped his arms around your waist, you felt your stomach twist with butterflies. “Uh…” your legs were stretched out and you tried to focus more on the penguins that continued to waddle around. You held your hand out, wiggling your fingers in hopes to capture their attention. It took a few moments, but eventually, one penguin decided to be brave and approach you. It flapped its wings before closing the distance and you smiled as you ran your hand over its head which was slightly fuzzy and slick.

Mirio retracted one of his arms and reached out, allowing his hand to stroke down the penguin’s back. You watched as the penguin’s eyes closed, “I think this little guy is enjoying our pets,” you said with a smile before another penguin approached, you reached out to pet it. You leaned against Mirio’s chest and found yourself at peace. It was almost amusing watching the penguins form a line, each one waiting to get a dose of attention. You couldn’t deny such cute little animals. It took some time, but eventually you lowered your hand when the penguins seemed satisfied and content. 

Your fingers ached and your body trembled due to the cold, though you had to admit. Sitting in Mirio’s lap kept you warm and you leaned your head against his shoulder. “Does your hand hurt too?” you questioned and Mirio smiled, “A little, we’ve done a lot of petting today,” he said as he reached around and took your hand between his, gently massaging it. “Maybe we should take it easy, I think I read in the pamphlet there’s a whale show. Maybe we could go watch it,” he suggested, “That could be fun,” you said before wiggling in his lap, you pushed your hand against his knee and stood on shaky legs.

“I can’t wait to get warm again,” you said as you crossed your arms. “Yeah, let’s get out of here,” Mirio said as he wrapped an arm around your shoulders and guided you out of the penguin exhibit. You couldn’t help but wave at the penguins as you exited. But you were more than happy when you felt the change in temperature as you entered the hallway. “So, I’m guessing the whale show is back near the seal exhibit,” you said and Mirio shrugged, “Probably, I’m sure we just have to follow the signs,” he pointed to the ceiling and sure enough you saw wooden plates with words and arrows.

“Let’s go!” he insisted before he reached down to take your hand again. You had to admit, you were happy Mirio had asked you on this date. He was so energetic and though he came off a little strong, it was nice to know he cared about you. He even made it a point to grab front row seats for the whale show, though you weren’t too sure if you enjoyed getting splashed when the whale performed its tricks. Given it was amazing, “Ah!” you cried out when another wave came, further soaking your already drenched clothes.

The fabric clung to your wet skin and a shiver ran through you. When you turned to look at Mirio, your eyes widened at the sight of him cheering and smiling for the whale. He too was soaked. His shirt clinging to his body which allowed his muscles to show, his normally spiky hair was pressed against his forehead. But his eyes still held that same happiness and joy you were more than used to seeing. He turned to you with a bright smile, “Having fun?! I think this is amazing!” he declared before another splash came which had both of you crying out.

You were grateful that they were handing out towels after the show. Once you dried off, you suggested going to see the jellyfish. You loved the way they swam through the water, almost like a ballet. “Did you know jellyfish can technically clone themselves? They can actually regenerate if someone or something were to split them in half,” you explained, you were happy Mirio didn’t mind you sharing your knowledge and little facts. You did the same thing when Mirio suggested going to see the sharks, though sharks themselves were a little intimidating.

You also believed they were just misunderstood, you kept that in mind as you watched them swim in their tank. “There are over 500 species of shark, I’m not sure how I’d feel about scuba diving with one though,” Mirio chuckled, “Yeah, that seems a little dangerous,” he nodded in agreement before turning to you. “Anywhere else you’d like to go?” The last activity you wanted to do was pet the stingrays which Mirio happily agreed to. After which, you were beginning to feel tired and a loud yawn escaped you. “Hm, don’t tell me I tired you out already?” Mirio joked as he reached over to run his hand through your hair.

“It’s not you, I love the aquarium. But, it is exhausting doing all that walking,” you commented as you two headed for the exit. “Yeah, I guess,” Mirio said before stepping in front of you which caused you to stop short. “What are you doing?” it wasn’t like Mirio to try and block your path unless he wanted a hug or something. He only smiled at your question and reached up to place his hands on your shoulders. “Uh…” you glanced to the side, unsure of what Mirio was doing. But, you began to get the hint as he leaned down.

You felt your cheeks heat up, “I had a really amazing time with you, sunshine,” he commented as his nose brushed against yours. “Uh...yeah, I had a g-good time too,” you squeaked out, feeling Mirio’s grip on you tighten. “I’m glad,” he whispered before pressing his lips against yours. “Mm!” you should have expected this, but Mirio’s lips felt so warm and inviting. You kept your arms by your sides and shyly returned the kiss before leaning back. Your cheeks flushed, “Uh, t-thanks?” you said, unsure of how to respond after the kiss.

Mirio seemed to find amusement in your reaction and reached over to cup your cheek. Taking note of how warm it was, “You’re welcome,” he responded in a chipper tone, “But, you don’t have to thank me for anything. I’ll happily kiss your lips over and over again! Heh, though that might make them sore, uh…” he removed his hand from your cheek and nibbled on his lip. You noticed this but given the strong tension in the air. You assumed Mirio was going to ask you something.

“So, would you maybe like to go on another date? I know with Izuku around, you might feel guilty. But, I kind of want you all to myself. Sorry if that sounds selfish,” he said sheepishly and you were a little surprised, yes. A part of you felt guilty, given the fact you were aware of how Izuku felt about you. Still, Mirio had made the first move, despite Sir Nighteye’s warning.

Which was surprising considering Mirio seemed to cling on every word his teacher said and followed his orders without question. Was he really willing to disobey him for your sake? You did have a wonderful time on this date. You wouldn’t mind seeing where a second date would go. “It doesn’t sound too selfish,” you teased before placing your hand on his chest, something that caught his attention. “I’d love to go out again,” you said with a smile.